Oblivious || Hikaru Hitachiin Love Story

Chapter Twenty-One: Bad Date

          I stormed into my apartment, slamming the front door open and shut. I kicked off my shoes, sending them flying across the room, and stomped into my bedroom. I face-planted onto my bed, wrapping my arms around a pillow tightly and stuffing my face into the cool fabric. I yelled in frustration, my wails muffled from the pillow. Haruhi walked into my room and sat on the edge of my bed. She put her hand on my back and started rubbed it comfortingly.

"Bad date?" she asked.

"I hate him," I muttered, all of the anger in my body being slowly replaced by sadness and embarrassment.

"Did it really go that badly?" she asked, retracting her hand from my back and moving it to my arm, shaking it gently. "Hey, talk to me."

I loosened my grip on my pillow, lifting my head off of it and seeing my carefully done makeup smeared on it. I didn't even want to think about what my face looked like right now.

I sat up, positioning myself so that I was sitting beside me cousin. I leaned my head against her shoulder and began weeping softly. She immediately wrapped her arm around me and pulled me closer.

"Miyoko, what happened?" Haruhi asked soothingly.

"Hikaru happened," I muttered, and burst into a full-on cry session.

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The beginning of the horrible date started five days before it actually took place. Monday afternoon, after Hikaru had asked me out. The day before, I had been on such a high from Hikaru asking me on a date that I wasn't myself. I hadn't even been paying enough attention to laugh at Tamaki when Haruhi's dad came home unexpectedly and walked in on him lying in a very awkward, and accidental, position on top of Haruhi. I was too busy thinking about Hikaru.

We decided that we wouldn't make a big deal out of it. We hadn't told anyone, although I thought it was safe to say that he had told Kaoru about it. They weren't just brothers, they were best friends, and I knew that Hikaru would never want to keep a secret from his twin. And I wouldn't ask him too.

Of course I had to tell someone, and that someone was Haruhi. She was the Kaoru to my Hikaru, I had to tell her about it. I walked into the kitchen that morning with an ear-splitting grin, which no doubt creeped her out. She asked why I was so happy, and the words spilled out of my mouth.

"Hikaru asked me on a date!" I squealed, and shimmied around. Haruhi didn't give me the same reaction that I was having, which was expected, but she was happy for me.

"That's great," she said and smiled warmly. She asked for details, which I couldn't deliver because I hadn't known them myself. Hikaru told me that he would handle everything, and to just be dressed and ready by 7:00pm on Saturday. Something classy and elegant, which made me all the more excited.

When we got to school, I could barely focus during classes. It was hard when the boy that made me feel light-headed sat just a foot away from me. He seemed to be having an easier time than I was, due to how he looked to be hanging onto the teacher's every word.

By the end of school, the secret was out. I don't know who leaked it – ahem, Kaoru – but suddenly I heard everyone making a fuss over Hikaru and I. It was annoying, really. Every room I walked into a pack of girls would bombard me with questions.

"Are you and Hikaru really going on a date?"

"How did he ask you?!"

"Can I come?!"

"Where are you two going?"

It never ended. But what took the cake was the Hell that had broken loose in the host club.

The second that I walked through the doors, Tamaki grabbed me roughly and started shaking me.

"Miyoko, how could you?! I told you not to get close to that shady twin! And now you're going on a date with him, and you didn't even tell me about it! You betrayed me! You're breaking daddy's heart!" Tamaki gasped dramatically, then held me tightly against his body.

"Tamaki-senpai, I'm sorry!" I breathed out and tried to remove myself from him. He let me go, then went to go sulk in the corner.

"I didn't mean to betray you," I said, choosing my words carefully. "We just didn't want to make it a big deal," I explained, but he didn't move.

During club hours, the same girls that asked me about our date were pestering Hikaru for details. They asked if the date was serious, and if he was going to quit being a host because of me. He answered them the same each time; no, we weren't serious. It was a friendly time out between two friends and nothing more. Of course I knew that he was only saying this to settle the girls' feelings, but I couldn't help but feel just a little bit neglected.

The entire rest of the week went by exactly like Monday had. It was exhausting, but I somehow managed to make it to Saturday alive. I was restless throughout the entire day. I started psyching myself up around noon, even though I had seven hours until Hikaru was supposed to arrive and pick me up. I had Haruhi stay with me the entire day, helping me chose an outfit. Dinner. Fancy. Dress. Those were the only words that I had to go by when picking out what I would wear.

"Why don't you just wear the dress that he gave you?" Haruhi asked, taking out the dress that the twins had gifted me. I shook my head.

"No, it doesn't seem right. Plus, I don't think it's classy enough," I said.

I took my time deciding between a few dresses, before settling on a long black one. I asked Haruhi for help with matching accessories, but everything she suggested just didn't look right. She wasn't very helpful in the fashion department, but I appreciated her support and opinions when I wasn't sure about something. I laid my outfit on my bed, did my makeup and put my hair up into a fancy up-do. By the time that I had slipped into my clothes, 7:00 was just a few minutes away. I said my goodbyes to Haruhi, she wished me good luck, and I went out onto the balcony to wait for Hikaru to show up. And that's when the horrible date actually began.

First, he was late.

Not by a five minutes, or ten minutes, but by thirty-four minutes by my count. I thought about going back inside and waiting there, but insisted that he would show up any minute and stayed outside, waiting. I called, but there was no answer. When his limo finally pulled up to my apartment complex, I was more than a little angry. I carefully walked down the staircase off of the balcony and onto the ground floor, not wanting to ruin my dress.

