not every mutual fits neatly into an archetypal medievalism but there are some mutuals that im like yeah addressing you as “my liege” would come strangely naturally
idol au where light chokes on a fly on live television and L is the cameraman who films every second of it. also they keep crossing paths on music shows for some reason
day 7 / au ! some au details under cut
- L doesnt actually go out of his way to film light during this miserable ordeal.he simply doesnt care about light’s reputation enough to stop rolling and forgets about it the next day. a week later light sees him at mcountdown
- yes lights stage name is kira
- light presents as the perfect idol: single, kind, hardworking, rags to riches story, humble yet confident, just gay enough to queerbait but not face homophobic backlash, passionate, creative etc., when the cameras are off hes basically canon light minus the murder
- light is an all rounder and tenor. he also plays tennis in his free time. he is japanese and has been scouted off the streets. he is a kpop idol and the au takes place in korea. he is a solo idol and has never been in a group before. l is still british and misa is still japanese.
- he writes his own songs. his ego doesnt let him indulge in ghostwriters
-manager ryuk owns a ridiculous amount of chrome hearts simply impossible to buy on a managers salary. light is deeply suspicious and mildly wary of him at all times. ryuk also knows lights real personality and finds it amusing. he takes joy in a gigantic pr scandal which light will inevitably become one day
- rem dreses the way she does without looking misplaced because its in line with misas gothic/harajuku brand. ryuk looks wildly out of place next to light but noone seems to make him change. light tried, very persistently. but even light yagami has to admit defeat sometimes
- light debuted at 17 and is now 22. L is 29
- L works at all things live television and sometimes variety shows. he mainly works for idols. the media company hes signed under works with lights company. light doesnt know this until he violently cyber stalks L after the fly debacle
- they have actually been working together for 3 years without knowing each other and L has filmed light quite often due to him being the companys most popular male idol. light of course never noticed and only sort of recalls now
- L has always found light fascinating because the persona he wears is accepted to be very genuine by the general public. L always thought it was total bullshit, a masterful imitation of a real person.
- light never yells at anyone in public ever. not to misa even though he wants to rip her from his side on the thousand talk shows they go on. not to ryuk when he critiques every aspect of every bit of lights stages. not to his previous managers even though they were wildly incompetent and pissed light off daily. his reputation is everything to him. so when he yells at L in the middle of everyone at the backstage of mcountdown its a bit of a spectacle. thats the first crack L sees in lights shell and he wants to see more
- afterwards is a public apology and bullshit story about grief and a dead relative and misdirection of feelings and the game begins. L gets himself booked on as many as Lights jobs as possible with only one aim. to capture a crack in koreas sweethearts perfect persona on camera
- L doesnt do it because hes a truth chaser or whatever he simply enjoys watching light crack. and to have him crack on love tv would be to Win. light catches onto the game very quickly
Best wishes to these people obviously but I’m WHEEZING at the concept of a standard horror plot starter but the stranded travelers are an entire fully equipped orchestra.
Oh shoot, that actually would be a really cool concept. The film starts with no thematic music, and as each member of the orchestra is picked off, their instrument joins the soundtrack. Subtly, so you don’t really notice, and the end credits are a full orchestral symphony.
That entire thing could also be used brilliantly for foreshadowing!
Like, you suddenly notice a string instrument in the background music and you haven’t seen a few of them in a while. And the more musically versed you are, the more you figure it out (like in a mystery novel if you happen to have in-depth knowledge about the current riddle) while the “normal” people can get fooled into twists.
The non-musically versed audience hears a new brass instrument and is like “Oh shit, the dude with the tenor horn is probably dead!”, but then he suddenly appears perfectly fine and one minute later they find the body of the Euphonium player.
And if the orchestra members can hear it as well, then it’s of course another layer cause THEY would probably recognize who is playing. And depending on the director, they could go full ‘Tomato in the Mirror’ and imply they know but Just. Not. Say it. (cause why should they, they all DO KNOW). So they are like “Oh no…. No…!” and start looking for the corpse while the audience is still stuck at “Ok, a violin player, but which???”
And since absolutely no music at the beginning would be kinda estranging, I’d suggest one singular instrument and it’s revealed early on that a member of the orchestra recently passed, leading into the reason why they visited the castle in the first place, yaddayaddayadda, the plot commences
[Image description: a tweet by Variety (@/Variety): “A Bolivian Orchestra has been stranded in a German castle for 73 days due to the pandemic. The castle’s woodlands are home to several packs of wolves.” The tweet is retweeted by Apple Bottom Genes who comments: “This sounds like the beginning of Dracula but with more people involved.” End ID]
Was reminded of the fact that Twilight wears black underwear ONLY.
