Reika barked as she started digging in the snow. The search went on for hours. Night had fallen. Tamaki, Haruhi, Kyoya, Karen, Hunny, and Mori drove over to Reika on their snowmobiles to where Reika was digging.
"Start digging everyone! Reika might've found something!" Tamaki suddenly pulled out shovels.
"Where the hell did you get those?" Haruhi grumbled.
"It's best not to question him and just go with it when things like this happen." Kyoya replied. Haruhi sighed and grabbed a shovel and started digging. The snow was a lot easier to dig than with dirt, but it was a lot heavier too. It was Mori and Kyoya who dug the most out of everyone.
However, Tamaki was digging in a particular spot where the snow gave in and he collapsed into a hole. The big moron started crying. It wasn't really a hole, as others noticed when they peered inside. It was a cave. There was a light coming from the cave.
Yuki and the twins were sitting against the walls, trembling terribly, arm in arm. They appeared to be sleeping on each other. Their lips were blue and their faces white. Their breaths were shallow, short, and small.
"Guys! In here!" Tamaki called up to them. He approached the trio and poked them with a stick. Reika licked Yuki's face repeatedly. Yuki was the first to awaken. She gave Tamaki an evil death glare that sent him to his corner. She groaned. She was very stiff. Yuki hit the twins to get them to awaken.
Yuki got to her feet. "Guys, Tamaki found us." She kicked them in the right spot. Their eyes flew open, their hands went to their groin, and they fell to their sides. "C'mon! Tamaki, stop growing mushrooms. Lets get out of here."
"Oh, Yuki! I'm so glad you're safe! I knew I would find you!" Tamaki hugged Yuki and spun her around.
"How much do you want to bet it was Kyoya who found us?" Kaoru asked Hikaru.
"It probably was." Yuki wheezed.
"Did you miss us, milord?" The twins questioned in unison.
"You two may be shady and sexually harass poor innocent Yuki, but I was worried that you weren't okay." Tamaki admitted.
"Aw, milord! That's so sweet! We might miss you two if anything happened!" Hug fest.
"Might?" Yuki muttered, being in the middle of it. She pushed herself away, eager to get out of the cave. She was actually anticipating to see Kyoya again. Yuki knew it'll be torture again, but she will probably get butterflies every time she sees him. Maybe she's a masochist.
Yuki hopped on her snowmobile and rode up to the surface where everyone else was, only to be tackled off by Hunny who was crying.
"Oh, Yuki-chan! I thought I was never going to see you again! I thought you were dead! I thought I wouldn't have anyone to eat cake with!" He sobbed on Yuki. Yuki couldn't help but smile.
"It's fine. I'm fine. You're fine. Everyone's fine. When we get back to the lodge, I'm going to clean myself up and then we'll go eat some cake." Yuki assured.
"Yay!" Yuki and Hunny rose.
"The lodge has a bath that's a hot spring. We can go down there." Haruhi suggested.
"Sure!" Yuki scanned around for Kyoya. She spotted him. But wrapped around his damn arm like damn ivy was damn Karen. Now Yuki was in a bitter mood. She felt her heart break into tinier pieces. The air just dropped ten degrees.
"You guys better have not left without us!" The twins called in unison was they rode out on their snowmobiles and Tamaki crawled out behind them. "Oh."
"Guys! Look! It's Karen!" Yuki greeted cheerfully. "Karen! I thought you went to your parents?"
"I did. But then I realized I missed my Kyoya too much and I had to come back. Plus, I heard about the avalanche on the radio and I had to come make sure my Kyoya was safe and sound! I bet he was missing me so much too and I didn't want him to go through any misery." She babbled. Yuki mentally groaned. Great. She's going to have to share a room with Chatty Cathy. And she's going to have to put up with Chatty Cathy and Kyoya being all affectionate and romantic. They might even have sex! Dammit, Yuki. Stop thinking about that!
"I'm glad you're here. We'll have tons of fun." Yuki plastered on a smile. This is a nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare. "Let's get going, shall we?"
"Race you!" The twins declared as they tore down the mountain. Everyone hopped on their snowmobiles, except damn Karen, who rode with Kyoya. Yuki exploded down the mountain at an amazing speed. It was quite fun. Everyone was laughing, smiling, and enjoying themselves.
