08.11.11

THE SPLIT-UP

It's been a while since my last post. I could go into a long winded explanation of how I spent the last three days under a mountain of textbooks and practice tests, getting only a minimal amount of sleep and eating even less, but that will only bore you. The short version is that I was studying for High School entrance exams. They don't actually come up for another semester, but I wanted to get an early start. I'm shooting for the best High School there is, a private academy for wealthy children that is offering scholarships for high achieving students. I took a tour of the Campus last week, it's very nice. But that's a whole different story.

I'm going to try and avoid anything long winded. I know I've been bad about that in the past. I'm actually taking a small break from my study schedule to write this. I realized that since the next semester starts up in only a week, I'm going to have much less time to work on this blog very soon. I want to get as much done now as possible.

So just a recap: the androids got arrested; my Dad came home for a visit; my Grandparents came on that very same day to reconcile with us; we went out to eat at a restaurant right next to the jailhouse they were being kept at; I managed to get Tamaki, Hunny, and Hikaru out, the latter of whom was having some sort of mental breakdown over being away from Kaoru; my family discovered them and I had to come up with a cover story; and finally, there was a jailbreak.

Now I was running at top speed out the door. Passed several frightened families with small children, passed the kitchen area where I could hear yelling beyond the swinging double doors, passed a pair of waiters who tried to get in my way when as I neared the door. The last of those was the most difficult, but luckily I had three robots with me to hold them back.

I burst out the door and got my first look at the carnage. Okay, admittedly it wasn't the bad and I may be using that word too lightly, but at the time, that's really how it felt. At least twenty big and scary looking criminals were running rampant around the square. Several of them were attempting to commandeer a police car, another was trying to climb a lamp post for some reason. Most of them had actually turned on each other; there were fist fights galore every which way you turned. Since the cops were focusing mainly on the few trying to hurt innocent passers-by, those guys were for now being left alone. I studied each of them carefully under the dim lighting and wonder why they couldn't have done this during the day when it would be easier to pick out who was who.

Hikaru, standing right next to me, looked horrified, and I knew exactly why. Kaoru, with his flaming red hair, really should have been the easiest to pick out even in the dark, but he was nowhere to be found. Everyone was either too big, too hairy, or too dark-haired to be him. And in the end, the first member of our group that we found wasn't him at all.

"TAKASHI!"

I whirled around, Hunny's scream catching me off guard. I was treated then to the sight of him tackling Mori to the ground. Beside the taller android was the crumpled from of an inmate. He had a small knife in his hand and a huge bump on his head. It was easy to insinuate what had happened.

Mori didn't seem at all bothered by being knocked on his behind, he smiled and patted Hunny's said while the smaller android dry sobbed into his shirt. I gave Mori a pat of the shoulder, both to get his attention and also to show my own relief that he was okay.

"Where are the others?"

He looked at me with a sad frown and said nothing. I was about to ask again, thinking he hadn't heard me over all the noise. Then I remembered: he was still unable to talk until tomorrow. Stupid work blocking software was going to be the death of me. Or Kyoya and Kaoru.

"Can you point them out to me?" I tried.

Mori lowered his head thoughtfully, then shook it slowly. I didn't know if that was his way of inferring that he couldn't and felt bad about that fact, but it hardly mattered anyway. Right at that moment, something shiny flashed in the corner of my eye. I turned instinctively, and found that they most likely belonged to a pair of glasses belonging to a young man laying on his back beneath a burly man with a crazy glint in his eye.

"Kyoya!" I shouted, then broke into a run.

I didn't know what I was doing at the time, my thoughts weren't the clearest. I could hear the man talking to Kyoya as I got closer ("Gonna have your fine ass now, pretty boy!") and it spurred me on.

Now I may have mentioned this before, I don't have time to go back and check my entries to be sure, but I am not an athlete. Not by a long shot. I've been opting out of gym classes since the first year I was able to. I keep to a healthy diet, but exercise and me don't mix.

That's why it could only be explained by adrenaline that when I reared my leg back and kicked the man in the stomach, there was enough force behind it to not only get him off Kyoya, but also wind him. He rolled over, gasping for air, and I ignored him in favor of helping Kyoya to his feet and subsequently berating him.