I need this info to reach Yuri expeditiously, cause I know for a fact that when he suspects Loid of being Twilight again, he'd pants him in his own home and be swiftly kicked out by a mortified Yor.
What games have opened doors for you in real life?
Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.
I’d say it was through Danganronpa that I really discovered online fandom / fanfic writing, which I’d say had a massive impact on my hobbies and such lmao.
And idk how much Danganronpa had to do with it but it was where I first heard the term Anthropology, I thought it sounded cool at the time and now I’m studying it in college, so yeah Korekiyo Shinguji might’ve had an effect on my choice of college subjects 😭
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
"What's his problem?" Hikaru asked the others at one point as they were cleaning up after school.
"I have no idea," Kyoya replied with an uninterested shrug.
"Maybe a lady called him annoying or something," Kaoru snickered.
"Normally that'd just make him sulk though," Haruhi pointed out.
"Oh well, it's none of our business," Kyoya decided.
When Tamaki falls down the stairs after fighting with the host club, he must find a way to save himself in his dream in order to save himself in real life.
Inspired by Scorpion S4E12: A Christmas Car-Roll
Tamaki was in a foul mood. The cause wasn't really important, in fact it was so unimportant that by the time the day was over he wouldn't even be able to tell you what pissed him off in the first place. Something his father said, probably.
Anyway, the point is Tamaki was cranky.
He was able to put on a passable facade during the ladies' lunchtime visits to the club, but the rest of the club's members could see it, clear as day.
"What's his problem?" Hikaru asked the others at one point as they were cleaning up after school.
"I have no idea," Kyoya replied with an uninterested shrug.
"Maybe a lady called him annoying or something," Kaoru snickered.
"Normally that'd just make him sulk though," Haruhi pointed out.
"Oh well, it's none of our business," Kyoya decided.
Honey frowned. He approached Tamaki. "Hey, Tama-chan, would you like to eat some cake with me?"
"No thanks," Tamaki replied shortly.
"But, I know cake always makes me feel better when I-"
"I said no!" Tamaki snapped, "just because you're obsessed with that stuff doesn't mean the rest of us are!"
Honey looked as if Tamaki had stricken him. Tears threatened to fall.
"Oh damn," Kaoru remarked.
"Hey!" Mori rushed to Honey's side. "He was only trying to help you!"
Tamaki rolled his eyes. "Oh look the cavalry's here."
Mori narrowed his eyes at him, and wrapped an arm around Honey.
"Let's not argue, we have a job to do, remember?" Kyoya interjected.
"Like you can lecture me on being nice," Tamaki muttered.
"Excuse me?"
"I said you can't lecture me on being nice, mister I only do things that benefit me!"
Kyoya bristled at that, though he quickly went back to acting nonchalant.
"What the hell is your problem today?" Haruhi demanded.
"I'm just telling the truth."
Haruhi furrowed her brow. "By insulting your friends? That's not like the Tamaki I know."
"Well if you don't like it so much you can leave!" Tamaki snapped back at her.
She looked taken aback, something he wasn't used to seeing on her. She grabbed her things. "Fine. See you tomorrow, senpai."
"We're going to go too," Mori decided, Honey on his shoulders. The blond was still sniffling.
"Goodbye, Tamaki," Kyoya stated, and Tamaki watched them all leave.
"Fine!" Tamaki called after them, "see if I care!"
"We're still here, boss," the twins piped up.
"I'm surprised you didn't run off with Haruhi, considering you're always attached at the hip," Tamaki mumbled.
"You don't have room to talk," Hikaru told him.
"Yeah, isn't she your precious daughter?" Kaoru teased with a grin.
"At least I don't rely on her to prove I'm an individual!"
The twins went wide-eyed. "Wow boss," Hikaru said, "I can't believe you just said that to us."
"We're out of here," Kaoru added, and the pair left.
"Fine! I don't need any of you anyway!" Tamaki said, though to who he wasn't sure.
He shouldn't have said those things, he knew that, but he thought being destructive would feel good, and once he had started he couldn't stop. Now though, all he felt was this heavy, empty feeling.
Tamaki did his best to stamp the feeling down. "I'm the king of the host club, I can do this myself easily!" He insisted, grabbing some boxes. What was normally a ten minute job took him thirty.
"See, that was easy!" He lied. His words were met with silence. Right, he was alone. Whatever! He was used to doing things on his own.
