Episode 20

Ferret Hunting!

"Jin-chan? Can I hold Mimi?" Without even a sideways glance, Jin plucked one of the uncooked carrots piled by her plate and tossed it into Honey's lap. The white fuzzball currently residing comfortably in Kyoya's crossed legs took off like a shot, launching himself at Honey to scarf down his treat. Unfortunately…

"Oof!"

"Ah... oops? Sorry, Kyoya…"

Ignoring the twin's poorly hidden snickers, the ravenet slowly unfurled himself from a bent over position, "It's alright, Jin. I know you didn't..." He trailed off into a steady glare once he realized the twins weren't the only ones laughing.

"I'm really sorry, Kyoya, I just-"

"Yes, ha ha, it's hilarious. I'm glad my pain is funny to you."

"Oh, don't be like that, you killjoy! You have to admit it's kind of funny!"

"Oddly enough, no , I do not."

Jin just looked away, smiling, shoulders bouncing with muffled laughter. She watched as Honey stroked Mimi's ears, cooing softly at the small white rabbit still chowing down on the orange veggie. Kuu, her escape partner, was contently curled up around Mori's neck like a small (living) grey scarf. And Sora was in his open cage, preening. Despite how their multiple attempts to come live with Jin will probably end up getting her in trouble one day, she couldn't be upset with them. The animals were too cute for their own good. And oddly intelligent.

Knock knock knock

"I'll get it." Before Ranka or Haruhi could argue, Jin was walking towards the front door. Sora, noticing new movement from his favorite person, fluttered back out of his cage and rested on her shoulder. She hummed and stroked his head before pulling the door open. A man wearing a delivery uniform bowed quickly from the other side.

"Hello, is this the Fujioka residence?"

"Yes it is, may I help you?"

The man held out a brown package, "I am delivering a book for a Ms. Jin Fujioka."

Jin quickly opened the door further, reaching for the parcel, "That would be me! Do I need to sign anything?"

"No, that is not necessary. I-"

"Jin-chan! Catch him!"

Jin and the man looked back into the apartment just as they felt something small and furry scuttle over their feet. The brunette's heart froze as she turned back around to see Kuu's tail disappear around the corner.

"Kuu! No! Bad ferret! Get back here!"

The brunette slammed the brown package on the counter space and ran out the door, quickly followed by the others. They raced around the corner of the complex and down the stairs, Kuu staying a good twenty meters ahead of the group. Mori and Jin quickly took the front of the pack, taking two steps at a time all the way down to the concrete. But by then the small animal was gone.

Haruhi went up to her sister, white sandals in her hand, "Nēchan? Your shoes. You forgot-"

"Did you see where he went, Haru? I think he went into the bushes but what if he runs into the road-"

"Nēchan, put on your shoes."

"We need to go get ferret food and try to lure him out! Have you seen the stray cat around today? Oh no, what if-"

"Nēchan, breathe!"

Jin sucked in a deep breath before doubling over, suddenly out of air. Sora was launched off and chirped shrilly, but quickly relocated to Tamaki's shoulder. He then went back to preening, keeping one beady eye locked onto Jin's bent form. She gasped for a few more moments before straightening up, "I'm good. I'm good…"

"Put on your shoes then. We'll find him, but only if you don't panic." Jin nodded mutely and took the sandals as Haruhi faced the others, "Teams of two, everyone. Dad, see if any of our neighbors saw Kuu. They might've spotted him out their windows if they checked out our shouting. Since we'll have four groups, we'll have four locations; both halves of the road and both sides of the complex. Let's find a ferret, boys!"

Ranka nodded and turned back towards the apartments. The twins and the cousins took off towards the road, fanning out to maximize the search area. However, curious by nature, the redheads peeked over their shoulders to see if their boss had somehow stolen Haruhi from Jin. First of all, they figured the girls' reactions would be hilarious as well as Tamaki's frantic and nonsense based explanation, but secretly they were hoping for more material to taunt Kyoya with. Who knew having Haruhi have a sister would be the key to getting under Kyoya's skin?