"Are you an idiot?" I demanded, poking his chest, which my eyes were annoyingly level with. "Why didn't you stop that guy?"

"Forgive me," he answered. "My self-preservation settings are slower than usual. I believe my batteries may need to be changed within the next two to three days."

"Oh, that's just perfect," I groaned, resting my head against the nearby wall.

"I see you've found Mori already," Kyoya motioned at Hunny and Mori's little reunion.

They were still hugging by the way. It was like they'd been apart for ten years instead of an hour. At least Hunny wasn't crying anymore.

"Yeah," I said with a nod. "But what about Kaoru? Have you seen him?"

Kyoya's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, then he shook his head. That plus his tense posture was new to me. I had never seen him look so angry before.

"This is bad," he said. "His programming won't allow him to defend himself without Hikaru. If anyone gets to him before we do, it could be trouble."

Now that wasn't the right thing to say. It was true, of course, but not to good for my blood pressure.

"Can he just… you know, break the programming like you said? I think certain death would be a good indicator of an emergency!"

"It would be," Kyoya sighed. "But we were created first and foremost to serve our mistress, in this case you. You are our first priority, your life matters far more than ours. So while self-preservation does matter to us, it won't break the mischievous types of their programming."

"That's ridiculous!" I shouted, ready to tear my hair out. "Of course your lives are important!"

Kyoya shook his head. "Our company says that their not, not more than yours anyway."

And now I wanted nothing more than to hunt down this stupid company, force my way inside and tear whoever was in charge and made all of them think this way a new one. Maybe then, Hikaru wouldn't be rigid and leaning heavily against the wall, looking devastated and unable to move. I still had no idea where Kaoru was, and before I could interrogate Kyoya further, the man from before regain himself and charged us with a roar.

Kyoya acted fast, turning and running. The man, with saliva hanging out his lips and eyes wild with rage, tore after him. I was left alone to scream after them, and Kyoya's response was fast and short.

"Get out of here, Haruhi!"

And of course, that made sense. Weren't there lives less important than mine? Grinding my teeth, I prepared to run to Hikaru and try again to bring him out of it. That might have made finding Kaoru a lot easier. Before I could move, a shadow descended, covering everything before me with darkness somehow greater than that outside of the lamp I'd standing under. I turned slowly, fear coursing through my veins. The man was actually a lot smaller than I'd thought, only about a foot taller than me. The way he bore down on me though, with wide eyes and a toothy grin, made him seem huge. He breathed through his mouth, making a rather ugly and kind of gross sound. It was worse when he laughed.

"Hey there, girl," he said. "You're pretty."

He moved a little closer, and I raised my hands defensively. Just when I thought he was about to grab me and drag me off, I heard fast approaching footsteps behind me. This was followed by Tamaki jumping clear over my head with a screeching battle cry and nailing the man with a foot to the face. He went down, and Tamaki did some kind of weird front flip before landing cat-like on his feet.

"Don't worry, Haruhi," his said, grinning suavely. "I'll protect you from these brutes with my life."

"That's what I'm afraid of," I muttered as the man got back up and backed Tamaki from behind.

Tamaki answered with an elbow in the chest and the fight went on from there. At this point, I was practically alone at the center of a riot. Tamaki was fighting to protect me, Kyoya was being chased by a potential rapist, Hunny and Mori were now locked in battle with five inmates each, and Hikaru was catatonic.

My legs were shaking, but I walked anyway, slowly at first, then faster and faster. Soon, I was running, this way and that, trying to avoid any attention from less than savory figures and look for Kaoru at the same time.

"Kaoru!" I called out. "KAORUUUUU!"

Of course, he didn't answer, and I didn't expect him to anyway. If he was anything like Hikaru, he'd been all but comatose right now and unable to hear me, let alone talk to me. I did check on Hikaru around that time as well. He hadn't moved a muscle, but he was watching me. Well, his eyes were on me anyway. I couldn't be sure at that point that he could actually see me. Maybe he was too lost in his own mind and screwy circuitry to be fully conscious of anything. He sure didn't react when one close by inmate punched another inmate hard enough to draw blood and some of it landed on his shirt.

