Hikaru
Haruhi wanted to get back before the storm hit.
At least, that had been the plan, anyway. Usually it was the easiest for her to simply walk into town to get any groceries or necessities for the apartment, but the Host Club had insisted that for this special night commemorating the one year anniversary since Haruhi joined their club deserved some special food—Tamaki suggested that Haruhi finally get her fancy tuna.
Which of course is the only reason why Haruhi allowed all six Host Club boys to be in her house at once. It had become pretty commonplace for one or two of the boys to come over to hang out a little bit, but only rarely were all of them in her crowded apartment at the same time.
The sushi place that Kyoya had ordered out from had a new policy regarding deliveries a certain radius out from the restaurant and it just so happened Haruhi's apartment fell just outside of its jurisdiction. Judging by the slack of his jaw and tick of his eyebrow, Haruhi figured out the problem and was out the door to pick of the food before he or any of the others could blow such a small problem out of proportion.
It's not like she was too lazy to drive an extra twenty minutes to get their food. That and she really didn't want to be dragged into one of their big, rambunctious schemes again.
She had just started the engine when Hikaru climbed into the passenger's seat and grinned, "Thought you could use the company."
Haruhi had told him she'd be fine without it, but since it was clear he wasn't going to be swayed in his decision of accompanying her, she just put the car in drive and pulled out of the parking space.
It had been bright and sunny when they had left, and it had been bright and sunny when they entered the restaurant, but as they waited for their food's preparations to be finished Haruhi couldn't help but notice the darkening sky.
"I didn't know it was supposed to rain," she murmured, narrowing her eyes at the ominous clouds.
Hikaru shrugged, hands in his pockets as he leaned backward slightly to reach her eye level. "I don't think it was supposed to. I swear, that weather guy is always getting his facts mixed up!"
Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Don't take it out on the weather guy. It's not like he can control it."
"No," Hikaru conceded, a lazy frown adorning his face, "but it's his job to predict the weather so he might as well get better at that."
"Then maybe you should go into the weather forecasting business since you're so passionate about it." Haruhi enjoyed the embarrassed blush that spread over her friend's nose and cheeks. Served him right for getting a smart mouth. Again.
"I'm not passionate," Hikaru grumbled. He watched her from the corner of his eyes for a second, looked away, then zeroed in on her again. When she caught him watching, he began tracing his finger along the advertisement poster that they were next to.
"You are too, passionate," she rebutted. "And stop touching the poster, Hikaru. Someone worked hard on that."
Hikaru scoffed, scrutinizing the inconsistent letter sizes and poor color pallet. "Guess they didn't work hard enough."
"What was that?" Haruhi's voice was hard and dripping with sarcasm as she sized him up with an unamused look. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you over your horrible personality."
Hikaru's stoic frown melted into that of one of his mischievous ones. "Oh Haruhi-"
"Oh would you look at that!" Haruhi purposefully ignored him. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you over our food being called either." She turned on her heel and marched up to the counter, secretly relieved that she didn't have to face whatever scheme Hikaru had obviously been about to execute.
The girl behind the counter regarded Haruhi skeptically. "Order for Kyoya?" Her eyes shifted from the three large bags on the counter beside her to Haruhi.
Haruhi smiled. "Yeah, that's me." She slipped her wallet out of her pocket and waited patiently.
The blonde behind the counter smiled a bit smugly. "That will be a total of five-thousand three-hundred forty-one yen."
Haruhi felt her stomach drop through the floor. She could have dinner for a week with that much money and this was only for one meal? How much did this fancy tuna cost?
Color drained further from her face when she remembered that the blonde was waiting for her to pay and leave, but all Haruhi had in her wallet was two-thousand yen, an old baseball card, a bobby pin, and a ball of lint. Yeah, that last one was kind of embarrassing…
"Miss?" The blonde prompted impatiently.
Haruhi laughed nervously. "Uh, you see, I'm not the one who-"
"Charge it to this." Hikaru's hand appeared from behind her holding a red and black credit card. Casting a sideways glance up at him, Haruhi noted that he looked considerably upset. Had her comment about the weather really angered him that much?
The girl hesitated for a moment before taking the card from his fingers, ran it through a card reader, and then her eyes nearly fell out of her head. "Y-you're one of the Hitachiins?" she barely stuttered out.
