-Chapter 19-
Delinquent's Rejected Confession!
Quickly arriving in the prep room, the hosts immediately surrounded the poor guy who was drawing heavy breaths out of shock. Not giving him a chance to breathe, the twins quickly surrounded him.
"You-saw-it-eh?" They glared at the redhead with gleaming eyes, not caring if he let out a shriek as his legs began to quake visibly.
"You saw?" Hikaru asked.
"You saw it didn't you, Bossa Nova-chi?"
"I didn't look," Kasanoda quickly shook his head, before mistakenly correcting himself. "No, I did get a glance...but it was just for a second, so I didn't look...No, I did see what I saw, but no, I wasn't looking." His indecisiveness caused the hosts each to glare at him curiously. Tamaki was completely pale while Miki blinked, still a little confused on how severe the situation was.
Honey appeared before him with a dark expression. "I think that people who can't make up their minds are scum." He said before turning away, causing Kasanoda to be sent through another wave of panic.
"So Fujioka is really a girl?" Kasanoda mustered through his horror.
"He appears to have learned Haruhi's secret," Kaoru said to his brother with a severe expression.
"This is not good." Hikaru agreed.
"How much did you see?" They asked, turning back Kasanoda who still had his back leaned against. "How much of Haruhi's soft, maiden skin, unknown to us, did you see?"
Kasanoda looked down sheepishly. "Like I said..." He muttered. "She was changing... So I saw her in her... underwear."
"You saw Haruhi in her underwear?!" The twins yelled.
Immediately, Miki understood what was going on. "Kyoya-kun," She turned to him who narrowed his eyes at the red-head. "That sexual harassment, right?" Her lips were forming a slight frown.
"Very much so," He replied emotionlessly, his icy tone sending a shiver down Kasanoda's spine. Miki then narrowed her eyes as her body shied away hiding behind Kyoya's slightly larger frame.
"That's not nice," Miki furrowed her brows as her lips formed a crescent pout, causing Kasanoda to stiff up out of guilt for disappointing a 'cinnamon roll.'
"What do we do?" Kaoru wondered.
"There's no two ways about it," Hikaru replied, taking out a wooden baseball bat as Kaoru held Kasanoda by the arms. "First thing we have to do is clobber him, and make him lose his memory."
"Now, now, stop that. It's a lot of trouble to cover up a crime caused by bludgeon." Kyoya intervened.
"Why can you be so calm, Kyoya-senpai?" Hikaru raised the bat. "Just look," He gestured Tamaki who was pale and curled up in the corner, completely pale and his brain not functioning. "His Highness is in such great shock; he's a mere husk of himself."
"Yeah, Kyoya-kun." Miki nodded eagerly. "It's not only sexual harassment, but it's extremely rude to spy on a girl changing."
"I didn't intend to!" Kasanoda attempted to justify himself. "It was by accident."
"Well, now that the secret is out, we'll just have to discuss this," Kyoya continued, pushing up his glasses. His eyes were glaring in the reflection of the light. "Kasanoda-kun. Haruhi is hiding the fact that she is a girl due to certain circumstances. We have no right to make you keep mum about this. However, would you at least remember this much? Being a son from one of those sorts of families, you must have heard a number of rumours. If you make enemies of the Ootori family, the Ootori private police known in Japan's financial circles as the Black Onion Squad will be mobilized. Such is a situation that, of course, we'd like to avoid, right?" Looking up, he offered Kasanoda a very unsettling, unbalanced smile as a dark aura emitted from him.
"Hey, stop threatening Kasanoda-kun already." Haruhi scolded them, stepping out of the prep room. "I'm sorry for scaring you." She told him.
"Fujioka..."
"It's okay if you tell others," Completely calm, Haruhi told him. "I don't mind."
"But Haruhi." Miki protested. "Wouldn't it be embarrassing if he told others about seeing you in your undergarments?" Causing Kasanoda's face to be flushed as he remembered the sight of Haruhi half naked.
