I waited for Kaoru to pick up the skype call anxiously. I couldn't wait to tell him about my date with Haruhi tomorrow. This would've been my first official date with a girl, the other dates I had with former flings were nothing more than a thing to relieve boredom, but this was completely different. I was actually excited for tomorrow, but also, I haven't felt this way since...I actually couldn't remember. Even when I was a kid I never really got excited from anything because I was spoiled with everything up until middle school. I guess I was feeling close to the day where I learned that mom was finally sober after many years, but I was actually feeling more excited now because I didn't have as much fear mixed in with it.

"Hey," Kaoru greeted, snapping me out of my thought. He immediately noticed the bright smile on my face and cocked an eyebrow. "What are you so happy about? I haven't seen you smile like that since you and Haruhi made up. Does this have something to do with her?"

"Yep," I answered, only making my smile grow even more.

"Well, what happened to make you so sickeningly happy? Did she ask you out?" Kaoru joked, but his chuckling stopped when he saw that I was still smiling and his expression dropped to shock. "No."

"Yes!" I beamed brightly. "She just asked me out a few hours ago."

Kaoru's smile soon matched mine and he quietly cheered. "Yes! I'm so happy for you Hikaru. This is so fucking amazing I can barely comprehend it right now. So, where are you planning on taking her for your date?"

"Uh, actually, she said she was going to plan it."

"Really?"

I nodded. After I dropped Haruhi off at home I asked her what she wanted to do tomorrow for our date, but all she did was smile at me and said she'd plan everything and just meet at the train station tomorrow at noon. I was at first taken aback by it, but I agree to let her plan everything. Though, I was a bit disappointed. This was the first-ever date that I actually cared about and even though if I was in charge of the date I would be freaking the fuck out to figure out what to do. I wanted to show her through our date how much I cared and actually like her, but I guess I can do that with any upcoming dates...if there were ones.

"That's a bit backward," Kaoru said to draw me back in, "but I have a feeling whatever she has planned will be fun."

"Yeah, but I'm a bit worried," I confessed.

"How so?"

"Well, what if she chooses someplace to go that I don't like? Then I'll get bored and even if I put on an act she might see through it and get offended that I didn't have fun on the date she worked so hard to plan out." I soon began panicking as the disaster began playing in my mind like a horror movie. "Then she'll think I'm a horrible partner and not want to be in a relationship with me and we'll forever be stuck in the fucking God awful friend zone!"

Kaoru rolled his eyes. "Calm down Hikaru, that's not what's going to happen."

"How do you know? You have no fucking idea what Haruhi is planning either!"

"No, but if you'd stop panicking you'd remember that Haruhi knows you. She knows all your likes and dislikes so I highly doubt she's planing a date she knows that you'd hate."

"…"

Kaoru really did have a great point. Haruhi was the only other person besides Kyoya and him who knew almost everything about me. So she was probably planning a date that we both would enjoy. I was worrying over nothing. Our date is going to be great and hopefully, we'll begin dating soon after that.

I couldn't help the smile reappeared on my face at the thought. Haruhi and I as a couple, me a year ago would've probably gagged at the thought of me even holding hands with her. Probably saying something along the lines of "I'd rather jump off a fucking bridge then go out with her."...Damn, I didn't realize how pestmistic I was back then. But now, I couldn't stand being away from her that long and she actually turned my heart from being cold and dark from all the abuse back to beating lively again. Which I thought was impossible.

Oh, how naive I was to think back then that a girl like Haruhi was only another burden in my life. While actually, she was one of the saviors.

I woke up early the next morning to get ready for our date. I showered, took some time to pick out the perfect outfit, styled my hair and put on the best cologne I had. I straightened up my leather as I looked over my appearance. I look good, right? Of course I looked good, I always did...but this is the first time a date made me triple check. I wore a dark red shirt that was aesthetically-ripped with a black undershirt, along with a pair of black jeans and timberland boots.

I usually did dress like this, should I try something different? Should I put on a formal outfit? But what if the place she takes me is causal? I'll stick out like a sore thumb She also would've told me if we had to dress up so I'm probably fine...but maybe I should change my hairstyle.

I ran my hand through my dark hair, trying to style it differently than the normal left part I usually had. After running my through my hair, I looked back at myself in the mirror to see that my hair now looked like I stuck my head out of a window of a bullet train...yeah, that's not going to work.

I styled my hair for a bit longer until I was satisfied with the style, which was just my bangs were up and out of my face. I looked at the time, it was 11:00. I had an hour before I had to meet up with Haruhi at the train station. So, I'll probably just get going now and get a quick breakfast along the way so I can make sure I arrive a bit before she does, because that's a good first date move...or that's what Kaoru read to me as we looked up tips because we both never really been on any real dates before.

I smiled as I was finally satisfied with my appearance and left my room. As I reached the downstairs I saw that mom was still passed out on the couch from last night, but seeing all the new empty cans of beer around her. She must've drank in the middle of the night again. I let out a quiet sigh, Ever since Isao's been on his business trip mom has been drinking a lot more. She was probably worried that he'd disappear just like dad did, and I don't really blame her to be honest. If I actually did like Isao I would be worried as well, but that man could rot in fucking hell for all I cared. However, I knew it would hurt mom significantly if it happened to her again so that's the only reason why I want him to come back.

Even though I needed to leave for my date, I couldn't leave the living room a mess like this because I knew it wouldn't get cleaned up until I got home and I know I'll be lectured or even punished for leaving the house like this, even if it's not my fucking fault.

