Heartbloom
Title: Heartbloom
Rating: G
Warnings: none, really.
Summary: He could not help realizing that the cherry blossoms were not the only thing that had bloomed that day...
Based on fanart by CardcaptorKatara of deviantart ^^
In the soft, warm breeze that could only mean spring, cherry petals danced whimsically across the flagstone paths of the Ouran Academy grounds. The sunlight, bright and warm and shining cheerily as though to celebrate the cautious optimism of winter finally releasing its grip on the students, lit up everything like the front of a postcard. It was a tepid Saturday afternoon in May, not too hot and not too cold, and certainly unremarkable in many ways. There was, however, one special fact about this day, and it lay in the very determined mind of one Suoh Tamaki, who sat in his final class of the day only half paying attention. Part of his mind was focused on the Calculus lesson that was been drilled into his brain, but the other half trailed with his eyes out the window and into the whimsical spring world.
“Today is the day!” he had whispered to Kyouya earlier that day as they sat together during lunch. All at once, both boys’ eyes instinctively turned in the direction of Fujioka Haruhi, the cross dressing honor student who sat not three feet away, immersed in her bento.
“Are you entirely certain that’s a wise idea?” Kyouya had asked him, his ever-present sense of logic not failing him even in the face of Tamaki’s would-be romantic confession to their classmate.
“Of course it is!” Tamaki gasped, prompting Haruhi and the Hitachiin twins to look up at him in a bemused sort of way. Tamaki waved his hands a bit as if to say ‘Nothing to see here!’ until they were back to their lunch and conversation, and then he turned back to Kyouya. “Why wouldn’t it be?” he whispered. “I love Haruhi and…”
“And what if she doesn’t feel the same way?” Kyouya asked, taking a sip of his drink. “Did that thought ever cross your mind?”
“Of course it didn’t!” Tamaki told him confidently. “Because… because sometimes you just know these things, Kyouya!” it had taken quite a bit of painstaking thought on Tamaki’s part to get to the point the was at now. What it all came down to was that he loved her. Plain and simple. It had taken him countless sleepless nights, tossing and turning and thinking of her face, to realize that the way he saw her was certainly not the way a father would see his daughter. It was the way a man would see his bride. And since proposing marriage was out of the question, the best he could do was offer her a small confession of affection and hope that he would receive an answer that would bring him joy. He was not in the mood for any of Kyouya’s nay saying, and he gave him a look.
“You just know?” the brunette looked skeptically and he took a delicate bite of his pasta. “If you say so, Tamaki. If you say so.”
“I love her, and that’s that,” Tamaki had reminded him. “And nothing is going to change my mind!”
It was that conversation that had set the course of the rest of his day, and so it was that Tamaki sat in his seat in class, not really able to fully pay attention to the lesson. His thoughts were with Haruhi, and class simply couldn’t end fast enough. In the end, when the bell rang, he had sprinted out the door and into the hallway before the other students had even gathered their books and gotten up. Tamaki sprinted down to classroom 1-A and managed to barrel straight into Haruhi as she came out of the room.
“Grahh!” she shouted as she fell toward the hallways floor. Tamaki managed to catch her at the last moment and sit her upright.
“Sorry, Haruhi,” he muttered sheepishly, brushing invisible dirt from her lapel.
“That’s okay. What are you in such a hurry for, anyway?” she asked him, and without thinking, Tamaki blushed a bit.
“N--Nothing!” he said. “I just wanted… to walk you to the gate! Or better yet, walk you home!”
“You don’t have to do that,” Haruhi assured him as she started down the hallway. Tamaki scampered after her like a lost puppy, his heart hammering in his chest.
“But I want to! A gentleman never lets a beautiful lady walk herself home!” Tamaki declared, and Haruhi gave him a look that asked without words if he had lost his mind.
“It’s fine, really,” she muttered, and Tamaki’s eyes glistened.
“Please?” he asked, tugging on the sleeve of her blazer, and Haruhi sighed softly, giving him a slight and gentle smile that made his heart flip over in his chest.
“Okay. You’re really impossible, you know that?” she asked, and Tamaki had to smile slightly and nod.
“That’s what Kyouya tells me,” he told her conversationally, and Haruhi laughed a bit. The sound was enough to make his heart leap. She had a bright laugh and it always made him impossibly happy to hear it.
“I can imagine. So, what do you have planned for this weekend, senpai?” she asked pleasantly, shifting her school bag as they walked down the corridor together.
