~Chapter Forty Two~
Oops, I Did It Again
Tropical, the island breeze,
All of nature, wild and free;
This is where I long to be.
I want to be where the sun warms the sky.
When it's time for siesta, you can watch them go by;
Beautiful faces, no cares in this world.
Where a girl loves a boy,
And a boy loves a girl.
~ La Isla Bonita, by Madonna
Disclaimer: Me No Own; You No Sue.
Obediently, I followed in her wake, as requested, before grinning mischievously and reaching down to remove my sandals. I paused to glance behind, beside, and in front of me. Noticing no one else around, I exploded into a sudden run, my smile wide, blonde hair and sandals whipping around in the wind. I bolted by Haruhi, practically blowing her doors off, and zoomed toward the familiar figures in the distance – Mitsukuni and Takashi.
"Noisy American," Haruhi muttered, pissed that I ruined her precious peace and quiet. Not to mention the fact that I essentially left her in the dust. She growled in irritation, her fists clenched tightly and her left eyebrow twitching with her frustration, and loudly yelled, "Come back here, you stupid…rich…BASTARD!"
Friends, I warmly realized with a giggle, are really wonderful people.
"SAMMY-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"
Even if said friends want to murder you!
Sammy's P.O.V.
Blue eyes wide with excitement, I continued running through the mountains of golden sand that, previously, rested undisturbed beneath the warmth of the sun. My bare feet kicked out small but heavy explosions of gold and silver dust into the air, which lifted upwards and hovered around me. I laughed loudly, practically screaming out in joy, even when the sand burned in my eyes, nose, and mouth. Feelings of beautiful affection, friendship, and love sparkled brightly in my veins – like warm sunshine. My happiness in that moment, I realized, far outweighed the feelings of discomfort from the sand in my eyes.
The discomfort and pain of being trampled to death, however, well…
"Dammit!" Haruhi growled darkly from about fifteen feet behind, her normally calm voice transcending into the scornful tone commonly reserved for the idiocy of Tamaki, Hikaru, and/or Kaoru. Apparently, I'd finally managed to find myself at the top of her Hit List. "Get back here, Sammy-chan, before I start throwing textbooks at you!"
Note to self… I sweatdropped, thinking briefly about how horrible, and horribly embarrassing, it would be to die because Haruhi chucked her three ton dictionary at me. Do not piss Haruhi off! She turns into Maka Albarn! Which makes me – She snarled something indiscernible beneath her breath, and I paled at the sound of her frustration – Soul Eater! I gulped in fear. Help, Shinigami-sama!
When I finally admitted that nobody – least of all the Lord of Death – would be saving me anytime in the immediate future, I hesitantly glanced back at Haruhi and noticed the smaller girl to be much closer than before, a painfully determined expression burning in her eyes. Her thin legs kicked out tornadoes of white sand and her slender arms were outstretched towards me, as though to hug me. I slowed down in the hopes of this being true because – well, I loved hugs!
And I really wanted to live, too, but that was another story entirely…
"Not in this lifetime, Maka-chan!" Pushing myself faster and faster, I bolted down the beach, until I could hear nothing but the wind and the voices in my mind, which screamed out in fear of imminent death. Then, I flailed both arms and dramatically wailed, "I'm too young and pretty and fucking awesome to die~!" I whimpered. "Please have mercy on my soul!"
Heedless of this pathetic plea, Haruhi continued to barrel straight towards me, and I started to panic, my eyes wide with disbelief. So I immediately returned to running full force to the cliffs, where I remembered Takashi and Mitsukuni, two powerful martial artists, to be playing around by the foam of the incoming waves. Why? Because Takashi would protect me! If not, I could hide always just behind his powerful bulk until Haruhi finally admitted defeat and ceased her stampede.
Suddenly, Haruhi yelped out in surprise and exclaimed, "Look out, Sammy-chan!" Her voice, laced with shock, echoed in my ears, a relentless drum of caution. She also sounded rather concerned for my general wellbeing, too.
Hmm…
To believe, or not to believe?
No, Haruhi is just trying to trick me! I heartily protested, flat out refusing to believe the psychological mumbo jumbo being shoved at me. There was no way in H-E-Double Hockey Sticks that I would not fall into her carefully planned trap!