I got some trash bags from the kitchen and quietly began cleaning up the cans off the floor and wiping down the white powder off the coffee table and making sure I washed my hands afterward so I couldn't get accidentally high.

It felt like I was the parent and my mom was a sick child and even though I was used to it that didn't mean I didn't hate it. I didn't have a lot of friends but I would still like to go out and do some activities that normal teens do. Hell, I hated school but some of the dances or events they held there looked fun, but Kaoru and I were never allowed to go because mom said they were too mind numbing or we were not well behaved enough to go. I had to sometimes help Kaoru sneak out at first when he first joined the Host Club, but after we got caught one time and mom punished us by hitting us and burning most of our suits, we decided to not try to sneak out again unless it was for something important or if our lives depended on it.

I picked up the remaining cans off the floor and put a blanket over mom to make sure she was warm. Once I covered her, I just took a few short moments to stare down at her, feeling a burning of strong hatred began to rise in my chest. I didn't hate my mom, I could never, but I hated the woman who the liquor and drugs turned her to. The hatred was so strong that if this woman wasn't in my mom's body, I would love to watch her die in front of me. I know it's dark and I shouldn't be thinking this way, but all the shit she put Kaoru and me through, no one should blame me for this.

I shook my head, getting those fucking dark thoughts out of my head and grabbed my keys and left for my date.

I walked down the stairs of the train station and scoped out the crowd to see if I could see any sight of Haruhi. I was a bit early, only by five minutes but knowing Haruhi she has been here for an hour already waiting for me. She was most likely among the huge crowd of people...and it made me even more nervous than I already was. I know that if I wanted to get to Haruhi I'd have to walk through all these people to find her, but why today of all days did people decided to go out and do errands while there are seven fucking days in the week.

'Ok, I can do this. I need to get over this fear so it doesn't hold me back from doing certain activities out of fear.'

With a deep breath, I let go of the railing I was holding onto dear life for and began making my way through the crowd. I held my arms around myself as if it was a protective shield. I could feel my heart beating harshly in my chest as I passed by each person and their bodies touching mine. I kept telling myself that there was nothing to be afraid of, that none of these people wanted to hurt me, but no matter how hard I tried convincing myself my body would react to it as almost a threat and making me want to flee, but I tried my best to fight the urge to.

Once I got to the middle of the station, I stopped and looked through the crowd again to see if I could finally find her. Was I at the wrong train station? I had a feeling I would've seen Haruhi by now, but I was surrounded by people who I didn't even know. What if she didn't want to go on the date with me after all and this was just a set up to make me look bad? I've ditched some girls on dates before and maybe they conspired with her to hurt me?! No, no, Haruhi wasn't that type of person, far from it. Maybe she was running late, it was a bit of a walk to get here from her apartment...but what if she's hurt? Oh fuck, should I be looking for her? She's probably hurt somewhere and here I am wasting vulnerable time rather than trying to save her life in this moment of crisis.

"Hikaru," I turned around as I heard Haruhi's voice call my name and once my eyes laid on her I could feel my cheeks instantly heat up by how beautiful she looked. She wore a dark blue floral wrap ruffle trim dress that ended at her mid-thigh and had a white cardigan and a small red purse that she had strapped over her shoulder. She had light makeup on and her almost shoulder-length hair was curled into waves, similar to how it was styled the night of Kyoya's party, but this time it seemed to have had some sort of highlights, but knowing her they were probably just temporary and will be gone the next time she washed her hair. But fuck, she looked gorgeous.

Haruhi smiled at me, only causing my blush to grow even darker. "Sorry, were you waiting long? It took me a bit longer to get here than I expected."

"No, no it's fine." I reassured, trying to keep my voice from cracking by how nervous I was. "I just got here only a few minutes ago, so don't worry about it. I wasn't waiting long."

I looked her up and down, taking in all her beauty.

'Come on, just compliment her. We both like each other, right? So she will be flattered and I'll score some boyfriend points. Just say something.'

"Uh," I began rubbing the back of my neck nervously as I tried to think of something to say, "you look really pretty today."

'Just pretty?! God, you're such a fucking idiot Hikaru.'

"Oh, thank you," she looked down at her dark blue flats, seeming just as nervous as me. "I can't take all the credit though. My friend Mei helped me get ready so she did most of the work." She looked back up at me and began to look over me as I did to her a few moments ago, and it seemed that her cheeks reddened as well. "You...You look really good today as well. I've been looking forward to this date all night."

"Me too…" I shoved my hands in my pockets as I rocked back and forth on my heels. "So, what is the plan for today?"

"It's a secret, but I promise you're going to love it. You'll just have to wait."

"But won't I know where we're going once we get on the train?"

"I got a plan for that, don't worry."

I gave her a challenging smirk as I crossed my arms over my chest. "What are you going to do to keep me from seeing it? Blindfold me?"

Haruhi

"I can't believe you actually fucking blindfolded me." Hikaru grumbled as Haruhi led them to their destination.

"I told you yesterday that I wanted it to be a surprise, and even though I trust you, for the most part, I don't trust you to keep your eyes closed."

"Can you at least give me some sort of hint? All I can hear is people laughing and smell food that doesn't seem to be very healthy."

"Then I don't have to give you any hints since you already got some on your own."

