A/N: I am glad that you liked the fluff and seeing Tamaki again. I couldn't help it, I was watching Ouran again (come on, we all love it) and I was inspired to write a little fluffy. I think it fit the story though. Poor Tamaki still can't get along with Ranka, and now not only has Kyoya threatened him, but Hunny has too. I almost feel bad for him, but not quite because it is just pure fun trying to write how he responds to different situations. Haha. Enjoy the new chapter and let me know what you think.
Chapter 43 – Behind My Back
"Hunny, can you bring Haruhi to my office today at 2:30?" Kyoya asked over the phone. He had spent the better part of the night talking to Kasanoda and trying to come up with a plan to catch Yasu. He also reviewed all of the background reports his team sent me. Not wanting to let anything slip past him again, he looked at everything himself.
Hunny and Haruhi had just walked into the house from the dojo when a maid had informed him that Kyoya was on the phone and handed him a handset. He had been expecting a call from his former kohai, but didn't expect a meeting request, "Sure Kyo-Chan! Is everyone going to be there or just us?"
"I think the twins are too afraid to show up at my office right now and Tamaki is busy, but Mori said that he would be able to attend after he gets out a deposition today," Kyoya explained.
"Ok Kyo-Chan, we will be there. Did you get the names that I sent over yesterday afternoon? Those are the men that are being added to Haruhi's security detail," Hunny stated. He was not taking any chances with Haruhi's safety and she would now be guarded by three personal body guards at all times of the day. The only time the guards would not be with her, is when she was in the Haninozuka compound; however, if there were strangers on the grounds, they would be at her side. Thankfully, his family had been able to move and cancel any parties or exhibitions that were happening at the estate for the foreseeable future.
"I did Hunny. Thank you. I already have the reports back on all of them, and they have been given the all clear. Daichi has a copy of the reports and will be briefing them when he briefs the others."
"Wonderful! Thank you for the help, I know that it has created some extra work for you and it hasn't been easy."
"We need to do anything to keep our friends safe Hunny."
"I agree!"
"You should know that I am having Daisuke brought in again. I am meeting with him after I meet with you three. If you would like to be present, we can make sure Haruhi gets home safe or she can meet with our legal team since her internship has been switched to the Ootori zaibatsu."
"Good, that makes me feel a little easier that the internship is going to be more controlled. As for Daisuke, I will be there. Haru-Chan said she needed to pick up her first pile of work from you anyway."
"Yes, she does. I will arrange the meeting with the legal team for this afternoon then. Daisuke will be coming to the office, so we will be in the same building."
"Got it."
"I will see you this afternoon then. You may want to prepare Haruhi for the change in her internship. I have a feeling she is going to be a little upset that we went behind her back, but it is for the best," Kyoya warned his friend. In fact, he was happy that he wasn't the one breaking the news to Haruhi; she may be hostile when she hears what they did, and sending in Hunny to break the news was probably the best option.
"I know Kyo-Chan. I will talk to her after we get off of here," Hunny agreed seriously. He wasn't looking forward to that conversation and may in fact need to gird his loins, so to speak. Looking over at the girl standing next to him, he could see confusion written all over her face.
Kyoya grimaced and felt bad for his friend, kind of, "Well I will let you handle that and I will see both of you in my office this afternoon."
"See you then Kyo-Chan!" Hunny hurriedly said and then hung up the phone.
Gazing at her boyfriend, Haruhi had a feeling that she wasn't going to like what was said next, "What did Kyoya want?"
"A couple of things actually, I think we need to sit down and talk," Hunny said trying to sound more confident than he was; he knew that she was going to be upset in a few minutes. "Good thing she isn't Hika-Chan or I might need to make sure the breakables are put up," Hunny groaned inwardly.
She knew that she wasn't going to like what he had to say. Following him to the study, Haruhi sat down on a couch and noticed that instead of sitting next to her, Hunny decided to stand near the fireplace. That was odd behavior indeed. "Ok, what's wrong?" Haruhi frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "How bad can this really be? Just breathe and remember that they are trying to protect you," Haruhi told herself over and over again like a mantra.
Taking a deep breath and attempting to look his girlfriend in the eye, Hunny found it easier to face foes than it was Haruhi, "Kyo-Chan called to ask us to come to his office this afternoon at 2:30. I told him that we would both be there. It will be you, me, Takashi, and Kyo-Chan."
Okay, that wasn't so bad, so Haruhi was wondering when the next shoe was going to drop, "Of course we will be there."
Hunny nodded and then looked down for a second to gather his courage before he faced her again, "After our meeting, you will be meeting with the legal staff there while we meet with Daisuke. Kyoya has a meeting with him and I want to be there for it. I will come and find you after I get out of that meeting."
