~Chapter Fifty Two~
Piece of Cake
Every little piece of me falls right in front of you.
Baby, when you're next to me, I, I become a fool.
Kissing you is bittersweet;
I'm giving in to you.
My sweet tooth satisfaction;
I'm freaking out, out, o-o-out.
It's like a chain reaction.
I'm going down, down.
D-d-down.
~Sugar Rush, by Myah Marie
Disclaimer: Me No Own; You No Sue.
"Oh! Hello, Mori-senpai!" My youngest brother cheerfully greeted, his voice carrying from the other side of the apartment. Apparently, Kaoru disappeared from the table and reappeared at the front entrance to hold the door open as a new person asked for permission to enter; been taking ninja lessons from Mitsukuni, apparently!
"You're just in time for the show!" Hikaru exclaimed in laughter, lifting his left hand in a wave, before slowly fixing his Cheshire Cat Grin on my pale and panicked face. "Sammy-nee-chan is giving Kyoya-senpai free lap dances!"
"WHAT?!" Takashi sharply demanded, his normally stoic expression darkening with shades of black anger, and turned to glower at the abnormally pale Shadow King. He opened his mouth, started forward to move my smaller form from his lap, and then –
BAM!
Sammy's P.O.V.
"Ouch…"
Sheepishly, Takashi climbed back to his full height of 192 centimeters, about six feet and four inches of delicious Strong and Silent Type. He blushed faintly, the embarrassment of hitting the ceiling fan with the side of his lean, handsome face making it hard to speak up and explain the reasoning behind his delayed arrival. Everyone was staring at him with concern – and faint amusement, too. Silver eyes were warm and alert, though; Takashi appeared to be fine. A concussion would be highly unlikely with his thick ol' skull!
Still, Chibi Sammy sweatdropped, smiled nervously at her lack of medical expertise, and dryly mused: At least, I think so…
"Are you okay, Mori-senpai?!" Haruhi blurted, clearly startled by his shocking entrance, and glanced anxiously at his left cheek, which appeared to be bruised and somewhat swollen. She winced in sympathy and began rifling through the cabinet under the sink for the first aid kit.
My fiancé gratefully touched his fingers to her shoulder in thanks. He smiled gently down at the shorter girl, his appreciation for her gesture obvious, but firmly said, "No need for the bandages, Haruhi-chan; I'm perfectly fine."
Once the initial shock of his arrival dissipated, I smiled sweetly at him. "Takashi-kun," I cried, beyond relieved that my sweet fiancé had arrived, and in one piece. No thanks to that ceiling fan, but still – "You're here!"
Without thinking, I leapt up and darted through the small living room, my arms around his waist before the tall teenager could determine what – or who – had tackled him. I burrowed into his purple shirt, which peeked out from beneath his sleeveless black jacket. My hands fisted into soft material, his arms around mine, I could relax, my eyes closed. When I finally glanced to him, however, Takashi surprised me. His mouth quickly found mine, and I couldn't breathe suddenly, because Takashi thoroughly claimed the lips that I molded to his. A tongue was pressed against mine for the quickest of seconds. And then Takashi pulled back. Smiled.
Stormy eyes were so warm, soft with tender affection, and Takashi quietly murmured, "Morning, Sweetheart…" My fiancé warily eyed Kyoya, whoslowly eased closer to the door, his face hidden deep within the pages of his Handy Dandy Notebook.
Silly Steve!
XD
"Hi," I softly whispered back, lips curled into a grin at the possessive gleam burning in his eyes, and then frowned at him, worried. My fingers trailed down his cheek, lightly brushing the light purple skin that had been marred by the force of the hit. "Wow. It looks like this really hurts, Takashi-kun."
Long fingers captured mine, before Takashi lifted the smaller fingers to his lips, kissing them sweetly with his soft lips. "As I told Haruhi-chan, I will heal; it is not like I have not been bruised before in training, Koi." Laughter danced softly in his gray eyes.
My childhood friend, with his relatively good knowledge of Japanese, followed the conversation well enough, at least until the last word. He pouted at his own confusion and slowly parroted the word: "…'Koi?'"
