On the morning of Valentine's Day, Haruhi stood tall in front of the gates, taking in the sight of her massive school building. It seemed a brighter shade of pink than usual, possibly because of the joyful atmosphere as young girls approached their boyfriends and crushes with tokens of their appreciation. Perhaps it was the smiles they were most often met with as the boys thanked them for having thought of them so lovingly.
Perhaps Haruhi was overtired from Ozzie keeping her awake and matchmaking well into the early hours of the morning and just seeing things.
She was having a hard time keeping herself steady because of the little blobs of light in her eyes, courtesy of the sun. Her eyelids drooped constantly and threateningly. And of course, Haruhi received no sympathy at all from the little Cupid, who had now taken to resting in her pocket instead of on her shoulder.
"This is so much more comfortable," he said while snuggling into the confines of her jacket's soft cloth. He sighed contently while Haruhi simultaneously attempted to keep her eyes open and set him on fire with her mind by glaring at him. "A perfect way to start the day after a busy and successful night on the job. Know what I mean, Haruhi?"
He looked up at her, his smile fading in addition to his flinching back when he noticed the anger on her face. Recovering from the shock quickly, Ozzie leaned back with his hands beneath his head and chuckled.
"You think you're tired now, last night was cake compared to what I'm used to… speaking of cake, did you manage to get it all out of your hair this morning?"
Ozzie was referring to an incident at the corner bakery, when he'd dragged her their from the park shouting about a woman he'd seen passing that needed their attention. Apparently, her Life Thread was reacting to man inside decorating a cake. Seems simple enough, and at first, Haruhi believed it would be a relatively easy job. She'd already gotten the hang of starting up conversation… mostly.
Then the woman walked into the bakery (Haruhi on her tail), took one look at the baker and started cursing. It appeared the two had some kind of ongoing rivalry thing that often devolved into senseless shouting matches. While Haruhi would never understand what about animosity spelled out true love, she had learned to trust Ozzie on these things and not ask too many questions. It wasn't like they got her anywhere anyway.
Things started to go sour when Haruhi attempted to get between the two, pleading for them to calm down and talk it, and generally trying to be a mediator. The man wasn't having any of it and yelled at her to move away, which lead to the woman berating him for harassing a customer. He, of course, denied this, and the battle started fresh with Haruhi stuck at square one. When she tried again, the woman's arm suddenly flung out as she was getting close, and Haruhi was sent sprawling into the massive cake display. It collapsed on top of her, creams and chocolates and strawberries and flavored icings. Haruhi came out of it drenched in the sugary treats, and she could only imagine the kind of coma seeing so many destroyed cake would have put Hunny-senpai in where he there to bear witness. Both the man and woman had apologized profusely, the man not even bothering to ask her to pay for the cakes. They went to the back to get her some towels, and somehow came back taking amicably and apologizing to each other for the pointless fighting. After all, if innocent bystanders were getting hurt because of it, clearly they needed to stop and try to work things out.
By the time Haruhi left, Ozzie was going on and on between pearls of laughter about how they were now at the starting point of their relationship and no more needed to be done. Then another woman with a pink Life Thread walked by and Ozzie immediately changed his tune from congratulating to drill sergeant.
This was how last night went as a whole. Haruhi was so tired the next morning, she couldn't even remember how Ozzie had gotten her awake and out of bed to do all this stuff, and how her father never woke up or knew she was gone. The latter question, however, did have some possible explanations, Haruhi thought as she glared even harder at Ozzie.
"Time to buck up, now," he said, waving his hand at the school building and all the people walking towards it. "Today is the big day: Valentine's Day. You've got a lot of couple to put together and you have to be on high alert. No sleeping on the job!"
"You haven't let me sleep at all," Haruhi grumbled as she pushed herself off the pillar she'd been leaning on. "I may not have a choice."
"It's going to be a busy day," Ozzie was practically shaking with excitement at the prospect.
Somehow, Haruhi couldn't find it in her to share his enthusiasm. She glanced at the clock tower in the distance, it showed fifteen minutes before the five minute bell was due to ring.
'Good,' she thought to herself, her inner voice drowning out Ozzie's rambling. 'I can make it just as long as no one else with a pink Life Thread walks by.'
Of course, at this point, Haruhi should have been used to things not going exactly the way she wanted them to. This was no exception, as a pink Life Thread appeared before her eyes when the crowd by the front entrance part to let a young woman through. Haruhi bit back a groan and watched the girl come closer, expecting to hear Ozzie's voice any second.
