Diamond in the Rough
Chapter 1- The Romance Movie
The consistent hum of what seemed to be a motor slowly brought Haruhi to her senses as she shifted alongside the cold mattress her body was not accustomed to. Where was her mattress? Thought it be worn down from overuse and years of heavy textbooks taking it's toll upon it, it was safe and comforting nevertheless. Her hand blindly grasped for something to hold onto as her body slowly sank further back into the should-be futon. Gaining her bearings from the light jostling and rhythmetic tapping of a keyboard, she groggily opened her eyes, positive she looked a mess, only to reveal all-too-familiar pairs of intent eyes looking back at her. Her eyebrows shifted to a crease, eyes narrowing, and a scowl staked its claim on her face. She could feel the anger as it slowly boiled up within her.
"What are you guys think you're doing? Do you have any idea of what time it is? And where are we going?!" she hissed, a small purple aura emanating behind her; the 3rd demon host was awakening. The hosts sat there in shock, though whether it be from the slew of questions she had spat out at them at record pace or from the fact that she looked positively radiant with tousled hair and pink cheeks, remained a mystery.
"Ne, Haru- Chan, we just wanted to watch a movie with you, since we know Ranka is going to be away all summer on his business trip we thought you'd might be bored or lonely…" Honey started. She looked over to her senior and her eyes softened. How could you resist those adorable eyes? His legs swung cutely back and forth, crossed at the ankles, and he held his beloved Usa-Chan with such possessiveness and love she couldn't help but revel in the scene before her. She gave a small sigh and took in her surroundings while contemplating her reply.
With the seats in a semi-circle layout she sat in the middle, a few seats to her left and to her right remained empty from what once was her bed that she had lied (not so leisurely ) upon. To her far left was the Hitachiin twins, their arms draped around each other. Hikaru's left leg was outstretched a bit farther into the open space and Kaoru's right leg was tucked beneath his brothers, intertwining the two.
One seat over from them was Kyoya looking amused over her obvious displeasure. His complex grey eyes held her gaze captive for a millisecond while her eyes swept the limousine, but even then she knew it had been enough for him to know the exact thoughts that she was thinking at that very moment. To her right was Mori where which he was strategically seated on the opposite side of her to ensure she wouldn't be harassed while sleeping.
She chuckled at this, 'At least the two of them have put some forethought into this kidnapping' she said in her mind. In her crazy world being seated next to the two most sane of the hosts was the calmest her life was going to get. Next to the ever-faithful Mori of course sat Honey, and next to him was the always exuberant Tamaki who looked like he was about to burst any second now.
She smiled softly at Honey before replying "Senpai, I appreciate you guys wanting to spend time with me, however, I'd like you all to consider that I saw you all less than twenty-four hours ago! Also, you guys should have given me a warning. Next time I expect you all to give me a fair chance to prepare. I was planning on starting my summer reading list today." She shot a look at the twins and Tamaki, for she was sure that they were the ones who concocted this scheme, " In fact, most would consider kidnapping someone the first day of summer at 10 a.m., especially if you saw them the day before, rather rude. It doesn't matter if my Dad is away, I like being alone. And besides, exactly how much could actually change in a day?"
The enigma's that were Hikaru and Kaoru merely snuggled closer to each other and said in unison " Oh dear sweet Haruhi, you have no idea." She gave an eye roll at that comment, leaned back into her seat, and decided to disregard it.
Moments later, she mumbled under her breath "So is this what it's going to be like all summer? You all dragging me off to who-knows-where?"
Apparently the subtle sarcasm laced in her voice eluded Tamaki's thought process because what he replied with was hardly a surprise, but annoying nevertheless. "It will if you want it to be my dear darling daughter!" He said all the while acting as excited as he could while being constrained by his seatbelt. "We'll have so much fun this summer! We can take a vacation to the mountains since I know you like the cold, and all seven of us can stay in a secluded cabin and we'll have those commoner sleepovers I've read about, and then have pillow fights in our pajamas and drink hot chocolate- oh Haruhi this will be the most fantastic summer in the mountains yet!"