It was obvious that Hikaru was trying his best not to snap at her rudely as he plucked his card out of her hand and slid it into his back pocket. "That's right." He looked down at Haruhi and his gaze softened. "Let's go, Haruhi."
He turned on his heel, leaving little time for Haruhi to grab all three bags of their food and catch up with him. When she was an arms length behind him she said, "Sorry for upsetting you so bad back there. I didn't mean what I said about the weatherman thing."
Hikaru opened the back door and Haruhi set their bags down on the floor. Something about his expression made her wonder if it had been something else that had happened back there that had made him so upset, but he simply nodded. Then he smirked and asked, "So can I drive?"
He held his hands out playfully for the keys. Haruhi laughed once, then assumed her usual no-nonsense tone. "No way in hell, Hikaru."
"Ah, come on Haruhi!" he whined. She bypassed him, climbing into the driver's seat while he clambered into the passenger's side. "I got my license now!"
"And so does Kaoru." The first specks of rain appeared on her windshield as they pulled out onto the main road. If they were lucky and the traffic was good, then they would be able to make it home before there were any complications. "And having two Hitachiins on the road kinda freaks me out if I'm being honest."
Hikaru raised his eyebrows, scoffing slightly. "We're safe drivers! I'm insulted you think so little of us Haruhi!"
"Get used to it." She laughed at Hikaru's pouting. "Okay, fine. I'm sure Kaoru is a safe driver."
"Oh, but you don't think I am?" Hikaru shot back. This time he did look mildly offended, which she hadn't been aiming for.
Haruhi flipped the wipers on as the rain began to get heavier. "Relax, Hikaru," she said, "You're probably fine too." She paused for a second, grinning mischievously. "But if your driving is anything like you sitting shotgun, my worries are not without problication."
Suddenly something poked her in the cheek and she was laughing. "See?" she declared, shoving a giggling Hikaru back into his seat, "this is exactly what I meant! You're gonna-"
The lightning crash made Haruhi react instantly; without meaning too, her foot crashed on the breaks and the car jolted violently to a stop in the middle of the street. Fortunately, the road was mostly deserted, but now they were just sitting in the middle of the road as a storm raged around them and lightning bared her teeth.
Hikaru rubbed his head. "Fricken hell, holy shit," he groaned.
Haruhi barely noticed him- her attention was fixed on the torrential rain outside. Despite her incessant trembling, she kept a death grip on the wheel with both hands and both of her small feet were clamped down over the break pedal.
This was the worst. Haruhi had developed a system for weathering storms when she was out it public, but being in a car where she was controlling it while there was thunder was an entirely new experience. One tense flinch while she's making a turn or instinctively closing her eyes to block out the sound could mean game over for her and someone else.
Before now, the thought had never crossed her mind; Haruhi had only just received her license not long before the twins, but it had felt so natural to her that she was never worried when she went out. But after this, she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to go out like this again. After all, it had been a perfect day when she left, not a cloud in sight! How was she going to be able to enjoy herself when she drove now that she would constantly have paranoia about if the weather were to suddenly turn on her?
She hadn't realized it, but tears began to slip down her cheeks as her heart pounded and lungs begged for air. Her brain only just now recognized the trauma from the near crash. A big fat droplet dropped into her lap, leaving wet spots on her oversized sweatshirt.
Still numb, Haruhi become acutely aware of the car's engine suddenly shutting off but her eyes remained glued to the hood of the car being relentlessly barraged by rain. Something soft snuggling into her hand and entwining her fingers is what finally made Haruhi come back to reality.
"Haruhi?" Relief flooded through Hikaru's amber eyes.
Haruhi looked looked down at their hands. "Hikaru?" she mumbled, and a tear slid down her nose. He waited expectantly, the most tender expression she had ever seen on his face. Never in her life did Haruhi think she'd ever see such a gentle expression on the eldest twin's face. "I'm scared."
The next thunder crash unleashed all of her fear— the fear she felt when the thunder roars and the fear she felt when the car came to a heart dropping stop earlier— and she launched herself into Hikaru's arms while her sobs reached a high volume.
She knew what she was trying to do with these loud wails— she wanted to drown out the thunder that just wasn't going away. No doubt their food was spilled all over the backseat, leaving her with a dirty car, no fancy tuna, and an extra five thousand yen debt so that was another thing to cry over.
Hikaru tried consoling her, but he must've realized his attempts at out-louding her were low because he came that up and just held her close by keeping his chin firmly tucked on top of her head and he squeezing her hand affectionately.
