Warnings: Slash (Kyouya/Kaoru), mild angst, FLUFF, (eventual) innuendo, and some snogging. Part 2 of 3 (I think). Might tack on more warnings later. Short scenes this chapter.

Disclaimer: Ouran High School Host Club belongs to Hattori Bisuko and associates, of whom I am not one. Written for KaraDragonfire's birthday (Happy 17th!) at her request.

2: Cash In Hand

"Tamaki blew you off?" Kaoru's eyebrows lifted a little. It was morning break, and the twins had both left to stretch their legs while Tamaki "subtly" flirted with Haruhi upon invading their classroom. They had decided to visit with Mori and Hani, but Kaoru had lost Hikaru. A moment later, Kyouya had appeared at his side.

"Indeed; apparently he 'forgot' and planned a 'surprise vacation' for Haruhi," Kyouya didn't look terribly amused. "Unfortunately, he also planned Monday's cosplay based on our planned trip for the weekend, and while I could do the research from second and third hand sources, to obtain the utmost quality of décor, costumes, and information, I need to attend to the matter personally. You would be doing me a favor if you were to come with me and help to investigate. Your knowledge of fashion would be most helpful."

Kaoru took it for the order it was. Still… an entire weekend away from Hikaru? Kaoru gnawed on his lip. Hikaru had seemed to be… to be fine, really, since the "Haruhi and Tamaki getting together" debacle a week and a half ago. And if Kaoru knew anything, it was how to read his brother's emotions. Kaoru was still feeling the loss a lot more keenly than his brother.

"Alright, that sounds fair," Kaoru agreed before he could over think things. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Nara; we especially need to visit the Daibutsu (1) and see about requisitioning some deer for Monday," Kyouya replied. He pushed his glasses up on his nose, allowing the natural light from the great windows to reflect off of them, obscuring his gaze entirely. "It will be an overnight trip. I booked a room with two beds at a Ryoukan, anticipating Tamaki wanting to have a commoner-style sleepover. Will these arrangements be amicable?"

"Sure," Kaoru nodded. He remembered Hikaru having trouble sleeping with Haruhi in the same room, but since he'd slept well enough with the class president as his roommate he figured it was because Hikaru liked Haruhi and not because he was unused to sleeping in the same room as anyone other than Kaoru. If not… well, Kaoru was sure he could take a sleeping pill or use earplugs or something. It wouldn't be that difficult to deal with.

"Good," Kyouya gave a nod to act in place of a bow. "I will see you tomorrow." He walked away, and the bell tower began to chime the warning to return to class. Kaoru booked it back.

Well, at least the second favor wasn't more paperwork.

Hikaru had complained, but after Kaoru had explained the situation – somewhat, he still didn't reveal what the bet itself had been – the elder twin had laughed. Agreeing to a no-terms bet, Hikaru claimed, was the dumbest thing Kaoru could do and he was lucky that all Kyouya had asked for was a few favors instead of his first born son or anything like that.

Kaoru, of course, had already figured this out, but thanked his twin for the concern as he packed an overnight bag – a rolling suitcase with casual wear, dinner wear (one a suit and the other a kimono, depending on where they ate), sleep wear, and three potential outfits for Sunday (the weather report had been spotty), along with a rain coat, laptop, and four pairs of shoes – which he felt was rather modestly packed. One had to be prepared for every fashion eventuality, and that included weather, after all.

As it was, when Kaoru had a car drop him off at Kyouya's house – from where Tachibana and a couple other body guards would be driving them to Nara – Kaoru was dressed for the obscenely early hour. Seven am. People shouldn't be awake this early, especially on the weekend, but there was really nothing he could do about it except throw on jeans, a shirt, and a hoody.

At least he'd packed the evening prior, else he would have seen the sunrise that morning. Kaoru shuddered at that thought.

"Are you cold?" Kyouya asked, rather nonplussed. They were already in his car, which was quite warm – probably because Kyouya had low blood pressure in the morning – and Kaoru wondered how the Low Blood Pressure Demon King had managed to wake up so early in the morning. Didn't he complain a lot (and scare the rest of the club) whenever they kidnapped him before noon?

"No," Kaoru answered quickly. "It's just too early to be up on a Saturday."

"So it is," Kyouya agreed. It wasn't unexpected. He still looked rather tired, even as perfectly coifed for a day of research and sight-seeing as he was. "Tachibana, wake me when we're in Nara." Kaoru blinked and suddenly Kyouya was asleep. Or trying to sleep.

