Ugh, it's too sunny, and too early...

The rays of sunshine stubbornly invaded the shade that Ayame's straw hat provided. She squinted tiredly to stop the light from burning her eyes.

She gritted her teeth at the memory of her dad holding her suitcase out to her. He was all too happy to send her away with the Host Club to Okinawa. It was all expenses paid, and they were heading to one of the most interesting mansions around, so why not?

The sand beneath Ayame's feet was soft and warm; not hot as it was only morning, and the sun hadn't had chance to heat it up. She would have spread out on it if not for the fact it was so early in the morning.

She was so tired.

The bag around her shoulder slipped down slightly, and she adjusted it calmly. She pulled down on the t-shirt she wore as she felt like it was slipping up. She hated exposing herself around the host club. After all, she was meant to keep it strictly lady-like. Whereas the others ran about in swimwear, she drowned herself in fabric.

"Hey, Ayame-chan!" One of the twins- she couldn't tell which as the glare of the sun messed up her vision- danced past her, sending sand spiralling into the air.

She coughed and squinted to avoid any sand in her eyes, and carried on walking, but made sure a smile was plastered on her face.

Surely, they were going to sit down soo-

"We'll stop here!" Tamaki hollered, waving his arms frantically as he hovered over the 'perfect' patch of sand.

Ayame had to restrain herself from running over as the other hosts did, and glided towards the chosen spot.

"Relax, Ayame, you're too wound up." The smooth voice that belonged to Kyoya caused her face to darken to a deep red. It was him that arranged the trip that took her out of her ballet and violin lessons; the only things she really looked forward to. Apparently it was his family estate that they were staying at. The other girls accompanying them were staying at a top-class hotel.

"No I'm not, I'm perfectly fine!" Ayame smiled gently at Kyoya, ignoring the disbelieving look he sent her way. She thought it was nice that he invited her, considering she was only a client of the host club and despite the hour they decided to depart. It would be nice to let go on a holiday for once, she thought, but out of habit, she just couldn't.

Kyoya's voice cut through her thoughts, "Don't worry, I've got plenty of work lined up for you for if you feel bored. I have financial records from the past 6 months that you may want to look over. After all, you are the best at maths and economics besides myself."

Ayame's mouth dropped, but then she shut it when she saw his smirk, blushing fiercely as she realised he was joking. Her heart twanged slightly. He was quite cruel.

Before the trip, she was given a whole debriefing. She was told not to get her hopes up in terms of dating the hosts. She wouldn't have anyway, her romantic life was looking bleak, and probably wouldn't improve. Even though she knew full well that she had feelings for the financial expert of the hosts.

The conversing pair had reached the place where Tamaki had made everyone set up. Ayame lay down her beach towel neatly and settled onto it, intent on taking a nice, long nap.

The voices of the hosts buzzed about her, and she heard mentions of the sea. She heard Haruhi refuse flat-out, and Ayame understood that the girl didn't take a huge fancy to the water. Instead, she felt the ground shift slightly as Haruhi sat next to her.

Thank goodness, there'll be a bit of peace...

Eventually, the voices hushed as the boys departed to the waves. She had felt Haruhi leave her side a few minutes before hand and as the temperature increased, Ayame thought she'd enjoy it, rather than sleep. She leaned on her elbows and sat up slightly, opening her eyes.

Just in time to see Haruhi tumble off a cliff into the ocean.

It had shocked Ayame to see Haruhi tossed into the waves like that, but then it just made everybody remember that despite the fact that Haruhi was acting the role of a boy, she would always be a girl. Not that it was a 'girls are weak' thing, because Ayame knew there were some brave girls out there; it was just that Haruhi wasn't exactly the largest built girl Ayame had ever seen.

It had been a few hours since they had retired to the Ootori family estate, and everybody was preparing for dinner. Ayame and Haruhi had decided to share a room; there were plenty of rooms in the house, but the girls thought it would be nice to have some girl time as they realised they were surrounded by the boys too much. Besides, Ayame knew that Haruhi wasn't good with storms, and from the look of the cloud building up on their way back from the beach, there was a big one on the way.

