Let me start this chapter off by saying how sorry I am at the long months that I took leave. I can't really say how many times I'll be updating this story, but I do want to continue. Life has gotten in the way for the past few months. I'm so sorry! I hope that the readers know that my absence was not to spite anyone, but I can say that I will try harder to not leave you all hanging for months on end. As per usual: I do not own OHSHC.
Sunny's POV
My hands were shaking. I felt chills running down my back. I couldn't focus my thoughts on one single thing for too long. I was too lost in everything to fully process what had actually happened. The girls that were with me during club hours could tell that I was distracted, but I simply said that I hadn't slept well, which wasn't a lie.
My nightmare was only partially remembered. I only remembered the blue deer and thinking how beautiful and idiotic it was. Why would a deer jump in front of a hunter's aim. He would have been completely safe if he turned and ran off, so why did he do it? Usually deer are supposed to have great survival instincts. No deer in their right mind, gender and pairing status aside, would run towards the danger. The type of danger that would end with a possible death.
Club hours were dragging by, with me casually looking over one of my girls' shoulder to look over at Hikaru. I was worried about him. More so on how he would react when I told him the news.
I understood Kyoya-senpai's logic in theory, but my emotions were getting in the way. My guests, even before the trip, were asking a little more information about my love life. There were still whispers of the incident from the Christmas party, the girls knew that something had occurred with one of the twins but they didn't know who it was. And Kyoya-senpai had sworn Renge to secrecy that night about had really happened, it didn't take that much convincing since she also knew that the well being of the club would be in danger if this got out. So she took it upon herself to say that she saw nothing happen when the curious girls asked for any details, she was one heck of a manager.
They all already knew that I didn't have a boyfriend in America, but now that I've been in Japan for this long, they were hoping to know if there was anyone that had caught my eye. I couldn't very well say that there is and that it's Hikaru. A riot would start in a matter of seconds.
A great number of the girls that I spoke with came to me with crushes on one of the hosts, hoping that I would give them some advice on how to win them over. But it had been hammered into me that I should simply say that relationship with one of the guys would be hard, in a very concerned manner so as not to sound as if I didn't wish for their happiness, Kyoya-senpai put me up to breaking the hearts of many hopefuls. He always seemed to know which girls had the biggest hearts in their eyes and he always scheduled in the girl for a one on one session, so that other girls wouldn't be around to witness any of this.
None of this got any easier with time. Each girl had a different story for how they came to be a regular guest of the club, how they came to care about their host, and how they hoped that I would be able to set them up with said host. Kyoya-senpai had planned for many scenarios and sent me home with a script on New Year's Day, telling me to practice until I had the right amount of empathy. But my only issue with this was that I had too much empathy, I cared a lot about all my girls. But it was either me breaking it to them lightly or getting their hearts completely smashed. Every guest that I ever had knew the story of how many times Jamie's heart was broken, how I was there to pick up the pieces and put her back together, and they all understood that I didn't want that to happen to any of them. I had a success rate of talking them out of their confession at a 93%, which would have to do since there was only so much I could do to put a stop to a girl's emotions.
I saw every confession first hand, every rejection, and every tear. And I still went to each broken hearted girl to put her back together.
The club would be closed off to every guest until the day of our performance, which was next week. Kyoya-senpai had high hopes that we would have the routine down by that time. He even flew in two choreographers from America to teach us the dance. I was given the job of translating their instructions, a man named Andy and the woman named Holly.
The two of them already had a lot of ideas for how I would be dancing and switching partners in a way that was natural. One of the first things they did when they showed up was see whether or not each guy would be able to pick me up and for how long. It was extremely awkward, I kept biting my lip to fight off my girlish sounding squeals, I was ticklish and very much needed to laugh off the awkwardness. The purpose of this exercise was to see whether or not they would be able to incorporate lifts into the dance for extensive amounts of time. Haruhi and Honey-senpai didn't make the cut for lifting me up, even though he was more than strong enough to do so, but they thought that it would be better if I was lifted by guys taller than me.
