Chapter 2

A/N: I'm so happy to see how many people are sticking with this little series! Yay! This chapter is a little short, just getting into a little of why Honey reacted so badly to the name in the last chapter. I thought this would be longer, but I got to the point that I wanted to stop at, so… here we are. Please enjoy!

Oh, and I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, I stole the name Enishi from Rurouni Kenshin. Anyone who has read Blow Me One Last Kiss knows that I have a tendency to steal names from other animes I enjoy… Naming characters is hard x_X

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club or any characters except my own OC's

Hikaru and Kaoru didn't let go of Haruhi's elbows as they moved down the hallways towards the room she shared with Mori. Tamaki and Kyouya trailed several yards behind them, their heads bent towards each other, engaged in a conversation too low for human ears to pick up.

"So do either of you have half a clue what the heck happened back there?" Haruhi demanded, letting them drag her along the hallway even though she could have easily wrenched herself free. They had jumped to get her out of harm's way when she had been inclined to stay close to Mori, so the least she could do was let them escort her.

As one, the twins shook their heads. "Sorry, not a single clue," they chorused.

"And… that's… that's not normal, is it?" she asked at last. She was fairly certain it wasn't, had never seen Lord Honey lose his cool like that, but then she'd only lived in the castle for ten years. The twins had been here for around sixty years…

Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged significant looks. Hikaru's jaw clenched slightly, and Kaoru's eyes darted back towards the vampires behind them.

"We've never seen anything like it," Hikaru finally answered.

"Kyouya and Tamaki probably know what's up though…" Kaoru mused, half to himself.

"And Mori certainly would," Hikaru added, lifting his eyebrows at Haruhi.

"What are you suggesting, that I interrogate him when he comes back?" Haruhi demanded.

"Well obviously," Hikaru snorted.

"Mori will definitely know what's going on, even if Kyouya and Tamaki don't," Kaoru added, though his eyes kept flicking back. He was clearly certain that Kyouya at least would know what was going on.

"You don't think…" Haruhi paused, licking dry lips. "You don't think Lord Honey will…?" She couldn't finish the question.

"Mori will be fine," Kaoru insisted, his grip tightening for a moment against her elbow, an oddly reassuring gesture.

"Yeah, Lord Honey would never hurt his cousin… not for anything," Hikaru agreed.

Reassured, Haruhi let them pull her up to the doorway of her room.

"Do you want us to come in?" Kaoru asked her, amber eyes focusing on her and studiously ignoring the vampires still hanging back several yards.

"No, I'll be fine," Haruhi promised. "Mori should be back soon anyways." That was more a hope than a definitive statement, but she projected confidence anyways.

"If you're sure," Hikaru sighed. When she nodded, the twins turned in perfect unison, heading to their vampire masters. Tamaki had a worried expression on his face and he wasn't paying much attention to Haruhi, but Kyouya caught her eye for just a moment before light flashed off his glasses, hiding the subtle nuances of his expression from her gaze.

Haruhi stepped into her room and shut the door carefully behind her, leaning against it for a moment and exhaling heavily. She realized that her hands were shaking and she took several deep breaths to steady herself. Between seeing members of the Lobelia clan and then watching Lord Honey have a complete freak-out… Haruhi shook her head.

Moving to stand in front of the mirror, she studied herself for a moment. Her dark brown hair had grown out a little, but she was still very much the same young woman she'd been ten years ago. In more ways than one… being the human mate of a vampire meant that she would never age unless she and Mori parted company. It also gave her some enhanced senses, and greater speed and strength, but she didn't use these much really.

Her fingers absently fingered the red mark on the side of her neck, the spot where Mori took her blood. After a few moments, she reached backwards, her fingers brushing against the laces of her gown, seeking purchase on the silky strings.

Then a larger hand covered her small ones, and she froze for a moment. And then cool lips pressed against the back of her neck even as nimble fingers worked the laces loose, and she could breathe freely at last.

