Quick Note: Yay, two chapters!
Disclaimer: Still own nothing...
Wow… sometimes I forget just how idiotic the antics of teenage boys can be. It all made a lot more sense now, the creepy cave with the twins, Honey in that weird truck, and Mori with the spear… and now to discover that Kyoya was encouraging it! I'll have to have a talk with him later…
"You guys are all idiots." I looked back up to see Kaoru's apprehensive eyes. I almost felt bad for berating them…almost. But seriously, how would they like it if someone were to screw with their heads? And, aside from all of this, I needed to get that stupid photo off of them. Slowly an impish grin that would rival theirs slowly spread onto my face as I realized what I could do to really throw them off. Seeing this, Kaoru gulped audibly and dropped his hands from my shoulders, taking a step back.
Looking straight into Kaoru's eyes, I defiantly said, "I believe you have a photo to delete, Hikaru." A slightly confused look came onto his face, but I could tell it wasn't sinking in yet. Wiggling slightly in Hikaru's grasp, I said, "And Kaoru, you really need to let go of me."
Hikaru's arms fell as both of their mouths dropped open in a combination of hurt and shock. Mission accomplished! My smile widen as I looked up into Hikaru's face, "Now delete the picture." He pulled open his phone and looked like he was about to comply, when realization dawned on him. He looked over to his brother, who seemed to agree with his assessment. He swung around to face me.
"That's not funny, Haruhi! You know how that makes us feel!" The smile never left my face as I casually replied, "Hmmm, maybe kind of how I feel knowing my best friends have been plotting against me." Hikaru looked as if he was about to reply when Kaoru stepped in.
"We seem to have gotten a little side tracked here. Weren't you telling us how exactly you ended up all hot and heavy with the freekin' demon lord?" The blush came back to my face as my gaze fell back to the ground.
"Well like I was saying, he had been comforting me and I fell asleep there with him…" I muttered, hoping that I could just leave it like that. No such luck…
"When we passed by the door you weren't exactly sleeping…" Hikaru teased. Argh! I guess there's no way to avoid going through this with them.
"Okay, well when I started to wake up, I realized I had been asleep on top of him. I'm really not sure what came over me, but I leaned up and kissed him and before I knew what we were doing, it just sort of escalated…" I can't believe they are making me talk about this… I don't even really know how I feel about the whole thing yet.
"Wait a minute! YOU kissed HIM!" Hikaru began pacing now, clearly trying to work off some of his agitation. "Is this just something that you go around doing? Just randomly kissing guys?" Okay, did not realize he was so pissed…
"Don't be stupid! Of course not! I had never even kissed a boy before!" Hikaru stopped dead in his tracks and Kaoru who had been watching his brother quickly shifted his focus to me. "What? The only other kiss I had was with Kanako at the dance. I thought you two knew that."
Without turning to look at me, Hikaru almost whispered, "But why Kyoya?"
I went to respond but stopped suddenly when I realized that I didn't have a very good answer. I could say he's smart and charming, but so is Tamaki… that he's the cool, quiet type, but so is Mori… that he's sweet and passionate, but so is Kaoru… or that he's witty and fun, but so is Hikaru. Come to think of it, Honey is about the only one who doesn't share major characteristics with him. So what was the reason I kissed Kyoya?
Kaoru must have noticed my confusion, because he slid next to me and wrapped a reassuring arm around my shoulder. "It's okay, Haruhi… you don't really need to have an answer, but you should probably consider whether or not you want this to become a relationship."
Relationship! I really hadn't thought about that yet… do I want to date him? Even if I do, would he want me? I could feel my chest tightening and it was getting harder to breathe… I don't really know if I'm ready for something like this…
"Whoa, Haruhi, I didn't mean to freak you out… just calm down…" Kaoru had wrapped both arms around me as I leaned against his chest while Hikaru had come behind and was reassuringly rubbing my back. As my breathing slowly evened out again, it occurred to me. These two were always a little clingy, but since this morning hadn't they been even more so? Maybe I'm just being more conscious of it now…
"Tell you what… I'll make this easy for you… I'll delete this picture right now… if…" now this caught my attention. Regardless what ends up happening with Kyoya, I still have to get rid of the evidence. I looked back at Hikaru, waiting eagerly for him to finish…
"…if you agree to a dress up day and photo shoot with us! But you have to promise to let us take pictures to replace the one we will delete!" Seriously? They want me to be their doll for a day? Stupid Rich Bastards!
