This is kind of a weird story centering on Kyoya being the 'mother' of the host club. Basically a lot of attention is given to Tamaki's role as a father but I think Kyoya as the mother is just as important, and so this story focuses on one of the tougher sides of 'motherhood' that Kyoya has to face- sometimes, mothers have to be the 'bad guy' or speak the unpopular opinion in order to take care of their family. So, tell me what you think and maybe there will be more!

~KHKHKH~

Club activities were done for the day. The music room was slowly beginning to empty as club members changed out of their costumes and finished the usual cleanup; Hani and Mori were the first to leave, the first offering cheerful goodbye's to his companions as he rode on the latter's shoulders, the dark haired teen offering his own softer farewells before departure. Tamaki rushed out next, apologizing for his hasty exit but knowing if he didn't hurry he would be late to the business meeting his father had invited him along on.

No one was aggravated by their king's rushed goodbyes, knowing what a special thing it was for him to be invited anywhere by his father. Kyoya took special note of the occasion- happier for Tamaki than he would ever let on- and instead turned on the remaining Hosts, making them pick up their King's slack when it came time to put the music room in order. Now the shadow king was settled in one of the music room's couches, laptop open and fingers brushing quietly over the keys, a glare from the screen reflecting on his glasses and hiding his dark eyes. Hikaru, Kaoru and Haruhi were rolling down their sleeves and gathering their things, having finished the chores their 'mother' had assigned.

"Hey Haruhi, want to ride home with us today? It looks pretty windy out."

Hikaru commented as he pulled on his blue blazer. The tomboy looked up from her task of shoving textbooks in her bag, offering a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, it's probably for the best."

Then as she looked at him, Haruhi seemed to remember something.

"Oh yeah, I meant to ask- I was wondering if you or Kaoru have any extra uniform jackets? I've lost mine and you two seem the closest to my size…"

Kaoru laughed as he shouldered his leather schoolbag, looking between his twin and the girl.

"Size-wise you might have better luck asking Hani-sempai."

Hikaru joined his giggling twin in teasing now.

"And how do you lose a jacket you're almost always wearing?"

The girl shrugged, turning her attention back to her bag.

"Well, these stupid guys in our class keep bothering me, and the yesterday they took my jacket…"

The mirrored faces mirrored a look of anger, hands planting on hips.

"What! That's so stupid- some bullies stole your jacket? What did you ever do to them?"

The girl shrugged, fiddling with the buckle to her school bag.

"I dunno, I guess they think I'm weird because I'm a commoner and because I'm in the host club… I mean, bullies really don't bother me but now yesterday they cornered me and took my jacket and it doesn't look like they'll be giving it back anytime soon, so…"

"What did you just say?"

Suddenly the three became four as a shadow king they did not realize had been listening looked up from his work; the attention surprised them and Haruhi could only blink at the dark haired teen, his tone reminding her of the one she would receive when she spoke out of line to one of her parents. He waited a moment, looking between the three pairs of surprised eyes that stared back at him before slowly closing his laptop and setting it aside. His tone for the next question still was somewhat parent-like as he asked slowly

"Did you just say that you were cornered and had an article of clothing physically removed from you by a group of bullies?"

The glare of light no longer hid his gray eyes from the three of them and they bore now into Haruhi as she made a kind of nervous laugh, confused by how out-of-character her sempai was being. Usually Kyoya never paid any attention to her or the twins, but now suddenly he seemed to be getting worked up about this minor issue that didn't even involve him.

"It was no big deal, I mean bullies are just bullies- I bet they'll give it back soon anyway, I just need to borrow one for now…"

But the shadow king was shaking his head.

"Haruhi, have you told anyone else about this?"

Hikaru and Kaoru could sense how strange their sempai was being but decided to try and diffuse the tension, each slinging an arm around Haruhi with a grin.

"We gotta tell milord about this, Haruhi, he'll cook up some great revenge for those guys!"

Kaoru laughed in agreement, adding

"Yeah, no bullies get past the mighty host king!"

Kyoya was standing now.

"This isn't a joke, Hitachiin, and the Host Club will not be partaking in any hokey revenge scheme."

His tone was only slightly less harsh as he turned now on Haruhi.

