Tokyo: Mid September
The deadline for choosing which club to join arrives. Chika and Satoshi have spent the past two weeks waging a deadly war of cuteness to get her to join their animal club – aided and abetted by Tamaki and Hani, who pop up at unexpected moments to muse about all the different animal costumes she'd look cute in (Tamaki) and offer her cupcakes iced like little bears (Hani).
Haruhi joins the gardening club. It seems safer, all in all, and she doesn't think anyone will ask her to dress up as a seed, or set up a tea party in the greenhouse.
Her first thought is to open up LINE and message Kyoya. The host club isn't there to join, and it wasn't like she chose to join it in the first place, but signing up for a new club seems so momentous a decision that she feels the need to share it – and of all the former members, she thinks Kyoya's the only one who'd understand her conflicted feelings.
Her second thought is: You know, I think Kyoya might be in love with you too.
Haruhi looks at the gardening club members – the club is three times as large as she remembers it, and contains one hundred percent more Hikaru and Kaoru than it did before – and wonders if it's too late to change her mind and join the black magic club instead. She feels like she might have accidentally stepped into the dark circle of thirteen Belzeneffs herself, and only Reiko knows the counter-curse to save her.
She tries to put the whole nonsensical business out of her head and concentrate on the first official club meeting instead. President Hiroshi, a quiet boy from class 3-C who seems almost struck dumb with terror by the influx of so many new members, takes them to the greenhouse and, with much prodding from Vice President Bossa Nova, manages to explain their first project. Soon she's the proud – dubious – owner of a tiny, wild-looking seedling that the president claims with the proper care and attention will grow into a perfect Bonsai tree.
Haruhi takes it home and, after a moment's hesitation, takes a photo of the pathetic plant, sends it to Kyoya, and then goes to spend some quality time with a nailbrush.
There isn't a reply waiting for her when she's finished, and she's not disappointed. It's still the middle of the night in America. And even if it wasn't, she's not the sort of girl who waits around for replies to pictures of pre-Bonsai trees. That would be pathetic.
She sends it to Mori instead, and he replies with a photo of what she thinks must be a room in his own house – an ancient, impeccably-pruned Bonsai taking pride of place in an alcove. It's serene. Beautiful. She looks at her tiny idiot plant and, to her own bemusement, feels bad for it.
Mine is just a baby, she sends defensively.
Yes, Mori replies. But it will grow.
For some mysterious reason this makes her feel better. But her sense of frustration, of restlessness, soon returns. She ignores it. She eats dinner, does her homework, gets ready for bed. Why can't I stop thinking about what Tamaki said to me about Kyoya? she demands of her bedroom ceiling. It's definitely not true – and even if it was, it's not the first time she's found out a friend has feelings for her. It's never made her feel so weird before, though. What is she missing?
Her phone vibrates just as she's falling asleep, and she blearily reaches for it, feeling a buzz of . . . something when Kyoya's face pops up on her screen in miniature.
Why are you sending me a photo of a weed?
Haruhi snorts. It's a Bonsai tree. Or at least, it will be, she replies.
YOU ARE READING
Kyoya Ootori's Guide to Self-Deception for Fun and Profit
FanfictionKyoya's fond of Haruhi. Very fond. But he doesn't dwell on it. He's far too busy networking at Harvard to think about his best friend's not-quite girlfriend. Unfortunately, back in Tokyo, Tamaki seems equally busy - on the important task of driving...
