Tamaki walked to Harui's place, since she said on the phone it was a nice day and she didn't feel like riding to a carnival in a "showy-rich-person-car." He secretly hoped she'd wear a dress. She wore one on her date with Hikaru, so it was only fair, right?
He suddenly stopped in his tracks. 'This isn't a date, right? Harui and I aren't…' his thought trailed off as he remembered how fast his heart was beating when his face was so close to hers last night. He could deny it to others, but there was no lying to himself; he was going to kiss her.
"How can I entertain so many girls and feel nothing but friendly affection?" he asked himself, "How is it only with Harui I…"
He shook his head and kept walking, not wanting to think about it. He figured there was no way she felt the same way; she was so ambivalent about everything.
Before Tamaki knocked on the door, the theater of his mind lapsed into a prediction of what it could be like when she opened it:
Harui Fujioka enters the stage, wearing a chiffon pink dress billowing in the morning breeze.
Tamaki Suoh: Hello, Harui (takes her hands in his). Are you ready to go to the carnival?
Harui: Almost, but (bashful) Tamaki-Sempai, will you always stay by my side?
Tamaki: (Strokes hair) Oh, Harui, of course I will. (Their faces draw closer. Tamaki uses a sultry voice.) There is nothing that could keep me away from you. I love-
Tamaki was snapped back to reality just as Harui opened the door and he finished saying "You."
"Um, what are you saying, Sempai?"
"What?! Was that outloud?"
"I don't know. Are you just talking to yourself in front of my place? That's kind of weird."
Harui wasn't wearing a dress, but somehow she still managed to look adorable dressed like a boy, as always. She wore a cuffed pair of her dad's pants, with a green v-neck shirt, some brown boots, and a confused expression. In her right hand she held a trash bag, which explained why she opened the door before Tamaki knocked.
"NO I WASN'T TALKING TO MYSELF I'M FINE HERE LET ME TAKE THAT TRASH OUT FOR YOU."
Before Harui could even open her mouth, Tamaki was downstairs with the bag.
By the time he came back to the door, he was completely composed, "Harui, are you ready to go to the carnival?" He gave a slight bow and spoke in an overly eloquent way for the subject manner.
"Ummm," said Harui, not really sure how to react, "I actually made some late breakfast, if you want some before we leave."
"GASSSSP!" Tamaki squeezed her tight, causing her to grunt in protest, "Haruiiiiii! You cooked for me?!"
"No, she cooked for her father! And just what are you doing to my little girl?"
Tamaki let Harui go immediately at the sound of her father's voice. He was standing in men's pajama's, but with full make-up and his hair in curlers. "I'm sorry for not greeting you already, Mr. Fujioka! Please accept this gift!" Tamaki bowed deeply, holding an ornately wrapped box of pastries.
Harui's father immediately forgot his Daddy-Bear side as he snatched the box and looked at the powdered, frosted, and glazed goodies. He gasped dramatically and shoved a whole pastry in his mouth. He struggled to say thank you, and puffs of white powder came from his mouth.
"Dad, save room for breakfast!" said Harui, "You'll just get hungry an hour later at work if you only eat sweets!"
"Aw, she's like a little house mommy!" squealed Tamaki quietly. Harui glared at him. Her dad swallowed and grinned impishly.
Moments later, the three of them sat to eat rice, miso soup, and broiled fish with tea. Harui kept noticing her father shooting Tamaki devious looks.
"Well," said Mr. Fujioka, "I've really got to get to work now." He stood up quickly, somehow managing to spill a full bowl of miso soup on Harui.
"Ahh!"
"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry!" He knelt by Harui and began drying her with a towel.
"It's ok, Dad. It just startled me. I'll go change."
"OH I KNOW JUST WHAT YOU CAN CHANGE INTO!" he squealed, holding up an outfit involving frills and accessories.
Harui's face flattened, "How did you already have that outfit ready, Dad?"
"You know me, always prepared! Come on, sweetie, it's not like I would spill soup on you on purpose!"
"Right," she snatched the outfit and went into her room.
"You're welcome," said Harui's dad to Tamaki once the door was shut.
"Sir?"
"I just thought it would be a treat for you to see her in something besides boy's clothes. She really doesn't mind either way, and sometimes I swear she just wears the first thing she sees in her closet."
"Oh," said Tamaki shortly, not sure where her father was going.
"I know I've been harsh on you- more than on her other friends. You've probably thought I don't like you."
"So you do like me?!" said Tamaki excitedly.
"I wouldn't go that far. To tell you the truth," he looked distantly at a picture of Harui on the mantle from her childhood, "I suppose I'm a little jealous of you."
"Jealous? Why?"
"Harui is growing up. It's only natural for her to confide more in the friends she chooses than in her crazy old dad. Still, despite all that, I see how happy you make her, and I see how you look at her. So, I have to be a man and think about her happiness above my own." He propped up one of his pink curlers that had started to droop.
"That's very touching, sir. Thank you for being such a caring father to Harui."