It struck Haruhi, as the girl's features become more and more distinguishable, that there was something very familiar about her, though she couldn't place what it was until she was almost ten feet away. The memory hit Haruhi like a brick then.
"It's that girl," she whispered, stepping to the side so the pillar would better hide her. "The one from my first day."
Ozzie blinked. "You mean the one you messed up? Oh yeah, I think that is her."
Haruhi leaned over slightly, just enough that she could the girl stopped in front of the gate and staring off into space. She didn't appear to be waiting for anyone, just trying to kill time before first period started. Looking at her, Haruhi felt her exhaustion fade, replaced by a determination usually reserved for especially difficult homework assignments.
"You okay?" she heard Ozzie ask.
Haruhi shook her head. "Tell me, Ozzie. Have you ever failed to bring two Destined Loves together?"
Ozzie sputtered in response, deeply offended by such a statement.
"Are you kidding? My success rate is second to none!"
Haruhi's only answer was silence, exactly what she needed to needle away at the Cupid's defenses and make him growl with annoyance.
"Fine, there was one couple," he sullenly admitted. "And no matter how hard I tried to bring them together, they just would not admit their true feelings. I swear, I have never seen any two people that willfully stupid and ignorant and it was so frustrating that I just had to-"
He stopped short as he got a hold of himself and coughed with embarrassment, muttering an apology that Haruhi didn't care to hear.
"It must be…" she agreed, but her words where meant more for herself, motivating her to come out of hiding and approach the girl.
When she got around to doing just that, Ozzie hadn't a thing to say. Haruhi refused to look down at him, not wanting to let the girl out of her sight for even a moment, lest she get away again. Her hair blew lightly in the breeze, and she brushed it away without a care, oblivious to Haruhi and everything else as she remained lost in her own world. Haruhi cleared her throat, bringing the girl back to reality and gaining her full attention. She blinked and studied Haruhi, as if unsure what to make of her.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
Haruhi's eyes flicked to the girl's Life Thread, stationary now that the wind had died down.
"Good morning…" Haruhi paused to bite down on her lip and try to think of what should be said next.
"Her name is Yuriko!" Ozzie hissed, pulling on her jacket.
"Yuriko," Haruhi repeated. "I'm sorry to bother you, I just wanted to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day."
Yuriko raised an eyebrow and glanced around, as if searching for some way to slip out of Haruhi's gaze and run away. Haruhi couldn't say she blamed her as this wasn't getting off to the best start.
"Thanks," Yuriko said. "You too, I guess… would be better if I had someone to spend it with…"
She had muttered the last part, likely with the intent of keeping Haruhi from hearing it. She was out of luck, her words reached Haruhi's ears clear as day, and she knew an opportunity when she saw it.
"That's actually what I wanted to talk about," Haruhi said. "I know this boy who really likes you. I think you two would be good together."
"Oh yeah?" Yuriko said, attempting to sound uninterested, but Haruhi could detect traces of hope in her tone, and it gave her confidence.
"He was telling me," she lied. "He says that he thinks you're very pretty and smart, and that he really wishes he had the courage to tell you so himself, but he's scared of being rejected."
Yuriko's face was turning red as she clutched her bag closer to her chest. Haruhi smiled inwardly, and she imagined Ozzie was having a similar, if not more exurburant reaction to how well this was going. Only a little ways left to go now.
"He really said that?" Yuriko breathed. "Well, who is he? Tell me his name!"
'It worked,'Haruhi thought, sighing with relief before opening her mouth-
And promptly remembering that she knew absolutely nothing about the boy in question, not even his name.
She froze on the spot, Yuriko waiting impatiently for an answer. As the seconds passed by in silence, she very quickly shifted between blushing red to angered.
"Well? Aren't you going to say anything?"
When Haruhi didn't, Yuriko glared and let out a groan before pushing passed her.
"Okay, whatever," she snapped. "Real funny joke."
Her footsteps where inaudible on the grassy fields, and by the time she hit concrete, she was too far away for Haruhi to hear anyway. Standing rigid with a highly unhappy Ozzie in her pocket, Haruhi ignored the voice in her head that urged her to relieve the stress by smacking her head into that pillar, and started for the school building herself.
"Well, at least you didn't smack her over the head with it," he snidely remarked. "Who know, maybe third times a charm!"
