Chapter 43 | This is Our Ouran Fair! [Part One]

~Third Person POV~

Arabella's phone buzzed. She pulled it out to read a text from Kyoya.

Kyoya: The Host Club has declared dissolution. Not that you would care, since you're leaving without even saying goodbye.

Arabella's eyes widened before, out of anger, she threw down her phone on her bed.

The Host Club is DISBANDING? she thought. As in DISSOLVING? As in SHUTTING DOWN? Since WHEN?

But, I shouldn't care, since I'm leaving for the airport in only a matter of hours.

After I get on that plane, I'll never hear about any sort of Host Club ever again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The second day of the Ouran Fair had arrived. The salon was buzzing with guests.

"Welcome." Kyoya said as he set down a cup of tea for Lady Éclair Tonnerre.

"You're one of the sons from the Ootori family, right?" Éclair asked. "But, as the third son, no matter how you struggle, you'll never succeed the family."

Kyoya ignored her comment. "What would you like today?" he asked.

Éclair just sat there, looking at him through her opera glasses. Finally, she put them down and said, "I've heard you've excused Arabella Hashimoto on what little of the debt she's yet to have paid. How much of Haruhi Fujioka's debt remains?"

Kyoya blinked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Haruhi."

Haruhi stopped pushing the cart and turned around to face Kyoya. "Hm?" she asked.

"You've been requested." Kyoya said as he looked down at Éclair's table.

Éclair eyed Haruhi, with huge, cat-like eyes.

Haruhi approached and sat down at her table. "By your leave."

"Tamaki seemed to have quite a soft spot for you." Éclair said.

"You mean to say, you are jealous?" Haruhi asked.

"Well, listen to you...," Éclair hummed. "Tamaki won't be coming. I ordered him not to show his face again at the Host Club."

Haruhi's gaze was cold and hard.

"I wonder what happened to Tama-chan..." Honey muttered as he stood in a group with the twins and Mori.

Hikaru placed his hands on his hips. "I don't believe the declaration Tono made yesterday. I won't believe it." he said.

"Why wouldn't you? I mean, this club is fastly falling apart. How can it get worse from here?" Kaoru said. "Oh, wait, I know! Arabella's flight leaves today."

"I know, Kaoru, I'm sorry. But, we have bigger things to worry about here." Mori said as he put his hand on Kaoru's shoulder.

Kaoru sighed. "You're right, we do; the Host Club is shutting down." he said sadly.

No one was smiling after he said that.

Kyoya came along and clapped his hands lightly. "Come on, no more idle chatter. Our guests are waiting." he said.

"How cool of you, Kyoya-senpai." Hikaru said.

"We will entertain to the best of our ability the guests who have come to the Host Club to enjoy themselves. That is the most important thing right now." Kyoya said.

"He's right!" Honey said. "Now, Kao-chan, cheer up!" He shoved Kaoru.

"What are you doing, Honey-senpai???" Kaoru questioned as Honey kept pushing him.

"Come on, Hikaru." Mori said before he grabbed Hikaru and carried him off.

"But, Mori-senpai...!" Hikaru whined.

Kyoya watched Haruhi's table. Then, he watched as Éclair suddenly got up and left, without a word.

He approached the table. "Thank you for all the hard work that you've done for so long."

Haruhi looked up at him.

"With that request from Lady Éclair, your quota has been met. The debt for that Renaissance vase you broke is now officially cleared--your debt has been paid off. You are relieved from your hosting duties and are free to quit the Host Club at any time." Kyoya told her.

Haruhi was silent as her eyes widened probably wider than ever before. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. She didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, Kyoya's father walked past him with a man in tow.

Kyoya did not face his father.

"When you're young, you may be under the illusion that there is all the time in the world, but in reality, that is not so. Don't go wasting your time in things that are of no value!" he told Kyoya. Then, he and the man behind him turned to leave.

Haruhi stopped them. "In this Host Club...," she said. "Kyoya works as hard as he can so everyone can enjoy themselves. By entertaining everyone, we also come to feel fulfilled. Is that really so worthless? I think Kyoya is outstanding."

Yoshiro Ootori stood there for a second before he continued walking, not saying anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the Suoh estate, Tamaki played the piano. He hadn't talked to his friends, or communicated with them at all, really.

Suddenly, as he was playing, Éclair was behind him, wrapping her arms around him from the back. He didn't move or say anything, he just kept playing.

Suddenly, his cell phone rang.

He made a grab for it, but Éclair was faster; she snatched it right from under his hand.

She walked over to the fish tank and read the caller ID.

