Haruhi's twin

Chapter 59: Emi and Yuki-Chan

Haruhi's pov

I stared down at the white bunny plushie that Emi once loved so much that she would carry it around, even if we were going to school or just down the block to the store. It was odd to me in light of recent months that I hadn't seen her carrying Yuki around, she always carried her like Honey would carry Usa-Chan. That bunny meant everything to her, if Yuki would get lost, Emi would cry for hours and hours until it was found. And I understand why, that bunny was Mom's last gift to her before she passed away. Emi had a harder time than Dad and I combined when Mom suddenly passed, she loved her so much. Dad and I found different ways to cope with the loss, I took up more studying while Dad became a cross dresser and acted as both a Father and Mother. It was the only thing he could really do in that situation, especially since we both needed a mother's guidance. Dad took up a lot of heavy lifting in terms of earning money for us to continue having some sort of healthy life style, while I took up the mantle of taking care of Emi and myself. With Dad working, he wasn't always around to do so, that meant I had to grow up quickly. I remember how Emi was when she first got the plushie from Mom, she was so in love with it. Even as we got older and finally entered high school, Emi carried Yuki around and didn't care what others thought of her. She didn't give in to the rumors and whispers of her carrying it around, which made me admire how strong she really was. But it seemed that Emi might have grown out of that phase and for some reason it made me sad, sure the two of us were sisters, but it felt weird to see her without her carrying around her beloved Bunny. I'm sure that I wasn't the only one who noticed this, Yori had mentioned something about this earlier in the week. I reached in my locker, taking Yuki out and headed off to the Club room. Emi said she would be running a bit late since she was catching up on something last minute with Ian. Thinking back to earlier this year when she was really heartbroken, I could see that she didn't bother to pick up Yuki once. I shook my head and clicked my tongue as I entered the club room, "Hey Haruhi," I looked up from Yuki's white fur, spotting Tamaki and Honey as they walked over to me. "Hi guys," I greeted, "Huh?" Honey's big brown eyes traveled down to my hands, a look of confusion crossing his features. "Why do you have Yuki-chan? And where has she been all this time?" He asked, as I looked back down at Yuki. "Yuki's been hiding in my locker this entire time.. I don't think Emi remembered where she put her last time." I said, looking back up at the two.

"You know... Now that I think about it.. I haven't seen her carrying Yuki around for some time." Kyoya-senpai spoke, startling me as I hadn't seen him sitting at the table nearby. "Oh, I'm sorry if I startled you." He apologized, looking away from his laptop. "Yeah, you're right about that." Hikaru stated, startling me for a second time as he popped up behind me. "Kaoru, have you seen Emi carrying Yuki around lately?" Tamaki's purple eyes shifted to look beside me, where the twins had been standing on either side. Kaoru reached out for Yuki, taking the plushie from my hands and shook his head. "No, I haven't. I assumed that she might have just misplaced Yuki and forgot where she was." Kaoru shrugged, looking back up at us. "Where is she by the way?" Hikaru looked at me, as did everyone else. "She said she would be running a bit late. She had help Ian with a big project or something like that." I explained. "Ian." Kaoru whispered, the look on his face suggested that he did not like the idea of Emi being around Ian.

"Alright.. Well, let's get ready for club, we have an interesting theme today." I placed Yuki down on a table, hoping to see Emi grab her when she got here. It still felt odd that Yuki had been sitting in my locker, which probably meant that she put her there at some point when I wasn't around.

Pretty soon, Emi appeared in the club room with Akihiko trailing behind her. "What are you doing here?" Tamaki asked, looking at him with a slight glare. "I wanted to come sit with Emi for the duration of club." He said, "Uh uh, no way." Kaoru immediately protested, pulling Emi over towards his body. I could see the mistrust and hatred that he held towards Akihiko and I didn't blame him, Akihiko was a very braggadocios, narcissist who loved flirting with every girl he sees. There have been a few times where he's tried to use his so called 'handsomeness charm' on me, which I flat out rejected on many occasions.

"You're not sitting with her today, especially since you always seem to take the customer's attention off of Emi, which isn't good for club ratings." Kyoya-senpai looked up from his laptop, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. Akihiko looked over at Kyoya with a glare, but nonetheless accepted the fact that he had to sit with Kyoya while club was going on.

"Hey, uh, Emi." I called, she looked up from the table she was sitting at to look at me.

"What's up, Haruhi?"

"I noticed that you haven't been carrying around Yuki in the last few weeks. Is there a reason for that?"

"No.. I just don't remember where I last put her." She shook her head, "What would you say if I told you that I know where she is?" I quirked an eyebrow at her, this seemed to catch her attention. She put down what she was holding, turning to me fully. "Where is she?" She asked, "Ta da." I pulled Yuki from behind my back, Emi's eyes lit up like christmas lights when the plushie came into view. She rushed out of the chair, snatching Yuki out of my hand and hugged her tightly. She then threw her body at me, wrapping her arms around my waist. "Thank you so much for finding her, Haruhi!!!" She smiled brightly, taking off somewhere in the club room which made me chuckle.

"I don't think we need to worry so much anymore about Emi not carrying Yuki around, do we?" Tamaki-senpai asked, as he came to stand beside me. "I don't think we do," Kyoya-senpai said, walking up to my left. The three of us watched as Emi showcased Yuki off to Honey-senpai, but there was something different about the way Emi held Yuki. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something just was different about Emi's attitude and attention towards the white plushie. "Haruhi?" Tamaki looked down at me, I snapped out of my daze and gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, I don't think we have to anymore." My eyes trailed back over to Emi, it seemed that I was the only one to notice the difference in the way Emi looked and regarded her plushie. There was something else going on in her mind, me, being the only one to see it.