Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club however I do own my OCs.
Key:
Bold = English
Italics = Thoughts/French
Claudia smiled as she walked beside Kyoya along the shore, the water gently hitting against their ankles and feet. The day had been going on nicely, despite the circular bruises (hickeys as they'll be called from this point on) on her forearm and slightly rough start to the day Claudia was beginning to enjoy herself. It was a nice change from the hectic lifestyle she'd been living in for the past few weeks from several incidents. The redhead watched the sand before her eyes widened slightly with realisation and she turned to Kyoya.
"Hey sempai..."
"Yes Claudia?" The glasses clad host turned to her, hint of curiosity and amusement in his eyes.
"You don't think there are crabs on this beach do you?" Claudia asked quietly, as if cautious that the crustaceans, if any present on the beach, could hear her.
"I highly doubt it." Kyoya replied with a smirk.
Claudia sighed relieved while Kyoya merely shook his head. The raven head turned forward, enjoying the quiet and peaceful air between them. He had realised that he could always be at peace around Claudia, whether they were simply talking at the club or walking together like they were currently. It felt nice that he had a person he could feel calm around.
'I wonder if Claudia feels the same?" he thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Claudia emotions were in a turmoil. For an unknown reason she had butterflies in her stomach and her heart was beating really fast. She knew it wasn't from the crab situation because she'd been reassured that there weren't any but she really couldn't pinpoint why. Recently she had been thinking about the summer holidays approaching, with only one more week left she couldn't help but think about her day out with Kyoya. Claudia groaned softly, realising she was just nervous about that. The redhead turned to her sempai.
"Hey sempai…"
"Yes?" Kyoya turned to face her again, feeling like this scenario was very similar to the one just a few minutes ago.
"You know the cafe library place I was talking about?" Claudia began, feeling her cheeks heat up slightly as Kyoya nodded, "Are you still up for it?"
"Well if you still want me to come along with you then of course." Kyoya replied and felt his heart jump slightly when he was rewarded with the most joyful grin he'd seen on her.
Feeling brave - what am I saying this guy is always brave- Kyoya smiled at Claudia and took hold of her hand, leading her to the rock pools. Of course he didn't miss the pink that bloomed on her cheeks.
-(^^)-
"I don't know how this is going to work..." Cole murmured as he lifted up a bucket of water.
"Trust me, it will work." Stephanie reassured him.
"Are you sure?" Cole asked again as he was lead to the rock pools.
"Yep! Just trust me!" Stephanie exclaimed.
"I'm not sure if I should..." Cole mumbled quietly but followed the blonde anyway.
Behind him Haruka laughed seeing the uncertain expression in his boyfriend's face. In his hands however were a small bucket of crustaceans, specifically little hermit crabs. Even though he was slightly worried about this plan since Claudia was definitely afraid of the little critters, he had a hunching feeling that the plan would work.
Hopefully.
The key word in this scenario is 'hopefully'.
"Alright! We'll put these here!" Stephanie pointed to a small rock pool.
Cole and Haruka followed her directions and soon enough there was a small rock pool of crustaceans. Stephanie clapped happily and turned to face her two friends, only to smirk when she noticed who was approaching, hand in hand of course.
"What are you two doing here?" the blonde female asked, her grin widening with every second.
Claudia simply smiled at her as Kyoya walked to Haruka and Cole. "We were just walking around the rock pools."
"Only walking around?" Stephanie nudged Claudia's ribs and the girl scowled.
"Only walking around." Claudia's tone was hard and Stephanie couldn't help but laugh.
Cole did notice a small blush forming on Claudia's cheeks and smiled. He turned to Kyoya and Haruka, who had struck up a conversation.
"So what do you reckon?" Haruka asked the strawberry blond.
"Huh?" Cole blinked.
"Kyoya was suggesting we go to the Matsuri with them...what do you say?" Haruka explained.
"Matsuri?"
"It's a summer festival," Kyoya explained, "I think Claudia would be happy if you guys joined us."
"I don't see why not," Cole smiled and chuckled when Haruka beamed, "when is it?"
"Where's one being held in the second week of the holidays, so we're planning on going then." Kyoya explained.
