I finished curling Haruhi's pigtails and grinned, "I'm done! Aw, you look adorable!" She was wearing pink earrings, a blue and pink dress, and hair extensions that were surprisingly easy to manipulate.
She looked down at the dress, pinching the fabric between her fingertips, "I don't know. Are you sure?"
"You look great, Haruhi. Either way, it was left at your door, so someone wanted you to wear it for your date," I shrugged. I had helped Haruhi get ready for her date with Kaoru, but I hadn't seen the twins all day. Or since Kaoru pretended to be Hikaru, actually. I was beginning to wonder about how Hikaru was doing.
Haruhi glanced over at the clock and said, "I guess I better get going. Will you walk me out?" I nodded, so we both went downstairs where the other Hosts were waiting. The two had agreed to meet somewhere in Karuizawa, but I was surprised Hikaru wasn't there to see them off. After Tamaki gushed over her for a good ten minutes, we finally waved her goodbye and told her to have fun.
I didn't stick around for long. I went into the dining area, which only had a few people in it. I sat down and took my phone out of my pocket, placing it on the table. I sighed, staring at it. It hadn't been turned on since I had that fight with Eric, and I really didn't want to see all the missed voicemails and text messages. To be honest, I still didn't want to talk to him! He deserved the silent treatment! Still, I knew I couldn't ignore him forever. I would have to speak to him sooner or later.
"You look upset," a voice I knew very well said as the chair across from me scraped against the floor. I looked up and saw the twin that had been missing for about a day, sitting down in the chair. He looked a bit nervous about something, but I figured he wasn't sure how I'd act considering his outburst the other day.
"Oh, it's just-" I cut myself off. Kaoru said not to mention Eric. "I'm just tired. I haven't gotten used to the cottage, yet. How about you? Are you alright?" I tried not to sound as concerned as I felt.
"I've just had a lot on my mind lately. Sorry you had to see me like that yesterday," he apologized sheepishly.
"It's fine. We all have bad days," I assured him. I smiled. "I'm glad there was nothing seriously wrong."
He returned the smile, but then he started blushing and looked away from me. "So, are you going with the others? I think they're spying on Kaoru and Haruhi's date or something."
"Oh, you have to be kidding," I groaned, rubbing my eyes. "Well, it is Tamaki, I guess. No, I didn't even know about it. I didn't stay long after Haruhi left. Why? Are you?"
"No, I'd feel wrong about it," he answered. "They're supposed to all be gone the whole day, though. It's gonna be boring."
I laughed, "You have an entire town. I bet you'll find something to do."
"Yeah, well... I haven't actually been here before, and you haven't either, right? And we're both kinda stuck here. So.... Voulez... sertir... avec moi?" he blushed. I cocked my head at him.
"Crimp what?" I stared at him.
"What?"
I translated, "You said, 'Want to crimp with me?' Or something close to that, at least."
He groaned, slumping in his chair, "You can't be serious."
I tried not to laugh, "I wish I was. You're pronunciation was great, but the grammar and actual words were not. You're lucky you're only in French I." He covered his face with his hands and shook his head. He said something, but I couldn't make it out. I giggled, "Why don't we try that again? You're asking me, so it would be 'voulez-vous'. That means 'do you want to'. Can I assume the last two words were right?"
Hikaru uncovered his face and nodded, "Yeah. The verb was something close, too." He thought about it for a moment. I wanted to help, but I wasn't sure what message he was trying to get across. His face quickly brightened. "Wait! It's 'sortir'! Voulez-vous sortir avec moi, Katashi?"
"That's very good!" I praised. Then, I paused, fully registering what he said. "Did you just ask me to go out with you?"
"Well, yeah," he nodded slowly.
"Like, on a date?" I pressed. The red in his cheeks brightened.
Hikaru rushed, "No! I know that would be wrong! I mean, you're...." I saw he couldn't bring himself to say the word. "I just thought it might be nice to go look around here. As friends."
I teased, "And did you try to learn that phrase by yourself just for me?"