That was... the solitary twin huffed. How could anyone sleep in a car? It was so... uncomfortable! ... Then again, when Kyouya had returned from his trip to France, Kaoru had overheard his bodyguards talking about how self-sacrificing and kind (ha!) their Bo-sama was and how he had gotten to the point where he actually fell asleep on the sidewalk. Maybe, if one was tired enough they really could sleep anywhere, though Kaoru had trouble sleeping on any mattress that wasn't of comparable quality to the one at home.

Kaoru knew better though, than to try and make conversation. Obviously Kyouya was only being civil until they got to the car and he could sleep. Really, if he knew this sort of thing would happen, why had Kyouya decided to leave so early? They probably could have gotten what they needed done mostly tomorrow, and even if they were late getting home it was no big deal because the school wouldn't care if they were late.

Kaoru sent a vaguely miffed look to the Shadow King and pulled his DS from his pocket, inserting one of the little game kept in the case in his pocket. The early hour called for something mindless, more mindless than Reiton-Kyouju (2) which was what had last been played by the twins.

Eventually, he dozed.

Nara, Kaoru was quick to decide, was much like any other small city in Japan. It wasn't a sprawling metropolis like Tokyo by any stretch, and it didn't have the same sort of history as Kyoto, for all it was a temporary capital during some epidemic in some era Kaoru didn't care about, and it lacked the glitzy vacation aura of Karuizawa.

All in all, it wasn't up to par with many of the other locations Kaoru had been to, whether it was for the size, culture, or the shopping.

"You're welcome to blame Tamaki," Kyouya offered.

"I will, whole-heartedly," assured Kaoru. They were walking down one of the shopping streets, looking for a good tailor. Kyouya already had one picked out based on internet showcases, portfolios, and service, but he claimed that there were tailors, very good ones, who wouldn't have websites and it was best to look around a little before making a decision.

Unfortunately, the streets were narrow and crowded, as was traditional, and so they had to go about on foot. The sun had no yet burned away the clouds, and according to the weather forecast over the radio – as told by Aishima since neither Kyouya nor Kaoru had actually been awake at the time – that it was not expected to get above 15 degrees until some time after noon. Kaoru had grabbed his coat from his suitcase when they parked, just to be a bit warmer than his thin hoody granted, and a pair of warm, fashionable gloves.

And he felt just a little guilty for grabbing them, because he also had nice warm coat pockets. Kyouya, however, had no pockets other than the ones holding his phone and wallet.

As they passed a stall selling cheap knock-off clothing, Kaoru's conscience got the better of him and he removed the gloves and thrust them in Kyouya's direction.

"Kaoru, what are you doing?" Kyouya lifted an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"You have low blood pressure in the morning, right? And you don't have pockets... so you need my gloves more than I do," Kaoru explained. "Besides, you're the 'cool' type. Probably because you have poor circulation or something." Even Kaoru rolled his eyes at the bad joke.

"There's a tailor up ahead," Kyouya stated and continued walking. As he did, he grabbed the gloves and slipped them over his hands. They went well with his clothes.

The Ryoukan, it turned out, was a very nice, not that this was surprising. The okami was a petit woman in a red and yellow kimono who knew very well how to treat such high profile guests as a Hitachiin and an Ootori. Although Tachibana and the other bodyguards (Kaoru was certain he'd heard one of them say "Team Kyouya" (3)) were also staying at the Ryoukan, they were keeping well out of the way as their master and his friend had tea with the okami.

Since the arrangements had little to do with him, Kaoru had wandered through the garden while Kyouya dealt with checking them in, and the non-caffeinated tea with Kyouya and the proprietor was a nice way to unwind from all the business of the day.

The had successfully found kimono for each Host in nearly correct measurements and commissioned them to be altered to the exact measurements – which Kaoru had long since memorized – by Sunday evening. A few souvenirs had been collected for the other Hosts and Renge, and they planned to go to the Daibutsu tomorrow, as well as seeing if (or, rather, how much money they would have to pay) they could pay to rent some of the infamous friendly deer of Nara.

Kaoru sipped his tea and commented on the pleasant flower arrangements in the tearoom. They weren't on par with his and his brother's arrangements, and certainly not with grandmother's, but they were classy and showed that someone on staff had a talent, or that the Ryoukan was willing to invest in such things.

"Excuse me, there seems to have been a mix-up with your room." Kaoru looked up as a young woman walked over, one of the regular employees. She was the one who had brought in the tea. "Um, I just went with one of your employees," she was addressing Kyouya and was blushing, probably from embarrassment at whatever this mix-up was. "Somehow your reservation was put on a room with only one bed, and all the rooms with doubles are full... um... I'm really not sure how we made this mistake!" She bowed low, face a bright shade of red.