Confused, Caleb frowned at the younger man and leaned his head to the side to consider the meaning of the foreign word within the context of the sentence. My childhood friend understood enough Japanese to carry on a pretty good conversation without confusing anybody else, himself included. But I taught him how to speak the language. Meaning that I didn't teach him certain words, like the translation for lover. Honorifics and titles of affection weren't something that really clicked for the rather rude – uh, blunt, I mean– redhead, either.
Surprise, surprise…
Huffing, I decided to ignore Clueless Caleb in favor of fussing over my sweet fiancé. My mouth set, left hip cocked to the side, I frowned at him and sternly said, "Regardless of how true that might be, Sweetie, I'm still going to worry over you."
'Cuz I honestly couldn't handle the thought of Takashi being hurt in any way. A little bruise like this one was enough to upset me! Thinking of Takashi being hurt in training was scary, too. But I knew that him getting scraped and bruised wasn't something that I could do much to prevent; however, my samurai fiancé was a martial artist, with lots of strength and enough skill to keep himself (relatively) safe.
Besides, Takashi really loved Kendo…
"Ugh, I think I just vomited in my mouth," Caleb whispered, his finger stuck down his throat in a practiced mime of being violently sick. My stupid smile (which probably reminded him of either A] Peeves the Poltergeist or B] Loki, the God of Mischief) seemed to make him ill. Lovesick!
"Quit it with the bulimia, then," I smartly retorted and pulled at my eye, a classic sign of insult in Japan. A blank expression was my only reward; thus, for added insult, I pulled back from the warmth of Takashi's embrace to flip him the Bird. (Not Big Bird, either!)
Bingo! Caleb clearly comprehended the meaning behind that rude gesture. "You first, Princess! By the by, Sammy, does the boy toy know his girl is fucked in the head yet?" Caleb swiftly quipped in English.
Also in English, I darkly snapped, "Real nice, Caleb! Shouldn't I be calling you a princess, Mr. Sister?" Homosexuality wasn't something I feared and/or hated, but I tended to use it against him in arguments because Caleb liked to bring up my medical issues. AKA: Depression.
"Hey! That's Mr. Mister to you!" Caleb haughtily retorted with his nose up in the air and, if the Hosts hadn't noticed before that Caleb preferred boys, the clueless clowns most certainly knew now.
Freakin' Fairy, I thought fondly to myself whilst hiding the smile clawing at my mouth. He's almost as annoying as Navi!
"Are you going to start singing Kyrie now?" I sarcastically asked him, lifting both eyebrows and smirking at the redhead in a very condescending way. Copying Ayanokoji, I must admit. As Dean from Supernatural would shout: Bitchface!
We glared at each other for what seemed to be eternity, until I couldn't stop the brilliant smile that threatened to break through the façade of hatred and disgust. I burst into laughter, and Caleb giggled happily, jade green eyes crinkled beneath his wide smile. He started singing the lyrics to the song and, surprisingly enough, with decent rhythm. Leaning against Takashi, I did the only think that I could do, and laughed harder at his antics. My fiancé gently wiped the tears of laughter the whispered down my cheeks and stared down at me, eyes on me as a question. Who…?
Catching my escaped breath, I managed to return to the original goal of conversation – and this entire trip, if I might add – and shyly said, "Takashi-kun, I want you to meet somebody who I love very, very much."
Hurt crossed his face, thoroughly erasing the expression of calm in its wake, and Takashi warily glanced from me, to Kyoya, and back to me again. Why Takashi would think that I wanted him like lovers wasn't lost on me. He'd always been pretty protective of me – and also increasingly possessivesince our engagement – but seeing me on our resident Shadow King made it worse. Although I'd not done it on purpose, my smile dropped, and I shifted guiltily. Maybe Tamaki was right…
Someday, I really might hurt Takashi if I didn't try harder to show him how much I loved him and wanted to be with him. Hanging out with other boys wouldn't be weird in America; it didn't bother most people. Over here in Japan, however, I needed to careful because of the differences in culture and the gossip that whirled around in the higher circles of society. I usually milled around in those circles because I'd been adopted by the Hitachiins.
Yes, I needed to try harder to fit in and not hurt Takashi. But…
Why doesn't Takashi trust me?
