//Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club.//

CHAPTER FOUR
THE MEET UP

Asami knows in her mind that this could be a trap to kidnap her back, but her heart yearns to see Emica once more and to hopefully learn the truth about everything. She stands outside Tamaki's room while trying to think of an excuse to get him to go with her to Shirakawa. She would be safer if she went with someone plus their father does not allow her to leave the house without someone accompanying her. Tamaki is usually the person to stay by her side, but once in a while, an actual guard from the mansion will go with her to places. She nervously taps her fingers against her thought before sighing and lifting her hand up to knock on his door. She hears a yelp, a crash, and hurried shuffling. The door opens to reveal a disheveled Tamaki. "Are you in need of my assistance, my darling sister?" He grins brightly at her.

"What were you doing in here?" She ignores his protests as she pushes him out of the way and walks into his room. She crosses her arms, raising a curious eyebrow at the litter of magazine all over the floor that contain images of Tamaki and the rest of his friends. "Are you guys secretly hookers?" She bends down and picks one up, flipping to a random page to see a top less Takashi. A light blush covers her cheeks as her eyes lock onto his muscles. The quiet stoic character has never been the typical person Asami would simp over in her books or anime shows, but maybe in real life, she would.

"No!" The magazine is ripped out of her hands and furiously thrown into the trash by Tamaki. "My precious sister will not be corrupted by these heathens!"

"They're your friends," she sweatshops at his rabid behavior — he's throwing away all the magazines with smoke coming out of his head and his eyes flashing a dangerous red.

"Heathens!" He shrieks. He crouches lowly to the ground and his hands are practically ripping his hair out. "How am I going to stop them from corrupting you when school starts in the next few weeks? They're going to be all over you!" He suddenly gasps and a dark cloud looms over him. Asami curiously pokes the cloud, not understanding how it's solid and how it appeared. "I won't just have to fight off my friends, I'll have to fight off all the boys at school."

"Tamaki, you don't have to worry about that now," she cautiously pats his head and watches as the dark cloud disappears while he gazes up at her with puppy dog eyes, "we still have weeks before I join your school and I'm not looking for a relationship."

"Good," he shoots up and hugs her tightly, "no guy will ever be good enough for you." She nods her head in agreement and he releases her. "Now, what did you need?"

"How do you feel about visiting Shirakawa with me and meeting my friends?" She asks, her right fingers picking at the skin on her left fingers.

"Shirakawa?" He repeats with a slight frown on his face. "Is it safe to go back there?"

"It should be, you heard the police at the party. She's in Miyazaki. I don't think she's coming back." She lies through her nervous smile. She prays that he agrees because she does want to see her friends again too.

"It would be nice to see where you grew up and meet your friends," he taps his chin in thought and snaps his fingers. "I will go with you! When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow if that's okay, I still need to ask father." Tamaki seems happy at her using the term father more often. "Do you think you could come with me?"

"Of course," Tamaki links arms with her and begins dragging her to the main mansion to talk to their father. They nod and wave at the staff working late while making their way towards his office where he usually is. Asami realizes that Yuzuru does not really sleep. "Father, we have-" the two siblings stop when they see their father talking to someone over the phone. Yuzuru pauses and sighs into the phone.

"My children decided to burst into my office. Give me one minute please," he places himself on mute and places his phone down on the desk. "Is there something you two need? Why are you up so late?" He glances at the clock. "You two should be in bed even if it's a Friday."

"I know, father, but I have been missing Shirakawa," Asami flinches a bit at the dark look that comes over his face, "Hikari and Kaori asked me to come visit this weekend. It's been a while since I last saw them and I thought as long as I had someone with me, it would be okay to go. I would check in with you every hour too. Anything to make this more easy for everyone." She glances down and shuffles her feet. "I just..."

"Okay," Asami glances up in shock, "You can go. I want a call, not a text, from you every hour telling me where you are and what you guys are doing. Take pictures and send them to me as well, I would like to see your favorite places in Shirakawa and how your friends are." Yuzuru approaches them and gently touches her shoulders. "It makes me uncomfortable that you want to go back, but that is where you grew up and I understand you may be feeling...homesick," he practically spits the word out. "Promise me, you'll be safe."

"I promise." She says with a sweet smiles as she crosses her fingers behind her back.

•••

Asami stares at the group of teenage boys before her with a glare. "Tamaki, I thought it was just going to be us."

"I thought this was going to be the perfect time for some host club bonding!" Tamaki gushes.

