I originally intended to write a story focusing on the host club in general, but my brain took the parts that involved Kyouya and Tamaki and ran away with them. So, the Host Club goes to a commoner amusement park, because every anime has to have an amusement park scene and Ouran did not have one. It is told from the point of view of unnamed extras because I felt like trying something different. The story focuses mainly on Tamaki and Kyouya with unsubtle TamakiKyouya hints scattered throughout, so if you do not like them, do not read this. Please enjoy it!
Despite the number of people jostling for position in the long line into the amusement park, the ticket taker noticed them the moment they arrived. Perhaps it was the two sleek, black limousines with the Mercedes stars glinting on their hoods. Perhaps it was simply the fact that seven very handsome men traveling together would attract anyone's eyes. Either way, the ticket taker found himself squinting into the morning sunlight and studying the odd group, trying to determine just who they were.Out of one limo stepped a blonde, clearly not entirely of Japanese descent. He had an unconscious boy draped across his shoulders in what looked to be a most uncomfortable position. Following him were two redheads, twins by the looks of things, who were dragging a short, slightly androgynous boy between them. This one luckily was conscious and protesting loudly. From the other limo, a tall, stoic boy with a short blonde perched on his shoulders joined them.
"Alright, my loyal subjects," the tall blonde, clearly the leader, said, pitching his voice to be dramatic. This had the added benefit of letting the ticket taker hear his words over the babbling of the crowd. "Here we are, at the commoner amusement park. Since we are doing this as commoners, we are not going to use our family passes to bypass the lines. Nay, we shall buy ordinary student tickets to enter the park and then wait under the hot sun for our turns so that certain commoners will not be left behind without passes and can perhaps relive fond childhood memories."
"Thank you, enjoy your day," the ticket taker said abstractly, handing three ticket stubs to a woman with two eager-looking children. The androgynous boy was glaring at the blonde while the twins were teasing him if the devilish grins they wore were any indication of their words. After a minute of arguing, they moved into one of the long lines for tickets, oblivious to the stares of the ordinary people around them. Maybe they were just used to it. As the line moved slowly up, the ticket taker could hear their entire conversation.
"So you just go up and ask for a student ticket, show them your student ID card, and give them the amount of money indicated on the board above the woman's head," the androgynous one explained slowly to the twins and the leader, who were clearly enraptured by the process she was describing. Perhaps they were all foreigners?
"The system these commoners have come up with is amazing!" one of the twins exclaimed.
"It's so simple…" the other said in wonder. The androgynous boy looked irritated.
"May I help you?" the woman at the booth asked doubtfully.
"Yes, fair woman!" the leader exclaimed. "I wish to purchase student tickets for myself, my beautiful daughter, and my best friend." The ticket taker blinked. So the androgynous boy was actually a girl? And something about that daughter comment seemed off…
"I will… need to see your student ID cards for the discount," the woman in the booth said, looking more disconcerted than the ticket taker had ever seen her.
"As much as I hate to refuse a beautiful woman, we do not have his student ID card," the leader said smoothly, indicting the unconscious boy with a sweeping while managing to keep from dropping him even as he pulled his wallet out of his pocket and extracted his ID. "I kind of forgot it when I was dressing him this morning… he won't be happy with me…" The ticket taker blinked again.
"I can pay for myself, Senpai," the girl said peevishly.
"Well, I suppose I can give you the discount anyway," the woman said, blushing slightly. The ticket taker could not remember ever seeing his colleague so kind. "For two students, please pay three thousand five hundred yen." The leader handed over the money with another award-winning smile and waited impatiently for his friends on the other side of the booth. In short order they came through and approached the ticket taker himself.
"Hey, Haruhi, how do you work this metal thing?" the leader asked, poking the turnstile with one finger.
"You have to give me your ticket first," the ticket taker said helpfully.
"Oh! Okay, thank you!" the leader said with a happy smile. The ticket taker suddenly realized why his colleague was thrown off guard so easily. Bright purple eyes seemed to assure him that the world was a bright place and that even he, a lowly amusement park worker, could have his own happy ending. Distantly, the ticket taker noted that he would go to the ends of the earth to keep the light in that person's smile.
"By the way," the ticket taker said weakly as he tore the tickets in half, "is your friend there quite alright?"