Just as Cole was about to reply, they heard a small shriek from behind them. Instinctively, Kyoya moved forward which both Cole and Haruka noticed. The two males simply watched on the sidelines as Kyoya moved to the redhead with a small bubble of hope.
"What happen-" Kyoya began, switching to Japanese but was interrupted when Claudia ran (or rather slammed) into him.
"Why would you do that?!" Claudia exclaimed with teary eyes and Stephanie just burst out laughing when the redhead hid behind Kyoya.
Cole and Haruka couldn't help but chuckle, even though they did feel guilty. Claudia glared at Stephanie, peeking over Kyoya's shoulder while clutching onto his arm.
"But this is just a little one! It's not even that bad!" Stephanie said, gently putting away the tiny hermit crab into the rock pool.
"Doesn't matter! It's still part of the family!"
"But look! It's so small!"
"That's exactly the problem!" Claudia huffed before jumping slightly at the bucket being emptied.
"How did this fear develop anyway?" Kyoya asked, his eyebrow raised in amusement.
Claudia shuddered and her grip tightened slightly on his arm. "Dad chased me with one when I was little and I've been traumatised ever since."
"Oh dear, that must have been awful." the glasses clad host commented.
"Why did he do it again?" Cole asked, hiding his smile behind his hand.
"Thought it was funny," Claudia shrugged, "he's part of the reason why Ruki is so jumpy...the guy loved to scare us when we were little."
Haruka chuckled and ducked behind Cole out of instinct when Claudia glared at him. Kyoya sighed softly and felt the grip on his arm tighten more. The raven head looked down and instantly noticed the flush on Claudia's cheeks and the furrow of her brows. He could tell she was scared and let himself think back to the last time they were on a beach and he found out about her fear. To reassure the red-head, Kyoya lightly placed his hand on his arm and let his finger tenderly lay over her hand. He was rewarded with a darker flush on her cheeks and her looking away in slight embarrassment.
"How about you two go back?" Cole suggested with a small smile, "you're looking kind of pale for someone so tanned." he said referring to Claudia.
"That's a good idea." Kyoya agreed and before Claudia could protest, he gently pulled her with him.
When the two were out of earshot, Stephanie simply laughed and turned to the two males with a wide grin. Cole glanced back to the retreating duo and smiled softly, an action that Haruka noticed immediately.
"You like him don't you?" Haruka asked quietly as the trio walked back slowly.
"I feel like he understands her..." Cole shrugged and draped his arm over his boyfriend's shoulders, "what do you think?"
Haruka shrugged and leaned into Cole's body. "I reckon she likes him but we won't know until later."
"True, let's move onto the twins then..." Cole agreed, "Steph? Do you have any genius plan for them?"
"Oh, I came prepared with a plan." Stephanie smirked.
~(,)"~
Ruki huffed quietly as he watched his friends playing on the beach, his long hair tied completely away from his face in a low ponytail to keep him cool in the early afternoon heat. He specifically was watching Claudia's interactions with the guys, mostly targeting the twins and a certain glasses clad host. Ryuu heard another small huff and turned to the older male, a puzzled look forming on his face when he saw the slight frustration in those eyes.
"Ruki?" Ryuu questioned and tried to find his line of focus when the male didn't respond. This was when he noticed he was directly staring at Claudia who was currently talking with one of the twins as they played a game of volleyball.
"I don't get it." Ruki suddenly said, startling Ryuu slightly.
"Get what?" Ryuu asked.
"Is it really possible for her to like one of them?" Ruki asked, mostly to himself than to Ryuu.
Ryuu blinked before looking back to the group then back to Ruki with a confused expression. "What are you talking about?"
"Like look," Ruki gestured to Claudia and Ryuu looked in the direction he was pointing to, "do you really it's possible for her to like someone? Especially one of them?"
Ryuu smiled slightly and turned back to Ruki. "Weren't you the one who teased her about liking one of them romantically?"
"Yeah but I was joking then," Ruki replied before stopping and turning to Ryuu, "how did you find out about that? I've only teased her once about it and that was months ago..."
"Cherry told me," Ryuu smirked before taking Ruki's hand in his own, "I do feel like she does like one of them...she just might be holding back."