They weren't completely disappointed, as Tamaki had reached for Haruhi while she reached for her sister, as expected. But, weirdly, Kyoya had reached for Jin instead of Tamaki to pull him away from the opportunity to embarrass himself, and Jin had taken his hand instead of Haruhi's. But, then again, Jin looked like she was about to faint at any given time, so she might not even know she was holding anyone's hand. Still, the remaining three seemed surprised by the turn of events, even as Tamaki grinned and hauled Haruhi away to the left side of the building, her complaints trailing after him the whole way and Sora tweeting in agreement. Once those two were gone, Kyoya released Jin's hand and gestured towards the remaining search area. Jin blinked and nodded, following after her search partner.

Hikaru raised an eyebrow at Kaoru, but his brother only shrugged, "Kyoya-senpai has to get sick of the Boss every once in awhile. He's probably thrilled he can use another friend as an excuse to take a break from him."

"Just as long as the Boss doesn't catch on, that's fine by me."

"Agreed. Heeeere ferret, ferret, ferret~ "

* 5 minutes later *

"Kuu? Kuu, where are you, sweetheart? Come on out, please?"

If it were anyone else (read: Tamaki), Kyoya might've made a passing comment that they were looking for a ferret, so attempting to reason with it was pointless and perhaps they should try something like food to lure it out. However, it was Jin, and she looked to be on the verge of tears, so he kept his mouth shut. Still, as previously stated it looked like she was about to cry, and he felt as though he should say something . She was his friend, after all.

"I doubt he'll go far. He's very attached to you, so he'll come back eventually."

"We don't know that!" Jin suddenly stiffened, her hands still buried in the shrubs as her breathing grew heavier. As he had a sister of his own, Kyoya noticed the warning signs of a tear-fest approaching and felt a seed of panic take root.

"Jin? Don't cry, please? We'll find him, I promise, just don't cry. If your father or sister comes along and sees you crying with me, I may not live long enough for you to explain I'm not the cause of your tears!"

The brunette choked out a small laugh and palmed at her eyes, "I'm sorry. I just… I'm in charge of the animals when they sneak into my home. It's my fault Kuu was here in the first place, and if I hadn't opened the door all the way when my book was delivered… it's really all my fault he's out here. And if he gets hurt or lost or-" The rest of her sentence trailed away, a tear trickling down her face. "I-It's all my f-fault..."

Kyoya was at a loss. He'd comforted his fair share of girls in the past; guests who were accidentally offended or were stressed about something and vented about it to their host, but the words he recycled for those speeches sounded hollow when he imagined saying them to Jin. Is this what caring for someone does to a person? If so, Kyoya wasn't sure if he liked the feeling.

"K-Kyoya?" Well, I might as well be honest.

"I'm sorry, Jin, but I don't know what to say to comfort you."

The girl had another hiccup-like laugh and gave him a watery smile, "I know that, Glasses, 'm not stupid. And, 'm sorry to make you uncomfortable like this, 'n… I know you're not big on physical contact but…" her lower lip trembled as she raised her arms up a little. The gesture was so meek and cute and sad Kyoya didn't hesitate to wrap the girl up in his arms.

The hug felt sort of... strange. Or, more accurately, it wasn't like Tamaki's hugs. He didn't feel like his ribs were being crushed as Jin's arms came up to squeeze him back, and the warmth that grew from their shared body heat was oddly comforting. The girl buried her face in his shoulder, and even as he felt a few wet spots forming on the fabric, he didn't comment.

For a few moments, the two stand there quietly, Kyoya rubbing calming circles on her back like Fuyumi used to do for him. Jin's breathing eventually evened out and she turned her head, forehead now resting in the crook of Kyoya's neck. Having a feeling she was waiting for a little more reassurance, the boy took a leap of faith and squeezed her a little tighter.

