She awoke with a start as she heard the front door slam shut. Her father was home again after a weeklong trip to Japan for business. She groaned as she looked at the clock and saw it said 9am and noticed she should have been up already. It was the middle of summer but she still liked to get up early enough to enjoy the sun while it lasted.

"KANA!" her father shouted. "COME DOWN HERE PLEASE!" and with that she was up and putting on some simple shorts and a tank top, she put her slippers on, glanced at herself in the mirror and left the room. She padded across the hallway while shouting back "I'll be down in a moment father!" before entering the bathroom to wash up before seeing her father.

"Kana, my darling, I've missed you my child!" her father announced upon her arrival as he embraced her for a loving hug. She wasn't the only child, but she was the youngest. her 2 eldest brothers were already moved out and happily married to pretty girls of her father's choosing, she knew that the chances of her falling in love and being allowed to actually be with someone was pretty slim so she just didn't bother with getting into any long-term relationship before, though she did have many boys from school confess their feelings and asked her out daily, she always had to decline, knowing that she would be betrothed by someone of her father's choosing. But she still hoped that he wouldn't choose for her.

"I have missed you father, how was Japan? did you and the Ootori company manage to make out a deal for becoming partners?" the Ootori family ran many hospitals in Japan and they have been wanting to come to America as well, but her father ran another hospital business and pharmaceutical companies as well, and he has been wanting to make partner with the Ootori group for quite some time but they could never come to an agreement, until now.

"Yes my daughter" he sat down and motioned for her to sit with him; he took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. "You know I love you very much, and all I want is your happiness, so while I was away I guaranteed your happiness."

She looked at her father confused, knitting her brow; she motioned for him to continue. He handed her a picture of an old man, maybe 10 years older than her father, behind him were standing a young woman and a young boy. She looked at the picture and noticed that the young boy was maybe her age, but it was hard to tell. She looked up at her father with questioning eyes as he continued. "This is the Ootori family. I learned that their son, Kyouya, as you see in the picture, is one year older than you and is graduating next year from the most prestigious school in Japan called Ouran Academy. You, my darling daughter, are going to finish your high school at that school, and he will be escorting you around Japan until you graduate."

"WHAT!" she shouted as she jumped off the couch. She was so angry she could have spit fire from her mouth as she yelled. "How could you do this to me?" How is this guaranteeing my happiness? How could you take me away from everything I know and care about? What about my family and friends?" tears were coming to her eyes now and she stared right into the eyes of her father, waiting for an answer.

He stood up and put his hands on her shoulders and spoke calmly to her.

"This is what is best for you, here you have nothing but the same thing as everyone else, but there, you are practically royalty. You will be respected and still have many friends, I promise you, and do not worry; I will be with you for the first 2 years. Once you graduate, I will return to America and you will stay in Japan." he dropped his hands and waited for her to process the information.

She thought about it and realized she had no choice. But at least her father would remain with her until she graduated, 2 years from now. She wiped away her tears and faked a smile. "Alright father, I'll do it, but when do we leave? And where will we be staying?"

"we leave 2 days from today, we will be staying with the Ootori family, they have been gracious enough to welcome us into their home, and when we arrive there, you, me, Mr. Ootori, and his son Kyouya will all sit down for tea and get to know one another, and have a little talk." he smiled and sent her away to pack. After she left him he sat back down with a heavy heart and rested his head in his hands. "She's going to hate me for this..."

2 days have gone by and now they were on the private jet on their way to Japan. The last 2 days were awful, she had 2 days to say goodbye to her friends, so that stressed her emotions, and then 2 days to pack, so that stressed her body. Now all she wanted to do was sleep until she got to Japan but she only managed to sleep 2 measly hours, the rest of the time she stared out the window and tried to think about the positive. After all, it really couldn't get any worse could it?

They finally arrived in Japan; she must have fallen asleep again because she felt well rested and ready for the new day. A limo was waiting for them and at once they were on their way to the Ootori estate. The drive was beautiful, but long. She awed at the beauty of her new surroundings and once she got to the estate, her mind was blown away.

