Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 6: The Phone Call

Tohru woke up to a golden Saturday morning. She sat up and stretched leisurely, glancing at her clock. Six thirty. A perfect time to get up. Wriggling out of her cocoon of blankets, she yanked her curtains apart, letting in the early beams of sunlight. Then she pulled out a white peasant blouse and lavender skirt from her closet. Tohru dressed quickly, tied her hair with violet ribbons the same color as Yuki's eyes, and left her room after she tidied it and closed the door softly. As she padded down the hallway, she passed Kyo's door and heard silence. He's probably out running. Right next to the cat's room, she could hear a body turning and blankets rustling, proof that Yuki was still asleep. She started down the stairs, careful to avoid the fourth step from the bottom; it was creaky. Tohru walked past Shigure's study, stifling a giggle when she heard him emit a small snore.

She walked into the kitchen, grabbing her yellow apron and tying it on. Pretty soon the stove was boiling a pot of miso soup, cooking vegetables, and frying fish while Tohru used the rice cooker to make four servings. After a few minutes of working in a tranquil silence with occasional sounds of the food cooking, Kyo walked in, sweating profusely. They greeted each other good morning, then he went upstairs to clean himself. Shigure came in next, sniffing at the air delightedly.

"My lovely flower, I swear your cooking smells better every day! Ah, I brings such joy into my heart, just to wake up and see Tohru-chan cooking delicious dishes," sighed the melodramatic novelist. Tohru giggled and informed him that breakfast was almost ready.

Black...

Soft...

Warm...

'DO DO DO DOOO!'

What is that annoying tune? Kyoya was sure he heard it before. He moaned and burrowed deeper into his bed with no intention of remembering. However, it refused to stop and kept blaring out the string of notes, over and over. Suddenly, Kyoya remembered. It was his cell phone's ring tone. Without opening his eyes, he reached his hand out and hit his nightstand. Fumbling around, he grabbed his cell and opened it.

"Hello?" he growled into the phone.

The caller didn't seem the least bit fazed. "Ohayo Kyoya!"

The Shadow King just grunted, "It's-" -here he checked the time-"SIX FORTY. IN THE MORNING."

Tamaki whimpered pitifully. "Demo, we have to see Yuki-kun's house!" When Kyoya didn't answer, Tamaki whined, "Okaasan? Are you still there?"

Kyoya grunted in response. "Hold on. I'm checking my notes." Feeling very cross, Kyoya picked up his glasses and carefully put them on, then reviewed his little black notebook.

"We can't go this week."

There was a loud whine, followed by a disappointed, "Why not?"

Kyoya explained, "Everyone's busy."

"Hikaru and Kaoru?"

"Meeting some designers from Paris."

"Haruhi?"

"Working."

"Mori-sempai?"

"Kendo competition."

"Hani-sempai?"

"Cheering Mori on."

"You?"

"Busy."

There was a quiet pause on the other end of the line, then the saddest, most dejected sigh Kyoya ever heard came as a reply.

"Understand?" asked Kyoya.

Tamaki nodded, then realized he couldn't see him, so said a mournful yes. Then he perked up. "Hey, can I come over?"

"Don't push it, Tamaki."

Tamaki realized his life was in jeopardy if he continued to keep the Shadow King awake, so he hurriedly said goodbye and hung up. Kyoya sighed, placed his glasses, notebook, and cell phone on his nightstand, then flopped over and fell asleep again.

Tohru heard a soft sneeze behind her and turned around to see a now-awake Yuki. (1)

"Eh? Yuki-kun, are you sick?"

Yuki looked very confused, but replied, "Iie."

Tohru smiled, then said breakfast was ready and could he please call Kyo and Shigure?

Yuki nodded, then slowly meandered out of the kitchen, going towards Shigure's study.

After he left, Tohru skillfully used a spatula to turn the fish on its other side and scooped rice into four bowls, then scraped the vegetables onto a large plate. Picking up the food, she carefully walked to the table and put them down, arranging it a few times until she was perfectly satisfied, then she peeled off her apron and waited. Soon afterwards, Shigure trotted down the stairs with Yuki and Kyo arguing behind him. They all sat down and said, "Itadakimasu," and started to eat.

"My lovely flower, this is wonderful, as usual," praised the dog. Kyo grunted in agreement, and Yuki smiled at her. Tohru beamed with joy and settled down to eat too. Somewhere in the distance, a puppy yipped a couple of times. Shigure cocked his head and said, "Ah, today's weather will be marvelous! A soft breeze, clear skies, perfect time to dig up those bones you buried in the yard. Ah ha ha ha!"