"You don't have to worry about a thing, Jin. The rest of the club won't rest until we find him. It's not your fault, no one is blaming you for this, and Kuu will be back in the safety of his cage in no time. You'll see."

He felt the girl shift in his arms and loosened his grip. Sure enough, she pulled away just enough to lift her head and face him. Thankfully, her lips were upturned in a smile, but Kyoya found himself soon distracted by the feel of little warm puffs of air against his chin.

"Thanks, Kyoya… And by the way? You give really good hugs."

Kyoya's vision narrowed, focusing in on the face that was far too close to his. Jin stared back with that small sad smile of hers, eyelashes dark with the remains of her silent tears. There was the faint sound of something heavy pounding on the ground nearby in a fast rhythm, and it took him a moment to realize he was hearing his heart beating wildly in his chest. Kyoya didn't know what to do, which unnerved him more than anything else.

After all, he was the 'cool' type. Kyoya didn't get shaken up, by anyone or anything. Everything always played out like he imagined it, people reacted like he expected them to, and he most certainly didn't blush around girls! And yet, that's exactly what was happening now, as he was pressed up against Jin Fujioka along the side of her apartment complex in search of a ferret only a mere half hour or so after her father had warned him away.

A million and one movie scenarios flashed before his eyes where the lead roles were placed in this exact same position and all that was missing was the rain and oh god isn't this the part where they lean in an-

"We got him!"

The twins shout seemed to have activated some sort of restart button in the two 2nd years. They jumped apart instantly before racing to the front of the complex, following the twin's continued shouts of victory. And sure enough, the two red heads were parading around the concrete with a long fuzzy grey creature in Hikaru's hands. Kuu himself didn't appear too upset about being caught. It was more like he was saying, 'Yeah, you got me. What do you want, a medal?'

Jin let out a sob of relief before gently accepting the animal from Hikaru, hugging him gently against her chest. The ferret nuzzled her t-shirt in an apologetic sort of way as she mockingly berated him for "giving her a heart attack". Once the others arrived the group made their way back up to the Fujioka residence. As they did so, the boys were starting to get the feeling they were overstaying their welcome and began saying their goodbyes once Kuu was back in his cage.

But, of course…

"So... d o we get a reward for catching Kuu?"

"Yeah? A medal of honor would be appreciated, you know?"

Tamaki scowled at the twins, looking ready to start berating them for asking more of their hosts while on their doorstep, but Jin merely smiled and laughed, "You know what? Sure." The girl walked over to the two red heads and kissed their cheeks, one after the other. "For being my heroes~"

Hikaru face reddened while his younger brother started stuttering out his thanks, also growing red. Most of the others started laughing at their reactions, Jin ruffling the boy's hair before steering them out, a few final goodbyes thrown across the threshold before the door to 208 finally shut between them. The six boys stood still on the doorstep for a few moments, not really wanting to leave just yet. They'd had fun today...

Kyoya was the first to turn and walk away, quickly followed by the others as they recounted their opinions on the day out. Unanimously, they declared the day a success and started making "plans" for next time. They made it all the way to the car before Hikaru reached up to rub at his cheek, the one Jin had kissed.

"Hey, Kaoru?"

"Yeah?"

"Does your 'reward' feel a little sticky?"

"Uh..." the other twin swiped at his face, "A little, I guess?"

"I didn't think Jin was wearing lipstick?"

"Chapstick?"

"Are you two really going to complain about Jin thanking you?"

Tamaki's question was answered with devilish smiles, "We weren't planning too..."

"But it did seem like a good opportunity to rub the kisses into Kyoya's face."

The three smirked and looked over to see how flustered the vice president would be, funny even when he attempted to be scary, only to watch as the limo suddenly took off. They blinked once. Twice. Then started running after it.

"HEY! COME BACK HERE!"

"WE DIDN'T REALLY MEAN IT! DON'T LEAVE US!"

"KYOOOOOOYAAAAAAAAA!"