Then they asked to see what outfits we would be wearing for the dance, since they were already decided after Kyoya-senpai made this decision. Every guy, included Haruhi, were to wear black pants, black loafers, and black pants, the only thing that made the outfit pop was the long sleeved white buttoned shirts under black buttoned vests. Mine was a lot more colorful, with multiple pull away skirts that looked like a rainbow. The only thing that kept the costume grounded was the black leotard with a single long sleeve, leaving my left shoulder naked. Since I wouldn't be dancing around barefoot like the last time, I would be wearing black jazz shoes.
Holly said that the dance would be fast paced but with a lot of short bursts of slowness before I would need to transition. I was the one that had to do more work than the rest of the members, being the only one that was to switch partners as often as I needed to change the color of my skirts. The song was really strong and the beat was something that kept me going even after hearing it so many times during practice. I was so pumped with the routine that I always sweated through my workout gear, needing to take off my crop top to only my sports bra and yoga pants. The guys had a hard time dealing with me stripping, but since they saw how much effort I was putting into it they quickly got over it, even more so when Haruhi mentioned that they've already seen me in less.
At the moment Andy was working with Mori-senpai and I with our part. Since he was the one the could lift me the highest, we decided to make this specific lift a lot more showy. It was simple really, he grabbed me around the waist as we faced each other and hefted me up, with my knees on his broad shoulders. The next step was really tricky, the two of us grasping hands. I lifted myself up, his arms and wrists tense to ready himself with my weight, with me attempting to perform a handstand on his palms. As I suspended myself above him upside down, I stared at his dark eyes, trusting and knowing that he would not drop me. The effort of keeping myself up was making my arms, legs, and core strain and shake. And once he completed his four spins with me like that, I clenched my muscles even more, falling backwards.
I was really tense and stressed about this part, even with the padded mats underneath us. I closed my eyes and followed my hands into a curl, my next partners were the only ones that stood in the way of me safe or another hard landing. This was our third attempt, but I was determined to get it right before the end of our practice. The twins had their arms intertwined, creating a net for me. They braced themselves for my weight, coming up to catch me and letting them bend down upon impact. Everyone in the room sighed as they caught me right this time, but my face got really red when Andy's change of hand position worked out. I didn't want to think about whose hand was touching my butt.
They then very quickly put me down, with me jumping up and down in exhilaration. "We did it," I hollered. I grabbed Honey-senpai's small hands and jumped up and down with him, the two of us spinning in a circle. "We did it!"
There was clapping, which was surprising since Kyoya-senpai has really been ardent about writing in his little binder book for the past few days. The only parts that were left were his and the twins' parts in the routine. It was already three days and according to Kyoya-senpai were maybe an hour or two ahead of schedule. Everyone managed to pick up on their parts fairly easily, but it was ultimately up to me to start and finish the dance, needing to memorize each and every step. The plan was to finish every part by tomorrow night and then practice the emotions behind the dance the rest of the weekend. The key was to look like I was in love with each and every one of my partners and we can't do that if we run through the dance with a blank faces, there needed to be countless trials and maintaining a certain expression at certain times.
Everyone was very much looking forward to me dancing with Hikaru, word that he and I were dating had reached the choreographers and were determined to make our part really dazzling. I sent sidelong glares at Kyoya-senpai, wondering what exactly he had to gain from this kind of exposure, as Holly smiled between me and the twins, since she didn't know which one was Hikaru. Kaoru was my next partner after they catch me, the two of us waltzing back and forth, the majority of my spins of the dance were done with him. The amount of space between my feet as I spun away from him at the end of his part were crucial, since I would need to converge with Hikaru with my back to his chest. I needed to avoid losing my place and not get dizzy, so the next phase would play out perfectly.
