Chapter 3

"Tamaki, mouth-to-mouth is not really necessary,"

"But the safety holoclass said –"

"– in case there's no breathing. She is,"

"We should call Takashi – he had some cottonballs earlier," said Haninozuka, combing a strand of hair away from Haruhi's eyes.

"He is hunting! Who knows how far he is. And he already gave her some when she almost choked on PE,"

"So what? A bit more ain't gonna kill her. We take it all the time and nothing has happened to us,"

"That's because you are addicts, assholes! We are not going to corrupt the only state-educated mind in our midst with cot,"

"Well…" Ootori said softly, and waited to speak until the other four boys had quieted down, "If we are her only providers, she might be more amenable to our point of view,"

A beat of silence.

"Man, you are evil," said the twins in unison.

"Just pragmatic," Ootori approached Haruhi, and pressed two fingers to her throat. "She will be fine. Stop overreacting and go do something useful while she awakens. Have you finished cleaning the higher levels?"

"No…"

"Are awaiting a formal invitation from the empress of roaches?"

Haruhi heard the twins skulking away and climbing up the servers. She had woken up when Tamaki had pressed his very invasive mouth to hers for the second time that evening, and she was committed to doing her best impression of roadkill. Maybe if she didn't move they would go away. It would be difficult to find her way back into the Dormitories, but not impossible. She just had to go up.

"I will go look for Takashi," said Haninozuka.

"Be careful," said Tamaki. "And don't rush – we have all night,"

Haninozuka's soft footsteps left Haruhi's proximity. She sensed the attention of the two remaining boys diverting from her and focusing on something else – through their silence and their very slow breathing. A metallic sound and a waft of breeze told her that Haninozuka had left the underground and gone outside.

The metallic sound (a lid? a door?) echoed again, and Haruhi heard the relieved sighs from both boys. They had a way out, that sigh said, but it was not completely secure. She filed that information away for future use.

Ootori typed the minutes away, and the tension between the two built until Tamaki addressed him. He sounded tired.

"Not that I mind recruiting an untrained civilian to join our revolution, but I would like to understand why you didn't bring Kasanoda too,"

"Tamaki, we are untrained civilians," pointed out Ootori without interrupting his typing.

"Less and less every day. Our mind is set to the drums of change. Hers is set to – I don't know – whatever city people worry about. Half-off sales and cog-turning examinations,"

Haruhi felt slightly offended – she actually loved getting a good food deal. Thinking about it made her belly rumble again.

"God of thunder, how did that bit make that noise?"

"That's the song of two missing rations," said Ootori. "She gave them to Kasanoda,"

"Did he cut her or something?"

"No – she did it out of the kindness of her heart,"

"Well, that's very generous but very dumb. Noble," he paused to change his posture. "Maybe she could be a good influence for the twins,"

Haruhi could practically hear Ootori rolling his eyes.

"Think, Tamaki – now he owes her. He probably sees her as his only friend in here. He knows that she started at the same time, and she's been the only student who has acknowledged him as a person instead of a murderer,"

Haruhi's heart skipped a beat. A murderer?

"He probably thinks that she is a state-planted honeypot," said Tamaki. "He is used to people trying to trick him,"

"Of course – because honeypots usually look like blind twelve year olds with mops on their heads,"

"Maybe that's his type, and the police know, and she is a honeypot," argued Tamaki, too vehemently to be taken seriously. "Maybe she is going to report on us!" now he sounded like he was starting to believe his own nonsense. Ootori smacked him on the head.

"Or maybe you're an idiot. The fact is that Kasanoda now trusts Fujioka, which could be a huge asset for establishing a working relationship with him. If we get her to join us, that is. Besides, I have every reason to believe that her officer in charge is going to come back soon to take her for a tour,"

"To Tokyo?"

"Yes,"

Tamaki's voice lightened with excitement.

"That would be fantastic! She could f-"

The metal door banged again, and the cool night air breezed in. "They are back!" said Tamaki with glee, suddenly moving away before finishing the phrase.

