Lost in the Dark

By E.M. Megs

Chapter 19 – Extended Stay

Haruhi hurried toward the crowd that was quickly gathering. Kaoru, his parents, and Tamaki were trying their best to keep them at bay while Hikaru worked on her father. "When did it start Ranka?" he asked softly as she approached in front of Tamaki.

"Hour. Didn't think… Anything of it." She felt her heart twist at the amount of pain in her father's voice. She looked at Tamaki. He turned his eyes to hers, blinked once, and nodded, understanding shining in his eyes.

"Uncle Ranka?" she inquired in a small voice, wondering if he was coherent enough to recognize his own daughter. Hikaru's eyes shot to hers questioningly. Then he glanced at the Narian Prince behind her and immediately understood.

"Haruhi?"

"Yes, it's me." She knelt carefully, her dress flowing out around her as she took his hand. She swallowed and looked at Hikaru, feeling more helpless than she'd ever felt in her life. "Heart attack…?"

"The beginnings," Hikaru replied quietly, "Chances are that if a doctor doesn't watch over him through the night he may not make it." He was straightforward and to the point. She liked that about Hikaru. When it came to the people she cared about he never lied about their condition.

"I'll watch him," Kyoya said from near Kaoru. Haruhi's gaze shifted faster than a jackrabbit to his face. He looked back to her unfazed. "He is Haruhi's uncle. He may as well be my uncle too. I'll stay with her, her cousin, and uncle tonight and make sure that Ranka gets the proper care." Hikaru's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Someone get Namahi." He ignored the Narian King's statement.

"The Corporal is sick," Kyoya retorted, "Hardly able to get out of bed."

"His father had a heart attack. He needs to know. If you knew him, you would know that the moment that his father has even the slightest cold, no matter where he is or how he is, he's there by his side." Hikaru's voice was cold, speaking clearly of his dislike with Kyoya and displeasure with his obvious influence on his friend's life.

Kyoya stared hard at him. Haruhi stood up, letting her father's hand drop. "Kyoya, it's alright. You're going home tomorrow morning anyway." He shook his head.

"I studied medicine with my brother," he said, "Quite extensively when I was 19. I know how to treat him if given the right materials. I can stay with him and watch him. And that way I don't have to leave Haruhi either."

"Kyoya," Haruhi muttered under her breath in frustration. She brought a hand to her forehead, kneading softly. This was giving her a headache. If he stayed longer, then it just meant that she had to be undercover for a longer time than she wanted. That she would have to risk her entire life in Kira for another few days.

Hikaru glared at the Narian and opened his mouth but Kaoru interrupted him. "Alright. We have to move him home first though." His twin started to protest but one look from his younger brother and father silenced him.

"I'll prepare my things and move to the Marioka residence." He turned abruptly, breaking his eye contact with Haruhi as he started toward his room. Other guests were whispering now. Probably about his involvement with a supposed Kiran. Akito's eyes were burning with anger as he intercepted his younger brother as he was about to leave the ball room. "I don't have time for this Akito."

"Really… You seem to have plenty of time for coercing with a Kiran though. Iknew you were connected to that damn Corporal somehow." Narian words spit out of his mouth at a mile a minute in his anger.

Kyoya sighed inwardly and switched languages to help his brother process. "Haruhi herself is full Narian," he growled the lie with ease, "Her father and the Corporal's are half brothers with the same mother. Her grandfather is Narian, his is Kiran." He glared at his brother, fists clenching slightly at his sides in an attempt to calm him.

"She may as well be a Sanki, the way that she cares for them." Akito's lips curled in disgust as he looked toward the brunette female he was talking about. Kyoya resisted the urge to hit him for his bias. This was the reason that the war was still a war. Men in power like his brother who were so strongly biased toward the 'enemy' race that they had an unorthodox hatred toward them as well.

He glanced back at Haruhi as she knelt dutifully at her father's side. Then he caught sight of one Kiran General Fusawa gazing at her with a glint in his eye. Kyoya couldn't tell from where he was if it was malicious or not, but he still didn't like it. Especially if he could see any of the sorts of attachments he was getting to the girl. He noticed Fusawa glance at him and made sure to give him a hard glare. The older man merely nodded his head politely with pursed lips as Kyoya turned his back on him to return to his previous task of moving into Haruhi's house.