To put it simply, her head span. How does anyone keep up with him? Is it even humanly possible? She let out a puff of breath, how Kyoya hadn't murdered Tamaki while they were waking him was an extraordinary surprise, it was far too early for this. She leaned back into the seat, closed her eyes, and muttered a half hearted "That sounds nice Senpai" which left him squealing for joy and stars in his eyes. For the next few minutes he sat there rocking from side to side holding his Kuma-Chan saying who knows what about his 'darling daughter'.
Having been to the Hitachiin estate numerous times before, she recognized the lavish pave way which always filled the limo with the faintest trace of jasmine flowers and tangerines. Miniscule seconds later the car reached a smooth stop and the car door opened.
"We're here, young masters." Was the curt explanation from Mayiko-San, the twins' personal driver whom she had grown quite fond of, and off they all exited into the Hitachiin mansion. The utter lavishness didn't faze her, but when the twins led them up to their own private theater they had installed solely for their purposes today, she couldn't help but mutter "rich bastards" underneath her breath. With Kaoru's arm snug around her shoulders and Hikaru's tight around her waist they led her into their personal theater.
It was a beautiful but small room, well, at least according to them. It was about the size of Haurhi's apartment with black draperies along the wall and two red plush velvet couches sitting at an inverted angle. They led her to the couch on the right with Tamaki sitting on Hikaru's side and Haruhi still sandwiched between the twins. Mori, Honey, and Kyoya sat on the other couch.
Haruhi decided to speak up, breaking the isolated conversations.
"So what are we watching?" she asked.
Tamaki was the first to answer. "I say we watch a comedy! Oh the joyous smile upon my daughters face would make me the happiest man alive!" He proclaimed, "Daddy would do anything to make my dear sweet daughter happy! Right mother?"
Kyoya pushed up his glasses, still writing in his ever faithful black notebook. "Actually Daddy, I've heard there's a new documentary out about the growing economy's of the world that I find quite interesting. It could mark beneficial to us all, I'm sure. " However, Tamaki had already retreated to his corner of woe- leaving for it as soon as he had found out mommy hadn't agreed with his choice.
The twins stuck out their tongues at his idea and said "Boorrrinnngg" in unison. "I say we watch a horror, so if Haruhi needs anybody when she's scared she can snuggle in with me." Hikaru stated, rubbing his left check against her face.
Kaoru was the next to answer. "Or maybe we could watch a Mystery-" But before he could give an explanation as to why, Honey was voicing his opinion.
"Ooh! Ooh! There's this new animated one out! I wanna watch! I wanna watch!" he was excitedly bouncing up and down in his seat and Haruhi smiled. No matter how much time had passed throughout the years, Honey was still Honey.
She looked up through her eyelashes towards Mori for his input and he simply stated "Action".
All eyes turned towards Haruhi to make the final decision, even Tamaki came out from his mushroom farm to hear it.
"Well?" both of the twins asked, "what do you want to watch Haruhi?" She looked down into her lap and thought.
'None of these movies sounds interesting… wait, wasn't one of my customers earlier in the week talking about a movie she saw? She seemed to have enjoyed that and it had sounded interesting enough at the time. Maybe they'd like it?" She looked up at their expecting eyes and flashed one of her natural smiles. "How about a romance?" she asked, tilting her head to the side slightly. Everybody shot her a look of disbelief. Nobody said a word however inside their heads the gears were turning nonstop, all of them thinking the same thing.
'A romance? Gosh, she's just too freaking adorable. Wait- what should I say now?! Think! Think!'
Kyoya was the first to snap out of his mini-trance. He cleared his throat inconspicuously and calmly stated "A romance... will suffice." He struggled to keep his voice level.
"Ah." Came the deep baritone voice from the neighboring couch. But before she could turn towards either Mori or Kyoya she was attacked from both sides.
