Weeeeeeeeeellll . Do you guys wanna know why I haven't updated in a while? Because I was doing finals...and...and...GRADUATING. Yes. That's right. I graduated. I wish I could say I graduated from High School but...bahahaha..I'm...not that young anymore. And I had to go be an adult and get a career/job so that occupied my life for a good chunk... Yes. I have to be all adult now. Er...financially at least. Hah. It's funny, I have several friends still in college who are older than me. I would like to still be a student and live on ramen and freak out about finals. But hey! I'm not complaining. In this terrible economy I've still managed to get an actual job that has a legitimate career. I just wanted you guys to know this so that you don't think I'm some housewife with loads of time, or some student who only has homework and bullies to worry about. I will definitely do my best to update in a more timely manner, but I gotta pay the bills ;)
o
x
o
x
Kiski - You probably should kidnap this girl. You should be her...Batman..or something. I can't think of anything clever to say at the moment so you'll have to excuse me. His perfectionism in itself is his fault for sure, but it's one of those faults nobody notices as a fault until you really back that person into a tight spot. I mean, how many people ever deny Kyouya what he wants? Nobody ever just says "no". They tend to just go along with what he says because...well because it's convenient and generally the best way to go. He's so used to controlling that when finally a situation arises that he's not in control he has a bit of a freak out. I like it. xD
4Evr.-A.-fAIlUrE - You keep crying at my story and you'll start worrying people! And you're totally right, we can't change to fit somebody else' mold. Don't forget to take pride in yourself and who you are. Even your faults can be charming! (just don't be psycho)
Tbonechick2011 (Jazzy) - Yes! I'm glad you get to see how Momoku really feels. Sometimes your most honest feelings are the hardest to actually admit... I also take enjoyment in irritating Kyoya. It's like one of those rare delicacies you can only find once in a blue moon.
Linda Chicana - I love your review. It sounds like you're making me a movie trailer for my story. I don't know what on earth is going to happen! I'm just winging it, chapter to chapter.
Rein Walker - If it's not depressing then I haven't done my job! Thank you for reading, I shall continue it indeed~
Dragon of Twilight - It's true, he doesn't like pushing people because he's actually respectful. I have to be careful with Momo because though it's true that she's a girl who doesn't like to tell her feelings until she's really forced to, I don't want to make it seem like a good thing. I don't want to make the idea of wanting to be pushed and pushed for her thoughts to be something romantic because I hate hate hate hate hate when people do that, especially women. When you ask "what's wrong?" and they respond "nothing". And then they get angry later on because you left the issue alone. Etc...etc.. I'm getting off topic now.
Kuro Takahashi - Mori is totally more likeable. He doesn't carry a holier-than-thou aura...or an aura of general evil. The whole understanding her emotions through her baking will soon play an important part in the story! I actually had the idea as the basis for the entire story. So that theme will be showing up again and again. Just make sure to keep reading! :D
The Midnight Shadow Star - I want those super powers like every other day of my life. The amount of times I've said terribly awkward things makes me cringe and die a little on the inside.
Andie-san - Thank you! I take pride in trying to keep the characters in character! I would hate to have them become out of character..then the story just loses its appeal. Thank you for reading!
Smirk 'N' Sweat Drop - Your review warms my heart :)
KaraNippi - Any review to me is a wonderful review, short or not. Thank you so much for reviewing, I hope you continue reading! I'm glad you enjoy my OC, I enjoy her too ^^'
The Shadows Writer - You better hold onto that hope. It's all we've got _ I'll make sure to pack tissues for you the next time I think I'll be having a sad update.
Sakura Ichigo Morihiko - Oh dear, don't get depressed or sad thinking about it. I hope you continue reading my story because my main point is to prove that 'normalcy' is just as beautiful as 'perfection'. You're beautiful because you have feelings. You're beautiful because you have your own thoughts and your own sentiments. You're beautiful simply because you're you. I know this is a tired motto that people try to play off frequently, but I really believe this to be true. A pretty face and better grades won't help you click with people. It's all you. It'd be a shame to lose somebody like you, even though I may not know you, I know that it'd still be a shame.
