(no subject)
So, ff.net is down. This really sucks. Not only is it marginally easier to update there - I already have several documents saved online - but I wanted to give everyone a litlte gift.
Totally failed. D<
So I will update and catch up on the ones I've missed here.
Theme: #21 Pack
Summary: Haruhi learns that in becoming a potential partner of Kyouya Ootori, there is more involved than just one person with steel-gray eyes.
It’s when he’s late (for the first and probably last time) that Haruhi gets a chance to talk with Tachibana-san, Aijima-san, and Hotta-san. Or rather, they with her.
“Miss Fujioka, if you’d like to wait in the car?” Tachibana suggested, neatly guiding her there without even touching her.
She glanced at the others, just a little surprised.
“Ah, it’s okay,” she assured them. “I can wait here.”
Aijima coughed, and looked away.
“Kyouya-sama would probably prefer to know that you were not being hassled while waiting.”
Haruhi blinked, and looked at them all, gauging their bland expressions.
“…Okay…” she replied, and followed them to the car.
And when Kyouya showed up three minutes later, she didn’t miss the way Tachibana met his employer’s eyes, and the way Kyouya nodded briefly.
She didn’t bring it up, however, until they were alone at dinner.
“You’re being a little overcautious,” she said, and he looked at her, taking a moment to place what she was talking about. “Tachibana-san,” she explained, and he frowned at her.
“They’re not stupid,” he objected in his quiet, reasonable way. “If they don’t want to lose their jobs, they’ll protect what’s important to me.”
It was definitely a roundabout way of expressing his feelings, but it was still enough to flush her cheeks.
“I don’t have to issue commands to them in this situation,” he finished, and she sighed, part resignation, and part exasperated amusement.
“I suppose I’ll thank them, then,” she replied, and started on her dessert.
Kyouya smiled at her bent head, hair pulled back in a convenient bun, with amused affection.
Number 28: Succeed (this is the continuation of Mafia!Ouran.)
Criminal Masterminds (are not asking for ransom money)
At first, she thought he had hired a thug to kidnap her - thereby proving her analysis of his character.
But then a tiny boy appeared by the man, crying.
“I’m sorry, Takashi,” he sobbed, clutching at the man’s jacket. “If I was stronger, I could have gotten her.”
Haruhi gave a deep sigh, wondering which strange dimension she had fallen into now. When she was dumped into the back seat of a black limousine, a pair of wireframe glasses twinkled at her.
Ah yes... she thought, feeling the car start to move. Hell.
-
"Scrappy," was the right one's analysis.
"Rough," was the left's. They leaned forward, peering at her.
"I thought he was supposed to be an excellent dresser," Right pouted. Left hung off his shoulder, giving a quizzical look to the man in charge.
Haruhi did the same, though she was beginning to doubt that anything would get her an answer from that quarter.
"I've recruited Fujitaka's apprentice," Kyouya said smoothly. "Carry on as you usually would."
"Ah," he added a moment later, "This is Kaoru and Hikaru Hitachiin."
Haruhi, however, barely heard him, for she was too busy protesting as the twins pounced.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Haruhi asked, pushing two pairs of hands away with surprising force; then again, she'd never needed to defend herself in such a way before. She scrambled to the opposite side of the seat, which was only possible because they had stopped in surprise.
The men who were mirrors images of each other gave her identical looks of confusion, then turned back to the head of this operation.
“You said he was Fujitaka’s successor!” Kaoru objected, crossing his arms.
“Not a girl,” Hikaru clarified. Haruhi’s brow ticked ominously.
“It’s not my fault if you can’t observe these things yourselves,” Kyouya said, and the twins exchanged a look.
"Kyouya-san," Kaoru said carefully, "just what game are you trying to play here?"
Kyouya looked at him seriously, shutting his folder with a neat flick of the wrist.
"No games," he responded. "We only have fifteen minutes. She'll need to look professional."
Another glance was exchanged, then a sigh, and then Haruhi was attacked again, albeit a bit more gently.
"I can change my own shirt!" she protested, and Kaoru gladly let go. "Aren't you some famous fashion people?" she asked, giving them critical looks. "Are you in debt, or something?"
"No!" they shouted in unison, looking quite insulted. "We've always helped out the Ootori's."
Haruhi's thoughts on that were muffled as her sweater was pulled off.
"Um, Takashi?" came a small voice from the front. "Should you be watching them?"
The twins snickered as the tall, silent man turned beet red.
Haruhi pretended not to notice and buttoned up the dress shirt handed to her, wondering why she was doing this with so little protest.
The police are too far away, she reminded herself. Just get through this...
Half an hour later, she was sitting in front of a sweating older man who looked more scared of Kyouya Ootori than her father was of roaches. She did, however, understand now the point of her presence.