"Did you bring meat?!" shouted one of the twins from above.

"Meat and better!" said Haninozuka, and his voice bounced across the vaulted room. "Come down and see!"

Haruhi heard a terrible screeching noise, metal scratching hard against the concrete floor, which made her grit her teeth. That doesn't sound like a dead animal.

"You might want to stop pretending to sleep for the midnight feast," said Ootori, the whole force of his silk-whip voice lashing at her.

Haruhi opened her eyes. He was already walking away.

The scratching sound continued, and as if that wasn't enough, Haruhi's stomach roared again. She stood up slowly. The part of her brain that was not busy thinking about food knew perfectly well that her body was guiding her decision to join the boys, who had formed an expectant semicircle. The twins' arms were blackened with soot up to their shoulders, and they were loudly encouraging Haninozuka and Morinozuka –it was her morning instructor who had been out hunting, and she should definitely be more surprised than she felt- and Tamaki had given up his teen idol posturing to fidget like an overexcited puppy.

"Drone down!" shouted a Hitachiin, –Hikaru? - and his brother, Tamaki and Hani cheered and clapped. Even Ootori was smiling.

"Excellent work, Mori,"

"How did you bring it down?" asked Tamaki, caressing the aluminum carcass of the raptor. "It is beautiful,"

"And you turned off the tracker," said Ootori, checking the underbelly of the beast. "Wait, it's not even here – what did you do with it?"

"I attached it to a crow," said Morinozuka. Like Tamaki, he was only wearing the regulatory tank top over his torso, but in his case it was not for show - his muscles were bulging and his skin was glistening after the hunt. "And I stuck our own tracker to the bird, so we can get it back," he wiped the sweat off his front, and clapped the drone's head, almost lovingly. Then he reached to his belt and untied a primitive bag that he threw in the twin's general direction. Kaoru caught it.

"Rabbits!" he exclaimed, delighted after looking inside. Haruhi's stomach twisted when she imagined the dead animals inside the bag, but something deeper and ancient within her chest licked its lips and settled to pounce. Her mouth was dry as cotton.

"– and wild sweet potatoes," listed Haninozuka, "I'll get the convector,"

"I'll get the water and the moonshine!"

Mori, still smiling with pride at his feat, looked up and noticed Haruhi for the first time. His eyebrows rose to his scalp line in surprise, but he recovered quickly and nodded softly in her direction. She nodded back.

Haninozuka carried a rickety metal box, roughly the length, depth and width of his legs, to a corner of the vaulted underground room. He pressed a switch and red light zigzagged inside the box. It was a portable oven. Next to him, Hikaru and Kaoru were efficiently skinning the rabbits using thin makeshift knives. Their hands still black from their work on the twin servers, and their fingers left soft traces of soot over the pink flesh of the animals. They settled the fur in a nearby barrel and, once they were done cleaning the rabbits, put them inside the convector. As soon as they touched metal a delicious, savory scent unlike anything that Haruhi had ever smelled filled the air. Her mouth watered.

"Our princess is up!" said Tamaki, who was still hugging the drone's belly with his whole body, like a long-lost teddy bear. His smile was just a tiny bit teasing, and his teeth were very white. "Are you hungry? You must be hungry. Stay for dinner. Where there's enough for six, there's enough for seven,"

"Are you going to drug my meal?" asked Haruhi, although her stomach and that amazing smell had already decided that yes, she was staying.

"Only if you want us too," said Tamaki, winking at her, at the same time that Ootori said, "Please. Drugs are expensive,"

"Eh, princess Fujioka, if you stay to eat you gotta help!" said the meaner twin (Hikaru – she was almost sure now). The other took a bunch of sweet potatoes from the bag with ash and blood hands and juggled them, finishing the show by launching them at Haruhi in elegant arcs. "Catch!"

She managed to miss all but the last, and they rolled on the floor.

She picked them up one by one. She had never seen vegetables that irregular and rough. "I don't think this is very hygienic," she said, using a bunch of hanging cloth at the front of her uniform as an improvised basket. "Where can I clean them?"

