Well, it's been a while since I posted anything. After finishing Coals of Juniper, ideas pertaining to it still barge in now and again. This snippet has been pricking my brain and it won't leave me alone. So, I decided to post it as a one-shot. You don't have to read Coals of Juniper to understand what's going on. Just know that this story does contains OCs: one is called Yura and another mentioned, Yuki, her older brother.
Enjoy!
I do not own Ouran High School Host Club. Only Yura and Yuki Komatsu.
"Yura, I'm done with this."
"Alright. I'll check it after I finish this page."
Haruhi had accepted Yura's invitation to study at her house. It was only about three weeks into their permanent tutoring schedule. Instead of having to be trapped in the library after host club hours, Yura decided it would be better for them to finish their work in the comfort of a home. That and when Tamaki heard how late the two girls were staying after school he went into such a frenzy that Yura had blurted out the idea sooner than she intended, to pacify him. She didn't think Haruhi would agree to it.
The two girls were comfortable with one another, but only to an extent. Among the noise and bustle of the host club and the grandness of the library at Ouran, they could work in silence, too absorbed in their work to think much on their proximity and the nature of the relationship. Neither of them would quite say they were friends. Circumstance had brought them together more than anything else. If it hadn't been the teacher's suggestion for Yura to tutor and Haruhi's acceptance to this instead of requesting Ayame, Haruhi was sure she wouldn't speak to Yura beyond what was required as common decency in a social setting.
Yura found Haruhi to be interesting and was glad to have accepted tutoring her, but she always carried in the back of her mind a that thought Haruhi would change tutors if she could without the possibility of making Yura feel like she had been snubbed. The younger girl got the feeling that the older was somewhat scared of her. That she didn't know how to resolve. She was not a cheery open person like Tamaki and Hunny.
Haruhi was curious about Yura, but discerned enough from her demeanor to know better than to question her. Though she talked more and seemed less nervous, Haruhi was acutely aware of the reserved privacy that emanated from her tutor. An unspoken command not to ask about her life outside school settings. Even the others in the host club didn't pry as much, the twins leaving their interaction with her to light pranks at best. The smaller cross dresser would smile and compliment with such quietude, but Haruhi would catch glimpse of a habitual hard frown resting on her pale lips when she thought Haruhi was absorbed in the math exercises she had provided. Haruhi was hesitant, but not frightened.
So the two girls went about with the tutoring sessions, still tottering on the border between acquaintances and friends. The silence that enveloped them as they worked teetered uncomfortable. It wasn't until after Haruhi accepted her invitation did it dawn on Yura that she had never had anyone over at her house. Yuki would usually go to other friend's houses and she had gone to Haruhi's house once since meeting her, but neither of the Komatsu twins had brought anyone over before. The realization didn't stifle her much until Haruhi was in the house. Then the place seemed too quiet and bare all of a sudden. She never really cared about the silence, since she and Yuki were often alone. But she was at home with her twin brother. She still didn't know much about this cross dressing wide eyed brunette beyond what she observed. She wasn't one to make small talk either so she didn't know much about Haruhi's background, beyond the fact that she was a scholarship student.
"Yura?"
The small girl was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't know that Haruhi had been calling her more than once for the last minute. Her glance at her classmate looked like a glare, but she was actually just coming out of the thoughtful stupor.
"…Yes?"
"Do have a pen I could borrow? Mines run out of ink." Haruhi wondered what she was thinking to make her look so upset.
"Oh, yeah, sure. I'll be right back."
Yura was grateful to that dead pen as she ran upstairs to get a spare pen from her room. She had some in the large gym bag she took to school beside her, but Haruhi didn't know that so Yura took advantage of that ignorance to get a few minutes alone. Once in her room, Yura took a few deep breaths and grabbed a pen from the pencil case on her book shelf.
When she glanced out the window she saw the dark grey clouds. A smile broke through her tense anticipation as a bright flash crossed her bedroom's glass pane before a clap of thunder broke through the sound of the sudden pelting rain. She usually didn't make her odd trek through rainstorms in the afternoon, but today she was considering making an exception. The small first year looked out the window for a couple of minutes, enjoying the sight of the fresh water falling. She contemplated how long she could be outside before it got too dark. After two minutes, Yura realized she was taking too much time to retrieve a pen. She hurried down the stairs and closed her eyes before opening the door.
Haruhi was gone.
Yura looked around the room, her mouth gaped in disbelief.
'I wasn't gone that long…'
She went into the kitchen and looked around. The smaller girl then checked the bathroom she had showed Haruhi embedded in the staircase. The door was wide open and no one was inside. She checked the bathroom upstairs. Her classmate was nowhere to be found. For half a second, Yura entertained the thought that Haruhi had left at the first chance she could get. She returned to the living room, slow in her saunter as she thought of what to do next.
Then she heard a squeak from under the low table where the workbooks and school books rested. Only after hearing that noise did she discern the shadowed huddle underneath. Yura bent down and her eyes became wide at seeing Haruhi in a trembling tight turtle position, hands clamped over her ears, with tears leaking out of her tightly closed eyes.
Yura raised her head to scan the walls, ceiling and table. There were no bugs in room and the light was still on. Bending back down, she was reaching out to Haruhi when a flash of lightning flicked across the small window to the back of the living area. The boom that followed elicited another squeak from Yura's guest taking homage under her coffee table. The whole scenario took a few seconds to click with the small pale girl. She stood up. Running to the window, she slammed it shut and drew the curtains over it.