With my right heel coming in contact with the toe of his shoe, the two of us swayed and took our next steps together. He then took my right hand in his left and very quickly whipped me out and then towards him. We were then face to face and one of my legs hooked around his hips as he dipped me backwards. He then picked me up from my waist, with my hands resting at his shoulders, looking down at him as he spun around, in time with the counts I raised my other leg and encircled the the other side of his waist. After about eight spins he stopped and let me fall backwards, his hands gazing down my arms as I did so in case I lost my grip. I placed my hands on the ground and my legs released their hold on him. It was a quick hand stand and then it transitioned into a backflip and a forward curl.
By the time I reached the place where Hikaru used to stand, Kyoya-senpai was already there waiting. My tumble came to a stop at his feet, with me on my knees, looking up at him. He make brief eye contact with me, nodding, then opened his book back up again. "Very good for today," he said to everyone but not at anyone in particular. "We'll stop here for now." In the middle of that sentence I collapsed backwards, my shaking arms from the workout. I was covered in sweat and panting, my body before the accident was used to this kind of movement and strain, but I haven't really been dancing this hard since even before that. I closed my eyes as I relished using each one of my dancing muscles. "Miss Sunlight," he called out, I opened one of my eyes at his voice, "there is something I would like to discuss with you before you leave." I saw the seriousness with my one eye and nodded, picking myself up from the mat.
Haruhi was ready for me with a rag to wipe the sweat off and a water bottle, chugging down the entire contents in a matter of seconds. There was a locker room for the girls in another building so I quickly jogged there with my uniform in my sports bag. I pulled my hair up in a bun, it wasn't good for my hair to be washed as much as I've been showering since I would strip it off my natural oils, and washed off all the sweat, getting out and drying off before I put on the yellow dress again. I dumped my workout clothes in my bag and hung it over my shoulder and, checking to make sure that no one was around since it was improper for me to look like I was in a hurry, sprinted back to the club room, taking the stairs two at a time. The Wednesday afternoon was coming to an end, with me trying to outrun the early Febuary sunset.
The choreographers were already gone and the rest of the club members were already coming out of the room, giving me and the Vice-President some privacy. He stood with his back to me and with his blazer off, writing something as I entered the room. He only turned to acknowledge me when I shut the door and even then he took a while to finish writing whatever notes. I stood next to him to face the windows, the pretty yellow sun would change soon with maybe another hour or so before it was dark.
"Have you done it yet," he asked, still writing. His glasses were glazed over.
"Done what," I asked, too tired to play twenty guesses.
He sighed at this, thinking that I was playing dumb, but too many things have occurred in the past few days for me to keep them all in order. "The proposition that I gave you a few days ago. I was wondering as to whether or not you came to a decision." My eyes widened in realization, hitting my forehead at my stupidity. Crap! I can't believe I forgot! He then seemed satisfied with his writing and tucked the pen in the spine of the binder and closed it. I looked at him from the corner of my eyes and looked away, shaking my head. "Have you managed to find a time to discuss this with Hikaru?" Another head shake. I didn't open my mouth to try to explain the situation, knowing that any one of them were going to sound like pathetic excuses.
"I'll do it soon, I'll have a talk with Hikaru soon," I finished lamely. I brushed my bangs behind my ear and sighed. And to think I was blissfully oblivious up until a few seconds ago. What would I do without Kyoya-senpai around to keep me in check? Disaster would strike, that's what. I'm such a terrible person to have forgotten about this. This was only going to hurt Hikaru more when I tell him that I've known this since Monday and only just barely getting around talking to him about this. I gripped my school bag harder, my knuckles turning white. "Thanks for reminding me, Senpai," I said. "If that is all, I'll be taking my leave." I bowed in his direction and then straightening my spine to walk out of the room.
I opened the door, but it was abruptly shut when he put his hand to it. I turned to look up at him, my brows scrunched up in confusion. He was leaning over me, his tie swinging back and forth between the two of us. I could see his eyes now, so dark, so focused, not seeing through me this time but actually seeing me. "Why," he asked. I tilted my head in confusion, not understanding. "Why put the two of you through that? Why not just tell me no already?"
