~Chapter Sixty Two~

Shop 'til You Drop Part II

People say…
They say that it's just a phase.
They tell me to act my age.
Well, I am.

It's the perfect day.
Tomorrow's gonna come too soon.
I could stay forever as I am
On this perfect day.

Nothing can go wrong.

~Perfect Day, by Superchick

Disclaimer: Me No Own; You No Sue.

Sighing, Kotoko ignored the two of us, as we were acting stupid, and turned to the two teenage boys. They had been staring at us, eyes moving back and forth like tennis balls, to follow the little conversation. "Gentlemen, I suggest leaving before our men come and find the two of you."

His friend, Hiro, looked ready to beat feet at that little warning, but Ash stayed put to reach out for my arm. He pulled until I stumbled into him and then taunted, "Where are your supposed boyfriend and fiancés then, huh?"

"Here," Takashi darkly growled from above me, reaching down to remove the unwanted hands from mine. Ash stumbled back to stare up at Takashi who, at six feet and four inches, dwarfed his five feet and ten inches. I smiled widely at his sudden appearance.

Speak of the handsome Devil…

Sammy's P.O.V.

Every Saturday, Caleb and I used to get up early, meet in his living room or mine, and search through the lower television channels for morning cartoons. A Pup Named Scooby Doo was our starting cartoon, during which time Caleb and I ate Lucky Charms and Trix and Froot Loops, the colorful stuff. We always managed to find Pokémon, too. He and I would play with draw while watching the cartoon, eat lunch at noon, and then mill around in his front yard while playing make believe. We sometimes pretended to be Pokémon Trainers, too. Catching pretend Pokémon with Caleb had been fun, something I remembered fondly from childhood –

Catching Takashi, however, was so much better.

Go, Takashi! I gleefully thought. Use Glare.

As expected, Takashi glared at Ash.

Ash flinched.

"Hi, Takashi-kun," I happily greeted him, sniffling lightly and coughing into my arm. My fiancé frowned down at me, worried at the dry cough, and then returned to glaring at the two teenage boys. They gulped and hugged each other, tears of fear streaming down their faces.

"Hello, Honey Bunny-chan," Kotoko sweetly said to Mitsukuni. The Ninja smirked at his fiancé and went to stand in front of her, his legs spread apart and his fists up. He was still short but had actually started growing again recently, hitting five feet and four inches, just two inches shorter than Kotoko.

The Ninja looked ready to maim and/or clobber somebody to death, too. I could practically hear the lyrics of I'll Make A Man Out Of You, from Mulan, playing in the background. Yep! Mitsukuni would kick them with the incredible strength of Li Shang! Or Jackie Chan!

"Nobody touches my girl and her friends!" Mitsukuni brightly chirped at them while smiling disarmingly, lulling the boys into a sense of false security, and then –

The Ninja of Nightmares scowled darkly at Ash and Hiro.

I sweatdropped. Or Chuck Norris…

Flushing, Ash stepped forward, but before the boy could add anything else and risk life and limb, Hiro – acting the part of his sensible older brother, Tadashi – dragged him off by his arm. Only a small cloud of dust could be seen as our opponents scampered off into the proverbial sunset. The Hosts cheered enthusiastically at their pathetic retreat, classifying the fast departure as a victory for the handsome gentlemen of the Ouran High School Host Club. Well, Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru, and Mitsukuni cheered – Takashi only smirked and crossed his arms. And Kyoya…

…Wait. Wo ist der Schatten König…?I thought, glancing around the others with sudden worry. If Kyoya was not here, with the rest of the Hosts, who had been managing their craziness, other than Takashi? What would Kiki do if Kyoya was not here? I winced. She was going to freak.

Predictably, Kiki decided to tune in to my mind like Sookie Stackhouse. "…where's Kyo-kun?" The Canadian asked at that moment, glancing back and forth between the present Hosts – from Tamaki, Hikaru, Kaoru, and Mitsukuni to Takashi – for her boyfriend, Kyoya.