He locked up the club room behind him as he left. It didn't sound like there was anyone left in the school, not this part anyway. Usually he didn't notice as he was leaving with the Host Club.
Whatever, screw them.
He didn't notice the banana peel on the ground, until suddenly, his feet came out from under him and he fell down the stairs. The last thing Tamaki remembered doing was screaming.
~~~[🌹]~~~
Tamaki woke up in the music room, on a couch. "Huh?" He couldn't remember how he got there.
He rubbed his head as he sat up. There was no one else there, in fact all of the club's things were gone. "What the hell?!"
Tamaki quickly jumped to his feet, scampering around the room to look for their things. That's when the window caught his eye.
"Why…-" he approached the window- "is the sky green?!?!"
"Haven't you figured it out yet?"
Tamaki jumped, and turned around in the direction of the voice. The all too familiar sound of electricity and gears turning rung out as Renge rose from the floor, laughing as she did so.
"Renge! Oh, thank god you're here, what's going on???"
"Silly Tamaki, this is a dream!" The girl informed him, jumping down from her platform as she did so.
"A dream?" Tamaki asked.
"Why of course! You fell down the stairs, remember?"
"Oh, yeah…" Tamaki's brow furrowed. "So, am I asleep right now then?" He supposed that didn't sound too bad.
"Well, more accurately you split your head open and are now bleeding all over the marble floors, but yeah, asleep works too."
"What?!" Tamaki sprinted out of the room. "I need to wake up before I die!"
Renge followed, and Tamaki skidded to a stop at the top of the stairs. At the bottom was his lifeless body.
"Yikes, that looks bad," Renge commented, and Tamaki hurried down the stairs.
"Hey! You've gotta wake up!" Tamaki yelled, shaking his unconscious version.
"Oh yeah, because that always works," Renge said sarcastically.
"I need an ambulance!" Tamaki decided. He reached into his pocket for his phone, but it wasn't there. "What the?" He rummaged through the pockets of the other Tamaki. "No no no!"
"Wow, you seem to be in a real pickle, if only you knew someone who had medical knowledge," Renge mused.
Tamaki blinked up at her.
"You know someone from a family of doctors? Who knows a lot and can handle pressure? A shadow leader?"
Still nothing from Tamaki.
Renge groaned. "You need to find Kyoya!"
Tamaki's face lit up. "You're right!" He stood up, but paused.
"But... Kyoya's mad at me, I said some awful things to him…" Tamaki slumped his shoulders.
"Hey, this is a dream, remember? You didn't have that fight here!" Renge told him.
"Oh yeah!" Tamaki perked up immediately. "He's probably home by now, but if we're fast-" he was interrupted by the chime of a clock- "It's only twelve thirty? Also why is it chiming on the half hour?"
Renge shrugged. "It's your dream."
"Right- well if it's lunchtime and he's not in the host club, I bet he's in the cafeteria!" Tamaki decided, before dashing towards the cafeteria.
Once he made it, it didn't take long to find Kyoya, sitting alone, his head in a book.
"Kyoya! Oh, thank god I found you!" Tamaki practically flung himself at him.
"Uh… Suoh? What do you want?" Kyoya asked, an annoyed look on his face.
"Suoh, that's a bit formal isn't it?" Tamaki asked, a nervous laugh escaping him.
"I thought you said he didn't know about the fight," he hissed at Renge.
"Oh yeah, because in this universe you never became friends," Renge cheerfully informed him.
"WHAT?!" Tamaki exclaimed, causing Kyoya to jump.
"Uh, are you ok…?" Kyoya asked, scooting back a bit.
"Oh, and you're the only one who can see me."
It would've been nice to have known that sooner, Tamaki thought, but he turned back to Kyoya.
"You see, the truth is Kyoya, I do need your help! I- this guy fell down the stairs, and I'm pretty sure he's going to die!"
Kyoya considered this. "Pass."
Tamaki's eyes went wide. "What?! Why?!"
"There's nothing for me to get out of it, therefore I won't do it" Kyoya clarified.
Oh, Tamaki thought, I get it.
Tamaki took a step back. It was his fault Kyoya was treating him this way, and he didn't have anything that he wanted. He'd need to find his own way to save himself.
"You know, in movies like this, you recruiting your friends is usually a metaphor of your will to live. If you can't recruit Kyoya, you'll be dead before anyone finds you," Renge told him.
"Dammit Renge this isn't a movie!" Tamaki told her.