"Or she hasn't realised it."
"She could be just hiding it."
"Or she could be confused."
"Why are you so against this?" Ryuu asked.
"I just don't like the idea of my baby sister being romantically involved with someone okay!" Ruki exclaimed.
Ryuu blinked before a smirk slowly spread on his lips and he nudged Ruki on the arm. Ruki groaned quietly and buried his face in his hands.
"I didn't know you were so protective Ruki~" Ryuu teased and laughed as Ruki turned away with bright red cheeks, "ah man! That is so cute!"
"Shut up Ryuu!" Ruki whined.
Ryuu only laughed and hugged the embarrassed male. "But like seriously, why are you so against it?"
"She's still a baby, she can't be dating yet!" Ruki replied.
Ryuu raised his brow in response but Ruki continued anyway.
"The only way I'll agree to it is if they pass my test. Then I'll decide if they're worthy enough for my little pumpkin." Ruki said with a determined face.
Ryuu shook his head with a sigh. He looked back to the group and watched as Claudia hugged a twin in victory, feeling the pang of emotion that his boyfriend was feeling. Even if he was the more supportive person of the duo, Ryuu was just as protective of Claudia as his boyfriend. Even Ryuu had limits to how close the host club could get to his best friend.
"Hey Ryuu?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think it would be considered murder if I killed one of the twins?"
"Yes. Yes it would and then I'd have to bail you out."
"Damn. Well it's nice to know that you have my back. I'd do the same for you."
"That's nice to know." Ryuu said as they both watched Claudia and the host club.
(^-^""")
"You know..." Claudia started as she rubbed her arm where the octopus hickeys were. Haruka who stood next to her, turned to her with a confused expression. "Is it just me or do you also notice the gloom over those two?"
Haruka looked in the direction Claudia was looking in. "Who are you talking about?"
"Nii-chan and Ryuu."
"Oh. Are you talking about that dark purple gloom over them?" Haruka replied.
"Yeah."
"Nope, I see it too."
"Okay I thought I was just imagining it." Claudia sighed.
The two cocked their heads simultaneously as stared at the duo on the rocks. It seemed as though they were intently glaring at the group for an unknown reason, at least to Claudia and Haruka. Claudia sighed before turning to the male beside her.
"Is it time to eat yet?" She asked.
"Is all you think about food?" Haruka asked incredulously.
"No." Claudia deadpanned.
Haruka raised a brow at her.
"I'm just hungry okay! I don't always think about food!"
"Really now?" Haruka smirked as he noticed one of the twins watching them play argue, "what else do you think about?"
"You know...stuff..." Claudia trailed off quietly.
"What kind of stuff?" Haruka asked as he cunningly moved to stand closer and leaned in. The male knew Claudia was comfortable with this action due to her close relationship with him but he knew that the twins didn't know that. He was rewarded with a frown and slight glare from the twin.
"School, dance, homework...food...but I do think about other stuff!" Claudia hurriedly added.
"And about a certain hunk who wears glasses and was holding your hand before?" Haruka smirked when Claudia frowned in confusion.
"Who are you talking about?" Claudia paused before red bloomed on her cheeks, "Haruka! No!" She exclaimed, "why would you say that?!"
Haruka pulled back and laughed. He sneakily glanced to the twin and smirked at the fury in his eyes. The raven head turned completely around and faced the twin.
"Hey twin! You mind coming over here for a minute?" Haruka called in Japanese.
"Why are you calling Kaoru over?" Claudia whispered harshly to her friend as Kaoru made a face before slowly walking to them.
"Is that the twin I'm calling over?" Haruka asked.
"Yes, that twin is Kaoru." Claudia sighed.
"How do you know?" Haruka as Kaoru stopped in front of them.
"You called for me." The twin said as he looked from Haruka to Claudia.
"Before I do anything," Haruka said as he turned to Kaoru, "which twin are you?"
"Guess." Kaoru smirked.
"Hmm...Kaoru?" Haruka smirked when the twin's eye twitched, "am I right?"
"How did you know?" Kaoru asked in disbelief.