Haruhi threw Ayame an uncertain glance, to which she responded with a look of reassurance. She gathered herself up, comfortable in her selected pyjamas, and helped Haruhi up. They had been sorting their clothes into the one wardrobe- after all, they didn't bring much- and there was a spare one in the corner.

The girls wandered into the corridor and towards what hey assumed was the dining room, due to a large volume of chatter emanating from the room. Ayame gave Haruhi's hand a slight squeeze to make her relax; after all, the poor girl didn't wear dresses very often, even if it was just a night gown.
"Don't worry, it's a pretty colour and you look lovely..." Ayame whispered.

As Haruhi smiled in humble embarrassment, Ayame let a smiling mask creep up her face despite the turmoil in her stomach. Haruhi sent her a disapproving look, that sent a message: 'Don't do this to yourself.'

Ayame just smiled more, and Haruhi looked down in silent disappointment as she saw her friend's princess mask set itself on her face, her walk, her everything. The girls opened the door to the dining room.

Ayame had been brought up in a wealthy family, but she had never seen anything as regal as the things she had seen since visiting the host club. Take the dining room they entered as an example.
There was a large oak table that took up the majority of the space, so there was a gap between each seat. The walls were lavished in soft creams and deep yellows, that almost looked gold because of the soft glow cast on them. The source of light was a large crystal chandelier hovering above the table, scattering a soft yellow light around the room. It made the room seem more homey, and even calmed the rich looking red carpet below the feet. Ayame's eyes widened, surely that couldn't be gold chips in the floor tiles?

Whilst she was gaping at the room, the members of the host club apart from a sulking Tamaki had flocked Haruhi and were interrogating her about her night-gown. Ayame felt a slight sense of pride for the girl.

Her eyes dragged away from the group when her nose picked up a faint smell. It was gentle, but bitter, and like the ocean, but very warm.

Platters of crab were set in the middle of the table, and the host club moved to the table. A dish of spinach salad set in front of her without her noticing. Steam rose from a small china teacup next to that, and Ayame could clearly smell the hints of peach coming from the brew.

She sighed, the tension in the room was ridiculous all of a sudden. Haruhi and Tamaki were sat next to each other, both with a posture that challenged Ayame's princess perfect one. It was silent apart from the obnoxious ticking of a clock.

She poked around her spinach salad in an attempt to break up the mood, but it just resulted in everyone's eyes sliding to her.

The feeling of dark eyes watching her over glasses made her bristle slightly.

Great.

Not long after, she watched amusedly at Haruhi's crab eating expertise, but felt her heart sink when Tamaki and Kyoya left, leaving Haruhi to become less enthused.

Ayame did agree with Mitsukini about her worrying everyone when she fell. Perhaps it would be better for Haruhi to apologise?

She could tell that Tamaki liked Haruhi, and likewise, and it was so painfully obvious sometimes she felt like she had to break her lady-like tendencies and bash their heads together.

A painful stomach growl interrupted her thoughts, and Ayame saw that Haruhi wasn't looking so hot.
Without hesitation, she moved to Haruhi's aid, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the boys that were constricting her. They headed to the nearest room they could find.

Ayame flinched as the thunder crashed outside, almost as if it was trying to break its way through the windows and into the safety of the mansion. She didn't like loud situations, and this was no different.
She had left Haruhi to her...business as she tried to find the way back to their room, or at least pinpoint where in the estate they were. It was dizzying how large the place was. She had promised Haruhi that she would play her violin for her in order to cover up the sound of the thunder, but if they couldn't get back to the room, she would have to come up with another way to block out the sound for Haruhi.

She was on her way back to the room she had left Haruhi in after she had no success finding their own.

She had reached the door, and was considering knocking to warn Haruhi, just in case she was still vomiting, when she heard voices from behind the wood.

"...and because of you I had to send each of the girls a bouquet of flowers to apologise. They've been looking forward to this trip and we don't want to disappoint them."

