Meeting the Host Club
Final Chapter: …Forgetting the Host Club?
Haruhi's POV
"Excuse me, Takishima," Hikari said in a slightly more timid voice than usual. She was addressing Kei, who had asked her if she remembers Rei Yamaguchi. "Would you mind telling me who Rei Yamaguchi is?"
All of the host club, including me, were shocked at her question. Suddenly, I began to doubt if she remembers us at all, since she met us under the name Rei Yamaguchi. Then, she looked at us and began to speak.
"Also, I don't think I know any of you," she said timidly towards the host club and me. "Who are you?"
Our eyes widened after she asked that. What we feared at the moment actually happened. She lost her memory of the host club. She forgot about us. She forgot all the memories we all shared while she was hiding from the S.A.
Hikari looked a bit sad after noticing our reactions. She was clenching her blanket as she looked down, looking quite depressed. The S.A. went to her side and comforted her, while I looked around and noticed the host club.
Honey was hugging Usa-chan in his arms tightly. He tried to silently cry, but it was quite obvious. His tears dropped down onto Usa-chan's face. He kneeled on the hospital floor and began to sob after unsuccessfully trying to silently cry. Mori walked over to him and kneeled at his side. He tried to comfort him by patting him at the back, but he also had a shocked and worried look on his face.
Kyoya had a slightly dejected look on his face. He was leaning towards the window and looked outside. After hearing that Hikari didn't remember us, he went there to calm down and accept the situation.
Kaoru went down to his knees. He looked depressed as he faced the ground. Hikaru walked towards him and kneeled down.
"Hikaru," he muttered. "I don't want her to leave the host club, even if she's a girl. She was just so fun to be around. Do you think she's going to come back?"
Hikaru, who had a sad look, took his hand and wiped away the small tears he formed in his eyes and put an arm on his shoulder and began to speak.
"I don't know," he said softly. "I don't know if she'll ever return."
Kaoru went over and hugged his twin brother, while the other tried to comfort him. It was as if they were doing one of their "brotherly love" bits like they do during host club hours, but this time, I was actually touched at how much Hikaru cares for Kaoru and vice versa.
I was worried too. I lost one of my close friends. Ever since she arrived at my house, she became fun to be around. She was tough, caring and a great friend, but now, she might leave the host club forever. I wondered if we should try to get her back, but something was holding me back. Was it because I didn't want to interfere with Kei and Hikari?
All of a sudden, Tamaki went over to me and said, "We have to get Hikari back!"
There was a slight desperation in his voice. He wanted to get her back. I was about to unconsciously agree with him, but remembered the time when Kei thought I was Hikari.
"Hikari," he said suddenly.
"What do you want?" I asked trying to sound like Hikari.
"I've been thinking about this and I want you to say that I really love you,'' he said.
"Also, I know that you also love me, since you came to get me in London," he continued. "Please, can you stop hiding from me? I know that there is no point and that you should come back to the S.A."
"No," I said instantly after remembering what happened.
"What?" Tamaki immediately said. "Why?"
He was obviously shocked at my answer. His eyes were wider than when we heard about Hikari forgetting about us. He then grabbed my hand and ran out the room, being noticed by the other host club members as well as some of the members of the S.A., who looked apologetic towards us. Once we were out of the room, he took me to the chairs placed near the door to Hikari's hospital room. Once we sat down, he took my hand and began to speak while I just looked at him.
"Tell me," he said in a serious tone. "Why do you want Hikari to leave us? Wasn't she like your best friend?"
I looked down, clenching my fists as they lay on my lap. My eyes were downcast as I began to speak in a somber tone.
"You know," I said dejected. "It wouldn't be right to force someone to stay, right?"
Tamaki sat there listening as I spoke. After saying that sentence, he appeared to look interested in what I just said. I continued from there.
"While Kei thought I was Hikari, I seemed to realize something," I said in that same tone. "It seems that he truly loves Hikari romantically. Even though I consider her as a best friend, it would be wrong for us to force her to stay with us. How would you react if I was taken away from the host club against my own will?"
"Well, I would do everything I can to get you back." He immediately answered.
"That's what I expect you to answer," I said to Tamaki. "In fact, I would expect you to beat up that person." I smirked at what I told him.
"I would miss her too," I continued. "but I think we should let her go back to her old school if she wants. It's her decision and if she decides to leave, so be it. We'd have to move on without our eighth member."
"I get it," Tamaki said not bothering to hear about the other reason at the moment. "Well, I guess we should tell the other members that we should leave."
Once we went back inside, we noticed that the members of the S.A. were still looking after Hikari. Meanwhile, the host club were talking about ways to get Hikari to remember them. We then told the host club to get out of the room so we can talk to them. As expected, most of them were reluctant to go. After a few minutes, we finally convinced them to come with us.
"Boss, why do you want to talk to us at a time like this?" Kaoru asked.
