16Haruhi stirred awake; her tired eyes trying to blink away the harsh sunlight as she regained consciousness. She felt herself reclined in an uncomfortable position against what felt like bloated canvas. Her head rested on something different, something much smoother and softer. She felt something was wrong – she knew something was wrong – and tried to position her weak arms beneath her bottom to sit herself up but stopped short when a sharp pain bit her right hip. Instinctively she seethed through gritted teeth and felt a calloused hand gently guiding her back to her original position; although this time she also noticed the warm water lapping at her ankles.
"She's awake." A voice said from beyond her hazy vision.
"Haruhi," a second voice, one much deeper, whispered beside her. The same calloused hand cupped her jaw while its thumb carefully slid across her chapped lips. Squinting to see past the blinding sunlight she could make out a silhouette with frayed hair looming over her right side.
Another hand, a smaller softer one, slipped beneath her and cradled her head while a shadowed finger slowly waved above her.
"Haruhi, can you follow my finger with your eyes?" A third voice asked, worry evident within the deep tone. Everything sounded fuzzy, as if she was underwater, and she strained her ears to hear the distant voices. She followed the shadowed finger as best she could but the mixture of bright sunlight and strong salty air irritated her sensitive eyes.
"Is Haru-chan going to be alright Kyo-chan?"
"Yes, I think so. Give her a moment to wake up."
The fuzzy voices grew more distinct as she became more coherent. She recognized the two closest to her as Kyoya and Mori while the others sounded nearby but not in a particular order. Haruhi took a deep shaky breath before forcing herself to sit up. Her stiff muscles protested with pain although nothing compared to the piercing burn in her right hip.
"Easy Haruhi, you shouldn't strain yourself." Kyoya warned, supporting her back with his hand that previously held her head.
Mori brushed the back of his fingers across her flushed cheeks, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "How do you feel?" His concern was palpable in his voice.
"Awful." She groaned honestly.
Kyoya sighed, "I'd imagine you would after how hard you hit your head."
He moved from his seat to sit in front of her, squatting above the water. He leaned forward and carefully grazed his fingertips across her forehead, checking for cuts and bumps. After only finding a small cut on her right temple he moved to her eye, using two fingers to spread her eyelids open for a better view of her pupil. Haruhi winced backwards but his steady hand on her back forced her still.
"I apologize but I need to make sure you don't have a concussion." Kyoya explained. When he seemed satisfied with her fair condition he released her and moved back to his seat beside her.
"What did I hit my head on?" Haruhi asked; her voice oddly hoarse.
Her eyes finally adjusted to the harsh sunlight and she saw her battered friends circled around the lifeboat, sitting in a few inches of saltwater. Hikaru and Kaoru leaned against each other back to back, connected by their interlocked fingers. Tamaki sat with his knees pulled to his chest, his usually bright blue eyes now darkened by shock. Hunny leaned against Mori's left side with his hair shading his eyes, also tucking his knees into his chest as he lazily watched the water splash against their ankles.
Kyoya patted a metal box by his feet, "Ironically, you fell into the first aid box. The fall knocked you unconscious instantly."
Haruhi nodded. It explained her headache but having one question answered unleashed a dozen more. They all demanded to be addressed immediately which only worsened her headache.
She rubbed her right temple and sighed, "Can someone please tell me what happened last night? Everything happened so fast and I-."
"The ship is gone." Tamaki interrupted; his voice hoarse from little use since last night.
Haruhi looked at him dumfounded, trying to process his jarring words, "What do you mean…"
"The hurricane dismantled the ship." Kyoya confessed. "If we didn't abandon ship when we did… we would have sunk with it." Haruhi could hear his pride falter in his voice but just as quickly he reassembled it; clearing his throat and adjusting his glasses. Even now, even after all they've just encountered, he tried to keep his calm composure. Whether it was to protect the Ootori name or his own ego she wasn't sure but his guilt was evident as it seeped through the cracks of his façade; forcing him to not meet his friends' eyes as he addressed them.
"You're kidding me." Haruhi stared at Kyoya; her eyes widening with her growing fear. She vividly remembered basking in sunlight on the open deck while a playful breeze ruffled her hair. The weather was so beautiful, calm even, that when the storm began it appeared out of nowhere. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Overnight she had lost her vacation, her summer, and everything she brought on board. Her clothes and books were most likely being nibbled by curious fish by now. But most importantly, she and her friends almost lost their lives.
