Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews, favs, and follows. My chapters are getting longer, much longer. Let me know if that's a good or bad thing. I just hate breaking them up and making this even longer than it's turning out to be.

Disclaimer: Don't own it, never will. But, I'm starting to have strong feelings for Kasanoda.

.

xXx

.

Date Posted: 1/28/2018

Chapter 29 – Feelings?

.

"I am not used to getting up this early." I tried to hide a big yawn as the car made its way to the market. We could start to smell the fish. I looked at the front seat and saw Yuki and Tetsuya yawning up a storm. I'm sorry to drag them out this early, but where I go, security goes. All part of being a yakuza heir.

"This is so exciting. I've always wanted to go to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Obviously not to bid on the tuna, but just to see them at auction." She flashed me a huge smile that made me just melt. I have no idea how she can be so awake at 5:00 in the morning, but at least this is making her happy and taking her mind off those idiots.

"It will great, Ritsu. Just wait. All that tuna!" her eyes light up talking about her favorite food. I don't know how she eats so much and is so light a stiff breeze will knock her over.

"And don't forget, after the auction, we're going to the sushi booths for breakfast. I hope you're hungry, Haruhi." She's always hungry, not worried about that.

"Don't worry, I'm starving."

.

I grabbed Ritsu's hand and pulled him into the market. He had preregistered, and we were shown right in, security followed us. I'm sure it had something to do with his family, damn rich bastard.

We watched the auction from the visitor's area. I saw a couple famous sushi chefs bidding on the huge tuna. Before I could catch myself, I sighed a little too loudly.

"What's wrong, Haruhi? Is the smell getting too much for you?"

"I'm just watching all these sushi chefs bidding and thinking how good dinner would be at their restaurants. I've always wanted to learn how to make quality sushi." I think if I had said that to the guys they would have hired a famous sushi chef to give me private lessons and taken me to eat at all those sushi restaurants. At least I know that Ritsu would never do that.

Or at least I thought he wouldn't. I watched him lean over to Tetsuya and hold a whispered conversation. When they were done, Tetsuya pulled out his phone and started tapping and swiping like crazy. I hope he's not up to what I think he's up to.

"The auction is winding down, Haruhi. Let's go get breakfast." He reached out and took my hand, intertwining our fingers, and led the way to the outer market. It was narrow, crowded, and full of different stores and smaller shops. "I've never been here, so we'll just have to pick a place at random."

"That one smells delicious – enough to even cover up the fish smell from the auction. Let's try that one." I pulled him toward the sushi place. Yum, I get sushi for breakfast.

We were seated, looking at the menu. "Haruhi, you order what you want, my treat. How often are you going to come down here – you should be able to get what you want."

"Ritsu…"

"I mean it. I want to treat you. I want you to stuff your face with delicacies that you wouldn't normally get. It will make me happy to do this for you. Please let me." He had reached out and taken my hand, and he squeezed it tight.

The look on his face was so genuine, so earnest. It goes against my principles, but he's telling the truth about it making him happy. Why is it easier to let Ritsu pay for me than the others?

"Thank you, Ritsu. If it will make you happy, it will make me happy." I was laughing, "Be careful what you wish for…I just might stuff my face."

"Go for it." And, I did. Yum.

.

xXx

.

From the fish market and that great breakfast, I took her to Yoyogi Park. It was still pretty early, and my lunch surprise was a couple hours away. I'd talked to Tetsuya and he confirmed it was all set up.

We walked around and looked at the cherry trees. Stood on the bridge and watched the fish in the pond. Strolled through the forested areas. Checked out the street performers. Laughed at the puppies in the dog park. Basically, having a relaxing time.

The best part was we walked close with our arms around each other. She's amazing. It seemed like the perfect time to tell her I want her to be my girlfriend. I wanted to do that before she went back to those jerks. I wanted them to know they'd lost her with their horrible behavior.

"Ritsu, it's so peaceful here. Thank you for bringing me, I'd never been." We stopped and sat down on a bench and looked out over the pond. We went straight into our usual cuddling position. That's how I thought about it. I'm looking around and no one else has a prettier chick than me, even if she is dressed like a dude. And I don't care who sees us.

"I just don't know what to do about those guys." Crap, she's going to talk about them? There goes my confession. Those guys are like a bucket of cold water.