Everyone blanched. If I could trust the mutterings of the Three Stooges – namely, Hikaru, Kaoru, and Mitsukuni – then the oblivious and easily distracted boneheads had just figured out that Kyoya was missing while watching Renge bouncing around in the Ouran Power Rangers Event. The Twins, the Ninja, and the Samurai all slowly, mechanically, turned to face their Fearless Leader, Leo – uh, Tamaki.

The Host King smiled hesitantly at the Sweets Princess and stuttered at us. We all looked at him, waiting for him to swallow down his nerves, and then Tamaki nervously admitted, "Uh, I might have…forgotten…where I put him?"

Ouch, I thought sympathetically, while reaching out to pat his quivering arm in silent farewell; it had been nice knowing him. That, Tamaki, was a very wrong answer.

Silence, and then – "YOU LOST MY BOYFRIEND?! DAMMIT, SUOH, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Kiki hollered at him, completely losing her cool, and then dived at him like a wildcat, all wild hair and big violet eyes and blue and yellow fingernails.

While cheerfully watching Kiki chase a screaming and terrified Tamaki in and out of the stores, I sneezed. My pink and scabby nose was running again, and I had the worst headache imaginable, but I wouldn't have missed all of this beautiful bonding and craziness for the world! The Host Club could always have fun. My fiancé, however, did not appear to share these feelings. He slowly turned to stare down at me. A serious frown marred his lips.

Nervously, I slowly smiled at the taller teenager, hoping that the cute and innocent act would fool him for the first time ever, and sweetly asked, "Yes, Takashi-kun? May I help you?"

My fiancé narrowed his gray eyes on my runny nose, pale skin, and watering eyes. He gave me a serious look that clearly said I would be paying for not letting him know (and for coming out here to shop while sick) and quietly stated, "You are ill."

As the Wild Type, Takashi was sometimes known for reacting strongly to things. He was giving off those vibes again, which said that I would be carried out of here, kicking and screaming, if I did not scamper away now. I started to respond, but Kiki dived at me and wailed, "Sammy-chan! You have to help me! Stupid Suoh lost my precious boyfriend!"

"There, there, Gollum. We'll find the Precious somewhere," I murmured, petting her head and staring at Kotoko with raised eyebrows in the universal sign for Help Me! The Heiress merely smiled serenely at me and continued hugging her fiancé, who had his face buried in her chest, purring his content. I sighed.

"How are we supposed to find anybody in this huge place?" Tamaki asked while blinking around at the stores with big violet eyes. He suddenly appeared smaller, almost childlike, in his confusion. AKA: Adorable.

"Well," I slowly said after seeing all of them – including Kiki – turn to stare at me, "Most of the places this size have Information Centers to help people find shops or ask for people to meet them at certain places."

"It's mainly used for finding lost children, though," Kiki added her input, though apparently considering the idea. She looked around thoughtfully, before violet irises settled along the symbols of the nearby map of the Mall. The Information Center was on the fourth floor.

The Ouran High School Host Club, however…?

You Are Here - - - Second Floor.

"Well, Kyoya-senpai is definitely lost," Kaoru started warily while thinking about the (mostly) mature teenager in question, and Hikaru doubtfully finished, "but not a child!" They simultaneously turned to the left and pointed at Tamaki. "Tono, though…?"

Immediately, Tamaki wailed in shame and bolted for the smallest crevice in eyesight. He shoved himself in between two store displays – one of perfume and another of makeup – and sniffled pathetically. "W-What if somebody decides to kidnap Kyoya-kun?!"

"Nobody is going to kidnap Kyo-kun," Kiki retorted in exasperation, furiously storming over and attempting to yank him out of his Corner of Woe. The Host Club was quiet, refusing to let her know that it might be a possibility, and all smiled weakly in (pretend) agreement.

"What about using an intercom?" Takashi reasonably suggested while glancing down at me in curiosity. He and I had only been to the Mall twice before, and neither time had I explained Information Centers. Losing Takashi wasn't all that likely to happen. He had Spidey – uh, Samurai Senses.

