Duet chapter 17
Title: Duet
Rating: G for now, may go up ^^;
Warnings: spoilers for the end of the anime
Progress: 17/43
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?
On fanfiction.net, Duet is up to chapter 21 because I couldn't really post on LJ much at the library. Now that I have internet access in my home again, please excuse the flood of updates as I struggle to compensate XD
“You’re… you’re what?” Haruhi asked, drawing back slightly and blinking up at him in shock. The situation felt too bizarre to be real, and Tamaki looked ashamed.
“I’m getting married,” he said bitterly, and for a moment Haruhi had to stand stock still in hopes that she would be able to get her mind around the notion. All at once it was glaringly simple; she was in love with him, and he was getting married to someone else. The fact was hot acid in her stomach and it burned her eyes as well as where it was seeded. He was right; this time was different from the last. Mostly because more bitter jealousy was kneaded in with her worry for him than before. Last time he had accepted his fate with a resolute kind of bitterness but now there was pure misery in his handsome features and it worried her to no end. She had never before seen him cry with an air of seriousness.
“Oh… you’re… you’re getting…” she felt like sitting down. “So are you… in love, then?” she knew the question was stupid but she didn’t expect Tamaki to look so hurt. His eyes glazed over with what looked like betrayal and he wouldn’t look at her.
“Of course not,” he snapped, lashing out like a dog bites a helping hand when it is wounded or afraid. “How could I be in love with her? My grandmother picked her. You couldn’t possibly understand.” This sudden coldness was new when Haruhi was so used to his sunshine and tenderness with her, and her new love-weakened heart threatened to break in the face of it. “You’re a commoner, Haruhi. You can go about your simple merry little life making all your own decisions. You don’t understand what it’s like for someone to be putting pieces in the puzzle for you! You don’t know anything about this!”
“Hey!” Haruhi snapped, fed up. “I can tell you’re upset but if you’re going to yell, do it at someone else! I’m just trying to help!”
“Fine,” Tamaki said with a stubborn, rather arrogant tone she had not heard since he walked away from her that evening at the beach when she refused to admit her mistake. Haruhi didn’t want him to go; she felt she had wounded the situation and she wanted to remedy it somehow. But Tamaki’s posture said he was crying and she did not want to embarrass him, so for the first time in her life she stood at the top of the stairs and let him go.
XXX
Kurokano Momoka, for being a daughter of wealthy parents and impeccable lineage, had always led a rather simple life. Her childhood years had been spent frolicking in the gardens with bespectacled Kazukiyo Soga and her teenage ones up until now had been spent bearing classes, frolicking in the pink gaiety of music room three, and managing class 1-A with the very same Kazukiyo. So it came as quite a shock to her when suddenly her simple, cheerful life was turned upside down. It was as though someone had upturned a container of pearls and they scattered every which way as she did her best to retrieve them. Some rolled out of sight.
When Father asked to see her in the parlor, she wondered if she was in trouble. The main parlor was usually used for either receiving guests or admissions of guilt. Still she dressed in her favorite tangerine chiffon dress (ruffles often helped her feel better in any situation, she had long ago noticed), and met Mother and Father in the large, ornate room. Cherubs decorated the ceiling and golden pillars rose up nearly twenty feet in the corners. She had never gotten over being impressed over this room and it was this that distracted her until she heard his voice.
“Good evening, Kurokano-chan,” she was drawn away from marveling over the red velvet drapes by the familiar voice, and she was surprised to see Suoh Tamaki taking up a seat on one of the 17th century white sofas. The school chairman sat beside him, as well as an elderly woman that she vaguely recognized as his grandmother.
“Tamaki-senpai!” she said, surprised, and received a look from her mother before remembering her manners. “Good evening.” she took a seat between her parents and fiddled with the hem of her dress, simultaneously worried and intrigued.
“Momoka, you’re quite grown up now,” her father began when the uncomfortable small talk of rich parents with nothing in common but their prominent businesses died down. “And I know we told you long ago that when you were grown up we would see you engaged to a gentleman of our choosing. Tamaki is a fine young man and he will make an excellent husband for you.”
“The two of you will be wed shortly after your eighteenth birthday,” Tamaki’s grandmother said to her. Momoka was still blinking in surprise, quite unsure what to think. Tamaki looked quite trapped and uncomfortable and her heart went out to him.
“How long have all of you been planning this?” Momoka asked, though she knew she was being rude.
“Tamaki’s grandmother contacted us about it a few weeks ago,” her mother said cheerfully, and for a moment Momoka felt rather betrayed in the fact that it had taken her parents only a few weeks to decide her future for her. “We think it’s just a wonderful arrangement. He’s a fine young man, Momoka. And I know you two know each other from school, so it should be much easier to get along with each other.”
