DISCLAIMER: Ouran High School Host Club is the property of Bisco Hatori.

NOTE: In this story, episodes 25 and 26 of the anime didn't happen.

CHAPTER ONE

Kyoya thought he was the first one home tonight which meant he had to do the dinner dishes. He started hatching a scheme to saddle someone else with the task when he noticed Haruhi's slippers were missing from their accustomed place by the door.

He smirked. He'll remind her during dinner in front of the others that she arrived home long before any of them. If they were still in high school, he would have also added onto her debt.

Washing plates had become a family tradition. It was the by-product of Haruhi's failed attempt to get them to do housework. She had somehow convinced six pampered princelings to live without a slew of servants waiting on them.

In his case, she appealed to the miser in him. She told Kyoya it was a waste of money to pay others for things they could just do themselves. Then she calculated in front of him just how much they would save.

But after a week of their disastrous efforts at housework, Haruhi decided that washing dishes was the only thing these rich bastards could do with the least amount of damage.

Broken glasses and plates were easily replaced. Not so the frayed nerves she got from the twins blowing up the oven and Tamaki turning everyone's clothing pink in the wash.

Now they have a cook, a maid and a driver. Once a week, the servants would take a day off and Haruhi would cook dinner. The twins came up with the solution on who got stuck with the dishes afterward.

But something struck Kyoya as odd. The house was too quiet. He went into the kitchen but there was no dinner simmering on the stove and more importantly, no Haruhi in sight.

He checked her room but found only her bag and the clothes she wore that morning.

"Haruhi? Are you home?"

Perhaps she went out to the store with one of the others? Even Haruhi was bound to get a craving now that she was seven months pregnant, he thought and headed for his room.

He tossed his briefcase on the bed, took off his coat and loosened his tie. He wanted a shower before dinner and went to the bathroom. But the light was already on.

An unconscious Haruhi lay sprawled on the bathroom floor. Kyoya didn't notice the pool of blood until he stepped in it. He could not stop himself from calling out her name in a voice he hardly recognized as his own.

Kyoya forced himself to remain calm. He needed to take control of the situation like he always does, like everyone expects him to.

He checked Haruhi and was relieved to see she was still alive. He called for an ambulance without sounding desperate and unlocked the front door for the paramedics. He cradled Haruhi in his arms while waiting for help to arrive. Her skin felt clammy to the touch.

The paramedics took Haruhi to the nearest emergency room which turned out to be the local general hospital. The sick, the injured and their families jammed the waiting room. No one paid attention to the tall bespectacled man in a blood-stained shirt who leaned against the wall.

It seemed to Kyoya that an eternity elapsed before a young doctor appeared asking for him. He listened impassively as the man explained that Haruhi bled so much she might lose the baby or even her life.

He thanked the doctor for the information and dismissed him politely. The man looked askance at Kyoya's unruffled demeanor before rushing back to help the others tending to Haruhi. He pitied the woman for having such a cold companion.

Kyoya noted the "no cell phones allowed" signs posted all over the emergency room and quickly walked outside. He called a number he thought he'd never have to again.

"Ohtori residence."

"I would like to talk to Ohtori-san."

"I'm sorry sir but the master doesn't take phone calls at night. You can try his office tomorrow."

"I'm afraid this can't wait. Tell him it's an emergency and Kyoya needs help."