"I told him that's why," Claudia quickly interjected, "otherwise he doesn't have a clue to know who you are."
"Hey! I can pick up on hints and stuff you know!" Haruka said in defence, "anyway, Kaoru yes? I need to ask you a question."
Kaoru raised his brow ever so slightly at the raven head and Claudia had to stifle her chuckles to stay calm and collected.
"How the hell can Claudia tell you two apart?" The male asked.
"What?" Claudia and Kaoru responded, both relatively surprised at the question.
"Like how? All I know is that you're the nice twin..." Haruka trailed off.
"Well I don't know either...usually it's extremely hard to tell my brother and I apart..." Kaoru murmured and he turned to Claudia, "how?"
"Um..." Claudia drew out before she sighed and shrugged, "I dunno."
"What kind of an answer is that?" Haruka responded with a hand his hip.
"I don't know! I just know which one is which!" Claudia said gesturing to Kaoru then to his twin on the other side of the net.
While watching Haruka interrogate Claudia, Kaoru noticed his twin approaching Haruhi who stood next to Cole. The younger twin turned slightly as Haruhi's face contorted in anger and the auburn wondered what Hikaru had said. With slightly furrowed brows, he completely turned around to face the trio on the sidelines. Claudia noticed Kaoru turn and leaned to the side to see what he was looking at. Haruka followed a second after.
Haruhi simply stood in front of Cole and placed her arm out to Hikaru as if stop him. Hikaru's face scrunched up in anger as he yelled something.
"What is he doing?" Kaoru wondered aloud.
"Whatever he's doing," Haruka said with a low voice which caused younger teens to turn to him, "if your brother hurts my boyfriend in any way there will be hell to pay."
Claudia smiled lightly and turned to Kaoru, hoping he would know what his brother was yelling about. Kaoru shrugged lightly and the three began walking forward and stopped enough to hear Hikaru going off on Cole and Haruhi.
"I don't see what you see in him!" Hikaru said loudly.
"He's a nice friend okay!" Haruhi defended, "and he listens to me. Just leave Cole alone okay, he's done nothing wrong."
Hikaru growled before turning to Cole. "Why don't you say something? Oh wait, you don't understand what we're saying." He said with malice before walking off.
The moment Hikaru left Haruka ran up to Cole and threw his arms around him, catching the taller male by surprise and slightly making him lose balance. Kaoru turned to glance at Claudia who was smiling softly at the pair. The twin decided he'd leave his brother alone for the moment and make sure Claudia's extremely taller brother was okay.
"Haru I'm fine, really!" Cole sighed as he was squeezed.
"What did he say to you?" Kaoru asked.
"Err...Haruhi?" Cole turned to the natural type.
"He simply asked why I was talking to Cole," Haruhi supplied, "then when I replied with cause I can and he's a good friend. Then I only said that Cole's a good listener he got even more mad. He just said something extremely rude and walked off."
"What did he say?" Haruka asked in a low voice.
Kaoru turned to Haruhi, expecting an answer. Cole simply smiled and pulled Haruka to him.
"Doesn't matter. Let's just forget it." Cole said reassuringly.
"But Cole! The bloody twin insulted you!" Haruka exclaimed.
"That bloody twin is also his brother." Claudia added while pointing to Kaoru.
"Yeah, I deserve to know what my brother said to Claudia's brother." Kaoru continued.
"Guys really!" Cole quickly interrupted, "it's fine! I don't care anyway so let's just forget about it and move on to the next round."
"But-" Haruka started.
"Come one, I think Tamaki's getting impatient." Cole jutt in and pulled Haruka forward to the makeshift court.
Kaoru glanced to Claudia who shrugged. "If he doesn't care about it then let's not worry." She walked forward a few steps before looking back, "let's win this match team mate." She smirked.
Kaoru chuckled and walked to her. "Good luck keeping up!" He called over his shoulder to Haruhi and Kyoya who were referee and scorekeeper.
"Alright! We'll begin in two minute! Please take your places!" Haruhi called out.
The teams were made up of four versus four. Tamaki, Hikaru, Mori and Honey made up team one whereas Claudia, Kaoru, Cole and Haruka made up team two. Currently the teams were tied and they were playing the final tie breaking round. As each member took their place on the court, Haruka took hold of Cole's arm with a expression of worry.