"Seriously, do you need me to call someone…?" Kyoya asked.
Tamaki steeled his nerves. He could not die, not now, not like this. "Kyoya, I don't have anything to give you, but I do know that you work really hard to earn your father's approval as the third son, and quite frankly have given up on doing anything for yourself. So, if you're going to insist you're selfish then stop doing things to impress your father and start doing things because you want to!"
Tamaki was leaning on the table in front of Kyoya now, staring intensely at him.
Kyoya checked his watch, and sighed. "Fine."
Tamaki cheered. "Oh thank you Kyoya! You're the best!"
Kyoya rolled his eyes. "This better be quick, I have club meetings I cannot be late for."
"Club meetings?" Tamaki asked. As far as Renge told him, it didn't seem the host club existed.
Kyoya looked at him like he was stupid. "Of course, I'm the president of quite a few."
Renge nodded. "This Kyoya has quite the portfolio on him, still trying to appease his family I suppose."
Tamaki hummed, but he had no time to dwell on it. He rushed Kyoya to the stairway, but when they got there…
"I thought you said a guy fell down the stairs?" Kyoya remarked. He had a bemused expression on his face.
"Where the hell did he go?!" Tamaki asked.
"Hey, take a look at this!" Renge said, looking out the window.
Tamaki joined her, and noticed his familiar head of blond hair down below. "How is he down there now???"
Renge shrugged. "This is a dream, continuity is merely a suggestion."
"Right…"
"Can I go now?" Kyoya asked.
"No!" Tamaki yelled, "come on, we need to save him!" Before he could protest, Tamaki grabbed Kyoya's arm and dragged him to the front of the school.
When they got there, they found Tamaki now pinned under the tire of a car. "Please! Help!" He was also awake now. His hair was still red with blood.
"Where the hell is the driver? Did they just leave you here?" The real Tamaki asked. He looked around for any sign of whoever was driving the car, but found nothing.
"Ow…" The other Tamaki whined.
Kyoya knelt down beside him. "He looks exactly like you. Are you twins or something?"
"Uh, it's a long story," Tamaki hastily told him, "can you save him??"
Kyoya turned his attention back to the injured Tamaki. "Well, I could try to treat his injuries, but I won't be able to do much with this car crushing him."
"Then let's call a tow truck!"
"I wouldn't be so sure- remember that traffic jam Haruhi was complaining about this morning? It's probably still pretty busy since it's lunch time here," Renge pointed out.
"It's getting hard to breathe!" Dream Tamaki informed them.
"He doesn't have much time," Kyoya told him.
"Ok, so we can't wait for a tow truck-" Tamaki started pacing- "Surely there has to be something we can do!"
"Oh boy, too bad you and Kyoya aren't strong enough to carry the car yourselves," Renge commented.
Tamaki gasped. "We need to find Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai!"
Kyoya tilted his head to the side.
"You know, Haninozuka and Morinozuka from third year! They're martial-arts masters and crazy strong!" Tamaki told him.
"And you're friends with them?" Kyoya asked.
"Totally! Now do you know where to find them?"
"Well, given Haninozuka-senpai is the president of the karate club, he's probably-"
"The karate club, of course! Let's go!-" He turned to the Tamaki under the car- "Don't go anywhere!"
"I don't think- ok…" Kyoya followed Tamaki.
As they walked, Tamaki's head started killing him. "Ah-" he brought his hand to the back of his head.
"That's probably reality creeping on in, try to ignore it," Renge advised.
"Right…" Tamaki grumbled.
"Are you o- TAMAKI!" Kyoya suddenly exclaimed, causing Tamaki to jump.
"Well, the good news is, your ears still work!" Renge cheerfully said. "Plus, your odds of survival just went up!"
~~~[🌹]~~~
Kyoya sighed as he walked back through the doors of Ouran Academy. Thinking back on their conversation earlier, Kyoya still felt Tamaki had acted out of line, though in all fairness Kyoya never tried to act "nice." That being said, Tamaki acting out like that was out of character for him, as he was the type of guy who was completely polite even to people he despised, so Kyoya figured he at least owed it to him to figure out what was going on, and maybe help clean up.
He imagined what Tamaki was doing now. In his aggravated state and with how the twins liked to poke things they shouldn't, Kyoya guessed they were probably gone too, leaving Tamaki alone. Knowing him, he was probably sulking in a corner. The image made him smirk.
Kyoya turned the corner to the stairs when the humour fell away. "Tamaki?!"
