"Who's the one taking you today, again?" Ranka asked gleefully while he put some finishing touches on his daughter's makeup.

"Dad, we've been over this a million times before," Haruhi said, a little annoyed. She knew her father was only pretending so that he could hopefully get his daughter to feel pumped up about the date.

Actually, Ranka just wanted to hear Mori's name and visualize the silent, tall, dark and handsome young man. So fitting for his silent, cute and short daughter…

"It's Takashi Morinozuka senpai," Haruhi said, careful not to move her lips too much because her father was applying lip gloss for her.

"Oh yes yes, I remember now," Ranka fibbed. "The national kendo champion." 'Sugoi! Haruhi will be protected wherever she goes!' He imagined Mori fighting off people with weapons who were trying to attack Haruhi and squealed with joy inside. Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Ranka nearly knocked over Haruhi in his excitement to open the door.

"Mori! Right on time as well. Haruhi is just getting ready," he said, the inner-him fawning over the boy's build. He turned towards the inside of the house and called out, "Haruhi, dear! Mori is waiting for you!"

Haruhi stepped into the passageway wearing a very pretty light green dress with a cardigan. Mori caught himself staring at Haruhi and quickly said, "You look lovely, Haruhi."

"Thank you, Mori-senpai," she replied, beaming, trying to ignore her father clicking pictures of the two of them from every angle. "Shall we go?" He nodded.

The two of them then traipsed down the staircase and got into Mori's limousine. Mori had decided that since Haruhi liked sushi, they would go to his favorite sushi bar. Mori genuinely hoped that the date would go well. He was actually quite nervous because this was his first time alone with a girl.

"This date idea is kinda crazy. Don't you think so, Mori-senpai?" Haruhi asked lightly.

"Hmm?" he asked, eyebrows raised questioningly.

"I mean, Kyoya-senpai should've considered that each of us is different. It doesn't matter how the date goes for each of us with our customers. Considering they'll be requesting for a particular host, it goes without saying that they'll be starstruck by the end of the evening, just because of the time they got to spend with their favorite host. It really won't matter to them whether something went right or wrong," she explained.

"Ah," he agreed, turning to look out the window to see where they were. "But Kyoya does look for perfection in everything he does. Oh, we're here."

The chauffeur opened the door for Haruhi and when she looked up, she saw an extremely chic and sleek looking place. She could easily imagine Mori coming here for business meetings with clients in the future. Or even in the present, she could imagine him, dressed as he was for the date in dark jeans and a shirt and sweater, spending a Friday night here, lost in deep thought. Probably about which brand of chicken feed was good for Piyo.

The two entered the bar and Haruhi was impressed with the soft jazz music playing and all the young and stylish customers. Mori led the way to his favorite seat and once they were settled, they started chatting lightly. Haruhi noted that although Mori was still quiet, he was a little more talkative. She supposed it was because there was just one person he had to attend to. She had always felt that Mori was just shy. When they started talking about Piyo and Mr. Tanuki, he got more excited about the conversation – as much as he would've about kendo. That made Haruhi smile to herself about the gentle nature of the senior host, which was a huge contrast to the way he looked. Suddenly, she remembered something her classmate and Mori's kendo club-mate had told her.

"Hey Mori, I heard that there's going to be a kendo competition conducted very soon?" she queried.

"Ah," he replied.

"Is it possible to come and watch you?" she asked excitedly. From what little fighting she had seen of Honey and Mori, she was pretty impressed and wanted to see more.

"Ah," he said, smiling down at her. "You can come with me, so that you can get to sit with my family in the front row. You'll have a better view from there, and Mitsukuni can explain things to you."

"Really? Are you sure I won't be imposing on your family?" Haruhi was doubtful, since she imagined all of the Morinozukas being reserved. Looking back, she realized her reaction to his offer was a bit dense.

"No," he smiled, secretly finding her question funny.

"Thanks a lot, Mori-senpai! I've never been to a kendo competition before, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it!"

"Takashi…"

"Huh?" Haruhi's eyes were large as she tried to understand why the boy spoke his own name.

"I think we're acquainted enough after so many club sessions that you can call me by my name," Mori replied. Haruhi blushed faintly but smiled and ducked her head.

Soon after that, their meal was over and Mori walked her over to his limo, opening the door for her. When they were settled and the limo had started moving, Mori spoke up.

