08.03.11

FIREWORKS

I've always loved the fireworks display. Even though I never went to the carnival in the years preceding, that never stopped me from watching them out the window of my bedroom. Some may think it childish of my, but I just couldn't help myself. The bright lights and colors were enchanting no matter how old I got. I can only imagine someday, I'll be a crotchety old woman waving my cane around, trying to follow the patterns in the sky before they fade away.

Being able to watch them up close for the second year in a row, I'll admit, was a real treat. I was becoming less and less annoyed with the guys for making me bring them, if I ever really was to begin with.

Yup, things were going pretty well that day. Nothing insane or dangerous (or insane AND dangerous) had happened, all six of them were behaving, and we were about to watch an amazing display before heading straight home and calling it an early night. I hadn't been that relaxed in weeks and by God, was it ever a welcome change.

A change that, sadly, wouldn't last.

I'm sure you remember the rather ominous lines of my last post and are only reading this because you want to know what I meant by that. Some of you may already have it figured out if the comments were anything to go by. Those of you who haven't work it out for yourselves, sit tight. We're about to delve right into it.

So, when we left off, I and the others were sitting down at the spot Tamaki picked out to watch the fireworks. I had to hand it to him, it was a nice choice. We were close enough to see the carnival workers getting everything ready, but far away enough that the inevitable noise wouldn't be too disorienting. I had no idea how, with their superior hearing, the androids would be able to handle any type of loud sound, but then I realized the 'Oh-So-Brilliant' yet 'Ever-So-Unreachable' company that made them had probably thought of that. I sure hoped they did, anyway.

"I'm not sure I understand," Kyoya was saying, glancing around at the surrounding families and hyperactive small children. "How is a sequence of colorful lights in the sky considered entertainment. Don't you already have things like that?"

"If you mean stars," I answered. "Then yes, but this is different. It's… well, it looks really nice and it's fun to watch and…"

I trailed off, finding it hard to come up with a decent explanation with Kyoya's expecting eyes glued onto mine with no sign of letting up.

Leave it to Tamaki, still clutching that precious bear of his, to come to my rescue.

"Come now, Kyoya," he said jovially. "We're here to have a good time with Haruhi. Relax and enjoy yourself."

"Yeah, Kyo-chan," Hunny piped up, his own arms wrapped around his Usa-chan toy (I swear, he and Tamaki looked like brothers right then). "You can have fun without lots of questions!"

Kyoya sniffed at them. "Forgive me for my curiosity. I prefer to understand the workings of such foreign practices in order to achieve full enjoyment out of them."

It was right at this moment that my happy night, along with that wonderful trouble-free streak I'd been relishing in, came to an abrupt and deeply unwanted end. And it all started with a shadow over my shoulder and the nasally laugh of a child.

"HAH! You've sure picked up some weirdo friends, Haruhi!"

I cringed. Even my toes were clenching, the sound was so unbearable. I wanted nothing more than to ignore him and pray he'd lose interest in a non-responsive target, but then I realized the guys would most likely provide enough engagement for him, and figured I'd better get rid of him quick before that happened. I found him right behind me, a half eaten ice cream cone in one hand and some sort of little prize toy in the other. He wore a cheeky little grin I often saw on his face after a particularly nasty prank. Biting back a groan, I gave a very fake smile of my own.

"Hello, Hiro-kun," I said.

Okay, since some of you might not remember, allow me to jog your memory. I had a conversation with Hiro-kun's mother a few weeks back. I mentioned it in one of my earlier posts and also stated that we'd be seeing Hiro at some point. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that time has come.

Let me just say first that I have absolutely no problem with small children, or children at all for that matter. I try to look at them the same way I look at adults: some are nice and genuinely good hearted, and some are complete jerks I wouldn't want to spend more than ten seconds around. I'll let you read the rest of this post and come to your own conclusions about which group Hiro fits in.

"Hiro-kun, is your mother around?" I continued as the androids turned their attention to us.

Hiro took a bite out of his cone and gave the seven of us a once over, that grin never once leaving his face.