"Leave a message at the beep, Scar!" I shrieked at her, jumped right over a stray pail of pink, blue, and yellow seashells, and stubbornly refused to turn around to keep an eye out for the supposedly impending danger. "Simba is kinda busy right now, okay?" My eyes remained glued to Haruhi, and I stupidly whined, "Go pester Zazu!"
Yeah, I believed her to be cheating, and I desperately wanted to ignore her worries; however, I'd learned at the park that when someone said to look out, that it was in your absolute best interest to do as instructed. Turning around swiftly to check for obstacles, I noticed nothing nearby of importance, and immediately dismissed the ridiculous notion of getting hurt. What could I possibly do here, anyway? Trip over a seashell and fall off the face of the Earth? I mean, seriously! I'm not that clumsy!
Our conversation sounded something like this after that point – "Stop!" Haruhi said, to which I lamely finished, "…in the name of love!" And Haruhi frantically added, "You're going to hurt yourself!" So I snorted at her words and said, "Yeah, I'm not going to fall for that line of bullshit!"
Eventually, I decided to take the mature route and listened to her panicked words, skidding to an impressively quick stop. What…? You don't believe me? …Stop staring at me! Okay, okay, okay! I admit it! Yeah, I did stop, but only because I slammed into what must have been the cliff! Which kinda hurt, might I add! It was strong, hard, and incredibly muscular.
Wait…
"…what the flapjacks just happened, Haruhi-chan?" I muttered to her from my newly earned position in the hot sand, which slowly clawed its way up my swimsuit bottoms and into places best left alone, like my ass(ets). Ewwwww! =_='
"You…you…!" Haruhi gasped out amidst her (possibly fatal) fit of giggles, pushing her hands into her sides to stop the sounds from drawing the attention of the nearby fangirls, who would undoubtedly find it odd that the supposed boy laughed like a girl. "Sammy-chan, I cannot believe that you ran right into Mori-senpai!"
As if to offer evidence of the truth in this statement, Takashi dropped into a crouch beside the sand angel that I'd busied myself with making right now. He stared down at me, a strange light in his eyes, as if imagining another person to be in my place. My boyfriend recently mentioned that his little brother, Satoshi, loved the beach. Maybe I reminded him of Satoshi…?
Something else flickered in their silver depths, though, and I noticed with faint amazement that the depth of affection in his expression only continued to mature into love. My eyes softened in accord. And I smiled at him.
"Hello, Sammy-chan," Takashi softly said, his hands reaching out to curl into the strands of blonde hair that swirled downwards, by my ears. He ghosted his calloused fingertips over my skin, silently counting the number of the earrings – three – pierced into the pale cartilage.
"Hi!" I shyly said, leaning into his touch and blushing faintly at the calming feeling of his fingers caressing my ears and cheek. The strangest sensation settled in my stomach, though, the likes of which I could only describe as want and desire. My heart jumped into my eyes, darkening the sky blue depths to the color of the midnight skies, screaming out how much I wanted him.
Oh… My eyes widened about a centimeter in realization. I…want to…sleep with him, don't I?
Clearing my throat to hide this unexpected and startling revelation, which could only make this relationship even more exciting – or even more incredibly awkward – I eyed him curiously and asked, "Watcha doin', Takashi-kun?"
Apparently, Takashi was attempting to read the strange expression in my eyes, wishing to determine just what I could be feeling – and hiding from him – now. But Takashi eventually consented to not knowing my secret, for the moment at least, and lightly shrugged his shoulders at me. He casually replied, "Nothing much…"
Nodding sagely, I pretended not to hear my own pulse racing in my ears and cheerfully said, "I hear ya, man!" Because I did not want him to figure out that I ached for him in ways no one could really explain. Well, I couldn't really explain these feelings, anyway…
We were silent for a moment, during which time I could feel his gray eyes on me, glued to mine, and during which time I also permitted myself to examine his handsome physique. My blue eyes shyly noted the rich color of his skin against mine, the gentle and protective warmth of his gray eyes, and the width of his broad shoulders in comparison to his thin waist. His green and white swimming trunks stopped about two inches underneath at his belly button, below which I could just barely make out a small line of black hair marking the line to his –
Oh, God.
