Extremely vague spoilers for chapters 40 and 52… You'd probably only notice if you've read that far but still thought I should put up a warning... oh and an extremely vague reference to chapter 54 in the A/N following...
I don't own any of the characters from Ouran High School Host Club… but they sure have more fun when I take them out to play XD
Lessons D'amour
The noise level in the Third Music room had reached its typical dull roar; a mingling of voices and a flurry of adjusted cosplay as all of the members went about their final preparations in the minutes just before the doors opened.
"Ano, Sempai?"
The excitable blonde spun around with a flourish, as always immediately responsive to Haruhi's beck and call. The sparkling gaze that seemed to entrance all the young ladies died with one glance from the dark haired girl's furrowed brow.
"Acutally, I wanted to ask a favor –" The words had barely gotten past her lips before the lord's firm grasp was encircling her hands.
"What is it, my daughter? You must always feel free to ask anything of daddy!"
Silently and precisely she took two steps back, cautious to maintain her personal space. With a ghost of confusion over his features, Tamaki watched her move away but did not release his grip. She acquiesced to this, and they now stood with their hands still attached between their outstretched arms.
Having long since grown accustomed to their leader's eccentric behavior, especially concerning their only female club member, the pair's latest antics were soundly ignored by the other members.
She made a futile attempt to wiggle at least one finger free, squirming her pinky finger back and forth.
But it was no use.
Apparently Tamaki mistook her movements for a friendly hand-squeeze and merely gave her small hands a quick press, his grin never faltering.
Bending over slightly, he lowered his voice a few decibels, nearly dropping to a normal person's indoor volume.
Almost.
"You aren't in trouble are you!?" Finally releasing his death grip, he moved his hands to rest on his hips, striking a chivalrous pose. "Not that it matters, since daddy will always be here to support you!"
Deciding the best course of action would be to stay on track, she steadily plowed on, "Well, I want to pick up a French elective next semester, but I haven't taken it since Junior High. They told me that if I were to have a tutor over the summer to help me brush up I could go straight into the second year's class."
Somewhat astounded, Tamaki struggled to absorb this new development. "So you're not getting suspended?"
She stared at him, "Does that seem even remotely plausible?"
The disoriented lord paused for a split second.
"You know, you shouldn't have to think about it."
He was momentarily downcast, but quickly recovered, pointing a finger in her direction, "So what you need is an academic rescue!!"
With a soft sigh, she gave up the argument – he was technically correct and it seemed to have brightened his mood to believe he was in some way "rescuing" her.
"I know it's probably an inconvenience but even just once a week would be really helpful, since I do have a little background in it already…" The sentence trailed off, as she was suddenly swamped with embarrassment, not at all accustomed to asking favors.
But her discomfort went unnoticed by the lord, who was entirely wrapped up in his "Rescue Haruhi" fantasy.
Somehow she was still unsure as to whether he had agreed or not, despite her growing fluency in Tamaki-speak. Better get confirmation before she wound up studying alone. "Well then, if you're okay with it, perhaps we could just meet in one of the reading rooms here-"
He halted her words with a dramatic flip of pale hair, "Nonsense – I have an extensive library at my home – I shall send a driver for you at 11:00 tomorrow –"
"No, no – it's not that far… I can take the bus!"
Tamaki was taken aback at her unusually forceful tone. How frustrating - this girl was nearly impossible to rescue. Therefore, he would simply have to redouble his efforts during tutoring, "I shall see you tomorrow then?"
She nodded, a hint of pink now dusting her features, "Hai." She paused before glancing up at him, "Thank you, Sempai."
o.O.o.O.o.O.o
The massive residence stretched both tall and wide, its immense proportions causing Haruhi to squirm a little, still slightly uncomfortable at the prospect of entering the daunting structure. Seconds before her tumultuous thoughts had a chance to overwhelm her the large front door was flung wide open, revealing the opulence within.
"Haruhi – you made it! How as the bus ride? Was the driver nice? Nothing bad happened, I hope!?"
"Um, no it was just a bus – I take them all the time…"
"Amazing. Some day you must introduce me to the wonders of public transportation!"
