Chapter 4: The Ball
That night the ball was in full swing. The princes danced with many of the royal nobles with Haruhi making sure that all of Tamaki's wants and needs were taken care of. Tamaki sighed as he finished dancing with one girl and walked back to Haruhi who stood against the wall where the servants belonged at a ball. "How many more?"
"Just two Your Highness," Haruhi answered. "The daughter of the Duke in the Eastern Kingdom and the Duchess of the West Kingdom."
"Okay," Tamaki held out his hand as Haruhi placed the cup in it. Tamaki sipped from it, handing it back to her. "Thank you Haruhi."
"Of course Your Highness," she bowed her head and he pulled the edges of her shirt down a little more so that it didn't show her stomach.
"A lady does not show her naval in front of the entire kingdom nobles and royalties," he said a little sternly.
Haruhi stared at him strangely, "Of course Your Highness." She looked up and nodded in the direction of a beautiful lady. "Your Highness, your next dance."
"Ah, Duchess Rengae! How have you been?" he asked charmingly, instantly jerked back in to his charming prince act.
As Tamaki started to use the princely charm on the young lady, Haruhi allowed her thoughts to drift. In the end the clothes she wore were almost the same thing she had on earlier, only made of more expensive material. No shoes or socks covered her feet, as all servants' feet did. Pants that were a bit too big for her, a dark charcoal color fell down to her bare feet. The shirt she wore resembled the same coral blue of the vase she broke earlier.
"As the prince's head servant you must wear this color all the time," some of the other girl servants informed her. "Each prince has his own color for their head servant. Tamaki is this color blue, Kyoya is dark red, Mori is black, Honey is yellow, Hikaru is orange, Kaoru is green. As long as you wear this color, everyone will know who you belong to."
Who I belong to. . . Haruhi thought in a sort of dead tone. No longer could she say she was her own person. Now she could be called no more than a dog to the prince.
I'm just. . . a servant, she thought, her thoughts drifting more into the melancholy state.
"You're lukewarm."
"Huh?"
Hauhi looked up to see Rengae stepping away from Tamaki, an amused yet firm stare in her eyes. "I'm sorry Tamaki, but you're too lukewarm for me, especially compared to my sweet Kyoya! Sorry, I'm going to have to leave you for him instead."
"Nevertheless, it is my honor to have danced with you," Tamaki bowed low to the waist, only straightening when she turned around and hopped over to the dark prince. Haruhi watched with raised eyebrows, bowing her head when the prince came back to her.
"Just one more," he sighed as he approached her, tousling a hand through his hair. Haruhi blinked at him, turning her eyes to scan the many guests.
"Where is she?" Tamaki murmured, mostly to himself. Hope started to spring in his chest as the minutes ticked by. Maybe it would be one less person he had to dance with, then he could go to his room, get some rest.
Finally, the crowd started to clear out as the ball came to a close. Still, no princess or duchess approached the young prince.
"Where is she Haruhi?" the prince asked, getting a little irritated that he was 'showed up'.
"I, do not know prince," Haruhi peered through the slowly disengaging crowd. The five other princes of the other kingdoms continued to dance with any maidens available. Haruhi couldn't help but notice that one of the twins (Hikaru) just kept glancing at her. Kaoru cast suspicious looks at his twin in response.
"What is it Hikaru?" Kaoru whispered as the pair danced nearer to each other.
"It's just, she looks so lonely, dancing by herself," Hikaru answered thoughtfully, eyes misting over. Kaoru gave him a strange look, glancing back to Haruhi, who continued to flicker her eyes through the crowd, searching for Tamaki's final dance.
"I suppose so," Kaoru agreed quietly, "but she's a servant, it doesn't really matter does it?"
"Yes, you're right," Hikaru sighed, spinning his dance partner away. Even though as he looked back to her, something in him stirred. The sight of her alone, backed up against the wall with no one, felt, unsettling.
"Oh well, she's probably not here," Tamaki said airily, sighing, leaning back against the wall. "Too bad. I guess I'm free for the night then. Commoner," he clapped his hands.
Haruhi stood to attention. "Yes sire?"
"Go get me something to drink. I'm thirsty."
Haruhi bowed slightly, hurrying off to the table where the food and drinks resided. Tamaki leaned against the wall, irritation pricking through him. Why was he so annoyed?
As the song ended, Hikaru bowed to the maiden before looking around the room. He spotted the commoner servant, Haruhi. She was busy filling a goblet with the sweet tasting punch. Hikaru risked a glance to Tamaki, who wasn't paying attention at the time.
"What is it Hikaru?" Kaoru asked quietly, sliding in next to his brother. His golden eyes gleamed in excitement mixed with curiousity. He could always tell when his twin felt up to something, he just knew it. "Do you have an idea?"
The twin gave a devious smirk, "Of course I do Kaoru. Regretfully, I need to wait for the nobles to clear out, when all the guests are gone."
Hikaru glanced back at Haruhi. Kaoru followed his gaze to the girl, who busily rushed over to Tamaki, handing him the cup filled with the punch. He thanked her quietly, continuing to lean against the carefully carved wall.
"Ah." Knowing filled through Kaoru, "I understand now brother. Is there any way I can make this plan more, quickly brought in to action?"
Hikaru smirked, eyes narrowing. "I suppose you can brother."
guys! guys! look! I'm not dead! (rises up out of the lazy writer's grave)
I AM SO, SO, SO SORRY I LEFT YOU GUYS LIKE THAT! (cookies, flowers, brownies and happiness for everyone, especially for you 11 people who added this to your alerts list, you know who you are)
basically I hopped over to another story, completely forgetting about this one. I have 2 other stories to complete, and this is the first one i'm working on (1/3). so i'll finish this one, then move to the next one.
IM SO SORRY I LEFT! D:
