The next day after the wedding, Mori called her.
"Are you free tomorrow night?" he asked.
"Yes, what's up?" Haruhi replied, intrigued.
"My parents wanted to meet you. They invited you over for dinner. Would you like to come over?"
"Oh, uh, sure. I'll come over." Haruhi was surprised. "Why do they… Oh, you told them we were dating?"
Mori chuckled. "That was fast." Haruhi grunted at him, which just made him chuckle harder. "Yes, I told them."
Haruhi suddenly got nervous. "How did they take it?" What if they don't want him to date me? What if they think I'm not good enough for him? What if they don't like me?
"They were happy for me. Mitsukuni and I have told them enough about you over the years that they already like you, but they still want to meet you."
"Oh. Um, sure, I'll come over. Do I need to dress up?"
"Hn. No, just dress as you normally do. That'll be fine. I'd like to pick you up early, if that's okay."
"Uh, yeah. Why?"
"I just want to."
"Hmmm…" Haruhi thought about it and grinned. "Have you missed me?"
His voice was softer when he answered. "Yes. I like being with you."
His words warmed her. "Me, too," she confessed just as softly.
She heard him clear his throat. "Would three o'clock be okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
"Okay." There was an awkward pause. She didn't know what to say to fill it. But Mori spoke first. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"I look forward to it."
She heard him laugh softly. "Me, too. 'Till tomorrow."
"Alright, 'bye." And they hung up.
She sat down, thinking over the conversation. Yeah, the ending was awkward, but she still liked talking with him. And she really was looking forward to spending time with him. She felt giddy thinking about it.
…
Mori gave her a quick tour of his house when they arrived. Haruhi was impressed. It wasn't his family's ancestral home, which was back on the Haninozuka's estate, but it was an ancient house that had been updated discretely. From the décor and the comfortable way Mori moved, it was obvious that his family loved the place.
Mori gestured to a closed door down at the end of a hall. She could hear movement from it, but Mori didn't get close. "That's our dojo. It's a small one, really only big enough for one or two people, depending on what they're practicing. The main dojo our family uses is the first one we opened up for business. It's quite popular. Unlike many places, that one is open at all hours. Of course, that's only to family. Outside students are only allowed during the afternoons and evenings."
Haruhi smiled up to him. He may not be conscious of it, but the pride he had for his family was very clear in his voice. She loved hearing it. When he looked down at her, he suddenly got very quiet and still. Haruhi cocked her head to the side. "Is everything alright?" she asked.
Mori blinked and she saw a blush dust his cheeks. "Ah, sorry. Yes, everything's fine."
He took her hand and led her further through the home, but he didn't say anything else. Haruhi wondered what that was all about.
She didn't have much time to think about it because he brought her to the back of the house. Laid out before her was a beautiful garden. In keeping with the style of the rest of the house, it was again traditional, but far from simple. Every angle she looked at showed a perfect scene. Before her was a small open area that butted up against a large koi pond with a bridge arching over a narrowed end. There were a few flat rocks placed next to the edge for a person to sit, as well as a couple of benches dotted around. Some of both were carefully placed to take advantage of both sun and shade, as the person decided. Paths inlaid in the gravel led out to amazingly cultivated "wild" areas, places surrounded by bushes and overhung with trees. She could just see one at the end of one path, and she was sure there were many more hidden around the bends. She heard a waterfall or stream flowing somewhere hidden. She could also hear birds and small animals' calls and rustles, the sounds of them being quite at home here.
Haruhi couldn't move; she couldn't speak. She could only feel awe at such beauty.
She felt Mori take her hand and let him pull her into the garden. He led her over to one of the benches beside the pond.
She let out a sigh and dragged her eyes back to Mori. "Oh, senpai… this is so beautiful."
She saw Mori smile at her out of the corner of her eye. "I'd hoped you'd like it," he said.
Haruhi looked around from this vantage point. "Like it is too mild. I love it. It's… it's… beautiful."
She turned back to him when she felt her hand being lifted. She saw him smile as he kissed the back of her hand. She blushed and ducked her head. She really hadn't had a lot of experience with romance from the heart, just the fake stuff from the Host Club. But this was just about blowing her away. She didn't know what to do or how to act. She heard Mori hum and glanced up out of the corner of her eye.
"I had thought about taking you to see my favorite spot, but I think I'll save that for another time," he said.
Haruhi now looked up at him, confused. His eyes held some intense emotion that she couldn't quite figure out. "Oh, uh, okay," she replied.