"Nah, I'm with Shinta and Akira," he jerked his head at something behind him, and I glanced upwards momentarily to confirm that he wasn't lying. "I just wanted to come and see my favorite neighbor and her new friends."

I felt a stab of something unpleasant in my stomach, a common occurrence where Hiro is concerned. I tried to come up with something to say; being my neighbor from a close knit community, it would be harder to convince him of the 'cousins' story than it would a random stranger. Wouldn't you know it, I was beaten to the punch, as if I should have expected different.

"Hello, my fine fellow," the king of liars himself said proudly. "My name is Tamaki, we're good friends of Haruhi here!"

He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me to him. I didn't bother pulling away, though considering what happened next, maybe I should have.

"Oh really," Hiro asked, wiggling his eyebrows. "How good?"

"Hiro!"

"What," he talked back to my reddening face. "Just a question, no need to get defensive. Or am I right?"

"No, you are not," I answered in as hard a voice as I could muster. "You shouldn't even know about things like that, you're ten years old."

"I'm the smartest kid in my class," the cocky little boy shot back. "Plus, my TV has 300 channels."

I growled, but refused to delegate that with a response. Pulling myself free from Tamaki, I turned back around and exchanged brief eye contact with Kyoya. He had a funny look in his eye that I couldn't place, and before I could think harder on that, Hiro decided to start in with him.

"What about you, Specs," he leered over Kyoya's seated form. "Anything special with you and Haruhi. I know I've never seen any of you with her before."

Unfortunately for Hiro, it seemed Kyoya wasn't in the mood to play kid games. The 'Cool Type' lived up to his name by remaining silent and not even sparing Hiro a glance, much to the boy's clear annoyance.

"Hey," Hiro snapped his fingers in Kyoya's face twice. "You deaf or something?"

This time, Kyoya turned his head. I thought for a moment that he was going to say something horribly scarring that would send Hiro screaming and running for the hills never to return. Even after a long inner debate, I never figured out whether or not this would be a good thing. It didn't matter anyway, because that isn't what Kyoya did. Instead, he began talking pleasantly to Hiro, his voice not even one octave higher than normal. It would've made no sense to me, were it not for the fact that I couldn't understand a word Kyoya was saying.

Yes, he was speaking an entirely different language. It was one I recognized, but didn't speak a word of beyond 'hello,' 'goodbye,' and 'thank you.' I don't think Hiro could speak it either if his look of confusion was anything to go by. So much for being the smartest kid in his class.

"What the heck are you talking about?" he asked after a minute or so of this.

Kyoya tilted his head to one side, then called out to the twins, who responded in the same language before laughing raucously, as if Kyoya had just told them the funniest joke it the world. It had the desired effect, as Hiro shook his head wildly, trying and failing to make sense of what they were saying. Then he gave a groan and literally threw up his hands.

"Man, you guys are a bunch of freaks!" he shouted before stalking away back towards his family.

I let out a sigh, glad to be rid of the little brat, as Hikaru and Kaoru became silent. I looked at Kyoya.

"Was that English you were speaking?"

He smiled and nodded. "We are all programmed to speak 30 languages fluently, English included."

I gave a slow nod of my own, inconspicuously glancing around to make sure no one was close enough to hear him talking like that.

"Yeah," I muttered. "You guys sounded… kind of funny, actually."

"How so?" he asked.

"Well, it's nothing really," I answered shaking my head. "I could've sworn your voice sounded completely different."

He gave a knowing smile at that and a chuckle reverberated in the back of his throat.

"It would," he said smoothly. "You remember, of course, that we are artificial intelligence. Nothing about us is natural, including our voices."

I furrowed my brow as he paused for a moment when the twins started baiting Tamaki into another fight. For the moment, I ignored them, wanting more of an explanation from Kyoya.

"You see, the voices you hear us use everyday come from actors whom the company have paid for use of their voice clips. It's the same for every language we speak. Our English speaking voices come from a group of actors centered in the city of Houston in the state of Texas."

I had to let that sink in a bit before speaking.

"I see… and do they know exactly what these voice clips are being used for?"