Momoka had spent the last sixteen years of her life being coddled but also groomed to be the perfect woman that her parents wanted of her. She had been taught to always be a lady and despite her rather relaxed upbringing, as a member of the upper class she knew her place. Children of rich parents did not have to luxury of making their own decisions, particularly girls. And so it was with a light head full of confusion that Momoka fell into her place as an always obedient daughter and uttered a simple “Yes.”
“Wonderful,” Tamaki’s grandmother said. His father, Momoka couldn’t help noticing, looked even more uncomfortable than Tamaki. She had a keen enough eye to know that the grandmother must be calling the shots.
“We’re really just pawns here, aren’t we?” she thought, looking at Tamaki. Forging business partnerships between families was important, she knew, and the Suoh family was one of the most desirable families to be in the good graces of. If Momoka had to be sacrificed to better the future of her family, then so be it. She had always been more of the martyr type. But it was with a heavy heart.
“May I be excused?” she asked delicately, and her father smiled and nodded. “Of course. The maids will call you down for dinner shortly.”
Momoka turned for the stairs and exited the parlor in a stately manner. However as soon as she turned the corner she ran, full of confusion and worry. She did not run very fast, apparently, because it wasn’t long before a hand touched her shoulder and she turned to face Tamaki, who was not even out of breath.
“Are you alright?” he asked her, less Host Charm and more genuine concern than she was used to. “I know this whole thing is rather unsettling.”
“I’m fine,” she said, which was partly true and partly a lie. “I’ve known from when I was little that I was going to have to get married and that I wouldn’t get to choose my husband. But what about you?”
“Pardon?”
“Are you okay? Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
Tamaki looked resolute. “I’ll do whatever my grandmother asks of me.”
“But you’re in love with Haruhi-kun,” Momoka stated rather bluntly, and for the first time she saw the pain in his face.
“You’re right…” he admitted, his formality giving way. “I do love Haruhi.”
“Then this isn’t okay,” Momoka said firmly. “If you’re in love with someone, you can’t just… marry someone else!” deep down, despite whatever happened, Momoka was, at her very core, little more than a hopeless romantic. “You can’t give your life away to someone else!”
“You know the situation as well as I do,” Tamaki said. She had never seen him look so sad. “We both know the place expected of us. The only thing we can really do is fit ourselves into that place and hope our families will be proud of us.”
“But what about love?” Momoka asked, and she swore she saw a single tear escape his eye.
“There are more important things,” Tamaki said, and she heard in his voice the strain of a lie.
Rating: G for now, may go up ^^;
Warnings: spoilers for the end of the anime
Progress: 17/43
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?
On fanfiction.net, Duet is up to chapter 21 because I couldn't really post on LJ much at the library. Now that I have internet access in my home again, please excuse the flood of updates as I struggle to compensate XD
“You’re… you’re what?” Haruhi asked, drawing back slightly and blinking up at him in shock. The situation felt too bizarre to be real, and Tamaki looked ashamed.
“I’m getting married,” he said bitterly, and for a moment Haruhi had to stand stock still in hopes that she would be able to get her mind around the notion. All at once it was glaringly simple; she was in love with him, and he was getting married to someone else. The fact was hot acid in her stomach and it burned her eyes as well as where it was seeded. He was right; this time was different from the last. Mostly because more bitter jealousy was kneaded in with her worry for him than before. Last time he had accepted his fate with a resolute kind of bitterness but now there was pure misery in his handsome features and it worried her to no end. She had never before seen him cry with an air of seriousness.
“Oh… you’re… you’re getting…” she felt like sitting down. “So are you… in love, then?” she knew the question was stupid but she didn’t expect Tamaki to look so hurt. His eyes glazed over with what looked like betrayal and he wouldn’t look at her.
“Of course not,” he snapped, lashing out like a dog bites a helping hand when it is wounded or afraid. “How could I be in love with her? My grandmother picked her. You couldn’t possibly understand.” This sudden coldness was new when Haruhi was so used to his sunshine and tenderness with her, and her new love-weakened heart threatened to break in the face of it. “You’re a commoner, Haruhi. You can go about your simple merry little life making all your own decisions. You don’t understand what it’s like for someone to be putting pieces in the puzzle for you! You don’t know anything about this!”
“Hey!” Haruhi snapped, fed up. “I can tell you’re upset but if you’re going to yell, do it at someone else! I’m just trying to help!”
“Fine,” Tamaki said with a stubborn, rather arrogant tone she had not heard since he walked away from her that evening at the beach when she refused to admit her mistake. Haruhi didn’t want him to go; she felt she had wounded the situation and she wanted to remedy it somehow. But Tamaki’s posture said he was crying and she did not want to embarrass him, so for the first time in her life she stood at the top of the stairs and let him go.
