I just made it. I just finished college with the bachelor's degree. With those important people around me and my scholarship, I can achieve my dreams in no time. I can grab my dreams closer right now. Just hang in there, Haruhi. Those six guys were still there for me, even in the greatest achievement I have, so far in my life, especially the shadow king around.
Surely, the others don't know about us. We keep that as a secret as possible.
As the graduation cap flies through the air, the host club celebrates in its success by raising me higher in the air gently. My father smiled as his tears fell down, looking up in the sky, heeding mother that everything's going to be alright even though she's up there, watching us. "Oka-san, I will be fine here with dad, my best set of friends and the guy I always love. I hope you're doing so fine up there . . ."
In one of Tamaki's hotels, Kyoya held a celebratory ball for my graduation. That guy, he really wants everything to be fine for me. I am his girlfriend, after all . . .
Prospected clients were there, those key people who are very important in which Kyoya's company was involved in were there, and even the two powerful men, Yuzuru Suoh and Yoshio Ootori was there, along with his two sons and my best friend, Fuyumi-onee-sama. While father was accompanied by the powerful patriarch of the Ootori family, the host club family and I sat on a large table. As expected, ootoro was there, too.
"So Haruhi, what would be your plans for the future?" Hikaru asks as they turned their attention to me.
"It really depends on how things will work out. I hope I can see a potential client tonight in this party" I answered as I devoured a piece of ootoro in my plate.
"Nee, Haru-chan, what do you wish for today?" Hani-senpai blurted while devoured a slice of strawberry shotcake.
Okane ga areba tomodachi taisei to sumeru
12 LDK no ie wo umibe ni tatetai
Shokuyoku ga areba ramen yokochou de
Hitoban no uchi ni zen tenpo seiha shite mitai na
(If I had money, I'd like to live with many friends,
build a beach house with 12 full rooms
and if I had a hungry appetite, I'd like to try and conquer
all of the ramen stores in Japan in one night)
"Being with everyone is enough for me" I smiled sweetly back at him. Their faces were lightened up as Kyoya was busy talking to their clients. Yes, this was all business after all . . .
As the orchestra music starts to play, Kyoya extends his hand on me, asking me for a dance, in which I gladly accept. People were glaring at us, most probably; the third son of the Ootori family wasn't mingling with other girls. But, I am different . . . being with Kyoya Ootori is . . . really amazing.
"How long will you hold this relationship a secret?" I asked.
He just smiled and smirked "Not for long, my love. They will see. Even the King will be shocked".
"I can't wait to see his reaction" I burst a chuckle beneath my hand. He chuckled as he kissed the knuckle of my hands.
The people around us were shocked about what they saw just earlier. Their jaws were up to the ground when Kyoya possessively grabbed my waist as she smirked at me.
That devil charmer.
So, he slowly fell on his one knee, pulling something from his pocket, and declared something which people was really shocked, surprised and angry:
"I know we've been through five secret years, but I can't hold any longer. This woman I've danced was my everything, my inspiration, my conscience, the peace in the presence of my mind through the years since I met her. I hope you were happily informed, and yes, we are leaving"
What on earth do we leave on my graduation party tonight? Well, to ease the tension, of course. My father smiled at me, his father was shocked and smiled and the end, his two brothers was still stoic as ever, and her beloved sister smirked at her. He grabbed my hand carefully, and then we carefully went outside to the parking lot. He drives a GTR-32, so, I don't have to worry about it, what it bothers me is why does he really need to steal me away from the crowd?
He could just ask normally, you know. Not that "host club" stuffs that we always do. That doesn't work on me, anyway.
I can see the baggage on the back seat while Kyoya was driving the car as fast as he can do.
"Where on earth we are going, young man?" Seriously, I demanded an answer from the shadow king himself.
"To a place no one else can follow us" he replied. God, he's still as sly as ever.
