I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!
Chapter 7
Once Haruhi led Takashi into the kitchen, she excused herself to change out of her Ouran uniform. Before she exited the kitchen, Takashi lightly grabbed her wrist. He asked, "What are we going to prepare? I should get the ingredients out." Haruhi paused and thought for a moment, tapping her finger on her chin. "If you'd like, we could make katsudon (a pork cutlet dish) or if you want to be simple, we could make ramen noodles, but I seriously doubt you'd want that." "Ramen noodles are fine," Takashi said immediately. "It'd be easier on you." Haruhi smiled with an ear-to-ear grin. "Okay, then. I'll be back in a bit," Haruhi said, exiting the kitchen.
Takashi took long strides toward the food pantry and scanned it for the ramen noodles. His grey eyes stopped on a box near the bottom of the pantry. "Ah," he said to himself. He took out the box, along with assorted flavoring sauces. He boiled water in a pot and put the dry noodles in. Once the noodles were softened, he stirred the noodles and stirred in the assorted sauces.
When Haruhi reentered the kitchen, Takashi was pouring the noodles into two bowls. "Wow, you're done already? Hmm, it smells really nice," Haruhi said, inhaling the pleasant aroma. "I hope you don't mind, but I used some sauces from the pantry," Takashi said, still pouring the noodles. "It's no problem," Haruhi said. "Okay, dinner's ready," Takashi said, turning around to look at Haruhi. His jaw literally dropped. Haruhi was dressed in casual clothes. She was wearing white shorts with a layered frilly pink top. Her hair was up in two very short pigtails. Her feet were adorned with pink and white sandals.
"Beautiful," Takashi whispered. "Mo- I mean, Takashi, did you say something?" Haruhi asked, tilting her head, ever so softly to the left, forgetting momentarily that he had asked her to drop the honorific. Takashi scratched his head, with a blush creeping on his tanned face. "Uh, um... You look nice," Takashi said, looking away from Haruhi and taking a seat at the table. Haruhi raised an eyebrow and said, "Um.. Thank you, Takashi." She took a seat beside Takashi. The blush on Takashi's face reddened. "Let's eat," Takashi said, forcing the words out of his mouth.
They began to eat their noodles in silence. Haruhi broke the silence. "So, how'd you know how to make this, Takashi? You don't seem like the kind who knows how to cook." "It wasn't really that hard. It was just ramen noodles," Takashi said, looking momentarily in her eyes. Haruhi giggled and said, "I'm not kidding. How'd you make it?" Takashi gulped his mouthful of noodles and replied, "Sometimes, I go into the kitchen and help the chefs cook our meals. It's actually a lot of fun." "Really? I didn't peg you for the kind of guy that likes to cook," Haruhi said, widening her eyes. "Well, there's a whole lot you don't know about me yet," Takashi said, with a small smile. "I guess you're right. We better finish. Cold noodles are disgusting," Haruhi said, slurping up noodles.
"Haruhi? I hope you don't mind my saying this. But, you don't really look like the kind of girl to wear 'girly' clothing," Takashi said. Haruhi giggled. "Yeah, you're right. I'm not really the type to wear this," she said, pointing to her attire. "But, my dad hid all of the clothes that I usually wear. He tries to get me to wear the girly clothes that he buys me. So, in other words, I'm basically being forced to wear this," she finished. Takashi momentarily stopped eating his noodles. "You look beautiful, Haruhi," he said, looking at her. Haruhi quietly gasped. Her face immediately turned a deep shade of scarlet. Takashi's eyes widened. 'I said that out loud, didn't I?' he asked himself. "Well, thank you," she said, an even deeper shade of red adorning her pale cheeks.
"Well, I'm finished. Are you finished, Takashi?" Haruhi asked, trying to change the subject. "Yes, I'm finished with my food. Allow me to clean the dishes," Takashi said, trying to do the same. "Great! You wash the dishes. I'll tidy up the house," Haruhi said, a little too quickly. Takashi collected the dishes with great speed and entered the kitchen. Haruhi began to tidy the already-clean apartment. She thought, 'Wow, this is the very definition of 'awkward', but that was really nice of him to say that to me, I wonder if he really meant it or if he was just saying it...' She rearranged throw pillows and dusted tables that weren't in need of dusting to pass the time. She didn't have anything else to "clean", so she sat down on the sofa and turned the television on.
By the time Takashi finished washing the dishes (which didn't really take long), the living room looked slightly cleaner. Haruhi was slouched on her white sofa, channel-surfing. Her eyelids were blinking rather slowly, as she was quite bored with the television programs. Takashi cleared his throat and Haruhi turned to see him. She stammered, "Uh... C-c-come and s-sit with me, T-Takashi." Takashi felt guilty about making Haruhi so nervous. 'She's trying to make it seem like nothing's happened. God, Why did I have to make that stupid comment?' Takashi thought, while sitting down a foot away from Haruhi.
