Vatala Darkmist: omg XD I updated! Don't hurt yourself XD XD XD
animeluverr97: To be honest I didn't know how it would end either until like right now XD And yeah, there will be a few more HikaxHaru moments ;)
Gingiie666: Sorry to keep you waiting XD Glad you missed it thug :3
Lady Maeror: Yeah, that last chapter was lacking, but not this one :D I hope XD
There had always been something about the ocean during an autumn sunset that Tamaki found refreshing. He didn't know if it was the fact no one in their sane mind would even think about braving the cool ocean breeze and the cold fall air or that the sounds found on the beach were a break from the common hustle-bustle of the city. He didn't know but as he sat in the pearl white sand with his knees drawn to his chest and his arms resting on top on them, he felt…
"You're going to catch a cold out here, Tamaki." Kyoya's voice interrupted the blonde's train of thought as the former vice president came to stand next to him in the sand without even glancing at him.
Tamaki was silent for a while before realizing the reason Kyoya had picked this moment to appear and sighed. "I'll take it you heard the news, then?" He said, sullenly.
Kyoya nodded, not that Tamaki could see. "Naturally. Though your method of cooping comes more as a surprise."
"What do you mean?" Tamaki asked him, his face turning to an uncharacteristic pout.
"Well, I can't say I didn't see it coming," Kyoya said honestly, the tone in his voice hardly helping the blonde's mood. "After all, during our club days it was fairly obvious each of us had a sort of thing for our little wall flower. The only mystery was who she was going to end up with in the end, if anyone."
Tamaki turned a looked of pure disbelief on his friend. "You mean, you're actually admitting it?"
"No need to hid it, at least not anymore. And frankly, Tamaki, you should have seen it coming." Kyoya said simply. When Tamaki just stared back at him blankly with a slightly hurt expression in his purple eyes, Kyoya decided to elaborate. "Haruhi's a rare jewel, one that many a man and woman would love to get their hands on, yet you treated her like she was nothing more than an expensive artifact that needed to just be viewed by others as if to just prove that you own it. And, what more, I know you're not as hurt as you seem, Tamaki."
Tamaki said nothing but something had clearly changed behind his eyes and Kyoya knew that he had hit the fact dead-on. The two of them had know each other longer than the rest of the former host club, so it was only natural that hiding anything from each other was nearly impossible and the fact they hardly felt a reason to hide anything only added to that.
"Perhaps you already know what I'm telling you but the fact of truth is that you had began to feel the same way as Haruhi did. You may have tried desperately to keep the two of you together but in the end you knew you actually felt the same way, no?"
"I…" Tamaki drifted off into consideration. He didn't want to admit it but Kyoya was right, as usual. Or rather, his assumption overall hadn't been right at first, Tamaki had, and did, care for Haruhi but it hadn't been considerably different then the typical "father-daughter" bond he felt with her back when the club was intact. And, yes, in a way he was relieved. He didn't feel particularly bad about the split but the fear that it would stain his and Haruhi's relationship still brought a sense of distress to the blonde. He didn't want anything like that to happen and he was sure Haruhi felt the same way, granted she had been the one that did the breaking up. Still, if they had felt the same way and it was only now that something was being done, maybe Haruhi had had the same doubts about their relationship afterwards too.
Yet, if there was one thing all that time with the other hosts had taught the blonde it was that they could handle the wackiest and most dramatic of situations and still be a club at the end of the day.
Having taken the silence as a yes, Kyoya sighed and pushed his glasses back to their proper place on his nose. "Well, if anything, all this at least gives him another chance, right?" The former vice-president said furtively, a mild grin on his face.
"Yeah, it does." Tamaki agreed softly with a smile to match his friend's, both of them thinking the exact same thing. "If he decides to take it."
"Give it time." Kyoya alleged as the two returned their gaze to the ocean, glittering under the autumn sun. "He may just surprise us, Tamaki."
"Why is this place always so busy?" Kaoru asked blandly as he stared at what must have been about a hundred dozen people in the local airport from where he and his brother sat in the seats from across one of the busier loading gates.
"Like I know." Hikaru replied in much the same tones as he double-checked the gate number. "This is where we're supposed to met them, right?
"Yeah. Pretty sure." The younger twin replied after short thought and sighing. "Maybe their flight's just late."
Hikaru rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his seat, arms folded across his chest. "Typical."
Within seconds a silence had engulfed the brothers, with the obvious exception of the rushing of people in the terminal, which lasted for an unusual length of time until the younger twin sighed heavily, troubled.
"Listen, sorry about last night." He said quietly, avoiding his brother's gaze.
"Forget it." Hikaru replied.
"I didn't mea—"
"I know." The eldest twin looked at his brother and managed a half-hearted smile. "Let's just forget about it."
Kaoru opened his mouth again but was cut off by an all-too-familiar, and somewhat high-pitched, shout among the crowd.
"Hika-chan! Kao-chan!"
