Chapter 3, Part 1 - Lovely

... "Miss Haruhi Fujioka, would you be interested in accompanying me on a simple dinner date?"

Haruhi was taken aback by Tamaki's sudden dinner date proposal. But, not only was she surprised; she was terribly elated. So, she made her way through the large crowd, carefully edging through the enormous group of guests. When she made it to the bottom of the stairs, she paused, straightened her dress, and walked slowly and elegantly up the stairs to stand two steps away from Tamaki. "Mister Tamaki Suoh..," she began.

Tamaki was terribly nervous. He didn't know how Haruhi would respond, and the two of them were terribly close together. "Y-yes, Haruhi?"

Haruhi smiled gently at Tamaki. "Mister Tamaki Suoh, I'd be utterly delighted to accompany you on a simple dinner date." ...

-::--::-

Simple. It seemed no matter how hard she tried, Haruhi just couldn't keep her life perfectly simple. Tamaki tried his hardest too, to make everything simple, and he too, failed in doing so. Even their "simple" dinner date couldn't be simple.

It had started out simple enough. It took place in a simple restaurant with simply delicious food, for a simple and fair price. Haruhi wore a simple white dress, and Tamaki wore a simple black suit. It was simple, just like they had planned. They chatted with each other simply, and joked with each other simply. They were have a simply wonderful time. That is, until a certain someone burst into the restaurant.

"Mama!" Ko screamed as she bulleted towards her mother. "Mama, Mama! Oji-chan-tachi(&)...they've done something terribly obscene! They...they wanted me to wear a bi--" Here she stopped abruptly, and leaned in towards Haruhi's ear. "A bikini," she whispered.

Although she whispered this to Haruhi, Tamaki still overheard. And, quite frankly, he was outraged to hear that Hikaru and Kaoru tried to do something so obscene to his dearest Ko-chan! "I will defintely not stand for this!" Tamaki wasn't even thinking clearly. He was very much protective of Ko, like he used to be of Haruhi. And the twins messed around with him by doing dirty things to Ko, like they used to do with Haruhi. Except, he acted even more irrationally now because Ko actually minded when they did these things. Haruhi usually didn't mind all that much, back when Hikaru and Kaoru harassed her to upset Tamaki, but now, Ko really did mind. She minded so much to RUN all the way to the restaurant BY HERSELF and burst into the restaurant like a WILD ANIMAL and nearly tackle her mother to the ground.

So, of course Tamaki would be at least a little more protective. He pretty much forgot the fact that he was on a date with Haruhi; the date he had been waiting for for so long. He took Ko by the hand, making sure his grasp was tight, and stormed out of the restaurant with her.

"Lovely." Haruhi sat at the table all by herself now. And for some reason, she wasn't disappointed by this sudden interruption. Because, quite simply, Tamaki had already paid the bill. She smirked to herself with this thought. So, perhaps she really was upset. But, she thought the sight of Tamaki being so protective of her child was an ample compensation for her disappointment. She giggled at this thought. She grabbed her jacket and purse, straightened her dress, and left the restaurant casually. She knew Tamaki would have the situation under control, so she could take her time.

-::-

"Complete and utter blasphemy! That's what this is! Really! I'm ashamed!"

Ko held onto the hem of Tamaki's shirt tightly, near tears. She had been this way for most of Tamaki's lecture, keeping herself perfectly silent, but, now, she just had to speak up.

"Uh, Tamaki-chan. This isn't blasphemy. I'm not an object of godly or sacred signifigance," she explained to Tamaki his vocabulary error.

Tamaki looked down at Ko and frowned. "Well goodness, if you're so smart, why don't scold them!? Besides, haven't you heard of an hyperbole!?" he yelled at her. He was in the middle of an emotional rampage, and he wasn't really thinking about what he was doing.

Tears welled up in Ko's eyes, and she grabbed onto Tamaki's shirt tighter. "I-I'm sorry, Tamaki-chan. I-I-I didn't mean to come off as a s-s-sm-smart mouth. D-do you hate me now?" It was here that she looked up at Tamaki with her big teary lavender eyes, purposely tilting her head to the side to add extra "innocent points".