"You want me to tell you no?" I asked, my confusion multiplying ten fold. He didn't answer, didn't even acknowledge that sentence, so I answered again. "I've told you before, senpai," I said, as I reached into his shirt pocket at his chest. I pulled out the little recording device and pressed the play button. "Whatever it takes to repay you, all there is to do is ask." My words from all those months ago still held me to him. I still meant them. But they were said from a time when it was just me. I wanted this thing between Hikaru and me to work out, the two of us starting out meant being open with this work with Kyoya-senpai as the first step. I pressed another button and slipped it back into his breast pocket. "I'm still with you, senpai, so I'll continue as you see fit, but I want to have some limitation now that my decisions affect someone else. Please understand and give me at least this much." I pleaded with him, looking him in the eyes dead on.
He still didn't give any outward signals that he heard me, so I waited. I saw the scales behind his eyes again, seeing them tip one way and then the other. Finally, he blinked, and then every part of him slackened. The muscles of his arms and his fingers loosened, the fight gone from them. "Very well," he said, eyes still closed. "If the two of you don't agree with these arrangements then you may reject my offer." I offered a little smile to show my gratitude, keeping my elation in check.
"What would you like in return if it does occur," I asked, bracing myself for the onslaught.
"For now," he pondered, opening his dark eyes, "nothing."
I walked to the gates of the pink school in a daze, wondering if whatever happened back there was going to bite me later. I kept putting one foot in front of the other, startled when shoes were in my path, they were too big for them to be Haruhi's. I blushed in realization. I slowly inched my eyes up until they met amber ones. His smile seemed nervous as he put a hand behind his neck, the other in the pocket of his pants. Once again he was without his own bag, probably with his brother.
"Hi," he said, looking at me but at the same time away. He was extremely nervous.
"Hi," I answered back. I was at a loss to see this so soon. I was expecting to see him tomorrow after extensive hours of figuring out the right way to break the news to him. Right then and there I figured out that there wasn't exactly a right way to go about this, so I need to be straightforward with him. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to speak. "I-"
"CanIwalkyouhome?" he said in a rush, blushing furiously. "KaoruandHaruhialreadyleftwiththecarbutIwantedtospendabitmoretimewithyou." My mind went black and my words evaporated. His words came out so fast that it took me a minute to process.
"Come again?" I asked, searching for a slower explanation.
He looked down at me, taking away the hand that was behind his neck, and raised his fist to his mouth to clear his throat. "I want to be you, so I told Kaoru and Haruhi to go ahead before us. I'm asking if I can walk you home," he finished rather was a slight lift to the end of his sentence asking, but leaving room for me to yes or no. He didn't seem to process that even if I wanted to say no, which I don't, he would be stuck with me as we either waited for the car or to awkwardly walk back to the apartment complex.
He seemed to be looking everywhere but at me as he waited for an answer, the red in his cheeks making him look very adorable. It was my turn to blush. I reached for the hand that he held to his face and pulled it away, bringing him out of hiding. I intertwined our fingers and smiled shyly up at him. "I don't think I could say no to you if my life depended on it," I whispered.
There was a pause and I looked away from his searching eyes to look down at our hands. There was such a difference in size, his looked like they could very well swallow mine whole, but they were so very warm. I was tanner than him, making his own coloring look even paler in comparison. That bothered me a little bit, but there wasn't much of anything that I could do when it came to my love of the sun.
He took a step forward, leaving an inch of space between the toes of our shoes. I saw him take his left hand out of his pocket, lifting it up towards my face. I stiffened on instinct, but since it was him, I relaxed just as easily. His hand traveled behind my head, his fingers gracefully pulling the clips that held my bun together. My hair fell around me, landing along my waist. The blue highlights were due to be retouched in a few days, before our performance. He lifted my chin and covered my cheek with his hand. More warmth came to my face, I leaned into his palm. He then leaned down and aimed his lips in my direction, coming in contact with my forehead instead. A little part of me was a bit disappointed that he didn't aim for my own lips, but I thought the gesture was sweet nonetheless. He pulled away to look down at me again. This was nice. This was sweet. This was everything that-
My eyes widened in realization, I straightened myself in a flash. I looked around, seeing that there were pedestrians that were close by but were paying attention to someone else in the group, and pulled Hikaru along. I walked in a bit of a daze but he was just as affected, not putting up much of a protest as we scampered farther away from the school. When we finally stopped, I took a few seconds to gather myself enough to face him. I inhaled through my nose and turned to him sheepishly. This is another thing that I've done since moving here that was reprimandable.
