I'm really sorry I've been gone for so long . But it's been crazy. My first semester of dual enrollment ended, had exams, winter break (P.S. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ^o^), started second semester of dual enrollment. Finished second semester, started high school exams, and started third semester. Urgh, I'm so busy~ But I also got to meet SnOandZnT aka my cousin in person x3
Oh! And I've got other big news! I went to my first anime convention :D It was so amazing! I met Vic Mignogna3333, Todd Haberkorn, Caitlin Glass, and Colleen Clinkenbeard! I cosplayed too x3 Also, I have a cosplay YouTube as well as a cosplay Twitter if you want to check me out! I'm amayaanimenut!
Time to get right onto the Review Responses:
SnOandZnT: You're back to logging in! Yay xD Thank you lol but don't die! There's a new chapter ;D
AnimeQueen122: Well here you go!
Animefreak Amii: CONGRATS! YOU WON~ That is why you are now in this chapter!
With that said, time to get on with this! It's chapter 15 with my guest: Animefreak Amii!
P.S. I OWN NOTHING OTHER THAN AMAYA AND HOSHIMI! XD ALSO ENJOY AN EXTRA LONG CHAPTER AS MY APOLOGY
-Mysterious Person's POV-
Thoughts flashed through my mind. Questions were buzzing by so fast I didn't have a chance to answer them. Once I found a place to catch my breath, I sat down and let the thoughts take over.
Now to think of what to do; I knew I needed to talk to someone about this and Amaya was obviously no longer an option. I knew I could tell anyone else though. Otherwise, I was probably going to explode. I whipped out my phone and sent a text to Hoshimi saying: I heard everything. Help!
A few seconds later, I got her reply and I frowned after reading it. Amaya's been through a lot, before AND after she got here. I only want the right choice to be made…aka the one that makes my cousin smile A REAL SMILE. Well Hoshimi certainly deserved points for being a good cousin. On the other hand, this didn't help me at all. She did have a bias toward her cousin. So I called Kaoru next. After asking his opinion on the subject, he replied, "Hoshimi wants me to say Amaya shouldn't have to go through any more pain and to be honest, I agree with her. However what you decide to do is ultimately your choice because in the end, you're gonna do whatever you want anyway. By the way, Hikaru agrees with me so don't bother him, OK? I've gotta go."
I sighed, "Yeah, thank you." Next, I texted Kyouya: I'm trying to decide between two things. But I have no idea which one to choose. Can you help?
Kyouya texted back almost immediately: Fine, if I must. What are the two things?
I have two different possibilities: One is that I choose the person I've known for a long time, but I'll hurt the person I've met recently. The second choice is to choose the person who has gone through so much with me in such a short time, but hurt the person I've come to grow close to over a grueling long time.
I awaited Kyouya's wise words for twenty minutes when the opposite of what I expected came in. Choose the person that benefits you more. I practically fell over once I had finished reading it.
Finally, I found myself at Honey-senpai's house, knocking on the grand door. The loli-boy answered the door with a smile on his baby face and Usa-chan clutch in his right hand.
"Come in," he smiled, moving aside to let me in.
"Thank you. Senpai, I was wondering if you could give me some advice."
"Sure," Honey said as he led me to an open room with tatami mats covering the floor and a kotatsu in the heart of the room. I smiled to myself when I sat down and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mori-senpai come in as well. Honey and Mori sat down, waiting for me to speak.
With a sigh, I began to relay all of what I had heard going on, everything that has happened in the past, and the feelings of everyone I'd asked. "So I'm finally turning to you two because you don't really have a bias or weird reasons for being around us. I just don't know what I should do."
Honey frowned a bit, "Yeah that seems like a lot to go through. You poor guy," Honey cuddled up to Usa-chan and turned his head up to look at Mori. "Takashi, what do you think?"
For a minute, it was silent; Mori was staring into his tea cup when finally he looked up.
"Nothing of consequence has happened yet. Personally, I believe you should wait until you get a chance to talk to both of them. You need to get to know the one you've known for the least amount of time. Then you can fully put together a profile of them so to speak. You'll then be able to compare more things between each person and see if this will actually work. Nothing too bad has gone on right now so everything will be ok. Besides, we have Amaya-san's birthday to make things better for everyone. It's going to be ok." Mori finished with a smile.
"That's the most I've ever heard you talk Mori-senpai," I laughed, "Thank you both. I know exactly what I'm going to do!" I left Honey's place with urgency and my returned state of happiness; the weight of sadness and guilt finally lifted off my shoulders.
-Amaya's POV-
After a long night of crying, ice cream eating, and doujinshi creating, Hoshimi and I were lying in her bed, facing each other, leaving me emotionally exhausted.
"Hoshimi?" I whispered tentatively.
"Mm?"
"First off, you sounded like Mori just then. Second, what am I gonna do? I don't think things are going to be the same. She almost CONFESSED!"
My cousin paused, "Maybe," I ushered her on, "maybe you shouldn't go to the Host Club for a while. Play the ignore card y'know?"
I shook my head, "No way. That'd show that Haruhi that I'm afraid of her. I also can't do that as her love rival. I have too much pride to let that crossdressing honor student step all over me and win. She got one step close to Tamaki, so I have to be there to go a mile farther. I've made up my mind now so you can't stop me." I smiled.
A sigh left Hoshimi's lips, "Fine. You always have been a stubborn girl." I smirked at her and closed my eyes happily. I heard my cousin gasp which made my eyes fly back open.
"What?" I looked at her.
"Your birthday is soon, isn't it?" Hoshimi grinned.
"Yup," I smiled back, "I'm going to be 17."
"And that makes you two years behind Tamaki!" she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
I blushed a light pink. Thank goodness it was dark enough that she wouldn't notice. "S-So what?"
"Aww you're blushing, aren't you?"
Danggit.
"Shut up!"
"You so are! Aww! I'm so telling Tamaki!" she squealed, jumping up for her phone.
"Oh no you don't!" I tackled my cousin down but she managed to escape my hold after two minutes of us wrestling. Hoshimi picked up the phone and started a call to Tamaki.
"No!" I screeched and went after the insanity that is Hoshimi. But she knew better and ducked out of the way before I made contact.
"Hi Tamaki! What? No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to tell you about the cuuuttest thing Amaya did a minute ago."
"Shut up!" I yelled, going for another attack, which she dodged again.
"No, that's Amaya trying to make sure I don't tell you what happened. Say hi Amaya!" Hoshimi smirked cheerily.
"I hope you fall in a pit of Legos Hoshimi! Ignore her Tamaki! It's a lie!" I screamed.
"No I'm not lying. So Amaya and I were talking about how her birthday is in two days and how she's turning 17. So I said that that made her two years behind you and she said 'So what?' but she stuttered which means she was blushing! Isn't that-ahh!" Hoshimi gushed. That is until my running start had knocked her over and made me the one in control of the phone this time.
"Oh Hoshimi! You tripped! We better go, Tamaki. She's in no shape to talk now." I said as sympathetically as I could.
"That's because you're sitting on me," she managed to squeeze out before I shove her head back to the floor.
"Wait, Amaya!" Tamaki's frantic voice rang out from the phone. I stopped just before my finger had hit the 'End Call' button.
