Chapter 10

Another beautiful day and since it was Sunday there was no school so Haruhi and I went down to the market to get some shopping. We were carrying our bags and making our way back to Haruhi's house.

Haruhi beamed "That was some sale. There's no better time to hit the supermarket than a Sunday morning. Now all I've gotta do when I get home is clean and do some laundry."

I laughed "Man your such a workaholic Haruhi, just don't over do it ok?"

Haruhi suddenly stopped and looked at her house. I looked in her direction and saw loads of people gathered at her house.

"What's going on? Why are they in front of my apartment?" Haruhi questioned.

I shrugged as a man opened the door to the car "Here you are, Master."

Oh no, it can't be...

But I was right. All of the host club members stepped out of the car looking rather snazzy in their clothes I must admit. They all stared at Hauhi's house for a minute as Kaoru said "So, this is where Haruhi lives?"

Hikaru continued "It's pretty big, huh? Bigger than I thought it would be."

Hunny ran around giggling "Yeah, look at all the rooms!"

Kyoya simply stated to everyone "This building is what you might call an aggregate commoner dwelling. Haruhi's home is just one of the many units in this building."

Well someone's done their homework!

Haruhi put her head against a lamp post and looking depressed. "Why did this have to happen to me? I was supposed to relax."

I patted her shoulder and said "Look I was planning to go straight home but it looks like you need me here so I'll help you through this."

Haruhi looked at me and smiled "And this is why you're my best friend."

I chuckled and looked at Tamaki, who was ordering the others around "Don't say anything that might offend Haruhi or her father and cause them to ask us to leave."

Haruhi looked at hem irritated and shouted "Well it's too late for that. Go away."

Tamaki turned around in shock as they all stared at Haruhi's pink dress. Apart from Kyoya and Mori they all said "That pink dress is pretty cute."

Haruhi ignored the comment and cursed "Shut up! Get the hell out of here!"

Tamaki yelped in shock and cried "Haruhi's so mad she actually cursed at us."

Hikaru and Kaoru simply raised their hands in defense and stated "Hey, it wasn't us."

Suddenly Haruhi's landlady came up to us and asked "Excuse me, Haruhi, but is everything all right?"

Haruhi greeted the landlady and she continued "Those young men are driving such a fancy foreign cars. They are not Yakuza, are they?"

Haruhi shook her head "No, they're not."

The woman asked "Do you want me to call the police for you?"

But then Tamaki turned on his charm and held the woman's hand "Pleased to meet you, madam. My name is Suou, and I'm one of Haruhi's friends."

I pulled Haruhi away from them as the woman giggled "Really? My goodness, why aren't you just adorable?"

Haruhi grumbled "And he's got her."

I sighed as Tamaki continued with his charm "We were just stopping by. We didn't mean to cause a scene. I'm sorry."

The woman blushed and giggled "Oh it's no problem."

She came over to Haruhi and said "I'll stop by later with some snacks for you and your friends. See you later."

She ran off as Haruhi went upstairs to her apartment and the others followed. Haruhi stated to them "Okay, here is the deal. I'm only giving you guys a quick peek, 3 seconds. And you all go home, got it?"

Just then Hunny showed Hauhi a box of sweets he bought for her "Look, I brought you a gift, Haru-chan. I know how you love cake. There is both chocolate and strawberry. I think we should have some."

Haruhi, being the glutton she is, sighed "Fine. I guess I'll make some tea." She put her key in the lock and opened the door to her apartment.

Haruhi didn't have a big apartment but it was cosy and just the right size for two people. I had always liked her home. Hikaru said something but I didn't hear it, but it must have been bad as he was shushed by Tamaki.

Well he's lucky I didn't hear it then...

Kyoya looked around and shifted his glasses "A wood-built, two-bed room unit. That's normal for commoner family of two."

Thank you Albert Einstein...

Kaoru looked up at the ceiling and stated "Haruhi is such a pipsqueak. At least, we know she won't hit her head on the low ceilings."

I'm not sure whether she would be offended by that...or take it as a compliment.

Hunny giggled "Wow, I think it's a super cute little room."

Haruhi looked at them bluntly "You don't have to struggle to compliment it."

