It had been a long day.

Kyouya went over a mental checklist as he walked into the Third Music Room's backroom. He had to do one last look-over; the costumes they wore today were elaborate, and it would not do well to be missing any pieces.

Normally, the vice president would have assigned someone else to do this (rather menial) job, but at the moment, he really didn't trust anyone else to do it.

The seniors left early today, for unknown reasons (and since he, who knew everything, didn't know where they were going, he suspected they were just going to play hooky).

Haruhi would probably give the clothes a disinterested glance and say something like, "They look alright to me," regardless of their state.

Tamaki would perform a grand flourish, and boldly pronounce that the "costumes were so magnificent, they'd look wonderful even if they fell into tattered rags."

And the Hitachiins, well, they were Kyouya's first choice…until he considered the likely way they'd act.

…No, the twins were definitely out.

He approached the clothing rack, where the rest had hung up their costumes, and began to give them quick appraisal. His own costume, of course, was spotless and in perfect condition-- as were most of them. Hunny's costume had a small cake stain from where he "cutely" dropped a piece; one of the Hitachiin costumes was a little wrinkled (probably from one of their acts). Otherwise, the articles of clothing were in pristine order.

He jotted down some notes, making sure to get down the damages. Well, he was finished here now…

Kyouya was just about to leave when something caught his eye. It was red, and rather small; perhaps a part of one of the sashes they wore today? He strode over and picked it up…

…and almost as quickly dropped it. Almost. Because Ootori's never dropped anything out of shock.

It was an article of women's lingerie-- panties, really.

Kyouya was, at first, admittedly surprised; who exactly would leave this here?

He first thought of Haruhi (who was, after all, the only female of the group), but quickly dismissed the possibility. Judging by her personality, she would never wear something like this; it was red and lacy.

So who else? It could not have been one of the customers (thank goodness) but that led to an even more disturbing thought: it had to have been one of the hosts.

Kyouya immediately stopped that train of thought.

The initial bewilderment dying down, he decided to find out who it was-- then decide if it could benefit him in any way. Maybe he could auction it off? Customers would definitely pay a sum amount for something like such…

Either way, there had been stranger, and so it was not as shocking (or scarring) as it should have been.

He contemplated several ideas for a while, first considering methods of figuring out who these belonged to, then estimating the worth for each of the hosts. He only looked up when he heard the door creak open; one of the Hitachiins stepped in.

At first, Kyouya merely glanced up, giving the redhead a disinterested look. Then he realized what he must look like, what with inspecting this piece of (red, lacy) lingerie, and froze.

Time for some pretty smooth talking.

He considered what to say for a moment; this was Kaoru, he guessed, judging from the way the boy was looking at him-- and oddly, without his twin.

But before Kyouya could say anything more than a greeting, Kaoru had stepped up and snatched the (red, lacy) underwear from his hands.

"That's mine, thank you."

A pause.

Kyouya raised an eyebrow.

Kaoru smirked. "Going to put on a show, you know?"

There was a moment during which the words were processed, and Kyouya found himself at a loss for words. A sudden mental image came to mind (unbidden, he told himself, unbidden) and he forced himself to remain calm, cool, collected.

Finally thinking to what to reply with, he found the younger host gone.

Suddenly, the idea that one of the hosts was the owner didn't seem so trivial anymore.

---

Kaoru snickered as he exited the room; as soon as the door was closed behind him, it grew into outright laughter. Ah, the look on their Shadow King's face was priceless!

He and Hikaru had brought the panties today, intending to tease Haruhi with it-- just to see her reaction, you know? But he'd forgotten it up here, so he had to retrieve it (he told Hikaru to distract Haruhi).

Who could have known that Kyouya, of all people, would have been there.

Honestly…yes, he was dumbstruck as he opened the door. It was a rather embarrassing ordeal, finding out that the underwear had to be taken from the Shadow King himself-- but then he told himself that it was just a prank, he could make it playful.

So he did.

And the result was unexpected, but definitely something he'd remember forever. Ah, Shadow King…

There was a brief moment during which Kaoru contemplated recounting this story with Hikaru; his twin would find it hilarious, of course, but…somehow, this wasn't really something he wanted to share.

Was he selfish, or did that just mean that this was somehow special?

He smiled to himself.

It was special.

…Yes, this definitely was something that he was going to keep to himself.

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Uh, this was really awkward to write...yeah. xD