Oi Vey! Boy this chapter was a long time coming! I'm so sorry for making you guys wait! I appreciate your lovely reviews and kind follows really! It's just between being a full time college student, working part time, and just my overall laziness it's been hard to for to sit and write! Luckily next week is my spring break so I'm going to make it a goal to get as much writing done as possible! Thank you so much for sticking around and I hope you enjoy!
The next morning Haruhi woke up hoping that the nightmare was over. But alas, as she sat up in her much too large bed in the equally over the top bedroom, in her current adult body, with no memories beyond 15 years old, she wanted to scream. Haruhi closed her eyes tight, trying to remember anything she could, but aside from what had happened yesterday with the host club and the day before, the last 10 years of her life were still a blank. This was just becoming frustrating!
Despite not wanting to Haruhi reluctantly got out of bed and went into the connected bathroom to brush her teeth, and it was at that moment while standing in front of the grand mirror over the sink that she finally took notice of her now grown up body. Haruhi always had a sort of boyish frame, but it was apparent that the last growth of puberty had finally gotten to her with age. Her breasts weren't any larger than they were, but her waist was now more defined, along with her hips. The small amount of baby fat in her cheeks had slimmed down some, and of course, how could she not notice that her hair was now a good 5 inches longer! It was like she was looking at a completely different person, Haruhi didn't even recognize this woman standing before her. But then that's when it hit her, Haruhi was looking at a different person. This wasn't her, this woman had all the experiences she couldn't remember. Finishing high school, going to college, passing the bar exam, getting…married. Haruhi didn't remember any of those things. Could she even call herself Haruhi Fujioka?
As Haruhi thought this she heard the door of the bedroom open causing her to jump. She stood for a moment mentally preparing herself for who must be Tamaki-senpai. She felt bad, he obviously wasn't trying to be annoying on purpose, and he was only trying to help. But one would think she could at least use the bathroom on her own.
However, when Haruhi stepped out of the bathroom she was surprised to not see her former senpai, but a young maid, probably much younger than her, making the bed. The woman looked up at Haruhi and quickly composed herself.
"Oh! I'm so sorry Madam, I had no idea you were in here," the young maid said with a curtsy.
This was starting to get old, "Excuse me," Haruhi asked, "I'm just wondering, why does everyone here call me madam?"
The maid looked confused, "Well, as servants of the manor it is accustomed for us to refer to the heads of the household with respect, including the proper titles. You being the woman of the house we call you madam out of courtesy."
Haruhi only sighed, "Tell you what, why don't you just call me, Haruhi-san?"
Now the maid looked as if she was blushing, "U-um is that proper? I wouldn't want to get into any trouble!"
"It's fine it's fine!" Haruhi said holding her hands in front of her, "Honestly it would make me feel a lot more comfortable here."
"Oh-w-well all right, if it'll make you feel better Ma-I-I mean, Haruhi-san" The young flustered maid replied with a small curtsy. Haruhi didn't bother correcting her, they'll work on that later.
"So um, do you know where, Tamaki is?"
The maid once again had to take a moment to remember, "Oh!, the Master said he would be in his study today and asked for me to let you know."
"Thank you, oh, what's your name?" Haruhi asked just then.
"Katone, ma- I mean Haruhi-san"
"Thank you, Katone" Haruhi gently bowed much to the poor maid's utter horror as Haruhi went into the closet to change out of her pajamas.
A few minutes later Haruhi, after literally getting lost in the vastness of the Suoh main house and asking various servants of the household for directions, finally came across the first floor study. She opened the heavy wooden doors and spotted Tamaki sitting on the sofa in the middle of the room, the coffee table in front of him holding various opened books.
"Oh Haruhi!" Tamaki exclaimed when he saw his bride come into the room, "Come over here!"
Haruhi did as she was asked and sat down on the sofa, albeit a foot away from Tamaki. It was then that Haruhi noticed what exactly Tamaki was looking at, not books but photo albums. Pictures containing her from places she didn't recognize and even people she didn't know.
"Renge's idea yesterday actually gave me an idea, I thought that if you looked at some old photos of all of us from the time your memory was lost, it could help jog it back!"
"And you think that would work?" Haruh said with a little hope.
"I even called the doctor and she said it wouldn't hurt."
"Alright," Haruhi picked up an album herself, "let's get to it then."
Over the course of what had to have been hours they began going over every photo album, every scrapbook, and even some video of them throughout the years. School trips, host club events, their days in Boston, the vacation in Spain. By the time the early afternoon rolled around they were exhausted.
"Well? Anything coming back?" Tamaki asked as he closed another album.
Haruhi sat still in concentration, then released, "No, nothing."
Tamaki sighed, "Well then we'll just have to keep look-" Tamaki stopped when his hand hovered over a large album that stuck out from the rest, one with a white cover and a fancy gold border embellishing it.
"What?" Haruhi asked curiously,
"Oh, i-it's nothing it's just," Tamaki said with a hint of sadness, "This is our wedding album."
They both sat still for a few moments.
"I'd like to see that one," Haruhi said uneasily. Tamaki nodded and carefully picked up the album, as if it were as fragile as porcelain, and handed it over. Haruhi's fingers carefully grazed the embossed cover and leather-like material before gently opening up to the first page.