"Yes?" I asked cautiously.
"Since your birthday is so close, it wouldn't gentlemanly of me to not have a gift. What do you want for your birthday?"
Of course I knew the answer right away: you, Tamaki Suoh; son of Yuzuru Suoh. I want you and your gorgeous violet eyes that sometimes change to a dark blue. I want your soft blond hair. I want your tight hugs and sweet kisses. I want to spend so much time with you. I want to know everything about you. Your fears, your likes, your dislikes, your problems, the things that make you cry; the things that make you blush. One catch: I can't do it.
"But the only thing I really want, I can't have. It'd be impossible for you to give to me wholeheartedly." I said quietly.
"What do you mean?" the Host Club King asked.
"Never mind; umm, I don't know. I'll get back to you on that. Bye!" Before he could interrupt me again, I hung up.
"You've really gotta stop that lying habit of yours," Hoshimi said once I had gotten off of her, "I know you don't want to trouble him but seriously chica!"
"I know," my voice came out choked.
"Amaya, hun, calm down, take a breath." Hoshimi said, putting her hands on my shoulder and breathing.
I did as she instructed and let out a sigh once I had calmed down.
"What's wrong with me these days? I'm a freaking mess!" I gestured to my tearstained face.
Hoshimi gave me a weak smile, "It's called love, Amaya."
I frowned at her, "To the person who said falling in love didn't hurt, I hope you step on a Lego." Hoshimi laughed.
"Alright now; no more cursing strangers; you're not Nekozawa-senpai."
"Maybe not but I want a Beelzenef like his!" I let out a single laugh.
"So," Hoshimi started off, giving me the look, "are you planning on telling me what you wanted to ask Tamaki for for your birthday?"
"You're gonna think it's cheesy." I pouted.
"Then you're gonna have to get over it because there's no way I'm not getting told this!" she grinned at me.
"Fine," I sighed, crossing my arms, "I wanted to ask him for….him; his love. You know, anything to prove that he's mine and only mine so that doesn't get her claws into Tamaki before I do." I bite my lip and avoid my cousin's gaze.
"Ok, I think we need Chase's help for this one too. We're going to need to plan; both your birthday party AND another attempt to sway Tamaki. He's gonna have to sleep over at this rate." Hoshimi said; pacing the tatami mat covered floor.
I laughed, "Fine, fine. I'm sure it'll be ok since he lives alone." When Hoshimi looked up at me with questioning eyes, I answered, "He kinda ran away because his mom doesn't approve of the whole gay thing." She nodded and resumed her pacing while I pulled my phone out of my pink leather Guess purse. Swiping across my Samsung Captivate, covered in its rhinestone heart case, I tapped on the phone icon and called speed dial 7.
A gravelly "Hello?" sounded in my ear.
"Chase! You NEED to come to my place ASAP!"
"Amaya? What the heck? It's two in the freaking morning!"
"Oh come on, don't act like this is a huge deal! I'm asking so you can come over and help us plan my birthday party and my newest strategy to get Tamaki. I'm begging you! Please?" I cried. For a bit there was nothing but breathing on the other end of the line. I hope Chase wouldn't say no.
"Ok I'm game," Chase said with the sound of shuffling in the background.
"Yay!" I squealed.
"You're lucky I love you," he grumbled.
"I know," I smiled into the phone. I felt like Chase was smiling in spite of himself. Before hanging up, I gave Chase directions to my house since he hadn't been over yet. When a text appeared on my screen that read: I'm outside. Come out so I know I didn't get lost xD
I shook my head and grabbed my Heelys to slip on before I went outside. "Hoshi~ I'm grabbing my Doggy from outside!" I called behind me.
"'Kay," she called back, still pacing.
I clomped down the dark wooden stairs, trying not trip since I could barely see my own feet. I slipped the Heelys on at the doorway and opened the door quietly. I let my eyes adjust to the darkness. A bit down the street, the light was flickering as id deciding whether or not to be on. Under the indecisive light was Chase, wearing a white tank top and long pj pants. He had a backpack on his shoulder and a somewhat cocky expression on his face like always.
"Come on stalker," I whispered into the dark. Chase rolled his eyes and headed with me inside.
"So," Chase asked once the three of us were settled on the floor in a triangle, "what exactly is the damage?"
"Haruhi was this close to confessing to Tamaki," I gestured with my thumb and index finger. Chase gave me a sympathetic look to which I nodded. "I know! So then Hoshimi got this idea to call Tamaki after I blushed-"
"Aww!" Chase beamed.
"Thank you!" Hoshimi threw her hands up and high-fived Chase.
"Shut up!" I grumbled, my cheeks dusting a light pink.
"But your blush is adorable!" Chase beamed again, hugging me.
"You know when you say stuff like that; it's hard to believe you're gay." My cheeks had turned a bit darker but I continued, "Then she started talking about my birthday. Tamaki then asked what I wanted and even though I wanted to say him, I didn't. Instead I said I didn't know and hung up."
"You gotta stop lying to him y'know." Chase said, earning another 'I wanna high-five you so bad' look from Hoshimi, to which I stared at the floor.
"I know…" I mumbled when the lines of the floor began to blur again. "Darn it!" I growled, wiping the forming tears into my knees as I curled up. Before I could curl up though, I wiped my eyes thoroughly and patted my face. "This is no time to be sad. I've got to plan my birthday party and figure out a way to stay ten steps ahead of the crossdresser!"
"That's the spirit!" Chase smiled at me, patting my back enthusiastically.
"You go girl!" Hoshimi echoed.
I smiled at the two, and then got up to search for a notebook that I could plan everything out on. I knew it wasn't going to take a single sheet of paper to plan out my entire 17th birthday party. A 17th birthday was a serious occasion. The 17th year is the borderline between a girl's biggest year and becoming an adult. This year was my last year I was technically still a kid; even though I will always be a kid on the inside. I finally found one of my notebooks on the top of my kotatsu and plopped back onto my spot on the floor.
"So what exactly is your theme going to be? I mean you've got to have a theme." Chase mused.
"Well there are several ways you could go about this," Hoshimi murmured, turning to me, "what direction do you think you'll take? You could have a masquerade, a pool party, a neon party, or better yet, a Kigu party!"
"Kigu?" Chase asked; a completely lost look on his face.
"Kigu, short for kigurumi. Kigurumi are Japanese pajamas that are basically like onesies with a hood that take the shape of an animal." I explained.
"Ooh! That sounds fun!" Chase got excited and started flailing. I don't know why but I started laughing.
"You would Chase, you would."
"What?"
"You would flail at something like that." I giggled. Chase only flailed a bit more at me, making me laugh harder.
"You two are such kids." Hoshimi laughed.
I stared at my cousin intensely then gave a look to Chase, who looked back at me knowingly, and we both flailed at her.
"You know you want to flail!" I enticed her.
"Flail woman!" Chase joined in. The two of use kept creeping closer and closer to her until finally she gave in and flailed with us. After that, we couldn't stop giggling, trying not to wake any of the neighbors with our insane laughter. Finally after a while we calmed down enough so that we could actually speak.
"I wish everyone could have this much fun. It was so much easier back when we were kids." Chase exhaled.
