Told you I get these up here fast!
Kyouya did his best to ignore Tamaki as he circulated among the guests of the Host Club's elegant End-of-Parent's-Weekend event. He tried not to sneak glances at the beaming blond who was entertaining mothers and daughters often to the displeasure of husbands and fathers. He did his best to excuse himself every time the half-French boy came anywhere near the females he was talking to. He strove to turn away whenever his flamboyant classmate looked his way. He could not, however, avoid Tamaki the whole night. Not only was he unable to keep his gaze from straying towards the handsome young man, but also Tamaki called the hosts together to thank their guests for coming and Kyouya was forced to face his friend.
Kyouya was the last of the hosts to wish the women he'd been chatting with a pleasant evening and join his fellows in a side room off of the ballroom where the guests had assembled.
"I was just going to thank them for coming," Tamaki was saying when Kyouya closed the door quietly as he entered the small room. "I suppose it would look good to say something more and I was trying to think of something, but I just couldn't come up with anything." He glanced unconsciously at Haruhi, a look that told Kyouya what had been distracting him.
"I don't see what else you'd need to say," said Haruhi in her usual, blunt manner.
Mori nodded in silent agreement.
"Well then, shall we?" asked Tamaki taking a step towards the door.
"You should thank them for their patronage as well as for coming," said Kyouya trying to keep the dullness from his voice.
"Okay," said Tamaki brightly.
"Kyouya-sempai, are you alright?" asked Haruhi. "You look at little pale."
All heads turned to Kyouya, who stared back at them blankly.
"You do seem a little off tonight," said Hikaru.
"Yeah, do you feel Okay?" Kaoru asked.
"I'm fine," Kyouya told them and pushed up his glasses. "Are we done here?"
"Want some cake, Kyou-chan?" asked Hunny brightly, holding up a large piece of cake a few inches from Kyouya's face.
"No thanks. Let's just get on with this. It's improper to keep ladies waiting."
"Of course," agreed Tamaki holding the door open for Haruhi once again.
The Host Club filed past him onto a brightly lit stage that had been erected at one end of the room. Kyouya passed Tamaki last. He could feel curious, lilac eyes on him, but he did not move his grey-eyed gaze from the stage.
Tamaki thanked the guests for coming and for their patronage of the Host Club. He did this, of course, with much flare and humble looks and elegant waves of his hand. The girls and their mothers screamed their delight, all dignity forgotten as they were captivated by Tamaki's beautiful words and eyes.
Kyouya forced himself through the rest of the evening, smiling and talking easily, and, though his smiles were fake and his words empty, the women who saw him seemed too taken in by the moment to notice.
It was only after the party was over that Kyouya was able to drop his act and allow his face to become an emotionless ice sculpture once more.
The hosts were congregated in the Third Music Room, as was there custom after such events. They were relaxing and chatting, all expect for Kyouya who was hiding behind his laptop and the quiet, sharp clicks of his fingers on the keys.
"I think it went well," Kaoru said as he flopped down on a loveseat next to his twin.
"Yeah, they were just lapping it up," agreed Hikaru, putting an arm around Kaoru's shoulders.
"Hikaru," the younger twin whispered in a slightly scolding manor.
"It's good to see Tama-chan and Haru-chan finally together, isn't it Takashi?" said Hunny cheerily to Mori who nodded.
The couple in question was also seated on a loveseat. Tamaki had his arm around Haruhi in a reflection of the twins. He could not have looked happier. Beaming brightly enough to flood the entire room in warm light, he was whispering sweet nothings in Haruhi's ear. She sat quite still with a small smile on her face, but, as delicate as it was, it was a smile that illuminated her whole face and she too, looked happier than Kyouya had ever seen her.
However, the typing young man spared only a glance for the brunette; when he raised his eyes from the screen it was to steal a glance at Tamaki. The blond was happier than when he'd declared Kyouya his best friend, then when he'd seen all the places in Japan Kyouya had taken him to, then when the Host Club had been opened for the first time. Kyouya was sure that with Tamaki's wreaked childhood, he had never been this happy before. Kyouya had dreamed of the day he'd see that look on Tamaki's face. But of course, in his dream Haruhi was not the one sitting next to Tamaki.
"It's really late!" exclaimed Haruhi suddenly, making the whole club jump.
"So?" coursed the twins.
"So I need to get home," she explained with more than a touch of exasperation in her voice.
"Must you go already?" asked Tamaki in a pleading voice, his eyes begging her to stay.
"My father's going to get worried," she said with a smiled as she pried Tamaki's arm off of her and stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow," she reminded him.
"Of course," he said also standing.
He walked her to the door where she stopped and called goodnight to her fellow hosts who all returned the farewell, expect Kyouya who mumbled something indistinct without looking up. Then she turned, but Tamaki caught her wrist and pulled her to his chest for a moment. She gave a small laugh and pushed him gently away. He looked crushed and she was about to leave when she turned once again, stretched onto her toes, and gave him a swift kiss on the lips before hurrying out of the Third Music Room.
Tamaki's head must have been spinning for he stumbled back to the loveseat he'd been sitting on and practically fell onto it. The twins started laughing and he seemed to snap out of his stunned state at the sound for he spent the next five minutes chasing the two all around the room.
He eventually chased them out the door and he stopped, gasping for breath. Not long after this, Hunny and Mori agreed that it was time for them to go as well. The remaining hosts exchanged goodnights and the cousins left.
Kyouya and Tamaki were alone together.