At least, she thought she did.
"This looks pretty good, actually," she muttered, surprised by the almost even trade-off on the contract Kyouya had provided.
The older man blinked. "Really?" he asked, sounding hopeful.
Haruhi sighed to herself; perhaps she was supposed to be protecting his interests, as well? She glanced to the side. In view of the other choice, she certainly felt that protecting this man was her moral responsibility. But this was all immoral... so her judgment was uncertain.
"You're very good at looking over this kind of thing," Kyouya commented quietly, and the other man looked even more relieved; Haruhi was both suspicious and concerned about the fact that he had apparently complimented her abilities.
"Okay then," he suddenly said. "I'll sign. You've been quite magnanimous so far, and if the little lady says it's fair, I'll add my name to your side."
"The Family thanks you," Kyouya said, smiling the docile smile that always unnerved her, and the other man beamed at them both.
"It's been a pleasure, Fujitaka-san," he said in farewell, pumping her hand enthusiastically.
Haruhi merely nodded. What could she say? She didn't even understand what had just happened.
"We'll give you a ride home," Kyouya said, but she noticed it wasn't a question; and besides, she thought, feeling a slight aggravation. Her car had been left behind at the office when they had grabbed her. Had they been planning on leaving her there if the meeting didn't go well?
"I'll send the next contract to you within the week," Kyouya continued, and she stumbled, then stopped.
"Excuse me?" she asked, brows raised. "I told you before, I'm not going to be involved in shady dealings."
"Yes, yes," Kyouya waved off her words. "Your high ideals and such... did you ever consider, Fujioka-san," he suddenly asked, voice deadly serious, "what kind of crimes would be happening in this city should no Families be looking out for their area, and policing the real criminals who come through?"
"Policing?" she muttered, rolling her eyes. Yes, that was exactly what she would have to do if this ever happened again - go straight to the police. "Don't send me anything else," she said, "and don't grab me like that again. Or I'll be the lawyer seeing to a prison sentence."
She hailed a cab before he could interject any more nonsense, and hoped it would be the last she would see of any of them.
Back in the limo, Kyouya pulled his phone out and dialed a familiar number.
"Ah, Fujitaka-san, if you could be so kind as to..."
Number 68: Scatter
There were debutantes fainting all over the ballroom, in a wave that was, eerily enough, making its way towards her.
Haruhi wouldn’t have noticed, except for the fact that Lord Suou kept whining about ‘those bloody twins’ to Lord Ootori.
From Haruhi’s point of view, there was little to nothing anyone could do to stop the Hitachiin twins from overwhelming every girl in the room, but Lord Suou seemed to think the sun rose and set on Lord Ootori’s commands. It might pause should the man ever take offense at the sun’s motion, she thought with rare irony, but that seemed unlikely, so with a sigh she largely ignored the young lord’s complaints.
A few seconds later, she was regretting that decision, as she might have had better warning for the next attack of false gentility.
The twins were posed (as usual) in front of her, dazzling the crowd with their mirrored beauty, and she could see pure devilry lurking in their eyes.
Had Arai been present, she might have turned to him for help, but Tamaki was likely the cause of her being targeted by the twins, and the silent but somehow deadly Ootori would only ever help her should there be some (large) reward in it for him.
So she faced the twins off on her own, unconsciously showing some of her chagrin and long-suffering on her face.
Had she but known it, the twins delighted in putting just such a look on her. That, or mild horror.
Between themselves, they called Haruhi, ‘the most fun since Oxford ale slides.’
She undoubtedly would not have found the compliment as endearing as they did.
-
When Mori and Honey strolled by a few minutes later, she latched on with bare civility.
“Lord Honey,” she began, even as he blinked in wide-eyed innocence. “Would you care to dance?”
The small lord seemed to shine with happiness at the offer, and Haruhi was so desperate that she didn’t even mind hearing him report her words to Mori, who undoubtedly had heard her perfectly well the first time.
As the blond swept her off determinedly, she was surprised by the forcefulness of his lead. Surprised, but not displeased. At this rate, the twins wouldn’t be able to cut in.
Five young men were left behind, three looking decidedly put out.
“Who was the genius who introduced them?” Lord Hikaru asked, annoyed.
Kaoru was too refined to do anything but glare, and Tamaki merely hung his head in despair.
He was never going to win her at this rate.
Kyouya glanced at the tallest man, and then back to the couple on the floor, all thoughts carefully concealed.
Morinozuka shifted his weight surreptitiously, and kept his eyes on the two dancers, who had started out with determined, concentrated faces and were now laughing and attracting curious attention from all over the ballroom.