He dropped his bag and ran to his friend's side. He was at the bottom of the stairs, his head in a pool of his own blood.
"TAMAKI!" He yelled, but the blond was unresponsive. Kyoya took off his blazer, and gently lifted Tamaki's head so he could slide the jacket under to slow the bleeding.
Next, he called an ambulance. After he made sure they were on their way, he called Haruhi.
"Kyoya-senpai? What's up?" She asked, confused at the call.
"You need to get back to Ouran now, it's Tamaki," Kyoya explained, pinning his phone between his ear and his shoulder while he checked Tamaki's vitals.
"What did he say now?" Haruhi asked, and Kyoya could practically hear the eyeroll.
"No- he's bleeding, I'm pretty sure he fell down the stairs. He's unconscious!" Kyoya couldn't help the edge to his voice.
"Oh my god- I'm on my way! I'll call the others," Haruhi replied, all coldness gone from her voice.
Kyoya put his phone down. Tamaki's heart was beating fine, but his breathing was laboured. He checked his watch. That ambulance better show up quickly.
~~~[🌹]~~~
The group made it to the karate club meeting. The hall was filled with boys and girls in their karate uniforms, all sparring with each other.
"Where's Haninozuka and Morinozuka? We need to speak with them urgently!" Tamaki shouted. Everyone's attention turned to them. "Please- we need to talk to-"
"What do you want?" Honey was now standing in front of them, with Mori standing behind him. He was looking at Tamaki with an intimidating glower.
"Oh, Honey-senpai! We need you- there's a guy out there stuck under a car and only you two can help get him out!"
"A car?" Mori asked.
"Yeah, that sounds like something for the professionals to handle," Honey told them.
Tamaki was despairing. He turned to Mori. "Come on- we need you!"
"Don't look at me," Mori replied, "I'm just the cavalry."
"Oh that's because- ok-" Tamaki turned back to Honey- "the professionals can't get here because of traffic."
Honey was not moved.
"I'll buy you cake!" Tamaki added.
"I don't like sweets," Honey replied, "I'm not obsessed enough to do something dangerous for a slice of cake."
Tamaki took a deep breath. "You're saying that because I- because some thoughtless fool judged you for your love of sweet things. But the truth is, that's one of the best things about you! And you know, true strength is being able to be your true self, even if people judge you for it."
He turned to Mori. "And Mori, you're not just Honey's sidekick! You devote yourself to him but that doesn't make you any less than the rest of us! You're kind, loyal and thoughtful, and that's what it really comes down to in the end! And the Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai I know wouldn't let someone die- So what do you say?"
Mori and Honey looked at each other. "What can we do?" Honey asked.
Tamaki led them back towards the front of the school. "We need to lift the car off of him so that Kyoya can save him," Tamaki explained.
"You want us to lift a car? We're strong but four people isn't enough to lift a car," Honey explained. Mori nodded.
"Three, technically, since someone will need to drag him out," Kyoya added.
"What?! It's not???"
Honey shook his head.
"Ok… well if we need an extra set of hands…" Tamaki thought about it- "what about two sets? The Hiitachin twins from first years will definitely help us!"
"Those assholes?" Mori questioned.
"I'm sure they're not that bad," Tamaki assured him.
Classes were almost starting now, so Tamaki figured their best bet was to try find them in their classroom.
"Wow, they sure are popular," Renge commented, already sitting on one of the desks at the front of the room.
A crowd of people were gathered around Kaoru and Hikaru's desks. As Tamaki's group got closer, he could see the pair taking down names on some kind of list.
"Who's next?" The pair asked in unison.
Tamaki pushed his way to the front of the queue. "Me! I'm in desperate need of your help!"
"Who's this guy?" One of the twins asked, giving his brother an unimpressed look. Tamaki was pretty sure he was Kaoru.
Hikaru(?) looked Tamaki up and down. "It's Suoh from second year."
"Yes! That's me!" Tamaki agreed.
The twins glared at him. "Can't you see there's a line?" They asked together.
"But this is important!-" Tamaki insisted.
"Yeah, everyone thinks their revenge is important-"
"-but you gotta wait in line like the rest of 'em," they explained.
"What? Revenge???"
"Yeah? Pranking people is kind of what we do here," the twin he thought was Kaoru explained.
"No, but I need your help to save someone!" Tamaki insisted.
"Save someone?" Probably Kaoru asked.
"Pass," Probably Hikaru decided.
"What? Why?"
"We don't do charity," Hikaru explained.
Kaoru was writing SUOH onto the list.