"He's just tired," the leader explained. "He normally doesn't wake up before noon, so as his best friends we have to carry him out of bed and out into the world to get him to do stuff with us." He laughed, and the ticket taker found himself laughing as well as he handed the ticket stubs back, perhaps in desperate relief that the handsome blonde was not a kidnapper.
"Well, to get through the turnstile, you just push the uppermost bar and walk forward. Enjoy yourselves!" He watched in concern and the leader pushed on the upper bar and stumbled forward when it moved. The next bar smacked the unconscious boy in the back, who miraculously did not awaken. Following their leader's example, the other five filed through.
"Haruhi! Let's go ride the largest roller coasters we can find!" one of the twins called, taking the girl by the hand and beginning to run. The other twin followed.
"Wait! I have a handicap; I can't run…" the leader protested. Haruhi suddenly stopped and skewered the leader with an evil glare.
"Don't you dare drop Kyouya-senpai this time," she threatened. "Last time, I had to come clean up after you and I do not want to repeat the experience." The leader paled as she turned and left with the twins. He did not move even as the last two walked by, the short one saying something about trying the funnel cakes and cotton candy.
"H-hey! Wait!" he called, suddenly coming back to himself and chasing after his friends. The ticket taker watched him go until he became aware that something kept poking him in the shoulder.
"Sorry, sorry!" he apologized to the long line of customers that had built up while he was watching the outlandish group, and took the first ticket to tear.
---
"One hundred yen for a chance to dunk the rabbit!" the teenager called to the crowds, wondering yet again why he humiliated himself for a pittance. At least he was not the one seated above the tub of water in a rabbit suit… Still, this had to be the second-worst job in the entire park. He desperately scanned the crowd for someone to play the imbecilic game. A very handsome blonde who was making a beeline for their booth caught his eye and he gulped.
"Excuse me, sir, can we borrow that tub for a moment?" the blonde asked, exuding charm. The teenager wondered just how deep those purple eyes went. "I need to wake my friend up, so can I dunk him instead of the rabbit?" To his horror, the teenager realized that an unconscious someone was draped across the blonde's shoulders.
"I'm afraid that's against regulations," the teenager said, wondering why it was suddenly harder to breathe.
"Oh please?" the blonde begged. "You see, Kyouya is my best friend in the whole world and I promised Haruhi that I wouldn't lose him again, so I want to wake him up so he can enjoy the commoner amusement park even though it's not noon yet." The teenager's head whirled as he tried to follow the hyper boy's train of thought.
"Y-you would have to talk to my supervisor," he managed to squeak, gesturing with a thumb to the tall woman with a clipboard next to the tank. He led the strangers to her side.
"What do you want?" she asked him sharply.
"This guy wants to dump his friend in the tub instead of the rabbit because he wants to wake him up, and I told him it was against regulations, but he wouldn't listen, so you need to tell him, I guess," he mumbled, not wanting to see the hurt in the purple eyes when she refused.
"I am sure your heart is as filled with kindness as this tub is filled with water, beautiful woman," the man said, causing both the rabbit and the teenager to gape at him. "It would honor both me and my friend greatly if you would just let me dunk him once."
"Perhaps it would not hurt… if you did it quickly," the woman said, swooning slightly. "There is the small matter of safety…"
"Do you see the first aid kit on the wall there?" the blonde asked. "This is the son of the man who owns the company that makes those. Your job and my friend's health are both perfectly safe. Indeed, you are as conscientious as you are beautiful, and for that I thank you." That did it for the woman.
"You can come down now!" she called to the rabbit. "And you, boy," she pointed at the teenager, "help this wonderful young man get his friend onto that platform."
"Yay!" the blonde said, much as a small child might. The teenager helped him pull the unconscious boy into the seat on the collapsible platform above the water, torn between frustration that this gorgeous stranger could waltz in and change the rules out from under him and attraction to said gorgeous stranger.
"So, you get three beanbags, and if you hit the target, the platform collapses," he explained. "It costs one hundred yen normally, but I guess we could waive the price for you."
"Of course, of course," the supervisor said, waving her clipboard to dismiss the importance of payment. "Do your best, dearie!" The blonde smiled brightly, causing another wave of dizziness to overtake supervisor, teenager, and rabbit alike before throwing the beanbag. Like everything else about him, the throw was perfection, and the beanbag hit the target directly in the center. As though in slow motion, the four of them watched the platform descend, dumping Kyouya into the water. He surfaced almost immediately.
"Kyouya! Are you alright?" the blonde asked, running to the side of the tank and peering anxiously into it. The shorter boy shook the water out of his hair and looked up, fury smoldering within his eyes. They took in the blonde, the three park employees, and the small crowd that had gathered.
"Tamaki, you are dead," he whispered menacingly before seizing the other boy's collar and yanking him into the tub as well. He stood as Tamaki floundered in the water and smiled pleasantly at the supervisor. "I apologize for any trouble my friend has given you," he said, stepping carefully out of the tub.
"It was no trouble," the supervisor protested. The teenager noted that even she did not know how to act when confronted by the forceful personalities of their unusual guests.
"Good," he said flatly. "We will not bother you any further. Come, Tamaki. We have a few things we need to talk about." His voice sent chills down the spines of the watchers. Tamaki smiled guiltily and followed the shorter boy meekly. The teenager wondered if he realized just far he had crossed the line and said a fervent prayer for his safety. The crowd parted silently for them and they were soon lost to sight.
"Well…" the supervisor said at last, "I doubt you'll be needed to call people for a while as there are more than enough waiting to play." Sure enough, the teenager turned to see a long line of people, and hurried to retrieve the beanbags.
---
The boy's green eyes were narrowed in fierce concentration as he carefully shot duck after duck. The old man running the booth watched the score total count higher until the time ran out and a buzzer blared obnoxiously. Shoulders sagging with released tension, the boy put the gun down and he and his girlfriend looked anxiously at the old man.
"You qualify for a medium prize. Well done," he said benevolently.
"I want that one," the girl said, pointing a blue teddy bear. The old man smiled and handed the toy to the boy, who gave it to his girlfriend with all due ceremony. She hugged it happily and they walked away, hand in hand. The old man straightened and scanned the crowds for his next customers. As luck would have it, two boys were walking toward him, the blonde dragging his shorter companion by the arm. Both were slightly damp.
"Good day, boys!" he greeted them jovially. "Care to try your hands at shooting some ducks?"
"I want to try! Which one do you think Haruhi would like?" the blonde asked his companion.
"I really have no idea," the other answered, his patience clearly worn thin from some earlier event. "Perhaps, had someone allowed me to dress myself this morning, I would have brought my notebooks, including my file on Haruhi. However, you were impatient, so now you have to pay the consequences." The blonde's face fell, hurt evident in his bright purple eyes.
"It costs one hundred yen for two minutes and two hundred yen for three minutes," the old man offered, not sure if he wanted to hear more on that particular topic. He did not realize it himself, but he also wanted to distract the blonde, for when those purple eyes were lowered, it felt as though a cloud had covered the sun. It was an uncomfortable feeling.
"Two minutes then, please," the blonde said, shoving the coin across the table. The old man handed him the gun and set the timer. Within seconds, it became obvious that the blonde was a terrible shot. He was shooting everything except the ducks themselves. The old man the blonde's companion both turned away from the pathetic sight at the same time.
"So, you two have… been on the water rides, eh?" he said.
"No!" the blonde said without turning from the ducks.
"Yes," the dark-haired boy said at the same time.
"But Kyouya," the blonde protested, "when I suggested going on—"
"Keep shooting your ducks," Kyouya said firmly. "Yes, we went on a water ride and we had a wonderful time and Tamaki has surely not forgotten about that, right?"
"Yes, Mommy," Tamaki said in a small voice.
"Keep shooting; you're wasting money," Kyouya said impatiently before turning back the old man, who was slightly unnerved. He wondered if they were roleplaying something, but they did not have on costumes. Yet the one in front of him was obviously very young and very male.
"So, have you been having fun around the park?" he asked, praying fervently that he was not stepping on another mine. He was.
"Oh, one of us is always having fun," Kyouya said softly. The coloured lights in the booth glinted off his glasses as he sneered slightly at his oblivious companion. Luckily for both Tamaki and the old man, the buzzer rang at that moment.
