Disclaimer: Hatori Bisco, I believe her name is. She and all the people who will sue me if I claim otherwise, own this.

Date: Jun 22

AN: Tojiwara is an imaginary country. I made it up. And thank you so much to everybody who reviewed and looked at the story! All the hits and reviews made me very happy :)

Chapter Two

"Here," Hikaru placed a cup of coffee by her. "It's not great but…" he shrugged and passed cups to all the other club members.

"Thanks, Hikaru," she said as Tachinbana gently examined her wrist. It was slightly swollen and adorned with fingerprint shaped bruises, but at least it didn't hurt. "It's fine, honestly," she told the body guard with a smile

He carefully prodded the purple flesh. "It seems you are correct, but it wise to apply ice to it, Fujioka-san," he said, standing

"You don't-" she protested, but Tachibana had already left the room. "Have to," she weakly finished.

"Ne, just let the man do his job, Haruhi," Hikaru inserted his two cents. He sat down next the her. "It can't hurt."

She purposely ignored him as Kaoru took a sip of his coffee. The younger of the green eyed boys gagged a bit before forcing himself to swallow it, and he pushed the cup away from him with two index fingers. "Why is this kind so awful?" he questioned, making a face.

Haruhi sighed and raised the cup to her lips. "Commoner's coffee doesn't always taste the same you know. This is probably a lower grade than the kind I buy for you guys." She calmly drank hers, ignoring the bitter taste. What she needed right now was its calming warmth.

"It's from the employee's lounge," Kyouya chimed in. His computer had resurfaced, and his fingers were clacking all over the keyboard. "It's not going to be anything wonderful," he said, not moving his eyes from the screen.

Tachinbana and the other two body guards had led the Host Club through the main parts of the hotel and down a secret staircase that led to the servants quarters. They were currently in a cramped linen room that the hotel maids often used to play poker and gossip in during their free time. There was a small table in the back, where Kyouya, Haruhi, and the twins sat. Hunny was sitting on a large pile of towels, and Mori was leaning against the cinderblock wall. Tamaki, in the meantime, was trying and failing to pace in the limited amount of space. There wasn't much room to walk back and forth, and he so far had only succeeded in knocking over a pile of sheets.

Tachibana returned holding a plastic bag filled with ice chunks. He bowed and handed it to her. "Here you are, Fujioka-san."

Haruhi blushed, embarrassed at the formal treatment. "Thank you."

"Kyouya-sama, we will guard the door and alert you when the area is clear," he said, bowing at his master.

Kyouya nodded. "Very well." The bodyguard left the room, and the door shut with a light echo. Kyouya went back to his computer, and the room was quiet for a few moments. Haruhi stared into her coffee cup. Tonight had been so overwhelming. "You and your family and your friends will die before the month is up!" She shuddered, remembering the threat. Who were those men? she wondered. She hadn't recognized the blonde one, the one called Rasputin. It was obvious, however, that Kyouya's father knew him well. Well enough to be visibly intimidated by the man. The rest of the hosts seemed to know the man too. In fact, almost the entire room seemed to be aware of who Rasputin was. And they were all worried at his reappearance. Almost as though they had seen a ghost…

"Well," Kyouya said interrupting her musings, "they're not anywhere in the building."

"Eh? How do you know, mon ami?" Tamaki asked, pausing his pacing.

The raven haired teenager spun his computer around so that it was visible to everyone in the room. Haruhi saw additional, much tinier screens on the display. They showed the ballroom, the kitchen, and many other rooms in the hotel. Almost every single one had at least one member of the Ootori Black Onion Squad inspecting it. It seemed that the ballroom had been cleared out, and the guests had been sent home. Maids and menservants were now cleaning up the multitude of broken decorations, and Haruhi could see Kyouya's father speaking to a group of men. They seemed to be inspecting the area where Rasputin and the cloaked man had disappeared. The resolution was blurry, but she could tell that the men were very confused.

Kyouya minimized the window and pulled up another. This one showed a blueprint of the hotel. "Look here," he said, pointing to a small square in the ballroom with his pen. The club gathered around it.

"A trap door!" Hunny gasped.