His smile stayed in place, but no more was said on the subject. Really, that was pretty much all I needed to know the answer, and I found myself wondering once again just what kind of company this Ouran Co. really was.

All talking ceased when an official's voice rang out through a megaphone, announcing that the show was about to start. Cheers and applause followed, and it even got Tamaki to stop yelling at the twins for whatever they'd said to set him off this time. We all got comfortable, even Kyoya, who still didn't appear all too interested. I took a deep breath, allowing myself to relax and forget about Hiro and my problems. For the moment, all I could care about was the first stream of shrieking red light shooting through the air, to be met with even more applause and much louder cheering.

Many more lights followed, leaving the night sky bright enough to almost pass for day. I heard somebody gasp, probably either Honey or Tamaki and saw Hikaru and Kaoru pointing at one of the bigger ones as it exploded, letting loose a barrage of color. I let my body fall back on the ground, gaining a better view and relieving the kink in my neck from craning it up so high. This meant I had a perfect view of the next big firecracker and a pair of familiar red sneakers zooming passed us. Unrelated was my excellent hearing picking up Hiro's loud exclamation as he continued running.

"I can too get closer! Just watch me!"

"Hiro!" I shouted, stumbling as I tried to get back on my feet. "Hiro, what are you doing?"

Either is was too far away to hear me, or just didn't care to answer. With frantic eyes, I watched him get closer and closer to the fireworks table, and nobody was trying to stop him. Top notch security detail, gotta love em.

"HIRO!" I shouted through cupped hands. "GET BACK HERE, OR I'M TELLING YOUR MOTHER!"

I thought about running after him, and I might have too had I not suddenly felt a large hand on my shoulder. Looking up, I found the giant form of Mori, staring out ahead of us at the sprinting child.

"Stay here," he said, deep and rumbling as ever. "I'll take care of it."

I barely had time to give any sort of response before he was tearing after the wayward Hiro. By now, the boy had stopped moving and now stood in awe as fireworks shot off three feet away from him. Mori closed in, and wasted no time in grabbing Hiro and dragging him, kicking and screaming, away from the potential danger. I sighed in relief. Hiro may have been incredibly annoying, but I certainly wouldn't have wanted him injured in anyway.

"LET GO OF ME!" I heard him shout as him and Mori got close enough. "I KNOW A KID WHOSE DAD IS A COP! I'LL HAVE YOU ARRESTED FOR KIDNAPPING AND HARRASMENT AND A BUNCH OF OTHER THINGS!"

Okay, maybe some damage to his vocal chords would be appreciated. Just something temporary.

I had to back up as Mori returned to the group, otherwise I would have gotten a black eye from Hiro's wildly kicking legs.

"Hiro," I cried, trying to find a spot where I could grab him and not get kicked. "Hiro- Hiro would you calm down?"

"HEEEELP!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "THIS PERSON IS KIDNAPPING ME AND TOUCHING ME IN INAPPROPRIATE PLACES!"

I gave up, groaning loudly as I nodded at Mori.

"Just let him down."

He promptly obeyed, dropping his arms and letting Hiro fall to the ground and land hard on his rear end. He gasped in pain, but it was better than the screaming by a wide margin. I hoped the incident would end there, and that his screaming would be ignored the same way his little stunt had. It seemed, though, the general public suddenly cared about his well-being, as another male, and much older, voice sounded.

"Hey, what's going on over here?"

I turned to see three men in regular clothes walking over. I had a feeling they weren't quite so average though, as their loose fitting t-shirts exposed muscular forearms that could only be gained from large amounts of time in the gym. They moved to surround us, one in the middle, his two friends on either side of us. They all had serious faces and deep frowns that made me feel slightly nervous. But I refused to let that show.

"Is there a problem here?" the one on the left asked, eyeing each of us individually a hard, unfeeling gaze. "We heard some rather suspicious sounds just now."

I could just feel Hiro's smug little smirk, even though he wasn't within my line of sight at the moment. I inhaled deeply, needing all the calm I could get to avoid saying or doing anything that would make things worse.