Hikaru began moving his head around as if he was trying to see where they were passed the thick black fabric that was covering his eyes. Haruhi knew that he didn't care for surprises since his home life was already unpredictable, but she just thought it would be great to surprise him with something he's never really done before, and try not to bail out by how many people were there.

"Are you planning to kill me?"

Haruhi rolled her eyes at his question. "No, I don't plan on killing you on our first date."

"Shame, it would make it far more interesting."

"Oh fuck you." Haruhi smiled as Hikaru snickered to himself. She led him for a few more minutes until she finally reached her destination and turned Hikaru and grabbed onto Hikaru's blindfold and slipped it off. "Alright, we're here."

Once the blindfold left his eyes Hikaru blinked a few times until they adjusted to all the bright lights and looked around at his surroundings to finally see where they were.

He cocked an eyebrow, seeming confused as he looked back at her. "Where are we?"

"A festival."

"A festival?"

Haruhi nodded. "I know that it might not be the most extravagant date, but I just wanted you to loosen up a bit and enjoy yourself. It always cheered me up whenever my dad took me to one if a festival was in town and I wanted to share that excitement with you." She reached into her purse and took out two tickets that she had gotten from the supermarket. "I thought back about the time Kaoru and you told me about how you two never really had any type of childhood because your parents were always so busy. I remember how Kaoru enjoyed the first festival he ever went to while I was in the Host Club and I thought you might like it too."

Hikaru just stood there, completely speechless. The reddening of his cheeks returning like they were at the train station. This might've been a little too overwhelming for him. From what he has told her was that they may have been spoiled as children, but their former staff at their old mansion were just doing their jobs and were not really willing to get to know them at all because they thought they were brats. Which in reality, they were just lonely kids who wanted someone to pay attention to them. They grew cold and distant and never seemed happy as children and only took care of themselves until middle school where they met the Host Club. That was when they began showing their true selves for the first time, until the abuse started.

Kyoya had told her that Kaoru always hid his feelings so no one would worry about him, but he grew depressed with everything that was happening. While for Hikaru, he just broke down and put an even stronger lock around his heart that Kaoru only had the key to until recently as he gave two more keys to Kyoya and Haruhi, but that's it. To everyone else, he still seemed like the evil one of the Hitachiin duo who always got into fights and hated everyone, while Kaoru was looked up to as the sweet and caring twin, while in reality, he was hurting just as much as Hikaru was. They seemed to have never been able to let go of all the worries that surrounded them for even a few hours, the only time they did was when their mom got sober, but sadly that didn't last very long and cause Hikaru to lock everything back up again. Haruhi might've seen everything about him (literally and figuratively), but she has yet to ever see him fully relaxed and that was one of her main goals for their date today.

"Now, shall we go?" Haruhi said, breaking Hikaru out of his shock.

He cleared his throat as his cheeks seemed to flush once more. "Yeah, let's go."

Hikaru

Once Haruhi found a map we began planning on where to go. The festival was pretty big surprisingly, but it was separated mostly in three sections for food, rides, and games. We decided that we spend at least an hour at each section to get the full experience then go back if we wanted to spend more time in one section.

Since it was already past noon, we decided to go over to the food stands to try some of the 'international foods' they had, which most likely was just food around here that they falsely labeled international.

I followed by her side as she led me through the festival, taking in all the bright and colorful lights and lanterns and the sound of happy music and laughter. I don't remember being in a place this lively since I was a young kid...actually no, even as a kid I've never been to a place this happy before. Even at the amusement parks we went to our family rented them out for us so there was barely any people there unlike here. It was almost too much for me.

I occasionally looked over at Haruhi, trying to think of something to spark up a conversation, but for some reason I couldn't think of anything to talk about.

'Why is it so hard to talk to her? We literally talk every fucking day. So why is it all of a sudden hard now?'

I looked back down at her, my eyes immediately landing on her hand. Should I take her hand? Would she like that or would she think I'm moving too fast? I never liked it whenever one of my former flings tried to get me to hold their hands, but this was different. We both liked each other and she most likely wanted to hold my hand as well, but what if she was waiting for me to make the first move?

'Of course she is stupid. Guys always have to make the first move. That's common knowledge.'

I took a deep breath and took my right hand out of my jacket pocket and let it fall to my side as I tried to play cool as I inched a bit closer to hers with each step we took. As our fingers brushed together I felt a huge wave of anxiety wash over me, along with excitement. I have rarely ever held her hand before, only when I wanted to drag her placed, or that time in the hotel while she was upset with Tamaki, but they were never romantic, but just as I was about to grab her hand, it moved away from mine with a quick motion.

'Fuck! You messed this up big time. Now she's probably going to think you're a freak for trying to hold her hand so slowly like that.'

"There's the food stands." Haruhi pointed out, interrupting my self criticizing. "The lines don't look too long, so we could probably hit all of them for free samples." She grabbed my hand with a bright smile, that made my heart feel like it skipped a beat. "Come on, let's go check it out."

I couldn't speak, my voice felt tight as I felt her hand in mine and could feel my face heat up to the point that I was noticeably red now. She seemed to notice the weird way I was acting and looked down at our hands as well, and when she noticed out hands she immediately grew flushed and let go of mine to my disappointment.

"So-Sorry," she stuttered out an apology, "I didn't mean to grab your hand. It was just-"

'It's alright." I cut her off once I found my voice again. "This is a date right? Couples are supposed to hold hands."

"But if you're uncomfortable with it, it's fine. We don't have to do it."

