With a thunderstorm nearly upon us, I decided to check the windows in the common areas. Returning, my path just happened to pass Haruhi's room. I heard Tamaki's cajoling tones and felt my face flush. Perhaps he had decided to try another version of my plot, with a jealous, nice-guy adaptation.
I couldn't very well repeat Tamaki's undignified performance of earlier. Noticing the door to the twins' room ajar just down the hall, I resituated my glasses and schooled my features to portray a calm I didn't feel. Hikaru, clothed in a towel, sat on a corner of the bed watching television.
I modulated my voice to be sure to express only mild curiosity. "Why is Tamaki in Haruhi's room?"
"I don't know," Hikaru replied without looking up.
A similar voice rang out behind me. "He must have slipped in while we were in the shower," Kaoru said with a mischievous grin. As he deposited a plate of snacks on the table, I cringed a bit at his emphasis on 'we' but immediately noted that he still wore the same t-shirt and jeans from earlier in the evening. No shower for him, then.
But how the twins loved to make the most of any titillating situation. Hmmm, they would be perfect to…
"I guess we can trust Tamaki to behave himself." I pinched my chin in apparent thought. "Although he does get a bit carried away with his fantasies from time to time. Oh well," I left the thought dangling as I made to return to the hall.
Over a rumble of thunder we heard a shrill cry from Haruhi's room. She almost sounded…afraid.
The twins wore identical worried expressions. "Are you sure it's a good idea," began Kaoru, "to leave the two of them alone?" Hikaru finished for him.
That cry had unsettled me as well, but I continued to affect unconcern. "Of course we can, she's with our prince, Tamaki. What could possibly go wrong?"
As I had intended, the twins wouldn't let it go, especially if I could be proved wrong for once. So I was able to hover in the background as they took center stage for the confrontation. They did give Tamaki a few seconds' warning, apparently believing there was at least the possibility of finding the couple in a compromising position. They knocked first and then announced together, "Hey Boss, coming in!"
The sight that greeted us was queer to be sure, but obviously another incidence of Tamaki's innocent foolishness.
The twins, however, delighted in pretending to find deviancy. As they mercilessly berated Tamaki, he was forced to chase them back to their rooms, assiduously denying their accusations and asserting his pure motives.
My eyes returned to Haruhi, who was slipping off the blindfold as she continued to kneel awkwardly on the floor. Fiddling with her hair she removed what appeared to be ear plugs, looking apprehensively over her shoulder at the windows. Her eyes then traveled all the way up the length of me, and I realized I'd been staring.
Clearing my throat, I offered her a hand. "Are you okay?" I echoed my words from earlier.
She placed her hand in mine and I gently helped her to her feet. "I'm fine," she said, just like she always did. I searched her face and reluctantly believed her. I must have lingered a bit too long, because a flush crept up her cheeks.
Turning away quickly, I said, "I'm glad to hear it. Incidentally, there is a lock on your door. You might want to make use of it if you wish to avoid further intrusions." I pulled the door shut behind me, not allowing myself a final glance at her.
I didn't bother turning on the lights in my room.
Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, I watched the clouds chase across the moon. It held an ethereal beauty, majestic and distant, making my unsettled emotions seem small by comparison.
Haruhi was right, in a way. I had nothing to gain from a liaison with a commoner. I was the heir to an empire. Even if I was only the third son, it would be a scandal to consider a relationship that held no advantage for the Ootori name. Yet all the scheming of my father-the thankless hours and backroom deals-did they serve any cosmic purpose? Why work so hard to build something that could not possibly last? Why acquire wealth and power if you had no time enjoy it, nor anyone or anything dear enough to spend it on? Would I follow his example, building my own castles of sand for no definable reason?
I wonder if commoners ponder these questions? Or are they too consumed with filling their mouths day to day to worry about their place in the universe?
This inevitably brought my mind back to its new preoccupation: Haruhi. I groaned.
"This is counterproductive," I said aloud. "I have arrangements to make in the morning." As I slipped under the goose down coverlet, I gave it a vicious snap. Fluffing it for comfort, of course; nothing at all to do with erasing the impression left there by a petite feminine figure.
The ensuing weeks saw us comfortably back in our own routines. Girls came and fawned. I kept the accounts. Tamaki and the twins proposed outlandish ideas, some of which we actually enacted. From time to time I caught Haruhi eyeing me speculatively, but her manner was unchanged. My annoying preoccupation with her lingered on the fringes of my awareness, but I refused to acknowledge it.
