Sweet as a Summer Breeze

Chapter 5 - Aonozuka

The girl in the mirror looked completely different from what I was used to. Seriously, it was like looking at a better dressed, neater, prettier me and it was kind of disturbing.

The me looking back from the mirror was all dolled up ready to be put on display. My usually wavy hair was curled to perfection, bits pulled back from the sides of my head and pinned at the back. My blue eyes were even brighter than usual, thanks to the softer blue and the thin black eye liner rimming them. The dress even made my limited curves more noticeable; a cute white ribbon tied under my chest while the rest of the dress moved like water to my knees.

Seriously... Why did I have to dress up so much for a simple dinner with my family?

I blew out a little sigh and shook my head. Of course there was a reason for dressing up - my father. Eiji Aonozuka was very insistent about all family dinners being formal events. Hell, I'm surprised he didn't invite the other clans just to show off.

Eriko waltzed into my bedroom, the door making a soft bang on the wall behind it.

"Okaa-chan, you should be quieter when entering someone else's room," I said, frowning. "Or maybe even knocking on the door and waiting for an answer."

Eriko grinned. "Where's the fun in that? I'd never surprise you if I did something like that."

Oh God, just kill me now.

"What would you like, Okaa-chan?"

Eriko's smile softened as she walked - well, more like glided - farther into the large room.

My bedroom was one of the only ones in the guest hall of the Haninozuka house. Mitsukuni and Yasuchika's rooms were in the family hall. In Comparison to the family bedrooms, mine was a bit smaller but just had more elegance to it.

There was a large bay window across from the door and just outside it was a small hanging garden filled with flowers of all colours and shapes. My bed was pressed against the left wall, right in the middle. It was a large canopy bed, the translucent white sheets hanging across the frame above. I had a nice walk in closet, recently added once it was official that Eriko and I were moving in, and it sat across from the bed with the door to my private bathroom beside it. My mirror was hooked to the wall between the two doors.

The only real personal touches I'd made were the music stand by the window, a few pictures on the night tables on either side of the bed and my collection of stuffed animals happily crowding the head of my bed.

Hey, what can I say? I am related to Mitsukuni after all. Takashi figured that it was probably something to do with Aonozuka gene. Maybe a love of stuffed animals and sugary foods was passed down.

"I came to see if you needed any help but it looks like the maid already got to you." Eriko stood behind me, her hands resting on my shoulders.

A little smile crept up onto my lips. "I think the maids were just waiting for a female victim to pray on."

Eriko laughed, the tinkly sound filling up my room. "It does look like that, doesn't it. Hopefully they didn't scare you too much."

I scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "A few women scaring off me off with some hair curlers? Do you know me at all, Okaa-chan?"

"You're right. You're right," she laughed.

"You don' have to repeat yourself. I heard the first time." Was it a little odd that I was scolding my mother? Probably. But it was so normal by now.

I took a moment and glanced at Eriko in the mirror. Her long golden hair was tied back, curls falling down her back. Her bangs framed her face and she had a touch of make-up on - accenting her cheekbones, eye shadow making her green eyes flare with life and pale red lipstick gave her lips even more form than usual. She had a pretty grey dress on, flowers along the hems. It had a boat neck collar and half sleeves. The bottom of the dress came a little lower than her knees.

Eriko looked just as stunning as ever.

"What time are we leaving?"

The smile on Eriko's lips dampened a little and I felt a twinge of regret. "In a few minutes. I was going to wait 'till you were done but you've already been all dressed up."

She attempted a better smile and failed miserably. It looked more like she was just twisting her lips into different positions. I met my own eyes in the mirror and saw my shoulders and chest lift in a slow, long breath.

By the time I met Eriko's eyes again, they were cleared. The moment of pain had passed and the usual Eriko was back again.

"Well, let's go tell Oji that we're leaving," I suggested, and thankfully Eriko nodded and quickly skipped out of my room.

As soon as the door swung closed behind her, my fingers tightened against my thighs. The pretty blue fabric between my tense fingers probably kept my nails from cutting into my palms, but I could still feel the slight sting.

Eiji Aonozuka was a monster. I glared at my reflection, his stupid blue eyes glaring right back at me from my face.

Just the thought of Eiji caused Eriko pain and I hated it. The painful clenching inside my chest was proof enough of that. It didn't help that my brother, Kosei, had stopped writing to the both of us after a month of living with Eiji. It was like Eiji had ripped even more from my family than I even wanted to think about and the pain was almost crippling.

I didn't want to see my father. I didn't want to put on a fake expression of calm while my insides twisted by just being near the man who helped make me. And I didn't want to think about how life had been when our family had been together, living happily, while Eiji snuck around behind Eriko's back with other women.

But then again, if Eriko could suck it up and face the man that betrayed her than it couldn't be as hard as I was making it out to be.

I was wrong. I was going to murder someone.