Both twins simultaneously shouted "Haruhi is so Ka-wa-ii!" She was barely able to escape the twins' death grip and tried to get her desperately needed air when she was enveloped in yet another bone-crushing hug. She was beginning to become lightheaded, and while it efficiently worked in blocking out the Tamaki's incessant blabbering, she was beginning to get dizzy.
She only managed to choke out a small "Mo…ri sen…pai", and although barely inaudible it was heard by him nevertheless. Within seconds she was hoisted into the air and was set onto his couch, greedily gasping in her much needed air. A minute had gone by before she softly whispered "Ano, arigatou Mori- Senpai." He ruffled her hair, and then she spoke in a louder voice. "What's wrong with you guys? Was it really that much of a shock to you? I mean, we don't have to watch it. It was just a suggestion." She hopelessly looked around, seeking a response.
"Haru- Chan," came Honey's' soft voice, he put his hand on her shoulder. "It's only unexpected because you don't seem like the type of girl to watch those kind of movies. And you know how the others get when you do something even remotely girly." He looked at her with sincere eyes, and she gave a breathy chuckle.
"It's okay guys, I understand that it was kinda unexpected. I just thought it'd be a nice change, you know? I get that you guys forget I'm actually a girl since I'm not exactly that feminine, though. So I don't blame any of you for how you reacted."
The hosts were shocked and again the thoughts that ran through their minds went hand in hand.
'How can a girl as smart as her possibly think that we forget she's a girl? Is it even humanly possible that someone with such a high I.Q have little to no common sense?'
Instead of continuing on with the current conversation Kyoya called out to the waiting maid to put on a romance, not giving the rest of them any time to respond to her. Within seconds the lights were dimmed and the opening sequence of the movie started. He put away his laptop and black book but made a mental note on how instead of returning to the previous couch with the twins and Tamaki she continued to sit with Mori, Honey and himself on the couch. Both couches were only meant for three people, and since on that certain couch there were four it was a tad tight, but since Honey was small-ish and Haruhi was still so tiny they could all fit comfortably.
There was no doubt on Kyoya's part that the twins had planned the three person couches so that they could be closer to their favorite toy, but seeing as she had no interest in going back to them he smirked slightly. A few minutes into the movie she leaned back into the couch slightly, her arm brushed against Kyoyas', as she softly whispered "Gomen nasi, Kyoya-Senpai." to him. Since the couches were set at an angle she had to tilt her head a bit to watch properly, and because Mori was on the other side of her, her hair tickled his arm and she was leaning very slightly into him. Haruhi was unaware of all of her doings but the stoic senior did not miss any of these actions. Kyoya could tell he wasn't really paying any attention to the movie, because he wasn't either. Hell, he doubted if any of them really were. They were all content on watching Haruhi as discreetly as possible, admiring the different emotions slide across her face, from joy, to sorrow, to laughter. She was a beautiful sight.
Every single host was in love with her, they all knew it themselves and every other host did too. About two weeks ago the club had a meeting, sans Haruhi. They all had to agree that none would go after her. They all could sense their family dynamic falling apart- feelings were stronger than ever in all of them. It because it was for her own benefit in the long run. All of them were going to end up marrying for business, and they all knew that. The thing they couldn't bear was seeing her fall in love with one of them and then having to leave her because of an arranged marriage. They didn't want to see her heart broken like that, and they knew that they couldn't just date her because it wouldn't be enough. Each of them wanted Haruhi for themselves, everyday for the rest of their lives. So for her own sake they did the only thing that they could do for her: nothing. That night they all went home with heavy hearts, there wasn't a face that a tear hadn't slid down upon in the privacy of their own rooms that night. Even though it silently broke their hearts and the next two weeks were horrible for them, as long as they could protect her from what they were all feeling, it was worth it. That was, until, the biggest plot twist in history happened to them last night.
Authors Note: That marks the first in re-editing the chapters! If they don't have a footnote like this it hasn't been re-updated yet. See you all soon!