"Not Kyo-kun!" I quickly replied in the negative, attempting – but failing – to shove down the loud exasperation in my words. So I turned to face the Shadow King, who glanced from his work to blink at me, and smiled shyly at him. "Although, I hope we're good friends now?"
"Of course, Sammy-chan," Kyoya quietly agreed with this assumption which, oddly enough, made me want to dance around in joy. He slowly smiled back at me – small, hardly worth mentioning, but genuine and real.
Relaxing, Takashi pressed his lips to my nose and apologetically murmured, "Sorry for thinking the worst, Sammy-chan, but I really hate it when you are anywhere but in my arms, especially since we are not yet –" A faint flash of emotion zipped through his eyes. "– married."
Wait…
It hit me: Mein Gott, Takashi is nervous!
"Oh, Takashi-kun, I wouldn't dream of leaving you – ever," I whispered, taking the chance to reassure my sweet lover while the others distracted themselves with pictures of Haruhi, who predictably began shouting at the Perverted Prince.
All of these fears merely exploded out of proportion because I accidentally fell into Kyoya! I sighed softly in relief. Nothing more. Nothing less. In all actuality, Takashi really seemed to trust me. But…
Did I trust Takashi?
Somewhere deep down, I feared that Takashi might leave me. My parents and Sarah left me – unintentionally and reluctantly, but I'd still been left alone. My heart hammered in my eyes and neck, the heartbeat loud in my ears. I loved him. I was in love with him, and Takashi admitted to being in love with me. Sometimes, though, I feared that Takashi and I might only be fooling ourselves. We wanted to get married, and have children, and live like Prince Charming and Princess Cinderella. It wasn't realistic; I knew that much. Takashi and I didn't live in a…fairytale.
We were young, so very young in the grand scheme of things, too. We wouldn't be graduating for another couple of months. College, weddings, and then much more were coming soon as well. At eighteen, Takashi and I still had decades ahead of us.
Would Takashi still love me in a year?
"Please know that I will not leave you, either," Takashi quietly reassured and then yawned into his hand. He blinked sleepily – cutely, too – and smiled at me, a warm glow in his stormy eyes as my sweet fiancé promised, "Ever."
"Good," I softly said, and Takashi leaned down to kiss the reddened cheeks that I tried to hide against his chest, feeling shy again. And Takashi agreed, "Ah…"
After another moment, Takashi finally asked, "Who is it that I'm supposed to meet, then?" His gray eyes were now scanning the other occupants of the apartment until, at long last, landing upon the only unfamiliar face.
"This," I began and, without leaving the warmth of his hold, I gestured at tallest of the three redheads seated beside Mitsukuni, "is Caleb Jenkins."
"We're childhood friends," Caleb explained, before striding forward to shake hands with him, a warm smile claiming his lips. My friend, who'd promised to make his life Hell, actually seemed to understand the severity of the situation. He seriously added, "Sam-I-Am and I aren't anything but friends, though. Just sayin'!"
Annoyed with the reemergence of this hated nickname, I twitched faintly and groaned, "What is it with you and those books? First, Hika-chan and Ru-chan become Thing 1 and Thing 2, and then I'm suddenly Sam-I-Am again? Dammit, Caleb…!"
My childhood friend only laughed cheerfully at the displeasure written in my eyes and voice, lifting his hand to flick his nose with his thumb, and winked cheekily at me. "What? You should know how much I like green eggs and ham, Sam-I-Am!"
Growling in frustration, I tried to dive at him and smack him upside his (big, fat) head, but Takashi easily kept me in place while Caleb and the others scampered back to the table. His hands stayed at my arm and waist, respectively, until the first sneakily slipped down my rear end and squeezed the tender flesh lightly between his fingers. Although hidden beneath jean shorts, I could feel his hand burning through the layers over my rear, and fire engine red suddenly erupted down my nose as we moved into the kitchen.
Where nobody, I noticed, might see us.
Uh-oh…
"Mine," Takashi murmured, his familiar protective streak vanishing, to be replaced by the same possessiveness demonstrated in the shower at the beach house. A soft growl whispered in his words when the man – my man – proclaimed, "You are mine, Samantha."
