Ouran- Spirit Minded No. 11

"You have to go faster!"

Kenji looked incredulously into the rearview mirror.

"Are you serious?" He asked the commoner girl.  "I'm already taking a short cut and breaking the speed limit, what more do you want?"

"Less talking, more speeding!" Miyako shouted before Haruhi could answer.

The chauffeur pressed down harder on the gas.  He didn't really care about getting a ticket; Miyako would probably take the blame and he'd get away with only a cut in this month's pay, which was inconvenient, but preferable to losing his job.

In the backseat, Miyako turned to the ghosts.

"How's Suoh?" she asked.

She didn't really need to ask, she could very clearly see him leaning so far into his seat that he was almost falling off.  Hoki and Elissa sat on either side of him, the former just staring and the latter clutching his hand.  Naru sat beside Elissa with her legs drawn up to the rest of her body, a frightened look on her face.

"He's still hurting," she weakly whimpered.  "Why's he hurting, Miss Miyako?"

The medium bit down on her lip and shook her head helplessly.  "I don't know, Naru-chan."

Miyako glanced at Fujioka.  The younger girls face was pale and her clenched fists were shaking.  Her face was set in wrought determination, though her eyes still belied a great deal of fear.  Miyako knew she wasn't as good at reading living people as she was the dead, but she could tell when she looked in those eyes exactly what was going through her head.

Mostly because she herself was thinking about the same thing.

'Is he dying?'

**
Hasami found the plug.  She gripped it in her sweaty palm, waiting for the right moment to pull it.  She'd planned it in her head a dozen times since this morning.  

First Step: Pull the plug.

Second Step: Take the pills.

Third Step: Be with Tamaki-sama in Heaven forever.

She repeated the third step over and over again as she pulled.

**
Tamaki screamed, the pain exploding anew.  He didn't know how he knew, but somehow he was sure something had just happened to his body.  Something very bad.  

Kenji had just pulled over in front of the Hospital.  Tamaki heard him mumble something about setting a new record time, but didn't pay him much heed.  He heard Haruhi and Miyako jump out of the car.  A second later, his door flew open and Miyako's head popped in, looking straight down at him.

"Can you walk?" she asked in a hard voice.

Tamaki swallowed and tried to nod.  Neither the medium nor the other ghosts seemed to believe him, but he ignored their concerned stares and hoisted himself up.  He hissed in pain as he forced himself into a standing position and gave a large, obviously fake grin to his new friends.

"S-see?" he stammered out with noticeable difficulty.  "I'm j-just fine."

Another wave of pain hit right at that moment, sending him sprawling to the ground until he was caught midway by what appeared to be Hoki.

"I got him," The more experienced ghost said.  "Let's go."

"Miyako, take your purse," Kenji called from the car.

The medium quickly grabbed the item from him and threw the strap over her shoulder.  With that, the group ran up the steps of the Ootori Medical Center.  Hoki lagged behind a bit from Tamaki's weight, but managed to keep up.

"You remember his room number, right?" Miyako questioned Haruhi as they entered the building.

"Of course," Haruhi looked almost offended by the question.  "Room 7337, 10th floor."

Miyako nodded.  They semi-ran to the front desk, startling the receptionist behind it.

"We're here to see Tamaki Suoh," The medium said breathlessly.  "It's urgent."

Her tone had no effect on the woman, who simply raised a bored eyebrow and pulled a clipboard up from the desk.

"Names, please?"

Both Miyako and Haruhi deflated at that.

"The list, I forgot about it."

Next to her, Miyako looked from the uninterested woman to her companion and in haste, pushed the latter forward.

"This is Haruhi Fujioka," she said.  "She's on the list, so let her up."

"Miyako-senpai!" Haruhi's tone made it sound like she was going to protest leaving her there.

"Just go," Miyako said, urging the shorter girl towards the elevators.  "Better one of us get's in than neither.  We have to find out what's going on."

Haruhi thought about that, and realized it made sense.  Before leaving, she gave her upperclassmen a serious look.

"He's still here, right?"

Miyako nodded.  She didn't bother looking for him, she could hear his ever increasing screams and groans of pain with perfect clarity.  The medium gently but urgently pushed the smaller girl along.

"Go, now!"