Until the Lobelia Girls Academy visit and the mechanical pencil incident.
As club activities were winding down one afternoon, Haruhi and I sat at the same table, each engrossed in our separate pursuits. She was attacking her schoolwork, and I was reviewing the host club accounts. Several of our private auctions had been quite successful of late, so I was considering what type of follow-up I might initiate.
As I searched for inspiration, I stared out the windows at the golden tones of the setting sun. Haruhi grunted and mumbled something under her breath, breaking my concentration. She appeared to be struggling with an advanced math problem—one that would stymie most students in third year.
As I watched, she twirled her mechanical pencil through her fingers while she thought. I smiled, wondering how she had learned the clever trick. As she prepared to scribble again, the pencil paused in midair, halfway to the paper as she muttered. "That's not right."
Absently she tapped the pencil against her mouth, which quickly puckered into an adorable pout. I watched, mesmerized, as the lucky implement skimmed over her lips again and again, like a violin bow drawn across the strings. In a moment I was back in that darkened bedroom where her lips were just a breath away from mine.
A heady sensation rushed through me, but was immediately curtailed by Tamaki's bellow from across the room. "Hikaru! Kaoru! What did you put in my cup? Explain yourselves!" The twins exploded in boisterous denials.
"Agh!" Haruhi huffed in irritation, slamming the pencil down on the table. "How am I supposed to concentrate with their constant …" she sputtered, finally settling on, "foolishness!" As she stalked off to confront them, I reached under the table to retrieve the pencil that had rolled my way. In a mirror of her gesture, I drew it across my lips. "Hmm." I placed it in my inside jacket pocket.
Later that evening I knelt at the sleek designer table in my bedroom to focus on my own homework. As I pulled a pencil from the numerous choices arrayed before me, I scolded myself for my visceral reaction in the club room. What was I? Some silly host club client, swooning over Haruhi's cuteness? What on earth possessed me to take something, even a pencil, from our underprivileged Haru-chan?
I removed my glasses and rubbed my eyes while I thought. Though I'd removed myself to another couch before she could return to her studies, I'd seen her making quite a search for the thing. It would be difficult now to explain why it was in my possession. It was difficult enough to explain to myself.
Then as usual, my brain presented a solution to its earlier musings. Readjusting my glasses, I opened my laptop to check. Sure enough, none of our auction items to date were contributed by Haruhi. Probably because she is unaware of the auctions, but no matter. She will contribute this fine mechanical pencil.
That was the first night I dreamed of Haruhi.
Morning light filtered through my eyelids and I slowly became aware of the fine sheets against my skin. The echoes of the dream slipped away, but a sort of longing was left in its place. I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair.
Apparently pushing away thoughts of her was more difficult than I imagined. But maybe there was some perfectly logical explanation for my preoccupation. Perhaps my subconscious had picked up on something about her that required my assistance. Yes, that must be it.
And perhaps I needed to take more enjoyment from the attentions of those ladies of the host club who particularly requested me.
"May I get you anything else, Kari-san? Another tart perhaps?" I leaned close to the auburn-haired girl beside me.
She tittered and placed her hand on my sleeve. "You've been most attentive today, Kyoya-sempai. But I simply cannot eat another bite." Her attention was caught by other patrons making their farewells. "I suppose I should go now," she said with obvious reluctance.
I offered her my most suave smile. "Until next time, then," I agreed. I stood slowly, bowing to offer her my hand. As she reached for it, our eyes met. She blushed prettily.
I felt nothing.
I continued to offer pleasantries as I escorted her to the door. My gaze snagged on Haruhi, apparently oblivious to the hour as she carried on an animated conversation with her admiring guest.
"I'll see you tomorrow then," Princess Karigawa arrested my attention. "Unless…" An implied invitation.
"Tomorrow then," I broke in curtly. Making a slight bow, I turned my back on her and strolled away.
Returning to my laptop I began to log the day's visitors.
"Hey Sempai." One of the twins appeared at my side, slanting me a suspicious look. "Why have you been staring at Haruhi all day?"
"Have I?" I drawled.
I decided to use a partial truth to cover my lack of discretion. "I have been wondering… Do you know of any reason Haru-chan might require particular assistance at this time?"
"Assistance with what?"
"I'm not precisely certain."
Completely befuddled now, and evidently having no information to enlighten me, he slunk away.