Passion purred in his voice. I squeaked lightly out of embarrassment and leaned back into his chest, thick hips against his thinner waist and hands curled into the jeans material at his thighs. My fiancé growled lightly in my ear as my rear end brushed against his lower extremities, which I noticed seemed to positively burn me, warmth spreading through the both of us. Something else, something strange, started to happen down below, in my stomach, and I bit back a moan. Large hands traveled back to their original places, resting at my waist, and Takashi lifted, his strength used to easily set me up on a counter behind the two of us. We continued kissing.
Um.
…counter?
Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God!
What the fuck have I been thinking letting Takashi do this to me?!
"Okay!" I yelped, finally regaining enough marbles to remember where Takashi and I'd been – blush – making out for the last three minutes. "You must be really tired, Sweetie, because I don't think that you'd normally pin me on a counter in…Haruhi-chan's apartment!"
Kissing me soundly again, Takashi pulled back long enough to stare down at me, a slow smirk claiming his red, bruised lips. A husky laugh escaped those lips (not that I'd been staring at them, nope, no way) and sent shivers down my spine. "Funny you should mention it, but Satoshi-kun found it amusing to wake me up a quarter 'til dawn to train."
"Why don't we go and r-r-rest, then?" I hastily asked, shifting backwards to separate us since Takashi seemed Hell bent on my mouth remaining occupied in other ways, "i-i-in the living room, with the o-other Hosts, and Mitsukuni-kun…and…and…OI, HARUHI-CHAN?!"
"Yeah, Sammy-chan? Do I need to help with the tea or –" Haruhi trailed off into nothingness, before slowly glancing from Takashi, who had permitted his wandering hands to cover my rear again, to me, a girl with really bruised lips. "– maybe I should just leave you alone."
"Good idea, Haruhi-chan," Takashi murmured, barely glancing her way and curling his fingers around the loose strands of hair that just brushed the top of my rear, a pleased smile playing along his lips.
"NO!" I wailed, feeling devastated at this betrayal, and attempted to leap out of his arms and into hers. The Hosts did not hear me shouting, thankfully, but Takashi still frowned in discontent and then buried his face in my neck, his lips pressed there to restrain me.
"Uh…" Haruhi mumbled, clearly confused, embarrassed, and loads of other emotions, if the blush along her cheeks and neck served to be good indicators. "…Sammy-chan?"
Eyes wide, I tried to convey an answer and mouthed: HELP ME!
Please, please, please understand what I'm telling you!
One, two, three, four seconds…
LIGHT BULB!
"Oh, I forgot that I left the cookies in the oven!" Haruhi finally exclaimed, her hands already shoving the startled Takashi from the kitchen and pushing her small stepstool in front of the counter to help me.
"Oops! My bad! Caleb and I must've forgotten to set the timer for you," I said nervously; then, I busied myself in following along with her improvisations. Darted forward to the kitchen to pour a glass of lemonade and start the tea. "We'll just have to settle for eating the cake that Mitsukuni-kun brought with him, huh?"
"'Sharing is caring,'" Haruhi dryly muttered while pulling glasses out of the cabinet to serve our classmates tea. I blushed brilliantly at the insinuation in her words because the words had nothing – absolutely nothing – to do with the cake.
Embarrassed, I playfully slapped her arm, mindful of the tray in her hands, and hissed, "Shut it, Haruhi-chan, before I ask Tamaki-kun if this Saturday would be good for his first date with his beloved 'Baby Girl!'"
"You wouldn't dare!" Haruhi huffed out between amused chuckles. She stuck her tongue out at me as we neared the table, yellow trays laden with various cups, glasses, and coffee mugs. I snickered at her silliness.
"Tea is served!" Haruhi and I brightly announced, blinking at each other in amusement, having not done something like speaking in chorus before this point. Something of that nature was usually best left to the Twins: Hikaru and Kaoru could do it perfectly!
My best friend sighed in fond exasperation when I muttered, "Jinx, Haruhi-chan. You owe me a soda…"
"Here is your cup of tea, Kyoya-senpai," Haruhi said, her hand darting from the tray to the table with the tall, thin glass that her father liked to use. The Shadow King quietly thanked her and continued reading the book borrowed from the bookshelves behind them.
"What…?!" Tamaki squawked indignantly, trading in his imaginary tail for feathers instead, and puffed out his chest in irritation. "Why does Mommy get his tea first? Your Daddy should be the first to have tea at the kotatsu, Daughter!"
