Chapter 9: 3 months

Hani and Izumi walked into the host club, albums in hand.

"Ooooh, where's Mori?"

"Oh he's at Kendo, first meeting of the new year and all. Besides, he'd probably be embarrassed." Izumi chucked the books on the table for the group to see.

"Two?"

"Let me guess, one for you guys and one for the parents?" Kyoya asked.

"hahaha… there's three: one for the family, one for us, and one for everyone else to mess up. But I brought both so everyone can look together."

Everyone gathered around the albums and flipped through them. Izumi told the story as they looked. It was more like story telling of a picture book, but they were all eager to hear what happened.

Mori's parents had prepared for this since he approached them about Izumi and asking for their acceptance of his decision. Unbeknownst to them, his parents hired a professional photographer for the event. "You are the first born after all," his mother had rationalized at his shock.

Mori had to explain the tea ceremony to her the night before so she wouldn't be surprised. He was very grateful that the twins' mom had made her a kimono because his family was very traditional. However, he found out that his parents had arranged and paid for it to be made. They had no doubt that Izumi would accept their son's request.

The ceremony was small, just their family and her. But the pictures were beautiful.

"It's like a fairytale isn't it?" Hani softly said.

"It's like the tv show!" Tamaki said dreamily.

"Mom did a really good job on the kimono," Hikaru noted.

"I'm surprised she's wearing make-up," Kaoru added.

"She is a dancer, I'm sure she knows how to put it on since she had to wear stage makeup," Kyoya added.

"It's like they're married isn't it?" Haruhi asked, flipping back through the pictures.

"Can you imagine their wedding, if getting promised is this big of a deal…" said Tamaki.

Izumi laughed, "Umm, guys, I'm right here…"

-.-.-.-

Mori remained in the host club, still only serving tea and helping with the schedule and event planning. Although Izumi said she didn't mind if he hosted, he did not feel comfortable doing so. She studied and prepared for the end of her program while the club activities were going on. She had frequent meetings with the Chairman regarding the program, at some points, being called out of class.

Everyone noticed the ring she wore on her right hand. All the girls noticed the red bracelet he wore on his left arm. It was the first and only jewelry Mori work in school. Renge, of course, had a special edition of Moe Moe to "reveal the truth behind the rumors." The couple, respectfully declined to interview… but that did not stop people from asking the other host club members what was going to happen.