She had a sudden horrible vision of Tamaki on a crowded city bus, exclaiming over everything from the coin collector to the hanging metal hand-rings and made a mental note to avoid that situation if at all possible. There was a moment of silence, but before she even had time to feel awkward, the blonde made an exaggerated bowing gesture, indicating that she should come on in. "I suppose it just wouldn't be Tamaki if he simply said 'come in'" she decided as he softly shut the door behind her.
Happiness was written all over his face as he walked with her across the wide atrium, "We can go to the West Library –" Haruhi choked at the thought of a house with not just one, but multiple libraries. She tried to turn the weird noise into a cough, but it just ended up coming out like a strangled sneeze. "-even though it's not quite as big, it contains my own collection."
She followed him through the sprawling home, the number of turns and stairs they took causing her to lose any sense of direction. Struggling to take it all in, she listened to his happy chatter with half an ear as they walked.
Just when she started to believe they must be walking in circles – hadn't she seen that sculpture once before? – he stopped abruptly in front of a set of dark wooden doors. Their sudden halt caught her off guard; arms windmilling a couple times as she struggled to avoid smacking into him.
His hand moved towards the doorknob but paused as he seemed to think better of it, "Haruhi, perhaps you should close your eyes – ooh, maybe even a blindfold!"
Dark brows shot up as she deadpanned the enthusiastic blonde, "Um, Sempai, you do realize this is studying – not a surprise party…" She trailed off, once again at a loss as to how they had reached this absurd conversation.
She held up a worn volume in an attempt to bring them back to the task at hand, "I brought my old vocabulary book that we can use…"
The reminder of their true goal must have done the trick, for with a gentle tug on her hand he pulled her through the wide doors. It had not been an exaggeration when he had referred to the collection as "extensive". The room itself was far larger than Haruhi's entire apartment, with rich mahogany shelves lining every wall. In one corner was a small shelf; it appeared to be the only one present that held a mixture of both books and miscellaneous items. Immediately adjacent to the shelf was a small alcove with a soft bench curving all the way around.
"I brought lots of books with me when I moved – I have a whole shelf of them – oooh and I can show you some of the other things I brought."
She couldn't help but smile as he began handing her one item at a time, complete with explanation and commentary on each one until her arms were filled with books, photographs and other trinkets. In the back of her mind, she realized they probably wouldn't get a lot accomplished today.
But that was alright. Putting aside what seemed to be brewing just under the surface between the two (and she usually did try her best to put it aside) the unlikely pair had become friends. And at the moment he seemed to need a friend much more than she needed a study session.
o.O.o.O.o.O.o
Over the next few weeks it became obvious that, honor student as she was, Haruhi probably didn't really need a tutor. Within one lesson she had rapidly recalled the basics from her introductory class two years ago. But by unspoken agreement, they moved on to more difficult topics, neither one wanting to be the one to suggest an end to their time together.
They worked on intermediate vocabulary and conjugation and he sometimes quizzed her with music popular in France, but most of their time was spent allowing Tamaki to demonstrate the subtleties of the speech while Haruhi listened and took notes.
It really was a lovely language, spoken even more gracefully by a true native. She kept up a tolerant front throughout his verbose interludes but deep inside she loved hearing him demonstrate the more complicated sentences. Somehow the entire experience had an intimate quality about it, despite the fact that she often faded out, lost in the sound of his voice when she should have been paying attention to her translation notes. On those occasions he could be saying the most horrible things to her, but it scarcely mattered as the words washed over her like a soothing melody. In truth, what frightened her more was not that he was saying something cruel, but something embarrassing… for both of them.
Of course she would eventually catch her wandering mind and be forced to ask him to repeat the last few phrases, but that suited her just fine. Before their "lessons" she hadn't heard him utter more than the occasional phrase that slipped into his regular speech. It had become something of an addiction to hear his surprisingly exotic voice repeat even the most common phrases.
At the moment they were simply working on extended vocabulary and the intricacies of pronunciation. From her comfortable spot seated cross-legged in the alcove Haruhi squinted a little, the way she often did when trying to puzzle something out in her head before trying it verbally. Across from her, Tamaki struggled to wait patiently for her to solve it without jumping in to give her the answer.