"Information Centers usually have them," I replied with another sneeze. My fiancé bit back the frustrated words boiling atop his tongue and instead offered his handkerchief to me. After sneezing into it again, I happily thanked him. Takashi only sighed.

The Frenchman emerged from his Corner of Woe, easily lured by the thought of trying another Commoner Thing, and happily exclaimed, "To the Information Center, then!" He immediately bolted off without waiting for the rest of us or –

"Oi, Suoh," Kiki called to him and, when the Frenchman stopped to wait for her next words, smirked at his confused expression. One slender finger pointed in the opposite direction, towards the escalators. "You're going the wrong way…"

"Oh! I see!" Tamaki exclaimed without embarrassment and then bolted by again. I tapped at Takashi, and the taller teenager obligingly reached out to grab his collar as our younger classmate zipped by at top speed. The Host King whined, "M-Mori-Senpai!"

"You need to wait for everyone else," Takashi sternly said, his shirt shifting with the motion of holding Tamaki that high in the air. I smiled at seeing the little Wolf Amulet peeking out from beneath the collar of his blue shirt. My fiancé had been really pleased with the masculine pendant because of his love of animals and for the meaning behind it. Strength. Love.

"We do not want – or need – to lose you as well, Tama-chan," I added at his sad expression and watering Puppy Dog Eyes, before pointedly looking to the side – the Twins had started off for the nearest store, mumbling about mass production. "Come back here, Hika-chan, Ru-chan!"

"Yes, Okaa-chan," The Twins teased with glowing golden eyes. Starting their sentence, Hikaru playfully snickered, "Can you imagine if the two of them had children?" Kaoru finished their thoughts in amusement and stated, "They're going to have them eventually, Hikaru-kun!"

"They will have kickass children that like to scream about anime, and listen to music, and watch lots of movies!" The Twins laughed together, holding their stomachs and leaning against each other for support. Tears of laughter trailed down their porcelain cheeks.

"You're just jealous," I protested and made to fuss at them, but growling out those words had made it harder to breathe again. I shivered at the familiar tickle, bending forward to cough repeatedly into my palms. Ugh, I was starting to feel much worse. My head pounded.

Like Donkey Kong playing the bongos in my ears or something…

"Leave your sister alone, Hikaru-kun, Kaoru-kun," Takashi ordered sternly when the two boys made to continue teasing me. The Twins immediately listened to him. He gently put his arm over my waist and quietly asked, "Do you want to head home, Sweetheart?"

"No," I croaked out through dry lips and watering eyes, "I want to find Kyo-kun, and I don't really like the idea of leaving these four knuckleheads alone with only Kotoko-chan to act responsibly and, hopefully, keep track of them."

"What about Kiki-san?" Takashi curiously asked, his thoughts turning to the other girl in the group. He had only met with her about ten times, but the girl, while strange, seemed to be mature enough to handle them.

Pfft!

Wrong…

"She would probably drown Hika-chan and Ru-chan in the Wishing Well," I snorted at his words while nodding at the large basin of water. The Canadian had stopped tossing her coins in it and had started harassing the redheaded boys for more. She furiously stomped her foot at their refusal.

"So I see…" Takashi sweatdropped at the sight of Kiki manhandling the two redheads and then adjusted his other arm as a small bundle in it shifted. I stared at it strangely, finding it odd that the little fuzzy object moved and twitched and bounced around. It also –

"Yip yip yip yip!"

– barked.

Blinking, I glanced down at his arms, which continued to twitch and bark, and blinked at them in shock. I curiously leaned closer, spotting two big blue eyes, and incredulously asked, "Is that a puppy?!"

"Ah," Takashi mumbled, blushingly lightly at the exclamation. "Tamaki-kun bought himself that Golden Retriever." Here, Takashi pointed at the excited yellow dog, which looked (and acted) quite like the Frenchman. "And I, uh, thought you might like this Husky."

"Oh…my…God," I breathed, before carefully taking the puppy out of his hold and cuddling him close. "He is so cute!" I squealed while kissing his wet nose and shaking his little pink paw in greeting. The Husky yipped at me. And I went into full Fangirl Mode. "Kawaii~!"