I turned away and my eyes landed on a small corner next to a mailbox. It was darker there than anywhere else, thanks to the absence of lights. From far away, it was impossible to see anything, but from where I now stood, a flash of orange was just visible, crouched down behind it.

Kaoru!

I sprinted, my legs pumping as fast as they could. This wound up not being fast enough, because before I could make it, a group of three inmates were upon him. One of them lifted Kaoru to his feet, and the android hung limp in his grasp like a rag doll.

"Oh come on," I groaned, picking up the pace. "Why does this keep happening? Can't anything be easy for once?"

I slid to a stop right in front of them, scowling and not thinking clearly about what I was doing.

"Stop! Let him go!" I screamed, before immediately coming to my senses and realizing what a bad idea that was. They didn't even have to look up, glare at me, and slowly approach. Though that is what they did.

"Oh, what?" the one holding Kaoru said mockingly. "Do we have your boyfriend, little girl?"

His friends snickered as one moved with surprising speed and grabbed me before I knew what was happening. I struggled against him, but he was strong. They threw me and Kaoru against the wall, my head knocking into the brick so I saw stars. I rubbed at the pain, trying to diminish at and give me one less thing to worry about as the trio of criminals circled us like lionesses around a pair of antelope.

"Now," the one in the middle said. "What should we do with you?"

I grasped Kaoru's hand, and his inched his head around to look at me. It appeared that alone took all his strength. I couldn't believe how incapable he was without Hikaru around. Was this really was Ouran Co. thought was a good idea? Their so-called emergency mode wasn't really must use if the android was too weak to use it. Gripped by fear and unable to scream, I moved in closer to Kaoru and wrapped an arm around him. Something escaped his lips right then, something I couldn't hear very well and sounded like gibberish.

Even so, I could have sworn it sounded like actual words.

It sounded like, 'Sorry.'

I held him tighter as they closed in. The one on the far right leaned to the left, giving me a clear view of the lamp post Hikaru had spent this entire time standing under.

He was gone.

I blinked in confusion. Kaoru didn't appear to have noticed, too busy was he staring at the ground. That was when I heard it. It hit like a blast in the ear with an air horn. This was both because of the volume, and also how unexpected it was. Even Kaoru looked up when it happened and suddenly looked more aware of his surrounding than ever before.

"NOOOOOOO!"

The scream tore out of Hikaru's throat, all of his own violation. With rage clear on his face, he attacked the three men head on, all by himself. Two of them went down immediately, huge knots in their heads. The third was shoved into the wall and held several inches off the ground. Hikaru continued to shout as he hit the man over and over again in the face. It's a little hard to describe with words, but it went something like this:

"DON'T!"

Punch

"YOU!"

Punch

"DARE!"

Punch

"TOUCH!"

Punch

"THEM!"

Punch Punch Punch

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

I choose that moment to get back on my feet and race to Hikaru, pulling him away from the long since knocked out criminal with some difficulty. He kept trying to fight me off.

"That's enough!" I screamed. "THAT'S ENOUGH, HIKARU!"

Breathing heavily, he soon acknowledged me and let the man go. His body fell like a deadweight, unmoving and covered in blood. His chest moving up and down slowly was the only indicator that Hikaru hadn't outright killed him.

He looked at me, somehow sweaty looking, even though I was pretty sure they couldn't do that. I didn't know what to say at first, the weight of what had just happened hitting me hard. It looked like Kyoya had been right after all. Me being in danger was exactly what Hikaru needed to come out of it and gain individual thoughts. I really didn't know what to think about that.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

He smiled. "My head hurts."

"Yeah, mine too," answered Kaoru as he stood up and massaged his temples.

That surprised me at first, that he could suddenly talk as well. Then it hit me, if Hikaru had broken the programming on them, wouldn't that mean Kaoru was now thinking on his own too?

"I can't believe you went against our programming," Kaoru gently admonished his 'brother.' "That could have been dangerous."

Hikaru shrugged. "It all worked out, didn't it?"

