Author's Note: This happened a few days after episode 17 when Kyouya got lost in the shopping expo because of the host club and Haruhi was the one to save his sorry bum. Do forgive me for some mistakes it's my first Ouran fanfic.

Summary: It all started with a piece of paper describing a certain self-proclaimed egoist. KyoHaru.

oOo

The Self-Proclaimed Egoist

by: meganedanshi

oOo

"He was a self-proclaimed egoist. His actions should always be in accordance to the merits involved. There was no room for selflessness or kindness in his schedule unless it would improve his overall reputation in the eyes not only of his family but also of their business partners and clients. He did not mingle with people his age if they were not in his list of top priority families.

He was intelligent. His grades were always at the top of his class and not once did it fall behind another. He was always that one student who professors often use as an example for all the other mediocre students.

His looks were way above average. He had silky pitch black hair and piercing onyx eyes. He had sharp and angular features and his glasses only added a sense of mystery to his demeanor. Girls blushed around him and guys wanted to befriend him.

He was fit, physically speaking, as well. He could play sports just as well as any regular player but he hadn't given much attention to this aspect of his life because he didn't gain as much benefits as he would hope to.

He was also very charming to the point where people would hold on to every word he says just because it came from his mouth. He could even tell you to go to hell and you would be ecstatic about the entire trip.

These are the qualities that befit a young man of seventeen with rich, noble blood- "

Haruhi squinted at the words she had just read and quickly folded the piece of paper in her hands not bothering to finish it. She was sitting alone at one of the empty tables in the third music room after finishing all her designations a while ago. Fortunately, the other club members were too preoccupied with their guests to pay attention to the brunette so she was able to spend her remaining free time in her own accord. Her eyes wandered around the club room only to stop short upon seeing their resident shadow king. He was busy chatting with a few customers and sharing a few laughs here and there. He must have felt someone looking in his direction because his eyes strayed from the people he was talking to and went straight to her. They locked gazes for a moment before Haruhi guiltily broke away and shoved the paper she was holding into her pocket. Her senses were warning her to avoid a confrontation with Kyouya after she read that piece of paper that was so pointedly describing their bespectacled vice president. She knew he wrote it and she also knew that he did not want anyone reading it judging by the way he had described himself. It was just too intimate and personal for it to be a homework essay. Despite knowing these facts, she didn't have the will to return it to him for fear of the consequences that might arise from her actions. He could very well add another million in her debt and get away with it. She wouldn't even be able to convince him to reconsider otherwise. It was so like him to act like such a rich bastard.

She looked at her watch and saw that there were only a few more minutes left until the host club was done for the wasn't her turn to clean up so she promptly gathered her things and headed straight to Tamaki to ask if she could go home early.

"Tamaki-senpai," she gently tapped the blond's shoulder.

"Oh? What is it, my dear Haruhi?" he said in an excited voice. Clearly her gesture was enough to send her senpai into a fit of cheerful giggles and loud proclamations on how his dear Haruhi finally sought his fatherly attention.

Repressing a sigh, Haruhi patiently waited for his antics to subside wistfully wishing that the other members would ignore his outburst.

"Eh? You're just hallucinating again, my lord," Hikaru dryly commented while his twin, Kaoru, merely settled himself in one of the seats beside Tamaki.

"You might have done something wrong to warrant Haruhi's attention. Ne, Haruhi?" Kaoru grinned at her.

'So much for my wishful thinking,' Haruhi inwardly thought.

"Tama-chan is probably in one of his inner theaters again," Honey said before pulling another plate of pastries towards him. Mori just nodded in agreement before handing a toothbrush to the loli-shōta to remind him to take it easy or else revisit his painful past with tooth cavities.

"I'll have you know my wonderful child does no such thing. Haruhi is just being influenced by a bunch of unruly pair of twins!"

"Ohoh... We weren't the ones who wanted to see Haruhi in *&# *$%^*, you perverted papa!" the mischievous twins chorused earning a few nosebleeds and squeals from their regular customers who were now fantasizing about the blond and brunette in whatever situation the brothers censored.

"I am not a perverted father! You unscrupulous twins are the ones creating such negative images around my precious Haruhi!"

And thus began another round of the host club's usual bantering that left the only female host wishing she had just left without talking to anyone. But thinking about it further, she realized that the idea would only backfire against her. Why? She had a good hunch that one of these rich bastards would declare a kidnapping had happened and bring the authorities in the scene. And by authorities she meant the Ōtori police force. Speaking of which, she looked around to catch a glimpse of Kyouya only to find him gone.

Where'd he run off to?

"Planning to leave so early, Haruhi?"