The look on Ko's face caused tears to well in Tamaki's eyes. He knelt bent down to Ko's height, and gave her a tight hug. "No, no, no, I'm sorry Ko-chan! I didn't mean what I said! Of course I don't hate you!" The two embraced; tears pouring from their eyes like waterfalls.

Hikaru and Kaoru sat on the couch, watching this touching little scene with expressions of (mock) compassion.

"These two MUST be related, ne, Kaoru?" Hikaru whispered, nudging Kaoru lightly.

Kaoru nodded. "I know what you mean. They're both so overly dramatic. But..." He paused, and pointed towards Ko's crying face. "...Ko-chan is far too cute to be related to Tamaki."

Hikaru agreed. "Yeah. She's cute as Haruhi was in high school. That's the only reason we wanted to dress her in a bikini. Gosh...," it was here that he paused and raised his voice so Tamaki could hear, "Tamaki's just so darn overprotective."

Right then, Haruhi walked through the door. "Well, yes, he is," she agreed to Hikaru's statement, hanging her jacket on the hook beside the door.

Tamaki unlocked his arms from around Ko and looked up at Hikaru angrily. Then turned his head towards Haruhi, shocked that she would agree to the fact that he was overprotective. "B-but Haruhi...," he pleaded, fresh tears welling in his eyes. Ko was confused, but persisted to cling onto Tamaki's shirt.

Haruhi giggled and walked over to Tamaki. "That's what makes him so cute," she said, petting his hair.

-::-

The situation pertaining to "the twins' "obscene acts towards my dearest Ko-chan", as Tamaki put it, was soon taken care of by our dependable litte heroine, Haruhi. They were asked not to dress or attempt to dress Ko in bathing suits, as well as undergarments and lingerie. The mentioning of undergarments and lingerie caused the twins to snicker and grin devilishly. But, despite their devilish grinning and snickering, the twins agreed to this request, afraid of what Haruhi might do if they decided to disobey her.

Both Tamaki and Haruhi were disappointed that their date had been cut short. But, Tamaki promised he'd be over the next morning for breakfast. And of course, Haruhi couldn't refuse. The idea of treating Tamaki to breakfast and/or watching him try to make breakfast himself seemed utterly delightful.

Ampersand-Land

(&)Oji-chan-tachi. This would refer to the twins. It's meaning is somewhat hard to explain, but, I suppose the simplest way to explain it is by saying it means Uncles.

-::--::--::--::--::-

Chapter 3, Part 2 - Typical

It seemed that, at night, Haruhi and Ko switched characters. Haruhi became far more emotional, and Ko's usual enthusiasm calmed considerably. This statement was greatly expressed this particular night.

"Simple dinner date! Pftt! That was pretty complicated for a simple dinner date," Haruhi complained to her daughter. She and Ko were sitting on Haruhi's bed watching movies and eating burnt kettle corn; Haruhi complaining about the complicated events of that day. Ko giggled to see her mother complaining. Her mother usually wouldn't complain like this, and Ko found it very enjoyable.

"Yes, yes, Mama, it was complicated. Now, be quiet and eat your kettle corn. I want to watch the movie," she insisted; gently stroking the unidentifiable pink stuffed animal in her lap and intently watching Dorothy skip down The Yellow Brick Road(&).

Haruhi glared at her daughter for a moment. "As you wish, Fujioka-sama," she replied dryly, making sure each word she spoke just screamed "sarcasm". She munched her kettle corn as loudly as possible, as a manner of revenge, I suppose.

Ko giggled again. This childish side of her mother's was terribly enjoyable. So enjoyable, that Ko sometimes even found the word "moe" squealing out from insider of her when Haruhi acted so childishly. In such instances, Haruhi would get embarassed (and somewhat frightened) and hide herself from Ko behind a pillow.

The two watched movies until 2:00 a.m. By then, Haruhi had become annoyingly enthusiastic and bouncy and Ko just wanted to tie her up and lock her away in a closet somewhere far away. The reason they stopped watching movies wasn't because it was late. In fact, the two had intended to stay up late so they would be really tired the next morning and Tamaki would be forced to make breakfast for them. (Fufufufu...) The reason they stopped watching movies was because the power went out.