C'est La Vie Mon Amour - A deity of writing? /keelsover Oh that is too much flattery for my wee little heart to handle. I'm glad you're enjoying my story this much! I can only hope to make each update worth that squeal ;)
kate - I'm glad it's your favorite ouran fanfic. I'm sorry that it's been forever since a new chapter came out...I've been busy. But I definitely have been feeling reeeeeeeal guilty about it! I'll do my best to update faster for my fans! /pageantgirlwave
KizunaCho - Originality is what I aim to do! Thank you very much! I hope you look forward to future chapters as well.
Anonymous101 - I'm glad you agree. We totally don't want to admit our more selfish feelings. I'll update asap!
Bloodcherry - Aw thank you! It's dramatic but not in the unbelievable dramatic I think. As in, she's not being 'almost raped' in every other chapter, not having fifty boys fight over her at the same time and she's not being the target of some international crime ring. It's just dramatic because you actually get a feel for what she's feeling right? Thank you again for your wonderful compliments, they make me all tingly~
Hikari - Would it be greedy of me to ask for 7 flying-ninja-unicorns?
CrashingUpward - This story loves you!
Aly91 - I will continue indeed. I'm glad you feel for her. I think the thing is that she's not intentionally needy and not outwardly whiny. Like she doesn't deliberately act out because she wants attention. You only know she's whiny because you're allowed to listen inside of her head. I know if someone listened inside of my head that person would probably think I'm the biggest brat on the planet.
MinnieMouse8990 - Phew, I'm glad you didn't end up hating her. I hope it gets more views in the future...but even if it doesn't, that's okay. My current readers are so wonderful and leave such amazing reviews that it's all worth it to me in the end. Thank you so much for enjoying my story, I hope you continue to enjoy it! (maybe even..spread the word around...)
Celestial Moon Lady - Oh yes, it was THAT short. xD Thank you for reviewing anyway. All feedback to me is important so that I know if I'm heading in the wrong direction with my story or not. Thank you for being my reader!
SuperCuteTomomi - It is a bit bitter isn't it? Hehehe...I'm glad you find it addicting. I shall update and give ye more!
nysroxx17 - Thank you so much...well I aim for this story to not become discontinued. I will do my best to continue it till the very end!
katie - Team Mori? xD I shall add your vote to the tally I keep in my secret journal of secrets.
Squalohaifisch - Eggserent. That's exactly what the super uber duber short update was meant to do. I shall make a much longer update!
Renhi - It's definitely not wimpy to not be able to hit somebody. If anything, it says something about your character. You're a sweet person. I'm glad you can relate to her. I want her to be as real as possible.
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
4:00AM.
The clock blinked 4:00AM.
Why was I awake...at 4:00AM ?
The sun wasn't even up yet and the light from the windows looked like the appropriate lighting for an offshore murder scene.
In two hours, that's 6:00AM if you're not too good with simple arithmetic, the alarm would go off and start our day. In two hours, Haruhi and I would get up, rub the sleepy dust from our eyes and hastily wash our faces in lukewarm water before getting dressed in our heavy suits. At around 6:15AM we would have a quick breakfast and at 6:25AM we'd bustle out onto the deck to start unpacking the fishing lines. It would be at least another two hours from then that we'd see any of the Ouran Host Club members. Waking up at the crack of dawn wasn't exactly their specialty. But I couldn't really hold that against them, it was barely my specialty.
In fact...
I reached over and unplugged the digital clock and plugged it back in. The blinking 12:00 greeted me.
I didn't know why I did that.
My head was blank as I stared at the blinking number, trying to figure out why I would do such a thing.
I didn't want the alarm to go off at 6:00AM.
Alright. I got that.
Why didn't I want the alarm to go off at 6:00AM?
Because I didn't want to get out of bed.
Why didn't I want to get out of bed?
Hmm...good question.