The boys laughed.

"Yes, worry about dirty wild potatoes when there's an armed drone in the same room!"

Tamaki stopped hugging the raptor and backed up as if it had burned his chest. He squealed. "Mori! Is the drone armed?!"

Mori had joined Haninozuka and, together, they were surveying the rabbits. He shook his head.

"It's a surveyance model – it looks and reports to the armed ones," clarified Ootori.

"Good, good. Do not fear the drone, princess,"

"Yeah, fear the blond ass next to the drone," said Hikaru, rolling a knife between his fingers.

There were six rabbits and seven people, so Tamaki decided that everyone would give a bit of theirs to Haruhi. They ate in the same ration boxes that they used at the cafeteria – it was surely Haninozuka who was sneaking them out, using his privileges as chef and delegate.

"Why are you so fucking formal?" asked Hikaru, digging into his rabbit's breast. His fingers were greasy, although both he and Kaoru had ended up washing their hands with antiseptic that Ootori carried around.

"Everybody uses their family names here," she said, pointing at her own tag, "And Hitachiin is yours, isn't it? I'm just being polite,"

"Nah, that's just the place where we come from," said Kaoru. He passed her half a leg. Haruhi took a small bite, and then a much bigger one. It was delicious. She rarely ate meat – it was extremely expensive, when you could find it, and for the price of a meager steak she could buy a month's worth of tofu. Living on the countryside could have some advantages. Maybe Morinozuka could teach her to hunt.

Then she remembered that she'd have to kill a furry living thing with her hands and she shook the idea from her mind.

"They had to put something in the file," said Hikaru, probably thinking that she was shaking her head about their names.

She looked at the boys around her. "So you all are named after places?"

"No, only Hikaru and Kaoru," said Haninozuka. "Takashi's named after his mom – she was a student here too, and he was born in Ouran,"

"So you've never left the school?" Haruhi asked, looking at Mori. He had put back the uniform jacket, which was as tight around his broad back as Haruhi's was loose.

Morinozuka shrugged, looking at the rabbit and the drone, and then in the direction of the exit.

"Mori knows his way around better than any of us. And the school trusts him implicitly – his loyalty is perfect to a fault," said Ootori, "Hence the fire baton. He's the only one of us legally allowed to carry a weapon,"

"Yes, well, he is supposed to only use it on students that misbehave," said Kaoru.

"Like us," said Hikaru. "Or you,"

"He never does, though," said Tamaki, eager to put her at ease, "He is the better man. Other than me, of course," he said, absolutely serious. The twins, Hani and Mori threw small bones at him and booed. Tamaki retaliated by throwing the rabbit's head at Hikaru, who dodged it. It crashed against the drone behind him, leaving a greasy mark on its shiny surface.

"Look what you made me do!" Tamaki stood up and walked to the raptor, and wiped the stain with his hand, managing to smear it even more.

"Tamaki, please, sit down and stop playing with our only asset," said Ootori. "You are supposed to be charming Fujioka into joining our cause," he offered her a round flask that they had been passing around. His tone was so polite, and his gesture so natural, that Haruhi took it and lifted it to her lips. It smelled like sake and litchis and something else, stronger and darker. She pretended to drink while Tamaki sat down next to her, and then passed it to Kaoru, who swallowed with joy.

"Was it tasty?" asked Hani, licking his fingers and his lips. They were wet and pink. "I prefer strawberry wine – but it's too early in the year for that,"

"Hm," said Haruhi, and Ootori's lips quirked up. He knew that she had faked the sip. "It's too strong," she said, non-commitally.

"You've never drank before?" asked Hikaru. "If I lived in the city I would drink a barrel of vodka every single night,"

"That's because you're an alcoholic," said Tamaki. "And shut up – you are going to scare her," without warning, he took Haruhi's hands between his and lifted them to his chest. He was very warm. Haruhi tensed immediately, and her jaw clenched, prepared to bite if he dipped in again, but he did not notice. "I do not scare you, do I, princess? I know that you cannot see me very well, but can you feel how sincerely my heart beats? Everything I say is honest – I swear,"

Haruhi slid back away from him, getting her hands back into her pockets and barely avoiding a crash onto Kaoru. Her hand closed around the mandarin orange. The twins snickered.

