Kyouya Ohtori stepped off the plane, about to collapse from exhaustion. He'd just taken a flight from Japan to India, then from India to Denmark, and finally, from Denmark to London; all this just to escape Yoshio Ohtori, his heartless father that had caused all of this, but more about that later. Kyouya had told the Host Club that his father had finally snapped and forbade him to participate in the Host Club, so Tamaki had helped him to escape by paying for a roundabout trip to London, England. He was going to be staying with Tamaki's deceased Aunt Kira's brother-in-law. Her husband had died a few years ago from leukemia, but his brother, Sam, was still in contact with Tamaki since he went to Japan often for business trips. Kyouya sighed and collapsed into a chair next a young man of about 25 with short brown hair from what could be seen of it (it was covered by a black driver's hat), black long-sleeve shirt and slacks that was reading the paper.

Kyouya was just about to get up to get his bag from baggage claim when the man turned his head and said, "Kyouya, right? Yoshio Ohtori's son?" Kyouya stared dumbly at him completely lost for words for once in his life. He quickly collected himself into a composed statue and said, "And you are?"with as much disdain as he could muster while still shocked that this guy knew who he was.

The man chuckled and set down the paper on the empty seat next to him. "I'm Jien, I work for Sam Carson, Tamaki's uncle. He showed me a picture of you so I wouldn't have to use a sign and broadcast your location to everyone." Jien smiled as he pulled out a driver's license, birth certificate, and passport and handed it to Kyouya, "I was warned that you wouldn't believe me without some proof." Kyouya took all three of the identification papers and saw with his expert eye that they were real. He sighed in a relieved manner and gave Jien a small smile of gratitude as he handed him back the papers and got up to get his surprisingly small amount of luggage. Jien got up too, leaving the paper behind. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, we have to go pick up Tamaki's cousins, Maaya and Katarina from the train station once we get to the town that Sam lives in since they're coming home from school and it's on the way to his house."

"She takes a train home from school?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, they go to St. Judith's Boarding School which is a two hour ride from here and a five hour drive to the town so Maaya and Katarina only come home for holidays and long weekends. Also, a lot of their friends will be coming down later for Christmas, and their brother, Jack, is coming home from Oxford University in a few days," he said calmly, Kyouya noticed that he had a thicker, richer accent compared to everyone else he'd heard, meaning that he was from southern England, or had been living there a long time, since Kyouya didn't think he looked English, but wasn't sure.

"So where is Sam's house anyway? And what does he do for a living? Tamaki didn't tell me much about him, just that Sam's sister-in-law was his aunt that passed away a few years ago," Kyouya asked curiously as they waited for the thick crowd surrounding the conveyor belt to disperse.

"It's a seven hour drive south of here, and St. Judith's Academy is only two hours away, but she'll most likely already be on the train by the time we reach it, that and the school is a half hour out of the way to Sam's house. Sam owns an international publishing company called Carson Press Incorporated. Also, it was originally owned by his older half-brother, Christian, Maaya and Katarina's father, but he died when they were eleven from Leukemia," Sam replied, grabbing Kyouya's clearly marked suitcase and duffel bag.

"And their mother?" Kyouya asked as Jien led him through the airport, clearly familiar with the layout of it.

"She died in a car accident two months before their father. They miss her, we all do; Kira Sakamoto-Carson was a very kind and generous woman. Also, she was one of the most talented musicians in Japan, you name it she could play it, except for the bagpipe, she never did master that." Sam said with a sigh, it clearly was a painful memory, even though it had happened five years ago.

"Wow, both parents in two months, that had to hit them pretty hard, "Kyouya mused, wondering what Maaya and Katarina would be like.

Jien shrugged in response. "They handled better than I would have imagined since they stuck together, everyone but Justin and Zach. They're Maaya and Katarina's older brothers, but after their father died, the boys just disappeared and we haven't heard anything from either of them. Ah, well, I suppose it can't be helped," he said with a sigh before straightening his shoulders and leading Kyouya through the automatic glass doors to a black Cadillac resting against the curb where cars usually weren't allowed, but as they walked by a guy sitting in a chair with a paper, Jien tossed the man a roll of money that the guy caught without looking up. "Thanks, Jien."

"No problem, Al. After all, you're the one that gets more out of it than me, if I may say so myself."

"Well, you got a point there, but I could get into a lot o' trouble for this," the man called Al said, lowering his paper with a smirk.

"True, true, but what would the owner of Carson Press Inc., say to me if I forced his guest of honor to walk across the entire parking lot after taking three plane rides to get here?"Jien replied with a shake of his head.

"Alright, you got me there, mate. Have a good'un."

"You too, ol' chap." And with that, Jien opened the door for Kyouya before putting his luggage in the trunk and driving off.