"Of course, please don't tell others that." Haruhi sweatdropped with a wry laugh.
Seeing Haruhi's smile, Kasanoda's cheeks turned beet red. He was completely silent.
"Oh, my, Bossa Nova-chi, now that you've seen her in her underwear, are you in love with Haruhi?" They asked, causing the redhead to flinch.
Miki's eyes widened as he looked up at Kasanoda, curious to find him hiding his face.
"Miki-chan! Miki-chan!" The classroom was now mostly empty as everyone quickly scattered to do to their respective club rooms. Miki was staying behind to complete a little more work when Sora bounced over a while after the bell rang, heels lifting and lowering in pure excitement. "Kotaro-kun had the fresh batch of cookies I bake him!" She squealed. "He loved them so much!"
"I'm glad it worked out for you." Miki beamed up, setting her bag down next to her on the ground.
"Miki-chan's love advice is super effective." Kazehara Sumire, one of Sora's friends nodded in agreement as she stepped over. "I managed to confess to my crush just the other day thanks to her." She cupped her cheeks dreamily as she let out a sigh. "She really is Aphrodite in disguise."
Sora gasped in amazement. "Really? What advice did she give you?"
"She suggested for me to get us alone together, at a time where nothing could bother us." Sumire twirled around as she remembered the events. "He said yes! It was so romantic."
"Congratulations, Sumire-chan." Sora and Miki clapped for their friend's success excitedly.
"Say, say, Miki-chan." Sora leaned forward, planting her hands on her desk. "How is it your advice is so effective? Do you have a secret boyfriend we don't know about?" She teased with a wink.
Hearing her idea, Miki blinked. "I don't, I've never dated anyone before." She replied in a manner that couldn't even be teased on as denial.
"So then how is it so effective?" Sumire pressed on, also curious to know how the strawberry blonde could give out such amazing love advice despite having no experience in the field.
Humming Miki tapped her chin repeatedly, trying to pinpoint exactly how she gives them advice. "I just say what's on my mind." She concluded, lifting a finger as if that was a valid answer. Sora and Sumire comically slumped their shoulders, letting out an exasperated sigh. Miki tilted her head quizzically before suddenly remember something.
"By the way, Sora-san-"
"Sora-chan." The girl with chestnut brown hair corrected, with a playful poke at her friend's head.
"Sora-chan, Sumire...chan," Miki laughed uneasily before her face turned blank. "Could you two tell me, how does it feel to be in love?" Thoughtfully, she asked the two girls who stared back at her with an equally dumbfounded expression.
"What do you mean by that?" Sora raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Dating, I understand. But have you never been in love or even liked another person before?"
Miki shook her head cluelessly, her fluffy hair swaying behind her.
"I see," Stepping back, Sumire cupped her cheeks as she studied Miki with a hint of pity. "I can see how that's an issue then. Even if you were to fall in love at this point, you would have no way of knowing right?"
"Miki-chan, are in love with someone?" Sora urged on, her expression turned hopeful.
Suddenly, an image of Kyoya flashed across her mind when Sora mentioned the possibility of her being in love. Then, the spot where he kissed her on the cheek began to heat up. She quickly shook her head, averting her eyes as she wondered about the heat of blood that rushed to her cheeks. "I'm merely curious, that's all."
"Hmm, let's see..." Pursing her lips, Sora tapped her chin. "For me, love is like the sky," She began with her eyes closed. "It's clear on certain days, cloudy on others. It changes like night and day, rain or shine. And when you look up certain times, you can find a million starlike specks in Kotaro-kun's eyes!"
"Finding stars in their eyes?" Miki tilted her head. "Isn't that a little... strange?"
"I think that may only apply to Kotaro-san." Sumire sweatdropped as she chuckled attempted to explain herself. "I'd like to say love is like chocolate." She described with a whimsical sigh. "It's sweet, it melts with just a little heat and makes my heart beat so fast, it's about to burst."