Insert cliché light bulb…NOW!
"OH MY GOSH YOU'RE A GENIUS CHASE!" I yelled, completely ruining my plan to let the neighbors sleep. I shuffled over to Chase and gave him a huge hug.
"Oh my gosh, Amaya…You're…killing...me!" he gasped through my death hug.
"Whoops!" I laughed, smiling at my best friend.
Chase looked me over, "Have you been working out? You got stronger since you left."
"Oh my gosh, you can tell?" My voice started getting squeaky.
"Yeah, I can tell."
Hoshimi looked at me in slight shock. "You work out?"
"I work out," I sang, giving Chase a look and got serious, "I adopted a habit of working out when I get mad. And well, you've seen how I've been this whole time been here."
"True that," Hoshimi mumbled, to which I threw a pillow at her face. Just as she threw it back, I deflected it without looking and started writing out the details of the party on a fresh sheet of the lined paper. When I was finished, I slid the notebook their way.
"Well?"
The two finished reading, looked at me, and then looked at each other and wide grins spread across their faces.
"Go for it girl." They replied in unison.
And go for it, I most certainly would.
Tamaki's POV (A/n: Because I have to...he's just…*fangirls*)
I woke up to a normal day's routine: wake up to Antoinette giving me kisses, get dressed into my uniform, enjoy a delicious breakfast, get into the limousine, and arrive at school. I did not expect what would happen next.
It was 15 minutes before classes would start. I had spent the first half hour of my arrival greeting princesses and planning next week's cosplay for the Host Club. I had finally decided to visit the classroom of Hoshimi, the twins, Chase, Renge, Haruhi, and Amaya to find that the entrances to the room were blocked off by large groups of people. Through the crowd I saw Mori-senpai and Hunny-senpai.
"Senpai? What's going on?" I ruffled my brow, trying to peek through the crowd.
"Tama-chan!" Hunny-senpai greeted me, "You have to see this! Takashi, will you help Tama-chan?"
"Sure," Mori replied and suddenly I was right in front of the door and the crowd.
"Tamaki-senpai?" A voice asked a few feet away from me. I followed the voice to a young princess handing out something that looked like giant crayons to my friends.
"What's a kid doing in here?" I jumped. Laughter echoed around me. "What's so funny?" I pouted.
"It's me," a familiar voice responded. I took a step forward so that I was looking down at the adorable girl whose voice seemed like one I should remember. I recognized her by her eyes in an instant.
"Amaya?" I knew she was smiling before I turned around to gauge the reactions of my friends.
"Hi Tamaki," she beamed at me.
"What are you doing?" I took a closer look at the envelopes held tightly in her hands. They had everyone's names on them.
"Well, you already know this, but, my birthday is coming up soon and I figured that I should deliver invitations myself rather than have someone else do this for me. Also because of the theme, I decided it would be cool if I did what I'm going to do for my party to deliver the invitations myself." I decided to study Amaya a little more. Amaya's highlighted hair was brought up into twin ponytails with a black and white polka dotted bow clipped on the side of her bangs. A light pink dress that clung to most of her curvy form, except for the skirt, which spread out and poofed out when she spun made her look absolutely adorable! She looked like a precious little eight year old girl!
"Senpai?" Haruhi tapped my shoulder, bringing me out of my mind and made me remember how I was thinking of Amaya.
"Tamaki, are you ok?" Amaya asked, placing a hand on my arm. My face burned like fire and I tried to hide it the best I could. But I guess she had already seen because she started to smile in the way the twins do when they get some idea to harass Haruhi.
"I-I-I'm fine!" I stuttered, tearing my eyes from Amaya's eyes to a crack on the floor.
"Doesn't seem like it to us!" the twins singsonged from inside the classroom.
"SHUT UP!" I flushed once again.
"Ooh, Amaya! Tamaki's got the feels for you!" Hoshimi smirked. Chase harmonized with an "Mmm-mmm-mm."
"It's…" I trailed off.
"It's what?" Amaya asked, giving me a cute pout.
I suddenly felt pressure and stares from all around me. Before I could run and try to blow off my staring, Amaya laughed, "Ok guys, that's enough of the teasing." Amaya pulled a white crayon from the box she was carrying the crayons in. "Here," she said, pressing the crayon into my palm.
"For me?" I asked. Amaya nodded and gave me a final smile before spinning so her back was to me and continued handing out invites. The crowd dissipated once the bell rang but all through my homeroom class, I could not stop staring at the white crayon and wondering why my heart had squeezed so tight when I saw Amaya walk away from me.
Hoshimi's POV
"Homeroom took forever!" Chase groaned from in front of Amaya's seat.
"I know!" Hikaru agreed and quickly realized he was giving Chase some hope for their relationships and tore off. Chase seemed like he wanted to follow but because of Amaya's terrified stare she had been giving her crayon box all of homeroom and the heated stare Renge was giving Chase and Hikaru; Chase remained seated.
"Hun, you've gotta wake up sometime." I shook Amaya's shoulder. She stayed completely still.
"I'll kiss you if you don't wake yourself up." Chase wiggled his eyebrows.
"Go ahead and try!" Amaya finally snapped out of it. Everyone laughed a bit. "Good, you're still with us."
Amaya sighed but gave Chase a smile, "I'd really like to see the day you kiss me voluntarily."
"You ok?" I asked, kneeling down so I could look her in the eyes. Amaya stared back and replied, "Of course not. I'm freaking terrified!" My mind reeled for a second.
"Wait, what?"
"You heard me! I don't know what I'm gonna do! I gave the invitation to Tamaki and walked away like it was no big deal!"
"Well, isn't that a good thing? You used to hardly handle touching him! I say you've made really good progress. Besides, doesn't that just show how much you love him?"
Amaya paused and gradually started flushing hard, "W-Who ever said anything about love? I mean I know I like him but…" I smirked at my innocent cousin.
"You're so in love! Oh my gosh, I can't believe you don't see it! It's so obvious to everyone else, except, you know, Tamaki."
Amaya sighed again. "Stop that," I frowned at her.
"Sorry, I can't help it. Ask Chase!" I turned to the boy in question.
"Oh yeah, she used to sigh all the time whenever she was upset. It was like a 'pay attention to me' sigh." Chase smirked.
"Hey!" Amaya objected.
"It's true though! But sometimes that was good because I'm so amazing at cheering you up." Chase boasted. I rolled my eyes along with Amaya, who giggled despite that.
"What can I say? I wear my heart on my sleeve," she shrugged the comment off.
"We know Amaya, we know." I teased to which my lovely cousin stuck her tongue out at. "So," I continued, "what's your plan of attack?"
"Attack?" Amaya asked, eyebrows scrunching in confusion.
I rolled my eyes, "Dude, how are you going to make Tamaki yours? Chase, don't go there." I said, cutting off the pervert before he could make any comment that would scar poor, innocent Amaya for the rest of her life.
"Well, I planned on hanging out with him during the party. Basically letting him in on who I really am. I was thinking that if Tamaki doesn't get any more alone time with Haruhi and gets to know me a lot better at the same time, he'll start to know me better than he knows the crossdresser and will want to be with someone he's closer with."