The truth of their situation was almost too difficult for her to accept. It felt like a nightmare, one she couldn't shake loose from, but her friend's weary eyes and tense scowls convinced her otherwise. She was fully awake; sitting in a lifeboat on the open ocean while their ship settled on the ocean's floor, leaving them vulnerable, scared, and completely alone.
"We lost everything." Hikaru said; his angry eyes focused on the ocean waves softly rocking the lifeboat.
"I don't understand." Haruhi eyed him curiously; his words sounded foreign to her, their truth lost in her confusion. Her mind was still trying to wrap itself around the fact that their ship sank.
Hikaru threw his free arm out, broadly gesturing towards the ocean, "Do you see the ship anywhere? Come on Haruhi, open your eyes! Everything we had, everything we owned, it's all gone! We lost everything! It's all probably in a whale's stomach by now!"
Haruhi narrowed her eyes at him, contemplating if she wanted to chastise his behavior. He was notorious for aggressively overreacting but in this moment she couldn't fault him. Maybe he wasn't overreacting. Perhaps she was underreacting? She chose to follow his gesture and searched the ocean around them. Deep cerulean water stretched for miles; white foam capping its tossing waves. The water disappeared beneath the far horizon without the promise for land or passing ships.
Haruhi gasped as she finally comprehended their dire situation. Horror swelled in her stomach until she felt physically sick. They were completely and utterly alone; exposed to the unforgiving elements without so much a prayer.
"Can we call for a rescue boat?" Haruhi asked. She wasn't sure if she should ask, fearing the worst. However, the thought of being hopelessly stranded terrified her too much and she needed to know for certain. She needed to know if she could look forward to rescue or if she should make her peace with God.
"What did you not understand about everything, Haruhi?" Hikaru growled, his temper rising as he lost control over his restraint, "We can't call for help!"
Kaoru squeezed Hikaru's hand, hoping to press his reassurance into his sweaty palms. Although Hikaru had every right to be angry he couldn't allow his twin to be pushed over the edge. Each person struggled to find balance between their humane sanity and their natural instinct to survive. Kaoru could practically see their darkened auras suffocating their bruised bodies as they fought for inner peace. Hikaru's outbursts threatened to overthrow the lifeboat into chaos and although Kaoru's spirit was also crushed he had to focus his energy on Hikaru.
"Didn't anyone grab their cellphone before we boarded the lifeboat?" Haruhi could understand that in the moment of abandoning ship her friends might have forgotten to grab an umbrella but surely someone had remembered to a cellphone – their only lifeline.
Kyoya pulled his cellphone from his shirt's pocket and lifted it for her to see, "Yes but they're useless now. The water drowned the batteries."
"We're good as dead! How they can find us if we can't turn on the GPS tracker?" Hikaru yelled. He nearly fumbled forward in his outburst but Kaoru's firm hand kept him in place.
"Stop Hikaru! Please, just stop." Kaoru pleaded, forcing his brother in place with two hands pressed into his shoulders. "You're not helping by yelling. We need to think about this. We need to work as a team if we want to survive. Your anger won't help us work as a team. Do you understand?" He grabbed Hikaru and spun him around so they could sit face to face and leaned his forehead against his; silently begging his brother to cooperate no matter how much it pained him.
Hikaru clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to stop the cascading flow of bitter tears. But his efforts were futile and tears slipped from beneath his eyelids, trailing his flushed cheeks.
"We don't have anything to row with. We don't have any life jackets. We don't have food or water. We have nothing Kaoru. We're going to die on this lifeboat!"
Kaoru pet his brother's hair and allowed his own tears to fall. "We have each other Hikaru."
Hikaru angrily pushed away from Kaoru and leaned over the boat's bloated edge, his face disappearing behind the fabric. Seconds later he emptied his stomach into the ocean while Kaoru lightly patted his back.
"We should have died last night." Tamaki muttered. "It was by sheer miracle that we escaped with our lives."
