It was rather cold in the morning, Haruhi realized as she glanced at herself in the full-body mirror. She was clad solely in a towel within the privacy of her bedroom. After the previous day's supermarket fiasco, she had come home, eaten dinner, finished her homework, and went to sleep after deciding that she would take a shower in the morning. Perhaps it wasn't the best decision, seeing how cold she was, but at least she was finally able to conclude that being around the Host Club members – or maybe just the Hitachiin twins – depleted both her physical and mental stamina.
Her father hadn't come home the previous night, but had instead left a note on the refrigerator stating that he was remaining at work late for business purposes. This immediately registered in Haruhi's mind as, "out drinking; crashing at someone else's house – don't wait up." She already knew that her father hated her seeing him intoxicated. She could care less about the fact that he indulged himself in alcohol – everyone else seemed to. As long as he wasn't killing himself with alcohol poisoning, she wasn't truly concerned.
Haruhi unwrapped the towel from around her slender body and placed it on her bed. She slipped into her undergarments and then glanced at herself in the mirror. She hadn't grown much from when she had been in junior high, but she was still in the stage of her life in which she could care less about her looks. Her father, on the other hand, couldn't seem to wait for the day on which his daughter would gain some consciousness for her outward appearance; however, Haruhi doubted that day would ever come about.
Ring, ring, ring, knock, ring, knock, ring, knock, knock
The odd combination of sounds signifying that someone was at the door had Haruhi wrapping the towel around herself once more in a calm, unhurried motion. She briefly wondered how anyone could knock on the door and ring the doorbell so quickly – or in that combination – but nevertheless ventured towards the door; she figured it was probably her father having forgotten his house key again.
She opened the door, bracing herself for the cold, morning air and immediately shivered as her body attempted to adjust to the new temperature.
"Hey, Haru – woah!"
Haruhi blinked at the two twins standing in front of her; they both appeared to be in a state of shock.
"Why are you two here?" Haruhi deadpanned. She was unabashed by her state of undress due to the fact that she was more-or-less completely concealed. Sure, her shoulders and legs were beginning to feel like icicles, but maybe the brothers actually had a good reason for bothering her so early in the day.
The twins, however, couldn't decide on their next course of action as they stared, open-mouthed at the barely dressed girl.
Kaoru, who Haruhi had decided to be the more sensible of the two, was the first to recover from the initial shock, "We wanted to treat you to breakfast before school."
"I'll pass, but thank you for the invitation," Haruhi stated, intent on closing the door.
"Hey!" Hikaru shouted, having finally recovered. He stuck his foot out to prevent the door from fully closing and succeeded in pulling it back open.
"What now?" Haruhi inquired, growing impatient from the cold air flooding into the room. Goosebumps were already littering her skin.
"Kaoru and I woke up really early so we could have breakfast with you," Hikaru said with a frustrated expression, managing to keep his gaze locked onto her face. He was trying to imagine her in a terry cloth, spaghetti-strap dress rather than the towel with unhidden bra-straps she was currently donning, but was failing miserably in the process.
Haruhi glanced a bit closer at the matching, tired expressions that both twins donned, and suddenly felt a tad bit reluctant about refusing their generous offer.
"Fine," she conceded, "just let me go get dressed."
She had already turned around, leaving the door open for the twins to follow her into the house, and headed back to her bedroom. She missed the shared smiles and hidden high-five as she closed the bedroom door behind her.
.x.o.x.o.x.
"How did you two find my house anyways?" Haruhi asked as the twins snuggled against her from either side.
After changing into her Ouran uniform, she had rejoined the twins in the main-living space. They had been busily examining the apartment that she and her father shared, stating that they had never been inside a commoner's house, but had – thankfully – spared her home of any poor remarks or criticism.
"Kyoya-senpai," the twins chorused with closed eyes. The two brothers had both just decided that Haruhi was a better pillow than their swan-feathered ones at home.
Haruhi rolled her eyes, "And how did he come about finding my address?"
"The Shadow King knows all," Kaoru joked, wrapping his arms around Haruhi's waist.
Hikaru mirrored his brother's positioning, "He has secret police."
"And a deadly mind."
"He also has all of Japan working for him."
"Not just Japan, Kaoru; he has the United States under his control, too..."
"...and probably all of Europe."