"Sir, there is no problem here," I explained evenly. "Hiro-kun here is my neighbor, and he was just trying to do something reckless. My friends and I were trying to stop him, but you know how kids can be."

The three men exchanged glances, the one in the middle raising an eyebrow. I had no idea if they believed me or not, but it sure didn't help that Hiro decided to take matters into his own hands.

"I was not!" he shouted, moving to stand in front of me. "I was just minding my own business, then these guys tried to kidnap me!"

"We did no such thing!" Tamaki cried, choosing now to finally enter the conversation. "Mori here saved your life, how dare you be so ungrateful!"

"I was fine," Hiro snapped. "I wasn't even doing anything. This giant guy here just grabbed me for no reason!"

"Liar!" the twins shouted, pointing accusing fingers at Hiro, who stuck his tongue out at them in response.

"Alright!" the one in the middle shouted, his authorative tone drawing all attention to him. "Let's here what the so-called 'giant' has to say about all this."

They turned to Mori, as did I. He was standing next to Hunny, saying nothing and expressionless as always. His eyes fell on me for a moment, then slipping away as he gazed at nothing. I blinked and took a step to the side, back into his view and gave a nod, silently egging him on.

'Go on,' I mentally urged him. 'Say something!'

He looked at me again, but soon looked away, leaving me confused and gawking, at least until I felt a presence next to me. Kyoya leaned over, whispering in my ear as discreetly as possible.

"I believe Mori may have reached his daily limit."

At first, I had no idea what he was talking about, and then I remember that User Manual of his, and the list of features built into the 'Wild Type' model, particularly the 'can only say 50 words a day' part. My mouth fell open, I couldn't help myself. We're talking about someone who never says more than two words a day, even when in a situation were talking would be extremely useful, and the one time he actually needs to say something, he can't.

Perfect.

When did he even say anything today? When I wasn't around or something? Do he and Hunny secretly have deep, philosophical discussions when they're left alone together?

I had no idea, and all it really meant was that I would have to figure out another way to get him out of this before Hiro found another way to make things worse.

"Just wait one second!"

Or Tamaki did.

"I don't know who you think you are," Tamaki said while wrapping an arm around Mori's much taller frame. "But my brother here is a model citizen, and was merely protecting this child from a close brush with death. If anything, he is a hero and should be regarded as such!"

He sounded convincing as ever, helped by the fact that he was telling the truth this time. Granted, an over glorified truth, but the truth nonetheless. These three guys weren't that easily convinced though. They turned analytical eyes on Tamaki, looking him up and down before the third one spoke for the first time.

"You're saying this guy is your brother," he repeated, waving a lazy finger back and forth between Tamaki and Mori.

"Of course," the former stated confidently. "We're adopted siblings, all of us."

"Except for Haru-chan," said Honey as he pushed his way forward. "She's our cousin."

"Cousin?" Hiro shouted before doubling over with loud laughter. "You gotta be kidding me. She doesn't have any cousins. She doesn't even have family besides her weirdo dad and those grandparents who never come around."

I bit my lip, feeling a growing desire to tape Hiro's mouth shut and leave him like that for the rest of his life. I also wondered just how much his mother talked about my family when I wasn't around and he listening in. I pushed those thoughts aside, knowing there were more important matters at hand. Like the fact that the first man was now approaching Mori with what couldn't possibly be innocent intent.

"Sir, may we talk in private, please?"

He grabbed Mori by the arm roughly and pulled. Mori remained still as a statue, only moving his head to give the man a look I couldn't place. Grunting, the man pulled harder, but couldn't budge him an inch. Then he succeeded in wrenching Mori's arm out from his side, but the man's triumph was short-lived. I heard a thump first, then watched as the man let out a gasp and feel to the ground, clutching his leg in pain. Beside him was Honey, crouched in a fighting pose and glaring daggers at the man.

"Honey!" I shouted at him, a heavy weight beginning to press onto my stomach. "What are you doing?"