Haruhi didn't need telling twice.  She ran past the elevators to the stairs, there was no time to waste.  Though she'd never been that good at track, her fear and concern for Tamaki gave her the strength to run up staircase after staircase until she finally reached the top step and the door to her love's floor stood before her.  She ripped it open with only a split second's hesitation.  

She was scared, she was deathly scared.  She never felt this way unless it was during a storm, but on this sunny day, she was beyond terrified of what she would see when she opened the door and ran into Tamaki's room.

'He's alright,' she told herself.  'It's just a fluke.  Maybe he's just having phantom pains or something.  Or maybe he's playing a really awful joke on us.  Or maybe I'm crazy and I've let myself believe an even more crazy person's story about being a medium and seeing Tamaki's spirit.'

Of course, any other explanation was better than the one hitting her mind the hardest.  

Haruhi didn't see anyone else in the hall, though she could hear voices in some of the rooms.  Tamaki's door was just next to a broom closet, and she felt a stabbing pain of her own when she realized it was wide open.  

She didn't think, she just ran, and soon she was standing in the doorway, looking on the scene before her.

It was nothing like she'd expected.

Her worst case scenario was obvious: Tamaki had died, either from his injuries or just his heart giving out.  It would explain his pain and why he apparently couldn't walk.  If that were the case, she'd believe it was nobody's fault save maybe the doctors for not providing proper treatment.

Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined she'd stand at the threshold of Tamaki's door, staring into the equally shocked eyes of a familiar young girl around her age in an Ouran girl's uniform.

"Haruhi Fujioka?" the girl looked like a deer caught in headlights.  "What are you doing here?"

It was around this time Haruhi noticed the plug held tight in the girl's hand.

**
Kyoya started a bit.  He glanced around at his friends, they all looked about as quiet and disillusioned as he previously had.  

They were waiting for Tamaki's other doctor to arrive.  The man wanted to discuss some changes in procedure which might effect their visiting hour allotment, not that Kyoya wasn't sure he could talk them out of cutting their time, of course.

In all honesty, he didn't know why he'd suddenly been pulled back to reality, and he didn't know why he had such a negative feeling in his stomach.

Like something had just gone very, very, wrong.

**
"What are you doing?"

It was all Haruhi could say.  The words shook as they came out of her mouth, as did her fists.  Her eyes burned into the girl's.  A quick look at the wire's length showed her that it's other end was somewhere behind Tamaki's bed.  That alone was enough to horrified and enrage her at the same time.

This girl.

This girl had-

Haruhi didn't have more time to complete her thoughts, as the other girl had finally come out of her stupor and charged forward, grabbing a metal bar as she went.  The girl had already raised it over her head and swung down by the time Haruhi processed what was happening.

The bar cracked against the side of her head, causing an explosion of pain before the lights in Haruhi's mind went out.

**
Miyako ran back to the limousine, her mind a haze of fear, frustration and annoyance.

"What happened?" Kenji called from the driver's seat.

"They wouldn't let me in," The dark haired girl growled.  "Fujioka went ahead, I don't know what's happening."

"What about Suoh?"

Miyako's mouth opened, but all that came out was labored breaths from running.  She glanced to the side, where Hoki stood holding Suoh over his shoulder.  The medium shook her head when she saw him.

"Lay him down," she commanded, motioning to the ground with her hands.  

Hoki obeyed immediately, and crouched down so Elissa could gently pull Tamaki down and lay him flat on the sidewalk.  Tamaki's screaming had stopped for the most part, but he was still clearly in pain and groans emitted from his grit teeth every few seconds.  Naru ran to his side, and this time she held his hand.

"It'll be okay, Mr. Tamaki," she said, sounding oddly mature all of a sudden, even though her voice still wavered.  

"That's right," Elissa reassuringly went on.  "He'll be just fine."

It couldn't be said whether she was trying to calm Naru, Tamaki or herself.

Beside her, Hoki suddenly gave a chuckle, causing the now incensed Elissa to whip her head around and glare at him.

"What in God's name could you be laughing about, you Cretin?"

Her voice was harsh, but Hoki paid no heed, and when he looked at the female ghost, she was surprised to see that he actually looked scared.

"It's nothing," he answered, defeated.  "I just can't think of anything funny to say."

Elissa paused, then nodded in understanding, her face and her heart softening just a bit.  Maybe he wasn't such a cretin after all.

**
Hasami cautiously stuck her head out the door and looked around the edges.  She saw no one, but still waited a moment, not wanting to take any chances.  If anyone saw her, her plan was ruined.