I rolled over in my bed and stared up at the bottom of the top bunk upon which Haruhi lay. I was tired, but I couldn't go back to sleep.
"Because I hate her."
Oh God.
That happened.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
I groaned and pulled the blankets over my face, half-heartedly attempting to smother myself underneath them as my mind (against all of my will) replayed last night inside my head. The scene played back and forth like a broken record, the inside of my skull acting as a screen as my thoughts projected onto it. I watched in mute horror as I spilled the most tender parts of my heart to the Shadow King. I watched him holding me there like I was nothing but a rag doll. I watched how pathetically I acted in front of him.
.
.
Fuck me. Fuck my life.
That's why I wanted to stay in bed. Because I most certainly did not want to face the day. Today. I needed one of those remote controllers that let me skip ahead a few days. Maybe even a few years. If I could just sweep the whole debacle under the rug...
"Why wouldn't I get it?"
Please, for the love of all things holy...get it all out of my head.
Brilliant idea, what if I were to slam my head against the bars of the bunk bed again? Just knock myself unconscious for the rest of the day?
It actually didn't sound like that bad of an idea.
I groaned again and willed the images to go away. I was going to go back to sleep. I was going to sleep in. And my mother was probably going to give me some lecture or another, but that was alright with me. For now, I was going to sleep and I was going to deal with the aftermath later. I was going to go back to sleep and I was going to have awesome dreams. Yes. That's what I was going to do.
I was going to dream.
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
"Oh no! Momoku we overslept! The power must've gone out for a second or something and reset the clock!" Was what I was greeted with in the morning. It wasn't possible. did that many hours pass by already? I swore it was just a few seconds ago that I had fallen back asleep. Nnnrgh.
Reluctantly I got up and feigned surprise.
"What could have possibly happened to our alarm clock." I asked dryly, rubbing my eyes, feeling as if I was recovering from having just drowned somewhere. My head felt like it was still swimming five leagues below sea level and my brain was still trying to catch up with my body.
"Momoku! Haruhi! The lines aren't set and it's already 8:36AM! Did you guys oversleep?" I heard my mother's shout from the other side of the door and I winced. The extra hours of sleep hadn't been worth it. It didn't even feel like I had gotten extra sleep.
"Yeah! Sorry Mrs. Murayama! Our alarm didn't go off!"
"Hurry up girls!"
"Eh Tono...we got up earlier than your beloved Haruhi." I heard one of the twins say from outside the door.
No. The extra sleep wasn't worth it at all.
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
As she walked onto the deck she purposefully avoided my gaze and being around my general area. She had mumbled a tired 'good morning' to everyone but me and her purposeful avoidance of me went unnoticed by everyone but me. Stupid girl didn't even know how to properly pretend as if nothing had ever happened. I sipped my coffee in silence, choosing to ignore her as well as I went over the docket. We were supposed to land tomorrow, but I didn't much feel like waiting until then. I would convince the Murayamas to land tonight. I had a certain doctor to visit on the shores of Sendai.
My father was going to be dictating a $30,000,000 deal this afternoon and would require my electronic signature to complete it.
That girl was so sloppy in the way she organized her lines. Though she obviously knew what she was doing, she could at least made her station a little neater.
The deal was going to be for the new x-ray technology that reduced the amount of radiation exposed to the patient while providing even better imagery and scans. If we could boast about less radiation our clients would eat it up with their bare hands.
Now that fool of a girl was pulling in rope without gloves. Proper women should never defile their hands like that.
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
"Momo-chan! Momo-chan! Your mommy said you can take a break to help me with a cake!" His voice cried from across the deck. I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand, unable to stifle a smile as the blond haired boy came bounding up towards me. A break. A break. Bah. I found myself smiling as he threw his arms around my sweaty body, not seeming to care about my gross state as he did so. He smiled back. He was always smiling at me.
"So will you help me with a cake Momo-chan?"
"Of course Honey-senpai."
"Good. Because today is a special day. I'll tell you in secret later...come on Momo-chan let's go-"
"Honey-senpai...I think I need to wash up first. I don't think I should touch food like this." I said as I peeled him off of me. He jumped up and clapped his hands together and nodded.
