A.N: If you guys read chapter 15-18 before July 17, 2018, there have been major changes to the plot, especially concerning Kei Kurata! The whole fanfiction has been revised (mainly plot wise, as there's quite a few typos and errors that I've looked over) but I don't blame you if you don't reread it, I just made the KyoyaxKaede development faster and changed my half-a$$ chapters :)
Anyways, this chapter coincides with episode 10 of the anime: A Day in the Life of the Fujioka Family!
Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC.
Chapter 20: Kaede's Good Mood (Part One)
"You spent the night at Kaede's?" the twins asked, surprised, as they rode in Tamaki's limousine to Haruhi's house.
"Yeah, what about it?" Kyoya fixed his glasses.
"How about your clothes?" Hikaru questioned, noticing that he had changed out of his uniform.
"He's borrowing some of my brother's clothes," Kaede said, tugging on Kyoya's collar. "I picked the outfit, isn't it nice?"
"I'd say," the twins took a cursory glance at the combination. They gave a thumbs-up. "We give it a 87/100."
"Only 87?" Kaede frowned.
"Sleeping over? Kae-chan and Kyo-chan must be really great friends!" Honey interrupted, going in between the two and hugging their arms. "Just like Takashi and me!" Kyoya's glasses glinted as he looked pointedly at Mori.
Kaede sweatdropped. I actually kinda want to pick where our first date is, she thought.
"How long have you guys known each other?" she asked Mori, hoping to change the topic.
"We're cousins," he answered.
"How was he like when he was little?"
"Exactly the same." The others sweatdropped.
"You don't say..."
"Anyways, where are we going?" Kaede said. She pointed at Tamaki, who seemed fidgety and nervous. "By the way, someone make Tamaki-senpai stop whatever he's doing, it's annoying me." Hearing his name, he snapped out of it.
"We're going to see how well Haruhi's living!" Tamaki said triumphantly.
"Apparently he had a bad dream about Haruhi's house," Kyoya said, "or so I believe."
"Okay, relax, RELAX!" the blonde-haired idiot yelled.
"We're relaxed, Tono," the twins replied.
Suddenly, the car stopped, making the idiot jump out of his seat, hitting the top of the car. "We've arrived," Kyoya announced, looking out the window.
"Master, we're here," the driver bowed, holding open the door.
"Wow, so this is Haruhi's house, huh?" Kaoru said, as the host club stood in front of the apartment complex.
"It looks nicer than I thought," Hikaru added.
"It has lots of rooms!" Honey exclaimed.
"No, this is an apartment complex," Kaede said, laughing at the rich kids' ignorance.
"Haruhi's place is probably just one of the rooms among these," Kyoya informed them.
"Kyoya! Why'd you bring everyone?!" Tamaki shouted, hitting the glasses-man on the shoulder.
"We've been here the entire ride, senpai," Kaede replied, moving Tamaki's hand off of Kyoya's shoulder. "You picked us up and talked to us in the car, you idiot."
"Eh, if you're that upset about it, I guess you don't need the mental support," Kyoya shrugged, pushing the twins back to the car. "Okay children, let's go back..."
"WAIT, STAY!" he cried. He composed himself. "OKAY, MEN (and Kaede) REMEMBER: This is just a 'we happened to be passing by' sort of nonchalant visit, and is definitely not research on the Fujioka family's standard of living! The words 'shabby,' 'cramped,' and 'run-down' are absolutely forbidden!"
"Why would rich kids like us be passing by a neighborhood like Haruhi's?" Kaede asked.
"Shh, Ka-Shirai, let Tamaki think what he thinks," Kyoya shushed. Kaede took a position in front of the guys, pushing Tamaki out of the way.
"At any rate, you guys should know enough common sense to avoid insulting your beloved Haruhi, right?" she put her hands on her hips.
"YES, SIR!"
"Kaede, it's my job to lead the group!" Tamaki whined. He tried pushing Kaede back, but she didn't budge. He took a spot next to her. "Okay, now don't make Haruhi and her father want to kick us out!"
"...too late for that," an angry Haruhi appeared behind Tamaki. She stood there, growling, with an angry face on. She carried grocery bags from the local supermarket.
Everyone looked at her clothes, scanning the pink one-piece that she wore.
"Plain and simple, looking good!" Tamaki, the twins, Honey, and Kaede chorused.
"Shut up! Get the hell out of here!"
"I'm warning you right now, you just get a little look, like three seconds," they found themselves at the entrance of Haruhi's home. "And then leave immediat-"
"Ne, ne, Haru-chan, I brought some cakes! I have strawberry and chocolate and some others too," Honey said, revealing a box from "Luxury Confectioneries."
"...Well, I guess we can have tea," Haruhi caved. Kaede high-fived the small blondie.
As the door opened, Kaede's eyes lit up. "What an adorable little home, just like Haruhi!" she hugged the smaller girl.
"I thought you lived as a commoner before?" Haruhi questioned, squirming in her firm embrace.
"Yes, but I've never been in a Japanese apartment before!" Kaede told her. "I've only lived in western style homes," she grinned. She was the first one to take off her shoes and run around. "Forgive the intrusion!"
She's unexpectedly cute, Kyoya thought, writing in his notebook.
The others followed, although not as happily as Kaede.
"Forgive the intrusion!" They walked straight into the opposite wall of the apartment.
"A wood-built, two-story 2K," Kyoya said, "That's about right for a two-person, father-daughter commoner family."
"I've seen these in manga!" Kaede looked around in wonder. "Ne, Mitsukuni-senpai, do you have your Usa-chan?"
