AN: Hello. Here comes chapter two, hesitantly titled;

Chapter 2: Apology

Disclaimer: Ouran; not mine. Story; mine.

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'Did you know, Haruhi,' he sustained his stare, 'That lately, all I've been thinking about is you?'

Haruhi froze for the briefest of seconds before letting out an exaggerated sigh.

'Honestly senpai,' she started, 'Me too.'

Kyouya's eyes widened slightly as he took in that bit of information.

Me too?

Smiling amusedly as he sat back in his chair, he wondered if he was witnessing a prelude to a confession.

'I'm sorry,' she continued, her eyes opened now as a distant look clouded over her face, 'I'm very sorry that I offended you yesterday. I'm not sure how, but,' Haruhi brought her eyes to his, 'I hope you know it wasn't intentional.'

Kyouya smiled intelligently as he somewhat anticipated this reaction as well. He had expected her to misinterpret his earlier statement and he expected her to notice the effect of her words – though hardly discernible – on him and her compulsion to apologize if she believed she had slighted him. Haruhi was notorious for the endless chain of heartbreaks amongst her admirers - caused solely by her ignorance for their emotions towards her - and current circumstances were no different.

'I'm afraid you've misunderstood me,' He stated bluntly, giving her a sideways glance.

'I did?'

'Undoubtedly so.'

Haruhi knitted her brows in confusion.

'But I was pretty sure that…' Haruhi stopped short as she contemplated the possibility that her scrutiny had been erroneous. Was her inherent ability in matters pertaining to accurate observations failing her?

'Again, Haruhi,' Kyouya grinned, cutting her from her thoughts, 'I've only thought about you lately. Yes it's caused by what you said that day,' He leaned forward, 'But I'm sure as hell not… offended.'

Haruhi's mouth formed a thin line as she stared blankly at Kyouya, thinking. Although a myriad of possibilities flashed before her mind, she couldn't come up with a plausible reason to make sense of his outrageous claim.

Suddenly, it clicked.

'I know! Senpai, you're still worried about me from the incident at the beach,' Haruhi surmised, her voice fluctuating wonderingly, 'We're going to an island and you think I'd behave just as I had then, don't you?'

Haruhi smiled up at him before innocuously adding, 'Is this another lesson?'

Kyouya remembered vividly the incident she was referring to, with him intentionally acting indecent in order to embed with force, a lesson imperative to her. It was necessary then, as her laid-back attitude in response to a threatening situation left them genuinely concerned. Tamaki, he recalled, was especially affected by her self-inflicted mishap. Regrettably, however, she had somehow mistaken today's profession as another means for his brutish tutelage. He hoped she wasn't going to converse over merits again.

'I'm not trying to teach you anything,' Kyouya replied curtly.

'You're not?' Haruhi hesitated, 'I'm sorry senpai, but I'm confused right now.'

'You should be.'

'Why,' Haruhi's voice wavered uncertainly, 'have I been on your mind then?'

She paused for a moment and her face grew pallid as she was persuaded by a possible reason.

'Is this about the debts? You're adding to my debts just because of an otherwise neutral comment I made? Senpai that's ludicrous. At this rate I'm going to owe you-'

Haruhi stopped in mid-sentence as Kyouya leaned forward and swiftly wrapped his fingers around her chin. Fixing an intense gaze into her eyes, he directed her face closer towards his.

'It's nothing like that.'

Silence permeated the room, engulfing it with wisps of quietude that temporarily placed her wits in a lulled state. She returned his stare, her own seemingly locked by his forebodingly dark eyes.

Kyouya's handsome face was bedecked with errant strands of ebony-black fringes - she couldn't help but notice, given their proximity - complementing his statuesque face. His mouth was set in a rigid line, indicating the gravity of the matter (whatever it was), and for the longest moment, that was all that encompassed her vision; Ohtori Kyouya - the attractive, intelligent and currently uncharacteristic youth. Haruhi felt overwhelmed by his erratic behaviour and his gravely solemn countenance.

'Senpai, what do you-'

Again, she was brusquely cut short in the midst of an enquiry as Kyouya did the downright unexpected.

He kissed her.

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'Milord, I suggest you stop before you instill homicidal tendencies in all of us,' Kaoru pleaded as he looked on at the other members and noted their rapidly declining patience for their President.

'…Or before you're actually dead.'

Kaoru really didn't want him to die. Who's there to tease if he did?

'But it's Haruhi! Haruhi is mad at us!'

'What did you expect? I'm pretty sure she had other plans, which we ruined with this one. You can't blame her for giving us the cold shoulder, can you?' Kaoru rationalised.

Indeed, she had stepped out of the room (in which she was temporarily held hostage by Kyouya), with her countenance inscrutable. Kaoru was confused by that expression she wore; it was neither anger nor dejection. And not - by a long mile - remorse. She ignored their boisterous calls for her attention, retreating instead to a vacant spot overlooking a window, quite a distance from them.

'But… after all that planning!' Tamaki cried, immature tears flowing freely as he hugged his stuffed bear tighter.

'What planning? All you did was whine about wanting Haruhi on a trip with us,' interrupted Hikaru, 'Kyouya did all the planning.'

'Then I spurred the initial idea! Thanks to me this plan came about!' Tamaki was persistent in claiming his involvement, 'She should be thanking me!'

'So you want to get all the credit for yourself, eh? Hey, Haruhi,' Hikaru hollered from his side of the room, surprised when she actually responded. As soon as he caught her full attention, he signaled her to come closer.

'Yes?' She approached them cautiously.

'The lord wants you to know he was responsible for us abducting you.'

