[ disclaimer : I do not own Ouran High School Host Club! ]

[ chapter one : then ]

The young boy had always been a light sleeper so when there was a soft knock on his door, accompanied by a hushed whisper of his name, he easily woke up. Despite being only twelve years old, he was already smart enough to immediately figure out whom it was that dared interrupt his slumber in the middle of the night. So he slowly crawled out of bed and dragged his feet across the room to the door—where the persistent knocking had continued.

He opened it to reveal a girl about his height with a hand lifted halfway through knocking for what felt like the millionth time. Even with his eyes half lidded, he knew who it was. "What do you want, Sakura?" Usually, he'd been even grumpier at being woken up, maybe would've snapped to be left alone, but he knew from experience that it wouldn't work on her.

Her bright blue eyes shone through the darkness, sparkling with mischief. "Kyo!" She grabbed his hand. "Let's go play outside."

Kyoya deadpanned. This wouldn't be the first time that brat of a childhood friend did this to him. Whenever she couldn't sleep, she'd wake him right up to stay up with her. It used to be kind of fun back when they were younger but now he was unsure. "No."

Already starting to drag him out of his room, she stopped and turned her head, her dark red hair swinging with the momentum. Her smile dropped. "No?"

"No," he repeated, pushing his glasses up his nose.

But then that pout turned into a smirk, a smirk that indicated she had a trump card up her sleeve. As always. "You know, Kyo, my mom is still trying to figure out who broke that expensive vase earlier. Now it could have been a bird that flew in but I have photographic evidence that it wasn't," she practically sang this.

The raven-haired boy froze. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would." Sakura nodded, waving the new camera she always kept on her since she got it. That camera documented a lot of their antics. "What a clumsy boy you are, Kyoya..."

"You were the one who took my glasses, Sakura!"

"And defensive! They wouldn't be able to tell that from a freeze frame though."

A pause grew before the boy sighed, rolling his eyes. "Fine..."

Just like that, the two preteens, still in their pajamas, sneaked out of the lake house and sat in the backyard as was their usual spot. Their families were particularly close friends so Akagi Sakura and Ootori Kyoya spent a lot of their childhood around each other. From dinner parties to country clubs, the two aristocrats met formally and informally. That particular summer, the two families visited the Akagi's private lake house.

As usual, the redhead plopped down onto the grass to stare up at the starry sky and Kyoya joined beside her. "You know, you could try doing this by yourself instead," he pointed out dryly before yawning and curling up somewhat on the grass as if it were his warm bed back in one of the guest rooms. "What would you do without me?"

"Oh, Kyo, we used to do this together all the time!" She didn't look at him. The stars held her gaze. A view like this was difficult to find in the city where they lived... But her friend had her undivided attention, as he always did. "You're not turning into a chicken now, are you?"

"Am not," he muttered, sleepiness slowly drifting further from him.

"It doesn't matter. I've always had more guts than you."

It was Kyoya's turn to smirk. How could he let go of a direct taunt like that? "Care to put your money where your mouth is, Sakura?"

The girl grinned and sat up, indicating she would agree to the challenge like he expected. He sat up too, not surprised because, knowing her, she'd probably accept whatever terms he set in place. "We each have to do a dare. Loser jumps into the lake," he said calmly, confident he'd win. What was the worse she could come up with, right?

"Deal!" she answered immediately. Too easy. Sakura taped her chin, her competitive nature taking over as she tried to think up a really good dare. Something he would never ever do... A light bulb went off in her head. "I dare you... to kiss me!"

The way she declared it was like how anyone would suggest they start on dessert after a meal. Despite her casualness, Kyoya blushed bright red, almost rivaling his friend's hair colour. "Wh-what?"

"You heard me."

"I did. I was simply giving you a chance to change your mind," he said, deadpanning though the pink tint remained on his cheeks. Hopefully it was too dark for her to see that.

Sakura glared but then brightened again. "Guess this means you're swimming tonight," she sang haughtily.

"Okay, wait!" After a short pause, he sighed.

Was he seriously going to kiss his childhood friend? Shifting his position, he faced the girl. Now that he might actually do the challenge, Sakura got nervous. She didn't think he would go through with it! That was why she dared him to in the first place, after all. Was he being serious?! Heat rushed to her cheeks but she didn't want to be the one to back down; she was too stubborn for that. Apparently, she hadn't counted on Kyoya being equally stubborn as well.

So she stayed still. She didn't move as the boy in front of her leaned in slowly, both preteens too shy to say or do anything else about it. She could see the dark brown, so dark that it was usually mistaken for black, colour of his eyes from this close, even though he wasn't looking directly into hers. Onyx was a pretty word to use for the colour. She thought those eyes were beautiful which made her mentally chide herself for romanticizing the moment.

What was Kyoya thinking?

But when his lips finally landed on her, they were on her left cheek, warming them further. He had changed his course at the last second! He did that on purpose! Sakura fumed. "Kyoya!"

Laughing too hard, the boy was clutching his sides. "What?" There was an oh-so-innocent smile on his face but she knew those eyes better than anyone. Sneaky jerk!

"You know what!" she accused, pouting angrily.

"Hm, I don't think I do. Care to explain, Sakura?"

The redhead glared at him for a few more seconds before turning away, folding her arms across her chest. "Whatever... So what do I have to do?"

"Jump in the lake."

The answer came way too quickly for her liking. "What?! No fair! That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Sure, it does." Those eyes again. Those eyes that said he had planned this all along.

There was no way to win. With a loud hmph, Sakura got to her feet and started to walk to the edge of the lake in a very dignified manner. But her raven-haired friend grabbed her hand then, chuckling to himself, "Sakura, wait. I'll cut you a deal. How about I give you a different dare?" He had stood too.

After getting over her confusion, she turned to face him properly.

"I dare you to delete that incriminating video on that camera and every copy you have of it."

Ah, so that was his real plan... With a sigh, the redhead picked up her camera from the ground and deleted the video. She showed him the screen as proof. "That was the only copy. Happy?"

"Very."

"Manipulative douche..."

"Said the one who blackmailed me to come outside with her." He gave her a knowing look, fixing the glasses on his face.

"Yes, but you love me." Sakura batted her eyelashes playfully and put on a Cheshire cat-like grin.

Kyoya smirked. "Maybe. Can we go back inside now?"