"I don't think it would be a good idea right now. It's a little too private." Mori turned his head a little, but she could still see the blush across his cheeks.
Haruhi caught his implication and could feel the burn of her blush. "Oh. Um, yeah, that's probably a good idea." He feels that strongly about me? What about me? How strongly do I feel for him? Well, I love kissing him… And… Her thoughts trailed off from his intense look when he glanced back at her.
He gave a soft sigh and said, "But I can still do this."
He brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers. Haruhi figured she knew what he wanted. She wanted it, too. She smiled and ran her hand up his arm. He smiled, too, apparently in response to her action. That made her feel good, that she made him feel good. With his free arm, he pulled her to him, the hand on her cheek reached back to thread into her hair. As he leaned down, she wrapped her arms around his neck. She tilted her head to meet his lips with her own.
Haruhi instantly lost her breath. And regained it the next moment. Once again, she felt the fire from something so simple, and so profound, as a kiss. No, his kiss did this to her. It was the same as, yet more than, their first kiss. It quickly grew in passion. She didn't have complete control of her body. The fingers of one hand ran into his hair; the other brushed down the side of his neck to caress his chest. She felt him shudder around her. He tightened his hold on her waist while his fingers tightened in her hair.
Oh, gods… He feels sooo good.
Suddenly, he pulled away. Haruhi was startled. Wait, what? What happened? She looked up at his blushed-filled face. She could feel him straightening her hair. And then she heard the door open behind them. She blushed now. How had he known?
She turned around and was surprised to see who it was.
"Hi, Haru-chan. Hi, Takashi." Honey had a smile on his face. "How are you guys?"
Haruhi was a little put out that he showed up when he did, but she was still happy to see him. "Hi, Honey-senpai. 'Doing good. How are you doing?"
He bounced up to stand in front of them. "Oh, I'm good. I just got some news that I wanted to tell Takashi and then I heard that you were over, too."
"What is it?" Mori asked.
Honey glanced at the house. "Well, there's a couple of things."
Mori seemed to think there was a cue in that glance and quickly stood. He held out a hand to Haruhi and pulled her up, too. "How about we go to my old room? We can get something to drink on the way."
Honey nodded his head. "That's sounds like a good idea." He skipped ahead of them to the door and held it open for them. "Can I have some cake, too?"
Mori looked down at him thoughtfully. "What day is it?"
Haruhi was a little confused why Mori had asked until she remembered the fight between them just before they graduated high school. Mori had wanted Honey to cut back on the sweets. Apparently, Honey had a schedule for them. It had to have been Honey who made it since Mori had to ask.
Honey smiled up at him. "Don't worry, it's a sweets day. I just wanted to ask if you had any and if I could have some. If not, don't worry, I'll get some when I go home."
Mori shrugged his shoulders. "You'll have to ask if we have any; I don't know."
"Okay," Honey chirped.
They stopped at the kitchen and got their drinks. Honey was disappointed there wasn't any cake available. He settled for a syrupy sweet drink that made Haruhi's teeth itch just looking at it. She didn't know how he could stand it.
Mori brought them up to his room. He hadn't shown it to her before. Haruhi looked around with interest, wondering what his private domain would be like. It was larger than her living room, but it was divided into two areas. He had a sitting area with a t.v. near the door. The far end had his bed and a desk. It had the same simple, traditional style as the rest of the house. Haruhi loved it.
When she finished her inspection, she looked up at Mori, only to find him staring intently at her. His gaze made her blush, but she still answered his unspoken question. "I love your room." And then she blushed harder when she realized just how that could be taken. She didn't mean to sound too forward about being comfortable there. However, she didn't try to correct her statement. She hoped he would know how she meant it.
Fortunately, Mori smiled at her. "My apartment is similar," he said as he put an arm around her, leading her to the sitting area. There was a low table and several comfortable cushions around it. Since the sleeping area was raised, he had put more cushions against the raised portion to form a backing for the seats. It was a unique substitute for a couch. They sat together there.
Honey had already plopped down on a cushion at the end of the table. "So, Haru-chan, do you like dating Takashi?"
Haruhi sputtered a little and just knew she was blushing hard. He had asked that question out of the blue, and with such a cherubic smile on his face. "Ah… well… uh, yeah, I like him a lot." And that was the most she could get herself to say. Besides, they had only just started dating. It was a little early to see if their relationship would last. Even if I already know so much about him and like him so very much, she thought.
Mori pulled her to him and gave her a little squeeze. She laid her hand over his arm and squeezed back.