Haruhi--daddy's little girl! Under the ID was a picture of Tamaki hugging Haruhi cheerfully, and Haruhi just looking into the camera with a blank (yet somewhat irritated) stare.

Éclair glared at the picture and sneered.

"Tamaki won't be coming. I ordered him not to show his face again at the Host Club," Éclair said to Haruhi. Then, she added, "Are you Tamaki's lover?"

"No." Haruhi said, her expression still cold and hard.

Éclair's frown twisted into a smirk. "I see. Good, then you're nothing to him." she said.

Haruhi stared her down. "While I may not be his lover, I am definitely not nothing to him."

Éclair kept glaring at the caller ID and the picture as the phone kept ringing. Then, she lifted Tamaki's phone above the fish tank and dropped it in. Tamaki watched as it sank to the floor of the tank.

"I think it's best that you don't have any contact with your friends for awhile," Éclair said, although she said friends like someone might say poison. "It would make you reluctant to leave them, right? And we certainly wouldn't want that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kyoya put his phone to his ear and waited. The Host Club (or what was left of it) were all dressed in their parade costumes.

It was the evening, so the time of the special parade was nearing.

"What's with this outfit? I wish Arabella was here to suffer through this with me..." Haruhi said. She was wearing a long pink dress with a wig on her head.

"We told you already, this is a costume for the special parade." Hikaru said.

"Haru-chan, you look cute!" Honey said.

"Not only that, but why am I the only one dressed as a girl?" Haruhi asked.

"Who cares? This is cos-play! So, dressing like you're a girl is completely okay!" Hikaru said.

"Like I'm a girl?" Haruhi repeated. Hikaru snickered.

"Well?" Kaoru asked Kyoya.

Kyoya put down his phone. "No good. He's not answering... again." he said.

"Does Arabella even know about this?" Haruhi asked.

"I texted her that the Host Club was getting dissolved," Kyoya said. "if that's what you're asking."

Haruhi sighed. "Tamaki-senpai really didn't end up showing his face at the salon today."

It was silent for about ten seconds before Kyoya picked up his phone again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arabella pulled her final suitcase out of her room, which was since stripped of its personality and furniture. Everything was ready to get flown back to America, along with Arabella and her family.

Just as Arabella was about to exit her room, Daniel appeared in her doorway, holding his final suitcase as well.

The siblings stared at each other with grim looks on their faces before Daniel spoke up. "Do we have to leave?" he asked.

Arabella nodded. "Yeah, Danny, we do."

Daniel stood there, and the longer he did, the more his eyes began to water. He sniffled. "I... I don't want to go.... I... I love it here... I really do... I have real friends here... I may not have wanted to move here at the beginning, but now... I... I... I can't think of any other place I'd rather be... This place really feels like my home... it is my home...," he whispered. "We've had so much taken away from us, Arabella--our dad, our childhood... even some of our sanity... I don't want this taken away from us too."

Arabella immediately grabbed her little brother into a hug. "It's okay... we won't have anything else taken away from us... Once we're home, we can--"

"THIS IS OUR HOME!" Daniel shouted, interrupting his sister. "America is NOT our home, even Italy is NOT our home! Nothing but this is our home."

Arabella wiped her eyes, and then realized she was crying too. "I know," she whispered. "I know... this is our home... and I know we don't want to leave... But, do we really have a choice...?"

The honk of a horn was heard from outside.

Arabella wiped all her tears away. "It's Mom. It's time to go."

Daniel, too, wiped his eyes and reluctantly followed Arabella out of her room and out of their house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, Shima-san? It's been too long. This is Kyoya."

"This is about master Tamaki, right? He will be departing for France. I tried to stop him, but he had said the Suoh family had forgiven his mother and that he could finally make his mother happy. Also, he said if he stayed at Ouran any longer, his capriciousness would make trouble for you and everyone else."

Kyoya's eyes narrowed as he clenched his jaw. "That idiot," Then, he put his hand to the phone and turned back to his friends. "Tamaki is planning to return to France."

Everyone gasped.

"Tama-chan is leaving?!" Honey exclaimed.

Kaoru blurted, "See?! What did I tell you--this club is falling apart! First Arabella, and now Tono! Who's next?!"

"No, no! I don't believe it! I'm NOT about to let this end so suddenly!" Hikaru shouted.

"It think it's a bit too late for that..." Kaoru grumbled.

"Kyoya-sama?"

Kyoya took his hand off the phone. "Yes?"

"I was thinking, if master Tamaki's mother is really the sort of lady that he always spoke of, then I am sure she would not be pleased with the manner in which he is leaving Ouran and Japan."