I cannot even bite back at him. It's no use. I just have to sit back on the front seat and he handed me two plane tickets and two passports. Shocking, indeed. He even had gone hard to process the passports all by himself and those plane tickets to Indonesia. WAIT, like WHAT NOW? Nah, I don't want to bring myself to protest at his "sudden" decisions. I suddenly feel sleepy and started to yawn multiple times.
Naimononedari wa ningen no tokui waza
Yokkyuu dake wa soko wo tsukanai
Tonari de kimi ga ooki na akubi wo suru
Sou da hoshii mono wa me no mae ni aru 'n datta
You and I You and I
(Wanting for anything and everything is something humans are especially good at
but merely wanting will not take me there
Beside me, you crack a huge yawn
That's right; what I really wanted was right in front of me
You and I; you and I)
"Sleep, love. We have hours to travel, and I wanted you to relax for our vacation to Indonesia, okay?" he smiled as he kissed my forehead as we are heading to Narita International Airport. I can feel that even I am asleep; she carried me in his arms all the way to the airplane. Sounds embarrassing, but what on earth can I do?
"Haruhi . . ."
"Yes?"
"Actually, we are going to Bali tonight. I want for you to relax even once for a while. Sorry to kidnap you in your graduation party" he said nervously while his face was all red. I just chuckled.
"What?"
"Nothing, Kyoya. You look cuter when you do that" I whispered. His cheeks turned red twice moments ago.
He's really a sucker when it comes to his feelings. I love him for that, and always love him for who is he right now, not on what he has right now.
Suddenly, he kissed me on the forehead. He made me relax on his chest and my head on his shoulder. I can feel his heart beating so fast.
"Kyoya . . ."
"Yes, Haruhi?"
"Is this the moment that we are all alone right now?"
He just nodded and kissed me on the lips slowly. In all of these years that we are on our secretive relationship, announced it out of the blue at the graduation party, and here I am right now, alone with him all the way to Bali. What a romantic guy, he is.
It was my first romantic kiss, after all.
I didn't notice that I was now asleep on a comfortable bed. Sun rays reached the corner of my eyes as I noticed that a stunning white dress waved back at me through the wind. I rise up from my bed, and a note was placed on the table near the bouquet on the vase. I opened and it was written:
Haruhi, please wear the dress I prepared for you. A carriage will fetch you outside the mansion. I will be waiting for you.
- Kyoya
Dear God. Is he really serious about this get-up? Remember Haruhi: don't ever question the great shadow king. Pulling pranks on him will be very invisible.
So, I wear the dress, the shoes, the pearl jewelry and even bringing the bouquet then put a minimal make-up. Seriously, the carriage arrived in a perfect timing when I arrived on the doorstep of the mansion. The escorts carefully escorted me all the way to the carriage. Now this is too fancy to be a dream. Nope, I am not dreaming. The mansion was near by the sea, and the mansion itself was an old Bali temple. It was so breathtaking to be inside it.
As the scenery entertains my eye, I can visibly see that Kyoya was waiting for me in a pagoda with someone in it. Gawking from the carriage, a long white carpet through the pagoda and the hymnal prelude was welcoming me through the isle.
This can't be happening.
HUMOUR ga areba donari chirasu joushi no kotoba wo
BEETHOVEN no kyoku ni kossori nosete mitai:
'Omae wa tsukaenai dame na yatsu da konna no joushiki da to wakara 'n no ka?'
(If I had some humour, I'd change around the words
that my boss is ranting at me into a Beethoven symphony:
'You're a useless idiot that can't even understand something this common sense!')
"Good morning, Haruhi" he smiled as he lend his hand on mine.
"What on earth . . . is this?"
"Well, it's our wedding day, I suppose?" he chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.
I was really stupefied with my jaws dropped. He did what he promised me long time ago . . . that someday I wouldn't notice that I will marry to this crazy, lively young man.
I thought that it will take me years to wait for it, but I never knew that it was today.
After the rings were placed on our ring fingers, the pastor proceeded with our vows as husband and wife. I can't believe that I am getting married right now. Really.
"Will you take this woman as your wife, through better or worse, in sickness and in health, until death does you part?"