The weight of Tamaki's words caught Haruhi's breath. She understood Tamaki as a man with a theatrical personality; a man ready to flaunt his romantic vocabulary and vivacious charisma. The man who sat across from her was a husk of his former self as if the storm's angry waves swept away his spirit. His fragile mind was laden with stress caused by their recent trauma and a dull ache grew in her chest as she watched his attempts to cope with the reality of their situation. Her heart physically mourned her friend's silent fight for sanity.
Kaoru glared at Kyoya, allowing his unchecked aggravation to finally surface, "What went wrong Kyoya? Why couldn't an Ootori ship survive a storm?"
"Mind you, we were hit by a hurricane not a storm." Kyoya quipped.
Hikaru wiped the last of his bile from his lips with his damp sleeve and pointed a rigid finger at Kyoya, "You bragged about this self-driving ship for weeks, saying it was the state of the art technology! What went wrong!
"I don't know!" Kyoya barked, losing his grip on his cool composure. In truth, he didn't know what went wrong. He was certain his father hired the most skilled, respected, and decorated shipwrights to their project. They were paid handsomely and given flexible deadlines to ensure the projects success. His father invested a small fortune into the ship – the ship that now lied on the ocean's floor.
He vividly remembered watching the ship sink beneath the crashing waves as the hosts scrambled into their corners. The water flooding the ship weighed down its buoyancy until the open deck barely hovered above the waves. The bow was the first to disappear beneath the water and not long afterwards the storm's rage managed to break the ship in two. The rugged pieces stood up straight towards the black sky before succumbing to their watery graves. Kyoya was forced to watch his pride drown alongside the battered aluminum; a traumatic experience in its own which he still hadn't recovered from.
They miraculously stayed afloat despite the furious waves threatening to overturn their boat into an unforgiving sea. The twins had held onto each other, Tamaki balled himself beneath the boat's bloated lip, Mori anchored Hunny and an unconscious Haruhi within his arms, and Kyoya gripped onto anything solid to keep him from being slung from the boat. It all happened so fast he was tempted to believe it had all been a dream, or rather nightmare, but reality was cruel. He and his friends endured a long exhausting night of being tossed around the boat, sprayed with freezing water, and praying to the gods for mercy.
It was the most terrifying experience he had ever endured and though he couldn't speak on his friends' behalf he was positive it had been theirs too. Kyoya couldn't answer their burning questions but he knew that wouldn't suffice. He would need to figure a logical explanation for their destitute situation before they turned on him… if they haven't already.
For a long while no one said a word; the only sound being soft waves splashing against the boat's canvas. No one dared to speak their minds, wary of beginning an argument they couldn't resolve. They took careful breaths and averted their eyes from each other, too afraid to see their fear mirrored in each other.
Hunny was the first to speak after hours of mutual silence.
"I'm hungry." His voice was flat; deflated of his usual optimism and cheeriness.
No one answered him. No one could answer him. Their last meal had been nearly a day ago, if they were fortunate enough to eat before the storm stole their dinner, and their empty stomachs cramped in protest. They didn't want to think about their inevitable hunger, not when none of the water and possible food that surrounded them was safe for consumption.
"I said I'm hungry." Hunny gnarled.
"We heard you." Hikaru mumbled.
"Well don't we have emergency snacks? Aren't there protein bars stashed away?" Hunny twisted himself around to check the bottom crevices of the lifeboat, hoping to find a small compartment tucked away. To his great disappointment, there was nothing but water and his battered Usa-chan.
"I don't think the lifeboat was stocked with supplies. May I remind you it was folded up in an air tight box prior to us using it?" Kyoya said, almost sarcastically. His stomach cramped with hunger, his damp clothes uncomfortably clung to his cold skin, and his jabbing bladder now added to his discomfort. At this point he didn't mind his words or his tone, not when his silent suffering continued to worsen.
Hikaru clutched his grumbling stomach and clenched his teeth until the pain subsided. He sighed, "I could really go for a ribeye steak right now."
"Yeah… with grilled potatoes…" Tamaki mused.
Kaoru groaned, "Please stop talking about food. My stomach can't handle it."
Hunny pounded his fist into the water with a throaty growl, accidentally splashing Tamaki at the same time. "I can't believe this! It's bad enough we don't have cake. Why didn't anyone remember to grab food?"
