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WARNING: I feel like screwing with Kyo-Kyo today so I will… XD
Ch.16 Jungle Pool SOS!
Normal P.O.V
Takashi woke up at his usually early time for his morning Kendo practice when he looked over to his bedside table and realized that he hadn't noticed the thermos of tea Ichi had made him last night. He smiled slightly before going downstairs to heat it up.
When he entered the kitchen, he heated up the drink and while it was getting warmed, he turned back to look about the room. His eyes landed on a small figure leaning against a table with its head in its arms. He knew it was Ichi and slowly brought the thermos and himself over to the table and sat across from her.
"Kitsune?" He questioned, seeing if she was really asleep. Slow breaths were the only response as Mori tried again. He poked her in the head this time but she just whined cutely and moved her hands over her head again. Mori had to hold back a laugh or two…
He poured a cup of the tea into the thermos lid and slid it over to her.
"Wake up Kitsune." He called a little louder. Her eyes opened a little and she rubbed them but they weren't fully open when she put the cup to her mouth. She drank a little before slowly setting it down. As she looked up with confusion in her half-opened eyes, Mori finally read the label on the thermos.
Mori-senpai's thermos! ~Sleepytime Tea.
He sweat-dropped at the label when suddenly a thump was heard. Ichi's head had fallen back down and she was asleep again. He sighed before a knock was heard at the door. Mori opened it to see the Kyouya and Hani dressed in pool attire.
"Tamaki and the twins are picking Haruhi up as we speak. We have already convinced the school to let us go for 'medical' reasons, but Haruhi went to school before we could inform her… Where's Ichi?" Kyouya spoke before Mori could even greet the two.
"Asleep, be quiet…" Mori warned. They walked into the kitchen and as they saw Ichi, the three sweat-dropped.
"I'll go get Cho!" Hani half-whispered as he sped up the stairs. Kyouya quickly wrote a note and placed it on the fridge while Mori easily lifted Ichi over his shoulder. Soon, Hani returned with Cho holding his hand, and they all climbed into a Rolls Royce while Mori carefully carried Ichi in.
"Mama's really tired, ne Papa?" Cho asked cutely in her little car seat Kyouya had put in. Mori nodded while Hani giggled and Kyouya smirked.
"You've really gotten used to being called Papa huh Takashi?" Hani teased. Mori deadpanned but replied anyway.
"I guess…" This caused Hani to giggle more and for Kyouya's smirk to widen.
"Nii-san! Where are we going?" Cho asked while tugging on Hani's shirt. Mori stifled yet another chuckle as Hani blushed and informed the small child.
After awhile, Cho had drifted off as well and they reached the 'theme park.' Hani went to the changing room quickly so that left Mori to carry Ichi and Kyouya to carry Cho. Kyouya hesitantly picked Cho up, but she woke up a little.
"Mngh…" She whined and snuggled into his arms. He looked unsure of what to do so he just carried her in while Mori stared, amused.
Everyone else was already there by the time Ichi had woken up and she had done so just as the twins picked her up from a lounge chair and dragged her and Haruhi off to who knows where.
"Good-morning Haruhi, Hitachiin Hikaru, and Hitachiin Kaoru…" Ichi said lazily and made a small yawning noise. "Where are we going?" The twins laughed at her sleepiness while Haruhi struggled to get away.
"Okay, take care of them for us!" The twins said in unison. Ichi and Haruhi looked up to some twin maids.
"Very well,~"
"Okay, Fujioka-sama, Ichi-sama." Her eyes blazed. "This way…" One of the twins said. Haruhi and Ichi shot up and backed away into the Host twins.
"Just wait a minute!" Haruhi pleaded. Ichi looked like a trapped animal.
"W-what do you want?" She asked frantically.
They were pulled into the room and stripped to there under-garments while Haruhi kept yelling for them to hold on.
Ichi was trying to cover her 'Permanent Label' on her thigh out of embarrassment and Haruhi was looking at her sadly.
"We have some swimsuits for you both to try on in this room." The maids beckoned. Ichi went into one section and Haruhi into the other.
