Duet chapter 12
Title: Duet
Rating: G for now, may go up ^^;
Warnings: spoilers for the end of the anime
Progress: 12/?
Summary: In need of a performing arts credit for her transcript, Haruhi seeks piano lessons from Tamaki. The result is a bit more bonding than either of them ever expected. How can you focus on school when you're falling in love... and what complications will arise when a member of the Suoh family is willing to give up everything for a commoner?
Today brings chapter 12! It's the last chapter before the shit hits the fan XD enjoy the calmness of it all.
“What did I do?”
Tamaki paced aimlessly around his bedroom, where he had immediately flown after school without his post-club ramen. From one end of the room to the next he paced, his heart thundering in his chest and his cheeks burning. He knew, though he was not always the best with grasping the ramifications of his actions, that what he had done had probably not been at all wise. He wasn’t even entirely sure why he had done it, and he was even less sure why his heart was beating this way, why his head was spinning, and why there was a feeling in his chest as though he might just fly away.
“I kissed Haruhi…” he worried aloud, pacing so quickly he knew Shima was going to come along and scold him for wearing a trench in the carpet. “Why did I kiss Haruhi? I mean… it’s… it’s alright since I’m her father and all, isn’t it? Doesn’t that mean it’s alright?” there was no one in the room to answer him, but nevertheless he continued to talk aloud to himself as though there was a whole crowd of people present. He stopped beside his bed and grabbed Kuma-chan, staring the glaring bear in the face as though he would somehow provide him with answers. “But since she got so red when I did it, maybe that means it wasn’t okay? Maybe it means that I overstepped my boundaries? Oh, Haruhi, please forgive me!” he wailed.
“Tamaki-sama, please stop pacing,” Shima’s stern voice came from the doorway. He hadn’t bothered to close the door behind him when he entered, due to his state of grave panic, and so behind Shima half a dozen servants were staring into the room looking like they wondered what could possibly be making their young charge fret this time.
“Shima!” Tamaki wailed, barreling into her chest the way a child with a scraped knee might to his mother. “Thank goodness you’re here!”
“And what, pray tell, is the crisis this time, Tamaki-sama?” Shima asked, giving him her usual severe face. It was impossible to tell whether Shima was irritated or simply in a neutral mood; she looked grumpy no matter what.
“I kissed Haruhi!” Tamaki wailed. “And now I’m so embarrassed! I don’t know why I did it and it was like I couldn’t help myself! My lips had a mind of their own!”
“There there,” Shima said in what was a fair approximation of a comforting tone. “There’s no need to fly off the handle. I’m sure this whole thing will work itself out just fine it you stop worrying about it.”
“Stop worrying about it?” Tamaki practically shouted, and the servants in the doorway shrank back slightly. “How can I? Oh Shima, you just don’t understand!”
“I suppose I don’t…” Shima sighed heavily and turned toward the door. “Shall I have someone bring up your afternoon ramen?”
“No thank you,” Tamaki said, polite but frantic as he whipped out his phone and began to dial. He put it to his ear and listened to it ring in a state of silent but mad panic for a moment until a rather irritated ‘moshi moshi’ met his ears and almost immediately he was talking, breathless and nonstop and not entirely understandable.
“Tamaki,” Kyouya said calmly after roughly thirty seconds of babble, “Calm down. I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”
“I kissed Haruhi!” Tamaki wailed, and for a moment there was only silence on the other end of the line.
“You kissed her?” Kyouya’s voice was laden with actual surprise, and Tamaki wet his lips with his tongue.
“On the cheek,” he said quickly, and listened to Kyouya breathe for a moment.
“I see.”
“No, you don’t,” Tamaki gasped. “I kissed her and I don’t know why I did it! I did it without even thinking! It was almost as though it was something normal to do, something I was used to.”
“Ah--”
“But it’s not normal! It’s not normal at all. But then again, maybe it is,” Tamaki said. He had begun to pace again, despite Shima’s warning. He was a ball of energy and nerves and he simply could not stand still. “Because Haruhi is my daughter, after all. And as her father I--”
“Tamaki,” Kyouya interrupted sternly. Tamaki immediately quieted. Kyouya was using that tone.
“Yes?” he asked rather meekly.
“She is not your daughter,” Kyouya said, his voice almost too calm. It was somehow eerie. “And you are not her father. She is a girl that you happen to be very close to and that you are compelled to kiss on a whim. Now, why do you suppose that is?”
“I… don’t know,” Tamaki admitted. He felt his cheeks heat up a bit.