She had really thought this through. I knew Amaya was smart but I didn't think she was almost as calculating as Kyouya. Not to say that she still knew ALL of what was going on. Amaya was still the clueless one after all, and she has that reputation to uphold. Of course, Haruhi might as well have the same reputation but I better not let Amaya know that; at least, until it becomes completely necessary. I stopped myself in mid-thought. Maybe I was the one who was almost as calculating as Kyouya. The image of it scared me and I immediately hugged Amaya.
"What's wrong Hoshimi?" she asked, not reacting one bit to the sudden affection.
"A thought crossed my mind that I pray isn't true." I shuddered. Kaoru came back in the classroom from his chores as today's helper and we took that as a cue to start heading for the Host Club.
Amaya's POV
After Hoshimi had calmed down from whatever had freaked her out, we left for the Host Club.
Today's Host Club cosplay was a butler cosplay. So far, EVERYONE loved it. Girls all around the room were nonstop squealing; meanwhile Chase was hanging around Hikaru like glue. It was actually kind of funny in its own way. But other than the hilarious requests Chase asked of Hikaru, it was just another day at the Host Club.
A few hours later, almost everyone had gone home except for Tamaki, Hoshimi, Kaoru, Chase, and I; and Hoshimi was encouraging me to invite Tamaki to see if he would help me shop for my party which was this weekend.
"If you don't do it, you're gonna be shopping by yourself." Hoshimi said with a shrug.
"What? Why?" I whined.
"Kaoru and I are gonna get some alone time while we can get some." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at said twin, whose face lit up like a Christmas tree at my cousin.
"Gross," I shuddered playfully. Hoshimi hit me on the shoulder in response. "Fine, I'll ask him but you better get me a really nice birthday present."
"Don't worry cuz, I got you covered. You're gonna love it!" Hoshimi took off with Kaoru after blowing me a kiss.
I let out a sigh, "It's now or never." I confidently strutted towards Tamaki. When he saw me headed his way, he smiled that heart melting smile of his and I tried not to turn into a puddle of feels.
"Hi Tamaki," I smiled.
"Hello Amaya, my princess." The Host king greeted back.
"So I was going to go shopping for my birthday party when Hoshimi told me she wouldn't come with me. So I was wondering if you would like to accompany me instead?" I looked up through my eyelashes at Tamaki, hopefully looking hopeful and flirtatious rather than desperate and disgusting.
"Of course my dear! Just allow me to grab my bag and I'll have the car sent out front in a moment." Tamaki pointed to his bag which was still by his couch.
"Ok," I beamed and sent Chase a look. To which Chase wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, so I couldn't help but giggle a bit. Tamaki turned around and when he looked at me questioningly, I shook my head frantically and tried not to laugh.
"Alright then milady, let us be off," Tamaki announced. I grinned back in reply and sent a little wave in Chase's direction and the two of us were finally off.
As we were descending the stairs, Tamaki turned his head to me and asked, "Where are we going?"
"How about the party store close to that ramen place we went to last week?" The store had seemed pretty large and well stocked for all sorts of parties.
"Sounds good to me," Tamaki smiled at me. Once we arrived at the car, Tamaki, being the gentleman he is, opened the car door for me and gave the driver instructions on where to go.
"Actually," I interrupted, "do you mind if we go back to my house so I can change?" Tamaki looked a little shocked so I tried teasing him, "It's not like I'm trying to lure you or anything."
Tamaki blushed, "T-That's not what I was thinking about."
"Then what?"
"I was trying to think of what to say to your parents. I mean, isn't it going to be a little weird for you to come home with an older boy?" Tamaki asked frantically.
I stared Tamaki in the eyes and saw he was serious. Bursting into a fit of giggles I replied, "It's ok. You're not that much older than me for one thing. For another thing, I live by myself; my parents stayed in America."
"Really?"
I nodded, "I better give your driver the address or we're never gonna get to my house."
"Oh yeah," Tamaki smiled sheepishly. I grinned back before opening the connecting window to the front seat and instructing the chauffeur on where to go. The trip to my house didn't take long since I lived within walking distance of Ouran. The chauffeur stayed parked outside my house while Tamaki and I went inside. I turned around to make sure Tamaki was still following me, when I saw him still staring at my house.
As far as houses in Japan go, mine is pretty normal. I lived in a simple, Japanese style two story house. The house had four bedrooms and three full bathrooms. The kitchen inside was pretty standard as well as a normal living room that was immediately seen upon entering the house.
"Welcome to my humble abode!" I thrust my arms out as I swung around to face Tamaki.
"It's a very nice place you have, so clean!" He commented, staring at the surroundings.
"Thank you, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find something awesome to change into. I'm sorry but I really don't like this yellow dress. It...It makes me look like a walking, poofy banana."
Tamaki laughed, "All right, but don't keep me waiting," the Host King winked. My face betrayed me and flushed on command. Before I could let him watch me melt, I sped off to my room and shut the door in a hurry.
Geez, give me a heart attack why don't you, Tamaki? Shaking my thoughts away, I walked over to my closet and started shuffling through my things for something decent but still completely adorable and amazing enough to blow Tamaki away. I debated wearing the dress I had first worn on Tamaki's birthday. But I decided that it wasn't exactly necessary to wear something so formal. Next I considered wearing a nice pair of shorts and a tight fitting t-shirt but I felt like that was too casual, for now. I went through at least 10 outfits and tried combining the outfits fifteen times. By the time I had done this, I was starting to panic a little. I had probably been making Tamaki wait for ten minutes by now, what if he left soon because I took too long? I shook my head at the thought. Tamaki is a gentleman, there's no way he would leave me to go shopping by myself.
I got up and tried looking through my entire closet when I came upon the rack of clothes where I kept some of my cosplays. That was when I got the best idea. With a grin one could only call scheming, I changed into the cosplay, but before I put the wig on, I decided to not keep the King waiting any longer. So instead, I fluffed my hair and strutted out to the living room.
Tamaki was staring at a picture of my family and me making weird faces and posing in different ways. I sneak up behind the Host King and whispered, "See something you like?"
Tamaki jumped a bit and I giggled. After a second, my senpai took in my appearance. I did a little spin for him.
"Did you mean from the picture or right now?"
"Both." I smirked.
"Well," Tamaki paused, taking another look at me, "right now I'd say you look beautiful but you look beautiful no matter what you wear. Even if you wear a tank top, shorts, and no make-up, like in this photo graph."
I took a glance at the picture he chose even though I knew which one it was; the picture had been taken on my mom's iPhone from when we had all gone on a cruise. We had all been so happy that day, which was a rare thing. Yes we were happy before just never all of us at the same time.
"Something had always been happening with at least one of us so I was glad that everyone was so happy at the same time," I commented aloud.
"You must really love your family, huh?"
"Yeah, they're second in my life, only to God. Friends is third on my list, school is third, and fourth is cosplay, anime, and stuff like that." I said as I traced the faces on the photograph.
"Where does love come into play?" Tamaki asked quietly, turning to me with a look so serious I thought I was going to pass out.
"I don't really know, to be honest. I haven't had that much experience with love…" I trailed off; my heartbeat drumming loudly in my ears.
"And yet you're so beautiful, smart, and quite the character. Obviously you haven't found the right man yet." Tamaki stepped closer until his six foot figure was mixing his shadow with my own.