"We brought all of this year's latest, that out mom designed." Hikaru called. "You can choose whichever one you want." He then finished as they looked at the suits.
Tamaki had crept behind the twins to hear what was going on.
"Okay, Fujioka-sama, Ichi-sama, please select one!" The maids chorused again. Haruhi sweat-dropped while Ichi blushed and still tried to cover up.
"No, I don't need a swimsuit…" Haruhi deadpanned. She then looked at the frightened second year in the section beside her. "And Ichi's uncomfortable with all of this!" She tried. Ichi frantically waved her hands as if to say, 'Don't bring me into this!'
"Well then, I will select one for you!"
"Same goes for you Ichi-sama!" The twins said. They started showing them bikini after bikini after strings but each one was a big 'N.O' for the girls. Tamaki was blushing beat red and had collapsed before Hikaru and Kaoru left again.
After awhile, Haruhi had chosen a Barbie-pink onepiece swimsuit with a white skirt, white and pink sandals, and a pink cap with a bow on the side. She left first.
Tamaki confronted her with a tomato face and a yellow pullover for her but then the two left with Haruhi confused and forgetting Ichi. While Haruhi questioned her arrival and thought back on everything, the maids were still fussing over Ichi.
"How about this one?" They chorused with obvious annoyance in their tone. Ichi looked at it and tried it on wearily. It was a black one piece that looked like it had a mermaid tail almost… It had a grey and black rose design that flowed down along her curves and it clung to her perfectly. There was a pretty black veil kind of skirt on it that covered her scars as well.
It was the perfect one for her, and she sighed in content before leaving with a thumbs up from the maids. Sadly, she didn't notice that the one strap on it covered her unscarred shoulder so the back cut across where her scar showed before coming back up in place.
She left and started to walk towards the water when Cho leaped into her arms.
"Mama looks so pretty! Is Mama gonna swim? Can Cho swim to?" Cho squealed while nuzzling Ichi's cheek. Ichi laughed softly before carrying Cho along with her.
"Thanks sweety, I think I will swim… I'm sorry baby, but the water's too fast and I don't want you to get hurt… Is that ok?" Ichi said with a worried frown. Cho nodded quickly and hugged Ichi.
"Ok Mama! What do I do then?" She looked around before blinking cutely up at Ichi.
"Well…" Ichi spotted Kyouya looking over and she smirked. "You can go hang out with Aunty Kyo! I'm sure She'd LOVE to spend some time with you!" Cho squealed in happiness and looked over at Kyouya. He was glaring fiercly at Ichi because she had said it loud enough for him to hear it as well.
"Ok! Bye Mama, I love you!" Cho giggled. Ichi kissed her forehead and sent her off.
"Love you too sweety!" She watched until Cho practically tackled Kyouya and he tried to talk calmly to her. This only made Ichi laugh loudly before she heard the twins and Haruhi speak.
'She has a cover? Aw, no fair…' Ichi thought while slumping her shoulders.
"So, you're not going swimming?" Hikaru asked.
"By any chance, can you not swim?" Kaoru added. Haruhi then tried to explain a vinyl pool to rich people.
"Do they not realize that we can hear them?" Ichi said while watching Tamaki 'defend' Haruhi. She just twitched and commented about feeling uneasy.
After a bit of harassing Tamaki for his perverted ways, Hani came back.
"Haru-chan! Kit-chan! Let's go play! They have a current pool over there!" He said cheerily. Haruhi declined but Ichi wanted to go.
"Sure, but I'm going to play up ahead of where you and Mori-senpai are, alright Hani-senpai?" She said. He nodded and ran off to go play with Mori while Ichi went over behind the bridge to swim.
She dived in with a good sized jump and swam with the current until she broke the surface for air. Then she swam hard until she reached her beginning point and stayed in the same place with long, even, strokes. From a different angle, she did look like some kind of mermaid but it was because the long skirt of the one piece flowing about.
She dived under the water with a huge breath when suddenly she's sent through the water at an amazing speed. A huge wave took her way off course, but since she was still underwater, it was getting harder to hold in her breath. Especially when she scraped her scarred side on a rough side of the pool, causing her to gag with a little air and water mixing into her throat.
