Reflection

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Chapter Three

Gentle Giant

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"Suzume, meet your fiancé," began Katsurou Yukimura. "Takashi Morinozuka."

---

"What?!" shouted most of the Host Club members, overhearing the unbelievable news from a distance.

"F-fiancé...?" stuttered Tamaki in disbelief.

"So..." said Kyoya, pushing up his glasses. "The rumors are true."

"You... you knew about this all along?" asked Haruhi, glancing at Kyoya.

"Of course," said the second year student. "The Otori family is connected with the Wakahisas, who told us about the engagement. The Wakahisas made the Yukimuras and the Morinozukas acquaintances, so that is how they met. From what I heard, the Yukimuras heard that the Morinozukas had a son, so that's probably how they arrange the engagement between them."

"You knew all along that she was the Yukimura girl," said Kaoru.

"Why didn't you tell us in the first place?" asked Hikaru.

Kyoya closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.

"It didn't seem that important," said Kyoya. "Other than me, I think Mitsukuni-senpai knows."

"Do you know about this?" asked Haruhi, turing her head to notice that the little boy was looking down at his teacup.

"Yes..." muttered Mitsukuni, looking depressed. "Mummy heard it from Auntie, then Mummy told me."

"Are... are you going to be okay, Honey-senpai?" she asked, concerned about his unusual sadness.

There was a small pause.

Mitsukuni blinked and said, "I'll miss him when he goes away..."

---

Oh, wow... thought Suzume as she observed the lean youth. He's big!

"Takashi, this is Suzume Yukimura," said Mrs. Morinozuka.

"He-... Hello, Morinozuka-san...! Please to meet you," faltered Suzume, her mind in a state of nervousness while reaching out her hand.

"Your feelings are returned, Yukimura-san," replied Takashi in a deep voice.

He's like a giant! thought Suzume in distress.

Terror entered her mind as she reach for one of his huge hands, but her mental alarms shut off as Suzume felt the warmth of his skin.

His touch is so... gentle.

Suddenly, the noise of shattered glass vibrated throughout the room, sending the sharp shards to scatter. The tea was leaking everywhere as soon as it was free from the boundary of the china. Turning around, Suzume noticed that it was Mitsukuni's tea cup that broke. His top was wet from the fallen beverage.

"Takashi, help!" cried Mitsukuni from the table, his eyes wet with tears.

"Excuse me," said the youth as he bowed in a rushed manner.

As Takashi bent down to pick up the broken glass, Suzume smiled warmly at the thoughtful deed he was doing for Mitsukuni. She turned around to look at the adults.

"Are they close, Mitsukuni and Takashi?" she asked.

"They are both cousins actually," said Mrs. Morinozuka. "We, the Morinozuka family, served Mitsukuni's family, the Haninozukas, for generations. But then our ancestry intertwined through a marriage a few generations back. That's how we became relatives."

Then... thought Suzume, glancing at the boys. Would that make me and Mitsukuni in-laws if Takashi and I marry?

---

"Well, well, well, Mori-senpai..." teased Tamaki. "You have got a lot of explaining to do!"

Takashi looked up from his job, giving Tamaki a blank stare. The manservant looked back down at the glass, and began working again.

"What?!" exclaimed Tamaki. "but we don't get to know anything about it!"

"Senpai, it's rude to pry!" whispered Haruhi. "Don't press him!"

"But, Haruhi-!"

"It was for business purposes," said Takashi, stopping his hands from picking up the glass shards. All of the Host Club members turned to listen to him. "My parents told me that the daughter of a CEO of Yukimura Aerospace Corporation, is going to take over the company soon, but she has to marry before she can take on full ownership. If she is married, she can have a secure position in the business world. So they called my family..."

"Is this what you want, Mori-senpai? Are you sure she's the right one?" asked Kaoru.

Takashi turned his head to look at Kaoru, and said, "my parents said that is the best for both of our fortunes to merge together. That way, we can be successful for the rest of our lives. I don't really have any say in this..."

He got up and carefully threw out the broken glass into the trash bin, wiping his wet hands on a nearby napkin. Glancing at a depressed Mitsukuni, they both started at each other for a brief moment.

"Mitsukuni..." said Takashi.

"Um... pardon me," said Suzume.

Everyone turned around to see that she was standing near the couch.

"I have to go see act two, and I just came to say goodbye," she said. "It's been a pleasure to meet all of you, and I hope to see you more in the future."

"No, no, dear lady! The pleasure was all ours," said Tamaki, waving a hand to express his partings.

Everyone else said their goodbyes, but when it came to Takashi, Suzume was frozen in a self-conscious noiselessness.

"Goodbye," said Takashi, finally breaking the silence.

"Good... good bye!" stammered Suzume, quivering in nervousness.

Looking at Mitsukuni, she took in to thought that he looked quiet young for a high school student. Desperately wanting an answer, Suzume turned to Tamaki's side.

""Um... is Mitsukuni really a high schooler? He does seem to be young..." she whispered into his ear.

"Oh, he is! Actually, he's the same age as Mori."

A dead silence was among the atmosphere for a long time. Suzume's eyes widen in shock and disturbance. How could this outrageous fact be possible?

And I thought his sugar addiction was out of the ordinary...!