Their intense gazes made her fidget, she unsure of how to really act. Mori's father was a stoic man, looking much like his son. He was rather tall, his presence seeming to demand respect. The lithe woman beside him was no less intimidating. Her graying hair flowed down her back, making her look graceful. All in all, the couple looked beautiful. Now, Hani's parents were something else. His father looked more aggressive than his taller counterpart, while his wife was smaller, almost as small as she was. She bowed, Hiromi following suit.
"Thank you for inviting us to have lunch with you."
"Raise your head, dear," Mori's mother said. "Fukumoto Mitsu, was it? And this little cutie is Hiromi?"
"Yes."
"Takashi has told us so much about you. Almost as much your grandfather."
"O-Oh..."
"My name is Hayami, and this is my husband, Akira."
"And we are Haninozuka Yorihisa and Katsumi. We are Mitskuni's parents."
"It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Let's move to the garden for lunch," Hayami said. They followed the adults to the garden where Honey, Chika, and Satoshi were already sitting. Mitsu couldn't calm her nerves, no matter being with her friends.
"Relax," Mori whispered. She looked up at him and nodded. They sat at the table, she admiring the spread of food before. Before long, they began eating, Hiromi enjoy happily enjoying herself.
"Ah, to be young," Katsumi giggled.
"Oh, goodness," Mitsu sighed. Hiromi had managed to get sauce all over her face, so the young mother wiped her clean, earning a goofy grin from the child.
"So, if I'm not mistaken, Hiromi was abused by her father?" Hayami asked.
"Yes."
"And you decided to adopt her?"
"Yes."
"I don't mean to sound rude, but why?" Katsumi asked. "There are plenty of parents who would be able to take care of her, not rebuffing your abilities as mother."
Mitsu sighed. "You're right, there are many couples who would love to adopt a child, but I guess it was out of my own selfishness..." Mori watched as she looked down at her plate. "I knew everything about Hiromi, and I had always went out of my way to do little things for her when her supposed parent didn't. I felt that I was special, considering that she wouldn't get close to any of the other caretakers at the daycare, and I feared if I didn't adopt her, she would have trouble getting adopted by someone else. Above all else, she may not be able to open up to whatever family that does adopt her."
"I see..."
"I saw her as someone important to me. I saw her as family before I even considered actually adding her to my family, like I was the one that had to take care of her."
"Instinct. Motherly instinct. Personally, there should be more young ladies like you. I heard that you wanted to slaughter her father."
"If given the chance, I still would."
"I like her," Hayami said.
"Darling..." Akira said.
"Now, what is this whole nonsense with you giving birth to little Hiromi?" Yorihisa asked.
"A jealous admirer of Kyoya's took things too far."
"It's Ryuko-chan, Imagawa's daughter," Honey said.
"Imagawa?"
"Well, step-daughter," Mitsu said. "Ootori had considered a merger with Imagawa until they found out who I really was, and withdrawn their offer. Ryuko had a huge crush on Kyoya, and obviously, she wanted to ruin it so she could get him back."
"So, she created this vicious lie?" Hayami asked.
"Honestly, I wouldn't put it past her. She's not a pleasant girl, and always wants to start drama," Yorihisa said.
"What are you going to do?" Akira asked.
"I have something planned at my school's festival. It won't really expose her, but get everyone else thinking."
"Fukumoto-san might come, and if he does, then that means it'll expose that rumor as a lie, and everyone will really see," Honey said.
She laid across the bed, panting. It had been far too long since her last spar, so she felt out of shape. Mitsu didn't think that the two families would get her and Mori to spar. Then, she had to fight Honey, and that was a task in and of itself. But, she did very well, impressing both families. As a reward, Hayami brought her to a bedroom to rest before she went home. So, at the moment, she was relaxing.
A knock reached her ears, and she groaned. "Who is it?"
"Me," a deep voice said. She smiled as she recognized it to be Mori's.
"Come in." And he did, looking showered and dressed in a simple gray shirt and sweatpants. She sat up, looking at him. "What's up?"
"You okay? We didn't go easy on you."
"Just sore. I haven't sparred like that in ages."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It was nice to do it again."
"Who did you often spar with?"
"Yamato. He was the one that taught me to fight since he used to be part of a special task force back in the day. While I took defense classes, he thought it would be best to learn more than what they taught."
"Why did you take defense classes?"
"When I was a kid, there was this pedophile running around, and my parents didn't want me to be his next target. So, they signed me up. Yamato wanted me to learn to strike fear in my enemies, so he taught me majority of what I know."
"Wow. Will you teach Hiromi?"
"Of course. She's dealt with so much as it is, that I think it would be best."
He sighed, taking her in. Mitsu was certainly a force to be reckoned with. She was dealing with so much adversity, but she still held her head up high. Rumors always dealt a nasty blow to families reputation-wise, and here her reputation had hit rock-bottom. It didn't matter to her, though. She was going to make the best of what she had. She has the support of her friends and family. And she was determined to bring Ryuko down and put her in her place. In that moment, Mori knew exactly why he fell for her. Why he could not wait to see her walk down the aisle.
"Come here." Confused, she approached him, and he pulled her into his lap, causing her to squeak.
"T-Taka-" Before she could finish saying his name, he cupped her face and kissed her passionately. On instinct, she wrapped her arms around him, trying to steady herself.
When he broke away, he smiled at her dazed expression. "I love you."
"H-Huh?"
"Mitsu, I love you. So much. You are a remarkable woman that I can't believe I'll call mine."
"Takashi..."
"You've put up with so much and yet, you're still standing. You're so strong, and-and I don't deserve the honor to call you my wife-"
"Takashi, stop." She kissed him, bringing a small groan from him. "You know, you've never been this talkative."
"You do that to me. I can't put my feelings into words well, though."
"Then, let your actions do the talking. You don't need words to express what you're feeling."
He smiled, resting his head on her shoulder. "Let's get ready to take you home."
"Takashi?"
"If I keep you here, I might do something bad."
"You could never do anythi-" Before she could finish, he kissed her neck, bringing a gasp from her. "Taka!"
"Choose your words carefully."
"Are you sleepy?"
He was silent for a minute. "Yeah."
She giggled and kissed his forehead. "Let's get me home, so you can sleep."
Fukumoto Ryuichi was not one to be angry for very long. Even when he had disowned his only daughter, his anger only lasted for a day, then turned to sadness and regret. So, the rage he felt upon hearing the rumor that Imagawa's daughter created, was uncharacteristically still simmering within him, just waiting to explode. That was why he had to go to Mitsu's festival. He heard about Ouran being invited, and he wanted to make an appearance as her grandfather.
"Ryu, do you think it's wise to go?" Ume asked.
"Honestly, no. But, I've had enough of this nonsense. Mai has told me how tired she looks on the daily."
"But, Morinozuka is taking care of her."
"And I trust him. But, this rumor has basically black-listed her from all the colleges she wanted to apply to. We need to set the record straight."
His wife sighed, but smirked all the same. "I heard from Yuzuha about their little plan. Want to hear about it?"
He quirked an eyebrow. "Did the Hitachiin twins come up with it?"
"Yes."
He thought for a moment. "I'm listening..."
She explained the plan, bringing a smile from her husband. "Leave it to Hitachiins to be evil geniuses."
"So, what do you think?"
"I'm in."