My fiancé smiled widely at my reaction. He let Tamaki down, put his hand atop his shoulder to keep the excitable Host King in place, and then turned to me, eyes curious and hopeful. "…Do you want to keep him, then?"

"Do I want to –? YES!" I nearly screamed in excitement, leaning forward to hug him around the waist, and the little dog snuggled in between us. "Thank you so, so, so much, Takashi-kun! I love him already."

"What are you going to call him?" Takashi asked while the Host Club – those present, anyway – moved through the Mall at the command of Sergeant Kiki. We followed the directions from the map and headed to the fourth floor in search of the Information Center.

"Hmm, I shall call him…Balto!" I happily declared in reply, my nose rubbing against the soft fur of the little Husky. Antoinette, the Golden Retriever, barked at Balto, and the little Husky wriggled excitedly in my arms and yipped back at her.

"You named him after the wolf from that movie?" Kiki asked, amused with the name choice, and then walked to the Information Center. She leaned forward to ask for assistance and told the lady working the counter the name and description of the "Missing Child." AKA: Kyoya.

"Yep," I chirped, "because little Balto here looks like that amazing wolf, too." I could not add anything else at the moment, though, because I dissolved into coughing once more.

Always thoughtful, Kotoko turned to face me, eyes concerned, and slowly said, "You really do not sound well at all, Sammy-chan." I protested faintly, but nobody really believed that I was not sick.

My fiancé leaned down to put his lips to my warmer than normal forehead. He frowned in thought, glancing down at me as my skin flushed red. "You have a small fever, Koi," My Takashi observed with worry.

My eyes were watering, and I reached higher to swipe the moisture from them with the sleeve dangling down my arm. "Just allergies," I mumbled at him while hugging Balto for comfort, feeling tired and sickly and needy. He gently licked at my nose.

"Bullshit," Takashi bluntly said. Such cursing was unexpected and completely out of character for the poised Noble, who almost always acted maturely. As expected, I gaped at him with big blue eyes and croaked, "You…cursed!"

My fiancé smirked at the observation and carelessly shrugged his shoulders at me. He leaned down to brush his mouth against my ear and huskily whispered, "My apologies, Koi. You are apparently rubbing off on me."

Blushing, I glared at him through narrowed blue irises and pale cheeks that had reddened for another reason entirely. "You always rub off on me!" I grumbled in a whisper, hearing the insinuation in his voice and thinking back to the last time Takashi and I had –

Bad Sammy! I mentally slapped myself for thinking of it. Sexy Samurai does not need to know how greatly that stuff affects you! Then, I groaned. Damn Kotoko-chan and Kiki-chan for looking at that stupid book…

"Who could blame me?" Takashi murmured with his lips still brushing the side of my cheek, his words barely audible above the voices of the others, who had commenced with bickering about whether to wait here or continue searching for Kyoya. "You are so cute; I cannot help myself."

My fiancé continued moving closer and closer to my mouth, but I hurriedly put a palm to his lips to keep him from kissing me. "S-Stop, Takashi-kun," I protested weakly, partially because I did not feel well, and partially because it was so incredibly hard to resist him. "You're going to get sick, too…"

"Do you really think so? I thought it was merely allergies," Takashi quietly said, lifting his eyebrow at the obvious slip up. It was not often that Takashi pointed out the little fibs I occasionally told to keep others from worrying over me. This time, however…

Under his sudden scrutiny, I flushed brightly and tried to hide within the fluffy white and silver fur of the little Husky in my arms. I stumbled and stuttered through my answer. "Well, I…uh…you see…"

Dammit…!

"Come along, then," Takashi gently said, clearly finished with waiting for words that would not come. He waved to Kotoko, who smiled in understanding, and then headed down the escalator, through the automatically sliding glass doors, and to the parking lot.

"What about the others, though?" I asked, worried for them – and for the Mall. "You know that Tama-chan is going to get into trouble somehow without somebody there to keep him from running off! He might not listen to Kotoko-chan…"

"Do not worry. Kyoya-kun will be here soon," Takashi reassured while heading in the direction of his Lamborghini. It had, oddly enough, been parked beside my motorcycle. "He will keep them all in line – especially Tamaki-kun."