"Haruhi." It was a voice again, calling her name. She couldn't remember exactly how many times this had happened. Where she'd heard someone calling for her and then there was no one there. She turned, looking for the source of it.

"Haruhi." At first she had thought it was someone trying to guide her. Someone like her mother who was gone but still there in spirit. Whether it was male or female though she couldn't decipher. It was always genderless.

"Haruhi, wake up."

Her eyes opened groggily, looking up at the Narian royal standing next to her bed. Wait… Bed? That was funny. She didn't remember falling asleep in her bed. In fact… Why the hell was Kyoya here? Her sleepy mind struggled to comprehend for several moments then she remembered.

Sitting at her father's bedside, stubbornly resisting Kyoya's attempts to get her to go to bed. Watching him carefully look after Ranka with the medical and magical knowledge he possessed. Gazing at the redhead while he slept and praying that he would be alright.

"You fell asleep about an hour after midnight," Kyoya informed her lightly as he placed a cup of steaming tea on her bedside table. "It's about two hours till noon now."

"Shouldn't you be leaving soon?" She cringed when she realized that she'd slept in that late.

"I went to the palace early this morning and asked to stay for a few more days to insure your father's condition remains stable. Yuzuru told me someone else could do it, but I refused. Trying to get rid of me are you?"

"It's not that I want you to leave, it's that you aren't… Crap." She could feel her face turning red. He rose an eyebrow in silent amusement. She shot a glare in his direction and failed in continuing her thought.

"So… You do want me here."

She sighed in frustration. "Will you get out of here!" She shoved the blankets previously covering her off and stood, pushing him toward the door.

He chuckled and muttered, "Be sure to drink your tea." She looked once at the tea then back at her now closed bedroom door. She shook away the feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was off, deciding it was better to get ready for the day now. She changed out of dress she'd fallen asleep in and into the clean one hanging on her door, figuring that she was still undercover since she couldn't very easily leave for camp as Namahi when Kyoya was in her house.

She picked up the mug of tea and inhaled the scent. Lemon? Or was it mint? "Kyoya!" she called, pulling open her bedroom door to search for the man. "What kind of tea is this?"

"The kind that will keep you healthy for a long time if you drink it every morning," he replied shortly and without looking up from the book that he'd pulled off of one of her various bookshelves. She gave him an exasperated look to voice her frustration with him. "Just trust me, Haruhi." She rolled her eyes and took a small sip of it, blinking in surprise when she found that it wasn't that bad.

"Did you give this to Dad?"

"With a few herbal supplements that should boost his heart health and immune system, yes." He turned a page.

"How is he?"

This time, he did look up. "He's lucky that he apparently has very little of a physical pain threshold, otherwise no one would have caught the fact that he was having a heart attack until it was too late. The fact that he collapsed at the first sign of chest pain saved his life." Haruhi released a breath that she hadn't known she'd been holding. "His blood pressure is rather high. Adjusting his diet to include less salt and more fish and mushrooms would be a good idea. Garlic and hawthorn every day should help as well."

"Were you up all night?"

"Basically."

She was quiet for a while, just standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Then she strode in and started making breakfast, sipping on her tea while she waited for things to cook. Kyoya rubbed his temples. "How long are you staying?" she finally mumbled as she scooped eggs onto a plate and placed it in front of him.

"Two days. Three at most," he grunted, taking the fork she offered and digging into the food.

"You should probably sleep for a bit then," Haruhi murmured thoughtfully, "You can take my bed and I can look after Dad."

"Gladly," he muttered after swallowing.

"It's just you staying I hope."

"Yes. Yuzuru said something about the military being displeased if I stayed longer than three days so I told him I'd be gone by that time." She blinked as she realized he was on his last bite of food. He stood seconds later. "I already gave your father his medicine. Check on him at least once an hour to be sure that his heartbeat and breathing is regular. If there's any problem, wake me." She nodded wordlessly as he passed her in the direction of her bedroom. She let out a sigh.

Tamaki and the twins were sure to be there soon. She would have to be sure that they stayed quiet when they did arrive so they wouldn't wake Kyoya. She wandered back toward Ranka's bedroom and settled down next to his bed, leaning over to listen to his heart. Everything sounded normal. She placed a hand on his forehead. No sweating or fever either. She sighed and squeezed his hand once before turning to get her own breakfast.