"I'm fine." Cole sighed before lightly pecking Haruka's lips.
Haruka pouted, "If you say so..."
"If we win, I'll give you something special." Cole smirked and ran his hand along Haruka's waist as he took his position at the centre of the court.
Haruka whined slightly and took his place on the front comer. Behind him Claudia laughed while Kaoru couldn't help but smile at the duo, even he thought that the two were adorable. He could tell that Cole and Haruka were perfectly in love with each other.
Deep down he wished he was like that with a certain red head female.
Tamaki was handed the ball and like the usual volleyball pass, he hit the ball into the air. The teams went back and forth, each person occasionally diving or jumping for the ball. Haruhi watched in awe as Kyoya managed to keep up with the rules of the fast paced game they were playing. Even Stephanie, Ruki and Ryuu had joined to watch the fun.
When Haruhi checked the clock, there was one minute left on the timer and she loudly stated it as well. Kaoru turned to Claudia and the two agreed silently to back up their front players, Claudia backing up Cole and Kaoru backing up Haruka. Tamaki took the ball again, sweat dripping down his brow and he aligned the ball.
"Winner gets to smash the watermelon." Tamaki stated and Cole smirked in agreement.
"Holy shit..." Ruki quietly mumbled to himself.
"What?" Ryuu turned to the older male in confusion.
"Cole just looked extremely hot then." Ruki explained.
"What?!" Ryuu's jaw dropped while Claudia shot him a 'really?' from her place.
"Just calling them how I see them." Ruki shrugged before laughing as Ryuu smacked him on his arm.
Cole chuckled quietly as Haruka shot Ruki a half glare, however Tamaki used this distraction to his advantage. He quickly hit the ball over the net and grinned when it passed over Haruka however; he didn't anticipate Kaoru diving for the ball thus saving it nor Claudia jumping and slamming the ball back to their side.
Hikaru and Honey jumped for the ball and slammed into each other with a painful "oof." Before Tamaki or Mori could react to save the ball, the round object touched the sandy floor.
"Winner is team two!" Kyoya announced and Haruhi turned the score board according, "team two wins 4-3."
"We did it!" Kaoru exclaimed as he got up and hugged Claudia in his excitement, who hugged him back at full force.
"Ryuu..." Ruki mumbled and turned to the male with a troubled expression.
"It's okay baby, it's okay." Ryuu whispered comfortingly.
Claudia grinned as Cole and Haruka quickly turned around and pulled the duo into a group celebratory hug. The group was unaware to Ruki's desperate attempt to calm himself from pulling Claudia out.
"Well done you guys." Cole smiled as they released themselves.
Claudia laughed as Kaoru squeezed her again before letting her down and giving him a high-five. The two ended up hugging again out of pure joy of winning. Hikaru smirked from his position at his brother and Claudia, seeing how his plan had somewhat worked.
Cole smiled to himself as he glanced at Tamaki who was grinning despite his loss.
"That was a good game." The prince said as he slipped under the net to congratulate the other team on their win.
"Definitely a good game," Cole grinned, "you're pretty good at this you know."
Tamaki shook his head and grinned widely when Haruka came to stand beside Cole. "Haruka! You're amazing at volleyball!" He exclaimed.
Haruka laughed and profusely shook his head. "Nope! My baby is better at this game than I am!" He said as he wrapped his arms around the tall blond.
"Haru..." Cole groaned as his cheeks flushed slightly.
Tamaki grinned and turned to to Haruhi, the blond quickly farewelled the duo and ran off to the female host. Haruka grinned and glanced up to Cole.
"My special surprise?" Haruka questioned innocently.
Cole's lips stretched further apart and he leant down, placing a gentle yet deep kiss on Haruka's lips. Haruka smiled softly once they pulled away.
Behind them, Claudia propped her elbow up and leaned on Kaoru's shoulder as the two watched the pair hug. The auburn slyly glanced to Claudia, noticing for the first time the little specks of blue and grey scattered in her eyes. He looked back to the duo and smirked mischievously.