Kyouya sighed. "If all the other rooms are taken, there's really no choice," he stated evenly. "So long as it's alright with you, Kaoru?"

"We'll manage," Kaoru agreed. "I just want to go to sleep."

"As an apology, your breakfast tomorrow will be complimentary," the okami offered demurely, which the teens accepted graciously. It was a common gesture and insured that, despite the mix-up (which wasn't that big of a deal anyway), they would give a good review of the Ryoukan to anyone who asked.

Half an hour later, Kaoru and Kyouya were both in bed with a respectable distance between them. Kyouya tapped quietly at his laptop, and slowly, Kaoru fell asleep.

Blearily, one eye opened. He was facing a very nice silk painting of a dragon – the black gutta (4) was a nice touch, he noted idly – and the bed was perfectly comfortable. It wasn't home, but he was fairly well rested. Not enough that he wanted to get up yet, but –

Rustling behind him set Kaoru on edge. There was someone else in the bed? He tried to think, but couldn't quite match up why that was, his mind in the post-sleep haze and unable to draw the proper connections.

Slowly, he rolled to face other direction and saw a mess of black hair. Kyouya.

Surprised, Kaoru fell out of the bed, dragging the blankets with him and letting out a small "oomph" noise when he hit the ground. He looked up and froze even as he was preparing to get off the ground. The Low Blood-Pressure Demon King had made himself known with a rather piercing glare.

"Get. Back. In. Bed," Kyouya growled. One long-fingered hand reached forward – an ominous sight – and tugged on what little of the blanket remained upon the mattress. "It's cold. It's six am. I stayed up until one. Go to sleep."

Obediently, Kaoru stood and allowed the vice president of the Host Club to retrieve the stolen blankets before getting in bed again. He was too frightened to go back to sleep.

"It's ten already; the sun's up, it's warm... I really don't get your problem," Kaoru sighed as they entered the temple of Daibutsu. The giant buddha was sat on a large pedestal, overlooking the temple that was filled with tourists. Well, that wasn't exactly surprising. Daibutsu was among the main draws of Nara, along with the deer, despite not being the largest buddha in the country. It was only the sixth largest buddha, the largest being in the Ibaraki prefecture and being almost ten times the size of the Nara Daibutsu.

Aside from gathering information about it, there really wasn't much for them to do in the temple. It was kind of cool, Kaoru supposed, but it was pretty obvious that it was something Tamaki had wanted to do that Kyouya ended up not scratching from the schedule.

"Let's participate in some commoner fun," Kyouya completely ignored the fact that Kaoru was calling him out on being grumpy. Bah, he could be as grumpy as he wanted; it was none of the solitary twin's business anyway, now was it? Kyouya's bad mood was Kyouya's bad mood. "See that pillar?"

Curious – and deciding to go along with whatever it was Kyouya was doing in hopes that it would make this part of the trip enjoyable - Kaoru followed the cool type's gaze to... a pillar. It was a rather large pillar, not that this was anything weird, but there was a rather long line extending from its base, with chatting tourists of all ages looking excited. And some of them, Kaoru was certain, were not commoners at all! The quality of that woman's suit was definitely above that afforded by the so-called middle class, and Kaoru thought he'd met one of the teenagers there at a modeling shoot a year or two ago.

"In that pillar is a tunnel," Kyouya explained, "and if you pass through it, you will have good luck. I think if we can, the girls will be pleased tomorrow." He gave Kaoru a look that just dared the Hitachiin to question him.

Well, Kaoru knew better now than to make bets or take dares against Kyouya and simply agreed.

And so they waited in line for a good half hour before they finally got to the front. Predictably, Kyouya made Kaoru go first, on the grounds that, if Kaoru couldn't fit through, there was no point in him trying. Kaoru said he was just angry that he'd been woken up. Kyouya didn't deny it.

"If I get stuck, there had better be someone able to get me out of there," Kaoru grumbled as he got down in the floor. The hole was large, but he wasn't sure if he could fit. He ended up having to bow his shoulders in so they would fit.

It took approximately thirty seconds to get through the pillar. His shoulders hurt. He flashed a thumbs up to Kyouya, who appeared twenty seconds later looking a little smug. Kaoru didn't get the significance.

After that, it was all deer, lunch, and more deer. Not that Kaoru disliked deer or anything, but the novelty of them being sociable wore off after about an hour.

Still, one seemed to have taken an especial liking to him, and he was tempted to ask if he could buy that one. Given the difficulty Kyouya was having in renting them though, he somehow doubted they were for sale. Pity, because he was sure his mother would love to use it as a tool for modeling, and he was rather inspired to make it a floral headdress. Perhaps he would use irises? Or maybe morning glory would be better suited... with some baby's breath of course, and perhaps some forget-me-nots...

