A/N: I was planning on sticking to a Friday posting schedule, but wanted to post this chapter a day early. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed! It's always nice to know there are people who like my stories, and I'm glad you've all enjoyed this one so far.
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Haruhi was ready this time. The group had approached her several days earlier to get her approval for another sleepover. She took a day to think it over, not sure if these sleepovers were all that great of an idea. Look what had happened at the first two! Neither Honey nor Tamaki had brought their kisses up again though, so Haruhi was fairly confident that it could be a fun evening. She had admitted (much to the boys' delight) that she had enjoyed herself at both sleepovers. Besides, this was Mori's home, and Haruhi was sure she could count on him not to act as the others had. Though that didn't solve the problem the others posed.
Having a warning helped her decision. She had a chance to pack her own clothes and was able to do any shopping she needed a day earlier. Haruhi had proposed a condition though: if she came to the Morinozuka estate this weekend for a sleepover, they had to do homework first. They were quick to agree.
The Morinozuka home was Haruhi's favorite among the hosts. It was the least grand, and the most down to earth. It felt humble and welcoming, and Haruhi actually felt like she could belong here. The mansions and estates of the other hosts were too much. Too grandiose, too excessive, too many thing too worry about breaking. Haruhi definitely preferred the Morinozuka's simplicity.
When the host club arrived at Mori's house they started with homework as agreed. Haruhi found herself, Hikaru, and Kaoru working with Mori for once, Honey's assistance being needed by Kyoya.
Haruhi herself didn't generally need help, and the Twins were smart too, but it was always nice having help if needed. When they did ask Mori for clarification he explained his answers concisely and in a manner easy to understand. Honey on the other hand usually took the long way around, flailing with excitement as he tried to enthusiastically depart is knowledge onto them.
Mori would lean into her when he helped, allowing him to speak quietly. It was considerate, Haruhi decided. He obviously didn't want to disturb the others.
It didn't take long for them to finish. Even though they were horrible distractions, Haruhi found that it was still faster working with her friends instead of on her own. "So, what are we doing today?" Haruhi looked around at her friends who in turn looked to Mori.
"Your house, your turn, Takashi!" Honey explained.
"We could go for a walk?" Mori turned his statement into a question, making sure they would even want to.
Haruhi reassured him. "That sounds great, Mori-senpai! Let's go!"
The others agreed as well and they headed outside together. Behind the Morinozuka house was a lush forest. The trees were thick enough to prevent much sunlight from shining through the canopy, but random rays still found their way in, giving the group something to see by. The underbrush grew wildly, preventing much of a path from surfacing. Various flowers were spread among the bushes, bringing some color to the dark setting.
Mori and Honey started forward, and the rest started to follow.
"There's not much of a path," Haruhi pointed out.
"Nope! But Takashi and I have walked through here plenty before! You can kinda see a path where it's mostly grass and dirt and less bushes, right?" Honey pointed as a talked, trying to outline their makeshift pathway.
Haruhi shrugged and followed the group. The walk started out pleasantly, the group sharing stories about their latest clients. That didn't last though.
Hikaru started it. He snuck up behind Tamaki, tapping him on one shoulder and then darting to his other side, as if he wasn't the one to do it. Tamaki looked one way, realized his mistake, and turned to glare at Hikaru. In response, Hikaru lifted his hand to tap Tamaki's other shoulder, yelling "Tag, you're it!" He quickly jogged a few steps ahead of the group to get out of Tamaki's reach and then, turning back towards them all, added, "No tag backs!"
The game was on. Tamaki was quick to react to their newest activity, immediately reaching for Kyoya who he'd been talking to. "Tag, Kyoya! You're it!"
"Really?" Kyoya sighed. He continued walking, shaking his head the whole time. Hikaru had stopped to frown at how quickly their game had ended, allowing Kyoya to catch up. As he stepped up next to Hikaru his hand came up, giving him a slight push as he passed him. "I believe that makes you it, Hikaru."
Hikaru grinned, glad the game was on after all. The others stopped, not wanting to get too close now that they were officially playing. Hikaru darted toward them and the group broke apart, falling away from the path in both directions. You could call it a psychic twin connection, but Hikaru knew exactly which way Kaoru would dodge, and mirrored his movements. "Tag!"
