.:Hatsuhinode:.
Part 2

"Here we are!" Hunny declared as Hikaru, Kaoru, Tamaki and Haruhi finally caught up - not noticing the absence of Kyoya – taking a moment to catch their breath.

"Wow Takeshi, you made this place look really nice," Hunny looked around with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.

'The place' was a small grassy clearing near a ledge which over looked the city. Lining the rest of the clearing were trees, bushes and other types of foliage. Scattered around the clearing were about four wooden poles, and hanging from each pole was a fire lit paper lantern. In the middle of the clearing was a fire pit edged with well-sized stones, and loaded with wood and tinder, ready to be set on fire. Next to the fire pit was a pile of blankets – seven in all – and next to the blankets were a few bags of marshmallows along with a bundle of sticks, obviously purposed for roasting the marshmallows.

"It looks great!" Hunny grinned joyfully, hugging Mori, who had just finished installing one more pole. After lighting the lantern, the tall teen patted the smaller on the head, silently accepting the praise.

"Ooh, Kaoru! Look at this!" Hikaru ran over to the fire pit, set down his radio, then picked up a bag of marshmallows. "They brought the chocolate flavored ones!" he announced happily as the younger twin "oohed" along with him.

"Not that this isn't cool, which it is; but what exactly are we here for?" Haruhi asked in confusion, as Tamaki ran over to examine the roasting sticks.

Tamaki looked up from the roasting sticks he was playing with and echoed, "Yeah, why did you bring us to a mountain anyways?"

Kyoya, who had arrived at 'the place' just moments ago, flashed his famous know-it-all smirk and replied, "Would it help if I told you we're facing east?"

East? What would that have to do with anything, Haruhi thought, as the rest of the Hosts (excluding Hunny and Mori) gave blank stares.

Kyoya adjusted his glasses, which would've glinted if not for the lack of bright light (the sun was hardly visible and the sky was a now a deep navy blue), "How about if I reminded you that today is New Year's Eve?"

Oh right, there's more traditions than just going to the temple on New Year, Haruhi continued to ponder, So what would east have to do with a New Year tradition . . .? Wait – isn't east the direction the sunrises? Haruhi mentally face-palmed herself, Of course! I should've known; the Hatsuhinode!

Haruhi performed her eminent "I got it!" gesticulation and Kyoya turned his head towards the girl. "Yes Haruhi? Do you have something to say?"

"We're here to see the first sunrise of the year right?" she asked, with a tone of voice that said: 'I got it right didn't I?' Although hazel brown eyes asked: 'How long have you known about this?'

Kyoya simply gave her a look saying: 'Don't you remember who you're talking to?', but said nothing out loud. Because Hunny did all of the talking for him.

"Yep! You got it Haru-chan! We're here to watch the Hatsuhinode!" The strawberry blonde beamed, bouncing up and down happily.

"Ohhhh," both Tamaki and the twins chorused in realization. Hikaru and Kaoru, then palm-faced themselves, How could we not have figured that out? Kaoru thought, now feeling extremely stupid.

Hunny sat down and unpacked his bag of games, "C'mon guys, let's play something! Or are you just going to sit around all night?" Morigot a gire going in the fire pit, before dutifully going over and sitting next to his cousin.

The other five hosts smiled and came to Hunny and sat down as well – well unless you were Haruhi, whom the twins grabbed and dragged to sit with them while shouting: "Game! Game! Game!"

So while basking in the fire's warmth and the lanterns' light, the club indulged themselves into numorus activities for the next few hours.

They started off by playing a variety of different board and card games, moved on to solving a 50,000 piece puzzle, with most of the solving done by Kyoya, then snacked on cake (Hunny's favorite part) and roasted marshmallows, both the chocolate and the regular kind. Later they made a cozy nest of blankets to keep warm – or as Haruhi called it, a mess – while listening to an array of songs and stations from Hikaru's radio and ipod (Hikaru's ipod could be plugged into the radio letting everyone listen to the ipod through the radio's speakers). The twins were even able to get Tamaki into a mood of karaoke – which Kyoya abruptly ended by grabbing, then hurling the improvised microphone from the blonde and claiming he had a migraine.