Tamaki and the twins, as expected were loud and obnoxious from the moment they stepped through the door. "Quiet!" she hissed at them angrily, "Dad and Kyoya are sleeping!"

"Ranka's will probably sleep through a windstorm," Kaoru mentioned, looking thoughtfully mischievous.

"Who cares if we wake up that prat?" Hikaru muttered at the same time, just barely loud enough for her to hear.

She gave him a strong glare. "He stayed up all night taking care of Dad. And he's not the most pleasant person when woken up before he's ready either," she stated with a hard edge. "Don't be such a stuck-up prick." She turned away from him.

"You look amazing." She swung around again, narrowing her eyes at a tomato red Tamaki. She looked down at the dress she was wearing then glared at him, heart aching painfully in her chest. It was nearly as bad as when Kyoya kissed her, which she now realized had not happened for two days. A slight frown overtook her face. It was pleasant that it hadn't happened, but it was odd, especially considering that she had been acting as his lover during most of that time. But because of the role she was playing it was odd.

"Something wrong?" Kaoru's voice cut into her thoughts.

"Ah… No. Nothing's wrong. Just thinking is all."

"How's your father?" Tamaki asked, having recovered from his earlier fiasco.

"He's… doing well. I think." It was time to check on him now that she thought about it. She hurried back to his side. In fact, she hadn't checked on him for a while. That made her move faster. She pressed her ear to his heart. Bm-bmp, Bm-bmp, Bm-bm-bmp, Bm-bm-bmp.She frowned. He groaned and pulled a hand to his chest.

She practically ran to her bedroom where Kyoya was sleeping. "Kyoya," she muttered, shaking him, "Dammit, you told me to wake you if his heart beat was off. It is! And he's in pain again! Wake. Up."

Kyoya grunted and threw his legs over the side of the bed. She jumped back to avoid being kicked. "This is why I'm never evergoing to be an on-call doctor," he grumbled under his breath as he lumbered toward Ranka's bedroom once more. She watched from the door as he calmly (but grumpily) checked her father's pulse and breathing rate. "Willow bark," he murmured under his breath, "I'll need Willow bark and hawthorn."

"Kaoru! Willow bark and hawthorn! Run to your mother's and get it will you?" She heard him yell an affirmative and take off. She took her father's hand. Kyoya kept careful track of his pulse. Haruhi stared at the raven-haired male hard. He stared straight back calmly.

"He'll be fine," Kyoya murmured soothingly.

"If he's not do I have permission to kill you in replacement?" she asked back bitingly. He didn't respond to her ice, just pursed his lips. She almost felt bad about snapping at him when he was trying to help. Almost, but not quite. She was scared. When she was scared, she didn't really think about other people.

Kaoru returned. Kyoya practically jumped him for the materials he was carrying in his arms. "Haruhi. Leave the room please," he instructed in a voice that actually sounded slightly strained calm as it was.

"What? No!"

"I can't work with you breathing down my back," he growled, taking her wrist and pushing her lightly towards the door. "Besides, you may not want to be here for this."

Her fear jumped into her throat. Kaoru took her arm and pulled her out of the room before she could respond to his comment. What the hell was he doing to her father? She struggled against Kaoru's grasp for a moment. "Haruhi," the younger twin whispered in her ear, "He's right. It's probably better if you aren't in there with him." She looked at him, sense flooding back into her. She nodded, sitting herself down in the seat that Tamaki pulled out for her.

When the Narian King emerged, she didn't even look up. "He's fine. Just an aftershock." He paused and she could feel his eyes burning into the back of her skull. "Haruhi…?"

"Thank you," she mumbled, finally turning. She hated that she felt an insane amount of gratitude and duty fill her chest. This was not the way things were supposed to be. He was not supposed to be helping her. They never should have even met.

And yet… She was happy they had.

"It's not a problem," he murmured in reply, "Now if you'll excuse me." He walked back toward her bedroom without another word. Haruhi let him, knowing he deserved the sleep.

