Kiss Kiss Go to Hell (OHSCH fanfic)

27 - Help

"So," I mumbled, looking to Tamaki and hoping it'd get less awkward, "What now?"

Tamaki shifted in his seat, his finger placed on his bottom lip as he thought, his long legs stretched out before him. His private jet was son big he could stretch his legs at least ten times over.

"Its a long flight," he eventually said, "You need to sleep."

"And its four in the afternoon," I scoffed, "Can't get rid of me that easily, Suoh." 

He nodded his head carefully then called for someone to bring us coffee, which made his attempt of getting me to sleep and stop fidgeting even less likely. 

"Well, do we have any games?" I kept going, hating this weird non-hyperactive Tamaki.

He shook his head. 

"Great," I replied under my breath, sipping my coffee and hoping some missile could take us out because the weird awkwardness was killing me. Tamaki had seemed lively and helpful before. But once we had set off to LA on his plane, he'd stayed silent after the initial buzz wore off.

"I'm sorry, I'm not being a good host, am I?" He sighed, declaring the painfully obvious. 

I had to stop myself from laughing. "Coming from the King of the Host Club!" Tamaki chuckled. I tilted my head at him. "You deserve to have a break though. You always act so upbeat, and most of the time its real. But like everyone else, you need some chill time. That's okay. I'm down for that. When's a better time than being hundreds of feet up above the world for ten hours?" 

Tamaki smiled, "You're right." Suddenly, he flipped the cover off his arm rest, revealing a group of buttons to choose from. He selected a blue, which in turn, revealed a TV in front of us. 

I gasped and looked at him accusingly. "You only just now decided to whip out the flat screen? When we've been sitting in silence for an hour?!"

With a small smile, he shrugged, "I was actually wondering how long it'd take before you wanted it."

I shook my head in fake disbelief, "Shocking."

We decided on a movie and settled down, Tamaki becoming more lively as time moved on. About three movies in he started to become serious, "So, you and Hikaru-"

"How did you-"

"I may miss a lot of obvious things as you all like to say," he laughed, "But I can see this obvious thing from a mile away. What's going on?"

I sighed and shifted uncomfortably, "I don't really know. Its a kinda weird place right now. We kissed. We're kind of together but also not. 

"He layed his hands on you?! I'll get him-"

"Tamaki!" I yelled, throwing a small plane pillow at him, "I thought you were being supportive."

He pouted, "Doesn't mean I can't be outraged about those shady twins taking advantage of young girls-"

"But you made them join the club?" I scoffed, "Plus the twins and I are better friends than you and I ever were."

"I'm trying not to be offended by that," he sniffed, "Well, I'll try to be understanding. You do...care for Hikaru. In that way?"

I looked away for a moment, out to the darkened sky and clouds, thinking of my time with Hikaru. 

"I do," was my reply. I turned back to look Tamaki in his violet eyes. " When I first joined the club the twins were gushing over Haruhi, but they made me feel welcome and included. I knew none of you particularly liked Niko."

"Especially Hikaru-"

"Well, the feeling was mutual between them," I snorted. "You know ages ago Kaoru and I kissed-"

Tamaki almost jumped out of his seat with the exclamation of "WHAT!"

I laughed wildly at that.

"BUT WHY WOULD YOU-"

"Oh, because you're a great sensor of these things?" I sighed, "As soon as it happened we knew we were just friends. But that was before Niko of course."

"And here I thought the twins started opening up after the school year," Tamaki muttered.

"I think Kaoru was trying to figure stuff out, he did it before Hikaru for sure. Remember Halloween? Kaoru was talking about pumpkins and carriages? He seemed fine that he had been separated from his brother, leaving him with Haruhi. I mean I wasn't there, but from what's been said." I laughed, "Anyways, it did take Hikaru until the end of the year. With you and that engagement-leaving stunt, it left everyone in a mess. When we crashed into the pumpkin patch and Haruhi left, I stayed with him as Kaoru tried to call for help. We kissed but the timing was bad and I ran off to LA because of Niko and you know the rest. The timing is still bad to be honest, but I don't think we could've waited any longer to show that we liked each other in that way. But it's going to have to wait until this is over." I shrugged. "What about you and Haruhi, what's going on there?"

Tamaki grew bright red and when he calmed down he finally spoke, "I'm waiting. She has school to think of. Sometimes I forget that. That she needs to work hard to get the things she wants."