"Correct, Hunny-senpai," Kyouya nodded, returning to the window that had the security cameras. Haruhi rose an eyebrow at that image. She wasn't quite sure that that was something that the Shadow King was supposed to have access to, but she didn't voice that opinion out loud. Considering the enormity of what had occurred that night, a bit of harmless hacking seemed miniscule.

"So," Hikaru muttered, "they escaped through a trap door." He raised an elbow to the table and rested his head in his palm. Cocking his head, he said, "What I'm curious to know why there's one there."

"And how they knew it was there," Haruhi added. She shivered. It was cold in the basements, and she was hardly dressed for such temperatures. The ice bag didn't help matters. Tamaki noticed her discomfort and slid out of his jacket and placed it on her shoulders. She grinned at him and slid her thins arms into the armholes. "Thank you, senpai."

Tamaki blushed at the sight of the girl in his jacket. He clutched his face with both hands. "Daughter is so cuuuuuuuute!" he cried, throwing his arms around the girl.

Haruhi put her hand in his face, keeping it away from rubbing against her cheek. "No, you just ruined it."

"Aw, Haruhiiii!"

"Will you please shut up for five seconds?" Kyouya said in an annoyed tone. Tamaki flinched, and Haruhi looked over to see him dialing a number onto his phone. He raised it to his ear, and the room went into a respectful (fearful) silence. "Father, the blueprints show that there is a trapdoor beneath the tile on which the intruders stood…Yes, sir, I am quite sure…Of course, thank you." He disconnected the call with a beep. "Well, that's taken care of." He turned his attention to his notebook. "In answer to your question, Hikaru, when Her Majesty the queen visited Japan a few years ago, she stayed in this very hotel. The acrobat team, Furaingusaru, were hired to perform for her entertainment, and the trap door was installed for their various stunts. That was the reason it was installed. However," the note book was closed with a snap, "I'm afraid that I don't have an answer to your question, Haruhi. I have no idea how Rasputin knew of its existence." The entire club stared at him in shock. Kyouya looked around in confusion. "What?"

Kaoru had an expression akin to having received the greatest shock in his life. "You…you don't know? Kyouya Ootori doesn't know something?"

Annoyed, Kyouya pushed his glasses up his nose with a long middle finger. "Close your mouth, Tamaki, you look even more moronic than usual." Tamaki snapped his jaw closed. "After Rasputin's banishment, there are no records of him. No documents, no paper trail. It was believed that he had simply died, but as we have seen tonight, that is clearly not the case. All I know is that prior to the banishment, he had no connections to either the hotel or the Furaingusaru team."

Haruhi's brow furrowed. She raised her hand, getting the room's attention. "Hang on, I'm confused. Who isRasputin?"

Hunny's sweet voice reached her. "Eh? You mean you don't know, Haru-chan?"

"It's only the biggest medical scandal in Japanese history," the twins said on either side of her. "Even Tono knows about it, and he's clueless about everything!"

Haruhi could feel a head ache coming on. She glared at them as Tamaki let out a shriek and began his tirade. "Clueless! How dare you speak so rudely about your father? Haven't you learned to respect your elders? GROUNDED. You're soooooo groundeeeed!"

Kyouya closed his laptop with a click, ignoring Tamaki. "In fairness, the affair was carefully concealed from the lower classes. It isn't so unusual for you to be unaware."

"Well, thanks for that," she said sarcastically. "Now, who is he?"

Tamaki had settled down enough to stop his screeching and leaned against the table. "It's a terrible story," he said with a sigh. Haruhi jumped at the sudden mood change. "You're not going to like it," he told her seriously. Hikaru and Kaoru nodded.

Haruhi rolled her eyes. This was getting ridiculous. "It doesn't matter," she protested. "Somebody just threatened to kill us."

"Which was very interesting," Kyouya said. "That's generally not his style." He looked Haruhi in the eye. "He started out not unlike you, about fifteen years ago," he said softly. "A scholarship student at Ouran High School. Intelligent, top of the class, dirt poor." Haruhi felt a prick of irritation. He continued, seeming not to notice the twitch in her left eye. "But he was smart and he played his cards right. Right after Ouran, he went to medical school and became a rising figure in the medical research field. You have, of course, heard of Beaire, Zenadrin, and Acetyzoraphin? He was the one that discovered them all."