"Haruhi, I want to thank you."

"Huh? What for?"

"I joined the Host Club to be with Mitsukuni, as is my duty. I don't think that otherwise, I would've played a role-"

"I don't think that's true, Takashi," she interjected, taking him by surprise. "You're actually pretty cool. A good looking, strong and silent man is admired by many girls. I've seen many such girls at the club. I don't know why you think that without Honey-senpai, you wouldn't have ended up at the Host Club."

Mori blinked. Evidently, she thought he was having thoughts about why he had joined the club in the first place. He relaxed into a smile, rather amusedly, and said, "Thank you for that, Haruhi. Actually I wished to say something else. True, it was difficult for me to feel like I belonged in the club due to my personality. But then you came along and I didn't feel alone so much anymore. There's something in the silence that we share that makes me feel connected to you. It's very reassuring, especially when things get crazy at the club."

He took a big breath. "I guess, what I want to say is, I want to share more of this feeling with you, Haruhi." He looked at her expectantly. Almost immediately, he realized who he was talking to and watched as his hours of preparation of this speech in front of a mirror go to waste in her big blank eyes.

"I think I might be falling in love with you," he said gently, hoping that if he spoke in his low voice, she wouldn't hear and he wouldn't have to hear a rejection.

Haruhi was lost for words. She couldn't deny it that she did admire the senior host and consider him good-looking. You could even say that she was attracted to his nature. They actually had a lot in common. Suddenly, she remembered him holding her close in Kyoya's fake jungle and she remembered his warmth and strong hands and she blushed. She liked being close to him as well…

Suddenly, there were voices in her head.

'What am I thinking? He's a senior boy!'

'So what? A relationship doesn't have anything to do with age! Plus, he's just a couple of years older than you are. How is that such a big complication?'

'But he's…he's Mori-senpai! He's the sweet, gentle and silent Mori-senpai. It's not right!'

'What's not right?'

'Honey-senpai…!'

'What? Why is Honey-senpai suddenly here? Are you worried about their relationship? You do know he considers him like a younger brother, and not a love interest, right? They're cousins, after all.'

'Yeah? Well what about the Hitachiin twins? That's even worse and that happens.'

'That's an act! Anyway, you digress.'

"Um, Haruhi?" Mori asked tentatively.

Haruhi blinked and looked up to see Mori looking at her, a concerned look in his eyes.

"Are you alright? Is it something that you ate?" Mori knew only too well of her notorious appetite.

"Huh? No, no," Haruhi said, laughingly, secretly cringing. 'Very romantic, Haruhi. You zone out and the first thing that he thought was that you probably have a digestive problem,' she thought scathingly. Suddenly she realized something. Why was she so worried what he thought? She had literally thrown up in Kyoya's bathroom after she had eaten too much crab and she wasn't the least bit embarrassed when she thought about the incident. But why was she so worried about what Mori thought about her?

Unless…somewhere inside, she liked him back too…

"Takashi," she ventured shyly. "Thank you for the date and…thank you for letting me know of your feelings." She realized how smug this sounded - it was like she had won a bet with Renge to get material from Mori for her next doujinshi. So she hurried on. "As for me, I'm pretty confused right now. I like you, Takashi. But this just came up very unexpectedly. So, is it alright if I give you an answer in a few days' time? Although I do have feelings for you, I want to see for myself what they mean. I don't want to drag us into a meaningless relationship based on a whim, or on misinterpreted feelings. You know how I can be oblivious to my own feelings. I don't want us to regret this later on."

Mori nodded understandingly. Haruhi felt helpless, as she yearned to hear something from him that would reassure her that he wasn't feeling any animosity towards her answer. But she knew he wasn't the kind to speak too much and anyway, he had spoken a lot just a few minutes ago. He was probably shocked at his own loquaciousness too. So she didn't ask him to say something. Instead, she spoke up again.

"Takashi? If the worst were to happen, you'd have a very obtuse, but loyal girlfriend by your side," she said, winking at him. It seemed to alleviate the tension in the car and Mori smiled at her.

After he dropped her off, and while he was being driven back to his house, he remembered Haruhi's wink, the way she said his name, the way she was so gentle and understanding. He remembered her large brown eyes and hoped that she'd give him the chance to gaze into them every day, while he held her close to him.