"We almost died last night Hunny-senpai! Forgive us for forgetting to raid the pantry!" Hikaru shouted.
"Can we drink this water?" Kaoru asked, pointing at the water in the lifeboat.
Kyoya shook his head, "I would strongly advise against that. This is seawater. It's contaminated with bacteria."
Kaoru pouted, "But it's been in the boat for over a day now. Maybe the hot sun boiled out the bacteria?"
"Idiot." Hunny growled beneath his breath.
Mori tried to calm down the darkened boy lolita with a firm pat on the head but Hunny swatted his hand away, purposefully ignoring Mori's stern warning.
"Don't touch me. No one touch me." Hunny barked. He burrowed further into his corner's crevice with a soggy Usa-chan firmly gripped to his chest and brought his knees in too.
"Hikaru's right, we didn't have time to grab supplies. Just like Kyoya-senpai said earlier, if we didn't abandon ship when we did we would have probably went down with it. Please, let's be thankful that we're even alive." Haruhi wanted to extinguish the tense flames with logical reason before they erupted into another argument.
She was enjoying their earlier silence and hoped they could return to it soon. The weight of their situation drained most of her energy, leaving her physically and mentally exhausted. Her only way of coping was to fight for logical reasoning. It helped to distract her from thinking about her poor father worrying himself silly over her. Although he had every right to be worried for her she didn't want him to. She didn't want her father to shed one tear for her. She didn't want him to lose hope in her survival. She had to imagine her father bravely counting down the days until they would meet again, confident in her safe return. Haruhi had to imagine her father expecting her home because it gave her hope. If her father had hope then she could too.
Nightfall crept upon the former hosts until they were consumed by pure darkness. They had watched the sun set below the far horizon with a mixture of awe and dread. Brilliant streams of gold stretched across the shimmering water, mirroring the diamond encrusted waves. It was truly a sight to behold, one no ordinary person in an ordinary situation could experience, but regrettably watched their only source of light fade into the shadows.
The setting sun not only stole their light but also their warmth. The wind nipped at their damp clothes, spreading goosebumps along their bodies until they were forced to huddle together for warmth. Long arms wrapped around shivering bodies and hot breaths spread across exposed skin as they came together in the center of the lifeboat.
The cosmos above offered a radiant temporary distraction from their frigid misery. Soft yet vibrant sapphire and violet ribbons danced across the sky with millions of bright stars liberally scattered across the universe; glinting like rhinestones. No one had ever seen the night sky like this. They were raised in the heart of Japan where its light pollution veiled most of the night sky. But tonight they sat in awe, amazed by the universe's natural beauty. It was almost electrifying.
As the night grew deeper they slowly succumbed to their exhaustion; one by one falling asleep. They were too tired to worry about their awkward positions and didn't care who they held or who held them. As long as their heads were above water they counted their blessings and closed their eyes.
Mori watched his friends slowly nod off until he thought he was the only one left awake. He held Haruhi close to his chest, caressing her hair as he had done to lull her asleep. Now the little one slept soundly against his warm body, shielded from the wind within his arms. He couldn't stand to let her suffer in the cold but if truth be told, he also couldn't stand someone else holding her as he did now. He knew his driving intentions were selfish but at this point he didn't care. He was the only person he trusted to properly care for her. Their dire situation drew out the animalist instincts buried deep within him; forcing him to secure Haruhi for himself. He wouldn't – couldn't – let anyone else have the privilege in being her shelter. Whether they made it out of this lifeboat alive he couldn't be sure but he was certain that while they waited she would be his to protect and his alone.
She needed someone to keep her safe. She needed him.
While feeling her soft rhythmic breaths brush against his neck he silently pledged an oath to Haruhi, vowing to be her protector until their last breaths. Unfortunately, he feared that might be soon. Carefully he leaned forward, mindful to not wake her, and softly pressed his lips against her forehead; sealing his oath with a kiss.
"So I was right." Kyoya whispered, disappointed.
Mori looked up to see Kyoya curled around Tamaki's back. Although he was shrouded in shadow his cracked glasses reflected the subtle moonlight. Mori didn't know if he had just woken up or never fell asleep but that's not what concerned him. Kyoya had been watching him.
"Kyoya." Mori greeted quietly.