Honey giggled. "Alright, I'll stop teasing. Anyway, first thing I wanted to tell you is that I tried to talk to Tama-chan."
Haruhi immediately stiffened. She hadn't realized that Honey had already done so. She was nervous about what he'd say next. She relaxed a little when she felt Mori rub her arm.
Honey, however, shook his head a little. "He wasn't there. Shima-san said his father had put him on a plane yesterday morning to France. Apparently, he and his father had talked. His father seemed to have the same idea as you guys and sent him to see his mother. That and he wasn't happy that Tama-chan had called Kyou-chan on his honeymoon and got him out of the way of any backlash from Kyou-chan."
"Oh, god, no." Haruhi was horrified. While Tamaki was unbelievably rude to Kyouya, she wasn't quite surprised knowing him. But what had her so shocked was that she didn't know how Kyouya would take the news. She had hoped that they'd be able to tell him in a better way than Tamaki would have done.
Honey nodded his head. "Yes, he did. Apparently, though, he didn't get much sympathy from Kyou-chan. Shima-san said he had been sulking since then and hadn't left his room until his father showed up."
Haruhi shook her head. "I don't think he was just sulking."
"I don't think so, either," Honey agreed. That made her feel terrible. She didn't like hurting her friends. He continued on, "But don't worry, Haru-chan, he'll be okay. From what Kyou-chan's said of her, his mother will put him to rights soon enough."
Haruhi only noticed how tense Mori had been when he finally relaxed. "Mitsukuni, thank you for trying."
But Honey just waived it away. "Don't worry about it, Takashi. He's my friend, too." Honey took a long pull from his drink.
Haruhi was grateful for the silence. She needed a minute to absorb what Honey just told them.
Eventually, Mori spoke up. "You said a couple of things?"
Honey nodded his head. "Well…" he dragged out. He glanced at Haruhi questioningly. "It's about what happened at the wedding with Ootori-san."
"I told her my thoughts about what might have happened," Mori supplied.
Honey looked surprised at Mori. "Oh." Haruhi wondered why he was surprised Mori told her what he did, but Honey continued quickly. "In that case, I looked into our business dealings with the Ootori Company. I couldn't find anything current, which was odd. I had been pretty sure that we had at least something going with their security. I know that we had trained the security teams for their hospitals and personal safety, and I could find their completed contracts but no current or future training was listed. And I thought that we dealt with the logistics of delivering the Ootoris' humanitarian supplies, too. Again, plenty of past contracts but nothing current.
"Then, I looked through Father's schedule and apparently Ootori-san had an appointment with both Father and Uncle Akira about a month ago. So I sweet-talked Father's secretary into telling me what she overheard. Apparently, Ootori-san had been very arrogant at the meeting. He had tried to get Uncle Akira to leave the meeting, but Father stuck up for Uncle Akira. He also had tried to dictate the terms of whatever it was they were discussing. The secretary didn't know what it was about, but whatever it was, apparently Ootori-san had made some demands through his subordinates that we refused to meet. Apparently, Ootori-san was adamant about it, and it escalated to the point where he showed up in person to talk with our fathers about it.
"In any case, Father eventually flat-out refused whatever it was that Ootori-san wanted. Ootori-san was pissed off and when he left, he made some comment to Father about how unwise it was to trust servants with the running of the family legacy. To say that Father and Uncle Akira weren't happy with him is an understatement. Father then pulled all the contracts we had with the Ootoris.
"After finding that out from Father's secretary, I went to him and told him what happened at Kyou-chan's wedding." Honey now looked at Mori. "I know you didn't want me to, but both of them needed to know what Ootori-san did."
Haruhi pulled away a little to watch Mori. He wasn't looking at Honey; he was just frowning at the table. Haruhi didn't do anything to disturb him; she knew he was thinking about what Honey told him.
After only a short moment, Honey continued. "Father was disappointed in Ootori-san's behavior at his own son's wedding. He said that Ootori-san is reaching beyond his status and that if he doesn't watch out, he's going to have a big fall."
Mori and Haruhi nodded their heads. Mori asked Honey, "Did Uncle Yorihisa say what Ootori-san's demands were?"
Honey just shook his head.
Mori growled.
Haruhi looked at him, more than a little surprised. Did he REALLY just growl?
"Father should have mentioned it to me. We would have been better prepared for Kyouya's wedding," Mori stated flatly.
"I'm sure Uncle Akira was just trying to protect us from having to deal with Ootori-san," Honey said soothingly.