"Forever, I will take this as my lawfully-wedded wife, Pastor" he smirked. I chuckled.
"And you, woman, will take this man as your husband?"
"Yes pastor, I will definitely want this monster for the rest of my life as my husband" I laughed.
"Well, in any means, I pronounce you as husband and wife" the pastor smirked. My husband smiled while he holds my both hands. I can feel them shaking. He was totally nervous at this point, but rest assured, darling: I am happy to give myself to you. He kissed me passionately on the lips as I savor every second of his lips placed into mine.
I was now Haruhi Fujioka-Ootori.
When we came back, issues on every publishing company were stated about our sudden wedding. His brothers were furious, but his sister, Fuyumi-onee-sama was really kind to me. His father was really furious of what he heard because he prepared a bride for him, but yes, we are already married. My father, on the other hand was very happy of what our decision was. He knows that Kyoya would marry the girl that his father prepared for him, that's why he married me first on hand after the graduation party.
A sly guy, he is.
Kyoya returned from the Ootori Estate and committed to the front of the household to the patriarch of the family that he will never return to the household unless I am accepted by his own kin. The whole household was stunned by my husband's thunderous voice. He started to pack all of his things then left the mansion without leaving any single data of him. Leaving his sister in tears, Kyoya swore to his big sister that he will come back with full pride and honor of their own clan, until we disappeared in the busy life of Tokyo, with no one else knew except me, my husband and my father.
Even though we are now living in a small house near by the sea in Kyoto, opening a small bath house and a ramen bar in our place makes us still on the track. While Kyoya's residency as a medical doctor in our place, he also helps me running the bath house and the ramen bar, thanks to my father who never stop on supporting us. I can see Kyoya was so determined than before in forming his own empire. I, as a public attorney opened a small office to help people who are in need. I, too won many cases against idiots who doesn't know how to think right from wrong.
But above all, we didn't expect that there's a little baby coming in my womb.
Dokyou ga areba gan wo tobashitekuru aitsu ni mukatte
"Nani mite 'n da yo!" to iikaeshite yaritai
Nintai ga areba maishuu shuutome no shitsukoi sekkyou wo
"Sono toori desu yo wo okaasan" to ukenagashitai na
(If I had real guts, I'd glare furiously right at his face,
and spit back, 'What d'you think you're lookin' at?!'
If I had the strength of many men, I'd not have to hesitate in the face
of punch-like words from my mother-in-law;
I wouldn't need to say, 'Yes, that's right, okaa-san')
Every day was just like a routine for us: while father is away in the bath house and the ramen bar, busying managing it while I am pregnant, my husband is working in his little clinic. Many hospitals want to have him, but he rejected them with utmost respect. While I am working on the house, still accepting clients on my own office, they were sending me fresh fruits and vegetables for me to consume for my baby. They were delighted to see me giving me my ultimate craving, in which I am truly embarrassed. Above that, I always cook for them when they got home. We eat together on the same table with my mother's picture facing on the table on the portable shrine.
I really want a peaceful life . . . I hope it goes forever.
"Welcome home, Kyoya"
"I'm home, my dear wife" he greeted me with a sinister and a passionate kiss on the lips, then kissing my tummy. He lifts me in his arms and putting me in the couch. He gradually raining kisses on my cheeks while I run my fingers on his back due to the pleasure he brought me.
"What's for dinner?" he asks as he pecked a kiss on my forehead.
"Your favorite: Tempura and bento" I answered as I giggle towards his approach as he wrapped me in his embrace. Then, my father arrived.
"Haruhi darling! Kyoya dear, have you brought her something?" my father welcomed the household as he remove his stilettos from his feet and put it on the rack. His fluffy, pink slippers make him comfortable as he roams the house.
"Yes father, I brought him homemade ootoro from the same restaurant" he smirks as I leaped in joy. We went to the dining room to eat our dinner.
"The dinner was so delicious! I never get old on eating these. So different from those foods I tasted in our household. Homemade delicacies are the best!" my husband smiled as he kissed me in the cheek. My father smiled as he patted me on the shoulder.
