A/N: I hope everyone had a wonderful Chinese New Year and got to celebrate. It is now the year of the snake and for those that are fans of Fruits Basket… I feel like I should have Ayame come over. LOL. Thank you everyone that has reviewed and put this story on your alerts. :D Each day a new chapter will go up until we reach the ending on Valentine's Day (unless I am able to wrap it up the day before). I almost feel bad for Kyoya and Haruhi. The hosts have now decided to play match makers and they are already going out. Oh well, let's find out how this all turns out. Please read and review if you get a chance. Thank you!
Chapter 2 – Hearts, Flowers, and Poems Oh my.
"I cannot wait for Monday to come. Everything is arranged and Haruhi's heart will be won over!" Tamaki gushed as he put the final touches on his plan.
Tamaki had made all of the arrangements. He ordered one rose of varying colors to be delivered to Haruhi each hour. Attached to each rose would be a card that would give the meaning of each color. When she arrived at host club, two dozen long stem red roses would be delivered with one purple rose in the middle of the arrangement with a card telling her the roses were from Kyoya.
In addition to the roses, Tamaki found the perfect love poem. He wrote it out in a card and at the bottom asked her on a date signing Kyoya's name. The poem would be delivered with some heart balloons towards the end of club time.
The plan was perfect. Haruhi would not be able to resist falling into Kyoya's arms after this. "Kyoya if you will not take it upon yourself to pursue Haruhi, I will just have to do it for you!" Tamaki declared as he finished up the arrangements.
Tamaki glanced at a picture of the whole host club that he had in a frame on his desk. Haruhi was in the middle of the other hosts. He laughed a little, "Surrounded by men that loved her and yet she was so oblivious." He thought back to the last Ouran Fair and smiled. After she had kept him from leaving, he was sure that she loved him just as much as he loved her, but it was not to be. Oh he had convinced her to go out with him one time, but after that date she had realized that she only thought of Tamaki as a friend. He swallowed his feelings for the girl and said that he agreed with her, friends only.
Tamaki's thoughts fast forwarded a couple of months. He had not been the only host that had fallen for the girl. In fact he thinks at some point in time all of them had feelings for the only female host, but only two had said anything to her. Hikaru had finally realized his feelings for the girl and confessed to her after host club one day. She had looked at him with a blank look and said, "I'm sorry Hikaru. I had no clue that you felt that way. You are one of my best friends." Hikaru had been crushed, but realized that she was trying to let him down easy. Tamaki knew that the rejection was coming because he had already started forming his suspicions that Haruhi had feelings for Kyoya by then.
Smiling again, Tamaki thought about the other hosts. After Hikaru confessed his feelings loudly and abruptly, no one tried to ask the girl out any longer. Hunny and Mori had already graduated and by that point thought of Haruhi as a sister. Kaoru wouldn't ask her out because Hikaru was his twin and it would have hurt his brother to know that Haruhi had said yes to one twin and no to the other. That left Kyoya. Tamaki knew that Kyoya had feelings for Haruhi. He also knew that Yoshio Ootori approved of the match, so he wasn't sure why his best friend didn't go after her. "Well that is about to change mon ami. After Monday, you two will be attached at the hip!" Tamaki declared to an empty room.
Monday morning arrived and Tamaki was awake and ready to go before his alarm sounded. He was excited to see his plan put into action. Rushing through his breakfast, he flew out the door and into the waiting car in order to get to school early. He knew that Haruhi always arrived to her first period class early and the first rose was set to arrive fifteen minutes before class started. He would not be able to see the majority of the flowers arrive, but he would be able to witness this one.
Arriving at the school about forty-five minutes early, he got out of the car and walked into the school ignoring the girls that were screaming to get his attention. He was on a mission and he would see it through. Seeing the twins out of the corner of his eye, he turned to them and said, "What are you two doing here so early?"
"We wanted to see," Kaoru said.
"What you had planned," added Hikaru.
Together they said, "And we knew that you would start early."
Glaring at the two devils, he said, "Well you will just have to wait and see." Tamaki turned on his heel and walked down the hallway towards Haruhi's classroom.
"Hey boss, wait up!" The twins yelled together. They weren't sure what Tamaki had up his sleeve beyond flowers and poems, but he was walking towards their classroom which meant something was about to happen. They ran and finally caught up with Tamaki.
The trio walked towards the classroom together, and found Haruhi sitting down and pulling out her text book and notes. She seemed oblivious to anything around her, but that wasn't anything new. She was usually a little clueless when she was in her comfort zone or when someone had feelings for her.
They continued to watch her and Tamaki would periodically look down at his watch. Hikaru noticed this and asked, "When are the fireworks going to start boss?"