"Now you are laying it a bit thick, sugar daddy," said Kyouya, taking his glasses off and carefully cleaning them with a bit of cloth. He had made a polite pile of bones on the floor.

"Mon Dieu, there's no way to make you happy," snapped Tamaki at the group. "Haruko,"

"Haruhi," corrected Haruhi.

"Princess Haruhi," Tamaki repeated. "We would like you to join us in our quest?"

"Just so you know, before you make an even bigger fool of yourself, she was awake the whole time she was on the floor," said Kyouya, putting his glasses back on, "She knows about Kasanoda. You can skip that part,"

Haruhi stopped him before he could restart.

"Thanks a lot for the food – this is delicious – but I'm not going to join your idiotic quest,"

She heard laughing, but Tamaki's face decomposed.

"Our quest – to bring freedom to Japan – is not stupid,"

"I'm not either," said Haruhi, pointing at the two giant servers that she had believed to be the Authorities. "They fooled me at first, but now I can see that they are a crude copy of the real thing. They are impressive, and I have no idea of how you got them, but you are not going to be able to bring down a country or whatever your brilliant plan is just with two servers. It's a miracle that you have not been found out, with all the noise that you make,"

Tamaki's mouth opened and closed. He looked hurt in his pride, and his lips were set like the stubborn mouth of a five-year-old. None of the boys jumped to his defense.

"As for Kasanoda, he was hungry, I gave him food, and then he pushed me against a fridge and pointed an axed-sized knife at me, so I really don't know where your trust bar is, but his is definitely much lower,"

Ootori coughed.

"What?"

"You forgot to mention the part where he cut all the turnips for you,"

The twins wolf-whistled and Haninozuka's eyes widened as he pointed his finger at Haruhi. "I knew that you could not have done it alone!"

Haruhi's fist tightened around the fruit. She held on to it, repeating the mantra that had been given as a gift by Matsuyama, her eyes set firmly on her shoes and the face of her father bright on her mind. "Whatever. You are delusional. Six orphans and two hand built servers against fifty thousand inlaws and the net-power of the Authorities – suicidal. That's not something that I would want to try even if you had a thousand times more people,"

A blanket of silence fell over the group, and for a few minutes the only sound was that of chewing meat and breaking bones. Haruhi felt just a little bit bad to have dampened their good humor. She might have been unnecessarily harsh with their delusions. If they had lived for most of their lives in Ouran, without any expectations, it was almost normal that they hung on to the first beam of hope that they found. She was truly impressed with what they had accomplished, and more than a little scared of how every one of them could switch on the glow of menace - but that was not reason to join them in a pointless mission doomed to fail. She had to focus on her own goal.

She looked up to see that Haninozuka, Ootori and Kaoru were exchanging looks and spare hand signals over the heads of the other sulky three. They noticed her and stopped. Kaoru used his elbow to call his brother's attention, who looked up at him, and a thought passed between the two of them. Hikaru read his brother's face like a cracked cipher. His furrowed brow unwrinkled, and his shoulders relaxed.

Haninozuka leant onto Morinozuka's chest, splaying his legs along the taller boys and resting his head on his chest. He sucked his thumb for a moment, which disturbed Haruhi more than anything that had happened that day. Her cheeks reddened and she turned her eyes to her feet, where they stayed until Ootori spoke.

"A proof of power, then," he said.

"What?" she asked, looking up. He was smiling at her, seemingly unguarded. She mistrusted him immediately. On the positive side, Haninozuka had stopped sucking his thumb. "What do you mean?"

"He means that we can show you we're not fibbing," said Kaoru.

"What's your heart's desire?" asked Haninozuka, with his ankles crossed.