"Okay! Usa-chan and I will wait for you in the kitchen. We have a surprise to tell you!"
"Okay. Can't wait."
Surprise? I bet. What would the surprise be? That he actually wanted two cakes instead of one?
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
"Hikaru and Kaoru-chan's birthday is tomorrow! We're throwing a party at midnight so we have to make two cakes! One for Hikaru-chan and one for Kaoru-chan!"
Ahahahahahah.
I started giggling uncontrollably as Honey-senpai told me this, unable to ignore the coincidence of the situation.
"Haha...of course Honey-senpai..of course.."
"I'm glad you're excited about this too! Kyou-chan's going to ask your parents to land tonight instead of tomorrow so that we can celebrate it somewhere nice. I bet they're going to love your cakes!"
I bet.
"I wonder what kinds of cake we should make..." I mumbled to myself, tying on my apron before helping Honey-senpai tie on his own. As I helped him into it I paused for a moment, wondering what felt so out of place?
"Hey Honey-senpai?"
"Mm?"
"Where's Mori-senpai?" I asked, now realizing what was out of place. It was a rare thing to see the midget without his gigantic counterpart. He turned to me and smiled widely.
"Takashi is taking your spot on the deck so that you can help me with these cakes!" He exclaimed and I shook my head, wondering what exactly the relationship was between these two. I handed him the ingredients to mix in the bowl, giving him some basic busy work as I mulled over the game plan. For Kaoru I figured I'd make a nice red velvet cake, not too heavy and not too sweet, something that didn't make a bold statement while still being delicious. Or maybe I would just make a damn cake. It's not like I really knew what I was doing honestly. I dictated the measurements to Honey-senpai, taking out another cookbook to look for a separate recipe for Hikaru. I probably could just bake two of the same cake, but I wanted to make him a different one. I didn't want to have his cake taste anything like Kaoru's. Why? I don't know. I just didn't.
"Honey-senpai, don't mix it so hard, you'll spill everywhere." I said lightly and he nodded, taking his vigorous whisking down a few notches. As I continued flipping through the recipe book, I didn't find anything suitable. I wanted Hikaru's cake to be bitter. I wanted it to be sour. But I still wanted it to taste good. Hrm.
"I think I'm all done Momo-chan! Now what?"
"Hold on, let me taste." Now I know I know, salmonella, raw eggs..blah blah blah. So just don't ever do this at home. I dipped a finger into the batter and licked it, tasting it just to make sure.
"Honey-senpai hand me the brown sugar and melted butter please." As I fixed up the batter I still thought about Hikaru's cake. Maybe he shouldn't get a regular cake at all. Maybe instead, he'd get a cheesecake.
"Should I put it into the oven now?"
"No, not yet. I want the batter to get to room temperature first. Honey-senpai, do you know if Hikaru likes cheesecake?" I asked and he posed thoughtfully, putting his hand under his chin and leaning on one side as if posing for a picture. Did he always keep up this loli-shota thing? Was there some private room in which he acted like...like a 17 year old? Was he 17? He must be...
"I think so. Probably. I've never asked! We'll have two cakes anyway so if he doesn't like it he can eat the other one right?"
"Right. Okay Honey-senpai, I need to get cream."
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
o
x
It's funny how sometimes when you dread something, the day can either go by like flashes of instances or like one slow crawl through quicksand. Mine was a mixture of both. I don't remember what I did while I was making the cakes, but I knew that one was in the oven and the other in the fridge. I don't remember who suggested it, but I was also now walking across the boat deck with a tray of lemonade in my hands. Hikaru and Kaoru were bickering with Tamaki as to how to correctly reel in a fishing line so I passed them, not really wanting to 'interrupt' their important conversation. Kyouya was tap-tap-tapping away at his laptop...he seemed busy too. Best not to disturb him.
So I found myself heading over to Mori, who was successfully tossing over a buoy to mark where one of our fishing cages were.
