"Dinner is nearly ready, Master Umehito, Mistress Kirin. Would you like me to bring it up?"
"Actually, Kuretake, I was thinking we might eat downstairs today," Umehito said, looking up from his textbook.
"R-Really? I-I mean, of course, Master Umehito," she scurried out.
"We're eating with your family?" Kirin asked, following Umehito out of the room.
"Is that ok?" he asked, glancing back at her.
"Of course, I'm just surprised—we always just eat in your room."
"I thought you might like to meet them."
"Of course I would!"
She smiled up happily at him. He smiled back and led her downstairs and toward the dining room.
"Kuretake, there are two extra places set," Mrs. Nekozawa said, frowning at the maid.
"That's incorrect, Mother," Umehito said as he and Kirin walked in.
"Umehito," his mother gasped in surprise.
"Who's your friend, son?" his dad asked curiously; his son never had guests, to his knowledge.
"This is Kirin. And she's not my friend."
Kirin gave him an amused look; both of his parents looked taken aback.
"Umehito, you shouldn't speak that way—it's horribly rude!" his mother scolded.
"It's true, mother—she's not my friend," he paused.
Kirin stifled a giggle.
"She's my girlfriend," he finally said, slipping an arm around Kirin's waist.
"G-girlfriend!" his mother gasped again.
"Well, it's about time," his dad sighed. "But… this girl is really your girlfriend?"
"That I am, sir," Kirin said, smiling. "We've been dating for two months. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."
She bowed.
"Indeed. I had come to expect that Umehito would never have a girlfriend. I certainly never expected one so… bright."
"Bright, sir?"
"My son has always been very dark, living in shadow. As such, the only people he has contact with are those who also live in shadow. You don't strike me as one of those people."
"No, I suppose I'm not. I don't fear the dark, however, nor do I judge those who take shelter within it. They wouldn't do so without reason. Even I occasionally take shelter within the shadows. It provides a reprieve from the outside world, a sanctuary. It is a place of solitude and peace. Were it not for the love and joys I find in the light, I think it likely that I would succumb to the temptation it offers."
"That's a deep way of thinking."
"It's how I look at it," she said sincerely. "And as for his own dark qualities, well, there is darkness in all of us, merely in different proportions. And where there is darkness there is light."
"I suppose that's true," he chuckled, "but he still must be a bother to you. I apologize for that."
"There's nothing to apologize for, sir. Umehito isn't a bother."
"Not at all? Even with his habits?"
"Few of his habits are particularly abnormal," she said. "And I find the odd ones quite interesting. I'm not an occultist, but I am fascinated by such things. Besides, without his quirks, he would not be Umehito."
"Hm…. You're an interesting girl," he said thoughtfully.
"If I were as normal as you first perceived me to be, I doubt I would have caught Umehito's attention."
"If you were normal," Umehito said, "we would never have spoken; normal people don't wander into dark rooms."
"They do if they're lost," she argued.
"Were you lost?"
"Well… no," she giggled.
"See? You're just as weird as I am."
"No one is as weird as you are, Ume."
"Thank you."
"You're such a dork!" she laughed.
"You—"
He was cut off by an ear-splitting screech.
"Monster!" A little blonde girl screamed. She crawled under the table, crying.
"Mistress Kirimi!" Kuretake kneeled down, trying to get the child out from under the table.
Kirin walked to the other side of the table and kneeled down, peering underneath at Kirimi.
"It's ok, little one," she said softly.
Kirimi looked up, tears pouring down her face. She stared at Kirin for a moment.
"Y-you go to my big brother's school, don't you?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"Yes, that's right."
"You're a princess! My big brother's princess, right? I remember you!"
"That's right, I'm your big brother's princess."
Kirimi had declared Kirin a princess the day she'd showed up at school, looking for her big brother. That was an interesting day…. Renge still hadn't forgiven Kirin for semi-beating her up when she'd been smacking Umehito.
"Now, Kirimi, tell me—why are you hiding?"
"I-I'm scared of the monster!"
At school, Kirimi had called Umehito a monster when he had his cloak and wig on. Kirin thought they'd gotten past that…. Apparently Kirimi had yet to figure out that her princely big brother and the monster were the same person.
"Well, if you come out and sit at the table like a good, brave little girl, I'll take the monster away."
"You will? How?"
"I'm a princess!" Kirin grinned. "And princesses are just as powerful as princes—our powers are just different."
"Oh…. You promise you'll make it go away?"
"Of course! Princesses always keep their word."
"Ok…." Kirimi slowly crawled toward Kirin.
"That's a good girl!" Kirin picked Kirimi up and set her in a chair. "Now, just sit right here, and I'll take the monster away—and I'll bring back your big brother!"
"Yay!" Kirimi giggled excitedly. "Big brother!"
Kirin stood. She grabbed her depressed boyfriend by the arm and pulled him out into the hallway.
"You need to take off your wig—and pull your hood back a bit so she can see your face," she said, pulling the wig off his head.
"What?"
"She knows you, Ume, and she loves you. But she doesn't recognize you with your wig on, and your hood is covering up your face, so she can't see it!"
She pushed his hood back, just enough so his face was clearly visible.
"If the light gets to be too much," she said, "you can pull the hood back down—but only after she's realized it's you."
He nodded.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Almost."
"What—"
He cut her off with a kiss. It was soft and brief, and she wished they could stay like that, but he pulled away.
"Now I'm ready," he said, smiling.
She giggled and pulled him into the dining room.