"Yes, princess, tell us your story – maybe there is something that we can do for you in exchange for your help," Tamaki's voice was speckled with bitterness, but he sounded more sincere than the other three combined.

"I'm not going to help you," said Haruhi, very serious. "And he already knows everything," she pointed at Ootori, who opened his hands and showed her his palms. They were snow-white, very different from twins and the third years, the hands of a skilled surgeon.

"Just snippets, just everything that goes on the record – but records are not reality. Tell us with your own words,"

"Please, Fuji-chan," asked Haninozuka with an acidic sweet melodious tone. "We love stories,"

"You can start by once-upon-a-timing if it makes it easier," suggested Kaoru.

"And we can make a doll with the rabbit's rests so you can show us where your daddy touched you," said Hikaru, arching an eyebrow.

Haruhi's brain took a stunned second to process Hikaru's words, but once it did her whole body sprang forward, leaping across Kaoru with killing intent. Her reliable, calmer, quieter, overseeing self melted in contact with the white-hot rage that powered her attack. She managed to slap the boy twice – once leaving a bright red mark across his ear and cheek, a second time sloppily on the arm, because he had jumped back – before two pairs of arms pulled her away. Hikaru was laughing like a maniac, even as he nursed his cheek.

"Ouch – looks like I struck a chord there. Do you have daddy issues? Kyouya told us that he stands accused of sucking dick. Did he teach you how?"

Haruhi leapt again, but this time she only managed to hurt herself. She didn't need to look up to know that it was Mori who was restraining her. A string of insults that she had not even imagined until that moment cascaded from her mouth like poison darts, but they only seemed to tickle Hikaru's funny bone.

"What a dirty mouth! I wonder where it's been,"

"Shut up, now," said his brother, pushing him lightly. "You are making things worse,"

"Worse than what? She thinks that we are retarded, and I think that she is a fake bitch with a stick up her ass. Might as well pull it out,"

"Enough," said Tamaki. "One more word from that hellhole and I will kick you out,"

Hikaru shut up and paled. The red hand mark on his cheek shone brighter – she had managed to draw blood where her fingernails had scratched his skin.

"You can't afford to kick us out," he said quietly, holding Kaoru's hand. "Not for this," he said, pointing at Haruhi. She still wanted to kill him – but she would have to wait until

"I'm not kicking out both of you. Kaoru will stay," Tamaki looked at Kaoru, who held onto his twins hand tighter.

"What we cannot afford is you creating dissent for the sake of it. We are trying to win her trust," said Ootori, stepping beside Tamaki. He turned to Haruhi. "And for the record, I never told these two that you father was a prostitute, and certainly not that he was on the run for performing his job,"

"I deduced it myself," said Hikaru. "It wasn't difficult,"

"I said, shut up!" Tamaki held Hikaru's shoulders and shook him so hard that the boy's head snapped back. Tamaki released him, grimacing with disgust.

"You are full of bullshit," snapped Hikaru.

"You are – I'll deal with you later,"

He turned to Haruhi, who was still trapped by Mori's arms. "I'm very sorry. And he will be, soon, please don't take what he said to heart. He is messed up," he said, pointing at his head.

"We are all a little crazy down here," sing-sang Haninozuka.

Ootori pinched his nose. "We should get to work. And Fujioka should go back to her pod – her hour is up, and we have accomplished very little,"

Mori made a small angry sound.

"Except for the raptor. We should focus on that now. Kaoru, you had an appointment with Kozue Kitamikado tonight, didn't you?"

"Yes,"

"Escort Fujioka to her pod on your way to it,"

"I'll go with them," said Hikaru.

"No. You will stay here and help us finish the clean up,"

"Kozue is expecting me too!"

"We'll give her a deep discount. Kaoru, be generous tonight to make up for Hikaru's absence, we don't want to lose a customer,"

He put Haruhi's clenched fist into Kaoru's hand. "Don't let go of her until she is in the pod. She tends to flee. She should close her eyes once you are in the corridors, so make sure that she does not bump into things either,"

"Stop talking like I'm not even here," said Haruhi, redirecting her rage at Ootori.