"So the difference is just whether you have an actual need for something or if you would just enjoy something…" she paused considering, "So, 'Je voudrais un foutre' would mean I have a need for the felt pen, while 'J'aimerais –" she broke off abruptly. Her tutor had turned quite nearly the shade of a radish. She tapped a finger on her chin; obviously she hadn't said that quite right.
"Hmmm, well, I know that the voudrais part was right – that's really basic; so either it was the foutre –" She stopped when she saw Tamaki's eyebrows fly up and confirmed where the mistake had been.
"Well obviously it was bad – what did I just say?"
He shook his head.
She rolled her eyes, "If you don't tell me I'll end up saying it again, maybe in public – like in class in front of the other students –"
Flinging himself across the alcove, he whispered quickly in her ear and then glanced away.
Now it was Haruhi's turn to blush. Already large eyes went extremely wide, especially as she considered the context. Somehow 'oops' didn't quite cover it.
"So what is the word for 'felt pen' – I really thought that was it…?"
He glanced at her shiftily, as if fearing she would say it again. Fearing that the mental image that had appeared unbidden in his mind would return if she did. Fearing that he would enjoy it.
Blinking a few times to regain his composure, he took a deep breath, determined not to let his student down. "I believe you were thinking of 'feutre' – make sure you emphasize the U sound."
"Ah," she nodded. "Feutre?"
"Almost." He leaned back over to her, glad to be back on task. "Just push out your lips a little more - it's actually the same sound the vowel U makes in Japanese, so just emphasize it a little bit more."
He suddenly paused as their faces were now much closer than was technically required to demonstrate the proper movements. The deep, painful blush reappeared over his perfect features, but he didn't avert his eyes. The brunette's wide-eyed gaze failed to betray the almost dizzying speed with which her heart was now racing. Inwardly she muttered, cursing herself for being so absorbed with getting the word right that she had allowed her guard to fall.
Desperately she willed her mysteriously leaden limbs to move, but they refused to comply. This was exactly why she had wanted to maintain a safety zone between their physical proximity – they didn't need a repeat of the forehead incident.
Although – and she was admittedly no expert – it did not seem that this would be something nearly so innocent as a simple peck on the forehead. The look in his eyes alone was causing her stomach to flutter most uncomfortably.
Cursing what she was desperately trying to write off as a purely biological response to a handsome male – okay so she thought he was good looking, but that didn't mean anything right? Rapidly she pressed her mind back into the task at hand. She just wasn't used to Tamaki staring at her so seriously. Even in his native tongue he tended to be every bit as exuberant as he was while speaking Japanese.
But now… had his eyes darkened a shade? Her stomach did another soft flip as those intense violet eyes continued to hold hers in a captivating stare. And still neither could look away.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity to the brunette girl, the silence was broken, "Haruhi, I want to teach you something…" he paused before clearing his throat, "something else that is French…"
She nodded mutely, her mind going back to irregular verb conjugation and forming past participles.
"But it's…" he choked a little on his words, his normally loud voice dropping to a strangled whisper, "…it's not something a father should be thinking about…"
Crap, crap, crap.
Haruhi again tried to maneuver herself to a safe distance, but now that her limbs were actually obeying, she realized that she was sitting in a corner, with a window to her left and a bookshelf to her right. Nowhere to escape.
Chancing a quick glance in his direction, her heart clenched at the sight of a tortured Tamaki, chin resting on his knees. His expression was so pitiful – it went far beyond his Corner of Woe moments.
Well hell, she couldn't let the idiot continue thinking himself some kind of sexual deviant.
She exhaled and rubbed the back of her hand over her forehead, scarcely believing she was actually going to do this, "Sempai, you know where babies come from, right?" Gods this was embarrassing. If possible, the blonde grew even redder, but managed to nod his head miserably. If he thought her question strange he didn't show it.
"And you've met my father –" he opened his mouth to protest but she held up a hand to stop any interruption, "my biological father," she clarified.
After a few seconds had passed, it seemed as though his brain was working overtime so she pressed on, "…and a person can only have one father who contributes genetic material. In this case, the cross-dressing redhead is the one who helped… er, create me." She stopped again, hoping against hope that she wouldn't have to get any more descriptive – it was already a disgusting topic.