Miki blinked rapidly at her description.
The heart is about to burst? She wondered. Wasn't that dangerous?
"Sumire-chan, I thought you only had eyes for Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai." Sora grinned. "To think you'd actually go and confess your crush like that."
"I enjoy the Moe." Sumire retorted with a proud smirk. "Renge-san's 'Moe Moe Ouran Diaries' are a fantastic read by the way-" Her voice trailed off once she heard her phone began to ring in her bag. She quickly reached into it, fishing out her phone. "Oh, speaking of her." She answered the phone with a bright smile. "Hello? Renge-san?"
"Hello? Sumire-san! Get over here right now! " Renge's overly excitable voice poured through the earpiece of the phone. Faint mutters and whispers could be heard in the background.
"Eh?" Sumire blinked. "But I have violin less-"
"Never mind today's violin lesson. Come to the Host Club at once. You're going to see something amazing!" And with that Renge hung up, leaving on a high note.
The three girls quickly exchanged glances, packed up and headed over to music room #3.
Once they got there, Miki quickly joined the hosts, par Haruhi and Tamaki, who was hidden behind a pillar. The expressions on Hikaru and Kaoru's faces were particularly gleaming. Everyone in the room was whispering amongst themselves, staring at Haruhi and one of her clients while Tamaki sat on the side, stiff as a robot, fiddling with someone. Upon a closer look, Miki's eyes widened as she realized Haruhi's client was none other than Kasanoda.
"Why is Bossa Nova-kun sitting with Haruhi?" Miki asked, round-eyed. "Did he request her?"
"You are late," Kyoya stated as he wrote in his notebook as usual.
"Ah, Miki-chan! You're here!" Honey greeted her with a bright smile. "Yeah, Bossa Nova-chi requested Haru-chan."
"Why?"
"Isn't it obvious Miki-senpai..." Turning around Hikaru sighed.
"... because Bossa Nova-chi is in love with Haruhi." Kaoru finished, pointing at the three.
Miki blinked in curiosity as she glanced back at the sight before them. Something seemed to have clicked in Tamaki's hands as he raised them with pride, he stiffly turned to Haruhi who was speaking with Kasanoda over tea. "Haruhi, I solved it." He said in a monotonous voice. "I solved the puzzle rings." He muttered.
"That was fast." Haruhi praised. "Now then, please try and re-attach them." She instructed.
"Ma!"
"What is Tamaki-kun doing there?" Miki asked, watching as her brother fiddled with two rings, trying to re-attach them.
"He was supposed to fix everything, but right now he is just being an idiot." Ranting, Hikaru pulled out his phone and quickly dialled up Tamaki's number. After a few rings, he picked up.
"Ma?" From the sound of it, his soul was entirely out of his body.
"Come on, sir. How long are you going to escape from reality?" Hikaru growled into the phone. "I'm warning you, sir, while you're there being a robot, the situation is rapidly becoming more serious."
"Ma..."
"Listen," Hikaru continued, Kaoru and Miki over his shoulder. "Think about this carefully, if you let things go like this and Bossa Nova-chi snatches Haruhi away. Haruhi's future is going to be the wife of a godfather, an 'Ane-san!" You know?!"
"Anee-san?" Miki repeated as she back away from Hikaru. "Big sister? What's so wrong with that?" She turned to Kyoy curiously.
"It's a way of addressing a mobster's wife." He explained as Miki gasped in horror. Glancing up from his notes, at Tamaki who suddenly snapped out of his robot trace and jumped up, yelling the words. 'Daddy is against it.'
"Bossa Nova-kun!" He shouted, grabbing Kasanoda's collar with his eyes flaming and recharged with fury. "What do you think you're doing here?! Now that you've finally established a bond with your fellas, what good does it do now not to strengthen it?! What about kick the can?! Go on, now. Go on, right now. Shouldn't you be enjoying your youth to your heart's content?! However, after all of this, if you mean to tell me that you still want to become close with my precious Haruhi!" Swinging the poor kid around, he finally let go and thrust a finger out and growled. "Then you'll have to defeat me, her father first!"
