Chapter 9
"Oh my GOSH, Yumi! He gave me a GORGEOUS necklace then KISSED me! HE. KISSED. ME! I'm usually the one to instigate stuff and, it's just-" Maiko gushed again. She squeezed the teddy she was holding and squealed.
"Maiko, you've been gushing for HOURS. Can't you just help me? This is mine and Takashi's first 'official date', as Grandmother so put it, and I still don't know what the heck I'm wearing!" Yumiko begged. She had been at Maiko's for three hours, hoping to have Maiko help her get ready for her date with Takashi. Her grandmother thought spending some time in public with him would be good for business. So, to please her, she had to look nice (she also wanted to look nice for Takashi as well…).
Maiko sighed, "FINE, let's go." Grabbing her best friend's hand, she ran down stairs, "Bring the car around, please!" Maiko said to her driver.
"Yes, miss." He bowed to her, leaving the room.
~*TRANSITION~*
The car pulled up to the Suoh second mansion and Maiko jumped out, dragging Yumiko with her. "I'll call when I want to be picked up, Sato-San!"
"Yes, Mistress Maiko." Sato, her driver, replied before driving away.
Maiko, with Yumiko in tow, waltzed up the stairs, as if she owned the place, and threw the doors open. She let Yumiko's hand go, letting her lead the way through the maze that was the Suoh mansion.
Yumiko led her up the stairs, and down a seemingly endless hallway. They stopped at a door that Maiko knew led to Tamaki's room, as Antoinette was laying outside it, looking sad. Yumiko knelt down, petting the golden retriever. Antoinette looked to see who was petting her. Upon seeing Yumiko, she pounced, knocking the human girl onto her back, and started licking her face like crazy.
"Hello to you to, Antoinette!" Yumiko giggled.
Maiko bent down to pet the one attacking her best friend with love. "Is Tamaki being a meanie and not letting you in his room?" Maiko asked the dog.
"Woof! *insert sad doggy whine here*" Antoinette barked in response. She then sat in front of the blonde girl and looked sadly towards the door.
Maiko helped Yumiko up then continued to pet the dog. Yumiko opened Tamaki's door, letting Antoinette in.
"ANTOINETTE!" Tamaki's scream was heard, "HOW'D YOU GET IN?" Yumiko and Maiko burst out laughing. Once they stopped, they walked in the room. "Yumiko," Tamaki growled from his bed, "Did you let her in here?"
"Well…yeah." Yumiko stated.
Maiko looked around the room, and spotted Kyoya. "KYO-KYO!" She yelled before pouncing on her fiancé. She snuggled into his chest, "Hi~" she smiled.
"Hello to you too, Maiko." He inwardly grinned at seeing her wearing the necklace he gave her the prior day. "If I may ask, why are you here?"
"Maiko-Chan is helping me get ready for my date with Takashi, tonight." Yumiko stated.
"But Yumiko, I was going to help you!" Tamaki whined. Antoinette, seeing her master upset, licked his face repeatedly, trying to cheer him up. "Antoinette get off!" Tamaki, lovingly, shoved her away.
"Tamaki, why was Antoinette laying outside your door acting like a hurt puppy?" Yumiko asked, threateningly.
Tamaki winced at his twin's harsh tone, "Well Kyoya and I were discussing club business, and she wouldn't stop licking me or laying on me…she was distracting."
Yumiko sighed, "She wants your attention…"
"Well Kyoya and I needed to work!"
Maiko kissed Kyoya's cheek before standing. "Yumi-Chan, we can take her with us. Let the boys do whatever."
"WAIT! I want to help my sister get ready for her date!" Tamaki whined.
"But I need you to call these people for the costumes, sweets, and furnishings, Host Club King." Kyoya logically stated. "I've calculated what it's going to cost, and with the profits we made off the sales of pictures and online objects, we have just enough to cover the themes."
Tamaki pouted in a corner of his room, "I want to help Yumiko…but Kyoya's making me work…"
Yumiko and Maiko giggled, leading Antoinette out of the room, "Bye, Tamaki!" they chorused.
The girls walked one door down to Yumiko's room. Maiko immediately ran to the closet, "Let's get started!"
~*TRANSITION~*
"Finished, you look AMAZING, if I do say so myself." Maiko grinned.
"How do I look Antoinette?" Yumiko asked, twirling in a circle, slowly, for Antoinette to see.
"RUFF! *insert doggy panting here*" She had her tongue lolling out of her mouth, and her tail was thumping hard against the bed.
Yumiko giggled, "Sounds like she likes how I look!"
"Let's go show the boys!" Maiko insisted.
The girls made their way to Tamaki's room, letting themselves in.
"OK BOYS, be critical! How does Yumi look?"
Yumiko was in a semi-formal sundress (scoop neck showing just a HINT of her cleavage and tank-top like straps), strappy purple sandals, with her hair done up in a half-bun with some strands tastefully left out. The sundress was mostly white, but had big purple flowers at the bottom with black vines climbing up the dress to the bust. She wore no make-up, as she refused to wear any. The only jewelry the was wearing was a pair of diamond stud earrings, set in gold, and her silver necklace that had half a pendent hanging from the chain. Tamaki had the other half. When the pendants were together, the formed the Yin-Yang symbol; Yumiko had Yin, and Tamaki had Yang.