The minute Eriko and I walked into the Aonozuka house we were greeted by a pale, black haired woman. The woman of the house. I had to clench my jaw and tighten my grip on my shoulder purse so that I didn't jump at the woman and scratch her eyes out.

She had long, pretty hair that fell nice and straight around her face and shoulders. Her skin was milky except for a single beauty mark under her left eye. She was shorter than Eriko, but a little taller than me.

The three of us stood in the entrance for a little under a minute, the awkward silence thick in the air. Thankfully - for her - Eiji stepped in by then, a young man at his side.

Beside me I heard Eriko's breath catch and I knew. I could practically hear her heart shattering in her chest the moment that she caught sight of the young man beside Eiji. He had slightly ruffled honey blond hair, barely tanned skin, eyes that were a little too wide for a boy and their colour was the same fiery green as Eriko's.

This time my nails did cut into my palms when I realized just who I was looking at. Kosei Aonozuka looked just like me, but with a slightly stronger jaw, short hair and much taller. We had the same thin frame, same slightly too big bottom lip. It was just weird.

Eiji looked just the same as I remembered him - tall, strong shoulders, defined jaw, naturally tanned skin and black hair. The only changes I could see were the laugh lines around his eyes and the grey hair showing up in his hair.

The familiar gripping pain clenched in my chest. It took conscious effort on my part for my fingers to unclench around the strap of my purse. Here was the missing half of my little family, living in our old house with a new woman. It hurt, but what I was feeling was probably nothing compared to how Eriko was feeling.

"Hiromi, I'm so glad that you could make it tonight," Eiji smiled widely at me and my stomach twisted. His smile dropped away when he looked over at my mother. "Eriko."

Bastard, I wanted to scream it at his face.

Eriko placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed. I didn't even try to shrug it off, even though I wanted to blow up. The anger burning in my chest felt like it was melting my insides and turning me into a gooey mess of anger. But if Eriko needed something to hold, I'd stand firm against the storm inside my chest.

"Otou-san," I greeted with a little nod and a barely there smile.

I really hoped he could tell the difference between a fake smile and a real one.

"Well, you know Kosei," Eiji said with a chuckle as he clasped a hand down on my brother's shoulder. It was like looking into a parallel world. "But this is my fiancée, Yuzuki Tsukuda. And my little one is running around here somewhere."

This time it wasn't my stomach twisting. It felt like someone had literally reached into my chest, through my ribs, and gripped my heart. Not only had he replaced Eriko in his life, but he'd also filled in my place as well. He'd had it all while Eriko had been forced to flee from her feelings.

I turned to look at the pretty woman and gave her the same bare smile I'd given Eiji. But I think there was something in my eyes that betrayed me because Yuzuki kind of flinched back into Eiji.

"It's nice to meet you, Tsukuda-san," I said in the most pleasant voice I could muster up.

It took her a second to catch herself and then she gave me a shaky smile in return. "Oh you can just call me Yuzuki."

My smiled tightened. "Oh no, I couldn't do that." Like hell I'd be talking to her in such familiar terms. You couldn't pay me to call her by her first name.

"It's been a while, Hiromi," the soft tenor broke me from my musings.

I met eyes identical to mine and nodded. "Yeah, it's nice to see you Kosei."

We used to be glued to the hip when we were little. It was strange to think about how much five years had changed Kosei. I could still remember when he'd been shorter than me and now he stood a good head higher than me.

"Shall we go into the dinning room? You arrived just in time for dinner," Eiji pipped up.

"Yes, good idea Eiji," Yuzuki smiled up at the man and then turned it on Eriko and I. "If you'd like to just follow us, we'll show you to the dinning room."

I narrowed my eyes on the woman and she flinched again. "We know where the dinning room is. Thank you Tsukuda-san."

Eriko squeezed my shoulder again before letting go. I quickly walked forward, brushing by Yuzuki. From the corner of my eye I caught Kosei giving me a strange look but I ignored him. He was on the other team for all I knew.

"Y-Yes, of course," Yuzuki mumbled from behind me.

The table was arranged neatly and I could remember eating multiple dinners at this table. The maid who made up the table and arranged all the food, plates and silverware was named Gabrielle Michaels and she'd also been the maid in charge of my room when I'd lived here.

I scanned the seating arrangement with a critical eye, noting that there were six seats with plates in front of them. So we'd be eating with my new sibling...

Fantastic.

Eriko and I took our seats as far from the head of the table as we could, right across from each other.

Since everyone eating was related in some way Eiji and Yuzuki would sit on either side of the first chair, where the head of the family would sit usually sit. It was so that everyone would be comfortable and no one was above anyone else and I'd always liked the idea.

Back in Canada, Eriko and I had a nice little breakfast nook where we usually ate when it was just the two of us. Sometimes the cook would come sit with us, but it was almost always a casual affair. No dressing up and everyone could see each other when they were talking.