"Maybe I was meant to wait until I met you to know who the right man is." I stared up at Tamaki and even though I was so nervous, never had I felt more right about anything in my life. Tamaki smiled so genuinely at me. So I decided to take initiative and I leaned forward, letting my arms slip around his neck.
To my surprise, there was no resistance. Tamaki let his hands place themselves in the small of my back, bringing me closer to his warm skin as he leaned down. I let my eyes close and I knew we were a breath apart.
"Shut up and let me tell you that I love you!" my phone sang out at full volume. Tamaki and I jumped apart.
"I better…get that." I coughed, inwardly yelling at whoever had the gall to call me when I was a centimeter from his face.
"Y-Yeah," Tamaki laughed, turning an adorable shade of scarlet. Gahhh why did people have to suddenly want to call?
I walked over to my phone and slid the answer icon, "Hello?" I answered, not bothering to look at the caller ID.
"Hi Amaya! How is shopping going?" a familiar voice asked.
"Kaoru, did you steal Hoshimi's phone?" I asked, after looking at the ID.
"Yes but with good reason!"
"Whatever reason that is, I hope it's worth dying for. My cousin is very protective of me and I was kind of in the middle of something with someone."
There was a bit of silence and then, "Aw crap. I'm gonna die aren't I?" Kaoru groaned from the other line. I was about to respond when I heard noise on Kaoru's side of the phone.
"Kaoru? Who are you on the phone with?" I heard my cousin's voice from a distance.
"Ehhh, well you see…" Kaoru trailed off when suddenly there were a bunch of crashing noises and sounds of the phone being fought over. I knew my cousin had won the battle when I heard her gasp and say, "Oh gosh Amaya, I am so sorry! I went to wash up for five seconds and left my phone on my nightstand. I can assure you, that won't happen again."
"Yeah, I know what else won't happen again." I grumbled, sending a quick explanation before my cousin could ask. I heard her swiping around on her phone and then a gasp.
"No! Oh Kaoru, you're DEAD! Gotta go hun, so sorry! See you tomorrow! Love you! KAORU YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!" I heard my cousin yell until the line went dead.
I looked over at Tamaki who was now staring questioningly at the phone in my hand. I laughed lightly, "It was Kaoru…and Hoshimi. Just checking up."
"Oh…ok. So I guess now would be a good time to ask what kind of cosplay you're wearing." The blonde gestured at my attire. I was wearing a Ciel Phantomhive cosplay. (A/n: I don't feel like explaining the outfit, but if you know Black Butler, then you can just pick one of his. Ciel changes what he wears unlike most other anime characters xD)
"It's Ciel, from Black Butler. I just started watching it because of a friend and got me into it. Now I feel like cosplaying in public with this rather than wear something else. So," I cleared my throat and put on my best British accent, "will you be my cosplaying companion for this evening?" I held out an Alois Trancy cosplay and stared as I waited.
A few moments passed while Tamaki stared from me to the cosplay until he replied, "Why not? After all, it's not as if I haven't cosplayed in public before."
I grinned, "Are you serious?"
"Of course my princess; I could never lie to you." Tamaki smiled back at me, making the butterflies in my stomach go crazy.
"Then you should probably go change. I still need to put on the wig and contacts but you won't need to really do anything other than change because your eyes are blue, sometimes, like Alois and you also have the blonde hair."
"I'll go change then. Where's your bathroom, if you don't mind pointing it out?" Tamaki looked around.
"Oh, it's down that hall, first doorway on the right." I pointed.
"See you in a minute then," the blonde smiled, leaving me on my own. As soon as I heard the bathroom door shut, I hurried past the bathroom and shut my bedroom door behind me. I brushed my long hair into two clean ponytails. Once my hair was up, I started pinning it back with a handful of bobby pins. When my hair was completely up, I pulled a wig cap over my head to hide all of my natural hair. Finally, I pulled the wig onto my head and tucked the wig cap in so it wouldn't look weird.
"Not too shabby," I commented to the mirror. I casually walked out of the room when I noticed the bathroom door was open. Tamaki must've gotten out while I wasn't paying attention.
"Tamaki?" I called out, my voice echoing against the walls. When I didn't get a response, I walked around the house in search of my senpai. I had checked everywhere when in my passing of the living room, a pair of arms slipped around my waist.
"Don't flip me over your shoulder please princess."
"Tamaki? What were you doing?" I twisted my head around to get a better look of his face.
"I was waiting for you and decided to entertain you," Tamaki smiled, "shall we go then?"
"Let me get a good look at you first!" I turned around to judge his cosplay for myself. I smiled and started squealing. "You're so perfect for this! NOW we can go!"
The Host King laughed, "Good, after you my dear," Tamaki opened my front door for me.
"Thank you," I replied, locking my door once Tamaki had stepped outside. Tamaki held the limo door open for me as well before climbing in after me and informing his driver of our next stop. We got to the party store in no time.
"So what kind of decorations do you plan on getting for a being-a-kid-again party?" Tamaki asked as I grabbed a nearby shopping cart.
"Oh probably just stuff from when I was a kid. I have most of what I need back home: crayons, paper, old toys, games, CDs, and food; all I really need is some streamers and balloons just for the heck of it." I grabbed a package of balloons with several colors inside. I turned to look at Tamaki when I saw him standing by a pack of paper crowns. How ironic.
"Look Amaya! They have crowns! But they're selling them so cheap!" Tamaki gasped, intrigued by them.
I laughed, "It's because they're made out of paper."
"Can we get some? Commoners are most interesting!"
"I suppose," I smirked at Tamaki to humor him. How cute, paper crowns, yet so….fitting. I reached for a package when, like the klutz I am, tripped and knocked into a person to my right. I brought both of us down, but luckily my older sister instincts kicked in and I fell as a cushion.
"Amaya! Are you ok?" Tamaki asked panicked.
"I'm fine. I am so sorry!" I apologized to the girl in my arms. The girl looked to be about my age. She had wavy brown hair that was mostly in the way of her face, tangled up in her glasses. I brushed it out of the way and met my eyes with her hazel ones. Surprisingly, the girl only smiled, not showing her teeth but rather dimples that barely showed unless you were as close to her as I was.
"I'm fine," the girl stood up and brushed herself off. Tamaki was helping me to my feet when she let out a loud squeal. Tamaki yelped and practically ran for a corner while I stood unaffected thanks to experience with fangirls and loud siblings.
"You're cosplaying as Ciel Phantomhive and Alois Trancy from Black Butler, aren't you?!" the girl squeaked past the hands that covered her mouth. From her squeals, her face had flushed a bit so I decided to take the opportunity to roleplay.
"That's right," my voice easily switching to a British accent; the girl squealed once more as I continued, "I decided to amuse Lord Trancy over there as we prepared for my birthday tomorrow. Sebastian would have done it himself but he was taking care of other matters with Claude."
"You're so freaking amazing! Oh my gosh Alois, you're such a brat!" the girl yelled suddenly, though her voice had no anger in it. Tamaki's eyes widened and he went to a random corner of the store and started to grow mushrooms.
"Senpai…" I groaned.
