A/N Inspired by episode 1x10 "A Day in the Life of the Fujioka Family!". Set in the future.

Permission

Tamaki sat opposite his nemesis at the small family table. Their eyes were locked onto the other's, neither willing to give way. His back was tense with nerves, his stomach twisting and writhing making him unable to drink the tea that softly steamed in front of him. He wasn't really sure where the tea had come from. Ranka must have made it while Tamaki stood trying not to tremble just inside the doorway, knotting his hands together to try and stop them shaking. His brain had turned to mush and he was struggling to remember the perfectly planned speech that he had written and rehearsed the whole of last night. Ranka stared at him from under perfectly plucked eyebrows. He wasn't wearing his usual outfit, sporting instead a standard pair of jeans and t-shirt, but his face was beautifully made up none-the-less.

Tamaki opened his mouth to speak but words stuck in his throat. Desperate to try and get through this meeting without making a fool of himself he picked up the hot cup and took a gulp, hoping it would loosen the words that seemed to be lodged somewhere between his brain, mouth and voice box. Instead he just scalded his tongue. Ranka sat watching the spectacle with judging eyes, an amused smile twisting at the corners of his mouth. Tamaki swallowed the yelp and blinked back the tears that sprung to his eyes. This was not going well at all.

"What do you want Tamaki?"

The once king flinched at the harsh tone as Ranka went straight to the point, but he lifted his head and found the words regardless.

"Sir, I'm here to ask permission to marry Haruhi."

The change that came over Ranka was instantaneous and terrifying. His face dropped, paled, turned red, and then went back to normal colour with a frown that could turn to stone. Tamaki swallowed hard but remained motionless. He was sure that he'd read somewhere that if you remained perfectly still and made no sudden movements you wouldn't further provoke future father-in-laws...or it may have been wild animals but he figured the situation was much the same.

"What precisely do you think you can offer her?"

Tamaki was taken aback by the question. It was surely obvious what he could offer in terms of security and material wealth...and then he realised it was a trick question. That was exactly how Ranka expected him to answer.

"I can only offer her a life with me," Tamaki answered boldly. He was grateful for the years of training in speaking with flowing elegant script, even if Ranka was immune to it. "She already has my heart and my love, marriage would not change that." Haruhi's father still glared at him from the other side of the table and Tamaki sighed. "Sir, I love your daughter very much. I would like to spend the rest of my life with her."

Ranka was silent, his eyes like two daggers burrowing into the suitor's soul, but Tamaki remained unmoved, unmoved in theory anyway. He'd always known that he'd have to go through this at some point, he just hadn't quite estimated how uncomfortable it would be. In the theatre of his mind he had seen his beautifully rehearsed speech fall from his lips like droplets of gold and similar droplets had fallen from Ranka's eyes as he listened. As the final words passed Tamaki's lips Ranka had surged to his feet, embracing the blonde in a wonderful hug of acceptance, declaring him son and adopting him into the family. Tamaki realised he should have known it wasn't going to work like that. For some reason situations never turned out the way he imagined them...and besides which Ranka had never liked him, not from day one.

The man in question seemed to be turning over what had been said quite carefully. His face had become conflicted as though, now that he had gotten over the initial shock, he couldn't quite work through what was being asked and what it meant. He had just opened his mouth to give Tamaki an answer when the door to the house swung open and terror seized the younger man.

Haruhi stood in the doorway, a shopping bag propped in one hand. She looked between the two men in her life with a confused frown on her head, taking in the frozen horror on her lover's and the indecision on her father's.

"What are you two doing?"

"Ah, Haruhi, so glad that you are home." Ranka's face cleared as he directed a bright, radiant smile at his daughter. Tamaki felt his tension begin to ease slightly. "Tamaki here was just asking if he could marry you. How do you feel about that?"

The atmosphere in the room turned to ice. Tamaki felt like someone had dropped an anvil on his head. He turned slowly to gawk at his prospective father-in-law who was obliviously still beaming at the shell-shocked girl in the doorway.

"Tamaki?" she whispered, turning her gaze onto the younger of the two. He felt his face flush a bright red and rapidly hid behind his hair.

"I...I..." he stuttered, feeling the mortification building inside until he couldn't take it. "I...need to go." He staggered to his feet, knocking over his tea, and stumbled towards the door, passing Haruhi at almost a run as he escaped out into the sunlight.

Haruhi found him leaning against the railings not too far from her front door.

"Well that's a relief," she murmured in her usual calm tones, "I was worried you'd boarded the first plane to France."

The hand that rested on his back immediately eased the tense muscles underneath. He was thankful that she had come after him. At least there was some hope that he would be able to look her in the eye again.

"I know how you can over react."

He opened his mouth to retort back but words still utterly failed him so he shut it again. To his immense gratitude she hadn't yet mentioned the not-proposal.

"It's kind of sweet that you tried to talk to him," Haruhi continued, her hand tracing a soothing circle. "Mom would have appreciated it."

Tamaki felt his heart lighten at the mention of Haruhi's mother, and not for the first time wished she were here.

"Your Mom loved you very much." It was the first words he'd spoken for a while, and he didn't speak them loudly. "Are you sure she would have approved?"

Haruhi bobbed her head instantly, decisively, in the affirmative. There was no question in her mind about where her mother's alliance would have lain, just as there was no question in her mind as to why Tamaki had mentioned it.

"Do you know why my Dad has always given you a hard time?" Haruhi asked him. Tamaki shook his head, hiding his mortification behind the blonde strands.

"I guess I always thought he didn't like me," he quietly replied to the balcony railing.

Haruhi's sweet, light laugh from his side was like soothing balm on his tortured mind, and he tilted his head so he could look at her.

"No, Tamaki," she placed a hand on his arm and smiled up into his face, her eyes sparkling. "He gave you the hardest time because you were always the biggest threat."

It was like an arrow to his heart.

"A threat!" he exclaimed in dismay. "How could I be a threat? I've always only wanted to protect you and..."

He was silenced as Haruhi placed a finger on his lips to still the torrent. Her smile was still evident on her face, a mixture of affection and amusement. She shook her head at him.

"Tamaki-senpai." The term sent him reeling back in time. He was the Host Club's President again and she was an innocent Freshman, preparing to gently berate him for misunderstanding something...again. It brought a smile to his face. It seemed so long ago that he had first stood here, waiting anxiously to knock on the door, expecting to see a hovel.

"Haruhi?"

She turned his face until he was looking at her properly, their faces close.

"Not that sort of a threat," she clarified, eyes soft. "You were the biggest threat to my Dad, the biggest threat of taking me away from him." Tamaki's eyes widened as he suddenly understood and Haruhi chuckled. "Even then, he could see what neither of us could."

Tamaki dipped his head lower, closing the distance as he captured Haruhi's lips in an affectionate kiss, wrapping his arms around her as she looped her own around his neck. Gently pulling away Tamaki rested his forehead against her own, blue eyes resting on her own, content until a sudden grimace flitted across his face and he groaned.

"Do I have to go back in there?"

Haruhi tapped him lightly on the nose.

"Yes."

Tamaki looked pained but to his surprise she linked her fingers through his own.

"What?" she expressed at his clear astonishment, "You didn't think I was going to make you go back in there on your own did you? Come on." She tugged him back towards the doorway and he let her lead him, finding his courage just in the pressure of her fingertips.

"Dad!"

Also finding his courage in the fact that if Haruhi was on his side her Dad didn't stand a chance.