"Would a prat save my father's life?" she asked Hikaru quietly, giving him a stare that would have made anyone else uncomfortable. But this was Hikaru. He'd grown up around her piercing stares and was now seemingly immune to them. Either that or he didn't care. She noticed Tamaki shifting in a manner that showed he wasn't exactly comfortable and she wasn't even looking at him.

"Just because he's an occasionally thoughtful prat doesn't mean that he's not a prat all the same," Hikaru muttered, shifting his gaze away from her. "We need to be heading back to camp today."

"I can't go," she replied flippantly, "Tell the General that I'm still on duty here looking after King Kyoya."

"He's not going to be happy," the twins clucked simultaneously.

"Too bad," she snorted, "Not like I have a choice. He already asked the permission of Yuzuru." Tamaki shifted more at the mention of his father. "Tamaki, is there something wrong with you or are there just ants in your pants?" The blonde jumped with surprise at being addressed.

"It's just…" He shifted his gaze away again. She looked down at herself, wondering if she had something on her. "Dad's… He only gave Kyoya permission to stay because he's trying to keep some kind of hold over the military. And he only specifically allowed him to stay because it was you that needed his assistance."

"And there's something wrong with that, why?" He was quiet. She rethought his words. "… Why does he need to keep hold over the military? Tamaki… What's going on?"

"Just thought you should know that I'm going to visit Mother for a few weeks. She's sick again."

"Tamaki. Don't change the subject. What's going on between General Fusawa and your father?"

"Nothing! Okay? Nothing's going on! Just forget I said anything!"

She was about to start grilling him mercilessly when Kaoru placed a hand on her arm. She looked at him, and understood at once. The blonde prince was probably uncomfortable with talking about the Kiran military when a Narian royal was present in the house who could be overhearing everything they were saying. Tamaki was occasionally idiotic but even he didn't particularly want to give away the secrets of the country that he was heir to. She nodded and apologized to him quietly.

Kyoya slept through the entire day and most of the night, waking up at 6 AM to find Haruhi asleep at her father's bedside. He sighed inwardly and went over to scoop her up and carry her to bed as he had the night before.

It seemed like most of this time was spent with them being awake in shifts.

He returned silently to Ranka's bedside, checking his temperature, pulse, and breathing rate. Everything seemed normal to him. The redhead's eyes cracked open slightly just as he was turning to leave. Kyoya stopped in his tracks. "Where's Namahi?" he croaked.

"Sleeping."

"What're you doing here?"

"Attending to your medical needs."

"Why?"

"She trusts me, your daughter, as I trust her. I would be a fool to leave the two of you here while you're in the condition that you're in. I'd practically be betraying her trust." He tried rationalizing to his friend's father, but knew that the other man knew he had stayed because he wanted to. The appearances and trust bullshit he was spewing were just excuses for him not to admit it out loud.

Ranka eyed him almost wearily. Like an animal watches another creature that they aren't familiar with. Kyoya glanced away from him, unsure of what to do or say. He took some of the extra medicine he'd prepared the day before when he'd been so rudely interrupted and the tea cup sitting by the bed.

"How long are you staying?"

"Just another day or two. As soon as I've determined that your health is stable enough on its own, I'll be on my way that to Nari."

"You care about Haruhi don't you?" This final question was asked just as he was about to exit. He froze again.

Without looking back he muttered, "You could say that. Though I wouldn't necessarily say that it actually means anything. And I'd never call it affection of any sort. I look after her, she looks after my family and I." With that he finally left the room, aiming to make the redhead some medicinal tea. He returned a few minutes later and handed the cup to Ranka. "Drink that and it should help."

"What's in it?"

"Willow bark for any pain, hawthorn to help your heart and echinacea for your immune system." Ranka carefully and very slowly pushed himself into an upright position after setting the tea down on the table. Kyoya hurriedly moved to help him. "Careful," he murmured as Ranka settled back against his repositioned pillow.

The Narian made to leave but found a surprisingly strong grip on his arm holding him in place. He looked Haruhi's father in the eye. "Make sure she stays out of trouble. Please. Don't let her do anything potentially dangerous to her wellbeing. I couldn't lose her too." Kyoya merely nodded and left as soon as Ranka let go.

For the first time, he felt chills run up his back from the intensity of the encounter with Haruhi's father.