"When is he leaving for France?"

"His flight leaves at 6:30, this evening."

Kaoru's eyes widened. "That's thirty minutes before Arabella's flight leaves!" he exclaimed.

"That soon?"

"He said he would leave Japan tonight, as the Ouran Fair was ending, but he changed his mind and is leaving at 6:30 instead."

Just then, they all witnessed a car drive past them, and in the car was Lady Éclair and Tamaki.

Kyoya gasped as the car sped by.

Honey pressed his hands against the window. "Tama-chan!" he shouted. Of course, Tamaki didn't hear him.

"Tono!" Hikaru said. "The Ouran Fair isn't over yet!"

"My family's limo should be in the parking lot!" Kyoya said. "Come on, Haruhi! Let's go!"

Haruhi, who was sitting on the couch, looked up.

They all immediately raced down to the parking lot and soon discovered Kyoya's family limo.

Kyoya leaned in through the window at the driver. "We're in a hurry! Let us in and leave at once!" he said.

"K-Kyoya-sama..." the driver muttered.

"What? What's the matter?" Kyoya asked.

"Th-The thing is..." the driver muttered again, but before he could finish, they were all surrounded by Kyoya's family's police force, the Black Onion Squad.

Kyoya stood up straight. "What are your orders?" he asked them. "Were you ordered to protect Lady Éclair?"

"I am so sorry it has come to this," one of the officers said. "but we, the private police, answer to your father."

Kyoya glared and slammed his fist down on the hood of his family limo. "Damn it all!" he shouted angrily. "To hell you do!"

"It is true. I'm terribly sorry, but we cannot allow anyone to leave. Even if we must do so by force." the officer said.

Suddenly, rumbling was heard.

Before anyone could react, the carriage crashed into the parking lot and trumpled the officers. Honey and Mori were inside the carriage, Honey jumped out. The officers gasped.

"Use the carriage," Mori told his friends. "If you take the back hills bypass, you can cut them off." He exited the carriage and stood by Honey. The officers gasped again.

"It's Haninozuka and Morinozuka...!" one of the officers gulped.

They all took a step back.

Hikaru and Kaoru got in the carriage.

Kyoya grabbed Haruhi from behind. "Haruhi," he said. "go get that idiot," He pushed her forward and into the carriage. Then he faced Hikaru, who was holding the reigns. "Get going, Hikaru!"

Hikaru nodded before he raised the reigns and slapped them down. Then, he gave a cry. "Yah!" And the horses took off, the carriage in tow.

"What are you doing?!" one of the officers demanded. "Stop that carriage!"

Honey and Mori jumped in front of them.

"Takashi, don't go easy on them!" Honey shouted before he charged.

"Don't worry," Mori said. "I won't." He charged, right behind Honey.

Meanwhile, the carriage sped out of the parking lot and outside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Honey rubbed his hands together as he, Mori, and Kyoya looked at the members of the Black Onion Squad in a pile, beaten and bruised.

"I told you!" Honey said, pointing at them. "Picking on my friends is a big no-no!"

"Don't you think you can get the best of the Ouran Host Club." Kyoya said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The carriage sped through the woods.

Hikaru slammed the reigns down, again and again, making the horses and carriage go even faster. "Yah, yah!"

"Hikaru! This speed is reckless, to say the least!" Kaoru shouted.

"I don't care!" Hikaru shouted back. "Tono was the one to show us that we can trust people and make friends! If it weren't for him, we would still be left out of this world! And, to have the Host Club end so suddenly... is something I will NOT let happen!!!"

Suddenly, the carriage gave a huge jolt, and flew sideways, causing Hikaru to go flying out and landing in a nearby pumpkin patch.

When the carriage stopped, Kaoru immediately ran out, screaming Hikaru's name.

When he got to him, he saw him holding his arm. "Hikaru!" he said. "Are you okay?! Does your arm hurt?!"

"I... I can't move it...!" Hikaru said as he held his now injured arm. "Damn it! Is this how we're really going to end it? Arabella leaving, Tono leaving... the Host Club ending?"

Haruhi stood in the carriage, watching the twins. She stood, watching, for several seconds.

Then, she raised her hands to her head and took off her wig. She removed her dress-jacket, now only wearing her dress.

She hopped in Hikaru's seat and took the reigns.

Hikaru looked up at her. "Haruhi?"

Kaoru looked up at her too.

Without another word, Haruhi raised the reigns...

... and snapped them down. "Yah! Yah!"

The horses jumped and immediately began running.

And she was off.