Shivers ran down her spine when a warm breath blew behind her ear. She whipped her head to see Kyouya standing a bit too close to her and smiling. His eyes were hidden behind the reflection of his glasses but this didn't stop her from understanding that he knew. He knew she was hiding something. She didn't need any more proof that this man does have supernatural powers of mind reading. Thankfully, the shadow king's attention was grabbed by the rest of the remaining customers who were now saying their farewells to their designated hosts and that gave her an opening. Haruhi quietly shifted towards the door when an arm shot out and wrapped around her neck.

"Oi, Haruhi. Where are you scurrying off too?" Hikaru raised a brow at her suspicious behavior.

Left with no other choice, she took a deep breath before doing something she would probably regret a few minutes from now.

"I just wanted to go to the supermarket today because of the sale. Can I go now?"

That's it. The perfect plan to entice the host club's craving for commoner life. She could practically feel their eyes twinkling with stars and their smiles filled with eagerness to ask if they could join her. It was also the great way to escape them since they would all be too busy looking at the items on sale to notice her leave. It was quite foolproof as well because Kyouya, despite not wanting to engage in such activities, will be forced to come and Tamaki, knowing his huge interest in commoner goods, will drag her bespectacled senpai around showing him the ways of living of an average person and declaring that their next cosplay should be related to whatever thing catches his attention.

"That is a great idea, Haruhi! The best way to understand being a commoner and their way of living," Tamaki proclaimed a whole other irrelevant misconceptions but it had effectively enticed the interests of not the host club members but also their customers.

"To the supermarket, my loyal subjects!" the blond ended his speech with the others following his excited footsteps towards the door.

Ōtori Kyouya was a person who embodied the word calm. He did not worry over trivial matters. He did not panic. He did not get distracted. It just wasn't in his vocabulary but right now, he would gladly learn these words as long as something of utmost importance was returned safely to his hands.

It happened right before they opened the host club for today. As usual, Kyouya was the first one to arrive. He placed his bag down before reaching for his phone and typing a quick message to his best friend.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

To: Tamaki Suou

Subject: ...

Hurry up, idiot.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He flipped his phone shut and placed it in his chest pocket before rummaging through his things for a pen and piece of paper. He sat down and began tapping the pen against the surface of the table while his mind tried to come up with different ideas on how to start his homework. It was quite simple really. He only had to describe himself in an essay so why was it that he wasn't able to write anything and only blankly stare at the white sheet of paper? His thoughts began to drift away from the task at hand and he found himself thinking about a certain brunette. Really? Did his mind just suddenly decided to stop working that his thought processes always ended up with Haruhi's face? or Haruhi's laugh... or the way she smiled up at him in the commoner's shopping expo and told him he had resembled his idiotic blond friend more than he let on. Hands flew straight to his face in frustration as he exerted tremendous effort to will away all these confusing images that his mind was showing him. His gaze wondered to his opened bag and saw the melon flavored snack that Haruhi bought from the expo the other day. He grabbed the commoner snack and inspected it with a wry smile.

"Why didn't I give you away to that idiotic blond, huh?" he said half-dreaming that the box of snacks could answer his question. He didn't expect his mind to come up with a random memory from that day as if retorting to his musings.

"The answer is simple; There are merits for me. No other reason will move me. I am an egoist," he vividly remembered his own words regarding Haruhi's inquiry about why he was close with the likes of Tamaki.

"I am an egoist," he inwardly repeated before placing the snack back in his bag. He picked up his pen and began writing.

Several minutes had passed until finally, he was able to finish. He gave his work another read and smirked after seeing what he wrote in the end.

"To think that I would even write something like this," he said before deciding to throw it in the trash where no one would be able to see it. He was about to rip and crumple the piece of paper when his phone suddenly rang. It was the very loud ring tone that Tamaki assigned for his calls.

"Really. That idiot has no sense of the word privacy," he took a mental note to change it back to his preferences before answering the call.

"What?"

"KYOUYA! COME TO THE ROOFTOP! THERE'S-" Kyouya removed the communication device from his ear fearing that he will go deaf due to the irritating boisterous voice coming from the other line. He could already feel the veins popping in his temples.

"I'm going to hang up if you don't stop screaming like a banshee," he threatened before standing up and heading towards the rooftop completely forgetting about his homework on top of the table.

Haruhi clutched the accursed paper inside her pocket. Why did she have to be the one to see it on the table? Why couldn't it have been Mori-senpai? or even Tamaki-senpai?

She looked ahead and saw the other host club members gathering over a table with free food samples. As always they looked like a bunch of excited kids. She smiled a bit and quietly walked away to shop for groceries when a hand suddenly grabbed her arm. She turned and saw Kyouya smirking at her. It had taken so much effort on her part not to squirm under his penetrating gaze.

"What is i-"she wanted to ask but was cut off when he suddenly pulled her. They turned left and Haruhi found herself standing in one of the deserted aisles of the market with her bespectacled senpai hovering close to her.