The driver stepped out from the limo and walked around to my side, and opened the door for me.

"Thank you." I smiled and tried as gracefully as I could to slip into the limo seat. Hikaru was waiting for me.

"Sorry I was late, Kaoru needed help with something," he said so casually that it angered me even more. That was all he said, like he didn't think that I deserved a proper excuse to why he was over half an hour late.

"Is he okay?" I asked, thinking maybe that it was a serious situation.

"Yeah, he's fine. It wasn't that serious," he said and waved his hand to dismiss the topic. But it was more important than our date? I didn't say what I was thinking out loud, not wanting to make a fuss over this. I knew how important Kaoru was to him, and if he was needed by his brother I could overlook it. I took a steady breath and calmed myself.

"It's fine, let's just go," I said, and the car was in motion.

We arrived a few minutes later at a restaurant that I had only ever heard reviews about, and was never able to go there myself.

As soon as we walked in it felt like I had teleported into a different world. A diamond chandelier hang from the ceiling, dimly lighting the small circular room. In the middle, under the chandelier, a young looking woman stood behind a desk, typing away at a computer. Hikaru approached her while I stood behind him.

"I have a reservation for 7:00," he said. The woman didn't move her eyes away from the computer screen.

"It's 7:45 now, we've most likely given away your table," she answered.

"Can you arrange a new one for me? My name is Hikaru Hitachiin." When he announced his name, the hostess's name lit up with recognition.

"Yes, of course. If you and your date will follow me," she said, taking two menus from the desk and leading us through an archway and into the dining room.

This room was much like the entrance, with gaudy chandeliers and dark flooring and walls. Most tables were small and intimate, only sitting four people at max. Every table we passed seemed to be occupied by couples, mixes of young and old. And every one of them stared as we passed. I suddenly felt very insecure about my appearance. These people were the wealthiest of the wealthy, and here I was thinking that no one would notice that my gold was fake, or that I'd bought my dress at a thrift store. It was still brand knew and hardly worn, but did that matter to them? No.

The hostess seated us near the back of the restaurant where there were less customers occupying the tables. It was intimate, which I liked. She told us that our waiter would be with us shortly, and left us alone. Hikaru smiled at me from across the small table, and I felt the butterflies in my stomach grow. It was finally happening; we were on a date. I was feeling so excited that I was able to forget about him being late and enjoy the rest of the night.

But the night just got worse.

Already, the second sign of a horrible date occurred when the waiter came to our table to take our drink orders. While he was informing us about the menu, Hikaru told him, and everyone else around us that could hear him talking, that I was a commoner. He said that since I was poor, I had never experienced food like this and asked that he describe everything to me in immense detail. He must've thought that he was being considerate. I was beyond embarrassed. I slunk down in my seat and stuffed my face into my menu to hide my face, and hadn't listened to anything that the waiter was saying. I ended up ordering what Hikaru did, because I was too preoccupied with wishing that I could dissolve into nothing, that I had no time to think for myself. I didn't even know what he ordered, but I was guessing that it was going to be delicious.

I was so mortified for the rest of the evening that I couldn't enjoy myself. In fact, he only made me more angry by texting throughout the entire dinner. Not only was it disrespectful no matter who you were with, but it was even worse when you were on a date. I felt completely neglected every time that his phone would buzz on the table, and he would stop whatever conversation we were having to read the text, and reply immediately.

"Who're you texting?" I wondered the third time that he had gotten a message.

"Kaoru," he answered simply. Once again, no explanation. I sighed in annoyance, trying to catch his attention and let him know that I wasn't having the greatest time, but he gave no reaction. I sat there, watching him type away on his phone and ignoring me completely. And I felt nothing. No butterflies in my stomach, or aching in my chest from a racing heart. It was a different sort of ach. Like my heart split apart.

When we finished our dinner, I offered to pay for my own meal. He told me before that he would take care of it, and even though I would be spending almost all of my savings, I thought that it was only right for me to offer. He declined, of course, and paid for the expensive bill without a second thought.

We got back into the limo that pulled up to the restaurant a second after we exited the building. Hikaru held the door open for me as we left, which was just about the only thing that he had done right the entire evening.

He dropped me off at home, but before I got out of the car he grabbed a hold of my hand.

"You weren't yourself tonight," he said.

"I'm surprised you noticed, considering you looked at me about five times throughout the entire dinner," I said coldly. I hadn't shown my emotions before, but now that he was bringing up how I was being strange, I couldn't stay quiet.

"What's up with you?" he asked.

"First, you showed up late. Then you announce to a room full of people that I was a commoner. Then for the rest of the night you completely ignore me, and text your brother. I'm sorry, but that doesn't sound like an ideal first date," I said angrily.

"I thought you didn't want to make a big deal out of it."

"I meant that I didn't want to go around telling the world that we were going out to dinner. A little more effort might've been nice. You acted like we were just hanging out in the host club!"

"We already like each other, I didn't think there was a need to impress."

"So you didn't care about this date at all?"

"That's not what I meant."

"No, I think it is." I opened the limo door and slid out of the car, slamming the door behind me.

"You can forget about a second date," I yelled behind me while I stormed up to my apartment.

¤¤¤

So now, here I was. Sobbing into Haruhi's shoulder while she stroked my hair. The night had gone nowhere near how I expected it to. And I could only imagine that my relationship with Hikaru would go in the same direction.