I nodded in agreement with that, mostly so Kaoru would know that I was okay was this. More than okay, actually. It was nice to think that they wouldn't be doing that in unison talking/walking/everything else anymore. Sure, I was pretty used to it at that point, but it was still creepy. Now, I figured, they'd start acting like normal people, if still very close twin brothers, which was alright.

Then Hikaru took Kaoru by the chin and pulled him close, staring at him with bedroom eyes.

"I don't know what I would do if something ever happened to you, Kaoru," he whispered seductively.

"Oh, Hikaru…" Kaoru swooned.

"…what."

Well, can you think of a better reaction to that?

Luckily, I was saved from further uncomfortable scenes by the timely arrival of Kyoya, followed closely by the other androids.

"Haruhi! Thank Goodness you're okay!" Tamaki shouted and ran to hug me. I sidestepped him, sending him sprawling to the ground with a thud.

"Ah, I see they really have managed to separate," Kyoya noted, nodding in Hikaru and Kaoru's direction as they continued to stare at each other. "That's quite an accomplishment."

"Yeah," I said distractedly. "But why they... you know…"

I motioned at their embrace, unable to outright say it since my mind was still having trouble processing it. Where the hell was this coming from?

"Oh, Haruhi," Tamaki said, getting back up and grinning like nothing had happened. "Don't you know? When the Mischevious Types lose their mental connection, they essentially split into two people and their twincest mode is automatically activated."

I stared at him blankly. "Twincest?"

"Why yes," Kyoya took over through heavy breathing. "They will do this several times a day now, but otherwise function like the rest of us. Don't worry, it won't go any farther than flirting and looks of longing unless you activate the yaoi mode."

"Right," I said dully.

So just to repeat, I had gone from having single minded twins who did absolutely everything in perfect synchronization to having regular twins who also liked to hit on each other, supposedly for my entertainment.

"Well, I guess aside from that, this is better for them and… Kyoya, why are you so out of breath?"

He brought a shaking hand to his chest and shook his head, more to himself I suspected.

"I may have run through what remained of my battery already," he explained. "In fact, I believe I'm starting to lose feeling in my arms."

They had indeed gone unnaturally still at his sides. I reached for my handbag, where I'd been keeping spare batteries just in case. I didn't know if I'd be able to shut Kyoya down, install the new batteries, then turn him back on with anyone noticing. And then the police officers arrived.

Most of the inmates had been rounded up by now, including the ones who'd tried to attack Kyoya and me. They were being forced back into the prison by several other cops while the rest came at us. Including the three Hikaru had taken down, there were only six more left to catch.

"Alright," the cop in the lead said. "Back inside, all of you. Get away from those civilians."

"Hang on a second," I said, placing myself in between them and the androids. "Let me just say something, please."

I honestly didn't know what to say, and I knew that it wouldn't matter anyway. It's not like I can just tell the police not to arrest someone. That they had left with the other inmates during the breakout made it all the more unlikely. With Kyoya about to lose consciousness though, I had to do something.

"Haruhi! There you are!"

I was grabbed from behind before a single word could leave my throat. Dad turned me around and squeezed tight, tears streaming down his face.

"How could you run off like that?" he cried. "You could have gotten hurt or worse! Don't you ever scare me like that again, Haruhi!"

"I'm sorry, Dad," I said through grit teeth. "I had to, uh…."

"Do you know these boys, Haruhi?" Grandma asked me, waving a hand at Mori, Kyoya and Kaoru.

Dad still hadn't let me go, but I managed to look her in the eye and nod my head.

"Excuse me?" one of the cops spoke up. "I don't mean to interrupt, but we have to take these three back into their holding cell."

Several more cops surrounding us, all aiming there intense glares at one or more of the androids. I opened my mouth, but was again beaten to the punch. To my amazement, it was Grandpa who stepped up.

"Oh no you won't," he declared, pulling the closet ones to him, Hikaru and Kaoru, away from the cops. "I don't know what you think you can hold them for, but it has to be a misunderstanding."

"That's right," Grandma joined in. "These boys are friends of my Granddaughter's, and she would never associate herself with trouble makers. You obviously have the wrong men."

I gave an innocent grin when the cop looked at me. He then gave my grandparents a bow.