"I'm not your child, Senpai," Haruhi calmly said, thoroughly dashing his hopes, which had been lifted the moment that the brunette girl turned to place another glass – smaller than the first, but purple, like his eyes – in front of the Host King.
"Why must you pretend not to know me?" Tamaki wailed dramatically, burying his head in his hands and letting his tears fall beneath the table to nourish the small collection of mushrooms cultivating at his feet. He mumbled something incoherent about his Baby Girl hating him.
Ignoring him, I made a swift beeline for the two classmates I spent the most time with at Ouran High School. "Here you go," I chirped, handing them out – the first, to Takashi; the second, to Mitsukuni, who smiled at me and then focused his attention to Haruhi.
"Care for some cake?" Mitsukuni asked, hands outstretched, kindly shoving the decorated box to her and letting the younger girl pick the first slice of cake. And Haruhi, for her part, looked delighted; it wasn't fancy tuna, but good food tended to make her happy, anyway.
"We're used to eating this rich stuff all the time, anyway," Hikaru rudely added, but Kaoru and Tamaki shushed him effectively, reminding the other to keep from embarrassing Haruhi. Caleb clapped his hand atop his mouth; it thoroughly freaked him out, and Hikaru stayed silent, but I slapped him upside the head for – er, good measure.
Plus, I liked to slap people, so…
Yeah!
Eventually, Haruhi picked strawberry, and Takashi offered her his, since the girl liked them so much. I smiled at him, at her, and well – everybody! I loved spending time with these boys outside of school. It usually ended in chaos, but I had fun. The Host Club used to make me pretty sick, to be honest, because I thought them to be players, but…I loved them.
The Host King; I loved Tamaki for being so sweet and caring. The Shadow King; I loved Kyoya for being stern and organized, while secretly caring for us – in his own way. The Twins; Hikaru and Kaoru were my sweet, mischievous brothers and the crazy redheaded boys could brighten any room with laughter. The Commoner; I loved Haruhi, with her down-to-Earth personality and dry humor that made me smile. She let me care about her – and for her – if I tried hard enough to be her big sister figure. The Ninja; I loved Mitsukuni for being cute and secretly devious. The Samurai; I loved Takashi.
Words could only brush the surface of the affections I carried for him. I loved his hair, his eyes, nose, and mouth, which quirked with amusement whenever the Hosts and I did something funny. I loved his laugh. It didn't happen often, but I loved to hear him just let go and burst into honest laughter because Takashi looked happy and free. I loved how tall, and strong, and there Takashi could be. I loved how my sweet fiancé could bury his face into a good history book and read for hours, disappearing into stories of samurais and battles of honor. I loved that Takashi cuddled with animals, and with me. His touch – his arms on my waist, his long legs brushing against mine, his lips touching my cheek – made me so warm. I was safe with Takashi.
Smiling, I glanced to him, only to find his eyes on my youngest girl friend, his brow quirked in amusement because Haruhi seemed thrilled to be eating strawberry shortcake. How could Takashi and I have doubted each other? We're meant to be together. Forever…
"Are you not going to sit down, Sammy-chan?" Kyoya asked, his dark voice low enough that the others could not hear him. Still, I jerked out of these reveries with enough force to almost drop the remaining glass. He steadied it for me.
"Oh!" I said, blinking at the young man and then the carpeted floor surrounding the kotatsu in confusion, clearly uncertain where I could possibly fit with all of these people down here. "Well, I would, but I kind of lost my seat when Takashi-kun arrived…"
My fiancé startled faintly, obviously having heard this statement, and then glanced at me apologetically. I smiled at his concern and waved it off, before hesitantly shuffling forward to glance at him from under my eyelashes. As I learned to do while dating – uh, courting – him, I silently asked the question that I wanted answered. Takashi immediately responded by opening his arms. Gratefully, I bent down and crawled into his lap, shifting to get comfortable, before turning around to face the table and the rest of the Host Club. Everyone continued talking cheerfully to each other about whatever topic jumped to mind. Cake, music, movies…
Absently, I noticed Takashi curl his arms over my waist and rest his head beside mine. I smiled sweetly at the familiar warmth surrounding my own and happily chewed the piece of chocolate cake that Mitsukuni offered to me. It tasted deliciously sweet because of the chocolate, but it also had lemon in the middle, and the occasional bite of citrus was sour. My fiancé chuckled eventually, his smile lifting because of the pinched expression I presented – watery eyes and scrunched face. He laughed, and I turned around to smile at him, loving the deep and husky sound of his laughter.