"Hey!- don't put me on your hit-list!" Tamaki whined.
"Hey, aren't you illegitimate?" Maybe Hikaru asked, "why don't we make an announcement-" he grabbed an intercom mic that definitely wasn't on the table two seconds ago- "hey, Ouran students!-"
Tamaki grabbed the mic. "We don't have the time for this! I'm dying!"
"You don't have the time for this?" The twins asked, voices dripping with contempt, "you're holding up our line."
"I thought it was your brother under the car?" Kyoya asked.
"I never said he was my brother!" Tamaki snapped.
"Time's running out…" Renge told him.
"Shut up Renge!" Tamaki shouted. She was starting to get annoying.
"Oh, so he's crazy crazy," Kaoru commented.
"No! No I'm not!" Tamaki spun around on them.
The twins looked at each other. "Look, we feel bad for you-" one started.
"-So we'll help you out if you-" the other continued.
-play the which one's Hikaru game!" They finished together, standing up and posing for dramatic effect.
Tamaki frowned, looking between the two of them. He was pretty sure he knew which was which, but he got them mixed up all the time, and he didn't have time to keep arguing with these two.
"No," Tamaki told them.
"No?" The twins asked.
"I'm not playing, because I can't tell you apart, but you two better listen up! You want people to stop treating you like one person, right? And you think you need someone to come along and tell the difference to prove you're not the same, but you don't. The only people who need to believe you're different are you, and until you start doing that and letting people in you're going to be stuck like this forever! Do you want that? No! Someone will be able to tell you apart someday but first you need to stop trying to ruin people's lives and help me save myself!"
The twins glanced at each other. "Fine," Hikaru relented.
"What do you need, boss?" Kaoru asked.
Tamaki smiled. Another stabbing pain shot through his head, causing him to double over in pain. "OW!"
~~~[🌹]~~~
"His heart-rate is speeding up," Kyoya observed. He was covered in Tamaki's blood by now.
"What does that mean?" Honey asked.
"Nothing good," Kyoya told him, "especially since it'll only push the blood from his head out faster."
"Well, can we stop it?" Kaoru asked.
Kyoya nodded. "Quick, use your fingers and do a circular motion on the vagus nerve on his neck to stimulate it."
Kaoru did as he was told. "Like this?"
Kyoya checked Tamaki's pulse. "It's not slowing down fast enough- go faster!"
Kaoru nodded.
Haruhi ran into the room. She was the last of the club to arrive despite being told first. "Where is he?" She asked, before dropping down to Tamaki's side. She was out of breath, clearly from running there.
"Why hasn't the ambulance taken him yet?" She asked, looking at the state of things.
"Stupid traffic," Hikaru replied, "they should hopefully be here soon though."
"Dammit," Haruhi cursed.
"He should be fine," Kyoya assured her, but even he didn't look sure, which was bad news. He was generally great at acting nonchalant despite the situation.
~~~[🌹]~~~
They made it back to to the car wreck, though it had once again changed.
"Where did all these cars come from?!" Tamaki exclaimed.
"Bold move to pull a hit and run on multiple already crashed cars," Kyoya mused.
In front of them were a pile of cars, all leaning against each other like a metal teepee. In the middle of them was the original car, Tamaki still stuck under it.
"Please don't tell me you want us to move all these," Kaoru said.
"Uh, well…" Tamaki was stumped. If three people wasn't enough for one car, five definitely wouldn't be enough for however many there were.
"Not necessarily," Kyoya interjected, "none of these cars are directly leaning on the original one, otherwise your… friend would be dead. If you're careful, you can lift the car without it all coming down."
"Oh, we can do careful! We're the Host Club!" Tamaki said, relieved.
The group gathered around the front of the car, ready to lift.
"When I count to three-" Tamaki started.
"On three or on go?" Honey asked.
"Wait, why are you doing the count?" Hikaru asked, "I want to count."
"I'm the king so I'll do the counting!" Tamaki insisted.
"I'm sorry, king?" Kyoya asked.
"I think I should be in charge of pulling him out," Kaoru suggested.
"No, my family are all doctors," Kyoya told him.
"But-"
"Why are they arguing? They're the hosts, their jobs are to get along with people?" Tamaki asked, his frustration obvious.
"Well they're not hosts here, they're feral animals who weren't taught how to use their charisma. Also they don't like each other," Renge supplied.
"Guys, we need to work together, if we mess up the whole thing will fall down on top of him!" Tamaki told them. No one listened.
"You need someone they all like, and is naturally good at talking to people," Renge said.
