It was a measure of how frequently they stopped by that the sight of the stylishly-dressed duo leaning against the limo outside of Haruhi's house the next morning engendered almost no comment, save for the giggling and whispering of a small group of middle-school girls who were busy sneaking looks at the handsome pair from a window of the building next door. Wanting to surprise Haruhi with a ride to school – and turn on the charm to convince her to join the Host Club on vacation – they'd not bothered to call ahead, but their very eagerness caused them to arrive fifteen minutes early. As such, they were entertaining themselves by seeing which of them could garner the most amusing reaction from their group of 'fans.'
Hikaru had upped the stakes in their game by waiting until Kaoru was looking away and, with a wink at the admiring girls, leaning forward to run his tongue along his brother's ear. The resultant squealing could be heard even through the glass, and the reaction from the younger twin was nearly as priceless – he jumped and squeaked, turning wide eyes to the elder who merely shrugged and held out his hand.
"Pay up, Kao."
"No way. That was cheating."
"I don't remember us setting rules."
"Still, that was a really underhanded move, Hika." In a complete role reversal Kaoru pounced, pinning his twin to the door of the limo, holding his wrists firmly and pressing his body fully against Hikaru's to keep him in place. About to speak, he heard a laugh behind him.
"And here I thought Hikaru was the pitcher," came the wry voice of their closest friend. With a throaty chuckle Kaoru released his brother and they both looked slyly over at Haruhi.
"And here we thought you didn't know what that meant," they purred.
"I'm an honor student. I do my research."
"Really, now..?" they murmured in unison, advancing on her slowly. Haruhi suddenly realized the danger she was in and, with a muffled giggle that shocked her as much as it did them, she darted past and dove into the limo. The brothers shared a wicked glance and followed. Once the door was closed the full force of their diabolical gazes was turned on Haruhi, who tried very hard to not show how much she was affected. As was their habit they sat down bracketing her, one on either side. Unlike normal, however, they turned towards her, burying their faces in her neck. She thought she suppressed the shiver that went through her, but they felt it.
~Success!~ their smiles said as they looked at each other.
"Um...guys?" she whispered. Hikaru chuckled, enjoying seeing her flustered for the first time in a while. Kaoru, still in a dominant, devilish mood, lifted his head and smiled, lips mere centimeters from Haruhi's as he looked into her eyes.
"So tell us more about this 'research' of yours," he whispered, the conversation being taken up by Hikaru who was currently brushing his lips teasingly over her jaw.
"How thorough was it?"
"Were there pictures?"
"Were there videos?"
"We'd be willing to...further educate you, if you'd like."
"Purely for research purposes, of course."
"We can't have our favorite honor student falling behind in her studies," they finished, Hikaru finally raising his head to the level of his brother's.
"How about a...demonstration?" he asked, leaning towards Kaoru. Closer...closer...but just as their lips touched gently their captive found her voice, sort of.
"Save it for the princesses, you two," she said, sounding far less steady than they'd ever heard her. Taking pity on her – for now, anyway – the brothers sat up and grinned.
"So, have you thought about coming with us to the beach?" Hikaru asked. She nodded.
"I think I might. Kyoya-senpai explained some things last night -" She was interrupted by Hikaru's squawk of surprise.
"Last night? Why did you call him?"
"I didn't, he came over to -"
"He came over?" yelped Kaoru. "For what? Kyoya doesn't visit anybody!"
"He brought my papers – the ones that got soaked. Oh, and from now on, if we write notes in class, one of you gets to keep it."
"Why?" they asked, honestly curious. She sighed and wriggled around until she could reach her bag. Wordlessly she handed over the crumpled remains of their conversation. Equally silent, they leaned over her lap so they could both read it. It took about ten seconds for the snickering to start and by the time they were done she had a lapful of laughing redheads.
"That -"
"- is the funniest thing -"
"- we've seen in ages!" Haruhi just sat patiently as they gasped and chortled, occasionally repeating phrases they found exceptionally funny, which would set them to laughing again. As their mirth died down, she managed to push them off of her and back to their respective seats. It was right about then that she saw Kaoru's eyes grow wide as something dawned on him.
