A/N: Well yesterday I was on the cheese train and it made its way into all of my stories. That is ok though. Yah, the last line from the previous chapter "Hunny's own personal treasure" was way into the cheese. LOL, all good. Cheesy goodness is needed sometimes. (: Thank you to all of my reviewers and readers. I do plan on Hikaru growing up, but he has a long way to go especially after going back into the twin's own bubble for the past two years. Don't forget about the poll on my profile to give your input on who Haruhi should be paired with in the Christmas story I am writing. Mori is still in the lead.
Chapter 10 – Time to Grow Up
Hunny had been holding Haruhi in silence for a while before he spoke up, "Are you alright?"
Haruhi pulled back a little and looked up at her friend, "Yah, just a little emotional today. I will be fine. Will you promise me something?"
"Anything Haru-Chan!"
"Don't say anything to Kyoya or Mori and don't do anything to the twins," Haruhi looked at him seriously. She wanted his promise that this would stay between them and that he would leave the twins alone.
He exhaled sharply, "Fine, I won't do anything to them and I won't tell Kyo-Chan or Takashi, but if they see those bruises you will have some explaining to do." He started thinking: he promised that he wouldn't do anything to them. He didn't promise that he would not talk to them. Those two needed to grow up, one more than the other.
She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you Mitsukuni. If they see the bruises then I will explain, but since I don't plan on walking around sleeveless, I think I will be safe." Haruhi glanced over at the time and noticed it was time to start cooking dinner, "Do you want to stay for dinner?"
"I would love to Haru-chan. What time does you dad get home?"
"Actually, not until early morning since he picked up an extra shift at the bar. So it is just you and I tonight."
Hunny's heart soared. He was excited about having some alone time with the girl of his dreams. He would not argue with fate, "Sounds good. Do we need to go to the store?"
She laughed at his apparent excitement, "No, I have everything I need here unless you want dessert, then we will have to go and get some. I got out of the habit of keeping cakes on hand or to have everything on hand to make cakes."
"How about while you cook dinner, I go out and get dessert for us," Hunny said in anticipation of a good night in with Haruhi.
She giggled a little more, "Ok, you go and get the cake, since I know that is what you want, and I will start cooking dinner."
Hunny said his good-byes and walked out the door. As soon as he got down the stairs, he pulled out his phone. He was going to make a couple of phone calls before he bought out the bakery. He got into his car and pulled out of the apartment complex and pulled into the park. He didn't want Haruhi to notice his car had not left her parking lot.
Hunny dialed Kaoru's number. He wanted answers about what happened and he needed to make sure that the twins knew that what happened was unacceptable. If they wanted to see her again, they were going to get the rules straight.
Kaoru heard his phone and looked down at the caller id. He cringed when he saw that it was Hunny calling. He did not want to answer the phone, but knew that he better pick up or his senior may make a personal visit. The phone was a lot safer, "Hello?"
"Kao-Chan do you want to tell me what happened today? And before you say nothing, be aware I saw Haru-Chan and I saw her arms," Hunny sneered into the phone.
"Hunny! What did Haruhi say?" Kaoru asked. Part of him wanted to tell him what happened because he brother crossed the line, but Hikaru was still his twin and he loved him.
"She didn't say anything, but I know that something happened today. I also know that one of you, and I think it was your brother, gave her those bruises. So I will ask you one more time, what happened Kaoru?"
Kaoru gulped. Hunny never called anyone by their real name, he was mad and this was serious, "It was just a little misunderstanding. How bad was it?" He remembered how hard it had been separating the two and the look on Haruhi's face when everything happened and when she ran. The look on her face was haunting and it was not something he would soon forget.
"It was bad enough that I saw two distinct hand marks, fingers and hands. How does a misunderstanding do that to someone that would not hurt a fly? Did she hit someone? Yell? What did she do to deserve that?" He didn't get a response. He heard heavy breathing and a loud swallow, but he never got an answer so he continued, "I know you are trying to protect him and I will tell you that I promised Haru-Chan that I would not do anything to either of you, but if you really want to be her friend and if you really forgave her, she should not have come home damaged. I will promise you this, if you ever have plans to see her again, this will never happen again or I will do something. You and your brother will not be able to hide from me. She has been through enough and has had enough abuse. I will make sure that she never has to go through that again. Do you understand Kao-Chan?"