"We all do."

"But we had a platform."

"I mean sure until it gets ripped from beneath you. We both know that. This thing right now is that for me. And that whole thing with your mother. Sorry for bringing that up. But yeah, we have the money and privilege to distract ourselves but for how long. High School's over this year for you, what's your plan? The Host Club?"

"I don't like thinking about that," he whispered.

"It doesn't mean this will all be over," I told him with a smile, "Its just a change of place, pace and circumstance. You'll go to college like Hunny and Mori and we'll see you all constantly. I'll make sure of that."

"Haruhi's going to college in America," he murmured. I turned to him and raised my eyebrow in confusion. He looked back to me and nodded. "Although she has multiple options for college, she is definitely choosing to study abroad."

"Well if she's going to be a big-shot lawyer, she should head straight to Harvard if I'm honest," I shrugged, "That's what I'm doing."

"She's going to leave us," He whispered. 

I put a comforting hand on his. "She's not leaving, she's not moving on; she's just expanding her horizons. Remember all those times we wanted to leave the country for fun and she never could because she couldn't afford a passport. Haruhi has never seen the world like we have, and honestly, its about damn time she did. Just think, she gets a passport, that means we can pop up any time we like and sweep her away to beaches in Bora Bora, cities in Rome, music halls and galleries in Paris, Bars in Germany, flower fields in Amsterdam. Tamaki. This will be your opportunity to show Haruhi the world. Just because she's moving for an opportunity doesn't mean you have to be left behind. Hey, the whole Host Club may end up in America."

Tamaki beamed back at me. Apparently uplifting speeches were my forte, no matter how disastrous I felt inside. 

We eventually touched down in LA and we jumped into a limo headed straight to my mother's rehab house. I told Tamaki to be careful and leave most of the talking to me. We arrived at the estate and I rushed towards the front door, welcomed by Harry the doorman. He was surprised to see me but I briefly mentioned something about a surprise and asked where to find my mother. 

I found her in the living room, coffee in hands, settling down to watch Desperate Housewives when she saw me and almost threw her coffee on the table. She rushed towards me and engulfed me into a skinny hug. She excitedly bounced at my arrival and begged to know details, most of which I couldn't tell her but I tried. Tamaki waited in the doorway like I had asked and my mother saw him. She flipped her excitement onto him asking if he was my boyfriend, why we were there, if my dad knew where I was because they hadn't talked in a while. She almost started to cry, telling me that she thought I hated her before snapping into action, declaring that she knew I must have been in some kind of trouble. That Tamaki, the boy I had brought, was my lover and we were going to elope, but my father disapproved and kept it a secret from her. That I was scared of telling her because of my father's reaction and so flew out secretly for her to meet the boy and witness our wedding.

It was hard not to laugh until she had finished her very wrong assumption. Tamaki looking all the more bewildered than I had ever seen him before. He had met his match. Tamaki was nothing more than an amateur compared with my mother, even Haruhi's dad made him look foolish, but my mother took the first prize. 

I sat my mother down, trying to make sure she was calm before telling her that it wasn't true. I told her that I'd tell her exactly what was happening if she could get Alex to come over. She told me she knew he was busy that night, not remembering exactly what he was doing but it was important. I tried not to act so anxiously because I actually really needed my brother to be there. I told her everything was okay and that Tamaki and I would stay the night and get Alex to come over the next day so I could tell them everything. She complained about the wait until I couldn't stand anymore. So she moved on to teasing me about Tamaki. He had even left the room at this point to find his room to call Kyoya and go to bed. Eventually my mother tired herself out and I crept towards the room I had when I usually visited. I messaged each Host Club member individually, checking in, until I reached Hikaru's one. I decided to make sure he was okay and reminded him that we would definitely talk when I next saw him. He replied instantly. It made me feel slightly more safe.

I spent most of the night tossing and turning, too anxious about everything to even close my eyes and breathe. I must have dropped off at some point because I woke up at eleven in the morning, later than I had planned to. I threw on shorts and a t-shirt and headed downstairs to find Tamaki and my mother sitting outside under the sun shield and having coffee. 

"Your mother is just delightful!" Tamaki declared when I stumbled towards them. 

