BLOOMING HEARTS ▹ T. MORINOZUKA [✔]

twenty-one.

When Kazumi and Takashi entered the cafeteria, they found the Twins and Tamaki already there. The Twins sat at the counter while Tamaki peeled off some paper in a corner as his form of throwing a tantrum. The seniors ignored the club's president and settled themselves on a table to have breakfast.

Haruhi had a friendly conversation with an unfamiliar boy a few tables away. Kaoru told them his name was Arai, Haruhi's friend from middle school, but neither Kazumi nor Takashi cared too much about this bit of information.

Kazumi's legs still throbbed faintly, but the wounds were already healing, according to Takashi, who had inspected them that morning after a session of mutual pleasure to distract her from the pain.

Unfortunately, they didn't get the chance to try shower sex last evening, as the Twins interrupted them to apologize. To give them some credit, they seemed shaken up by the incident. She knew Hikaru and Kaoru were still newbies when it came to friendships and were still trying to understand the limits of their acts. Seeing them so vulnerable made them look younger than their fifteen years.

She patted their heads and gave a sweet smile, which only served to increase their guilt and enhance their wariness. As Kyoya's sister, it was hard to predict Kazumi's true intentions.

It didn't take long for Honey and Kyoya to arrive and be on par with the situation. The Shadow King wasn't concerned, and the loli-boy ate his cake without a care in the world. The one who paid more attention to Haruhi and her friend was Hikaru, who didn't waste time giving snarky remarks to anything Arai said.

"To tell you the truth, I thought you'd have a lot of hardships going to that kind of school," Arai commented kindly. "I've been worried all this time. But I'm glad you look so cheerful." He blushed as he realized what he had said. "Ah, but I wasn't the only one worried. Everyone was," he added bashfully.

"What is he trying to do?" Hikaru asked. "Is he going for the 'refreshing and pure' path? The refreshing competition ended last time already."

"You guys seem to be quite critical," Kyoya observed.

"Heck," Hikaru raised his voice. "This guy obviously has a crush on Haruhi. It feels kind of disgusting when it's so obvious."

Haruhi shot up from her chair. "Hold right there, Hikaru! You're the one acting like a jerk right now!"

"Ah, it's okay, it's okay!" Arai reassured. "It's true that I had a crush on you, Fujioka. But, yeah, I've already been dumped." He admitted, embarrassed.

Tamaki and Honey gasped, as did Haruhi.

"Why are you acting surprised?" Kyoya deadpanned.

Arai told them that when he tried asking her out a year prior, Haruhi totally misinterpreted it, taking it as an invitation to go together apply for high school entrance exams.

The hosts were unamused, not slightly surprised.

"Haruhi, you destroyed this young man's purity with that kind of lame joke?" Kyoya accused.