"No, no it's fine, really." I replied sheepishly as I looked down at the ground. "I actually really want to…"

Haruhi stayed quiet for a few seconds as I continued to look down at my boots. I was too embarrassed to look up at her right now. I know that I wanted to hold her hand, but I didn't want to sound desperate. I shouldn't have said anything and just let her make all the moves on the date so I wouldn't put my fucking hopes up just like I did right now.

"Alright," Haruhi took my hand back into hers. A warm smile on her face that made all my worries suddenly vanish. "Ready to go?"

I wrapped my fingers around her soft hand and almost instantly a smile that perfectly matched hers spread across my lips. "Yes."

Haruhi

"Try this." Haruhi held up a free sample to Hikaru's mouth. "It's called a deviled strawberry. According to the vendor it's a strawberry stuffed with cream cheese topped with graham cracker crumbs.

He watched as Haruhi ate her own, seeing as the sweet, cheesy flavor exploded in her mouth like pure bliss before taking a bite of the one Haruhi offered him. He chewed slowly for a bit, taking in all the flavors at once before he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Wow, that's actually really good."

"I know right." Haruhi beamed as she picked up another sample from the tray they had on the picnic table they sat at to eat. Haruhi gave one of the toothpicks to him. "This one is Hawaiin Chicken bites."

"Chicken and pineapple?" Hikaru questioned, seeming disgusted by the combination.

"Yeah, the lady said the flavors compliment each other wonderfully and are really popular in her home town in Hawaii." Hikaru just made a low grow in his throat, telling her he really didn't want to eat it. "Come on, this is our last sample. The rest were good so this one can't be that bad."

Haruhi held the sample closer to his mouth to get him to try it and with a huff he gave in and ate the chicken off the toothpick, pleasing Haruhi as she ate her own. The sweetness of the sauce and pineapple was magnificent and with the softness of the chicken it made all the flavors combine into one amazingly sweet flavor.

'I need to find the recipe to make this for dad one day. He's going to love it.'

She looked back at Hikaru once she was out of her bliss and saw that he seemed even more disgusted than before as he continued to chew.

"You didn't like it?" Haruhi asked, genuinely shocked how he didn't like something so delicious.

"It's not that I don't like it. It's just that warm pineapple isn't the most appetizing flavor to me. Other than that it's pretty good." He pushed the empty tray away from them. "So, where are we going now?"

"Well, I was thinking we should hit where all the games and shopping booths are. Then once our stomachs settle we can try come rides if you like."

"Aren't all the games rigged here? There's no point in wasting money on a prize you're never going to win."

"Usually I would agree with you one hundred percent, but even though most of the games are rigged it's part of the fun at the festival." She gave him a challenging smirk as she drummed her fingers casually on the wooden table. "But maybe you're right. There really is no point in going if it's just going to be a waste of money. I highly doubt you'll be able to win anything since the games are so hard."

"Oh, is that a challenge Fujioka?" Hikaru asked as a smirk matching hers began to tug at his lips.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Haruhi teasingly waved away his comment. "I'm just agreeing with you that you can't win any of the games."

"Fine, let's make a deal." He challenges as he scooted closer to her. "If you win, I'll take you out to dinner to whatever restaurant you want. No matter how expensive it is."

"And if you win?"

His smirk grew devilish. "If I win, you have to ride the most intense, thrilling ride here with me."

Haruhi winced, just the thought of getting on a ride like that made her stomach upset, and since they were at a festival, the rides were far more intense than the ones at regular theme parks. It wasn't like she necessarily hated rides, she just wasn't the largest fan of going faster than a speeding car with a small seat belt or shoulder harness, but she would still ride the rides if the person she was with really wanted to go on because she's rather have a few seconds of terrifying high speeds then having whoever she was with pout the rest of the day.

"Fine, deal."

…

"Here you go." The vendor said as he placed four baseballs in front of the couple. "You each get two throws." He gave them a fake smile that Haruhi couldn't help but notice there was a bit of smugness to it. "Have fun."

She looked over at Hikaru next to her, who seemed to be studying the game over as if he was trying to figure out which part of the game was rigged. Haruhi tried to find the easiest game they had at the festival from a couple of people and the most recommended was the balloon pop, but seeing that barely any of the prizes were off the shelves there was something up with the game.

"Would you like to go first Hikaru?"

"Nah," he responded, not taking his eyes off the game. "Ladies first."

"Alright." Haruhi grabbed one of the balls that the vendor had given her and laid her eyes on the pink balloon that was right in the center. Then with all the strength, she could muster she threw the ball, only for it to bounce off the balloon."

"Ooh, so close."

Haruhi glared at the vendor, who was still giving her that shit-eating grin. Now she knew that there was definitely something up with the game. Yeah, she was far from the strongest girl at the festival, but there was no doubt in her mind that the balloon shouldn't have popped with the amount of force she put in that throw.

'Ok, let's try the blue balloon next to it.'

Haruhi grabbed the last remaining ball and muster all the strength she could into her next throw, hitting the balloon dead center, only it resulting in it bouncing off the balloon again.

"What the hell? That should've popped the balloon by where the ball hit!"