Tohru gaped in astonishment. "Shigure-san, that's amazing! Do you always-"

The sharp rings of the phone destroyed "Praising Shigure Time." Tohru excused herself to answer it. With their excellent hearing, the three Jyuunishi members could easily hear Tohru speaking.

She chirped, "Good morning!"

Then there was a pause. In a slightly more somber tone she said, "Hello, Akito-san. Please hold on for a second."

Then light pitter-patters of footsteps approached the dining room. She handed the phone to Yuki with a unidentifiable expression marring her face.

Nibbling nervously at his bottom lip, Yuki took the phone and said, "H-hello, Akito."

The three of them watched the rat's face fill with horror, and started to stutter something out, then gave up. When he hung up, Shigure wanted to know what happened.

Yuki deadpanned, "He wants to see me now. Hatori's going to drive me over."

After Yuki left, Shigure, Kyo, and Tohru all went to do their respective businesses. While the two guys went upstairs to do whatever they do, Tohru was downstairs cleaning up what was left of breakfast. As she was washing the dishes, she mourned over the ruined breakfast and fretted over the thought that Yuki might still be hungry. I should have prepared onigiri for him. What was I thinking? Oh, I'm such a idiot!

When she was finished with the plates, she was still bouncing with nervous energy, so she decided to bake a dessert in the case Momiji might come over. Humming happily, she pulled out the various kitchen utensils she would need, then checked the fridge for all the ingredients. Then she pulled out a cookbook, browsing through the pages until she settled on a recipe that made a dozen strawberry parfaits. Pretty soon she became busy measuring, mixing, and whisking. While the sugar and water were boiling, she washed the strawberries from their secret base and crushed them with a fork to mix into the desserts. After she finished making the parfaits, she poured the mixture into a dozen small glass bowls, covered them with plastic wrap, and placed them into the freezer. The parfaits needed at least 4 hours to freeze, so she decided to visit Kyo on the roof.

Yuki wrapped his slim fingers around his porcelain teacup, bringing it to his lips and taking a sip of the fragrant tea. The hot liquid soothed his frazzled nerves some and he looked over the rim of his cup to stare at Akito nervously. The head was leaning casually against the door frame, the only object blocking Yuki's view of the garden. A blue kimono was draped loosely around his thin frame, and he had a white bird perched on his index finger. Currently, all his attention was focused on it. Flicking his wrist, Akito threw it off balance, sending it reeling, then taking off into the azure sky. He slowly meandered to the table and sat down, smiling a unidentifiable smile at the quaking rat. Deliberately, he picked up his cup and sipped to wet his mouth. Then he spoke.

"Yuki. How are you?"

They attempted to make small talk for a while, but soon Akito became impatient.

"Your school life at Ouran, how is it? The principal said you were doing well."

"It's fine."

A small pause. Then...

"Does he trust you?"

Yuki hesitated, then faltered, "Yes." With Akito, there was no "I think" or "perhaps." He disliked dithering people.

"Invite him to Shigure's sometime. Yes...do that."

Yuki stared and started to protest, then bowed his head to show he understood. Akito smiled. "Good." Then, with a sweep of his hand, he dismissed him.

Vocabulary:

Ohayo- good morning

Demo- but

Okaasan- mother

Iie- no

Onigiri- riceball

(1) In Japan, there is a superstition; if you sneeze without reason, it means somebody's talking about you.

So? How was chapter six? TELL ME!! I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK BUTTON :D

ok. sorry.

Please help me think of a cosplay idea!! The best thing I have now is fairy people -.-V so lame. HELP!

I finished Hana-Kimi! All 23 volumes! I was really sad when it ended though...it was really good! However, the anime sucks... they use actual people!! Can you believe it? REAL LIVE PEOPLE! And the characters were jerks... couldn't even stand to watch the entire episode 1. Such a disappointment... TT-TT

I watched High School Musical 2! -happy grin- While I was watching it with my little girlfriend (she's 3 years younger than yours truely), somebody was stupid enough to bother us! we were like, WE WAITED 2 YEARS FOR THIS, SO BACK OFF! (We probably sounded like this: grrr...bark bark WOOF!! grrr...) ah hahaha... good times, good times.

R&R so I can get iNsPiReD!

Ja ne, my little snarklings! (just a little joke from To Cast a Curse, chapter 5)

Mimi-chan

xxfirebubblesxx