Like Tears In The Rain

A/N: Warning: Some characters may be OOC, but this is based on the anime, not the manga,
and I probably took some liberties with the parents but it’s ok.

Friday 4:37 p.m. California time

“Stacey, phone call for you!”

A tall brunette, steaming milk for a cappucino, turned towards her boss in surprise. She
didn’t know anyone, didn’t talk to anyone. Her heart raced, oh God, please don’t let it be
him again.

“It’s not him,” Gloria smiled reassuringly, “It’s your uncle or aunt, I can never remember
which one. He, or she, could only give me enough English to tell you it’s an emergency. Get to
that phone, Jesse can take over.” Gloria was a kindly woman in her early thirties, her family
originally from Brazil, and her deep caramel complexion and dark eyes made her a real beauty
and the target of many lame come-ons in the past few months that Stacey had been working here.

“Yeah, I’m going,” Kenichi Anastasia Fujioka sprinted towards the office, shutting the
door and picking up the receiver Gloria left on her ink blotter. “Aunt Ranka?”

“Oh my God, Stasia, you have to come now! I just- I just can’t do this! I can’t handle this
alone, without Kotoko-”

“Aunt Ranka, slow down,” Stasia said calmly, even while her heart was pumping wildly
in her throat. “What happened?”

As Ranka told her of Haruhi’s attack, Stasia couldn’t breathe, horrific images of her only
cousin mingling with memories of her own past. Ranka was hysterical, sobbing and choking on
his own words. Stasia had to force her own thoughts out to focus on her aunt. Right now she
couldn’t focus on herself, Haruhi and Ranka needed her, and badly. She couldn’t let her own
fears keep her from helping the only family she had left.

“Ok, I’m leaving from work right now and I’ll be on the next flight, I’ll be there in a few
hours, ok? Call my cell when you know anything else.” She gripped the phone tightly, trying to
keep herself calm to help her aunt. “Ranka, please, don’t do anything rash. Just do what the
nurses tell you, don’t do something that you’ll regret.” She knew her aunt, and while her aunt
explained she kept cursing someone named Tamaki over and over again, blaming him for his
daughter’s situation.

Ranka answered in the affirmative, but Stasia knew it was false. Ranka would kill Tamaki
if he truly believed that it was this kid’s fault, which meant that Stasia needed to get to Japan like
now.

“Two of Haruhi’s friends have arranged for you to take their private jet, it’ll be faster than
the airlines, they say to just say your name at the front counter and everything else will get taken
care of, and someone will grab some clothes for you before you get on the plane.”

Geez, was Haruhi hanging out with millionaire brats now? Stasia knew she was trying to
get into a private academy, but she didn’t realize it was that elite. “Ok, I’m getting a taxi
right now, I love you Aunt Ranka.”

“I love you too, sweetie, and please, please be careful.”

“Always.”

Stasia untied her apron and tossed it on the chair, dashing out of the office and grabbing
her purse. Gloria started at her door slamming open, giving Stasia a concerned look. She was
Stasia’s closest friend, giving a high-school dropout a job and a place to stay.

“I’m sorry Gloria, but my last day’s come a little early,” she panted, throwing on her coat,
“My cousin was attacked in Japan, she’s in surgery and I have to get there now.”

Saturday 2:29 p.m. Tokyo time

“Boys, you need to eat something,” Mrs. Hitachiin coaxed the six boys, draped across
various pieces of sterile white furniture. “You haven’t eaten all day, you won’t be any good to
Haruhi if you’re starving yourselves.”

“We’re not hungry Mom,” Kaoru mumbled, head buried in his hands. None of them had
slept or ate since Haruhi was brought here almost a day ago. She was in the ICU, still needing
blood transfusions and in critical condition. The doctors still weren’t sure what would happen
next, but said the next few hours would be critical. She was currently in a coma and the doctors
had no idea if she would pull out of it, or if she would have a chance with all the other problems.
None of the boys felt like eating or sleeping, and they were all excused from school until, or if,
Haruhi got better.