"With all due respect, Ma'am, these boys are indeed guilty of assaulting an officer and now attempted breakout. We're already let three of them go, the rest cannot be released without bail."

Grandpa 'hmphed,' unfazed by the man's attempt at humoring them. He then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled form it a bulging wallet.

"Fine. I'll pay for them."

"Wait, what?" I gasped. "Grandpa, you can't-"

"Now Haruhi," Grandma snapped. "Don't argue with us.

I thought about arguing further, especially when Grandpa grabbed pretty much everything out of his wallet and handed it to the policemen. They then nodded goodbye and left to help put the other thugs back in their cells. By this time, Dad had let go of me and had instead taken to glaring at the android, Tamaki in particular.

"So," he said. "These friends of yours are criminals?"

"No," I answered defensively. "Dad, I can explain all of this."

"It's alright, Haruhi," Grandma said, placing a hand on Dad's shoulders and pulling him back. "We already know it was a mistake. Your father is still shaky because of what you did. He doesn't mean it."

"Yes I do," he grumbled.

"You had to use money of your own to get the first three out, didn't you?" Grandpa asked.

I didn't answer. Somehow, this was enough of a 'yes' from Grandpa to shove another wad of cash into my hand that he got from I don't even know where.

"That should cover what you spent," he said, smiling so his wrinkly face looked a little more so.

I took it silently, having given up fighting him. Grandma and Grandpa are the type who can't be moved once they'd decided on something. I really didn't want to take their money, but they would insist even if I tried to argue it. That they gave me almost exactly what I'd spent on the bail and that it opened a new opportunity to kept the guys' true identities a secret also helped.

I politely excused myself and the androids, explaining that I wanted to say goodbye before they left to go home. Pulling them aside, they formed a huddle around me, like an impenetrable wall that would prevent anyone from hearing me.

"I want you guys to take this money and go to the motel down the street," I ordered. I handed the money off to Mori, the least likely person to use it for something frivolous (e.g. cakes, chocolates, presents for me). I also got the batteries out and gave them to him as well. "That money should be enough for one night. Stay in your room all night, don't make too much noise, and do not try to leave until I come and get you tomorrow. Also be sure to change Kyoya's batteries when you get there. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Haruhi!" they all repeated, everyone baring Mori and Kyoya saluting as well.

"I believe I should last until we get there," said Kyoya. "As long as I don't have to open any door or hold anything, I should be fine."

I eyed his prone arms and nodded, then addressed Tamaki.

"Stay close to him in case anything happens, okay?"

"Of course!" Tamaki said with a thumbs up. "Anything for you and my best friend Kyoya!"

That last bit was kind of unexpected, but so was pretty much everything else that day. It didn't faze me and I just nodded in thanks before bidding them goodbye for now and seeing them off.

They were kind of slow in their movements, almost like they were afraid to leave me alone. I realized that this would be the first time I'd be away from them for a long period of time since the Usagiuma incident. At least this time, I knew that I would be seeing them again. That made me feel better about letting them go off on their own, that and the knowledge that they were acting more responsible, and more like real people. As I kept watching, I noticed that Hikaru was walking much faster than Kaoru, and I smiled.

I could almost forget that they were robots sometimes.

When they disappeared from view, I went back to my family, who welcomed me into their conversation about what to do now that our dinner had probably gotten cold. We ended up paying and leaving fast. Back at home, Grandma and I made dumplings for everyone, and we ate in the living room, chatting all the while.

When it got to be very late, my Grandparents hugged and kissed us goodbye, promising to call again soon before departing.

I slept surprisingly well that night. Even with Dad next door and the risk that he might open the closet door and find a bunch of crates inside very real, I wasn't afraid.

When he left the following afternoon on the PM train, he left oblivious to the truth of my situation. To this day, he still doesn't know what really happened. I don't think I'll ever tell him, or anyone I know personally for that matter. If he ever decides to stop being horrible with computers and goes on the internet, then somehow locates this blog and makes the connection between it and me, I guess I'll have no choice. It not, it's better that he doesn't know.

Because if he did, what happened next would probably give him a heart attack.

But that's a story for another day.

posted by Haruhi at 8:47 pm 0 comments