I was up and about at 6:00am the next morning, hurrying around to get dressed. After carefully choosing an outfit, I brushed out my hair, put on some shoes, and was out the door. I'd already heard Haruhi leave her own room, so I knew that I could find her in the kitchen. When I went downstairs and into the dining hall, I saw her tying her apron on.
"Good morning, Haruhi~" I sang, and ruffled her hair. She groaned, and slapped my arm lightly.
"Do you have to be such a bother so early in the morning?" she asked.
"It's not as fun at any other time," I said and stuck my tongue out at her. I walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see that Tamaki was standing next to Misuzu, both working at the stove.
"You have to flip them over after seven minutes precisely," he was telling Tamaki. Tamaki was hanging onto his every word, and watched what they were cooking in the pan very intensely.
"Um, what are you doing here, Tamaki-senpai?" I asked. He spun around and smiled at me.
"Good morning, Miyoko! You look very cute this morning," he said, then went back to listening to what Misuzu was telling him.
"What's going on?" I asked Haruhi. She shook her head and sighed.
"I have no idea. He's been in here working with Misuzu before I even got here."
"So he just showed up?"
"Yeah. I expect that the other hosts will be arriving later," she said.
"Get a move on girls, the kitchen will be opening in less than an hour," Misuzu instructed us, and Haruhi and I both got straight to work. I went out into the dining hall and fixed each of the tables. I arranged the cloth-napkin clad cutlery at each table place, and went out into the garden to pick some fresh flowers. I gathered a few bouquets of different flowers, and went around to each table, sticking each small bundle of flowers into the vase in the centre. By the time that I was finished, a few people had begun to wander into the dining hall and occupying the tables. Hikaru and Kaoru were among them, and I approached their table first.
"Good morning!" I chirped, and held my serving tray against body. "What can I get you for breakfast?" I asked.
"I'll have two pieces of baguette toast with clarified butter and garnet seal syrup," Hikaru said in a demanding tone.
"I'll take poached eggs with bacon, and a bowl of whole grain cereal. The kind with those little pieces of dried fruit in it," Kaoru said. His voice, as always, was much friendlier than his brother's, but it was clear that neither of them were in a good mood that morning.
"Okay, well I'm gonna need you to repeat that order, but first I need you to go to a restaurant where they actually serve that kind of stuff, cause you won't find it on our menu," I said. They didn't seem to appreciate my sarcasm.
"Behave!" Tamaki said, rushing up to the twins and slapping them both on the head. "Just who in the world do you think you are, acting like members of some privileged aristocracy on holiday?"
"We are aristocracy," Hikaru pointed out in a bored tone.
"So are you, boss," Kaoru added.
"You are missing the whole point of travel. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, that's what I say. Just look at this!" Tamaki opened the lid of a large silver platter, and placed it on the twins' table. "Karuizawa cuisine fit for a king! Cold pasteurized Jersey steaks, fresh juice, highland vegetables, smoked salmon cooked over cherry wood, the local pride I might add! And last but not least, freshly baked breads with homemade jam. Bon appetite!"
"Since when have you...?" Hikaru wondered.
"...Been such a connoisseur?" Kaoru finished.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "He's been in the kitchen with Misuzu all morning, learning all sorts of recipes. He was already cooking before I even clocked in for work," I told them.
"While the two of you were sleeping the day away, I decided to start a refreshing host workshop. I even wrote a manual," Tamaki said braggingly, and handed all three of us a booklet with a rose printed on the front of it.
"When did you have the time to make this?" I questioned, which of course he chose to ignore.
"Hey wait, have you got to rule number five yet? It say we have to be up by 6:00am," Hikaru said, bringing his face closer to the manual.
"Have Kyoya-senpai and Honey-senpai read through the manual yet?" Kaoru asked.
Tamaki gasped like he had been shot and staggered backwards a few steps. I understood where his horror was coming from, since I'd heard stories about how neither boys were too happy with losing sleep. Tamaki, having remembered this also, sunk into the corner of the room and began weeping not so softly. His tears were creating a puddle around him, and I sighed in annoyance.
"Man, now I'm gonna have to mop up his tears," I said, and went to fetch the mop.
***
After I cleaned up the mess that Tamaki made, I put away the mop and went back to working in the dining hall. I heard the jingle of the bell above the front door which meant that somebody had just entered the pension, followed by Misuzu chatting with somebody. I didn't pay any attention to it since it wasn't an irregular occurrence, but my ears did perk up when I heard Misuzu shout "HOW REFRESHING!"
"What's going on?" I mumbled to myself and watched what was going on by the front door. Misuzu was talking to an attractive brunette boy, who was holding a box of fresh produce. Must be a delivery.
"Haruhi! Would you put these in the refrigerator for me?" Misuzu asked.
"Okay," Haruhi called back, and brushed past me to get to where they were. When the boy spotted Haruhi, his hat fell off and he stared at her in shock.
"Haruhi... Fujioka?" he asked.