As the lights began to flickering on and off, Ko remembered something she had meant to say earlier. "Oh, yeah, Mama. I heard on the weather channel this morning that a storm is coming."

Haruhi was about to reply when the TV flashed off. Haruhi, rendered annoyingly paranoid by her knowledge of the oncoming storm, mistook the TV flashing off as a flash of lightning, and let out a shrill yelp. She immediately clung to Ko, her entire body shaking like a thin, slender tree would be shaken by the wind.

Ko sighed. "Mama, that was just the TV." Living with Haruhi for 13 years, she had obviously picked up on Haruhi's astraphobia and had gotten used to her mother's yelping and clinginess. But, she never found her mother's single fear any less adorable. It always gave her a great sense of bittersweet delight to see her mother scared. She kissed Haruhi on the head lightly and said, "Come on, let's go to the basement."

In these kinds of situations, Ko became the mother, and Haruhi became the helpless daughter. This fact gave Ko a great sense of bittersweet delight (once again). She wrapped her arm around her mother's shoulder, and helped Haruhi slide carefully off the bed. Haruhi was shaking terribly so Ko had to wrap both her arms around her to keep her up while they walked to the basement.

When they reached the stairway to the basement, Ko took the first step, making sure her grasp on her mother's hand was tight and secure. Then, she slowly helped Haruhi to take a step herself. Haruhi was hesitant to take the step and refused to do it at first. But, the thunder rumbled and the lightning flashed. And Haruhi, trembling to an unhealthy extent, followed Ko's guiding movements. Slowly and carefully, the two proceeded down the rest of the steps. When they finally made it to the bottom, Haruhi walked around the stairway to a living room like space and sat down on the worn gray couch. Ko made sure Haruhi made it all the way to the couch, and then she hurried up the stairs and closed the door tightly.

Down in the basement, they wouldn't hear the thunder or see the lightning. When Ko was about 5 years old, she had thought of this idea during a storm and had brought Haruhi down to the basement. And sitting on the cold basement floor with nothing but some moth-eaten nylon sheets, a beat up, old fashioned radio and the warm of Haruhi's body, she thought of another idea. That's why the two were now sitting on furniture, rather than the floor, wrapped in warm, fleece blankets, rather than nylon sheets riddled with holes, listening to the weather on a well-kept, shiny, chrome radio, rather than an old beat radio. The two were also accompanied by a soft, lulling light that poured out from the blue lattern set on the coffee table in front of them.

They listened to the radio for about an hour, Haruhi laying limply, half-asleep, in Ko's arms. As Haruhi was about to drift off to sleep, the lights flickered on. They heard an array of strange whirring noise from upstairs, which Ko deduced were most likely the alarm clocks, stove, microwave, cable box and VCR/DVD player all coming back on. "Well, the power's back on, ne?"

Haruhi nodded slowly. She knew Ko would want to go back upstairs now that the power was back on. But, Haruhi was still scared. Just because the power was back on didn't mean the storm had passed. Despite her fear, she forced herself to stand. But, as she wobbled her way towards the stairway, instead of hearing Ko following her, she heard Ko giggling. This obviously caused her to swing around and look at her daughter as seriously as possible. Though, at the moment, she was still shaken and embarassed that her daughter would laugh at her, so instead of looking serious, she looked like she was about to cry. "Ko-chan!" she cried in dismay, under the impression that her daughter was picking on her.

Ko's giggle became more of a deep, menacing, somewhat manly chuckle at this point, as she rested her hands on her stomach, and leaned her head back over the edge of the couch, bonking her head on the wall. She stayed this way for at least 10 minutes, Haruhi staring at her coldly. Finally, she stopped laughing, and collected herself. She looked up at her mother, a grin still on her face. "Mama, we dont' have to go back upstairs." It was here that her face obtained a serious expression. Ko stood up, and walked over to her mother, who she hugged tightly about the waist. "We can stay down here, Mama. So, please, smile for me. I don't like that scared-half-to-death look on your face," she explained this to Haruhi in a cool, compassionate voice.

A tiny smile made it's way onto Haruhi's face. She returned the embrace, wrapped her arms gently around Ko's shoulders. "I'm glad for this "Ko-chan and Okaa-chan" Bonding Time," she said simply, running her hands through Ko's long honey-nut hair.