When she was tossed up on some paved area, she immediately started coughing up water out of her lungs and taking large breaths. She had a few cuts and scrapes from sliding along the sides of the pool, but the worst part was that she hit her head on her way to the pavement and felt kind of dizzy.
"W-where am I?" She gasped. Ichi looked around and double blinked at something pink in the bushes. She crawled over to it and her eyes went wide before she started weakly calling out. It was Hani's pink floaty.
"H-Hani-senpai! Mitsukuni! Haninozuka-san!" She fell back down to the ground with her head spinning. "H-help us…" She called before passing out head first. The same calls were sounded from the other side of the river-like pool but the hosts didn't realize she was even gone. Cho had fallen asleep awhile ago and Kyouya had called one of his men to take her back to Anna.
As the hosts searched for Hani, Mori got more worried, Ichi got worse in her already weakened state, but Hani… He had known that Ichi was near because he saw her get swept away as well.
"Kit-chan? Ichi? Kitsune?" He called out. A little black bird with grey eyes and feet flew out of the bushes with some black cloth in its beak. Hani eyed it before walking through a few more bushes. As he rounded another, he sped up. He could see the pink floating device and something limp and black was clinging on to it.
He reached her quickly and cringed at the few slightly large cuts near her larger scar, and the torn pieces of cloth from the skirt revealed her branding scar as well. Hani tore open his pink floaty to where it looked like a large child's blanket and carefully carried Ichi to higher ground.
"It's going to rain…" He said in a worried tone and hid her on top of a cliff on the inside of a hollowed out willow tree. He climbed in as well while it rained and covered them both up. As he looked down at Ichi, he understood why his cousin was so guarded. She could easily bring down everyone's walls…
Meanwhile…
"Mori-senpai is awfully close to Hani-senpai, isn't he?" Haruhi questioned while watching Mori look out at the rain with a straight face. "Are they childhood friends or something?"
"Those two…"
"Are cousins…" Hikaru ended. Haruhi was surprised.
"Huh? They're relatives?" She had no idea, which was pretty surprising in itself…
Kyouya and Tamaki then explained the marriage between the two families and afterwards, Haruhi thought about it.
'I'm not sure I understand all this about his blood getting going, but he does think an awful lot of Hani-senpai, huh?' She walked over and placed her hand on his arm in a comforting gesture.
"Mori-senpai, it'll be alright. Hani-senpai is safe. He's tougher than you might think, and if he gets hungry, there are a lot of bananas on the trees." They just looked at each other while the twins and Tamaki wondered how Mori would react.
To their surprise, he placed a hand on her head and smiled.
"Yeah…" He said. Tamaki started freaking out when Kyouya got a phone call.
"Yeah, it's me…" He paused. "We have a somewhat troubling situation…" The phone call continued while the rain stopped and Mori quickly went out to search once more.
"Mori-senpai, it's not that way. Hani-senpai is in the other direction." Haruhi called while following him. Mori paused for a moment.
"No, he's this way…" Mori said and started walking through the brush once more.
"Just a minute! It's too dangerous to go alone!" She ran after him, "I'll come with you!" After every few minutes, something would freak Haruhi out though.
"Haruhi…" Mori walked up to her and easily picked Haruhi up with one arm.
'That's the first time he's ever called me by my name…' Haruhi thought with a pleased blush on her face. They continued their search while the other boys fought and Kyouya ended his phone call. He couldn't help but think he was forgetting something though…
"Hey, where are Mori-senpai and Haruhi?" Kyouya said, ceasing the three's bickering.
With Hani and Ichi
Hani had just woken up when the rain stopped and quickly stood in the hollowed trunk. He felt Ichi's face and grew worried at the heat coming off of it. He covered her up with the make-shift blanket and put a slightly damp leaf on her forehead. Then, Hani left the tree to look down from the cliff.
He could see a good ways down and there were plenty of vines, so when he suddenly saw Mori and Haruhi get surrounded by some sort of team force.
Kyouya?
"Now that I think about it, I didn't tell them there were any other visitors… Oh well."
