A/N: I have a question to ask all of you. I was looking at some of my completed stories and when I thought about Never Assume, I was thinking that a sequel may be needed, because let's face facts… Do we really think that Tamaki has really learned his lesson about jumping to conclusions? I think given time, he will be back to making more assumptions when it comes to Haruhi and you know the twins will be right there with him. I figure with Chika moving into the high school it gives Tamaki ample opportunity to do his worst. LOL. What do you think I should do? Do you think I should write a sequel to Never Assume? Back to Another Chance… I want to say thank you to all of my reviewers. 100 reviews so far. You are awesome and I have the best readers! Thank you for the support and everything. This chap is dedicated to you. Let me know your opinion about the sequel and what you think of this chapter. :D
Chapter 19 – He Just Doesn't Listen
It was Friday and as Haruhi was getting out of her last class for the day, she breathed a sigh of relief. She had made it through the rest of the week with only a few more incidents and she hoped that there would not be a repeat of yesterday's debacle.
The previous day...
Tamaki decided that if Haruhi would not come to him to spend some quality father/daughter time, then it was time for him to go to her. He knew that she was dating Hunny now, but that did not mean that he couldn't spend quality time with Haruhi. It was a father's job to make sure that she knew her daddy loved her and was there for her no matter what. He called the car and soon was on his way to school. He would get there before her last class and maybe he could convince her to have lunch with him. Needing to make sure that he was there early and therefore preventing her from calling Hunny and making other plans, he decided getting her attention before her last class of the day was the ideal time to make his move.
The limo pulled up to the curb at the university and the driver got out of the car to free his charge from the back. Tamaki got out and started exclaiming that he was so proud of his daughter for going to such a prestigious school and he could remember his time there as well. His daughter was going to his alma mater and he couldn't be happier. Telling his driver to wait, he ran off towards the building that housed the law classes anticipating the moment he would see his precious Haruhi.
Tamaki only got lost once and stopped a very helpful student that looked at him like he was crazy when he explained he was searching for his daughter. It wasn't until Tamaki said that she was a law student that he got any direction. Once he found the building he ran inside and started the search for Haruhi.
"Tamaki?" He heard a voice behind him and it did not sound happy. He slowly turned around and made sure he had a smile upon his face when he faced Haruhi. As soon as he saw her, he ran towards her yelling her name. He swept her up into a crushing embrace and swung her around in a circle barely missing other students who were in the hall trying to get to class. He finally let her feet touch ground, but did not let her go, "My precious daughter. Daddy missed you so much!"
Haruhi was trying to push herself out of Tamaki's embrace. She had started walking towards her next class when she thought she heard her name and went to investigate. Upon walking up to the second floor of the building, she saw her nightmare come to life. Tamaki Suoh was in the building and yelling her name. She wanted to murder him! "What the hell is he doing here? What is he thinking? I told him that if he wanted to see me, he would have to call first and I am not even done with my classes today. Mitsukuni is going to kill him," she groaned to herself. "You need to let me go right now Tamaki!" She growled to him and although his arms loosened, he did not completely release her. She was trying to keep her breathing and temper under control. Not to mention the slight panic she was starting to feel when he didn't do as she asked.
"Haruhi, daddy just wanted to see his favorite daughter!" Tamaki exclaimed holding onto her waist.
Haruhi took a step back from her former Senpai and realized that his grip was loose enough that she could break it herself. She took two more steps backwards in the now deserted hallway and was out of his arms, "I have class Tamaki and thanks to you I am late."
"Then you can come with me and we can have father/daughter time today!" Tamaki said looking very hopeful.
"No we can't! I have to go to class. I am about to graduate and I am not going to let you or anyone else prevent that from happening. I still have studies and then I have to go to my internship this afternoon. So I don't have time for your antics today!" She yelled.
"You can miss one class Haruhi. I know you, and you are probably at the top of your class and already worked and studied the subject material for today a week or two before. So come on. Let daddy treat you to some quality time and I will make sure that you are not late for your internship!" Tamaki exclaimed as he grabbed her arm and started to pull her through the hall almost forcefully.
"He hasn't changed at all!" She thought to herself as she was trying to get her arm back. This was exactly how he and the twins used to act in high school and college when they were all together before. She didn't feel completely comfortable in going along with it this time for several reasons: school, Tamaki's feelings for her, time, comfort level right now, and the panic that was rising when he wouldn't let her go. "No, Tamaki! I don't have time to go with you. Let me go!"