XXX
Kurokano Momoka, for being a daughter of wealthy parents and impeccable lineage, had always led a rather simple life. Her childhood years had been spent frolicking in the gardens with bespectacled Kazukiyo Soga and her teenage ones up until now had been spent bearing classes, frolicking in the pink gaiety of music room three, and managing class 1-A with the very same Kazukiyo. So it came as quite a shock to her when suddenly her simple, cheerful life was turned upside down. It was as though someone had upturned a container of pearls and they scattered every which way as she did her best to retrieve them. Some rolled out of sight.
When Father asked to see her in the parlor, she wondered if she was in trouble. The main parlor was usually used for either receiving guests or admissions of guilt. Still she dressed in her favorite tangerine chiffon dress (ruffles often helped her feel better in any situation, she had long ago noticed), and met Mother and Father in the large, ornate room. Cherubs decorated the ceiling and golden pillars rose up nearly twenty feet in the corners. She had never gotten over being impressed over this room and it was this that distracted her until she heard his voice.
“Good evening, Kurokano-chan,” she was drawn away from marveling over the red velvet drapes by the familiar voice, and she was surprised to see Suoh Tamaki taking up a seat on one of the 17th century white sofas. The school chairman sat beside him, as well as an elderly woman that she vaguely recognized as his grandmother.
“Tamaki-senpai!” she said, surprised, and received a look from her mother before remembering her manners. “Good evening.” she took a seat between her parents and fiddled with the hem of her dress, simultaneously worried and intrigued.
“Momoka, you’re quite grown up now,” her father began when the uncomfortable small talk of rich parents with nothing in common but their prominent businesses died down. “And I know we told you long ago that when you were grown up we would see you engaged to a gentleman of our choosing. Tamaki is a fine young man and he will make an excellent husband for you.”
“The two of you will be wed shortly after your eighteenth birthday,” Tamaki’s grandmother said to her. Momoka was still blinking in surprise, quite unsure what to think. Tamaki looked quite trapped and uncomfortable and her heart went out to him.
“How long have all of you been planning this?” Momoka asked, though she knew she was being rude.
“Tamaki’s grandmother contacted us about it a few weeks ago,” her mother said cheerfully, and for a moment Momoka felt rather betrayed in the fact that it had taken her parents only a few weeks to decide her future for her. “We think it’s just a wonderful arrangement. He’s a fine young man, Momoka. And I know you two know each other from school, so it should be much easier to get along with each other.”
Momoka had spent the last sixteen years of her life being coddled but also groomed to be the perfect woman that her parents wanted of her. She had been taught to always be a lady and despite her rather relaxed upbringing, as a member of the upper class she knew her place. Children of rich parents did not have to luxury of making their own decisions, particularly girls. And so it was with a light head full of confusion that Momoka fell into her place as an always obedient daughter and uttered a simple “Yes.”
“Wonderful,” Tamaki’s grandmother said. His father, Momoka couldn’t help noticing, looked even more uncomfortable than Tamaki. She had a keen enough eye to know that the grandmother must be calling the shots.
“We’re really just pawns here, aren’t we?” she thought, looking at Tamaki. Forging business partnerships between families was important, she knew, and the Suoh family was one of the most desirable families to be in the good graces of. If Momoka had to be sacrificed to better the future of her family, then so be it. She had always been more of the martyr type. But it was with a heavy heart.
“May I be excused?” she asked delicately, and her father smiled and nodded. “Of course. The maids will call you down for dinner shortly.”
Momoka turned for the stairs and exited the parlor in a stately manner. However as soon as she turned the corner she ran, full of confusion and worry. She did not run very fast, apparently, because it wasn’t long before a hand touched her shoulder and she turned to face Tamaki, who was not even out of breath.
“Are you alright?” he asked her, less Host Charm and more genuine concern than she was used to. “I know this whole thing is rather unsettling.”
“I’m fine,” she said, which was partly true and partly a lie. “I’ve known from when I was little that I was going to have to get married and that I wouldn’t get to choose my husband. But what about you?”
“Pardon?”
“Are you okay? Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
Tamaki looked resolute. “I’ll do whatever my grandmother asks of me.”
“But you’re in love with Haruhi-kun,” Momoka stated rather bluntly, and for the first time she saw the pain in his face.
“You’re right…” he admitted, his formality giving way. “I do love Haruhi.”
“Then this isn’t okay,” Momoka said firmly. “If you’re in love with someone, you can’t just… marry someone else!” deep down, despite whatever happened, Momoka was, at her very core, little more than a hopeless romantic. “You can’t give your life away to someone else!”
“You know the situation as well as I do,” Tamaki said. She had never seen him look so sad. “We both know the place expected of us. The only thing we can really do is fit ourselves into that place and hope our families will be proud of us.”
“But what about love?” Momoka asked, and she swore she saw a single tear escape his eye.
“There are more important things,” Tamaki said, and she heard in his voice the strain of a lie.