I was well aware that the Japanese people were known for being discreet of their relationships, but it was the furthest thing from my mind when it came to being around Hikaru. I could slap myself for being such an idiot. I was worried that there had been witnesses to our little show of affection. Public Displays of Affection was something that my father warned me about, but since we were in America at the time it wasn't really an issue if I so decided to get a boyfriend and do what couples would in public. And since Hikaru was my first, in any country, I was unsure as to how I should proceed when it came to affection. But I knew for sure that what we just did was a definite red light as to how to act here.
"Sunlight," said Hikaru, sounding unsure and confused as to what exactly set me off, "was I too out of line? Was it too much?" I then finally turned around to face, my eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "I'm sorry that I crossed the line." I tilted my head at his words, there were so certain that it was his actions that made me behave as such. In a way it was, but it was more along the lines of setting instead of activity.
I shook my head and squeezed his hand. "It wasn't that," I assured. "You didn't do anything I didn't like..." I trailed off, my face getting red with embarrassment. "It's just that we were in a populated area and I started to get embarrassed. Um, that is to say that, um, that we probably shouldn't do stuff like that out in public where we could get arrested or something." My words were coming out without a filter and in a rush, making me hope that the very concrete under me would open up and swallow me whole. He still didn't seem to be understanding as to why I was out of sorts. "Let's just be more aware of our actions from now on," I lightly suggested.
There was a light in his eyes. "Oh," he said, sounding relieved, "I was worried that you were repulsed by me. But it's not like I wasn't aware of the crowd when I did that, I was just really focused on you."
My eyes widened. "Y-you knew that there were people there and you still did it?! I thought Japanese were more conscientious about their relationships." I was in shock, wondering as to whether or not my father was actually telling the truth or was lying in order to keep my virtue intact.
He had this small smile on his face, maybe a little amused at my embarrassment and disbelief. "Most are, but then again I'm not very good about holding myself back," he chuckled. He tilted his head as he looked down at me, a sudden serious and concentrated look appeared on his face. "That always seems to be the case when it comes to you, Sunlight." I was taken aback, blushing harder.
I suddenly realized how close we were, and like anyone that was in a compromising position that could go bad, I panicked. "W-we should get going, don't want to keep the Haruhi and Kaoru waiting." I tightened my hold on his hand and started walking in the direction of the apartment complex. Hikaru seemed to be smiling adoringly at my sudden shyness, probably smug and feeling very much accomplished at making me lose my composure.
The sun did set before we got there, but there was still enough light to let us see. The stars were starting to appear. I hadn't brought up the issue with Hikaru during our trek home, not wanting to ruin whatever sense of ease and comfort was around us on the way over. We past the limo in the front of the complex, on and running with a patient Kaoru waiting inside. Hikaru wanted to walk me to the door, something about being a gentleman and chivalry.
As we walked up the stairs, every step felt about a hundred pounds of pressure weighing down on my conscience. We made it to the door and as we said our goodbyes there was a persistent honking from a car that wanted the limo to move. Hikaru's attention moved to them for a while but then returned to me when he saw that the limo driver started moving to let the car go by.
"We need to talk," I said meekly. I kept my eyes averted wondering as to how he was going to take it.
"Are you breaking up with me?" he asked, a look of hurt and horror in his eyes.
That made me look up at him in an instant. "What? No!" I snapped out, wondering as to how and why he came to that conclusion. "Why would I break up with you?" Then it hit me. "Wait, do you want to break up?" I lift my hand to grab onto the strap of my gym bag, my arm going across my chest, trying to ease the blow.
