Chapter 16- "Does this answer your question?"

Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran Highschool Host Club.

It was Saturday, and the time was around noon. Haruhi sat on her bed, tapping her feet against her floor as she stared out from her window, watching the passing vehicles drive by. She should have been studying for the oncoming World Geography test on Monday, but no. Mitsukini just had to ring her the day before, asking her if she was free on Saturday. Of course he just had to use his most pleading voice, which happened to be his most adorable voice that he could muster, but she just couldn't say no. Especially since he asked her so politely too.

But, as she was sitting on her bed, thinking of how to say that she just couldn't go, her phone rang, snapping her out from her daze. Fumbling around in her jacket pocket, she finally managed to pull it out with a triumphant smile of sorts.

"Ah, hello?"

"Haruhi!" A child like voice sobbed, startling the girl as she blinked frantically, wondering why on earth her friend sounded so distraught.

"Mitsukini?"

"Haruhi!" The blonde haired boy sobbed again, his aching cries echoing around Haruhi's bedroom. Thank goodness Ranka had an early shift, otherwise she'd be facing an enraged, sleep-deprived diva and her crying friend at the same time.

"I need you to calm down." Hearing the sniffles of her friend, Haruhi knew she was on the right track. "I need you to tell me what happened. Are you okay?"

"Haruhi…" The boy started, but soon stopped after being gently hushed by the brunette. "I'm fine. It's… It's…"

Fearing the worst possible scenarios, Haruhi was anxious to hear what Mitsukini would say next. "You can tell me." Haruhi murmured, "It's okay."

"I won't be able to make it today!"

Face-palming, Haruhi sighed. "Is that the only reason?" Tearing her phone away from her ear, she let out a sigh. Feeling more calm than earlier, she pressed the phone to her ear. "It's okay, Mitsukini. What about the others? Didn't you call them?"

"About that," the blonde haired boy sniffed, as he tapped against some furniture. "no-one else can make it! Well, except Takashi."

"Come again?"

"Tamaki is spending time with his Grandmother, Kyoya's at a meeting with his Father, the twins are busy at a fashion thingy with their Mother, Natsumi is staying home to train for her upcoming tournament and the Kimura sisters are busy with the same fashion thingy as the twins. And I have family from America over, and I have to show them around the next few days."

Silence from the other end worried the boy, so biting his lip, he mumbled, "You're not mad at us, right, Haruhi?"

"No, I'm not. How could I? I understand. So… when's Takashi picking me up?" The brunette couldn't help hiding the happiness and excitement in her voice as she mentioned the black haired teen's name. This caused shock to register on Mitsukini's face, and then a smirk. Fortunately for him, Haruhi couldn't see what was on his face.

"Oh ho. Are you excited, Haru-Chan? And he'll be round in less than an hour. He's worried on what to wear, you see."

"S-stop smirking, Mitsukini… I can hear it in your voice."

"I'll leave you now, Haru-chan, so you can get ready for your 'date'. Hehehe."

"It-it's not like that…" Haruhi mumbled, her face becoming flustered with each word. Now that he'd mentioned it, it did awfully sound like a date…

"Mm-hmm." he purred.

"I-I swear! It's not like that."

"Hehe. I'll leave you now. Gotta look good for your date right? I'll tell Takashi to bring flowers, or chocolate. Or fancy tuna."

The phone beeped a few times, indicating that Mitsukini hung up. Clenching her phone, Haruhi decided that she should change into something more presentable. With a flustered face and grumbling to herself about who knows what, she changed into what she deemed suitable for a 'date' with Takashi. Sighing into her pillow, she flopped down on her bed and decided to stay like that until she heard her front door knock, or something like that.

Would Takashi like her outfit? Was he being forced to do this? Why was Takashi constantly in her mind, making her heart skip a beat when ever she pictured his small, genuine smiles? It wasn't like she liked the guy, right? It was true that she thought about him daily, or maybe even hourly… But all this 'girl talk' with Natsumi, Aya and Izumi, she couldn't help thinking about all of this. Curse Natsumi and Izumi for reading so many romance novels. Stupid romance novels putting ideas into those two book worms' minds, therefore putting ideas into her own muddled mind.