He said, "Yeah. Oh, don't look so flattered! You always make me say things in French if I want you to do them!" I laughed at how flustered he was getting. "If you don't want to, you don't have to go, you know."
Whether he denied it or not, it sounded an awful lot like a date. I glanced at my phone lying on the table. If Eric found out, he was going to kill me. How would he find out, though? I wasn't going to tell him, and no one else would. And why should I have cared about what he thought? The feeling obviously wasn't mutual. I shouldn't have even had to consider his thoughts on the matter!
I stood up, and he gave me a questioning look. "I heard Misuzu and Haruhi talking earlier. It's going to rain soon, so we better get going." His nervousness faded, and he grinned, standing.
We started to walk away from the table when he asked, "Shouldn't you take your phone?"
"No, it's dead. Come on!" I lied, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the pension onto the street. We walked hand-in-hand into the center of town.
Surrounding us were a variety of stores and restaurants, most locally owned. A lot of them were gift shops selling little trinkets that advertised Karuizawa, and the cafés sold pastries and coffee for cheap prices. The bright colors and cheerful people made me smile at the sight. I finally understood why Misuzu said people went to Karuizawa to be refreshed. The scene was much different from the city, and it was nice to be away from all the noise. "So, what did you have planned?" I wondered.
"Oh, that? I didn't even think you'd agree to come," Hikaru admitted, cringing slightly.
"Well, I haven't had lunch, yet. If you're hungry, we could go eat somewhere?" I suggested.
"Yeah, I could eat," he nodded. We walked into a nearby diner and were seated quickly since there were few people inside. I picked up my menu and began reading over it when I noticed Hikaru, sitting across from me, looking confused at his.
I asked, "Something wrong?"
He glanced up at me, "This all sounds disgusting."
"Keep your voice down!"
"I don't know what any of this is!" Hikaru argued.
Our waitress, an older woman, came over and introduced herself, "Hello, I'm Miyaki, and I'll be your server today. What can I get you?" We both settled on water, unsure of the how great the tea was there. "I'll get that for you two in a minute. Can I go ahead and place your orders?"
Hikaru froze, "Uh...."
I told her, "We'll both take the nikuyagu, please."
"Sure! We'll have it right out," she smiled, writing it down on her notepad. After quickly explaining my allergies, she left.
He asked, "What did you just get me?"
I shrugged, "You wouldn't choose! Don't worry. I've had it before."
And just like that, we were left in an uncomfortable silence, only being reminded of it by how everyone around us was in the midst of conversation. "So, have you ever been to Karuizawa before?" Hikaru tried.
I shook my head, "No."
He narrowed his eyes, "You had never been here, Okinawa, or Ouran Academy before moving here?"
I raised an eyebrow, "I had never set foot in Japan before moving here." I frowned at his surprised expression. "I wasn't allowed. My grandmother hated Tamaki and I, and she never wanted to see us. Besides, my mom was too sick to travel. My father always came to visit us in France instead. Tamaki and I still aren't allowed in the main estate. The mansion we live in with Father is supposed to be much smaller than the main one, which is hard to believe."
"No wonder you had such a hard time adjusting," he gaped.
"Well, I was raised learning some Japanese customs and mannerisms. Like I said before, my father visited a few times, and Mama told us some whenever she was feeling up to it. It was just a lot of new people... and my situation wasn't the best," I shrugged, taking a sip of water from my glass. When I saw his eyes begin to darken, I knew where his mind was wandering. "What about you? Have you ever been here before?"
Hikaru snapped out his thoughts, "Nah, we always went out of the country for trips. I like exotic." He winked at me, and I started blushing.
"Alright, you lovebirds! I have two orders of nikuyagu for you!" Miyaki grinned as she set our bowls down in front of us. I told her we weren't together as Hikaru simply thanked her, and we both looked at each other strangely. "Oh, uh, alright, then.... Enjoy!" She rushed back to the kitchen in a slight confusion after the awkward moment.
"What is this?" Hikaru asked, poking at the contents of the bowl with a chopstick.