"No, I don't, I swear," he assured me. "It's just that I hear that that's a line couples would say right before they break up with someone."
"Who did you hear that from?"
"A.J."
My eyes widened exponentially. "Is that where you heard that cheesy pick up line from?" I asked. I assumed that he had learned that from Tamaki-senpai, or worse, Kyoya-senpai. "When did you talk to him?"
He looked away sheepishly, the back of his neck flushing. "Um, a few days before we left for the trip. He kind of gave me a crash course lesson on relationships. It was a bit awkward and uncomfortable," he said that last part with a shiver. I would yell at A.J. later and find out how their conversation went. Right now I had bigger bombs to drop.
"There was a reason I stayed afterward with Kyoya-senpai," I started, breathing in and out. "There was a deal that we made before I even officially became a member of the Host Club and I want to honor it." I looked into those amber eyes and felt mine water just a little bit. I looked away just as quickly and blinked until they were gone before continuing. "I made that promise before I even got to know you, so it wasn't even an issue until now. It'll be hard to do, especially now since we're together."
"What exactly did he ask you to do?" he whispered.
This time the tears did come, just enough to make him reach out for me in concern, but I didn't deserve any kind of comforting. I'm the one that will end up hurting him.
"It's not something that'll be very different, it's similar to what I'm doing now." I sucked in a breath and pushed through. I squeezed my eyes shut. "He wants me to entertain guys now." I kept my face down and my eyes closed, waiting to hear some kind of reaction. When a few seconds passed and I was finally worried, I looked up. He looked as if he was just punched, leaning against the railing in a defeated stance. Dear God, I broke him! I reached over to touch his shoulder. "Hikaru..." I said uncertainly.
"Give me a minute," he snapped. I dropped my hand helplessly, me touching him isn't going to fix this, I'm an idiot to think that it was going to make any sort of difference. I saw that he was practically choking on his breaths, trying to calm himself. After what felt like forever, he looked back up at me. His eyes zeroed in on the tears in mine, I quickly brushed them away, angry at myself for crying in front of him again. "What did you tell him?"
"That I would talk it over with you," I said. "I want to keep my word to him, but this wasn't ever something that I even considered happening. Not his request or even you. I'm sorry." I took even more breaths, trying to prepare myself for what would come next. "I want to keep my word with you, Hikaru. It's been less than a week and I've already broken it. I said that I would stay away when I hurt you." I looked down at the ground now, not able to meet his eyes.
"Don't," he snapped, but there wasn't just anger in his voice anymore, there was a hurt sort of pleading too. "Don't try to run away. Yes, I'm hurt but this is not your fault," he insisted. He came closer to me, putting his hands on my shoulders. "Please look at me."
"I don't have the right," I stated.
"That's not true. Look me in the eye. Please," he begged. I was angry with myself again, for being the reason that he sounds so desperate. He put his hand at my cheek this time. That broke me down even more. But this had happened to me before, with A.J. and my friends, and just like all those times I was too much of a coward now as I was in the past. I inhaled through my nose, gathering all the courage I could to let my words loose.
"You're upset and angry," I exhaled, "I did that. This is my fault." My bangs kept getting into my eyes and no matter how many times I brushed it behind my ear, it fell right back down, so I gave up and let it hang there. If only I was more aware in the past when I made that promise to Kyoya-senpai, maybe then this wouldn't happened so badly. "Thank you for walking me home, Hikaru," I said, detaching myself from him. "I hope you and your brother have a safe trip back to your own home."
I didn't say a thing as he held both of my cheeks again, he came forward and kissed one side of face and then the other. "I still say that this is not your fault. Good night, Sunlight." He came forward one more time and kissed my forehead through my bangs. After quite a few seconds of hesitation he walked away, down the stairs and into the limo with his brother. It drove away and left. I straightened myself then, watching the lights disappear. Then they came back when another car came into the parking lot.