Haruhi's eyes widened. Those were some of the largest, most essential and groundbreaking medicines of the last few decades. "That's amazing," she said admiringly.

"It was," Hunny chimed in. "It wasn't long before Kyou-chan's father added him into his ranks. He was a prodigy!" Mori nodded, solemnly.

"He even rose to the head of the advisory board," Kyouya said. "Highly unusual for somebody that wasn't high up in the elite business world. But he did come from Ouran, so despite his status, he fit in nicely."

Hikaru's and Kaoru's eyes got really dark, and their lips curled in disgust. "Oh, yeah, he fit in really nicely. Until they found out about his little hobby."

Haruhi's brow furrowed. "What hobby?"

"He-" Tamaki violently shivered, "experimented on people."

"Don't you usually have to? You can't market a product without making sure that it's safe or effective."

Tamaki shook his head. "But he didn't just do that kind of experimenting! He did-" another shiver, "awful experimenting."

"He's referring to the Mengele brand of experimentation," Kyouya explained, seeing her puzzled look.

Haruhi gasped in recognition of the name. "You don't mean…" She closed her eyes in horror, remembering her lessons on World War II. The cruel scientist that performed ghastly experiments on prisoners. Strange and unusual experiments that were basically huge torture sessions for the victims to see just how far the human body could go. Experiments on twins, freezing, the effects of chemicals and other awful, awful things…She felt herself start to shake, and Tamaki wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She opened her eyes, but she didn't push him off because for once he wasn't being flirtatious and dramatic. This was the gesture of a friend comforting one who had heard something terribly distressing.

Kyouya nodded solemnly. "They were…particularly cruel."

Hunny shuddered and had tears in his eyes. "He took his patients, and he'd hurt them. Really, really badly. A lot of them died."

"That's disgusting." Her voice was hoarse. "How could he get away with it?"

Tamaki spoke up. "After a time, Ootori-san noticed a large amount of patients either disappearing or dying. He launched a full investigation, and Rasputin was found out. Once the Ootori group realized what had happened, he was immediately fired. But…" he trailed off, looking at his best friend uncertainly.

Kyouya sighed. "But my father didn't want the information to become public," he said bluntly. His coal-black eyes bore into Haruhi's. He spoke quickly and in a hollow tone, as though trying to get the information out as fast as possible and to keep it from touching him. "He didn't want the scandal that a large legal trial would bring about. So he and a number of other families worked to keep the affair a secret."

"They removed all of his money and power," Kaoru said. "They revoked his licensing and all his degrees and awards. After they had done all of that, Ootori-san got government approval to permanently eject him from the country."

"They dropped him in some country in Africa," Hikaru said, "and he hasn't been heard from since."

"Until now," Haruhi whispered. It was revolting. How could a man do that? How could somebody do something so inhumane and to his own people! He was like a serial killer, picking his victims, killing and torturing them one by one, and without remorse! And Kyouya's family…She looked at the second year. "Your father covered it up?" she asked sharply.

Kyouya didn't visibly react to her rudeness. "To have allowed the scandal to go public," he calmly replied, "would have meant the ruin of the company. Nobody would ever allow one of our hospitals to treat them ever again."

Haruhi shook her head. People had died! "What did they tell the patients families?" she cried, outraged. "Did they lie to them too?"

Her friend just nodded.

Haruhi leaned back in her seat, staring at the ceiling. It was all disgusting to her. All of it, the torture, the murders, the cover up, the lies…She remembered what he had said. "You overestimate your power! All of you!" She straightened up. "And now he is back, looking for revenge," she bluntly stated.

Hikaru snorted. "Whatever. You shouldn't worry about that, Haruhi. He's crazy, but he certainly doesn't have the ability nor the resources to do any of us any actual harm."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that Hika-chan." Hunny nimbly slid from his perch on the towels. "I think we need to be very worried."

Mori looked down at his cousin. "So you noticed it to," he said.

Hunny nodded. "Hai."

"Noticed what?" Tamaki asked, eyes wide and confused.

"Didn't you notice the hooded man, Tama-chan?" Hunny asked like a teacher teaching a lesson, and Haruhi noticed that despite his sweet voice, what he was saying was actually very serious. "He knew martial arts, and I think he was better than both Takashi and me."