The group continued in the general direction of the path, now darting in and out of trees trying to evade being touched. Kaoru managed to trick Honey, making him think he was going one way when he really went another. "You're it!"
"Aww you got me!" Honey turned in place, looking for a victim. Haruhi wasn't far off, half hiding behind a tree. "I'm gonna get you, Haru-chan!"
Haruhi let out an uncharacteristically girly squeal and took off. She weaved around a tree and felt the impending dread wash over her. How could she possibly get away from Honey?
She spotted Mori directly ahead of her, and had an idea. She ran to him for protection, standing directly behind him to hide. Honey caught up easily.
"Can't hide forever, Haru-chan!"
He darted around Mori, and Haruhi did the same to stay away from Honey. They circled around Mori a few times, laughing at the absurdity of it all before Haruhi squealed out, "Mori-senpai, help!"
He came to her rescue as always. As she was passing back in front of him he swept her off her feet, lifting her where Honey couldn't as easily reach. She laughed some more, throwing her arms around Mori's neck to feel more stabilized. "Thanks Mori-senpai! You're my hero!" She twisted her head in Honey's direction and stuck her tongue out at him.
"Takashi!" Honey sulked, not getting to tag Haruhi after all. Then he smiled at his cousin as he reached out and poked his side. "I guess you'll just have to be it!" Honey laughed and ran away.
Mori paused a moment before gently lowering Haruhi to the ground. She let go of him, curious to what he was thinking. He looked down at her and patted the top of her head. "You're it."
The twins were laughing as Haruhi's mouth dropped in shock. How did she not see that coming? Mori smiled at her confusion and gestured at the group, reminding her to continue the game.
Haruhi smiled and turned to face the others, who all began running away. "Running away is futile! One of you is going down!"
They chased and evaded, each wanting to get one up on the others until it was too dark to do so. The moon was full though, providing them enough light to make it through the dense trees. They arrived at a small clearing and decided to stop.
Haruhi made her way towards the middle of the grassy space and collapsed onto her back to look at the sky. Without a word, Mori lay down next to her. The others joined after, laying in a circle with their heads at the center.
"Look, there's Orion!" Tamaki said, raising a finger towards the sky to point out the constellation.
"There's Gemini!" Hikaru and Kaoru intoned together, laughing. They had each raised a hand to point as well.
"I believe that really bright one close to Gemini is Jupiter." Kyoya pointed out his find.
"Draco, the dragon," Mori copied the others' actions.
Haruhi had been following along, glancing over at raised hands as needed to help her in the right direction, but couldn't see Draco. "Where?" she asked.
Mori lowered his hand back down to grab hers and lifted them back up together. He leaned his head against hers to better see from her angle and used her finger to point to the top of Draco.
"Here's the head. And this," he moved her hand along a path of stars, "is the body and tail."
"Ah I see it now!" Haruhi cheered.
Mori brought their hands back down together to lay in between them. He expected her to pull away now, if for no other reason then to point out a star of her own, but she left it. Mori didn't bother to move his head away.
When the host club was done star gazing they headed back into the forest to make their way home. It was darker now, the moon peaking in and out of clouds, so the return trip was much slower. Hikaru and Kaoru took it upon themselves to tell scary stories while they were in the opportune setting, causing more laughter than terror.
In one story, they focused their attention on Haruhi. They wove a tale of a young maiden lost in the woods at night and all the creatures she came across. With each new monster, they punctuated the scare by grabbing for Haruhi's sides to make her jump. Unfortunately for Haruhi, their actions tickled, something she did not enjoy.
After several of these 'scares' she had had enough. She listened to the build up in the story. When she knew the maiden was about to meet a new fearsome beast she jumped quickly out of their reach. Haruhi quickly regretted her hasty action. She'd been concentrating so hard on anticipating their movements that she hadn't spared a thought for where she was jumping. She landed half way on a raised tree root, the other half of her foot falling on air. She slid off the root, effectively twisting her ankle, and fell to the ground.
There was a collective yelling of her name before she could even express the pain she felt. They were fussing over her, apologizing for causing her pain when none of them were to blame.