Haruhi and I took our shoes off and walked in, Hunny looked at us and asked "Hold on. Are we supposed to take off our shoes, too?"

Haruhi nodded "Please if you don't mind."

Hunny looked up at Mori and smiled "Did you hear that? We have to take our shoes off. It's kinda like going to a dojo, huh?"

Mori nodded and said "Yeah."

Hikaru took his shoes off and asked Haruhi "Do you have any slippers for us, Haruhi?"

Kaoru pointed "Wait. The rooms are covered with tatami-mat."

Hikaru looked at the floor and then shrugged "In that case, we don't need slippers."

Hunny, Hikaru and Kaoru walked past Haruhi into the living room and said together "Great. Thanks for inviting us in."

Mori followed and said "Yeah, thanks."

I'm just worried about his height, he's so tall he might hit his head!

Tamaki followed and smiled "It's greatly appreciated."

Kyoya went in last and added "Yes, thanks, Haruhi."

While they all complained about the room size I whispered to Haruhi "Can I go home now?"

Haruhi stared at me and cried "You can't leave me here with them alone! Please I need you to help me through this visit."

I sighed "Alright, but you owe me big time."

Before she could answer I saw Tamaki hugging his knees to his chest and saying "This place is quite unpleasant. But I think I may underestimate the commoner housing. I know it's a tight fit in here men but just pull your knees in and sit gym style. Commoners have specially developed this position to conserve space."

I looked back at Haruhi with a raised eyebrow, she frowned and rubbed her temples as she whispered "I just gotta get through this visit. I should've expected this from them."

I nodded "I bet this was all Tamaki's doing. He would have persuaded everyone to do this."

Haruhi hung her head and said "I'm gonna go make us some tea."

"Do you want some help Haruhi?" I asked.

She nodded as Hikaru gave us a little bag "Hey, here is an idea. Why don't you make us this? It's black tea that our father brought us as a souvenir from Africa. Here. Try it."

I took the bag and said "Oh sure. No problem."

Kaoru added with a smile "It's best served as milk tea. Do you have milk?"

Haruhi put her fingers on her chin and asked herself "I think. When was the last time that I bought some milk?"

I shook my head "You only bought some the other day. You really are forgetful."

Haruhi poked her tongue out at me as she got some cups out from the cupboard. I put some of the tea in the cups and Haruhi poured the boiling water into them.

Finally we added some milk, but suddenly we heard Kaoru cry from behind us "I'm sorry, Haruhi and Maria. You don't have to go to all that trouble. We don't need any tea. We'd be fine with a glass of water."

I looked at him confused and stated "What? It's not trouble. Besides, we've already made it."

Haruhi took the tea into the living room as I got some plates for the cake Hunny bought.

Haruhi placed the tea down in front of everyone "Okay, guys, the tea is ready. I'm sorry that not all of the cups match."

I placed all the plates down as well and sat next to Haruhi. Hunny beamed at us "Come on, Haru-chan and Mari-chan. You can choose your cakes first."

We looked at him and asked "Are you sure, Honey senpai?"

Hikaru stated "Go ahead. We're rich. We eat this kind of stuff all the time."

Gee you sure know a way to a woman's heart don't you?

Kaoru and Tamak shushed him as Haruhi said "Um in that case, I'll have the strawberry."

I looked at the cakes and said "I'll have the chocolate please."

Hunny passed me the chocolate cake and I started eating. I thought to myself this would be even better with some strawberries. Just as I said that I saw some going into my plate.

I looked up at Mori who said "You like strawberries, right? You can have mine."

I smiled at him "Thanks. That's nice of you, Mori senpai."

He smiled back and gave some to Haruhi as well. I heard crying and screaming which I chose to ignore as it had something to do with Tamaki and the twins.

About 20 minutes later we all finished our tea and cake. Hunny patted his stomach "Ah, eating all that cake sure wet my appetite."

Hikaru asked "Yeah, isn't it lunchtime about now?"

Tamaki and the twins looked at Haruhi with big smiles on their faces "Well then, what's for lunch."

I looked at them with a sweat-drop "Will you guys quit being so happy-go-lucky all the time, please?"

Kyoya then stood up and said "We'll take care of it. We did drop in unexpectedly. So we'll pay for lunch. Why don't you just order us all some of your favorite sushi?"

