Chapter 2: Stairs and Ice Cream

Haruhi stood outside of the school under the awning so she could be as far away from the rain pouring down as possible. She bit her lip and checked her watch for the fifth time in the last minute. Her dad was running late, and just her luck that he should while it was raining. Suddenly she heard a familiar soft voice behind her.

"Haruhi? Do you need a ride home?" Tamaki asked kindly. Haruhi shook her head and clenched her fists so Tamaki couldn't see that her hands were trembling.

"No, Dad's just running late. Something at work I think." She replied. Tamaki nodded understandingly and Haruhi felt a sudden weight on her shoulders. She looked and saw that Tamaki had put his suit jacket around her shoulders.

"You looked cold." He remarked. Haruhi smiled. She would have been surprised if his kindness wasn't something she saw often.

"Senpai, something weird happened to me today…" she sighed. Tamaki looked concerned.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, but I got a note in my locker."

"May I see it?" he asked. Haruhi handed him the note and jumped a little as a crash of thunder seemed to shake the very ground. Tamaki read over the note, frowning as he did so.

"Do you know who sent you this?" He asked, teeth clenched. Haruhi shook her head and slipped her hands into her pockets.

"No idea. Weird, huh? And kind of creepy." Tamaki nodded in agreement and huffed angrily.

"Well," he growled, "we'll just have to see who wrote this, won't we?" Haruhi snatched the note back and shoved it into her pocket.

"No! The last thing I need is you guys getting involved. I can handle this on my own, Senpai." Tamaki looked down at the tiny girl in surprise. What had he done wrong this time? Haruhi sighed and turned to see her dad's car pulling in. "Look, I'm sorry I shouted at you, but I really can handle this. I've got to go. See you tomorrow." She said, waving solemnly as she climbed into the car. Tamaki watched, as the car became just a speck in the distance, and looked up to see lightning flashing across the sky. Would Haruhi be all right at home?

Haruhi, meanwhile, jumped at every flash of lightning, wishing desperately that she could go home instead of looking for a new one. At least the rain looked nice falling on the window, offering some distraction from the drums of the skies. Soon, Haruhi's father stopped at a small apartment complex, prompting her to hop out of the car with the umbrella he'd brought for her. She held it close to her chest, feeling her heart pounding as she waited for her dad to unlock the door. When he did, she dashed inside, closing the umbrella and sighing in relief. In her pocket, she felt her phone buzz, and she took it out to see who it was texting her. The name on the caller ID made her sigh, but smile nonetheless. Hikaru had texted her a picture of the host club sitting at a table and goofing off. Tamaki was smiling broadly and waving at the camera, Mori was behind him with Hunni on his shoulders. Hunni was holding a large pink ice cream cone. Kyoya had his face buried in his notebook as usual, but that didn't stop Haruhi from seeing the tilted up corner of his mouth that indicated that he was secretly having fun. The twins were in the front of the picture, Hikaru's arm cut off by the edge of the picture, obviously holding the camera with one hand while the other held his twin's shoulder. Beneath the picture of her friends, Hikaru had texted:

Bet you wish you were here, huh, Haruhi? ;)

Haruhi snorted as she laughed before texting back:

I bet you wish I were there instead of house hunting.

She closed her phone and slid it back into her pocket, looking around the place.

"Nice, huh?" her dad asked suddenly.

"Oh, yeah. I guess it is. Which one are we looking at?"

"Let's see…" Ranka muttered as he pulled a slip of paper out of his purse, "Number 103. It's upstairs. Elevator or stairs?" This was a game they'd played when Haruhi was little. If she said elevator, they would jump up and down when they were inside it, annoying the hell out of whoever was inside. If they took the stairs, it became a race, and whoever won got to pick dinner; the loser had to make it. Haruhi let a grin spread across her face before grinning and announcing

"Stairs,"