"It's potatoes and stewed beef," I rolled my eyes, eating a bite of it. "See? Aristocracy can eat it without being poisoned."
He looked at me doubtfully, "I was never that hungry in the first place."
I narrowed my eyes, "You're being ridiculous."
"Really, I don't think I want this," he pushed it away. I huffed and moved into the seat closer to him, stealing his chopsticks. "What are you doing?"
"Open your mouth, Hikaru," I demanded, picking up a piece of potato with the utensils.
"I-" he started, but I stuck the food in his mouth. He glared at me, but he chewed it slowly.
"Well?" I pressed.
"It's not that bad," he grumbled before swallowing.
I grinned, "I thought you might say that." I set the chopsticks down and returned back to my seat. I took a bite of my food. "You know, you can't be so close-minded. You might miss something really special."
Hikaru poked at a piece of beef and picked it up, glancing up at me. "Yeah, that isn't the first time someone told me that today."
I wondered as he stuck it in his mouth, "What do you mean?"
He shrugged it off, his mouth full, "It was just something Kaoru mentioned earlier. It doesn't matter. Tell me more about France. I need to learn things to use against Tamaki in the future."
We continued to talk until we finished eating. After paying, we went back out to the open market. Dark clouds were starting to roll in, but it wasn't supposed to rain for another few hours, so I dismissed them. We decided to look around at all the booths set up. I was surprised to find how many trinkets could be made at home. Some people were selling clothing and jewelry while others sold plates and snow globes. It was a lot to look at, and I had never seen anything like it. Hikaru walked slower than usual to let me inspect at everything.
"Are you looking for something particular?" he asked as I glanced over the jewelry section in one of the booths.
"I figured I should probably get something for Tamaki. It might calm him down when he finds out we went out without him knowing," I explained. I admired a necklace with a silver chain and pendant containing a yellow topaz. I smiled a little as I ran my fingers over it. "That's pretty. Not what I'm looking for, though."
Hikaru said, "You could get it anyway. It's not like money is an issue, right?"
"I know, but it's still expensive. I haven't completely gotten out of the habit of having to watch what I spend from those two years without Tamaki. I don't even need it," I dismissed, moving on from it. He followed behind. I pointed at the headphones around his neck. "Maybe we can find a CD for you or something. You like music, don't you?"
He nodded, "I do, but I don't usually listen to it unless Kaoru isn't around. He isn't too into it."
"What are you listening to?" I asked, looking back at him. That spark came into his eyes, and I raised an eyebrow. He removed them from around his neck and put them on me, handing me his MP3.
"Why don't you listen?" he offered, playing the song before I could argue. I became distracted by the music suddenly blaring in my ears, and I rushed to figure out how to turn down the volume. He's going to ruin his ouïe if he keeps this up, I scolded him silently. Once I got it down to an appropriate volume, I found it to be a nice song. After a few seconds of listening to it, I recognized it as "Escape Game" by LiSA, one of my favorites by her.
"I know this one. I really like it," I said, and I knew my voice was probably too loud. When I didn't hear a response, I looked around me. "Hikaru?" Did he really abandon me in the middle of an unknown place?
Someone suddenly covered my eyes from behind, "Don't peek!" I felt something lay on my chest, and Hikaru moved the hair away from my back. His fingers brushed my neck. "You can look!"
I quickly turned to him and saw how proud he was of himself. Looking down, I saw I was then wearing the necklace I had been looking at a few minutes before. I smiled and told him, removing the headphones and handing them back, "You didn't have to do that."
Hikaru blushed a bit, "You said you liked it. If you need a reason to take it, just think of it as a thank you for helping me with French."
I shook my head, playing with the stone between my fingers, "It's not as special if I act like it's a present a student gives to a teacher." I hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Hikaru."
When I released him, he touched the place where I had kissed him and stuttered, "Uh, y-yeah, no... no problem." I let a giggle slip past my lips, and I tugged him along with me.