Swallowing nervously, I glanced at him from beneath thin eyelashes and reached both arms out to him in question. He blinked down at me, surprised, but smiled crookedly at this cute picture that I painted without meaning to do so. Instead of glomping him while Takashi considered the request, like I normally would, I waited for my sweet boyfriend to pick me up. Takashi swiftly but tenderly complied, reaching down to gather me into his strong arms. He chuckled at me, a masculine sound that about knocked the breath from me, too, before moving his hands politely down to my waist and just below the bottom. His hands, which did not wander, tightened to keep me suspended in the air. Then, Takashi smirked.
"You're shiny," Takashi teasingly explained, brushing his knuckles against my nose and cheeks, his gentle touches encouraging the thin layer of golden sand to fall from my skin. He rubbed his nose against mine, giving me a small Eskimo kiss, to which I giggled and kissed him back – this time, mouth to mouth.
From behind Takashi and I, Haruhi (who I really didn't forget, honest) snorted into her hand and teased, "It looks like you're both having fun, Mori-senpai." Her eyes were calm, though, and soft with happiness – for us.
My boyfriend refrained from immediately answering and instead blushed when I stared at him, nose to nose, and pecked his lips once more. He leaned his head down to kiss me properly, his lips placed warmly against mine. "Yes, I suppose so…" Takashi chuckled, voice light and humor dancing in his eyes.
Upon glancing up and about from his current project, Mitsukuni noticed Haruhi calmly standing next to Takashi, the latter of whom continued to hold onto me. He raised his clay red shovel in greeting, grinned widely, and happily declared, "Hey, Haru-chan and Sa-chan! We're hellfish shunting!"
…Sa-chan? I slowly repeated this nickname in my mind, before rolling the sound back and forth in thought. My classmate, who remained picky in his true affections, did not give nicknames to just anyone. No, Mitsukuni saved these hyphenated shortcuts for his best friends, like Haruhi. To think that Mitsukuni suddenly believed that I deserved this new nickname, that I was now worthy of his attention, was a strangely pleasant surprise.
It also meant that Mitsukuni realized just how close his younger cousin and I'd become, too.
Confused, Haruhi stared at him through narrow eyes, as if attempting to discern the meaning of his words, and then sweatdropped in realization. "I think you're actually shellfish hunting, Honey-senpai," Haruhi muttered, her expression one of dry amusement.
My boyfriend zeroed his gray gaze on our deceptively cute classmate. It seemed like his cousin might attempt to argue with Haruhi – who, as a commoner, was the resident expert – about this minor correction to his words. "Haruhi-chan is correct," Takashi quietly but sternly agreed.
"Besides, I don't think shellfish actually live around this sort of beach –" She hesitantly paused when something small, and red, and vicious suddenly crawled by her sandaled feet. My best friend blanched, jumped backwards, and stumbled into another one. "WHAT THE HELL?"
"OMG! It is so cute, Haruhi-chan!" I squealed, clapped both hands together in excitement, and happily waved down at the little creature, which gawked at me, confused. Solemnly, I nodded at him in determination and declared, "Yep, I definitely want that one!"
Then, I grinned manically – uh, sweetly – down at the small red crustacean, who I believed to have crawled right out from within the hand painted pictures from The Little Mermaid. He eyed the (somewhat manic) gleam in my eyes with understandable misgiving and hurriedly scuttled to the side; however, I was prepared for his escape and dropped down to pick him up. Or rather, I would have dropped down to pick him up and affectionately squeeze him to death, except…
Yeah. You guessed it. My boyfriend refused, point blank, to let me go.
Scheiẞe…
"No," Takashi bluntly interjected, shaking his head in refusal of this request. His expression, while stern, did not bother me. It seemed that I was quickly becoming immune to his need to limit the amount of trouble that I walked into – or created.
"C'mon, Takashi-kun, I just want to adopt one!" I whined, playfully wiggling my chest, hips, and legs around in the hopes of persuading him to release me, to which Takashi grunted in surprise and dryly muttered, "She does realize that it is not a puppy, right…?"
This, however, was wishful thinking. Thus, I continued to squirm in his strong hold, seeking freedom, and then pouted at my confused boyfriend when I remained in captivity. His hands tightened purely out of reflex, making certain that I did not fall, but I could feel his fingers brushing against my inner thighs. Panic, thickened with confusion, boiled right over and bubbled to the surface. My cheeks darkened in embarrassment.
"Lemme go…!" I squealed, thoroughly shocked at the sudden and unexpected detour in this conversation. Desperately, I tried to remove myself from the stubborn hands that rested protectively under me. "Please, please, please, please, please!"
