A/N: Ohai! Don't shoot! So, um, remember when I thought I would update faster? ^^' I'm really sorry. Well, at least there isn't a huge fanbase up in here yet, so I don't have too many people yelling at me... Yeah, well, this chapter's short. I expect that there'll only be one or two more chapters left in here. Reasonably, I could have just made it a oneshot, but being me, I had to make it difficult. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club. But, I do own the full DVD set, so I think that should count for something. ;)
Days passed and Tamaki continued to try to convince Antoinette to be his friend. Antoinette responded by ignoring him at first, but it wasn't long before they started having small conversations. They were never anything big. "How are you today, Miss Antoinette?" "How's your mother doing, Young Master Tamaki? I hear that your father is coming to visit." "It's a nice day out today. Want to play in the garden?"
Whenever he asked her to play, she would always turn him down immediately. But on that particular day, she took him by surprise. "What do you want to play, exactly?" The boy's eyes lit up immediately.
"Really? You'll play with me?" When she nodded regretfully, the boy attacked her with a hug and spun her around. "I'm so happy! Mon amie, Antoinette! Mon amie s'appelle Antoinette!"
"Ahhhh! Put me down, Young Master Tamakiiiiiii!" The boy complied with a grin.
"Just call me Tamaki! Or Tama!"
"Fine…Tamaki," she said reluctantly. "And just because I agreed to play with you doesn't mean that I'm your friend, okay?"
The little boy gave her a knowing smile and replied, "Whatever you say, Antoinette. So what should we play?"
"You're the one who asked me to play. Shouldn't you have figured out what we were going to play before asking?"
"Hmmm. That would have been a good idea, huh?" He smiled. "Well, why don't you hide in the garden and I'll try to find you?"
"You mean, play hide and go seek?" the little girl tilted her head in confusion at the boy.
"Huh? Is that what it's called? I didn't know it had a name… I didn't even know that it was already a game…"
"It doesn't really matter. Just count to ten and I'll hide. And no peeking, because that's cheating!"
Tamaki smiled and put an arm over his eyes before leaning against a tree. "Okay! One…two…three…" Antoinette took off running through the garden. "Four…five…six…seven…" Tamaki was already having fun and the game had barely even started. He supposed that he was just so excited that he made a new friend, even if Antoinette wouldn't admit it. "Eight…Nine…Ten! I'm going to find you, Antoinette!" The boy took off into the garden, hunting for the girl. After ten minutes of searching, Tamaki decided to give up looking. "Antoinette! Antoinette! Where are you?" he called out. "Antoinette! I give up! Where are you?" He heard a giggle from above him. "What? No fair! I don't know how to climb a tree," the boy pouted slightly before smiling.
"It's perfectly fair," the girl explained as she eased herself back down to the ground. "It's not my fault. And besides, what kind of kid doesn't know how to climb a tree? How do you live?"
"Um…I don't know," he replied with a smile. "Will you teach me, Antoinette, my friend?"
She gave him a hard look. "I'm not your friend, Tamaki. But I guess I can teach you this one thing…Who knows? Maybe it'll save your life one day…"
Later that day, Tamaki showed up at his mother's bedside with leaves in his hair and dirt on his clothes. "Maman! Maman!"
"Oh, Tamaki, what happened, dear?" Anne-Sophie asked weakly.
"Maman, I learned how to climb a tree!" the little boy beamed.
"Now how'd you learn a thing like that?"
"My new friend Antoinette taught me! She said that we aren't friends, but I know we are." He smiled again, this time she returned it.
"I'm so glad that you made a new friend, Tamaki. Now why don't you play some piano for your maman?" The little boy nodded as he sat down to play. Anne-Sophie was very happy that Tamaki had made a new friend. He had been so lonely in the past and all he would do was worry about his mother. Maybe now, she thought, he could act like a normal little boy.