"B-b-but Haruhi you haven't spent hardly any time with daddy. I know you missed me," he said as he stopped but did not release his grip on her wrist.
"Once again Tamaki… you are not now nor have you ever been my father. You are a friend and ex-boyfriend. That is it! I might have missed you, but that doesn't mean that I am just going to drop everything and go with you right now!" She pulled her cellphone out to call Hunny and remembered he would be busy all morning with a meeting and then training some others. He would not be available. Mori was in court. Her only option was Kyoya. She knew he was probably busy also, but she had a better chance at getting him on the phone than anyone else right now.
"Why are you being so mean to daddy?" Tamaki pouted and started looking around. He was looking for his infamous corner and did not notice her scrolling through her phone and hitting a button.
"Tamaki, don't you dare start growing mushrooms here. This is a prestigious university, not your home!" She roared at him. A click on the line and the disappearance of the ringing in her ear alerted her to the fact that her call was answered, and in case she missed that part Kyoya said his name when he answered the phone. "Kyoya! Thank you for answering. Mitsukuni is busy this morning and Mori is in court. I didn't want to bother you, but Tamaki showed up out of the blue and is trying to force daddy/daughter time," she hurriedly explained.
"Baka!" Kyoya said out loud to himself, but of course it was loud enough to be heard on the other end of the line. He had been about walk out of his office for a meeting when his cell phone rang. He checked the caller id and saw that it was Haruhi. Knowing that she would not call if it wasn't important, he answered the phone because he was not going to turn his back on her again. "It is no problem Haruhi. I want you to give the phone to Tamaki and let me talk to him," Kyoya said trying to keep his calm. He knew how Haruhi felt about Tamaki and the twins, and the former king showing up unexpectedly was not good.
Haruhi handed Tamaki the phone and he took it without letting go of her, an action that was not missed on the young girl. She kept telling herself that Tamaki is a friend and did not want to hurt her. She also reminded herself that he did not have a temper like Hikaru and she was perfectly safe with him. All of these thoughts kept the panic under control and at bay, but did not make her anxiety go away.
Tamaki took the phone from the former female host and gave her a funny look. He wasn't sure why she was giving him the phone and so put it up to his ear. "Hello?" He asked a bit confused about who could be on the other line. He hadn't heard her phone ring and didn't realize that she had received a call. "I hope it isn't Hunny!" That was his last thought before he cringed realizing it was Kyoya.
"You baka! Why did you do what we have all asked you not to do and show up at Haruhi's school? Do you want to drive her away?"
"Well no, but…" Tamaki muttered, although he was unable to finish because his best friend continued.
"Do you want to cause her not to graduate? Why do you feel like you constantly have to insert yourself where and when you are not needed? If you really wanted to spend time with her, you should have called her ahead of time. She has classes, an internship, and a job to get to and she doesn't need a distraction right now!"
"B-b-but Kyoya, mommy I just wanted to spend time with our daughter!"
"She is not our daughter! Did you call Hunny and ask him if it was alright to take Haruhi out?"
"Well, no, but I don't see why I have to do that in order to spend time with her. She is my daughter!"
"Again she is not your daughter and you need to ask him because that is her boyfriend!"
Tamaki turned to Haruhi, "Tell mommy that you are my daughter!"
Haruhi rolled her eyes at him and once again tried to extract her arm from his grip, "Not on your life."
"Haruhi! I just wanted to spend some time with you. I know you wanted to see me also," Tamaki wailed to the girl next to him.
"Tamaki I don't have time for this. I am about to go into a meeting. You will apologize to Haruhi and you will let her go about her day without any further interference from you!" Kyoya said talking very quietly into the phone. It was a tone of voice that could give even Yoshio Ootori chills.
"But mommy, I just wanted…" Tamaki murmured quietly trying one last ditch effort to resurrect his plans for the day.
"No buts Tamaki. You will see her on Saturday and if you want to see her another time, I suggest that you call her going forward. Now do as I say. Am I making myself clear or do I need to send a few of my officers over there to make sure that you comply?" Kyoya threatened. In truth he had already dispatched Tachibana a two more officers to make sure that Haruhi was taken care of. The officers should arrive at any moment.
Tamaki gulped and released his hold on Haruhi. "N-n-no, I understand," he choked out.