"Does he really?" Haruhi inquired, not really believing anything the twins had just said – except for the deadly mind, of course; she had already viewed that first-hand.
"He does," the twins chorused, shivering at the thought of the 'cool-type.'
"That seems a bit far fetched," Haruhi stated.
"Well, maybe he doesn't have entire countries under his control," Hikaru conceded.
Kaoru added, "He does have a private army at his disposal, though"
"And those bodyguards of his..."
"Alright, alright," Haruhi said with a sigh, "I understand what you mean."
"Young masters," the driver called from the front seat, "we have arrived at the estate."
"Already?" Hikaru and Kaoru inquired in disappointed tones as they untangled themselves from the girl.
Haruhi sent up a silent prayer of thanks, glad that she was no longer going to be used as a cushion by the two brothers.
The driver opened the door on Kaoru's side and the younger twin slid across the leather seats until he was outside. He turned around to extend his hand to help Haruhi out, but she had already climbed through the door and was gazing at the large mansion in front of her with wide eyes.
She couldn't tell which was bigger: Ouran or the mansion in front of her?
"Welcome to our home!" the brothers chorused with identical grins.
"It's really big," Haruhi commented, a bit awestruck by the immense size.
"My lord and Kyoya-senpai have larger estates than us," Kaoru contributed.
"Can we stop standing out here? I'm starved," Hikaru said.
"So am I," Kaoru agreed.
Haruhi watched as each twin latched onto either side of her.
"Just so you don't get lost," they stated in conspiratorial tones.
As she was dragged through the enormous doors and into the vast Hitachiin mansion, she began to blink rapidly as bright lights engulfed her vision. About every five-feet, there was a chandelier hanging from the tall ceiling of the long hallway.
She briefly wondered what their electric bill was.
.x.o.x.o.x.
They finally arrived at their destination: the dining room, the twins had said.
It was, like everything else about the place, humongous. Did rich people need to compensate for something, or did they just enjoy dwelling in unreasonably spacious areas? Whatever it was, Haruhi wondered what anyone needed over two hundred seats at a dinner table for.
"The table extends farther out, depending on the situation. Mom likes to turn it into a runway sometimes."
"Like when we were seven! You know, Kaoru, the red and green Christmas event? Now that – that was hilarious."
Matching grins spread across both of their faces, and Haruhi began to wonder what exactly happened on the Christmas event they were talking about. Thankfully, Kaoru clued her in.
"Mom had decided to let the models walk across table and show off some of her new designs while the rest of the guests were eating dinner, but Hikaru and I pushed the gravy bowl a bit too far in and..."
Haruhi gazed at the two of them. They really were pranksters!
"She stumbled over, sending the gravy bowl flying into the air, and then she fell off the table and into that one photographer's lap," Hikaru added in.
"Then the model behind her had the gravy bowl land on her head, and she stepped into the turkey..."
"Crashed off the table with her arms flailing..."
"And then the two of you didn't get dessert for a week."
Haruhi whipped her head around to face the newcomer that had just spoken.
Before her stood a middle-aged woman with a vibrant smile. She had short-cropped hair, styled in the same manner as the twins', and her clothing was both stylish and impeccable. She looked kind and good-natured, but Haruhi could sense the typical prankster-attitude hidden beneath her outward appearance.
"Hey, mom!" the twins exclaimed, releasing Haruhi before jumping onto the newcomer.
They wrapped their arms around the woman and embraced her in a tight hug.
"How are you, boys?" Mrs. Hitachiin inquired, grinning at both of them, "Haven't been causing too much trouble, have you?"
"Us?" the twins asked innocently, "Never!"
"Of course not. After all, you two are my darling angels," Mrs. Hitachiin said, her grin widening.
Haruhi stopped herself from falling over. Angels? No – devils would be the correct term. Little devils, to be precise. She had, in the process of attempting to not fall down, drawn the woman's attention to herself.
"Oh, who's this?" the woman asked as she quickly swept over to Haruhi's side and grabbed onto her shoulders, "One of your classmates? Have you boys finally been making friends? Or is it your girlfriend? Are you sharing her? Isn't she cute? She looks just like a doll I used to have when I was a little girl. Would you like to model some of my new designs, dear?"
"Mom," Hikaru said with a grin, "this is Haruhi. Fujioka Haruhi. She sits between us during class."
