Haruhi’s Photos: The Search and The Making (4/?)
The Search - Chapter 4
Tamaki raced out the cafeteria, stumped with inexplicable worry and dread. He whipped out his cell phone and speed-dialed Kyouya’s number.
He didn’t know why the very thought of Kyouya keeping a picture of his precious daughter didn’t sit well inside his stomach. Kyouya was ‘Okaa-san’, the mother of their child; therefore Tamaki shouldn’t really be alarmed by Kyouya’s actions. Besides, he doubted Kyouya would do anything unbecoming towards their charge.
But still…
The moment Kyouya answered his phone after seven rings, Tamaki immediately demanded his location. Clearly, he was affected by what the twins had just said to him.
“I’m in the clubroom,” Kyouya answered on the other line. Tamaki wasted no time and sprinted towards the Third Music Room in a flash.
He arrived in the room breathless, in need of precious air.
“Urgent business?” Kyouya inquired blandly, the steady tapping on his laptop’s keyboard never faltered.
“You -” Tamaki wheezed, choked on air, and then tried again. “You’re k-keeping a picture of Haruhi when she was in junior high. Don’t you bother denying it. The twins… the twins told me everything!”
Kyouya, already accustomed with Tamaki’s dramatics, remained calm.
“While it is true that I have Haruhi’s photo,” he began, “keeping it for my own self-interest is just absurd. I keep her picture in my portfolio. You can take a look if you wish.”
Tamaki narrowed his eyes in suspicion behind Kyouya’s back. Nevertheless, Tamaki didn’t let go of the chance to take a peek inside the mysterious portfolio. He swiped the familiar black folder lying on the chair beside Kyouya’s bag and flipped through its pages.
After a few minutes of browsing, Tamaki hesitantly asked, “You placed our pictures in a… portfolio?”
This time, Kyouya glanced up. “It’s handy,” he shrugged. “It also serves as a profile folder.”
True enough, the members’ vital and mundane information were listed on the opposite page of the photographs. If Tamaki’s photo collection of the Host Club were grand and leaning to the classical side, Kyouya’s were very informative and *cough* plain.
He barely resisted the urge to spruce it up.
At least the photos were in a special place, Tamaki mused. Kyouya does have a high regard for portfolios and such things, so Tamaki was somewhat relieved.
He smiled fondly at his daughter’s picture. The wind was teasing her hair and Haruhi was trying to control her long hair from going loose. ‘Ah, my cute daughter!’ he thought.
But the shimmering atmosphere suddenly turned grim as Tamaki remembered his current predicament.
“Ne, Kyouya?” Tamaki asked. “Why does everyone already have Haruhi pictures in their photo collection and not me?”
Kyouya paused and watched Tamaki draw circles on one corner of the clubroom.
“Everyone?” Kyouya repeated in puzzlement. “I didn’t know that Hani-senpai and Mori-senpai owned Haruhi pictures.”
Tamaki sniffled pitifully. “I gave away Haruhi’s ID pictures to them. I thought I could get a copy of it but they already placed it in their own collection.”
Hani-senpai told him earlier that he commissioned a toy company to make stuffed toys based on the chibi appearance of the Host Club members. He specified that the toys were to hold a picture frame on their chests wherein Hani-senpai encased the individual pictures of the Club members. Mori-senpai, on the other hand, was keeping an old group picture of the Host Club and he simply pasted Haruhi’s small ID picture on it.
Tamaki really, really wanted Haruhi pictures on his collection, too! But to ruin the other people’s photo collection just for his sake was so against his slightly questionable principles.
“So why don’t you just take her pictures yourself?” Kyouya suggested. But when he noticed Tamaki’s expression brighten dramatically, Kyouya retracted it and said, “On second thought - don’t do that. She’ll sue you for stalking her.”
“Eh? But why would she?” Tamaki asked in confusion. Taking Haruhi’s pictures himself was a fantastic idea-he could make an entire gallery with her as the subject!
He noticed Kyouya sending him a withering glance.
“My intentions are honorable!” Tamaki insisted but Kyouya wasn’t listening. The school bell tolled and he closed his laptop with a resounding snap.
“I’ll tell you what, Tamaki,” Kyouya said as he rose from the chair. “If you really want to have a picture of Haruhi, I suggest you ask one from the source.”
“Source?” Tamaki wondered as they made their out of the Third Music Room.
“Yes,” Kyouya nodded. “Meaning Haruhi’s father, Ranka-san.”
TBC