The day he was leaving, Kyoya asked Haruhi. "What was Tamaki blabbering about the military and his father's control?"

Her hand froze halfway to her mouth. She hadn't thought he'd heard that. "He just said that the only reason his father let you stay was because you were staying for me." She left out the first part of what Tamaki said.

"Haruhi, don't leave out details. They could be important to ending the war. What did he say?"

She swallowed. Tamaki would hate her for this later. "He said that he let you stay to show the military that he still had some kind of control over them."

Kyoya sat, stirring his food around his plate in contemplation. What did that mean? "Has the military been particularly forceful about any plans lately?"

"That is a question for my father and Yuzuru. Not for me. Since I'm inthe military I don't know what goes on between the royal court and the military. I just do what I'm ordered to do." He put his fork down.

"Is it possible… that the military, more specifically Fusawa, is trying to throw off the royal family's power over him?"

"It's possible…" Haruhi trailed off, now understanding where he was going with his thoughts. "No. There's no way that the military's out of control."

"Think about it. I'm practically the one that killed Fusawa's son. If he's forcing through plans to try and get revenge, then he's probably part of the reason that the war's still going."

"At the ball," she mumbled, almost to herself, "King Yuzuru said that he wouldn't be able to stop the military from arresting me if they found out what I was doing in Nari. Normally, the King can override that decision." She frowned. She didn't like what was happening here. She didn't like it at all.

"We have… lost a lot of control over the military." A new voice joined. Haruhi looked up sharply at the sound of her father's voice. He was leaning against the doorframe.

"What are you doing up?" she demanded, quickly standing to help him into a seat.

"Kyoya said that if I wanted or needed to, I could leave my bed." She shot a dirty look at Kyoya that promised repercussions for this. "Besides, I couldn't help overhearing. The royal court has, in a sense, lost control of the military. Fusawa seems to be acting on his own as of late. I believe he's angry for some reason. Either by his lack of success triggering Yuzuru's inclination to replace him or by the death of his son, I'm not sure. But something is enraging him. He very rarely passes plans through the King and the royal court anymore."

"Meaning that if I warn you of anything it has to come directly from him," Haruhi muttered under her breath, frustration leaking out. Kyoya silently slipped his hand into hers and squeezed, releasing just as quickly as he had gotten hold. She gave him a strange look, not having expected the gesture from him.

"My horse is waiting," Kyoya murmured in explanation.

"Ah." She nodded, feeling something dangerously close to sadness wash over her. "I see. Well…"

"I can show myself out. Remember that you have the ring and I'll be in touch." He then addressed the older man, "Ranka, at leastone cup of that tea a day. Two or three would be best though. No more than four."

"Ride safely," she mumbled. He gave a sharp nod and shook Ranka's hand in acceptance of the thanks that he received. Then he was out the door and mounting one of three horses that were waiting outside her house. The other two belonged to Kasanoda and Nekozawa. She watched out the window after him until he was out of sight. "Thank God," she finally relaxed against her chair.

Her father seemed amused. "And here I thought you would be sad to see him leave."

"Are you kidding me? He's a great person, but his presence herejust makes me worried that some military rep is going to come through the door and discover that his supposed lover, Haruhi, is Namahi." She groaned loudly. Her father chuckled. "Seriously, this double – well… now it's triple but whatever– life could very well kill me one day!"

Again her father laughed. She glared at him. "You're obviously feeling much better," she grumbled.

"Very," he responded. "Kyoya's a great doctor. I'd say that if he doesn't become Narian King he should leave the royal family all together and practice medicine somewhere."

Haruhi snorted. "Doubt that'll happen."

Yet, deep inside her, she knew that if Kyoya wasn't born royalty, that's probably what he would have done.

A/N: Well… I finished that rather quickly. Surprisingly quickly actually, considering I'm at the beach right now with one computer to share with my sister and mother. Didn't originally plan to reveal this part of the plot yet, but sometimes plans go out the window. And when I lost the pretty little timeline I made for this story, my plans went with it.

Bleh... Excuse the absence of scene breaks. My mother's computer has word and I'm not used to the way it tries to change my double dash into a bullet point.

Enjoy this now fully completed chapter. That I slaved over and rewrote in three days. It's ten pages long and about 4300 words long. Have fun.

- E.M. Megs