Chapter 9

I watch boredly as Tamaki entertained the last of the guest. I couldn't wait to get home and sleep. Final exams have been tiring and I haven't gotten much sleep from studying. Tomorrow was the last day of school, then I would have a whole month of me time.

"Haruhi!" The twins slithered up to either side of me. Their arms snaked around me. I gave them each a blank look, "Why are you touching me?"

"You seem tired." Koaru comments.

I simply roll my eyes and pair that with a sigh,"Oh gee I wonder what gave you that impression."

Hikaru pinches my cheek and I attempt to bite him. "Hey!" He shouts in alarm.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING TO MY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER?!" Tamaki appears in front of me angrily. He yanks the twins off of me by their hair. I pay no mind to their bickering and head towards Kyoya.

"Are we done here?" I ask. I guess Kyoya got the impression that I wasn't in the mood for any antics so he simply nods and we leave.

I get back home and head straight to bed.

I wake up to slight humming. I slowly open my eyes and see a figure sitting on the edge of my bed. Once my vision clears up I see that it's Hatsuharu. I haven't seen him since that time in the kitchen. "Wh-" I rub my eyes and yawn, "What are you doing here?"

"Dinner." He answers simply.

"I mean in my room idiot."

"Looking through your belongings." He doesn't look at me when answering.

I furrow my eyebrows, "Why?"

"I want to see what you've been up to." He shrugged before flipping a page of my photo album. I'm glad that I hid any pictures of the host club hugging or touching me. Who knew that multiple people in the family would go through my album?

"You seem to have a lot of guy friends." The boy comments in a disinterested tone, but I knew better to believe it. He seems to be slightly concerned.

"That's what happens when everyone thinks you're a boy." I position myself to sit against the wall. I grab my phone to check the time and for any notifications. I see that it was only seven at night and that Honey had sent me an invitation to go on a vacation with his family. I send him a reply to deny but thank him then set my phone back down. I sit next to Hatsuharu.

"Are you on summer vacation already?" I ask.

He nods and closes the book and sets it aside. "You?" He still doesn't look at me.

"Tomorrow is my last day."

"Are you happy?"

"What?" I look at him confused. He doesn't see though.

"Are you happy with your new life?" He expands his question.

"Yes." I answer honestly. I see hurt in his eyes. I hate seeing him in pain, so I grabbed his hand. That's when he finally looks at me. "I'm happy with the opportunity I have to follow in my moms footsteps. I'm happy with the little wiggle room of freedom I have now, but that doesn't mean I'm happy without you."

He gives me a warm smile, "Thank you." He squeezes my hand.

I smile in satisfaction as I finish filling in the last question. I glance it over to make sure it's perfect before turning my paper into the teacher. I then leave the class hurriedly. Freedom at last! No more hosting for a month. No more being roped into some crazy fiasco by the club. I let out a refreshed sigh.

I exit the school so I could sit at one of the many benches at front as I wait for Kyoya. A flash of black, white, and blonde catch my attention.

"Haruhi you're done!" Momiji pounced toward me. "We've been waiting forever."

I frown, "What are you doing here?"

"Walking you home silly."

I give both boys a smile and send Kyoya a text stating that I wouldn't be needing a ride. I pocket my phone and we start to walk. "So how many wrong turns did you two take?"

Hatsuharu looks away with and embarrassed blush. I chuckle at the sight.

"The first hour was spent backtracking." Momiji answered cheerfully.

"I don't understand why you let him lead the way to begin with." I mumble.

"I had it handled." Haru defends. I simply laugh at his response.

Once we arrive back to Sohma house, chaos ensues.

"HEY BASTARD STEP AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" Kyo yells as soon as he sees us approach the house. Kyo and Yuki seemed to be just getting home from somewhere. Tohru peeked her head out from the door at the commotion.

"Oh yeah?" Haru smirked. His arms snaked around me and pulled me into him. "What are you gonna do about it?" Black Haru made direct eye contact with my brother. Kyo's right eye began to twitch. His form was also slightly shaking.

"Why must you antagonize him." I hear Yuki mutter. Momiji doesn't hesitate to go inside and pester Tohru for food.

"Look if you two are gonna fight then let me go. I want nothing to do with it." I sigh. I really didn't want to be in the middle of their stupidity.

"I'll let you go for now but afterward I finish beating the crap out of Kyo-"

"I SAID STAY AWAY FROM HER DAMNIT!"