"You must tell your father about this, Haruhi, and a school administrator too."

Haruhi was taken aback.

"'I must'? You can't just order me around like that- we're not playing 'host club family' right now!"

Her sarcasm could only partially hide her pink cheeks, the girl obviously somewhat embarrassed that Kyoya was making such a big deal out of this- the way he put it made the whole thing sound worse than it was. But the shadow king was unfazed, adjusting his glasses as he warned matter-of-factly

"If you do not tell your father tonight I will call him in the morning and tell him myself."

"Kyoya-sempai, what the hell!" Hikaru stepped forward in defense now, Haruhi still shocked by the threat. "You can't threaten her like that!"

"Yeah!" Kaoru joined his brother, reflecting his twin's angry expression. "You can't treat Haruhi that way! When sempai finds out-"

"I know if Tamaki were here he would agree with me 100 percent. This isn't just some game and it would be better if you two just stayed out of it."

Kyoya spoke with finality, the younger three hosts seeing this other side of their 'mother' for the first time. They knew he could be cold but had never been on the receiving end like this before; Haruhi scoffed now at his cold words.

"You're telling them it's better if they stay out of it? You were never in 'it'! This is none of your business, Kyoya sempai, and I can't believe what a big deal you're making out of it! Some guys took my jacket- it's no big deal! But now you've made it into one!"

His voice was raised but did not quite meet hers. Still, the effect was intimidating enough.

"But it is a big deal, and it is my job to step in and blow the whistle since you obviously are not going to! Perhaps you are fine with being mistreated, but there is a fine line between bullying and serious harassment! You boast your independence constantly but it is starting to look more like stupidity- you have your clothes forcibly removed by some bullies and That is 'no big deal'? When is it going to be a 'big deal,' Haruhi? How far are you going to let things go before a line is finally crossed?"

Gray eyes implored accusingly but Haruhi had nothing to answer her sempai with, staring back at him with wide eyes. Even the twins were scared silent, never having seen their silent, shadow king get so angry about anything. He could see they were somewhat frightened by his anger and he forced himself to lower his voice again, speaking sternly but trying not to look so angry.

"It becomes my business when I hear that one of Ouran Academy's students- and more importantly, one of my companions- has been mistreated in such a way. Whether you think it is a big deal or not and whether those boys had any knowledge that you are a girl or not, forcibly removing the clothes of another is sexual assault and if I am the bad guy for making sure scum like is removed from our school before they take things any farther or target anyone else, then so be it. If you do not tell your father tonight I will be calling in the morning."

By the end of his speech, Kyoya was deadly calm. He adjusted his glasses with one slender finger and turned to put his laptop into his school bag, acting as if nothing had happened. He shouldered his bag and turned to observe the three who still were frozen, Haruhi trembling slightly although holding back anger or tears he could not tell. With a soft sigh the upperclassman headed for the door, knowing he had said enough and knowing there was nothing he could say now that would unfreeze them. As the dark haired teen passed them Hikaru finally snapped, cursing angrily before grabbing his bag and roughly shoving past his sempai before rushing out the door. Kaoru watched his twin go, looking overwhelmed by the emotions he was feeling for his brother, his friend and the leader he had looked up to. Finally deciding to address the three in order of proximity he turned to Haruhi, asking quietly

"Are you okay?"

It didn't seem like quite the right question and Haruhi made no move to cover that fact, looking away and scoffing though it seemed to take more effort than it was worth. Knowing he could really be no help Kaoru slowly grabbed his bag and turned for the door, taking a few steps toward it before glancing up at Kyoya, who had paused in his path for the exit and turned back as if waiting, knowing that the least he could do was give the pair an opportunity to address him if they so wanted.

Kaoru looked at Kyoya, looked into gray eyes until Kyoya felt that the only thing between him and the younger twin were his glasses. Kaoru looked at his sempai and saw that he was sincere in his endeavors, saw that this Kyoya was not different from the Kyoya he had known all along but rather, a more complete version of the man Kaoru knew. Kaoru was angry for the way Kyoya had talked to Haruhi, feeling that even if the upperclassman had a point he could have made it without blowing up. But now Kaoru could see as he looked at the very calm face of Kyoya Ootori that he was feeling the same way, that he was waiting there to be yelled at because he knew he deserved it.

