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It was early December when Kyoya showed up on her doorstep asking her to go shopping with them. The car on the side of the road was obviously filled with all the usual fools: Tamaki, Honey, Mori, Hikaru, Kaoru, and who knows, maybe Renge was hiding somewhere in there too. Haruhi sighed and turned to go grab their bag. It wasn't the first time they showed up at her house to drag them into some strange shopping disaster and it definitely wouldn't be the last. She joined Kyoya outside and locked the front door, walking down to the car with him.
The door opened for them as they reached for it and she was pulled in by Hikaru and Kaoru. Honey was sat in a corner munching on some sweet while Mori sat next to him. Tamaki was holding, what looked like, Kyoya's book as he grinned at her. The twins on either side of them shared a look and pulled her further into the car as Kyoya got in and took his book from Tamaki.
Haruhi sighed and looked towards Tamaki, "Why do I need to be here?"
"Because this shopping trip wouldn't be complete without our favorite member. Also we're doing Secret Santa this year as a club, which means you have to participate," Tamaki nodded, mostly to himself, as Haruhi face palmed. He grabbed a santa hat out of thin air and started passing it around.
"Fine," they grabbed a name out of the hat when it was her turn. Honey. Well that was simple enough, she might even be able to grab a gift for their dad and an offering for their mom while she was out.
The ride to the mall was uneventful. The twins joked and poked at her, Kyoya read with Tamaki hanging over his shoulder, and Honey and Mori talked quietly in the corner. Mostly Haruhi sat and ignored the twins pestering as they thought up what dessert Honey would like best and also worked for her budget. Strawberry tarts? Strawberry ice cream with chilies? Strawberry shortcake? Maybe just some cute Strawberry Santas. It wasn't much but they figured Honey would appreciate anything they made.
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When they got to the mall she made a quick list of ingredients. It seemed simple enough strawberries, powdered sugar, and some vanilla which were pretty easy to get but she'd need to wait until closer to their party to buy. She sighed and tried to think of something small they could get him in addition. A keychain or a pair of socks would be a safe bet, maybe some pocky just extra, it wasn't like there was a price limit knowing those rich fools. Regardless, it made for more time and money to spend on her dad.
The group split up pretty early on, agreeing to meet back up for lunch in the food court. She was sure they could finish their shopping by then. Their dad was always looking for more cute accessories, she could probably find him a hairband or bandana he'd like. As for her mom's offering, they were hoping to find a small bundle of flowers.
"Purple would be nice," Haruhi thought.
They set off towards the flower shop right down the way is search of some purple flowers. The doorway and inside were covered floor to ceiling in wood and vines. Buckets of flowers and adornments littered every centimeter of available space, leaving only cramped walkways for her to slip through. The dim lighting made it harder for her to find the purple flowers but eventually she found some irises and hydrangeas, perfect for a small bouquet. They picked a few from the buckets and brought them to the counter to be tied together and paid for.
After she had acquired the flowers for her mother's altar, they went looking for a shop that sold accessories and socks. It took awhile due to the nearest shop being half way across the mall, leaving them with way less time to look for their dad and Honey's gifts before lunch. Regardless, she went in with the intent to leave with their gifts with enough time to get to the food court.
The shop was all pink and floral with lots of white buckets filled to the brim with rainbow colored accessories and trinkets. Everything had ridiculous patterns and in the corner there was a huge pile of fluffy squishy things. Haruhi headed towards a couple buckets of just purple accessories in hopes of finding a headband or bandana for their dad. She dug for a few minutes going from bucket to bucket before they found one that she felt suited their dad's taste. It was a plain purple headband that mimicked the look of a bandana.
She then went and looked for some strawberry themed trinkets and accessories. There were so many buckets of pink and red it was hard to pick one to start in. After digging for far longer than they had thought they would they found a pair of silly socks and a cute keychain for Honey. They thought that she had outdone themself with the plethora of gifts, all while staying under budget. She walked up to the register and paid, putting them in a bag to hide from the club. Then they headed towards the food court to meet back up with everyone.
The food court was full of people bustling about, the lines for almost every place looked ridiculously long and the food was probably horrifically expensive. Haruhi sighed as they looked around for the group hoping they already had a table. To her relief the twins and Honey were sat at a huge booth already snacking. She headed in their direction only to be caught by Kyoya before they got anywhere near the booth.
"Haruhi," Kyoya called out to them from his place in line with Tamaki. "What would you like to eat?"
She looked at him like a deer in headlights. It wasn't exactly the first time Kyoya or Tamaki had offered to buy them food, but it didn't happen often (mostly due to her turning their offers down vehemently). They turned and scanned the menu before answering, "uh, I guess I'll have the tuna. I'll pay you back once you get to the table."
"You don't need to pay him back, Haruhi," Tamaki chimed in and leaned on Kyoya's shoulder as the other boy rolled his eyes. "He's paying for me too. He just can't help my charm."
"Whatever you say, Tamaki," they laughed, though they seriously doubted it had anything to do with Tamaki's 'charm'. She thought it probably had a lot more to do with Kyoya being blackmailed into things by the blonde. "Thank you for lunch, Kyoya."
Kyoya nodded and rolled his shoulder to shove Tamaki off, resulting in a very offended Tamaki gaping at him. Haruhi took the time to escape back to the table grinning. She couldn't wait for the Christmas party, it was going to be a mess, but their favorite kind. Even the dent in their wallet couldn't weigh them down. This was already one of the best Christmas's in a long time.