He liked Haruhi Fujioka, Mori thought, and managed not to regret the introduction as Honey chatted with more animation and honesty than he had seen in months.
Totally failed. D<
So I will update and catch up on the ones I've missed here.
Theme: #21 Pack
Summary: Haruhi learns that in becoming a potential partner of Kyouya Ootori, there is more involved than just one person with steel-gray eyes.
It’s when he’s late (for the first and probably last time) that Haruhi gets a chance to talk with Tachibana-san, Aijima-san, and Hotta-san. Or rather, they with her.
“Miss Fujioka, if you’d like to wait in the car?” Tachibana suggested, neatly guiding her there without even touching her.
She glanced at the others, just a little surprised.
“Ah, it’s okay,” she assured them. “I can wait here.”
Aijima coughed, and looked away.
“Kyouya-sama would probably prefer to know that you were not being hassled while waiting.”
Haruhi blinked, and looked at them all, gauging their bland expressions.
“…Okay…” she replied, and followed them to the car.
And when Kyouya showed up three minutes later, she didn’t miss the way Tachibana met his employer’s eyes, and the way Kyouya nodded briefly.
She didn’t bring it up, however, until they were alone at dinner.
“You’re being a little overcautious,” she said, and he looked at her, taking a moment to place what she was talking about. “Tachibana-san,” she explained, and he frowned at her.
“They’re not stupid,” he objected in his quiet, reasonable way. “If they don’t want to lose their jobs, they’ll protect what’s important to me.”
It was definitely a roundabout way of expressing his feelings, but it was still enough to flush her cheeks.
“I don’t have to issue commands to them in this situation,” he finished, and she sighed, part resignation, and part exasperated amusement.
“I suppose I’ll thank them, then,” she replied, and started on her dessert.
Kyouya smiled at her bent head, hair pulled back in a convenient bun, with amused affection.
Number 28: Succeed (this is the continuation of Mafia!Ouran.)
Criminal Masterminds (are not asking for ransom money)
At first, she thought he had hired a thug to kidnap her - thereby proving her analysis of his character.
But then a tiny boy appeared by the man, crying.
“I’m sorry, Takashi,” he sobbed, clutching at the man’s jacket. “If I was stronger, I could have gotten her.”
Haruhi gave a deep sigh, wondering which strange dimension she had fallen into now. When she was dumped into the back seat of a black limousine, a pair of wireframe glasses twinkled at her.
Ah yes... she thought, feeling the car start to move. Hell.
-
"Scrappy," was the right one's analysis.
"Rough," was the left's. They leaned forward, peering at her.
"I thought he was supposed to be an excellent dresser," Right pouted. Left hung off his shoulder, giving a quizzical look to the man in charge.
Haruhi did the same, though she was beginning to doubt that anything would get her an answer from that quarter.
"I've recruited Fujitaka's apprentice," Kyouya said smoothly. "Carry on as you usually would."
"Ah," he added a moment later, "This is Kaoru and Hikaru Hitachiin."
Haruhi, however, barely heard him, for she was too busy protesting as the twins pounced.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Haruhi asked, pushing two pairs of hands away with surprising force; then again, she'd never needed to defend herself in such a way before. She scrambled to the opposite side of the seat, which was only possible because they had stopped in surprise.
The men who were mirrors images of each other gave her identical looks of confusion, then turned back to the head of this operation.
“You said he was Fujitaka’s successor!” Kaoru objected, crossing his arms.
“Not a girl,” Hikaru clarified. Haruhi’s brow ticked ominously.
“It’s not my fault if you can’t observe these things yourselves,” Kyouya said, and the twins exchanged a look.
"Kyouya-san," Kaoru said carefully, "just what game are you trying to play here?"
Kyouya looked at him seriously, shutting his folder with a neat flick of the wrist.
"No games," he responded. "We only have fifteen minutes. She'll need to look professional."
Another glance was exchanged, then a sigh, and then Haruhi was attacked again, albeit a bit more gently.
"I can change my own shirt!" she protested, and Kaoru gladly let go. "Aren't you some famous fashion people?" she asked, giving them critical looks. "Are you in debt, or something?"
"No!" they shouted in unison, looking quite insulted. "We've always helped out the Ootori's."
Haruhi's thoughts on that were muffled as her sweater was pulled off.
"Um, Takashi?" came a small voice from the front. "Should you be watching them?"
The twins snickered as the tall, silent man turned beet red.
Haruhi pretended not to notice and buttoned up the dress shirt handed to her, wondering why she was doing this with so little protest.
The police are too far away, she reminded herself. Just get through this...
Half an hour later, she was sitting in front of a sweating older man who looked more scared of Kyouya Ootori than her father was of roaches. She did, however, understand now the point of her presence.
At least, she thought she did.