"He tried to hurt Takashi," the little android fired back. I was taken aback by the look in his eye. It was as if the childish nature I'd come to define him by had vanished. Right now, he looked even scarier than Kyoya did on a bad day.

"That doesn't mean you have a right to kick people!" I answered.

But my scolding had come far too late. Already, the down man's companions were rounding on Honey, looking furious and ready to take him down. They didn't get very far, as an arm shoot out into their path, courtesy of Mori. It seemed he was returning the favor by protecting Honey. I'm not really sure what happened next, it was so fast and loud and messy. I know that the man Honey attacked got back up and went for him again, missing his mark and accidentally knocking Kaoru to the ground. This incited Hikaru's rage, and he launched a screaming attack on the man. Tamaki got involved when a flying fist grazed by my face, despite having no idea who had thrown it. By the end, even Kyoya had gotten a hit in, knocking out one of the men when he kneed Tamaki in the stomach.

We'd gotten quite an audience by now. It appeared the fireworks show had finished sometime when I wasn't paying attention. Now a crowd was swarming us, including several security guards who weren't making a move, and probably wouldn't have been able to do much even if they did.

"This is awesome," Hiro said, sitting comfortably a safe distance away and finishing up his ice cream cone. "Way better than the stuff on TV. COME ON, KICK HIM IN THE HEAD!"

I hate to admit it, but I had to hand it to those three guys. They were holding their own shockingly well in a fight with six robots, two of whom had expert knowledge in martial arts. They even managed to find their ways out of the scuffle, one after another. By the end of it, the robots, sans Kyoya, where left to punch and kick each other until they realized what had happened and stopped, a tangled mess of limbs piled up before three enraged men I was absolutely sure weren't civilians. And as suspected…

"Alright, that's it," the first one shouted, pulling a badge and a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket. "You are all under arrest for assaulting an officer."

"Booo!" Hiro screamed, throwing a crumpled up napkin and missing by at least a foot. "That is so anti-climatic!"

I had no time to imagine any more ways to silence him forever, right now, I was too wrapped up in watching my non-human houseguests get cuffed one after another. Were I in a more subdued state of mind, it might have occurred to me that they'd inexplicably stopped fighting and were completely calm and submissive as they were pulled two by two to their feet and led away by the three cops. A few people in the crowd applauded and whistled, but almost everyone had no idea what had just happened or how to react to it. I charged after them upon finding my footing, and only looked back once to see Hiro running in the direction of his two friends, Shinta and Akira.

My breathing became ragged as I compelled my not-too- powerful body to move at full speed.

"Hey, wait!" I shouted once I was with earshot of the cops and the androids. Only the former turned to look at me.

"I'm sorry ma'am," the cop holding the twins said, as if knowing just from looking at me what I wanted. "We have to take them in. If you want, you can come and post bail, but we can't just let them go after what they did."

"I know that," I answered through gasps of breath. I've read several books on police procedural from all over the world in my prep to one day attend law school. I knew exactly how serious this was, and most upsettingly, I knew the bail for assaulting an officer was not going to be cheap. Add in the fact that there are six of them and… well, I just hoped I could go without food for a couple of weeks.

My very long moment of silence provided ample time for the cops to haul the six of them into plain looking cars before attaching sirens to the top. I caught sight of Tamaki, pressing his face against the window and giving me puppy dog eyes that could rival any real dog's. It took all I had not to look away, his pathetic-ness was overpowering.

"Don't worry," I called out. "You guys don't try anything, just do as the policemen say. I'll come and get you as soon as possible. I promise!"

The sirens let out a whine as the engines roared to life. I watched, defeated, as the androids were carted away to a jail cell somewhere in a part of town I wasn't familiar with. I waited for them to turn a corner and leave my line of sight before taking off running again, pumping my legs harder than ever before, while trying to think coherently enough to make a plan.

'Okay, dad has some emergency money in his secret drawer. He put the key in that shoebox in his closet where he keeps his old make-up and perfume samples. I just have to take it all and hope it's enough. I don't know what I'll do if it's not.'