"I agree," said Hikaru. "We could be thinking of plans to get Hikari to remember us."
The others nodded in agreement while Tamaki and I tried to get them to listen. Meanwhile, I saw a bunch of people, mostly girls, stopping and staring at us, creating a crowd, from the corner of my eye. I think they wanted to catch a glimpse of the host club. After the others finally decided to listen, I began to speak.
"You know," I said to them. "I think we should move on without Hikari, wouldn't you agree?"
After hearing what I said, everyone in the host club, except for Tamaki and me, said, "What?"
They looked kind of bewildered at the thing I said. I shouldn't blame them for doing that, because I would've done that if I was in their situation.
"Why on earth would you want to do that?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked simultaneously.
"I can't help but agree," Kyoya said calmly, his dejected look gone.
"I kind of agree with them too," Honey said, still shocked about the events.
I listened to all of their responses. I kind of expected them to say stuff like that. However, they kept on objecting more and more before I got the chance to explain further.
"Shut up," Tamaki yelled loudly and angrily. It wasn't like him to yell, with the exception of him overreacting to something. It was more like him to act all flamboyant in front of a crowd rather than yell angrily. After calming down, he continued. "I think we shouldn't keep Hikari with us."
"Hey," Hikaru yelled back. "I get it now. I think you want to get rid of Hikari, that's it!"
"That's right, boss," Kaoru said after Hikaru. "You're just being jealous! Hikari's been getting most of the attention lately."
All of a sudden, I was annoyed at their accusations and conclusions. Hikaru and Kaoru were just spouting nonsense in my opinion. They were simply drawing out ridiculous conclusions. While they were still pestering Tamaki, I decided to take action.
"Stop it, you two! You're acting so stupid right now! Can't you see that he's accepting the fact that she's gone?" I yelled at the top of my lungs causing all of them to stop what they're doing and face me. I was really angry at the two of them at the moment, but something had to be done.
"Haruhi," was all they could say at the moment due to their shock at what I just yelled out.
"Stop acting so immature and listen to me," I sternly said after slightly calming down. "I agree with Tamaki! I think it's best if she doesn't stay in the host club anymore."
"But why?" Honey asked me. "I think you enjoy her presence in the host club, right Haruhi?"
"Yes, Honey," I responded in a calm manner after getting angry.
Before I was able to continue, my voice was shaking and trembling with nervousness, making it quite inaudible. Since I didn't want to accept the fact that we would lose a host club member, who was also our friend, I didn't really want to say it. However, I said it anyways after a deep breath and continued. "We may all consider her as a friend, but maybe this was destined to happen. When I was mistaken for Hikari, I learned that Kei loves Hikari. I also think she likes him too. Even though I think of her as a best friend, I think we should let her go, wouldn't you agree?"
Once they heard what I said, they were exchanging looks with the others and me, wondering if what I said was true. I think they didn't know that Hikari loves Kei and vice versa. Then, after a while, they all nodded their heads and agreed. They didn't say much after that, since we lost one of our host club members.
Then, I said thankfully, "I'm glad you understand!" At the moment, I felt truly happy. I felt that way not only because they were able to finally understand, but because I know that Hikari's going to be happy with him.
I trembled at the thought of losing one of my friends to the point off a few tears falling from my eyes. However, I still had the comfort of the host club, who comforted me throughout this situation.
As the crowd dispersed, the rest of the host club decided to leave. When Tamaki asked me if I want to leave to, I told them I would meet up with them, as I wanted to stay here longer and talk to Kei about Hikari. I then slowly opened the door and walked towards the S.A. Hikari was still curious to why I was here, but I walked towards Kei and tapped his shoulder, gaining his attention.
When he turned around, I told him to come with me out of the room to talk about something important. Without a doubt, he did just that. We went to the chairs in front of the door of Hikari's hospital room and sat down.
"So what do you want to talk to me about?" Kei asked me.
Even though I asked him to come, I couldn't trust myself near him as much because of the way he treated Hikari who he thought was me.
"Well," I said while I was slightly trembling. "Since Hikari doesn't remember me, I want you to help me move her stuff over to her house, as in the house she used to live in before this started. Is that okay?" I was wondering what was going to be his response.
"Okay," he immediately said, surprising me. "To tell you the truth, I didn't like it when she ran away and since I think she should be living her life without remembering Rei Yamaguchi, I agree with you on her living in her house."
"Thank you," I said to him while he turned away and began to walk back. Even though I asked what I needed to ask, I just wanted to clarify to myself whether he is in love with Hikari. I felt comfortable enough, so I asked him. "Are you in love with Hikari?"
That caused him to stop right in front of the door. He replied without hesitation, "Yes, I am. What made you think that?"
"Well, you were acting serious in getting Hikari back, seeing as you ending up kidnapping me." I replied. "Also, when you thought I was Hikari, you said, and I quote, 'I've been thinking about this and I want you to say that I really love you,'"
Kei interrupted and asked, "Why do you think Hikari ran away?" He seemed really eager to know. However I couldn't provide an answer.
