Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran.
Well, here's chapter 4. I'm sorry it's a bit shorter than the rest so far. I'll try to make up for it in the next chapter. Thanks so much to those of you who keep reading/reviewing!
Also, did any of you read chapter 80 of the manga yet? My goodness, I don't think anything has ever made me as happy as that chapter did X3 IT WAS SO CUTE!
When Haruhi arrived at Suoh mansion number two right on time at five o' clock, she was greeted by the entire fleet of staff, standing at attention on either side of the door and grinning at her. More than a bit overwhelmed, she followed the grinning butler who had opened the door into the enormous, gleaming foyer.
"Good evening, Fujioka-chan!" they chorused, and Haruhi smiled, a little confused.
"Did I miss something?" she asked, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. The maids around her giggled.
"Tamaki-sama told us all about how he's giving you piano lessons," the butler explained with a smile. "And also that you two are going to be spending more time together besides."
"We're very happy that you're going out of your way to make Tamaki-sama happy and help cure his loneliness! Any friend of Tamaki-sama's is a friend of ours," the maid from the last time she had visited the house continued.
"Oh…" Haruhi wasn't entirely sure what to say, so she settled for simply smiling. "Well, Tamaki-senpai Iis/I my friend. So of course I want to make him happy," she replied, at which the staff shared conspiratory smiles. Haruhi was about to inquire them about it when she heard a small, happy squeak from somewhere in the vicinity of the staircase.
"Haruhi! Come in!" Tamaki exclaimed while he was rushing down the white marble steps and obviously making a conscious effort not to trip over his own feet.
"I'm already inside," she replied, but common sense was wasted on him and soon he was already at her side, taking her hand excitedly. "Thank you for coming so promptly, Haruhi! Let's get started. I have things all ready for your first lesson in my music room, so let's go!" He was practically bursting with excitement, and Haruhi felt rather bland beside him and he dragged her forward by the hand, all the while yipping happily about his plans for her lesson. It was with an excited gentleness that he pulled her toward the staircase.
"Please try not to exhaust her, Tamaki-sama," Shima warned him, and Tamaki gave her a shocked, almost offended look.
"Why Shima-san, I'm surprised at you! When have I ever exhausted anyone?" he asked, looking mildly horrified. "I can assure you that I'll do no such thing!" with that he swept Haruhi away and up the staircase and they were on their way toward his music room, leaving a rather peeved looking Shima behind them in the foyer.
"You seem to be feeling better today," Haruhi said with a smile, at which her companion nodded vigorously with a smile that doubled the intensity of her own.
"I Ido/I feel better today! I can't wait to get started with this lesson! You have no idea how happy I am that it was me you came to in your hour of dire need!" Tamaki said grandly as he pushed open the door to his music room.
"You're really the only person I know who plays piano," Haruhi said, and Tamaki's face fell slightly. "But… um… of course I still would have come to you anyway because I trust you," she continued, hoping to redeem the situation. Tamaki started beaming again and she let out a sigh of relief as she was led into the music room. The sumptuous room looked even more gleaming and fanciful than the last time she had been in it. Everything had obviously been cleaned and dusted vigorously, and soft armchairs had been pushed around the piano, which had been moved over beside the windows.
"What do you think?" Tamaki asked excitedly. "I fixed it all up for our lessons!"
"It… um… looks nice," Haruhi said as Tamaki wandered into the room, looking more excited by the moment. She was relieved to see that the empty, lonely look that had been set deep in his eyes before seemed to be completely gone for the moment, and she reveled in it. It was more wonderful than she had realized to see her senpai happy, and she simply let it soak in as he led her gently over to the piano and took a seat on the bench, patting the lacquered white surface beside him as a motion for her to sit down. She did, and he beamed at her.
"Are you ready to get started?" he asked kindly, and Haruhi nodded.
"Sure. Thanks again for doing this for me, senpai. I'll have to think of some way to repay you for it."
"It's no trouble. When I do things for you, it's not like when you break a vase; there's no debt that comes with it. No strings attached. So just relax and let's have fun, okay?" he assured her. Haruhi was surprised at how much calmer and more mature he seemed when he was seated before a piano.
"Okay," she agreed with a smile, and Tamaki grinned back and then turned his attention to the ivories. "Okay, the first thing I should tell you about is middle C…" Tamaki pressed down on a key in the center of the keyboard and the sound resonated through her. "It's at the very middle of the piano. And as far as remembering notes, my mother taught me a little trick when I was a child. The D parks in the single car garage." he pointed to the key between the pair of black keys. "That means that the white key between every set of two black keys is a D. If you remember that, then it's easy to remember the notes because they go in order. A, B, C, D, E, F, G… and then they repeat. There are only 7 notes on the piano not counting the flats and sharps. There are just a lot of octaves where the notes repeat. Does that make sense?"
"I think so," Haruhi said with a nod, and it made her happy to see him smile and then go about teaching her to play her scales. She decided that this was extremely pleasant and not at all as exhausting as she would have expected it to be. It was just the two of them and the piano acting as a middle man for their interactions in this large and quiet room full of music. When she could play from A to G without her fingers slipping from the keys and he had taught her about Do, Re, Mi, he announced that she had learned enough for the evening.
"It's almost seven," he said, looking at his watch. "I don't want to keep you too late. I know you probably have to make dinner."
"Yeah," Haruhi nodded and stood, smoothing out her slacks. "Thanks for reminding me. I'll be back again on Thursday?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Tamaki said with exaggerated melodrama, smiling as he opened the door for her. He escorted her to the front door despite her mutterings of protest, and at the door they said goodbye. As Haruhi made her way toward the gate, she smiled a bit to herself. The lesson had gone much smoother than she had expected, and she was surprised to find that she was actually wholeheartedly looking forward to the one on Thursday.
"I guess Tamaki-senpai really is full of surprises," she thought aloud as she made her way toward home, her back to the setting sun.
As the large front door closed under his hand, Tamaki let out an excited whoop and spun in a complete circle in the foyer, prompting Antoinette, who had just been let in from her evening romp in the courtyard, to bark happily at him.
"That's right, Antoinette!" he said, leaning down and rubbing the dog's head. "Today was wonderful! It was so warm and comfortable and I had so much fun teaching Haruhi! Oh, what a joy it is to be the one to teach my darling daughter the beautiful art of the piano!"
"I trust you're feeling better then, Tamaki-sama?" Shima asked from behind him, and Tamaki nodded vigorously, stroking Antoinette again and then standing up.
"Yes I am, Shima-san! Thank you for asking! The fact that you care shows your deep and unconditional love for me!"
"Well, since you don't seem to be nearly as depressed as you've been lately today, it's the perfect opportunity to help you catch up on your finishing lessons," Shima grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and began dragging him in the direction of the mansion's classroom.
"Shima-san, this is ridiculous! What about dinner!?"
"Dinner can wait. Lessons in being a gentleman don't teach themselves," Shima told him unwaveringly, and Tamaki waved his arms in distress at the various maid congregating around the stairs on break.
"Nooooooo!" he shouted as he was dragged into the classroom and the door snapped shut behind him.