"Uh, you only qualify for a small prize," the old man said. "I have these coloured snakes. You can pick one, I guess."
"No! I have to win a teddy bear for Haruhi! Two more minutes, please," Tamaki said dramatically, sliding another hundred yen across the counter.
"You probably ought to take the three minutes… but no, if you keep doing this, it is cheaper to continue paying for two minutes intervals," Kyouya mused. He abstractly picked one of the plush snakes up and poked it experimentally as the old man reset the timer. "Are you sure Haruhi would not simply enjoy one of these snakes?" he asked.
"I want… to win… a teddy bear," Tamaki said in between shots. "Our daughter… deserves… only the best… don't you… agree?" The old man prudently decided to retreat to one corner of the booth and hope for some other customers. There were some questions better left unasked.
"Very well," Kyouya said. "I stand little chance of changing your mind once you are set on some idiocy. Old man, do you have paper and pen by any chance? I could make a big industry out of something like this…" Kyouya glanced speculatively at the snake in his hand.
"Of course," the old man said, hurrying to find some.
Half an hour later, Kyouya was perched on the counter, a pile of plush snakes next to him on the counter. He had used about half the pad of paper the old man had brought and showed no signs of slowing. Tamaki on the other hand was growing steadily more cheerful. The old man supposed that he should be grateful for the coins the blonde was all but giving away to him, but in truth he could not help but hope that the optimistic lad would finally obtain the prize he so desperately wanted for this "Haruhi" person and leave.
"Hey Kyouya, I was only one point below getting a teddy bear on that one!" Tamaki said, dropping another snake onto Kyouya's pile. "I think I will win on this one. Will you watch me?"
"I'm writing, Tamaki," Kyouya answered shortly. The old man braced himself for more hurt feelings, but Tamaki seemed determined to have Kyouya's cooperation this time.
"Daddy will do better if Mommy watches him," he said, looking up at his friend with shining purple eyes. The old man regained enough of his senses to wonder if Tamaki knew just how attractive he looked when he did that, and to decide that he probably knew exactly what he was doing.
"People tend to do better at things when no one is watching them, Dad," Kyouya said, keeping his eyes firmly on his paper. Frustrated, Tamaki leaned forward and planted a hand squarely in the middle of his friend's notes. He reached out and lifted Kyouya's chin so he could no longer stare at his paper.
"I will do better if you are watching me, Mom" he said. The old man found himself praying that these two were actors though the intensity in Tamaki's eyes belied that hypothesis.
"I'll watch you," Kyouya said, for who could refuse Tamaki while looking directly into his eyes? "Do your best. I know you will succeed." Tamaki nodded once, a happiness a thousand times greater than any of the previous hurts filling his eyes. The old man found himself smiling as well as he reset the timer and accepted one hundred yen. Tamaki took the gun and lifted it. He glanced at Kyouya once, met his eyes, and shot. The shot hit the center of the duck and the score counter went up once. So the rest of the game went, Tamaki shooting and periodically glancing at Kyouya. When the buzzer rang, it seemed to startle all three of them out of their trance. The old man looked at the score counter, dreading what he would see.
"Tamaki-kun… you got two higher than last time. You qualify for one of the teddy bears," he said, somewhat dazed.
"Bravo!" Tamaki cried, jumping higher than the old man thought gravity would have allowed for and spontaneously hugging Kyouya. "May I please have that purple one?"
"It matches your eyes," Kyouya noted dryly as Tamaki hugged the bear as gleefully as the girl before him. "Haruhi should like it… or she had better, now that you have wasted half your money and half the day here."
"And you could do better?" Tamaki said doubtfully.
"Tamaki, a child could do better," Kyouya said. His eyes crossed as Tamaki shoved one hundred more yen across the table.
"Mommy wants to play!" he announced. The old man sighed. He thought he had finally got rid of these bizarre kids, but he took the hundred yen and handed the gun to Kyouya, who had not even bothered to protest. He set the timer and watched as Kyouya nailed the poor ducks with deadly accuracy. Somehow, the shorter boy nearly always managed to compensate for the ridiculous inaccuracy of the carnival gun.
"You qualify for one of our large prizes," the old man said nervously as Tamaki gaped at the score counter. Expressionless, Kyouya selected a large silver puppy stuffed toy and shoved it into Tamaki's arms.