"But you are not here. You have never been here," he said, threats hidden in word games, and delicately put her folded glasses into her chest pocket. "But if you decide to come back to Neverland, leave your heartstrings above ground,"

Tamaki did not come closer. He watched her from a distance, and mouthed a very regretful silent "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," that melded with the red lights and the dark shadows of the server room.

Kaoru was a gentle guide, and this time the stairs flew beneath their feet.

"My father never-" started Haruhi, once they were up and she had to close her eyes again. They throbbed like twin hearts.

"I know. I mean, everybody knows – Hikaru was just shooting in the dark," said Kaoru softly. "He was hurt because you didn't take us seriously,"

"How could I? I don't know you. I don't know me now, not this person I've become – I've never hit anyone before,"

"Really?" Kaoru said, "That's a pity – you had just one chance to enjoy your first slap ever and you wasted it on my brother, when Tamaki was sitting right next to you,"

Haruhi didn't smile.

"You have to let go and adapt. Open your mind a little. Tell me your story," he said, gently coaxing her tight fist to open with soft touches. She gave in, because she did not have any more energy to resist, and Kaoru lightly laced their hands together. He used his thumb to caress its back, from the wrist to the knuckles, with gentle and calming circles.

"My father was working –in the Red district, so that part is half-truth- and I was sleeping. The police came in and took me. They won't tell me what he's done, they don't know where he is and then they put me here,"

"And your mom?"

Haruhi shook her head, and Kaoru seemed to understand immediately. His hand was very warm. "That sucks. What do you think he did?"

"I honestly have no idea. Maybe he went too far in his job – he is very enthusiastic. He took this picture with a famous chef a few hours before, so at first I thought that he was maybe accused of associating with undesirable citizens – but then they said that it was decree 84-2001 section P, and that does not make any sense,"

"Why?" asked Kaoru, truly curious.

"Because decree 84 is all about nanorobotics – which has as much to do with my dad as, I don't know, fire batons,"

"You are right, that makes no sense. I mean, if they wanted to arrest him on association charges, with his job would be super easy. Why bring nanobots into the mix at all?"

Haruhi nodded. Her dad didn't even have a high school diploma – the field of nanotechnology associated to him was absurd.

"He was – is- such a good dad. He works very hard, he always smiles – he loves to sing and gossip all the time. It drives me crazy; I could never study when he was home. But it was our home. They didn't even let me go back for his things. Or my mom's picture,"

"Can't you access it online?"

"It's not the same," said Haruhi, "I don't like the Authorities knowing that I'm looking at my dead mother. It shows attachment to the past, and it's detrimental to a career in law, which is all about progress and adapting to fast change," they turned a corner, "Once, it wouldn't matter – but if did it too often, it would paint me as weak,"

"But why do you care anymore? It's not like you are going to have a career now," Kaoru said, but his tone was not cold like Ootori's or acid like Hikaru's or sarcastic like officer Kosaka's. He was trying to comfort her, and Haruhi realized that he had partially succeeded – she did not have any reasons not to look at her mom online now – to hell with what her cumulated data would say about who she was. She was free to give in to that one desire, at least. She felt a tiny contracted muscle relax within her heart, and, grateful, she caressed Kaoru's hand with her thumb.

"Maybe when I can actually see something," she said, pointing at her eyes.

"Kyouya always knows what he is doing. I'm sure that tomorrow your eyes will be much better,"

"If they are, I should thank him,"

"Please don't – he will make you pay for it if he thinks you owe him," said Kaoru.

Haruhi smiled this time.

"You seem so well adjusted,"

"Thank you?"

"But do you truly believe what Tamaki says? That you six are going to start a revolution?"

Kaoru breathed before answering. His voice was kind and even.