“Mrs. Hitachiin is right, boys,” Mr. Morinozuka said quietly, “You’re going to get
yourselves sick without food or sleep. Ootori-san, would it be possible to have at least some
snacks brought up? We’ll force feed if necessary.” Kyoya’s father nodded and pulled aside the
nurse who had met the boys yesterday, speaking to her quietly before she nodded with a smile
and left. The boys’ parents, those who were still in the country, had rushed over as soon as they
were informed of what happened. The Morinozukas and Haninozukas came together, Hikaru and
Kaoru’s mother raced over from Kyoto, Kyoya’s father was already in the hospital and was one
of the first informed of his son’s friend’s condition, and Tamaki’s father was in France on
business but promised to be there within twenty-four hours.

Their parents, like the boys themselves, were beautiful and elegant. Mrs. Hitachiin, in her
designer purple dress, had no qualms with Kaoru laying his head on her lap and Hikaru leaning
against her shoulder, no doubt wrinkling her dress, and falling asleep. She was a stunning
woman, her auburn hair and golden cat eyes passed on to her sons. She hummed under her breath
and stroked their messy hair, the very image of a successful but doting mother.

Huni, usually so childlike, refused to be held by his mother, Usa-chan on the floor. She
quietly tried to coax him to drink some fruit juice but he refused, his eyes hollow and blank as
they stared at the ceiling. Not even a a half-hearted stern warning from his father could snap him
out of it. Mori wasn’t any better, sitting in a corner with his arms draped over his knees while his
father sat in the chair next to him. His mother sat with Huni’s, both of them trying to be strong
for their boys, but they knew how much Haruhi had come to mean to them, to all the boys, in just
three months. They clutched each other’s hands, trying to draw support from each other.

Tamaki sat with Kyoya, both of them essentially parentless. Tamaki had taken to
muttering in French while Kyoya, normally emotionless and well coifed, kept running his hand
through his hair until it resembled nothing of his usually well-groomed self, a wild jet-black
mess. Ootori-san came in when he could but had to continue his managerial duties in the
hospital. The mothers of the other boys brought them tea and coffee, and when the two leaders of
the Host Club looked like they were about to break into hysterics, Mr. Haninozuka sat with them,
putting a heavy hand on their shoulders and talking quietly and soothingly.

But it was Ryoji “Ranka” Fujioka whom everyone focused most of their attention. He
was in constant near hysterics, the last time he was in a hospital he lost the love of his life, and
now he was here again, in danger of losing his daughter. Ootori-san spent almost all his time off
work sitting and talking with Ranka, reassuring him that he had the best doctors in the hospital,
in the entire country, on his daughter’s case.

But Ootori-san wasn’t here, and to everyone’s dismay, Ranka had stopped his near
constant shaking and was completely still, long auburn hair falling over his eyes. Everyone grew
quiet and uneasy. everyone except Tamaki, who continued rambling in French, his eyes haunted
and rocking back and forth.

“Your fault.” Ranka might as well have screamed it, so quiet was the room. The fighters,
Huni, Mori, and their fathers, felt the unmistakable tension that came before a fight. The fathers
stood, sure that they knew what Ranka was about to do.

“She’s in here because of you,” his voice was hoarse as he stood, swaying
slightly. “She’d be fine, she’d be... be home, if it wasn’t for you,” he hissed. Before Mr.
Haninozuka or Morinozuka could stop him, he sprinted towards Tamaki, snatching him up and
throwing blow after blow. The fighters tried to pry him off but Ranka was a big man in his own
right, and a heartbroken father looking for a punchbag.

Tamaki didn’t react, didn’t move or try to defend himself, just grunted and hissed. Then
suddenly someone was between them, pushing Ranka back, and oddly enough Ranka was
complying. The mothers knelt by Tamaki as Mr. Ootori called for a doctor for Tamaki’s injuries,
taking out monogrammed hankerchiefs and wiping the blood from his lips. The boys, having
jumped up at the fight, stood behind the mothers, eyes wide and unsure, not for the first time.
Then they noticed Tamaki’s savior, kneeling on the floor with a sobbing Ranka, arms wrapped
around him and humming softly.

She was a tall girl for a Japanese, around five feet eight inches, not too much shorter than
Tamaki or Kyouya. Her coloring was unusual too, curly dark brown hair braided down her back
and large bright green eyes hidden by obscenely large glasses. She was definitely Japanese, her
eyes the same almond shape as Haruhi’s and the same creamy skin, but where Haruhi was short
and thin, this girl was tall and curvy.

