** This is one of those 'I don't like how it turned out but I wrote it so imma post it' kinda things😁
:::::::::::::
Haruhi is in Karuizawa. Their father sent her there because he was worried about her being lonely over summer break, since he knew Hanabi tended to be pretty absent during the summer months. She agreed, because she decided it would be nice to study and take a break in the country side.
Hanabi would've loved to go, for the opportunity to explore the area, but she couldn't leave her animals alone for that long. So to celebrate the beginning of summer, she decided to go up into the mountains with a few neighborhood bug enthusiasts like herself.
Thus creating the panic that both sisters were kidnapped, sending the entire Host Club over to bother Haruhi at their father's friend's lovely little inn.
"That explains why you weren't answering your phone," the twins said.
"But then why wouldn't Hanabi answer the landline?" Hikaru asked. "She didn't come with you, right?"
"Would've saved a lot of trouble if she explained it to us," Kaoru added.
"She didn't answer her cell phone either," Kyoya added.
Haruhi sighed, still upset that her vacation was ruined. "She's probably still in the mountains. She likes camping during the summer, since it's a good time for hunting bugs. She's still such a child."
"Camping? Isn't that dangerous? What if she gets lost or something?" They asked. Mori could feel a bit of panic rising.
"She usually finds someone to go with. She'll call when she gets back home, but I'm not worried yet."
"But if Hana-chan hasn't called, wouldn't that mean she's been gone for 3 days already? The mountains sound scary!" The Lolita said, making the anxiety rise even higher.
"Men! My other daughter is in danger! Kyoya, we'll have the Ootori private police force search through the woods! We'll search by helicopter for any trace of her!"
"Roger!" The twins agreed.
"Guys, wait! She's fine! See? Hanabi is calling right now." Haruhi announced. She answered the phone and put it on speaker. "Good timing, Ne-chan. How was camping?"
"It was great!" Her chipper tone was heard from the device. Everyone but Haruhi exhaled in relief. "I found a new group to go with, so it was fun geeking out with them," she giggled.
"New group? Where did you find that?"
"Online," she answered simply.
"Ne-chan, you shouldn't go into the woods with people you meet online," Haruhi scolded, creating yet another reason for a certain someone to worry.
"Sorry, I won't do it again." She said halfheartedly. "How's Karuizawa? Is Misuzu-san doing okay?"
"She's fine, but you'll never guess who showed up."
"Ooooh judging by the tone in your voice, I'm gonna guess the entire Host Club?"
"Yup." She said flatly.
Hanabi laughed, "I totally called it. Hey, do me a favor. See if you can get a picture with everyone? I don't know why, I feel kinda lonely..."
"Ne-chan..."
"Make sure to get a good picture of Takashi too! I miss his handsome face."
"Hanabi?!" Haruhi shouted. She should've told her she was on speaker.
"Don't get me wrong, Haruhi. I know better than to fall in love with a noble. But I can still appreciate a fine face can't I?! Ah, but I guess if I just wanted to see his face, I could call Satoshi? They have the same face. But that's not right either. So maybe it's not just his face that I miss? Well, whatever, too much to think about."
"Ne-chan...did you perhaps get too much sun?"
"...I may have gotten a bit sun drunk. But don't worry! The hospital said I was good to go this morning!"
"Hanabi!!!" Haruhi shouted into the phone.
"Anyways, I'm just letting you know that I won't be calling for another week or so."
"You're going again?! So soon?"
"Yup! The outdoorsy club from my school is having their annual camping trip, so I asked if I can tag along again. It's going to be at a camping ground, so I'll be able to rest properly this time."
Haruhi groaned, "you're not allowed to go until dad says you're okay."
"Will do! I hope nothing happens like last time. Who knew mountainous camp sites were a popular spot for serial killers?" She laughed. "Bye sis!"
Hanabi hung up on her end first. Haruhi looked at the Host Club. "Told you she's fine."
"She's not fine!!!"