"Y-y-yes Hunny, I do understand," Kaoru stuttered fearful about the tone of voice that Hunny used. He was afraid for him and Hikaru.
"Good. You should also be aware that I will be talking to your brother. I understand that you two have your own little world and that you were traumatized when Haru-Chan left, but that does not give him the right to do what he did and it disgusts me that you are defending his actions. You are lucky that the injury is not serious," Hunny threatened before disconnected the call. He scrolled through his contacts and found Hikaru's phone number and called. He got voicemail and made sure that he left a message for him, "I saw what you did to her. I promised I would not do anything to you, but next time this happens I will make sure that she is avenged. If you really didn't want to be her friend, you should not have called her and said that you forgave her."
Hunny took a deep breath and turned the car's engine on again. He pulled out of his parking spot and drove to the bakery. He bought several cakes and was back at Haruhi's apartment in less than an hour. He got out of the car and grabbed his purchases, but before he made it to the stairs, Haruhi was there to help him with his purchases.
"Here let me help Mitsukuni," Haruhi said as she took a couple of the boxes from the top of the stack.
"You don't have to do that Haru-Chan, I've got it covered," Hunny said offering her a small smile.
Haruhi grinned, "Well, I already have these boxes, so if you want them back, you will have to take them from me."
Hunny laughed, "Ok, you carry those boxes and I will carry these."
"Did you buy out the store?"
"No, I left a couple for the other customers," he laughed.
Together they walked back up to the apartment. They were relaxed with each other and Haruhi knew that with Hunny around, she was perfectly safe. The cakes were placed on the counter in the kitchen and then Haruhi served them both a plate of dinner in the living room. They were having fun and enjoying each other's company.
Haruhi kept looking at Hunny and admiring him, she finally admitted that she was attracted to him and maybe starting to develop a crush, but figured who wouldn't. He was smart, good-looking, and sweet. He had the looks, brains, and personality.
Hunny could feel Haruhi's eyes on him when he wasn't looking at her. He hoped that it meant that she was developing feelings for him. He's had feelings for her for years, so this was only fair. Right?
Both of the occupants in the room jumped a little when there was a knock at the door. Haruhi wasn't expecting anyone, so she was a little apprehensive about who could be at the door. Hunny saw the look of wariness on her face and decided to answer the door himself since she didn't seem to be moving.
Hunny looked at the girl sitting next to him, "I will get it Haru-Chan. You stay here." Hunny walked to the door and opened it just as whoever was at the door pounded on the door a second time. It seems like the person on the other side of the door was anxious for an answer. The first knock was a little loud, but still a knock. This one sounded more like a hard pounding. Hunny opened the door and on the other side he found the twin that he wanted to teach a lesson to, "Hikaru."
"Hunny! What are you doing here?" Hikaru asked fearfully.
"I came here to check on Haru-Chan after she left your house. I brought her back her things. What are you doing here? Don't you think you did enough damage for one day?" Hunny derided.
"Well, I-I-I came to apologize."
"You apologize to someone by banging on their door like you are trying to break it down?" Hunny asked taking a step forward.
Hikaru gulped. He was afraid of the shorter man and knew that he was in trouble, "I just wanted to make sure she heard me knocking."
"She heard you. I think all of Japan heard you knocking. You need to get something straight before you ever see her again. You will never raise your voice to her. You will never lay a hand on her. You will never enter her personal space unless she invites you, and you will never be left alone with her. You cannot be trusted. You need to grow up Hikaru. You hurt her and it could have been a lot worse than what it was. You acted like an immature little prick and you have no right to treat her the way you did. I know it was you because your brother would never do something like that to someone. You are lucky I promised her that I would not hurt you, but if it happens again, you will not be able to hide from me."
"I need to grow up? What about you?" Hikaru yelled.
"I am not the one hurting innocent people, am I? I have grown up. I became a man and an adult. You may look like an adult, but you are still the immature asshole that you were in high school. I tell you that you need to grow up and you yell at me. I bet you even want to hit me, don't you? Well go ahead, but if you throw a punch, I get to hit back."
