Saiyuri Haruno: This story is going off of the manga :)
Aurora-16: Yay! I love chocolate :) How'd you know?
Sakura02: Tsuku with pretty much anything is adorable…well except for her mother, but we don't talk about her.
I'mthenewCAKEPIG: Hmmm, we'll just have to see if Tsuku accepts Tamaki getting with Haruhi :)
Toni Heart: Because anything that involves torturing Tamaki amuses Tsuku
Thanks: Dream Theme, SesshiraRayu, Yo, Hannah, Shifuni, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, Cirruz The Night Elf, Tracey4t, santa. clause. is. a. stalker, AcPa xox, Dark Inu Fan, perfectpanda37, and CrimsonStar10 for reviewing!
"Mommy Haruhi is pretty." Tsuku gushed from her perch on Kaoru's shoulders. The others were wearing surprisingly good disguising, with Mori and Tamaki dressed as laborers, Kyoya and Hunny as a father and daughter, and Kaoru as a local boy.
"So, why are we doing this?" Tamaki asked, irritation creeping into his voice.
Kaoru readjusted Tsuku on his shoulders. "We're going to tail them." Kaoru said plainly, handing a cookie up to Tsuku for her to munch on.
"That's not what I meant!" Tamaki shouted, getting in Kaoru's face. "Why does this have to happen after what happened yesterday? Besides, Haruhi looks so cute! It's not fair!"
Tsuku beamed and began waving excitedly as Hikaru and Haruhi began turning around. "Hi, Mo-!" She yelped as Kaoru suddenly lurched to the side to hide behind a wall with Tamaki while the others hid behind another wall across from them. She pouted as Kaoru took her off of his shoulders and she reached out to where she could see Hikaru and Haruhi turning back around. "Mommy Haruhi…" She whimpered.
Kaoru sighed and hugged Tsuku. "I'm sorry, Tsuku-chan. Look, I just think it's a good idea for Hikaru to find more people that matter to him." He explained as the others came back over. "For the longest time, we've only been concerned with ourselves and are rather codependent. We tend to shut others out. We've never cared about how others felt and that's why we are the way we are. Hikaru is more immature and acts on his feelings without restraint."
Tsuku wasn't really sure what all Kaoru was talking about, except that he was talking about Hikaru. She snuggled into Kaoru's chest and idly played with one of Kaoru's hands. She giggled as Kaoru nuzzled her cheek and kissed her nose.
"Hikaru really cares about Haruhi and Tsuku-chan, even though I don't think he's conscious of it. He doesn't know how to express himself, though, so he just hurls his feelings at them and winds up acting like a possessive kid. Even when he wants Haruhi to recognize him as a friend, he doesn't know how to go about it. If he really wants to be Haruhi's friend, he has to learn how to respect other people's feelings. So, I think Hikaru has to learn the basics of personal interaction."
"In other words, this date is a trial run for Hikaru to learn compassion." Kyoya piped up.
Kaoru nodded and stood up, putting Tsuku back on his shoulders. "That's why I don't want any of you to interfere. If you do, you're dead." He said firmly. He grinned as Tsuku gently played the drums on his hat before taking the hat off and plopping it on her head.
"I want ice cream!" Tsuku proclaimed as the group began walking after Haruhi and Hikaru. She frowned and looked thoughtfully at the sky when she saw Tamaki staring up at the clear blue sky as well. "Tamaki?"
Tamaki quickly plastered on a smile and reached up to pat Tsuku's cap covered head. "It's nothing to worry about, Tsuku-chan."
Once they caught up with Hikaru and Haruhi, they found the two sitting down on a bench, trying to figure out what to do. Tsuku frowned as Hikaru began snapping impatiently at Haruhi. "Bad Hikaru!" She protested as Kaoru quickly put her down to prevent Tamaki from running over and ruining everything. Mori had to grab Tsuku up as the little toddler tried to go over to Haruhi and Hikaru.
Kyoya sighed as he watched Kaoru struggling to keep Tamaki in place and Mori dealing with a very upset looking Tsuku. "We need to find a way to diffuse the tension…"
Tsuku giggled as Hunny walked by with a fake looking mustache on, dragging a cart behind him and shouting about ice cream. She blinked as Mori shoved her into Kyoya's arms as said senior rushed to scoop Hunny up out of Hikaru and Hunny's line of sight. Tsuku's eyes lit up when she saw Haruhi walking over to an actual ice cream stand. She tugged on Kyoya's sleeve. "I want ice cream, Kyoya." She exclaimed.
Kyoya sighed as he followed Tamaki and the others around the back of the ice cream shop. He inclined his head and muttered an apology to the flabbergasted clerk as Tamaki roughly shoved him away to hand Haruhi an ice cream cone in order to prevent Hikaru and Haruhi from sharing one cone. "Yes, yes, I know. You want ice cream." Kyoya sighed as Tsuku tugged on his sleeve impatiently.
Tsuku's eyes lit up as Kyoya fixed her a chocolate ice cream cone. "I love you so much, Kyoya!"
Kyoya cracked a small smile, doing his best to ignore Kaoru shouting furiously at Tamaki for interfering.
"It's good." The group heard Haruhi say, smiling as she ate her cone.
"Yeah," Hikaru sighed forlornly. "Too bad Kaoru couldn't be here."
