Ouran Host - College, 7

"Ouran Host - College, 7"

orig. 9/20/2017

Elly x Mori

"Dream date" scenario(s) PG-13

Non-Canon Anime/Manga: Ouran Host Club

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Honey and Takashi visited the recovering Elly every day until she was rested enough to return to class. And although the bruises hadn't faded entirely and she was still angry at what had happened, she did feel better. She never told anyone what had happened inside the bathroom, and it was just as well. No one pressed her for details. The girls in her class seemed chastened and had even stopped picking on her as much in public. Of course, they were all busy with something that had been the talk of the campus for a while now anyway.

She began seeing the flyers as soon as she walked up the tree-lined drive to class. It was the topic of every discussion. It seemed everywhere she turned girls were going crazy with talk of dresses and jewelry and hairstyles. She groaned.

"Not again!" She was so disinterested that she didn't even look closely once at the posters. She heard from sparkling, feminine girl-chatter that it was an event "no one could miss" (although they always said that) and that "it was for charity" (almost all of these were). After her last experience, she really didn't want to try another dance. Elly was afraid Takashi would ask her to go and she really didn't want to say no. She was just afraid it would be another disaster. As she rounded a corner there he was, waiting for her outside the classroom with his arm out. She smiled shyly, letting him escort her to a seat where she was sandwiched between him and his cousin. He said nothing during the lesson, only nodded when Honey started babbling about lunch afterwards.

"...and I thought we could go to the part with the huge salad bar and they'd let me take some home to Ari and then I could feed him!"

"That sounds great," she grinned. "Remember not to give him too much, though. You're not the one that has to clean up when his tummy gets sick later!" Honey giggled under his breath and nodded. Snorting softly at this exchange, Takashi patted her stack of books and bent to allow her to relinquish them to the already large pile in his arms. He straightened easily and they began making their way towards the cafeteria. They passed countless flyers for the big dance, and Honey picked one up curiously.

"Are you going, Takashi?" He craned his neck to peer up at her. "Elly?"

She sighed. "After what happened last time?"

Mori regarded her curiously for a moment, then responded with a question right back at her. "Are you afraid?"

"That something will go wrong. Yes." Her shoulders slumped. Honey wisely kept his mouth shut as the couple stopped, staring at each other. "I'm sorry, Takashi - I want to go with you. I really do."

"Okay."

She blinked. "What?"

It was his turn to sigh. "You want to go." He shifted the books to one arm and curled the other comfortingly around her shoulders as they began walking again. "We'll go."

"We're all gonna be there," Honey chimed in, his eyes large and shining. "Everybody this time! It'll be extra fun!" He squeezed Elly's arm and she giggled despite herself. Takashi tightened his arm about her in a light hug and she smiled at him, too.

"Damn it," she murmured softly. "All right. I'm still nervous, though."

This time Elly's nervousness was not out of excitement, but anxiety. She had a few nightmares about the new dance being just as much of a disaster - or more -- as last time. Although she tried to hide it, her friends noticed. When it was finally time, Haruhi gently led her to her room and pointed at the bed. There was an ornately decorated large box laying there.

"We bought you a dress this time, so don't worry about that other one."

Elly's eyes widened. "I completely forgot."

"I know." The brunette smiled. "You've been way too stressed about it. That's okay," she added , waving off anything the other girl might have said as an excuse. "Just put it on and come outside."

"Yes." Elly smiled. "I can do that." She took a deep breath and lifted the box lid, eyes widening even further. It was a mermaid's dress, with a light colored bikini top and form fitting bottom all one length to the floor. She would have her midriff exposed, below shining with emerald, aqua and blue sequins just like a tail. She did feel a little ridiculous putting it on, as well as the seashell hair piece that looked like a crown, but knew the group would insist. They had bought it for her, after all. And they definitely had something in mind. She shook herself lightly, stepping out past her door and out beyond, heading for the waiting limo. Haruhi informed her that Mori was waiting for her at the event already, but again reassured her that everything was okay.

"I know you're up to something," Elly sighed.

"Me?" Haruhi snorted indelicately. "No, if it's scheming, it's almost always those guys." She grinned then. "We're here."

"Oh boy."

The outside of the event hall was milling with gorgeously dressed people filtering in little by little. She rolled her shoulders back and strode as confidently as she could manage inside, though trembling with cold hands and nowhere to warm them in the tight fitting ensemble she wore. Haruhi held back a moment, then smiled and followed her in. When she found her friend, she was standing still in shock inside the ballroom doors. Elly gasped as she took in the magnificent surroundings about her. This was opulent even by upper class standards! Everything was decked out to appear as if the whole room was underwater, from soft blue lighting to pots that shimmered the light on the walls and ceiling to look just like waves. Green silk strands simulated kelp and there was more - she couldn't even take it all in at once.

Yet remarkable as it was, the scenery was forgotten when she saw who sat on one gilded throne of two up on a dais at the far end. The odd thing was that he's not even self-conscious about it, she thought in a daze as the twins led her directly to him. The man of her dreams was nude to the waist with an intricate network of swirling sea-green markings drawn over his upper torso and just above his navel. The outfit he wore on his lower half was designed to look like a merman's tail: sea green with light blue highlights, all done in sequins so it sparkled and shone under the soft light. As she got closer she saw it was a front piece, like a robe; he could stand and walk with no problem. Under the tail he wore tight-fitting, dark blue pants with a green sash about his waist.

His left hand was gripping a long gold trident with shining gems set before each point.

"What is all this?" She gasped.

"King Neptune," Kaoru grinned.

"I - I can see that, but ..."

"He's been lonely," Hikaru added impishly.

"What?" She shook her head to clear it. "Takashi, what's going on?"

He held out his free hand to her. "Come," he said simply. He passed his trident over to one of the waiting twins. Bemused, she tottered forward and was caught in a swift embrace. He half escorted, half carried her to the dance floor.

"Wait," she gasped. "You did all this?"

He pulled her even closer, his hand relaxing on her waist. "Yes."

"All of it? The undersea theme, the ... you ..." She stared up at him, her lower lip caught between her teeth. Before the conversation got any farther, however, a spotlight was shone brilliantly on them, stopping everyone in their tracks as they turned to stare. The young man blushed. He knew what type of antics his friends got into when they started singling couples out. Takashi leaned forward and placed a warm hand on the back of her neck. His fingers lightly brushed her hair, noting again with satisfaction at how very dark it was, shining with a few silvery lines of grey. He didn't understand why the other girls teased her about that; he found it attractive.

Her hands lightly rested on his chest. Strange how they seemed to burn there, since her palms were warm but not hot. The people around them forgotten, he pulled gently to bring her face closer to his. It was more a request than an act of force and she went willingly as soon as she felt his urging. They slowly came together, noses brushing softly before their mouths met.

Elly was actually shocked when they kissed. She'd thought they would be interupted in some fashion, perhaps by one of the jealous clusters of girls gnawing their livers on the sidelines. Who knew? With her luck, it could have been anything. Instead there was nothing but the tall man's warmth against hers. It was fleeting but sweet. His tongue flicked out and lingered on her lower lip for a moment as they separated. Their eyes met, his half-lidded with what looked like amusement.

"Okay," she sighed. "Wow."

He chuckled lowly. Their friends and most of the crowd had started a thunderous round of applause that they turned to acknowledge. She couldn't believe the night they gave her. It was amazing, and so was the young man she'd fallen in love with.

After the kiss she could admit to so much more than that.