"How is that easy? That's like a whole day wasted!" I could be using my time to study, but no… they'd rather torment me to no end. I stopped short when I saw the expression they shared… a puppy dog look that could rival even Tamaki's pouting. Besides, it would only be one day and would get rid of that picture before anyone else could see it.
"Fine. But you delete the photo now!" Their faces lit up with excitement and Hikaru leaned it next to me to let me watch as he deleted the picture from his phone. As soon as that was done, they each linked an arm with me and proceeded to drag me back toward the house.
"Wait! Where are we going now? I told Kyoya I'd be right back to talk!" They didn't even pause in their movement, but kept dragging me forward.
"Do you really want to deal with all of that now? Or would you rather think about what you're going to say over breakfast?" Kaoru had a point… I had no idea what I was going to say and I was getting rather hungry. But I also couldn't just leave him waiting indefinitely. Hikaru must have noticed my hesitation, as he chimed in, "Besides just explain to him that it was part of the negotiations for the picture"
"Okay, but let me at least go tell him so he's not waiting there for me all day. That's all we need is a pissed Shadow King on our case…" almost begrudgingly it seemed, they let go of my arms as we neared the front door.
"You have five minutes, or we're gonna have to warn Tamaki about the threat posed to his precious daughter's innocence!" I glared at Hikaru. Even without the picture, they were gonna hold this over me for a while… Without even acknowledging his comment, I turned and ran towards Kyoya's room.
I wonder what's taking so long… I looked at my watch for the hundredth time in the last 10 minutes. Haruhi had already been gone for almost 45 minutes… maybe the twins were giving her a hard time. Just as I was debating whether or not I should go assist her, I heard a timid knock on my door. I leapt from my seat and nearly knocked my laptop down in my haste trying to get to the door. What has gotten into me?
I took a second to recompose myself, not wanting to look obviously nervous to her. I open the door slowly and my smile drops. There stood a dejected Tamaki, looking as if someone had just kicked his puppy. His eyes made their way from floor up to mine, throwing off such a pleading aura, that I couldn't help but turn back into my room, leaving the door open for him to enter. He seemed exhausted as he dragged himself in.
Once he made his way over to my bed and sat on the edge, he looked back to me. "So, Haruhi never came back to her room last night. I waited for her… to see if she needed anything, you know after the storm… but she never came." He just stared at me, waiting for an explanation. I heaved a sigh, not really wanting to have this conversation.
"Tamaki, she was here with me last night and you know it. She was asleep when you left, and stayed that way for the rest of the night." I didn't lie, but I wasn't eager to tell the whole truth right away either. A moment of silence floated in the room as he processed this, then asked, "Kyoya, how do you feel about Haruhi?"
Okay, wasn't expecting that question so soon… I wasn't even really sure how to answer it. I know I care about her deeply… I like her and was excited at the prospect of dating her, but how do I just come out and say that to Tamaki? He's acting weird and almost heartbroken… I think it might be best to just play this one safe.
"She's an excellent student, becoming a rather valuable host, and I dare say I would consider her a friend." He kept his eyes low as he questioned, "Just a friend?" My heart began racing, and I realized that I had been holding my breath... maybe I should just tell him... I did consider him my closest friend after all. Still, if I didn't want the frantic protective father version of Tamaki berating me about incest or some nonsense... then I needed to keep quiet for now. Besides, there's no telling how she feels about me...
"Of course, Tamaki... what else would there be..." This seemed to appease the brooding prince as the air of tension let up a little. He lifted his eyes hopefully, and nearly bounded over to me. "That's such a relief… because I think I might be falling for her!"
Huh? I felt sick... as if someone had just punched me in the stomach… and equally as disoriented. I was about to refute his feelings... try to convince him that he didn't love her... but then his eyes quickly left my face and stared in panic at the door behind me... I quickly followed his gaze to see Haruhi standing there... staring at me in disbelief.
Oh no! How long had she been standing there? And what had I said to cause that look? I replayed the last bit of conversation in my head and immediately knew my error...
"Haruhi, I..." but I never got to finish explaining...
"I was just coming to see if the two of you were hungry... the twins and I were about to head to breakfast" Her voice wavered slightly and she averted her eyes as she spoke. She didn't even wait for our reply and instead quickly retreated down the hall, leaving Tamaki and myself standing there stunned.