They walked up the steep hill in comfortable silence, hopping from foot to foot and occasionally doubling over to search for footholds. The grass gently rippled in the breeze, light purple wildflowers carrying a light sweet scent along the pure summer air. They stopped under the cover of a scraggly tree, holding onto its bulbous bark for support as they caught their breath.
Mori shielded his eyes from the sun and wiped the sweat off his brow, smiling down proudly at the girl with him, her dark blue dress fluttering against the tall grass.
The place where they stopped overlooked a smaller hill with a lone tree breaking against the skyline, the intense blue seeming to pop out from the muted shades of green and brown and somewhere nearby, the sweet music of the ocean hitting the shore resounded throughout the small valley.
"Do you come here often too?" She asked a little breathlessly, leaning against the tree trunk and fanning her face with her hand.
The way her face was flushed made her skin glow, and Mori silently admired her for a moment before speaking softly so she had to pick out his words carefully. "Yes. Up on that hill," he pointed to the lone tree. It looked so alone, isolated on one edge with nothing but wavering grass to balance it out. "I usually come to meditate and listen to the ocean."
"You're really into nature, aren't you?" She smiled up at him, not comprehending the sad look that crossed his stoic features.
"What I like doesn't matter. Before all else I have to put Honeys wishes. It's rare for me to get something I want, but I always seem to get what I need." He caught a stray lock of hair fluttering in front of Haruhi's face and wound it behind her ear.
She blushed and turned back to the lone tree. "Hmm." She took his hand and together they hiked down to the hill. Haruhi stood against the skyline, looking onto the ocean in the distance. "It's beautiful." Mori had come to stand behind her.
"Yes." He said simply. She turned and looked at his face. His short black hair was blown away from his face, his eyes wizened against the breeze. His mouth was a long slash against his strong jaw, but she noted his fine pink lips flush and smooth. She'd never really noticed how handsome he was before now.
"I wonder. Why is it that-," Before she could finish speaking the rocks under her feet slipped and clattered down the steep hill and she slipped with them. With no foothold to find, she reached out, but Mori was too far for her to reach. She dropped like a rock a few feet off the edge before her dress was caught on something. She gasped in relief, the drop below her steep enough for broken bones. Looking up, she found Mori, strained and determined, hanging off the precipice with a small bunch of her dress in his hand.
"Give me your hand." He ordered, and she reached upwards, freezing dead as the movement caused the material to rip. "Hurry!" He grunted.
The sound of the fabric tearing echoed throughout the valley, and Haruhi, disbelieving, found herself lying atop Mori on the edge of the cliff. To her infinite surprise, Mori started laughing.
She glared down at him, as their faces were mere inches apart, her small form hardly covering the expanse of his body. "I almost died… and you're laughing."
He laughed louder and she grew worried. "Are you okay?"
"Ah, fine, fine. Great, really. How's the dress?" He broke out into maniacal chuckled again and Haruhi looked down in alarm at the rip that led all the way to her belly button, exposing her striped purple underwear.
"Agh!" She blushed and moved to get off of him, but he caught her hands and held them to his chest, where she could feel his heart pounding fast against his ribs.
"You scared me. Don't do it again. You're something I need, and what I need I get." He nodded to a small sapling growing across from the lone tree. "I guess I was never really alone."
Mori looked into her chocolate brown eyes, and ever so slowly pressed his lips to hers.
I guess the balance is the key, no?
0o0
Meanwhile, in Honeys summer estate, Hikaru and Kaoru sat next to each other on the opposite end of a long dining table apart from Kyouya and me. They had apparently joined forces, as they exchanged constant sly glances from the corner of their eyes and talked to each other in inaudible whispers. It was really annoying me. I had gone to see Kaoru to get freaking advice and now we were all caught up in this mess.
Kyouya sat next to me, his every breath raking against my raw nerves. I was definitely not on his side, but a front against the devil twins couldn't hurt. Plus, every once in a while I caught a look on his face that said he was fully aware of that fact.
Anyways, the twins are up to something. I turned to Kyouya and kept my voice low. "I'm not with you on this, but let's watch their every move. They believe their turns are up."
"Shut up, idiot." He said loud enough for the twins to hear.
I turned back with a short nod. Plan set.
The sound of the front door clicking open made us all turn in grim determination before a sweet laugh echoed down the hallway. I grimaced.
"Is that a light? Is Honey here?" Haruhi asked from a ways away followed by an increase in speed in the heavy footfalls coming from presumably Mori.
Ambush set.