If that was the case, I knew my best bet was to get Kyoya out first. He was the smart one and made all the plans after all. I prayed that it wouldn't come to that, because outside of a massive jail break, I had no idea how else I could get them out of there.

I was so lost in thought, most of my trip home went by in a blur. I'm still amazed that I was able to make it all six blocks without busting a gut or coughing up a lung. As the apartment complex came into view, I felt a wave of relief. Now all I had to do was get inside, get the key to the drawer, grab the money and hail a cab to the police station. I kept repeating this plan in my mind over and over again, focusing my eyes on the light up windows of my apartment.

Half a second later, I was skidding to a halt ten feet away from the fenced in building. My vision was filled with nothing but those windows and the light shining through them. Light I knew I had turned off before leaving the house. I stared at them, making sure that really was my apartment I was looking at and that I hadn't made a mistake in my panic. I took in the curtains that obstructed my view of a lamp, so great was my focus, that I literally jumped back in shock when a shadow moved right passed the window. I saw in for barely a few seconds, but even that was enough for me to recognize a head of long hair and some flowing articles of clothing.

Oh.

Oh no.

'Oh no no no no no no no no no!'

I raced up the stairs, all the panic I'd been feeling up til now multiplying by ten. I don't even know how I made it to the second floor landing all the way to my apartment door. I could barely think straight.

'Please be a burglar. Please be a burglar. Please be a burglar. Please be a burgler. Please be a burglar.'

I got out my key and fitted it into the door. That's when I discovered it was already unlocked. It was probably the most damning piece of evidence that my worst fears had been realized. I pushed the door open anyway.

'Be a burglar. Be a burglar. Be a burglar. Burglar. Burglar. BURGLAR!'

I saw him immediately. The very second my foot was in the doorway, he had launched himself from the kicthen (were some notibacble smoke was coming from the toaster oven) into the doorway and gathered me into his arms. I got a nose full of his very strongly scented lavender perfume as he let out a gleeful squeal and spun me around the living room, kicking the door closed with one high heel clad foot.

"HELLO, HARUHIIIIII!" he sang. "YOUR ADORING FATHER HAS COME HOME FOR A VISIIIIIIIIT!"

…I believe I mentioned in a previous post that my father is a tranny, right?

Well, just in case I didn't, my father is a tranny. It's a very long story that even I don't know all the details of. I just know that he was always one, but never really went all out until after my mother died and he swore off women completely.

His real name is Ryoji Fujioka, but he goes by 'Ranka' and has worked in several tranny bars throughout the years. The reason he was away all these months was because of a great job opportunity at a bar in Hokkaido. The job was only available during the summer months and paid twice what Dad usually gets at the bars around here. He'd have been stupid not to take it, and this story would have been a great deal shorter, I can tell you that.

As it was, he had abruptly come home for a surprise visit at the absolute worst possible time and, as you can imagine, I wasn't particularly happy about it.

"DAD!" I couldn't stop myself from shouting. "What- wha- what are you- Why are you- I thought you were working and- I-"

He interrupted me with a laugh, patting my head and giving a reassuring smile. As if it needed to be more obvious that he had misread my disjointed stammering.

"Oh Haruhi, didn't you get my letter?" he chuckled, pulling me into another hug. "I sent it over a week ago! I hope it didn't get lost in the mail."

More than likely, he forgot to send it. Dad can be a little forgetful sometimes, especially when he's having fun.

"Now then," he went on, letting me go and bustling into the small kitchen where that toaster oven was covering in a cloud of white smoke. "I was just making us some pancakes, I learned a recipe in Hokkaido that I've been dying to try out."

He stopped talking there, grabbing a dish cloth from the sink and attempting to wave away the smoke and see just how badly he'd damaged the toaster oven this time. I hadn't moved a muscle. I couldn't even look away from my dad's back length red hair and floral print dress. He was humming a song under his breath, one I could somehow make out over the ringing in my ears as I began to feel faint.

Okay, I know what phrase you're all thinking right now. I know you can see it coming, because as most of you have grown up on mindless cartoons and anime, you know there is only one thing I can say right now that would accurately describe the situation.

So let's just say it all together now.