"Sorry sweetie," the vendor shrugged, letting his happy facade fall as he leaned back on the sidewall of the booth, "I don't make the rules, just run the booth until someone takes the next shift." He looked Haruhi up and down, and slowly a lust-filled smirk crawled onto his face, making Haruhi feel disgusting as he walked closer to her. "But if you want, I can let you try again. However, if you really want a prize I can give one to you without you winning the game. You can just give me a quick-"

*Pop*

Haruhi and the vendor both jumped at the sound of a balloon popping and turned to see Hikaru throwing his last ball at lightning speed, just grazing the vendor's cheek before it popped the balloon behind him. He looked at the damage Hikaru did, seeing that the wood of the cubical that was holding the balloon now had a big crack in the center of it. He gulped and looked over at Hikaru, seeing the dark, furious glare he was giving him. If looks could kill, fuck, Hikaru would be nailing the last nail in that guy's coffin. While he was still alive.

The vendor gave a nervous smile. "W-Wow s-sir, you sure have one hell of an arm."

Hikaru's glare hardened. "Give me my fucking prize."

"Huh?"

"I popped a balloon with each throw, so I get a prize. Give it to me."

"Al-Alright," he cleared his throat and motioned up to where all the prizes were displayed. "Pick any prize from the lower tier."

Hikaru nudged Haruhi with his arm. "Pick a prize that you want."

"Really? But you won the game."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't mind. You were the one who wanted to play this game. Also," a light blush tinted his cheeks as he crossed his arms over his chest, "it's a tradition for a guy to win his date a prize."

Haruhi could only imagine that her face was just as red or even redder than his as she fiddled with the strap of her purse. "Oh, well...if you're positive you're ok with it." She looked over the bottom tier, seeing all the small prizes that she could pick from. "I'll choose the brown dog."

"Uh, actually we just-" His words grew silent as Hikaru's glare returned on him and he unclipped the dog from the display and literally shoved it in her hands. "Here, take the last one. You deserve it. Have a nice day."

"Thank you." Haruhi smirked victoriously before grabbing Hikaru's hand and leading him away from the booth. "You know, I would scold you for how rude you treated the guy running the booth, but for how smug he was being I'll let this one slide." She smiled up at him. "Just try not to be an asshole to every booth we go to."

"If they're all like that guy. I make no promises."

…

"Congratulations," the female vendor smiled at Hikaru as she handed him a stuffed panda bear. "Enjoy your prize."

Hikaru took it from the girl after thanking her and turned to Haruhi with a smug smile. "So what is the score now? Three to zero?"

Haruhi just stood there dumbfounded, still trying to comprehend how Hikaru just won the ring toss of all games. "There's no way you could've beaten that game. This game is literally rigged where the rings are barely big enough to go around the bottle."

"Well, I guess I'm just smart enough to figure out how to win these games." He handed her the bear, joining the dog and rabbit he had won earlier. "Unlike someone else here."

"Oh really?" She questioned as she strolled alongside him to wherever their feet took them. "I just think it's beginners luck, but if you're really so confident then tell me how you won all three games we played."

"I'll be happy to." He draped an arm around her shoulder, making Haruhi smile seeing that he was finally loosening up. "For the balloon pop, almost all the balloons that the guy had up were partially deflated, so if the balls hit them they would just bounce off because there isn't enough pressure to pop them."

"Then how were you able to pop them?"

"Because while you were up I took that time to look over the game and when your ball just bounced off with ease, even though you put a good amount of force into it, it confirmed my suspicions."

"Ok, then how did you win the basketball toss?"

"Made sure to not hit the hoop or the backboard. Just had to make sure it just swished through the net. I'm glad my skills from being on the basketball team haven't left yet."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Wait, you were on the basketball team? Hikaru Hiatchiin, the guy who literally hates everyone in school besides three people."

"Four," he corrected, "but yes I was. Well, in middle school."

"How the hell did that happen?"

He shrugged. "Our parents wanted us to try and at least have some friends I guess. Kaoru was on the team only for two years because he joined the Host club our third year. So, that got him out because practice and hosting hours ran during the same time, but since I was kicked out of the club Mr. Suoh made me get back on the team so it could hopefully help with my new 'aggression' issues."

"I can see how well that helped." Haruhi chuckled.

"Yeah, the team would agree with you. After the season they wanted nothing to do with me going into high school since I got fouled out in almost every game, but that didn't stop Mr. Suoh to try and put me in other sports clubs."

"What other clubs did he put you in?"

"Let's see," he looked up in thought, "there was the track team, I got kicked out for elbowing a guy in the chest to win multiple times."

"Jesus."

"There was also the swim team. I ditched almost all the practices because wouldn't be able to hide the bruises and cuts from mom's abuse. The baseball team got kicked out for accidentally breaking a teammate's arm after tagging him out with the ball. The football team-"

"Wait, hold up. You were on the football team?"

He nodded. "Yep."

"When? I was in the Host Club when there was a feud between the two clubs since Kyoya and Kuze had a long-lasting rivalry since they were kids and I don't remember you there."

"Oh, that's because I was already kicked out." He gave her a cheeky grin. "I was deemed too aggressive and even though Kuze would've loved to have me on the team, Mr. Suoh didn't want to risk getting the school sued because of my playing."

"Was there any sport you did like?"

"Yeah, I enjoyed the equestrian club quite a bit." He gave Haruhi a soft smile as she grew even more shocked by the clubs he was placed in, especially this one where aggression was required. "I know, shocking that Mr. Suoh placed me in a club with an animal. He said it would help me with my temper, and it actually did."

"How did you get kicked out?"

"Who said I got kicked out?"

"Well, by how much you liked it and the smirk on your face I just had a feeling," Haruhi replied with an innocent shrug.

