Ouran High School Host Club Fan Fiction ❯ A Momentary Lapse of Reason ❯ Into Nothingness ( Chapter 1 )

A Momentary Lapse of Reason

 

Chapter 1 - Into Nothingness

 

The King sat upon his throne - pose naturally graceful, one hand on his chin, the other resting comfortably on the cherry wood of his seat. The rays of clouded sunlight highlighted the unusual violet of his eyes, making his golden hair glow brighter than usual. Serenely, it seemed, he listened to the gentle ticking of the large grandfather clock, for now the only sound in the beautiful Third Music Room. The glass chandeliers refracted the meager beams of light in their depths, creating a sort of ethereal shine to caress the lavish wallpaper. For once, the air around the President of the Host Club was still, a rarity for he was a creature of constant motion and abundant energy. Perhaps it was the weather that had him down, miserable as it was. Trees sagged, the windows were clouded, and the streets became unwilling victims to the onslaught of water. In truth, days like this did not please anyone, and even the usually boisterous twins were taking a break, leaning against each other on one of the larger divans. No one said anything. It was as if they had all agreed that breaking the silence would also break the rare and appreciated shroud of seriousness that had wrapped itself around their King. His eyes were distant and the members of the Host Club allowed themselves to relax for just a moment. But then he shifted in the chair, ran his long fingers through his hair and frowned, letting out a sigh that sounded like it belonged to a tired old man.

 

The clock chimed softly, the light notes echoing against the large walls and giant ceiling.

 

It was now eleven in the morning.

 

Immediately, steel grey eyes turned to watch the King's new movements, their owner's hand pausing in its writing motion on a leather-bound notebook. There was a large pause, in which Kyouya took the opportunity to adjust the elegant glasses on his nose and continue his notes. Graphs, charts - how he grew slowly tired of such things. The Host Club had been going through a rapid rate of growing profits in the past few months, and the same could be said for the workload that came with it. Apart from dealing with the occasional customers that would designate him for entertainment, there was the chore of filling forms, mailing thank you letters, and invitations to regular events held by the club. Stopping his writing once again, his mind began, annoyingly, to stray from work. In a rare display of restlessness, he stole an almost guilty look at the gold watch on his wrist.

 

Eleven thirty.

 

His eyes caught the King shifting uncomfortably to his left, and allowed his eyes to slip to the huge double doors of the entrance. As much as he tried to ignore it, Tamaki's unpleasantly anxious aura was reaching him. Even now Kyouya could sense the vibes of unease resonate with ones he hadn't known that he, himself, was feeling.

 

“She's late.” The voices of the twins broke through his trance of concentration and he moved his gaze to them. Sitting together on the divan, each had a cup of coffee in their right hand. They sipped it in unison, and Kyouya felt a stab of something close to irritation. They had, as always, voiced what all the others had been unwilling to mention. Tamaki frowned, and even Honey's spoon full of cake paused in its trip toward his mouth. Mori's eyes were simply closed were fixated on a point outside the window.

 

“Very late,” Tamaki softly whispered.

 

Suddenly, Honey turned large worried eyes to them all.

 

“You don't think that something happened to her…do you?” The note of childish panic in his voice reflected the slight discomfort that they all seemed to feel. “She's never late,” he whispered. No one dared to respond to such an observation. Club activities would begin in less than half and hour, and for once no one was looking forward to their start. The bang of Tamaki's hand hitting the armrest of his seat startled them all. The offended furniture slid back with a groan as the King stood up.

 

“Haruhi…” Soon, they realized what had caused his outburst. The leaves of the foliage right outside the window were bowing low as raindrops pounded on their surface. The deafening sound of millions of such drops hitting the shingled roof of the school seemed to be a weight that fell heavily on them all. The building vibrated as the first hints of thunder shook it with their force, and the window lit up brilliantly with a tremendous blast of blue light. The twins both turned to look out the window, their movements fluid and synchronized as if they were one person and not two separate entities. Hikaru's hand grasped Kaoru's in a subconscious desire to seek comfort from the growing worm of worry that knotted itself in his gut.