"I've calmed down a lot and have looked at this from several angles. I think the only one that I'm truly still furious at is Kyoya-senpai. I don't understand why he would do that with my debt. I've worked so hard to pay it off and he let me believe I was making progress. I just don't understand."

This girl. She's so oblivious. Even after they've told her, she still doesn't realize how important she is to them. "Haruhi, you've impacted their lives. Just your presence and attitude towards them has improved them in lots of ways. Sure, they are all still selfish, but you do realize that they aren't as bad?"

"They seem to have changed, but why would he want to force me to stay in the Host Club. He could have asked if I would be staying after my debt was paid. Kyoya-senpai didn't have to betray my trust with his bogus accounting system."

She looked up at me and I met her gaze. "Ritsu, do you think there is anything he doesn't manipulate?"

Now that was an important question. "No, I don't. I think he lives for the game, the game the elite houses play. He's good at it but hasn't realized that sometimes you don't have to play to win." Damn, that sounded deep.

.

xXx

.

"Ritsu, where are we going? I'm not a big fan of surprises. The guys used to do this to me and I hated it." We got into the car and he tied this stupid blindfold over my eyes. Great.

"I think you are going to like this, and if you don't, tell me and we'll leave right away."

The car came to a stop and he took off the blindfold. 'Sushi Cooking Classes' was printed above the restaurant where we stopped.

I took a deep breath, ready to launch into how I didn't want him to use his connections or money to get me something extravagant, but he cut me off with a hand on my knee. "Relax, Haruhi. This is a commoner's cooking class. Tetsuya found one that still had two spots left. We're going to learn how to make sushi together and eat lunch here. I hope you are OK with sushi two meals in a row."

I could tell the smile I gave him lit up my whole face and eyes. "It's perfect. I can always eat sushi."

.

"That was harder than I thought it would be," Haruhi was giggling as we went back to the car. We had a blast. "Your rolls always came out limp, but they tasted good." Did she have any idea what she just said? It was all I could do not to sputter and laugh. If I had done that, I would have had to explain it to her. That would have been beyond embarrassing.

"I don't know why you needed this class, yours were so professionally presented and tasted like what you'd get in a fancy restaurant. You're going to have to make me sushi sometime. Think of it as payback for the class." I was teasing her by now but was having a great time. She was oblivious when someone flirted, and I was getting a lot of practice. It had to sink in sometime.

We were walking down the sidewalk, holding hands. It had been a great day so far. "What do you want to do next? We have dinner reservations at 7:00."

"Dinner reservations? What are you planning next?"

She looked over at me, "What is that sneaky look on your face? Am I going to like this?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. I've wanted to go there, but don't even know why. It just sounded silly and fun. The food is supposed to be great. There will be families there, so I hope you don't mind."

I helped her into the car and followed. As we drove away she seemed to make up her mind, "OK, your suggestions have been great so far. I'm game. As for what I want to do next, we should go back and study. We have four hours before we would need to leave, depending on how far away the place is. That's plenty of time to get our weekend assignments done."

"Your wish is my command, Bookworm." She laughed as I'm sure she was remembering telling me the story of Kirimi.

.

xXx

.

We were in my guest room studying our English. I was taking a more advanced class that Ritsu, so I was helping him. We were telling stories about school in English.

I was in the middle of the story of the Host Club's first visit to my house and meeting my dad when, "Oh no, I really should check with Kyoya-senpai to see if my dad has called him. I hope he didn't say anything about this week. It's going to be hard enough to tell my dad as it is."

Text to Kyoya from Haruhi:

Has my dad called you this week?

Text to Haruhi from Kyoya:

No

At least he kept it short. "Good, that's settled. I'll have to tell dad tomorrow before we come over for dinner."

"Do you want me to be there?"

"No, it's best if I tell him alone. He shouldn't have a problem with me staying over here. He's met you and adores you. Let's get back to the homework," I switched to English, "Tell me a story about the gardening club."

.

xXx

.

Conference call with the six male hosts:

Hikaru: "What's up, Kyoya-senpai. You rarely initiate these calls."

Kyoya: "I had to. I got a text from Haruhi. That triggers our bet."

Tamaki: "You got a text from Haruhi? What did she want? Why was she texting you instead of me?"

Kyoya: Idiot. "She asked if her dad had called me, that's why. You wouldn't have had the answer to that question, Tamaki."

