Chapter 6:
There were no words to tell how she felt.
"I didn't even call him since Christmas," she murmured to herself. She stood, eyes expressionless, at the last place she had seen him; smiling as always…the old apartment complex.
"Haruhi, sweetie!" Ryoji in all his cross-dressing glory chased after his only daughter as Haruhi loaded her things into the bright red BMW that she had been forced to accept by Tamaki. The license place in front said 'kings' and the one in the back said 'daughter'.
Haruhi swore she would get new ones once she saved up some extra money.
"Yeah, dad?" Haruhi answered begrudgingly, packing the last of her bags into the back. She didn't carry much; mainly essentials and of course the cell phone the Twins had given to her and another one which Tamaki snuck into her bag. He couldn't stand to be outdone.
"Daddy wants to take his little girl's picture!" Haruhi's father squealed, capturing Haruhi's monotonous expression five times over.
"Dad, enough," she said in annoyance, "you're wasting money by taking pictures of random things."
"B-but," Ryoji simpered, fixing his wig, "My baby is going off to college now!" he dazed off, hugging Haruhi close, "Oh, Kotoko…look at her now! Our Haruhi is going off to be a lawyer just like you!"
Haruhi sighed but finally gave in to the hugs and gushing her father was giving her. Like he often said, "giving enough love to you as two parents".
C-rrrrrrr-eak. Haruhi twisted the keys into the slightly rusted door and stepped gently in. She stood and examined the small, yet belonging space. Just like it had been since she left. She pulled off her coat and hung it up right next to Ryoji's.
"Just like old times, huh Dad." she whispered, fingering the soft blue material that made up his coat. It smelt lightly of strawberries from the perfume he always wore. Haruhi remembered the name. Stepping to Heaven, wasn't it?
She walked into the kitchen, the scent of her father's roasted chicken lingered tauntingly in the air. Haruhi's big brown eyes began to water a little bit. Just the heavy smell of seasoning, she assumed.
"Hikaru?" "Kaoru."
Tamaki's face reddened as if he was about to blow. Haruhi watched in slight interest. That and she new every time the Hikaru and Kaoru started to bother Tamaki-senpai, there was a mess to be cleaned up a short few minutes later.
"Fuck it!" Tamaki raged, the Twins clapping their hands in obvious glee that they had caused Tamaki to use the rare 'F' word. "You're going to have to play the penalty game now, Milord!" they said in complete harmony grinning their 'Now you're going to suffer and you can't do anything about it' smiles.
"I never agreed to a penalty game! You guys are seventeen years old and you should start acting like that!" Tamaki yelled in exasperation.
"Then why don't you start acting your age, Milord?" Hikaru asked, smirking, "What eighteen year old refers to himself in third person?" "And goes over to Haruhi's house and digs into her dresses?" Kaoru added, adding more and more salt into the big invisible gash on Tamaki's head.
"Haruhi!" he whined, clutching onto Haruhi's apron as she moved to get the takoyaki she had been making out of the pan. "Make them stop!"
Haruhi ignored him.
"Now, your punishment!" Hikaru said evilly. Kaoru nodded with him with a knowing smile, "You get to watch everyone eat Haruhi's takoyaki while you get to stay in that corner." Shock came to Tamaki's face. He couldn't have imagined a worse fate…and then it happened. Haruhi's father came in.
"Haruuuuuuuuuuhi!" he shouted, glomping his daughter and then narrowing his eyes to face the Evil One.
"You!" he howled in rage, "The pervert who made a move on my daughter without my permission and tried to deflower her lovely nature and steal her away from me!" he accused, causing Tamaki to cringe and the Twins to make victory signs from behind Haruhi.
"I give up," Haruhi mumbled, departing for her room with Hikaru and Kaoru following after her…and leaving a horrified Tamaki with an over angry drag queen of a dad to take care of him.
"Heeeeeeeee-lllllllllll-pppppppp!"
The Twins slept peacefully that night.
Haruhi slammed her hands over her ears, fighting back tears. The memories…everything in this place hurt her. It burned into her mind and forced out the…happy (if that's what you called happy) memories to circle around her. Being Haruhi, as blind to her true feelings as she was…that made it harder.
"W-why am I crying like this?" she sobbed to herself, her braids (that Haruka had spent a good thirty minutes tying while she was asleep) slowly unraveling leaving her thick auburn hair to spread across her body.
The staggered to her feet, and wiped her face, her eyes drawn to a framed picture of a smaller Haruhi, Ryoji, and Kotoko. Haruhi snatched it from the wall and tore it from the frame, her molten copper orbs beating into the three smiling faces of three happy people.
…Though her distressed state caused her to see only one. Her mother's kind face melted away and soon her father's followed.
Only her face was left.
One small face…with no one else to stand next to.
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Haruhi's POV
I…I-I don't know what's happening. These feelings, these emotions…they're flooding into my mind too fast. I can't keep up. Why? Why, though?
I…can't think straight. And my head hurts. Great. Real great. That was sarcasm, by the way. I still don't know why.
Or do I?
Father once said something…what was it? I think it was something to do with strawberries.
"Haruhi, sweetie. You know…you think too much! This is what Kotoko told me and I'm telling it to you. I mean thinking isn't such a bad thing. You should think! Just…uh…(Kotoko, what did you say?) Think of it this way, Haruhi.
You're hungry and are looking for something to eat. You go to look in the fruit basket and you find a ripe kiwi. And err…you want a banana…"
"I don't like bananas, dad."
"Okay, a strawberry. You want a strawberry. You're still hungry but you refuse to have the kiwi even if you like that too."
"I don't like kiwis, dad."
"Okay, then…instead of a kiwi, call it an omelet."
"An omelet is not a fruit, dad. You don't find omelets in fruit baskets."
"Okay, okay! Fine, it's an apple. Now you keep looking for a strawberry but looky here! Strawberries aren't in season. So why not eat the apple? When life gives you apples, make apple pie."
"That's 'When life gives you lemons, make lemonade', dad."
"See! See! Kotoko, Haruhi's thinking too much! Tell her to stop Kotoko."
"I mean it, dad. Stop it."
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Author note: Sorry I haven't updated. I was on vacation. Well, this story will be ending in a couple of chapters and I hope you all are enjoying it!
Regarding to comments about Haruka…she is indeed a weird person and a lesbian. She just doesn't want to admit it. She's just an OC that I decided to make up. 'Nuff said.
Now, I'd like some ideas of a new story to write. Please include that info in your review. You know, character pairing, series, rough plot, whatever. I'd like to see what YOU want to read.