"No, Kaoru!" Tsuku shouted as Kaoru attempted to fling himself from the ice cream stand and to Hikaru. She toddled over to him and held her ice cream up. "I share! I share!"
The group stayed in the ice cream stand, each of them eating ice cream save for Kyoya who opted for some water. Kaoru and Tamaki were both sulking while Tsuku sat in Kaoru's lap. Tsuku frowned when she looked up and saw how upset Kaoru was. She wrapped her little arms around his neck. "I sorry."
Kaoru gave a small smile. "Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything wrong."
Tsuku simply blinked up at him. "I sorry. I love you, Kaoru."
Kaoru squealed and hugged Tsuku tightly. "You're the best baby cousin in the whole world!"
"Um, could you all leave?" The ice cream clerk asked impatiently.
It took the group a while to find Hikaru and Haruhi again and when they did, the two were having fun. Kaoru sighed as he held Tsuku's hand. "It seems everything worked out fine. We should head home now before they discover us. Besides, I'm getting worried about that guy." Kaoru motioned to Tamaki who was watching the two with tears in his eyes. "Also, I think it's Tsuku-chan's naptime."
Tsuku didn't protest as Kyoya picked her up while Kaoru dragged Tamaki away. Tsuku buried her face in Kyoya's neck and yawned. "Go night night." She tensed suddenly as she heard the low rumble of thunder off the distance. "Kyoya."
"Shhh," Kyoya soothed as they got into the car and headed back to Misuzu's place. "We're going back now."
The rain started almost immediately after the group got back into the house. Tsuku was clutching tightly to Kyoya as though her life depended on it while the storm raged outside. "I don't like it! I don't like it!" She wailed.
Kaoru, ignoring Tamaki pacing nervously back and forth crouched down in front of her. "Don't' be scared, Tsuku-chan. It's just thunder."
Tsuku looked up at him, her face stained with tears. She reached out for him and clung to him like a baby koala. "I don't like it!"
Before Kaoru could try and sooth Tsuku any further, his phone rang. "Oh, it's Hikaru."
Tsuku couldn't hear exactly what Hikaru was saying on the other end of the line. The only thing she could really tell was that he was highly agitated. She could understand Kaoru perfectly, though.
"You got in a fight with Haruhi and left?" Kaoru exclaimed.
Tsuku gasped as Tamaki yanked the phone from Kaoru. "Bad Hikaru!" Tsuku shouted. How dare he leave her Mommy Haruhi alone, especially during a thunder storm.
"Go back now!" Tamaki shouted at Hikaru. "If you didn't see her get in Arai's car you need to go back now!" Tamaki listened for only a few seconds as Hikaru protested. "You jerk! Go back right now! How dare you leave a girl behind in the rain! Before you throw a fit like a jealous brat, think about others! Haruhi is afraid of thunder!"
Tsuku wasn't sure now what was making her cry more; the thunder or Tamaki's furious yelling. She had never seen the blonde so angry before. "I don't like it!"
It wasn't long before the group was back in the car after Hikaru had called and said he found Haruhi in a church. Tsuku was terrified of the still raging storm outside, but her concern for Haruhi outweighed her fear. She remained in Kaoru's arms the entire ride, whimpering when a particularly loud thunder clap shook the car. Eventually, they reached the church and rushed in to find Hikaru sitting under a table with a sleeping Haruhi curled up against him.
"Mommy Haruhi!" Tsuku shouted as she rushed over with Tamaki close behind her. She hopped from foot to foot as Tamaki picked Haruhi up gently. She glared over at Hikaru whom was crawling out from under the table. She stormed over to him and smacked him lightly on the face. "Bad Hikaru. Say sorry!"
Hikaru blinked in surprise. He sighed when he saw how Tsuku was trembling, much like Haruhi had been when he found her. He pulled Tsuku into a tight hug. "I'm sorry."
Tsuku smiled and patted his head as he stood up. "It's okay. Good Hikaru. I love you so much." She giggled as Tamaki patted Hikaru on the head and got his hand bit by Hikaru for his trouble.
The next day was bright and sunny, as though the storm from yesterday had never happened. Everyone was outside since Arai had brought a huge watermelon for everyone to smash open.
"Tsuku, get off the watermelon." Haruhi sighed as Tsuku laid on top of the watermelon, humming happily.
"Goal!" Tsuku exclaimed excitedly.
Arai laughed. "I brought a soccer ball for us to play with later, Tsuku. We're going to whack the watermelon open and eat it, okay?"
Tsuku nodded and climbed off the watermelon. She ran over to Kyoya and Kaoru, running straight into Kyoya's legs and hugging him. "Goal!"
Kyoya smiled and picked the toddler up. "So, Kaoru, you meant to have Hikaru learn compassion on the date, but did you think of the possibility of him falling in love."
Kaoru shrugged nonchalantly. "That won't happen yet. Hikaru is still an idiot after all."
Kyoya nodded sagely. "We do have our share of idiots, don't we, Tsuku?"
Tsuku nodded her head in agreement. "Hikaru and Tamaki are idiots."
"That's right." Kaoru cooed, ruffling Tsuku's hair affectionately. "Don't you dare ever fall for an idiot." He laughed as Tsuku put on an angry face and shook her head rapidly.
"No idiots!" Tsuku piped up.