Scrutinizing the man standing across from her, she knew that he wasn't telling her everything. Something was making him hold back, and she was determined that if he did not tell her soon, she would find a way to get it out of him. A scowl set on her face, Haruhi probed, "All of that sounds okay and you knew I wouldn't be upset by all of that. I need to pick up my work from Kyoya anyway. Meeting the legal staff is fine since I will be working with Kyoya's office. What I want to know is… what are you not telling me?"
His palms were suddenly sweaty and he physically flinched when she asked her question. To say that Hunny was nervous about telling her what they did was a huge understatement. Clearing his throat, he spilled his guts, "I'm sorry Haru-Chan; I know we should have talk to you before now about this, but we didn't. Kyoya was nervous about you returning to your internship and so he looked into what it would take to transfer your internship to the Ootori legal team. It would be safer and you would have the Ootori name to back you up. This would allow you to work and do your internship at the same time. It didn't take much apparently because Kyoya told me today that you are now interning at the Ootori Corporation. He told me yesterday that he was working to do it, and I thought it was a good idea. With Yasu out there, you just never know and at Kyo-Chan's building, I know you will be just as safe there as you would be here. Plus not only will you be in a safer place, working with one of the best legal teams in Japan, but the Ootori name is one of the most powerful you can have on a resume. They don't take on a lot of interns, so they are giving you a great opportunity. The law office where you were interning has already been informed of the change." He really tried to emphasize the positives to try and make her forget that they had gone behind her back.
Haruhi sat there for a few minutes in silence. She was fuming. How dare they go behind her back and make these decisions for her! Did they not have a conversation about controlling ways when she came back into their lives? Yes, have the Ootori name on her resume was an asset that she could not ignore, but that did not give them the right to do what they did. It is her life and her career that they decided to play with. Yes, she has a crazy lunatic after her, but she also has a security team that would make sure she was safe regardless of where she was. She quit her job and took a job with Kyoya so that she would not lose her pay check; again this was at Kyoya's interference. Now they turned in her resignation for her internship and transferred it to another company. She didn't care if it was a bigger and better legal team! Hands fisted in her lap, her face felt like it was on fire and tears were starting to cloud her vision as she quickly looked down at the floor. "Who gave you permission to make those decisions about my life?" She inquired quietly.
"I know that you are upset Haru-Chan, but we had your best interests at heart," Hunny tried to explain, but he knew he was mucking it up.
"My best interests? You think you had my best interests at heart? It would have been in my best interest to talk to me first! It would have been in my best interest to let me have a choice and make a decision about my life! It would have been in my best interest to allow me to think for myself instead of you and Kyoya doing the thinking for me! I might be going through a difficult situation, but it is still my life! Remember the reason I left? All of you promised not to control me any longer and that is exactly what you did," Haruhi yelled. Knuckles turning white, she laughed a humorless laugh and looked up at Hunny, "You know I half expected something like this from Kyoya because he has always done shit like this, but I never expected this from you. You claim that you love me, but if you really did you would have trusted me and given me the freedom to make my own decisions. Maybe you are just like them, and I know that is not what I need or want in my life ever again!"
Hunny felt like he had been slapped in the face and punched in the gut. He could not believe that she compared him to Tamaki and Yasu. Taking a few steps towards her, he pleaded, "Haruhi wait."
"Stop! Just stop!" Reeling, she glared at Hunny and stood up. She was by the door before Hunny could do anything else, "I don't want to hear it." Without another look, she opened the door and left her boyfriend standing in the middle of the room.
Haruhi wasn't sure where she was running, she only knew that she needed to get away from Hunny to think. It had surprised her that they had made major decisions about her life without consulting her when they knew that was an issue for her. Kyoya made her promise that if they got controlling again, she would talk to them about it, but this wasn't something little. They knew what they were doing when they had taken initiative and changed her internship without her knowledge.
When she finally looked up, she found herself at the dojo and went inside. Maybe punching something would ease her hurt and anger. Walking in, she found the place just as empty as when she and Hunny had left it not long ago. Walking across the room, she went to one of the practice dummies and started to hit it. It felt good. As she let the anger flow through her fists, she let the tears fall down her face and without her even realizing it, she was yelling at the dummy.
This was the state that Chika and Satoshi found Haruhi. They had gone to the Haninozuka family dojo in order to practice together and found Haruhi upset and hitting the fake man. Looking at each other, they approached her slowly. Chika was wondering what his brother did to her. Satoshi was wondering what they were supposed to say to the crying female.
As the two men got closer, Chika finally spoke up, "Haruhi? Haruhi, what happened?"
Haruhi heard the voice behind her and stopped her punches dropping her fists to her sides. Her head was bent and her chin rested on her chest, she was still crying, "Nothing for you to worry about. I will just leave so that you can have the space."
Satoshi caught Haruhi's arm as she was trying to leave and said, "You don't have to leave. What happened?"
"What happened?" Haruhi scoffed, "I just found out that my boyfriend is a controlling bastard!"
