Kyoya

Haruhi could tell that a storm was coming just by the smell of the air. There wasn't any real way to describe it; it just smelled like rain.

But it wasn't like she was afraid of rain. How silly would that be? No, it was what accompanied the rain that made her heart rate triple, her eyes dilate, and knees buckle. She often tried telling herself that it was an irrational fear, that the thunder wasn't going to hurt her—heck, she should be more worried about lightning for that, but for some reason she didn't mind the lightning—but there was something about the loud crack in the sky and low rumble that scared her into a trembling mess.

The worst was when she was held up at the store or walking home from school when the thunder started. She was all alone and the only thing that kept her from collapsing of a heart-attack right on the spot was the sound of blood flowing through her ears that seemed to help block out the horrid cracks.

"Haruhi, are you alright?" His voice was muffled.

Haruhi looked up from the pavement. She hadn't even realized that she had stopped moving to clamp her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out the inevitable boom of the thunder. She was about to say that she was fine, but suddenly Kyoya was at her side with one hand on her elbow as he pulled her along the sidewalk after him.

"Move along," the tall boy said calmly, never slowing his pace, "and we might be able to make it before the rain starts. I would prefer to avoid getting stuck in a downpour, especially since we just picked up the new cosplays."

Haruhi tried to move faster, but her legs felt heavier than normal. It didn't help that the new costumes in her arms were probably around thirty pounds. She was about to ask for Kyoya to slow down except she heard the first snap of thunder and she poured on the speed.

By this point she was nearly pulling Kyoya down the sidewalk after her when all of a sudden he jerked her by the elbow again. After a squeal of surprise, she found herself being pulled through a door and into a quaint, brick-walled building.

Haruhi barely got out a, "Wha-?" when the rain started coming down in buckets.

A presence beside her made Haruhi glance up to find Kyoya standing silently beside her. He sighed, pushing his glasses further up his nose with his middle finger. "I was afraid this would happen."

Haruhi ran her palm along the clear bag that held the club's cosplays. "What? The rain?"

"Yes. I was hoping to get back to the car before it started raining. It's most unfortunate."

"Couldn't you just call your car to come get us here?" She would have used the one the twins' gave her, but she had left it in her jacket pocket which was back in Kyoya's car.

Kyoya pursed his lips, the beginnings of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. "I suppose that isn't a horrible idea, Haruhi, but the problem lies in the fact that I left my phone back at the club."

She blinked, hardly believing her ears. "You forgot it?"

"Not one of my brightest moments."

"But Kyoya-senpai, you're life basically is one big bright moment."

"In my defense, Tamaki and the twins were pestering me about the cosplays all afternoon." He grinned slyly as he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Their reactions were priceless when I asked for you to assist me with picking them up."

"You mean you didn't actually need my help? You brought me along just to get a ruse out of them?"

He grinned devilishly again. "I could have easily sent some of my father's men to pick them up, but I couldn't possibly pass up the chance of riling up Tamaki and the Hitachiins."

Haruhi closed her hanging jaw as she tried to keep herself from feeling offended. It was just like Kyoya to drag her into something completely unnecessary just to screw around with their friends. In fact, it shouldn't even have surprised her at this point.

Turning towards the inside of the building, Kyoya muttered, "Well, we'll be here for at least a little while. Might as well make ourselves as comfortable as we can in a commoner's pace like this." He flashed a faked innocent smile at her. "No offense, of course."

Haruhi shifted the costumes in her arms. "None taken," she mumbled in reply. She was only half joking, but the sarcasm was real.

She tried to get a good look at the little restaurant they were hold up in, but unfortuately, the thunder decided to rage at that point and next thing she knew, she was cowering under the nearest table with her hands clamped over her ears.

When the rumbling passed, she nervously opened her eyes as slight embarrassment started to swell in her chest. The embarrassment was quickly replaced by confusion when she found Kyoya crouching in front of her. "Kyoya-senpai?"

Kyoya rolled his eyes, holding a hand out to her. In the other, he held the costumes she had dropped in her mad dash for cover. "I'm adding this your debt, you know," he said as he hoisted her up. "These costumes aren't cheap and should be handled as such. You're too clumsy."

Haruhi wrinkled her nose, hiding back a smile as she settled into the chair across from her friend. That was another Kyoya-like thing to do—to cover up his caring side with some sort of insult. She knew he hated that she acknowledged it, but every since that day they were at the mall together where he helped that woman, she was unable to unsee his softer side.

Thunder cracked again and Haruhi stiffened and clenched her eyes shut. She was past the stage of embarrassment—she had already hidden under a table in a public setting after all—but she wished that she wasn't so scared of the horrible noise. It was unfair that the shadow king could sit there, stoically reading the café's menu without so much as a flinch.

Her palms were sweaty when she finally unclenched them. A ringing was still present in her ears even though the last round of thunder had passed long enough ago for Kyoya's latte to arrive at their table. She was slightly surprised when another one was set in front of her.

Haruhi was about to tell the waiter that there was a mistake when Kyoya grumbled, "Don't."

"Huh?" she blinked, turning back to him.

Kyoya sighed, looking at his coffee in distaste as he pushed his glasses up. "Not very satisfying in taste, but it should help take your nerves down."

"I don't have money," she whispered, running her finger around the rim of the cup.

Kyoya scowled, but somehow it seemed forced. "I expected as much. I'll just consider this a one time thing."

Haruhi said nothing, instead opting to take a sip of her coffee. It was strong and bitter and it was definitely not the instant stuff that she had grown accustomed too and it definitely wasn't the stuff she had when at the twins' or Tamaki's homes. "It's really bad."

Kyoya smiled. "Good."

There wasn't any more thunder the rest of their stay. They didn't talk a whole lot either, but there was something about their comfortable silence that made Haruhi feel at peace. She didn't spend a lot of time one-on-one with Kyoya so it was nice to hang out with him. Bonus considering he was in a relatively good mood today.

They hadn't been in the car more than thirty seconds when her phone started blaring from her jacket pocket that was crumpled in a ball on the floor. She fumbled with it for a moment. "Hello?" she asked.

"MY SWEET HARUHI!"

Haruhi jerked her ear away from the receiver as Kyoya quirked up a brow. "Tamaki-senpai? Why are you calling me?"

"What do you mean why am I calling? A thunderstorm happened and you were out without me to protect you!"

Haruhi glanced over at Kyoya. His nose was in a book, though she couldn't tell what it's title was. He was still holding the coffee that he had complained about the entire time they were there. She brought her attention down to her own coffee cup that was snugly tucked between her thighs. And then it suddenly clicked.

"Yeah," she said into the phone, "don't worry. Kyoya was with me."

...

next up will probably be Kaoru