I own nothing but my original characters.
"Alright you guys ready to go?" I asked the two dogs who were staring at me as I pulled on my light hoodie. They both jumped off the bed and ran to the door as fast as they could, waiting for me to attach their leashes. I double-checked the pockets of my cargo pants, making sure I had my wallet, keys, and phone before letting the dogs pull me out the door.
It was a beautiful spring day, a light cool breeze made the cherry blossom petals fluttered down to the ground. I was happy I decided to walk to the vet today instead of taking the car for their yearly check up. There's nothing like nice walk to help clear your head. I greeted the familiar receptionist warmly before taking a seat in the waiting room. Oso proceeded lay down at my feet while Besos sat next to me on a chair, tongue flopping happily to the side. I smiled at her and scratched behind her ear.
Suddenly, a flash of yellow hit me in my chest and a tongue started to licked my face. I couldn't help but giggle a bit before gently pushing the beautiful and very friendly golden retriever to the side.
"Antoinette!" The familiar blonde appeared just as suddenly as his dog, who was now greeting Oso and Besos. Suoh was wearing a stylish black jacket over a patterned t-shirt with dark jeans. He grinned widely at me. "Mami-senpai!" Before I could return the greeting all three dogs jumped on him, knocking him to the floor. He laughed with glee as all three dogs tried to lick his face. I called Besos and Oso back after a minute and got them settled down.
"I'm sorry about that Suoh-san. They just love people."
"There's no need to be so formal, Mami-senpai." He pouted a bit before turning back to the dogs. "I love you guys too! What are your names?" He cooed while holding Besos's face in his hands, giving her the opportunity to steal another kiss.
"That one is Besos and the black one is Oso." Tamaki looked at me with confusion.
"Late?" I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck.
"It's actually Spanish. It means Bear. Her name means Kisses. I'm guessing her name is Antoinette? She's beautiful, Tamaki-san." The golden had finally settled down but her tail was still going a million miles a minute. I couldn't help but smile, her personality matched Tamaki's perfectly.
"Yes! This is mon amour! Did you come here to experience the wonders of commoner's vet clinics?" To be honest, I was surprised to see someone from Ouran here. The vet clinic was small and in the less affluent side of town, it was nowhere near as fancy as some of the clinics my family owned.
"The vet was Ojiisan's apprentice and friend" My heart felt heavy, I didn't know if Ojiisan remembered him at this point. Tamaki's eyes flashed with emotion briefly, he looked as if he was going to say something but another voice interrupted him.
"Is. I still consider Hachiuma-senpai to be one of my greatest friends. And Tamaki-kun I asked you to stop calling us that." Akiba Hayato stood in the doorway a smile on his face as he shook his head. I hadn't seen him in almost three years but he looked almost exactly the same. His black hair was still cut close to his head, the wrinkles by his eyes were more pronounced and he still wore the same bright colored scrubs under his white lab coat. "Hey Mi-chan." I rushed over to him, my dogs not far behind. My heart swelled and started to feel lighter as I hugged my old friend, relaxing into his arms. "How have you been?" I shook my head into his chest, despite the concern apparent in his voice; I didn't want to worry him with my problems. Besos pushed her way between us before he could question me further. At least her jealously was good for something.
"Look at how big you've gotten! You're so beautiful!" She enthusiastically licked his face. "Lets go get you two checked up huh?" I managed to wave a quick goodbye to Tamaki before the two dogs pulled me into the back.
Twenty minutes, two clean bills of health, and way too many treats later, I walked back into the lobby, saying goodbye to Hayato along the way but I didn't get far. Tamaki was still here. He looked up from his phone to see what Antoinette was getting excited about and rushed over to me.
"You didn't have to wait for me, Tamaki-san." His smile was warm; it honestly made me a little uncomfortable. The attention was too much. Was he this over the top with everyone?
"Nonsense, Mami-senpai! I wanted to walk you home. Arisa-hime told me you live close by." I shot a quick glare at the receptionist that suddenly found her pen to be the most interesting thing in the world. Traitor. I sighed and started to walk out the door. I had watched and experienced Tamaki in action, once he decided on something, there was no stopping him. Hence why I was stuck putting on animal shows for the host club.
"Let's go then." I honestly couldn't tell who was happier, him or his dog. They really are the same. We fell into a comfortable silence while I let Oso set the pace back. Tamaki didn't try and force a conversation, which surprised me; he actually looked deep in thought.
"Well, this is it." I said breaking the silence. He looked at my house in total awe. It stuck out like a sore thumb among the more modern or traditional Japanese houses that neighbored it. It was considerably smaller than the other houses in the neighborhood but it sat on a huge piece of land. The red tile roof stood out in stark contrast to the pure white stucco walls.
"Would you like something to drink, Tamaki-san?" I took his running toward the door to admire the house as a yes. I thanked the butler that opened the door for us and lead Tamaki and the dogs toward the courtyard in the center of the house. It was completely enclosed but with the beautiful arches that surrounded it, it looked bigger. An elegant fountain bubbled in the middle of the perfectly landscaped yard. The dogs ran around the yard enjoying each other's company. I motioned for Tamaki to follow me back inside.
The inside was more modern. Almost all of grandfather's things had been replaced; the only thing my parents couldn't replace was the colorful tile work that accented every door frame. It was hard to find traces of my grandparents left in the house.
"Your house is amazing! What style is this?"
"It's called a Hacienda. Ojiisan had this house built for my Abuelita when they moved back to Japan after she became pregnant with my father. He fell in love with the culture and her instantly on his first trip to Mexico and wanted her to feel at home when she was with him." I sat the teapot on the stove, turning it on. " I was young when she passed so I don't remember her very well. He would tell me all these grand stories about the adventures they would go on." I placed two teacups on the counter before continuing encouraged by him leaning forward on his elbows, soaking in every word.