Hikaru gulped and took a step back. He knew that his Senpai was right and he was wrong, "Can I see her?"
He had said it so softly that Hunny almost missed it, "You can see her only if she wants to see you and I will be standing right there if she allows you in." Hunny shut the door and locked it. He walked into the living room to see Haruhi cowering by the couch and his heart broke. He knew that she probably heard everything that was said, "Haru-Chan do you want to see Hika-Chan?"
Haruhi looked upon Hunny with wild eyes. She wasn't ready to see Hikaru just yet. Yes, she heard everything that had been said and agreed with everything that Hunny had said to the younger man. She shook her head no because she couldn't trust her voice.
Hunny saw her answer and nodded, "Ok, I will send him away." Hunny walked back to the door and unlocked it so that he could open the door, "She doesn't want to see you."
"What do you mean she doesn't want to see me? I thought we were friends? I just wanted to apologize. Are you keeping her from me? I know you love her. That's it isn't it, you want to keep her for yourself!" Hikaru accused.
Hunny had had enough and slapped Hikaru on the back of the head hard enough to send him to the ground, "You are a world class idiot. Listen to what you are saying and think about what you did. That is why she doesn't want to see you. It has nothing to do with my feelings for her or anyone else. Why don't you evolve a bit and mature, then maybe you will see how wrong you really were." Hunny slammed the door and turned the lock. He listened as Hikaru picked himself off of the ground and walked off. When he saw the limo drive away, he walked back into the living room to rejoin Haruhi.
He sat down next to her again and pulled her into his arms. He could feel her shaking and wanted to do so much more to Hikaru Hitachiin than slap him on the back of the head. He needed to be taught a lesson and to develop a little more. When her shaking calmed down, Hunny pulled back a little bit and looked down at her, "Do you want to finish dinner now?"
Haruhi looked up at her friend. She had heard what Hikaru said about Hunny loving her and wondered if it was true. Should she ask him to leave? She was selfish and couldn't though. She didn't want to be alone right then, "Yah, let's finish dinner and then we can have cake."
The rest of the meal passed by in comfortable silence and when they were done eating, Haruhi took their dishes into the kitchen and placed them in the sink. She grabbed a couple of plates and forks and a knife while Hunny grabbed the boxes of cake. They ate dessert and soon enough the Hikaru interruption was almost forgotten. They started to talk and joke again, having a good time just hanging out with each other. Since Haruhi didn't bring up what Hikaru had said about Hunny's feelings, Hunny didn't bother bringing it up either.
"Mitsukuni, do you know what the plan is for Saturday and Tamaki?" Haruhi asked when there was a small lull in the conversation.
"No, but I know Kyo-Chan has something up his sleeve. We will all meet with him tomorrow for dinner and discuss it all before we meet with Tamaki on Saturday. Don't worry, we will all be there and the twins will stay home," he reassured.
Haruhi nodded. It made her feel better to know that she wasn't going in alone. She wished now that someone had gone to lunch with her today. She would not make that same mistake again. "Thank you Mitsukuni."
"Do you want to come over and stay at the apartment tonight? I don't think that you will have any more interruptions, but with your dad picking up an extra shift, I don't know if I feel comfortable leaving you alone after what happened."
Haruhi looked over to her friend. She didn't want to be alone tonight. What happened today had brought some of her fears to the surface and she knew that she would probably have a few nightmares because of it, but if Hikaru was right then she might be leading Hunny on and she didn't want that either. She was attracted to him, but was not ready for anything else with her friend right now and might never be.
Hunny saw the indecision on her face and had a feeling it had something to do with what Hikaru said, "Haru-Chan don't worry. I am here as a friend and as a friend I want you to come stay at my place tonight because today was a very trying day for you."
"Ok. I think I would feel better if I wasn't alone right now," Haruhi said. She got up to get a bag together while Hunny finished off the cakes. They saved two cakes for later.
Hunny helped Haruhi clean-up from dinner and then she wrote out a note for her father. Hunny took Haruhi's bag from her and they walked down to his car. They were soon on their way and Haruhi felt the knots in her stomach loosening knowing that she would not be alone to deal with her feelings and nightmares tonight.