"Haruhi darling, you're the best. You got Kotoko's way of cooking dishes and I am really proud of you having that" father added as he put the dishes in the sink while my husband wipes the table. He made me sleep in our bed as he cuddles me in his arms as father retired on his bed early upstairs.
"Kyoya?"
"Yes, love?"
"Is it okay not to show the baby to his grandfather?"
"Why shouldn't he? He dislikes our relationship so much that he prepared a bride for me in which I don't love" he hissed while he touched my belly with utmost care.
"Love, I want to take him far away from Japan, if you must know, but our career and life was here in this archipelago, too. As much as I want to leave and migrate from any part of the continent, but I can't. we must keep under low profile. For instances, I want his surname to be under your surname"
"WHAT? Seriously?!" I reckoned as I get up from our bed.
"Is there something wrong with that?" he asked.
"Kyoya, can you look directly to my eye and say that you still love me? We're been this together for five years straight. Are you tired of being a commoner already? Answer me, Kyoya! Answer me!" I shrieked as he left puzzled. His onyx eyes were burning with seriousness as my tears fell down from my eyes.
What on earth was going on to him already?
"You know what? I am leaving this place, Kyoya if you didn't answer me" I warned him.
Still, there's no answer coming from his mouth.
Naimononedari wa jikan no muda dakedo
Wakattetemo yamerarenai 'n da
"Kyou no gohan oishii ne" to kimi ga iu
Sou da shiawase wa todoku tokoro ni aru 'n datta
You and I You and I
(Wanting for anything and everything is a waste of time, but
even if I know this, I can't stop it
'Today's meal was delicious,' you tell me
and yes, that's right; I remember that I'm right here where I can reach happiness
You and I; you and I)
I was crying on the living room, leaving him there on the room alone. I feel betrayed right now. After how many years of being together as a couple, he wants to put our baby's surname on my surname. If I did that, he will be the center of all bureaucracy because an Ootori was just disowned by his own father. He says that it was all for his protection, but I can't see the sense in there.
I think it's time to call the patriarch of the Ootori family to settle this issue once and for all.
The phone was ringing on his own personal cellular phone. He suddenly picked up his phone.
"This is Yoshio Ootori speaking. To whom I am speaking to?"
"This is Attorney Haruhi Ootori, Ootori-sama"
"Oh . . . what could I serve for you, my dear daughter?"
"Can I ask for your precious time to meet up with me tomorrow afternoon at Ootoro Ramen Bar?"
"No problem, dear. Anything for you"
"Thank you, dear father. I will be hanging up"
"Wait . . ."
"Yes, father?"
"How's my grandchild? How about a pre-natal checkup after we discuss some important matters, maybe? He is my first grandchild"
"Anything you want to do, father, is your command"
"Okay, I will be deploying up your personal OB-Gynecologist for tomorrow. Will see you at the ramen bar"
"Okay, father. Thank you for your precious time to pick up the phone"
"Anything for you, Haruhi"
And then, he hangs the phone. Kyoya immediately went to the living room.
"And whom do you speaking to, my dear wife?" he asks.
"It's none of your concern" I hissed.
"Love, please. Stop this. I just want to protect our baby"
"And you didn't even having an ounce of concern for me. And what do you plan to take my baby far away from me? Are you taking him on your bride-to-be and start your family over there?"
And thus, father came rushing in the living room, hearing all the commotion there.
"I heard that you will be talking to Yoshio. Are you insane?! Are you out of your mind?" my father hissed back at me.
Kyoya was glaring at me. I do know that glare.
Negai ga hitotsu kanau nara ima sugu
"15 sai wakagaeritai" to kotae sou ni naru keredo
Negai ga hitotsu kanau nara yappari
Futatsu ni fuyashi sono hitotsu wa kimi e no PRESENT
(If I had one wish that would come true, I wish this very minute,
'I want to be 15 years younger,' but
if I were truly getting a wish,
I'd ask for it to become two wishes instead, and give you one as a present)
"Love, my father is not that soft hearted as what you think . . ."