"Haru...Kyoya didn't read THIS, did he..?" She hid a smug smile – she'd been wondering how long it would take either of them to think of that.
"Of course he did," she replied blandly. The twins shared a look of apprehension bordering on outright terror before slumping down in their seats, hands over their faces.
"Da ta da – we're dead."
Haruhi laughed the rest of the way to school.
The atmosphere of the host club was charged, almost expectant. At least that's how it seemed to Haruhi when she walked in. The twins had been even more flirtatious than normal during school hours, and though she was an expert at blank stares and deadpan rebuttals she had the sinking feeling they'd seen through her behavior today. So it was with no small amount of apprehension that she noticed five sets of eyes lock on her when she walked through the door to the Music Room. Wait...five sets?
"Where's Tamaki-senpai?" she wondered out loud.
"I sent him on an errand. He should be gone for a little while, but I've no doubt he'll be back before our clients get here, so we'd best talk quickly." Kyoya stood up from his chair and, picking up his black notebook, gestured for Haruhi to take a seat on one of the larger couches. As soon as she did she found herself hemmed in by the twins on one side and Honey on the other, Mori standing just behind the couch like a silent sentry. Clearing her throat she looked at her friends and saw nothing but smiles and anticipation.
"What's going on?" she asked, hoping the tremor in her voice sounded like exasperation rather than what it really was – the shaking of a rabbit in a den full of foxes.
"We seem to have come to an agreement between us. All that remains to be seen is whether you are amenable to our suggestions or if you might have some of your own."
"O-kay..."she said hesitantly. Her composure wasn't helped by Kaoru's fingers at the nape of her neck, but she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of reacting. Instead she steeled herself and nodded at Kyoya, who seemed about to speak but was pre-empted by the small host at her side.
"Haru-chan, do you like camping?"
"Wait, what?" she asked, utterly bewildered. She turned to her right to look at Honey whose enormous eyes gazed back at her.
"Camping! With a tent and everything!"
"Um, yeah, I guess I do...I haven't been in years, though." She noticed Kyoya writing furiously in his little book and was curious. "Why?" However, it was Hikaru who answered her, followed as usual by Kaoru.
"Well, you see, there are cabins on the beach -"
"- but since we're trying to keep you a secret from the Boss -"
"- unless you want to share a room with one of the guys -"
"- or both of us," they chimed together with a wink. She just rolled her eyes.
"- the best solution would be for us -"
"- to set up a campsite for you a little ways inland."
"That way you'd be close enough that we could be there if you needed us, but far enough away that Tamaki-senpai won't know you're there." Haruhi was stunned, and not a little touched. To think that they'd regarded her request for solitude so highly that they would come up with something so...normal...was flattering. Still, though she missed camping and had fallen in love with the idea immediately, it wouldn't do to agree too quickly without knowing the fine print. She sat and weighed the pros and cons in her mind and her friends, recognizing the faraway look in her eyes that indicated she was seriously considering something, sat quietly for once so as not to interrupt.
Pros. Well, for starters, she loved camping. Being around nature, the stillness and absence of all the city bustle – it was so very relaxing. And since she had a hard time picturing the guys wanting to give up their amenities – the rich bastards, she thought fondly – she could be pretty sure that no one would make a pest of himself. Though she wouldn't be surprised if they dropped in now and again. In fact, she'd be more shocked if they actually stayed away.
Cons. Hmm. First off, she had no gear of her own – not that she thought they'd let her use it if she had any. Knowing them they'd insist on outfitting her with the newest and best equipment money could buy. And after hearing Kyoya's explanation as to why they loved buying things for her, she was less inclined to put up a huge fuss about it, though she still wasn't totally comfortable with the idea. Also, there was a good chance that despite everyone's best intentions, Tamaki would find out she was there. That would cause some massively hurt feelings, and even though Haruhi was annoyed with the violet-eyed King, she really did care about him. Hurting his feelings was something she didn't want to do. However, if it came down to it she figured she'd have at least two days before someone slipped up, and she knew she could deal with his dramatics fairly easily. So at worst she'd still have two days of peace and quiet, which was more than she'd had recently.