 

“Haru-chan…” Honey whispered. This time, Mori looked at him, reaching over and putting a gentle, reassuring palm on the boy's shoulder.

 

“Tamaki,” Kyouya began. “She is probably fine.” No worry, no strain in his voice at all. Yet by the way his hand had paused in its delicate motions, they could tell that his words were not said with certainty.

 

“But…she's…” Hikaru cut off Tamaki's rant before it could begin.

 

“We know. There's no point in reminding us.”

 

But the King continued anyway. There was no stopping him now, it seemed, for he had successfully changed from calm to nearly hysterical. This surprised no one, for they were all used to Tamaki's sudden and unpredictable mood swings. At another time, the members may have kept quiet and allowed their King's fit to pass, but this time his words grated on nerves that were already raw.

 

“I can't believe this…we have to go find her! What if she was kidnapped on her way to school? She rides that ridiculous bicycle here every day.” He began a quick pacing about the room. “What if a robber took her bicycle? She couldn't afford to pay for a taxi! Or what if - ”

 

“Stop that already! You're always saying such dumb things!” Kaoru gasped as his twin tore his hand away from his, standing up and making a threatening gesture in Tamaki's direction. They were dumb things - but not because their coming true was unlikely. They were dumb because they had served to make the group worry even more.

 

“How can you say that? You abandoned her in the rain! She probably got sick!” His eyebrows slanted down, his eyes brightening. He pointed a finger at Kyouya. “We should call her house right away!” It was a useless request. Kyouya was already listening to the ringing that would connect him with the Fujioka residence.

 

Riiing

 

Riiing

 

Riiing

 

Nothing. He lowered the phone, shaking his head.

 

“Her cell phone is turned off too,” Kaoru remarked gravely. Tamaki shook his head.

 

“This isn't good,” the blonde admited.

 

“Haru-chan probably forgot to turn it on,” Honey suggested. Mori, for the first time, spoke -

 

“She would have called.”

 

“Tch! This is stupid!” Hikaru, as if his limbs were suddenly freed from some kind of bond, fell backwards onto the divan, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

 

“Hikaru…” came Kaoru's gentle voice. “We're all worried, but we have to calm down and think of something rational.”

 

Tamaki looked at him soberly while Kyouya continued to write. Honey, his arms tightly clutching his stuffed rabbit, straightened up and stepped forward.

 

“We have to find her.”

 

“I agree,” Tamaki murmured. “We can't just let this slide. She might be really be in trouble.” There was, once again, a pause in which the members of the Host Club were still. Several moments passed without productivity and in his frustration, Tamaki turned to his only current source of comfort. “Kyouya! We have to go!” At last, the black-haired Shadow King put down his pen. Adjusting the glasses on his face, he sent Tamaki a questioning look.

 

“You are suggesting that we cancel today's activities?”

 

“That's not important right now! How can you be so calm about this?!”

 

In a second, the dark, shadowed eyes turned as cold as steel. Tamaki flinched, backing up a step. There were few times when Kyouya was angry, and reliving those times was not a pleasurable prospect. Everyone jumped when the Shadow King closed his notebook with a loud snap. Tamaki paled but held his ground.

 

“Kyouya…”

 

But he wasn't listening. Already, his eyes were fixed upon the foggy window. He tried - he honestly tried his best not to listen to the nagging anxiety that was building in the pit of his stomach, but every time that he looked out the window, he couldn't help but feel that the girl was in danger. Doing his best to wipe his face clean of any residual concern, he turned to the others.

 

“You're acting like you have to ask me permission to do anything.” A beat. “It's not like you, Tamaki.”

 

What has this girl done to us? He thought miserably. Sighing at the helpless and naiively hopeful look on his friend's face, Kyouya put a weary hand to his forehead.

 

This is going to be a pain in the ass to handle later…

 

“It's your call, Tamaki.” The King looked around the room and nodded.

 

“Let's go find Haruhi.”