When she was satisfied that no one was watching, Hasami drew her head back in and leaned forward to grab the unconscious Haruhi.  She pulled the boy up by his elbow, momentarily noting how light and scrawny he felt.  No muscle at all.  He must really take this 'bishonen' thing seriously.

She was thankful for it, since it made dragging him out of the room a lot easier.  Mentally she was cursing the stupid commoner boy and his bad timing.  Unlike most of the girl's at the Host Club, including her so called 'friends', Hasami had never liked Haruhi Fujioka.  She always got the feeling he was closer to Tamaki-sama than he should have been, and were she not sure her love wasn't into boys, she'd probably have been worried.  

Whether or not Haruhi was in love with Tamaki-sama wasn't important anyway.  Tamaki-sama would never love him or anyone else the way he did her.  That's way he was going to die with her and not this rotten urchin she was holding.

Hasami pulled Haruhi's body into the closet, which luckily was unlocked and on quick inspection, large enough to hold a person.  She would simply drop Haruhi inside, possibly tie him up in case he awoke and just leave him there.  Much as she didn't like him, Hasami wasn't about to become a killer.  Her and Tamaki-sama didn't count since it was a lover's suicide and he probably wanted it just as much as she did.

The girl pulled Haruhi inside, then moved to grab his legs so she could push him in completely.  That done, she propped him up in a sitting position and searched around for something to tie the boy up with.  The closet was a lot bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside, leaving Hasami a bit more difficultly than she would've liked.

'Just hold on a little longer, Tamaki-sama,' She knew her thoughts wouldn't reach him, but thought them all the same.  'Once I've dealt with him, I'll be back and we can finally die together.'

As she continued her search for a rope or some wire, Haruhi softly groaned.

**
"…hurts… It hurts so bad."  

If he were solid, Miyako would've slapped him.  Instead, she leaned her face in as if about to kiss him, but anyone aware of the situation knew that definitely wasn't the case.

"Stop it, Suoh," She harshly said to him.  "Stop this whining.  You have to fight it.  I don't know what's happening, but it can't be anything you can't endure.  Just try to relax and it'll pass."

He gasped and grit his teeth, his back arching upwards as the vicious pain continued.

"You…" He ground out.  "You don't know-"

"YES I DO!" She shouted, baring her teeth at him in a show of fury and smacking the cement with her open hand.  "Don't argue with me!"

He tried to nod his head, and inwardly smiled.  It seemed that no matter what she said, or how much she tried to act like she didn't, Miyako really did care.

"Miyako," he gasped.  "Thank y- ARRRGH!"

Naru began to dry sob and shoved her face into Elissa's leg.  Anything to not have to watch this anymore.

"AAAH!" Tamaki continued to scream, his eyes suddenly beholding flashes of random memory.  Of France, of his mother, of the Host Club, of Haruhi…

"Oh mon Dieu!" He was barely aware of what he was saying anymore.  "Pourquoi est-ce qui se passe?!  Pourquoi?!"

"Japanese, please, Suoh!" Miyako's voice came out in a loud sing-song.  "I don't speak French."

He didn't seem to hear her as his screaming continued.

"Ça fait mal, s'il vous plaît quelqu'un que ça s'arrête! Mère! Père! Haruhi!"

Tamaki's spiritual body shook in agony, and he was suddenly unable to form coherent phrases in either of his fluent languages.  All he could to now was scream.

And so that's what he did.

**
Haruhi's eyes opened slowly.  Her head was aching and her vision took a moment to come back into focus, but she was able to move her head and see the girl who'd killed Tamaki with her back to her, rummaging through some boxes, clearly looking for something.

"Rope… rope…" the girl muttered.

It was easy to figure out what she needed rope for, and Haruhi knew she had to get out of there before the girl noticed she was awake.  The door was still wide open, anyone who came by would probably see it and investigate, but she couldn't hear anyone coming.  She'd just have to get herself out then.  Haruhi took another glance at her potential captor to make sure the girl's attention was still on her search, then Haruhi slowly leaned forward until her hands were touching the ground.  

She pulled her lower half up onto her knees and ever so gently began crawling to the door.  She stopped a few times when she thought the other girl might be turning around, but she never did, and Haruhi was coming closer and closer to freedom.

