Disclaimer: Bisco Hatori owns Ouran, not me!
Happy birthday, Haruhi! X3 This is a fluffy one-shot written for the occasion. Tamaki x Haruhi, because it just... makes my heart warm. And since this is supposed to be post-series, I figured it would be best to stick to the canon pairing XD
'Good morning, Mom,' with a smile on her face, Haruhi knelt beside the shrine, arranging the skirt of her dress around her so it wouldn't become uncomfortably bunched under her knees. 'I know you know this, but it's my birthday today…'
"I see you're wearing the dress I bought you," a smooth voice whispered in her ear, and though she hadn't even realized he was here yet, she wasn't surprised at the feeling of a pair of strong arms slipping around her from behind, his face nuzzling into the back of her neck.
"Well, of course I am. You made me promise and threatened to fly into hysterics if I didn't," Haruhi deadpanned, secretly smiling as she leaned back against Tamaki. 'A lot has changed since my birthday last year, Mom. I'm sure if you were here, you'd be happy about it, in a way. Even though it does mean I'm growing up.'
"Sorry I'm a bit late," Tamaki muttered sheepishly, kissing the side of her neck with a tenderness that make faint goosebumps break out across Haruhi's skin, though she did not otherwise betray her reaction. "I was with my grandmother."
"It's not like you're that late. No one else has showed up yet. I'm glad you and your grandmother were spending time together. It seems like you're getting along a lot better these days."
"Indeed we are. In a way, I think that is all thanks to you," Tamaki turned her carefully around so he could look at her, and for a moment Haruhi actually got caught up in staring into his eyes. There was a brief pause in which Tamaki rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, and in this calm moment Haruhi was wholly content. "I love you, Haruhi…" he whispered, and though he had spoken those words perhaps a million times already, they never failed to make her heart leap in a way that no longer embarrassed her. Kneeling there on the floor with him, the world was at peace with itself.
"I love you too," she could say it with confidence now, and as Tamaki leaned in and kissed her, warm and soft and deep, she embraced him as surely as if he was the only thing she had left in the world.
"Break it up, you two," Kaoru said with a smirk in his voice as the sound of the front door opening tore away the serenity of the moment.
"Yeah, tono. We don't need you acting like a pervert on her birthday. At least use protection!" Hikaru chimed in, and Tamaki, rather than flying into hysterics, laughed heartily and pulled Haruhi against his chest with a yelp. She couldn't help but reflect on the fact that he was, as odd as it was to admit, maturing at a rapid rate.
"Right you are, brothers Hitachiin! Do you really think I would ever dream of befouling Haruhi without using protection?" he asked, pointing one finger at them, and instantly the twins dissolved into a fit of fake gags.
"Takashi and I brought some cake!" Hunny exclaimed over the sound of the cheerful banter, jogging up to Tamaki and Haruhi with a pink box in his hands. "Oh wow, Haru-chan looks so pretty!"
"Thanks," Haruhi said to both remarks, pulling away from Tamaki and ignoring his soft sound of protest so she could take the cake box and place it on the kotatsu in the next room. Tamaki followed after, whimpering slightly with his earlier maturity mostly forgotten, and Kyouya shook his head at him, smiling in a fond and amused way.
"When can we have the cake, Haru-chan?" Hunny asked excitedly, taking a seat at the kotatsu and arranging Usa-chan in his lap.
"As soon as my dad gets home from work," Haruhi replied, sitting beside him and shifting a bit as Tamaki quickly flew into place beside her, giving the twins a look that said quite plainly 'don't you dare!'
"It's strawberry cake!" Hunny informed her excitedly, and though he had grown remarkably since last time he had been seated at her kotatsu, Haruhi smiled in amusement at the fact that not much else about him had changed.
"This time, I am going to be the one who shares my strawberries with Haruhi!" Tamaki declared, draping one arm around Haruhi's shoulders and pulling her against him, warm and safe.