"Hi Mori-senpai...I thought you'd like a glass of lemonade...thanks for taking my place." I said, not really delivering the spiel as I had imagined it in my head moments before. Should I have thanked him and then offered him the lemonade? Or maybe I should have smiled wider. Or maybe I should have not smiled at all...what if there was something in between my teeth?
"Aah." He replied. I was actually getting somewhat decent at interpreting these 'Aahs'. Sometimes they meant 'I don't know' and sometimes they meant 'yes'. But this one meant 'Thank you, it's alright'. I dared to smile again, taking his empty glass as he handed it to me. For a moment I lingered, not particularly wanting to leave him and racking my brain for something else to say to him. It wouldn't hurt to make conversation right? Maybe this was a step. I was going to initiate conversation and-
"Are your cakes coming along well?"
"Oh huh? Oh yeah! Yes. Um. Yes they are."
Another pause for uncomfortable silence. I lost my train of thought and scratched the back of my head, fluffing up my hair a bit to distract myself as I tried to remember what I was going to say.
"Thanks for um...covering my spot so that I could help Honey-senpai."
"Aah."
I was curious as to why his monosyllabic answers didn't frustrate me. Maybe it was because everyone else on this boat seemed to talk too much. But I figured it was because I understood that he wasn't being short with me, but in that instead, he didn't have much to say. I felt that he was like me. I felt that he, like me, didn't know what to say. I smiled to myself and looked to the ground, shuffling away to return the rest of the glasses to the kitchen.
Now don't get me wrong, I knew nothing would evolve between Mori and myself, but you have to understand that dreams and unacknowledged hopes are what get some teenage girls through in life. On the forefront of my brain I understood and accepted that Mori was from a different world and would date much better girls from his world. But stored away in the back, waaaaay way back, were hopes and dreams. I could dream about Mori liking me. I could dream about how inside he felt these weird feelings too. I hoped that maybe there'd be a chance he'd like me in that special way. I hoped that he thought of me in that special way. And then we'd live happily ever after and I'd grow scarlet carsons on my window sill or something.
These are the thoughts that ran through my head as I walked back to the kitchen.
"It's quite rude of you to offer lemonade to everyone else and not me."
"Oh! Ootori-san!" I nearly dropped the tray in surprise when he addressed me. But in contrast to me, he was like a stone, calmly reading the news on his laptop when he addressed me. I guess operation Avoid Kyouya All Day was a failure.
"I'm sorry, it was an accident, I just forgot. H-here." I hurriedly placed a glass of lemonade in front of him. I mustered a smile and turned to walk away when I heard a very irritable click click.
"I don't want one. Take this away." He said, waving his hand at me in a distasteful motion. I froze, for a moment not understanding what was going on.
"But you said-"
"I said it was rude of you not to offer. I didn't say that I wanted one." Huh?
"Oh..uh..okay." You don't have to be such a douchebag about it though.
I snatched the glass back, the anger seeping through my motions as some of the lemonade spilled onto the table from the snappishness of my movement. From the corner of my eye I saw Kyouya raise an eyebrow at this but I pretended not to see, shuffling off quickly before he could say anything else to me.
What in the world was that?
Did he just enjoy going out of his way to bother me? Did it give him some sort of satisfaction to embarrass me for no goddamn reason? It was official, out of all the host club members, I disliked him the most. I hoped he'd fall off the boat and get eaten by a shark or something. Yes. Eaten by a shark. How fitting.
oxoxoxoxoxo
xoxoxoxox
oxoxoxo
xoxox
oxo
x
oxoxoxoxoxo
xoxoxoxox
oxoxoxo
xoxox
oxo
x
I watched Kyouya tease Momoku in his special way. I also watched as Momoku was so easily goaded into anger. She hadn't known Kyouya long enough to know that his way of showing interest in a subject was to bother it, test it, see how it would react.
But what Kyouya didn't understand was the fact that he was developing interest in her. Enough to pay the slightest bit attention to irritate her. But I knew Kyouya was too sharp a boy to not notice this soon. He would realize it himself soon enough, and he would probably deny it to himself. Then he'd ignore her.