"Good, now do me a favor and give the phone back to Haruhi," Kyoya said levelly.
Tamaki handed the phone back to Haruhi with his head hung low. This was not how today was supposed to go. He was supposed to be having fun with her right now at daddy/daughter day. They were supposed to be laughing and eating fancy tuna. His plans were ruined.
"Kyoya?" Haruhi said as soon as she had her phone back in hand.
"I think I have handled the situation, but if there are any more problems do not hesitate to call me. I am about to go into a meeting, but my secretary will have my phone with instructions to get me if you call again. I have also sent one of my bodyguards, Tachibana, and two of my officers to make sure nothing else happens," he explained as he walked towards his office door.
"Ok, thank you for the help Kyoya. I will look for Tachibana. I remember him," Haruhi said the last part very quietly so that Tamaki would not hear. Although when she looked up and saw how dejected Tamaki looked, she was sure that he was not paying attention to the conversation she was having at the moment with the shadow king.
"Good. I will call you after my meeting. Good bye," he hung up the phone and gave it to his secretary with instructions before finally making his way to the meeting he was a couple of minutes late for. He detested tardiness and this was going to cost Tamaki.
Haruhi put her phone back in her bag and looked at Tamaki. She felt really bad and a little guilty for how things played out today, but she also knew that she would not change anything because he had not been listening to her. She had to call in reinforcements. "Tamaki look, it was really sweet of you to want to take me out for daddy/daughter time, but today is not the day for it. I have a lot going on today and not a lot of time," she said calmly trying to smooth over the hurt feelings.
Tamaki gained a glimmer of hope in that last statement. Today was bad, but what about tomorrow? "What if I planned something for tomorrow?" He asked in a childlike pouting voice.
Haruhi cringed inwardly, but was shaking her head outwardly, "No. I still have classes and my internship tomorrow. Plus I have to go to my job tomorrow night. Saturday we are having the host club dinner, so don't even ask about that one."
He felt like an arrow had pierced his heart. Was there no time that they could spend together? "Could I escort you to the dinner on Saturday?"
"No, Mitsukuni is going to do that. Look Tamaki, I know that you want to spend some time together and I am gathering that you would prefer to have alone time, but that isn't going to happen right now. You can either take what I can give or that is it. I love you as a friend, but that is all. If you want to spend time together as a group like we used to, I am more than willing to tag along as long as I don't have something else going on. As for alone time, that hardly happened before we dated and that is not going to happen now for a few different reasons. A couple of them are because I have a boyfriend and that wouldn't be fair to him, and another is because I am not comfortable with alone time with a few of you right now," Haruhi was blunt, but she was trying to ease the rejection.
"You don't feel comfortable with me?" That comment had hurt Tamaki. He knew she had said it before, but hoped that it was just a passing thing or that it was because Hunny didn't want her alone with anyone. Tamaki delved into his inner mind theatre. It was old and full of dust and cobwebs due to its lack of use, but it still worked. Tamaki could see Hunny pouring a vial into Haruhi's tea. Upon closer inspection, the vial read Love Potion #9. The shorter man gave an evil laugh and told Haruhi that she would not be alone with anyone else or listen to anyone but him. His daughter nodded her agreement. Another evil laugh and the scene ended. He looked up and Haruhi was giving him a very funny look, almost like she thought he was insane. "Don't worry Haruhi. I will protect you. Daddy will not let that evil Hunny give you any more love potion or keep up us apart!" He had pulled her back into his arms for another hug.
Haruhi couldn't breathe, "Let me go Tamaki. He hasn't given me anything like that and you know it. Damn you inner mind theatre!"
"But Haruhi that would explain everything!" Tamaki wailed.
Haruhi was about to say something else, but out of the corner of her eye she saw a man approach and hit Tamaki between the shoulder and neck. He dropped like a dead weight and took Haruhi with him. She fell with an "oof" and was quickly helped up by the other man. "Thanks Tachibana. I really appreciate the help. He was getting carried away with his dramatic side again," Haruhi said dusting herself off.
If Tachibana was surprised that Haruhi remembered who he was, he didn't show it. He had known her since she joined the host club and had been around her several times since she had known his employer, but she had not seen him in years even though he has been there protecting his master every time Kyoya and Haruhi had met. "You are quite welcome Fujioka-sama. I am quite used to how Suoh-sama can be and how he can change minute to minute," he said as he bowed towards the young girl. He was trying to hide the laughter in his voice, but wasn't able to mask it completely.