Eventually, her tears stopped but the trembling didn't and the thunder only seemed to grow louder and closer. She didn't want to drive again until everything was over. Hikaru must have picked up on her resolve, because he shifted ever so slightly so that his mouth was nestled just above her ear.
"I can drive," he whispered gently. "You don't have to worry about it."
Haruhi tried to laugh, but no sound came out other than a hiccup in the back of her throat. He tried to move from under her, but she clutched onto his arm. "It's too loud!" she whimpered.
The only thing that had been keeping her sane this whole time was his heartbeat; the sure, steady sound was just enough for her to focus on to drown out as much of the thunder as possible.
"Too loud?" Hikaru gave her hand another squeeze. "You mean the thunder is?"
Normally Haruhi would have had to bite back a laugh at a comment like that, but she was too numb. Too drained to give coherent thoughts...well, much thought. Instead, she nodded.
Hikaru's body suddenly leaned forward, taking Haruhi along with him but he kept a tight grip around her upper arms and used his knees to support her. When he leaned back, the car was blasting upbeat pop music that had suddenly made itself popular among the Host Club boys.
"Listen to this," Hikaru said. This time, Haruhi didn't complain when he shifted her weight into the seat and crawled over into the the driver's seat. When he was situated, he revved up the engine which helped block out the thunder even more.
The car peeled back into the lane. If there was one thing that Haruhi would never be able to heckle Hikaru about ever again, it would have to be his driving because he had been right—he was a pretty safe driver. Even with the limited visibility from the rain and the cacophony of thunder and blasting music, Haruhi felt safer with Hikaru at the wheel than her own father.
At a red light, the station's music switched to a commercial and the thunder became aggressive again. Haruhi whimpered, clutching her hands over her head. "Don't worry, Haruhi," Hikaru said soothingly as he switched the station to one with upbeat music. "Focus on the words and the sounds of the song. There's nothing to be afraid of."
It when on like that for the rest of the ride home; Hikaru would make sure the radio was always blasting some kind of music and Haruhi kept her eyes shut tightly with her hands stuffed into the front of her sweatshirt. Occasionally, Hikaru would give her his hand to hold but not often since he quickly realized that she was squeezing his hand so tight his bones might shatter.
By the time they were back in front of her apartment building, Haruhi had to be shook awake. "Hikaru?" she mumbled sleepily, sitting up. She noticed his hand resting on her shoulder. It had stopped raining.
Hikaru smiled. "Hey, we're home. And good news! The food didn't get all over your car!" He held up one of the three bags in his lap for emphasis.
"Really?" It sounded stupid even to her, but it was the only word she could make her mouth say.
But Hikaru only grinned again. "Alright, let's get inside then. The boss is probably worried."
Haruhi stretched her arms up over her head—when had she fallen asleep?— then climbed out of the car to follow Hikaru up the steps to the second level. She grabbed onto his wrist as he reached for the doorknob, stopping him in his tracks.
"Haruhi?" He looked down at her like a deer in the headlights which she found both endearing and comical. "What is it?"
Haruhi smiled, hugging him around the waist. He stumbled a bit, caught off guard, but she righted him. "Thank you, Hikaru."
Hikaru smiled into her hair, thankful for something to hide his pink face, but then she was no longer in his embrace and the door was flung open. Embarrassment filling his stomach, Hikaru pulled his neck down into his pullover hoodie to hide his face.
"Haru-chan!" Hunny jumped into Haruhi's arms the moment she stepped into the apartment. "Are you and Hika-chan okay? We were all so worried!"
"Don't be." Hikaru set down the sushi on the table. "We brought the goods."
"Drugs?" Kaoru smirked. Hikaru rolled his eyes.
Haruhi pried off Hunny and dropped him into Mori's arms just as Tamaki rounded the corner in a mad dash with Kyoya a beat behind. Then Tamaki was hanging all over her, cupping her face the way he does when he's in a fit of affection.
"Really, I'm fine, Tamaki," she promised, shimmying out of his grasp.
"But," Tamaki held his arms out, looking depressed, "Daddy just wants to make sure you're safe Haruhi!"
Haruhi peered passed Tamaki into the kitchen where Hikaru was balancing three pieces of sushi on his nose. She smiled, patting Tamaki on the arm gently. "No need to worry, Tamaki. Hikaru made sure that I was safe."
10/4/16