"I guess it's that obvious huh." He chuckled. "Remember that time when the Host Club used the horses last year for a theme and one of the horses got loose and hurt Tamaki when he saved that girl?"

"Yes, I remember that pretty vividly."

"Well, that horse was the one I had to look after. His name was Archie. He's the sweetest horse you could ever meet and wouldn't hurt a fly unless he needed to, but he got out of the paddock during hosting hours and got spooked, resulting in Tamaki getting hurt. Even though I showed up late that day because of a meeting with one of my teachers I got blamed for it, saying that I was being careless and didn't check to see if I locked the gate even though I didn't put him in there in the first place."

He sighed out irritated, still annoyed at the memory after a year has passed. Now that Haruhi thought about it, she did vaguely remember seeing Hikaru there at the stables right when Taamaki got hurt to calm down the horse, but it looked like he had just gotten there by not having his riding vest buttoned up all the way as if he had just thrown it on. She was too blinded by Tamaki being hurt to really notice anything, but she could remember seeing Hikaru actually worrying about Tamaki as he held onto the horse.

'Maybe he didn't really hate Tamaki before, maybe he was pretending so he wouldn't have to explain the whole blow out he had to get out of the Host Club and have Tamaki know about the abuse…'

"They told Tamaki the next day about how I let the horse get loose and since he got hurt saving the girl, he let them chose my fate in the club. From what I remember, Tamaki was upset with me but said that the club caption should decide. While the girl wanted me kicked out for hurting Tamaki. So. that's what they did. Threw me out of the club for something I wasn't even there for. They wouldn't even listen to me while I tried to explain everything to them."

"That's bull shit. They should've at least listened to your side instead of just kicking you out."

His smile returned and held Haruhi closer to him. "I knew there was something I liked about you."

He chuckled as she leaned into his embrace, intertwining her fingers with his. "Really, and I just thought you were just trying to sleep with me."

"I would say fuck you, but I already did that so…"

She playfully hit him for his comment as he snickered. "I hate you."

They continued to stroll through the festival, taking in all the beautiful bright lights and lanterns as the sun began to set. Even though she tried her best not to do this, but she couldn't help but compare her first date with Hikaru to Tamaki's. With Tamaki, it was her first-ever real date, but even though she enjoyed her time with him, it did feel like she was lugging around a 6 ft 1 child around. He wanted to take photos with every character he saw and was way too excited with everything, but he also made the date fun. When he wasn't trying too hard to impress her or try to show off to everyone that they were a couple.

With Hikaru, he seemed a bit nervous at the start of the date, which was understandable. This wasn't his first date, but it was his first date with someone he actually liked. He was a bit tense when they first got to the festival, then finally began enjoying himself as they began playing some games. He was a lot calmer than Tamaki, but since this was his first time at something like this he was in awe at some of the attractions.

What Haruhi also really liked about Hikaru during the date is that he didn't really pressure Haruhi into showing affection out in public, just holding her hand or wrapping his arm around her, but nothing too extreme.

If she had to choose between the two dates, she had to be honest with herself that it would be difficult. They were two different people, who enjoyed different things. She may detest Tamaki, but she's not going to lie to herself and say that she didn't enjoy the date because she hated him now.

"Hey, there's the ride." Haruhi pointed to a huge black and green roller coaster with a sign of a hissing snake that said 'Venomous Viper.' Haruhi watched as a cart took off at high speed up a sixty foot hill before plummeting down and going through sic twisted loops close to the grown before halting a few seconds and begin going backwards. She smiled up at Hikaru. "Ready to go?"

"I...uh…" His eyes followed the next cart shooting off. His grip around Haruhi's shoulders tightened a bit. "Let's wait a bit." He smiled back at her, but it seemed nervous. "The line looks pretty long."

Haruhi looked over at the line and saw that he was right. The line was pretty long, but if they waited about five minutes to ten minutes would give it enough time to shorten a little. "Sure, I guess we can wait a bit. Do you want to get something to drink while we wait?"

"Sure."

The couple spotted a lemonade stand not too far away and made their way over. Since Haruhi paid for the games, Hikaru offered to stand in line and pay for their drinks while Haruhi got them a table before were all gone. She decided to take that time as she waited to answer Mei's messages she's been spammed with all day about how the date was going and also to thank her for helping her get ready, because by Hikaru's reaction when they met up at the train station, Mei did a fantastic job.

"Rei, look at that guy." Haruhi instinctively looked away from her phone over to two girls around their age looking at Hikaru as he ordered their drinks. "He's so handsome and looks at the way he's dressed. It's almost matching your outfit."

Haruhi looked over at Rei, who was a slender, tall blonde who looked like she stepped right out of a fashion magazine. Her wavy hair was clipped back in a styled bun, letting her curled bangs hand down. She wore a tight fitting leather jacket that was only zipped to the mid of her bust where a dark red shirt was barely visible before her cleavage. Her tight black jeans showed off her gorgeous figure and backside. And wore heels that helped bring attention to her toned legs.

That Rei girl's friend (who was also gorgeous) was right. Hikaru and Rei outfits were almost matching and look like they were the perfect couple you see all over the media. It almost seemed like they were made for each other…

"I know right." Rei smiled, not taking her eyes off Hikaru. "It's like God put is in the same place as a sign to be together."

"You should ask him out."

"Well duh, just look at him Misa. I'm not an idiot. We're literally perfect for each other."

...Was she correct? Were Hikaru and her perfect for each other? They did have the same taste in style, and she looked like every girl a guy dreamed of having, while Haruhi wasn't. She was the type of girl that would most likely be every guys' last choice because she was the complete opposite from Rei.

