A/N: Yeah it's only been AGES. LOL the awkward bit (and the excuse) is that some bits of this fic actually inspired me to write an original one which may someday go up on my fictionpress account and have a VERY different storyline (honest! You'll see if you ever read it) but I was working on THAT for a while and what motivated me to update again was the fact that a lot of old fics I was following that hadn't been updated for ages are finally coming back again. And I thought, hey, I haven't given up on them so maybe you guys won't give up on me. :sigh: anyway, I still adore this fandom with my heart and soul, and thank you to everyone who read the first chap and reviewed! Sorry if there's a bit of a style-change as it HAS been a while but blah, here we go!

Disclaimer: Ouran is not mine.

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"Yesterday is dead and over."

--Switchfoot

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Charades

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And nothing is as easy now as it once would have been.

The hardest part to believe is that the King is no longer smiling all the time though he has all the reason in the world to. Tamaki is actually—finally—feeling the burden of unspeakable stress though he's still doing quite a job of smiling and laughing through it all.

Another point of interest is that the Shadow King is finally growing weary of his role in the charade.

Honey and Mori notice that it takes a lot less to make Kyouya snap as of late. The twins are also quick to realize. Haruhi is even quicker. Tamaki is oblivious. As always, really.

Nothing is done about this because it is evident that Kyouya has been sleeping less and less, being his ridiculously busy self, and they all know how he gets when he runs on low levels of sleep so they let it slide and think nothing of it.

Again, he's there, and then somewhere else, running about all day getting the church, the reception hall, the gardens, the photographers all pre-arranged and Hikaru is with him more than half the time, continuing his bickering because he thinks that Haruhi would prefer something different in every given circumstance.

"You do not know commoner taste, so don't even try," is Kyouya's recited reply.

You do not know Haruhi, is what the feistier twin wants to say—and does so with his glares—every single time, only that they both know that it is a false accusation.

Oddly enough, however, there are points in time where Hikaru is actually right when he points out the simpler things over the more flamboyant but there are also points in time where Kyouya has to vouch for Tamaki's interests just because.

Hikaru usually grumbles, defeated, either to be comforted by Kaoru or brood alone somewhere. The latter happening rather frequently as of late but Kyouya can usually care less.

At times, he busies himself with the thoughts of why Haruhi and Tamaki would make the best couple, why they complete each other and why he truly is very happy for his best friend and the then-bland-now-beautiful commoner girl they had adopted like a pet, like a child, like a sister.

It is a little awkward to now think of her as having been Tamaki's 'daughter' once, not only because the blond will be marrying her in a matter of days, but more so because if he thinks about the ridiculous charade long and hard, he finds that she will technically be replacing Kyouya as Mom someday.

At this, he wants to laugh, very, very hard but instead he manages a slight smirk at the turns of life. It is still by far so much easier to see her as a sister, he decides.

And didn't big brothers always want the best for their sisters?

So yes, he convinces himself that Tamaki is a competent man with oh-so-many-flaws but Kyouya will let that pass and approve of Tamaki as someone he would allow Haruhi to marry.

It's about damn time anyway.

And of course, another part of his mind is screaming other things entirely…

But those thoughts are shortly interrupted by Hikaru's yelling and Kaoru's softer voice trying to calm him. Kyouya knows what is happening, what is bound to happen some time anyway.

Unconscious affections must surface at some point, must be sorted out and contended with.

Somehow, they had been kept underwater for this long, coming closer to the surface…dangerously close now. Inevitably…

Surprising how Hikaru has managed for even this long. Truthfully though, Kyouya isn't all that surprised.

Sometimes, he does want to sympathize, he wants to do something, despite it being far from any of his business. Always, he decided he cannot and will not interfere—unless it comes to breaking point where breaking point will likely be the wedding. Kaoru can handle his brother.

Kaoru will have to.

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