With an irritated grumble, Haruhi readjusted the bag on her shoulder and stepped through the threshold, entering the usual swarm of students pushing their way to their classrooms. The orange of their Life Threads made her eyes hurt, but the accompanying blues and whites eased it a bit. So far, there wasn't a pink Thread in the bunch, and Haruhi was grateful.
After a quick stop at her locker, Haruhi raced against the chiming bell, more than three quarters of the way to her homeroom when she passed a rather slow walking girl going in the other direction. Haruhi stopped short and turned around. The girl was another she had never seen before, and had a funny way about her that made the other people walking by swerve to avoid her. With their wide eyes and jerking movements, they almost seemed afraid of her, and Haruhi wasn't entirely shocked by this. Whoever this girl was, she'd have fit in well with Nekozawa-senpai's black magic club. She was certainly strange looking like him.
Add in her glowing pink Life Thread, and Haruhi was left at a complete loss of what to make of her. The only thing she could say for sure was that Ozzie had nothing to say, and that was enough for her to decide it was okay to leave it alone for now and hurry off to class.
She still made a mental note to try and find the girl later.
**
Class wasn't any less colorful than any other place had been, but Haruhi was used to it by now. Ignoring all the Life Threads was almost becoming second nature to her, expect of course for the pink ones. As it was, only one pink Life Thread occupied the 24 student room, and it's owner was the greatest surprise of all. With the teacher momentarily away, she was dancing around like a happy child, her sandy brown hair whipping back and forth, almost smacking Haruhi in the face when she passed.
Renge had been out sick the past few days, some kind of flu bug she'd caught from a careless maid, or so the story went. It seemed the otaku was just as fired up for Valentine's Day as the rest of the school, but maybe even more so now to make up for lost time.
"The party tonight is going to be so great! I've brought cookies and chocolates and any sort of gifts you might want. I hope everyone will have their date with them, because if you're alone on Valentine's Day YOU MIGHT AS WELL NOT EXIST!"
She shoved her face into that of a less popular young man's, who squeaked in fear and shrunk back.
"Maybe you should calm down a little," Kaoru muttered a way's away. "We may consider uninviting you."
This comment went unheeded, and Renge completed her terrorizing of the boy and trounced off to chat up someone else. She skipped past Haruhi, stopping briefly to wish her a Happy Valentine's Day, and her pink Life Thread went flying behind her from the force of her quick movements.
Haruhi watched it carefully. Since Ozzie was quiet and no one else in the room had a pink Life Thread, she could only assume the bubbly girl's Destined Love was somewhere else. She could only hope 'somewhere else' constituted somewhere in this school, because she had no doubt Ozzie would coerce her into going across the country if it meant finding Renge's match.
Lacing her fingers together on top of her desk, Haruhi bent her head slightly, shutting all outside noise out and concentrating solely on her thoughts, and on Renge.
'It can't be Kyoya,' she thought. 'She already got over him, and his Life Thread is white anyway. The only ones with pink Life Threads are Hunny-senpai and Tamaki-senpai, but there's no way it could be either of them.'
Even so, Haruhi couldn't help the wild thoughts that came to her. The idea of Renge and Hunny-senpai was laughable, they had all the wrong things in common and never really interacted much anyway. Renge and Tamaki-senpai was even sillier. They would probably kill each other if they tried, and the thought of them happy together and in love made Haruhi's fist clench as inexplicable anger boiled within her.
No, it couldn't be anyone in the Host Club who was meant for Renge.
But then who?
And for that matter, who were Tamaki and Hunny-senpai supposed to be with?
**
"Those two! Those two!"
Haruhi swerved out of the way of those walking in the opposite direction, receiving a few incensed protests but paying them no mind. Lunch hour was in full swing, but it appeared Haruhi wouldn't get to enjoy the home cooked meal of rice and onigiri she'd prepared the night before. And she'd gotten the recipe just right this time too.
The couple in question were standing side by side in front of the school activities board. Located directly in the middle of the courtyard, this was were students and teachers posted upcoming events and club meetings. The young boy and girl perused pamphlets that had been left out, tight lipped and in general ignorant of the other's existence. Haruhi didn't know whether to slap a head to her forehead or sigh. Maybe she'd save time and just do both.
Haruhi took a look at one of the pamphlets still in the holder and read the title, the only part fully visible and not covered by a plastic container.
"Hey!" she called out, drawing both parties' attention to herself. "Are you going to the seminar on the Showa Dynasty?"