"Takashi…" she sighed as she took her first proper breath in hours.

His fingers stilled for a moment. "Are you alright?" he asked at last.

"I will be," she decided after a moment. She remained perfectly still as he finished unlacing her gown, though neither of them made a move to remove it. "How is he?" she asked finally.

Mori didn't answer right away, and she could almost see the frown that she was sure must be on his face. "Not well," he said at last.

"Takashi… what happened in there?" Haruhi asked at last.

Mori shook his head. "It was a long time ago."

"That doesn't mean it's not still relevant," Haruhi argued. "I think he proved that tonight, don't you?"

"He overreacted. He will be fine."

It was painfully obvious that Mori did not want to have this conversation. The proper thing to do would be to let the topic die, but Haruhi simply wasn't sure she could do that.

"She got under his skin and she's not even here," Haruhi heard herself say.

Mori was unnaturally still, even for him (and she had known him to sit for hours with only the barest of movements). "Coincidence. She can't have known…" He trailed off and shook his head.

Haruhi turned around to face him at last. "Takashi, are you protecting Honey? Or are you trying to protect me?"

"Why can't it be both?" he asked, the slight lift of his eyebrows indicating that he was trying to joke with her, but it came across as much more serious.

"Takashi, please!" Haruhi exclaimed, frustration overwhelming her. "You know me better than anyone… surely you can tell how scared I am about this meeting with Lobelia! Benibara is playing mind games with our leader, and if we start fragmenting… it'll be that much easier for them to…" She couldn't finish that thought, and instead covered her face with her hands.

Mori said nothing, only pulled her into his arms and held her against him as her body shook with suppressed sobs. The last time she had seen the leader of Clan Lobelia, she had been sure she would die… and then even more sure that Mori was going to die because of her… It had been a very near thing, and she didn't know if she was ready to face those terrifying vampires again. Even under Mori's protection, there had been terrible danger…

"You don't need to be afraid," he whispered into her air. "I won't let anyone touch you."

"I know…" she sighed. He had proved willing to die for her already, and their bond had only become stronger since then. "But Takashi… I don't…"

"It must be a coincidence," Mori said, understanding her question. "She could not possibly know about Enishi."

"Enishi the vampire hunter?" Haruhi clarified.

Mori sighed. "It is not the same Enishi. It cannot be. Mitsukuni and I fought him many years ago. He was mortally wounded. Even if he survived the wounds, he would be long dead."

"There was another Enishi then?" Haruhi clarified.

"Years ago," Mori agreed.

"And Benibara knew about him?"

"She can't possibly…" Mori's eyes closed. "Only Mitsukuni and I know the significance of that name."

"What is…?" Haruhi began, but Mori shook his head.

"Leave it buried," he said quietly.

"But… Lord Honey… He is obviously…" Haruhi floundered for words.

"He will be fine," Mori replied.

"You can't possibly know that!" Haruhi argued.

Mori just gave her a significant look, then started running his fingers through her hair. She relaxed against him a little, then tilted her head up to look at him properly.

"I know you know him better than anyone else in this castle," she said softly. "Probably in this world even. But even Kyouya and Tamaki are worried. We've never seen him act like this."

Mori closed his eyes for a moment. "I can't tell you the whole story," he said at last.

"Then give me a summary," Haruhi pleaded.

Mori didn't speak for a moment, and Haruhi thought that even this request might be ignored. But after a few moments, Mori spoke again. "The fight where Mitsukuni mortally wounded Enishi… it was our second battle."

Haruhi waited, but Mori didn't say anything. Finally Haruhi decided on the appropriate question to ask. "What happened during the first battle?"

Mori was so still, he might have been a marble statue. And the words that he spoke made Haruhi's blood run cold. "Enishi killed a young woman… Mitsukuni's human mate."

A/N: Told you it was short… But that's where I wanted to stop… I'll try to get the next chapter written soon… but I have so many fics in progress right now… Why do I do this to myself? I don't even know.