Completely inadequate explanation…
Hani and the others
"You there, let the boy go, or we will resort to using force!" One of the men called. They pointed and loaded their guns at the two while Haruhi called out.
"Oh, hold on!" She looked a bit scared and when one man grabbed her arm, Mori reacted and punched him in the face.
"The man is resisting! Ready to fire warning shots!" Another man called.
"Takashi, Haru-chan, move!" Hani called. He looked back at Ichi for a minute before swinging down on a vine and landing a kick to one guy's face. Soon, Hani beat everyone in that small area and reminded them that what they tried to do was a no-no.
"Haruhi!" Tamaki yelled. The others ran along behind. "Haruhi, are you alright?"
"Ah, Tama-chan!" Hani called with a big smile on his face.
"Huh? Hani-senpai!" The twins called. Tamaki ran towards Haruhi.
"Haruhi~!" He hugged her tightly. "I was worried about you…" He said in a dream-like tone. After explaining a few thing, the twins finally asked how Hani got there.
"You know what? I reached the end of the current pool, so I went looking for everyone!" (This is where it gets different.) Hani smiled up at the boys before it quickly faded and he spun on his heel and raced back to the bottom of the cliff, frantically trying to climb up it.
"Hani-senpai? What are you doing?" Haruhi called. The others rushed over to him while he had tears threatening to form and spill over. They could hear him repeating something but they weren't sure what it was yet.
"Kit-chan…" He said quietly. "KIT-CHAN! Are you alright!" He climbed up a little, only to slide down once more. At the name, the hosts froze in their tracks. They stayed quiet, trying to listen for any sudden sounds.
"H-Hani-senpai? I-is that you?" A weak voice sounded. They all sighed in relief when they saw Ichi's hand reach out and pull herself over to the edge so she could look down at everyone.
"Mon ami! Are you ok?" Tamaki shouted. Ichi smiled weakly at them all.
"I-I was so w-worried about all of you…. H-how did I g-get up here… Ugh.. D-dizzy…" The next thing they knew, Ichi had toppled over the edge from her kneeling position. Takashi dashed in and caught her easily while her head swayed.
"M-Mori-Senpai? Th-thanks… I have n-no luck…" She laughed lightly before her head stopped swaying and she slowly touched the ground, tiptoes first. She walked over and leaned against Haruhi and Tamaki while Hani talked to Mori.
"Takashi," He patted his head while making him lean down by grabbing his arm. "You did very well protecting Haru-chan and Kit-chan." This time he let go and put his wrists on his hips.
"You didn't get lonesome without me around, right?" Hani obviously knew better but let him get away with it.
"I wouldn't say that…" Mori replied. Soon they were all walking out of the park with Ichi leaning on Haruhi and Mori so she wouldn't fall and the twins struck up a conversation.
"We should go to the beach next, to clear the mood…" Hikaru proposed.
"The beach would be nice." Kaoru agreed. Tamaki, however, didn't.
"You idiots, Haruhi and Mon ami wouldn't be interested in that." He said it with finality. That just made Ichi want to go even more.
"I might not mind going to the beach…" Haruhi said while looking ahead. Ichi looked out into space with a longing glaze.
"I used to go to the beach all the time…" She accidentally said aloud. To bad she didn't hear herself…
"Why haven't you gone recently then?" Kyouya asked. Ichi snapped out of her reverie with an embarrassed blush.
"Because… Maman and Papa always took me to the beach when I was little…" She smiled sadly before glancing up at Kyouya who had the smallest frown and had his head tilted away.
"Pardon my a-" Ichi cut him off.
"Don't worry about it Kyouya… It makes up for me having Cho practically hanging off you all day…" Ichi laughed nervously while Kyouya smirked.
"Not at all. I'm not that easily phased." He kept his smirk on his face until Ichi spoke back up.
"Oh, well in that case! It looks like Aunty Kyo-Kyo is my new babysitter!" Ichi and the twins cracked up while Kyouya glared. Soon they all climbed into a limo and off they went.
When it was Mori and Ichi's turn to say goodbye, it was just Tamaki left in the car.