Ready?

Here we go!

'There is no way this could possibly get any worse.'

Did you say it? I bet you did, don't lie.

Well, whether you did or you didn't, I know you'll all be shocked to learn that… no, no there is a way this can get worse. There is a way my whole ridiculous perdicament could get much, much worse.

Would you like to know what that is?

Why am I even bothering to ask you?

So right about that moment, the doorbell rang. I wasn't mentally at a point where I could recognize this, but luckily, Dad was.

"Sweetie, could you get that?"

I didn't say anything, but my feet moved of their own accord to the door, and I somehow found it in me to reached out my hand and turn the doorknob, allowing the door to swing open, and our visitors to come into view.

I blinked.

Then I blinked again.

I stared into a pair of faces I hadn't seen in years. Not since my mother's funeral, when they'd refused to come within ten feet of us and only dared approach me when Dad wasn't around. They hadn't changed much in ten years, aside from wrinkles that hadn't been there before. They also looked shorter, although that may have just been me. I was frozen in place, staring at them just as deeply as they stared at me. Finally, my jaw started to move again, and I spoke aloud two simple, yet heavy, words.

"Grandma…? Grandpa…?"

Grandma's face broke out in a smile.

"Haruhi, dear you look so beautiful," she said softly.

"Just like your mother," Grandpa continued, looking close to tears. "I- we're sorry to barge in like this, but-"

"Haruhi, who is it?"

I heard Dad's footsteps come up behind me, then stop abruptly. There was a deathly silence, I couldn't imagine what Dad's face must have looked like right then, but I doubt it was pretty.

"What are you doing here?" I almost shivered at the coldness in his voice.

Both my grandparents flinched, as it that tone had psychically hurt them. I dazedly stepped to the side, so they and my Dad would have nothing separating them. Grandma gave Grandpa a look, expecting him to be the first to talk, I surmised. Coughing to clear his throat, the elderly man straightened his posture and gave my father a serious look.

"Ryoji," he said. "…or is it Ranka, now?"

Dad said nothing.

"Well, the reason we're here is… well, we know it's been a long time and…"

His faltering was coupled by a growing tremor in his hands, and Grandma took it upon herself to relieve him of the task at hand.

"Ranka," she said gently, with a warmth I never thought I'd hear from her. "Mashiro and I have been seeing a counselor recently, and he's brought to light a great deal of bitterness we've been carrying, particularly towards you and our daughter's decision to marry you."

"We know we said terrible things," Grandpa started in again. "We can't take back the past, but we know that Kotoko loved you, and that we were horribly unfair to judge you based on your um… your hobbies and not see how happy you made our daughter."

"If it's too late to apologize, we understand," Grandma's eyes were filling with unshed tears. "But we want you to know that we are deeply sorry for everything. If it pleases you, we'd like to try and make amends. We want to be in our granddaughter's life again, and yours as well."

They looked older right then, older than when I'd first opened the door if that were possible. Here they were, standing at the door of the only family they had left, pleading for a second chance to the man they'd shunned all those years ago. I looked at my Dad, at his expressionless face and slightly parted lips. I had no idea what was going through his head at the moment. Would he say anything? Would he invite them in? Would he slam the door in their face and never look back?

The answer… well, honestly I probably shouldn't have been surprise. Maybe it comes with the whole Tranny thing, but my Dad is a complete sap and well dissolve into tears at even the most melodramatic display.

That's not to say that my grandparents weren't genuine, they really were. I just hadn't expected Dad to openly burst into tears and fling himself at his in-laws, holding them close as my grandma began to cry with him and my grandpa just smiled and patted him on the back.

Meanwhile, I was still off to the side, watching it all unfold before me in a dazed cloud of shock and awe. I don't think it had completely reached my brain just what was happening yet.

My father had come home for a visit.

And then my grandparents choose today to try and bridge fences.

And I have six androids that I need to bail out of jail.

And I'm going to need a new toaster oven when this is all over.

...okay, NOW it can't possibly get any worse.

Posted by Haruhi at 8:05 pm 0 comments