“Nothing, really,” he smiled at her. “I suppose this weekend will be all up to chance!” Haruhi gave him a quizzical look, and he laughed defensively. “Sorry, I don’t really know what I mean,” he admitted, and Haruhi shrugged.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said in a tone that suggested she was used to it. They exited the school’s enormous front doors together, and being out in the warm spring air gave Tamaki a boost of confidence. The soft, subtle scent of cherry blossoms filled the air, and Tamaki had to resist this impulse to hum a song about them his father had taught him in his childhood.
“It’s a beautiful day!” he said instead, making conversation. Haruhi nodded absentmindedly, and as they walked down the path amid the cherry trees together, Tamaki could not stop staring at her. He knew it was unwise and he knew that she would most likely notice eventually, but he could not help himself. With the bright spring sunlight dappled on her skin by the branches of the cherry trees, she was a rather enchanting sight. “You look so beautiful…” he blurted without thinking, and Haruhi’s reaction was the last one he expected. She actually stopped walking, and her face flushed a bright scarlet for a moment.
“Thanks…” she muttered, sounding slightly embarrassed. The two of them simply stood there for a moment after that, varying between staring at each other and avoiding each other’s eyes. The ice was broken when one of those soft drifting petals floated gracefully down and landed on Haruhi’s head. Tamaki stared at it for a moment, and then chuckled.
“Haruhi, you have a cherry blossom petal on your head,” he announced. Haruhi, whose blush had nearly disappeared by now, reached up and brushed at her hair, missing the petal. Tamaki smiled fondly.
“Let me get it,” he told her gently, reaching up and tenderly brushing the petal from her hair. Even as it came dislodged from the soft brown locks and drifted down to the flagstones, he kept his hand there, continuing to stroke Haruhi’s hair. She looked surprised and her gaze trailed up to his face where she blinked at him incredulously. For a moment they simply gazed at each other, and the magic spell that seemed to weave itself through the air whenever they were together was far more evident than usual.
“Senpai, I need to tell you something…”
“I need to tell you something too, Haruhi.”
“You go first.”
“No it’s okay, you go.”
“I just wanted to say that…”
“Well, for a while I’ve…”
“… I realized that…”
“I like you,” Tamaki was surprised that the same words came out of both of their mouths at the same time, and for a moment he and Haruhi stared at each other in pure wonder.
“You… like me too?” Haruhi asked timidly, blushing faintly but looking relieved.
“Of course I do! And you… like me?” he asked, and Haruhi nodded rather vigorously in a way that Tamaki could not help but find absolutely adorable.
“I’ve liked you… for a while,” she admitted, and Tamaki’s heart hammered even harder in his chest. His entire soul felt like it was flying, and it was all he could do to stop from simply tackling her to the ground and covering her entire face with kisses.
“You too,” he said with a grin.
“I never actually thought you would like… well… me,” Haruhi admitted, and Tamaki’s eyes widened. He moved closer to cup her cheeks as he looked at her very seriously for a moment.
“Of course I like you,” he assured her. “You’re sweet and wonderful and beautiful and amazing, and you’re everything I could ever want,” he whispered. Haruhi simply stared at him for a moment, blinking and looking absolutely dumbfounded before she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a quick, chaste kiss to his lips. For that brief moment, time seemed to stand still and Tamaki’s face heated up as he stared at her in disbelief.
“So now that we know all of this, what happens?” Haruhi asked, surprisingly composed given the situation. Tamaki smiled.
“Now you… agree to be my girlfriend, maybe?” he asked, and Haruhi smiled.
“Okay…” she said cooperatively, and instantly Tamaki dove forward and grabbed her in his arms in a loving, bone crushing hug. He picked up the hapless girl and spun her around as he held her against his chest, absolutely bursting with joy.
“Senpai, I can’t breathe! Put me down!” she gasped, but she was smiling and Tamaki knew in his heart that she really, truly didn’t mind. The happy couple staying in their moment, oblivious to the other students milling around and staring at them. Whether they stared because of the amusing display or the obvious love that could be felt radiating from the two people would never be certain. But despite the madness of the moment, Ootori Kyouya adjusted his glasses and made his way toward his limousine, a slight smile on his usually stern face.
“It’s about time,” he muttered, passing the two of them by. Tamaki was kissing Haruhi’s cheeks, forehead, and hair as he muttered bits of nonsense switching between French and Japanese and beaming, and Haruhi, though she was obviously overwhelmed, somehow did not seem to mind. There in that tiny spot of the world, underneath the falling cherry blossoms, Tamaki and Haruhi made their way toward home hand in hand, and something about their obvious joy made Kyouya have to grin stupidly himself. Because as he watched them pass him, he could not help realizing that the cherry blossoms were not the only thing that had bloomed that day.
