Holy shit! Can you say 'update'!?!?! 8D I can! And I'm excited, no matter how painful/hard this was and how much prodding it took. I have no excuse except there was a freaking huge valentine's event in a roleplay I belong to and I - being the stupid, impulsive person I am - put all three of my characters in it. Yes. Give me cookies. And enjoy this chapter~ 8D
Chapter Eleven
Don't Tell I Told You
Someone was poking him again.
Grumbling and rolling over, Kaoru grumbled in a half-awake daze, batting at the hand. "Hmmmm....Go 'way, Fuyumi-san."
The poking persisted.
Stop it, Yuki-san!!" Pokepoke. "...Matsuki...?"
"You're wrong, Kaoru," was the reply in a voice faaar to manly to be any of his sister-in-law's. "Now, wake up."
Jumping upright, Kaoru clutched the bed sheet to his chest, staring wide-eyed at Kyouya who was fully dressed, showered and ready to go (and glancing at the clock, Kaoru guessed that it was 'to go' to work). He repressed a yawn for a moment, instead accusing vehemently, "What are you doing here!?"
"I live here."
"N - no, that's now -"
"Yeah, yeah - I know what you were implying," Kyouya glossed over airily, "I need to talk to you."
"...About what?" And here Kaoru became suspicious and scuttled away from his husband toward the middle of the bed.
"Several things. However, the most pressing thing would be our honeymoon."
The red head blinked. "...What?"
"A honeymoon."
"That's actually happening?"
"Do you want it to?"
"Oh! Oh, yes! Yes I do," Kaoru jabbered before he could stop himself, and after the initial embarrassment (during which time the boy pulled the blanket up to his red, red face) he attempted to recover with an uninterested, "I mean...not really."
"The beach, you said, right?" was Kyouya's measured response. "My family has a private one not far from here. Only a thirty minute drive; one could spend all day there, night too in our beach house."
"What?"
"You could go there today, if you want." He seemed...bored by this conversation.
"Me? Alone?"
"You can pack your bags. I'll tell the driver." Kyouya stood.
"Hey - wait just a minute!" Kaoru demanded as his husband, who had started to walk toward the staircase descending from the loft, but stopped and turned to blankly stare at the bed. And as easily as that, the Hitachiin lost any rage and steam or anger, and his set facial features melted away. "Err...."
"Have a nice time."
"Thank...you..."
Kaoru was moody. Haruhi wrote it off as pms and let him wallow in the seemingly darker corner of the limo that was headed toward the Ootori private beach. It seemed to have been a last minute trip for the both of them as Haruhi had been just about all packed for her 'big move' from the Ootori estate to the small flat that she owned (and that Tamaki frequented so often that he slept there more than the Second Suoh mansion) and only had a small beach book and some rather boyish maternity clothing that had hastily been packed in a shoulder bag. Kaoru, on the other hand, had spent a good twenty minutes tossing through his wardrobe before selecting shorts. And a tank top. And a two piece set of pajamas. And that was it.
The corner of the limo that the red head occupied at the current time was still dark and clouded and gloomy by the time they arrived at the front lot of the beach house. It doubled as a parking lot turnabout driveway that pulled up directly in front of the main door where the driver put the car in idle and jumped out to open the car door on Haruhi's side. She jumped out (spry for one so pregnant) and then turned, smiling, toward the red head who had refused to move. She extended a hand.
"Kaoru-chan? You coming?"
"No."
"Come on. It's nice here."
"It's cold."
"Missing Kyouya-senpai already?"
Kaoru jumped, gloom dissipating in favor for a fiery anger. "What!!?"
Haruhi just smiled, rubbing her four month pregnant abdomen as fondly as if she were stroking a cat. "I won't make fun of you if you are."
"I do not miss that - that -"
"You're letting him ruin your mood."
"Hmph!" Kaoru huffed, clambering out of the car and attempting to stand tall, which only allowed him to be taller than Haruhi which was not a monumental achievement. "I am not."
"Good, then. Come on, I'll show you around. Tamaki often made Kyouya bring us - him, me, Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai - up here. I know the layout well."
He only rolled his eyes and followed her, making faces and trying (and failing) to remain uninterested in all of the little stories that the shorter pregnant girl was spewing. It didn't take that long for Kaoru to realize that Haruhi was only telling him these little stories to make him feel comfortable in this setting, and although it didn't really help, it was nice enough gesture for his anger level to die down. By the time they reached the dining room with the wall of windows that overlooked the beach, Kaoru knew all about how "Tamaki" (who was really Rene), "Mitsukuni", "Takashi", Haruhi and Kyouya had become friends and had started a club.
"Are we eating in here tonight?" Kaoru asked.
Haruhi shrugged. "Sure, but do you want to go to the beach first? Did you bring a swimsuit."
"Er...no. I didn't."