"Calm down, I'm fine! It's not that bad and it's NONE of your faults so quit apologizing already!" She stood up carefully, leaving her weight on her good leg. "See? Fine." She moved her bad leg forward to take a step and immediately buckled under the pain. Her ankle wouldn't support her.
Before Haruhi could fully collapse, Mori was there assisting her. "You can't walk like this," he observed, reaching down to hook an arm under her legs, and his other around her shoulders, lifting her easily into his arms for the second time that night. He started walking again before she could react.
"Mori-senpai I'mfine, really! I just need a second and I'll be walking no problem!" He was having none of it, continuing on in a stony silence. "You don't have to carry me, I can walk!"
"Mitskuni," he called, knowing his cousin would know exactly what he wanted.
Honey came up to Mori on the side Haruhi's legs were dangling from. Without a word, he jumped up and tapped Haruhi's bad ankle cause her to yelp.
Mori looked pointedly down at her. "You were saying?"
She sighed, realizing she had been defeated. "Are you planning to carry me the whole way?"
"Yes."
Haruhi knew that answer was coming, expected it, but she still didn't like it. She wasn't some damsel in distress who needed looking after. She was strong and could hobble through the pain just fine! It was futile to argue though, so she kept quiet as they traversed the rest of the small forest to Mori's house.
She was grateful when they finally arrived, ready to be let down, but Mori wasn't having it. He sent the others off to eat and took her to his room, sitting her gently on the edge of his bed. "Don't move," he commanded.
Mori disappeared for a moment, returning with a first aid kit. He knelt down in front of her and gently removed her shoe. "Senpai, you really don't have to do that!" Haruhi tried to pull away, but his firm grip on her leg prevented that. He took off her sock next and then set her foot on his knee. After rolling up her pant leg he slowly started wrapping her ankle.
"You're good at that," she noticed.
"It's a necessary skill when you practice martial arts." Haruhi nodded her understanding. She watched him work, starting to feel guilty for causing so much trouble.
"Hungry?" he asked when he was finished. The others were eating and he planned to join them. He gently set Haruhi's foot on the floor with her other one so he could stand up. She nodded that she was hungry so he bent down to pick her up again.
"No, really! I can get there on my own!" She protested, giving him pause. He looked at her and shook his head.
"You're not putting any pressure on that," he pointed to her ankle, "at least while you're in my house. And I don't allow food in my room. If you're hungry we have to join the others." He reached the rest of the way to pick her up, not waiting for a response. "You have to let people help you sometimes, Haruhi."
She wrapped her hands around Mori's neck, acknowledge that he was right. "I'm sorry I'm such a burden, senpai."
He stopped dead, looking at her. "Do you really think any of us see you as a burden?"
Haruhi honestly wasn't sure. She was the poor commoner that didn't quite fit into their world. She didn't understand why they did some of the things they did or how they could spend the amount of money they did without blinking. She argued with them often about all their ridiculous notions, and she had to be coerced into half of their schemes.
And yet, they included her. They sought her out outside of the club, wanting to spend time with her. They asked for her advice, and her opinions, and even seemed to value her ideas.
But Haruhi still wasn't sure. "Maybe not always, but-"
"Not ever," he corrected her. "Not on a normal day and not when you're hurt. I didn't have to carry you all the way home, but I wanted to. You're a friend, never a burden."
Haruhi smiled, glad to know how he thought of her. "Thank you, senpai, for helping me." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She was embarrassed that she'd been complaining and fighting his help when she should've thanked him sooner.
"I always will," he said before he lowered his head the short distance to hers. In his arms the way she was the kiss was soft and intimate. He smelt woodsy, earthy, but not because of where they'd been. This scent was wholly Mori, and it was intoxicating.
And then his lips parted from hers and she was blushing. That was number three. Her third kiss at the hands, or rather lips, of one of her fellow hosts. Why was this happening? Why wasn't she stopping it?
Haruhi's hands fell back into her lap, not sure of what to do now or even what to say.
"Let's go eat," Mori said, saving her the trouble of formulating a response. At least he was still thinking straight, even if her thoughts were spinning in circles.
In the dining room the rest of their friends anxiously awaited. They were relieved when Haruhi and Mori finally rejoined them.
