Hello people! Sorry that I'm a bit late updating, it's just I never get any time during the week to actually write, except on Fridays. Though this story takes less time to type up, so this one is more likely to get updated more regularly than my other stories. Um, well, I have nothing else to say, so let's continue!


The three otakus and their favourite shipping were walking casually through the mall, the first-years stopping every once in awhile to have a look at something in a stand. The two of them looked at different things with amazement, Haruhi at the more rare things while Hikaru looked at the more common, and they tried different kinds of foods along the way.

They all passed through one way, before Nicoletta saw something that caught her eye. It was the stand who sold those fake rare bowls that Kyoya pointed out on the actual episode 17, and the woman he helped was standing there, giggling and conversing with the salesman.

"Girls," Nicoletta called out, stopping the otakus in their tracks. "Since Kyoya isn't here, I'm gonna do him a favour. After all, excluding the twins, Kyoya is my favourite to be with Haruhi."

"You're a KyoHaru fan?" Victorique questioned and furrowed her brows.

"My fourth favourite. First comes Hikaru, second comes Kaoru, thirdly both of the twins with Haruhi and then Kyoya fourth." Nicoletta explained and shrugged. "Cori-chan, whiles I'm doing this favour to him, I'm leaving HikaHaru to you." Nicoletta said and glanced at her.

"WHAT? Why me?" Valcoria asked, bewildered.

"Because you're the otaku I've known the longest, no offence Victo-chan." Nicoletta said plainly.

"No offence taken." Victorique said. "I'll have an eye on HikaHaru while you guys do your thing." she added and walked off, keeping a close eye on the shipping.

"Anyway, I'll give you my power to make sure this date goes well!" Nicoletta exclaimed and raised a fist in the air, earning one or two glances from people around her. "I, NICOLETTA, WILL GIVE YOU, VALCORIA FALLEN, THE TITLE OF THE OTAKU AUTHORESS UNTIL I COME BACK!" she yelled high and mighty, now seriously earning stares from the people around her.

"…okay…" Valcoria whispered, darting her eyes between the people who kept staring at her.

"I'm off!" Nicoletta said, and ran towards a random direction in the huge shopping centre, leaving Valcoria blushing scarlet from embarrassment.

...

...

...

"Who was that?" one random old lady asked to her friend besides her.

"I don't know, some psychiatric patient." the woman replied as the two of them continued their shopping.

...

...

...

"OH MY GOD, HARUHI!" Hikaru yelled in the distance.

"Yes, Hikaru?"

"COME AND TRY THIS ON! YOU'D LOOK SUPER-CUTE!"

"…HikaHaru…" Valcoria twitched, etching to see what was happening. "I AM COMING!" she cried and ran after the shipping.


"Hikaru, I've already tried like ten dresses, can we stop?" Haruhi asked as she poked her head out from the dressings-room stall, an annoyed face plastered.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm getting hungry anyways." Hikaru shrugged.

"Really? That's good, because I'm-" Haruhi was firmly interrupted by her growling stomach, and Hikaru chuckled.

"Get yourself ready and then we can have some lunch." he said.

"Sounds like a deal." Haruhi said and flashed one of those rare smiles, the ones that seem to brighten up the room. She slipped back inside, but continued to talk from the other side of the door. "So, what restaurant do you wanna go to?"

"I don't know, what do you commoners eat?"

"Where's the excitement?" Victorique muttered quietly in the stall where she and Valcoria sat. How odd, any bystander seeing them following the arranged-by-the-previous-authoress-before-she-left -soon-to-be-couple would've thought they were stalkers, but for them this was just an exclusive way to watch anime, by being in the scenes.

"I don't know, I hope something will happen soon enough." Valcoria responded, slumping her shoulders in boredom.

"Nico-chan gave you the power of the authoress, right?" Victorique stated, not exactly questioning it. "Make something exciting happen. You do have the power."

Valcoria glanced up at the girl curiously, then placed her index finger on her chin, narrowing her eyes to the floor as she thought.

"True that," Valcoria admitted. "But what should I do? I just can't have somebody burst in and lock them inside a stall while Haruhi is half-naked–"

SLAM

"OY! WHAT THE HECK?!" Hikaru's voice shouted. "WHO THE HELL LOCKED US IN?!"

The two otakus let their mouths hang open, not exactly believing that it actually worked. Victorique instantly scrambled up to her knees from the sitting position she was in, opening the door slightly ajar. Out there she saw a certain cinnamon-haired girl, wearing a poofy, pink bow on the top of her head, snickering as she used the keyring, that had several keys on them, as a hula hoop for her finger.

"When did Renge come here?" Victorique whispered, quirking her eyebrows.

"Dunno." Valcoria said and shrugged. "But maybe it was just pure chance that she locked them in, there's no way that Haruhi would be–"

"HIKARU, I'M ALMOST NAKED, DON'T LOOK!" Haruhi shouted from the stall she occupied. "WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES?!"

"Oh, you mean these?" Renge called out and held up a shopping bag in front of her own face, since Haruhi couldn't see through the door. "I just found them laying around, but for being commoners' clothing they don't look half-bad." she commented while peeking in the bag. "I think I'll keep 'em…for now." she smiled evilly and skipped off.

"RENGE, WHAT THE HELL!" Haruhi shrieked and bashed on the door.

"Oh my god, it's actually happening…" Valcoria mumbled, somewhat proud of herself. "Nico-chan would be so proud! – I wonder what she's doing, by the way…" Valcoria pondered.