Yuki won the race, but she didn't feel like a winner. She will always be a loser. And she would make herself lose. She lost because she'd cheat herself. That's how it worked with Yuki.
"Why didn't you call us for help?" Haruhi asked inside the lodge.
"They said I was the next caller! I'm the next caller guys!" Yuki exclaimed. Her eyes widened and she suddenly fished her pockets for her iPhone. The call didn't end. The call didn't end.
"Thank you for calling Tech Support. My name's Aaron. How may I help you?" Aaron spoke on the other line.
"Finally! Hallelujah!" Yuki praised. "Some rotten twins," Yuki glared at Hikaru and Kaoru, who grinned innocently. "Made me spill hot chocolate over my laptop and it stopped working."
"Have you tried turning it off and then back on?" Aaron asked. Yuki twitched. She waited for hours and this is what she gets?
"I can't even turn the goddamn thing on!" She snapped.
"Okay. Here's what you do-" the line cut off. Yuki froze and she looked at her phone.
"Aaron?" She asked, pressing the lock button on her phone to unlock it. Nothing happened. It was just a black screen. Yuki tried again. A picture of an empty battery popped up on her screen, telling her she needs to charge her phone. Her phone was freaking dead. Her. Phone. Was. Freaking. Dead. "Goddammit! I fucking hate technology!"
"Language, Yuki!" The twins, Hunny, and Tamaki cried. Tamaki covered Haruhi's ears, who scowled in response.
"Mommy! We have to do something about Yuki's potty mouth! Get some soap! She's being a bad influence on my Haruhi dearest!" Tamaki whined to Kyoya. Yuki rolled her eyes and cursed under her breath.
Everyone went upstairs to their rooms.
"Okay! So, Haruhi and Yuki miss each other so much that its unbearable! And I barely know Karen! So, Yuki and I will be changing rooms!" Tamaki announced as he tossed his luggage into Kyoya's room. Kyoya didn't hide his confusion, but didn't say anything.
Yuki was somewhat relieved. She transferred her luggage into Haruhi's room as Tamaki chased the twins down the hall for some prank they pulled. Yuki planned on going to the hot spring to relax, but she forgot her laptop. It was utter crap now, but she might as well get it out of Kyoya's room.
Yuki peeked inside Kyoya's room. They left the door open. Unfortunately, when Yuki walked inside, she saw Kyoya and Karen kissing each other like how Yuki and Kyoya used to kiss. Used to. Yuki was pretty sure her heart was dust by now. They were so invested in the kiss, that they didn't even notice Yuki. Yuki silently slipped away and ran off, fighting back the tears.
Yuki sat alone in the cold spring as steam filled the air. The public, yet empty bath was divided by a wall to separate boys from girls. It was indoors, but they kept it cool inside. She kept her hair pulled back in a ponytail.
Karen was here at the lodge. With Kyoya. God, Yuki hated herself. She hated how she left years ago and that she let Karen swoop in and take away her Kyoya. Yuki missed Kyoya so much. This is agonizing. Loving someone and not having someone return it. Worse, that person you're in love with is freaking engaged.
Tears started rolling down her cheeks. She was alone, so Yuki allowed herself to cry just this once. Let it out now so no one will see her tears. So she won't break tonight when Kyoya and Karen have sex.
This pain in her chest wouldn't go away. It's growing and it just won't go away. She was ready to just drown herself right there in the bath. Just to get some peace. Yuki found herself sobbing terribly and hugging herself.
"Yuki?"
Yuki looked up. It was Haruhi. Haruhi joined her in the bath and was right beside Yuki. Immediately, Yuki plastered on a smile.
"Hi, Haruhi. How are you?" Yuki asked.
"Yuki." Haruhi pulled Yuki into a hug. Yuki resumed bawling.
"I love him, Haruhi. I love him so goddamn much...I can't believe I did this to myself...I wish I never left...this is torture. I'm trying...I'm trying my best...I keep telling myself that he's gone...but...but...he's not! He's right there in front of me all over Karen! ...it just...It just hurts so much...I can't take it. He's just so...he's my universe...he's supposed to be my lobster! But his lobster is Karen...I'm so in love with him...I love him so much...I'm dying. I don't know what to do anymore...I tried so hard to move on, Haruhi! Supposedly I got my closure when I was drunk, but that doesn't count, right? But I can't do it over because that'll just be awkward for him going through it twice. And he's so fine...he's okay...he's so together! He's happy and over me...I was nothing...he's the one that got away..."