"How's the ankle, Haruhi?" Kaoru asked for the group. None of them missed the color on her cheeks. They now knew exactly what had taken their friends so long.
"Practically good as new," Haruhi answered, attempting a small smile. She waved her wrapped foot in the air as if to prove her statement.
Kyoya pulled a chair out next to him so Mori could set her down, and then took the adjacent chair for himself. They both grabbed some of the waiting food and listened to the recap of what hilarity they had missed.
Haruhi laughed along, trying not to look like her mind was running in hyper-speed, going over everything that had happened at each sleepover. She was getting good at this facade.
"Okay, we have to play a stationary game now so Haruhi isn't left out," Tamaki announced when they were done eating.
"How about a board game? Doesn't get much more stationary then that." Kaoru made a valid point but Mori shook his head, indicating he didn't have any.
"We could see who knows the others best! Two truths and a lie!" Hikaru received several blank stares at his suggestion. "It'll be fun! Here." Hikaru got up, disappearing from the room momentarily. He returned with his school bag, fished out several pieces of paper and various pens, setting them on the table. "Everyone will write down three sentences on their paper, two of which have to be true statements about yourself, and the other is a lie. You can put them in whatever order you want. Then we take turns reading our sentences and the others vote on which we think is the lie. If you're right, you get a point, and for every one that's wrong the sentencee gets two points!"
"I'm in! I know you all like the back of my hand!" Tamaki jumped up to grab a pen and sheet of paper from the pile, and the others did the same. Mori grabbed Haruhi one before she could try to stand to reach for herself.
They were all silent for awhile as they sat and thought of what to write. Haruhi was the first done, fairly sure her lie would be hard to detect. She glanced around at the others as they scribbled, wondering how well she really knew them.
"Eyes on your own paper, Haruhi! No cheating!" Tamaki exclaimed, noticing her wandering eyes and wrapping his arm around his paper as a shield.
"How exactly could I cheat? Even if I look at what you're writing I don't know if it's the truth or not."
"It would give you more time than the others to think it over! Maybe you could logic someone's lie out!"
"Alright alright, I'm sorry." Haruhi looked back at her own paper, rereading her choices. She was suddenly nervous. What if she couldn't pick out anyone's lie? Would that make her a bad friend? She suddenly wasn't so sure her own statements would stump them.
Before she could decide on something to switch out, the others were finished.
"Okay! Mori-senpai it's your house so you should go first! Read out your sentences and we'll vote!"
Mori picked up his paper and read. "I enjoy rain. I can't remember how I spent free time before I met you all. I want two kids." He put his paper back down.
"But Takashi-" Honey didn't get a chance to finish his thought.
"Nuh uh, Honey-senpai! No discussion until everyone votes so nothing is given away." Hikaru wagged his finger back and forth at Honey as he explained. "Okay, so who thinks the first statement was a lie?"
No one raised their hand or spoke out.
"Who thinks the second statement was a lie?"
Hikaru raised his own hand and watched as Kaoru and Kyoya did too.
"So Haruhi, Honey-senpai, and our King think the last statement is a lie?" Heads were nodding all around. "Alright, tell us which was the lie, Mori-senpai!"
"I don't want two kids. I want three."
"Aw man! How did you guys know?" Kaoru questioned.
"Cause he's told me before that he wants three!" Honey explained.
"I guess I didn't know for sure, but I can understand how someone could forget how they used to spend their time, so I didn't think it would be that." Tamaki had a dreamy look on his face, as if he trying to imagine a life where he didn't have this club.
"Same," Haruhi nodded her agreement. She could hardly remember how she used to spend her free time, so why wouldn't the same be true for someone else?
"Aw man! Okay you three each get a point for guessing right, and Mori you get two points for each of us that guessed wrong. Moving clockwise now so take it away, boss." Hikaru moved quickly onto the next round, wanting to redeem himself.
"Okay, here it goes! I love piano now, but I hated it when I first started. The last person I knowingly made cry was my mother. And lastly, I'm afraid I'll never live up to my grandmother's expectations."
"Alright, voting time. Who thinks the first is a lie?" Haruhi, Kyoya, and Kaoru raised their hands.
"And who thinks the second is a lie?" The rest of the group raised their hands. "Tamaki?"