Once she was out, Haruhi would run as fast as she could to find a doctor and a security guard.  This girl had done something to Tamaki, Haruhi just knew it.  She was barely a foot away from the door now.  Her heartbeat had increased tremendously, she could hear it pounding in her ears and feel the sweat run down her brow.

Just a little more.

She shifted her leg a bit, she moved a hand forward.  Her middle and ring fingers just barely brushed against the threshold.  Almost there…

Something wrapped itself around her neck.  Haruhi choked on her own breath as she was pulled onto her back.  The girl mounted her, pushing the door closed with her foot as she went.

"What do you think you're doing?" She hissed, her eyes alright with fury.

Haruhi struggled to breath, and the girl tightened the wire around her neck.

"I never liked you, Fujioka," The girl laughed cruelly.  "You're trying to horn in on Tamaki-sama, aren't you?  You gay pervert, as if he'd ever love you."

Maybe it was the way she'd said the last word with such malice, or maybe it was just the meaning behind her awful words, but whatever the reason, Haruhi was suddenly boiling with anger.  She forced herself into a sitting position.  The girl yelped as she fell backwards, and Haruhi was finally able to take a good look at her as she stood and unwrapped the wire from her neck.

"You're Hasami, right?" she stated more than asked.  "One of Tamaki-senpai's clients."

Hasami's answer was an enraged screech as she regained her bearings and lunged at Haruhi.  

"You rotten bastard," Hasami shrieked.  "I hate you!  I hate all of you!  How dare you try and take him from me."

Hasami stopped to deliver a punch to Haruhi's face.  She gasped in pain, but could do nothing else as Hasami grabbed her by the wrists and held tight.

"People like you make me sick!" The other girl spat.  "I can't stand you.  You want him so bad?  You don't deserve him!  He's doesn't love you, he loves me!  He's the only one who does!"

Though in pain and still struggling, Haruhi couldn't help but notice Hasami's eyes filling with tears.

"He loves me," She sobbed. "He loves me for me!  Not like my family.  My dad only loved me because I looked like my mother and let him do what he wanted.  My friends don't care, they all talk about me behind my back, I know they do!  Tamaki-sama's the only one who ever loved me honestly.  I can say anything to him, do anything, and he still smiles and tells me I'm beautiful.  Has he ever told you that you were beautiful?!  I bet he hasn't.  You're too filthy, you don't deserve him.  He would never love you, you little-"

"Yes he has," Haruhi whispered.

"Eh?"  Hasami suddenly noticed that Haruhi hadn't been struggling for the last few seconds.  She looked down at his face, and saw a hard glint in his eyes.

"He has told me," the boy said softly.  "Because he loves me."

Haruhi's fist flew up and punched Hasami hard in the face.

**
"Haruhi… Haruhi…"

"Come on," Miyako groaned.  "Stop it, you aren't gone yet."

She was kneeling before him, doing her best to quiet him despite the fact that no one else could hear him and she probably looked ridiculous to passerby.  None of that mattered at the moment.  Suoh was the important thing.

Kenji had gotten tired of sitting pointlessly in the limousine, and now stood at Suoh's feet, looking to Miyako for answers she couldn't provide.  The teenager stared at her friend, a pleading look in her eye he hadn't seen since she was a young child.  He just wished he knew what to say, he'd never been that good at providing comfort.

Miyako didn't know what to do.  She wished she could take that stupid list and burn it, anything so she could just go see what was happening and maybe know what to do.

"Miyako!"  Elissa's scream rang out.

The medium whipped back around, taking in a full view of Suoh, and immediately understood what the female ghost was wanted her to see.

Suoh's body was fading.

**
In Tamaki's room, his breathing began to slow.  The machines keeping him alive had ceased function, only his heart monitor still worked, and it too was slowing more and more every second.

Next door, Haruhi had only been able to overpower Hasami for a few seconds.  The girl had grabbed onto her leg just as Haruhi had been about to run and pulled her back down; Hasami was much stronger than she looked and Haruhi was no athlete.

"You'll pay for that," Hasami growled, using her body to keep Haruhi's down and pressing on her mouth with one hand so she couldn't scream. "The only reason I haven't silenced you is because I pity you.  You're so stupid if you think he really loves you."

Haruhi jerked around as hard as she could to knock Hasami off while at the same time trying to free her once again trapped arms.  Hasami smirked, the boy's continued attempts to get free were positively hilarious.

