"HARUHIIII!" Tamaki screeched as he threw himself on the petite girl, as she came in to the music room. She quickly disengaged herself from his clutches and looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"What is it now, senpai?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

Tamaki teared up immediately and ran crying to Kyoya. "Mommy! Haruhi is being mean to Daddy!" he wailed, although she hadn't technically done anything "mean".

Kyoya said nothing and pushed his glasses up his nose and continued writing notes in his book. He was still a little miffed with Haruhi for having told him to wait for a response. He thought he had been nice to her the previous evening. He had actually shown a vulnerable side of himself when he confessed to her and he had thought Haruhi would like him back, due to their similar personalities. He looked at her over his glasses when he thought she wasn't looking and quickly went back to his working, letting out a tiny sigh.

'She'll come around. I'm a nice guy,' he thought defensively. It was so strange even for himself to feel so hurt, so affected, by this girl. He had prided himself on being neutral to almost everything. He was even better at that than Mori himself. Suddenly, something clicked in his brain.

The glances...the request to wait for an answer...could it be? 'No, he wouldn't,' Kyoya told himself firmly. But he knew his logic couldn't fail. The glances she had shot Mori now told him everything! He would hunt for evidence. He looked back at Tamaki who was explaining his grand date idea to a thoroughly bored Haruhi. He couldn't help but shoot a vicious look in Haruhi's direction.

"So what do you say?!" he asked excitedly.

"Senpai, it's a pretty exciting date idea for you, I know. But to me, it's just another day out," she replied, upsetting the "King" of the host club once again. Kyoya's glance hadn't escaped her attention and she knew he was probably still very annoyed with her refusal to give him an answer. She hadn't wanted to give him an answer because just like with Mori, she didn't know what she felt about Kyoya either. She was hoping to drag out the conversation about Tamaki's date idea enough to bore Kyoya so that he would zone out.

"What's just another day?" a pair of voices asked and everyone knew it was the twins who had entered the room.

"Tamaki's idea of going to the fair that's being organized near my place for a date," Haruhi explained, as if they had always been listening in on the conversation. "He wants to try every type of commoners' food - as if he hasn't done that already."

"Oooh! Tamaki and Tanuki, sitting in a ramen shop, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" the twins chorused gleefully. Tamaki perked up, imagining the scenario - his beautiful daughter, her nickname rhyming with his own name, sharing ramen with him. Suddenly, looking at her, over a bowl of ramen, he was overcome with emotion for the girl with the big brown eyes who was looking up at him. Such beauty that moved him to lean closer and -

"ACK! She's my daughter!" an inner voice yelled, wrenching him from the proximity of Haruhi's face.

"Um, senpai? What happened?" Haruhi asked, as she brought some more ramen up to her lips with her chopsticks.

"Nothing, nothing," Tamaki replied a bit too quickly, sweating profusely. He nearly ki - no! He couldn't even think of the word! He was harming the purity of his own daughter! How perverted was he?! "Hey, eat up quick. I see a crowded dango store and I want to try their dango. If it's so crowded, they probably have good stuff."

Tamaki had persuaded Haruhi to actually take him to the fair, after all. She had decided that if in case he asked her to treat him, she could easily do it at the fair. She decided that she'd probably let him run off with some of her money to play some games so that he wouldn't bother her much. She felt that this was going to be a babysitting job than a date.

Tamaki on the other hand, was practically in heaven. Commoners' food, a cute little fair, his favorite child...things couldn't get better! He had even traded in his designer threads for simple, mass-manufactured clothing to feel like a commoner. Unfortunately, Haruhi's father wasn't impressed (Ranka didn't even want to imagine his daughter with Tamaki this time. When Haruhi had mentioned it was Tamaki's turn that day, he had quietly stopped picking out her clothes and had faked a cold and had asked Haruhi to take care of herself).

The fair was so exhilarating, so magical, so special. Special? Yes of course, it was special, he reasoned. He was being led around the fair by an authentic commoner. For once. Usually, she never deigned to explain anything about the ways of the commoners. Today, she was being surprisingly patient with him. But she also seemed to be lost in thought.

"Hey, Haruhi?" he asked kindly. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" she asked, tearing her eyes away from a toy that was making an annoying clapping sound for no reason. "Um, of course I'm alright. Why would you ask that?"

"You're kind of spaced out."

"Am I? You must be dreaming, Senpai. I'm so...here," her voice faltered.

Tamaki sensed immediately that she wasn't in the mood to enjoy the fair and he was disheartened. He had always wondered why Haruhi never seemed to appreciate his liking for commoners' things and events. Did he seem condescending? Did she feel that he was pretending to like these things to make her feel good about being poor? He had always tried so hard to never seem condescending. He genuinely enjoyed these little things in life. He had learnt to cherish them because they weren't things you could buy with money. Like the smile on his mother's face. And that's why he liked commoners' things. They didn't need money, necessarily.

Thinking about his mother's smile made him remember that she wouldn't approve of her son letting anything get him down. She wanted to smile and his job was to make her smile by being happy himself. He glanced at Haruhi, who was again, lost in thought, and he knew it was a long shot, considering the world of difference between her and his mother, but he still thought that maybe the same logic applied to her. He thought of the various times that others being lively and bright had made him forget about his pathetic mood. He could try the same technique with her. Maybe she'd get distracted from her thoughts and she'd cheer up, or at least, talk with him soon. So that's exactly what he did.