The teens were so absorbed in their activities that they had almost forgotten why they had come to a mountain ledge in the first place. That is, until Hunny took a look at the sky and began to jump up and down excitedly (while Mori tried to wipe frosting from his cousin's mouth). "It's starting! It's starting! C'mon let's go sit on the ledge!" The strawberry blonde called out energetically, hugging Usa-chan close to his chest.

The other hosts lifted their heads to the sky, and sure enough a soft orange curve was slowly rising from the horizon.

"Let's all go and sit on the ledge!" The undersized teen suggested, "And don't forget to make a wish!" Hunny added, as he grabbed Mori's hand, who took Kyoya's wrist, who (none too gently) grasped Tamaki's collar, who hugged Haruhi's arm with both of his, and Haruhi, although reluctantly, let Hikaru take her hand, who easily clasped Kaoru's hand, who grinned at his twin's failing efforts of trying not to blush.

The group of seven teens said nothing as they sat on the mountain outcropping watching the orange curve rise slowly in the sky, tinting the area around it a fluffy pink easing into a radiating orange and fading to a cool blue. While they watched, nobody spoke; they hardly dared to breathe, in fear of ruining that precious moment. Watching the Hatsuhinode was a moment each of them would remember for the rest of their days.

Hunny sat on Mori's left, clutching Usa-chan close with his eyes shut tight, and a bright smile on his face, making a wish. One he hoped desperately to come true.

Mori, who was on the left of Kyoya, let his legs dangle off the edge and leaned back, holding himself up with his hands, while making an unspoken wish as well. A wish having to do with family, if not, food.

Kyoya sat cross-legged, on Tamaki's left, adjusting his now gleaming glasses, and mentally debated on whether or not he would actually make a wish. He knew Tamaki would most likely ask him what he wished for later, since he didn't actually believe in 'wishing,' he figured that when the time came he would simply make something up. With that descision, Kyoya continued to watch the yelow-orange orb of light rise higher into the sky.

Tamaki, on the other hand, looked up at the sky with a huge grin on his face, looking like a kid watching his first magic show. No doubt it was because he thought of a perfect wish. A perfect wish for him being something along the lines of seeing Haruhi in a bunny suit (since he had now seen her in a cute dress) – although the chances of that wish coming true were 1 out of 1,000,000,000,000.

Haruhi, who was seated on Tamaki's right, shivered a bit from the cold, and pulled her knees closer to her body, trying to get at least a little bit warmer. The host king noticed this and wordlessly took off his jacket and draped it around the girl's shoulders; she wanted to protest, but she also didn't want to ruin this priceless moment, so she said nothing and merely smiled back gratefully. Thanking the sky for the wonderful friends she had, instead of wishing, since she was never into superstitions.

Hikaru, who was on Haruhi's right, saw Tamaki's act of kindness and felt a pang of jealousy and anger; he clenched his hand into a fist. But when a warm hand loosened his fist and entwined it's chilled fingers with his, Hikaru knew instantly who's they were. As he turned his head, Kaoru gave his older brother a silent look that said, 'Don't worry, about that right now. For these last moments of the year, let it be just you and me. . .' With that reassuring look, Hikaru squeezed his younger twin's hand as they both smiled contently. Neither of them making a wish – but they didn't need to – just thanking the sun for what they had.

Once the sun was high enough in the sky, now almost a full circle, Hunny decided to break the silence. "Tama-chan," the boy began in a soft voice, as Tamaki turned to listen, "You said holidays were times to get together with family, and I know you wanted to spend New Year with your family, but, I thought, since you couldn't, that . . . maybe we could—"

"I don't mean to be rude, senpai, but," Tamaki interrupted, "what do you mean I didn't spend New Year with my family? I did. You guys are my family, all of you. You're closer to me than any friend I could have, much closer." He looked at each of them with a fond smile.

"Yeah Hunny, we are family," Kaoru agreed. "I mean, you guys are the only ones who can tell Hikaru and me apart." Haruhi grinned at this, "And with you guys, we can truly open up and talk to you about virtually anything," he have Hunny and Mori a grateful look, "and, in your creative own ways, try to help if we need it." He glanced at Tamaki with affability.

"Plus you've also had enough patience to put up with us," Hikaru added with a grin, while putting an arm around his brother, "And only a family is able to do this like that, especially for as long as you guys have."

