Walk With Me

Chapter 12

A/N - Not my best chapter, I'm assuming most of you will poke plot holes in the logic, but I need certain characters to be in certain places for the climax. I apologize :'( Anyway I hope you like it!

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Hikaru's P.O.V.

Once the hosts had left Tamaki's hospital room, they had immediately rushed to the common room to plan, party favors left forgotten on the floor.

"Every second we wait out here is another second Tamaki could get hurt," Hikaru muttered to himself, squeezing his girlfriend's hand. He saw Kyoya flinch as he slumped into one of the chairs like a puppet with its strings cut.

"What do you mean? Why can't Tamaki stay with his dad?" Haruhi asked, squeezing his hand back.

"Tamaki's dad hits him," Mori-senpai said softly, not looking up from where he was organizing the presents.

"Yeah Mori-senpai, but it's much more complicated than that!" Karou angrily stomped to a chair, waving his crumpled party hat around. Hikaru was thinking the same thing, and he latched onto his brother's train of thought.

"He says awful things, tells Tamaki all of these lies and convinces Tamaki they're true. He beats these horrible ideas into him and... and... he's just awful!" the twin said, looking down at the floor, trying not to cry in frustration. They were powerless. Once again, they were sitting around waiting until Tamaki's pain was over, unable to help him in any way.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and leaned into his brother's touch without a word. All of the original hosts knew, they had seen the evidence. They saw the bruises, the lashes, the crisscrossing scars. They saw their shining President shrink back whenever someone moved too quickly, repeat awful things about himself like they were facts, walk through school afraid or even unwilling to go home. They all knew, and they tried multiple times to talk to Tamaki or the police about it, but they always ran into the same problem.

Tamaki's dad was just too powerful. He had too many lawyers, he had too much weight in social standings, and he quite frankly had too much money. All of them faced neglect or abuse in one form or another, hell that's how he developed his addictions to start with, but no one had it as bad as Tamaki.

"What if we hide in the cake, and pop out when Tama-chan's dad leaves?"

"We could climb through the window?"

"Costumes."

"We could pretend to be nurses, sneak in and bust him out?" Karou adds to Mori-senpai's one-worded answer, squeezing his brother's shoulder.

"That's illegal, Karou," Haruhi says, but she chokes up and sits down. "I feel like an idiot for not noticing...."

"You didn't know, Haruhi. It's okay."

"We could make a scene, force our way in there and maybe... catch him in the act?" Hikaru said after a while, swallowing hard.

The room stayed silent, knowing the idea would fall flat. They had tried it multiple times, and to no avail. With a dejected sigh of his own, he sat down next to Haruhi. He looked over at her, wondering if she had any ideas.

"We will figure something out. Tamaki-senpai is the strongest person we know, right? He would never give up on us, so we can't give up now either." She murmured, patting his hand. He nodded, smiling despite his frustration. That's his girl, he mused, logical and blunt, but always right. He leaned his head on her shoulder, lost in thought. He would do anything for her, she was so kind to him. So good to him. She made him smile, made him laugh. With Haruhi, he wasn't a charity case. He wasn't a washed up druggie, and he wasn't harassed for his bond with his brother. He was... just Hikaru. He wondered briefly if this was how Kyoya always felt when he looked at Tamaki, why he sticks so closely to the blonde's side. Hell in these few weeks it almost seemed like Kyoya was Tamaki's personal doctor....

He had an idea.

"Kyoya, your parents own this hospital, right?"

Kyoya didn't blink, his eyes vacant, but he nodded slowly.

"They do fancy internships too, right?" Hikaru stood up now, millions of thoughts rushing through his head.

"Yes, but I don't see why an unknown intern would want to help us... Unless..." Kyoya blinked slowly, the light in his eyes returning. At that moment, Yuuichi burst through the doors.

"Quickly, I need someone -"

"- to pretend to be an intern," Kyoya finished, already standing. "We were thinking the same thing. I'll do it, I know the most about the hospital and I have the most authority if Yuzuru decides to ask questions."

"What if he recognizes you?" Haruhi challenges, eyes red with unshed tears, "He would know your parents own the company, who's to say he wouldn't catch onto the charade?"

"Miss Fujioka's right, but I would feel most comfortable if Kyoya did it. For this to work the person would have to know their way around a hospital, they'd have to know how to use the equipment and safely administer medication. Kyoya is the only one with training."

"But, Yuzuru will catch on if Kyoya-senpai is the only 'intern' around the room all day," Karou said, "It doesn't matter how capable or experienced Kyoya-senpai is, Yzuru would find out eventually. And then he would ban Kyoya from the room ...maybe even the hospital if he can pull enough strings. We would need -"

"- Two interns. That way we can keep a 'round-the-clock eye on him without raising suspicion," Hikaru said, eyes sparkling, already understanding where his brother was going with his argument. "Kyoya will go get Tamaki, I'll be waiting in the room. And, if we are both needed for something... or if a problem comes up... Karou could pretend to be me. Three for the price of two. Plus, I've been to more than enough hospitals and dealt with more than enough prescription medications to confidently pretend I know what I'm doing."

Hikaru itched his wrist, fingers tracing over long-healed needle pricks. He remembered cold tiles, flashing lights, thundering music. The bitter taste of his mom's pills as they trickled down his throat. Oh, he knew his way around medication alright. But.... No, not this time, he murmured, remembering his lowest points in his battle with addiction. However, he was in a better place, thanks to the Host Club. He owed his life to the people around him, and if they could do something to help Tamaki then there was no question about it. He is going to do this. They will do this.

They would do anything to protect Tamaki.