 

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

It's okay…it's alright…I'm going to get through this…

 

Breathing labored, elbows and knees hurting, Haruhi tried her best to remain perfectly still in her hiding place between the counters and kiln in the art room. In her haste to hide from the God-aweful clapping of the thunder upon the windows, she had run to the nearest room she could find. Diving into a place that seemed dark and safe, it was only after she felt the pain of the heat on her knees and hands that she fully understood her stupidity. Her nose was itching, her ears ringing from the fever that she had fought against that morning to come to school. The waves of heat that radiated from the huge kiln didn't help matters at all, but every time she thought about moving to crawl out of her hiding place, another lightning bolt made the windows directly above her head shudder with the same terror that she felt in her heart. Doing her best to cover her ears, she screwed her eyes shut until she saw stars. When her fear subsided a little, she looked out and tried to see the dim light that filtered behind the counter.

 

Someone…please…

 

She was ashamed, but at that moment she wanted nothing more than to call out for help. To have someone hold her close, to have somebody to stroke her hair and kiss her on her forehead like her mother used to do. That was what she wanted. Desperately, she bit her lip, something inside her fearful of someone finding her there and seeing how pathetic she was. No one - she didn't want anyone to see this side of her. Her breaths caught on a gasp as another roll of thunder shook the walls. Digging her feet into the tile floor, she pushed, as if subconciously seeking to bury herself deeper into the darkness. The wall, however, prevented her from doing anything more than wasting energy.

 

“Ow...” If her nose wasn't stuffed up, she surely would have smelled the source of her pain. The heater of the kiln was right next to her thigh, the grills dangerously digging into her pants. Luckily, the cloth was loose enough to allow for an inch or two of free movement and she would be safe as long as she was curled tightly into a ball. Already, however, fatigue was starting to set in, and the fearful motions of her weakening muscles had caused her to brush up against the fiery metal.

 

Cheeks burning, she tried her best to keep from losing conciousness. The thunder, ironically helped. Every time her eyelids would try to close, the thunder would strike against the walls and would scare her bad enough to stay awake for another few minutes.

 

Tamaki-sempai…Hikaru…Kaoru…someone…ple ase…

 

The world was slowly fading, the light in front of her dimming. She felt her hand falling, felt the burn but somehow didn't care. The thunder rumbled, but not even its roar was enough to keep her aware this time.

 

Haruhi! Haruhi!

 

Was someone calling her name? No…no one knew where she was…she would die here…

 

There was a sudden jerk on the front of her shirt, a tug on her arm. She felt a sensation of falling before she was crushed against something hard. Opening her eyes was painful but she did it anyway, closing her fingers around a scratchy material.

 

Blue? A uniform?

 

Something touched the side of face and moved her chin until she was forced to look up. Eyes - grey eyes with flecks of blue were staring at her intently. Black hair, a chiseled nose, sensual lips. She frowned, trying to recognize the face that seemed so familiar. Bringing up her hand, she felt another - much larger hand - cupping her cheek.

 

“Haruhi. You're safe now.” The voice was a comfort; the man was a salvation. She wanted to hide here forever.

 

Safe…she was safe…

 

“Mori, we have to move her.” That was another voice, not so deep but still seductive. She felt a cooler hand on her forehead and moved her gaze sideways.

 

Mori-sempai…and Kyouya-sempai?

 

“Stay with me, Haruhi.”

 

Haruhi - both of them were calling her by name, and she had never realized how wonderful her name could sound. Dimly, she felt herself shivering and realized that sound was delayed. The lights flashed as the thunder continued to clap against the glass.

 

“The…thunder…”

 

The world was moving, shaking, tilting up and down. She felt cool cloth against her skin and a spicy fragrance of cologne broke through her nose. Had one of them wrapped something around her? She saw Kyouya's wide shoulder in front of her, and felt what she assumed to be Mori's powerful arms holding her close. Her pulse was rushing in her ears, and she saw Kyouya throw a concerned look over his shoulder. He was mouthing something…

 

Mother in Heaven…thank you, for bringing them to me…

 

“Haruhi, can you hear me? Don't go to sleep. Stay awake.” She felt Mori's chest vibrating with everything word he said, but strangely she could make no sense of his orders. All she could think about was how wonderful it was to close her eyes and fall into nothingness.

 

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

To be continued…

 

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

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