"Goodnight Tamaki." Mori said.
"Goodnight Mori-senpai!" Tamaki replied. Mori went ahead of the two and was soon inside.
"Bon nuit Mon Ami!" Ichi said outside of the car. Tamaki stepped out and hugged her tightly.
"Bon nuit Ma cherie amie…" (Goodnight my cherished friend) Ichi was surprised by the seriousness in his voice and hugged back.
"Merci d'être mon ami Tamaki…" (Thank you for being my friend Tamaki) Ichi said while really smiling. He chuckled and ruffled her hair before releasing her and smiling warmly at her real smile. An idea formed in his head, causing him to laugh more.
"Non, appelez-moi René…" (No, call me René…) She looked puzzled for a minute before Tamaki spoke again. "It was my French name when I lived there…" She had a surprised look on her face before smiling for real once more.
"That's a wonderful name T-" She stopped herself, "René… Then you should call me Tallis… Tallis Kitsune De LaChanson… What's your full name?" (Forest Fox Of The Song) She was happy to have finally told someone her full name, even though it was a bit long…
"That's a beautiful name Tallis… My name is René Tamaki Richard de Grantaine." (Reborn ring of a powerful govern?) He rubbed his neck sheepishly while Ichi playfully punched his arm.
"It fits perfectly René…" They laughed and hugged once more before parting with sincere smiles. Ichi then ran back inside to try and repack some clothes… Tomorrow they were to leave the Morinozuka household…
In the upstairs window Mori had watched the whole interaction with some strange feeling welling inside him.
'She smiled at him too? I know I should be happy but…' He was cut off by a knock on the door.
"Mori-senpai? Sorry to intrude but I wanted to inform you that we're leaving tomorrow morning…" She looked a little down about it and he felt sad for some reason as well.
"Ah…" He said and looked away again. Ichi snapped her head towards him in surprise.
"O-ok… W-well goodnight…" She whispered the next part. "I'll miss you…" She walked out of the room with a sad smile. Mori unclenched his fists in his pockets and said his thoughts aloud after she left.
"I'll miss you…" Funny how things that should be said sometimes aren't…
Ichi went back to her room in silence and stayed up packing the whole night. When she was finished it was early morning so she went and packed the other's things as well. After that, she made a large egg-free breakfast, set the table, and then showered before anyone even woke up.
Soon, she was re-clothed and could hear familiar voices downstairs. She smiled sadly and made her way into the dining room.
"Good morning everyone!" Ichi said. Cho and Satoshi quickly ran to hug her with large smiles while the others just smiled warmly or slightly at her. They were all seated once more and ate their breakfast.
"I'm going to miss your cooking most of all Kitsune…" Akira said. Fumi playfully slapped his arm while Ichi smiled sadly at him.
"It was a pleasure sir… I really enjoyed living here, even if it was for a short time… I couldn't have had a greater experience…" Her smile was now her real, faint, smile and the two mothers were overjoyed at seeing this. Anna and Fumi quickly wiped their eyes before anyone could see and smiled back warmly.
"You're leaving Kit-chan?" Satoshi asked. Cho looked a bit upset as well. Ichi went to gather his plate and quickly gave him a hug and a kiss on the forehead.
"Yes, I'm sorry to say I am Satoshi-kun… Don't worry though, I promise to come play with you every now and then… Cho too!" She ruffled his hair and cleaned the table of plates. When she came back, Cho attached herself around her neck and was sniffling.
"I don't wanna leave Mama!" Ichi laughed nervously while trying to comfort Cho.
"Shh… It's alright sweety! We'll come to visit, ok? Everyone is welcome to come visit us as well, right?" The others agreed full-heartedly but Mori was quiet. Cho saw this and rushed over to him. She jumped in his arms and hugged him tightly.
"I'll miss you Papa… I'll miss you a lot…" Mori's eyes widened in shock before he smiled warmly down at Cho and patted her head. You could barely hear it, but Cho certainly did.
"I'll miss you too…" Is what he said quietly. Cho giggled and hugged him tighter until she let go and went back over to Anna.