Tamaki's jaw dropped, and his eyes widened. Kyoya kept his composure and said, "She looks great, Maiko. Good job."
Maiko grinned at the compliment, "Thanks, Kyo-Kyo! What do you think Tamaki?"
Tamaki didn't say anything for a while; he just stood there staring at his sister. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and walked calmly over to Yumiko. He hugged her tightly. "Tu ressembles beaucoup à mère. (You look like mom)."
Yumiko got teary-eyed and gripped her brother tighter, "Vraiment? (really?)"
"Oui."
"So, what are you guys saying? Non-French speakers over here!" Maiko asked Yumiko.
Yumiko rubbed her eyes and sniffed, "Tamaki said I look like mom."
She went wide-eyed and recalled Yumiko telling her back in their first year of middle school. She never could forget how sad her friend looked.
~*FLASHBACK*~
Maiko sat on her bed, opposite Yumiko. Her blonde friend's sightless eyes sparkled with unshed tears. "I haven't spoken to my mother since I was 5. At first, Grandmother said that Dad could bring either Tamaki or me to Japan, but the other must stay with Anne-Sophie(mom), and the one with Dad could never see nor speak to Mom again. She thought if he wouldn't make an heir with his original wife, he could bring one of us, who were already born. He chose me because he felt that I would be the harder one to raise, because I'm blind and all..." she trailed off, a few tears managed to fall during her little speech.
"So you were separated from your twin at 5? Where is he now?"
"Still in France, but dad told me that the Grantaine family is going bankrupt, and, with mom being sick, Grandmother is going over there to make an offer. But the offer she's going to make…"
"What is it?"
"She's going to offer to give mom enough money to live comfortably and afford health care, but Tamaki would be coming over here and he can never see nor speak to her again…" her tears were falling freely now.
"Doesn't this mean you'd be reunited with your brother?"
"If he remembers me…" she absentmindedly clutched her silver necklace, Yin from the Yin-Yang symbol clutched tightly in her fist.
~*FLASHBACK END*~
"Well, I'm glad I made you look beautiful…"Maiko said with a smile.
Yumiko grinned and hugged her best friend, "Thanks, Maiko."
Just then, the doorbell rang, Tamaki looked at the time, "That would be Mori-Senpai."
"MY PURSE!" Yumiko ran to her room.
"I'll stall him, Yumi!" Maiko called out, running downstairs and opening the door. "Hey, Mori-Senpai, how are you?"
The tall brunette said, "Good, you?"
She grinned, "I'm fantastic. Yumi should be down in a second, she forgot her purse in her room."
"Mm."
Just then, Yumiko walked elegantly, yet quickly, down the stairs. "Evening, Takashi!" she greeted.
"Evening," he took her hand.
"Bye, Yumi! See you later!" Maiko said, "I'm gonna hang here with Kyo-Kyo for a bit, ok?"
"Sure, later!" Yumiko said, closing the door behind her and Takashi. She got in the limo before him. "So where we going?" she asked.
"Dinner followed by a visit to the aquarium."
"But the aquarium is closed…" Yumiko stated, knowing it was already past 6:00pm.
"That part is a surprise," he tapped her nose.
Yumiko rubbed her nose with a small smile on her face. She loved it when Takashi was playful like that.
~*TRANSITION~*
They had dinner at this slightly upscale restaurant with the Morinozuka family. Takashi, faithfully, sat next to Yumiko and told her where everything was. The rest of the Morinozuka family asked Yumiko about mundane things, such as school, what her hobbies were, etc.
After dinner, as Takashi previously told her, they went to the aquarium. It was just the two of them. The driver sat in the parking lot while the two of them walked up to the door. Takashi knocked three times on the door. Someone opened it.
"Hello, Morinozuka-San. Come in, come in; don't be shy." The man ushered them in. "Follow me, please."
The man led them down a long hallway before he came to a stop in front of a large in-ground tank, about five feet deep. "Here's the turtle habitat. Let me know when you're ready to move on."
Takashi sat in front of the tank, pulling Yumiko down next to him. He took the hand he was already holding and said, "It's a feeling-tank. You can pet the turtles."
She grinned and hugged him around his neck before slowly and calmly placing her hand just on the surface of the water. Takashi moved her hand to where a turtle was about to swim by, letting her feel its shell. She smiled even bigger when her hand made contact.
~*TRANSITION~*
They left the turtle tank and went to an octopus tank, a coral tank, an eel tank and even a nurse shark tank.
They left the aquarium about two hours after they got there, washing their hands before departure.
When they got back in the limo and started driving, Yumiko pressed the button for the privacy screen and pecked Takashi on the lips. "Thanks for today, Takashi. I had a great time."
"Me too."
Yumiko cuddled up to him, resting her head on his chest and he draped his arm around her shoulders. No other words were said between the two, because none needed to be said.