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

After racing from the airport to the Ootori hospital, Stasia barked an inquiry about
Fujioka Haruhi and was sent to the third floor, and right in the middle of the one-sided fight
between Ranka and a blonde kid.

Dropping her duffel, she ran and grabbed Ranka’s shoulder, shoving herself in between
the livid transvestite and the source of his anger. “Ranka, stop it, it’s not his fault and you know
it!”

Ranka’s eyes blinked, red-rimmed and glassy. “Stasia?” Her niece nodded as she and two
large very fit men helped pull the momentarily stunned Ranka away from her victim. “Oh, thank
God!” He slid to his knees, burying his face in his hands and shoulders shaking with sobs. Stasia
knelt next to him, wrapping her arms around his large frame and humming a Russian lullaby her
mother always sang to her when she was feeling sad.

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

Saturday 9:47 Tokyo time

The doctors had been out three times with updates, none of them promising. Stasia forced
Ranka to let Mr. Ootori take him home to sleep and Mrs. Hitachiin, Huninozuka and Morinozuka
forced the boys to take futons and bedding the nurse offered so they could sleep on the floor of
the waiting room for the ICU. All six objected but eventually they did sleep. The parents went
home to get a few hours themselves, leaving Stasia the only one awake.

Haruhi’s cousin had nothing to do except receive the updates from the nurse, whose name
was Kyoko and was assigned Haruhi’s private nurse by Mr. Ootori, and read the books that Huni
and Mori’s hired man had grabbed when packing before she left California. While flipping
through Pride and Prejudice for the second time, she heard someone stir, and met the
eyes of Hikaru Hitachiin.

She swallowed down the rapidly rising feeling of fear and pasted a smile on her face. The
more outgoing twin rubbed his eyes and looked down at his twin next to him, still completely
passed out. “You need something, Hitachiin-san?”

Hikaru blinked rapidly, still half asleep and trying to process what she said. “No,
m’okay,” he mumbled, running his fingers through his hair. “What’s going on?” Stasia knew
immediately what he meant.

“There was some good news: with all the blood you guys donated, she’s not in any
danger of blood loss anymore. Her bullet wound is clean and not infected, the puncture in her
back is healing, and they took care of the broken bones. The problem is her mind: they think she
doesn’t want to wake up, so starting the day after tomorrow after she’s gotten enough rest, we’ll
all go in one at a time and talk to her for a little while, just a little while so she’s not
overwhelmed. They hope-” her voice cracked, and she swallowed before continuing, “They hope
that with all these familiar people she’ll want to wake up and come back, but they’re not...
they’re not sure she’ll ever wake up.”

Hikaru’s fists clenched as he lowered his head. Stasia knew immediately what he was
thinking. “It is not your fault, Hitachiin-san.”

“No?” he replied softly, not able to raise his eyes to her. “Me and Kaoru teased her all the
time, about how poor she was, not having a passport, being so mannish, just... everything. We
never let up. It’s because of me that she ran away...”

“Hitachiin-san, look at me,” Stasia ordered sharply, forcing him to raise his eyes. “Haruhi
is stubborn and does a lot of things without thinking. Don’t get me wrong, she’s very thoughtful,
but when she gets emotional she does things without thinking. She ran away because she got
careless, and that’s how she ended up here. Most of the blame is on that gang, and they’ll get
what’s coming to them, but Haruhi has to take some blame. She’s always been that way, with me
and her parents and my parents. She can’t handle strong emotions yet, as mature as she appears
to be, she’s still a little bit of a child.” Hesitantly Stasia put her hand over Hikaru’s on his knee
and squeezed, smiling at him. “Trust me, if Haruhi’s that stubborn about something as stupid as a
name, then it’ll be a day, two tops, before she wakes up.” Stasia saw that he didn’t believe her.
“It’s nobody’s fault, and I’ll tell Suoh-san that when he wakes up. No one is to blame
here, and thinking about it doesn’t help anyone, certainly not Haruhi.”

“I heard you,” a hollow voice said softly. Hikaru and Stasia looked over the futons and
saw the larger blonde head shift before Tamaki sat up completely. “And I have to say, I think
Haruhi’s father would disagree with you.”