"Is this for me?" the blonde asked, blushing like a girl in a shoujo manga.
"Yes. Can we go now?" Kyouya asked. He leaned over to the old man and added, "We will need a bag for all those snakes as well."
"But Mommy," Tamaki protested, "now that you won something for me, I have to win something for you!" The old man blanched, pausing in the act of shoving snakes into a spare trash bag.
"Save it for White Day, okay Daddy?" Kyouya said with a long-suffering sigh. "Try your hand at another booth if you still want to play games. At the very least you can give me all those snakes you won." Tamaki thought for a moment before smiling again and nodding happily. He accepted the bag of snakes from the old man. Threading his free hand through Kyouya's, he led the way away from the booth. The old man slumped on the counter, never so happy to see customers leave as those two.
"Excuse me, sir, can I have two minutes?" a small voice interrupted. The old man looked down to see a child with one hundred yen clutched in one fist.
"Sorry, I'm closed," he said. He had a lot to think about tonight…
---
The people in front of them were loud. Specifically, the blonde in front of them was loud. It was not so much that he was shouting as that his voice was pitched to exaggerate every nuance and carry emotion to every corner of a room. It was an actor's voice, and the blonde probably used it so often that he no longer noticed his was using it. The dark-haired one was quieter. His voice was pitched to carry great weight in a small space such as across a conference table, with just a hint of a threat flavoring it. This made it somewhat harder to hear from the seat behind the couple on the Ferris Wheel.
"Do you think we'll get to stop at the top? I really want to stop at the top. Do you think that will happen, Kyouya?" the blonde said, bouncing about like a small child. The swinging seat rocked dangerously beneath him.
"Tamaki, please stop bouncing the chair," Kyouya said, turning to his friend and pushing his glasses up on his nose. "They have to stop the ride to load and unload every single seat, so I calculate that we will be at the top for approximately one minute and fifteen seconds. Commoners tend to be efficient when dealing with large crowds."
"Do you think they are foreigners?" the wife asked the husband, noting that he too was watching the show in front of them.
"Well, the blonde is undoubtedly a foreigner," he said, "but I am sure I have seen the other one somewhere. Not in person of course, but maybe he was on television or something…" He scratched his head in thought. "If I could see his whole face, I could tell you…"
"But that's so short! Will we have time to properly see the sunset?" Tamaki asked.
"Tamaki, I have no doubt that we will have ample time at the top to see the sunset," Kyouya said with the tone of one who knows more than he is saying.
"Okay! I trust you, Mom" Tamaki said with a disarming grin.
"I would not trust anyone speaking in that tone," the husband commented, choosing not to mention the more obvious anomaly. It was the sort of tone his boss at his job when in important meetings that might prove to be very profitable. Come to think of it, the kid had "upper management" written all over him. However, the husband's musings were interrupted when the Ferris Wheel jolted slightly and began to turn smoothly.
"Look, Kyouya! You can see everything from up here!" Tamaki cried in delight as their chair reached the uppermost point of the circle.
"Although many of the roller coasters are taller than the Ferris Wheel, the top of this ride is actually place with the greatest altitude in this park," Kyouya explained in textbook fashion as they descended and the couple behind them reached the top. "The Ferris Wheel was built on a hill, facing west, for the specific purpose of enjoying the sunset over the amusement park. After all, people can hardly relax and enjoy the high point of a roller coaster. It goes by too quickly."
"Really? I've always enjoyed the nervous feelings in my stomach right before that first major drop," Tamaki said in surprise. "It's kind of like the feeling I get when I see Haruhi in girl clothes, or the feeling I get when you call me Dad. It's not a bad feeling."
"Pleasant or unpleasant, it is not relaxing," Kyouya said quickly. "It is more… exciting. The Ferris Wheel is completely different. Look, we're coming to the top again." Both boys paused for a moment to admire the park, glittering in the orange light of the sunset.
"Which do you prefer?" Tamaki asked innocently.
"I think I prefer… the roller coasters," Kyouya said pensively, looking to the sun. "They are a challenge. You have to be constantly reorienting yourself. You do not have time to think or prepare yourself for what comes next. It's good practice in an odd way." He reached for the pad of paper next to him and scribbled something the couple behind him could not see onto it. "We should rent this place out for a day and bring the girls here," he told Tamaki. "I think romantic Ferris Wheel rides with the hosts would be very popular."
