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ajremixTitle: Plastic Pieces
Fandom: Ouran Host Club
Rating: G
Word Count: 744
Characters: Haruhi, Mori
Summary: Afternoon chess at the third music room.
The knight clicked firmly to the board.
“I’ve only played it a few times before,” Haruhi said. “My mom wanted to teach me, but she didn’t have the time and we never got the set before she died.”
“Ah.” Mori’s hands were so large the tip of a broad finger nearly covered a square as he pushed a pawn into position.
“My father got me this to play with when we were still having money problems.” She said, the board a tiny travel set, the pieces made of plastic with magnetic bottoms. “He tried to teach me, but he wasn’t very good and I only understood the basics from the instruction booklet.”
She pondered the positions, running scenarios in her head. Whenever one of Mori’s customers brought in a chess set, she would sometimes glance over and envy how they’d play with such confidence. She initially felt foolish, asking to play with him with a tiny set that dwarfed in his palm.
But Mori didn’t say anything but “no problem.” And when she showed her set to him- almost expecting Tamaki to burst into tears at her commoner chess set or the twins to tease her, asking how she thought she could play with that -he merely picked up a tiny rook, rolled it about between his fingers and his lips quirked. Though he had his own chess set, as did the club itself in case a customer forgot theirs, he always asked Haruhi to bring hers in.
Haruhi brought out another pawn to strengthen her line. While Mori didn’t go easy on her, neither was he pushing her back as she’s seen him do to the more skilled girls that had come through.
Teaching, she thought, pouting as a bishop was shifted, threatening her queen.
The other members had grown accustomed to their game when the day dwindled and the customers were sparse. Honey would sometimes watch, eating cake and squealing in delight whenever Haruhi made a particularly clever move. Tamaki would mope at how Haruhi didn’t want to play at him, but sometimes he’d give her advice to which she’d give back some scathing remark that would make the twins go off in cackles. And once Tamaki was properly distracted by them, Haruhi often took his advice and Mori’s lips would twitch again.
Kyoya actually brought up, once, that Haruhi’s customers like watching her play Mori at chess. The better she did against him, the more the girls cheered. When she found a chess tactics book in her locker once, she had asked how much she was expected to pay for it. He smiled and said so long as she got better and kept the customers’ interest- and gave it back in good condition in a month –she could consider it a freebie. Though when she noticed the pen she had a habit of chewing on had gone missing, Haruhi figured it was already paid for.
The twins, surprisingly (or perhaps not), were the most vocal against her playing chess nearly every day. They said it was boring, they said it made her not fun. They tried all they could to distract her from her game because they knew from long, long ago that they couldn’t distract Mori. And every time Haruhi thought she was going to snap or lose focus, she’d look up and Mori would be watching her from the other side of the table, a hand cupping his chin. His eyes would be dark and calm and patient and somehow Haruhi found it settling, and when his eyes would flicker back down to the board, she was able to push the distraction out of her mind and think about what she was doing.
Finally, Haruhi’s hand lifted and she moved her rook out. “Check!” She said proudly.
The ring of her voice got everyone’s attention and they crowded around the two, jostling for a good view of the board.
Mori’s lips quirked again and deftly a hand snagged one of her few remaining pawns and replaced it with his queen. It clung to the board right in front of her king. “Checkmate.” He replied.
The room let out a huff of disappointment before cheers went up, congratulating Haruhi for her close win. She didn’t listen to them, instead watching Mori as he gathered the pieces up. He looked up at her and she mirrored his softly curved mouth with a brighter, wider smile.
“Again tomorrow?” She asked.
“My pleasure.”
Fandom: Ouran Host Club
Rating: G
Word Count: 744
Characters: Haruhi, Mori
Summary: Afternoon chess at the third music room.
The knight clicked firmly to the board.
“I’ve only played it a few times before,” Haruhi said. “My mom wanted to teach me, but she didn’t have the time and we never got the set before she died.”
“Ah.” Mori’s hands were so large the tip of a broad finger nearly covered a square as he pushed a pawn into position.
“My father got me this to play with when we were still having money problems.” She said, the board a tiny travel set, the pieces made of plastic with magnetic bottoms. “He tried to teach me, but he wasn’t very good and I only understood the basics from the instruction booklet.”
She pondered the positions, running scenarios in her head. Whenever one of Mori’s customers brought in a chess set, she would sometimes glance over and envy how they’d play with such confidence. She initially felt foolish, asking to play with him with a tiny set that dwarfed in his palm.
But Mori didn’t say anything but “no problem.” And when she showed her set to him- almost expecting Tamaki to burst into tears at her commoner chess set or the twins to tease her, asking how she thought she could play with that -he merely picked up a tiny rook, rolled it about between his fingers and his lips quirked. Though he had his own chess set, as did the club itself in case a customer forgot theirs, he always asked Haruhi to bring hers in.
Haruhi brought out another pawn to strengthen her line. While Mori didn’t go easy on her, neither was he pushing her back as she’s seen him do to the more skilled girls that had come through.
Teaching, she thought, pouting as a bishop was shifted, threatening her queen.
The other members had grown accustomed to their game when the day dwindled and the customers were sparse. Honey would sometimes watch, eating cake and squealing in delight whenever Haruhi made a particularly clever move. Tamaki would mope at how Haruhi didn’t want to play at him, but sometimes he’d give her advice to which she’d give back some scathing remark that would make the twins go off in cackles. And once Tamaki was properly distracted by them, Haruhi often took his advice and Mori’s lips would twitch again.
Kyoya actually brought up, once, that Haruhi’s customers like watching her play Mori at chess. The better she did against him, the more the girls cheered. When she found a chess tactics book in her locker once, she had asked how much she was expected to pay for it. He smiled and said so long as she got better and kept the customers’ interest- and gave it back in good condition in a month –she could consider it a freebie. Though when she noticed the pen she had a habit of chewing on had gone missing, Haruhi figured it was already paid for.
The twins, surprisingly (or perhaps not), were the most vocal against her playing chess nearly every day. They said it was boring, they said it made her not fun. They tried all they could to distract her from her game because they knew from long, long ago that they couldn’t distract Mori. And every time Haruhi thought she was going to snap or lose focus, she’d look up and Mori would be watching her from the other side of the table, a hand cupping his chin. His eyes would be dark and calm and patient and somehow Haruhi found it settling, and when his eyes would flicker back down to the board, she was able to push the distraction out of her mind and think about what she was doing.
Finally, Haruhi’s hand lifted and she moved her rook out. “Check!” She said proudly.
The ring of her voice got everyone’s attention and they crowded around the two, jostling for a good view of the board.
Mori’s lips quirked again and deftly a hand snagged one of her few remaining pawns and replaced it with his queen. It clung to the board right in front of her king. “Checkmate.” He replied.
The room let out a huff of disappointment before cheers went up, congratulating Haruhi for her close win. She didn’t listen to them, instead watching Mori as he gathered the pieces up. He looked up at her and she mirrored his softly curved mouth with a brighter, wider smile.
“Again tomorrow?” She asked.
“My pleasure.”
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Date: 2009-01-05 11:37 pm (UTC)