"You're too late anyway," She informed him.  Haruhi slowed a bit at that.  "I've already pulled the plug.  He's going to die any minute, and soon I'll join him.  You can just wait here for the doctors to come, and then go live the rest of your pathetic little life.  I don't care, he'll be mine forever by then."

"He doesn't love you," Haruhi hissed in anger through Hasami's hand.  "And whether lives or dies, eventually he'll find out about this, and then he'll hate you!"

In truth, she didn't believe Tamaki had the capacity to hate anyone, but more than anything Haruhi wanted to hurt Hasami.  She was so enraged she couldn't think clearly anymore.  Her words had the affect she desired, as Hasami's grip lessened a bit from the shock of such a statement.  By the time she regained herself, Haruhi had gotten her arm free and was pushing at her face.  Hasami sputtered and shifted positions.  Her now free hand grasped Haruhi's, while her other one pressed Haruhi into the ground by her chest.

Suddenly, Hasami gasped.  She lowered her right arm, but kept the other one on Haruhi's torso, her hazel eyes boring into Haruhi's brown as if suddenly seeing her in a different light.

"This…" Hasami pressed down harder, making Haruhi wince from the slight pain.  "This is… you're a girl?!"

Her jaw was completely down and she seemed to be struggling to breathe.  

"All this time… you've been a girl?"

Hasami was completely thrown by this development, leaving Haruhi a perfect opportunity to escape and get help.  Haruhi pulled herself up as quick as she could, leaving Hasami on the ground as she stood up and bolted for the door.  She grabbed the handle and turned it.  She was almost out.

Arms grabbed her by the shoulders.  Haruhi shrieked as she was flipped over and violently thrown against the metal door, smacking the back of her head in the process and briefly seeing stars.  Hasami pressed something cold and metal against Haruhi's neck.  With her teeth bared, and her eyes wide and her breath coming out loud from her nostrils, she looked more animal than human.

"You're a girl," Hasami repeated in a low, growling voice.  "So that's it.  You thought you could fake being a boy.  Get on his good side.  You little bitch, I won't forgive you for that."

The force against her neck vanished, and Hasami raised a pair of scissors in the air over Haruhi's face.  

With a scream, Hasami flung her wrist down, but Haruhi caught it with her own free hand.  From there, an all out power struggle began.  Whenever it looked like one was about to prevail, the other turned the tides, if only for a second.  Hasami was clearly pushing with all she had, and showed no signs of giving up any time soon. Haruhi called up whatever strength she had left, picturing Tamaki in her mind, Tamaki safe and alive and happy in her arms.  It would happen.  He wouldn't die, and she would escape and they would be happy and everything would go back to normal.

Haruhi believed that.  She believed it stronger than anything else.  

She believed in Tamaki.

**
"What's happening?"  Tamaki gasped.  

The pain was gone.  It had been so strong, so unbearable, but now he felt nothing.  Literally nothing, he was completely numb.

"NO!" Miyako screamed.  "You can't die!"

'Die?' He repeated mentally.  'I'm dying?'

Miyako, meanwhile, could only watch Suoh fade a little more every second.  His body was increasingly transparent, Naru and Elissa gave tearless sobs in the background and Kenji was demanding answers.  Hoki was looking at her and shaking his head.  He knew what was going on just as she did.

"What's happening?" Suoh's voice was echoing now, and becoming harder for her to make out.

"No!" Miyako shouted futilely again.

In his last moment on earth, before his body and consciousness completely faded, it was clear that only one person was on his mind, and as he vanished, it was her that he called to.

"Haruh…"  She could no longer hear him.  His body was completely transparent now.

And then he was gone.

In the hospital room far away from there, Tamaki's body had stilled; his heart monitor showed a flat line and rang out a steady beep.

Miyako stared at the spot where just a moment ago, Tamaki Suoh had rested.  She sat there on her knees, just like two years ago when he entered her life in a flash and left it just as quickly.  Back then, he'd left her on her knees, just like he did now.  But last time, he'd left her in peace, with a cheerful smile across his face, and as he walked away with a confident, friendly air about him, her own lips had turned upwards of their own volition.  She had smiled… just like he wanted.

"A pretty girl like you should smile."

Her eyes filling with tears, Miyako cried out in rage and punched the ground.

"You stupid... you stupid son of a bitch..."