A few minutes of silence passed between them until Kyoya spoke again, "I know you heard me."
Mori arched an eyebrow in response, though it was far too dark for Kyoya to see.
"You know how I feel… about Haruhi." Kyoya continued.
Mori nodded, recalling the moment Kyoya was referring to. When the lifeboat began sliding down the deck Mori wrapped his arms around Haruhi to anchor her down and felt another pair of arms securing her as well. Right as they crashed into the angry waters Mori heard Kyoya's voice through the whistling wind and crashing waves, declaring his love to Haruhi before what they all believed to be their last breath.
Kyoya sat himself upright and turned to lean against the lifeboat's bloated edge. Mori sat up a little straighter as well. They looked out over the ocean and watched the fluttering water mirror the moonlight. The wind had calmed down, reduced to a gentle breeze, but the cool air still sparked shivers beneath their damp clothes. It had been a long day lost at sea and the two understood it would also be a long night. After a few minutes Kyoya cleared his throat and broke the silence again.
"I'm sure my father has realized something is wrong by now. It's been more than twenty four hours since I've last spoken with the meteorologist. We can expect search helicopters by morning."
"Are you certain?" Mori questioned skeptically.
"I surmise they've already located our last GPS check-in and have an area mapped out for their search. We should expect helicopters within the next few hours. The Ootori Group cannot risk losing their CEO." Kyoya wanted to sound convincing, if not for Mori then for himself, but he couldn't control his doubt.
Kyoya wanted to believe his family would stop at nothing to rescue him. He wanted to believe his brothers would risk draining their fortunes to save his life. He wanted to believe that… but the sad truth was… he couldn't. He couldn't ignore the possibility that his brothers would see this as an opportunity to steal his inheritance and his position. When Kyoya was publicly recognized as Ootori Group CEO his brothers paid their respects and offered their congratulations with broad smiles for the cameras but behind closed doors they made their angry protests known. They did not agree with their father's decision, arguing that they had worked harder and longer in earning their father's favor. His brothers did well with keeping their heads low and minding their boundaries… but that was before today. Now, as Kyoya helplessly drifted along an open sea, his brothers had their opportunity to strike him down. All it would take is a fraudulent search party and public announcement declaring his death.
"Don't give us empty promises Kyoya. This isn't the time to lie." Mori warned without taking his eyes off the water. He didn't want to hear anything about their rescue unless it could be promised. His weary spirit couldn't handle the disappointment otherwise.
"My father sending a search party is possibly our only chance for rescue. The other families aren't expecting us back for another month. My father would be the only person to know better." Kyoya said regrettably.
"Let's hope he knows better then." Mori said quietly, almost as a prayer.
Kyoya nodded his agreement and took a deep breath. "Haruhi's wound is healing well." He said, hoping to change the subject.
He had changed Haruhi's bandages that morning with the supplies in the first aid box Mori gratefully snatched before they abandoned ship. Before the sunset he changed her bandages again. She protested at first, afraid to deplete their resources, but Kyoya reasoned they needed to keep her wound clean, especially now when they were exposed to the harsh elements. To keep her hip out of the salty water in the lifeboat Mori placed her in his lap. They couldn't risk an infection and Haruhi understood that. So she had allowed Mori to situate her on his thighs.
That is where Haruhi remained while she slept; her head nestled inside the crook of Mori's neck and her body slumped across his broad chest. Some of the water evaporated out of the lifeboat during the day but there was still an inch of water sloshing at their ankles and he refused to set her down. Eventually she decided to make herself comfortable and fell asleep shortly after.
"I'm glad." Mori replied honestly.
"If we are rescued within the next twelve hours then we should have enough supplies to keep her wound clean." Kyoya roughly estimated.
"And what if we're not rescued within twelve hours?" Mori asked, becoming serious, "What will we do if we cannot rely on your father?"
"We have no other choice." Kyoya argued.
"Yet you aren't confident." Mori retorted.
Kyoya sighed, "If you want me to be frank with you then no, I'm not confident we'll be rescued. I cannot promise anything, I can only ask for your patience."
"What are we patiently waiting for Kyoya? Rescue or death?"