"I'm afraid I can't answer that," I replied. "I was only told about that twenty minutes before she arrived at our house by my dad. I think you should ask her mother. I bet she would know, since she called my dad in the first place."
"I understand," Kei replied as he walked back inside to check up on Hikari.
I took out my cellphone and told Hikari's mother and told her about her amnesia. When she asked what happened, I told her that she fell on her head, which wasn't entirely a lie since she did hit her head. I also told her about her moving back home.
After that, I stood up and opened up the door, walking into the room. The S.A. was looking at me as I walked. I was walking towards Hikari's bed. I wanted to tell her something. Once I reached there, I began to speak.
"Hikari," I said to her, who was listening despite not remembering me. "You may not remember me, but that doesn't mean I'll forget about you. Having you around was a blast, but I think you should go back with your friends. Is that okay?"
After hearing me, all she gave me was a nod and a smile. As I smiled back, I glimpsed at her once more and left the room, closing the door. Now that I know she's okay, I walked back to my house. While walking, I noticed the host club, who were waiting for me. When they noticed me, we went somewhere to hang out for the rest of the day. At the end of the day, Hikaru and Kaoru offered to take me home, much to Tamaki's dismay. When I arrived home, I noticed that Hikari's stuff was gone and a note was placed on the table.
Haruhi,
Your father opened the door for me and gave me her things. By the time you read this, it is at her house already. Thank you for taking care of her when this all happened. Also, I apologise for kidnapping you. Also tell that to Honey and Mori.
From Kei
After I read it, I did the homework Hikaru and Kaoru gave me from missed classes. When I was finally done, I went to bed and slept, wondering what was going to happen in the future.
Hikari's POV
After I was discharged from the hospital, I was told that I was accepted back to Hakusen thanks to Tadashi, who persuaded his mother to let me back. When I returned to the school, I was warmly greeted by many of the students. When I entered the greenhouse, Akira decided to throw a party since I returned. She baked a bunch of things, ranging from cakes to cookies as well as preparing some tea imported from India.
When she was done, she, along with Megumi and I placed them all on the table, which was decorated with a white tablecloth. This caused Tadashi to run towards the food and stuff his mouth, earning himself a punch to the face. He lay on the floor wincing in pain.
"Are you okay, Tadashi?" Megumi wrote worried about his condition.
"I think he should be fine," Jun told Megumi.
"He's right," Ryuu said. "Akira always does this to him, so I think he's used to it."
While Tadashi was wincing in pain and Akira was scolding him harshly, I turned to Takishima, who was just sitting there. When he noticed me, he signalled me to go to him, which I did. Once I was there, I sat at a nearby chair and faced him.
While I sat there, he asked me, "Do you want to go to the park after school?"
It took a moment to process what he said. When I finally did, I started to get worked up.
"Is that a challenge?" I asked him confidently causing him to face me and listen. "Of course! I wouldn't turn down a challenge! We'll race to the park after school! Got it?"
That caused him to become slightly annoyed for some reason. However, he began to smirk, which caused me to become annoyed.
"Good luck, Miss Number Two," he said with a grin on his face.
"Don't call me that, Takishima!" I yelled at the top of my lungs catching the attention of the others. "You're so going down!"
For the rest of the school day, we continued to talk with the other members as we ate the things Akira made. Once the party was over, we cleaned the greenhouse and got ready to leave.
After we said goodbye to the others, Takishima and I got prepared to race to the park in the area. Once we were at the front gate of the school, the other students saw this and made way for us to race. All of a sudden, Akira came and noticed us getting prepared to race. She then volunteered to do the countdown. Once we allowed her to, she started the countdown right away, starting from three.
"Three!"
I got mentally prepared for the race while I noticed Takishima from the corner of my eye just standing there, looking as if he was putting minimum effort.
"Two!"
"I'm definitely not going to lose to Takishima this time!"
"One!"
From the corner of my eye, I noticed someone from the corner of my eye. The person wore a school uniform consisting of a purplish blazer over a white shirt and a black tie with black pants and shoes. The person had short brown hair and brown eyes. She seemed to want to go somewhere. For some reason, she seems vaguely familiar, but I brushed it off because of the race.
"Go!"
Takishima and I left at full speed towards the park. I wasn't going to lose to him like how I lost to him when I raced with him to the greenhouse and tripped on my shoelace. However, when I passed the person I noticed a second ago, I smiled. I then focussed on running to the park, eager to find out who will emerge victorious.
Author's Note
Now that I've finished a little less than a year and a half later from getting the idea for this, (I really need to work on updating more often) I would want to thank all of those who read this. I would also like to thank those who listed this as one of their favourites, those who put it in their alert list and those who reviewed.
Anyways, that's pretty much it. Thank you for sticking with this until the end.