CHAPTER 10
MIZUKI POV
Just one more room to go. He read the page and an adorable little furrow appeared between his eyebrows. Kaoru glanced up at me and met my gaze. He gave me a shy little smile that made my stomach flutter and I returned it. He walked towards the door, reaching out and holding me hand gently as he went, trying to act casual, although the red tint to his face gave him away. I giggledand the red increased. I knew where we were heading and hummed to myself as I glanced at the coloured 'N','E','D','R', and 'A' on the page, wondering if he would figure it out
HARUHI POV
We were walking along and laughing. Hikaru was telling me about all the pranks they used to play on their nannies. I would really have hated to be one of them, Mizuki and I were always polite and friendly with our nannies and maids as far as I can remember... Well there was that one nanny... But that wasn't my fault! I felt Hikaru stop. He looked from the door, to the page, to me, to the door. I laughed and nodded, assuming he was waiting for some kind of permission to enter, which was silly, but still. He opened the door and walked in, our reflections covering the walls of the studio. I walked to the little table in the corner on instinct while he wandered over to the grey box in the floor. It was quick and simple, like all the others, except he stayed on the floor. He stared at me and made to open his mouth but hesitantly kept it shut. I raised my eyebrow at him. "Could you... Do you mind... Would it be okay if... Gah!" He covered his face with his hands and then looked back at me "Could you dance, please?" He muttered so quietly I barely heard him. My eyes widened. "I just... We're here anyway.. And I really enjoy watching you dance, so..." He awkwardly shifted his gaze, looking anywhere but at me. I smiled at him and nodded. Playing whatever song came next, not really thinking about it when I should have. I walked to the center of the room with the beats, matching the slow song, my thoughts melting away. All that surrounded me was the music. And then I started dancing, my body moving naturally to the song. And I knew a smile was on my face.
HIKARU POV
My eyes followed her every movement. She really was beautiful. Beautiful. But I had to listen to the songs. I knew. I knew. Yet it just wouldn't click. Why? The song changed and that was it, no coincidence. It had to be, but the only time she ever even heard my playlist was- Oh. My eyes widened and I felt my hands loosen. Oh. That was only time she has ever heard my playlist. But could that have been significant to her? The images flashed in my mind. The church. The thunder. Her tears... Me placing my headphones over her ears... I knew I thought about that all too much. I felt like something had changed after that, and every time I heard thunder, I found that day going through my head. But... Has she thought about it as well? I took a deep breath, "Haruhi?".
She looked at me and sat down in front of me, "Hmm?". "Haruhi... The songs. The songs you've been dancing to..." That familiar look of panic crossed her features, how had it taken me this long to notice?! "... I know they're from my playlist". Maybe blunt wasn't the best approach, but what other way was there? "No. They're not from my playlist, they are my playlist". She didn't look like she was breathing. Her hand was twitching slightly, like she wanted to fidget. I stared into her eyes for a heartbeat, before she nervously looked at the floor, "Yeah...". I had to ask something, but how exactly to phrase the question? But then she continued on "You remember that day... With the thunder? And the church, and..." I nodded, not exactly wanting to say I thought about that day a lot. "Well, I-" she hesitated "You put you're headphones over my ears... And you made me feel safe-" my heart skipped a beat, did she just say- "It!" She hurriedly corrected "It made me feel safe, the music. And... I just- I need that sometimes. My mind associates your playlist, those specific songs in that specific order... With, I guess, safety. With warmth, and safety, and... Reassurance." It was was silent. She was staring at the ground, an adorable blush coating her cheeks "I- I know that that's weird, and maybe a bit creepy, but-" I laughed. Her gaze snapped up to meet mine, I just gave her a smile, "Haru... That's fine. It's perfectly, 100%, fine". She still seemed doubtful and a little nervous, but then she stiffened, eyes staring blankly ahead of her. "Are you oka-"
"You called me Haru". It wasn't even a whisper. Something that wasn't aimed at me, but I heard it. She wasn't looking at me, at anything, actually. Oh shit. I had called her Haru, I couldn't call her Haru! Only recently enough did we start dropping the honorifics! Haruhi. I had to call her Haruhi! And she called me Hikaru, because that was our names. Only Kaoru called me Hika, ever, and I'm sure Mizuki is the only one who ever called her Haru, and- She coughed. Our eyes met once again before we both looked away. We stayed like that for a few seconds before she stood up, wiping imaginary dust of her clothes "Well, when you figure out where to go next". That reminded me of the page in my hands. I stared down at the letters. 'E', 'G', 'N', 'U', 'O' and 'L' and groaned.
KAORU POV
With the latest addition of a grey 'G', the word NEDRAG was on the page. I looked over at Mizuki, "No hints whatsoever?", she shook her head with a twinkle in her eye. I pouted, "But Nedrag isn't a word! I'm sure of it!". She laughed and the sound filled my ears. I loved that sound. It was so light-hearted and sweet. "Please?", she shook her head "Pretty please?", another shake, "I promise I won't tell Haruhi, or Hikaru!", she rolled her eyes playfully. I leaned in close to her, "Please?" She was staring at me and she shook her head again with a giggle, I leaned in closer, "Are you absolutely sure?", she let out a tiny "Yes" and I felt her breath on my skin. I didn't even remember why I was leaning in so close, but our lips were almost touching anyway, so I slowly closed the gap once again. I felt her smile against my lips so I deepened it ever so slightly. This was my new favourite thing to do at the moment. I broke away and smiled at her "I know where to go", I said. She stared at me for a second before she burst out laughing, "Good to know you're thinking of other things while kissing me", she teased. "Nope. Just the one thing in my mind" I winked. She raised her eyebrow and I leaned down to kiss her again. Definitely my new favourite thing to do. But I did figure it out, and when I pulled away I walked out the door and held my hand out for her to take.
HIKARU POV
Okay. Egnuol. Egnuol... What the hell is Egnuol. I kept saying Egnoul in my mind, it was hard to say Egnuol when I'm so used to the letter u after o. I couldn't think of a single word where the u came before the o. It was difficult to think of it backwar- Backwards! That's it! I read from the bottom up.
Lounge. How did I not see that?! I smirked at her, forgetting previous awkwardness and walked in -what I hoped was- the direction of the Lounge.
A/N: Sorry that it took so long to update, but here's the next chapter. Please review, -as always- I want to know your thoughts. -Crys