Karou: "So who won? I don't have a copy of the list."

Kyoya: "She made first contact with one of us Saturday afternoon. That means…"

Honey: "I WON! I had Saturday afternoon! Yea!"

Hikaru: "Oh, no."

Honey: "Yea! I get to pick the restaurant for dinner tonight! I know exactly where we are going!"

Mori: Yes, and I do too. It's going to be a long night.

.

xXx

.

We drove up to the Kawaii Monster Café for our 7:00 pm reservations. Ritsu had told me it was some place silly that he always wanted to go to for no reason he could come up with. There was a huge cake merry-go-round, monsters, and weird plants. Looking at the menu, the food was all modeled to look like monsters.

"Ritsu, seriously, what the heck?" I just couldn't picture him wanting to come someplace like this. There were tourists and kids everywhere. What was he thinking?

"OK, Haruhi, I'll level with you." He grinned somewhat sheepishly, "When I was a kid, I always wanted to come here, but my Dad thought it was stupid, and not a place for a proud yakuza heir." He looked down at his feet, "I thought you might indulge me and maybe have some fun too."

"Who am I to ruin a childhood dream?" I replied. It won't be that bad. It was only for dinner and it was more commoner than fancy. "Who knows, I might enjoy myself."

We were seated and looking at our menus for our drink orders when I saw them come in. The boys of the Host Club. What!

"Ritsu, the guys are here, they just walked into the restaurant."

He carefully turned around and took a peak. "Do you think they followed you here? That's against your conditions."

"Yes, it is. I'm going to go find out after they are seated, and I have calmed down enough to hear their explanation without blowing up. I just can't think of another reason why they would be here, except to keep an eye on us. This is a place that Kyoya-senpai wouldn't even be caught dead in."

The waiter took our drink orders. We both ordered some non-alcoholic drinks that looked like mad scientist experiments. As soon as the guys were seated and had their menus, I got up and walked over. "Good Luck," Ritsu whispered as I left.

I walked right up to the group and stared straight at Mori-senpai. I trusted him to give me an honest answer. "Mori-senpai, are you all spying on me?" I was surprised at how calm I sounded.

The reactions around the table made it clear to me that they had no idea I was in the restaurant. Kyoya's eyes widened a little in surprise. The twins sat there with their mouths open.

Tamaki looked up at me in shock and said, "Darling Haruhi, why are you here?"

"Haru-chan! You're here! This is great! Sit with us!" and he reached out his hand to grab my arm.

"Mitsukuni," Mori-senpai warned, and Honey-senpai backed off.

Mori explained, "Please don't be angry. Meeting you in this place was not the plan. We took bets on if and when you might contact one of us this weekend. Mitsukuni had Saturday afternoon. Your text to Kyoya was the contact. Winner got to pick the restaurant for dinner tonight."

"And I won, Haru-chan! Isn't this place great! I've always wanted to try it." The cute angelic eyes looking up at me was enough to let it all go.

"Why are you here, Haruhi?" Kyoya-senpai asked in a dry voice. "Are you following us?"

"Why on earth would I do that, when I've been working so hard to stay away from you? That was a ridiculous question. I'm here with Ritsu," I gestured towards our table. "It was his idea to come here."

They all looked at me with confused faces, but Hikaru was the first to speak up, "He wanted to come here? Why?" his voice was incredulous.

"I don't have to explain Ritsu to the six of you. It was his choice and the reason why is not your business." What is with these questions – why should I have to justify anything to these guys?

"Haruhi, would you and Kasanoda like to join us for dinner? My treat," Kyoya asked.

Tamaki started yelling, attracting attention from other guests, "No, Kasanoda can't join us. Why would my Darling Haruhi want to bring that pervert along?"

"Tamaki, shut up." Kyoya gave him a quelling look. "Would you like to join us?"

"Thank you, no." I'm not sure what they hope to accomplish with the invitation. "I'm here with a date and it would be rude to Ritsu for me to even ask if he wanted to join your party."

"A DATE!" Now Hikaru was shouting, attracting attention. "You are on a date with that criminal? Haruhi, how could you?"

