Chapter Text
Haruhi spent most of the next two days in bed, resting and looking after herself. Despite his initial protests and eventual meltdown, Haruhi had managed to convince Tamaki and the rest of the Host Club to proceed with their scheduled activities as planned. She couldn’t keep him away for very long, however, and whenever the club had a spare moment, Tamaki was running around bringing Haruhi anything she did and didn’t ask for. That was, until Hikaru knocked on her door sometime in the afternoon of the second day.
He asked if she knew where the ice was, and when she stuffily but matter-of-factly informed him that it was in the freezer, where they always were, he left without saying anything else. Now, Haruhi found herself rolling out of the most comfortable bed in the world in order to find out why Hikaru was acting so suspiciously. She quickly grabbed the plush throw blanket from the foot of the bed to wrap around her shoulders and reached out to stop the door from closing all the way.
“Uh, Haruhi?” Hikaru poked his head back through the doorway. “What are you doing?”
She pulled the door open a little more and joined him in the hallway. “What am I doing? What are you doing? Why are you being weird?”
“I’m not being weird! You’re being weird!”
“I… whatever. What’s the ice for?”
“Nothing!”
Haruhi sighed. “Did something happen?”
Hikaru shoved his hands into his sweatshirt pocket. “No, not exactly.”
Before she could question him further, Hikaru jumped aside as Tamaki came racing down the hallway. “Hikaru! This is an emergency! What is taking you so—Haruhi!”
Haruhi frowned. “Wait, what?”
“What are you doing out of bed? Hikaru, did you bother her? You were supposed to ask Kyoya where the ice is!”
“I couldn’t find him! This was the next best thing!”
“You didn’t think to call him?”
“Obviously not!”
“Hey. Hello!” Haruhi stepped up and waved. “Would either of you care to explain what exactly is going on here? What’s the emergency?”
Tamaki’s mood instantly shifted, and he reclined against the wall dramatically, tears forming in his eyes.
Haruhi looked on expectantly, but Tamaki said nothing.
“…okay. Hikaru, what's going on?”
She turned to face Hikaru, but he looked down as soon as he met her eyes.
“Good grief. You two are taking too long.” Haruhi rolled her eyes and motioned for them to follow her down the hallway. “Where is everybody?”
“I-In the lounge,” stammered Tamaki. “But… I… you really should go back to your room and rest—”
“It’s fine, Tamaki, I know how to take care of myself.
Besides, you did say that this is an emergency.”
Chatter started to fill the hall, and with each step, Haruhi grew more skeptical of the so-called ‘emergency’ she was warned about. Right before she was about to reach for the door handle, Tamaki took her hand in his.
“You go on ahead, Hikaru,” he said, waving absentmindedly in his direction. “I want to ask Haruhi something.”
“Whatever, man.” Hikaru shrugged, then disappeared behind the door.
The door had barely clicked shut before Tamaki threw his arms around Haruhi. “Oh, Haruhi!”
She wriggled free of the embrace and lightly slapped him on the arm.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“Don’t scare me like that! I thought there really was some emergency!”
Tamaki shrank a little, his expression shifting from confident to pitiful. “I’m sorry. I just… I wanted to do something nice for you.” He opened his arms slightly, trying to re-initiate the hug from moments ago.
Haruhi choked back a laugh. “Wh-What are you doing?”
“I missed you,” said Tamaki softly, a blush grazing his cheeks. “I feel terrible about you catching my cold.”
Haruhi sighed and rolled her eyes before hugging him back. “You’re a sweetheart. An idiot, but a sweetheart. Now, what exactly is it you were trying to do?”
“Well, since you’ve been unable to join us for the last few days, I thought it would be a fun idea to do one more special activity on our last night here. It had to be something special, something that would raise your spirits, and so, I decided that—”
The door suddenly flung open, nearly smacking Tamaki across the face. Kyoya stepped forward, looking much happier than he had when Haruhi last saw him. Maybe it was the thrill of nearly sending Tamaki to meet his maker, but Haruhi hoped that he was genuinely starting to feel better about everything that had happened.
“Haruhi,” he began, adjusting his glasses, “Firstly, I’d like to apologize for the stupidity that surrounds us both. Hikaru was meant to retrieve you after the ice had been collected, which I actually asked Kaoru to do. As for Tamaki… I don’t know why he showed up.”
Haruhi tilted her head to one side. “Yeah, about that… what’s the ice for, anyway?”
Kyoya held up his hand in protest. “Ah, we will get to that in a moment. My second point was to double check with you that you are in fact feeling up to participating in this activity.”