"I don't know." Kyoya snarled between gritted teeth, losing his composure. He didn't want to think about dying, no matter how real the possibility was. He spent the day fighting against his anxious thoughts. He had to think of a plan or at least an impressive speech asking for his friends' cooperation. He teetered on the edge of madness, grabbing for anything to keep his balance. He couldn't slip. He couldn't fall into the void beneath him; threatening to consume his sanity. He walked a loose tightrope and with each passing hour he felt his balance worsening.
The only thing that kept him from losing his grip entirely was the small brunette in Mori's arms. She was safe and alive which helped soothe his troubled heart.
It pained Kyoya to see her molded to his body instead of his own. He wanted to hold her delicate body in his arms. He wanted to feel her hot breaths warm his neck. He wanted to be her comforter. He was the one who changed her bandages and kept her wound clean of infection. His jealousy made him wonder why Mori was given the privilege in holding her so close. Kyoya could hardly consider it fair that while he took care of Haruhi, Mori reaped the rewards.
Kyoya sat up a little straighter and turned to face Mori, "If you want to sleep then I can take Haruhi from you." He offered an arm to receive her but Mori shook his head and tightened his hold around her.
"No." Mori snapped, then as an afterthought added, "thank you."
"You've held her all day. I'm sure your body is tired. I know you care for her too but you should rest your arms." Kyoya reasoned.
Mori shook his head, "I'm fine and she's fine. That's all you should concern yourself with."
Kyoya sighed and fell back into the lifeboat's bloat. So that was how it was going to be then, during their final hours no less.
"I'm afraid we've created another problem." Kyoya conceded.
"I'm afraid so." Mori agreed.
The two fell into silence again until their plagued minds eventually surrendered to their fatigue. Kyoya nestled beside Tamaki and fell asleep on his shoulder. Mori nodded off while still sitting upright, supported by Hikaru and Kaoru who slept behind him.
Kyoya was rudely awakened by two pairs of hands roughly shaking his shoulders. His eyes snapped open but the beating sunlight forced them closed again. Through half-slit eyes and hazy vision he could see a pair of blue and hazel widened eyes staring at him from above. Their shakes became less violent but their voices rose to near screams.
"Kyoya! Wake up! Come on, wake up!"
He growled his agitation and reluctantly sat himself up; groaning as pain bit his stiff back. His hands felt for his glasses tucked away in his shirt pocket and quickly slide them into place. His vision quickly adjusted to the bright sunlight only to see his flustered friends surrounding him on bent knees and frantically waving pointed fingers towards something behind him. He expected to hear a helicopter hovering ahead but unfortunately the only sound he heard was his friends' chaotic cries.
"What the hell is going on?" Kyoya barked, still angry with his raucous friends.
"Just get up you idiot! Look behind you!" Tamaki yelled, ignoring the shadow king's furious glare. He grabbed Kyoya by the shoulders and spun him around to face the same direction as his pointed finger. Kyoya followed his finger to something large floating on the ocean waters. Kyoya squinted to better analyze what he was seeing and gasped at what he saw.
Resting on the far horizon was a long island with vivid shades of green capping its white beach. Smaller blotches of land floated adjacent to the main island; most likely lone rock formations based on their gray bases. Judging between their distance and the island's size Kyoya roughly estimated it to be the same size as Shikoku. It was considered a small island but nonetheless it would save their lives.
"Did we float back to Japan?" Hunny asked; his voice squeaky with hope.
Kyoya shook his head, "No, it's not Japan." He couldn't peel his eyes away from their saving grace. Throughout his life there were only a handful of times he allowed himself to cry; when his mother divorced his father, when he heard Tamaki play the piano for the first time, when his father made the decision to appoint him as the Ootori heir, and now as he gazed upon the one thing that stood between life and death. He couldn't look away, even as salty tears trailed his cheeks.
"The current carried us here while we were asleep." Mori commented.
Haruhi nodded, "Do you think the current will deliver us to the beach?"
Kyoya swept away his tears with his hand before answering her, "Judging on the current's strength I'd say yes. We'll probably hit land within a few hours."
"If we were a little closer I would swim to that island. I can't wait a few hours." Hikaru stammered as he anxiously fidgeted in his seat beside Kaoru.