:::::::::::::::
Hanabi got back from her week long camping trip late at night, and she had a lot to catch up on in the morning. Her papa was able to do the feedings for her pets, and the neighborhood kids were willing to play with the ones that needed enrichment, like the rats. But she couldn't ask anyone to do the necessary maintenance and cleaning.
She way beyond tired, but she had to do what she could. A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in!" She called out.
"Hey, Hanabi-chan."
"Maki-senpai, just the usual?"
"Yeah, that's fine. How was camping?"
She told him all about it while she gathered up the feeders.
"Perhaps we could go this summer? We haven't gone camping since before I graduated. I'm sure I can take the time off," he suggested.
Hanabi grimaced. "No thanks."
"Aw come on. You can't still be mad about the kiss. It's not like we haven't done more together."
"Don't make it sound like we did something perverted," she sighed. "We may have kissed before but the difference between then, and now, is consent." She returned his critter cages, "I'm tired, Maki-senpai, please leave for today."
"I'll come back another day, then."
She nodded and followed him to the door so she could lock it. She was gonna take a small nap on her couch. She was so tired she wouldn't be surprised if she fed her own precious pets to the snakes, or something terrible like that.
She didn't realize Maki had placed his lips on hers until he pulled away. She wiped the feeling from her lips violently.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"Sorry. You didn't pull away or anything so I thought it was fine," he reasoned. "Maybe you like me after all," he grinned.
"Not a chance. Please leave. We'll talk about this when I'm not about to fall over from exhaustion."
::::::::::
The next morning~
Morinozuka Takashi sat in his family car in front of the Fujioka residence. The Host Club decided they would spend most of their time in Karuizawa over the summer, but they had to come home once in awhile to perform their own duties to their families. He took this chance to check in on Hanabi, before he flew back again.
He was waiting, because he spotted a familiar motorcycle parked on the side of the building. It was a little early, so he was surprised to see it there. But he waited patiently for her to be done with her business.
He thought about the phone call from before often over the week. She had basically admitted that she thought he was handsome, though she did tell him that when they first met. After losing sleep over the rest of her words, he decided not to take it at face value. She was obviously not in her usual state of mind, and nobody but Haruhi was supposed to hear her.
He looked up when he heard muffled shouting, and immediately jumped out of the car when he saw Hanabi troubled.
"Maki, it's over," she told him. "For the sake of our past relationship, and our businesses, I have given too many chances. But I'm done."
"Hanabi, wait! It wasn't supposed to happen like that! It was a misunderstanding!" Maki grabbed on to her good arm, "please, it won't happen again!"
"A misunderstanding?! I could have died! Let me go!" She struggled to get him off. Just as she lifted her leg to try and pry him off, she saw a hand reach in to grab her captors wrist.
Takashi's grip tightened to the point of bruising, "let go." He demanded.
Maki immediately relented, and cradled his hand to his chest. He looked back and forth between his old friend and the larger man, before deflating. "Hanabi...for what it's worth, I really am sorry."
Hanabi felt so much braver with Takashi standing between them. "I appreciate your apology. Never speak to me again." Maki left immediately, knowing he couldn't amend things this time. Hanabi and Mori watched him until he pulled away on his bike.
Then, Hanabi began crying. "Sorry you had to see that...sorry, come in, I just need a minute." To his surprise, she led him into her home, not her den.
"Are you okay?" He finally asked. Her arm was in a sling, and there was a very noticeable bruise on her cheekbone.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Then, her lips trembled, and she could no longer hold on to her facade. She hurried into her bedroom and shut the door, leaving Mori standing there worried.
"Mori-kun, just give her some time. Have some tea with papa-san."
He almost jumped in surprise at Hanabi's father sitting at the table. It's not like him to be caught by surprise like that.
"Thank you for helping my daughter. I woke up when I heard her shouting, but you were already there. Seems you Morinozuka boys have a tendency to one-up this old man," he laughed.
Mori sat down, thanking him for the tea. But his eyes drifted back to her bedroom door.