"How do you grow them so fast?" The girl asked, suddenly over by Tamaki, poking one of the mushrooms.
"I don't know…" Tamaki paused, suddenly questioning the random process. I rolled my eyes and offered a hand to Tamaki, "Come on now, we better stop annoying the poor girl. I'm so sorry again; it was really nice to meet you…um…" I trailed off.
"Amii, my name is Amii. You weren't annoying me by the way. Actually, if you wouldn't mind, would you mind if I hung out with you guys?"
"I don't mind, but why? I'm sure you have better things to do than hang out with strangers." I asked.
"Not really, I only came here to mess with the masks." Amii held a dragon mask up, "See? Isn't it cute?"
"Umm, sure. Well then, streamers are next on my list. Come on Tamaki, let's go." I grabbed Tamaki's hand and pulled him along.
"Kyaa! Fanservice!" Amii pulled out a camera and started taking pictures. Tamaki, suddenly paying attention again, decided to please Amii even more and placed a kiss on my cheek. I immediately flushed and all I could hear was my heart beating at a million miles an hour and Amii's camera shutter. Tamaki only grinned at me and pushed the cart along.
"Come back here!" I yelled teasingly, chasing after the blonde. Amii loved it and started taking pictures from every angle. She even managed to get on top of one of the shelves and took some pictures from that angle as well. After five minutes of running around, we finally stopped to catch our breath and resume the original task.
"So are you really here for your birthday?" Amii asked.
"Yeah, it's tomorrow and I'm having a party with a being-a-kid-again theme."
"That's so cool!" Amii grinned, "So is this guy your boyfriend?" Tamaki's eyes met mine immediately and we both promptly looked away.
"Well not really. It's complicated." I explained, "I like him and he likes me but he also likes someone else and can't really decide. So I said it was ok if he liked us both. Of course he'll probably have to decide eventually but now's not the time for that! It's time to party hardy with my friend Marty!"
Amii applauded and turned to glare at Tamaki, still smiling all the while, "I've decided I like Amaya so you better not break her heart, ok?"
"'Kay," Tamaki gulped. I shook my head and started rolling the cart up to the front since somewhere along the way we managed to get everything I needed.
"So what school do you go to Amii?" Tamaki asked.
"Oh, I go to Ouran Academy."
Tamaki and I both stopped in our tracks. Amii continued walking until she noticed we stopped. "Are you guys ok?"
"YOU GO TO OURAN?!" Tamaki and I blurted out in unison. Amii didn't seem fazed.
"Yeah, why?"
"We got to Ouran too." We replied together once again. It was Amii's turn to be surprised.
"No way!"
"Yeah," I gushed, "Tamaki over there is the King of the Host Club." Tamaki grinned proudly as Amii's jaw dropped.
"So you're Tamaki Suoh? Best friend of Kyouya Ootori?" Amii asked.
"Yeah why?" Tamaki asked.
Amii shrieked, "Oh my gosh! Will you please introduce me?!"
"Yeah sure." Amii screamed with joy and started flailing as she ran around screaming 'thank you's to Tamaki. I could only laugh at the whole ordeal as I paid for my items and winked at the cashier as she bagged my things. As soon as we got out of the store, we said our goodbyes to Amii and agreed to meet up with her in school tomorrow: my birthday.
"Bye guys! SQUIRREL GET BACK HERE! LET ME LOVE YOU!" Amii chased the squirrel, leaving Tamaki and me confused but somewhat happy.
The ride back to my house was actually kind of awkward. Both of us were silent and I kept trying to come up with ideas for conversation but failed miserably. It wasn't until we reached my house that there was something that resembled a conversation.
The limo door was opened and I was stepping out until I felt Tamaki's hand go around my wrist. "Uhh, yes?" I looked at my senpai.
"I saw you that day. When Haruhi pulled me aside, you went back to the Host Club and I saw your smile drop. You started crying in Hoshimi's arms. How do you do that? Put on a fake smile and act like bad things haven't happened to you?" Tamaki mumbled, looking into my eyes.
I was about to freak out since he had been there but I didn't need to flip over anything yet, "You do it all the time don't you? After everything with your parents and how your grandmother hates you, I'm surprised you're not more twisted than the twins. Or even Kyouya for that matter. Everyone goes through horrible and painful things but isn't that what shapes us into the people we become? I got this way because some jerk saved me from boredom but tossed me side once he was the one who was bored. I've probably had to deal with more than most people will ever get to know but isn't that cool? I get to move on with life! Other people choose to end their lives because they've gone through worse things but I can say that I'm alive and I can tell my story. I'm sorry you got to see a not so great side of me but that's who I am." I said, tears stinging my eyes and I begged my eyes not to betray me now.
"And I think that's beautiful," Tamaki interrupted, getting out of the car to stand in front of me. He returned to the previous closeness we'd had just a few hours ago. "I think you are a beautiful person and I really want to get to know you. I'm not trying to fool you or myself. We both know my feelings but I'm not going to ignore your affections or my own." I blushed at this and tried to turn away but Tamaki brought his hand to my chin and gently forced it up. I could feel his hand trembling slightly.
Aww, he was as nervous as I was.
Wait: his…affections? Not just…like? So this was more than a crush for him as well…?
"So then, you actually have real feelings for me? Not just a crush?" I asked, still flaming at his touch and closeness.
"If this would have been a crush, then I wouldn't feel as strongly as I do for you my dear Amaya." Tamaki leaned down and gave me a peck on the cheek and more blood rushed to my face. Tamaki laughed, "You're so cute!"
"You're the one who's cute," I murmured into my hands that covered my heated face.
"Thank you my princess. Now that that is off of my chest, I better let you plan for tomorrow's festivities! I have plans to make for you as well," Tamaki grinned before hopping back into the limo with a flourish. The window rolled down, "Oh and one more thing," Tamaki said, sticking his head out, "please wear that darling dress you wore for our first date. I've already made arrangements so that you may. See you tomorrow Amaya."
I waved as his limo pulled around the corner and ran back inside. Once I was safe inside, I slid down the doorway. It took a few moments to completely process everything that had just happened and then I pumped my fists in the air.
"VICTORYYYY!" I squealed to myself. I wasn't kidding myself either. But by no means was I going to let this one slip through my fingers.
Bring it on Haruhi.
Bring it on.
Chase's POV (because he hasn't had one yet and I love him)
I woke up to my phone singing "Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO. Must have been Hoshimi's doing when I went to grab snacks from Amaya's kitchen the other day. I quickly observed my surroundings. It was about dinner time; must've passed out after studying, I noted, looking at my math book angrily. I picked the phone up and answered, sleep still thick in my voice, "Hello?"
"CHASE YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED!" Amaya's voice screeched out from the phone's speakers.
"No, since I've probably gone deaf now." I commented, a ringing noise echoing in my ears.
"Sorry," Amaya said, much quieter this time.
"So," I sat up, "what's got you so worked up?"