"So, T-Takashi, do you enjoy any television programs in particular?" asked Haruhi. Takashi glanced at Haruhi momentarily, registering what she had said before replying, "Nothing in particular, I don't really watch TV. When I'm bored, I usually end up in the dojo with Mitsukuni." Haruhi turned the television off and sat cross-legged to face Takashi. She said, "Oh yeah, Kyoya-sempai mentioned that you and Honey-sempai did martial arts or something, right?" "Hm. Indeed he did. Well, Mitsukuni is the national champion of karate and judo, and I'm the national champion of kendo," he said with a hint of a proud smile. Not big enough for a normal person to notice, but just enough for Haruhi to see.
Haruhi could see the pride in his seemingly cold grey eyes that he failed to mask from the short brunette. "To be completely honest, I didn't peg Honey-sempai to be the martial arts type. With you, I could see it. But sempai always seems to be so happy and bubbly, you would never expect him to be the freaking national champion of karate and judo. Not to be insensitive or anything, but his height doesn't help much," she said, grinning. Takashi chuckled heartily, "It's fine, I'm sure Mitsukuni wouldn't take any offense. I see where you're coming from though, he doesn't seem like much, but he certainly packs a punch." Haruhi giggled and said, "Kyoya-sempai said that exact same thing!" Haruhi giggled again. 'She's so adorable when she laughs. She doesn't try to hide her emotions. It's...refreshing. I like it," Takashi thought while smiling fondly.
Haruhi stifled a yawn and looked at the white clock sitting on the table across the room. "Wow it's already 10pm, we have to get going to sleep, come, I'll arrange a place for you to sleep," she said, getting up and signaling Takashi to follow her. "It's fine, I can just make myself comfortable on the sofa here, no need to hassle for me," Takashi said, softly grabbing her pale wrist. "Actually, Takashi, I would actually prefer for you to sleep in my room, if it's not too much trouble?" asked Haruhi, shyly. (A/N: No, she doesn't mean sleep in her bed next to her, she means just sleep in her room, you dirty-minded lovelies xD) Takashi raised his eyebrow and asked, "Is there a reason why you would prefer that, Haruhi?" "Oh, i-it's just that um.. I tend to get a bit frightened at night when I'm alone, especially when there's a thunderstorm outside...," she shyly said, obviously embarrassed by what she had just said. 'Oh right, there's supposed to be a thunderstorm tonight," Takashi thought to himself. "Uh, Haruhi? Are you afraid of thunderstorms?" Takashi softly asked her. "Y-yeah, I am, really scared actually. You see, Dad was at work at night most of the time and since my mom wasn't here, I would stay alone at night, having to bare the thunderstorms, I guess I've always been afraid of them, for as long as I can remember," Haruhi said, with each word getting quieter and quieter as she spoke. Takashi looked into her gleaming chocolate eyes, with tears threatening to slip out, and pulled her into a silent hug, wrapping his muscular arms around her frail body. Haruhi was surprised at her sempai's sudden gesture, nonetheless, she returned the warm hug. She nuzzled into his firm chest and said, "Thank you, Takashi, for listening." She pulled away and a huge grin grew on her face.
She pulled him towards her room and arranged for him to sleep on the floor beside her. Luckily, Takashi had packed a pair of sweatpants in his bag (for some godforsaken reason, maybe he's *drumroll* PSYCHIC! DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUN) and he walked to the bathroom and changed out of his Ouran uniform and into his pants. When he came out, Takashi saw Haruhi in a pale pink nightgown with frills at the bottom and her hair let out, all natural. 'She never fails to mesmerize me with her beauty. Even when she's not trying. Amazing," he thought. Haruhi couldn't help but to stare at Takashi's bare chest. "'Holy crapsticks,' she thought, 'that's honestly the nicest body I've ever seen, not saying that I've seen a lot, but still, dang.' "Well, shall we go to sleep then, Haruhi?" Takashi asked, pulling Haruhi out of her trance. "Oh yes, of course. Goodnight, Takashi," she said as she turned out the lights and walked to her bed, careful not to trip over Takashi, who had already lain across his makeshift bed on the floor beside Haruhi's bed. "Goodnight, Haruhi," he said back to her. Just as Haruhi was drifting to sleep, she was jolted awake as she heard a sudden clap of thunder. She let out a soft yelp and Takashi was immediately alarmed. "Haruhi?! Are you alright?" he asked, looking up at her. All he heard was whimpering as a response, so he climbed up onto her small bed and wrapped his arms around Haruhi's body, ensuring her safety. "Shh, shh, everything's alright. I'm here, you're fine, Haruhi, go back to sleep, I'm here," he whispered comfortingly in her ear. She nodded and said, "O-o-okay, Takashi." She let out a whimper and Takashi tightened his grip around her to make her feel safe. Haruhi eventually fell asleep, and Takashi said, "Goodnight, my sweet Haruhi, I won't let anything hurt you." He placed a small kiss on her temple and went to sleep with one thought in his mind: 'It's my responsibility to keep her safe now.'
SORRY! I've been gone for over a year and THIS is the chapter that I come back with xD complete and utter crap, GUYS I NEED HELP! I need some honest feedback and storyline ideas bc I'm having a brain fart :/ So PM some honest critique, ideas, etc. REVIEWS ARE MUCH APPRECIATED! Again, please don't judge me for this crap. I LOVE YOU!