"...You came to a beach and didn't bring a swimsuit?" Her chocolate eyes narrowed into an expression that clearly spoke, in volumes, of how stupid that was. Kaoru shuffled uncomfortably and kept his gaze turned away from her. "...Never mind - it doesn't matter. We can do other things."
"Oh? What else can we do?" Kaoru asked quirking an eyebrow at an awkward angle...What else did people do at the beaches in Japan?
"Well, we could play cards, read books...do you play chess?"
"Um, I can play some card games...None of the really traditional ones, though." His shoulders slumped, sighing as he came to terms with the fact that Haruhi would most likely not know any of the games he did and that this sorry excuse for a honeymoon was going to be intensely boring. This thought made it all the more shocking when the brunette motioned toward the archway that lead from the dining room to a sitting room and asked him if he wanted to play poker.
"Wha - what?"
"We could bet with pocket change."
"R-really? Um...are you sure?"
"What? Are you scared you'll lose?"
No stranger to taunts when faced with one, Kaoru's previously shock-lax mouth pulled into a challenging sneer. Haruhi's mouth pulled into her own little smile and the red head's notion about how utterly boring the spouse of his former classmate's spouse was went out the window; Haruhi may actually prove to be some fun.
And she was intensely good at poker as well. And gin. And gin rummy. She was even dominate in go fish! And by the time Kaoru gave up and threw his remaining Uno cards into her lap, Haruhi was laughing at him. The red head pouted and crossed his arms under his fake breasts moodily (he'd been doing that an awful lot) as the brunette girl collected the cards and set them aside, drawing her feet up under herself on the sofa.
"Do you want to play another game?"
"No."
"What about chess?"
"Hmph!"
"I'm not as good at chess," Haruhi offered playfully, but upon receiving no reply, leaned against the arm of the couch, cheek cradled in the palm of her hand. "What do you want to do, then, Kaoru-chan?"
He shrugged.
"...Do you want to hear embarrassing stories -" Kaoru rolled his eyes. "-...About Kyouya-senpai?"
Amber orbs snapped to Haruhi's reasonably passive face. "...What kind of stories?" he asked testily.
Haruhi took her turn to shrug. "All kinds. I have third hand baby stories, middle school, high school, college and summer stories. I think, somewhere around here there's a photo album that Tamaki and Hunny-senpai hid the last time we came up here..."
They didn't end up searching for the photo book, but Haruhi told stories - all about Kyouya and all of which Kaoru sneered vindictively at. There were stories of baby Kyouya who threw up all over his mother's black dress at his first party; stories of toddler Kyouya who had upturned an entire bookshelf in the family library and blamed it on a dog (when they didn't even own a dog); stories of middle school Kyouya challenging his brother Akito to a music competition and winning by default when Akito's violin had "magically" vanished; stories of high school Kyouya getting lost in a commoner's shopping expo; stories of college Kyouya stepping out of bed one morning only to land in a bowl of spiked jello that had been left there after the college dorm party that he had somehow managed to sleep through. And a whole mess more.
"-and, in the end after we got the pig and raccoon out of the music room, Kyouya-senpai wrote so violently in his notebook that we all thought he was planning each of our slow and painful deaths!" Haruhi concluded, laughing to herself as Kaoru hugged a pillow to his stomach and snorted.
"Eheh...Don't worry - I doubt he writes anything angrily passionate in those notebooks; they're nothing but boring notes." Kaoru shared, and Haruhi nodded. "I mean, I highly doubt there's one human thought in them. Kyouya-san's a bit like a robot..."
Halting, Haruhi nodded, but she didn't seem to find as much humor in it as Kaoru did.
"Writes like one, too..."
She didn't nod this time and hesitantly opened her mouth, "Well...I know that sometimes it definitely seems like it...But Kyouya-senpai has his moments."
Now it was Kaoru's turn to hesitate. "...Doesn't seem like it. At least now around me or his sisters or anyone, really."
"Well, you just have to get to know him," And here, Haruhi offered a dazzling smile. "I mean, Kyouya-senpai's a bit reserved, but that's only because he thinks it's for the best and hasn't quite adapted to the idea that other people prefer a more amicable form of affection or companionship. Tamaki's tried to teach him, but it's just something you need to learn by yourself, don't you agree?"
"..." Kaoru had no comment.
Haruhi waited for a bit, smiling still before she pushed herself off the couch. "I think I'm going to go to bed. Do you want me to show you your room? Oh, and tomorrow we could go out tanning if you want. Kyouya-senpai mentioned you were a little sickly pale looking."
"He what!?" Kaoru objected, any sympathy or compassion he might have been feeling for the brunette Ootori after Haruhi's declaration evaporation as he stood up and his face flushed darkly. "Why, that-" And he stopped short, grumbling angrily as Haruhi giggled.
Kaoru decided, instead, that it was better to stay a bit quieter in front of Haruhi as her ability to grasp the true persona of someone was a bit uncanny, and his own ability to do so paled in comparison.