Eyes burning on mine, Takashi slowly bent down to kiss me, and gently licked the icing from my parted lips. "Sweetheart," He groaned softly into my mouth, sounding amused at the connection between the sweet taste of the icing and the nickname usually connected to me.
Gasps of shock could be heard from all around us. Takashi pulled back to kiss my nose and rub his face against mine, the gesture intimate enough to make the others blush. Caleb, Hikaru, and Kaoru stared strangely at us, mouths dropped and cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Having accidently interrupted Takashi earlier, Haruhi only coughed into her tea and pretended to be preoccupied with the last bite of her cake. Kyoya blushed but seemed wholly unsurprised. Tamaki, however, looked positively thrilled.
Damn French Fry…
"Oi, Mori-senpai," Hikaru and Kaoru exclaimed in tandem. Their voices were much higher than usual, possibly because of the shock of seeing their older sister passionately kissing her fiancé – their senpai. "Quit molesting Onee-chan! Hands off of her merchandise! Back off –!"
"Hush, Devils," Tamaki scolded the panicking redheaded teenagers, which included the now screaming Caleb. His English had become quicker and, in his rush to ask his questions, completely incomprehensible; thus, Tamaki ignored him. "Leave them be!"
Lowering his Handy Dandy Notebook, Kyoya slowly nodded his head in agreement (for once) and clarified, "You know that it is within his rights to kiss her because Sammy-chan is his fiancée."
"WHAT?!" Caleb shouted, leaping to his feet and wordlessly pointed from me, to Takashi, and then back again. Something of that gravity I would normally have told him, but – uh, I might have forgotten to mention it. Whoops…
At his side, Haruhi coughed through her surprise (and mouthful of tea) and then smiled widely at us, eyes gleaming with happiness. My best friend exclaimed, "Congratulations, Sammy-chan, Mori-senpai!"
"Thank you," Takashi proudly said, but I shyly – and silently – curled into his arms, a pink blush staining my nose and cheeks. I could not respond because of the embarrassment of everybody staring right at him, clearly expecting Takashi to kiss me again.
"Oh! We should celebrate, Sammy-chan!" Mitsukuni exclaimed excitedly from his seat beside us and clapped his hands together in glee. He fidgeted for another minute before turning to cheerfully wink at me.
Blink, blink. "Will this celebration involve cake?" I asked him, already knowing the answer and yet wanting to hear it from the other blonde all the same. We were, as usual, interested in the sweets!
"Of course," Mitsukuni laughed, his cheeks stretched back to show his beautiful white teeth and the happiness in his honest answer.
Whooping in happiness, I lifted both hands in the air and laughed brightly at the grins, smiles, and smirks that the lips of the rest of the Host Club. I leaned back to cuddle with Takashi and cheerfully chirped, "Count me in, then!"
We're really not just friends anymore now, are we? The Host Club laughed cheerfully together and continued to chatter about the upcoming events that would take place in the Abandoned Third Music Room. No, I think we're much more. And I smiled. We're…
…Family.
Yes.
***Author's Note***
WOOHOO~! Quick update for everybody! :D
Thanks for all the wonderful support! So, I originally asked if Caleb should be paired with somebody. People have voted for Nobody, Kasanoda, Hikaru, Kaoru, and the Twins. The Twins have the most votes right now! Keep voting, though, and I'll post the winner (with the most votes) next chapter, okay?
As for this chapter, I know it is kinda emotional: humorous, intense, and angsty. It's supposed to be funny because, hey, it's Sammy. She's crazy! We're also going into the Cavity Arc, which translates to Takashi being mopey and shoving Mitsukuni away. Cue: Angst.
Question 1: What do you think is going to happen with Sammy? What do you want to happen with Sammy? Lemme know in a review, please!
Question 2: What do you think of the Takashi/Sammy fluff? Too much? Totally awesome? Lemme know!
SO PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
Update = Between 685/690.