I leaned forward against the guardrail in front of the apartment, placing my chin in my hand as I looked upwards. I wonder what my mother would say to that? But I already knew what she would say to me, that I was being stupid. She wasn't much of a believer of the curse, "too much American in her brain" my grandmother always said. Abuela was a major believer of the curse even after her part of it was over, warning my mother until the day she got married and then continued to warn me until the day she died. She always thought that America downgraded how much of an impact the curse would have on her daughter, she was the first-generation to be born in the States and so strong of person as she grew.
My mother didn't want me to have the same doubts as my Abuela, she wanted me to rise above it and become someone without it in her life. But it always did seem to find me. This far away from my country of birth has given me more experiences and obstacles that I didn't ever think I would receive.
I heard the definite sharp drop of keys to my left, a few apartments down. A woman looked close to yelling out in frustration, boxes stacked high in her and her friends' arms. They looked unstable as she prepared to try to bend over and pick them up. Just because I'm having a bad night doesn't mean someone else should be too. I quickly set my bag down and rushed over to help them. The woman looked over her shoulders and once she saw that I was coming to their aid, she readjusted her grip on the boxes to steady them.
I bent over to pick up the keys at the exact time as a man in a gray sweatshirt carrying bags did. Our heads knocked against each other, making the two of us groan out in pain. The impact made him drop in own bags in the process, making me stutter out apologies as I quickly picked up the bags and keys for him. I looped my arms through the straps and gestured for him to take them. I looked at the words, UCLA was written in sky blue block script outlined in white trimmings, I stared at the uncommonness of the sweatshirt's appearance here in Japan. I looked up at the tall man and finally saw his face. For a second I thought that he didn't look Japanese at all, but then the same could be said to me, so I kicked myself for the quick judgement.
"Are you American?" I asked in Japanese, trying to figure out if he was actually a half-blood like me. At the confused look on his face I got my answer. "Here are your bags," I said in perfect English. He seemed startled but quickly recovered and slipped his own arms through the loops of the bags and took them from me. I looked through the key ring and put it in the knob of the drop, looking at the the people around me for any signs of wanting me to stop. I received none and unlocked the door, swinging it open, I turned to the man and placed the keys in the front pocket of his sweatshirt when he lifted his arms to give me access. "I hope that your head is alright, sorry for that," I said to the American man. I then turned to the rest in the group and bowed my head. "Sorry for the intrusion, good luck with all your moving. Have a good night."
I lifted my head up and then went back to the railing to pick up my bag and entered my apartment. I mindlessly took of my shoes and went to straight to my room without stopping to see what was for dinner, I wasn't hungry.
Once I finished my work and was getting ready for bed, Haruhi walked in with an outstretched red flip-phone in her offered hand. I was confused and didn't move until she put it to the side of my face until I reached out to hold it.
"Hello," I answered, my voice no doubt laced with hesitation. Who could be calling that late at night?
"Sunshine," he said, "what's this I hear about you and Tom? He called me a few days ago and Haruhi called me tonight." I looked up at her, but she just stood there looking up at me with a determined look on her face, refusing to budge.
"Listen," I started. I opened my mouth but the words wouldn't come out. I was so ready to tell him that nothing was wrong, so ready to say that I was fine, so ready to lie. But he was better than this, I was better than to lie to him. I sat down on my already set up futon, feeling drained and tired. My immediate reaction was to hide my tears but my emotions were too unhinged, I looked at Haruhi with tears in my eyes. She saw them clearly with my hair and bangs pulled back away from my face. She sat down with me, letting me lean on her. My tears were suffocating me and labored my breathing. Once I finally caught my breath, I picked up the phone. I took a deep breath. "I think I just ruin one of the best things that could have happened to me," I exhaled.
It was then that I realized that it was a early morning on a Tuesday for him, time completely divided between us. The curse was more than working on me, entire worlds away from those that I cared about.
I hope that this was worth the wait. And know that more tears are sure to be shed.