"Yeah," they answered in unison.
This was followed by the boy and girl starting and then slowly glancing at each other. Their cheeks tinged red, more so in the girl's case, but it was enough for Ozzie to give Haruhi the okay that they could move on.
"Simple and quick," he said. "I like it."
"Thanks, who's next?"
Ozzie raised an eyebrow.
"You seem kinda distracted. Something bothering you?"
"I'm fine," Haruhi said, finding a comfortable spot next to a tree and scanning the area for more pink Life Threads. "I just want to get this all done by the end of the day. I can't get out of the Valentine's Day party, but at least I want to be able to relax."
"You don't find this relaxing?" Ozzie asked, genuinely baffled.
Haruhi closed her eyes and exhaled through her noses. She let her body slide down into a seated position before opening them and again looking out. Everything was quiet today, as most of the louder people who usually filled the courtyard were off giving or receiving presents from their significant other. Most of the people around right now were either white or orange, and therefore no one she had to concern herself with. Now breathing easy, Haruhi pulled out that hard earned lunch of hers and dug in, content to spend the next hour reading a good book and forgetting about life for a little while.
By the time Haruhi's lunch container was empty and she'd gotten another chapter of her most recent library book done, a single pink Life Thread peeked out in the distance. It set Haruhi off before even Ozzie had a chance to see it. Though she didn't stand, Haruhi lifted her head as high as it would go to try and get a glimpse of it's owner. She was unsuccessful, until a flash of yellow appeared, and she needed no longer wonder who it was.
Tamaki was greeted by a great few of his more frequent customers as entered the courtyard. Haruhi no longer had to wonder where those orange Life Threads were pointing, and found the sight of them was suddenly even more unpleasant than usual. Violet eyes locked on brown very quickly, before Haruhi even knew it. Her senpai's face broke out in a grin as he zeroed in on her.
"Haruhi!" he called out. "I didn't know you were taking lunch out here."
"I do sometimes," Haruhi answered while cleaning up her things.
The bell rang and Haruhi got to her feet, bag in one hand and garbage in the other. She started for the nearest trash can, Tamaki in her wake.
"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" he said. "Perfect weather for such a wonderful holiday."
He spread his arms wide, as if trying to grab the sunny sky and gentle breeze into his loving embrace. He even seemed to be sparkling with joy, and Haruhi could only shake her head and smile. Silly as her senpai's behavior could be, it was slowly growing on her, had been for a long time now.
"And so much love is in the air," he went on as they walked back into the school. "I don't think I've ever seen this many happy couples before. Everyone is really into the spirit this year."
"I think you're into it every day," Haruhi said softly, unaware that her senpai's hearing was much better than she was giving it credit for.
"Well, of course!" he said. "Love is a beautiful thing, and I want everyone to be able to experience it. I see so many people afraid to embrace it. They know who they want, but they're afraid to say it, afraid of rejection or ridicule. What if it doesn't work out? What if I'm wrong about them? What if my heart get broken? So many negative thoughts that they start to forget about the good. They stop taking chances, and forget that that's really what love is sometimes."
He moved in front of her, stopping her in her tracks and laying soft hands on her shoulders.
"Now that I think about it, love really can hurt sometimes, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. I've been meaning to talk to you about that, Haruhi."
"Oh yeah?" Haruhi asked, starting to become nervous as Ozzie lowered himself into her pocket.
"Yes, but first I'd like to apologize for lying to you earlier. When I went outside, I was actually looking for you," he said. "See, in the past few weeks, I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I've come to the conclusion that I… that I've been very stupid lately, because there are things that should have been obvious to me and they weren't. I was too foolish to see it, but not anymore."
He paused and took a deep breath. Haruhi felt like she should say something right about now, but couldn't bring herself to. Her symptoms were coming back with a vengeance, all the shaking of her hands and hotness in her face and rapid heart beating. It dawned on her that this only ever happened when Tamaki was around, and she didn't know yet if she was ready understand why, even if Tamaki was.
"What I'm trying to say," his voice went low, as if this was for only her to hear.
But Haruhi wasn't going to hear it, because something short and dressed in yellow hastily pushed passed them, shoving Tamaki into Haruhi and almost making them topple over.
"Sorry," the girl distractedly called over her shoulder.