“Oh, sure. I’m actually doing a lot better, so as long as we’re not running around or something like that, it’ll be fine.”
“Yay!” Tamaki cheered, nuzzling his face against Haruhi’s.
“Move, Tamaki,” she warned, “I don’t want to sneeze on you.”
He promptly scooted backwards, and Haruhi spun around and sneezed in the opposite direction.
When she turned back around to face Tamaki and Kyoya, they were both staring at her.
She sighed. “I’m okay, really.”
Kyoya raised his eyebrows. “Well, I trust your judgment, so if you say you’re doing well, I have no reason to doubt that.”
Tamaki shrugged. “I guess. Just one… more… thing.” He reached over and gently tugged the blanket tighter around Haruhi’s shoulders. “Stay warm, okay?”
Haruhi felt warmth filling her chest, and she smiled gratefully at Tamaki. “Thanks. I will.”
“If you two are ready,” interjected Kyoya, pulling the door open.
Haruhi walked into the lounge, looking intensely at the unusual machines that were placed in the center of each table. At the back of the room, Honey, Mori, Hikaru, and Kaoru were sitting on the couch, watching her as though they’d never seen her before.
“Oh… wow, that’s… that’s creepy, don’t do that.”
“Haru-chan, you’re alive!” Honey cheered, racing over to stand beside her. “Hika-chan and Kao-chan were worried,” he informed her in an intentionally loud whisper.
Haruhi shook her head. “You guys, I don’t know what Tamaki’s told you, but I was never sick enough to warrant any worry. It’s just a cold, and I’m pretty sure it’s on its way out now anyway. Now, Hikaru,” she moved to address him directly, “I still don’t understand what the thing with the ice was about. And what…” she glanced quickly behind her, gesturing to the tables, “…what are all those contraptions for?”
“Haruhi?”
She turned around to find Tamaki standing a few feet away. He motioned for her to join him; she did, and they both took a seat at the nearest table.
“Are you going to explain what’s going on, or am I going to have to piece it together on my own?”
Tamaki took her hand in his. “You really don’t remember?”
“Remember what?”
“I had my staff purchase these antique ice cream machines,” Kyoya cut in. “They’re in excellent condition and have never been used.”
“Last month, when we all went to the commoners’ supermarket, you showed us that all the ice cream was pre-packaged,” added Kaoru.
Hikaru nodded. “I guess commoners don’t have time to slow churn their own ice cream.”
“You mentioned that you always wanted to try making your own. That’s what we’re going to do today,” finished Honey.
Haruhi was speechless for a moment. “You… you guys remembered that? It was so trivial…”
“It was all Tamaki’s idea,” said Mori.
Haruhi laughed softly to herself. “You know, ice cream isn’t usually issued to people with colds. Normally, you’re supposed to give them tea or something.”
Tamaki’s face fell. “Oh. Well, worry not. If you don’t want it, we can always save this activity for another time.”
“Tamaki, I’m just kidding.” Haruhi picked up his hand, which had fallen from hers, and squeezed it tight. “Of course I want to. It’s so sweet that you all set this up because you thought it would cheer me up, not because I have some huge emotional reason for wanting to.”
“I love you, Haruhi,” Tamaki said simply, “…and I always want you to be happy.”
A wave of emotions hit Haruhi, and she tried desperately to fight it, but it was too strong. Tears started slowly streaming down her cheeks.
“You moron,” she managed. “I… I… well…,” she cleared her throat and sighed before blurting out: “Me too.”
Tamaki’s eyes widened, and his face flushed tomato-red. “You really mean it?”
“I do. I’m not ready to say it yet, but I… I do mean it. I-I care about you and appreciate you so much.” She turned to look at the rest of the hosts—her friends. “All of you.”
Kyoya was the first to break the silence. “Your happiness means a great deal to us as well, Haruhi. What kind of a Host Club would we be if we couldn’t accomplish that?”
Haruhi sniffled. “I know, but I just… I don’t want to be the reason any of you are unhappy, you know?”
Hikaru sank further into the couch. “You’re not. I’m not gonna pretend it doesn’t suck sometimes, but it’s okay, really. I don’t want to be the reason you aren’t happy.”
Haruhi could smile feebly in reply.
“One more thing,” Kyoya cut in, “I suggest that we start sooner rather than later. The ice won’t last forever outside of the freezer.”
“Right,” Tamaki agreed, jumping up from his chair. “Let’s commemorate our last night here!”
Haruhi joined him after mopping her face dry with one of the paper napkins on the table. “After everything we’ve all had to deal with over the course of this trip, we deserve a treat!”