Kasanoda blinked. "Father? You mean, her father? You are Fujioka's father? As young as you are?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.
Tamaki's eyes turned blank as he blinked. "Maybe we aren't related by blood, but..." He stammered.
"Then, you have some sort of relationship with her mother?" Kasanoda pursued.
Beginning to crack under pressure, Tamaki drew away sheepishly. "No, I don't. I've never even met her." He admitted.
"The, you aren't her father, are you?" With those sharp words, Kasanoda sent a bone-chilling glare towards Tamaki who, in a daze walked away completely pale.
"Wah, Tama-chan. Keep it together," Honey cried, catching the blond as he fell towards the ground.
"Tamaki-kun!" Miki called out, quickly running to his side, helping Honey straighten her brother out.
"He's right. Strictly speaking, I am not Haruhi's daddy," Tamaki murmured in her arms.
"Not loosely speaking, either!" The twins pointed out as the hosts gathered around him.
"Tamaki-kun..." Miki hummed as she helped him up. "Did you think you were actually Haruhi's father?" She blinked.
Those words sent a jolt through Tamaki's system. "Hold on; I need to sort this out." Wiggling his way out of his sister's grasps, Tamaki curled up into a ball and hid his face in the sleeve of his jacket.
"Sort what out?" Kaoru asked.
"If, supposing...Supposing that I am not Haruhi's father..."
"Like, we said, there is no supposing about it." Hikaru groaned.
"Then why is it that I find Haruhi to be so cute and precious?" Tamaki finished, as everyone else's eyes widened.
"Sir, what are you talking?" Kaoru muttered.
"Why is it that I get so concerned that I can't stand it when Haruhi's with someone else?" Tamaki asked, "If I'm not Haruhi's daddy, then I shouldn't have any right to interfere with her."
"What exactly was with all of those delusions of you making her your wife up to now?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow.
"Is that strange?" Tamaki fussed. "Fathers usually don't wish to give their girls up to other men as brides, do they?"
"What about keeping Haruhi from kissing anyone?" Kaoru stuttered, in disbelief that Tamaki was such an idiot.
"Is it wrong to protect a daughter's cute lips?"
"I get it. Indeed. I did think that your lovey-dovey delusions lacked any sense of reality on a daily basis. But..." Kyoya pushed up his glasses.
"Tama-chan is really clueless when it comes to himself after all." Honey giggled.
Suddenly, Haruhi's voice could be heard across the room. One that caused Tamaki, who was sulking to jump up for joy.
"But Senpai is a lot like my dad in some areas."
Suddenly beaming with energy, Tamaki jumped up to his feet with a proud grin. "Did you hear that gentlemen?" He chuckled. "Haruhi just said that I was a lot like a father."
"Well, to be more precise, in the sense that Haruhi's father and you share a few similar personality traits, you being their father-" Kyoya's observations were quickly interrupted by Tamaki who jolted up with a prideful expression
"That's it. That's it. I may not be her daddy, but I am like a daddy." Letting out a sigh in relief, Tamaki cried comical tears.
"Looks like you aren't listening," Kyoya commented.
"Is there really nothing more?" Muttering under her breath, Miki glanced up at the blond who was in a daze from relief.
"There it is! There it is! There it is! Kasanoda-kun made his move!" Renge's passionate voice tore through Tamaki's self-revelation and announced the development between Haruhi and Kasanoda. Everyone quickly darted their eyes over, eagerly watching as if what was playing was some intense sports game.
"Fujioka!" Kasanoda leaned in, his body trembling as he stared into her doe-brown eyes. "I... like..." Those words seemed to have struck a chord with Tamaki who's gasp was barely audible. "Fujioka, I... I..." The tension swirling in the air was even detectable by Miki, who stood up and stared at the two curiously.