“Haruhi is your friend. And you kissed her. I assume you want to kiss her again?” Kyouya was very businesslike, as though he was discussing stocks or a business proposal.
“I… I… yes,” Tamaki was surprised to realize, and his cheeks burned. He worried for a moment they were on fire and had to cradle the phone with his shoulder so he could reach up and touch them to reassure himself. They were not on fire, but they were hot. He caught sight of himself in the mirror on the wall and his cheeks were the color of a fire truck.
“It’s not normal to want to kiss a friend. You don’t want to kiss me, do you?”
“No!” Tamaki exclaimed, disgusted and somehow a little offended. “Of course not!”
“That’s because you only see me as a friend. But you don’t see Haruhi as a friend anymore, do you? Something has changed. I believe you’re finally beginning to see Haruhi as a woman.”
“But what do I do?” Tamaki asked helplessly. “And why is this happening?”
“It wouldn’t be fair if I told you. You have to figure some things out on your own or you won’t learn anything at all,” Kyouya was using the professional voice he always did when he was about to swiftly end a conversation. “So I want you to stop panicking and think about your feelings. Just do that. Think and figure out exactly how you feel toward Haruhi. Goodbye,” almost immediately Tamaki had the dial tone buzzing in his ear and he snapped his phone shut, a little disgruntled.
“What does he mean?” for a moment, Tamaki stared out the window, retreating inside his mind and puzzling and puzzling over everything that swirled inside. A question loomed before him so massive and so important that he could not believe his mind had failed to ask it before. “How… how do I feel about Haruhi?”
XXX
Haruhi was in a daze for most of the afternoon. She spent the walk to the train station and then the ride to her stop staring blankly ahead, clenching and reclenching her fists. Even in the bright sun on the walk back to her home, all she could do was blink and mumble to herself like an escaped mental patient. She barely had the coordination to get the key into the lock and stumbled into her apartment, still dazed. Her cheeks burned as she ran over the day’s events in her head, always coming back to that one moment when those warm lips had pressed against her cheek. Almost instinctively, Haruhi’s fingertips reached up to brush that place, and her cheeks flushed.
“A kiss?” she asked out loud, leaning against the inside of the door with a heavy sigh and staring around at the small confines of her apartment. Her head swam and no matter how many times she thought back on that moment, her cheeks burned as if it had only happened a second ago. “Why did he kiss me?” she was completely at a loss as to what to think of the kiss. Had he simply gone temporarily insane? Was there some method to his madness? Thinking these things simply wasn’t healthy, and she did her best to push the thoughts away. It was better not to dwell on things that she would rather not think about; the consequences of these thoughts, she knew, could be rather unsettling. She did her best to ignore her rushing thoughts and made tea calmly in the kitchen. She was still idly stirring long-dissolved sugar into her cup when her father slammed cheerfully into the apartment.
“Good afternoon, Haruhi!” he shouted from the living room. Haruhi could hear the rustle of material as he hung his coat up. “Making tea?”
“Uh… yeah,” Haruhi answered as her father swept into the room, painted up extravagantly in tasteful makeup. “Want some?”
“Yes, please,” Ranka said merrily, moving to pour himself a cup. “Is something wrong, Haruhi? You seem so distracted and your face is red."
“Oh!” Haruhi’s hands flew to her cheeks. “I’m fine, really. It’s nothing. Just thinking a little, that’s all.”
“Oh?” Ranka asked, sitting down across from her at the table and fixing her with an intent stare. Resting his chin on his hands, he stared her down until she looked away and into her tea, which had by now gone cold. “And what, pray tell, could my little girl be thinking about to make her so very distracted?”
“It’s nothing, really,” Haruhi gave him the most cheerful smile she could muster and took a long drink of her tea. “Hey um… hey Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Never mind…” Haruhi smiled and drank some more of her tea. She didn’t want to give him any details, she realized, as nice as it would be to confide her swirling thoughts in someone she could trust. There was something unsettling in the way her heart ached and raced and could not seem to sit still when she remembered how soft and warm the pressure of that kiss had been. She had felt like she was flying. She had felt like anything was possible. It was a feeling that was almost unreal and she didn’t want to know what it meant just yet. She was simply too deeply in shock to even consider what these feelings might mean. The best thing for her at the moment was to simply try to ignore her thoughts on the subject of the kiss. But no matter how hard she tried to keep her mind occupied by other things, one question kept coming back to haunt her.