Yuki didn't know how long she sobbed on Haruhi and choked out other statements of self-loathing. Haruhi has never seen Yuki cry so hard. It was obvious this was built up for a long time. Haruhi secretly looked up to Yuki. Yuki was always with a smile and was always positive. Yuki seemed strong and always made everything feel okay.
"I'm sorry." Yuki whispered as she began to calm herself down.
"It's fine, Yuki. It's what friends are for, right?" Haruhi smiled. Yuki giggled at herself and wiped her eyes. She knew she could always count on Haruhi. "You want to know something? When you left, Kyoya was a mess. It was terrible."
"Really?" Yuki started to brighten up. Was he just as upset as she was? Did he used to miss her like she missed him? Did he care?
"Yuki, he was falling apart at the seams. We even caught him cry once." Yuki has never seen Kyoya cry before. He was so good at masking his emotions. "He tried to pretend like nothing happened, but we noticed that the profits weren't being managed so well. The host club almost shut down at one point. Boy, was that a mess I had to sort out. But that's when we realized that Kyoya was depressed."
Yuki grinned. He did care. Maybe not now, but back then, he did. It really doesn't mean anything. It's in the past. And obviously he doesn't feel that way anymore, but it still made Yuki feel better.
"Yeah? I know I'll regret asking this, but when did he get better?" Yuki asked. Haruhi knew that deep inside Kyoya were deep scars that he buried inside himself. Haruhi didn't see Kyoya show any attraction with Karen. It wasn't there. There wasn't a spark. No chemistry. Whereas with Yuki, you could almost feel their chemistry in the air. They had heat and passion and affection and intimacy. Kyoya was only marrying Karen because she will bring merit to his family. But not to Kyoya.
"A few months...maybe a year after you left." Haruhi lied. Yuki nodded. Yuki assumed that was the year he met and fell in love with Karen. But Yuki was happy that Kyoya found his sunshine.
"Let's head back." Haruhi suggested.
"I'll be right there. I need to relax and calm myself." Yuki said.
"Do you want me to stay with you?"
"No. I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Everything's going to be okay." Yuki assured, smiling. Haruhi got out of the hot spring bath. Now Yuki was alone again. She leaned back and relaxed and closed her eyes.
"Hiiii~!" Yuki's eyes opened. Karen was beside her now in the hot spring bath. Crap. Maybe Yuki should stop hating on Karen. Maybe Yuki should open herself up and get to know Karen. Maybe they'll be friends. Maybe Yuki will learn what Karen has that Yuki doesn't.
"Hi, Karen." Yuki greeted. "How are you?"
"I'm awesome. I was just getting settled into the room and then something came up..." Karen giggled at the memory. Yuki knew exactly what she was thinking about.
"I think it's important that you and I get to know each other." Yuki suddenly said before Karen could babble more.
"I agree. But I have to confess something..." Karen murmured. "I'm actually really intimidated by you..."
"Intimidated? Why?"
"You're Yuki. Everyone likes Yuki. Everyone talks about Yuki. Everyone tells all these great stories about Yuki. And I meet you, and you're even better than their descriptions. You're so pretty and skinny and you're so nice. Although you and Kyoya are exact opposites, I've always been afraid deep down that he'd leave me for you..." Karen explained quietly. Yuki's eyes widened. Now Yuki felt extremely guilty for hating Karen. Karen is a nice person.
"That's so nice of you. You're a great person." Yuki spoke.
"Hey, how'd you get your scars? And your kneecap is like Kyoya's. What'd you do?" Karen leaned in. Yuki leaned away.
"I'm such a klutz. That's how I got my scars. As for my kneecap, I was mastering the Death Drop and it screwed up my kneecap in attempt." She replied.
"And you can still dance with your kneecap like that?" Karen asked.
"Of course. It hasn't changed anything. I thought I'd never be able to dance again, but it doesn't affect my dancing at all. It's like it never happened. But I can't even attempt to do the death drop again." Yuki explained.
"Oh, right. I forgot you already explained that before. Usually my memory is the best, so I don't know why I forgot something like that. But things happen, I guess..." Yuki tuned out as Karen babbled.