Haruhi laughed at his statement, "That is one way of putting it politely." She giggled some more before gathering her composure, "Is he going to be alright? I know you have had to do that to him before, but just checking. Also I know it has been a couple of years, but nothing has changed. Please just call me Haruhi."
"He will be fine Haruhi. Yes, it seems that I did have to do that to him at least one other time in your presence. I believe Haninozuka-sama and Morinozuka-sama have also performed that technique on him and both Hitachiin-samas," Tachibana said with a kind smile. He always liked the girl and had a great respect for what she did. He knew that it could not have been easy for her to leave her friends, but he understood why she felt like she had to do it. Keeping that knowledge to himself, he never gave Kyoya his opinion and just stood back to let his charge vent about the loss of the girl until one day he decided to speak his mind. Kyoya did not like what he had to say and threatened to fire his long time bodyguard. The pink slip never came and Tachibana believed that his words made Kyoya really think about things because after that Kyoya didn't rail as much and started to look at the reports that he received periodically on Haruhi once again. They weren't detailed as they once were, but he was able to have at least a brief oversight into the major events going on in her life.
There was one point in time that he knew Kyoya had feelings for Haruhi, but the young master had let his best friend pursue her. When it did not work out, Kyoya thought about pursing her himself, but knew that it would hurt Tamaki and thus stayed in the shadows and let her slip away. Now she was back in his life and Tachibana could already see a change come over Kyoya. It was subtle, but he was once again smiling when he thought no one was looking; working in the shadows to watch over the girl that once held his heart. The bodyguard knew that it was not romantic feelings Kyoya felt for her now, and it was just feelings of friendship and protectiveness. His charge felt he was partly to blame for everything that happened to her and would take steps to make sure nothing hurt her again. Tachibana would make sure his orders were carried out to the last detail.
Haruhi was once again giggling at the remembrance of previous times when extraordinary force had to be used in order to get her out of the clutches of Tamaki and the twins, or to just give her an escape route. "So many memories," she thought as she shook her head. Haruhi looked down at her watched and grimaced, half of the class period was over and there was no point in even going to classes. "Damn it! I missed class anyway," she groaned. Always hating missing classes, this was not the first one this week and she was frustrated at herself.
Tachibana heard her as he was calling the two officers forward to pick up Tamaki. He looked towards his current responsibility and smiled slightly, "I am sure Kyoya-sama will be able to get you the notes for this class. Here are the ones for yesterday. He asked me to deliver them since I was sent to handle Suoh-sama."
Sighing loudly, "I know he can. I just hate missing classes!" As an afterthought she said, "And I hate asking the Shadow King for favors!" Under her breath she mumbled, "I wonder how much all of this is going to cost me this time."
The bodyguard heard everything she said and wanted to laugh. He remembered her debt and the fact that Kyoya had told her on multiple occasions that he did nothing without merit. She really was clueless. Raising her debt was a way of keeping her around. Telling her that he did nothing without merit and then doing things for her anyway while pretending to raise her debt, was a way of showing he cared. Kyoya truly did cherish the friendship he developed with the girl, but being who he was could never show or tell her how much he valued the relationship. He was providing protection to her when her crazy ex-boyfriend was released from prison for nothing, wasn't he? Tachibana shook his head, "I understand and I believe that the charge is nothing as long as you show up to dinner on Saturday." He chuckled a bit and winked.
Haruhi's head shot up. She couldn't believe that he had heard her and carped inwardly, "Great! Now he is probably going to go back and tell Kyoya what I just said." She looked at the faithful bodyguard of Kyoya Ootori and finally rolled her eyes, "Thanks, but somehow when it comes to Kyoya I am not sure I believe that."
He offered her a smile and then said, "Come, we will wait for your ride with a cup of coffee while these men take Suoh-sama back to his car."
She really didn't see that she had much choice in the matter. It was too late to go to class and it was too early for anyone to pick her up. Coffee sounded like the best plan and she could review the notes that she was just handed. "Ok, let's go to the cafeteria," she said as she sent a quick text to her boyfriend telling him where she would be when he arrived.
Haruhi had enjoyed her coffee time with Tachibana and had felt comfortable. He didn't get offended when she pulled out the notes from the classes that she had missed the previous day. He remained watchful of everyone around them and the new people that entered the building. When she received a text from Hunny saying that he wouldn't be able to pick her up, but that he had left a message for Kyoya and Mori, Tachibana offered to take her to her internship safely before he received a text two minutes later giving him those instructions.