"Oh, call me Alisha," she laughed, "Mother sounds so old!" I sat in between them and poured myself some coffee. "Your nails definitely need a manicure, honey, why are you biting them so much?" I mumbled some kind of reply and she rolled her eyes. "I called Alex, he said he'd be arriving by noon. I'm excited to hear your news, Rin. Its been ages since I heard from you, I thought I had done something wrong."

I looked at her sadly, "No, you did nothing wrong, mom. Life got extremely hectic for a while."

We made pleasant conversation and made our way out to the deckchairs by the pool, overlooking the valley. I threw sunscreen at Tamaki, warning him to cover himself in the stuff because his pale skin would burn for sure. He took me for my word. He looked even paler with the cream all over him. My mum told me I had ruined his looks, which in turn aggravated and worried Tamaki. 

"The prodigal daughter returns!" called a voice from the house. I bounced up and rushed right over to my brother hugging him tight, catching him by surprise. "What? What's happened? Why are you acting like this?"

In this moment I tried my best not to burst out crying.

"I brought smoothies," he held up the cup carrier, "Four of 'em because mum said you brought a boy."

"A friend."

"Sure thing, loser," He laughed, ruffling my hair. 

We headed back to the chairs, went through pleasantries and conversations finishing off the smoothies until I couldn't stand waiting any longer. 

"I didn't come back for smoothies, the pool or to see you both," I snapped when my mom started going on about putting ice in the pool. They all looked at me, my mom obviously hurt. "Well, yeah I did come to see you, but its more than that. I need your help, Alex. I really need it."

Alex snapped into serious mode, looking in between Tamaki and I, who was slurping on his second cup of iced coffee on of the kitchen staff had brought over. "What have you done, Rin?"

"I haven't done anything, actually," I defended. "Tamaki can vouch for what I'm about to tell you. I mean, I didn't just bring him along to confirm this story because you should just believe me, but he was the one who flew me over and dad doesn't even know I'm here-"

"Are you in trouble, Rin?" My mom asked worriedly.

My brother scoffed, "Rin, you shouldn't be bringing your drama over here when mum's trying to recover-"

"I'm not some weakling, Alex. I am your mom, I've dealt with three divorces, disgusting photographers and everything else the world can throw at me! Whatever Rin is afraid of, I can understand! It won't set me back like you think!"

I patted my mom's knee. "You need know this as much as Alex. As much as you can help me with your profession, Alex, I need mom to know just because I need her." My mom smiled at me and I sighed. 

I began at the beginning. Telling them why I really stayed with them last summer. I told them about Niko and everything he had done to me. I told them about the stabbing, about the secrecy, about my disappearance from the media, from their lives. That my dad had a part in it even though it wasn't his fault. I told them about the Ootori's, about the life take over and everything. I let it all out and was crying by the end of it. 

Tamaki had to jump in. "As her friends, we were worried." He started, "We didn't know how to help, especially Kyoya. His family was the root of this problem, as much as he pretends to be in control, he was stuck. Watching Rin go through everything hurt us all. Knowing the life she worked hard to make was over, we just couldn't stand by. But we had no plan. Not until Rin fetched for us and came up with her plan."

Looking out from the hug with my mom, I turned to Alex. "I know you're more than a Hollywood lawyer, Alex. I know you've dealt with major things, which means you know major people. I need you to dig up major resources; anything and everything to do and to use against the Kurosawa's-"

"Rin, they're dangerous to deal with, let alone fight against. They could endanger all of us!" Alex yelled and stood up, arms above his head. 

"Alex, they almost killed me."

"More reason to not retaliate!"

"They've been ruining our lives for longer than we knew, longer than we've been alive if I'm honest. But they aren't the true problem, Niko is, we find and get rid of him, we get rid of them. Its not that easy though, if we just get to Niko, the Kurosawa's will be there to retaliate. I need to find a way for this to just stop. For us all to stop, find an understanding and walk away. I need to know my future is open, I need to know that Niko or the Kurosawa's won't pop up again to ruin it all. And I'm not being a fucking Ootori for a moment longer."

There it was settled, my brother would help. My mom proved stronger than any of us could have imagined, rallying us up, telling me how brave I was and keeping us calm. But the moment of family connection didn't end there. 

We heard the glass doors from the house to the poolside open. I looked over, expecting to see more coffee or water on its way. But my jaw dropped when I saw the visitors who awaited us.