Realizing that Kasanoda was never going to finish his sentence, Haruhi deiced to help him. Or so she thought...
"Friends that share the same values are nice, aren't they?" Haruhi chimed, letting out a relaxing sigh before standing up. "I could never have anyone I could talk like this before. They're great... Friends like that." Haruhi smiled down genuinely at Kasanoda, whose face was as pale as a sheet.
"Well, he got shot down," Renge muttered.
"He got shot down, huh?" Suddenly, whispers began to spread through the crowd of girls.
"He got cut off before he could even confess his love."
"And got told that they were just friends twice, there."
"That's just like being told, 'Let's just be good friends.'"
"That poor guy."
"Poor guy..."
After a moment of silence from all the mutters and condolences for Kasanoda, the redhead turned away from Haruhi. "We'll always be friends, you and me, right?"
"Yep!" Haruhi nodded, utterly oblivious to what had just happened.
"Bossa Nova-chi!" The twins and Honey cooed.
"Kasanoda-kun." The guests began to cry into their handkerchieves.
"Kasanoda-kun..." Renge repeated. "...that was beautiful. Thank you for moving me." She shrieked, cupping her hands before her chest.
At that point, Miki's mind was beginning to short circuit from the confusion. Too much was happening at the same time. Why were they all crying?
"Thank you for moving us," The girls repeated as they all quickly rn forward and surrounded Kasanoda who was still in shock from being completely rejected.
"We'll be your friends, too!"
"That was magnificent."
"Thanks for the moe."
"We'll be your friends, too, Bossa Nova-chi!" Hikaru agreed.
"Let's play kick the can together!" Kaoru cried, offering him a can.
"I'm your senpai, but I'll be your friend. You can borrow Usa-chan," Honey offered, shoving the pink bunny in his face.
"I will include a big special on you in Moe Moe Ouran Diaries, Vol. 11," Renge sobbed as he platform lowered back into the ground. "Take care, now." She waved dramatically.
"Kyoya-kun..." Miki muttered, watching as the girls swarmed around Kasanoda like flies to a fruit. "Why is everyone crying?" She questioned.
"Kasanoda was attempting to profess his love for Haruhi," Kyoya explained, pushing up his glasses. "He was rejected, yet took it well."
"Eh? That was a confession?" Miki gasped, completely stunned. "But he didn't even confess." She pointed out.
"He was what they call being 'friend-zoned.'"
Miki blinked as she dissected the word, humming and feeling a little sorry for Kasanoda. She suddenly remembered Sumire's words. "Kyoya-kun, are there any diseases that can cause your heart to burst?" She blurted out.
A little taken aback by the seemingly unrelated question, Kyoya rubbed his chin. "There are a few, but why ask?"
"Because," Looking back at the crowd gathered around Kasanoda, Miki quickly found Sumire and Sora in the group. "I asked Sumire-san about the feeling of love. And she told me her heart was going to burst because of it." She stated. "If love can do that to a person, I don't think I want to exp-"
"That is an expression." Eye twitching, Kyoya interrupted, regretting his order to ask them.
"Really?" Miki's eyes widened in bewilderment.
"If you want to understand love, ask Tamaki." He stated with a hint of smugness to his voice, nudging his chin down at the blond who knelt on the ground and watched the scene before him with a mixture of relief and a new sense of tenseness.
"Hm?" Crouching down next to him, Miki tried to look at the view from his point. "What's wrong Tamaki-kun?" She asked him as instructed.
"When I think about the way Bossa Nova-kun was feeling, and I think about if he was feeling that towards Haruhi, my heart aches a little," Tamaki spoke, his ocean eyes never leaving Haruhi.
"Does it?" Miki asked as she touched her own chest, seeing if it was the same for her.
"That's strange. You are Haruhi's daddy, right?" Kyoya smirked at his best friend, "There shouldn't be any reason for you, as a man, to have your heart ache with sympathy toward him."
Heartache... of sympathy?