This made Ko giggle. "I haven't called you Okaa-chan since I was an infant. I'm much more sophisticated now. This here is "Ko-chan and Mama" Bonding Time," she corrected her mother, failing to reach her mother's hair. She wanted to run her hands through her mother's hair, but, she couldn't quite reach her mother's head. Suddenly, her expression lost all signs of compassion, and a frown set over her face. "Mama! I can't reach your head!" she demanded, trying to pull away from her mother.

Haruhi was somewhat shocked, but, she giggled nonetheless, and obeyed her daughter. She let go of Ko, took a step back, and dipped her head some. Ko smiled, very pleased with herself, and began to run her hands through Haruhi's hair. Haruhi giggled nervously when her neck began to ache. She saw the look on Ko's face, and knew that Ko was very much enjoying herself. She couldn't just tell the poor thing to stop. So, despite the pain, she kept her neck bent so Ko could continue. Though, after a time, the pain became unbearable. "Ko!" Haruhi screamed suddenly.

Ko hopped back a good few feet. "Y-yes, Mama?" she replied, her hands trembling.

Haruhi lifted her head, giggling. "Ko, did I startle you? I'm sorry, dear."

Ko frowned. "Of course you startled me. Why on Earth did you think it was ok to scream like that!?" she demanded, her hands planted tightly on her mother's shoulders.

Haruhi's shoulders began to ache, and she pulled away from Ko. "Well..that was just...well...my neck...it's just..." Haruhi fumbled over her words. She didn't want to tell Ko her neck had hurt. Because, really, it felt nice when Ko ran her hands through her hair. Ko was known to act irrationally, and Haruhi didn't want Ko to never play with her hair again. She didn't know how to go about this in a way that wouldn't make Ko so emotional.

Ko was becoming irritated. Her eyes began to resemble those of a cat; her pupils appearing to narrow. "Just what? What about your neck?" she demanded, grabbing her mother's chin and pulling her mother's face closer to her hers.

Haruhi shuddered slightly at the sight of Ko's deadly cat eyes. Ko knew how to use Tamaki's puppy dog eyes to manipulate people, and she invented her own deadly cat eyes to scare the hell out of people. Though, so far, these eyes only succeeded at scaring Tamaki. Instead, these eyes disgusted people. Including Haruhi. "Ko, please, enough with those eyes," she pleaded, trying to turn her head away, but to no avail.

Ko snickered malevolently, her grasp on Haruhi's chin tensing. "No, Mama. I only will if you just tell me," she demanded.

Ko's hold on her head caused great pain in Haruhi's neck. Which made her think about why exactly she was in this position. The harsh reality of the situation made her sigh. She felt so stupid. Her mind returned to the deadly cat eyes staring at her and she shuddered again. "K-ko, please. I'll tell you if you just stop it with the eyes." Ko's eyes returned to normal in an awkward motion that sickened Haruhi further. But, despite the odd feeling she felt in her stomach, she proceeded to tell Ko why she had screamed at her.

Another typical night in the Fujioka household.

"Ne, Mama? If "explain" is a word, shouldn't "implain" be a word? I bet it is a word, and they just aren't telling us. Since "explain" means to make something understandable, then, "implain" must mean to understand. Ne, ne?" Ko insisted, grabbing onto Haruhi's shirt as they watched TV together.

Haruhi's forehead wrinkled and she grimaced to express her disapproval, removing Ko's hand from her shirt. "No, Ko-chan. That's ridiculous. Besides, since when did you become a terminologist?"

Another typical night in the lovely Fujioka household.

Ampersand-Land

(&)"and intently watching Dorothy skip down The Yellow Brick Road." This means that Ko-chan and Haru-chan were watching the Wizard of Oz. I just thought I should clear that up.

Blissful: So, uh, here's Chapter 3. It's in two parts because I couldn't seem to bring myself make one whole good sized chapter of the date. So, to make up for it, I made it a two part chapter, Part 2 describing a typical night in the Fujioka household. That last part with the whole "implain" thing was a thought that was actually bothering me at the time. I thought it was funny. :3