"Oh now you want to be a good brother. What happened Kyo? Got bored of ignoring her?" The look on Black Haru's face seemed even more sinister than before. I frowned as he let me go to step closer to my fuming brother.

"WHAT DID-"

"KNOCK IT OFF!" I yelled. "Haru that was uncalled for and you know it," I then face Kyo, "Stop trying to pick a fight!" The two boys stare at me in slight shock. I don't yell at them often so I could only imagine how much my outburst shook them. With a final huff I head inside the house.

Tohru greets me with a smile and asks me if I'm alright.

"I'm fine just tired of idiots being idiots." I respond. "How was your day?"

"Oh! Um my day was great! I went out with Ou and Hana to some festival." Tohru rambled enthusiastically.

"There's a festival around?" I find myself asking as we enter the kitchen. I decide to make some tea for everyone.

She nods her head before answering, "A summer festival! It was really pretty. We're going back tonight if you want to join."

Tohru grabs some tea cups as I move the kettle to the dining room. "Maybe next time. I think i'm going to rest tonight."

"I wasn't thinking! Of course you want to rest, you didn't get much sleep this week. How inconsiderate of me." The older girl bowed her head in shame.

Flashing her a smile, I respond, "It's okay Tohru. Thank you for inviting me. You're very sweet." I notice that Tohru slightly blushes as she tries to deny my words and fails. I giggle at the sight.

"Ah you must make all the girls swoon at that Host Club of yours." Shigure enters the room and takes the kettle from me as Tohru sets the cups down. The rest of the boys trickle in.

"Host club?" Haru questions. Kyo mumbles something under his breath about me being around a bunch of guys. Shigure happily pours the tea and we all sit.

I roll my eyes and answer Haru's question, "I owe a debt and to pay it off I work as a Host at my schools host club."

"So you flirt with guys all day." He frowns.

"Not exactly. I broke a vase that the club owned and I guess I looked like a guy, so they made me become a host. So all my customers are girls. Apparently I'm a natural at it."

"Wait so no one knows you're a girl at your school?" Momiji asks.

"The club members figured it out and the chairman knows." I sip some of my tea.

"I still don't like it." Kyo bitterly gulped down some tea. He seemed to immediately regret his decision as he yelped from how hot it was. Yuki let out a snort and Tohru started to panic and question if the cat was okay.

"It doesn't matter if you like it or not. I'm not leaving Ouran and i'm not going to leave the club." My eyes stay leveled with Kyo. I'm sick and tired of people trying to dictate and run my life.

"I don't get it." Tohru spoke, "Why would you need to do that?"

Momiji answered before I could even open my mouth, "Kyo's just worried that she'll transform while there. We're all a bit worried actually." The blond looks at me with concern in his eyes, "We don't want anything to happen and then you're stuck with no back up."

"He brings up a good point Haruhi." Shigure interjected.

Guilt fills me as I look at everyone's concerned expressions. This was definitely a con when it came to being free of the curse that plagued everyone but Tohru in this room. I hated having this secret."Thanks for the concern, but i've been fine so far. You need to have a little more faith in me."

"Just be careful." Hatsuharu pleaded.

"I will. I promise." And with those words the tension seemed to lessen a little and the subject changed. I sat quietly and thoughtfully as everyone else spoke of what they were going to do during summer break. My gaze quickly shifted to Kyo. I thought about what Haru said earlier about Kyo finally acknowledging me after ignoring me for so long. I haven't thought about how he was treating me different until that moment. For some reason I just accepted his actions without a thought to it.

I tear my gaze away when I notice Kyo looking curiously back.

"What about you Haruhi?" Momiji's voice tore me from my thoughts.

"What?"

"What are your plans for the summer?"

"Oh. I haven't really thought about that." I pondered, "Maybe I'll try to reconnect with some more people."

"That would be a good idea. Hiro is really mad at you and Kisa misses you a lot." Hatsuharu mentions.

"Oh and Kagura...well good luck with her." Momiji warned warily. I see Kyo gulp at the name.

"I really screwed up." I groan and harshly lay my head down on the table.

"That's what you get for surrounding yourself with people who care about you." Shigure taunted smugly.

Yep this was going to be a long summer.

A/N: It's been over a year. I apologize for the delay guys. I completed my first year at university and now this Texas heat is killing me. This story is always on my mind, but sometimes I find it hard to start, but once I do start It takes a while to figure out how I want to end the chapter. Well I hope you enjoyed!