"Perfect time to bond with you," the twins Hikaru and Kaoru snicker as they slide on either side of her and wrap an arm around her shoulder. "Especially since we'll be in the same year."

"I still have to take the exams," Asami ducks out from under their arms and brushes her shoulders off. "Maybe I'll get lucky and get rejected." She mumbles, glaring at the twins. The two smirk at her and Hikaru winks.

"This is a perfect opportunity to get pictures for our magazines in a new scenery." Kyoya states and pushes his glasses up his nose. "It'll be a special edition that we can charge extra for." Asami shakes her head at him. In the few times they have met, she really does not care for Kyoya's attitude.

"I can't wait to see your hometown, Ami-chan!" Mitsukuni twirls around with stars swirling around him. Takashi nods his head at her. Asami blinks at the nickname but dismisses it to focus on something else.

"How do you and Tamaki do this?" Asami whispers, trying to poke the stars like she did with the dark cloud from yesterday. The stars disappear as soon as she touches one and she blinks in shock. "You weirdos." She checks her watch to see that it is currently four a.m. "Come on, the train leaves soon and it's a five hour trip to Shirakawa. We need to be there by 10 a.m. to meet up with my friends." She gestures towards the train where many people are boarding. She texted Hikari and Kaori late last night asking them to meet her at the local cat cafe at 10 a.m. The twins quickly agreed, happy to see their friend again. The group makes their way onto the train and find seats next to each other. Asami watches in amusement as the twins fight with Mitsukuni over who gets to sit next to her. She turns her gaze to look outside the window. A soft laugh escapes her when she notices a frustrated father chasing after two giggling children who are covered in chocolate.

"How irresponsible," she turns her head to see that Kyoya sat next to her.

"I'm sure he didn't give them chocolate this early in the morning," she rolls her eyes at him, "they probably stole some in the snack bag he has." She points out the bag overflowing with snacks in his hands.

"Still, if he kept a better eye on his children, they wouldn't have had the chance to get in the bag." He mumbles and takes out a laptop.

"Are you going to be on that the entire time?" She asks, grimacing as she imagines listening to the annoying tapping keys the entire five hour trip.

"I have to make sure the club's accounts are balanced, make food and decoration orders, and plan events." He informs her, not glancing up from his work. "So yes, I will be doing this the entire time."

"Why didn't you sit next to someone else?" She questions. She eyes the seating pairs. The twins are sitting together, Mitsukuni and Takashi are sitting together and then poor Tamaki is sitting next to an elder lady who is snoring away on his shoulder.

"The only other person I would sit by is Mori, but I knew he was going to sit next to Honey so I needed to find the next quiet person in the group which is you." He explains. She hums and nods, realizing that he is right. The twins and Tamaki are too loud and outgoing to sit next to. They'll probably spend the whole trip fighting over something. A ding catches their attention and she pulls out her phone to see a message from the twin girls.

From: Hikari
Looking forward to seeing you!

From: Kaori
GIRL HURRY THE HELL UP SO I CAN SEE THAT CUTE ASS

Asami snorts at the difference in messages. She replies back to both messages with hearts and a 'I'll see you soon, just got on the train!' She stuffs her phone away, a small smile on her face. "You seem happy." Kyoya points out.

"How can I not be? I'm going back h-" She pauses as she realizes what she was going to say.

"Home." He finally looks up from his laptop and locks eyes with her. There is a gleam of understanding in his eyes that settles the shame in her stomach. "You're finally going home."

•••

They arrive in Shirakawa at 9 a.m. which gives them an hour to mess around before they have to arrive at the cat cafe. Asami breathes in the air and smiles, closing her eyes as they get off the train together. "Wow, look at all the poor people." Her smile falls and she opens her eyes to glare at Hikaru.

"Privileged rich boy," she snarls and launches herself at him, "it's a small town! Don't be such a dick!" Takashi catches her before she could kill Hikaru.

"Thank you, Mori. We cannot have a scratch on any of the members for the photoshoot." Kyoya comments. "Please refrain from hurting the club members until after the photo shoot, Asami."

"I will if your club members can refrain from being rude douches." She snaps. Hikaru crosses his arms with a frown directed towards her.

"Asami," Tamaki takes her out of Takashi's hands and twirls her, pressing his cheeks against her cheeks. "Show us everything! I want to see where my baby sister grew up! Where's your school? Where did you buy groceries? Where did you go out to eat? Where did you meet your friends?" He babbles on for a few more minutes as Asami pulls her phone out to take a picture of them and send it to their father. True to her word, she has called him every hour since they left. She called him right before they got off the train so she has another hour until she had to call again.

