Disclaimer: I, KawaiiTenshiCeres, does not own Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori, or Niji wo Matsu Hito by BUMP OF CHICKEN.
虹を待つ人 / People Who Wait for the Rainbow
Chapter Ten
"Oneechan~ Do you want to go to a party held by Takashi-san's kouhai? You can bring Touma-ku– LIKE HELL I WOULD!"
After mocking her younger sister and looking at herself in the mirror, the brunette let out a long sigh. With Mayu as her 'date', she reluctantly agreed to go to a formal party held by Takashi's underclassman, Suoh Tamaki. Knocking on the door, the lavender-haired woman smiled brightly at her best friend, looking at her head-to-toe, inspecting her appearance. With Mayu choosing their outfits, herself wearing a typical little black dress, and Hazuki wearing a short, dark-blue cocktail dress, they were pretty much ready after getting their makeup and hair done.
"Seriously?!" Hazuki whined. "This dress was shorter than what I wore to that stupid engagement party!"
Cracking a smile, the woman patted her back. "Don't worry," she smiled. "I'll send pictures to Miyama-senpai," she noted.
Covering her caked face, the science major let out huge groan. "…It's not him, I don't want to see Takashi-san," she whined.
Putting an arm around her shoulder, the artist couldn't help, but to shake her head at her. Whipping out her smartphone, and putting it on her camera, Mayu jabbed her best friend's cheek as she pointed the phone's camera away from them.
"For this party, we're both 'single' women and we're both young… Live life while you can, you know?" she remarked, watching the hesitant Hazuki, eyeing her, before the pair looked at the camera, flashing a cute, seductive smile for their selfie.
"…No wonder Senpai said ya were a terrible influence on me," the brunette sighed, pushing back her lightly curled locks.
After sending the picture to Touma, Mayu looked up at her best friend again, curious about her little remark. "…But ever since you fell in love again, you became cuter. You don't talk as rough compared before and you do try to focus on your appearance,"
"What do ya mean?" Hazuki sighed.
"…Frankly, if I was a guy, I would've gladly showed you off as my girlfriend," the artist giggled, hugging her.
Rolling her eyes, the brunette gently patted her cheek. "Right, right. Mayu-chan you're so charming," Hazuki sighed. "I'm pretty sure your future boyfriend would love to have you doing that,"
Feeling her hands prying her arms off of her, the lavender-haired woman watched her best friend apply lipstick on herself.
"Future boyfriend, huh…" Mayu whispered, looking down with some uneasiness in her eyes.
"Is something the matter?" she questioned, looking back at her.
"A-Ah! Nothing! I-I'll meet you downstairs, okay?"
"…Now, I get why you were uncomfortable,"
Letting out a huge sigh, Mayu looked around the large ballroom, as the two women walked in, arm-in-arm. Expensive catering, girls sporting thousand dollar dresses, it was completely something that the pair wasn't used to. Clinging onto the purple-haired woman, Hazuki shook her head.
"…We could've went with Senpai drinkin'…" she sighed.
"Remember, it's for Kaori-chan," Mayu laughed.
Looking up from talking, Kaori smiled brightly at the pair, waving at the pair, as both of them approached the tiny group.
"Oneechan, you remember some of these guys, right?" Kaori chirped.
Glaring at the pair of twins, Hazuki reluctantly nodded. "Right…" she muttered.
"Oh~" the dark-haired twin questioned.
"What do you mean, 'Oh~'?" Mayu echoed. "Do you like what you see?" she teased, playfully wrapping her arms around Hazuki's waist, and resting her head on her shoulder.
"The hell, Mayu-chan? Stop lowerin' the skirt! My dress is already low-cut as it is!" the older Amano sighed, looking over at Takashi, who quietly looked away.
A huge grin formed on the artist's face, before she looked over at the Hitachiin twins. "Were you two popular in high school or something? I mean, Hazuki and I, we can put on a show right now, if you like," she winked.
With her face turning red, the brunette face palmed as she pushed her best friend. "W-We're not like that!" she stuttered. "I-I mean…"
"Ah~ What I meant was… Aren't you matching with Mori-senpai? You two should've switched dates," he continued, pointing at Hazuki and Takashi's attire.