As Jien drove, Kyouya leaned back and looked around, the Cadillac had dark tinted windows so the light didn't hurt his eyes and the inside was black leather, with two rows of seats facing each other so that one was turned backwards and there was a divider. It was pretty much a mini-limousine if such a thing existed. He sighed in relief and closed his eyes, quickly falling into a deep and restful sleep that he hadn't truly had in a long, long time.

When he woke up, he saw a girl with dark brown hair that was curly and went a few inches past her shoulders. She wore a baseball cap that was navy blue and white with a lion in a circle on it, and she was soaking wet, that much was obvious as she laughed and wrung out her hair onto the concrete. Her bright blue eyes flashed with joy behind slim black frames that complemented her face nicely. The girl entered the car and tossed a black knapsack onto the floor as a boy with honey-blonde hair that was so curly, it was almost an afro and light brown eyes. Kyouya noted that he looked unsure of himself, as if he wasn't sure if it was a wise choice to be there.

"So, Maaya, where's Katarina?" the boy asked, as he took the towel Jien handed him from the front and dried his hair as best he could.

"She had to go visit Sam's cousin, Elise, to get some stuff and officialise Sam as her adopted father. It's a long story as to why," Maaya explained calmly as she took off her hat and rubbed a towel into her hair. "Man, it's raining cats and dogs out there," she muttered in exasperation.

"Pretty soon it'll start raining frogs and hummingbirds," the boy joked with a smirk, causing Maaya to snort and roll her eyes at him.

"Excuse my friend, he forgot to take his medication today," she said to Kyouya with a smile as her friend stuck out his tongue at her.

"So, you're Kyouya? Hmmm, you look just how Tamaki described you, but not nearly as thin and not as depressed, but that could just be me," she mused.

"Figures, that would be Tamaki, dramatize everything," Kyouya muttered with a shake of his head at his somewhat deranged friend.

She nodded in agreement before saying, "I'm Maaya Sakamoto-Carson by the way, and this is my friend Tyler Felker," as she held out her hand in greeting.

"Kyouya Ohtori," he replied, shaking her hand. "I guess our greetings got thrown a little off track."

"That's for sure. Sam should have told me you were coming. I'm going to kill him when he gets back from New York," she said, clearly annoyed as she pulled a cell phone out of her bag and typing a message on it before putting it away. Maaya sighed and leaned back against her seat in a tired manner as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"You mean he didn't tell you I was coming?" Kyouya asked, wondering how her uncle could have neglected to tell his niece such an important piece of information.

"Nope, and for that I'm gonna kill him. He's on a business trip to New York at the moment, so I sent him a text message. God, he's such a frickin' frackin' idiot sometimes," she replied as she pulled two books out of her black bag. She then handed a huge book to Tyler and checked to make sure hers wasn't damaged from the rain. The title read Eclipse with a ribbon printed on the front jacket cover that was held together by just one thread. Tyler's book was a history on World War I and II. It looked to be about 1,500 pages or more. Tyler glanced at Maaya's book and asked in an incredulous voice, "You're reading that book again?!"

"No," she replied calmly, "I'm reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, but the cover is so old that I want to protect it, so I'm using the book jacket of Eclipse."

"Ok, for a second I thought St. Judith's had banned it or something."

"Na, half the books in the library are worse than this. Look at Hemingway, this is just about a girl going crazy and how it affects her and everyone around her."

"Yeah, in the words of Kat Stratford, 'Hemingway was an alcoholic, abusive misogynist who hung around Picasso trying to nail his leftovers'. That about right?"

"Yup, that's right," Maaya replied with a small smile.

"Hemingway?" Kyouya asked, never having heard of him before.

"He's a well known author that we can't stand, a lot of people like him and think he's brilliant, but we prefer to read works by other authors," she answered, putting her book back in the bag now that she knew it was okay. "So, why are you staying with us, if I may ask," Maaya asked, her eyes full of curiosity and bewilderment, but her face said nothing.

"I don't really get along with my father. He and I disagree on certain things and I don't like the way he handles his business at times," Kyouya replied, the mask never slipped from his face, but his eyes showed a little pain as he recalled what his father had said to him. Tyler didn't notice this, being too absorbed in his book, but Maaya did, even if it was hard to read.

FLASHBACK

Kyouya quietly stepped into his father's office and stood in front of his desk wondering what his father wanted to talk to him about. "You wanted to see me, Father?"

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that Fujioka Haruhi girl. She seems very bright for her age and I hear that she shows a lot of promise. Therefore, I want you to marry her. I know that you two are friends and in the same club, so it shouldn't be that difficult. That's all, you can go." Yoshio Ohtori said calmly, as if he'd just asked for a glass of water, waving a hand to dismiss his son.

Kyouya stared dumbly at his father for a few seconds before slipping his mask back into place and stating quite calmly with a steady voice, "She won't marry someone she doesn't love. Haruhi puts her studies before anything else."