"We need Haruhi," Tamaki realised. "Hey! All of you! We need to get Haruhi Fujioka, she can help us!"
"Who?" Honey asked.
"Haruhi Fujioka, she's a first year scholarship student! She's in the twins' class."
"Uh, there aren't any Fujiokas or Haruhis in our class," Hikaru informed him.
"Well maybe you never noticed her because you're rude to everyone all the time," Tamaki suggested.
The twins shook their heads.
"Fujioka you say? I recognise that name," Kyoya said.
"Yes Kyoya! Where can we find her?" Tamaki asked.
"Well, she's the star of Lobelia Academy's Zuka Club."
"She's the star of what?!?!?!" Tamaki exclaimed.
"Please help me! I'm scared!" Other Tamaki begged.
"Ok, Kyoya, Honey, you stay here and keep this guy calm, and Mori, you make sure nothing falls. The rest of you come with me, we need to get my little girl."
"Whatever you say," Kaoru agreed, and the twins followed Tamaki to Lobelia's.
They made it there in no time at all, and had a suspiciously easy time of sneaking through the halls. Tamaki remembered where the Zuka Club gathered from that time they kidnapped Haruhi, so they had no trouble getting there.
He heard voices, so he carefully opened the door. Most of the girls were at the front of the room, but he couldn't see Haruhi among them. He was about to give up and look somewhere else when he saw her in the opposite corner, with her nose in a book. He almost didn't recognise her as she wore Lobelia's uniform and had long hair again.
He and the twins snuck into the room, and sidled over to her.
"Haruhi, we need your help!" Tamaki told her, quiet enough so that the others wouldn't hear them.
"What- who the hell are you?" Haruhi asked, snapping her book closed.
"I'm Kaoru/Hikaru," Kaoru and Hikaru said at the same time.
"I'm Tamaki, and we need your help to save a guy-" Tamaki started, but Haruhi turned away from him.
"Hey!-" She started to shout to the others, but Tamaki quickly covered her mouth.
"Please, there's a guy dying and you're the only one who can help us!" Tamaki looked at her with desperate eyes. He was scared. Haruhi usually took more convincing than the others to go along with his ideas, and that was when they were friends. He didn't want to die.
Haruhi wrenched his hand from her mouth. "Get off me!"
Tamaki stepped back. "Haruhi, you don't know us, but I know you. I know that you like to do things alone, but sometimes it's better to work with other people, you know? Thunderstorms are less scary when you're with company."
Haruhi looked at him, bewildered. "How do you-"
"We thought he was making it up too," Hikaru told her.
"But there really is a guy," Kaoru added.
Haruhi looked between them and Tamaki. "Fine."
"Really?" Tamaki asked, his heart jumping for joy.
"To be clear I still don't fully believe you, but I can't just sit around in the very small chance that someone is dying," she explained.
"That's my daughter!" Tamaki cheered.
"What?" The three first years said in unison.
"We don't have time to waste!" Tamaki quickly told them, dragging them out.
The other girls noticed them. "Hey!- what are you doing with Haruhi?!?!"
They chased the group until they made it out of the school. "I'll be right back!" Haruhi called back to them.
Thankfully the situation didn't change in the time they were gone.
"Woah." Haruhi looked up at the pile-up in surprise.
"We need to move the car!" Tamaki ran over to the side pinning him down.
"Hey, you two are identical," Haruhi commented when she noticed the second Tamaki.
"Uh, we're right here," Kaoru reminded her.
"You too look the same, but there are some differences," Haruhi explained to them.
"Help me!" Tamaki two cried.
"You'll be ok," Honey assured him, patting his hand. The second year whimpered.
"Ok, so on my count-" Hikaru started.
"No, I'm the one counting!" Tamaki insisted.
"But!-"
"Oh my god, stop fighting you two!" Haruhi interrupted. She had her work cut out for her. "If this is what you've been arguing about, then I'll count, ok?" She looked between the two with a look that meant business.
"Yes…" Tamaki relented.
"As long as he's not doing it," Hikaru agreed.
"Everyone, grab a piece."
"You too, Renge!" Tamaki said.
"But I'm not real, I'm just here to manage," she replied.
"It's my dream and I say get over here!" He insisted.
Renge rolled her eyes and joined them.
Haruhi gave the others a confused look.
"He likes talking to himself," Kyoya explained, and the rest of the hosts voiced their agreement.
"Yeah, he's crazy," Kaoru added.
"Right… anyway, on three, one, two three!"
