Haruhi jerked awake.

What was that? She thought, holding her head, trying to shake the images away. Looking to the floor, she was a little surprised to find Hikaru and Kaoru on the floor beside her. She had momentarily forgotten that they were staying over—Kami-sama knows why—and that they had insisted on sleeping in her room for the same absurd reason. Seeing them brought her back to her dream…or nightmare. Were dreams supposed to be that vivid?

Her skin crawled, but she couldn't give the matter much more thought. Her stomach wanted to go up her throat.

--

Waking up to the sound of somebody retching and spluttering somewhere in the house wasn't exactly the most pleasant way to start a morning. But that's how it went for the twins.

Hikaru stirred and tucked himself deeper under his blanket. Kaoru opened one bleary eye and listened to the weird noise.

"Hikaru… What in the world…"

"Just go back to sleep, maybe it'll go away."

The gagging sounds continued and even got a little louder.

"Unn… It's not going away."

Hikaru sat up groggily. "Hey Haruhi, what the heck is making that sound?"

Kaoru shot up and he met his brother's now wide-awake eyes before they bolted for the bathroom.

"Haruhi!"

The found her leaning over the sink, clutching the basin for dear life. The twins stood in shock for a second before running to her aid. Hikaru gingerly supported her as she threw up and Kaoru rubbed her back.

When Haruhi was done, she cleaned herself and then straightened up, shaking the boys' arms off. When she saw them however, it brought her dream back to mind, so she quickly turned around and hid her face from view. If she didn't, they would have been able to see the way she blushed.

"Sorry you had to see that."

Hikaru scrutinized her with narrowed eyes. "We had no idea you were having this rough of a time."

"Of course you didn't," she deadpanned, still evading their gaze. She looked at the wall clock and started. "We're going to be late!"

"Late for what?" Kaoru yawned. The sleep was coming back to him.

Haruhi pinched the twins' ears lightly, ignoring their protests of "Owowowowowow!"

"We have school today. And unless we hurry up, we're definitely going to be tardy."

--

Alright, so getting to school in an overly flashy vehicle wasn't exactly Haruhi's definition of hurrying up, but it worked.

Classes went on normally, and she relished every bit of it, knowing that she was about to get an earful of things she'd rather not hear once it was dismissal. But soon enough (or sooner than Haruhi wanted, anyway), the clock tower tolled for three in the afternoon.

Hikaru and Kaoru had to haul her all the way to the third Music room.

Once they were at the door, she yanked her arms from their grip and went for the handle. Sure enough, opening it was like starting a chain reaction of explosives.

Haruhi had been expecting this, so she deftly stepped out of reach of the yellow-topped thing that had barreled towards her the moment she entered.

Tamaki sat a few feet out the door, rubbing his head.

"Haruhi!" Tamaki sulked. "Daddy was only going to make sure you were okay!"

"I am perfectly fine, senpai." Now that I'm nowhere near you, that is. She glanced once around the room. "Where are the guests?"

Hunny was rocking back on forth on the balls of his feet. "Kyo-chan postponed today's activities."

The boy in specs was calmly typing things down on his laptop. "No need to look so perplexed. We're just here to discuss the issue at hand."

Hikaru sat down grumpily. "Haven't we gone over this already?"

"Not as a whole," replied Kyoya. He looked towards Tamaki, who was unusually composed. The latter stood and cleared his throat.

"I suppose there's nothing left to do but face the situation," he said matter-of-factly. "As leader of this Host Club, I take full responsibility for whatever happens to its members! That is why…" he looked at her theatrically. "I have decided! Haruhi, you must throw away the friend figure of me that you have formed inside your heart…"

"Don't worry about that, senpai. I got it covered."

This statement, Tamaki fully ignored. He just went on babbling, draping his arm around her all the while.

"…However it pains me to say this, it must be done! I certainly don't want you to be involved with those doppelgangers any longer! They're bad influences! So from now on, Haruhi, I do not want you to be near them, understand?"

Haruhi looked as if she wanted nothing more than to explode into oblivion and take Tamaki down with her.

Tamaki made a loud noise at the back of his throat.

She continued nevertheless. "How is this supposed to help…?"

Tamaki suddenly knelt down in front of her and held her hand.

"Haruhi, since I am accountable for whatever happens to you, I feel guilty for letting you fall prey to those two idiots… And since they clearly do not want to be burdened, I will gladly take you from their shoulders. And so, I have a proposition for you."

He gazed into her bewildered eyes.

"I want to bring the child into this world under my name."

Everyone was silenced, and a great anticipation filled the room. The twins were just as flabbergasted as they were angry, but they were on the ends of their wits as they waited for Haruhi's reply.

"No offense, but I'm not at a legal age to be married yet."