From: Yuzuru
YOU TWO ARE SO CUTE, I WISH I WAS THERE

"Come on," Asami wiggles herself out of Tamaki's grip, "I'll show you my old house." The group walk down the dirt pathways, passing by run down buildings and shops. The people they walk by stop and stare at them, mostly staring at Asami. Asami remembers everyone and tries to not scream out their names when they stare at her. Only a few brave people said hello to her and asked her how she was which she appreciated. She missed the close knit community that she now feels ostracized from. Every now and then, Kyoya forces them to stop so Asami can take pictures of the host club members. She honestly finds the entire thing a bit ridiculous especially when the twins pulled out eye drops to put in their eyes to make it look like they're crying in a few emotional photos. She grumbles as Kyoya forces them to stop again by a fountain in the middle of the town's rose garden. They were only a few yards away from her old house.

"This will be a beautiful photo," Kyoya states. Asami growls and roughly takes the camera from him. The host club get into their regular poses and she snaps a few pictures of it. While they discuss what other poses they should do, she tilts her head upwards to stare at the birds flying in the sky. She use to sit by this fountain and feed the birds whenever she got bored.

"Asami?" The group pauses in their discussion as Asami turns to see who called her name. A male as tall as Takashi with lilac hair and violet eyes approaches them.

"Kazuki," Asami happily greets, "how are you?" The duo hugs one another fairly quickly but she secretly wished it was for longer. Kazuki always has this calming aura surrounding him. Whenever she felt too stressed out, she would seek him out for one of his calming hugs.

"I think I'm doing a lot better than you," Kazuki laughs before it dies and he smiles gently at her, "how are you?" She smiles at him with slight tears in her eyes. Out of everyone that asked her that question, she knows Kazuki is one of the rare few that actually means it.

"I'm okay," she whispers. "But I'm getting better."

"I'm glad." He says back. Suddenly, a dark cloud forms over the two. Asami sighs and looks over at her brother knowing full well he was the reason behind the change of weather. Kazuki looks confused at the cloud. "Is that normal?"

"It is when you're with him." Asami sighs.

"Who are you?" Tamaki cuts in between them. "How dare you touch my precious sister!"

"Tamaki, stop," Asami pulls him back, "Kazuki is a childhood friend. We grew up together and went to the same schools, but we were usually in different classes. Kazuki, this is my long lost brother, Tamaki and his friends: Kyoya, Takashi, Mitsukuni, Kaoru and Hikaru."

"Kazuki Hayami at your service," Kazuki dramatically bows. "It's nice to meet all of you. I hope you're taking good care of Asami." His violet eyes narrow at the boys.

"Tamaki is, I don't really spend time with those losers." Asami comments as the twins shout in protest at being called losers.

"Good, they seem like bad influences." Kazuki says and immediately the dark cloud disappears. The two exchange a confused look and then look at Tamaki who is gleaming happily at Kazuki.

"You're so right! They are bad influences!" Tamaki wraps his arms tightly around Kazuki. "I'm happy someone else finally sees what I see! Heathens!" He screeches at the host club members who stare blankly at their so called leader.

"Boss, are you for real?" Kaoru sighs.

"Milord," Hikaru dramatically places a hand to his forehead and collapses into Kaoru's arms, "how can you be so rude to us?" Asami watches the two. She thought Kaoru would be the immature twin considering Tamaki said he's the younger one, but Hikaru seems to be more dramatic and childish than Kaoru. 

"Be quiet! You two are the main culprits of evil!" Tamaki releases Kazuki to scream at the twins. The twins cross their arms and turn their heads to the side to ignore Tamaki which only angers the blind even more.

"What are you doing?" Kazuki asks Asami curiously.

"I wanted to show them where I grew up." Kazuki nods in understanding with a sad smile on his face directed towards her. "Don't, I don't need your pity."

"I know, but I can't help that I feel bad for you considering the situation." Kazuki and Asami begin to walk away from the group and towards her room. The host club quickly follows after them with Tamaki basically sprinting to stay next to his sister. He narrows his eyes at Kazuki, not liking the smitten gleam in his violet eyes. No one should be looking at his dear sister that way. They eventually make it to her old home and a frown crosses her face as she eyes the for sale sign in the yard.