Was she like this before she lost her memories? Did she… like Takashi back then? Rolling onto her side and staring at the wall, surely made her tired. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep curled up in the fetal position. Who knows how long she had lay in that position, but soon enough loud, short knocks abruptly woke the dozing girl, causing her to tumble out of bed and fall to the ground, crying out and landing in a heap on the cold floor.

That must be him. It was Takashi. Pushing her self up, she tried to look presentable as she ran to the cause of her awakening, surprising the teen on the other side of the wooden barrier as she yanked open the door at an insane speed.

"T-takashi! I didn't think you'd come."

With an unreadable expression, he gently tousled her messy locks, Haruhi flushing slightly at the contact. She gently eased his hand out of her hair and ending up holding his large hand in her small ones, gently smiling up at him as she tugged him inside.

"Haruhi…" He began, as she firmly shut the door, rubbing her chilled hands together. Although she was standing at the door for a moment or two, the chilly air nipped at her exposed hands, and skin in general. "You look nice."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow and with one hand, gestured to her clothes, which happened to be a blue pullover, a black skirt, white tights and brown boots. Mori simply nodded, causing the small brunette to sigh and shake her head, despite the small smile that was playing on her lips.

"Thanks Takashi. Now, what shall we do?"

"Promise me you won't get lost."

"But… This place is massive."

"Here, hold my hand." Haruhi instructed, and Takashi instinctively took hold of Haruhi's small hand. The two teens flushed, their cheeks dusting red. Takashi gently squeezed, his slick hand sliding against her own clammy hand. With their faces flushed a bright red, Haruhi led the way through an oncoming horde of shoppers, swiftly dodging the running children, the nagging parents and the occasional shopping bag that came flying their way. Mori stumbled after her, his eyes set firmly on her back as she weaved her way through the crowd. A few couples that passed, looking to be in their fifties or so, cooed and giggled at the two teens, not really helping their situation.

Haruhi stopped in her tracks when she came into a clearing, surprising the taller teen as he slammed into her. He quickly and sincerely apologised for crashing into her, but the brunette dismissed his apology with a slight wave of her hand.

"Is there any particular store you want to go into?"

The taller teen bunched his eyebrows together as he thought about Haruhi's proposal. It wasn't often he went into massive shopping centres, and it wasn't often he was alone with Haruhi. Just thinking about him and Haruhi on a 'date', caused his cheeks to tinge red, but thankfully because of his slightly tan skin, it wasn't that noticeable. In all truthfulness, his heart was beating like crazy when Haruhi had held his hand and directed him through the crowd, even it was only for a short while. Even know, when she had stuffed her hands into her jacket pocket, he could still feel the lingering warmth to where her hand had previously been. It just felt right. Him holding her hand, just felt right. And deep down in Haruhi's heart, Mori knew she thought it felt right, that it felt whole.

But going back to Haruhi's question, he quickly prattled, "Is there a pet store here?"

Haruhi chuckled at the expression of her elder, as she gazed up at his face. His expression was adorable, as his usually emotionless eyes were wide and sparkling, and so full of hope. His lips were parted slightly, and he just stared down at her, a hopeful expression displayed on his face. Thinking hard, Haruhi thought there was a pet shop, or store, on this floor. It had to be somewhere, right?

"Yes, I think so. I think it's on this floor, too."

Once she spoke those words, his whole face lit up and Haruhi couldn't help cracking a grin at the sight of her friend, who would be hopping from foot to foot if it wasn't that he was taught to act properly in public. He grabbed her hand yet again, a slight red dusting his cheeks and gently tugged her behind him as he walked down, searching left and right for a sign that displayed the word 'pets', or anything like that.

