Sorry this chapter is so insanely late. Just... life. Thanks to those who have kept up with Need You Now, especially to those who have favorited and followed it. As well as my reviewers. I love you guys the most.
And Happy Thanksgiving!
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own OHSHC.
Tamaki looked down at the small figure in his arms in shock, but then laughed as Haruhi grinned up at him and took his hand, yanking him towards the gate. He gave a half-hearted wave at the guard – who would most likely lose his job for letting Tamaki go – and let himself be dragged out to an idling taxi.
Once safely inside, which had included a lot of pushing and shoving on her part, Haruhi finally let herself relax. It had been a while since she had been alone with Tamaki, and now that they were together again, even if he had no memories, she felt a sense of peace.
That being said, he needed to remember her. Now.
The twins stood outside the gate of Emilie's mansion with their hands ready to scale it using the ivy that twined around the metal bars. It was imposing, but that wouldn't stop them. What would, however, was the gatekeeper's insistence that Tamaki was no longer in the mansion, but had actually escaped with a girl bearing a description quite similar to Haruhi's.
So there was another great plan, wasted. They sighed in unison. He was out, at least, but they were disappointed. Instead of brooding over it, the twins turned back to the car and slid in side by side. "He's already escaped."
What little chatter there was in the car stopped immediately. Kyoya pushed his glasses up onto his nose and broke the awkward silence that had followed the twins announcement. "So. The first part of our plan is apparently taken care of. I guess we need to find Haruhi then."
Hikaru hesitated a moment, and then spoke. "Um, about that… she was the one that broke him out. And before you ask, the guard didn't know where she was taking him."
"But it's Haru-chan. She couldn't have taken him far."
Tamaki found himself outside Ouran Academy for a reason that was completely unknown to him. The very odd part, besides visiting his alma mater, was that there was this voice narrating in the background.
"Only those with excellent social standing and those from filthy rich families are lucky enough to spend their time here at the elite private school, Ouran Academy. The Ouran Host Club is where the school's handsomest boys with too much time on their hands entertain young ladies who also, have way too much time on their hands. Just think of it as Ouran Academy's elegant playground for the super rich and beautiful."
Looking around anxiously, he found Haruhi in a guy's uniform,. complete with a wig to hide her longer hair, with a megaphone in her hand. "Did that do it?"
He shook his head. "What on earth are you doing? It's criminal that such a cute girl is dressed so… so… manly!"
Why can't you go back to how you used to look? Daddy wants his little girl to look like a pretty, pretty princess!
"That would defeat the purpose, Senpai. And besides, we're doing this my way." She grabbed his hand with a grin on her face and pulled him through the open gates. School was still in session, and there were only a couple students out who had decided to skip class.
She figured it would be best to start his memory recovery in the Host Club room, and with that thought in mind, she dragged him up the stairs to Music Room 3. Knowing that it was abandoned, she didn't even bother to knock. It was the Host Club's after all, and nothing should have changed that, even after they graduated.
It was really the faint strains of Chopin's Raindrops that should have made her reconsider her stance, but she was too anxious about getting Tamaki to remember her that she didn't even think about it.
Upon slamming the double doors into the wall, all eyes in the now occupied music room turned toward them. "Look at what you did. You interrupted their rehearsal."
One of the girls placed her violin and bow on the edge of the grand piano before walking reverently towards Tamaki, hands reaching out to caress his face. "Suoh-sama, you're back." Her words unfroze the rest of the girls, and quite a few guys as well.
Haruhi, who had expected something but nothing on this scale, was pushed out of the circle. Even though all their customers had graduated, Tamaki was still a legend. The entire Host Club was in all honesty, but the King far outweighed the natural talent.
"One at a time girls, please. I'm a little rusty, so if you wouldn't mind giving me a little breathing room, I would be very grateful."
The effect of his words were immediate; everyone surrounding him scurried back, pushing Haruhi into the wall behind her. She'd had enough, so she forced her way to the center and once again pulled Tamaki along with her.
She slammed the double doors shut behind her and collapsed against them, still able to faintly make out the voices of his screaming fangirls and guys. "That didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped."
A small grin pulled at his lips. "So what's next on your list of plans that will probably fail?"
She shot him a glare before pushing off the doors and leading him back to the ground floor. She didn't bother giving him an answer.