"This looks pretty good, actually," she muttered, surprised by the almost even trade-off on the contract Kyouya had provided.
The older man blinked. "Really?" he asked, sounding hopeful.
Haruhi sighed to herself; perhaps she was supposed to be protecting his interests, as well? She glanced to the side. In view of the other choice, she certainly felt that protecting this man was her moral responsibility. But this was all immoral... so her judgment was uncertain.
"You're very good at looking over this kind of thing," Kyouya commented quietly, and the other man looked even more relieved; Haruhi was both suspicious and concerned about the fact that he had apparently complimented her abilities.
"Okay then," he suddenly said. "I'll sign. You've been quite magnanimous so far, and if the little lady says it's fair, I'll add my name to your side."
"The Family thanks you," Kyouya said, smiling the docile smile that always unnerved her, and the other man beamed at them both.
"It's been a pleasure, Fujitaka-san," he said in farewell, pumping her hand enthusiastically.
Haruhi merely nodded. What could she say? She didn't even understand what had just happened.
"We'll give you a ride home," Kyouya said, but she noticed it wasn't a question; and besides, she thought, feeling a slight aggravation. Her car had been left behind at the office when they had grabbed her. Had they been planning on leaving her there if the meeting didn't go well?
"I'll send the next contract to you within the week," Kyouya continued, and she stumbled, then stopped.
"Excuse me?" she asked, brows raised. "I told you before, I'm not going to be involved in shady dealings."
"Yes, yes," Kyouya waved off her words. "Your high ideals and such... did you ever consider, Fujioka-san," he suddenly asked, voice deadly serious, "what kind of crimes would be happening in this city should no Families be looking out for their area, and policing the real criminals who come through?"
"Policing?" she muttered, rolling her eyes. Yes, that was exactly what she would have to do if this ever happened again - go straight to the police. "Don't send me anything else," she said, "and don't grab me like that again. Or I'll be the lawyer seeing to a prison sentence."
She hailed a cab before he could interject any more nonsense, and hoped it would be the last she would see of any of them.
Back in the limo, Kyouya pulled his phone out and dialed a familiar number.
"Ah, Fujitaka-san, if you could be so kind as to..."
Number 68: Scatter
There were debutantes fainting all over the ballroom, in a wave that was, eerily enough, making its way towards her.
Haruhi wouldn’t have noticed, except for the fact that Lord Suou kept whining about ‘those bloody twins’ to Lord Ootori.
From Haruhi’s point of view, there was little to nothing anyone could do to stop the Hitachiin twins from overwhelming every girl in the room, but Lord Suou seemed to think the sun rose and set on Lord Ootori’s commands. It might pause should the man ever take offense at the sun’s motion, she thought with rare irony, but that seemed unlikely, so with a sigh she largely ignored the young lord’s complaints.
A few seconds later, she was regretting that decision, as she might have had better warning for the next attack of false gentility.
The twins were posed (as usual) in front of her, dazzling the crowd with their mirrored beauty, and she could see pure devilry lurking in their eyes.
Had Arai been present, she might have turned to him for help, but Tamaki was likely the cause of her being targeted by the twins, and the silent but somehow deadly Ootori would only ever help her should there be some (large) reward in it for him.
So she faced the twins off on her own, unconsciously showing some of her chagrin and long-suffering on her face.
Had she but known it, the twins delighted in putting just such a look on her. That, or mild horror.
Between themselves, they called Haruhi, ‘the most fun since Oxford ale slides.’
She undoubtedly would not have found the compliment as endearing as they did.
-
When Mori and Honey strolled by a few minutes later, she latched on with bare civility.
“Lord Honey,” she began, even as he blinked in wide-eyed innocence. “Would you care to dance?”
The small lord seemed to shine with happiness at the offer, and Haruhi was so desperate that she didn’t even mind hearing him report her words to Mori, who undoubtedly had heard her perfectly well the first time.
As the blond swept her off determinedly, she was surprised by the forcefulness of his lead. Surprised, but not displeased. At this rate, the twins wouldn’t be able to cut in.
Five young men were left behind, three looking decidedly put out.
“Who was the genius who introduced them?” Lord Hikaru asked, annoyed.
Kaoru was too refined to do anything but glare, and Tamaki merely hung his head in despair.
He was never going to win her at this rate.
Kyouya glanced at the tallest man, and then back to the couple on the floor, all thoughts carefully concealed.
Morinozuka shifted his weight surreptitiously, and kept his eyes on the two dancers, who had started out with determined, concentrated faces and were now laughing and attracting curious attention from all over the ballroom.
He liked Haruhi Fujioka, Mori thought, and managed not to regret the introduction as Honey chatted with more animation and honesty than he had seen in months.