Yura also slid the rice paper doors to the living room closed and took up a remote, in which a calm tune soon enveloped the room. The smaller scholarship student turned up the volume until the boom of thunder became a distant sound. Looking back under the table, she saw that the huddle stopped trembling and that Haruhi's head was raised a little. Yura ran off again and came back with a blanket, headphones and an mp3 player. She flipped over the table, wrapped the surprised brunette in the fluffy lavender blanket, put on the headphones and search through her tracks for instrumentals. She pressed play and watched Haruhi's face for approval of her song choice. The wide eyes slowly lowered closed.
Crawling over, Yura sat next to her, letting Haruhi lean on her as she kept her eyes glued to the music player's screen. The books and stationary items lay scattered on the floor behind them, forgotten. Music poured from the two electronic outlets and Yura managed to unconsciously immerse her mind in a self induced bubble of silence. Slowly, she became deaf to her surroundings.
When Yura opened her eyes, she noticed that the music that had been coming from her radio had stopped. She looked down at the still form beside her.
Haruhi had fallen asleep; her eyes now dry of tears. One of her petite hands poked out of the blanket, clutching unto Yura's sleeve. The younger girl smiled. Yura raised herself a bit to get out her phone from her pocket and check the time. It was almost eleven in the evening.
'Shouldn't her parents have called by now or something?' Yura thought vaguely.
But instead of worrying, she shrugged and dialed a number, hoping that the person wasn't already in bed.
"Hello?"
"Tanaka-san?" Yura answered, glancing at the cute sleeping one beside her. "Can you do me a favor?"
The next day at school Haruhi and Yura did not talk that morning. Yura had come in late, sporting a doctor's note and a bandage on her cheek. She plopped into her seat and slept through most of her morning classes. As soon as the lunch bell rang, she was gone.
"You think Yura-chan sleepwalks?" Kaoru questioned aloud.
Haruhi remained in her seat to have her lunch in the classroom. The twins were hanging around for a little while with her before going to the cafeteria.
"No? Why do you ask?" Haruhi opened her bento, saying a word of thanks before starting her meal.
"How did she get injured so early in the morning?"
Hikaru looked at his twin.
"You think she sleepwalks and bumps into things?"
"Maybe? I don't know. It's just…it looked like a pretty bad bruise."
"Why not ask her?" Haruhi suggested.
"No thanks." Kaoru knew he and Hikaru were not on terms to be asking after the younger girl's condition. It was only a few weeks ago they were treating her with disdain.
"We'll see you after lunch." The two gave their farewell to Haruhi in unison before leaving.
Before the host club began, Haruhi sat at a table in the next room, waiting for Yura who, just like this morning, was late for their tutoring session. The brunette also had other things to discuss with her classmate.
She hadn't been prepared for that thunderstorm yesterday. The weather report had said nothing of it and the whole situation had been the one thing she wished to avoid, especially with someone who didn't know about her fear of thunder. She thought for sure when Yura found her under the table, the smaller girl would have laughed or at least question her. So Yura's actual reaction then had caught her off guard. Haruhi wondered why she had done all that. She also wanted to know how she ended up waking up in her apartment this morning, with only a note beside her futon wishing her the best.
The large pink door opened and Haruhi jumped to see Yura looked…sullen. And angry. Upon spotting the brunette however, the expression melted into an apologetic smile that still carried a tinge of the sullenness she had just witness.
"Hey, sorry I'm late. I had to head to the infirmary."
"The infirmary? What happened, are you okay?" Haruhi began to rise from her seat.
"Yeah, don't worry its fine." Yura waved her off, still smiling as she gesturing for the taller girl to sit back down. "I just went to have my bandages changed. The ones I was wearing got some food on it while I was eating."
"Oh."
"Yeah..."
Yura cleared her throat. The large brown eyes were boring into said bruised cheek and she didn't know how to handle that steady clear gaze just yet. "How about we cut studying today short and make up for it tomorrow?"
Haruhi nodded. Then she noticed Yura moved her chair from her left side to her right, so her unharmed cheek would face her.
"Hey Yura?"
"Hm?"
"Did…are you the one who dropped me home last night?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I asked my uncle to give me a ride to your house so I could drop you off. I wasn't sure if you would have been comfortable staying at my place, it being a school night and all and you having no change of clothes." Yura explained with a shrug, flipping through the English workbook in her hand.
"Oh."
Yura nodded. Haruhi glance between Yura and her notebook, looking back up at her.
"Yura?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you. For last night." Haruhi finally managed, worried about how her tutor would take it.
The jade green eyes lifted from the book to hers and the neutral bored expression warmed into a friendly smile.
"No problem at all."
Haruhi found herself smiling along with her.
"Would you like to come over at my place tonight and study? My dad is working late so you can stay over if you like."
Haruhi wasn't sure if it was the fact that the smile on Yura's face wasn't the small polite simper she had been showing since they met or the dispersed tension in the air that made her venture to invite her. But she found herself without regrets as Yura looked up at her once more, the real smile still in place.
"Sure."
The smile remained on their faces as Yura pulled out a set of index cards and they began to go through sentence structures, both feeling as though they had just crossed the border toward becoming more than acquaintances.
Yeah, I'm not sure what that this would be called anything in connection with Coals of Juniper. It can be a stand alone story too I suppose.I always wanted to have more Haruhi and Yura interactions, showing the progression of their friendship. I'm trying to be more free about typing up and posting stories without that span of days in between in which I overthink every little detail until I get fed up.
Thank you for reading!
Love and Peace.