"They live THERE!" she said in amazement while pointing to a huge mansion. "How are we supposed to navigate that place?" her father let out a chuckle as they proceeded to enter the mansion. They were greeted by the Ootoris' themselves. The old man and the young man shook her father's hands, giving welcomes and then the old man turned to her and shook her hand and welcomed her who she returned with a smile and small bow, she said thank you in perfect Japanese, since she studied it all her life for her father's sake. Then the young man stepped to her, took her hand, and bowed to give it a very light kiss, he got back up and looked into her eyes.

"Welcome Miss Kana, I am Ootori Kyouya, please, make yourself at home" and he led her into the main room and took her bags from her. "Let me show you to your rooms." and with that they left.

"Your rooms are here, you have a bathroom and a full walk-in closet, and your fathers are a little further down the hall." he turned and pointed to the door right across from hers. "These are my rooms, if you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to knock, even if it is 3 in the morning and you simply want someone to talk to. I know you have left all your friends so my father has asked me to become your friend." he stated simply while pushing his glasses up. She finally got a good look at him, now that she wasn't distracted by the beauty of the house. He was handsome to say the least, with large onyx colored eyes that penetrated you. They looked so hard yet so soft at the same time, she couldn't help that when he smiled at her they softened a little more, yet, at the same time, became harder. It was like he always held up a barrier, warding people off. She wondered if he had any friends. Suddenly his phone rang and with lightning speed he had it up to his ear. "Excuse me miss" and he turned away to speak into the phone. "Tamaki, hello? hello?" suddenly she heard a man's voice shouting with excitement as Kyouya yanked the phone from his ear in surprise of the sudden loudness of the other man's voice, she could hear him clear as a bell 'is she there yet? Is she there? What's she like? Is she pretty? Should I come over and introduce myself?' "Tamaki I assure you that your presence is not necessary, you will meet her eventually, but I must ask that you not treat her as a client, do you understand?" 'Awww you take all the fun out of everything! Fine, I'll play it your way then.' and with that, he hung up and turned back to her and opened her door for her and led her in.

About an hour later, after her and her father freshened up, they joined Mr. Ootori and his son in the study for some tea. They talked and got to know one another and laughed every now and then at meaningless things. Once it got quiet her father cleared his throat and started to make some sort of speech.

"As you may know, our 2 companies have decided on a means of partnership through a binding of the 2 companies. We will now reveal how this is to be done." the 2 younger people looked at each other for a mere second then back to their fathers, both had this chilling sense run up their spine. And with that, her father looked at his daughter and simply said "you 2 are to get married. My daughter, you will wed Kyouya and secure the bonding of the companies, and thus secure your safety and happiness."

Suddenly she jumped from her chair and slapped her father across his face; the sound left the room in a deafened silence. She was shaking from both anger and fear, she knew she shouldn't have done that but she couldn't help it, now she was afraid what he might do, she saw in the corner of her eye both Ootori men's jaws drop and eyes widen.

"yes, well, I guess I deserved that" her father said rubbing his cheek and looked at his daughter, he was not angry and as soon as she saw that she calmed down a bit and sat back down. She apologized for the sudden outburst to the Ootoris' and turned back to her father.

She spoke in English on the off chance that maybe they didn't know the language. "You want me to marry a man that I JUST met? How in the hell is that securing my happiness?" the Ootori men looked away and adjusted their glasses, indicating to her that they knew what she said. She carried on in Japanese, "how could you ask this of me father? How selfish. This company was your dream not mine, and now you ask that I do this, this FAVOR for you?" tears started to well up in her eyes and she spoke, her father took her hand but she yanked it away.

"My daughter, this WILL secure your happiness. You will go to the best college and be the best that you can be thanks to the generosity of this young man." he motioned to Kyouya. "All I want is your safety, if anything were to ever happen to you again, I would go mad. Please daughter, do this, not for me, but for yourself."