"The bags are already packed Ma'am.…" A chauffeur said. Ichi thanked him greatly and turned back while the others got into the vehicle.
"Thank you all…. So, so much. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you let my family stay here. Merci Beaucoup, and I will cherish it forever…" Ichi walked up to Fumi and kissed both her cheeks while hugging her tightly. After a little while they broke apart and Ichi did the same with Akira only this time she stuck her hand out.
"What's that for? You're practically family already!" He pulled her hand and hugged her with a friendly slap on the back. While this went on, he winked at Mori who blushed lightly before turning away.
"Ah~ Satoshi-kun! I'll miss you to!" She said and kissed both his cheeks. He blushed but hugged her tight enough to lift her off the ground before setting her down with laughter everywhere.
"At least I'll see you in host club right Mori-senpai?" She faintly smiled up at him before tiptoeing to kiss both his cheeks and hug him since she was a bit shorter than him. He blushed lightly but nodded nonetheless…
"Yeah." He replied. She smiled sadly at everyone and waved goodbye before stepping into the limo and looking back until they drove out of sight.
"Who knows, eh Dear? Perhaps she might be a part of this family someday after all!" He chuckled while patting an embarrassed Mori on the back. Fumi agreed wholeheartedly while giggling and Satoshi started singing the kissing song once more.
After awhile, Mori went back upstairs but stopped at the room Ichi was in. He slowly entered it and shut the door, watching as his mind played back the time where she hopped about the room. The same time where he tied her Obi, and then the morning he woke up in her bed. He blushed as the scenes played back until he spotted something on her bedside table.
"She left something?" He asked aloud. But when he walked over there, a note was lying on top of a small box. He opened it and read it to himself.
'Dear Mori-senpai,
I thought you might need a good night's rest or a better way of calming Satoshi down at night… So I left my Sleepytime Tea for you…
With thanks,
~Ichi.'
He re-read it and blinked before looking down at the box. With further inspection, he could clearly see that it was a hand-crafted and carved box with an amber fox and three butterflies on the removable lid. One butterfly was green, one black, and the other blue…
On the side it said in beautiful calligraphy, 'Sleepytime Tea~' He opened it and inside were loose black tea leaves with diced mint and chamomile leaves mixed in as well…
"Thanks…" He said to the air. He took the box to his room and laid it on top of his dresser with the note under it. Tonight he wouldn't need the tea… He'd sleep soundly knowing that Ichi and her family were safe.
Ichi soon had everything unpacked at home once more and Anna was in her bed again. Cho was coloring in a book at the moment while Ichi prepared lunch. She was tired but it wasn't like usual, she was healthy looking again and the only scars left were the one on her shoulder, and the light words on her upper-thigh. Everything was getting better.
"What are you drawing sweety?" She asked while placing a paper plate with food on it beside Cho on the table. Cho quickly covered it up while giggling.
"Not yet! It's a surprise Mama!" Ichi smiled warmly at her adoptive child and kissed her forehead.
"Alright, alright! I'll put it on the fridge when it's done ok?" Cho nodded and Ichi took some food into Anna's room as well. Soon after lunch, Anna was asleep and Cho had finally finished her drawing.
"Mama, it's done!" She giggled and squirmed in her seat. Ichi took one look at it and smiled with watery eyes. It was the perfect size for the length of the fridge and she placed it at the very top.
"It's beautiful Cho… You make Mama so proud!" She picked Cho up and held her close while staring at the picture.
It was everyone… They were lined up yearbook photo styled, in a row, and it went like this;
Top row: Kyouya, Kaoru, Hani, Haruhi, Hikaru, Tamaki.
Second row: Akira, Satoshi, Anna, Fumi.
Third row: Mori, Cho, Ichi.
And the person who held the camera was, surprisingly, Shiela. Everyone was smiling and a little rough looking but it was a very pretty sight. She had drawn Mori and Ichi holding her hands, and right under their feet, there were two words.
Our family.
Ending the chapter here! I really hope I did a good job on this… Please review! I need some song ideas for the next chapter! Also, if anyone wants to do some fan art for this story, it would be AMAZING! Please tell me if you do! =)