Their relationship initiated alongside that year's spring thaw. In the days to come she would leave behind the 'senpai,' and with it fell away several of his own private inhibitions. For the first time in his young adult life, Kyoya had taken on a commitment and endeavor which had nothing to do with anyone other than himself and the one person who he would eventually come to realize he unabashedly loved.

As time went by the pretenses continued to drop. Their public discretion was no match for the keen eyes of their friends, and before long it became clear to the rest of the host club that there were now two unofficial secrets which needed to be kept. Though there could be no doubt that each of their friends offered the entirety of their support, the sliding scale of each member's happiness over the relationship was also difficult to conceal.

Now, in the midst of relishing a particularly warm evening on their spring holiday, Haruhi leaned out over the ledge in front of her apartment, and took notice of a flash of blue in the distance. Working to calm the sudden afront on her nerves, her demeanor brightened with the arrival of a potentially wonderful idea. Flipping open her phone, she dialed Kyoya whilst hoping that he had nothing better to do.

"Hello, Haruhi."

"Hey." Certain that he'd be aware of the inclement weather, she did her best to sound casual. "What are you up to?"

"Looking for better numbers than the ones presently in front of me. It's supposed to storm tonight, you know."

"I know."

"Where's your father?"

"The same place he usually is this time of night."

"Are you suggesting I might pay you a visit?"

"Are you busy?"

"Indeed I am. For the rest of the night, in fact." She smiled in understanding, as he had segued from a once bored, to a now interested tone. Her hopes flew high upon hearing the closing lid of a laptop in the background.

"I'll see you soon?"

"You shall." With that, he hung up.

He arrived to find Haruhi standing outside her home, her attention fixed toward the sky. The torrent that held strong somewhere outside of the city remained a considerable distance away, and would hopefully diminish in severity before they would need to acknowledge it.

As if to answer the still-present thunder, he grabbed her by the hand, then raised an eyebrow upon seeing the blanket draped across her arm.

"And what is that for?"

Throwing him a grin, Haruhi said nothing while leading them away from her apartment, directing him toward an unfamiliar set of stairs. Their trek ended atop the roof of the building, where she spread the blanket before beckoning him to join her.

"You'd like to make out on the roof while thunder and lightning run overhead?"

"It's still pretty far off. And I'm tired of always being worried by it, anyway."

"I see. Do I have time to calculate the odds of us being struck by lightning in the midst of our passion, before you change your mind?"

"No."

"Very well, then." He made his way toward where she sat on the blanket, easing his body alongside hers.

Running his mouth across her neck, she inhaled deeply, collecting his familiar scent woven into another new occasion. Once unsteady hands now melded against curves and plains that in time, had transitioned from shy requests into private sources of comfort.

Easing herself toward the blanket, her hands made quick work of the buttons down Kyoya's shirt before he cuffed her wrists in one hand, while unzipping her pants with the other. The heat of her body emanated upon him, and before long the article of clothing had been discarded altogether.

She relished the feel of his weight over top of her. Embraced knowing that while it was worth allowing him the control, the discovery of each other's bodies was an ongoing, and essentially level playing field. Shifting out from beneath him, Haruhi caught Kyoya's attention anew as she sought to straddle him. Moving in time with one another, her body began to flush as the presence of his erection taunted her though his jeans. He let out a small groan as she dismounted, only find her attempting to remove his clothing as he had hers.

Indecision crept into his mind at the notion of what was to come, but was quickly shoved aside as he glimpsed the expression of excitement and care that shined in her eyes. Granting Haruhi the reins, Kyoya simply watched to see what she would do next.

She reveled in the sight of him. In their private moments, he moved with nearly as much grace as he did elsewhere, save for the unspoken insecurities they each encountered throughout their discovery of one another. It was here that the proud stature and all-knowing mind succumbed to the fact that he, too, was a relatively new participant to humanity. More than ever, these were the times she found him most charming.

Laying partially on top of him, Haruhi leaned the two of them toward the blanket, when the nearly forgotten storm vocalized somewhere in the background. She gave a startled jump, at which point he laughed at her before apologetically bringing her closer to his chest. Nestling into him, Haruhi slowly brought her hand toward the waistband of his boxers. Without breaking eye contact, she came to fully grasp him, gently squeezing before asking if her actions were still okay.

"Without a doubt, my dear Haruhi."

Smiling, she placed an affectionate kiss to the side of his mouth before slipping away from his embrace. Still looking him in the eye, she began to remove his boxers, releasing him completely. Her own heart beating profusely, she moved forward to give him her full attention. Having imagined this moment on several occasions, there was little that she had come to expect other than that she prayed he enjoy it.