“Aunt Ranka was overly emotional, Suoh-san-”

“Considering your, um, ‘aunt’ beat the crap out of me today, let’s drop the formalities.”

“Fine Tamaki-san. But Aunt Ranka was wrong and she knows it. When it comes to
Haruhi, Ranka is nothing but one large well-manicured overreaction.” Stasia chuckled. “That’s
where Haruhi gets it. Her mom was more chill than that.”

“What was Haru-chan’s mother like?” Another blonde head rose, and watery honey-
brown eyes sleepily met Stasia’s. She swallowed down her feelings of discomfort, and motioned
for him to sit near her. While she was describing when her own mother and Haruhi’s took them
on a picnic in the country, Kaoru, Mori, and Kyouya woke up and turned in their futons, listening
to her quiet voice mimicking her mother’s Russian accent. Apparently her mom was Russian and
her dad Japanese, her father being the brother of Ranka.

While Stasia spoke, someone studied her. Like Haruhi, her clothes were huge, a large
gray hooded sweatshirt and baggy blue jeans, her glasses even bigger, and her overall demeanor
was that she was trying to hide in her clothes. Unlike Haruhi, her waist-length curly brown hair
wasn’t cut short but kept in a braid, making her seem mousy and nondescript. He noticed that the
more she spoke, the faster she talked, and the more her voice wavered and her hands shook.
Eventually she begged off more stories claiming a need for a bathroom break, but he wasn’t
fooled. There was something off about her, like she was literally and metaphorically trying to
cover herself up from the scrutiny of the world.

After her bathroom break, and seeing that all the boys were awake anyways, she decided
to take a turn sleeping while they all stayed awake for updates on Haruhi. She thanked Kyoko for
the futon and pushed it into the corner and lay on her side, facing out. She curled up, and
between jet-lag and all the emotion of the day, she passed right out.

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

Sunday 7:28 a.m. Tokyo Time

“Stasia, honey, you’ve been out for almost nine hours, it’s time to get up.” A warm voice
broke into her velvet darkness, and she groggily opened her eyes when a hand shook her
shoulder gently.

“Mom?” she groaned, clutching the blanket tightly, trying to fight off the voice and hand.
It was the first time in months she’d been able to sleep for so long without waking up, she wasn’t
ready to give it up. Mom could promise her all the borscht and Dad all the sushi in the world and
she still wouldn’t get up.

A pause. “No, sweetheart, it’s Aunt Ranka, you’re at the hospital,” the voice said softly.
Stasia’s eyes snapped open then, trying not to let tears of disappointment spill. True it had been
eight years since her mom died and two years since she lost dad, but that didn’t mean that it hurt
any less when she had to remember that she was all alone. Haruhi had Ranka, but Stasia had no
one.

She shoved those thoughts away and smiled up brightly at her aunt, sitting up. “Yes, I
know. I’m getting up.” She pulled an elastic band out of the pocket of her hoodie and pulled the
wild tangles of hair into a bun at the nape of her neck, thanking Ranka when he presented her
with her glasses. Stasia stood up, just five inches shorter than her aunt, and crossed her arms, a
serious look on her face. “Have you apologized to Suoh-san yet?” Her aunt fidgeted under her
scrutiny. “Well?”

Ranka sighed, running his fingers through his long hair. “No, I haven’t, and I don’t see
why I should.”

“Because you’ve made that boy think it is his fault, which by the way it is
not, and all the boys think it’s all their faults. No one is to blame here but that gang and
Haruhi to some extent. You need to go apologize to Suoh-san and his father, now.”
Stasia’s eyes flashed and she looked so much like Haruhi when she was determined it scared
Ranka.

Mr. Suoh had arrived about an hour and a half before Stasia woke up and paid little
attention to the lump of blankets in the corner. When he saw his son he listened silently to Mr.
Ootori’s recollection of the one-sided fight and sighed, asking his son if he was truly all right.
Ever since Ranka arrived Mr. Suoh ignored him, creating tension in the waiting room, and Ranka
was relieved when Mr. Huninozuka suggested he wake his niece.