Amused, Takashi smirked in understanding, now clued in to the feelings that burned in my stomach, and slowly lifted his arms. He pulled his prize – or, should I really say, me – closer to his handsome face. My boyfriend tenderly pressed his lips to the flushed skin just below my ear and heatedly whispered, "Not in this lifetime, Koi."
In order to distract myself from the suddenly seductive tone to his voice, since it caused the heart in my chest to beat around three million miles per minute, I hastily continued, "His name shall be Sebastian, and I will be Ariel, and…and…and…EEP!" I squeaked when his tongue peeked out from between his lips to run across my ear and, by extension, my sweet spot.
"There is no need to be shy, Sammy-chan," murmured Takashi, his parted lips gently brushing against my ear with this statement, whispering words that I could not really hear through the rush of blood in my veins. He smiled smugly against the reddened skin beneath his own.
Blue eyes rolled backwards with the weight of the heated desire burning in his deep voice. My arms subconsciously tightened around his shoulders, wishing to keep his body close to mine while also seeking to anchor myself to something – or someone. And I softly whispered, "Hmm…?"
"…right, Sammy-chan?" Haruhi brightly asked, with her upturned face lifted to find mine. Her expression of patient expectance was so sweet and innocent that I could almost – almost – see a pair of white wings unfurling and her halo shining around her, bathing her in light. "Crab is so sweet and delicious!"
Horrified at the thought of eating seafood (which I despised), I could only gawk down at Haruhi. She wants to eat innocent little Sebastian? When I remained silent, too caught up in the planning of the upcoming Fish Funeral to respond, Haruhi the Hellion turned around and stared at me – or rather, Takashi, who was pretty much molesting me. Her mouth dropped wide open.
"What are you two doing…!?"
"'FISH ARE FRIENDS,' HARUHI-CHAN," I loudly bellowed, wishing to hide the feelings of embarrassment from being fondled – and while out in public – beneath the volume of this loudly voiced reference, "'NOT FOOD!'"
Takashi winced at the shock of this horrendously loud shriek and pushed his left hand upwards to hide his ears. Immediately, I snatched at this opportunity and commenced with squirming in his hold, which refused to lessen for some reason. I whined out of frustration and bucked upwards, accidentally brushing against his groin. My boyfriend turned bright red at the unintentional connection between my midsection and his. We stared at each other in complete silence.
Then Takashi paled, turned into stone, and did something that I did not expect of him…
Holy Shit! My world whirled around, and around, and around. Without warning, though, I stopped in the midst of this cycle, face in the sand and backside in the air. Groaning, I flipped right over and stared at the white clouds and golden sun, wide eyed with surprise. He actually let go! Brow furrowed in displeasure, I scowled, kicking at the piles of golden sand that I'd landed in, and darkly amended: Scratch that! Takashi fucking dropped me!
"Uh, I-I-I will be right b-back," Takashi explained, clearing his throat to rid his insides of the stuttered words. He swiftly ambled – well, sort of waddled off while wearing this highly pained expression, anyway – towards the cliffs. My boyfriend channeled his inner Spiderman, scaled the wall of rocks with obvious ease, and dropped down to the other side, decidedly out of eyesight.
Once Takashi had vanished, Mitsukuni cackled in what could only be called glee. He slowly turned around, brown eyes wide and limbs moving somewhat abnormally, like Chucky. Perhaps Mitsukuni, like Regan McNeil, had been recently possessed child under the strict instruction of the Devil. Who the fuck really knows with this one, anyway?
As always, Mitsukuni noticed the confusion – and horror – swimming in my eyes without being told. He pointed his shovel in the direction of the cliffs, where I could hear Kyoya speaking with Takashi, and laughingly explained, "You have him all hot and bothered, Sammy-chan!"
"Shut up!" I hissed and avoided his knowing gaze, which reeked of maturity, before glancing down at the plastic bucket at his side. Grinning wickedly, I pointed to the collection of sharp sea creatures that shuffled within its confines and declared, "You have crabs!" And I childishly stuck my pink tongue out at him and stomped both feet in the sand. "So there…!"
To my complete surprise, Mitsukuni startled at this harshly whispered declaration, caught off guard by the implied insult hidden within the playful words, and flushed bright red. He gritted his teeth together, grinding his enamel into dust, and quietly protested, "I certainly do not!"