Tamaki's eyes grew and he snapped his head up to look at Hikaru, "I didn't think of fireworks! Do you think that I have time to arrange them before the end of the day?"
"Tono you need to slow down," Hikaru said rolling his eyes.
"Yah. Fireworks can only been seen at night and it will still be light out when we get out of club today," Kaoru smirked. He was really trying hard not to laugh at the cluelessness of Tamaki, but it was hard. Sometimes it seemed his senpai had so much insight and other times, he was just so stupid.
Tamaki looked downcast and said, "I guess you are right. We will have to plan that for Valentine's Day when they go out on their date." He was going to say more, but he noticed a delivery man carrying a single pink rose and walking towards them. Looking down at his watch, the first delivery was right on time.
The twins saw the delivery man with one rose and were confused, "One rose? Is that your great plan?"
"Just watch and learn," Tamaki said cryptically as they watched the delivery man enter the classroom and walk up to Haruhi.
"Excuse me, but are you Haruhi Fujioka?" The man asked the only person sitting in the classroom at that time.
"Yes," Haruhi said looking up and was handed the pink rose. "What is this?"
"Delivery for you, please sign here," the man said as he presented her with a book to place her signature. Once she signed by the "X", he left the classroom and the confused girl behind.
Haruhi smelled the flower and noticed the card. She opened it and it said, "A pink rose that matches the blush on your cheeks means happiness, romance, admiration, sweetness, and elegance. These are all things that I associate with you my dear Haruhi. –KO" She closed the card and thought about it, "Kyoya sent me a rose? He thinks of me like that?" She could feel a blush forming on her cheeks, but wondered if Kyoya really sent the flower. It didn't really seem like his style. She would have to ask him when she saw him. Smelling the rose one last time, she put it down and started to review her notes again.
"It doesn't look like your plan worked," Hikaru snickered.
"Yah boss, I think you need more than one rose to make an impression," Kaoru laughed.
"Just wait, it is still early," Tamaki smiled and started to walk off towards his own classroom.
The twins shrugged. They weren't sure what that meant, but looking at each other they shook their heads. There was no way Tamaki would win this contest. They walked into the classroom and started to harass Haruhi about the flower. When they read the card, they laughed and wondered how cheesy Tamaki could really be.
As the day progressed, Haruhi received more flower deliveries and by the time she got to the host club, she had a small bouquet. Girls wondered who could be sending her flowers all day. They knew she was a girl since the fair and had been jealous that she was so close to the other hosts, but got over it quickly enough. Now they wondered if she had snagged a guy without their knowledge.
Haruhi had not seen Kyoya all day, so she was unable to ask him about the flowers, but the host club was the perfect time to pose her question. She walked into the room on time and started to walk towards Kyoya's table when someone called out her name. Turning around, she saw another delivery man with a huge bouquet of red roses and one purple rose. Signing the delivery receipt, she pulled the card out and it read, "Red roses for your beauty and love. –KO"
Smiling at the latest delivery, she was still convinced this was not Kyoya's style. Besides, why was he trying to woo her when he had just asked her out the previous Friday? Turning to walk towards his table, she found that he was now missing. His computer and everything were missing. Feeling disappointed, she went to the back room in order to put her things away and then made her way to the kitchen to get ready for hosting.
Kyoya had seen the delivery of the flowers and rolled his eyes. He put up his computer and made his way out of the club room without Haruhi noticing. Before this last delivery, he had seen her moving towards his table and wondered if she had planned to cancel their date. Instead of giving her the opportunity, he left. He would be back by the time club started though. Someone had to oversee the others and make sure they did what they were supposed to.
Kyoya returned to the club room just as it was time to greet the ladies. Haruhi figured she would have to talk to him about the flowers after club was over. As she made her way to her section, everyone wanted to know who the flowers were from. She didn't know what to say. The cards were signed KO, but that could be a number of people and she really didn't believe they were from Kyoya. It just didn't seem the way he would do things, so she was a little confused.
About fifteen minutes before host club ended, there was a final delivery. A huge bouquet of heart shaped balloon wafted into the club room, "Excuse me, but I am looking for a Haruhi Fujioka."
"I am Haruhi Fujioka," she said standing up and walking over to the man. She eyed the balloons and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was not Kyoya's doing. Signing the delivery receipt, she opened the card and read the poem. It was beautiful. This time it was signed Kyoya Ootori and it asked her out for Valentine's Day. Raising an eyebrow and looking over towards the shadow king, she tried to ask him what was going on with that one look, but he never looked up and continued to type on his laptop. Walking towards his table, she placed the card next to him and then deposited the balloons in the backroom with her roses.