Haruhi frowned. "But you scared him enough to let go, Mori-senpai," she said, gesturing to her injured wrist with her good arm.

"That's right!" Kaoru cried. "Besides, more powerful than you or Mori-senpai? You two are the best martial artists in the nation! World even. It's impossible."

Hunny shook his head. "No, no, no, it's in the stance. It was the way he was standing. He was totally blocked off!"

"No openings," Mori rumbled. " Everybody has openings, even us. He knew how to fight. And when I held his arm, you could tell. He was letting that happen."

Haruhi shivered. If this man was a stronger martial artist than her senpais…She looked at her bruised wrist. She had been lucky to escape with a bit of bruising. It could have been so much worse. It could still get much worse.

"Eh? Milord?" the twins asked, poking the evaporating Tamaki in the cheek.

Kyouya ignored them. He had reopened his computer, and his fingers were typing again. "We are going to have to double our security. If they are planning assassinations, then we need to be as prepared as possible, but we need to do so quietly. I know that my family can simply make more use of the private police, and we can of course lend some to your families."

Mori placed an arm on Hunny's shoulder, and the small blonde looked at him before saying, "We'll be okay. Aunty Morinozuka's family can just stay at my house! It'll be like a sleep over!" He smiled, excited at the idea of a slumber party with his cousin.

Kyouya nodded. "The Haninozukas and the Morinozukas combined should be able to defend against an assassination attempt. The rest of you will probably need some form of protection. I will arrange it."

The twins and Tamaki nodded, but Haruhi sat up. "Senpai, that's not-"

"It's very necessary," Kyouya interrupted, raising his hand to still her. "I'm afraid that you don't have a choice in this matter, Haruhi."

"But-"

"Kyouya's right, Haruhi," Hikaru said. "You're just going to have to deal with it."

"Besides," Kaoru threw in, "what would we do without our toy?" They winked at her.

Tamaki pointed a finger at Hikaru. "What was that?" he shrieked.

"What was what?"

"That implication against the future state of Haruhi's innocence!"

Haruhi let out a sigh as the bickering began. She would never get used to this…

Tachibana entered the room. "Master, your father says that you and your friends are permitted to leave now."

The Host Club gathered their belongings and allowed the body guards to lead them out of the linen closet.

Miles away, two men were standing in a dark alley. Water dripped from the pipes above, and rats scurried on the ground, making quick, light clacking noises against the concrete. Garbage littered the narrow pathway, and the smell was nauseating. The windows above were all boarded up. There was nobody else in sight, other than the two men. They both wore large, hooded cloaks that obscured their faces.

One of the men was smoking a cigarette. The smoke rose in the air like a sentient being. "Remind me," a raspy voice, "why we agreed to meet our guest here of all places?"

The other man faced him. "He requested it. A bit of obscurity is required after all. Who would expect such a dignified member of society to be here?"

The cigarette man scoffed and blew out another cloud. "He is a moron. There are plenty of other discreet places. Who does he think we are? Common drug dealers?"

"Don't ask me how his mind works."

His companion chuckled darkly. "But shouldn't you know best? After all, you are our leader, the one that we mortals are supposed to look up to during this mission. Isn't that right, Rasputin?"

Rasputin jumped and frantically turned his head left and right, checking for any sign of people. Seeing none, he hissed, "Don't call me that here! You don't know who could be listening."

"Like me."

Rasputin and the hooded man turned towards the right, where an indentation in the stone walls cast a shadow on another man clad in an American military uniform. He was leaning against the wall before he straightened up and began to walk towards the other two men. He bowed respectfully. "Rasputin-sama."

Rasputin didn't bow, but he removed his hood. "Uragirimono-san," he greeted. He gestured to the man on his left. "You have, of course, heard of Gomon Shi-san. He is to play a major role in the operation."

Uragirimono bowed to Gomon, who bowed back and removed his hood. He had black hair that reached his shoulders. He had hollow cheeks and an icy, unyielding expression that matched his ice-blue eyes. He regarded the military man, coldly before blowing a billow of smoke into the young man's face. He dropped the cigarette on the ground and crushed it with his shoe. "Any information for us, lieutenant? Or did we spend all this time waiting for just a nice chat?"