Haruhi had a similar reaction to seeing the boy, because she froze in place and her mouth hung open a little bit. "Hey, Arai," she greeted. I raised an eyebrow at them, wondering where they knew each other from. Tamaki and the twins had noticed as well, and were standing next to Haruhi and her friend, observing them.
"So, are these your friends?" he asked, referring to the three idiots.
"Oh, yeah. This is Hikaru and Kaoru, they're in my class. And this is an acquaintance of mine," Haruhi introduced them, referring to Tamaki as her acquaintance as a jab at him.
"Who's this, Haruhi?" I asked, and walked over to join the group. Strangely, Arai looked a little surprised when I walked over to Haruhi's side. When he caught my eye, a light blush grazed his cheeks.
"Oh, this is an old friend of mine, Arai. Arai, this is my cousin, Miyoko," she introduced us.
I gave him a close-eyed smile, and held out my hand. "It's nice to meet you, Arai."
He blushed again, and gingerly shook my hand. "Y-You too. Haruhi never told me she had a cousin."
"I was living in America a little while ago, but now I'm living with Haruhi and her dad."
"Wow, that's cool. I can see the family resemblance, you're both very pretty," Arai complimented shyly. I heard Hikaru growl lowly from the side, but I ignored him and smiled brightly.
"That's very sweet of you to say," I said, and grabbed his hand. "Come on, why don't you stay for a bit?" I suggested, and brought him to a table. He took a seat, and I pushed Haruhi to occupy the chair across from him.
"Yeah, Arai. We should catch up. Miyoko, will you tell Misuzu that I'm taking a little break?" Haruhi asked me.
"Sure thing! Arai, is there anything I can get you?" I asked, turning my attention towards him. Every time I spoke to him, or when I looked him in the eye, he seemed to turn red.
"A-Ah, some juice would be great," he said shyly.
"Coming right up," I said, then went into the kitchen to get their drinks. Misuzu was in there, cooking away at the stove.
"Misuzu-chi, is it alright if Haruhi takes a little break?" I asked him. He granted her permission, then gave me the two cups on juice to give to Haruhi and Arai. When I left the kitchen, passing by the rest of the hosts who were sitting at a distance from Haruhi and Arai, I heard Hikaru complaining loudly about something.
"What's with him?" Hikaru asked, referring to Arai who was still chatting with Haruhi. "He's trying to use the refreshing innocent approach. Someone should tell him we already had a refreshment contest."
"You're being unusually critical," Kyoya commented.
"I'm just saying, it's obvious this guy has a thing for Haruhi," Hikaru was speaking loudly now, obviously wanting for Arai to hear him and become embarrassed. "It's sickening to watch him try and flirt, eugh."
I narrowed my eyes at him and was about to give him a piece of my mind, but Haruhi beat me to it. "Hikaru, what's wrong with you! Quit acting like such a jerk!" Haruhi yelled at him.
"Hey, it's no big deal. He's right, I did have a thing for you once," Arai said, waving his hand around dismissively. I gasped and rushed over to their table, careful not to spill their drinks. I put down their juices, then pulled up a chair and sat very close to Arai.
"No. Way," I said, a giddy smile plastered on my face.
"But who cares, you already turned me down, right?" he asked.
Everyone seemed shocked by this, even Haruhi, which confused me.
"Who do you look so surprised?" Kyoya asked me.
"Well, I didn't know," she replied.
I grabbed Arai's hands and held them in my own. My face was right up in front of his, which made him turn as red as a tomato. "Arai, you have to tell me everything!" I squealed.
"Okay, well it was about a year ago..." he started. The entire club, except for Hikaru and Kaoru, had circled the table and were listening intently as he proceeded to tell us the story of how while he was trying to confess his feelings towards Haruhi, she kept misinterpreting everything that he was saying, causing him to believe that she wasn't interested. I shook my head sadly when he finished the story.
"Haruhi, how could you be so cruel to this poor boy?" I wailed and threw my arms around Arai's shoulders.
"I didn't understand what he meant. I'm so sorry," she apologized and bowed to Arai.
"It's fine!" he assured her. "I'm over it already! You didn't realize what I meant so that means you weren't interested. But you know, I was always drawn to that faraway look in your eye. And the way you would look someone in the eyes when you spoke to them." He was looking down at the table, seemingly deep in thought. Then his eyes looked straight at me, right into my own. "Kind of like Miyoko," he said quietly. I tilted my head to the since and looked at him with caring eyes. He was just looking at me, like he was searching for something.
"Arai?" I asked after a little while of silence. He snapped out of whatever trance he was in, and turned away.
"Ah, s-sorry," he stuttered. I giggled, and wrapped my arms around him again.
"Aren't you just the cutest?" I giggled, which made him blush even harder.
Hikaru, who still hadn't joined the rest of us and seemed to become more annoyed by the second, finally burst and voiced his opinions.
