Bright realizations

Intermezzo: Packing
by Reiyuka

Restraint had always been one of Kyouya's many virtues, or so he liked to think. But when Haruhi stayed behind after her last customer to help with gathering the supplies that needed to be taken with for the holiday, he felt that restraint lacking at the sight of her upturned, smiling face.

In a way, Kyouya was worried that he had fallen for Haruhi's Natural Host ways, but that sounded about as absurd as the King suddenly admitting how much he loved the girl. He liked the fact that she could stay as silent as him without much trouble. So now both of them were sharing their companiable silence without much thought on either part. Then Haruhi decided to shatter the silence.

"Kyouya-senpai, I've been meaning to ask; why did you insist on gathering these things yourself?" She chuckled a bit and he imagined that it was due to his blank facial expression as he looked at her. "I mean, I applaud the effort, of course," she continued, a smile in her voice, "but I imagine that you can have one of your servants or even someone from the school arrange it." Her delicate hands closed around a tea cup, coincidentally being a cup from the set that had been made incomplete only two hours before. He shrugged lightly, reaching for a cup next to the one Haruhi was taking, his knuckles accidentally brushing against hers. "The things you do yourself are usually done better, no?" Kyouya shuddered involuntarily at the sudden contact, taking the cup swiftly and putting it in it's place in a large wooden trunk especially crafted for the purpose of transferring 200 tea cups from Ouran to the Ootori family vacation estate.

Her face lit up with a smile as she looked up at him, agreeing, "I suppose that's true. And of course, what Ootori Kyouya does is always better than what the common man does." He would have retorted that comment if it hadn't been for that sweet smile, showing how she was joking. Instead, he dryly muttered, "Naturally", and continued his work.

The silence lingered a little as they both continued fitting the cups into the trunk. Part of Kyouya missed their previous relationship – or at least, their previous relationship according to him. Before he could be sitting alone with Haruhi - him working on something Host Club related, her studying something or other - and almost forget that she was sitting across from him; let alone even be in the same room. Now he was acutely aware of her every move, wondered what she was thinking as she let out a little sigh and had trouble not glancing at her every other minute.

He wondered what she thought, sharing these silences as they did. Probably nothing; Haruhi was not like the girls they usually entertained. Besides, Kyouya concluded, her heart was fully distracted by the Kings' latest mischief. Or the twins, for that matter. He cleared his throat a little before asking, "Is everything alright?" She looked up, her eyes even larger than usual, if that was possible. He was glad that he didn't have to explain why he asked, as she answered, "You mean with the mayhem Kaoru and Hikaru created? Of course."

Dryly, Kyouya teased, "You know, a yoai relationship between you and Tamaki might create quite a buzz. Might be good for business." Haruhi laughed softly and pushed at him with her hip, shaking her head in reply, "I doubt it." She grinned a little as she called his bluff, "However, we could apply that tactic right before you two leave school." He refused to show as much of his surprise as he felt, so instead of making the choking noise that was burning at the back of his throat, he coughed a little. Her grin widened slightly as she returned to the task at hand. "I think we're almost finished, by the way. Do you need my help with anything else?"

Kyouya stared at her face as she focused on carefully putting yet another cup into the trunk. He stared at the large, luminous brown eyes, the long lashes and the peachy-coloured skin, wondering if it was as soft as it seemed. Instead, he asked her, "Not in the mood to go home yet?" Usually she was one of the first to head for home; if it was because of her father or something else, he didn't know. Her reply held her answer, though. "Nah, not really." She carefully wiped a small tea stain from the cup in her hands, delicately licking her finger to aid her in wiping it clean. "Dad had an early appointment with one of his regulars, so he left a little while ago already." He watched transfixed as her tongue – so small, thick and pointy – touched the skin of her finger again, and a shiver ran down his spine. "Ah, I see." He forced himself to look away and grab the last tea cup, wrapping it in paper and forcefully shoving it into the trunk. "This was the only thing that needed to be arranged, today," Kyouya tried to keep the reluctance he felt out of his voice. Haruhi, however, didn't even bother and he almost lost what was left of his sanity as she replied in a depressed tone of voice, "Oh... I guess I'll be heading home, then."