"You will have to." Kyoya said flatly, "I wouldn't trust our strength right now. Our bodies endured a lot of trauma over a small amount of time. Even with an adrenaline rush you would probably drown before you reached the island. Plus, there is most likely a coral reef surrounding the beach. Coral is extremely sharp and will slash through your skin like broken glass. Even if you did survive the swim you can't risk bleeding out. No one leaves this boat until we've hit land, alright?"
Kyoya acknowledged their reluctant nods and leaned back into against the lifeboat, crossing his arms over his chest and letting his head drop back. One by one the other former hosts followed suit; making themselves as comfortable as they could while they prepared to endure the torturous hours. Hikaru and Kaoru curled together as they tried to go back to sleep. Tamaki scooted himself next to Kyoya and plopped his head on his shoulder, also closing his eyes. Hunny snuggled his damp Usa-chan close to his chest while he leaned his back against Mori's side. Haruhi hadn't moved from Mori's lap but she had twisted herself around so her back lied adjacent with his torso. She wanted to watch the island slowly come closer. She didn't dare take her eyes off of it, fearing if she did their only salvation would disappear.
"Do you think it's just a mirage?" Haruhi asked, more to herself than anyone else. Most of her friends were either asleep or trying to sleep. Though, she had to make sure they weren't dreaming. It was rare for a group of people to share the same hallucination but she couldn't discredit the thought. They already beat their odds by surviving their ship sinking. At this point she figured anything was possible. Whether it be because of dehydration, stress, hunger, or their sleep-deprived minds, she couldn't completely believe their deliverance was straight ahead.
"No, it's not a mirage." Mori answered her. He wrapped one arm around her waist and placed a hand on top of her head, "Rest Haruhi. We'll be there soon."
Haruhi smiled and nuzzled herself deeper into his lap, finding a comfortable groove in his frame to relax in. Her heavy eyelids and weary mind were thankful for the opportunity to sleep. Slowly, she closed her eyes and prayed to her mother in heaven for fate to shine its good favor upon them. Dreams began to dance behind her eyelids; foretelling a beautiful island with drinkable water, hearty food, and the chance to survive.
.
.
The boat jostled her awake; rocking her head across Mori's shoulder. His slow steady breaths told her he was still asleep. She lightly stretched her arms and yawned, careful not to wake Mori with her wriggling. Before she closed her eyes again she noticed the island seemed closer.
.
.
Hikaru's voice woke her the second time. He was complaining about something… his thirst. He was complaining about how thirsty he was. Haruhi licked her chapped lips with her dry tongue and realized she too was dreadfully thirsty. She didn't want to think about that. She didn't want to think about her starving body. Through her eyelashes she noted the island seemed a little closer, safely tucked away her spark of hope, and willed herself back to sleep.
.
.
Mori gently shook Haruhi awake so Kyoya could change her bandages. She turned around to offer her right hip to Kyoya who had the first aid medical kit opened and ready. He carefully unwound the gauze, rolled it up, and handed it to Mori. Kyoya quickly discarded the used bandage, disinfected her wound with hydrogen peroxide, gently dabbed Neosporin over her scabbing wound, and took back the gauze to wrap around her hips again.
"Thank you Haruhi, you may go back to sleep now." Kyoya said as he patted her back.
Haruhi nodded and fell back into Mori's shoulder, returning to her dreamland.
.
.
"Haruhi," Hikaru whispered in her ear, "wake up. Come on girl, wake up."
Haruhi couldn't place why his voice annoyed her. Something about his voice irritated her. Still half asleep she tried to swat him away but his hand caught her wrist.
"Haruhi, wake up. You've slept all day. Now it's time to wake up." Hikaru whined.
Her eyes snapped open when she realized why he sounded different. Hikaru sounded happy; almost giddy, as if he has just heard a hilarious joke.
If Hikaru was happy then that must mean…
"Haruhi, we reached the beach!"
author note:
I apologize that this chapter took nearly a month to write. This was such a difficult chapter to write. I had writer's block for a few weeks. It was so bad I couldn't even look at my writing. Even Microsoft Word repulsed me. But as you can see we made it through! A few days ago my writer's block was lifted and I was able to finish the chapter. I hope you enjoy it!
I want to give my warmest thanks to those who reviewed Chapter 2; FromTheInsideOut2, Emeira, Aoile, and lilly-flower15. Thank you so much!