I took a deep breath and let out a huge sigh. I was trying so hard to not yell back, to not lose my temper. I couldn't believe it was working. "I'm ending this conversation now. I just came over to see if you were following us again. Since that's not the case, I'll go back to my table, and you will leave us alone, unless you want another two days." With that, I turned around and went back to Ritsu.

"How did it go? I could hear some of it. They aren't exactly quiet," Ritsu asked.

As I sat down, I answered, "OK. They weren't following us. There was a stupid bet and Honey-senpai won, giving him the choice of restaurant. He picked this place." I smiled when I thought of this being the type of place Honey-senpai would like. Before all this happened, if he had asked, I would have come with him.

"What was the bet?"

"I'll tell you later." I paused for a minute then decided to come clean, "Kyoya-senpai asked if we wanted to join them for dinner, his treat. I think he's trying make that debt business up to me. Offering me dinner isn't going to come close to fixing what he did."

"What did you say," Ritsu tilted his head a little and I could tell he hoped I said no.

"I told them no. I also told them we were on a date."

.

She told them we were on a date? A date? Is that really how she felt about this outing? Maybe I should confess. Wouldn't that be insulting to do it in front of those assholes?

"A Date? Haruhi, are we on a date and I didn't know?"

"I honestly don't know why I said that. Did I say it to hurt them? Or to make sure they would leave us alone? Or did it just pop out? I don't know."

I reached across the table and took her hand, "Do you want this to be a date?"

.

Back at the boys' table…

"A date? Did you hear that? She's here on a date! A date with that delinquent?" Hikaru was beyond angry.

"Calm down, Hikaru. This is not the place to blow your top. With all these tourists and commoners, we are bound to be recognized," Kaoru implored. "We can discuss this after we leave."

"We can discuss THIS now," distain dripping from Hikaru's mouth. "I don't care if we are recognized. We need to get him away from her."

Kyoya was wondering why his plan wasn't working. He thought Kasanoda's father would make him end this once a gay relationship was implied.

"Kaoru's right. This needs to be shelved until we are somewhere private. Let's just get this dinner over with," Kyoya grimaced.

Tamaki snapped, "Well, I'm going to keep an eye on them. The minute he does something inappropriate, I'm going over there to rescue her."

Mori put his hand on Tamaki's shoulder and informed him, "No, you won't. We've made progress this week and you've already added two days to erode some of that progress. I will stop you and lock you in the limo if you take one step towards her."

It was a quiet dinner after that…

.

A date? Did I really want this to be a date? How do I feel about Ritsu? Why can't anything be simple? This is ridiculous. "Ritsu, what would it mean if this was a date?"

"For me it would mean that we were going to be boyfriend and girlfriend soon. But, if it means something different to you, I need to know."

"Oh, Ritsu, I'm not sure what to say." When did my life become so complicated that I'm juggling the feelings of seven boys? Why are they so wrapped up with me? No matter how bad they act, I don't think I'll ever be able to disentangle myself. Right now, I want my dad. He'd know what to say.

"With all that is going on with those idiots, I'm in no position to consider being a couple at this time. I like you a lot, Ritsu, but as a friend. I hope to keep our friendship as close as it is now, after I repair things with the guys and maybe go back to the Host Club. You've come to mean so much over this past week. I'm willing to reassess that after this mess is cleaned up. Until then, I'm just not emotionally capable. I hope you understand."

He looked at me with a mixture of hurt and acceptance. "Of course, I'll still be your friend. Nothing will change that. As for waiting for those jerks to grow up, I'll wait. I'd do anything for you, Haruhi."

Wow, did he just say that? He reached across the table, took my hand, and held it until our food came. Not sure what on earth possessed me to order a fancy sandwich that looked like a monster, eyes and all.

We dove into our meals with scattered talk about logistics tomorrow morning. I wanted to get home before dad, so I could unpack and clean. I was worried about how to tell him about the guys. I knew he would overreact and I might have to hold him back from killing a couple of them. It was not a conversation I was looking forward to.

.

xXx

.

That evening at everyone's mansion…

Mori: My feelings for Haruhi are getting stronger, and I don't know what to do. Maybe they aren't getting stronger, but I'm realizing them more. I felt jealous today. I'll probably always be jealous of the man Haruhi chooses. But, I want her to be happy. If she is happy with her choice, I'll be happy for her; even though it will hurt that it's not me. I am unsure of Kasanoda. He's not right for her. I believe their morals are in conflict. Haruhi is too honorable to sacrifice her beliefs for her partner. However, it might not be until he is the head of the Syndicate before she realizes this. How can we show her this before it goes too far?