"Tamaki and I just had an awesome day out and we went shopping and I made a new friend, her name's Amii and she actually goes to Ouran! Anyways, Tamaki almost kissed me earlier before we went to the party store. Oh, and we went in Black Butler cosplay! That's how Amii met us actually- ahh! I'm getting distracted!" I laughed and let her continue. "So Tamaki is about to kiss me when Kaoru calls from Hoshimi's phone then gets caught and receives all hell. After we go to the party store and meet Amii, we finally leave in an awkward silence because of something Amii said. But the best part is when I got home just a few minutes ago: Tamaki I guess had been at the Host Club when I dropped the fake smile and started bawling at Hoshimi."
I gasped and Amaya sighed, "I know. But he asked me how I was so strong and I said that it was because of all the stuff I've gone through and you know all that nonsense. Tamaki told me though after that he didn't care that he saw a bad side of me. He said and I quote: 'I'm not going to ignore your affections or my own.' And he told me that his feelings for me weren't just of a crush and again I quote: 'If this would have been a crush, then I wouldn't feel as strongly as I do for you my dear Amaya.' Amaya started squealing for the other line and I laughed.
"Well good for you hun, I'm glad things are starting to look up for you."
"What's wrong?" Shoot, Amaya never missed a beat.
"Ah, it's nothing."
"You're such a liar!" Amaya grumbled. "Just tell me."
It was my turn to sigh, "Fine, so…" I recalled the events from earlier this afternoon.
~FLASHBACK~
I was on my way over to the classroom when I saw Hikaru from around the corner. My heart skipped a beat and I was about to call out for him when I noticed he was having a conversation with a girl I recognized from our class.
"That guy Chase is always chasing after you; ironic giving his name, huh?" The girl snickered. Tch, petty women. Why are you jealous of another man anyway? Lame!
"Yeah I guess," Hikaru muttered. I figured he was about to start commenting to the girl about how annoying she was being when he pulled a 180 on me.
"Honestly it's kind of annoying."
All processes in my head stopped for a moment. I backed away from the scene calmly though. I fought every instinct I had to run back and slap the prissy brat and decided I would confront Hikaru later.
And confront him I did.
"What the hell Hikaru?" I asked, after Host Club activities were over.
"What did I do?"
"Don't give me that. I overheard you talking with Erina. You said I was annoying, did you not?" I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for his reaction.
Hikaru looked a little shocked, "Look I did but I was only trying to end the conversation-"
I cut him off, "Shut up. Don't get give me that. I bet you've felt that way this entire time and you just won't say anything because I'm Amaya's best friend. Amaya is cousins with Hoshimi who is dating your twin brother. You can't tell me that it doesn't affect your thinking at all. You probably think I'm disgusting because I like guys. What you do with your brother is just brotherly love but what I feel for you is so much more. I already had my family practically disown me! They called me an abomination. If you can't accept who I am, then you're not worth it!" I stormed off, leaving Hikaru standing there.
But no matter how hard I tried as I ran home…
I couldn't help but look back to see if someone….anyone…would chase after me this time.
And I cried harder when I didn't see anyone.
~END FLASHBACK~
"Awwww honey! Don't do anything. I already left my house; I'm at your doorway, aaaannndddd!" Amaya was breathing heavily, and I could hear the tears in her throat.
I ran to the doorway, tossing my phone onto my bed. Not caring if it shattered. Who cared? That was replaceable.
What wasn't replaceable was the feeling of having Amaya launch herself into my arms and squeeze me. The feeling that finally someone chased after me.
Amaya's POV
After a long night once again spent at Chase's house, I sank into my bed sheets, feeling such a mix of complete happiness and yet complete anger and sadness. It had broken my heart to watch the person who supported me through everything crumble in my arms.
Kaoru, you're going to have to forgive me when I murder your brother on my birthday. I feel asleep with that last thought drifting in my mind.
The first thing I notice when I wake is that my phone has sixteen text messages and three missed calls as well as voicemails. I got three text messages from my mom, a text from my little sister, my stepdad, my stepmom, my other little sister, two text messages from my dad, a text from Kaoru, Honey senpai, three texts from Hoshimi, and two from Tamaki.
My mom: Happy birthday sunshine! Have an awesome day! Call me back when you can, love you.
My little sister: Happy birthday ;)
My stepdad: Hope you have a fantastic birthday!
My stepmom: Happy birthday sweetheart, hope you're having a good time in Japan.
My other little sister: Happy birthday :D
My dad: Happy birthday my baby girl! Call me when you get a chance.
Kaoru: Happy birthday Amaya, see you soon :)
Honey-senpai: Happy birthday Amaya-chan~ let's have some cake together later, ok?
Hoshimi: Oh my gosh, you're getting old xD LOVE YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Can't wait to see you later ;3
Tamaki: Happy birthday my sweet Amaya, may this year bless you as you have blessed us! When you're done with breakfast, look outside and NO PEEKING until you're done ^.^
Have I said how much I love these guys because if I haven't then: I LOVE MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY. Tamaki was being especially sweet today too. I start to try and peek out the window but I decide against it; I know better. I brought myself to my kitchen and made myself a waffle. As I ate, I wondered what could possibly be waiting for me. Once I finished and had put my dishes into the dishwasher, I ran back to my room to change. It took awhile but I finally found my dress in a back corner of my closet. I slipped the dress on, grinning at my reflection as I put my make-up on. Finally I put on a pair of simple heels and went for the door.
I don't think I ever could have braced myself for what I saw when I walked out my front door.
When I walked out, I saw a horse drawn carriage and Tamaki waiting for me inside. "T-Tamaki?! What are you doing here and what is this?"
"I'm sure you know what a horse drawn carriage is. I wanted to tell you that your carriage awaits, but I knew you might figure out my surprise. Do you like it?" Tamaki beamed.
Tears welled up in my eyes but I blinked them away before Tamaki could notice, "I absolutely adore it. This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you!" I hugged Tamaki. He seemed a little surprised but wrapped his arms around me.
"Happy birthday," Tamaki whispered, his velvety voice hot in my ear. The action brought blood to my face rather quickly. I didn't want to pull away but school was going to start soon. Tamaki must have noticed too and let me slip out of his arms all too soon.
"Though I regret to have you leave my arms, we must be on our way. You have a big day ahead of you."
"You read my mind," I laughed as I stepped onto the carriage with Tamaki's help. Within a few minutes, we arrived at the school's gates, drawing much more attention than I thought it would; considering all the weird things that go on at this school.
The first thing I noticed upon my arrival was a group of people that were holding up a sign. As we got closer, I noticed that it was the Host Club along with Hoshimi, Chase, and Amii. The sign read: HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMAYA! WE LOVE YOU!
Once we had stopped, I jumped off of the carriage and landed somehow in both Hoshimi's and Chase's arms. "You guys are the best!" I squealed. Tamaki looked in my direction with a pouty face.
"You should have jumped into my arms. I was the one to organize all this!"
I looked at Kyouya for silent conformation. He gave me a single nod and I nodded once in acknowledgement. Hoshimi and Chase looked at each other, then me, and let me back onto my own feet.
"I believe I gave you my thanks when you picked me up this morning," I reminded him, smirking as misunderstandings were caused all over the place. I didn't really care though. It's my birthday and I'll do what I want to. "Or did you want me to thank you in front of everyone else?"
"You can never get too many thank yous," Tamaki shot back, smiling at me. I smiled back.
