No more delays! Proceed!
---
The car jerked to a halt, and Haruhi yanked her seatbelt off, before taking off out of the car and over to where the crowd was now gathering on the corner, ignoring the beckons from the Hitachiins, who promptly followed, nearly falling out of the car in their haste.
Weaving her way through the people, Haruhi knelt down and disappeared from the twins' view. Following Haruhi's lead, but much more discourteously, they barged their way through the throng. Reaching the centre, and the reason for the crowding, they both mimicked Haruhi's earlier gasp.
Cho was lying on the floor, white as paper, jolting and jerking, her eyes rolled to the back of her head. A woman had taken off her jacket and placed it under her head to protect her from crashing onto the cold concrete.
The twins froze, but Haruhi was quick into action.
"Call an ambulance!" She said to them, trying to get them out of their own stupor.
"I already have," said the woman calmly.
A young girl, no older than five or six, was stood beside her, clinging to her mother's shirt. Clearly she was a mother. She was so calm about everything, and quite obviously had taken control of the situation. Unlike the twins.
"Do you know this girl?" The woman asked Haruhi.
"Yeah, she just started school with us." Haruhi replied. "What happened to her?"
"I don't know. We were walking behind her, and she just collapsed, and then started fitting." The woman explained, before looking over her shoulder, reacting to the sound of the sirens.
The ambulance pulled up, and two medics climbed out and made their way through the crowd with a stretcher and a pillow. One medic knelt down to deal with Cho, replacing the woman's jacket with the pillow, whereas the other started to disperse the crowd, so they had some space.
"I'm so sorry, but I need to get my daughter to school, would you be alright to take over from here?" said the woman, retrieving her coat from the medic.
"Of course, thank you so much for your help," Haruhi said, bowing her head slightly to the woman, who smiled before getting to her feet.
"I do hope your friend is alright," she said, taking her daughter's hand, and then walking off.
The twins were still stood, ignoring the directions from the medic who had ushered the gathering of people away. He was trying to get them to move along as well, but they were too stunned to be able to take in what he was saying, just watching as Cho slowly started to relax.
"Hey, they know her too!" Haruhi said, as she realised who the medic had been talking to.
The medic looked at Haruhi, then back to the twins, before assisting his colleague run quick checks on Cho. Once the seizure had stopped, they got her onto the stretcher, before wheeling her off into the ambulance.
"Hikaru! Kaoru! Will you guys snap out of it!" Haruhi shouted at them.
Still slightly stunned, they made their way over to the ambulance.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid there's only space for one of you to ride in the ambulance," the medic informed them.
"I'll go with Cho," Haruhi said, shaking her head, realising that the twins were not going to be of any help whatsoever. "You two carry on to school and explain what happened." She added, climbing into the back of the ambulance, before the door slammed shut, and it drove off.
Hikaru broke the silence.
"At least they didn't put the sirens back on. That's a good sign, right?" He asked his younger brother.
"I guess so," replied Kaoru quietly. "Come on, we'd better get to school and explain this to Sensei."
Walking back to the car, where their chauffeur was waiting for them, holding the door open, the twins moved closer so that they were touching. They hadn't ever seen anything like that, and they were both a little scared; it was their natural reaction when it was something different. Just knowing that they had each other was of some comfort.
When the car set off again, back en route to Ouran, Kaoru shuffled closer to Hikaru, resting his head on his shoulder, and Hikaru slid his hand into Hikaru's, so they could reassure each other silently.
Their relationship had always been… complicated. They were much closer than any other siblings, or any other twins. Of course, they used it to put on a show for their clients, but it wasn't completely an act. They'd poured all their love into each other, because they were all they had.
Kaoru looked at his brother's hand in his own. He wished it could be like this all the time. He was happy with how things were. But since Haruhi had come into the picture… It had changed, despite how much he tried to deny it. He squeezed gently, and he felt Hikaru's head lay lightly on his own.
They arrived at school, late, in silence.
---
The day dragged. Haruhi didn't return to school for the remainder of the day. Not even for the Host Club. Kyoya scribbled in his book, and muttered something about punctuality and habit.
Hikaru turned swiftly.
"Haruhi's in the hospital, if you must know." He said, his matter-of-fact tone ending up slightly more venomous than he would've liked.
Tamaki, who was busy greeting the guests at the door, froze.
Kaoru realised what Hikaru had said, but before he could interject, Tamaki had grabbed his brother and had him pinned against the wall by the cuff of his shirt.
Everybody in the room stopped in shock as Tamaki shouted at Hikaru, the questions pouring out one after the other before Hikaru even had chance to string together a sentence in his mind. Everyone, except Kaoru.
Immediately at Tamaki's side, he threw a strong punch at the side of his head. Tamaki stumbled to the floor, releasing Hikaru from his grasp. Kaoru put his arms around his brother. It had been an instant reaction. It was usually Hikaru who was the reckless one, the one who was always concerned for his brother. Apparently, they both had those traits, but it had just taken more for that side of Kaoru to surface.
The next moment, Honey and Mori created a barrier between the twins, who had now turned to face Tamaki, who was still lay on the floor, reeling from the surprise attack.
"It's fine, guys," Hikaru said quietly.
"Boss, Haruhi's fine, she just went with Cho after an incident this morning." Kaoru explained.
Kyoya cleared his throat, before turning to the stunned guests who were still stood in the doorway.
"I'm afraid the Host Club will have to be cancelled for today, ladies. My sincerest apologies, but if you return tomorrow, we will be holding a very special Host Club," Kyoya said, holding his arms out as he walked towards the door, to usher them out.
There were many noises of disappointment and dismay as Kyoya shut the door.
"Now, do you care to explain what has happened exactly?"
---
So there you have it! I forced myself to finish this one so you could all get two for the price of one! What did you think?
As always, reviews are greatly appreciated! Hopefully the next chapter won't take too long!
~KW