A dark blue cocktail dress… A suit with a dark blue tie. Nodding to Hikaru, Mayu quietly pushed Hazuki to Takashi and playfully locked arms with Kaori.
"Like this?" she questioned.
"Right!" he nodded.
The two of them looked at each other for a moment before quietly backing away. As Mayu and Kaori began to chat with the members of the host club, the two of them were left alone for a moment in silence, unable to say anything. Feeling her arm being tugged, Hazuki was greeted by the young boy she had met once before. With him, there was a young girl next to him, causing her to look at Takashi oddly.
"You must be Hazuki-chan!" he chirped.
"E-Eh?! I remember you!" Hazuki gasped. "You were that guy who kicked that idiot who was hittin' on Kao-chan!"
"Hazuki, this is my cousin, Mitsukuni and his fiancée, Kanazuki Reiko." Takashi said.
As the pair bowed to the brunette, she looked at them thoughtfully, before looking over at the man.
"How…How old are they?" she whispered.
"…Mitsukuni is older than you," he replied much to her horror.
Her eyes widened, before feeling his hand covering her mouth, while the host club watched the little scene in amusement. Before long, Mayu and Kaori had snuck out together, before Takashi released her, causing her to glare at him childishly.
"Sheesh! Were you tryin' to kill me, Takashi-san?" she cried. "Mitsukuni-san, is he a secret assassin or something?"
Shaking his head, the blond man smiled at Hazuki. "No~. Though, he did used to do kendo!" he remarked with a bright smile.
"No wonder," she grumbled.
Leaning over, the man looked at her with a deadpan look on his face. "No wonder what?" he questioned.
"…You were pretty rough during our first time," she huffed, feeling her cheeks turning red.
Feeling his cheeks turning red, Takashi looked away from her, as Hazuki glanced around to look for her sister and Mayu. With them being nowhere in sight, an annoyed look formed on her face.
"Did those two disappear somewhere?" the brunette groaned. "I'll look for them,"
"Hazuki," Takashi spoke up. "…Can we also talk outside?"
"Oh? Weren't you with Amano Hazuki? For a commoner, you should really apologize, and pay for my dress!"
Furrowing her eyebrows, Mayu looked at the pompous girl who folded her arms over her chest, glaring at her. Hiding behind her was Kaori, who felt intimidated and scared to say anything. While they were sneaking out to fool around, they had bumped into this woman, and spilled champagne all over her dress. Of course, with Mayu already 'apologizing', but she wasn't buying it.
"Y'know, it'll come off with some dry cleanin'," Mayu shrugged.
"Dry cleaning?! I had this tailored specifically for this event!" she screeched. "I have you know, that after that incident, whoever has the nerve to even associate themselves with the Amano family should be really ashamed!"
Raising an eyebrow, the artist crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, you were going to trash it anyways, sweetheart," she remarked.
With an infuriated look on her face, the woman reached out to try and grab Mayu's hair, only to see a hint of blue popping up in front of her. Grabbing a handful of brown hair, the woman stared into a pair of blue eyes staring at her, before feeling her hand being slapped away.
"Please don't involve my best friend in whatever stupid thing I've done."
Pushing back her tussled hair, a dark look formed on Hazuki's face, as she slowly got closer to the other woman. Without hesitation, she slapped her square in the face.
"I know what I've done is wrong, but to involve my best friend in your bullyin'…You should be the one who should be ashamed," the woman growled.
"And?! For a girl, like you to show up and bring your friend to a party like thi-"
"I've dealt with women who keep insultin' my friends. Keep doin' that and I will rip out more than your fuckin' extensions, ugly!" Hazuki barked, readying to rip her apart.
Snatching her arm, Takashi looked at her with a stern look on his face. "You have to control yourself," he warned.
Still fuming, the woman looked at him, before looking over at her sister and Mayu. Chewing on her lip, Hazuki snatched her arm away closing her eyes.
"...Anyone who messes with Mayu-chan, messes with me. I know I've embarrassed myself again…That's why I won't come to these sorts of things anymore," she muttered, before walking away.
As the woman began cursing out at Hazuki, Takashi walked over to comfort Kaori. However, the artist began to quickly go after her best friend, running after her.
Quickly grabbing her hand, the lavender haired woman looked at her, as she saw the annoyed look on her friend's face. "Sheesh! At least talk to me!" she shouted.