They flipped through the typical getting-ready pictures, which included a shot of Haruhi sitting in a chair getting her hair and makeup done, something she usually despised but didn't seem to mind in the picture. Likewise on the adjacent page was Tamaki fumbling with his own tie, a look of anticipation on his face. Tamaki explained that they agreed not to see each other before the ceremony, and while Haruhi was as tough as rock throughout the whole ordeal Tamaki was a nervous wreck. Haruhi was actually amused at that thought.
They continued through more pictures, some of Haruhi alone, some of Tamaki alone, some with her father, what looked like Tamaki's parents, and even saw a couple members of the host club. When they got to the pictures of the ceremony however, that's when Haruhi paused on the pages for a little longer. They had a western ceremony as it appeared, with a picture of a grand looking church, and a shot of Haruhi posed in a luxurious white dress, her hair in a fancy updo only concealed by the cathedral length veil she wore. Likewise, Tamaki was posed in a picture looking more handsome than usual in his tuxedo. But then they got to the actual ceremony, the ones that were candid of them, standing together at the alter, staring into each other's eyes, saying their vows, and exchanging rings. Then there was a full page photo of the two of them together, Tamaki holding her in his arms bridal style, Haruhi's dress billowing around her and her large bouquet cascading down the front. Haruhi was never the type of girl to envision her wedding ceremony, she never even though about wanting to get married, but for some reason, looking at these pictures was making her feel emotional.
"It was a beautiful ceremony." Tamaki said quietly as he leaned a little closer towards Haruhi.
"I wish I could remember it."
Tamaki gave her a sympathetic smile.
"Haruhi." Tamaki said suddenly, Haruhi turned her head away from the album and looked up into Tamaki's eyes. He was staring at her with much intensity, her face matching his. It was almost the same as the picture of them at the alter, their faces very close, the tension rising with every second, awaiting for one another to move closer-
*SLAM*
The mood was quickly broken when they both jumped at what sounded like the front door being broken open.
"ALRIGHT WHERE IS HE!?" An unfamiliar woman's voice came bellowing from the outside.
"M-Miss! You can't just barge in here without-!" Shima's panicked voice was heard, then a few muffled words,
"SCREW THAT YOU JUST GO AHEAD AND CALL THE POLICE!"
Haruhi was getting scared, an intruder? But then she looked over at Tamaki and could see all the color drain from his face,
"Oh no-"
"TAMAKI WHAT THE F $%!?" The door of the study slammed opened revealing the source of the loud voice. Standing in the doorway was a woman Haruhi knew she didn't recognize. She had long curly blonde hair, obviously dyed, with pale skin. She had on tons of makeup and wore high heels so tall Haruhi wondered how it was possible to walk in them.
"M-Mei! What a pleasant surprise!" Tamaki carefully stood up to greet the uninvited guest.
"DON'T YOU 'PLEASANT SURPRISE' ME"! " The women called Mei screeched in Tamaki's face, "Seven days! I go to Paris for seven days for fashion week and the first thing I hear when I come home is that not only has Haruhi been in a car accident, but she has amnesia!? "
"I-I can explain-!"
"And then of all people I hear from Kaoru that you all had a big reunion party without inviting me!? Is that how little you think of me!?"
"Mei—I-it was nothing personal! I just didn't want to overstimulate Haruhi with too many people at once! After all she doesn't remember you-!"
Haruhi continued to watch the scramble when her eyes glanced down at the wedding album, and took a double take when she saw one picture that caught her attention. Haruhi lifted the heavy album and held it to her face, looking at the picture of herself with a similar looking blond woman carefully adjusting what looked like her train.
"This is you?" Haruhi said causing them both to stop, she pointed to the woman in the picture.
Mei's demeanor immediately softened, "Ah yes that is! Oh I remember fussing with you all day making sure everything looked perfect. After all I was the one who designed your wedding dress!"
Now Haruhi was impressed, "You designed this yourself?
Mei looked proud as she took a seat next to Haruhi, "Yup! You were being so picky about what kind of dress you wanted that I finally said 'forget it! I'll just make you your own dress!' And I must say it's one of my most proudest works." Mei gave a boisterous laugh.
"That's amazing, Miss…?"
"Oh! I guess I should introduce myself, my name is Mei Yasumura, my dad, Misuzu Sonoda, used to work at the same cross dressing bar your dad worked at"
"Oh, you're Misuzu-san's daughter?" Haruhi said in surprise, she had met Misuzu a couple times but she was unaware he had a daughter.
"Yeah, though it's funny if you had said that 10 years ago, I probably would've denied it." Mei said slightly sad, "But that's a long , dull story. The point is I've been your best gal pal for the last ten years, something someone over here seemed to have forgotten about" Mei shot Tamaki daggers.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I just don't remember." Haruhi said trying hard not to disappoint her.
"Well of course you can't, you have amnesia, dummy!" Mei said in an obvious tone, "Which is why it's my turn to take a stab at your memory, let's go!"
Mei took a death grip of Haruhi's hand and hasty removed her from the sofa and started dragging her out the door.
"H-Hey! Where do you think you're going with Haruhi!?" Tamaki pleaded.
"To do the one activity that would make any girl feel better, shopping!"
P.S. for those who may be confused, Mei is a manga only character(and arguably one of my favorite characters in the series). If you haven't read the manga or even know of her, she's pretty hilarious.