Haruhi followed after him, smiling and blushing like an idiot as she watched his head swivel from left to right, in desperate hopes to find the beloved pet store. She quite liked the warmth emitting from his large hand that enveloped hers, making her heart beat erratically. Was this what if felt like when someone was in… love? Natsumi had told her, along with Izumi and Aya, that there was no definition of love. She had said love was when he, to the world, he is just one person but to you, he was the entire world. She had said everything seemed right, everything seemed complete and whole. She had said there was no proper definition, so you could only trust your heart. But what did Haruhi's heart tell her?

What did Mori think? That was the main question buzzing around her muddled mind, consuming her thoughts and making her think about the teen in front of her. Glancing down, she gazed at their clasped hands, noting how their intertwined fingers fit snugly together, much like pieces to a jigsaw puzzle.

Mori swivelled round, catching Haruhi off guard as she walked straight into his arms. Mori quickly wrapped his arms around her small frame, making sure she wouldn't teeter backwards and fall. She flushed in the position they were standing in, but Mori only beamed down at her, with only a light pink tinting his tan cheeks. Yes, Mori the stoic giant, was beaming. A massive grin was etched onto his face, which led Haruhi to assume that they had arrived in front of the pet store.

The brunette, with a flushed face, shook herself free from Mori's steady grasp, firmly placed her arms beside her as she stared at the tip of her worn boots. Mori, like the gentleman he is, held open the door to the pet store and ushered the girl in, before stepping behind her and gently shutting the door.

Yelping from the small pups first greeted her ears, followed by the crowing of the few parrots, followed by the faint ripples of the water and finally, she heard the faint sounds of crickets, and she shuddered. Bugs were a big no-no.

"Takashi?"

He glanced over his shoulder, peering down at the girl who spoke his name. He lifted an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. Smiling, she said, "Have fun."

"Thanks for today, Takashi. It was really fun." The two were walking side by side, the sun low but in the stages of setting. The low sun caused the two teen's shadows to appear massive, compared to the two. Even if the two didn't do much on their little date, it had been fun nevertheless. Just being in each other's company was enough to make the two content, so it had been bliss when they had spent so long together, walking around the massive shopping centre, window-shopping, going into the many stores and browsing, or just talking.

Mori hummed in response, sneaking glances at the girl from the corner of his eyes. The teen felt his hand itch to hold hers again, to let their fingers intertwine as they leisurely walked back towards Haruhi's apartment. Would Haruhi think it strange? Would she think it strange that Mori would want to hold her hand, even though they weren't facing an oncoming horde of people like they did in the shopping centre? Mori was unsure, but he wanted to carry it out. But would he just grab her hand, or would he ask first? Being the gentleman that he was, he settled for asking her first, to see if she was okay with it.

"Haruhi…" Facing Mori's direction, she tilted her head slightly, coaxing him to continue. Taking a deep breath to steady his jittery nerves, he thought about how he was going to word what he was going to say next. Deciding on not to beat around the bush, he said, "Can we hold hands?"

Haruhi stopped in her tracks, her face steadily turning bright red, much like a tomato as she blinked up towards her senpai, who looked away bashfully. Mori was sure she would say no, and scold him for asking a question like that, but what surprised Mori the most was her actions, other than her words.

She quickly took hold of his hand, squeezing it gently as she offered a smile up at her friend. Could she even call him that anymore? Could she call him a friend, when she had feelings for him? With her cheeks dusted a bright red, contrasting with her pale complexion, she dumbly nodded and Mori's heart swelled at the sight.

They continued to walk in comfortable silence for a few moments, until that silence was broken by Haruhi. "Takashi… d-do you l-like me?"

Confused on why she would ask such a question, because surely he had portrayed his feelings for the girl before, had he not? Or maybe he didn't show it well enough... With a quick burst of speed, he pulled the blushing girl into his arms, wrapping his arms around her waist as he set his chin on top of her hair, breathing in the scent that was Haruhi. She smelt faintly of strawberries, which Takashi loved.

"Does this answer your question?"

This chapter has been edited, and reposted.