"It's about time," Hikaru grunted as Honey and Mori appeared among the crowd, the blonde waving so wildly his hand was just a blur as each of them walked up to the brothers, luggage in tow.
"Our flight got delayed," Mori explained simply to them.
"Obviously, but other then the lack of sufficient air transportation, how are you?" Kaoru questioned, an obvious newfound joy in this voice.
"Yeah, how's the university?" Hikaru added, curiously.
"It's huge!" Honey exclaimed throwing his arms up in the air for emphasis and nearly hitting Mori for his efforts. "I've never seen such a big school, or so many people! How are things here in America?" The blonde asked excitedly.
"Fine," the twins said in unison. All things considered, both of them added mentally.
The older pair looked at each other before narrowing their eyes and leaning towards the brothers, suspiciously.
"You don't have to lie to us." The little blonde told them, jamming his hands on his hips with a look of mock disappointment. "Kyo-chan already told us about Tama-chan and Haru-chan." He added.
The twins looked at each other, shocked, before Hikaru raised an eyebrow confused. "Well, you don't sound too worried about it."
"Just what did he tell you?" Kaoru asked.
"That they broke up, but that's not surprising." Honey told them in tones five times more calm then they had expected, which only sent the brothers into a wave of confusion.
"Not much anyway." Mori agreed.
"Why not?" Hikaru asked, trying to hide his momentary lapse in understanding.
Honey frowned slightly, a thoughtful look on his boyish face. "Well…I dunno if I should tell you Hika-chan."
"Tell me what?"
Kaoru sighed loudly, a somewhat exasperated look accompanying it. "You might as well, everyone else knows and all this waiting is getting us nowhere."
Utterly confused now, Hikaru looked at each of his friends in turn as each of them looked at each other, obviously trying to figure out who would reveal this mysterious news now that they couldn't just forget about it.
In the end it was Honey who took the plunge.
"Tama-chan always knew you had a thing for Haruhi, Hika-chan." Honey told him with his typical boyish smile, noticing with no small amount of amusement the look that came over the eldest twin's face.
"We all did," Mori corrected simply.
"That's right! But you never did anything about it so Tama-chan did," Honey explained. "But I think that deep down, Tama-chan's heart wasn't in it because he knew that you're the one who really cared for Haru-chan." The blonde finished softly.
Hikaru blinked, both somewhat angry and confused. Confused by Tamaki's intended actions and angry that this little secret had gone unnoticed by him and not everyone else, though there was a definite feeling of stupidity on his part that went along with it.
"And no one bothered to tell me this…?" He said finally, with a noticeable bitter tone. "How long have you guys known?"
"Oh…Sometime after the whole date in Karuizawa." Kaoru answered humbly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"But...why…?" Hikaru drifted off. It didn't make sense to him, any of it. In his head, he had always thought that Tamaki dating Haruhi while the club was still a club was almost a betrayal of sorts and had just assumed the others thought the same as well. But now…
Luckily, Kaoru already figured out what his brother had tried to ask. "Because, we don't just stand on little things like that."
"Kao-chan is right. Even if we're not a Host Club anymore, we're still a family and all we want is to make sure we're all happy." Honey claimed happily.
"Even if it means dealing with some people's density." Kaoru said, clapping his brother on the shoulder with a grin.
"Or Tamaki." Mori added, making the group laugh, even Hikaru who realized that Honey was right. And dead right at that. From the start, Tamaki hadn't just wanted them to be some club who just met after school to do the same thing everyday. From that first day when the blonde had tracked each and every one of the club members down one-by-one, he had done it with a greater purpose. A purpose that may have seemed varied depending on the member, but was really one goal for them all. He had wanted them to be more than friends; he had wanted the club to become a family. While each of them might have had scattered and darkened pasts, Tamaki had gathered them with the goal of a better and brighter future, together.
And as they left they airport and headed back to the apartments, Hikaru found he was glad for it and it was evident so was everyone else. After all, without The King's nagging them into the club, who knows where any of them would have ended up if they kept living the way they had?
"Well, should we give you the grand tour then?" Kaoru asked them once they arrived and Honey cheered excitedly as Mori just nodded.
"You guys go on ahead." Hikaru told them sheepishly, earning confused looks from all three of them as he motioned in the other direction. "I…need to do something."
The others looked at each other, puzzled, but continued down the hall as Hikaru went down the opposite hall. Walking up a separate flight of stairs he walked down another hall until he reached the door at the end of the hall. Sighing deeply, and not believing what he was about to do, the twin nodded and waited. After what sounded like an excited yelp, the twin heard the sound of scrambling feet and the door opened to reveal a rather shocked Tamaki.
"Hikaru? What—" He began.
"I like Haruhi." The twin blurted, instantly shocking the blonde to silence.
ALRIGHT GUYS. Only 1 chapter left (then an epilogue) and this ffic is DONE. After long last! ThenI have to work on more ffic that are just sitting on my pc XD PLEASE READ AND REVIEW IF YOU READ. You know who you are :p