Ghost In The Room
AN: Hi there! So, the 4th of July is coming up soon, and I suddenly realized that I wouldn't have internet access nor time to post the promised chapter on Tuesday like I'd planned. So, I decided to be nice and post it early rather than late. Also, I wanted to say thanks to a guest reviewer - I'm glad you're enjoying my stories so far! (Yes, it is VERY difficult to find clean fanfiction - I'm glad you like my clean, if messy, scribbles...) Anyway, onwards, and Happy early 4th of July!
Disclaimer: I lay no claim to Ouran and its characters. However, it seems as though I find enjoyment in borrowing and/or torturing them, so I shall continue to do so. That's all.
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Tamaki looked absolutely horrible, Haruhi thought. He was wrinkled, pale, panting, crying and staring at her with the saddest, most terror stricken expression she'd ever seen on him. With her hands tied behind her back, it was hard to motion him closer, but, Haruhi being Haruhi, managed.
"Haruhi?" Tamaki squeaked. "You're here - you're alive! You're you …aren't you?" Haruhi very nearly scoffed at such stupid questions, but the way his voice shook and his knees quivered and tears still dripped down his face silenced her. She'd never seen Tamaki so upset before, and though she knew it was bad timing, motioned him to join her and sit. Tamaki carefully closed the door and obediently joined her on the floor, legs splayed and rubbing his arms to ward off an imaginary chill.
"Tamaki-sempai, what's going on?" Haruhi questioned softly. "Are you all right? Where's little Rin, do you know?" Tamaki sniffed and burst into tears anew. Haruhi hurriedly tried calming him, not sure what she'd said to upset him. "Hey, it's okay, forget it," Haruhi told him as brightly as she could manage. "Could you untie me please, sempai? I can't feel my fingers anymore." Tamaki wiped his face dry on his dirty sleeves and scooted behind Haruhi to undo the knotted ropes.
"If you're here, then are the rest of the rest of the club here?" Tamaki choked out, more than relieved he'd found a comforting face in this dark place. Haruhi shrugged the ropes off, rolling her shoulders to free them of the stiffness they'd acquired from resting in the same position for hours.
"What? You don't remember?" She teased lightly. Tamaki only blinked at her, a blank expression smoothing out the worry lines in his face. Haruhi blinked back. "Oh. You really don't remember. Okay, do you even remember why we were kidnapped?" Tamaki started looking a bit green, so Haruhi wisely moved on. "We were at school - see, we're still in our uniforms." Tamaki glanced down, for the first time noticing the pale blue sleeves of his own suit jacket. "We were cleaning up after club hours when this weird gas suddenly appeared." Haruhi chuckled. "You looked so funny, sempai! You grabbed Rin-chan and put her on your shoulders and started running around like a chicken without a head trying to open all the doors and windows!"
Haruhi was pleased to see a shaky smile flit across his face before it disappeared as quickly as it had come. "Anyway, we all conked out, and when we woke up, we were all together in the same room, except for you and Rin. Honey and Mori looked like porcupines with all the tranquilizers stuck in their backs, and we were all tied up. It was really confusing, and then this fat guy calling himself Castor came and separated us. He didn't say much, but he gives me the creeps." Haruhi smiled encouragingly. "So, what happened to you?" Tamaki swallowed a whimper and vainly tried speaking to give Haruhi his own account.
"I - I woke up i - in this closet …a - and when I got out - Rin was - Rin …oh Rin …" resolve shattered, Tamaki melted into a hopeless puddle of tears, hands pressed tightly to his face in an effort to block out the memory of a lifeless doll that looked like his dear cousin, staring at him as if to ask why? Why didn't you save me? Haruhi, unaware of his thoughts, sat beside him and wrapped her arms around him, feeling her heart break at the way he snuggled into her shoulder and only cried harder, shaking and gasping and staining her already ruined uniform. It was so easy to want to stay that way, leaning on each other's comforting presence and trying to forget, but an overwhelming sense of urgency won Haruhi over, and she gently, reluctantly, pushed Tamaki, standing and offering her surprised friend her hand.