"Hey, no fair, tono! We can share our strawberries, too!" Hikaru said with a glint in his eye as Kaoru nodded.
"And so can Takashi and I!" Hunny exclaimed, bouncing up and down a little, at which Mori smiled in agreement and nodded his head.
"And of course I am not particularly fond of strawberries, so if they were to find their way somehow to Haruhi's plate, it would be no great tragedy," Kyouya concluded, pressing his glasses a little further up his nose and smiling rather tellingly at Tamaki.
"Don't you be stealing my thunder, you hear!?" Tamaki yelped, his composure completely forgotten. "I am Haruhi's darling boyfriend and I am the one who should have the privilege of--"
"You know, you can all just keep your strawberries," Haruhi said with no ill intent, though Tamaki balked and looked like he wanted to tear up. "I'll have plenty of my own, so you don't all need to worry about sharing yours with me. You can just eat them yourselves."
"Haruhiiiiii!" a chorus of voices, minus those of Kyouya and Mori, struck up in a groan around the table, and as Ranka took a seat with them and kissed his daughter's cheek before Tamaki commenced cutting the cake, she could not help but smile.
Haruhi took a large bite of her cake and let the creamy sweetness rush over her tongue, and as she looked down to take another bite, she saw Mori gently spoon several strawberries onto her plate.
"Not so fast, Mori-senpai!" Hikaru said, moving in with his fork and sliding a few strawberries onto the plate beside Mori's. "You're not the only one who can make Haruhi smile with strawberries!"
"Yeah, we're just as capable!" Kaoru was laughing happily as he followed suit, giving her every last strawberry on his plate.
"Well, if I know my daughter, I know that she will only want to accept strawberries from her loving father!" Ranka said, eyes gleaming in amusement as he left his own offering on the plate and then went back to nibbling his cake delicately.
"Even though I love strawberries, I love Haru-chan more!" Hunny said, sharing one of his too. "So I'll share mine too, Haru-chan! Happy birthday!" he gave her a bright, innocent smile before he resumed chomping happily on the remains of his cake. "You know… if I have just one more piece, it probably wouldn't hurt anything…"
"And I suppose no harm would come of my sharing with you as well, correct, Haruhi?" Kyouya asked, casually and without faltering moving his strawberries to her plate with the same kind of businesslike care as one would move a briefcase.
"Thanks, everybody," Haruhi muttered, laughing slightly and looking down at the rather vast pile of red fruit that had amassed on her plate. "But you didn't need to give me your strawberries, really. You could have just enjoyed them yourselves!"
"Hold on just a moment!" Tamaki had been watching helplessly and stammering occasionally during the display, and now he speared one of his own strawberries with his fork, turning to Haruhi and bringing it up to her lips. They shared a glance for a moment, and Tamaki actually looked surprised when Haruhi opened her mouth and took the sweet fruit from the fork, giving him a grin.
"Thanks, Tamaki," she said cheerfully, leaning forward a bit to give him a chaste strawberry-flavored kiss.
"No no no! Not in front of daddy!" Ranka fairly wailed, and Haruhi laughed and kissed Tamaki again, unable to keep the smile from her face.
'I guess what I'm saying is that you… don't need to worry anymore. Because honestly… I can't imagine ever being happier.'
As the chatter rose up around the table, eight people happily eating cake and sharing stories of their weeks and wishing Haruhi a happy birthday, she continued to smile contentedly around at the familiar faces that offered her such warm wishes. No matter how much they all grew and changed, there would always be, at some level, this perfectly harmonious dynamic among the family they had all created together. She knew now that even though someday there would come a time when they would not all be together, the memory of this and the anticipation of moments like this to come would be able to keep all of them strong through any storm. No matter what, these people would always be here for her, and together they would all offer friendship and encouragement. No matter what took place, they would endlessly share their smiles and their love…
As easily as they shared strawberries.