A/N: REVISED. I apologize for any grammatical errors and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7

The boys gathered in the Haninozuka great room, the tension building as they anticipated the conversation they were about to have. Their eyes fell to the one person who they had grown to look to for answers more often than not. It was as natural as breathing for them to turn to him when he exuded such calm; even in his obvious exhaustion he seemed to be in control.

Hani was lying on the love-seat with one leg hanging over the side and his arm flung over his eyes, his blond hair in disarray and the only sign of his anger was the tick in his jaw. When he felt their stare, he let his arm slide off his face and turned towards them. Hani was not the type of leader who took comfort in being the one that others turned to—in fact, he didn't see himself as a leader at all. They looked at him, begging him for answers he didn't have and he wondered how they couldn't see how lost he was? He was just as worn out and as angry as they were, yet somewhere along the way they decided that he was the best person to make the hard decisions. The trust they had in him made him uncomfortable, but despite his unease he wouldn't willingly disappoint them. His whiskey colored eyes darkened as he contemplated what their next move should be, "She knows someone is following her. She was watching for our reactions yesterday—she wanted confirmation that it wasn't just her which means that this has happened at least once before."

Kyoya took off his glasses and rubbed his hand roughly over his face, "So what do we do? We find out who this bastard is obviously, but do we tell Haruhi what we're doing? I mean...does she really have to know how we go about keeping her safe?"

Hikaru shook his head, "I think telling her might set her back. We should keep this to ourselves."

His brother was about to nod in full agreement, but froze when Hani shook his head, "No. We tell her."

Hikaru turned to Hani and narrowed his eyes, "Why? What purpose would it serve other than to scare her? She has been through more than enough and we'd be doing her a favor by keeping her out of this."

The others tensed, sensing the change in the room as the two most volatile members of their group glared at one another. Hani sat up and tilted his head to the side as he spoke, his voice cold in his efforts to remain calm, "So, you suggest we undermine her intelligence? She already knows someone is following her so what purpose would it serve to hide from her how we intend to keep her safe? She would want to know even if it scares her and I respect her enough to not hide this from her. Can you say the same?"

Hikaru snarled, "I want to keep her safe, even if that means keeping her in the dark. Do you really want to risk making her worse?"

Hani chuckled and shook his head, "Are you really trying to manipulate me? You not only seem to have forgotten who you are speaking to, but it is obvious how little faith you have in Haruhi. She has had enough of dark to last her a lifetime and I won't leave her there because you think we would be doing her a favor."

Hikaru whispered angrily, "I just want to keep her safe."

"We all want Haruhi safe, but if we treat her like glass then we will be doing her a disservice. She has come so far already and if we belittle all she has done by being dishonest with her, the only thing we will have accomplished is showing Haruhi that we see her as weak. She deserves more than that."

Hikaru looked down at the floor, trying to hide the defeat in his eyes. He didn't want Hani to be right, but they had all put their trust in the older boy for a reason. It was obvious to them early on that despite the violence that seemed to lurk in the shadows of Hani's eyes, he was the most composed and able to keep them on the right path. When Haruhi was found, though Hani was careful with her, he was able to get through to her in ways the rest of them couldn't. He stood beside her and occasionally helped her stand when she needed it—when all Hikaru wanted to do was shelter her. Hikaru wanted to be Haruhi's strength while Hani insisted on only lending his strength when she needed it most, and that was why Hani was what Haruhi deserved. Hikaru could never be for her what Hani was—he didn't have the fortitude to be her anchor. Not like Hani.

"I apologize Hani sempai. I trust your judgment…and you're right. Even if done with the best of intentions, Haruhi deserves more than dishonesty."

Hani's face softened, "I understand where you're coming from Hikaru. There are times that all I want to do is protect Haruhi from whatever comes her way, so that she will never have to fight again—but then I remind myself that I would only weaken her if I didn't let her stand on her own. I have to tell myself that what I want might not be what Haruhi needs and even when I am tempted to lie to her to make things easier, I would rather be someone she sought out for the truth rather than for false comfort."

Hikaru sighed, "I wish I thought like you, it would save you the trouble of having to keep me from making the wrong decisions."

Hani shrugged, "It's not wrong to want to protect her. We all have different views on how to do so, but what's important is that we listen to one another and never forget that in the end it is about Haruhi and not us. There will be times when you are right and I'm wrong; I'm not infallible Hikaru."

"I know that—"

It was quiet again for a while until Kyoya sighed, "Okay, so we tell her. Now all we have to decide is what we will be telling her. What is the plan?"

Hani leaned back into the seat and turned to look out the window, "We have our own people follow her, different ones every day so that whoever is watching her doesn't catch on. Our people will be looking for them while they are busy watching Haruhi. When they find whoever it is, we let Haruhi decide what she wants us to do. I don't want to take the choice from her—maybe giving her power of the situation is something that will help her."