"How would you know if you cannot even enjoy a Ferris Wheel ride without thinking business?" Tamaki said, gently taking the notepad from his friend's hands. "As king I am ordering you to relax," he added with a laugh.
"Yes, Dad," Kyouya said, leaning back and spreading his arms across the chair, the very picture of leisure. Tamaki leaned against his friend's shoulder as they reached the summit for a third time and began to descend once more.
"Who are these people?" the wife asked. The husband did not answer, still trying to wrap his mind around the confusing dynamic of the relationship he saw unfolding before him. He wondered if those two themselves even knew what the nature of their relationship was. The four sat in silence as the wheel made another slow turn and ground to a halt just as the chair containing Tamaki and Kyouya reached the summit. Both boys and as well as the couple behind them leaned forward, wondering why the ride was stopped.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have encountered a slight glitch in the mechanics down here. It will only take about ten minutes to fix. We apologize for the inconvenience," a man with a megaphone called. The couple withdrew, surprised.
"Kyouya!" Tamaki's voice interrupted their thoughts. "We are stopped at the top, just like I hoped! Oh, look at the sun!" The childlike wonder in his voice brought smiles to the faces of both husband and wife. The sunset must be phenomenal from the topmost chair, though at the moment neither of them begrudged the two boys that coveted position at all. It had something to do with the music in the blonde's laughter…
"You—it is beautiful," Kyouya agreed. A smile could be heard even in his restrained tones. "Can you give me that pad of paper for just one moment?"
"You hardly need to write down the fact that I am beautiful in the sunset," Tamaki said, brushing his hair back theatrically. "Besides, why are you so eager to sell this anyway? I much prefer sitting up here with you than seeing the numbers on my back account climb. That's too lonely."
"He makes a good point," the husband told his wife softly, unaccountably moved by the blonde's words. "I will try to get some more vacation time so we can do this more often. What use is money if I never see my beautiful wife?" She turned to him, eyes shining unnaturally.
"We should thank those kids when we get back onto the ground," she whispered, snuggling against him. The husband smiled. Put in Tamaki's words, it seemed so simple, he wondered that he had not come up with it before now.
"You're right," Kyouya said. "I am going to be selfish and keep my Tamaki-in-the-sunset. We can take the girls to the water park instead. They don't have a Ferris Wheel, and the money will be about the same." Tamaki put a hand to his friend's mouth.
"Kyouya would not be Kyouya without bringing business into everything, but just sit here with me for now, okay?" Kyouya stared at Tamaki for a moment. The taller boy smiled encouragingly and placed his hand around his friend's shoulders. No longer arguing, Kyouya curled against his side in an unconscious imitation of the couple behind them. The sun sank below the horizon and it seemed odd when the Ferris Wheel began to move again. It took them through one silent cycle before it again stopped to change passengers. They slowly approached the ground and when their car was one away from being unloaded, the Kyouya and Tamaki gathered themselves from the sprawled positions and sat up as befitting sophisticated, young gentlemen.
"You wait for me at the bottom," Kyouya told Tamaki as one of the operators helped him out of the chair. "I am going to ask what the problem was… out of professional interest, of course."
"Okay!" Tamaki said, bounding down the metal stairs two at a time. As it turned out, the car with the couple reached the bottom just in time to see Kyouya hand a wad of bills to the man working the controls.
"Thank you very much," the boy said, the picture of composure. "We appreciated it. I trust the 'problem' was fixed?"
"Absolutely, Ootori-sama, sir," the man said, bowing as the Kyouya walked away. The husband stopped dead, startled.
"Darling, the dark-haired boy… I just realized who he is," he said in shock. "He is the one on the logo of the company I work for, K.O. Some say he is even the CEO… at his age…" Standing silently together, the couple watched as the young businessman allowed himself to be pulled down the pathway by his hyper friend, demigods made human for just one evening.
---
"My lord!" a voice rang out from the line for the bumper cars. The three girls who had been ogling the five handsome men behind them looked as yet two more gorgeous males vaulted the barriers denoting places where the line was to form and joined their friends.