"Big brother!" Kirimi squealed, jumping off of the chair and into Umehito's arms.
Kirin smiled at the happy look on his face; he obviously loved his sister to bits. He just needed some tips and practice dealing with children.
"Big brother, why are you wearing this?" Kirimi asked suddenly, tugging lightly on the sleeve of his cloak.
Umehito froze, unsure how to answer. Kirin rushed to his rescue, thinking quickly.
"You're so smart, Kirimi," she praised, "so observant!"
Kirimi smiled happily.
"You see," Kirin explained, "your big brother has a curse."
"A curse?!" Kirimi gasped, looking up at Umehito.
"That's right," Kirin nodded. "See, that monster you see all the time isn't really a monster—it's your big brother."
"Big brother's a monster?"
"No, no—he's not bad! He's not really a monster. He just looks different sometimes—most of the time. See, he can only look like this in the dark—light transforms him into the monster. That's why some people call him the Prince of Darkness. And transforming between the two is difficult and uncomfortable, so he looks like the monster most of the time, even in the dark—but sometimes, if you find him when he's in a dark room, he'll look like this! Like when he sleeps, he looks like this."
"Wow!" Kirimi gasped. "Why does he look like this now and not the monster?"
"Why, because you were frightened! Even the Prince of Darkness doesn't wish to scare his beloved little sister. The cloak blocks most of the light from touching him, so he's able to resist the transformation for awhile—but it's very difficult, so he rarely does so. Only his love for you gives him the power to resist right now."
Kirim beamed, giggling.
"Isn't your big brother amazing?" Kirin smiled.
"Yeah! So cool! I don't wanna share—but I will, 'cause you're a pretty princess, and a prince needs a princess!"
"Thank you, Kirimi," Kirin laughed. "You're right—every prince needs a princess. Our prince gets two!"
"Two?" Kirimi asked.
"Uh-huh—he has his girlfriend princess and his sister princess!"
"Yay! I'm a princess!" Kirimi giggled.
"That's right! C'mon, princess—let's sit at the table with our prince!"
"'Kay!"
Kirin and Kirimi sat on either side of Umehito as food was brought out.
"You're quite good with children, Kirin," his mother remarked. "I take it you're fond of them?"
"Yes, ma'am, very much so."
"Do you plan to have many children?" she asked.
"I'd like to have a few, someday. Maybe two or three."
"What about a career?" his father asked.
"I'm not sure yet, but I'll probably do something with animals—possibly a vet, or a wildlife or marine biologist."
"An animal fan."
"Yes, sir. I love all animals—well, almost all; I'm not particularly fond of insects."
"I don't know many women who are," he chuckled. "Where are you from, Kirin?"
"California."
"What brings you to Japan?" his mother asked.
"Well, the Suohs are close friends of my family—we met Tamaki in France when I was very young, and our fathers had been friends when they were in college," she explained. "We used to spend every summer with Tamaki. When I was fourteen, though, my mother went into a coma. That was the last summer we saw him—it was also the year he came to Japan, his first summer here. My sister has been in love with Tamaki for years, and she missed him terribly—she started to become depressed. We were really worried for her. My father decided that, if we all agreed, we could move to Japan and attend Ouran. There are eight children in my family, so the chances of us all wanting to come to Japan were slim—but we did. Our dad still lives in California, where my mother is hospitalized. We flew here as soon as he decided we were all sufficiently fluent in Japanese. I had a slight edge over my siblings—up until just yesterday, the last time I spoke was the day my mother became comatose."
"That's a long silence," his father said, surprised.
"What broke it?" his mother asked.
"Umehito broke it," Kirin said, smiling at her boyfriend. He smiled back.
"Really? How did he do that?" his father asked.
"He gave me motivation—I wanted to be able to tell him how I felt about him. I wanted to be able to speak to him."
"How did you two communicate when you couldn't speak?" his mother asked curiously.
"I learned sign language," he replied.
"You're just full of surprises today," his father chuckled.
"How did you meet?" his mother asked. "How did you end up dating?"
"I was in the third music room—that's where Tamaki's club is held—and I saw a door that hadn't been there before," Kirin said. "I was curious, so I went in."
"Even though it was completely dark," Umehito added.
"Hey, you were in there in the pitch black!" Kirin laughed. "And there was a torch! That's how I found the next door."
"The room I was in was illuminated by candles—it was not pitch black. But you are right about the torch," he admitted.
"Told you. Besides, you shouldn't criticize me for going in—if I hadn't, we probably wouldn't be together."
"I'm not criticizing you. I'm teasing you."
"You're distracting me, that's what you're doing. Anyway, I went in and found another door illuminated by a torch. So I went through that door," she continued to recount their story, with occasional interruptions from Umehito.
"How cute," his mother said. "You know, Umehito, I do remember Kuretake mentioning seeing you with a girl—and that you seemed different."
"Definitely different," his father nodded. "Happier."
"My father said the same thing about me," Kirin said.
"You heard that?" Umehito looked at her, surprised.
"I hear many things," she grinned.
"You're scary sometimes," he sighed, shaking his head.
"You love it and you know it."
"Yeah. Yeah, I do."
Semi-relevant chapter. She met the parents... Important step in a relationship. Lol. I've been a bit distracted xP I actually finished this while watching the presidential polls. So that's one distraction. And I almost had to to go to the hospital last week... That was my main distraction. And my new job. But mostly how sick I was. But I'm all better now! :D Lol.
Please review!