‘Why in the world did he kiss me?’
Rating: G for now, may go up ^^;
Warnings: spoilers for the end of the anime
Progress: 12/?
Summary: In need of a performing arts credit for her transcript, Haruhi seeks piano lessons from Tamaki. The result is a bit more bonding than either of them ever expected. How can you focus on school when you're falling in love... and what complications will arise when a member of the Suoh family is willing to give up everything for a commoner?
Today brings chapter 12! It's the last chapter before the shit hits the fan XD enjoy the calmness of it all.
“What did I do?”
Tamaki paced aimlessly around his bedroom, where he had immediately flown after school without his post-club ramen. From one end of the room to the next he paced, his heart thundering in his chest and his cheeks burning. He knew, though he was not always the best with grasping the ramifications of his actions, that what he had done had probably not been at all wise. He wasn’t even entirely sure why he had done it, and he was even less sure why his heart was beating this way, why his head was spinning, and why there was a feeling in his chest as though he might just fly away.
“I kissed Haruhi…” he worried aloud, pacing so quickly he knew Shima was going to come along and scold him for wearing a trench in the carpet. “Why did I kiss Haruhi? I mean… it’s… it’s alright since I’m her father and all, isn’t it? Doesn’t that mean it’s alright?” there was no one in the room to answer him, but nevertheless he continued to talk aloud to himself as though there was a whole crowd of people present. He stopped beside his bed and grabbed Kuma-chan, staring the glaring bear in the face as though he would somehow provide him with answers. “But since she got so red when I did it, maybe that means it wasn’t okay? Maybe it means that I overstepped my boundaries? Oh, Haruhi, please forgive me!” he wailed.
“Tamaki-sama, please stop pacing,” Shima’s stern voice came from the doorway. He hadn’t bothered to close the door behind him when he entered, due to his state of grave panic, and so behind Shima half a dozen servants were staring into the room looking like they wondered what could possibly be making their young charge fret this time.
“Shima!” Tamaki wailed, barreling into her chest the way a child with a scraped knee might to his mother. “Thank goodness you’re here!”
“And what, pray tell, is the crisis this time, Tamaki-sama?” Shima asked, giving him her usual severe face. It was impossible to tell whether Shima was irritated or simply in a neutral mood; she looked grumpy no matter what.
“I kissed Haruhi!” Tamaki wailed. “And now I’m so embarrassed! I don’t know why I did it and it was like I couldn’t help myself! My lips had a mind of their own!”
“There there,” Shima said in what was a fair approximation of a comforting tone. “There’s no need to fly off the handle. I’m sure this whole thing will work itself out just fine it you stop worrying about it.”
“Stop worrying about it?” Tamaki practically shouted, and the servants in the doorway shrank back slightly. “How can I? Oh Shima, you just don’t understand!”
“I suppose I don’t…” Shima sighed heavily and turned toward the door. “Shall I have someone bring up your afternoon ramen?”
“No thank you,” Tamaki said, polite but frantic as he whipped out his phone and began to dial. He put it to his ear and listened to it ring in a state of silent but mad panic for a moment until a rather irritated ‘moshi moshi’ met his ears and almost immediately he was talking, breathless and nonstop and not entirely understandable.
“Tamaki,” Kyouya said calmly after roughly thirty seconds of babble, “Calm down. I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”
“I kissed Haruhi!” Tamaki wailed, and for a moment there was only silence on the other end of the line.
“You kissed her?” Kyouya’s voice was laden with actual surprise, and Tamaki wet his lips with his tongue.
“On the cheek,” he said quickly, and listened to Kyouya breathe for a moment.
“I see.”
“No, you don’t,” Tamaki gasped. “I kissed her and I don’t know why I did it! I did it without even thinking! It was almost as though it was something normal to do, something I was used to.”
“Ah--”
“But it’s not normal! It’s not normal at all. But then again, maybe it is,” Tamaki said. He had begun to pace again, despite Shima’s warning. He was a ball of energy and nerves and he simply could not stand still. “Because Haruhi is my daughter, after all. And as her father I--”
“Tamaki,” Kyouya interrupted sternly. Tamaki immediately quieted. Kyouya was using that tone.
“Yes?” he asked rather meekly.
“She is not your daughter,” Kyouya said, his voice almost too calm. It was somehow eerie. “And you are not her father. She is a girl that you happen to be very close to and that you are compelled to kiss on a whim. Now, why do you suppose that is?”
“I… don’t know,” Tamaki admitted. He felt his cheeks heat up a bit.
