Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN OURAN. GET IT? GOT IT? GOOD! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE AND GO FOCUS ON SOMETHING THAT MATTERS LAWYERS!!!! I only own the plot of this story & the OC's that I made (example: Veronica). Goudiere IS a real name, though it's used fictitiously here. Thank you to everyone who helped me out with the Ohtori names. =) Hey, here's a trivia question, can anyone guess what character's names made up the Hitachiin's maid's name? I'll give you a hint: The characters aren't the same gender. Finally, thank you so much to all of my patient readers, you guys are AWESOME!

Key: ~ Flashback~

'thought'

"spoken"

authors note!, even though I probably won't have any, if any, of these

Chapter 4 ~ Changes

At the Hitachiin Estate….

"Hikaru, I'm not sure what to say, I mean you're immune but I'm not." Kaoru explained as they worked on homework, which neither of them could focus on.

"That's true, but even still I don't see the appeal." Hikaru replied, leaning on his elbow, and tapping a pencil against his chin.

"What about Haruhi? I mean, she can tell us apart, but aside from that, I don't see what's so different."

"Well, she hasn't fallen for the boss yet, an-"

"Hikaru, we know that's not true." Kaoru said, sounding slightly concerned.

"What do you mean?"

"It was an accident that they wound up in the same, pitch-black supply closet? There are fifty on each floor! And that's the minimum number."

"Uh…. Why do you know that?" Hikaru asked, since that sounded more like Kyoya then Kaoru.

"It was on our quiz when that woman from the School District came in as a substitute one day, remember? And then she screamed about us all getting it wrong for the last fifty minutes of class."

"Oh, yeah…..she was really annoying."

"You're not getting off-topic that easily." Kaoru reminded him of the conversation about Haruhi.

"Well…. I believe it. I mean, sure she might've been following him, you know, to try and cheer him up or something, but I don't think they're dating."

'Liar. You can't even tell your twin the truth, you can't even tell yourself the truth, how can you ever tell her?'

"Alright, fine, be like that and let's just say Haruhi doesn't like him. What else makes her so special and what makes her different from every other girl in that school? BESIDES being in the Host Club."

"Well, she's……..a commoner, she's smart, unique, and beautiful. She's not very girly, and she's not obsessed with frilly, pink dresses and stuff like that, that definitely sets her apart."

"Hikaru, seriously?"

"Fine. I don't know most of the time, but sometimes it just seems like…."

"You're supposed to be together, but Tamaki and Kyoya keep getting in the way?"

"Yeah, that too, but I was gonna say it seems like she's inside my head. When I'm about to say something, half the things I don't get the chance to."

"I understand."

"Veronica?"

"Mmm."

'Um, from his tone of voice, I'll take that as a 'yes'.'

"You know it would help if you were a little more like this around her."

"Like what?"

"Yourself. Like you are in the Host Club, minus the twincest."

"I guess I could try some more."

"But, now that I think of it, do you think the Shadow King's going soft?"

"Why would you think that, Hikaru?"

'Gee, that didn't sound suspicious at ALL.' Both the twins thought.

"Well, you brought up Haruhi, he talks to her a lot, and he really hasn't freaked out all that much lately."

"Maybe, but if he has, you need to watch out for him."

"I know, he's ruthless one second, and going soft the next."

"C'mon, let's go to bed."

Next Day….

~Ohtori Mansion….~

~Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Kyoya, come in."

"Yes, Father?"

"Have a seat, I have some business to discuss with you."

'Business? The last time he wanted to talk business, he nearly ripped my heart out for costing him the Takahoji deal a month ago. Whatever it is, it's bad.' Kyoya thought.

"Kyoya, what do you think of…."

'Anyone but Haruhi, anyone but Haruhi, anyonebut Haruhi, anyonebutHaruhi….'

"Haruhi Fujioka? That…. Honor roll student?"

'I knew it! I should walk out right now.'

"Well, she's…. interesting, for a commoner, that much is for sure. Really, unique is the only word that comes to mind, though that's not always a good thing." He said, sitting down in one of his father's leather chairs, and smirking at the thought of the girl.

"That's not always a bad thing."

"Father?"

"It's a very simple idea I have, really. You see, I didn't need to sit here and listen to you lie to me, but I did, because I already knew the truth. So, I only ask that you do what's right, and confess to your feelings for the girl."

"Why?"

"Kyoya, no man can hold his own against fate. Even an Ohtori, like yourself, will eventually fall. So it may as well be into the best situation possible for both of you. Just think about the possibilities, even as I speak you are imagining the sound of children running around the mansion, but you are worried she will ignore you. I know you think she hates you, but she won't. Not after you best Suoh."

"That's a lie and you know it, Yoshio."

"You will not call me by my first name. I'm a more honest man then you can ever hope to be and we all know it, but that's beside the point. Haruhi is a commoner, I'm sure her Father would love to know she will be provided for, since there will come a point where he surely won't be able to do that job himself."

'Why does he want me to be with her so badly? It wouldn't benefit him in a business deal, or any of us in inheritance; actually, he wouldn't get a single benefit from my marriage to Haruhi…. That's it, isn't it?! He wants to prove to the Takahoji's that we are a responsible, giving, and respectable family, to cover up my flaw. Which must mean they're reconsidering.' Kyoya thought, tightening his glare at Yoshio all the while.

"All I need you to do is win the heart of this Haruhi Fujioka girl, before that awful Suoh, and we can have it all, then I hand the company over to you, and everybody's happy."

"Everybody but Haruhi, you mean."

"No, including Haruhi, you love her, I can see it, I'm giving you my blessing to try and marry the girl."

"I WON'T DO IT!!!", a fist flew to a table a created a split that only Kyoya could see, but that ran the length of the table, about two seconds later the table collapsed. Honey and Mori would've been proud, had they been there to see it. "I CAN'T DO IT! I ABSOLUTELY REFUSE TO!!! I WILL NOT TORTURE HARUHI FOR A FEW THOUSAND YEN! SHE KNOWS WHAT SHE WANTS AND I WILL NOT TAKE THAT AWAY FROM HER FOR YOUR COMPANY'S GAIN!!!!!"

"SHE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT SHE WANTS, SHE IS ONLY A TEENAGE GIRL, AND YOU WILL WIN HER OR YOU WILL LEAVE ME!"

"Then goodbye."

"WHAT?!" Kyoya's father shouted, apparently all the screaming had affected his hearing as well, as Kyoya could barely hear himself talking.

"GOODBYE!!! I'll be gone by midnight, don't bother walking me out."

"I wasn't going to. You're a damn fool, you know that?! A fool! You don't deserve the Ohtori name, so go die in the streets, or tie yourself tightly to those who will forever be more successful then you. I couldn't care less, but personally…. I hope you burn."

"I hope you know what you're doing." Kyoya's voice was coming out so deep now it was getting raspy, and all he could do was glare, the most malicious Shadow King glare he had ever done, as the next step was choking his father, and he could barely stop himself now.

"Don't concern yourself with people outside your own family." He said, stepping up to Kyoya, as if to accept a challenge.

"I'm not concerned, I just want to make sure I'm here when you fall. It's always sooner then they think, isn't it?"

"Get out…" he growled.

"No one ever suspects when he's about to be driven off a bridge, or nudged off the edge of a building, or, say, drowned." Kyoya returned to a monotone for this, proud he could at least manage that much.

"GET OUT. NOW!!!"

"No."

"KYOYA, I CAN'T STAND YOU! YOU WILL NEVER HAVE MY BUSINESS, AND IT WILL BE YOUR FUNERAL THAT COMES FIRST."

"I wasn't threatening you….Father." Then, out of nowhere, he collapsed into his armchair and swiveled around in a split second. "I know this isn't the man you wanted to be, because you told me we are so alike once, so prove it, let me stay."

"Look at you, groveling to me, to think how broken you must be right now…." He said, smiling, but it was all just for show.

"No. I'm far from broken."

"No, you still cannot stay. Get out RIGHT now."

SLAM!!!!

"Akito will replace you!…. Goodbye, Kyoya." Then the man let his first tears in centuries (but only a few) rise to the surface as he finally buried his face in his hands and let his last hope of success fly out the door behind him.

"Well, I did want to make a grand exit…." He said, glancing over his shoulder at the door, now hanging from its hinges. Then he roughly wiped a few tears away from his eyes and got out his cell phone as he considered who he would live with for the next two years, while he completed school. After ten minutes of thinking, Kyoya decided that if he called Tamaki he was going to be forced (somehow) to explain everything he knew, asking Haruhi would make her hate him for burdening her for his own selfish reasons…. well, in his mind anyway.

"Mori and Honey are going away to their tournament this weekend…. And I'm certainly not staying with either of their families." He said, now thinking out loud. The last time he'd visited Mori's father had tried to stab him and Honey's brother had nearly chopped his laptop to pieces. Yasuchika had been in the kitchen at the time, and pretty bored, luckily Kyoya had shown up just in time to save his beloved computer. So he'd decided to call the twins. ~

"What's wrong, Kyoya?" Kyoya had been standing in a corner, staring off into space and clutching his laptop close, which he quickly set down.

Meanwhile at the Hitachiin Estate….

"This offer is outrageous, Yuzuha, you can't be serious."

"Of course I'm serious, the year when I joke with the Goudieres, that will surely be the year of my demise." She said, still smiling politely, as she fidgeted in her beautiful, self-made, black and red dress.

"Yes, well, all the same, I can't accept, this is far to little to ask for exclusive rights to such a beautiful creation, which means you'll want a favor down the road, and I simply have nothing to give." Goudiere replied, sliding the document back across the Hitachiin dining room table.

"If you insist, Adrien, but you know as well as I do that I'm no businesswoman, and I have Kokoro coming to look at some creations after our meeting." Though the woman was not known to be good at business, she could've been if she had tried anymore, just looking at her gave the usually proud, if not egotistical Goudiere the chills during a business meeting, and losing this creation to Kokoro meant the Goudieres (which was actually his brother's business) would be going out of business.

"You're sure you'll need nothing from me later? This is our final contract."

"Positive, I can even lower the price if you would like it."

"No, that's not necessary, it's already far to low. I'll need it to be exclusively mine though."

"I'll need to raise the price then."

"Of course." Mr. Goudiere sighed, with a slight smile.

"So, you'll just need to sign here, and then you can leave, if you like."

"What time is Kokoro coming?"

"He should be here in about an hour."

"Well, I can spare some time if you wouldn't mind the company."

"Not at all, I'll go make us some tea." Yuzuha offered.

"I can help, of course I just learned how not to burn the tea myself…." Mr. Goudiere gave her an odd look.

"No, really, it's okay. It'll only take a minute." Ms. Hitachiin turned away from him to go to the kitchen, laughing as she did.

Back at the Host Club….

"Nothing, Haruhi…. Tamaki's just being extra annoying today, I think he's actually trying." Haruhi raised an eyebrow at this, he looked more tired then usual.

"Maybe you should've skipped out on the Host Club today, you don't look very healthy…. Or awake, or like you want to be here at all really."

"I could say the same for you, not to mention this place couldn't very well get along without me, now could it?" He shot back, thinking she would blush and go do something Hostly because there was nothing else she could've said.

"Yes, but I started off as the "dog", remember? At least you started as a regular member."

"True, I think the twins got a kick out of watching you squirm, though." Kyoya said, making a mental note that she agreed that mostly everyone else there was an idiot.

"I know they did, I mean, look at all those weird things that happened, I knocked over that vase, I became "the dog", you guys found out, I got promoted…. To what I don't know, and I wound up going to all these random places with everybody that I actually enjoy. And now I tell you everything that runs through my mind." She replied, standing next to Kyoya, looking right up at him, as he raised an eyebrow, and glanced at her in his signature way.

"You forgot the most important "weird" thing", he said, turning to look at her now as he was cleaning his glasses. "The fact that you actually bonded with us."

"Sempi, you look…. Different without your glasses on." Haruhi said, her small blush becoming more and more noticeable.

"Why does this surprise you? I mean don't you remember a while back, when-" Kyoya slipped his glasses back on just as he was cut off.

"Kyo-YA!! WHAT DID I TELL YOU about bring that UUPP?!?!" Tamaki shrieked.

"Nothing."

"THAT'S RIGHT! I- whatt? Nothing?" he asked, beginning to melt to the floor…. literally.

"Yes, now please stop yelling, you're distracting the customers." Kyoya replied calmly. Tamaki did as he was told and went back over to his current "princesses".

"But like I was saying, even I don't understand myself all the time." She said with a small smile, her blush gone, walking away to attend to a few girls, and rolling her eyes as soon as her back was turned.

~Well, that left the twins.

"Hello, Kyoya." Hikaru answered. "Why are you calling so late?"

"Hello Kaoru, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, I guess, but you didn't answer me. And this is Hikaru."

"I'll explain it while I ask."

"Um…. okay."

"My father and I had a fight, and I think he disowned me, but he's definitely kicking me out, and by midnight tonight. Could I stay with you guys?"

"Of course, Kyoya." Hikaru said, suppressing a yawn.

"We couldn't have you out on the street!" Kaoru chimed in.

"Thanks, Kaoru, Hikaru, I'll be there, um, soon." he said, suddenly aware that he had no maid or butler to pack his things anymore, and no driver to take him anywhere.

"We'll send a driver to come get you in front of your estate."

"Okay, I'll be ready in twenty minutes." Kyoya said, calling a few servants inside his room to help him pack, and bring down his things, apparently they hadn't heard what had happened in the study, and Yoshio had yet to call it in. Although they weren't technically his help anymore, they didn't know that….yet.

"Bye, Kyoya. See you soon."

"Bye, Hikaru."

Later….

"Thank you, Karuya." Hikaru called after the maid who was taking Kyoya's things up to the guest room as they followed her. "So, this will be your room for however long you're staying. I hope you don't have any problems with it, especially when it comes to the internet and things like that, they don't really get along well with the Estate."

"Oh, well thanks for letting me know, but I can still update things at school or at the Club."

"Right…. Well, see you in a few hours."

"Okay." Kyoya said, yawning as Hikaru and the maid left him on his own with his half-packed luggage, and Hikaru went to his room. "This is going to be a great chance for pictures once I'm unpacked."