She looked away from the two girls and looked down at her outfit. It was cute, and Hikaru did seem to like it, but would he have preferred an outfit Rei was wearing? Haruhi wouldn't dare wear anything like that, for many, many reasons, but one of them was that she didn't have the body for it. Since she wasn't an A-cup anymore like last year, but she was only a cup size up. She didn't really have any womanly features that stood out. For God's sake, people last year thought she was a boy. Maybe she should try to be more girly, that was probably one of the reasons why Tamaki cheated on her...but Hikaru wasn't Tamaki, and he liked her for her...right?

"Hey," Haruhi snapped out of her self criticizing and looked up to see Hikaru in front of her with two cups of lemonade, looking down at her confused. "Are you alright? You look distraught about something."

"It's nothing," Haruhi gave a fake smile, "I was just daydreaming."

He raised an eyebrow, telling her he didn't believe her but didn't push it any further as he sat across from her and handed her her lemonade. Haruhi took a sip, enjoying the fresh sweet, sour taste of the drink. She hasn't really realized how thirsty she was since they've been wandering around, and how warm it was today that the lemonade was quite refreshing, and it seemed like she was the only one who thought so as Hikaru made a displeased face after taking a sip and cooking at the writing on the cup.

"What, too sour for you?" Haruhi teased.

"No, it tastes powdery." He replied. "There is no way this fucking lemonade is fresh like it says on the cup. They fucking scammed us."

Haruhi chuckled. "Welcome to the festival. Where you literally get scammed with almost everything."

"That can't be legal, can it? Or is it just a commoner thing?"

"I guess you can say it's a 'commoner thing,' but only in certain places. As for it being legal, some of it's not, but with something like lemonade," she took another sip of her drink, "I'm not sure."

Hikaru cracked a smile at her, but it soon fell as he saw the two girls Haruhi recognized from earlier sat next to them at their table, and that girl Rei was sitting awfully close to Hikaru, a little too close. He looked over at Haruhi, silently asking if they should move tables, but Haruhi just responded by waving them off to ignore them since there were no other free tables available. It was only when Rei scooted closer to the point where she was leaning on Hikaru where Haruhi had enough.

"May we help you two?" Haruhi asked, not hiding the irritation in her voice.

The girls both looked over at Haruhi as if they just noticed her sitting there and scowled.

"We're just sitting here enjoying our drinks like you two are." Rei spat. "I didn't know we weren't allowed to do that."

"Well, you're rubbing yourself on my date and making him uncomfortable."

"Date?!" Both girls questioned shocked and looked over at Hikaru, then back at Haruhi. Trying to connect that he was on a date with her.

"That doesn't make any sense." Rei said. "I mean, look at him and look at," she looked Haruhi up and down, "you."

"Yeah, you guys are like the complete opposite." Misa added.

Haruhi felt her face heat up with anger at the girls comment and was about to snap back when Hikaru beat her to it.

"Just because we look different doesn't mean we can't be together." Hikaru said surprisingly calm.

It really didn't shock Haruhi anymore since he has learned to control his temper a lot better in the past few months, but usually, if it involved Haruhi in any way he would snap. She could tell that he was angry by the way he was grinding his jaw, but he was doing a great job keeping his anger in.

"But I mean, come on. There has to be a catch to this." Rei continued. "Either he's just trying to sleep with you or you're playing with his feels to sleep with him since he somehow fell in love with you."

"Or," Hikaru turned to the girls, no longer hiding his irritation, "we actually both like each other and wanted to go out on a date." He stood up and grabbed his drink, motioning Haruhi to follow him. He grabbed her hand before continuing, "and for the future, you shouldn't be fucking rude to people because of your own inscrities. It's a big turn off. Bye."

And with that, Hikaru turned and led Haruhi away from the shell shocked girls who just watched them leave.

"Wow Hikaru, I must say I'm impressed." Haruhi complemented with a smile. "I knew that you were able to control your temper a lot better, but I would've thought you wouldn't think twice about cursing those girls out."

"Oh, I had to hold in all my anger to keep up that facade." He grumbled, taking one last sip of his lemonade he hated so much before throwing it away in the nearest trash can, "but I knew it would only cause a scene and I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. So even though all I wanted to do was put them in their place. I decided against it for you."

"That's really sweet of you. Who knew you were capable of that."

"Fuck you," he chortled, bringing her closer as he wrapped his arm back around her shoulders.

"Hey, the line to the ride seems to have shortened. Do you want to go on now?"

Hikaru stopped in his tracks and looked over at the roller coaster, seeing that the wait time was now five minutes instead of thirty.

"How the fuck did the line die down so fast?" He whispered to himself, probably not intending for Haruhi to hear.

"So, are you ready?"

"Uh…" Hikaru looked around the festival for a few seconds before looking back at her. "How about we play a few more games. We haven't tried the ones on the other side of the festival."

Haruhi raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "Are you stalling?"

"What? No."

"You totally are." Haruhi laughed, making Hikaru glared at her. "Who knew that the bad boy of Ouran Academy was afraid of a roller coaster."

"I'm not afraid of a fucking roller coaster!" He gritted his teeth.

"Ok, then why don't we ride it now then? If you're not scared let's go on." She taunted as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Like I said, I'm not afraid of the roller coaster." He huffed as he looked back at the ride. "I'm just not the biggest fan of them."

