"MAAAMAAAAA!" Tamaki's voice rang, rather loudly, from behind me. "Haruhi is six minutes and twenty-seven seconds late! What if she's hurt, or men with ill intentions got their filthy hands on our daughter! We have to send out a search party!" I sighed.

"She's just running late. Besides, the guests won't be here for at least another twenty minutes, and so long as her tardiness does not affect the Host Club in any negative way, she really isn't doing any harm by being five minutes late. Especially when being held up by a teacher or a friend is not out of the realm of possibility". I replied, without so much as looking away from my notebook.

He ran off, sharing his woes with the rest of the club, to which they all reacted about the same as I did. They didn't. However, it was a bit unusual for Haruhi to be more than a minute or two late. I threatened to add ten thousand yen to her debt last time, and even though I'm sure she knew full well I was kidding, I really thought that the message would have gotten across. I didn't even mind that much, really. I just couldn't stand to hear Tamaki yelling about all of the horrible things that could have happened to her every single time she's a minute late.

The twins were tormenting Tamaki, as they usually do when he got like this. "Maybe Haruhi is never coming!" "Maybe she finally just got tired of you, my lord!" They chanted, causing even greater distress to Tamaki.

"Come on you guys, you know Haru-Chan can take care of herself!" Hunny ran over, trying to calm everyone down. He was right, for the most part. Haruhi was a strong woman, but I knew better than anyone that there are some things she couldn't escape. I like to think I taught her that, that night when we were all at the beach. I didn't exactly do it in the most gentlemanly manner, but it was the only way I could get to her after that fight she had with Tamaki.

Moments later, I noticed Haruhi quietly try to slip into the room. She walked in very slowly, almost carefully. She winced a bit as she closed the door behind her. It was very strange. Luckily, I was the only one to notice something so minuscule, as Tamaki was still off sulking in his corner, the twins were still provoking him, and Hunny and Mori were off in the kitchen getting the tea and coffee, as Haruhi was usually the one to do it every day.

"It's nice to finally see you, Haruhi." I said, looking back at my notebook. She gave me a sarcastic smile as she walked towards my desk, where she left her bag during club.

"Well, I'm happy to be here, Kyoya." She said dropping her bag with even less care than usual. I was actually a little surprised by this comment. She was usually very formal with me, always calling me senpai. I was alright with this new casual title though. We'd known each other long enough, I mean.

Tamaki finally noticed her when she spoke, running over to her, dramatically embracing her, as per usual. She looked very pained by this. Not the kind of annoyed-pained face she gave when he usually did this, but literally in pain. She hid it well once he'd let go of her. She just fake half smiled at him while pushing him away, as she always did.

"Are we cosplaying today, Kyoya?" She said with a slightly annoyed tone to her voice, which I assumed was directed more towards Tamaki.

"Luckily for you, no." I replied. She looked relieved to hear that.

"Aw gee, does Haruhi not want to take her clothes off?" "But we're all for that, Haruhi!" The twins chimed in, creeping up right behind her. This just started yet another squabble between the twins and Haruhi. I actually felt bad for her sometimes. She didn't deserve that day after day.

"Hikaru, Kaoru, go to the kitchen with Hunny and Mori….NOW. TAMAKI YOU TOO." I screamed. They all ran off, Tamaki screaming about how "Mother was angry". I wasn't really. I was too used to them to be angered by what they did every single day. I just wanted to talk to Haruhi for a moment. She was very quietly sitting on the couch, looking down, obviously thinking I was actually mad as well.

"Haruhi, why were you late today?" I asked her from across the room, looking over at her. She just kind of shifted in her seat, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"I'm just tired, moving a little slower than usual I suppose. There was some construction going on last night, so I didn't sleep very well, with all the banging and such." She said, with a fake smile. She did look tired, but I really didn't believe that being tired was the entire truth. But I just nodded and went back to what I was doing. I didn't want to prod.

Once the girls had finally arrived, Tamaki and the twins had gone from annoying brats to kind gentleman, just as they normally did. Hunny and Mori had been acting as servers for the tea they'd made, getting some great reactions from the girls.

Haruhi sat with a couple of her usuals, quietly smiling while she listened to them talk about their days. The girls who always wanted Haruhi were almost always the more humble ones. Haruhi's financial status had become less of a novelty, and more of something these girls had genuine interest in. These girls had never even set foot inside an apartment, not to mention live in one. It was interesting to them.

Club activities continued on as normal. The girls were all gone, and most of the Hosts were as well. The only people still here were Tamaki, Haruhi, and myself. Haruhi usually left right after the cleaning was done. But she stayed today. Everything she did today was off, even the little things that only I would notice, like the way she held her cup, or the fact that her socks didn't quite match. She walked a bit differently, talked a bit quieter, moved a bit slower, and less. It was odd, and even though I didn't show it, I was worried.

"I suppose I'll be going now, I have to go cook dinner, before dad gets home." She said, packing up her things.

"Oh please, let me walk you out, Haruhi!" Tamaki volunteered happily.

"I can walk myself out." She replied coldly, causing him to basically roll up in a ball on the floor. "Bye Kyoya, I'll see you tomorrow." She said, walking out, waving. I just gave her a little head nod, as I usually did. Tamaki grabbed his things and ran after her, to no avail. I could hear him yelling "HARUHII?" down the halls, as if he had lost sight of her entirely.

It was so nice being in the music room alone. No noise. Just me and my thoughts. And right then, those thoughts were directed at Haruhi. Most people wouldn't know it by looking at me, but I do think about her more than I'd care to admit. She's one of the few people that have ever stood up for me. Ever since that day, I've just sat and thought about her. Never in an explicit manner, however. I respected her too much for that.

In many ways she was stronger than I. She puts up with a lot that most couldn't. Myself included. I haven't even told her that her debt was paid off months ago. She hasn't asked about it, so it technically isn't lying.

I had gotten so lost in thought, I hadn't realized it had been almost two hours past when the time I usually left. I packed up my laptop and notebook. I was so tired. It had felt like such a long day, even though it was just as uneventful as any other day, for the most part.

As I was about to open the door to leave, I'd noticed there were a few coffee cups sitting on the table across the room. I'd get them in the morning when I dropped off my things.I was always the first to get into the music room, as I was the one with the keys. No one would know that Haruhi missed a few cups today, the twins would never shut up about it, and she doesn't need that tomorrow. I flicked off the lights and closed the doors behind me, ready to finally be home.

I spent the entire car ride home thinking about Haruhi. Was she hurt? Did she fall? Was she sick? I had probably been thinking way too much about it. She was probably fine. Maybe I was over reacting. Hunny was right. Haruhi is an independent woman. She can take care of herself.

Upon arriving home, I went straight to my room, skipping dinner. It was nine o'clock. I quickly did what little school work I had, and went to bed. I just wanted this day to be over. Haruhi was all I could think about. I knew she had to be fine, she would have said something if she was in any kind of trouble, she would have told us.

As soon as I saw her tomorrow, I'd ask her about it again. Just to be sure.

Hey guys! Okay, so this story came out in January of 2014. I'm happy to say that I'm finally picking it back up! I'm currently in the process of revising the four chapters I have up, then, I'll finally be finishing it! So to all of you following it, you're finally going to get emotional closure!