"Well then," I jumped back onto the steps of the carriage and jumped right into Tamaki's waiting arms. "Thank you Tamaki. My birthday has been extraordinary so far and it's barely begun." I kissed Tamaki on the cheek before he set me down. "Now let's move along!" I started humming 'Move Along' by The All-American Rejects and skipping along; conversing with Honey-senpai and Hoshimi and Kaoru as we were on our way to the classroom when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hikaru approach Chase. Immediately, I tuned everyone out except for the two who were still unaware of my consciousness of their conversation.
"Chase, can I talk to you about what happened yesterday?"
"No," he said stiffly, looking at me a second before I looked at Kaoru as if I was still listening, "besides, this is Amaya's day and I don't want to drag her into this."
"She wouldn't get dragged into this," Hikaru furrowed his eyebrows.
Chase scoffed, "Oh really? She places friends third on her list of most important things in her life. That's above school and even her love life as well as anime. You don't know her like I do Hikaru, so just drop it before she notices."
Too late, Chase.
"Besides," Chase continued, "she already knows and she would definitely get involved. Don't ruin her birthday like too many others have tried to ruin her life."
"Look," Hikaru snapped, starting to get pissed, "I'm trying to make things ok so that stuff like this doesn't happen later. Why are you being so annoying?"
That was pretty much my breaking point. That word echoed in my mind. I heard Hiroki's voice spit at me, "Annoying girl." And so I snapped.
"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM HIKARU?!" I yelled, whipping around, nearly face to face with the older twin. Silence rippled through the halls and suddenly all eyes were on me. Not that I noticed.
"What has Chase ever done to you? He likes you. So what? Any girl would do the same for any guy they were interested in. Is that the reason? Is it because he's a guy?! I may be a Christian and believe what I believe but whoever Chase wants to be with is not up to me. Why the hell do you have to call him annoying?! And moreover why are you gossiping about people behind their backs? Didn't you hate it when people did that to you?!" I snarled in his face. Hikaru looked totally taken aback. At this point, Hoshimi and Kaoru had decided to try and hold me back as I tried to grab Hikaru by the collar of his jacket.
"Stop being so thick and notice what you're doing to other people!" I yelled, thrashing against my human restraints.
"What the heck is going on, Amaya?!" Hoshimi asked, tugging me away from Hikaru who was now backed into a wall.
"You don't get it. Hikaru called Chase annoying behind his back. Ask Chase! I'm not lying, he saw the whole thing. I'm not gonna stand idly by as the one who stood with me through the Hiroki incident gets bashed by some brat who needs a check up from the neck up!" I yelled, using more strength to try and get past them. I re-told Chase's story while he stood frozen in front of Hikaru. Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai were standing close by, not moving though. Kyouya pushed his glasses farther up his nose.
Kaoru looked at his brother, "Hikaru…? Is what she saying true?" Hikaru's eyes flicked up to his twin.
"It's…unfortunately true." Hikaru admitted, looking down at his hands.
"See?! He admitted it!" I fought back against my cousin once again. Hoshimi only held on for dear life. She knew that if I got my hands on Hikaru I would probably do something I would get expelled for.
"PUDDING!" Amii yelled from Haruhi's side. They had been staring at me from a few feet away.
From the inside of myself, I knew that what I was doing was so mean. But on the outside, I was so ready to rip Hikaru to shreds, verbally. It was only when Tamaki came up from behind me and gave me a hug that I finally collapsed onto the floor, giving up on being angry. After all, it would do me no good. I was already getting everyone in a bad mood on my birthday.
I sighed as I stood up, trembling as I took Tamaki's hand, praying God would give me strength that I didn't have in my legs at all right now as well as emotional strength to do the right thing.
"Look Hikaru, I'm sorry I said all those things. I don't get why you're mad but I'm sure you have your reasons and that's none of my business. However, that word, annoying, is a very personal trigger word for me. Should I ever hear you call Chase or anyone else close to me that word again, I will never forgive you. This time, I will. But it will be more than difficult for you to gain my trust and respect back. Let's go you guys." I took Chase's hand and he finally unfroze. His eyes looked to Hikaru but only for a millisecond and they finally went to mine. Chase gave my hand a squeeze and I let out an exhale. Suddenly it was if nothing happened.
"Time to go celebrate my birthday, guys!" I cried out cheerfully, when my happiness spread like wildfire. Everyone else, minus Hikaru, was in a better mood already. We finally got to the door of the classroom when I was surprised by a chorus of 'Happy Birthday Amaya!' from my homeroom class.
"W-What's going on?" I asked looking around. But right after saying it I knew the answer and squeezed Tamaki's hand. "You didn't."
"Oh but I did." Tamaki squeezed back and let me go hug my friends and thank them. As I went around thanking people, I caught Hoshimi staring at me and approached her.
"Hey girl," I smiled.
"Hey," Hoshimi replied, her voice a lot quieter than usual.
"What's wrong?" I looked at her, "are you ok?"
"Yeah, it's just that whole thing with Hikaru makes no sense to me. But I'm really sorry that it happened. Kaoru's talking with him now to try and see what happened."
"It's ok," I told her, hugging my cousin tightly. "I just protect the people I love. I'd do the same for you in a heartbeat."
Hoshimi laughed, "Ditto chica." We both giggled when everyone started singing 'Happy Birthday' and I was forced into a seat.
"Make a wish," Tamaki said, holding out the cake for me, waiting for me to blow out the candles. I looked around the room, looking at the faces of people that I loved and had come to know so quickly when I arrived.
Hikaru had just come back in the room and I gave him a head nod for the ok for him to come over. He smiled and went behind Chase. Chase smiled at me and mouthed, 'I love you bestie' to which I mouthed back, 'Behind you'. Chase turned around and Hikaru whispered something to him that made Chase blush profusely. I could only imagine it was something good.
My eyes drifted over to Kyouya, Honey, and Mori who were watching me with smiles on their faces. Honey was probably anxious for the cake. Haruhi was standing to Tamaki's right and smiled at me when she caught my eye.
Amii was sitting in a desk nearby, shaking in anticipation and probably hyperness when she fell out of her seating; laughing as she got up and told everyone that she was fine.
Kaoru and Hoshimi were right next to me, staring at me smiling and waiting on my next move, both hand-in-hand.
Tamaki was still holding the cake out to me and only about a minute had passed. So I closed my eyes and thought: Please don't let me be tossed aside.
And I blew out my seventeen candles.
Unknown POV
My flight from America had just landed in Japan. I looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. Well, I'd get used to them soon enough. After all, I was going to be here awhile.
Japan is a big country. It was going to be hard to find that girl in a huge country like this.
Just you wait Amaya; you won't even see this coming.
I smirked and went to go grab my luggage from the baggage claim.
Oh my gosh you guys! I managed to somehow write about 34 pages for this chapter. Big stuff is happening can't you tell? Anyone wanna take a crack at guessing who the unknown person is? What does this person have in store for Amaya? You'll find that out in my next chapter! Hopefully I'll be able to update soon but highly doubtful. Today was my last day as a junior in high school and summer is upon me with basically no computer access at my dad's. I'll try and update when I get back though. Thanks to everyone who has stayed to read this far into my story! Love you guys! Reviews are awesome and so are favorites and follows ;)
P.S. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!