The deer – now christened "Chou-chan" for a butterfly-like pattern on his side – left him suddenly, and Kaoru sighed.

"A van will bring three deer to school tomorrow," Kyouya intoned from behind the Hitachiin. Kaoru nodded, but was slightly disappointed now. Sure, the deer were boring, but he liked that one.

They left, picking up the costumes for the day following on their way out of town.

The car rolled to a stop in front of the Hitachiin mansion. It had been a nice trip, in all honesty, Kaoru reflected as he exited the vehicle. He'd had fun, communed with nature – not on par with Mori's skills of course, but not everyone could charm a tanuki into being their pet – dealt with a minor fashion crisis, and actually had a good time with Kyouya.

And there hadn't been a scrap of paper involved in the whole thing, which certainly made things a lot easier.

"I think that went well," Kyouya spoke. Kaoru blinked and saw he was not alone in getting out, though he really had to wonder why Kyouya was following him.

Still, he nodded. "Definitely successful," the twin agreed. "And I suppose it wasn't a half-bad way to spend the weekend." It really wasn't. If he had stayed in Tokyo all weekend, he probably would have played video games with Hikaru, designed an outfit or three, pulled a prank on his mother, assuming she was home at all... but that's it. Nothing really off the beaten path. A very... normal weekend. Breaking routine was a good thing, so far as Kaoru was concerned. "See you."

Kyouya bowed, saying nothing and turned away as Kaoru opened the door to the grand house.

"Kaoru, you survived!" Hikaru leapt at Kaoru and spun around him quickly, grinning like a loon. "When you weren't home for dinner I was sure he'd eaten you or something!" The elder twin laughed at his own joke, and Kaoru reciprocated. "So, how torturous was it, to be in our Vice President's clutches for so long?"

"It wasn't that bad," Kaoru shrugged noncommittally. "Most of the time was spent shopping and with the deer and-" he stopped suddenly. "Damn, he still has my gloves. I liked those gloves."

"Why would he have your gloves?" Hikaru gave his brother a weird look before shaking his head. "Whatever. They're obviously contaminated with Kyouya-germs. I'd give them up as lost and buy new ones." Hikaru nodded, because his idea was very sensible. They weren't very expensive gloves, and Kaoru knew his brother was right... but he liked those gloves. Not in the vague "oh, these are useful" way, but he actually liked them and thought they went rather well with many of his casual outfits.

He resolved to ask Kyouya about them at school.

Author's Note: XD … yeah. Like the warnings say, "fluff". This chapter is just… fluff. And a few clues for Kaoru-kun. (As I started working on this, the class next door was watching the episode of the Simpsons about Lord of the Flies – which my class finished reading at the end of February – and I couldn't help but laugh). Why is part 2 out today? 'Cause it's KaraDragonfire's birthday party and I'm about to run off to her house to eat pie! :D Birthday pie is the best.

Part 3… will either be out fairly soon or on April 23 (which is "Give KaraDragonfire 20 dollars day" – to appease her I would rather give her the last chapter than money 'cause I don't have any (obviously I don't actually have to give her money))... but I'm probably not mean enough to hold the snogging hostage for that long ^^" (Yes, chapter 3 has snogging. Beware.)

No chapter cover this time. I got gypped on Friday for computers in Graphic Arts and I had one with the WORST lag. No matter what I did, every line was STRAIGHT. I couldn't even sketch it. Maybe I'll make one at a later date.

(1) Daibutsu ("Big Buddha") is… a big Buddha statue. It resides in Nara.

(2) Reiton-Kyouju is "Professor Layton", referring to the game Professor Layton and the Curious Village. It's a puzzle game where you progress the plot by solving puzzles. It's a fun game, and it makes you really bend your mind. (There are other games in the series, but that's the only one I've played.)

(3) In chapter 36, there is a short omake about Kyouya's bodyguards (Tachibana, who is the only one I ever seem to remember, Horita, and Aishima) who refer to themselves as Team Kyouya. Tachibana seems to be the main bodyguard, as he is the one who checks Kyouya's car for safety and is the only one of "Team Kyouya" allowed in Kyouya's rooms. The omake was done in commemoration of Ouran becoming an anime.

(4) In silk painting, gutta is the resist (what keeps the dyes from touching and keeps the previous hue of the silk – like wax in batik). It comes in normal, which holds the previous color (usually white) and black, which turns the silk it's on black, leaving a thick outline around the shapes.