"…You know, I want to move out, start fresh, and get away from this," she replied. "When I find a job… I want to live in an apartment nearby you, so we can live a normal life…And I can fall in love Touma-kun again…"
Holding her hand tightly, Mayu looked at her quietly. "Hey, I thought you still love Taka-"
"He wasn't the one who went after me. It was you," the brunette said, as tears began forming in her eyes. "…Even if he did, I don't even know what to say to him…"
"Hazuki…" she muttered.
Smiling sadly at her, the woman looked at Mayu. "…You know Kaori has always been the first priority. Oyaji knows the only time I'm not a screw up, if it's for our family. That's why…I can't be selfish,"
Looking at her, the woman reluctantly nodded to her before releasing her hand, watching Hazuki escape into the night. As Mayu stood there, she looked back to see the former Wild Type approaching her. With a hurt look on her face, the artist walked past him, and closed her eyes.
"Please… give up on Hazuki,"
"Oh, jeez, you literally ran here in this getup?"
Trying to hide his embarrassed face, Touma looked away at Hazuki who stood at his doorway. Smacking him in the arm, the woman slowly made way inside, taking off her painful heels, and made way towards his couch. Lying face down on the plush couch, Hazuki let out a long sigh, stretching out her body, causing the man to let out a long sigh.
"…Could…Could you not do that?" he whispered.
"Eh?"
"Y-Your underwear. They're showing," Touma stuttered, looking away.
"But aren't we 'dating' ? I don't mind showing them to you," Hazuki joked, turning over and sitting up. "Mayu-chan…sent that selfie to you right? …I came here…because I wanted to see you,"
Looking at her oddly, the man let out a long sigh. "…Something happened?" he questioned.
Standing up and approaching Touma, giving him a hug, Hazuki closed her eyes. "...If you touched me…will it be different than him?" she questioned. "Will I get that same feeling I did...When I was with him?"
"Are you implying that you want us to do that?" the male questioned, gently caressing her hair. "…Come on, I can't take advantage of you like that,"
Puffing her cheeks like a small child, the waitress hugged Touma tightly and closed her eyes. "Fine, then unzip my dress for me. I'll sleep in your bed," she grumbled.
"Sure, sure," he sighed.
Feeling her release him, Hazuki turned around, her back facing him. Pushing away her hair, the woman waited as he slowly began to unzip her dress. Seeing her lingerie underneath, the male felt his cheeks turning hot.
"What's wrong?" she questioned.
Hugging her from behind, Touma buried his face into her neck. "…I will make him regret letting you so easily,"
Closing her eyes, Hazuki held his hands tightly and reluctantly nodded in agreement.
"…Is something the matter?"
Sitting in her room, Kaori felt Mayu kissing her neck, as she began to unzip her dress. Wrapping her arms around the older woman's neck, the brunette smiled as she gently kissed her sister's friend, and tried to contain her laughter, as she felt her hair tickling her. However, Mayu was far too deep in thought about what happened earlier. Seeing her best friend crying over what happen made her far too concerned for her…Yet, the artist was about to do something that even she was going to regret.
Looking up at the older woman, as she laid on her bed, the younger Amano sister felt her cheeks turning hot, before Mayu looked down at her, feeling a heavy weight riding down on her shoulders.
"...Anyone who messes with Mayu-chan, messes with me. I know I've embarrassed myself again…That's why I won't come to these sorts of things anymore."
"He wasn't the one who went after me. It was you…"
Recalling her words from earlier, Mayu let out a long sigh. She definitely couldn't do this.
"…I'm sorry, Kaori-chan," she muttered, scratching the back of her head. "…But, I'm too worried about your Oneechan right now, to do this,"
Blinking at her, Kaori sat up and covered herself. "I-It's okay! I-I know, it's a bit sudden, but-"
"That's not what I meant," the woman emphasized. "…I care a lot about Hazuki. I just can't do this to her,"
Furrowing her eyebrows, the young woman took a moment to take this all in before looking up at Mayu. "Mayu-chan… Do you like Oneechan, more than a friend?"
Closing her eyes for a moment, the artist took a moment to compose herself, before looking back at her with a sorrowful smile.
"…Even I don't know. "