Meanwhile with Nicoletta…

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YA LITTLE PUNK?!" the salesman roared.

"Exactly like I mean, they're fake." Nicoletta said smartly, pushing up her new fake non-prescription glasses further up her nose, that she bought for the heck of it before she went into action.

"But how?" the woman besides her asked. Nicoletta's face instantly dropped, and she sheepishly smiled.

"Well, uh, you see, I haven't had a good look at them or anything…but…my friend does a lot of dealings with the family…" Nicoletta said nervously and scratched the back of her head.

"But then how do you know if these are fake or not?" the salesman grumbled.

"I can call him! He'll confirm it!" Nicoletta yelled in defence.

"Then do it." he said and crossed his arms.

"Uh…" Nicoletta stammered and searched her pockets. "I don't have my phone…"

"Oh, well then- SECURITY!" the man yelled at the top of his lungs. Suddenly two bulky men, with shaved scalps, dark sunglasses on, having small earpieces in their ears and with emotionless expressions - secret services perhaps? - on appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Nicoletta's arms.

"WAIT, NO! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! I KNOW KYOYA OHTORI! HE CAN CONFIRM THAT THESE ARE FAKE!" Nicoletta screamed like a maniac as she kicked with her legs while the men dragged her. "I EVEN KNOW THE HITACHIIN TWINS! TAMAKI SUOH! THE HANINOZUKAS! SOMEONE HELP MEEEEEE!" she bellowed as she was dragged further along the path.

"Somebody is going to the funny farm." a random bystander commented as everyone continued with their regular doings.

"Hey, Tono, haven't we seen that girl somewhere before?" Kaoru asked while he and the rest of the gang walked past.

"Huh? Who?- OH MY GOD! THAT IS NOT A WAY TO TREAT A PROPER LADY!" Tamaki screeched as he noticed Nicoletta being dragged away.

"YEAH! ESPECIALLY ONE WITH GLASSES!" Honey piped up from Mori's shoulders.

"DON'T WORRY, PRINCESS! I'LL SAVE YOU!" Tamaki shouted and ran after the men in suits with the screaming girl.


The two teens leaned against their backs, facing away from each other - much to Hikaru's relief considering he was still blushing like an idiot - mainly due to the fact Haruhi was still only wearing her bra and underwear. The two of them had been sitting there for about two hours, but nobody came to lock them out (because for some unlogical reason you couldn't unlock the door from the inside, and the employees at the shop didn't bother opening- because they thought the teens locked themselves in for some privacy (this is Japan after all)).

"When do you think we'll come out?" Hikaru asked in a quiet voice, but it was loud enough to fill the silence around them.

"Maybe in a few hours… This is Renge we're talking about." Haruhi replied in an equally low tone. This was not how they planned out this date at all, and now she was stuck with one of the most hormonal-driven and perverse teens (though Tamaki takes the crown) she knew. She laughed quietly to herself, imagining what her father would say if he even caught a glimpse of this situation. She could see it in front of her eyes; her father holding a baseball bat high up in the air, flames in his eyes, and wearing his highest and pointiest high heels to bash some holes into the boy's skull.

"What's so funny?" Hikaru asked and moved his head a fraction, so he could at least catch a small glimpse of her face.

"Nothing, just thinking of what my dad would say if he saw this." she chuckled. "But he would probably give you mercy, since you're at least looking away and not taking advantage of the situation." she added. Hikaru's blush turned ten times redder than before, actually seeing the image inside his head if he did take advantage of the situation. He could almost see himself have some confidence of doing something like that if his twin was with him, though of course they would stop if Haruhi said so, but without Kaoru, he couldn't even look at her without feeling like he was about to faint from the blood rushing to his face.

"We should have another date…you know, to pay up for the failure of this one…" Hikaru chuckled nervously. Haruhi's eyes widened the most slightest, before she smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, we should. This one is a complete mess." Haruhi laughed out. "It's nice hanging out with you alone sometimes, Hikaru."

Hikaru felt dumbstruck as his eyes widened, but then he let a giddy smile come to his face, like he had just won the lottery (if he was commoner, that is). Just from being so happy, he let his hand lead them to Haruhi's, intertwining their fingers. He had been doing that a lot lately…and it felt quite natural by doing so, like their hands were two puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly.

"Then it's a plan." Hikaru chirped and grinned, and from the view from the corner of Haruhi's eye, she couldn't help but smile with him.


"Ah… HikaHaru…" the otakus sighed dreamily while they watched the scene unfold. Nothing could ruin this moment…

Bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt.

…except that.

Valcoria sighed a frustrated sigh as she whipped her phone out, answering the caller. Thank god she had it on silent.

"Hello?" Valcoria answered, trying to hide the malice in her voice.

"Hi Cori-chan!" Nicoletta greeted on the other end, letting out a nervous laugh. "You can never guess what happened!"

"What?" Valcoria growled.

"Well, uh…" Nicoletta stammered. "I don't know how to explain this… but I'm in jail with Tamaki right now, can you bail me out?"


AND WE WRAP IT UP THERE FOR NOW! WILL HARUHI AND HIKARU BE SAVED? WILL SOMETHING HAPPEN TO THEM? WILL TAMAKI AND I BE BAILED OUT? OR WILL I DIE BEFOREHAND BECAUSE OF TAMAKI'S WAILING? FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!

I hope you'll be happy with this chapter for now, because I need to finish off my latest chapter of The Infected.

BYEEEE~~~~!