That's how Kyouya worked.
"Here you go Honey-senpai. I tried something new, tell me if you like it." She said in a kind voice as she set a freshly baked cake down in front of Mitsukuni. She flashed a brief smile at me and placed a plate in front of me as well in case I wanted a slice.
"Oooh raspberries! What kind of cake is this?"
"It's um...red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. I thought I'd give it a go."
"It smells delicious! Have some with me Momo-chan! I bet Takashi wants some too!" And before I could answer, Mitsukuni had already put a slice onto my plate before serving himself a very generous-sized slice. Momoku was looking at him hopefully and from where I sat I knew she was waiting for his approval. She always awaited his approval, it seemed to be the only form of encouragement she felt that she could seek out. Slowly, I took a forkful of the cake. It was delicious.
There was no better way to put it.
It was delicious.
It was riddled with this biting sweetness and smoothed over at the same time by the cake itself. The raspberries gave it an extra sting and taste. I decided that this was my favorite of hers so far.
"Mmmm! It's so delicious! I want to eat this forever Momo-chan! Thank you!"
"You're welcome Honey-senpai...I actually have a couple more sitting in the oven in case you wanted more-actually, I should go take them out now. I'll be right back."
Wait-
I had been trying to find the correct way to tell her that her cake had been delicious, but I had already used the word 'delicious' previously before and so I was running through my stores of knowledge to find a more appropriate word to use...but now I had taken too long to think of it because she had already gotten up and left.
"Do you like it Takashi? I love it."
"Aah."
It was easy enough to respond to Mitsukuni, he understood that I really liked the cake. At least, I assumed he understood.
I didn't want to not compliment her on her cake. I definitely needed to give her praise on the cake. She deserved it.
I took another bite.
She most certainly deserved it.
Without thinking too much about it I stood up and walked after her.
Delicious? Brilliant? Tasty?
Warm, good, nice, sweet...
Extraordinary, satisfying, fulfilling...
None of those words were really quite what I was looking for.
Delectable, gratifying, exquisite, delightful-
"-Mori-senpai? Can I help you?"
I had unwittingly reached my destination without a conclusive adjective and was awkwardly standing there at the doorway like some intimidating troll.
"Aah..." I wasn't really sure what to say. She was whipping up frosting for the two cakes cooling on the counter and I could see her arm was getting tired from whisking without an automated processor. To buy myself some time I gently took the bowl from her hands along with the whisk and took over the task. She stared at me a bit stunned and I suddenly realized that I perhaps should have asked if she had wanted help rather than just take it out of her hands.
"Um...thank you Mori-senpai..." She rubbed her arm and took a seat on the counter, watching me as I whisked away at the frosting. I assumed she wanted it as light and fluffy as possible. Would it change the taste of the cake if it were me whisking instead of her? Would it be just as...um...
"Charming."
"E-excuse me Mori-senpai?"
"Your cake. It was charming." That was the word I was looking for, but the look on her face wasn't what I expected. She looked confused.
"Oh? Huh...that's good right? Thank you.."
Maybe charming wasn't the right word. But it was. She just didn't understand what I meant by it. How was I supposed to elaborate?
"I liked it very much."
There, that was what made her smile.
"Thank you Mori-senpai. I'm really happy you liked it."
oxoxoxoxoxo
xoxoxoxox
oxoxoxo
xoxox
oxo
x
oxoxoxoxoxo
xoxoxoxox
oxoxoxo
xoxox
oxo
x
"You're coming to Kaoru and Hikaru's birthday party tonight right? Honey-senpai told me he invited you. He said you were going to be making their cake."
"I don't know, I don't really feel like going. I have their cakes ready though, so maybe you can just take them to the party for me."