"Then you'll have to woo her. I don't care how; I just want you engaged to that girl before you graduate."

"….." Kyouya stared at his father in disbelief, still unable to believe that his father was actually suggesting this with no show of emotion at all. "She won't marry me, no matter what I do. And trust me on this, Father; I will do nothing to make her fall in love with me when she already loves another."

"If you do this, you will inherit the company, Kyouya. Do you hear me? If you do not marry Fujioka Haruhi, you won't get a cent from me when I die," Yoshio Ohtori threatened, a growl seeping into his voice.

"Well then, I'll just have to live with that. I will not condemn my friend to a life she doesn't deserve when I know she will be happier with someone else," Kyouya replied, anger flashing in his eyes as he pushed his glasses up his nose before quickly striding out of the room.

END FLASHBACK

"Ah, that explains everything," Maaya replied, snapping Kyouya out of his two second reverie.

Tyler nodded his head in agreement, "Yeah, we know so many fucked up parents, it's not even funny."

"Hey, no cussing!" Jien reprimanded Tyler from the front.

"Sorry, Jien, it won't happen again," Tyler replied quickly.

"Well anyway, there's Caleb's dad, Jack's dad, Ally's mom, Garrett's mom, my grandmother, Devon's grandfather, Cole's dad, Patrick's dad, and Kat's mom; I think that's everyone," she replied, counting off her fingers as she said the names.

Kyouya leaned back against the seat, glad that they hadn't pressed him for details. He lowered his eyelids so that they were just open a tiny bit and as he watched, Tyler continued to read as Maaya pulled out a pencil and notebook and began drawing, fine with letting him sleep. He closed his eyes entirely, and with the thought that he might actually be able to leave his father and past behind, he fell asleep.

He awoke to someone shaking him, and as he opened his eyes, he saw Maaya looking at him, her face inches from his as she shook his shoulder gently. Upon seeing that he was awake, she pulled away and quickly exited the car without a sound, leaving Kyouya to fight off the last remnants of sleep himself. He stepped out of the car and looked at his surroundings. The car was parked in front of a huge, Victorian style mansion made from gray stone with many turrets and towers attached. There was a lot of land, at least five acres all around them, with hills, a small vineyard, and a garden. It was peaceful, and the edge of their lands was bordered by hundreds of trees of all kinds.

Kyouya followed Maaya and Tyler in through the old, French double oak doors that were wide open. There was a huge front room with a single staircase leading upstairs to a hallway that circled around the entire house and a doorway to a large living room with a few couches and big screen TV hanging on the wall complete with DVD, VCR and a surround sound stereo system. The house was huge, with a 15 foot ceiling and four floors not including the cellar.

Kyouya noticed some butlers and maids taking his and Tyler's luggage upstairs while Maaya carried her own which consisted of a suitcase, her black bag, and a huge duffel bag that had ST. JUDITH'S ACADEMY stamped on it. "Come on, I'll show you two your rooms, and give you a brief tour of the house if you wish," Maaya said as she walked past the staircase to the west wing of the house and led them up a different staircase so that they were on the far west side of the house. They walked past a bathroom and a few guest rooms before stopping by Maaya's so she could toss her stuff inside before shutting the door again and leading them past three more shut doors, around a corner , where they stopped in front of two rooms next to each other. "The one on the left is Kyouya's and the one on the right is yours, Tyler. The room to your immediate right is my art room, do not go in there or I will flay you alive, okay? Next to that is my study slash living room. It has two desks, a TV, couches, and tons of books. The room to the left of mine is Katarina's. Oh, and the first door on the far right at the end of the hallway is a music room with a baby grand piano, cello, two violins, a viola, flute, lute, and a couple guitars. They're all in cases, and the violin that has K.S. engraved on the case is off limits because it belonged to my mother. Anything else is fair game if you wish. There's a small kitchen upstairs while the main one is on the first floor. If you need anything, you can call me, Jien, or one of the staff, " she said calmly before turning on her heel and entering her room so that she could unpack and get settled in.

Kyouya sighed, he'd slept for seven hours straight, and for another twenty minutes as they drove from the train station to the mansion, but he was still exhausted. He leaned against the wall and surveyed room; it was simple, with a blue carpet and white walls. There was a queen sized bed, a dresser, closet, and a few paintings on the wall. The bedspread was beige with intricate patterns sewn into the fabric; it was simple yet elegant, like most of the house. His luggage was sitting on a trunk at the foot of the bed; apparently someone had told the staff beforehand which room was his. He opened his suitcase to find that his laptop was fine. It was wrapped in foam and bubble wrap and inside a cardboard box hidden among some of his clothes. The rest were in his duffel bag. After making sure his laptop was okay, Kyouya collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep without even taking off his glasses.