Curling into his hold, I hugged Balto closer and let Takashi take the bags of stuff that I had bought, though I would normally have argued about sharing the task. I coughed again, the headache getting worse. "Where are we going, Kashi-kun?"

If I had been more aware at the moment, I would not have called him by that stupid nickname. His name, which meant noble or prosperous, was perfect and fit him well. Kashi, however, could sometimes mean sweet. I might often call him sweetheart, but I doubted the tall and masculine teenager wanted to be called Kashi. Even Takashi had his limits.

"My home," Takashi simply said while smiling mischievously at his newest nickname – if I had noticed it, I would probably have worried. "My parents have been asking about you, anyway." Mischievous smirk became a playful smile. "And Satoshi would be happy to play nurse."

Glaring at him faintly for thinking I would find that funny, I huffed at the handsome Host, before smirking back with sudden glee. "Oh? Are you certain that it's Satoshi who wants to play nurse with me?" I inquired mock innocently. My fiancé flushed at the insinuation but did not deny it.

Clearing his throat, Takashi opened the door and put the bags in the back of his expensive car. He placed them in the seat while absently noting the store logos, before suddenly gaping and turning back to stare at the last bag that had been set down. "You went to Victoria's Secret?" Takashi gruffly asked with dark eyes.

If I blushed again, I had the feeling that I might pass out. I tried to look nonchalant and quietly admitted, "Kiki-chan wanted to buy something for Kotoko-chan and I, since we're getting married. It's uh…for the honeymoon."

My fiancé was very quiet for another moment, and then Takashi murmured, "Do I get to see it?"

"Of course," I weakly teased him with pink cheeks, "on our wedding night."

"Minx," Takashi mumbled with a small grin.

After Takashi closed the door and opened the passenger side door, I turned to him and worriedly asked, "Wait. What about my motorcycle? I can't just leave her here without supervision! Somebody might steal her!" My frown deepened at the thought.

"We can call Caleb-san to bring it back to Hitachiin Manor," Takashi suggested after briefly thinking about how to solve the problem. He didn't seem to understand just how awful his solution would be. So I, being the sane one, enlightened him.

"WHAT?! You have got to be kidding me! When Caleb and I were children, Caleb crashed the yellow bicycle Daddy bought me and totaled it," I protested, fearing for the safety of Baby. She had been named after the Winchester Impala from Supernatural.

"Your motorcycle is a menace," Takashi snorted down at me as exasperation leaked into his words, "but I suppose we can stick it in the trunk of the Lamborghini. Is that better?"

Smiling in thanks, I listened to him and let the overprotective male pick me up. He settled Balto into my arms as my rear end hit the front seat, and then Takashi slipped right into the driver seat, clicking his seatbelt in place. He also reached down to help with mine, since I could not focus through the headache, pulling it around Balto and myself. I thanked him again and snuggled further into the cushiony seats, sleepily searching for it.

Still in his sun visor was, as always, the picture from the Ueno Zoo. Our first date…

Warmly, I smiled at the memories of falling in love with him and drifted off to sleep to the gentle purring of the engine, the soft sounds of music playing from the stereo system, and the image of that picture swimming in my mind. A small blonde girl put her hand in the hand of the tall and handsome teenage boy at her side, the both of them smiling softly at each other. She kissed his cheek. He smiled.

Half asleep, I whispered, "I love you so much, Kashi-kun…"

"I love you, too, Sammy-chan."

Smile.

***Author's Note***

Here you go! :) As promised, I have Part II for you! What do you all think of Balto? Has anybody here seen the movie? I loved it as a child! Still do! ;)

Anyway! My plan is to have the next three chapters switch back to Takashi. He is going to get sick next chapter. Yay! ...Sort of? ^^;

It would be awesome to reach 1,000 reviews by the end of Picking Up the Pieces, so...

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!

Update = 875ish Reviews