Rating: G
Warnings: none, really.
Summary: He could not help realizing that the cherry blossoms were not the only thing that had bloomed that day...
Based on fanart by CardcaptorKatara of deviantart ^^
In the soft, warm breeze that could only mean spring, cherry petals danced whimsically across the flagstone paths of the Ouran Academy grounds. The sunlight, bright and warm and shining cheerily as though to celebrate the cautious optimism of winter finally releasing its grip on the students, lit up everything like the front of a postcard. It was a tepid Saturday afternoon in May, not too hot and not too cold, and certainly unremarkable in many ways. There was, however, one special fact about this day, and it lay in the very determined mind of one Suoh Tamaki, who sat in his final class of the day only half paying attention. Part of his mind was focused on the Calculus lesson that was been drilled into his brain, but the other half trailed with his eyes out the window and into the whimsical spring world.
“Today is the day!” he had whispered to Kyouya earlier that day as they sat together during lunch. All at once, both boys’ eyes instinctively turned in the direction of Fujioka Haruhi, the cross dressing honor student who sat not three feet away, immersed in her bento.
“Are you entirely certain that’s a wise idea?” Kyouya had asked him, his ever-present sense of logic not failing him even in the face of Tamaki’s would-be romantic confession to their classmate.
“Of course it is!” Tamaki gasped, prompting Haruhi and the Hitachiin twins to look up at him in a bemused sort of way. Tamaki waved his hands a bit as if to say ‘Nothing to see here!’ until they were back to their lunch and conversation, and then he turned back to Kyouya. “Why wouldn’t it be?” he whispered. “I love Haruhi and…”
“And what if she doesn’t feel the same way?” Kyouya asked, taking a sip of his drink. “Did that thought ever cross your mind?”
“Of course it didn’t!” Tamaki told him confidently. “Because… because sometimes you just know these things, Kyouya!” it had taken quite a bit of painstaking thought on Tamaki’s part to get to the point the was at now. What it all came down to was that he loved her. Plain and simple. It had taken him countless sleepless nights, tossing and turning and thinking of her face, to realize that the way he saw her was certainly not the way a father would see his daughter. It was the way a man would see his bride. And since proposing marriage was out of the question, the best he could do was offer her a small confession of affection and hope that he would receive an answer that would bring him joy. He was not in the mood for any of Kyouya’s nay saying, and he gave him a look.
“You just know?” the brunette looked skeptically and he took a delicate bite of his pasta. “If you say so, Tamaki. If you say so.”
“I love her, and that’s that,” Tamaki had reminded him. “And nothing is going to change my mind!”
It was that conversation that had set the course of the rest of his day, and so it was that Tamaki sat in his seat in class, not really able to fully pay attention to the lesson. His thoughts were with Haruhi, and class simply couldn’t end fast enough. In the end, when the bell rang, he had sprinted out the door and into the hallway before the other students had even gathered their books and gotten up. Tamaki sprinted down to classroom 1-A and managed to barrel straight into Haruhi as she came out of the room.
“Grahh!” she shouted as she fell toward the hallways floor. Tamaki managed to catch her at the last moment and sit her upright.
“Sorry, Haruhi,” he muttered sheepishly, brushing invisible dirt from her lapel.
“That’s okay. What are you in such a hurry for, anyway?” she asked him, and without thinking, Tamaki blushed a bit.
“N--Nothing!” he said. “I just wanted… to walk you to the gate! Or better yet, walk you home!”
“You don’t have to do that,” Haruhi assured him as she started down the hallway. Tamaki scampered after her like a lost puppy, his heart hammering in his chest.
“But I want to! A gentleman never lets a beautiful lady walk herself home!” Tamaki declared, and Haruhi gave him a look that asked without words if he had lost his mind.
“It’s fine, really,” she muttered, and Tamaki’s eyes glistened.
“Please?” he asked, tugging on the sleeve of her blazer, and Haruhi sighed softly, giving him a slight and gentle smile that made his heart flip over in his chest.
“Okay. You’re really impossible, you know that?” she asked, and Tamaki had to smile slightly and nod.
“That’s what Kyouya tells me,” he told her conversationally, and Haruhi laughed a bit. The sound was enough to make his heart leap. She had a bright laugh and it always made him impossibly happy to hear it.
“I can imagine. So, what do you have planned for this weekend, senpai?” she asked pleasantly, shifting her school bag as they walked down the corridor together.