"Wow, what a sap," he started off. "It's ridiculous how he thinks that he's so special just because Miyoko's giving him a little bit of attention. It's obvious that she doesn't actually like him. And hasn't he realized that Haruhi doesn't want anything to do with him? They've both got plenty of friends, so they don't need you around, get it?" he asked. Throughout his insulting speech, Haruhi had gotten up from her seat and had walked over towards Hikaru. When he finished speaking, Haruhi slapped him across the face.
"That's not something for you to decide, Hikaru! I'm not gonna tolerate you insulting my friends anymore, you got that?!" she asked him, completely furious. I myself had become incredibly angry with him. Who did he think he was, treating Arai like that?
"But why?" he asked. "Why should anyone else even matter to you? I thought we were your friends! Are we or aren't we?!" he yelled, standing up and towering over Haruhi. He was getting out of control. I stood up from the table and took long steps to stand in front of Haruhi. I knew he wasn't going to hurt her, but I felt the need to protect her in some way.
"Hikaru, enough," I seethed. He looked at me with emotion filled eyes. He looked kind of scary; his bangs falling over his eyes, the way his teeth gritted together, and how he was visibly shaking with anger. I stayed put, sizing him up and giving him an equally challenging glare. His cheeks were red, I don't know if from anger or embarrassment or what, but he turned away from me and darted out of the room. He ran up the stairs, and Kaoru ran after him calling his name.
"Their world is still so small, it's such a shame," Tamaki said calmly and put one hand on his head. I didn't know how everyone seemed so relaxed about this. I felt like I was shaking and that my knees were going to give out at any moment.
"Maybe I should be leaving now," Arai said, and got up to leave.
"I'm so sorry about that, Arai," I said and looked at him sympathetically. The rest of us remaining walked him outside to his bike, where we said our goodbyes.
"I'm really sorry, Arai," Haruhi said, apologizing to him again for the millionth time.
"It's ok. I don't know what I did, but whatever it was it sure seemed to set him off, huh," he chuckled. I smiled softly at him. He really was a nice guy.
Before Arai finally left, the pension door opened. We all turned our heads to see who was coming outside.
"Hika-chan," Honey said. I narrowed my eyes at him. What is he doing?
"I was out of line. I'm sorry," 'Hikaru' apologized, not making eye-contact with Arai as he did so.
"Thanks, don't worry about it." Arai grinned brightly
"It was nice meeting you, Arai. Hopefully we can see each other again sometime," I said, and gave him a warm embrace. When I pulled away, Arai was blushing and he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Actually, Miyoko. There was something I wanted to ask you before I left," he said nervously. I nodded my head for him to continue, and all of the hosts leaned in, clearly curious about what he was about to ask.
"W-Well, I was wondering if you would like to... go on a date with me?" he asked. Everyone, including myself, froze.
"Huh?!" Tamaki, Haruhi, and 'Hikaru' gasped. I blinked my eyes repeatedly, trying to figure out if everything was an illusion.
"A date?" I asked.
He blushed. "Yes, a date." Clearly, he had learned from his mistakes and was being more direct about asking someone out on a date. I was so surprised that I didn't know what to say.
"It's okay if you say no!" he rushed, now concerned with me not answering.
"Um..." I thought for a moment, thinking about Hikaru. He did say that he just wanted to be friends. What's the harm in going on a date with Arai? I nodded my head and gave Arai an encouraging smile. "Okay, Arai. I'd love to go on a date with you," I answered. Everyone seemed even more surprised with my agreeing to the date.
Arai smiled, and got onto his bike. He waved a final goodbye to him, told me that he would pick me up at the pension tomorrow at noon, then rode back down the street.
As soon as he was out of earshot, I spoke up. "Kaoru, why are you pretending to be Hikaru?" I asked.
"And what happened to that scratch on your cheek?" Haruhi asked, and pulled at where his scratch used to be.
"I just covered it up with some concealer," he explained, and showed us the small silver bottle.
"Besides, Miyoko, I think the real question is why are you going on a date with Arai," Kyoya said and pushed up his glasses.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Because he asked me?" Everyone gave me accusing looks. "Why are you all looking at me like that? What exactly did I do wrong?" I asked.
"Did you even consider how Hikaru would feel about you going on a date with Arai?" Tamaki asked me.
"Yes."
"But you're still going through with it," Tamaki confirmed.
I huffed and crossed my eyes. "What I considered was how Hikaru and I came to an agreement to forget about what happened between us. We're friends now, so I have the right to date who I please."
"Don't you think you're being a little inconsiderate to Hika-chan's feelings?" Honey asked and tugged lightly at the hem of my skirt.
I stuck my nose in the air. "No, I don't. He said it himself, we are friends. Just friends. We're past whatever feelings we once had for each other, ok? It's done. I'm going on a date with Arai," I said finally, then stormed inside. When I was walking up the path to the pension, I saw a figure in one of the second-story windows looking down at me. We made eye contact for a split second, before they turned away.
When I was passing Hikaru's room to get to my own, I paused for a split second and thought about talking to him about what had happened. I stood outside of his door, and raised my hand to knock. After thinking about it for a bit longer, I let my hand drop and I walked away from his door, leaving Hikaru behind.