However, Mori wasn't soothed. He gave a sharp glance to Honey and said, "We already knew there were issues with Haruhi attending; that information would have narrowed it down and helped us prepare a suitable defense, especially with her attending with me."
Now Honey looked suspicious at Mori. "You knew there was something more than just the general stuff that happens at these things?"
Mori stiffened his spine and drew his eyes away from Honey. He refused to answer.
Haruhi looked between them, a little unsettled with what was going on between the two cousins. "Hey, guys, relax, please. Maybe we shouldn't keep so many things to ourselves. Maybe we should have told you, Honey-senpai, about what we suspected," she said with a quick glance at Mori. "But I already felt bad enough about needing Takashi-senpai's help. I didn't want to burden anyone else any further."
Honey turned to her. "Haru-chan, you're never a burden to us. We like helping you," he said quite earnestly.
Mori nodded in agreement. "It's a pleasure."
Haruhi ducked her head. Yes, she loved her friends, but she still felt that she had the potential to cause problems for them. Well, she resolved, I'll just have to make sure I don't cause anyone any more problems. Mori wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. She hugged him back, nuzzling into his chest. It felt so good having him wrapped around her.
She had a thought, but was a little hesitant to mention it. Mori noticed and asked her. "Well, I was wondering if maybe you guys should talk to your fathers about this. I mean, I'm thinking about the fact that we're friends with his son. He might end up trying to use Kyouya-senpai for whatever it is that he wants. And Kyouya-senpai's been going through so much; I'd hate to see him used like I think he might be." Honey was giving her a surprised look. She glanced at Mori and saw he was curious. "Well, I mean, he's wanted to be named heir for so long, and depending on how far his father is willing to go, he could get hurt pretty badly, couldn't he?"
Both Honey and Mori looked thoughtful. Honey replied first. "That's true, Haru-chan. You're right; we should talk with our fathers."
Mori nodded his head. "We can ask when they're both available. It'd be best to talk to them together, less potential for misunderstandings."
Honey agreed. "That's a good idea. We can ask them tonight." Honey then changed the subject. "So, Haru-chan, what are you doing over?"
Haruhi blushed at the reminder. "I'm having dinner with Takashi-senpai's family." She smiled up at Mori when he squeezed her arm. "And spending some time together."
Mori surprised Haruhi by giving her a quick kiss even though Honey was watching. She blushed again. What was it about him that made her blush so much? Honey giggled at them.
They stayed, talking together, until Mori's brother, Satoshi, came by to say that their parents wanted to meet Haruhi before dinner. Honey made a quick escape and Mori brought her downstairs.
…
Haruhi had been nervous about meeting his parents, but that quickly went away. They had been warm and welcoming. She had enjoyed talking with them. They made intelligent conversation without being arrogant, and seemed honestly interested in her comments.
The dinner itself was relaxed, quite different from what she had come to expect from her exposure to the upper class at Ouran's events. Satoshi, whom she already knew, had kept a lively conversation going. He had her in stitches a couple of times. Of course, once had been unintentional, but everyone else had laughed, too.
After dinner, Mori led her to the living room, where they snuggled together while watching a movie. Mori kept his arms around her, and she didn't mind at all. She liked feeling safe and warm. She couldn't help but let her hands wander up and down his arms. Since he had a short sleeve shirt on, she had the pleasure of feeling his soft, warm skin that covered the rock-hard, developed muscle underneath. She could finally caress to her heart's content those muscles that she had so long admired. She sighed in contentedness and leaned back against his chest.
Near the end of the movie, she tilted her head back to see how Mori was. He looked down at her and gave her a soft smile. Then, she felt him caress her cheek in his favorite way. He held her closer as he bent down to give her a slow, passionate kiss. She held his arms tighter, trying to hold on to her sanity. Sooner than she would have liked, he pulled back, but she smiled at him before returning to the movie. She knew that it was better they stopped before they went too far. She snuggled back into his arms to finish the movie.
Afterward, Mori drove her back home.
"I really liked your parents. They were very nice," she told him.
Mori flashed her a grin. "I'm glad. They liked you, too."
Haruhi was happy to hear that. Even though she had thought so, it was always good to have confirmation.
All too quickly, they arrived at her apartment. Mori escorted her to the door, where they shared another spine-tingling kiss before he left. All in all, it had been a good day.
Until she opened the door to find her father grinning at her from the couch.
"Yes, yes. I'll tell you about it," she sighed in resignation. She knew she wasn't going to be able to get out of it.