Honey: That place was so fun. I loved my monster burger and the rainbow cake was delicious! It's funny we ran into Haru-chan there. Haru-chan and Kasanoda are getting too close. I have to end that. I think Kyoya has a plan, but it clearly isn't working. A Date? The only other date she's had was that disastrous one with Hikaru. The one tonight looked like it was going just fine. They were holding hands and laughing. Watching them made me feel something I've rarely felt before. I was jealous. Jealous of Kasanoda and the time he is spending with her. It's only been a week, but it seems like forever. I'm not surprised at all that Tama-chan broke. I was jealous of him too. I wanted to pick her up and spin her around. I miss her hugs. I miss all of her.

Hikaru: That bastard, Kasanoda. Who the hell does he think he is? Haruhi is MINE! How dare he ask her out on a date? He's just a glorified thug! I'll show him. I'll be perfect and do everything Haruhi asks, and then I'LL be the right one for her, not that asshole. I'll do it for Haruhi! I love her! She's mine! And soon they will all find out!

Kaoru: I've been so worried about Hikaru that I haven't had any time to think about myself and Haruhi. I know the others have feelings for her; I'm just not sure how deep. Well, except for the Boss, his feelings are obvious to everyone but Haruhi. Hikaru loves her, but so do I. Can I be the selfless one and give her up for Hikaru? He'd never do it for me. If he'd never, then why should I? Is his happiness that much more important? Is there a way we could both be happy? Is it the same as us both being miserable? Are they the same thing? Either way, we've got to run off Kasanoda!

Tamaki: How can my Darling Haruhi be dating that criminal? She's my girlfriend. He can't treat her like I can. I'm the most romantic, beautiful, attentive, gentle, and caring boyfriend. She'll be pampered and showered with gifts. I'd never take her to a place like that last night. It wasn't appropriate for the angel Haruhi is. She's perfect and only deserves me. I love her, he doesn't. I'll crush that pervert.

Kyoya: Shit. Dating? I have a feeling she just said that to keep from joining us. She could have just said no and saved all of us this craziness. Hikaru and Tamaki are going insane and the rest aren't happy either. But, as I watched them throughout dinner, I noticed some things. They held hands while waiting for their food. They talked and laughed throughout dinner. He paid the check and she didn't complain (but they could have agreed to that beforehand), and on their way out, he had his hand on the small of her back, guiding her out, then he helped her into the car – not a limo, but a car. He knows how to not flash his money and aggravate her.

He's been attentive this whole week, but tonight he seemed even more so. If he hasn't done it yet, his confession can't be far off. She's aggravated by us – will she say yes to him? My tactics to force them apart don't appear to be working. I don't think the rumors are invasive enough. I don't think they are making it back to his Syndicate. At this point, we need either Haruhi or Kasanoda-sama to kill this relationship. I'll have to step up the rumors. That should be easy since she won't be back on Monday like everyone thinks. Too bad I couldn't get them to join us. We could have shown her the real Kasanoda.

I'm beginning to wonder if Mori-senpai is worth all this. I decided he would be good for Haruhi, but so would I. Is there any way I could get my Father's approval and Haruhi's acceptance?

Suddenly…

All six jerked their heads towards a window and asked, "Was that thunder?" An answering BOOM sounded, and they thought, "Shit, Haruhi is with Kasanoda!"

At the Kasanoda Compound:

There was a light tap on the door. It opened, and a red-headed guy looked in, "Haruhi?"

.

xXx

.

Author's Note: The places in Tokyo that I sent them to are real. I had fun researching them. Night at the Monster restaurant is a little racier than I painted it, then but Honey wouldn't have wanted to go.

Where is the Haruhi/Kasanoda relationship going? Those guys really don't like Ritsu. Will it become physical? Will his father go off the deep end once he hears the rumors? Who knows, stay tuned and find out.

Not only do they not like Ritsu, but it seems they all want to throw their hat in the ring. Where could this be going?

Sorry to use the old thunderstorm chestnut, but it's old hat because lots of us like it.

.

Next Chapter: Fathers…How will Ranka react to all this? What will happen at the dinner? And what happened during the storm?

.