She looked at Kyouya, who was staring at his father as they had a silent battle. She saw his father's head shake, and then Kyouya closed his eyes and lowered his head, and in a calm voice, finally spoke. "May we have a moment? In private?" and with that the older men left the room.

Kyouya took a deep breath and looked at the girl. "Miss Kana, I think we should accept this offer. I don't think you realize this but my father is a very powerful man and believe it or not he has the power to make both of our lives a living hell. If we accept, then he will do no such thing." he stated and waited for her reply with a calm look in his eyes.

"How can I accept something like this? I'm the youngest, and the only daughter to my father, I will not inherit his company. Why should I do this? How could you want to accept this?"

"I too, am the youngest, I will not inherit my father's company either, and I don't want this anymore than you do, I had hoped that my father would let me be on matters as such but I guess I was wrong. we should agree, we can ask for some conditions." he stated in reassurance, he really didn't want to marry the girl but at least she was attractive and strong willed, he did his research already and found that her grades were in good standing and she was a very well behaved student.

She scoffed, "conditions? Like what?"

"Well like, we will get married after you graduate on a date of our choosing."

"Ok. And I don't want to be pressured into popping out any kids right away either."

"Even if my father asked you to have a child right away, I wouldn't pressure you too. You don't even have to sleep in the same bed as me if that is what you want. I won't expect anything on our wedding night. and we can spend our honeymoon just getting to know each other, though I am sure we will already know each other very well by then seeing as how that 2 years from now." he pushed his glasses up and reached for his tea cup and took a long sip. As she thought about it she couldn't help but agree; she has to accept the offer. As she realized this, she sighed in defeat, and once he noticed that, he called their fathers back in.

"We have agreed to your offer but we have a few conditions." both the older men raised a brow and motioned for him to continue. "We will not wed until after she has graduated, and on a date of our choosing." he stated simply.

"I do not want to be pressured into becoming pregnant right away; in fact, I don't want to be pressured into consummating right away either." She stated flatly, without looking up.

"Absolutely, anything you want princess" her father agreed whole heartedly.

Mr. Ootori reached out a hand to shake his sons, and once he had his sons hand in his he stopped. "Son, I thank you. I don't say this enough but I mean it. you have done a very great thing here today and because of that, I have agreed to give you half of the company's shares upon my death." and he smiled at his son for a brief moment as Kyouya simply nodded and gave his father a warm thank you, before standing.

they all rose and shook each other's hands, her father threatened to hurt Kyouya in more ways than one if he were to ever hurt Kana and they shared a slight giggle. then the older men shook hands as Kyouya took Kanas hand and gently lifted it to his lips once more, this time, she noticed it, not as a greeting, but as a man's lips on her body and she made a mental note to remember the feel of his soft lips for later down the road.

Summer had come and was coming to an end, and during that time Kyouya and Kana spent alot of time together, he introduced her to his friends and she found that they ran a Host club together in the high school, once she learned what this meant of course she stared at Kyouya in disbelief; Until suddenly he made an announcement to the other host members.

"As you may know, Kara here will be joining us in our school from now on, she will be staying with me and she is now my betrothed." after that all the hose club members jaws dropped and started shouting words of disbelief and claiming him as a liar. "How could you play such a dirty joke momma?" Tamaki shouted.

"Momma?" Kana asked as she stifled a giggle.

Kyouya sighed and put a hand up to silence everyone. "I assure you that I am not lying. Our fathers have asked us to wed after her graduation for the companies' sake." he looked at Kana then and smirked. "Tamaki likes to call me Momma because he is president and I am vice president of the club, he calls himself Daddy because he thinks Haruhi is his daughter." he motioned to the young girl sitting between Tamaki and the twins who's names she could remember but just not who had which name. So far she liked everyone in the Host club, they were all so different from each other but when they were together it was in such harmony that she couldn't help but smile as Mori-sempai helped with Hunny-Sempais shoe, or when the twins started to flirt with Haruhi just to tick Tamaki off. She felt like maybe her time in Japan wasn't going to be so bad after all.

comments are appreciated!