Tamaki was a little thrown off. "Married? You misunderstand! That would be incest, my dear… No, I want to adopt your child into the Suoh family."

Well, everyone saw that coming.

"No way!" the twins objected violently. "You're not adopting our kid!"

"Your kid? Excuse me; you two apparently don't want to be responsible for anything! I'm doing you a favor!"

"Who are you to tell if we don't want to be responsible?"

Tamaki almost snorted. "It's not as if it isn't obvious yet!"

Hikaru was probably going to throw a few choice adjectives at his adversary, but Haruhi disrupted them.

"Drop it!" she yelled. The atmosphere was hushed at once. "Alright, see here. Tamaki-senpai, I know you have my best interests at heart, but you can't adopt the baby."

"But—"

"No," she said resolutely. "Besides, the twins are taking care of me well enough."

"How would they even do that?" Tamaki scoffed.

"For your information boss," Kaoru said, his tone dripping with sadism. "We're living with her. We eat at the same table. We sleep in the same room."

The reaction was instantaneous, and it would be safe to say that no one expected it.

"Bastards!"

Tamaki practically throttled the twins and jammed them against the wall before anyone could do anything to stop him. Even though there were two of them, it looked like Hikaru and Kaoru couldn't handle their boss' fury once it was released all at once. They were scrabbling at his hands, trying to get him off their throats to no avail. Even Kyoya couldn't calm him down.

Immediately, Hunny and Mori stepped in. Mori twisted the king's arm just enough to make him let go and Hunny pulled the younger Hitachiin to safety. Hikaru rushed to Kaoru's side though they were both breathing in ragged gasps. The older twin wrapped his brother in his arms.

Haruhi stomped over to where Kyoya was restraining his suddenly animalistic best friend and slapped Tamaki with all the disdain she could muster. He stopped fidgeting right away, and Kyoya thought it safe to release him.

"What's wrong with you, senpai?" Haruhi hissed, and everyone backed away from her. "Who are you to hurt people like that? You don't have the right to make decisions for me! Besides, I don't want to be your daughter, wife or whatever it is you have in mind, because to say it frankly, you're nothing but a fucked up egocentric narcissist who is Full. Of. Shit!"

Leaving a stunned Tamaki to dwell on that, she walked over to the twins and knelt down.

"You guys okay?"

They managed to smile up at her. "Still alive."

She helped them up. "Let's go home."

--

The three first years were in the limousine on their way home. It's a rare occasion when the twins decide to hold their tongues, and right then was a perfect example. Of course, it helped that the girl who sat between them was red as a beet and steaming. It was Haruhi who spoke—yelled—first.

"I can't believe he did that!" she blurted out. "He's so… Argh! Anyway, it's not like you two are staying over for some sick perverted reason, right? It's not like you're using this to your advantage, right?"

Hikaru laughed nervously. "Of course not… Why would you think that?"

Then Kaoru opened his mouth to say something, but Haruhi silenced him with a glare.

"Don't you start. It was your big mouth that made him crack, anyway!"

"Hey, I couldn't help it! He was talking crap; I just wanted to get back at him!"

"Okay, Haruhi, I don't get it," Hikaru said, glad of an opportunity to steer the conversation back to safe waters. "Usually, I'm the one who explodes. But you were really something back there. And I don't think I've ever heard you cuss like that before."

"I think we should consider ourselves lucky," his twin mused. "I wouldn't wanna be in her way when she acts up that way again."

"Fat chance, seeing as you're living with me right now."

"Oh, right."

--

In the meantime, Tamaki lay face down on the floor of the club room, his encounter having left him with a twinge of shame.

"Tama-chan?" Hunny began uncertainly.

No one answered.

Kyoya slipped on his glasses that had fallen off in the struggle.

"Would you care to explain, Tamaki? You don't normally tend to blow up like that unless something's really bothering you."

The blonde bit his lip and sat up. "I don't know what happened! It's those… those infernal twins! It's always them with her. Never me. I don't know why I'm so mad! I just… I hate this."

Mori gripped Tamaki's shoulder.

"We know you're confused, Tamaki," Kyoya said with a cold tone. "But that's no reason to take it out on Hikaru and Kaoru like that."

"What? What do you mean?" He was clueless as ever.

"Tama-chan, haven't you ever wondered why you always want to protect Haru-chan? Why you get so mad whenever she's with someone else?"

"I—I don't know."

Kyoya hit him over the head with his notebook. "Oh, stop denying it already. You've always known, you goof."

Tamaki rubbed the spot where the notebook had hit him, and it dawned on him. His eyes glazed over.

"So that's why," he said softly.

Hunny, Mori and even Kyoya smiled just a little.

He's finally got it!