"Hey love birds!" Kaoru called out and Claudia had to stifle her giggles with her hand. The pair turned to the twin, "we're gonna smash watermelons, you coming?"
Cole and Haruka laughed and slowly walked up to them. Claudia sighed happily and looped her arm around Kaoru's as they four joined the others. Cole and Haruka fell back to Stephanie, Ryuu and Ruki.
"She's so natural with this twin." Haruka said.
Ruki huffed and looked away. Stephanie, Haruka and Cole glanced questioningly to Ryuu who sighed.
"He doesn't like this idea anymore because his over protective brother side is coming out." Ryuu explained.
"Ooh..." The others cooed and nodded understandingly.
"It's okay," Cole walked and pat Ruki's back, "I understand how you feel."
"My dear friends, we are smashing the watermelons right?" She asked with a slight smirk.
Cole simply laughed and walked forward. "You know, I've never done this before..."
"Oh you'll have fun." Haruka chimed.
"It's like a summer favourite!" Tamaki added having overheard Cole, "a commoner ritual."
Haruhi sighed and rolled her eyes.
The blond handed Cole the bat and the rest gathered around.
"I have terrible aim by the way." Cole said.
"You'll be fine." Claudia quickly brushed him off.
"If you say so..." Cole mumbled before slamming the bat down and just barely brushing the watermelon.
"Dude..." Ruki muttered under his breath.
"You really do have terrible aim..." Claudia added with a laugh.
"Told you so." Cole shrugged as he handed the bat to Tamaki.
Each person took a turn hitting the watermelons and by the they had all had a turn, the rather large melons were cracked and ready to serve. Eagerly, the twins and Tamaki walked forward and pulled a piece for themselves, Tamaki also took one more and handed it to Haruhi who smiled her thanks. Each of the other members of the party also took a piece and walked off to the side. Just as Claudia walked forward to pick up one, a rather medium slice was handed to her. Carefully holding it, she looked up and saw Kyoya looking away with slight embarrassment.
"We'll share." Kyoya stated, "I accidentally got given a rather large piece and I'm not much of a watermelon fan so yeah."
"Thanks sempai." Claudia smiled tenderly before she looked down at her piece and began nibbling on it.
From beside her, Ryuu nudged Ruki's arm in alarm. The older teen shot his boyfriend a puzzled look and turned when Ryuu gestured behind him and his eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"Oh my gosh! You should have seen it!" Ryuu gushed quietly and Ruki turned back to him, "I've only ever seen that smile when it was directed to you or uncle! She smiled so lovingly at him!"
"She's blushing too." Ruki stated.
"Yeah but look! Aren't they adorable?" Stephanie said as she poked her head between the two males.
"I guess..." Ruki trailed off before taking a small bite of his piece.
"I think it's settled," Haruka added from behind them, "just look at the twin's face, he looks so pissed."
"So it's Kyoya and the twin Kaoru?" Ryuu asked in confirmation.
"Doesn't look like anyone else is reacting to this scene." Cole replied.
The group nodded and dispersed when Haruhi joined the group. Ryuu glanced at Ruki who was still eyeing his sister.
"Ruki? What's wrong?" Ryuu asked quietly, "I know you don't exactly approve of this but-"
"I don't really mind this..." Ruki interrupted and turned to Ryuu, "I'm just worried on how dad will react to this revelation."
A/N: Here comes the long awaited chapter! I know I've been away for quite a while (almost 2 months) but I hope this makes up for it.
I've written up the next two chapters while I was away, so expect them to appear in the next month or so. By the way, I don't think you guys will like what will happen in the next chapter...so prepare yourself and your heart :P I know...I'm evil *evil laughter*
I have also been drawing up the official character designs of my OCs in chibi form. They should be finished by the next update and link will be posted on my profile. Also...do you guys like the cover? I'm still trying to find the right cover for this so it'll take me a while before I find the right one. Feedback on it would be nice :)
One more note before I leave, this story might end up being really long...are you guys okay with that?
As usual; reviews, faves and follows are much appreciated, especially review as they let me know if you like the story or not. Until next time...farewell!
EDIT** I fixed the typos I was pointed out to! Thank you!