Haruhi swore she saw a lightbulb flash on above his head and sagged in relief. If only she had known that all she had to do was get semi-graphic about her origins and the ridiculous "daddy" talk would have ended.
But would she have? Or was she just a coward, using Tamaki's denial to cover her own? It was as though his family play was the last shred of denial she had been grasping on to. Now there was nothing left between her and an ocean of confusing feelings.
"Haruhi – I would like to kiss you… and not at all like a father!"
Okay, that might have worked a little too well.
Words seemed stuck in Haruhi's throat as her brief history of kisses flashed through her mind – accidentally kissing a girl – nope that didn't count. Delusional kiss on the forehead – warmer but still not quite. Manipulative kiss on cheek – maybe the closest yet but not technically an official kiss.
"Well, I suppose…" she paused, suddenly finding a moment of clarity in which she realized that she no longer wanted to escape. In fact, she reluctantly conceded, she rather wanted the same thing, "as long as it's relevant to the course curriculum…"
In one gracefully fluid motion he had his index finger tipping her chin up and lowered his head, swallowing up her soft gasp as his lips covered hers. Her startled exclamation had left her lips parted and he slowly eased his tongue into her sweet mouth, making their first kiss completely and unequivocally French.
Haruhi had certainly understood the concept of a French kiss, but nothing could have prepared her for the sensations that accompanied actual participation in the activity.
It was utterly disorienting – the way her pulse raced, making her head feel light and dizzy. And the way each and every nerve seemed to become hyper sensitive – particularly the ones currently being caressed by his tongue.
He thoroughly explored every inch of her mouth, savoring her intoxicating flavor and the pleasured noises she made in response to his ministrations. He felt her relax into the kiss and he allowed one hand to drift down, around her waist, while his other toyed with the soft locks framing her face.
Silently the blonde cheered himself on, having always wondered what one did with their hands while kissing – aside from things that would earn him a slap, of course. Haruhi seemed to solve a similar dilemma, hesitantly draping her slender arms over his shoulder, while at the same time shifting her body forward to sink more completely into his embrace. That last shift brought her upper body flush against his chest and Tamaki immediately decided there was nothing in the world better than having her slender frame wrapped up securely in his arms.
With what little logic still floated around in her fuzzy brain, she tentatively reached out with her own tongue, meeting his with a moan low in her throat. She heard him echo her pleasured sound, affirming that she had done the right thing. His right arm tightened around her as his left threaded his fingers through her soft short hair while his thumb gently caressed her cheek. She met his kiss eagerly now, her fingers clutching his shirt, enjoying the feel of his broad shoulders under her grip.
The open textbook they had been studying from fell to the floor with a soft thump and a rustle of crumpled pages, but neither noticed.
o.O.o.O.o.O.o
Nearby the senior Suoh walked quietly down the hall, making sure he didn't disturb the study group. It really had been one of his more brilliant ideas. When the board had asked whether the transfer student could be allowed to take French without completing the two semester prerequisite, the opportunity had been too good to pass up. And requiring a tutor certainly wasn't an unusual demand in that type of situation.
Noticing that the door to the West Library was propped slightly open, he figured it couldn't hurt to see how the tutoring was progressing. He peered around the heavy wooden door – and immediately stopped at the sight of the two teens in a warm embrace. He slipped away, a pleased grin sneaking across his face as he made his way down the stairs.
You're welcome, my son.
o.O.o.O.o.O.o
o.O.o.O.o.O.o
A/N – hehehe, okay I don't know what my fascination is with writing papa Suoh in as a secret schemer for getting them together – maybe because he's like an adult Tamaki and Tama-chan is always sticking his nose into things, trying to help :-D (Note to the note: Haha, okay since I wrote this A/N I have read the current chapter and now feel totally justified in my plot device - and warm and fuzzy to boot!!)
Everything about Japanese classes and curriculum requirements is made up – I have no idea about that stuff.
The French stuff is accurate – many years ago we got scolded on the proper pronunciation of "Feutre" which means "felt-pen" (like a dry erase marker or sharpie) by our rather flustered professor. As far as "Foutre" goes, our teacher wouldn't tell us, so you know it's bad… I'll let you look that one up yourself… or you can PM me, lol. Otherwise I probably couldn't rate this T ;-D