"Are you in love with my daughter?" Mr. Fujioka demanded, and stared into the boy's wide, blue eyes.
"I- I think I might be."
"What, you're not sure?"
"No, I am sure. I am in love with Harui!" he said firmly, letting out a long breath, "But I don't think she feels the same way. I don't want to tell her too soon and drive her away."
"I figured that was the case. You still don't know her as well as I do."
"What do you mean?"
"Harui was forced to grow up fast. I had to work a lot, and I was not as emotionally available as I should have been right after what happened to her mother. She took on the responsibility of caring for our home and disciplining herself in school. She had friends, but she acted like she never had time for close friends."
Tamaki smiled, "She's always done things alone because she didn't know how to reach out to people, hasn't she?"
"She did- until the Host Club came along. When she thought you were leaving, I never saw her so sad since her mom died."
Tamaki bowed, "I'm sorry I caused her that pain, sir!"
"My point is I'm not sure what Harui's romantic inclinations are. I do know that she needs you, though."
Tamaki's excitement overcame him. He lunged across the table and slammed his hands on the table, "I WON'T EVER LET HER DOWN, SIR!"
Both the men froze in the middle of the scene as they heard the door crack open. Harui emerged to stare at Tamaki tensed over the table, cheek to cheek with her dad as they both stared at her like scared deer.
"Are you two done with whatever this is? I thought you were in a rush to get to work, Dad?"
"Oh, that I am, gotta go!"
He ran out the door in his pajamas, curlers still in, taking his dress with him.
"Man, both of you are acting weird today," she said, scratching her head. She turned to Tamaki, "Is there something going on? You haven't been yourself lately."
His breath caught in his throat as he looked at her. She was wearing white shorts and a blue baby doll top that had a bow tied under her chest. Her delicate hands met in front of her holding the straps of a small leather backpack, and blue studs sparkled in her ears on either side of her wide, brown eyes. Tamaki could feel his face getting hot and he was saying thank you to Harui's dad hundreds of times in his head.
"Well, yeah. There is something that's been on my mind, Harui. I'll deal with it later, though." He smiled, "I just want to have fun with the cutest girl I know at the carnival!"
"I think I know what's bothering you, Sempai."
"You do?" he whispered. He wondered for the hundredth time since last night what she thought of their almost-kiss.
"Yeah, and I want to do something about it, too. You're right, though. For now, let's just have some fun for today!"
Tamaki stood staring at her blankly, thinking 'What is she going to do about it?'
'Wow, he really is out of it,' Harui thought as she looked up at him. She decided to act more excited about the carnival than she really was to cheer him up.
"Come on, Sempai! I haven't ridden the Ferris Wheel since I was a kid!" She grabbed his wrist and led him out the door.
Tamaki's eyes rested on her small hand, and in one fluid, unthinking motion, he moved his arm through her fingers until his hand clasped hers. She looked up at him with mild surprise, but then shrugged nonchalantly and continued to hold his hand while they walked.
They made small talk about different clubs and people along the way, and Tamaki tried to keep his voice even as he screamed with joy internally.
He kind of lost it when they got to the carnival, though:
"Harui! Look, they've got face painting! A rose on my cheek could only enhance my beauty, right?"
"Uh, sure Sempai."
Then:
"OHH, you pay for things in tickets?! Commoners are so delightfully whimsical!"
"Hey, don't say that so loud! People might think it's demeaning."
"NO I LOVE COMMONERS I'M SORRY HARUI!"
Later:
"Look, I won you a giant panda!" Tamaki thrust the toy in front of him and cocked his head as his eyes crinkled with joy.
"Whoa. Thanks. Where am I gonna put this thing?" she took the toy and peeked over the top of it.
"Well, maybe you can sleep with it in your bed and think of me!"
"What?"
"I mean- no I didn't mean it that way!" Tamaki blushed furiously and waved his hands erratically until Harui changed the subject. She wondered if Tamaki would be offended if she gave the panda to Hunny-Sempai.
And later still:
"I wish I could grow a beard as well as her!"
The bearded lady stoked her face regally and Harui laughed so hard that she started coughing.
And finally, the Ferris wheel:
"This is so serene. Every time we get to the top all the noise and people down there just gets smaller and smaller."
"We should ride it at night sometime. The whole wheel lights up!"
"That sounds romantic, Harui."
"Yeah, it does. We should get Kyouya to arrange a trip for our guests here next time we come!"
"Oh, right…that's what I was thinking, too."
"Um, Sempai?"
Tamaki had squatted down in the cart to grow mushrooms.
When they got off the wheel, Harui felt her phone vibrate in her bag. "Hey, would you mind getting us some ice cream, Sempai? I know you offered to earlier, and it's getting a little warmer now!"
Once he left, she pulled out her phone and saw the text she'd been anticipating from Hikaru: "We got it. The boss still w/ u?"
She responded: "Yeah, I've kept him distracted all day. Kyouya doesn't know anything, right?"
XX
Author's note: I hope you enjoyed that hot, hand-holding action. You'll find out what they're up to in the next chapter, I promise! Thanks for reading!