Once we were both settled Eriko rested her chin in the palm of her hand, fiery green eyes fixed on me.

"You should be nicer," was all she said.

"No way. I refuse."

Eriko smiled and shook her head. "I know it upsets you, but you shouldn't take your frustration out on a stranger."

I gave the woman a long look. "Okaa-chan, they're all strangers. I don't know why we're even here."

She sighed and nodded. "I have to admit, I wouldn't have even recognized Kosei is he didn't look so much like you."

I smiled a little. "Yeah, it was kind of like looking into a mirror. I can't tell if we're both just really girly looking of more elegant looking."

Eriko laughed quietly just as the others came into the room. Kosei took a seat beside Eriko while Yuzuki took the seat one over from me and Eiji sat down beside Kosei.

"Yukiko should be down in a moment. She's been very excited to mee you, Hiromi," Eiji told me, completely ignoring Eriko.

It made me clench my teeth together. I wanted to go over and smack him till he could at least speak properly to his ex-wife. And it wasn't like he had any reason to be so rude to her. It wasn't like she was the one who cheated and screwed around.

Everyone stayed silent, giving each other looks, counting the pattens on the plates or even just tracing patterns in the tablecloth with their eyes. It wasn't until the doors banged open again that the silence was broken.

I turned in my seat a little to see a girl, around four or five years old, skipping into the room. She had black hair cut short, just under her chin, that was sleek and straight - obviously inherited from her mother. She had dark blue eyes and pale skin, but I could see that she had the same mouth as Kosei and I.

The girl grinned and jumped up into her seat. She turned to me just as I turned back to face Eriko. "Hi!"

I jumped a little at the loud voice. I hadn't really been expecting it, figurine Eiji would have been on her like peanut butter on toast to teach her what a 'proper' girl must sound like.

"Hello," I murmured back, barely glancing at her.

"You're Kosei-nii's sister, right? Which would make you my sister too!"

From across the table Eriko chuckled. I sent her a pleading look that ultimately went ignored.

I wasn't good with kids, never have been. Even as a kid I'd shied away from the others in my class and stuck with Kosei, Mitsukuni or Kyoya. They freaked me out. A lot. They were like little grenades of emotion, ready to explode at any time. And it could be any emotion! They could suddenly get angry for no reason, or start crying at the smallest thing. It was terrifying!

"Why don't we start?" Yuzuki suggested from the other side of Yukiko and I had to rein myself in before I started doing a little dance in my chair.

Without any more prompting the six of us started gathering food onto our plates. It wasn't an extravagant dinner, there was rice, vegetables and a portion of fried pork. We all gave thanks for food before starting.

I'd just finished my rice when someone cleared their throat. I looked up, catching Eriko's confused expression. We both turned to Eiji where he sat with his hands neatly folded on the table in front of him. Instead of a smile he had a strangely serious expression. I glanced over at Kosei and it looked like he was pretty confused by the interruption as well.

"We invited the two of you here to share dinner and catch up. But we also invited you here to discuss something else."

"And what would that be, Eiji?" Eriko asked, speaking to the man for only the second time since we arrived.

"Is it really necessary to bring it up during dinner?" Yuzuki asked quietly.

I frowned. What the hell were they going on about?

Eiji gave his fiancée a quick, meaningful look before turning back to Eriko and me. It was odd to see Eiji so serious. My entire life he'd never looked at me like and it was kind of weird.

"We want you to live here with me while you're in Japan."

CLIFFHANGER!

Hey there guys, how's it going? I'm happy to be getting this chapter out, it's what starts the real plot. You know, everything outside the fluff with her and Kaoru. Now you see what Hiromi is going to be dealing with during the 'courting' stage between our two kitties.

I really hope you guys like everything so far, even if there's been a lack of hosts.

Disclaimer - I DON'T own anything involving Ouran High School host Club. Sadly.

Molly Grace 16 - Well, Hiromi's pretty flat, but not quite as much as Haruhi - thankfully there are ways for her to look more flat. Of course Kyoya will know! Even if he hadn't known Hiromi before she moved back he'd know anyway. Kyoya is all knowing xD

killjarkidranger - Thank you very much!

Enecs - Thank you! It's great to know people like this fanfiction.

aaa17 - I'm sorry! Just a little bit longer, alright? I PROMISE he'll be in chapter seven. Well, she won't need to cut her hair. In a lot of manga I've read, or anime I've watched, there are male characters with long hair. So, I'm thinking about having her cut it a bit and then put it into a style kind of like Tamaki's in episode four. I think the plan I have in mind for the cross dressing bit will go over well with everyone.

CeruleanCat - Oh thank you! I'm really glad some people have gone and checked it out!

Carolina36 - Well, the purpose of the cross dressing is to avoid everyone knowing who she is. So, they'll have to figure it out for themselves. You can guess that Kyoya will definitely be the first to figure it out.

Anyway, review and all that jazz, please and thank you.

See ya guys!