"You lived here?" Hikaru asks in disbelief. "How do commoners live in these conditions?" Asami truly finds it difficult to stop herself from punching the ginger twin because she knows Kyoya would probably make her pay for ruining future photos. Luckily for Asami and for Hikaru (because she would ensure he was a bloody mess if she got her hands on him), Kaoru slaps him on the arm and gives him a stern look. She wonders why Kaoru seems to be more empathic than Hikaru but dismisses her thoughts about the twins while she walks up the stairs of her home. The front door is unlocked and she pushes it open, slowly entering the mud room. Her breath hitches when she notices that the sellers have yet to rid the house of their belongings. Emica's white indoor slippers lay next to Asami's purple ones by the front door on their welcoming mat. Pictures of the two are still hung on the wall, her art crafts from when she was a child are still on the mantels, and Emica's wax warmer still has the half-finished lavender scent in it. Tears swell in her eyes as she walks through the house, heading to the kitchen where memories of Emica making her favorite food and sweets fill her thoughts.

"Asami?" Kazuki nervously puts a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe this is too much for you." He whispers after seeing how tense her posture is and how heavy her breathing is. The host club are exploring the house with curious expressions on their faces since they have never been in a commoner's home before. They expected the house to be destroyed and dirty and old, but surprisingly, the house is quite clean even with all the clutter. Tamaki pauses and grabs a picture off the mantel, lifting it closer to his face. Asami looks to be seven in the picture with her hair pulled back into two pigtails and her one front tooth missing as she smiles widely into the camera. He recognizes the beach, it's located in Cannes. He went there with their mother when he was eight. He looks closer in the background and gasps when he notices the faded figures of him and their mother by the water. Was Emica stalking them this entire time?

"Tamaki," he turns to see Kyoya approaching him with a raises eyebrow. As much as Kyoya likes to act and say he hates everyone, Tamaki is one of his closest friends meaning he can easily read the blond's body language. "What did you find?" Tamaki hands over the picture and points in the background.

"That's me and our mother. Asami was so close to us that day and we never spotted her." He mumbles and quietly looks over to his sister. "If only we paid more attention to our surroundings, she could've come home sooner." Kyoya frowns at the picture.

"This is a bit concerning," he comments, "this could mean that Emica was stalking you back then. I'll need to show my father this for the investigation." Tamaki nods his head in understanding as he soaks in the possible reasoning behind the picture. It is weird that Emica would show up to that same beach on the same day as them. Also, while Emica and Asami are the focal point in the picture, Tamaki and his mother are centered perfectly in the background — almost as if she did it on purpose.

"Hey Asami," Hikaru walks over to the girl with an object in hand, "what's this?" Asami and Kazuki both turn to face the twin and deadpan at the object in his hand.

"It's a handheld vacuum." Asami replies, reaching over and taking the object out of his hand. "It cleans dust and dirt," she turns it on and Hikaru honestly looks amazed. She turns it off and set it onto a table. "The cat cafe isn't far from here, we have to leave now to make it in time." She stares after glancing at the clock and seeing that she has fifteen minutes before she sees Emica once more.

"I have to go to work," Kazuki sighs and smiles at Asami. "It was really nice seeing you again. You should visit more often," he hugs her once more before waving goodbye to everyone and leaves. Tamaki glares at his fading figure and slides next to his sister, wrapping an arm around her. The glare vanishes when she curiously looks over at him.

"Lead the way, my darling sister!" Tamaki gushes, escorting her out of the house.

"She's going to have a hard time finding a boyfriend." Kaoru snorts, watching the interaction. The rest of the host club sighs and nods in agreement knowing that Tamaki is going to run off any boy that even looks at her.

•••

"Here we are," Asami grins happily as they near the cat cafe. Cats of various breeds are lounging outside where people stop to pet them. Hikari and Kaori are standing by the entrance and they release loud squeals when they see the group.

"Asami!" The twin girls shout and rush towards their friend, yanking her into a tight hug.

"Hello to you too," Asami laughs and pulls away with a smile on her face. "Guys, this is Hikari and Kaori. That's my brother, Tamaki and his friends, Kyoya, Mori, Honey, Hikaru and Kaoru."

"Hikaru? Kaoru?" The twin girls repeats and approach the twin boys. The twins circle each other with glares on their faces. Asami watches in amusement as it seems the four are telepathically speaking to each other. Suddenly, the glares disappear and are replaced with smiles. "Nice to meet you!" Asami glances at the clock to see she has two minutes before it hits ten o'clock.