For some reason, Hunny was driving. They'd had time to get one of Kyoya's cars and the accompanying driver, but Hunny was quite adamant. He claimed he'd always wanted to be a getaway driver, completely ignoring the fact that they were only heading to the school and it was unlikely they would be committing any crimes. But no one wanted to tell him that.
They had discussed the possible places that Haruhi would take Tamaki that were in the general vicinity. There was no way she would take him out of the country - she didn't have that kind of budget. The best idea among the ones including tropical indoor parks and private ski resorts was Ouran Academy. And so, they were on their way.
By this point, no one was particularly worried about Tamaki or Haruhi. It was incredibly likely that they were together, and even without his memories of her, Tamaki wasn't the type of guy to try anything. Hikaru would have been more worried if he did have his memories.
Haruhi led the way to the rose garden that held so many great memories for the two of them, or, well, her at the moment. As they navigated the hedge maze, a smile came to her lips. Games of hide and seek and kick the can had been played there for two years - attempts at connecting with the token commoner.
Upon reaching the gazebo, she held a finger to her lips and crouched under the table. If she hadn't known better, she would have honestly believed she was back in high school. Her hair hadn't been as short as it was - even though it was a wig - and she hadn't worn her uniform since she left for America. It brought a smile to her face. She could almost hear the Host Club calling out their names like they did during hide and seek, even though the two of them always hid in the same place.
The voices were actually coming closer, and Haruhi shot up, hitting her head on the table in the process. Tamaki reached for her head in response, concern clearly written in his eyes. She pulled away though; there were too many memories she had that he didn't that made even really looking at him painful, not to mention that closely.
"I'm fine, thanks."
He pulled his hands away as she turned and crawled out from, under the table. Trying to get him to remember was much harder than she had anticipated. She had never thought that her own memories would be so difficult to handle, even as he just stared at her blankly, not remembering a single moment between them.
With a sigh, she led him out of the maze and away from the continued calls of the Host Club but this time, she didn't take his hand.
The twins flopped to the ground, completely exhausted. It felt as if they had been searching for hours, calling out their friends' names. "I think we were wrong Kyoya-senpai. I don't think they're here," Hikaru called out with Kaoru nodding his agreement.
Kyoya only sighed and pushed up his glasses. "We've only been looking for ten minutes. The campus isn't so small as to be searched in such a small amount of time. Now get up, you lazy twins."
They sighed and pushed up off the ground. It was going to be a long afternoon.
The two of them stood on the balcony outside of the ballroom side by side. Haruhi had run out of places that might trigger something in his head, and this was pretty much a last-ditch effort. With a sigh, she turned around, resigned to the fact that there was very little chance he would remember her using this method. She turned her face to the sky and whispered, "Well, at least I tried."
After several minutes of comfortable silence, she turned towards her companion. "There's nothing more I have to show you. I guess… I guess this is goodbye. It's too painful to be with you."
"Haruhi."
She turned away from him as her eyes filled with tears. "If you remember, you'll know how to get in touch with me. If you never remember… well, then I guess we were never meant to be after all."
Her footsteps echoed on the stones as she walked away from him and everything they had. But something made her turn around and go back to him. "One last time, I swear." She pulled his face to hers and stood on her tiptoes. "I love you, you fool." With tears streaming down her face, she gave him a goodbye kiss.
The two of them were alone on the balcony after one of the famous Host Club Balls. Haruhi was dressed in a tux, as was Tamaki, but she was still the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. He reached for her, but was still a little uncertain as to how she would receive him.
He knew she liked him - after all, who wouldn't? - but he was still a little insecure when it came to her. Her face was turned toward the night sky and her face was propped up on her hand. "I really love it out here. The sky is so much clearer than it is from my apartment."
Tamaki hesitated a moment before pulling her hand from under her face. A puzzled look crossed her face as he only stood there, rubbing the hand that was grasped tightly in his.
"And… what about me? How do you feel about me?"
Her face relaxed into a smile. "I thought that was obvious. I love you, you fool." He smiled and pulled her in for their first kiss.
Tamaki shook himself out of his stupor and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her with all the passion he had. More memories fell into place the longer he kissed her and was amazed that all along, the secret had been with her. All it had taken was a love confession and a kiss.
"And I you, my love," he whispered against her lips.
I promise you guys that this is not the end. We still have Emilie to deal with after all. I wanted to thank all my lovely reviewers once again, especially .lover, for reviewing as much as you did :)