The sound of waves hitting against the sand and rocks down at the beach - the crashes echoing up against the walls of the beach house and the ears of the only awake and alert person i the house. Kaoru didn't like to think of himself as a light sleeper (occasional insomniac, but not that often), and as he tossed and turned in time with the crashing of the waves, he felt highly on edge. Exhausted, sure, but unable to sit still and actually allow himself to fall asleep.
As the minute hand on the clock ticked loudly away, sound of waves seemed to grow louder, much more intimidating and just plain annoying.
And so, swinging his legs around and planting his feet on the cold wooden floor, Kaoru stood up. In a sort of dazed - half asleep and half awake - state Kaoru shrugged off his buttoned night top and let it crumple on the floor next to the foot of the bed' the pants followed as did the specially made silicon-cup filled bra, leaving the red head looking shockingly male in plaid boxers and longer hair than was usual.
Making a detour to the adjoining bathroom, Kaoru took two of the wooly towels that had been stacked on the counter and put them under his arm before looking at himself in the mirror. Carefully, he dragged his fingers through his hair, pulling out the reddish extensions that had so carefully been clipped to the bases of his own hair. Handfuls of donated hair were left in the small trash can as the Hitachiin - rather excited and excitedly at being out of his female costume in a setting where he was likely to get caught in the lie - slipped out of the room and padded down the hall, suddenly feeling wide awake and alert and his mind dead set on the path down to the Ootori beach. After all, it wasn't as if he had ever been to a Japanese beach, nor had he come to his first without the intention of swimming.
None of the doors in the beach house made a sound as he opened them; the floorboards squeaked a little as he passed Haruhi's room, but there was a steady light breathing sound that assured him that the pregnant woman was fast asleep within her quarters and undisturbed by the sounds of him passing.
After exiting the main door of the estate, the young man took a left and began to pad down the stone inclining road that lead from the front of the mansion to a small single car parking lot on the beach level. It was a short trip made to feel longer by the rather torturous tear on his bare feet, but the soft and fine sand felt soothing on his feet and stuck to any skin that touched the small grains. But now was not the time to stop and compare this sand to the rocky beaches of his childhood; now was the time for Kaoru's intent to be focused on the water line.
From up on the sand, the dark waves were clearly defined against the moon-lit sand crystals and, dropping the two towels on the untrodden private beach, started to run toward the water at full tilt, delighted by the slightly misted wind that buffeted him.
However, impact was not as fun.
"Motherf -" Kaoru bit his lower lip violently as the freezing water hit his skin, splashing up around his knees and thighs. Goosebumps erupted all over his skin, and for a split second the young man considered that this might not have been the brightest thing to do. But it was too late now, and even as he turned with the intention of going back to the shore, he found his foot connecting with a rock under the water and he tripped, fell, and landed with a fated - and hard - 'smack' against the water.
Luckily,the chilled sea water was not as deep as it could have been and after initially going under, Kaoru was able to resurface, spluttering and shivering as his hair dripped. And he just sat in the shallows, arms around his own shoulders as his toes went numb. This had been a baaaaaad idea - he realized that now and felt a tad bit like crying (for his mommy, his brother...hell, maybe even for someone as creepily smart as Kyouya who would tell him he was being an impulsive baby). Water lapped at his chest and although he could still feel at least a few things below his waist, Kaoru knew he would be unable to swim like this. Hell, he'd be lucky if he could walk back to the sand and beach house if he stayed sitting for much longer.
Taking one big, deep breath, the red head stood up, the cold water swishing around his shins; he shivered violently and waded through the water until it was only up to his ankles - and that was when he heard it.
"Kaoru-chan?" called a sleep voice from just a few feet ahead of him. "Kaoru-chan, what are you doing? I woke up and you were gone and I worried and -"
Oh. Shit.
Haruhi stood, in a fuzzy blue bathrobe that was wrapped tightly around her, the hem swishing against her pajama clad legs. She looked exhausted, eyes squinting against the bright moonlight that was reflected against the water as she peered at the figure who looked quite naked and dripping wet.
"Are you...are you skinny dipping?"
He froze - petrified. Kaoru could see Haruhi's big brown eyes travel up his body and pause, widening as she reached his chest before her jaw dropped. The red head, in turn, made a small squeaking sound that he was not proud of, and as Haruhi's gaze snapped up to his own, all Kaoru could do was stare at her with a silent plead in his eyes and mumble:
"Please don't tell."
Well~? You like? x3 I like. Although I was shocked how many people were confused by my last preview: "a certain flat chested, pregnant commoner" is not Kyouya for those who assumed it was. xD It was Haruhi, which made things more fun - as you can see~ But it's all good! Kyouya will be in the next one which there will be no preview for other than...Yeah, no. You'll all just have to wait and find out~ ;D
And review. Because, without those, I feel unloved. -cough- Love ya'll~