"Can you get us a table? I'm going to use the restroom real quick." Asami informs the girl twins who nod their heads. They lead the host club members into the cat cafe and to a large booth in the back of the place while Asami splits off from them and heads to the bathroom. She opens the door, her heart beating out of her chest.

"Oh my little butterfly," Emica steps out of the shadows and opens her arms, "come to me."

"Mom," Asami chokes out and rushes into her arms with tears sliding down her face. She clutches onto Emica as sobs shake her body.

"It's okay," Emica assures her, "everything is going to be okay. I'm here now." Asami knows that their time together is short because everyone will get suspicious if she stays in the restroom for too long. She pulls away a bit and stares at Emica. The woman wears a baseball hat to hide her hair and she has green contacts in to cover up her brown eyes.

"Why?" Asami whispers. "Why did you do it?" Emica sighs and gently ticks a piece of Asami's hair behind her ear. "I want to hate you and forget about you, but it's hard when I still see you as my mother despite everything."

"Hearing that makes me so happy, I was so afraid that they'll turn you against me," Emica tearfully admits. "Yuzuru is not being truthful with you or Tamaki about your relations with me."

"What do you mean?" Asami asks.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." Emica shakes her head. "He needs to be the one to tell you and I need to gather evidence to support my case."

"Evidence?" Asami questions.

"I will get you back," Emica determinedly tells her with a crazy gleam in her eyes that even her contacts could not cover up. "You are mine, not theirs." She spits out the last word with such hatred. "I have to go now, butterfly."

"No," Asami tightly grips her wrist, "you need to tell me the truth now. What will the evidence prove? What do you mean our relations? What does Tamaki have to do with any of this?" Emica seems to mentally struggle with what she should say to answer these questions.

"I will tell you one thing," Asami holds her breath awaiting whatever bombshell Emica is about to drop on her, "I never met to only grab you. I was suppose to take Tamaki with me as well, but he was too far away that day. I would've risked us if I tried getting him." Asami's eyes widen at that revelation and Emica slips out of her grip. "Goodbye, keep an eye on your phone. I'll be in touch again, but not for a while. Pass your high school exams and enjoy your time with your new family for now because you will return to me one day. Just be patient." With that said, Emica pulls her hoodie over her baseball hat and heads to the door. She pauses and says one final thing, "ask Yuzuru to see pictures of Anne-Sophie pregnant with you two, maybe that will help put some pieces together," and she leaves. Asami leans against the sink as her mind whirls. Asami was not the only target that day. Tamaki was suppose to be kidnapped as well. Asami and Tamaki could've been raised together as siblings. For some odd reason, Emica is implying that Anne-Sophie is not their true mother but that cannot be true since the two look so much like her and nothing like Emica. Her head hurts as she tries to think what all of this could possibly means, but she does not come up with a plausible answer. She runs some cold water and splashes it on her face in the hopes of hiding any evidence of her crying. She closes her eyes, willing all of her strength before leaving the room as well.

•••

Tamaki can tell something is wrong when Asami joins them after a few minutes. He frowns, eyeing the redness and slight swelling around her blue eyes. He glances to the side to see Kyoya glancing between the two, also noticing the signs of crying. He wonders what made her cry. Was visiting her home town too much for her? Is she regretting coming here because she realizes she cannot stay? Tamaki puts a smile on his face and grabs her hand, squeezing it comfortingly. "I ordered you some red bean cake."

"Thank you," Asami grins happily, a bit surprised that he actually remembered her favorite dessert. Her phone dings a few times and she reaches into her pocket, pulling it out. She clicks the answer button and pulls Tamaki into the camera. The FaceTime connects and their father is revealed.

"Everything good?" Yuzuru asks.

"Yep, Tamaki and I are eating at a cat cafe right now. Maybe we'll bring home one of the cats too." Asami cheekily smiles.

"You may bring home one cat," Yuzuru holds up one finger to emphasis that number, "but no more than that. I'm glad to see you two enjoying yourselves. When will you come home?" Asami flinches a bit at the word home causing Yuzuru and Tamaki to both frown. They understand the adjustment is hard, but they truly wish that Asami would start seeing them as family and their house as her home.

"We'll leave around noon so we should be home around five." Tamaki replies.

"Okay, I'll leave you two to it. Have fun!" Yuzuru tells them and hangs up. Asami puts her phone away before turning to Tamaki with a mischievous look on her face.

"How mad do you think he'll be if it's more than one cat?"

At five o'clock, Yuzuru awaits his children by the front door. He falls over in shock when Asami and Tamaki walk in with five cats following them and giant grins on their faces.