Tarot Reading

Chapter 1: Café De Lapin

Disclaimer: Hunny is actually taller than Mori-senpai! Wait, that's not right…

I've been happy with the reviews so far, so thank you, guys! And I'm deeply sorry for the one kinda insulted with my misuse of the Tarot Cards so in turn, I've done a little research and I'll be using that from this chapter onwards! And I would like to give a big glomp to Jail-chan for giving the title for this chapter and for beta-ing! I love you!

…

THUD!

"Owww…" Haruhi rubbed her back as she tried to stand up, her legs being disobedient as they wobbled upon her attempt.

"That does it, I'm going to make that old woman pa—"

She stopped and surveyed her surroundings.

That was strange.

She wasn't in the tent.

She looked around and assumed she was in some public establishment as there were other people sitting on small coffee tables. To be precise, she was in a restaurant.

Whoa. How did she get here?

"Haru-chan! Haru-chan!"

She turned to see a young man waving enthusiastically at her. He had blonde hair and was a few inches taller than her. He ran towards her and panted, "Ha-Haru-chan, I-I'm so glad y-you could come…" His words faltered as he clutched his chest. "I-I'm so sorry that you had to wait…"

"N-no, it's fine." Haruhi politely replied. She stared at him from head to toe. There was something distinctively familiar about this guy… And no, he wasn't Tamaki-senpai.

Then her eyes fixed on his hazel ones. And they also fell to the pink bunny tightly held in his hands.

She gasped.

It was Hunny-senpai.

But oddly enough, he had grown taller than her and his petite voice had evolved to a lower, mellower one—she figured out, several years must have already passed. Yet, some things never changed. He still had that same cutesy and adorable vocabulary and he also didn't seem to have outgrown his love for his bunny plushie he fondly nicknamed as "Bun-Bun".

And as she had observed earlier, he still had that same, undying love for sweets. If he didn't, then they wouldn't be in a coffee-also-pastry-shop-slash-restaurant, would they?

"Haru-chan? Are you okay?" He waved his hand in front of her. "You seem a little fazed…"

"Ahh… Yes, I'm totally fine."

He led her to one of the tables and offered her a seat, just as any gentleman would, before sitting on the opposite side.

Haruhi could only contemplate to herself. Hunny-senpai had definitely matured now.

"Haru-chan, what would you like to order?" Hunny handed her a menu.

"Uhh…" Haruhi eyed a wide variety of choices. All of them looked so mouth-watering and she feared that if she ate too much, she might end up having an appointment with the dentist.

"I think I'll have Café Latte and a small slice of Gâteau marbré, please."

"Hmmm… Wait right there, I'll just call a waiter." With a few hand signals, a waiter was already in front of them, pen and paper ready for taking down notes. "She'd like to have a cup of Café Latte and a small slice of Gâteau marbré."

Haruhi gazed at him, waiting for him to place his own order. Hunny quickly understood what that look meant. "Oh, and I would like to have Espresso Macchiato, a slice of Noir Désir, a slice of Citron Flambé, a slice of gâteau de fraise, and another slice of gâteau au fromage de myrtille."

A blink.

"Err… Hunny-senpai… Are you sure… you can eat all of those?"

"Why do you look so worried? Of course, I can eat all of them!" Hunny beamed, his smile never fading.

Soon enough, their orders came.

Haruhi picked up her fork and dug into the contents of her creamy dessert. She slowly put the fork to her mouth, and gently plopped the smooth bit of cake inside. It slid on her tongue, creating a soft movement, enabling her to savor the heavenly flavor that lingered on her taste buds, making her want for more.

"Hunny-senpai, how old am I?"

Hunny laughed at the queer inquiry. "Why, does the cake taste that good that it made you forget your own age?"

"N-no." Haruhi blushed, embarrassed at the misinterpretation she had caused.

"But for answering's sake, you are twenty-four years old, dear Haru-chan." Hunny replied, his hand covering his mouth to suppress a chuckle.

"T-twenty four?" Haruhi almost choked.

Hunny was taken aback by her sudden reaction. "Why, what's wrong? Did I make a mistake?"

"Ahh… Ehh, no, please forget what I said." Haruhi mumbled quickly, mortified at how she was making a fool of herself. 'It's been… eight years?'