Miki's eye stayed glued to Tamaki as she hummed thoughtfully for a moment, before trailing her vision to Haruhi who was also in the midst of the crowd. For a second there, she felt like she had a clue what Kyoya was implying. She wondered.
Does Tamaki-kun...?
"Hyper Starlight Kick!"
With Tamaki's signature kick, a new round of kick the can, as a symbol of friendship with Kasanoda began. The guests and hosts all quickly scattered in multiple directions. Taking Haruhi by the hand, Tamaki quickly ran away towards the hedge maze, where they hid last time when they played with the newspaper club.
Miki giggled as she ushered Kyoya over behind her, trying to keep as quiet as she could. She guessed that the two of them might be hiding there, so they were about to crash their party when they spotted Hikaru and Kaoru also dashing in that direction.
Together, the four of them peaked under the table of the same rose-covered pavilion.
"Found you~" Miki giggled, pointing at them with a triumphant grin.
"What, you guys?!" Tamaki snapped with a protective tone. "This is Haruhi and my secret hiding spot."
"Don't decide that by yourself!" Kaoru whined.
"Besides, why does Haruhi have to hide with you, milord?" Hikaru pointed out.
"That's right, as long as we don't get found, we will be fine." Miki crouched down.
"Fool! It's given that fathers hide with their daughters. If anything, I'll let Miki in." He bargained. "The rest of you go find somewhere else!"
"I don't see the necessity of that." Kyoya teased.
"Shhh! Be quiet!" Haruhi hushed.
Above the group, hiding in a tree was Honey and Mori. The two of the overlooked their underclassmen of the club as they bantered back and forth about their hiding spot.
"It's clear that Hika-chan is the unconscious developing type, but Tama-chan clearly likes Haru-chan." Honey deduced as he looked down at the two mentioned. "Yet he's so dense he doesn't even realize it himself, right?"
"Yeah." Mori agreed.
"In some way, I think Kao-chan has feelings for Haru-chan as well," Looking down at said twin who was watching his brother argue with Tamaki, Honey sighed. "But he's too worried about Hika-chan for him to notice."
"Yeah."
"So the problem is Kyo-chan and Miki-chan," He said, looking at the two mentioned before giggling. "I never expected Kyo-chan to end up having feelings for a girl. I guess Miki-chan really caught him off guard, considering how his original intentions were purely out of his benefits."
"Yeah."
"Miki-chan is a little, different. It feels like she has a disconnect with her emotions." The lolita commented as he rested his arm on the branch he sat on, chuckling wryly. "I suppose it's only fair. If she didn't do that, she'd probably be overwhelmed with loneliness ever since she was a child. But time is running out, isn't it? The school festival is barely two months away." Honey sighed once again as he looked up at the sky. "Will there be any kind of development before we graduate?" He wondered.
"Who knows?"
A/N: HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE EVERYONE! OR HAPPY NEW YEARS WHEREVER YOU ARE!
If you can't tell, I have rearranged the chapters just a little as mentioned before. So Halloween will come AFTER this as well as the Lobelia girls. I did this just to establish a bit of a timeline. Right now we are floating around the tail end of September in the story, and trust me. The next few months in the story is going to get hectic so be ready!
For those of you who don't understand what Honey was saying at the end of this chapter, I will explain in a little more detail. In a way, Miki is very emotionless, just not in the way one may think. To combat her loneliness when she was young, she numbed herself to all negative emotions such as sadness, loneliness and jealousy. As Honey says, if she didn't she would end up wallowing in her sadness and loneliness to the point of breaking. She subconsciously did this to protect herself from her unfortunate circumstances. However, by being outside and experiencing more things, she is opening herself up to experiencing these new emotions, to the point where she is super confused. This is why it's taking her so long to understand her feelings towards Kyoya. She already has so many things on her plate. (Besides, if you haven't picked up already. This is a slow burn romance, enjoy the ride~)
With that, see you next year!
XOXO,
Astra.
P.S. Arden side story is now in the works~