We had a fun time strolling around the marketplace for another half hour, but it was extremely short-lived. I felt a drop of water hit my head as I was thinking about buying a scarf. We both looked up, and it was soon beginning to drizzle. I frowned, opening my palm to catch the drops, "The rain started sooner than it was supposed to." I gasped when it suddenly got harder. Hikaru quickly placed his arm around me, and we ran with our heads ducked out of the marketplace to the area of town containing all the little shops. He left me under an awning to go inside to ask about getting a cab. By that time, it was pouring, and it was hard to hear anything over the slamming of the rain against the concrete.
A few minutes later, Hikaru came back outside with a distressed expression. "They don't have taxis in Karuizawa," he told me incredulously.
"What do you mean? How do they get around?" I questioned.
"Apparently, everyone walks," he shook his head. Not at me, but at the situation and the fact there was no easy way of transportation.
I sighed, "Maybe Misuzu can send a car to pick us up or something." We fished into our pockets, and while he pulled out his phone, I gasped, remembering what I had done. "I left mine on the table in the pension!"
Hikaru glared at the screen that illuminated his face, "The storm's knocked out my reception. I don't even have one bar." He closed his phone and placed it back in his pocket, his shoulders slumping.
I asked, "So, we're stranded here until the rain is over?"
"No, the owner showed me the bus schedule. The closest stop is a few streets over, but the one that would get us closest to the pension left a few minutes ago. We'll be waiting a while," he answered. I scowled. I had never liked buses. They were filled with people I didn't know, and frankly, they could be disgusting. I started at the sound of thunder.
"It's better than standing here. Maybe it'll lighten up before the bus gets there," I hoped, but I knew the storm was supposed to last over an hour. We bolted back into the downpour and down the street, hurrying to get to our destination. Within minutes, we were completely soaked. Unfortunately, when we got there, the bench next to the bus stop was completely exposed to the elements. We settled for another awning nearby and sat on the sidewalk.
I crouched down onto the pavement with Hikaru next to me and wrapped my arms around my legs, resting my chin on my knees. We stared out at the rain that seemed to last for an eternity. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" he joked.
I laughed, "If you're a canard." Knowing that I had said duck, he chuckled.
He said with an apologetic smile, "Man, I'm sorry, Katashi. I didn't think this would happen."
I shrugged, "It's fine." I grinned, thinking back. "I mean, in all honesty, as far as dates are concerned, this is one of the better ones. I'm not even joking."
"This isn't a date."
"Hikaru?"
"Yeah?"
"It's a date," I told him, looking over. When I saw how flustered he was, I said, "Don't worry about it. I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't want to go."
Hikaru paused for a moment to think about that before he smirked, "So, you like me."
My eyes widened, "I never said that!"
He pointed out, "People go out on dates when they like them."
"Then, that would mean you like me, too," I countered. "You did ask."
"No way!" he denied, and we were then both blushing. My mind drifted. Maybe that was true. I knew we always flirted, and I had admitted I felt safe with him, but I never imagined us being more than friends. We could have been, though. Whenever I was with him, I felt happy. I felt in control over something, and I hadn't gotten that feeling in a very long time. I wasn't too sure how he felt, but being a couple... was possible.
Except that it wasn't, and that was hard to swallow. I had been promised to another boy that I didn't even like in that way, and there was nothing I could about it. It wasn't even Eric's fault. It always came back to my grandmother and my illegitimacy. I didn't get to make my own decisions, even when it came to whom I liked. And I liked Hikaru very much.
My teeth chattered slightly as my wet clothing became cold. He pulled me closer and wrapped his arm around me. I snuggled up to him and rested my head on his shoulder, and we were both content. We said nothing else to each other as we waited for the bus to take us back to the pension where everyone would be worrying and wondering what happened, and I would finally have to turn on my phone and forgive Eric, even though I was still angry. Any moment we shared that day would have to remain to ourselves, and we would never speak of it or bring it up again. Still, I knew we would both remember, and we'd probably prove it to each other by the soft smiles or looks we'd give, and every time I would remember he just wasn't reachable.
Believe it or not, I had accepted my fate a while back. Being the devil he was, he was making it incredibly hard to not want to fight it.