"Really?" Mrs. Hitachiin asked with a surprised expression, "I remember when you two never let anyone come between you!"
"That was just last week," Kaoru joked.
"But I've been in Brazil all this time for the photo-shoots," she whined, "I don't get enough time to see my babies!"
"We were just about to have breakfast," Hikaru said, "are you going to be able to eat with us?"
"Of course I can," their mother said, looking at her designer watch, "but don't you three have school soon?"
"Ya, ya," the twins chorused, waving her comment away in an unconcerned fashion, "we'll get there – eventually."
"Wait," Haruhi interrupted; she had forgotten her watch after hurrying to get dressed, "how long do we have before school, anyways?"
The twins turned to face her, "Enough time to eat breakfast."
"You get to school so early anyways," Hikaru said.
"Oh, dear, if you want, I could just write you three an excuse to take to school in case you're running late. I'd really love to chat with you, Haruhi," Mrs. Hitachiin said with a good-natured smile.
"Yeah, Haruhi," Kaoru said, "it's not like you'd really be missing much. You're really smart, aren't you?"
"That's not the point," Haruhi said, "but, I'd appreciate it if you'd be conscientious about the time."
"Fine," the twins (and their mother) conceded.
"Thank you," she replied with a warm smile.
'How cute!' the three thought before leading her to one end of the table.
Haruhi was seated between the twins at one side of the table while their mother decided to place herself at the head. As soon as the four had seated themselves, a trail of servants emerged from a side door and walked into the room with platters of steaming-hot food.
"Help yourself," Mrs. Hitachiin said as the servants placed pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, sausages, toast, and almost every other piece of western-breakfast food on the table in front of the four.
Haruhi nodded and picked up one of the forks at her side. It would be pointless to eat the food with chopsticks; besides, most of the items could be picked up using one's hands.
"So, Haruhi, dear," Mrs. Hitachiin started about two minutes into the meal, "are you dating either of my boys?"
"No," Haruhi said evenly as the twins looked at her wickedly.
"We own her," they replied.
"Is that so?" Mrs. Hitachiin asked, looking amused.
"I refuse to consent to being called a 'toy'," Haruhi deadpanned as she sipped on her orange juice.
"But she's good with 'plaything'," Hikaru added.
"Is that so?" the Hitachiin matriarch inquired, intrigued by the conversation, "Well, what do you like most about my sons, Haruhi?"
"To be honest, they're rude, and I can't get much work done when they're around," Haruhi stated, curious about the woman's amused smile, "but I've discovered that they're interesting people, and I think we can manage to be good friends."
"Really, Haruhi?" the twins asked with wide eyes. They wrapped their arms around her in a tight embrace as she bit into her toast.
"You three really are just so adorable," Mrs. Hitachiin said, wishing she had her camera. What a Kodak-moment!
Proud-parent-syndrome, Haruhi decided.
"Hikaru, can you get you take your hand out of my hair? Kaoru, my collar is fine. Why don't you two just eat your breakfast instead of taking food off of mine?"
Mrs. Hitachiin blinked in surprise. The girl had easily identified which twin was which, and it appeared she had actually gotten it right from the way her sons withdrew their hands.
"No fun!" the brothers pouted.
From the way her sons and the girl interacted, Mrs. Hitachiin could definitely conclude that she'd be seeing much more of the three of them together. She was glad that her boys were finally beginning to allow others into the separate world that they had established as children, and it was really the icing on the cake that the girl was so cute!
She was already formulating new designs to have Haruhi try on: casual wear, summer dresses, matching Halloween costumes, evening gowns, first date clothes...
"Hey mom," Hikaru interrupted her before she could start mentally-designing Haruhi's wedding dress, "we're going to head to school."
"Already?" Mrs. Hitachiin inquired, "Alright, have a good day, boys! It was really nice meeting you, Haruhi."
"It was really nice to meet you too, Hitachiin-san," Haruhi said with a small bow after she had pushed in her seat, "and thank you for having me over for breakfast."
"Anytime, dear," Mrs. Hitachiin said. Maybe the girl should stay for dinner, "really – anytime."
I've changed the title 'Textbook Romance' to 'Toy' - fits more, I believe. Basically, all the anime characters (and some manga characters) will most likely be introduced sooner or later in the story, but I'm iffy on Eclair... really iffy. On another note - thanks for all the reviews, guys; I'm almost to triple-digits!