“Haruhi is your friend. And you kissed her. I assume you want to kiss her again?” Kyouya was very businesslike, as though he was discussing stocks or a business proposal.
“I… I… yes,” Tamaki was surprised to realize, and his cheeks burned. He worried for a moment they were on fire and had to cradle the phone with his shoulder so he could reach up and touch them to reassure himself. They were not on fire, but they were hot. He caught sight of himself in the mirror on the wall and his cheeks were the color of a fire truck.
“It’s not normal to want to kiss a friend. You don’t want to kiss me, do you?”
“No!” Tamaki exclaimed, disgusted and somehow a little offended. “Of course not!”
“That’s because you only see me as a friend. But you don’t see Haruhi as a friend anymore, do you? Something has changed. I believe you’re finally beginning to see Haruhi as a woman.”
“But what do I do?” Tamaki asked helplessly. “And why is this happening?”
“It wouldn’t be fair if I told you. You have to figure some things out on your own or you won’t learn anything at all,” Kyouya was using the professional voice he always did when he was about to swiftly end a conversation. “So I want you to stop panicking and think about your feelings. Just do that. Think and figure out exactly how you feel toward Haruhi. Goodbye,” almost immediately Tamaki had the dial tone buzzing in his ear and he snapped his phone shut, a little disgruntled.
“What does he mean?” for a moment, Tamaki stared out the window, retreating inside his mind and puzzling and puzzling over everything that swirled inside. A question loomed before him so massive and so important that he could not believe his mind had failed to ask it before. “How… how do I feel about Haruhi?”
XXX
Haruhi was in a daze for most of the afternoon. She spent the walk to the train station and then the ride to her stop staring blankly ahead, clenching and reclenching her fists. Even in the bright sun on the walk back to her home, all she could do was blink and mumble to herself like an escaped mental patient. She barely had the coordination to get the key into the lock and stumbled into her apartment, still dazed. Her cheeks burned as she ran over the day’s events in her head, always coming back to that one moment when those warm lips had pressed against her cheek. Almost instinctively, Haruhi’s fingertips reached up to brush that place, and her cheeks flushed.
“A kiss?” she asked out loud, leaning against the inside of the door with a heavy sigh and staring around at the small confines of her apartment. Her head swam and no matter how many times she thought back on that moment, her cheeks burned as if it had only happened a second ago. “Why did he kiss me?” she was completely at a loss as to what to think of the kiss. Had he simply gone temporarily insane? Was there some method to his madness? Thinking these things simply wasn’t healthy, and she did her best to push the thoughts away. It was better not to dwell on things that she would rather not think about; the consequences of these thoughts, she knew, could be rather unsettling. She did her best to ignore her rushing thoughts and made tea calmly in the kitchen. She was still idly stirring long-dissolved sugar into her cup when her father slammed cheerfully into the apartment.
“Good afternoon, Haruhi!” he shouted from the living room. Haruhi could hear the rustle of material as he hung his coat up. “Making tea?”
“Uh… yeah,” Haruhi answered as her father swept into the room, painted up extravagantly in tasteful makeup. “Want some?”
“Yes, please,” Ranka said merrily, moving to pour himself a cup. “Is something wrong, Haruhi? You seem so distracted and your face is red."
“Oh!” Haruhi’s hands flew to her cheeks. “I’m fine, really. It’s nothing. Just thinking a little, that’s all.”
“Oh?” Ranka asked, sitting down across from her at the table and fixing her with an intent stare. Resting his chin on his hands, he stared her down until she looked away and into her tea, which had by now gone cold. “And what, pray tell, could my little girl be thinking about to make her so very distracted?”
“It’s nothing, really,” Haruhi gave him the most cheerful smile she could muster and took a long drink of her tea. “Hey um… hey Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Never mind…” Haruhi smiled and drank some more of her tea. She didn’t want to give him any details, she realized, as nice as it would be to confide her swirling thoughts in someone she could trust. There was something unsettling in the way her heart ached and raced and could not seem to sit still when she remembered how soft and warm the pressure of that kiss had been. She had felt like she was flying. She had felt like anything was possible. It was a feeling that was almost unreal and she didn’t want to know what it meant just yet. She was simply too deeply in shock to even consider what these feelings might mean. The best thing for her at the moment was to simply try to ignore her thoughts on the subject of the kiss. But no matter how hard she tried to keep her mind occupied by other things, one question kept coming back to haunt her.
‘Why in the world did he kiss me?’