"Huh, I thought I hid my fear better; I thought at least one of you would pick my third sentence. Oh well, the first statement was false. I've always loved piano."
"Damn, wrong again!" Hikaru exclaimed.
"He begged his mother for lessons," Haruhi explained. "He loved the way piano sounded and wanted to be able to play too." Kyoya and Kaoru nodded their agreement.
"All right my turn!" Kaoru said after marking down his point. "My happiness means less to me than my brother's. When I was young, I thought everyone had a twin. The first girl I ever had a crush on wouldn't even talk to me." He smiled at the group, challenging them to find the lie.
Hikaru knew the last statement to be false, but apparently, so did everyone else.
"Aw come on! I didn't think it was that easy!"
The others were laughing at him. "It definitely was, Kao-chan! No points for you! And it's my turn now!" Honey took a deep breath so he could race through his own statements. "If it weren't for the family I was born into I wouldn't have studied martial arts. I didn't have my first piece of cake until I was 7. If Haruhi had been hurt when those bullies threw her off the rocks at the beach, I would've killed them."
There was silence around the table as they took in what he'd said.
Tamaki gave off a nervous laugh. "Well that got a bit dark, hehe." Haruhi had a small smile on her face though; it had actually been sort of sweet.
"Soooo voting then," Kaoru moved them along.
Hikaru was the only one to vote for the first statement. Haruhi, Mori, Tamaki, and Kyoya voted for the middle statement. That left Kaoru to vote for the last.
"Seriously, I'm the only one? There's no way Honey-senpai would ever be that violent! He doesn't even like hurting people, let alone killing them!"
They all looked to Honey to see if Kaoru was right. "I don't like hurting people, you're right Kao-chan. But under the right circumstances I absolutely wouldn't hold back." His face was more serious than they were used to seeing, but Haruhi smiled again, looking down at the table.
"Thank you, Mitskuni." It was a whisper, but he heard.
Honey smiled softly back at her in response. "But anyway, the majority wins! I didn't have my first piece of cake until I was 8! Before that was the saddest years in my whole life!" That gave everyone a chuckle. "What gave me away?"
"Well, if you didn't want to learn martial arts you would have stopped after learning your own families style, and as for that last statement..." Kyoya trailed off, thinking. "Well, you aren't the only one with anger issues."
Hikaru was sulking, currently in last place with zero points. "Alright it's my chance to catch up. Ready?" He didn't wait for anyone to answer. "If I didn't need to finish high school to get to college to start working in fashion with my mom, I'd drop out right now. I would love to have a younger sibling. I hate the Which One is Hikaru game." He crossed his arms in front of his chest, sitting back in his chair. "Let's see you guys get this one!"
Kyoya chose the second statement while everyone else went for the first. "He has a younger sibling already, rendering the second statement inaccurate, which basically makes it false," Kyoya explained his reasoning.
"You know what I meant!" Hikaru defended. "Everyone else is right. If I dropped out I wouldn't get to spend near as much time pestering you guys." Hikaru marked his first two points of the game.
Kyoya was next. "If my family wasn't in medicine I wouldn't be planning on becoming a doctor. Before Tamaki, I never had a best friend. When I was young I wanted a pet but wasn't allowed one."
The vote was evenly split for the first time. Haruhi and Tamaki picked the first statement, Mori and Kaoru chose the second, and Honey and Hikaru voted for the third. They discussed before Kyoya could verify the winners.
"There's no way you weren't allowed a pet Kyo-chan! It's too sad!"
"And not having a best friend isn't sad?" Kaoru questioned.
"Well, of course it is but, I mean, this is Kyoya Ootori we're talking about. Sorry, Kyo-chan." Kyoya nodded his understanding. He knew he was cold and calculating.
Haruhi defended her choice next. "Kyoya-senpai, you're nicer than you let on. I think you'd still want to be a doctor because you enjoy helping people." Tamaki nodded.
They all turned to Kyoya, awaiting the truth. Kyoya took a moment to answer, making sure they were actually done. "I was not allowed a pet and I didn't consider anyone to be my best friend." By process of elimination, that made his first statement a lie, even if he wouldn't admit he enjoyed helping others.
"You're last, Haru-chan!"