"Really? If you're so observant, tell me: what am I thinking of eating right now?" he asked, eyes twinkling.

"Um, I dunno. Pork flavored ramen?" she asked absently.

"Right you are!" he declared, obviously lying. "I see a line of ramen shops. Which one is the best, Haruhi? You must've come to this fair so many times, so you should know!" He yanked her by her arm and led her to the front of the line of shops and tried to keep up a running commentary, trying be as funny as he could. He felt a moment of pride when Haruhi giggled at one of his comments. He knew he was winning.

At the present moment, Tamaki was egging her on to finish her ramen as quickly as possible. He had briefly suggested rallying a cheering squad from among the visitors at the fair. The mere thought of Tamaki asking strangers to encourage her to eat her ramen made her hurry up. Once she was done, he slapped down his money on the table and dragged her to the dango stall. His heart was beating wildly and he couldn't seem to calm himself down. What was wrong with him? He had been so normal just before this strange moment at the ramen shop. He needed to do something about it - he was alarming a lot of people with his unnaturally loud voice and spastic actions.

Haruhi hadn't missed this. "Tamaki-senpai!" she called out, actually worried. "Is something wrong? You're awfully animated all of a sudden." She grabbed his arm to hold him down, afraid he'd float away like a balloon.

Tamaki stopped jerking around and looked at her grip on his arm. What was this warm feeling that was spreading along the length of his arm…?

"My daughter!" he yelped, springing up again. "You're sick! Your hand is so warm!" He grabbed her hands in his and held them close to his chest. People around them started to look at the two of them and started giggling and whispering. One child even pointed out to them and asked his mom loudly, "Are they in love, Mama?"

Haruhi blushed. What was going on with the Host Club members all of a sudden? Why were they acting romantic towards her? She was so tired of thinking of Mori, then Kyoya, then Mori and then Kyoya again. Now Tamaki was acting strangely too? She nervously looked up at a blushing Tamaki staring down at her hands in his.

"My dear child, what ails you?" he asked dramatically. "Please do not tell your father that you have come down with a fever. It would pain his heart so!"

"No, senpai," she said, through gritted teeth. Some people were now asking whether it was an impromptu street play. She couldn't take the embarrassment any more. "Something is ailing your head instead." She jerked her hands out of his and stormed away.

Tamaki was left standing there, amidst staring people whom he couldn't see at all. All that he could think was - why was Haruhi upset? What did he do? He didn't mean to hurt her. Why was he always hurting her? Suddenly he heard someone laughing and he turned around to see the person was laughing at him. He didn't feel embarrassed - he was quite used to people laughing at his expense. As long as it made someone laugh, he was OK. But he could understand from Haruhi's point of view, how it didn't seem that way. She wasn't someone who let other people laugh at her. He immediately understood that while he was worrying whether she had fallen sick, she had noticed others staring at her, probably even laughing at her. Intentionally letting people laugh at you was one thing. But getting caught in your tactics, being at the center of attention when they didn't want to, was something someone else being dragged in his little drama, couldn't necessarily digest.

He didn't know how, but his body moved on its own. Some sort of gravity attracting him to her so that he went in the right way, pushing people aside, just to find her. And there he saw her at last, mere metres away from him, her orange T shirt seeming to glow like a candle. And he was the moth, attracted to the candle.

"Haruhi," he said, catching hold of her wrist from behind and pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I had embarrassed you. I was acting so strange back there. I just realized it now. Forgive me, Haruhi. I don't know why I was acting like that. I didn't mean to hurt you in any way. I don't want to hurt you ever. I really do want to care for you. I can't put that into words, so maybe that's why I act paternal towards you." In the midst of his monologue, he realized that Haruhi hadn't moved away from him and she hadn't made any attempt to either. She had instead, buried herself into his chest. He suddenly felt like he was holding royalty in his arms, and he gently stroked her hair, pulling her closer to him, making sure she felt the warmth of his embrace. His strange actions, and especially his desire to kiss her made sense to him now, as he held her in his arms. He embraced her tighter still as he realized that his feelings towards her were not just of a protective kind, but those of love as well.

"Haruhi, I need to tell you something," he said quietly in her ear. "I can't believe I've been so oblivious to it all this time. I think I actually -" And he was shocked when she cut him off.

"I can't believe I've been oblivious to it too, senpai," she mumbled into his chest. She looked up at him, eyes filled with worry. "But please don't say it out loud. Not today. Please, let's enjoy this date for now."

Tamaki looked back at her, numb with confusion. He didn't understand head nor tail of her request. But he yearned to make her happy. He had never felt this need with anyone but his mother. He would do anything for the one he sought to make happy. He found himself nodding mutely. If Haruhi wanted nothing to be said of the matter, he wouldn't utter it. He kissed her forehead delicately, then held her hand as he led her through the crowd.

A/N: I think this chapter is a little longer than the other ones. I'm sorry for that! I always tried to maintain the same length, but I guess Kyoya's part's spillover did this.