Haruhi turned to stare at Tamaki. Hikaru paused for effect, before continuing;

'Also, all thanks to him, you're currently on roughly a day's flight to someplace you've never heard of against your will and he wants you to actually thank him for that.' Hikaru made sure he emphasized just the right words.

As Haruhi's features contorted to reflect her anger, Hikaru turned back towards their trembling senior, chuckling and sneering peevishly.

'You're welcome.'

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Haruhi looked out the window distractedly and was in awe by the sight before her. It was dusk (how long was the flight anyway?) and the sun was setting over the invisible horizons, generating brilliant rays. The sky was a harmonious fusion of crimson, golden yellow and dabbles of red in numerous hues. Clouds obscured her vision now and then, its pristine shade blending flawlessly with the coloured canvass before it. The sea below waved back in serene ripples, lightly reflecting the sun's diminishing rays. It was beautiful and it left her momentarily calmed. She needed that tranquil ambience, especially after that episode with Tamaki.

'Are you really mad at us, Haruhi?' It was Kaoru, his placid voice snapping her back to reality. He took a seat next to hers.

'I'm just disappointed at not being told earlier,' she replied sincerely.

'We wanted to surprise you.' Kaoru gave her a genuine smile, 'Weren't you?'

She was currently stuck in a flying plane and being dragged to places against her own will. Ignoring the usage of a plane this time, wasn't that usually the scenario? Was she, Haruhi, a victim who has been subjected to the capricious whims of these idle, insanely rich kids since the moment they acquired her as a member (likewise, against her own will), surprised?

'…Maybe.'

'Then why the disappointment?' Kaoru asked, adding rather belatedly; 'You lost a tie, by the way.'

As she prepared to answer, her response was interrupted by a sudden commotion. Specifically, it was caused by a certain blond-haired, over-grown child and his mischievous, relentless provoker.

'You said you wanted to take credit,' one stated teasingly, 'How would I know her immediate reaction wasn't to thank you?'

'That's not the point! You told her that with ill intentions towards me!' The other accused.

'Oh no,' Hikaru feigned guilt, 'And I tried so hard to make you not realize that.'

Tamaki turned towards Haruhi, distressed.

'Did you see that, Haruhi?' Tamaki shouted defensively, 'It wasn't my fault you were mad at me!'

'I suppose it wasn't your fault that I'm fifty thousand feet above sea level in the middle of the Pacific Ocean as well?'

'Haruhi's not exactly overjoyed by this idea.' Kaoru explained as he ambled towards his twin and rested an arm on his shoulder.

'From her reaction, I would never have guessed.' Hikaru replied, his caustic demeanour continuing to surface. Kaoru wore a pained expression as his arms encircled his twin's neck and pushed himself closer towards him.

'Why the sudden enmity dear brother?' He whispered, leaning towards Hikaru's ear, 'Was it because of what happened in bed yesterday?'

Hikaru blushed, a deep red tainting his cheeks as he averted his gaze.

'Well, you were a bit too rough. My body was-'

'Save it for the fangirls, you two.' Haruhi advised plainly as she serenely sipped the tea prepared by Mori earlier. How did he know her favourite flavour?

'All right.' They acquiesced, promptly dropping the rehearsed act.

'But now back to you, Haruhi. Why aren't you happy about this trip?' Hikaru probed, 'And where's your tie?'

'It has to do with being in the dark about things.' Haruhi explained, ignoring the comment about her tie - why was everyone suddenly interested in the absence of one meagre piece of clothing? - 'I don't even know exactly where we're headed, let alone why.'

'Haruhi,' Tamaki, having been uncharacteristically silent for the past fifteen seconds, spoke up, 'You don't know why?'

The three looked thoughtful as they took in that bit of information (or lack of it, rather).

'Kyouya was supposed to tell you, wasn't he?' A cheery figure jumped at them from behind, affectionately hugging a doll that badly needed washing. Haninozuka turned towards his childhood friend, subconsciously exuding that childlike demeanour and physical form which contradicted normal human growth. Mori confirmed his assumption with a quick nod.

All eyes were on her now, with Tamaki's growing abnormally larger and the pupils dilating as he imitated the adoring features of a puppy, made inexplicably possible only by him. Mori glanced at her detachedly, the sombre expression perpetually carved in his face and Haninozuka took on the form of a curious pre-schooler, looking up inquisitively at a worthy subject.

All eyes, that is, except for the twins'. They exchanged glances among themselves instead, as realisation dawned upon them.

'Now that we've realized it…' Kaoru started.

'…Your lips looked swollen when you stepped out of that room,' Hikaru finished.

They turned towards her, actions perfectly synchronized as they enquired in unison;

'What were you and Kyouya doing in there?'

The male in question stepped forward from an unknown location, his flawless timing seemingly telepathic. His hands were deposited in his pockets and his body was arched in a sophisticated, yet subtly masculine pose. Casually, Kyouya directed his steps towards Haruhi, ignoring the probing stares that grew in suspicion.

'We kissed.' He answered, implying that he chanced to have heard their question.

Just as casually, Kyouya extracted what appeared to be a tie from his pocket as he stood in front of her, a slight grin cracking the otherwise emotionless, handsome face of his before adding mysteriously;

'And then some.'

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AN: Done! Sorry it took so long – my tests just finished. To avoid another long wait, I'm immediately writing another one after this;

A what if chapter to this chapter.

What if Kyouya acted a tad more... aggressively? We fan girls would like that, won't we? I can already hear the imaginary squeals in my head. Would probably update it next week. Not promising anything though.

Oh, and why I tagged this story M? For future chapters, of course. Ho ho ho.

Lastly... thank you for all the encouraging reviews! I'm definitely going to give this fiction my all. Drop another one for this one if you like it or have suggestions for improvements. I'd really appreciate those!