"Oh! You could not possibly have sexually transmitted diseases, Mitsukuni-kun!" I cooed, patting his head to console him, which worked for about two minutes. Alas, I ruined the moment when I snorted in derision and sarcastically muttered, "And Draco Malfoy is really the Heir of Slytherin!"
"I…do…not…have…crabs…!" Mitsukuni darkly hissed, bangs hiding his darkening eyes. His older persona – which frankly scared the shit outta me – immediately made itself known from beneath his shield of blonde hair. He furiously pointed his finger at me and barked, "NOW HUSH!"
Shivers clawed down my spine. "How rude…" I muttered, hiding the fact that I was scared out of this world, and assumed the Position of the Pout. Childishly, I curled both arms across my chest, jutted out my pink lip, and then sniffed disdainfully at this blatant dismissal. Just like Kotoko instructed Haruhi 'n me to do!
…Kotoko?
Lightbulb!
"Okay, Mitsukuni-kun," I easily agreed with his demand – uh, request – before carelessly shrugging and walking away, my arm up in a wave. When I was about thirty yards from him, however, I glanced back over my shoulder, smirked, and cheerfully added, "But then I'm going to tell Kotoko-chan that you've got crabs!"
Burdened with that little bit of information, Mitsukuni immediately panicked and shot towards my retreating form, his arms outstretched to catch me. He yelped in surprise, and ducked, when I reached back to throw his bucket of crabs, lobsters, and other miscellaneously pointy creatures at his deceptively cherubic face. "You wouldn't dare!"
"Oh, I dare!" I gleefully cackled, while running straight ahead, dancing around random fangirls, and effectively evading the arms of the smaller senior. Suddenly, however, Mitsukuni jerked his left foot outwards in an impromptu martial arts move, promptly tripping me up and causing me to fall flat on my ass. "Ow…"
The Neurotic Ninja smirked, pleased with the outcome of the chase. He idly wandered off, possibly to continue digging in the sand for his stupid shellfish, and waved back at me with that infuriatingly satisfied smile still glued to his lips. "You really should have learned by now not to mess with me, Sa-chan!"
At the sound of this nickname, I huffed in distaste and moved to stand, dusting sand from my sore palms and knees. Glad to know that Mitsukuni still loves me! I pouted, unwilling to admit that I lost to the kickass ninja, and headed toward the distant beach tables. There, I could hear Hikaru and Kaoru joking, laughing, and carrying on. My feet picked their pace up.
Once I arrived, I gracelessly plopped down into the nearest lap, which happened to belong to Kaoru, and snuggled into his chest. "Hi, Ru-chan," I cheerfully chirped, hugging him around his waist, like I used to with Caleb when we were younger.
"Hey, Onee-chan," Kaoru brightly responded, his lips twisting into a grin. My youngest brother paused, eyed the sand seemingly plastered to my rear end, and then seriously inquired, "Were you injured, Big Sister?" His English, while heavily accented, remained good throughout his years of practice. "…Sammy?"
For just the briefest of moments, I struggled to form the words that I used to comprehend, write, and speak all of the time, on a regular basis. Ignoring the pain in my chest that flared with that saddening but true realization, I smiled softly at him, and asked, "Why do you ask, Kaoru?"
"We saw you…" Kaoru hesitantly started the sentence, unsure just how to continue until Hikaru angrily interrupted to bare his teeth and finish with – "…being tripped and falling down when Honey chased after you!"
Somehow, I was not surprised that Hikaru and Kaoru were interacting with and performing for their guests while also keeping an eye out for me. My brothers pretended to be oblivious to the rest of the world with all the skill of famous actors. The truth of the matter, however, was that Hikaru and Kaoru were painfully in tune with the thoughts, words, and actions of other people. Neither liked people much when I first met the two, but Tamaki and the Host Club seemed to have changed that aspect about the redheaded boys. Now, Hikaru and Kaoru interacted with, talked to, and sometimes touched others with kindness or even concern.
My little brothers are growing up…
With the brightest smile that I could muster, I beamed at the two beautiful boys, who were gorgeous inside and out, before shrugging their concerns away. I giggled at the sight of their identically displeased scowls and shyly admitted, "My butt is probably bruised, but…I think I'll live!"