Haruhi watched her go, instantly recognizing her from both the long black hair and pink Life Thread as that girl from before everyone shied away from. She was carrying a tray of food with several textbooks balanced on top in addition. She appeared very frazzled, but somehow kept her composure and had no trouble avoiding the few other people who littered the halls.
"Who was that?" Haruhi wondered allowed.
"You don't know?" Tamaki said, fear overtaking him and making him shiver. "That's Reiko Kanazuki, a member of the Black Magic Club. She must be bringing her dark leader his lunch and homework assignment."
The girl named Reiko stopped before a bolted door and held the tray up with her knee, allowing her to knock twice on the door.
"Let me in, Senpai," she called out. "You must eat today!"
"Haruhi, let's go," the now very pale Tamaki said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tight to him. "Before they put some kind of horrible curse on us and turn us into frogs or worse!"
Haruhi had to fight off both him and the flushing of her cheeks that derived from such close contact with him. The former was much easier than the latter despite his tight grip. All it took was pinching his hand to get him off, and make him run to the corner.
She thought about going to calm him down, and was just about to do just that. She could always talk to Reiko and find out who her Destined Love was later. Then the door opened, revealing the tiniest space of pure darkness. From her vantage point, Haruhi couldn't even see a candle lighting that room. Nekozawa, it seemed, had plunged himself into pitch blackness in his efforts to avoid the light and love.
'Boy, wouldn't it be ironic if he had a pink Life Thread,' Haruhi joked to herself. Then she stopped and really thought about the last few days. 'Don't tell me…'
A single hand stretched out of the room, reaching for Reiko and the items she carried. Attached to it was a pink Life Thread.
"Ozzie," Haruhi hissed. "Do you see that?"
The Cupid poked his head back out into the open, examined the scene, then shook his head.
"No, their Life Threads aren't for each other."
Haruhi nodded and started walking. A plan formulated in her mind, and with Tamaki sulking and no fear in her heart, nothing was going to stop her from putting it in motion. The only other person who might have was too busy cheering her on.
"Excuse me," Haruhi said.
Reiko's head whipped around, eyes wide as she took a step back defensively. Haruhi noted right away that the girl must be very shy. From inside the room, a haunting voice spoke.
"Reiko-san, what's going on out there? That sounded like Fujioka."
"It is me," Haruhi said. "I'm sorry to bother you two, I just wanted to invite you to the Host Club's Valentine's Day Party after school."
She heard Nekozawa let out a choking sound, along with some loud thumping, like he was pushing himself against a wall. Reiko, on the other hand, seemed much more receptive of this, losing the tension of her body and becoming more relax in her expression.
"You want us to come?" she breathed.
"NO!" came Nekozawa's shriek. The door shook as he almost opened threw it open, but seemed to catch himself at the last minute and just pressed up against it. "No, Reiko, I can't! It's too bright and so happy it'll kill me! I'LL DIE OUT THERE, DO YOU HEAR ME?"
Reiko stared at the door, expressionless, then leaned in close to Haruhi.
"We'd love to come," she whispered. "Don't worry about Senpai, I'll convince him. Thank you for considering us."
"No problem," Haruhi said, backing up slightly.
As she turned and walked away, she could still hear Nekozawa crying in terror at the mere thought of entering an outdoors area during the daylight. Though his voice was loud, Reiko's found a way over it, and Haruhi could hear her clearly.
"Maybe I'll finally get to talk to him…"
'Him… I'm going to have to figure out who 'him' is.'
"This is going to be great!" Ozzie could barely contain his glee. "Two more potential couples will find their happiness now thanks to you. You're really getting the hang of this, Haruhi!"
"Save it for when I've found their Destined Loves," she said.
A smile formed all the same, complimenting the happy feeling that welled up within her. Something about all that had occurred, from Tamaki's speech to meeting Reiko, renewed her energy, and made this harrowing job seem a little less tiring and a little more bearable. She didn't even feel sleepy anymore.
"Sometimes, you have to take a chance," she murmured.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, just something I heard once."
Tamaki was still in the corner when she got to him. Haruhi kneeled beside him and rested a hand on his shoulder, wordlessly guiding him to look up at her. His face was dry, and he appeared more curious now than sad.
"Come on, Senpai," she said. "Both of us have classes to get to. The party can't go on with two Hosts in detention."
A/N: Here's chapter 7!
Next up is the Valentine's Day party and then this story will have to come to an end. Don't be too upset, though. I promise the next three chapters are going to be very exciting.
See you then!