Standing up straight, Tamaki faced the others, visibly happier and glowing with comprehension.

"Of course! How could I not see this? Why did it have to be at the last moment? I'm apparently just suffering from the empty nest syndrome!"

Mori palmed his face.

and he's lost it yet again.

His friends gaped at him, paralyzed with disbelief. Could this guy get any denser?

Tamaki went on. "I've should have foreseen this; I mean, every parent goes through a period of grief when they realize that their child is all grown up and moving on! It was only natural for me to become even more protective of her, especially in her condition! Now that I've figured out what's been bothering me so much, I have to go and apologize to Haruhi right away!"

"What about Hika-chan and Kao-chan? Don't you think you should say sorry to them too?"

Tamaki became a little icy at this.

"You know," Kyoya said. "Just because they're staying with her doesn't necessarily mean that their motive is malicious. Who knows, this might be their way of owning up to her. Haruhi's alone as of now, so they probably want to keep her company."

Tamaki put some stock into this. "I guess you're right. It was a little silly of me to jump on them like that, wasn't it? But as I said, my paternal instinct for Haruhi only kicked in..." He brightened. "Alright, I'll go to them right now!"

Kyoya grabbed him. "Now would not be the best time. You may have… realized, but they might not be ready for you yet after an outburst like that."

"Let them cool off a bit, Tama-chan."

Mori agreed. "Try tomorrow."

--

Kaoru had gone downstairs to meet the delivery person from the sushi shop (the twins would rather eat the same food for three days than to suffer indigestion from Haruhi's whacked-out dishes). Hikaru sat idly, watching Haruhi bustle around the apartment. Then a thought came to mind.

"Haruhi?"

"Yeah?"

"About this morning… You were acting kind of weird."

She stopped halfway to the kitchen to give him a look of exasperation.

"Yes, well that was called morning sickness. It's what happens during pregnancy."

"I'm not dumb! I meant… You were sort of avoiding me and Kaoru. Why?"

"Huh? You aren't making any sense. I wasn't avoiding you!"

"I'm not blind, I know what I saw."

"No, you don't. You were still sleepy; you could've seen me wearing a bunny suit, for all you know."

"Now that idea isn't half-bad. Wish I saw that instead."

Haruhi headed towards him and rapped the top of his head with her knuckles.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"For thinking about restricted stuff."

"Restricted?" he laughed. "Haruhi, for all you know, I could've had sex with you already. Next to that, fantasizing about you in a bunny suit is pretty innocent, don't you think?"

She was about to fire a retort when Kaoru walked in with the sushi. "What's going on?"

"Oh nothing," his brother smirked. "Just discussing about Haruhi in a bunny suit."

"Ooh, I think I seriously like that topic."

This time Haruhi's knuckles met Kaoru's head. He said the same thing his brother did, and she paid no attention. She was just thankful that she had managed to avert Hikaru's original topic and change it to something else. She wasn't so sure if she wanted to tell them about her dream just yet. Hell, she wasn't even sure if the dream was real.

Haruhi tried to distract herself by watching the twins eat and stuffing her own face with the rice and natto she had drizzled generously with wasabi and (for some reason unknown to her,) maple syrup.

--

At the second Suoh mansion, Tamaki was busy pacing around, thinking of ways to apologize to the trio. A soft knock came on his door, and he was brought out of his trance.

"Come in!"

It was a maid. "There's a telephone call for you, young master."

Tamaki thanked her and proceeded to pick up the wireless receiver in his room.

"Hello, Tamaki Suoh speaking! …Oh, Mrs. Hitachiin, to what do I owe this pleasure? Hikaru and Kaoru? Huh? No, they aren't here… Yes, I'm quite positive. Hmm… You don't say? Yes, yes. I think I know where they are. Would you like me to pick them up? Oh, it's no trouble at all, Mrs. Hitachiin. You're very welcome."

He dialed another number as soon as she hung up, the fiery rage returning to his face.

"Hello, Kyoya? Remember what you said about the twins not having any other motive for living at Haruhi's apartment? I want to see for myself! Let's pay Haruhi a visit, shall we? Yes, Kyoya, right now!"


A/N:

(Kaoru typo thingy fixed!)

Natto = fermented soy beans

Wasabi = spicy paste made from Japanese horseradish

-o-

I bet the summary made you think of a different outcome for this chapter. Well, no. Tamaki is (and always will be) Tamaki, after all. But I had fun getting him to go into a murder frenzy, almost killing the twins. Kekeke, you know I'd never actually let him murder them though. Let's leave the murdering options to Rankaand Yuzuha when they find out about Haruhi. ^^

Okay, so the twins are neck-deep in trouble with their boss right now. This can't be pretty, huh? Hmm, guess you'll have to wait and see. x)

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