It was Kyoya's voice. It was Kyoya's room! Ayame's eyes widened as she heard Haruhi answer him. "I'll pay you back for the flowers, Senpai." Her voice was confident, but not ready for Kyoya's retort.

"Each bouquet cost me fifty thousand. That's a grand total of six hundred thousand yen, Haruhi."

I could help Haruhi with that...

Ayame didn't notice that the light emanating from under the door had dimmed until Haruhi spoke once more, "Um...why'd you turn the lights off?"

Ayame decided it was time to get Haruhi and return to their room. It was getting late and they needed rest.

She didn't hear the next words spoken, but walked into the room, ignoring all the manners drilled into her over the years.

She swore she could hear her heart shatter.

Kyoya was perched over Haruhi on his bed. On his bed.

The duo both looked over to Ayame stunned, and although she knew that Haruhi didn't like Kyoya like that, she felt her stomach churning.

"I..." She began, her voice shaking and quiet, "I was just coming to check up on Haruhi. I'll...leave now..." She needed to leave before she started crying, but her feet wouldn't obey her mind. She felt her eyes begin to sting.

Crap.

Haruhi and Kyoya were still in the same position, startled. Then Ayame finally found the strength to turn.

And run away.

Kyoya didn't miss the tear that trailed down Ayame's cheek as she escaped the room, and he felt guilt rise thick in his throat.

Damn.

He didn't notice he was glaring at the bed, or that he had growled until Haruhi spoke. "Go get her, Senpai."

He needed nothing more to get him out of the room, past a peeved looking Tamaki and down the hallway after Ayame.

She didn't care about the thunder anymore, not when her heart felt like it was being torn in half. Sobs ripped from her throat as she ran, disguised as the storm played it's chorus. She didn't even notice where she was running to or anything in her way. So when she tripped over a stray fold in the carpet, she didn't bother moving, she just let the darkened and empty hallway see how she was truly feeling.

She continued crying even when she felt someone embrace her. She buried her face in the crook of the person's neck, resting her head on their bare shoulder. The smell of familiar cologne curled around her senses, comforting her.

Kyoya.

She wanted to tear away from him, keep running until he couldn't find her anymore. But she knew that wouldn't happen. She would never be able to outsmart and outrun the genius.

He didn't say anything, didn't move and didn't complain as he let the girl in his arms release her feelings. Her sadness at not being able to show her feelings, her anger towards her father for trying to mold her into something she never wanted to be, the heartbreak she felt when she thought that she would never be the one that Kyoya would come to love.

But he was still here, still holding her.

The thought hit her so suddenly, and with such a force, that she stopped crying from the shock. She sucked in a few deep breaths, then spoke. "Why did you follow me?" She whispered into his neck. She felt him shudder beneath her and her heart fluttered back to life curiously. She made him do that.

As another test, she exhaled softly, and was met with the same results. Cautiously, with her ever-strong mannerisms, she turned her head and placed a gentle and quick kiss on his shoulder, glancing up to meet his gaze.

He hadn't put his glasses back on from when he was intimidating Haruhi. Was he really in that much of a rush? Even if he would have been wearing them, she wouldn't be able to deny the pure want and possessiveness that his eyes held.

She was left shocked and breathless as he lifted her chin and made her lips meet with his.

At first, it was gentle and cautious on Ayame's part, but Kyoya started to become a little more demanding, poking at her lips with his tongue, tugging on them with his teeth. The whole experience was dizzying and new to Ayame. And she liked it.

The teens broke apart, searching for well-needed air. Brown eyes clashed with grey, and Ayame felt her heart fluttering in response to the smoldering look that Kyoya's eyes owned.

He played with a few strands of her hair, letting them twirl around his fingers.

"Kyoya..." She mumbled. He grunted in acknowledgement and she leaned in close to his ear slowly, her face burning so much she thought she'd burst into flames.

"I think we should get out of the hallway. We have an... audience..."

Curiously, the host club, minus Tamaki, Kyoya and Haruhi, had a lot of chores and debts the following day.