Kyoya looked at the card that Haruhi had placed on his table and read it. Shaking his head, he wanted to laugh. Tamaki was an idiot. He wanted to talk to Haruhi after club was over, but he had to leave as soon as the ladies left. He would have to call her later.
Haruhi walked back to her guests and everyone inquired who the balloons were from. She didn't know what to say, so she said the first thing that popped into her head, "A secret admirer." All of the girls gushed over such a romantic gesture and the remaining time was spent wondering who it could be.
Writing a small note on a piece of paper, Kyoya handed it along with the card to Haruhi after hosting was over. He followed the girls out the door and went to meet his father for dinner.
Haruhi opened the note Kyoya had handed her, "I didn't send those. We need to talk. I have a meeting with my father tonight. I will call you afterward." She refolded the note and placed it in her pocket before getting up to start the cleaning process.
Tamaki ran up to her, "Who sent everything Haruhi?"
"Everything says it's from Kyoya-senpai, but I don't think it is," Haruhi said bluntly.
Tamaki face palmed, "Maybe he is trying to be romantic to woo you."
"Maybe," Haruhi shrugged and continued her cleaning duties.
Tamaki walked over to where the twins were and found them holding their sides and laughing. "What is so funny?" Tamaki leered at them.
"You are!" They laughed.
"Your plan is so unlike Kyoya-senpai," Hikaru said wiping a fake tear from his eye.
"There was no way she would believe he sent everything," Kaoru said as he continued to clutch his side.
"If Mori-senpai and Hunny-senpai were here today, they would be on my side," Tamaki grumbled.
Laughing some more, the twins said, "Don't count on it! You are such an idiot sometimes Tamaki-senpai!"
"What?" Tamaki wailed and flew into his corner. He had gotten so much better about growing mushrooms, but sometimes he couldn't seem to help it.
"Tamaki-senpai, if you are going to pout and grow mushrooms, please leave. I have to clean up after you," Haruhi stated.
The twins ran over to Tamaki's corner and started to tease him. He finally got up and stomped out of the room with the devils on his heels.
Haruhi shook her head at the idiocy of her three friends and continued her cleaning duties. When she was done, she gathered her things and started her trek home. She wasn't sure how she was going to get everything home without a ride, so she found a vase and put the last delivery of flowers in that and left it on the table in her section. She left the balloons in the back room, they would be there tomorrow. The only thing she took home were the single roses that she had received throughout the day. Luckily they were individually wrapped and she was able to carry them easily. She would put them in water when she got home. As she closed and locked the door to the music room she wondered who was sending her flowers, balloons, and a poem today. "Maybe Kyoya will have the answer," she thought to herself as she made her way out of the school.
When Haruhi got home, she put the roses in water and started on her homework. She kept looking at the flowers she had placed in the middle of the coffee table and thought about her day at school. With each delivery, she had become more and more certain that Kyoya was not the sender, but someone was signing his name to the cards. Who would do that though? She had thought at one point that maybe it was someone else with the initials KO, but that last card had sealed it. Someone was definitely signing Kyoya's name to everything and she wasn't sure why.
Haruhi did a time check a while later and realized that it was time to start cooking dinner. She pulled out all of the ingredients and as she was finishing her preparations, her cell phone rang. Quickly running to her bag, she pulled it out and said, "Hello?"
"Haruhi did I catch you at a bad time?" Kyoya asked of the girl that seemed slightly rushed and out of breath.
"Not at all Kyoya-senpai. I was in the kitchen about to start cooking when you called. I was just trying to make sure I got to my phone before you hung up," Haruhi said smiling. Now maybe she would get some answers.
"I wanted to talk to you about the deliveries today."
"If they weren't from you, who were they from? Do you know?"
"Yes, it seems that we have some matchmakers around the host club that have decided to pair us up and make a contest out of it."
"What do you mean?"
"Is she really that clueless?" Kyoya thought to himself. To Haruhi, he said, "Tamaki, the twins, Hunny-senpai, and Mori-senpai have decided to try to play cupid for you and I. They want us to go out on a date." Kyoya always seemed to find out everything.
"We already are though."
"I know that and you know that, but they don't know that. In fact they have made this into a contest. Each one of them has a different idea and will use it to get us to admit our feelings for each other. Of course they have all already failed since I have already asked you to go on a date with me."
Haruhi groaned. This was something they would do and she could only imagine that Tamaki was the ring leader. "Ok, so what do we do?"
"I actually think we let them continue and in the end we will let them know that they all lost. Would you like to help me with something?" Kyoya smirked. He had a plan of his own.