"I'm actually really surprised," Haruhi said. "Seeing how Kaoru likes them I thought you would too."

"I did when I was younger, but now I get kind of sick when riding them."

"If you didn't want to ride it, then why did you suggest it?"

"To be honest, I didn't think I would win those games," he nervously chuckled, "but once I found out how to beat all the rigs I was too blinded by competition to realize I was digging my own grave."

"Well, if you really don't want to ride it, we don't have to. We can find an easier ride to enjoy."

"Nah, I made the net so I'll go through with it." He sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Only if you're ok with riding it that is."

"I'm not the biggest fan of those rides either...but I did lose the bet."

"So...I guess we're riding it them…" Hikaru glanced back at the coaster one last time and gulped. "Yay…"

…

"Get me off this fucking thing!"

Hikaru tugged at the bars of the shoulder harness to try and get out of his seat, but they were locked in place. Haruhi couldn't keep her in laughter as she watched Hikaru have a major panic attack a few seconds after getting strapped into the ride.

He glared at her as he heard her laugh. "Oh, you think this is fucking funny?!"

"I told you if you didn't want to ride the ride we didn't have to." Haruhi laughed

"If you keep laughing, I'm going to break up with you on this ride like in the viral video!" He hissed, but she could see right through his bluff and rolled her eyes.

"Sure you are."

His glare hardened at her, only making her laugh harder. "Fuck you!"

"If you really don't want to ride the ride, just have one of the staff members get you out."

"Alright folks, we're launching in three, two-"

"Wait!"

"Hold on." Haruhi smiled as he saw his grip tightened on the bars before the coaster shot off.

…

"Oh my God, that was amazing!" Hikaru beamed as they exited the ride. "I forgot how much adrenaline you get after getting off a ride like that."

"Don't you feel sick?" A green looking Haruhi asked as she leaned against a poll to keep herself balanced. "I can't even stand up straight in fear I'm going to puke everywhere."

"Oh, I feel like I'm going to be sick at any moment." Hikaru's smile never leaving his face. "But I also feel this excitement that I haven't felt since I was a kid." His smile turned sweet, making Haruhi's heart fluttered in her chest. "Thank you. This date has really been perfect."

Haruhi couldn't help the small blush heat up on her face and smiled back. "I'm really glad."

She took the hand that Hikaru offered and they continued on their date.

Hikaru

I walked Haruhi up to her apartment, a little sad that the day went by so fast. But hopefully, since this date went so well, we'll be able to go on many more soon. However, now I was trying to figure out how I should end the date. Should I kiss her? It was only our first date so was I being too forward? All the other "dates" I've been on, most of the girls wanted me to kiss them, and so other things but I'm definitely not going for that tonight on our first date.

Was she the type of girl to kiss on the first date? I mean, I really wanted to, but if she didn't want to then I was ok with it. I would be a little disappointed, but we would kiss in the future...right?

"I had a great time." Haruhi said, pulling me back. "I'm sorry if it wasn't as extravagant as the other dates you've been on."

"Don't worry, it's alright." I smiled. "Even though some of those dates cost a lot more that doesn't mean I enjoyed them. This has been the best date I've been on so far, and I'm not saying that to be nice."

"So far?" Haruhi raised an amused eyebrow. "I guess that means I'll have to try even harder for our next date from what you're saying."

'Next date? Does that mean she sees us actually being together?'

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep my grin from getting too big. I haven;t felt this way about someone ever, and knowing that Haruhi actually felt the same way about me, it felt like a dream I never wanted to wake up from."

"Well, I better get inside before my dad wonders why I'm taking so long."

"Wait," I said before I could stop myself. Haruhi looked back up at me with her soft brown eyes, waiting for me to say something.

Shit, I shouldn't have stopped her, she wanted to go inside, but because I just had to be such a fucking hormonal teenage boy I just had to stop her.

I felt my face heat up and cleared my throat as I put my hands in my jacket pockets as I tried to come up with an excuse to tell for stopping her.

"I...uh...I just wanted to know...shit…"

Haruhi noticed my embarrassment and seemed to understand what I was hinting at because she smiled and walked up to me before getting up on her toes and placing her soft kiss on my lips.

I just stood there, in shock as Haruhi walked back over to her door. "Text me when you get home."

"Ok…" I responded softly, still in complete shock.

Haruhi waved goodbye to me before entering her apartment, and for a good few seconds, I just remained where I was. Slowly, I brought my hands to my lips, the lips Haruhi just kissed only a few seconds ago.

A huge grin spread across my face. Haruhi fucking kissed me!

"Yes!" I quietly cheered as I began punching the air in triumph.

I have never been this happy before in my life. She actually likes me and wanted to go on more dates, and she fucking KISSED ME!

I didn't want to jinx anything but, no matter what happens to me while I'm on this high, nothing will turn my mood around. Nothing at all.

Hey guys, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for the long wait, a lot has happened these past two months. First, I had surgery and have been recovering through all of August. Second, I had a really close friend of mine that suddenly pass away and I wasn't in the mood to write, Thirdly, I started a new story because I had writer's block this chapter and couldn't get the idea for my new story out of my head. Its called Euphoria if you want to check it out (please do. I'd deeply appreciate it) And the last excuse for me not updating, I started school (ew) so I have been focusing on that.

Hopefully, I will be able to update a lot faster and not have you all wait for two months.

Please Favorite, Follow, and Review, they are deeply appreciated.

Until next time.-HH1957