"Come on," she murmured with a soft smile. "The others are around here somewhere, too. We've got to find them and get out of here, okay?" Tamaki gratefully took her hand, wiping his face on his soiled jacket.
"Okay. Let's go find the rest of our family." Haruhi checked to make sure the hallway was empty and led the way down the hall, glancing at Tamaki occasionally to see if they were headed in the right direction. They continued the blonde's pattern of looking in each room to check for friendly faces, and it wasn't long before they came across a partially open door, a dark shape not far away on his stomach inching down the hall.
"Kyoya?" Tamaki questioned disbelievingly. The figure froze in the act of squirming around a decorative table hosting a large ceramic vase full of dead flowers, slowly turning to see over his shoulder. Glasses glinting, Kyoya scanned them silently before uttering a simple phrase.
"Oh, there you two are. One of you come untie me." Tamaki obliged him while Haruhi only stared at the Shadow King in amazement.
"Kyoya, how did you turn the doorknob with your hands tied?" She asked. Kyoya raised an elegant black eyebrow at her curious inquiry.
"I didn't," he replied blandly. "I merely used my foot to break the knob off on my side. The door opened of its own accord." Haruhi frowned as Tamaki helped him to his feet.
"Didn't that hurt? Those knobs are solid brass." Kyoya winced, leaning heavily against Tamaki's shoulder.
"Yes, well, I believe I sprained my ankle upon impact as a result, but it's not bad. I can walk fine, I just need a cane of some sort to assist me." Tamaki sighed and bent over, giving him a look.
"Well then, I'll just have to carry you until we find one, won't I?" Kyoya opened his mouth to argue, but it seemed like the most logical option at the moment, so he obediently climbed onto Tamaki's back without another word and held on tightly. The trio continued on down the hall in this manner, opening the doors and checking inside them, and Haruhi noticed with interest that the doors were becoming thicker and further in between. They walked approximately five hundred feet in the straight hall before they heard a loud, rapid continuous banging coming from somewhere nearby. Systematically searching the next few doors, they came up empty until Haruhi opened the next door on her row and was suddenly knocked to the ground by a streak of auburn.
"Hikaru, get off me," Haruhi gasped, shoving at the taller boy to get his heavy weight off her lungs.
"AHOU! WHERE WERE -" he suddenly stopped mid - rant, frantically looking this way and that. "Kaoru?" He whined, obviously distressed that his twin wasn't in sight. Before Haruhi had the chance to talk to him, Hikaru had somehow launched himself to his feet and stumbled a few feet further before he tripped with a yelp and fell face first into the dusty rug.
"Hikaru!" Haruhi snapped. The redhead only keened out a funny noise and buried his face into the floor, not making an attempt to rise. Haruhi glanced back at Tamaki, who was setting Kyoya down and resting beside him, and made her way over to Hikaru. "Hey," she tried again, calmer this time. A strange sense of deja vu hit her, as though she'd seen him this way before, but she carelessly brushed it away. She had more important things to worry about right now. If everyone was going to act all scared and nervous around her, then fine. She would just have to become their voice of reason. "Hikaru, listen to me." Bright golden eyes crept up to meet her gaze, and Haruhi blinked. The teen had that same panicked expression as Tamaki, tears threatening to spill and trembling lightly from head to toe.
"Haruhi-chan," he almost whispered. "K - Kaoru -"
"Do you know where he is?" Haruhi asked excitedly. Hikaru winced.
"Haruhi - he's gone!"
AN: Yes, this one isn't terribly exciting, but now we've gone from one host to three! That should be a good sign. But will they find the others? Or rather, how will they find them? Please review and I hope you enjoyed!
Note: Ahou is an interchangable use of the word baka, or literally, idiot. Mostly used in Kansai-ben, it can be affectionette or an insult, depending on who is speaking to who.