Kaoru's cheeks were pink when he finally looked away from his sempai and quickly shuffled out of the music room because he saw something in his sempai which before today he had never seen an ounce of in the man before: love. Kyoya loved his friends and his fellow hosts more than Kaoru ever could have imagined and he wished his twin could have stayed to see what he had just seen in their sempai's eyes. But somehow he knew that if Hikaru would have looked he would not have seen it. Kyoya did not let things show unless he wanted them to be seen: only the people that really stopped and looked would ever see his love.

Suddenly his deep friendship with their childish French prince made perfect sense; while before it could be explained only as 'opposites attract,' the relationship between Kyoya and Tamaki was based more on the fact that although he did not seem like the type, Tamaki was the kind of person that would take the time and effort to really honestly look into a person and see them for what they were, not what they were trying to be.

Kaoru was embarrassed he hadn't noticed it any sooner, having always prided himself on being the more insightful of the Hitachiin duo. Kyoya and Tamaki were best friends and Kyoya had chosen the host club over everything- the third son who wanted nothing more than his father's approval had started the club despite the old man's wishes, and he did not just do it to make Tamaki shut up about it- he ran the whole damn thing! He was the shadow king and he was their 'mother.' How had no one but Tamaki noticed until now that Kyoya loved them more than he ever would let on, probably more than the host king himself!

Kaoru was still bristling about the fight as he made his way outside and began searching for his brother, but it was the kind of anger now that he would feel whenever he and Hikaru argued- angry but relaxed, because he knew that though things were bad they would fix themselves because nothing could break the relationship they held. The host club was more a family than he had ever realized- not just some silly Tamaki daydream but a real bond that would not break. Mommy was looking after his children in the best way he knew how, and tomorrow things would be fine if not better because now Kaoru knew Kyoya's secret and it made him want to smile.

As he suspected, Kaoru found Hikaru pouting on a bench in front of their car, waiting for his brother so they could get in and leave. Kaoru knew that although he was feeling better his brother was still understandably upset, and kept his comments to himself and just let his brother fume as they made their way home. Hikaru did not have the patience to look at Kyoya yet, but Kaoru knew that the day would be soon when he will be able to point those gray eyes out to his twin and let Hikaru see for himself the kind of love and support they really had. For now, though, let Hikaru be angry. Kyoya sempai could take it.

Silence. Back in the music room there was silence as Kaoru's departure left Kyoya alone to stare at Haruhi's back, waiting for something that he knew in the back of his head wasn't coming. He had upset them before but never like this, and it wasn't until he had said it all that Kyoya realized this time was different. All the other times there would be anger, he would yell and then they would hate him until they did not. He would go too far in ordering them around or talking down to them or speaking cruelly, and they would get angry and yell back or go running to the others. But this time was different.

Hikaru was angry, sure, but neither twin had given him the choice words they always seemed to have, even when he had waited patiently for their delivery. Instead Kaoru had simply looked at him, seemingly confused at what to think of his sempai and his actions until he had looked at the man, somehow seeming to receive his answers just by simply looking. Kyoya did not know what Kaoru took from looking at him but he could see the twin was no longer childishly fuming and he wasn't sure he liked that. Kyoya had taken things too far, he knew. He had lost his cool and yelled at Haruhi; raised his voice at all three of them and threatened Haruhi without even giving her much chance to see his point.

He was waiting for the anger because he knew it was there and knew he deserved it; but it wasn't coming, and now he was feeling guiltier and guiltier. Sometimes as a leader- or a mother, or a king, or whatever they called him- you have to be the bad guy in order to take care of your team- or family or friends, or whatever they thought they were. Kyoya was willing to take the anger and the hate from Haruhi if it meant taking care of the bullies: getting that scum out of the school was more important to him than a relationship with Haruhi she probably could care less about anyway. That had been the idea he clung to when he raised his voice and took things too far. But now the fight was over, he had done his bit and gotten his way but the anger wasn't coming. He was not paying for what he did and now it felt wrong.

And so he stood there, staring at her trembling back and waiting for her to spin around and call him every nasty name she could think of. And when Haruhi never turned Kyoya finally turned instead and left, leaving the music suite and his one and only 'daughter' alone.