Back to the present...
Haruhi walked out of her last class for the week and encountered a wall of chest that had arms gripping her tightly. She immediately knew that it was not Hunny and it was not Mori. It was in fact Tamaki once again. She groaned and hoped that this was not going to be a repeat of yesterday. "Let me go Tamaki!" She yelled as she tried to push him away from her.
"But Haruhi I was just saying hello to my beautiful daughter!" Tamaki cried.
Haruhi tried pushing again and this time she found herself being pulled out of Tamaki's arms while she saw Tamaki being pulled out of the doorway. She knew the arms that wrapped around her from behind and relaxed into them. Looking up she realized that Mori had been the one to move Tamaki out of the way so that the other students could leave the room. "So what do I owe the pleasure of seeing the three of you today?" Haruhi asked sarcastically. When she talked to Hunny after he had picked her up from her internship the night before, she had told him everything that had happened earlier in the day. He already had a vague idea about what had transpired because Kyoya called and told him about his part in everything. Hunny was not happy and so she was wondering what Tamaki would be doing there with the two cousins.
"Tama-Chan called to apologize for what he did and asked if he could come with me to pick you up. He wanted to make yesterday up to you by taking you out to lunch. He and I had a nice long talk. Didn't we Tama-Chan?" Hunny said in a dark tone of voice and waited for the younger man to nod before he continued, "He is going to behave from now on and follow you requests to the letter. Aren't you Tama-Chan?" He watched Tamaki gulp and nod once again. "So I agreed that he could come with me to pick you up from school. Since Takashi didn't have anything to do, he came with me also since we both have to meet our brothers later."
Haruhi nodded and turned around wrapping her arms around her boyfriend's neck and giving him a small kiss, "Thank you Mitsukuni."
He gave her a smile that made her stomach do flips and placed his hands on her hips, "You welcome Haru-Chan. Are you hungry?"
"Yah, lunch sounds really good," she said returning his smile and giving him one last kiss before pulling away from him and taking his hand. She watched Tamaki skip towards her with a beaming smile that did nothing but irritate her.
Tamaki had been excited about the chance to see Haruhi again before dinner the next night. He grabbed her other hand and gave her his smile that made so many girls before her swoon. He faltered a little when he got zero reaction out of her, but didn't let it show. He bowed low and kissed the back of her hand before straightening and said, "Well my dear daughter, let me treat you to a gourmet meal. You can have anything your heart desires."
Pulling her hand back, she looked at him with a straight face devoid of emotion, "I don't have a lot of time because I still have to go to my internship. So if you were thinking of going somewhere far away or that would take a lot of time then forget it."
"Haruhi, I just want to make sure that you get everything you want!" Tamaki cried. Truthfully, he really did want to give her the world and had not completely given up on her yet. He figured she would get bored of Hunny's childish ways soon enough, it didn't matter to him that the older man had matured and done a lot of growing up.
"That's fine Tamaki, but I am on a schedule and I don't want you messing it up like you did yesterday," Haruhi said seriously.
It was like an arrow to the gut and knocked him to the floor, "Why are you being so cruel to daddy?"
Hunny stepped in before this ordeal continued further, "Let's just go to the café we all used to meet at."
Haruhi gave him a brilliant smile, that café was where she found Hunny and Mori once again. It was where she started to get her friends back. It was special to her, "Yah that sounds really good."
"Perfect Hunny! We haven't been there in what seems like forever!" Tamaki gathered himself up off the floor and once again had his happy cheerful disposition in place. He tried to take Haruhi's hand once again in his to lead her to the car, but the dark look he received from Hunny, put a stop to his actions quickly.
"Yah," Mori said giving Haruhi and Hunny a small smile. He was thinking the same thing that Haruhi was, it was where everything started to change for the better and they got their friend back. It may have been forever for Tamaki, but it was just last week for Mori, Hunny, and Haruhi. He placed his hand on Tamaki's shoulder and started to lead him out to the car with the couple following closely behind. Everyone was laughing and smiling, he just hoped that this feeling wouldn't change, but knew they were about to face some trials once Yasu got out, and he wasn't completely sure that Tamaki and Hikaru's intentions were completely innocent. Time would tell them everything they needed to know.