quirkysmuse: (ouran)
[personal profile] quirkysmuse
Fandom: Ouran High School Host Club
Title: Each Initial Breath
Rating: G
Characters/Pairing: Haruhi/Tamaki, Kyouya
Word Count: 496
Spoilers/Warnings: inspired by some of the more recent chapters of the manga, but you don't really need to know much more than the current volume.
Notes: Written for the "Impending Doom" challenge at [livejournal.com profile] ouran_contest

Summary: She couldn't put it off any longer. Haruhi felt it was time to confess.



Haruhi, just breathe, she told herself. What had meant to be a calm, collected breath had come out sounding like a disjointed ragged sigh.

She shook her head.

She’d read the shoujo manga. She’d read the magazines. She’d even gone so far as surf the internet. But there was one common theme among them all.

If she was going to confess to someone, she had to be honest. What was the golden advice they had all told her? The worst thing that could happen was rejection. He could say no.

And with Tamaki and his abounding popularity with girls, Haruhi felt a pang of fear that it could be a strong possibility.

Maybe he really did see her as his ‘daughter’, though he had told her otherwise just recently. Haruhi bit her lip. She furrowed her brow and tried to make herself mad. “This is just silly,” she said under her breath.

She waited in the third music room as a cloud of doom settled over her. Maybe she wouldn’t tell him today. Maybe… maybe she could put it off. After all, she had convinced herself that she had more important things to do. She had to finish high school, and then there was college, and law school. Who knew? She could even study law abroad if the opportunity presented itself. Then she’d never see Tamaki again. Her confession wouldn’t even matter.

Maybe she would feel stronger feelings for someone else someday?

She blew out another breath. The last part was supposed to make her feel better – at least, give her more courage. It had the opposite effect.

Her heart sank when Kyouya entered the room instead of Tamaki. It looked like her opportunity was fading. Kyouya looked over at her with a curious expression.

“Haruhi, what are you doing here? The club doesn’t meet here today,” he said

“I was supposed to meet Tamaki-senpai here. Have you seen him?” Haruhi said. It was perfectly legitimate. No, she didn’t think it was suspicious at all.

Another ragged breath escaped her.

Kyouya looked thoughtful. “Ah, I thought I heard him mentioning he was going to meet you.”

Haruhi nodded quickly, but turned away to feign interest in her open schoolbook on the table. “Why are you here?”

“Just picking up a disk I needed.” The drawer he was fishing through closed shut, and she could hear it reverberate within the room. “I’ll be going.”

The room was empty again, and the cloud of doom seemed to get heavier over her head. She rested her head on the open book and for the millionth time, asked herself what the hell she was doing.

Her eyes flashed open, and she lifted her head from a sound outside the door. She swallowed hard and heard footsteps coming closer, stopping just at the entrance.

She told herself to breathe. The door opened, and she caught the sunlight color of his hair.

Haruhi stood up and faced him. It was time.

on 2008-09-17 04:45 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] angel-of-summer.livejournal.com
Aww, I wish you could've continuned. I like it anyway though. :)

on 2008-09-17 05:01 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] quirkysmuse.livejournal.com
Thanks for the comment. Aw, yeah there was a word count limit. :3

on 2008-09-17 09:11 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] lovelylovelyric.livejournal.com
Wow! I like it ^^ Good job.

on 2008-09-17 09:26 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] quirkysmuse.livejournal.com
Thank you!

on 2008-09-18 10:42 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] treeflamingo.livejournal.com
The door opened, and she caught the sunlight color of his hair.

^^That's just lovely.^^ This is so deliciously Haruhi. If she ever decided to confess to him (and I doubt he'll give her the chance), she would totally do it like this. With all kinds of rationalizing and trying to find a way out of it and uncharacteristic nervousness and then finally she'd just say it. And actually, I disagree with [livejournal.com profile] angel_of_summer; I really, really like where this ends. Ending it right there crystallizes the theme perfectly. In sum, bravo!

on 2008-09-19 01:51 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] quirkysmuse.livejournal.com
Wow, thanks so much for the comment. Glad you liked it.

on 2008-09-19 04:44 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] pekori.livejournal.com
I'm with [livejournal.com profile] treeflamingo (lolthatnameissobeautifulXD) in that I love where this ends.

But gosh, the suspense you put into this gave me chills! Excellent work! :Db

on 2008-09-19 01:51 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] quirkysmuse.livejournal.com
Thank you so much!

on 2008-09-19 05:19 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] scratchmist.livejournal.com
I really liked the tension in this piece, and you depicted Haruhi's internal conflict from the recent chapters very well. The build-up was really good, and I like how it leaves the scene carefully balanced to fall one way or another. Nice work.


on 2008-09-19 06:27 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] quirkysmuse.livejournal.com
Thanks!

To answer your question: I did that more as a denial thing for Haruhi. I could see her trying to feel anger or indifference instead of giving into feeling happy and accepting of such affectionate emotions - it's just more of an indicator of her as the anti-shoujo character.

on 2008-09-20 02:50 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] marajade116.livejournal.com
Ah, this is wonderful! I too, love where it ended - the anticipation and the build up leading up to the final moment of truth. Gorgeous.

"The last part was supposed to make her feel better – at least, give her more courage. It had the opposite effect." And this was so heartbreaking and yet sweet - it fits Haruhi absolutely perfectly.

on 2008-09-20 05:22 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] quirkysmuse.livejournal.com
Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it.

on 2009-02-09 05:41 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] hooves.livejournal.com
/Happened by here randomly and saw your screen name.

...Star Wars fan? =DDDDD?

on 2009-02-09 05:43 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] hooves.livejournal.com
"The last part was supposed to make her feel better – at least, give her more courage. It had the opposite effect."

That almost hurt. Because the thought of never seeing him again, of not feeling those feelings? Hurts more than she thought it would. I'm impressed with this. Honestly, it was a lovely little piece of writing, and I love where it ended. It leaves her actual confession up to the imagination of the reader. Sometimes that method doesn't work, but it does here. I almost want to imagine that she couldn't come out and say it. (I know, I'm horrible.)

Wonderful work on this. And yeah, late comment is late. ^_^;

on 2009-02-09 02:38 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] quirkysmuse.livejournal.com
Thank you for your comments! I appreciate it. Glad you liked it.

July 2015

S M T W T F S
   12 34
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 11th, 2025 09:56 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios