A/N: We're sorry for the long wait, but Chapter 4 is here! :D Please, please, please review! Everyone who has this on their watchlist! Onegaishimasu! T____T

Chapter 4

It is a dark and stormy evening. The wind is blowing furiously in the most cliché way ever. Shielded from the pelting drops underneath a gazebo, Souma Tamaki rakes his fingers through his golden hair in the way bishounen guys do in shoujo mangas, except for the obvious fact that, technically, this is not a manga. And this is absolutely NOT a shoujo, either. But enough of that, back to Tamaki -- he sighs, the mellow sound lost in the woosh of the wind. He is in a dilemma, that he can't deny. He looks at the watch he keeps in his pocket and wills his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He has always considered himself to be a lucky person, but tonight, it seems as if his luck had gone AWOL. It is midnight, he is cold, and the moon which he thinks existed to accentuate his beauty has fled him at this most crucial moment, and has left him alone in the garden to await a girl who is either just very shy or a female incarnate of Jack the Ripper. And to make matters worse, he suddenly has the insistent urge to pee. But of course, ever the gentleman, he is disciplined enough to refrain from answering the call of nature in the graces of the budding rose bushes abundantly spread before him. He is contemplating the aesthetic value of the decades old oak tree off to the corner of the garden, when he hears a soft rustle in the distance. Instantly, his body goes on high alert and he stills.

"Who... Who's there?" he demands.

Silence.

When nothing dangerous happens in the next seconds, Tamaki grows braver and venturs out of the gazebo. He immediately feels moisture soak into his skin. A cold breeze blows and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He squints harder, but all he can see ahead of him is a thin, dark shape.

"Hello? Are you the one who sent me the letter?"

Still, silence greets him. Tamaki's heart has picked up its pace. If this is the girl that Kyouya referred to, then she must be very shy indeed! Or maybe she is actually deaf and only understands sign language. Tamaki racks his brain for possible signs but all he knows are the actions for "I'm Hungry" and "I'm thirsty". They aren't going to be of any use of him now. Besides that, the sky is still dark and he can't see the person in front of him. He takes a few more steps, bringing his hands forward and getting ready to launch his prepared speech. It is then that the wind slows down its tempo and he hears the deep breathing of the unknown figure. He is slightly taken aback at the harsh and gruff quality of the sound.

*Pant* *Pant* Pant* Ta...ma...ki...

His name is spoken in a hoarse voice, as if the person is forcing herself to speak and is having a very hard time with it. And the way she whispers his voice reminds Tamaki of ghosts and vampires and such. Tamaki lowers his hands, unsure now. He is starting to rethink the wisdom of his decision.

"U-uhm. Are... you okay, miss?"

"Ta...ma..."

"Please, can you come closer? I can't hear you, can't see you, either."

There is a shuffling of feet, and more panting. Then, the girl curses in a most unladylike manner. Okay, Tamaki is really freaked out now, Prince or not.

"I think it would be better if we reschedule this meeting after all, Miss." Tamaki says, making up his mind. He isn't very comfortable with the prospect of spending any more time getting splashed by the rain and listening to the senseless monologue of the person in front of him. He turns on his heel.

"Wait!"

Tamaki feels a strong grip on his elbow, tugging him back and holding him where he is. He swings around, prepared to repeat his previous statement - and at that exact moment lighting crashed and lit up the sky. What greets him is a sight that would stay in his nightmares for a very long time - shaggy hair that stand up and move on their own accord, and shining orbs where the eyes should have been.

The sky darkens after the flash of illumination, and Tamaki staggers back.

"G-g-g-ghost!!" he stutters, breaking away from the grasp of the apparition holding him.

With that, he turns around and runs as fast as his slender legs can take him.

"WAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

---------------

Kyouya looks out the car window at the thin veil of water seeping down from the sky. It's dark outside, such a contrast to the warm and bright interiors of his luxury car. His mind flies off somewhere, a time when it was only Tamaki and him, when his unrequited love was just a little nuisance nagging him at the back of his mind. He never imagined what he has thought was a harmless feeling would lead to such repercussions as temporary insanity.

He sighs and looks at his wristwatch. Almost midnight. Tamaki's probably on his way to the garden, too.

A sharp jerk pulls him out of his pondering state and launches him straight against the back of the front passenger seat. The engine makes a few uncharacteristic whirs until it sputters to a stop. His chauffeur starts panicking when a few turns of the car key doesn't bring the vehicle back to life. In the back seat, Kyouya tsks, suddenly irrirated at the quality of automobiles the Japanese car industry has been churning out these days. He picks himself off the floor, gently prodding the side of his right cheek. The impact is sure it leave a bruise, it wasn't gentle at all!

"I'm absolutely sorry for this, young master. I'll get out and see what's wrong with the car."

The chauffeur's frazzled apology is met by stony silence when Kyouya only straights his glases and crosses his arms.

Just a few minutes of impatiently tapping his toe against the carpeted floor is all Kyouya can take as he waits for his chauffeur to fix the uncooperative engine. He doesn't have much time. Certainly, this rendezvous with Tamaki can't be postponed to a later date; he has to do it now or else who knows what other demented deeds he might end up doing. Kyouya doesn't like being crazy, not one bit. That is why he fumbles around inside the car until he finds the long black umbrella he knows his maids or butlers always keep under the seats.

Once he finds it, he stoically gets out of the car and informs his chauffeur that he's going to walk from there, after all. He's got his speech prepared, and he has memorized every single word up to the comas and full stops. Everything is going to go smoothly as planned, even if he has to trample his emotions of the good keeping up relations.

---------------

This is supposed to go smoothly, damnit!

Kyouya doubles over to catch his breath at another turn as he chases after the fiercely shrieking Tamaki in the vast garden maze. He wants to shout to Tamaki to stop and listen to him but his words only come out as harsh, hacking syllables.

"Ta...Ma....Ki!" He gives it another try but Tamaki is nowhere in sight. He mutters an expletive under his breath as he summons the energy for another step, and then another, until he's actually moving.

---------------

It wasn't so bad when the car broke down in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't so bad when a sudden gale of wind turned his umbrella inside out, either. No, it wasn't even that bad when the light drizzle turned into a downpour, and he had to slosh though mud while dripping wet from the crown of his head. When it started to get really bad was when he finally reached the Academy, only to find the gates locked.

He first tried calling out to the guards to open up, but seeing nobody make the effort to push that little button in the control room, he started screaming and kicking at the gates, only to realize later that he might have looked more like a lunatic than a student of that prestigious school, thus making his chances of getting inside even slimmer

It's a good thing he knew of a place where the walls weren't that high, and with some effort, just a bit climbable. Half-way up the wall though, he thought he must've really lost his mind for spending that much effort for a confession that would mean severing his feelings for Tamaki. Kyouya shrugged it off and deemed it as a business deal.

"What needs to be done, must be done. Don't worry Tamaki, I'll set us out of this misery soon enough," he mumbled to himself as he hauled himself up the peak of the wall.

Then he lost his grip and fell on top of some unkempt rosebushes before rolling off into a particulary deep and muddy ditch.

----------------

Oh God, Oh God, Oh God!

Tamaki's brain recites the mantra in rhythm with the rapid beating of his heart. He just can't get rid of the crazy stalker person no matter how fast he runs or how many turns he takes.

"Argh! If only I did those garden mazes on Ouran Life Weekly Issue #138 like Kyouya told me to, I'd have gotten out of this hell hole an hour ago!" He inwardly chastises himself.

He can feel the lactic acid building up in his thighs, he has to lose his pursuer soon or he'll get ripped to shreds. He runs straight past all the turns towards the most distant hedge he estimates to be about as tall as his shoulder, wincing with every step he takes. His clothes are heavy, having been drenched by the rain that have let up since some time ago. He can hear distant footsteps sloshing on the sodden dirt path. God darn it, she's still following?! He barely suppresses a shriek rising in his throat. He looks behind him to see just how far away the madwoman. He stops running in surpise. She's nowhere in sight!

Tamaki calms down his fiercely pumping heart and tries to listen for any footsteps. There are none. He takes two deeps breaths, and listens some more. He still hears nothing. That's when he allows himself a self-satisfied smile, and starts thanking the heavens.

He turns back around to where he was initially headed to while still staring at his trail. Then he feels it. Cold, claw-like hands clamping his wrists in a death grip. He stiffens and slowly turns his head to look at his hands. Pale, thin fingers curl menacingly on his wrists. He raises his head to look at the owner of those monster-like hands. Thick black hair covers a third of the face revealing only a bruised cheek and a bloodshot eye staring to him with intense madness.

"Ta...ma...ki..."

And Tamaki screams and flails his arms about, breaking free from the lunatic. He heads for the nearest turn, a sharp left, and stumbles on his feet. He hits the ground with a painful thud, but the adrenaline pumping in his veins disable him to feel it. He crawls toward the turn and becomes horrified as he enters the clearing and sees that he is surrounded by tall hedges on three-sides. A dead end.

There's nowhere else for him to go. The madwoman is blocking his only exit and she's slowly approaching him. Her shoulders are slumped, her steps heavy, and that crazy eye staring to his soul.

"Tamaki...Please...Don't run anymore..."

The clearing is far from any sort of artificial illumination, and the only light that enable him to see shines from the moon, now proudly displayed in the clear evening sky. The madwoman sinks to her knees and then Tamaki realizes she's wearing pants, not just any pants, she's wearing man pants. She has long manly legs, too, and a narrow waist. Wow this must be a really thin woman, he thinks. The stalker rakes a hand up the too short hair pushing it over her forehead and revealing her face. Tamaki's eyes widen as it struck him.

"Kyo-chan! What are you doing here?! Why are you chasing me?! You have to get out! She might kill you! It's really dangerous out here!" The words tumble out of his mouth in panic and confusion. His heart is still pounding like a drum in a Mardi Gras festival.

"I need to tell you something-"

"Can't it wait until tomorrow? People might die here tonight!"

"Tamaki-"

"You have to go home, Kyo, I don't want her to hurt you!"

"Tamaki-"

"We don't know what she's capable of! You might think she's just shy, but she might be a murderer!"

"Tamaki!"

Kyouya's harsh shout makes him shut up. Kyouya's heaving from the effort, and it takes him a few pants before he can continue.

"Don't you get it yet, Tamaki?"

Kyouya stares straight into Tamaki's eyes, and without the spectacles filtering the view, Tamaki can see the desperation and fatigue in Kyouya's liquid orbs.

"I am the stalker!"

Tamaki dramatically gasps in response, just like how people are expected to when a scadalous detail is revealed. He can barely grasp the truth, moreso find the right words to say.

The contents of his prepared speech have all but evaporated from Kyouya's memory and his plans of delivering it swiftly and emotionlessly have been ruined.

"I've been in love with you for the longest time, but you're too much of an idiot to realize it,"

"But-but we're best friends!"

"That's what you think, but you know what, I've been wanting you all this time, wanting to touch you, wanting to hold you, wanting to devour you, to own you, your soul. I've been wanting you to moan my name and only name, to think of me, and only me,"

Kyouya gives a short mocking chuckle at Kyouya's wide eyes and gaping mouth. He leans back against the hedge and closes his eyes. A trickle of moisture trails down his cheeks. He swallows the lump forming in his throat and continues, "But that will never really happen will it? It's fine, though, I can never really force you,

That letter? It was my fault. I never knew you'd drive me insane, but you did and I promise it will never happen again. I know you don't like this one bit, and neither do I, so let's end this, ne? I'll be out of your life, before you know it."

What?! Tamaki is reeling from everything Kyouya has just said. He doesn't want to Kyouya to be gone. Kyouya's the only person who really gets him. Kyouya's more like family to him that his family in Japan is. Why? He tries to ask, but as of yet he still can't find his voice.

"I only came tonight to say that you don't have to worry anymore. There's no lunatic out to kill you and your precious Haruhi, if there is, then it was just me, but I swear I'll get my emotions under control. You can live without looking behind you now..."

They're silent after that; silent and unmoving, like they can't figure out which way to go.

And then Tamaki finally whispers it to the silence, "No, Kyo, I dont want you to go away."

But when he looks up, Kyouya's eyes are still closed, and his head is tilted to the side, resting on his right shoulder. He's breathing deeply and evenly, obviously already fast asleep.