"If that's what you want, then. By the way, please don't call me Hunny-senpai anymore. Besides, we're not in school now. Just call me Mitsukuni-kun. I'd be happier with that."

"O-okay, Mitsukuni-kun."

Haruhi thought it might take a while before she would get used to calling him that way.

"So, what's been happening lately with you?" Haruhi asked while her fingers played with the fork.

Hunny tittered again. "Haru-chan, are you sure you're really okay?" He held out his hand to her forehead. "You sure you didn't get bumped or something?"

Haruhi felt her cheeks growing warm. "W-why? I'm really fine."

The blonde threw his head back in laughter. "You seem to be forgetting a lot of things recently. But anyway, just that you'll know, I've already taken over our family dojo two years ago."

"Y-you did?"

Hunny slapped her lightly on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. "Maybe I picked the wrong restaurant to eat in…"

"I-I'm sorry. But anyway, where is Mori-senpai?" Haruhi looked around, but she couldn't see him anywhere. She knew Mori-senpai couldn't leave Hunny-senpai—and he'd never forgive himself if anything happened to the bunny-loving guy.

"Oh, no. Don't even try looking for him. He's not here." Hunny grinned.

"Y-you mean, h-he's not with y-you?" Haruhi stuttered. "But I thou—"

"You know, Haru-chan, I'm a big boy now," Hunny pointed a fist to his chest as if to emphasize what he said, "And besides, I think I'm depriving Takashi of his freedom whenever he keeps on following me. I'm not his responsibility and I thought it was about time he got on with a life of his own."

Haruhi smiled at the words. "That's very thoughtful of you."

This time, it was Hunny who stammered. "Y-you think so?"

"No. I know so."

A moment of silence.

For a few more minutes, all they did was stare at each other. Somehow, they felt that no words were needed.

No words were enough to describe what both of them felt at that time.

"Uhh… Thank you." It was Hunny who first broke the awkward silence. His response was rather soft, almost though not yet quite a whisper.

"N-no problem. I think I better get going. It was nice talking with you." Haruhi smiled, her gratefulness genuine and sincere. She nodded her thanks, grabbed her purse and hastily proceeded to the door.

As she was to exit however, a hand grasped hers from behind.

"Wait, Haruhi!"

At the exact mention of her name, she turned around on impulse, only to meet Hunny's intense hazel gaze.

Then a realization dawned on her.

It was the first time Hunny called her that.

It was the first time Hunny called her Haruhi.

Suddenly, she felt lips press against her own—it was warm, and dare she say it—sweet to the touch. In no time at all, she felt arms slither around her waist, their owner claiming her as his possession.

But after a few seconds, Hunny broke the kiss, his face flustered, and its color similar to that of a cherry.

He smiled tensely, "Ahh… Hehehe… You had cream on your lips."

Haruhi flushed a dark shade of crimson and again bid him goodbye, as she made her way outside the restaurant. But before she could take another step further, her surroundings swirled again, the buildings dancing and shaking as if they were made of gelatin. Before she knew it, she had blacked out.

Haruhi slowly opened her eyes—and discovered that she was enveloped by nothing but darkness. In front of her, she saw the heap of tarot cards, disheveled and scattered on the table.

"Now what should I do with this?"

"You'll have to get six cards all in all to see your future shape before you…"

"Oh, yeah. That's right. I still have to pick five more cards before I get out of this black crap."

She reached out to the table, closed her eyes as her hand traveled about the surface, stopped, and lifted another card. Her heart drummed stridently as she turned the card around.

It was… the Strength.

Unfortunately for her, before she could think who it was, she was yet again hurled into the pit of nil but pitch black…

…

I know how hard it is to imagine Hunny being all grown-up and stuff, but yeah, I found it amusing… I mean, it's Hunny being tall! And I know some of you may be throwing up at the idea of Hunny and Haruhi kissing but it's pretty funny for me. Besides, everyone will have their own moments with our heroine. Oh, and I'm sure you all know who the next one is going to be… --winks--.

Key Translation

Café De Lapin—Rabbit Café

Café Latte—Coffee Slat

Gâteau marbré—Marbled cake

Noir Désir—Black Desire (cake)

Citron Flambé—Lemon Flambe (cake)

Gâteau de fraise—strawberry cake

Gâteau au fromage de myrtille—blueberry cheese cake