"I wanted to play the cello when I was 8. I haven't always been afraid of thunder. Before my mom died, I had no interest in being a lawyer." She sat back, much as Hikaru had, watching as the others tried to work it out.
"Ready to vote?" Haruhi asked after a minute.
"Read them again, please," Mori asked.
She obliged, not giving anything away on her face. "Alright you've had enough time. Who is voting for my first statement?"
The others were looking around now too, waiting to see if anyone raised their hand. Slowly, Honey raised his hand to vote for the first statement, followed by an encouraged Kaoru.
"And who wants to vote for my second statement?"
There were more exchanged glances before Tamaki and Hikaru raised their hands.
"And now my last statement." The last didn't actually need a show of hands, but Haruhi wanted to make sure no one was going to try and change their minds.
Mori and Kyoya raised their hands, not at all sure if they were right.
"Interesting," said Haruhi. She nodded to herself, thinking.
"Come on, already! Put us out of our misery!" Hikaru said.
She looked around, holding each of their gazes for a moment. "I want to know why you each chose your answer, and then I'll tell you who was right." There was a grunt of frustration from a few as Haruhi looked at Mori to start. She would go around the table as they had for the game.
"You loved your mom so much, I thought you idolized her and wanted to be like her," Mori explained.
Haruhi nodded along, then looked to Tamaki. "I've seen you in a thunder storm, Haruhi." His expression was sad, but he tried to smile. He didn't elaborate further.
She turned to face Kaoru who said, "Sorry Haruhi, you're just not very musically inclined." He shrugged.
Attention now on Honey, he shrugged as well. "What Kao-chan said. You never expressed an interest in music, but I bet it'd be cute to see a little Haru-chan behind a big cello!"
Hikaru looked sad as well when Haruhi looked to him. "Tamaki and I are the only ones who've seen you around thunder. There's no way it's something that just happened. It's a deeply ingrained fear."
Finally, just Kyoya was left. "Much as you said I enjoy helping people, you too can't turn your back on those in need."
Haruhi nodded her understanding of everyone's answers. "Well, you're all technically right in your logic. I'm not musically inclined, but maybe I would be if my family could've afforded cello lessons." She looked at Honey and Kaoru, letting them know they'd lost. "And I do idolize my mother and want to be a lawyer who is able to help people from getting screwed over, but when she was alive, I hated her job. She worked long hours and too many weekends. I understood that what she was doing was important, but I still just wanted her around more." Kyoya and Mori nodded, understanding Haruhi a little better.
Haruhi looked from Tamaki to Hikaru and back again. "You two are right. Though my fear has certainly gotten worse since I was a child, I've always been afraid of thunder, and I probably always will be."
"I hope someone will always be there to help you through the storms. I know any of us will be when possible." Tamaki was giving a more genuine smile now.
"I know," Haruhi answered. And she did know.
"Well, Haruhi, that puts you two points ahead of Tamaki, making you the winner!" Kaoru wanted to cheer everyone back up. Haruhi smiled. She hadn't needed to be afraid after all.
"I'm ready to lay down if everyone else is," Honey stated.
They all were, and headed back to Mori's room, Haruhi in his arms. As most of them worked to move furniture out of the way to make room for their mesh of blankets and pillows, Mori carried Haruhi to his bed. "You'll be sleeping here." He set her down.
"What? No, I can't sleep in your bed, senpai!"
"You can. Your leg needs to stay elevated and that won't be easy if you sleep among us." He paused, seeming to stare more intently at her. "Call me Takashi."
His name is what did it. She couldn't fight anymore after that. She would sleep in his bed if that's what he wanted because she couldn't argue with someone offering their first name. Someone she'd kissed.
Haruhi allowed Mori to place her leg on a pillow as she lay back stiffly on his bed, blushing slightly. She felt awkward here, like she didn't belong, and she couldn't get comfortable. It didn't help that she was pretty much stuck in one position because of her leg. She turned her head to the side and smelt Mori. Haruhi had to raise her head to find him among the guys on the ground, but he was there, and not near her. She dropped her head again and breathed deeply. He had left his pillow for her instead of exchanging it for a guest pillow. His earthy scent washed over her and she was finally able to relax. She felt safe here.
