Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way.

Shelter in the Storm

Previously in chapter twenty nine: Maybe it was independence and self-sufficiency that she had grown up with, or maybe he was because she didn't want to feel like she was letting everyone down with how her recovery was proceeding. Either way, she told no one of her dreams of the attacker. This night, luckily the dreams were not as bad as normal and when she did wake, it was before she was actually dreaming of the attack itself, with one exception.

Chapter Thirty

The one time she didn't wake before the attacker grabbed her in her dream. She fought the attacker with all of her might, but he was on the verge of confining her within him arms and winning his attempt to subdue her when she screamed at the top of her lungs in her dream. She sat bolt upright, eyes wide open, nothing coming from her mouth however. This was becoming the norm for her nights. The frequency brought a familiarity to waking from her nightmares with silent screams, so she knew that if she didn't get something to sooth her throat, it would feel torn up the next time she awoke. She grabbed a robe and made her way to the bedroom door. She wasn't sure if she could remember her way to the kitchen but she didn't want to wake anyone else. She wandered through the house quietly, to not wake up her hosts. Eventually she did find the kitchen, only to find Kimiko standing there making herself a sandwich and tea.

The young lady didn't hear Haruhi as she silently moved into the room, causing her to start when she saw the girl standing in the doorway. From her time with Haruhi, she knew that the girl woke frequently, so it was of little surprise to see her wandering around the house, but her sudden and ghost white appearance was shocking to say the least. Kimiko quickly recovered and asked Haruhi to join her in the early morning snack. "You can't really call it a late night snack since sunrise is only an hour and a half away," she smiled as she handed Haruhi the tea. "How come you're awake at this hour? Problems sleeping again?"

"Uhn, I woke up for some reason, and my throat was kind of dry." Sleeping problems again? Does she know about my dreams? I didn't think that I had woken her up all those times. I tried to be as quiet as I could, but I was pretty sure that when I woke up, I was usually only screaming in my head, not out loud.

"I see. Ok, well, drink the tea because it has honey in it, which will help your throat." She looks pale. I hope she's not still having nightmares. I remember the few times she woke up screaming when I first started staying there. I thought she was getting over it, but she still woke up frequently. She just won't talk to me about it though.

"Thank you. I'm glad I ran into you down here, I would have felt weird digging through all the cabinets to find something for myself."

The two talked about what it was like to be staying in an unfamiliar house. Kimiko assured Haruhi that she had felt more than welcomed when she had essentially moved in with her and her father. Haruhi admitted that she knew that she was welcomed at the Morinodzuka house, but she still felt weird rummaging through the kitchen. Kimiko gave her the quick tour, showing her were everything was in the kitchen if she found herself up alone in the middle of the night needing something to munch on. They were at ease with one another, and Haruhi was, for once, glad to have a female friend instead of just another client at the host club. They chatted over tea for a few more minutes when Kimiko's wristwatch beeped. "Oh no, I have to get be up to help prepare breakfast in fifty minutes. That's my own personal alarm to wake me up in time. Eh, well I think I have to be up then. I don't remember if I am supposed to keep with Sunday being my day off, or if I am supposed to go back to having Saturdays off, since I am back here at the residence."

They had become such good friends, that Haruhi forgot that Kimiko was paid to stay with her. "I don't know. I keep forgetting that you're actually working when you're at my house."

Kimiko smile brightly at her, "I know. It doesn't feel like work at all. I really enjoy your company, so it feels like I am getting a paid vacation when I am at your house. Even though I try to keep the house clean for you and Ranka-san, and I am helping with the cooking, mostly because you're teaching me. Still, it isn't like working at all. It actually feels more like either I am at a friends house, or maybe even at home myself. I… I actually wanted to thank you for making me feel like I was part of a family again. I feel somewhat at home here, and they did take me in when I was only seventeen, but since my parents and sister died I haven't felt like I did when I was with you and Ranka-san, and even when the young master was there. That felt like family as well. I really can't thank you enough." Kimiko had never really talked about herself before, at least not about her past. When she saw Haruhi's questioning face, she knew she needed to go into more detail.

Kimiko told Haruhi about how shortly before her seventeenth birthday, her whole family was going to a theme park, when they were in a car accident. Her little sister and her sister's boyfriend, who also happened to be her best friend, both died instantly as did her father. Her mother was in a coma for a while, but never came out of it, and passed away from complications about two weeks later. Kimiko had survived, but with several broken bones. She was still in the hospital during her family's funerals. She had not been able to attend, and was still dealing with not having that closure. Although she had recovered physically, she still felt like her little sister would walk through the door any day, telling her about some wonderful adventure that the whole family had been on for the last five years. She told Haruhi about how her sister was third year middle school student, and she and her best friend were second year high school, which made the age difference between them similar to the difference between Haruhi and Takeshi. She also admitted that when she started working for the Morinodzuka family, the age difference between herself and Takeshi had instantly attracted her to him as he was the same age as her sister had been. It was a sibling type of attraction though, not one of the opposite sex. She looked at him as younger brother. Haruhi giggled when Kimiko was telling her, since she knew about Takeshi's crush. Kimiko didn't remember Takeshi's confession of an earlier crush on her, so Haruhi kept quiet. It was then that they heard noise elsewhere in the house.