The Twins glanced at each other, surprised with this apparent lack of embarrassment or anger on my part, and then smirked mischievously at me. "Should Kaoru and I kiss it to make it feel all better, Onee-chan?" Hikaru cooed, hair falling into his face and covering the tears of laughter that threatened to fall from his golden eyes. Beside his brother, Kaoru winked at me and playfully puckered his lips.
Noticing Yui, Hana, and Emiko standing somewhere off to the left, with eyes wide and lungs frozen, I batted golden eyelashes at my incestuous brothers. I leaned closer to Hikaru, placed two hands to his naked chest, and purred, "Pretty please, Hika-chan…!"
Following the planned scene word for word, Hikaru and Kaoru leaned closer to me, and sweetly pressed their lips to my pink dusted cheeks. Hikaru chuckled against my nose, whereas Kaoru grinned charmingly and (rather seriously) inquired, "Does it feel better, Onee-chan?"
"Yes, Ru-chan," I whispered, ducking down to hide the fact that I could not blush at command, the act of which Hikaru and Kaoru perfected just last year. Feigning shyness, I curled into their combined embrace and sweetly crooned, "Hika-chan, Ru-chan, I love you so much!"
Happiness whispered through the depths of two pairs of mysteriously golden eyes. "We love you, too, Onee-chan!" Hikaru and Kaoru immediately chorused, their mocking smirks softening into sweetly genuine smiles.
Girls promptly squealed about this beautiful love between siblings. In fact, Yui and her friends were so incredibly loud that Hikaru, Kaoru, and I almost missed the loud, frightened screeching from down the beach. We glanced at each other, collectively worried about someone outside of the family for perhaps the first time ever. Then, Hikaru, Kaoru, and I quickly darted off to find the rest of the Host Club, only to find that Haruhi the Heartless Host had chucked this poor innocent centipede almost ten feet in the air, over a cliff, and to its certain doom.
"Oh, God," I mumbled the mouthful of English words in disbelief, turning the images around and around in my mind but not really comprehending the grotesque murder scene. "I think that Haruhi just killed the unholy reincarnation of Rita Skeeter…!"
While I was in this strange state of shock, Hikaru and Kaoru kindly stepped forward and scolded their classmate for being so cruel, heartless, and despicable. Like Gru! But Haruhi defended herself by relating facts and characteristics of the centipede, a surprisingly hearty and strong creature that could survive falls from tremendous heights. The fangirls, as usual, loved it…
"My, Haruhi-kun is so manly!" Yui called, her hands clasped in front of her in the stereotypical image of the Damsel in Distress. Immediately afterwards, Sakura stepped out from behind her classmate, less frightened, and seriously added, "He is so gentle, too, which is a sweet trait that I really admire about him!"
The Twins, however, appear to share in my unvoiced opinion, which remains that –
"Her reactions differ greatly from that of normal girls," Kaoru muttered, his tone of voice annoyed and less calm than usual. Unnerved, Hikaru only nodded and rested his head against his back, which relaxed faintly beneath the familiar touch of his brother. He sighed, "Yeah, I know what you mean…"
– Haruhi is pretty weird.
Ever the Dramatic Host Queen, Tamaki flinched at the implications, all of which pointed to the fact that his daughter was a Strong and Hardy Tomboy. He grimaced, fairly disgusted with the manliness of his not-so-secret love interest, and whined, "Is Haruhi-chan not afraid of anything at all?"
A single lightbulb flickered to life in the fading sunlight, which Hikaru and Kaoru used to cast deceptive shadows around the mischievous edges to their Cheshire Cat Grins. "My Lord," The Twins exclaimed, their arms wrapped around the confused Host King. "Wanna join in on our new game?"
To which I could only sigh.
"Here we go again…"
***Author's Note***
Ha, ha, ha! I actually blushed and grinned and laughed while writing these scenes. All at the same time! Loser, I am! XD
As requested, Sammy will not take part in the Fear Trial. Everyone knows her fear, so it would be rather silly for her to participate, right? I have a rough idea written out, but I plan to have her spend time with Takashi in the next chapter. She will interact some with Hikaru and Kaoru, too, but mainly Takashi. Also, I have a surprise for the next chapter! It involves Haruhi. Hee hee... :D
Anyway, I am procrastinating my paper to post this chapter, but I wanted to thank everyone so much for all of the favorites and reviews! For some reason, though, I can't reply to anyone right now. What is up with that? Anyone else having trouble?
P.S. Could I have about 535 reviews for the next chapter? Please and thank you! :)