"Not only that, I brought Kuma-chan too!" he pulled out a bunny and a bear out of nowhere. "Here, Kae-chan, you can hug Kuma-chan!" He put the bear in Kaede's arm.
"Aw, thanks, senpai!" She hugged the bear tight. Kyoya's glasses glinted.
Everyone except Kaede (who was still exploring the apartment) settled at a table in Haruhi's living room, sitting on the floor with their legs tucked in to their chest. "Yosh, it's tight in here, so everyone try your best to sit gym-style. This is the way that commoners came up with to cut down on space," Tamaki informed the others, despite having no experience with commoner living whatsoever.
"Senpai, don't be stupid," Kaede entered the room, taking a seat next to Kyoya. "See? You're upsetting Haruhi," she gestured towards the obviously annoyed girl outside the room.
"Oh, really?" Tamaki's eyes widened in fear.
"...it's fine, Kaede, I can't expect anything from them," she sighed, but Kaede was too busy rolling around on the tatami, with Kuma-chan in her arms. Haruhi sweatdropped. On the other hand, she's too comfortable in this house...
As Tamaki and the twins made a commotion about the tea, the third years and the K-pair sat patiently at the table, Kaede and Honey hugging their appropriate stuffed toys.
"Kae-chan, do you like stuffed toys?" Honey asked, tilting his head at his junior. She had been hugging the bear tightly since Honey had given it to her. "You've never hugged Usa-chan before."
"Haha, I'm just in a mood for cute things," she gushed. She stole a glance at Kyoya, who had been looking at her. She stuck out a tongue. "By the way, Haruhi, I'll just have water, I don't like tea!" she shouted to the other room.
"Don't shout so loud, the neighbors might hear you," Haruhi came in the room with a tray of cups and a teapot, followed by Tamaki and the twins.
"The neighbors will hear?!"
"Did you hear that? The neighbors can?!"
"How awful!"
"Stop it, you three," Haruhi scolded, annoyed, but the three ignored her. They started off on a dramatic conversation about how they were in a different world and that all their past knowledge was void. Not that they knew anything useful in the first place.
"Do you have ice?" Kaede asked.
"Oh sorry, I didn't put the ice tray in the freezer."
"Are you stupid, Kaede?!" It was her turn to be harassed by the paranoid trio.
"Are you trying to make Haruhi feel bad?!"
Kyoya closed his book loudly, gaining the attention of Kaede, who was cornered by Tamaki and the twins. "I just wanna eat cake," she raised her hands in defeat.
"Okay, Haru-chan, you pick first," Honey opened the box to the small commoner girl.
"Are you sure? Okay, I'll get the strawberries then."
"SO CUTE~" the Haruhi fan club chorused.
"I'll get the chocolate," Kaede reached for the one chocolate slice, only to find that another hand also craved the slice. "Oh sorry, Ootori, I'll take another cake."
"No, it's fine, I don't mind eating this one." He grabbed a different one.
"Ootori, that one has coconut on it," Kaede offered up her plate. "Let's just share."
"That's weird, you don't wanna hit him and take the whole slice?" the twins asked, confused as to Kaede's good mood. She hit them in response.
"What kind of violent monster do you think I am?"
"Well, for one, you just hit us..."
"Ah, after that cake, I'm getting a little peckish," Honey said, putting down his fork on an empty plate.
He sure eats fast for such a small body, Kaede thought.
"Now that you mention it, it is long past lunchtime," Hikaru pointed out.
"Is lunch ready?" the idiot trio asked. Kaede bopped their heads.
"Now, we're the ones who dropped in on you without warning, so we'll put up the money," Kyoya stood up. "Why not order some of your favorite sushi, or something?"
"No, that's okay, I'm gonna regret it later if it's on you, Kyoya-senpai," Haruhi sweatdropped.
"Not to worry. This comes out of sales of photos of you that we auctioned," Kyoya pulled out a golden card.
"Hey, wait, I took those pics, why didn't I get a share?" Kaede interrupted, examining the card.
"Not to worry, I transferred some money to your account."
Haruhi's lips twitched in annoyance. "Never mind that, I have a friend who runs a nice sushi restaurant around here. They have some pretty high quality stuff."
Kaede saw Tamaki writing something down on a piece of paper. She took it and ripped it up.
"How about you make something, Haruhi? I'll help," Kaede offered.
"Yeah, yeah, I wanna eat Haru-chan and Kae-chan's cooking!" Honey-senpai chimed.
"...sure, but it'll take some time," Haruhi told them.
"We'll wait!"
The idiot trio cried in the back, regretting the fact that they hadn't asked Haruhi themselves.
"Well, I'll have to go to the supermarket again," Haruhi said, getting her keys. And so, Kaede, Kyoya, Hikaru, Kaoru, Mori, and Honey left the apartment for the supermarket.
After reaching the bottom of the stairs, Kaede noticed two people missing from the group. "Where's Haruhi and Tamaki?" she asked Kyoya.
"Knowing Tamaki, he's probably paying his respects to Haruhi's mom," he replied.
"Aw, how sweet...Except, knowing Tamaki-senpai, I know he'd mess it up somehow." A woman bumped into Kaede, making her fall into Kyoya's arms. The two looked into each other's eyes, remembering what happened just that morning.
"Kyoya?" the twins appeared out of nowhere. The two had already separated. "Haruhi and Tono are sure taking a long time."
"That lady looked familiar, didn't she?" Kyoya asked.
"The lady who passed us earlier?"
"'She' felt like a guy though," Kaede said, touching her shoulder. She paused for a moment, and started laughing to herself.
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