"Maybe, he could reconsider things ahead for our family"
"Trust me love, I know my father so much . . ."
"But . . ."
"Kyoya's right, Haruhi. We need to be extra careful"
"You are not listening . . ."
Oh no! I can feel the baby's going to come out . . . I was yelping in pain when the two guys carried me in the nearest hospital that they can get into, the bad thing is, it was operated by The Ootori Medical Group. Kyoya has no choice but to drive the family car all the way to the nearest hospital.
"Out of the way! My wife's needed medical attention immediately!" Kyoya yelled as nurses put me in the hospital bed and push it all the way through the delivery room. My father was left behind the door as Kyoya was with me, and to our surprise, the doctor who will be delivering my baby was my husband's father and my father-in-law.
"Father . . . how did you . . ."
"Just shut up and make Haruhi calm as far as you can" his father instructed as I was yelping in pain. After half an hour of pushing and contracting my muscles, thus, our firstborn baby cried. He was immediately cleansed, put in a fresh towel and my father-in-law reached the baby to me.
"What would you name him, dear?" he asked.
"What do you think that would suit him, dear father?" I answered him back.
Looking at the texture of our baby's face that has the exact face as his father, my father-in-law concluded about what he would name for the baby.
"It would be nice if we will name him Kyotaro . . ."
"Kyoya's great son . . ." I just chuckled and look at my husband. He was so flustered all along. Suddenly, his tears were flowing on his cheeks.
"There's nothing I could wish for . . . Kyotaro Ootori . . ." he smiled as he hugged his firstborn son. He was now reunited with his father, they took forgiveness to each other.
"Haruhi . . . I'm . . ."
"It's okay love, I understand you. Change blooms in unexpected ways that you couldn't imagine." I smiled at him as he kissed me in the forehead.
"So, we will be planning for my grandson's future, you two. I want to put his path on the right road" my father-in-law added as he pulls something from his pocket. It was the original Ootori crest necklace to symbolize that I was now accepted in the family.
"You deserve to have this, young woman. You changed my son, and you changed me" he smiled as he patted me on the head. I reached for his embrace and as Kyoya have the baby in his arms, my father-in-law hugged me back. The warmth of his embrace makes me cry for more. The feeling of being accepted is more than enough for me.
From that moment, our household became peaceful again with an additional bunch in which they must learn the value of commoner wisdom. Of course, my husband became more attentive of his surroundings when he pulls another trick on his sleeve. You know that no one messes with the queen of mood swings.
As my husband made a big yawn while he was carefully swinging the cradle of the crib back and forth, Kyotaro finally sleeps deep in his dreams. I was just finished fixing the bed when he slip his arms into a warm embrace. Since my father will be staying overnight on the bath house, we fall in each other's arms in the bed, snuggle up each other and sleep. When I hear him snore, I carefully open my eyes and start to stare him. This is one of my habits in which my husband or even my father doesn't know about. I carefully caress his cheeks tracing his jawline. His soft, porcelain skin always electrifies me when it touches mine. His dark raven hair messes up together makes him so seductive. Though I carry it on, I can't help myself but think of the things that we've been though together.
I can't help it but say, "I don't wish for anything anymore, but only you and I"
Naimononedari wa ningen no tokui waza
Yokkyuu dake wa soko wo tsukanai
Tonari de kimi ga ooki na akubi wo suru
Sou da hoshii mono wa me no mae ni
Sou da shiawase wa todoku tokoro ni aru 'n datta
You and I You and I You and I
Oh hoshii no wa You and I
(Wanting for anything and everything is something humans are especially good at
but merely wanting will not take me there
Beside me, you crack a huge yawn
That's right; what I really wanted was right in front of me
That's right; I remember that I'm right here where I can reach happiness
You and I; you and I; you and I
Oh, what I truly want: you and I)
A.N: The song mentioned was You & I by Angela Aki. Don't Own Bisco Hatori-sensei's Ouran High School Host Club and its characters, and the song itself. The flow of the story's all mine.
- Eri