"No way! I don't really like parties either, but it'll be fun. It'll be a better chance for you to get to know the Host Club too. I swear they're not idiots all the time." She chuckled lightly and I followed suit, laughing with her to go with the flow. We were idling on the deck, waiting as the boat docked at the port for the twins' birthday party. My parents had already made reservations for themselves at some fancy dinner place and had also encouraged me to attend the birthday party. I guess abandoning me with these people was their way of pushing me to be more social. But I was a poor sport. I didn't want to be social. I wanted to lock myself in a room and browse the internet all day-that sounded pretty exciting to me. Much more exciting than a lavish party. The internet had things like pictures of cats.
"So are you going to go?"
"Yeah sure." I knew she wasn't going to let up anyway. She smiled as she leaned on the rail, closing her eyes and breathing in the fresh air.
She was so beautiful.
She had these long lashes and perfect little lips. Even with the short 'boy' hair she looked pretty and to rub it in my face the wind blew through it so that it looked like she were posing in a photoshoot.
"My daughter! Daddy's going to take you shopping!"
"Ai no Tono. It's our birthday. We get to decide what she wears! Come Haruhi!"
"Mommyyyy! The devils are taking away our daughter!"
It was like right out of a cartoon the way they popped up and kidnapped Haruhi. Whenever there was a moment of downtime they'd pop up and appear to whisk her away. I did begin to find it funny.
"Why don't I get to pick what I'm going to wear?" She asked, clearly annoyed, but it did not deter any of the three. They continued to drag her off of the boat and onto the dock, pulling her into town with their own agendas.
The calm sound of footsteps coming from behind me told me that Kyouya was also about to get off the boat. Sure enough he stood next to me within seconds, fixing the cuff of his neatly ironed shirt as he did so. It was always business with him.
"I suppose I should see what the dear president of our club wants. You should get a dress of your own for the party as well. Hikaru and Kaoru tend to do things...flashy. Good day." And with that short comment, Mr. Ootori was off. I was graced with the view of his behind as he walked away and needless to say, I enjoyed it. That fucker was handsome like the devil.
The frantic and hurried footsteps told me that Honey-senpai was getting off the boat as well, dragging behind him a much calmer set of footsteps.
"Oh poo! They took off without us! We have to catch up Takashi! Or else we won't get to see Haruhi trying on dresses! Hi Momo-chan!"
I turned to see a very happy Honey-senpai, clutching Mori-senpai's arm as he pulled him along, trying to get him to walk faster so to catch up to the rest. I smiled at his bright face and gave a small wave to Mori who was trailing along behind him.
"Hi Honey-senpai. They're not that far ahead. They went straight into town just a few seconds ago so you'll catch up in no time."
"Oh yay! Are you coming with us Momo-chan? We're going shopping!"
"Oh no no...I have errands to run." Yes...errands. Nonexistent errands.
Honey-senpai nodded and pulled on Mori-senpai to continue on his way, but Mori-senpai, interestingly, wouldn't budge.
"Takashi?"
"Would you like help with your errands?"
Time out.
TIME OUT.
Now there were several things that went through my head after Mori-senpai offered his help.
1. I was about to be caught in a lie.
2. He was mind-boggling in how sweet he was for a boy so beautiful and wealthy.
3. Why would he offer to help me?
4. Would Honey-senpai get annoyed by this?
and
5. I sure have been silent and staring at him for quite some time.
"Uh...I..." I snapped myself out of my daze, trying to muster up some appropriate response. Idiot. It was such a simple fucking question, and yet it had disarmed me. It probably disarmed me because I had lied. I was never really good at keeping up lies anyhow.
Thankfully, Honey-senpai came to my rescue.
"Oh! That's a good idea. Takashi you help Momo-chan out and we can meet up later! Usa-chan and I are going to find Haruhi! Baiii!"
Now I felt awkward.
I stared up at Mori, slightly dumbfounded at how I was left with him. This was it. This was my chance. Now we were going to have a private outing and get to know each other and within the span of an hour he'll realize that he's madly in love with me and then we'll start to date and get married and have a wonderful, wonderful, life.
Hah. Lol. JK.
None of that happened.
Instead, I looked up and gave a lame smile.
"I uh..lied about the errands."
"I know."