"He actually almost lost his company because of her. His family didn't approve of him not marrying into another family of wealth and threatened to take away his share of the company. Ojiisan ran off to Mexico to be with her anyways, leaving his family and their money behind. Together they worked hard and they eventually opened up several successful rehabilitation centers. When his father passed, my grandfather was given total control over the company, even though they hadn't spoken in years.
"Apparently Abuelita was in contact with his father and told him of all the wonderful things Ojiisan had accomplished. She had managed to impress him so much that Ojiisan was accepted back into the family. With the success of his family business to support them, my grandparents focused on expanding their outreach, making one of the biggest non-profits out there, all so they could complete their goal to help as many animals as possible. I hope that one day I can continue their legacy they worked so hard to build." My voice cracked toward the end, unable to hold back the emotion that had swelled up in my chest. I poured the hot water into the cups and looked up at Tamaki. Tears were falling from his face and he sniffled a little.
"What a beautiful love story!" He grabbed me into a hug and pulled me close. "You speak so highly of your grandfather. You two are very close aren't you?" He still had his hands on my shoulders, his eyes still shown with unshed tears but he looked as though he knew how I felt. He had known the same loss as me; he knew what I was going through without me having to put it into words. I couldn't stop the tears that came as the feelings overwhelmed me. My carefully constructed walls came crashing down. He just gathered me into his arms and let me sob against his shoulder. My whole body shook as the stress I had been shouldering on my own came flowing out.
"He's my best friend." I mumbled into this shoulder. My voice was horse and my throat hurt. "He has always there for me and soon he's not even going to know who I am. I'm going to walk into his room one day and he's not going to remember who I am. I'm watching the person I care most about in this world disappear before my eyes and there is nothing I can do to stop it." That was the first time I had said it out loud to myself. At some point Tamaki and I had ended up sitting on the floor, our backs resting against the counter, my head still on his shoulder as he stroked my hair. My body felt so heavy despite the fact that I felt like a huge weight had be lifted off my shoulders. I didn't have the energy to be embarrassed at the position we were in.
"Your story of your grandparents reminded me of my own parents." His voice was soft and serious. "My father fell madly in love with my mother but my grandmother didn't approve. Even though he loved my mother he went back to his family, leaving her and I behind. I lived with her in France until two years ago, when my father took me back with him. I had to say goodbye to her. I just hope she's happy and smiling. Your grandparents give me hope that one day we'll be a family again."
This was a side of Tamaki I hadn't seen over the last few weeks since we met. I was surprise at the amount of pain he was able to hide behind a smile. I understood why his look made me finally crack. We were both broken in our own way; we had both lost our best friend. We both could feel the overwhelming loneliness of losing a family member. Had he seen the loneliness in me? Is that why he insisted on walking me home? Why he insisted on me spending more time with his club?
"Tamaki?" I swallowed the lump in the throat. "Why?" Tamaki looked down at me briefly before focusing his gaze ahead. He didn't ask me to elaborate the question, which I was grateful for because I'm not sure I'd be able to.
"Your eyes looked sad. That's why I'm happy you agreed to join the host club. You look the happiest when you're talking about animals." He smiled down at me, neither of us tried to fill the silence. I rested my head on his shoulder for a few more moments, enjoying the comfort that came with it.
"Could you maybe stay a little longer? I don't want to be alone." The last part came out just barely above a whisper. He squeezed my shoulder and rested his head on mine.
"Of course."
After a few minutes we got off the floor and I apologized for burdening him with my problems and for ruining his jacket. Tamaki laughed and pulled me into another hug. "Mon Ami, this is what friends are for." I honestly almost started crying again. We continued to talk over the cold tea about our families. Tamaki was surprisingly easy to talk to. He told me his mother was a music teacher and had taught him how to play piano. Whenever he missed her he would play a tune from a Japanese drama that his father had sent him as child. He told me stories of his life in the second house while he waited to earn his grandmother's approval to join his father in the main house. Meanwhile, I told him how Ojiisan had taught me everything I knew about animals and I ended up showing him both of our field books. I told him of my parents moving us around frequently to do business deals, causing me to switch schools frequently. He got excited when I told him I had studied briefly in France for three months. His excitement didn't wane when I told him I didn't speak any French, he was just excited to know that we had visited some of the same towns.
I eventually gave him a full tour of the estate. He looked like a kid who went to the zoo for the first time; everything was so amazing to him. It was honestly refreshing to see. He was goofy and sometimes a bit too much but I had a new found appreciation for the boy who went out of his way to make me feel better. I was watching him chase the chickens around trying to pet one but they kept narrowly escaping.
"Hey Tamaki?" He stopped mid run, nearly tripping over his feet. "Would you like to stay for dinner?" I looked down at my hands, fiddling with the silver ring on my finger. I felt nervous waiting for his answer. Ouran was the first place where people had reached out and tried to get to know me. I didn't want to ruin it by asking too much of this budding friendship. He grabbed my hand, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"I'd love to Mami!" Tamaki said excitedly. I should have known better than to doubt the boy who forced me to join his club just to see me smile. The chef ended up making a traditional Mexican dish of Chili Rellenos, which Tamaki loved and he spent the whole dinner talking about how the host club had to do a Mexican theme some day. I couldn't help but smile the whole meal. It felt good to have a meal with someone again.
I really enjoyed writing this chapter because I love how deep Tamaki's character is. I know it's a while before he starts to show his serious side but I like to believe it was always there. But there is some background for Mami's family. Thank you all for the follows and favorites. If there is anything you'd like to see happen, let me know and maybe it'll show up in the story!
Also I found out that Oso was also a Japanese word after I had already named the dogs. Both the spainsh and Japanese pronunciation sound similar too so I added that in.