Dear lord, Kyouya prayed silently, what was a man to do?

They waited silently at the entry gate of Ouran Academy for Kyouya's ride to arrive. Haruhi wished she had admitted to him how she hated to come home to an empty house. Or how she dreaded not seeing them all for the following week. Last year she had still considered them to be the epitome of obnoxiousness. Sometimes, Haruhi admitted to herself, she still thought that was true. Never before had she felt so depressed at being parted from them, though.

At first Haruhi had thought the problem lied with Tamaki-senpai. Tamaki-senpai who would leave Ouran High School forever in a couple of months. Tamaki-senpai for whom she had fallen off a bridge in hopes of keeping him here. Tamaki-senpai who she couldn't love, no matter how much she wished for it at times. He was so good to her, despite his idiocy and lapses of sanity. She knew he cared – how could she not, with the twins who tried to push the two together at every opportunity – but she was almost positive that he didn't love her as such. Perhaps the idiot truly thought of her as of a beloved daughter. Her mind blanked at how to deal with THAT, but it was better than him being in love with her.

No matter what Tamaki-senpai's feelings, Haruhi now knew that her own recent emotions of loneliness lied not with him. She figured that it was just her own silliness. Probably the fact that her father had been so busy lately, or something. She had never before had problems with coming home to an empty house. No, that had started only a month or two ago. How she dreaded it already. Her mood fell even more when she saw a sleek, black car turn the corner at the end of the street. "There's your ride," she pointed out. To her own ears, her tone sounded lifeless. Kyouya only nodded and she looked up at him, smiling a little as an apology for how bad a companion she was being. "I suppose I'll see you in two weeks. Will you let me know on the time of departure and such?" He nodded silently, looking at the Mercedes in the distance.

"My father has been asking me to invite you over to tea." Haruhi blinked in confusion and looked up at him, "Your father? But I thought he hated me." Or you, she thought bitterly. Honestly, the Ootori monarch had no idea how lucky he was to have a son such as Kyouya. She still felt a burning anger as she thought of that time last year. Her anger dimmed lightly as she heard Kyouya dryly comment, "Not at all. He finds you amusing and apparently wishes to learn more about you. He and the Director have some sort of bet going on concerning you." This simply made Haruhi's confusion increase. "A bet? That's... weird. I suppose I'll have to come over for tea sometime." His purple eyes were impossible to decipher, as usual. Lately, however, Haruhi had found them to be beautiful, in great contrast to how she used to find them cold and calculated.

The large car halted in front of them and Kyouya opened the door, rather slowly, Haruhi noted. "Can I offer you a ride home?" She blinked a little at the sudden friendliness, but shook her head in reply. "No, thank you. I have errands to run on my way home. But thanks for the offer." She bowed a little towards his driver, who smiled and tapped his sunglasses in reply. Kyouya nodded brusquely and stepped into the car. "I'll call you tomorrow to set up an arrangement for tea." She smiled warmly at him and nodded, closing the door behind him and lingering her fingers a moment on the window. Silently, Haruhi chided herself for that. For a second, though, she thought she could feel his warmth through the glass.

Her stomach filled with nervous butterflies and a sense of dread at the same time as she watched the car disappear to where it had come from. Tea time at the Ootori household – what would that be like?

Ah well. At least she'd be able to see Kyouya.

Author's notes: Tada! I updated on time - even before I was planning too, but meh. Yay for me!
In any case, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, I must admit. I just love how Haruhi and Kyouya interact. In any case, thanks to sakuraluv24, MistressMizu, Rangerette and ManufacturedGuidelines for reviewing the story - it means a lot to me. Also thanks to everyone who added the story to their alert list. I hope I don't dissapoint you all.

Let me know what you think, ne? ;"D Oh, and the next chapter will come soon, I promise. I just might take on the tactic of waiting for a certain number of reviews before posting... but nah, that'd be mean. It probably depends on when I finish chapter 4. I want to be at least one chapter ahead of what I post. Expect it around the weekend, ne?

- Reiya-chan