"Haruhi!" the blonde newcomer cried, seizing a shorter brunette and enveloping him in a hug. "What did you unscrupulous twins do to my cute daughter?" he demanded, glaring at the redheads. The girls looked at one another and giggled. Roleplay was so moe!
"Well, they didn't notice that we kicked the speed on the roller coasters up a few levels, but they caught us when we played with the controls for the waterfall and geysers on that one raft ride," one of the twins said unashamedly.
"So then we had to break your rules and introduce ourselves so they would not kick us out of the park," the other chimed in.
"What about Haruhi?" the blonde said. "She does not have a name or money to throw around or have you two forgotten that?" The girls glanced at one another. Roleplay was moe, but they were slightly disconcerted upon realization that the boy they had been ogling was in actuality female.
"Relax, my lord," the first said. "She's here with us, isn't she? Actually, she had the easiest time getting out of trouble. After all, Kaoru and I are only the Hitachiin brothers…"
"But Haruhi is the daughter of a Suoh and an Ootori both, right?" Kaoru finished. The lord slowly began to smile until his companion elbowed him out of the way.
"If word of that little stunt gets back to my father, I will personally take great pleasure in emptying your trust funds into my Swiss bank account," he said with a pleasant smile. Both twins paled.
"Of course, Kyouya-senpai. We understand completely," they said together, their voices an octave higher than before.
"But Kyouya, aren't you happy that your name could help our cute daughter enjoy her day here?" the lord whined.
"I suppose I am glad that Haruhi enjoyed herself, Dad," Kyouya said, pushing his glasses up with a finger. "You did enjoy yourself, Haruhi?" The girls glanced uneasily at one another. It had to be roleplay. Of course.
"Y-yes!" she said nervously.
"And Mori-senpai and Hanii-senpai, you two also enjoyed yourselves?" Kyouya asked, turning the last two.
"Of course! I ate lots of funnel cakes and cotton candy, and then we went on some of the roller coasters!" the short blonde said with a grin. He was also holding a lollipop as large as his head, flat and full of swirling colours which were rapidly being dissolved by his tongue.
"How cute!" one of the girls remarked to the other two. They nodded in agreement.
"Oh yeah, we also hired a funnel cake maker and a cotton candy maker to work in our kitchen so I can have amusement park sweets whenever I want!" he said happily. The watching girls melted into a puddle of cuteness.
"That reminds me," the lord interrupted, throwing his arm into the air, "I have a gift for my favorite princess!" He seized a large, black trash bag from the floor next him and opened it. Peering inside, the girls noted that it was filled with cheap plush snakes, a purple teddy, and a massive silver dog stuffed toy. The lord seized the teddy and sank gracefully to one knee before proffering it to Haruhi, who looked startled.
"Did you win this… for me?" she asked.
"Indeed, I spent the better part of an hour and most of my wallet solely so I could see your smile upon receipt of this simple bear," Tamaki said. The girls in front melted into a puddle of liquid sugar again.
"That is the unfortunate truth," Kyouya commented as Haruhi took the bear. "I have never seen someone so completely incompetent with a carnival gun."
"Hey, my lord, what is the rest of this stuff?" the first twin asked.
"Oh, the snakes are the default participation prize," the lord said, blushing slightly.
"And you won this many while trying to win one teddy?" Kaoru asked, sniggering slightly. Tamaki nodded, hanging his head slightly so blonde hair fell into his purple eyes.
"Then where did the dog come from?" the short blonde asked. The lord instantly perked up.
"Kyouya won that for me! He got a large prize on his first try!" Tamaki said adoringly, not noticing that his friend had backed into a shadow with the almost-full pad of paper. The twins burst into laughter and even the girls, disturbed as they were, could not hold back a few giggles.
"I hate to interrupt, but we are at the front of the line," the stoic one pointed out.
"One or two to a car, please," the woman running the bumper cars said, beaming at the group of handsome men. The girls quickly selected cars from which they could watch the group.
"Haruhi, join me!" the lord said, seizing the girl's wrist. "You have been with those twins all day, so drive with Daddy now!"