“Nothing, really,” he smiled at her. “I suppose this weekend will be all up to chance!” Haruhi gave him a quizzical look, and he laughed defensively. “Sorry, I don’t really know what I mean,” he admitted, and Haruhi shrugged.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said in a tone that suggested she was used to it. They exited the school’s enormous front doors together, and being out in the warm spring air gave Tamaki a boost of confidence. The soft, subtle scent of cherry blossoms filled the air, and Tamaki had to resist this impulse to hum a song about them his father had taught him in his childhood.
“It’s a beautiful day!” he said instead, making conversation. Haruhi nodded absentmindedly, and as they walked down the path amid the cherry trees together, Tamaki could not stop staring at her. He knew it was unwise and he knew that she would most likely notice eventually, but he could not help himself. With the bright spring sunlight dappled on her skin by the branches of the cherry trees, she was a rather enchanting sight. “You look so beautiful…” he blurted without thinking, and Haruhi’s reaction was the last one he expected. She actually stopped walking, and her face flushed a bright scarlet for a moment.
“Thanks…” she muttered, sounding slightly embarrassed. The two of them simply stood there for a moment after that, varying between staring at each other and avoiding each other’s eyes. The ice was broken when one of those soft drifting petals floated gracefully down and landed on Haruhi’s head. Tamaki stared at it for a moment, and then chuckled.
“Haruhi, you have a cherry blossom petal on your head,” he announced. Haruhi, whose blush had nearly disappeared by now, reached up and brushed at her hair, missing the petal. Tamaki smiled fondly.
“Let me get it,” he told her gently, reaching up and tenderly brushing the petal from her hair. Even as it came dislodged from the soft brown locks and drifted down to the flagstones, he kept his hand there, continuing to stroke Haruhi’s hair. She looked surprised and her gaze trailed up to his face where she blinked at him incredulously. For a moment they simply gazed at each other, and the magic spell that seemed to weave itself through the air whenever they were together was far more evident than usual.
“Senpai, I need to tell you something…”
“I need to tell you something too, Haruhi.”
“You go first.”
“No it’s okay, you go.”
“I just wanted to say that…”
“Well, for a while I’ve…”
“… I realized that…”
“I like you,” Tamaki was surprised that the same words came out of both of their mouths at the same time, and for a moment he and Haruhi stared at each other in pure wonder.
“You… like me too?” Haruhi asked timidly, blushing faintly but looking relieved.
“Of course I do! And you… like me?” he asked, and Haruhi nodded rather vigorously in a way that Tamaki could not help but find absolutely adorable.
“I’ve liked you… for a while,” she admitted, and Tamaki’s heart hammered even harder in his chest. His entire soul felt like it was flying, and it was all he could do to stop from simply tackling her to the ground and covering her entire face with kisses.
“You too,” he said with a grin.
“I never actually thought you would like… well… me,” Haruhi admitted, and Tamaki’s eyes widened. He moved closer to cup her cheeks as he looked at her very seriously for a moment.
“Of course I like you,” he assured her. “You’re sweet and wonderful and beautiful and amazing, and you’re everything I could ever want,” he whispered. Haruhi simply stared at him for a moment, blinking and looking absolutely dumbfounded before she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a quick, chaste kiss to his lips. For that brief moment, time seemed to stand still and Tamaki’s face heated up as he stared at her in disbelief.
“So now that we know all of this, what happens?” Haruhi asked, surprisingly composed given the situation. Tamaki smiled.
“Now you… agree to be my girlfriend, maybe?” he asked, and Haruhi smiled.
“Okay…” she said cooperatively, and instantly Tamaki dove forward and grabbed her in his arms in a loving, bone crushing hug. He picked up the hapless girl and spun her around as he held her against his chest, absolutely bursting with joy.
“Senpai, I can’t breathe! Put me down!” she gasped, but she was smiling and Tamaki knew in his heart that she really, truly didn’t mind. The happy couple staying in their moment, oblivious to the other students milling around and staring at them. Whether they stared because of the amusing display or the obvious love that could be felt radiating from the two people would never be certain. But despite the madness of the moment, Ootori Kyouya adjusted his glasses and made his way toward his limousine, a slight smile on his usually stern face.
“It’s about time,” he muttered, passing the two of them by. Tamaki was kissing Haruhi’s cheeks, forehead, and hair as he muttered bits of nonsense switching between French and Japanese and beaming, and Haruhi, though she was obviously overwhelmed, somehow did not seem to mind. There in that tiny spot of the world, underneath the falling cherry blossoms, Tamaki and Haruhi made their way toward home hand in hand, and something about their obvious joy made Kyouya have to grin stupidly himself. Because as he watched them pass him, he could not help realizing that the cherry blossoms were not the only thing that had bloomed that day.