Trying not to think too much, she placed her mouth around Kyoya's erection, using his responses to her actions as cues. Listening to the increased heaviness of his breathing, Haruhi was finding it difficult to ignore her own pressing arousal. Reaching one hand upward, she felt for his own and regained confidence in herself as their fingers intertwined.

"Haruhi..." The message was made clear by the pitch in his voice.

Meeting his gaze, she made a small nod. Not knowing quite what to expect, she prepared herself for anything as a telling movement began to shudder through Kyoya's body. Placing her free hand at his hip, she barely had time to react as he spilled into her.

In a surreal moment, that first act of generosity was over. Giving her hand an affectionate squeeze, Kyoya worked to collect his breath while she used him as a pillow. Having moved very little in the past few minutes, a feeling of inconsistency began to permeate Haruhi's mind.

Something is off, here. Something literally doesn't feel right...

Attempting to shut out all outside noise, she quieted herself in hopes of pinpointing where the trouble lie. Within seconds she had her answer.

Trailing her fingertips across the raised skin of his hip, she repositioned herself in the moonlight in hopes of attaining a better look. "Kyoya, what is this?"

"Ah. That would be the product of my time spent as an overly pensive third year at Ouran Middle School."

Gingerly tending to the area, she counted several incisions positioned alongside one another. He had remained neat and precise, even in disfigurement.

"You cut yourself?"

"For a short while, a long time ago."

He stared at her while she examined the marks, committing their depth and placement to memory. By no means something he was proud of, there seemed little point in pretending to have forgotten the scars were there. "Are you disappointed?"

"No. Concerned. But you're not a disappointment. Does anyone else know?"

"Only you. It was a long time ago."

"So you got help."

"Not really. Eventually I came to my senses and decided to stop."

"Okay. So you used to cut yourself in a place where logically no one would see it. And all on your own, you chose to stop."

"You've managed to reiterate both the the unspoken and vocalized points, yes."

"Was the issue solved, or rerouted?"

"I suppose you could say I grew tired of being angry with the prospects of my future, and decided to excel at my family's game, instead."

"I see."

"Do you?"

"Maybe. I don't really know. If business society's idea of familial piety is such a one-way street, is it honestly worth it?"

"My dear Haruhi, perhaps you understand better than you know."

"Do I?"

"Mm. Perhaps. If not, just wait for a few weeks when we hold the Ouran Fair. I'm hoping to have collected enough stimulating data that if my father remains unimpressed with my abilities, then he should at least be unable to ignore the impression I'm able to make on his colleagues. And of course, the host club."

Burying her face into his neck, she wanted more than anything to find an indicator that somewhere inside of him there was solace. She received her answer in the form of thunder and raindrops. Handing each other pieces of clothing, they silently dressed before gathering the blanket and heading back down the stairs.

They stopped upon reaching the threshold of her doorway. Her heart warmed as she stared up at the young man who stood to gain absolutely everything.

"Kyoya?"

"Yes?"

"How much would it take to convince you to stay the rest of the night?"

He smiled a genuine smile for her and opened the door. "Now that, Haruhi, sounds like the sort of question I should be asking of you."

Watching her sweetly walk past, Kyoya made certain to shut the storm out behind them.


.

.

Greetings and Salutations! I hope that was enjoyable for you. It was quite fun to write. :)

I wanted to say Thank You to all of you for the amazing interaction with this story. I've gotten to share in some great conversations with you, and your critical feedback is greatly appreciated as well. Thank you!

As for how deeply the song The Funeral Party plays into this story, I think it's more or less subconscious. I'm not going for a literal translation of lyrics-to-fic, but feel that the song's overall mood and attitude are fitting for where Kyoya is at in his mind and life. I'll post the lyrics one of these chapters, I promise!

I've also gotten some questions as to what sort of music I link up to Takashi. Ah, however did you know I'd have music for him... ;) It's tougher for me to pinpoint complete bands or artists to Takashi, but find that when I hear certain songs, they just completely gel with him for me. Ones that stand out are All of Me by Tanlines, Maps by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Don't Save Us From the Flames by M83. I suppose I do fuse him into Snow Patrol and Iron & Wine quite a bit. Moby, too.

Poor Kyoya gets stuck in NewWaveLandia in my head, hehe. The Cure has always touched me on a deeper level, and Kyoya is the kind of character that I'm able to see several pieces of myself in. So I guess that's how that happened.

Anyhoo... Thanks again for reading! Have a good night!