But it was her father's words that weighed the most heavily with her. He'd told her the previous night that she'd be bored without 'her boys'. And she had to admit, for better or worse, that they really were her boys. She simply could not imagine her life without them now, though occasionally she might like to. Sighing, she returned from her internal debate to find her friends watching her with varying degrees of curiosity and hopefulness. She let herself smile slightly.
"I'll have some conditions -"
"Yay! Haru-chan is coming with us!" squealed Honey right before he threw himself into her lap, snuggling his face into her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her neck. Haruhi immediately registered two things: first, that he really was only a couple of inches shorter than she was. His childlike demeanor made it easy to think of him as small and fragile, but the arms around her neck and the torso pressed so tightly to hers were anything but soft. She hoped she wasn't blushing. The second thing she noticed was that he smelled absolutely wonderful, like strawberry cream and fresh air and...was that honeysuckle? She'd barely had time to process all of that before Mori lifted his smaller cousin off of her lap and deposited him gently into his own seat.
"Aww, Takashi, I was just hugging Haru-chan to celebrate," he whimpered. Haruhi was amused to see Mori raise one eyebrow skeptically – apparently that was all it took for Honey to settle down. However, no sooner was her lap free than she was grasped around the shoulders by another strong set of arms and pulled sideways until she was laying across Hikaru's and Kaoru's laps, looking up into two sets of gorgeous eyes that were gleaming with happiness.
"Before you all manhandle her to death, we might want to hear what she has to say." Kyoya's dry comment made her chuckle, though to even her own surprise she made no move to sit up from her current resting spot, choosing instead to stay where she was as she spoke.
"First off, I know better than to insist that you not buy anything for me -"
"She can be taught!" cried the twins, receiving a patented Fujioka eye roll in return that they ignored completely. She sighed and continued.
"So instead I claim veto rights on anything I feel is too extravagant. Which means I'll be going along with whoever is put in charge of plan 'Buy-Haruhi's-Camping-Gear.'" She felt rather than heard the twins chuckle, and even Kyoya seemed on the verge of smiling. "This is not negotiable. I choose what I do and don't need or I won't go." After a conversation between the five male hosts that consisted mostly of significant looks and monosyllabic speech, they all agreed.
"You mentioned 'conditions.' What else do you have in mind?" the Shadow King asked. Haruhi pretended to gather her thoughts, though she knew exactly what she wanted. It was just so rare to have them all actually listening to what she had to say that she intended to enjoy it to the fullest.
"Okay, then. Keep in mind I'm going along for YOUR peace of mind." Not a total lie, she thought. Just a bit...misleading. "So since that's the case, I'd like to ask that I get some solitude. I don't mind if you visit, but not more than one -" a glance to the twins, "- okay, two at a time. I plan to read and relax and enjoy the stillness, so whereas I wouldn't mind a bit of conversation and I won't keep you from checking in, I'd really like to have my quiet time too, okay?" To her shock they agreed with no fuss whatsoever. Apparently her surprise showed on her face because Honey giggled.
"Silly Haru-chan. We'd rather agree to anything you want than to have you change your mind and not come along at all." He was adorably earnest and she had to fight the urge to give him a hug for sheer cuteness.
"Okay, then, my last two conditions are these: one, I will have no argument about my clothing. I am wearing what I find comfortable. Don't like it? Don't visit. Is that clear?" she asked, glaring up at Hikaru and Kaoru. Neither of them looked thrilled but the acquiesced without protest.
"Good. And least but not least: Tamaki-senpai. Is. Not. To. Know. If I decide I want to speak with him, I will approach him. Otherwise, as far as he knows, I am otherwise occupied over break." Looking around at all of her friends, seeing them all nodding, she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. It was final – she was going to the beach with her boys.