"I don't see any sale today."

"Huh?"

"I said I don't see the so-called supermarket sale you were pertaining to back at the host club," Kyouya informed the brunette. He was pleased to see the unsure laugh that came out of her mouth. 'Did she really think she could fool me?' he thought quite amused by her antics. He waited patiently for her retort and was amused once more as she tried to get out of her situation.

"Ah.. Really? I think I saw a sign..uhm..somewhere over there?"she said and pointed in some random direction. Haruhi tried to walk past him but his arm shot out and stopped her from doing so. She tried going the other way but he also did the same and now she was trapped in his arms and the stocks of canned goods behind her.

Such a terrible liar, Haruhi.

The first year was trying to rack her mind for the reasons why her senpai was behaving this way. If he had wanted to get his essay back he could just ask her upfront and not do whatever it was he's trying to do. She reached into her pocket and was about to give it back to him. She saw his eyes follow her movements and was surprised when he suddenly leaned in and now their faces were mere inches apart.

"Senpai?"

"You could do better than to let someone corner you in this manner. It is quite unsightly. Don't you think so?"

Her forehead knotted in confusion at the harsh manner he talked to her.

"I believe there's no reason for you to play the bad guy right now, senpai," she replied her gaze unwavering.

"Really?" he inquired raising his brow.

"Yes," she calmly replied.

"Why don't you enlighten me then, Ha-ru-hi?" Kyouya stressed her name slightly inching closer to her face.

"I-I don't think you need any kind of enlightenment, senpai," she silently cursed herself for stuttering.

"That's true," he said still looking at her.

"If I wanted something I could easily get it," Kyouya smirked knowing that she understood his indirect hint based on the way her eyes twinkled with recognition.

Haruhi continued staring back. She wanted to know what this person is thinking right now. From an ordinary person's point of view one might say that he was bragging about his qualities and status judging from the way he had written that essay but she could see right through him. There was a tinge of mockery involved in that piece of paper. He wrote it not in his point of view but in a mere observer's point of view. It seemed that even he did not want to associate with himself. As if saying that he wasn't perfect and was very flawed. It made her feel a bit sad although she had no reason to be. His personal matters were his alone and she would prefer not to meddle in them. She was almost convinced by this line of thought but the look in his eyes made her think twice.

"No. He's not an egoist. He's very far from being one despite what he shows us," she thought.

"The most profound egoist may be the most complete altruist, Kyouya-senpai," she stated with such conviction that Kyouya wasn't able to react immediately. He just continued to blink at her words. They stood still in the middle of one of the aisles not moving a single inch even as the seconds ticked by. Thinking that she might have blurted out something strange, Haruhi was about to correct herself when suddenly he did the most unexpected thing-he laughed. It wasn't his usual snicker or amused chuckle. It was a big hearty laugh. A laugh that she had never seen him do. A laugh that made his eyes water with mirth and his voice sound appealing to her ears. A laugh that showed the dimples in his cheeks and this uncharacteristic child-like air surrounding him. A laugh that made her smile despite of what ridiculous punishment he might have had in store for her.

Haruhi was too dumbstruck to notice that Kyouya managed to place his hand on top of her head while trying to stop his laughing fit. It was only when she felt the warmth radiating from her face that she realized their close proximity. His face was leveled with hers and it was just too distracting on her part. This wasn't the first time they were put in such a weird position. Heck, he even pretended to use her body as payment just to prove a point! But still she couldn't figure out why the hell was her heart trying to come out of her rib cage. Is she having a heart attack right now?

"That's another interesting view," he teasingly ruffled her hair before turning away and leaving a shocked expression on Haruhi's face.

"Let's go find the others," Kyouya stated but Haruhi didn't seem to hear since she still hadn't move from her place.

"Are you coming, Haruhi?" he called back from his shoulder when he noticed the brunette was not following him. Haruhi looked up to see a playful smirk on his lips.

"Ah.. Y-yeah," she stammered before falling in step with her senpai.

Kyouya just silently watched her from the corner of his eyes while thinking of a few lines from his essay that was surely in her possession. Had she read that part?

"These are the qualities that befit a young man of seventeen with rich, noble blood but that wasn't enough it seemed.

Why?

Because these did not help him gain the affections nor even catch the attention of that one special person.

Because she didn't see him in the same way he saw her.

But that does not mean he will stop there.

No.

If these qualities weren't enough then he'll just have to add more until she can't take her eyes and her thoughts away from him.

He is after all, a self-proclaimed egoist.

- 終わり -

END

A/N:

Ahh~ the wonders of finishing a fanfic in an open-ended way~

I'll leave the rest to your imagination for now~

I might make this into a multi-chapter fic but I'm still not sure since I like how it ended.