Stasia physically pulled her aunt behind her and then gave him a large shove, placing him
in front of the principal of Ouran Academy and his son. Tamaki’s face was bruised and his lip
split open, but he didn’t look at Ranka with anger or fear, just sadness and shame. Mr. Suoh, on
the other hand, openly glared at Ranka.

“Suoh-san,” Stasia began, bowing deeply, “I would like to apologize for my aunt’s
behavior yesterday on behalf of the Fujioka family. He would also like to apologize for himself,
wouldn’t you?” she gritted out, looking over her shoulder and sending a look so cold to her aunt
that he immediately bowed even lower than Stasia and repeated his apologies.

“I am truly sorry, Suoh-san and Tamaki. I can’t explain-”

“You really don’t need to,” Mr. Suoh said, smiling sadly. “True I was angry, but I am a
father, and I doubt I would have reacted any differently. I would ask that you refrain from hitting
my son’s face next time; truly it’s his best quality and it’s a shame it’s gone for now.”

“Wait, what about my charming personality and sparkling charisma?!” Tamaki cried.

“You have those things?”

“Father!”

The men shook hands cordially and Stasia dragged her aunt to apologize to everyone,
including the nurse and doctors who had to take time from Haruhi to tend to Tamaki (true, it was
more the nurse and it was only about thirty minutes, but that was beside the point.).

So with Ranka properly chastised and being reassured by the mothers as he sat under his
own dark cloud, Stasia spoke with the nurse. No change. Mr. Ootori arranged for everyone to
stay in the hospital hotel (everyone in the best rooms, of course) until tomorrow when they could
start having people visit her. There was no point in everyone besides Stasia and Ranka hanging
in the waiting room, and the room was in fact filling up quickly from the families. It was decided
that Stasia and Ranka would stay until the evening and then go to their rooms to sleep. The six
boys relunctantly left with their families, but not before forcing a cell phone in Stasia’s hands so
she could call the second Haruhi woke up.

Stasia stopped Mr. Suoh on his way out. “Suoh-san, do you have a moment?”

He stopped at the door along with his son. “I need to speak to you alone, if you don’t
mind, please.”

Mr. Suoh studied her for a moment before nodding and sending his son on to the hotel
before him. Tamaki glanced back before nodding, the last in a line of tired, terrified, and dejected
boys. Ranka was sipping a coffee as Stasia led Mr. Suoh to sit on a large white leather couch,
probably made from some kind of rare albino cow or something. Everything in this hospital was
overly lavish.

“Mr. Suoh, I understand Haruhi got into your academy on a scholarship, is that right?”

“Yes, her scores were the highest for that scholarship, highest in the entire school in fact.
Are you hoping to get a scholarship?”

“That depends if they’re any open. I know your tuition is over two and a half million yen
a year, and I can pay it if necessary, but I’d rather try for the scholarship myself.”

Mr. Suoh’s eyebrows raised at the mention that she could pay their tuition. He was under
the impression that this girl worked for a living in a coffee shop in California. “If you can pay,
why try for the scholarship?”

Stasia closed her eyes, trying to draw strength from herself. “There’s something about my
mother Haruhi doesn’t know, and if she knows that I have the money to pay to go to go to Ouran
out of pocket, no problem, she’ll want to know where that money came from, and I don’t want to
tell her that yet.”

Mr. Suoh regarded the young women on the couch, not missing the fact that she adverted
his eyes and couldn’t seem to stop fidgeting. “Will you also be pretending to be a boy?”

Stasia jerked, not expecting that at all. “I-I’m sorry?”

“Of course I’ll let you take the necessary tests for the scholarship, and I have no doubt
you’ll get it as well. So you’re not aware of Haruhi’s membership in my son’s Host Club?”

Stasia blinked green eyes. “Host Club?”

A/N: I’ll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible, but besides this I have three classes this summer, a Doctor Who fic, and a novel I’m trying to finish by September, so if it’s a little long coming,
sorry.

georgiea: Thank you, I really appreciate the effort you put forth just to review! I fixed it so that there can be anonymous reviews now, that must be a new feature, I haven't updated my settings in over a year.

Isaac: Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! I have a lot of this story mapped out... just need to find where I put it lol. I'm feeling a good vibe, so after another chapter on my Doctor Who fic and some work on my novel there'll be a new chapter. Let's tentatively say like 2 weeks?