When Haruhi finished counting, the group lifted the car off the ground just enough for Kyoya to be able to slide Tamaki out from under it. That Tamaki took in a deep breath, as he'd been struggling before.
They dropped the car.
"Y-you saved me," Tamaki gasped.
Real Tamaki was still there though. They'd saved him, but he hadn't woken up yet.
"Hey, Renge-" he turned to her, but she had already started being lowered into the ground- "Renge, wait! What do I do now?!"
He ran toward the hole, and didn't notice the banana peel on the floor, which sent him tumbling face first into the hole. Once again, Tamaki only remembered himself screaming.
~~~[🌹]~~~
Tamaki slowly opened his eyes. His vision was a bit fuzzy, and his head was killing him.
"What…?" he croaked, squinting at the bright lights.
"Look who's finally awake!" Renge announced.
Tamaki's spirit sank. "Please don't tell me I'm dead…"
Renge laughed. "Dead? Of course not! I would've killed you if you had gone and died on the Host Club!"
"Senpai!"
Tamaki opened his eyes properly, and noticed the rest of the people sitting around the bed. The Host Club, all in their usual uniforms (though Kyoya was wearing a different shirt.) Haruhi's hair was back to normal too.
"What happened?" He asked, his brain still groggy.
"You fell down the stairs," Kaoru told him.
"Well that explains the headache," Tamaki grumbled.
"We thought you were going to die," Honey said, his voice shaken. He had Usa-chan propped up on the bed beside Tamaki. Tamaki gave the rabbit's head a pat.
"You know senpai, you're lucky Kyoya found you, or you'd probably be dead by now," Haruhi explained.
"Kyoya? But you all left," Tamaki said.
"I left my book in the club room," Kyoya explained.
Tamaki didn't remember finding his book when he was cleaning up, and it wasn't like he was slacking. He looked at Kyoya.
"Kyoya, I'm sorry for saying you only think of yourself!" Tamaki felt tears prick his eyes. Kyoya seemed surprised by that.
"I'm sorry to all of you! I said some really awful things and I didn't mean them," he continued. "I shouldn't have yelled at you Haruhi, and I shouldn't have told Honey he was obsessed with sweets, and I shouldn't have called Mori the cavalry, and I definitely shouldn't have said Kaoru and Hikaru need Haruhi to feel like individuals! I'm really sorry!"
"It's ok," Honey replied, but Tamaki shook his head.
"No, it's not! I was upset and I took it out on you, and acted like I didn't need you, when in reality, you'd all be better off without me!"
"That's not true boss," Hikaru told him.
"When I was out, I dreamed that the Host Club didn't exist, and Kyoya was the president of a few prestigious clubs-"
"Nice," Kyoya remarked.
"-Honey-senpai was still the president of the karate club and everyone loved him and Mori-" Honey leaned forward and Mori smiled- "The twins ran a popular pranking business-"
"Sweet," Kaoru commented.
"We should start that for real," Hikaru mused.
"-And Haruhi was the pride of the Zuka club, and had plenty of time to study on top of that!" Tamaki sighed, "and if it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't have been able to save my dream self."
Haruhi leaned forward. "Hey senpai, I have a question; were we friends in your dream?"
Tamaki considered this, and shook his head. "No, you spent most of your time alone, Honey-senpai was too busy hiding his love of sweets and cute things, Mori-senpai only stuck by Honey's side, Kyoya was stuck in his brothers' shadows and the twins insulted anyone who tried to get close to them."
"Sounds like your subconscious knew that we need you as much as you need us," Kyoya said with a knowing smile.
Tamaki blinked. "Do you really mean that?"
"Of course!" Honey told him.
"Yeah boss," the twins agreed.
"Why wouldn't we?" Haruhi added.
Tears really did fall this time. "Guys….!"
"Aw, come here," Hikaru said, and the group leaned in to give Tamaki a hug.
"I love you guys," Tamaki told them.
Once the hug was over, Kyoya took a step back. "You know, in the future you can just talk to us instead of bottling it all up and yelling at everyone."
Tamaki nodded. "Yeah, I realise that now…"
"So, what was it that had you so pissed off in the first place?" Haruhi asked.
Tamaki considered this. "I… I don't remember."
Haruhi's face changed. "Are you serious?"
"I am!" Tamaki insisted.
"Oh for god's sake, Tamaki!" Kyoya exclaimed.
"What?!"
The Host Club spent the rest of the evening staying by Tamaki, and while they did lecture him a bit they mostly just enjoyed each others' presence.