"Hanabi is strong, you know? Both of my daughters are. When their mother died, it was hard for all of us. But Hanabi did her best to offset the grief with her cheerful personality. But late at night, after Haruhi fell asleep, I would hear her crying in the bathroom. She'll come out eventually, but for now, we can only support her from afar," Ranka said solemnly.
... "what happened?" Mori finally asked.
"Ne, Mori-kun, do you like my daughter?"
Takashi was surprised at his straight-forwardness. Sure, his club mates have teased around the topic, but none have ever demanded an answer quite so boldly. And this is her father. He has never been so nervous in his life.
"Sorry, don't answer that. A nosy father shouldn't be the first to know," Ranka laughed. "Anyway, you know, my Hanabi is pretty dense. She has her moments, but it's easy for her to get caught up in her own excitement. I have no idea which side of the family that came from," he mused. A blinking arrow appeared in the air above the cross-dresser.
Mori sweat dropped.
"And you know, that Maki, she fell in love with him." Ranka looked directly across from him to see the Morinozuka boy's eyes widen. It was the most show of emotion he's seen from him so far. "But like I said, she's dense. It was admiration at best, not that I think he's admirable in any way. But he strung her along, never taking things further. And when he got a girlfriend, she was happy for him. She still doesn't understand that she never liked him in the first place," he sighed. "But when she stopped pining after him, he started coming around more often, even after he graduated. It irritated me, but Hanabi insisted it was for work."
There was a knock at the door, interrupting the two.
"Can you get that, Mori-kun?"
"Sure." It was only then that he noticed there were four tea sets on the table. He walked over to their door and pulled it open.
"Taka-kun! What are you doing here?"
Takashi stared in shock, wondering the exact same for his little brother.
"Me? I came to check on Hanabi ne-chan."
"Is that Sato-kun? Come in, come in!" The jovial father welcomed. Takashi pulled the door open to allow his little brother inside, and they walked back to the table.
"Ranka-san, good morning." Satoshi greeted.
"Good morning, Sato-kun. Thank you again for last night."
Takashi's head was still reeling, but he didn't want to seem impolite by pushing for answers. But his mood went lower and lower as the two continued to exchange pleasantries. Not that he showed it.
Finally, Satoshi explained to Mori what had happened the night before.
"She told Chika and I that she was back, so we came over because we hadn't hung out in her den for awhile, so we thought we'd just stop by and take her somewhere to eat, like usual." Mori was surprised at this bit of information. He forgot that his brother had a close relationship with her. "But when I got up here, that other lady pushed her over the railings."
Takashi stood up in shock, though he didn't know what to do after that.
"I think she broke her arm when she grabbed on to save herself, but I was able to pull her back over before she fell. Chika stopped the lady and her friend from running away, and they were taken by the police."
"Luckily, it's just strained. The hospital said that with a bit of rest, it'll heal up in no time," Ranka said. "The lady is Maki's girlfriend. Hanabi told me that she has been spying on Maki for awhile now, and finally caught him forcing himself onto my poor daughter yesterday." Takashi felt his fingers curl up into a tight ball. "She came back with a friend to confront Hanabi, and that's how it happened."
"I don't know why she blamed me. It's not like I'm the one dating her, ya know?"
The three men turned to the voice.
"Hanabi!"
"Hey Satoshi! Thank you again for last night. Yasuchika-kun not with you today? I have to thank him too."
"He knows you're grateful, don't worry about it," he smiled.
"Is that right? I appreciate it," she said. "I can't thank the both of you enough."
"Seriously Hanabi," the crossdresser grinned with a bashful smile, "how lucky you are to have handsome men coming to your rescue like that."
Hanabi covered one of her reddened cheeks and swayed along with her fathers excitement, "right?! What am I, a princess or something? Just kidding!" The pair laughed. The brothers couldn't help but smile at their display.
Takashi mostly watched for the rest of the day, as his younger brother did most of the talking. But Hanabi and her father had no problem keeping him in the conversation, and he couldn't help but think that he's never felt more at home.