This is nice of him...too nice there has to be a catch.

Haruhi waved her hands nervously "Thanks, but no thanks. I know that if I let you guys pay, I'll only regret it later."

Kyoya swiped out a gold card from his pocket and stated "Oh don't worry, Haruhi. We'll just pay for it using the profits from the photos of you we auctioned off."

I knew it was too good to be true.

Haruhi said "Well if that's what you want, I do have a friend who runs a nice little sushi shop nearby, so I can just give them a call. Their stuff is pretty high-quality."

Tamaki suddenly got a pen and paper and wrote something on it, he handed it to Haruhi. I looked over Haruhi's shoulder and read it "Be careful, Haruhi. Just because the sushi's packaging says premium doesn't mean that it's high-quality."

Well duh!

Haruhi scrunched up the paper and threw it in the bin "I'm not stupid. I could figure that out on my own."

Tamaki screamed "How could you do that? Daddy even attempted to look casual not to embarrass you!"

Hunny gleamed at Haruhi and tilted his head "I'd really love it if you make us something for lunch, Haru-chan."

From that followed more screaming from Tamaki and the twins.

I'm ignoring them...try to stay calm...

She looked at Hunny and replied "I guess I could whip something up, but it's gonna take me some time."

Hunny yelled with enthusiasm "We can wait!"

Haruhi turned to me and stated "I'm gonna have to go to the supermarket again."

I nodded as Hikaru said "We're coming with you."

Kaoru continued "We want to see a commoners' supermarket."

Hunny jumped up and down in excitment "Me too! Me too!"

Kyoya, who was looking at the books, spoke up "This could be a learning experience."

This is not going to end well.

Hikaru and Kaoru put their shoes on and sang "Yay! commoners' supermarket, commoners' supermarket."

Hunny followed with Mori and I went out with Kyoya. I shouted to Haruhi "We'll have for you downstairs."

I went down with Kyoya and met the others downstairs. We stood by the stairs and Hunny grabbed my hand "Mari-chan! What's a commer supermarket like? Is it cool?"

I shrugged "Well I don't find it cool as I go there pretty much everyday. But you might like it Hunny."

It had been about 5 minutes which was a bit long for someone to come downstairs. The twins shouted "We're gonna go see what's taking them so long."

They ran up the stairs as I shrugged "We might as well follow, I don't really want to stand here all day."

They nodded and followed me up the stairs. When I looked into the apartment Haruhi's dad was standing on Tamaki while the twins introduced themselves.

Kaoru suddenly said to Ranka "He's a pheromone machine. In fact, I bet he's fooled around with more ladies than you can count."

Ranka frowned "He likes to fool around, huh?"

Tamaki got up and shouted "No! I'm not a ladies' man. I'm a nice guy. I care about her."

Is he confessing?

Tamaki continued "I'm being completely honest here. I care about Haruhi like she's my own daughter."

I decided to step in and ease the situation a bit. "Hey Ranka, it's been a while."

I waved as he looked at me and gasped gleefully "Ooo my dear it's been a while, I'm sorry I haven't been around much but my work keeps me so busy. How are you deary?"

I talked with Mr. Fujioka until he looked at the others in the doorway "Well don't be shy boys come in, I promise I don't bite."

Everyone came in and sat down at the table. Ranka finally said "I get it. You must be the host club I've heard so much about. You certainly are a fine looking bunch of young men. I'm not sure which of you I like best. What about you, dear? I'll tell you what. Why don't you boys go ahead and call me Ranka? That's the professional name I use at the transvestite bar I work at."

Hunny asked "Professional name? You mean like a stage name?"

Ranka nodded "Exactly like that, Mitsukuni."

Hunny asked again "Hold on, how did you know my name, sir?" Ranka chucked and said "You two are 3rd-years Mitsukuni Haninozuka and Takashi Morinozuka. And two of you are 1st-years and in the same class as Haruhi. You're the Hitachiin twins. But I'm not sure which one of you is which. I've heard a lot about you."

Hikaru asked confused "What? So Haruhi told you about us?"

Ranka shook his head "No, Kyoya told me about you two over the phone."

He clapped hands with Kyoya and Kyoya said "You know, you really are a beautiful person, Ranka."