~oOo~

Haruhi sat cross-legged on her bed trying to focus on her anatomy book, but found herself reading the same paragraph over and over again instead. It was nearly impossible to focus on studying when all she could think about was that there was someone out there following her. She struggled daily with her fear and the more her mind unwillingly drifted to her unknown stalker, she could feel herself losing the fight. She felt herself becoming overwhelmed and she so badly wanted to just crawl into a corner and cry—it would be so easy to fall back into the abyss where she so often forced herself to feel nothing, but then she remembered she wouldn't fall alone. She would be dragging all the people who cared about her down the same dark path they all were trying so hard to escape from. She couldn't do that to them and as tempting as it was, she refused to go back to that place when she had worked so hard already to escape it.

She had wondered if she might be experiencing hyper-vigilance; a side effect of her PTSD—but when her boys responded to the eyes she felt on her she knew then that it wasn't just in her mind. They had tried to hide their reactions, but Haruhi was nothing if not perceptive. The minute she felt unwanted eyes on her, she shifted her attention subtly to her friends. Afterward they hadn't questioned her about it and she hoped that they wouldn't try to hide their intentions from her; she wanted to know what they were going to do. She wanted them to have faith in her; to believe that she was strong enough to handle whatever may come next. She knew they were driven by their own fear to protect her and that there was little they wouldn't do to keep her safe, but if there was one thing she missed about herself from before it was her ability to stand on her own.

She thought back to the day at the beach when she tried to fight off the two boys by herself. Tamaki had been so angry at her for trying to deal with them on her own and it had taken Kyoya's demonstration in his bedroom to make her see that there were consequences to her need for independence. She had learned that independence could make a person strong, but it could also isolate you. It could make it hard, for someone who clung to their independence like a shield, to accept help from others. Her friends had taught her that very important lesson and with time she was able to depend on her boys, admittedly some more than others. This situation presented to her that very same lesson, but an inverted version of it. She wanted her friends to be able to save her, but she also didn't want to forget how much pride she took in being able to save herself. She wanted the confidence she once treasured back, so that when she turned to others for help it wasn't because she was afraid to stand up against whatever tried to knock her down.

She breathed out loudly through her nose and rose from her bed, stretching her arms above her head and standing on her tiptoes groaning at the popping of her stiff joints. It was her dad's first day back to work, and despite his requests they had scheduled him for the night shift. After all the allowances his job made for him there was no way he could argue their decision and she didn't want him to. She made her way over to her dad's bedroom and watched from the doorway as he expertly applied his makeup.

Ranka looked at his daughter's reflection in the mirror of his vanity and he smiled sadly at her. He hated that he had to leave her alone, but he needed the money and though he knew Haruhi understood he still felt uneasy. To distract himself he tilted his head in a 'come here' motion and waited for her to sit beside him on the long vanity stool.

"Do you remember when you were little after your mom died, you would come in here and let me put make up on you?"

Ranka's breath hitched at the small smile that graced her sad face as she whispered, "I remember."

She closed her eyes at the feel of the soft bristles against her cheekbone, leaving behind a light pink hue. His daughter was too beautiful for makeup, it distracted from her natural beauty, but this moment wasn't about a bit of blush and eye shadow. It was about remembering a time when she had little to fear but thunderstorms. When he was done she opened her eyes and a single tear slid down her cheek. He pulled her into his arms, his cheek lying on the crown of her head.

"Oh, my baby girl, I wish I could take it all away. I wish I could do more for you, but all I have are hugs."

Haruhi wrapped her tiny arms around her father, "It's more than enough daddy."

He held her until she was limp in his arms, "Baby, it's okay to lean on others a bit. It doesn't make you weak to need people, I promise you it doesn't. Right now, what matters is that you feel safe while I am gone. You don't have to pretend with me, just tell me what you need to make you feel safe and I promise I will get it for you."

As he was the only person who could reach her in the dark, it didn't surprise Ranka very much at all when she whispered his name before falling into an exhausted sleep.

Hani.

~oOo~

Hani woke to the sound of his phone ringing and his hand reached out blindly for it. He didn't even look at the name on the screen, his fingers instinctively swiping across the green button in the dark.

His voice was rough from sleep when he answered, "Hello?"

"Hani?"

The sound of Ranka's voice was enough to yank Hani completely into the waking world, "Ranka? Is Haruhi okay?"

"She's sleeping. I uh…I'm about to head out to work and I was hoping that maybe you could come over. It would make me feel a whole lot better if you were here with her."

Hani was already up and making his way out to his car. "Of course Ranka, I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Thank you Hani."

On the way to Haruhi's, Hani wondered why Ranka had called him when he was so much closer to Kyoya. He wasn't one to let a question go so when Ranka opened the door he set down his keys on the counter and asked, "Why me?"

Ranka gave him a knowing look, "Because it was you she asked for."

A/n: Hani being Haruhi's choice is one of the reasons I had to revise this story. For those of you who read this when I first posted it, you know I was torn between Hani and Kyoya, but by this chapter I already knew. I love the idea of Kyoya and Haruhi, but as Hani's new persona began to develop in my mind I basically cornered myself. It had to be Hani. Reviews are treasured!

Thank you.

~Inari