"I believe that what he thinks he is doing will bring us a better future than we might have had before. I don't know about big plans and revolution – Hikaru believes in that more than I do. But everything that we have done so far has improved something – opened up a world of possibilities,"

"I see,"

"No, you don't yet – you're still as blind as a bat," he said, "But we are not alone – we have allies on the outside world. That's what Kyouya meant by showing you what we can do. We could do one small thing for you,"

"Right,"

"You don't have to believe me until you see it for yourself. Ask,"

"Come on – there is just one thing that I want, but it's impossible,"

"Ask, and it shall be granted, as Tamaki would say," said Kaoru. "Be careful, we are on the Dormitories. Where is your pod?"

"First row, between Soga's and Kurakano's,"

"Teacher's pet," he teased.

"Shut up – Ouran's teachers are not even real,"

"What do you mean, "not real"? I programmed the History one myself. Don't you like her?"

Before Haruhi could answer, or ask why did he get to program teachers, or if he could make them teach something useful at all, soft steps – softer than slippers, the person producing them must have been barefoot – came closer to them.

"This is why you are late?" asked an unmistakably feminine voice. "Who is this?"

"I am very, very sorry, Kozue. This is the new student, Haruhi Fujioka – nurse Okai asked me to take her back to her pod for the night.

"Holygrams, it looks like a rat munched on her eyes," said the girl, unmistakably queasy. "Are you blind? There's a kid on the High Risk section that has like, robotic eyes. Are you going to get those?"

Haruhi's stomach turned a little. "No – they told me that I will be able to see tomorrow,"

But she had lost all interest in her and her natural eyesight. She heard a zipper being pulled down, the rustle of clothes, and Kaoru breathing in and out.

"And why were you at the nurse's station?" purred Kazue. "And where is Hikaru? I reserved the both of you for tonight,"

"I'm very sorry, but Hikaru was feeling badly. He will spend the night in a clinical pod,"

"But you two never get sick,"

"Which is why we are not used to it – I'm sure it's nothing, but you know how intensely he feels everything,"

"But I have waited so long – for weeks – to have both of you. And I paid in advance," she protested.

"I will make it worth your patience," said Kaoru.

A soft rustle, and the girl sighed sharply – almost a moan. Kaoru's voice was lower now, mumbling sweet nothings, and his hand, still wrapped around Haruhi's, relaxed and clenched as if it was out of his control. Haruhi felt intensely uncomfortable. Just as with the needle, she could imagine perfectly what they were doing, and she wanted nothing more than to get into her pod and disappear. But she didn't know where her pod was. She reached to pull Kaoru's sleeve, only to find that it was gone, and that in its place there was only soft skin, that bloomed in goosebumps at her touch. But she needed his help.

So she pinched him, not too hard.

"Could you wait for a moment, while I take Fujioka to her pod?" he said, breaking away from Kazue. "Then it will be just the two of us,"

Kazue produced a small protest, but nodded, and even added a semi-nice "Take care," before Kaoru took Haruhi to her pod. He pressed her wristcell to a panel, and Haruhi heard the pod opening like a flower.

"So… have fun tonight, I guess," she said, getting in, still with her eyes closed.

"Wait – Kyouya gave me these drops for your eyes. I should apply them before you pop off for the night,"

"Okay,"

He did so quickly. "I also have a little medicine," he said.

Haruhi shook her head, but Kaoru's thumb, calloused and delicate, was already pressed to her lips, covering them in fine powder that smelled like sugar. She licked them in reflex, and the warm glow filled her head immediately. The pain disappeared and the anger, the fear, the despair and the worries reshaped themselves as solvable problems – challenging but conquerable, like a mountain in spring. The beating of her heart became a hopeful drum, her breathing the wind of change.

"This too shall pass," said Kaoru, kissing her softly with his lips closed, stealing back some cot for himself. "And when it does, do not judge us too harshly," he pushed her gently into the pod, lifting her legs and laying them flat, and then pressed the button to close it for the night.

"Find my dad," Haruhi said, because her fear was gone, and she did want him to hear her request.

"We will… do our best," said Kaoru.

"That's the only thing that I want. Find him, and make sure that he is safe, and I will do anything for you," she repeated.

And then it was dark, and she could open her eyes, planning for the future until the effect of the cot wore off, and she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.