"Okay, okay," Haruhi said, allowing him to pull her into the passenger seat of one of the cars. The twins stuck their tongues out and selected a bright yellow car. Kyouya sat alone in a jet black car, exuding menace and smirking evilly, and Mori and Hanii took the last car, the taller man driving partially because the blonde was still eating his lollipop and partially because his feet could reach the pedals. The operator pulled a lever and the cars started. The first thing that happened was that the twins slammed into the lord and Haruhi as they tried to get out of the corner in which they had started.
"Catch us if you can, my lord!" one of them called, with a grin before racing away, nearly hitting one of the girls while doing so. The lord grinned and yanked the wheel but before he could step on the pedal, a different car slammed into him from the other side.
"Mommy!" the lord protested, yelling at a smirking Kyouya.
"Something wrong, Tamaki? Perhaps you should let Haruhi drive. Maybe she could get you out of the corner." With those parting words, Kyouya sped off after the twins to the cheers of the girls.
"Okay, Haruhi, let's go!" Tamaki said, no less optimistic for his two failed attempts. He made it half a meter before yet another car knocked him back into a wall.
"Well done!" lollipop boy cheered, causing the girls to laugh in delight.
"Mori-senpai! Was that your idea?" Tamaki called, shaking a fist at the tall boy. Mori only smirked before racing after the twins.
"Excuse me, ladies," a smooth voice interrupted their giggles. Kyouya was leaning out of his car and giving them his coolest look. "Would you be interested in helping me keep Tamaki in that corner?" The girls glance shyly at one another.
"Okay!" one said at last. With that, they followed the black car to keep Tamaki and Haruhi boxed in. Tamaki made it another meter before he was assaulted on all sides. Kyouya cruised leisurely by, overseeing his handiwork before driving over to the twins and slamming them into a railing. The girls of course needed no excuse to stay near Tamaki, so in the end Kyouya emerged the undisputed victor of their miniature bumper car war after single-handedly tangling the twins and Mori and Hanii up with one another.
"Kyouya!" Tamaki said. "You made everyone gang up on me!" The girls could all but see the rain clouds gathering above his head.
"Actually, we kind of had the same idea," one of the twins cut in. "Kyouya-senpai is just better at organization so he got there first. Either way you would have been the victim." He shrugged and nonchalantly put his hands behind his head.
"Besides, my lord, you were too distracted by a certain someone to drive well anyway," the other said with a laugh.
"Such beauty in a human being would distract anyone," Tamaki protested, pouting. "Besides, you two dragged her away and I didn't get to see her all day long."
"Are you guys coming to the fireworks?" one of the girls interrupted their bickering. They all turned and looked at her in surprise. She squeaked slightly and blushed, unaccustomed to the male attention.
"Are they free?" Kyouya, predictably, asked. She nodded.
"Well if Mom has given his approval, we would be absolutely delighted to go if you would accompany us, little kitten," Tamaki said, immediately snapping out of his depression. She spun and skipped back to her two friends. Tamaki and the rest of his group followed her until they reached one of the larger ponds in the park. A small crowd had already gathered at the water's edge. After the usual jostling for position, the girls found themselves slightly behind the boys… in a perfect position to watch them rather than the fireworks.
"You've seen fireworks before, Haruhi?" the twins asked with identical evil grins from their place directly to her right.
"Of course I've seen fireworks, you morons," she snapped. "We had them at the Ouran Festival, remember?" The twins only cackled evilly.
"Leave my daughter alone," Tamaki said from Haruhi's other side. "And Kyouya, no business allowed during fireworks either." The lord turned to his left, stole Kyouya's notepad, and dropped it into the bag of plushies.
"Look! The fireworks are starting!" Hanii said from his perch on Mori's shoulders. Despite being the shortest of the group, he had the best view. The girls laughed at his cuteness before turning their attention to the sky. In front of them, Tamaki threw one arm around Kyouya and the other around Haruhi.
"Next time," he told the two of them, "I want to spend the whole day with my family." He did not wait for a response, but was distracted by a particularly bright flare of light above them. Kyouya leaned back to look at Haruhi.
"I say next time we kidnap him," he whispered to her. She smiled.
"You realize that that would involve getting up early?" she asked. Kyouya shrugged.
"For him… I just might," he said. Haruhi chuckled, and they turned their attention to the bright night sky.