Uragirimono looked flustered, and it took a few attempts for him to speak before he was able to say, "Yes, sir. The Americans are aware of nothing, as they will continue to be. And the General of Tojiwara is prepared to move whenever you are ready."

Rasputin smiled evilly. "Excellent," he muttered, handing a roll of papers to the man. Uragirimono unrolled it, scanning the contents. "Do you think he can be ready within the month?"

He rolled the papers back up. "I believe he can be ready within the fortnight."

"Do it then. As soon as possible."

Uragirimono bowed. "Yes, sir." He turned away and placed his hands in his pockets, before exiting the alley.

Gomon and Rasputin waited a few minutes before raising their hoods again and walking in the opposite direction. Gomon pulled out another cigarette and lit it with a match. "Are you sure that we can trust him?" he asked.

Rasputin nodded. "Of course. If the General does, than so do I. He is a highly trained spy. Do you honestly believe that I would take any risks in this operation?"

"Not when you've got so much to gain."

Rasputin held out his hand. "Any cigars on you?" Gomon handed him one. He lit it and inhaled deeply. "It's so close…the power. I can taste it."

Gomon snorted. "If the Lord of Tojiwara gives it to you."

"There's no reason why he wouldn't. If this invasion goes successfully, than he will have no choice but to give me control of the country." He laughed. "Oh, I can see it! The ones that abused my talents and destroyed me for it. They never would have dreamed that I would have found my way into the Courts of the Supreme Ruler of their greatest enemy. Tojiwara." The pair turned into another alley way. "It won't matter soon though. None of them will have any other choice but to submit to my rule." Rasputin rubbed his hands together. "The things I will do to them! And then when I am bored of them, I will kill them."

"It sounds like you've got a bit of a revenge problem," Gomon said lightly.

Rasputin glared at him. "Don't insult my intelligence. I know that Fujioka girl is driving you just insane."

Gomon rolled his eyes. "I would have cared less about her, but now her friends have the idea that they won. They threatened me, she got away. I have to get that impression out of their heads, now don't I? Nobody beats me," he growled, his icy eyes sparking in the darkness.

"All in good time, partner. All in good time."

Kyouya rubbed his eyes underneath his glasses. Tonight had been a long night. The fact that he was sitting on the very comfortable bed didn't help his tiredness either. He was leaning against the headboard, going over various business issues. Like protecting the Host Club, his shares, his family, and his money. His family, both fictional and read, had been given the best protection possible. Every single one of them were sleeping under the watchful eyes of some of the best men that the Black Onion Squad had to offer. He knew that they would be fine. No, at that moment, the only things he was concerned about were the finances. It was silly, he knew, to worry about his money being threatened. There was no way that Rasputin, that bastard, could touch it. But still…Kyouya pushed his glasses further up his nose. What he had said unnerved him, which was unusual. Ootori Kyouya was not a person that got unnerved or intimidated very easily. Not by his father or his brothers. The only two people that had ever accomplished that were Tamaki and Haruhi, both of whom presented no threat to his finances. So why was he slightly (very slightly) nervous about their state?

He glanced at his clock. It was 3:30, late even by his standards. He plugged his laptop into the charger without shutting it off and closed his notebook. He leaned back, staring at the ceiling. The feeling churned in his stomach like a case of food poisoning, making him sweat through his silk pajamas. Despite his state of exhaustion, he couldn't force himself to sleep. Meanwhile, on his desk a very enticing blue-white screen beckoned him…

Kyouya rolled his eyes and swung his legs out of the bed. Sitting down at his desk, he opened up the internet browser. On the other hand, there was a very respectable Swiss bank that was offering to throw in about $10,000 for a certain wealthy business man to set up an account with a deposit of more than $20 million…

The maids found him asleep at his computer desk the following morning.

So that's the end of the chapter. The next one is where everything goes down hill for our beloved Host Club, so stay tuned! And review if you like. I've been reading fanfiction for a while, but I never knew just how amazingly exciting it is to get reviews. And here I was thinking it was silly. I'm going to start reviewing other people's stuff more often!