Say what?!

Tamaki grabbed Kyoya's shoulder from his emo corner as he began "Kyoya."

But before he could finish Kyoya stated "We've been entrusted with the care of his precious daughter. It is only natural that we introduce ourselves and give periodic reports. Ordinarily, that would be your job, wouldn't it?"

Well that smacked him in the face.

Ranka laughed "I'm impressed that the club has such a capable president. But wait a minute. You're only the vice-president, aren't you, Kyoya? I guess that president of yours is pretty much good for nothing, huh."

That's a bit harsh.

Haruhi screamed at her dad "You never mentioned this to me, dad. Why didn't you say that you've been getting calls from Kyoya senpai?"

Ranka pouted "What am I supposed to do, Haruhi? You rarely tell me anything about school."

Haruhi continued screaming "So that makes it okay to talk behind my back? Come on, senpai. Would you please stop growing mushrooms in other people's closets?"

Yeah how is Tamaki able to do that anyway?

Ranka began "Haruhi, the thing about you is...you're cute even when you're angry." He laughed and hugged her tight.

Hikaru looked at them and said "I don't know what it is about him, but Haruhi's dad reminds me of someone."

Kaoru added "This explains why she is so good at handling the boss."

Haruhi got out of her dad's grasp and grabbed my hand to the door. Ranka called out "Wait, Haruhi. Where are you going?"

Haruhi grabbed her bag and said "The supermarket, all right? I have to go shopping and I wanna do it without you guys. So all of you, just stay here and try to behave yourselves."

I was pulled outside with my purse and the door slammed behind us.

While walking to the supermarket Haruhi sighed "Why didn't he tell me? I have no idea that Kyoya senpai's been calling my dad and giving him updates... and he's accusing Tamaki of sexual harassment."

I looked her her confused "What are you talking about?"

She told me about how Tamaki was paying his respects to her late mother, and he tripped on a banana peel and landed on Haruhi when Ranka walked in.

"Man that's awkward. Poor Tamaki, not the great first impression he was hoping for I bet."

Haruhi chuckled as we arrived at the store. We looked at all of the foods, trying to decide what would be good for lunch. "I don't know what we should have, what about you Haruhi?"

Haruhi shrugged "No idea. I should have asked the guys before we left."

Suddenly we heard a thump behind us, we turned around and found Tamaki on the floor.

"What the? Hey, what are you doing here, senpai?" Haruhi asked.

Tamaki quickly got up and clapped "Oh it looks like you caught me, Haruhi. I followed you here so I can carry your shopping basket. You know, how daddy loves accessories. Now why don't you just hand it over?"

You know...Tamaki and Ranka have a lot in common.

Haruhi laughed "You're so weird. What's with the mushrooms?"

I saw Hunny being pushed around in a trolley, Hikaru and Kaoru looked at the instant coffee, and Kyoya talking to himself about coupons "So, does double coupons mean I need two of them?"

I shook my head and went to Kyoya "Not to sound rude but why do you want to know? I mean it's not like you're gonna shop here ever again right?"

He nodded "True. But it's always handy to know these things. You never know when you might need them again."

I shrugged and answered all of Kyoya's questions about food shopping. Haruhi finally bought all of the stuff for a stewpot, thanks to Tamaki, and we all headed home. She started cooking it and we all sat around the table and ate our lunch.

Ranka smiled to Tamaki "Here Tamaki, have some chrysanthemum, your favorite."

I swear he hates that stuff?

Poor Haruhi was just sitting here questioning her sanity. After lunch had finished everyone said goodbye to Ranka and me and Haruhi followed the guys downstairs.

Before they left the twins turned to me and asked "So when can we come over to your house Maria?"

I stared at them in both fear and shock. Tamaki added "Oh yeah, now I have my one of my daughter's house I should see yours to."

I couldn't speak. They weren't ready for my life yet...were they?

A/N: Ooooo cliffhanger. Hehe I'm so evil! Sorry it's kinda late I was super busy at the weekend. Ok I am telling you now that the next chapter isn't going to be episode 11. It's gonna be my own chapter about Maria's home. Yes you finally get to find out. It might even come out tomorrow as it's half term for me (I live in England) Anyway I hope you liked it :)