Haruhi gave a gentle smile, reflecting on her memories with them, "Even though you guys fuss over me all the time – and it really gets on my nerves – I know you do most of it because you care about me, and you want to make sure I'm alright. The same way a family does when they look out for each other."

Mori patted Hunny on the back, and gave him, and all the rest of the hosts, a benevolent look and smile that said all he needed to, Mori then turned to Kyoya, silently urging him to say something as well.

The shadow king gave a sigh, "I suppose I have to say something too." He seemed reluctant, but if you looked close enough you could see a hint of lenity in his eye. "All of you can be pain to deal with, and some of you have the most deplorable habits," he gave a stern glare to Hunny, who returned it with a pouting lip, "then others can find a way to start a fight over anything," Kyoya gave Tamaki and the Hitachiin twins severe look, "but . . . when your spending time with family, I suppose that's to be expected," he ended in a gentler voice, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Haruhi relaxed and smiled as Tamaki, who, unfortunetly for Kyoya, was sitting right next to the raven haired boy, and embraced him in a bear hug. "Aww, Kyoya! That was so sweet! You had me there for a second! I was afraid that you were going to say that this was a waste of your time! I was so worried, I—"

"Senpaiiii," The twins repined, "you just ruined the moment," they scowled.

"I did not," the blonde objected.

"You did too," the twins retorted.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Tamaki jumped up irritably, "Did not!"

Hikaru and Kaoru did the same, "Did too!"

Now fuming, the host king stomped forward with a fist, "DID NOT!"

The twin devils, matched his stomp with their own, "DID TOO!"

The Suoh and the Hitachiins were just a half inch from each others' faces by now, and were growling at each other through clenched teeth.

Kyoya sighed jadedly, "You see why I mentioned fighting?"

Haruhi laughed lightly, "It's not like this sort of stuff doesn't happen all the time," she said sarcastically.

Hunny and Mori had turned to watch the fighting threesome and Hunny had leaned against Mori's shoulder. "Don't you think Tama-chan, Hika-chan, and Kao-chan all look silly fighting with sticky marshmallow sticks?" The strawberry blonde giggled, as the twins and Tamaki used the marshmallow-roasting sticks like swords. "They have no self-control, do they, Takeshi?"

Mori smiled and shook his head, "Just like a family." He added in his deep voice whilst Haruhi and Kyoya broke up Tamaki and the twins' "swordfight." Haruhi snatched the sticks from the Hitachiins' hands while Kyoya simply called Tamaki an idiot, grabbed his ear, and dragged him as far as he could away from the twins.

"We have a weird family," Hunny chuckled, "But, like Kyoya said, I guess things like this are expected," he smiled and gave a relived sigh, "I'm glad my wish came true."

"What was your wish, Mitsukuni?" The dark haired teen asked.

"I wished for everyone to get along like a family," he laughed, "and it looks like it came true! A lot faster than I hoped it would."

After he said this Tamaki's voice rang out over the clearing. "Uncles, save me! Mother and daughter are both angry at me!" he whimpered.

"Oh shut up, senpai," one of the twins scowled from the other side of the clearing. The area Haruhi confined them to for a 'Time out.'

"Yeah, quit bein' such a baby," the other glowered from where he sat, crossing his arms

Hunny laughed again; shaking his head, as he and Mori stood up to aid the troublemakers, "Yep, just like a family."

A/N: Ain't Hunny da sweetest? x3 I wanna hug 'im so much!! x) I really like this story, it's one of the best I've written so far. Although, I'm not too proud at how Kyoya's little family speach, came out. But it's hard to make the normally deark minded and supirior-ish Kyoya seem sweet and caring. Meh, I guess I did okay. XP Hope you liked the ending, that's the best out of all of the ones I could think of, so I think it's alright. *shrugs*

Sooo, what d'ya think? Hate it, love it, like it, have no opinion about this whatsoever? Either way I'd love to hear from you in your reviews! Really, it's not that hard, it'll only take a minute. I mean, if Hunny could get all the hosts together like this, then you can send a simple review. Right?

Oh, and this story is dedicated to Mimi-dudette and Psyche Eros (Read their fics!)!! You guys Rock! \m/

~Mariel

Reviews please!!
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