Chika was taken aback by the venom in her voice. He knew that his brother was not perfect and was freaking out about keeping Haruhi safe, but something had to have happened for her to sound so furious and look as upset as she did. He remembered that Haruhi did not cry often, and right now she was crying enough to end the drought in California, "What did Mitsukuni do to you?"
Turning her stare upon Chika, she gazed at him for some time before she declared, "He decided to play God with my future without talking to me about it first."
Neither Chika nor Satoshi had seen her look so small and defeated. They were at a loss as to what to do, but one thing was for sure, they could not let her leave without calming her down first. They both hoped that Hunny was not looking for her right now; he was the last person that she needed to see.
"What did he do to you? What do you mean played God?" Satoshi asked in a soft gentle voice trying to coax her into trusting him enough to talk to him.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she slumped to her knees and whimpered almost inaudibly, "He broke his promise to me."
Both men looked at each other confused. "What do you mean Haruhi?" Chika inquired.
"He and Kyoya decided that I would be better off if I interned with the Ootori Corporation instead of the law office I was interning at. Instead of talking to me about it, they made the decision for me and have already informed the law office I will not be returning," she cried.
Chika was livid on her behalf. His brother knew that was a sticking point with her, and yet he went behind her back and worked with Kyoya to make decisions that concern her without talking to her. He completely understood why she was upset and angry, "What an ass!"
"Yasuchika, you are not helping!" Satoshi chastised his cousin. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to Haruhi, "Although I agree that he was in the wrong, along with Kyoya, he probably thought only of your safety. He probably didn't think about how it would look or what he did until after everything had been done." He started to rub her back in order to calm her down.
Sighing, Chika conceded that Satoshi was probably right, "Haruhi, he has been going crazy trying to make sure that you are safe and as far away from Yasu as possible. After what happened in the park, he felt like he didn't have control over the situation or your security. He is so afraid of losing you again, he has gone overboard a time or two, and this is probably one of those times."
"Why couldn't he just talk to me about it? I know that he is worried, but if he would have asked me or talked to me, it wouldn't have been a big deal," Haruhi sounded meek even to her own ears. She was hurt because of how they handled the situation, not because of the outcome. She knew the dangers and the concern everyone held, and she could be a reasonable person when approached with logic. Today had felt like she was being told what to do once again and that she had no say in the matter. Haruhi had lost so much control in her life between Tamaki and Yasu, she never wanted to feel like that again, but Hunny and Kyoya had successfully made her feel like she could not have a say in her own life once again.
"Because my brother is a baka, but he loves you. I am not going to sit here and tell you that I agree with everything he did, because I don't. However, he will do anything he can to protect you from a maniac and if that includes making decisions like he did, then he will do it over and over again. The biggest fear he had in his life was when Yasu found you two at the park. For the first time he felt like he couldn't protect someone he cares about and he hated that feeling. He was so afraid that you were going to disappear, that one minute you would be there and the next, you would be gone. He won't admit this and my parents probably don't know how bad it was, but he was lost without you. One of the reasons that he moved out was to try to move on with his life and start anew, but it never happened. So when you popped up in his life again, he was determined to hold onto you with both hands and never let go," Chika explained trying to let Haruhi see it from a different perspective.
Satoshi nodded, "He is right. Mitsukuni wasn't the same after you left and for a time, the only host he would talk to was Takashi. Eventually he started to talk to the others again, but it took convincing from my brother. He finally got to the point that he was living again, even if he wasn't as carefree as he once was. He wants to protect you and keep you safe, but he doesn't know how to do that. He went overboard with this, but there are reasons why he did that. He and Kyoya both should have talked to you before they did anything on your behalf, but with everything that has been going on, they are in 'war' mode. They analyze the situation, make a decision, and then inform everyone. Is it such a bad thing?"
Haruhi listened and digested everything that was said. It did give her more insight into Hunny's frame of mind, but it still hurt that they didn't consult her. However, she could see why they did what they did. When Satoshi asked her that question, she shifted her position so that she was sitting on her butt and hugging her knees, resting her chin on them. Was it so bad? The Ootori name held a lot of weight in the business world, it was a better legal team, and she would be in a more secure area. No, it wasn't a bad thing and if they had talked to her first, she wouldn't have argued (well much). She hated using her friends to get things, but in this area, it would benefit more than just her and security was an issue. Looking at her two friends, she finally shook her head, "No, it isn't, it is the principle of the matter though."
"Is it so bad that you can't move past it and forgive them?" Chika asked. He really liked Haruhi and thought she was good for his alien brother; he hoped they could work this out. The last thing he wanted to do is deal with a depressed Hunny again; he was sorer during that period in his life than any time prior or since. Was he selfish? Maybe just a bit, but who could blame him.
Thinking about the question, Haruhi already knew the answer to it; she could forgive them and she could move past it, but they needed to have a serious talk first, and this afternoon seemed like as good a time as any. "I guess we will see after the meeting in Kyoya's office this afternoon," Haruhi murmured. It was time to take charge and let them know that they could not make her decisions for her.