Winter was gone and it was now the end of spring. Graduation was 2 days away and Kana just got back her final report card. Straight A's. She wasn't valedictorian like Kyouya was for his graduation because she wasn't at this school for every year, but she was still happy with her grades and she had over 5 acceptance letters to some of the best colleges in both Japan and America. Kana was very happy except for one thing... after her wedding her father would be leaving to return to America. This tempted her to push the date back so that she could have more time with her father and when she voiced these concerns to Kyouya he promised her that they could visit him as often as possible and that her father will always be welcomed in their home anytime he wanted for as long as he wanted, and she smiled at him, not only because he was trying to comfort her but also because he called their future house a home. She wasn't even sure if he noticed it but it made her happy to know that he will call it home, wherever they ended up at.

Kana was sitting on a chair in her room facing the fireplace, typing away on her laptop, making up a guest list for the wedding, she wouldn't make the entire guest list but there was a few people who she knew had to come, for instance, her brides maids, her maid of honor was going to be Haruhi Fujioka. Over the years Kana and Haruhi had become good friends, much to the pleasure of Tamaki Senpai, and Tamaki was to be Kyouyas best man, also to the pleasure of Tamaki. She was typing down names, making a list; so far she only had family member names.

"Making a guest list?" she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the man's' voice right in her ear, she turned and looked right into the serene eyes of Kyouya as he stifled a giggle. "Did I scare you? I'm so sorry."

"Oh Kyouya that wasn't nice, you scared me half to death!" She shut the laptop and stood up, she wasn't sure how Kyouya had managed to sneak up on her without her even noticing but she didn't like that he had the ability to do so, she didn't like it at all. "How did you manage to sneak in here Kyouya?" she asked while folding her arms over her chest and looking him in the eyes, once again trying to read them, when suddenly memories started to creep their way back to the surface, suddenly, this wasn't Kyouya that stood before her, it was him, the man from all her nightmares.

He smirked at her and calmly replied. "I just opened the door and walked in, I saw you sitting there and walked up to you, I'm sorry my steps were too soft for you to notice." He stepped around the chair and started to move towards her. He stopped suddenly when she took an obvious defensive step back. He furrowed his brow slightly and took a cautious step towards her again and stopped when she took another step back. Why is she so frightened all of a sudden? He looked at her eyes and immediately noticed that she had raised a barrier that he had never known she had.

"Kana, what's the matter? I'm not going to hurt you," he held out his arms to her to show that he meant no harm at all. "I promise." And he took another step closer and didn't stop when he saw her take another step, he took more and more steps closer until she suddenly stopped and stared at him, or rather past him, her eyes were wide open with obvious terror. "Kana! Snap out of it!" she blinked as a tear ran down her cheek as she finally looked him in the eyes. She raised her hand to her mouth as she fell to the floor; Kyouya was immediately at her side wrapping his arms around her shoulders as she let out sobs. She wrapped her arms around his torso tightly and cried out apologies. "Kana, there is no reason to apologize but please, tell me, what the hell was that all about!"

She wiped her tears away and moved away to look up at him. "Do you remember my nightmare I had so long ago?"

"Of course, how could I forget?"

"Well... That nightmare... was a memory."

He raised a brow. "A memory of what?"

She looked down into her hands and spoke softly, so soft that he needed to lean in to make out what she was saying.

"When I was 14, I stayed after class one day to help a classmate study for the final the next day so by the time I left for home, it was already near dark out, I walked home slowly, enjoying the night time heat, it was so hot, and while I was walking I heard footsteps behind me, I quickened my steps and started to make turns around buildings instead of staying on my regular path home, I just wanted to lose them!" she started to speak at a more normal volume as she sat back but kept her eyes on her hands in her lap. "I turned around so many corners I was sure that I was lost. Suddenly I hit a dead end and then I had to turn around to face them, there was so many of them, at least 6, they were big, and were holding rope and duct tape." Tears started to fall freely from her eyes ad Kyouya reached out a hand to touch hers but he stopped, afraid of her reaction, so he rested it back on his side, he looked down at the floor as she continued. "They walked slowly up to me, since I didn't have a way out until they grabbed me, I fought back and started to yell but they duct taped my mouth shut and all I could do was cry. I cried as hard as I could! They grabbed my arms and tied them with the rope, then my legs, and 4 of them held the ropes so that I couldn't move, then... then..." tears fell freely from her eyes as she covered her face, Kyouya looked up and guest what they had done, he didn't hesitate this time, he grabbed her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"It's ok Kana; you don't have to say it." He tried to comfort her but he really wasn't good at this kind of thing. He looked around and saw her bed, he picked her up in both arms as she clung to him, he walked over to the bed and set her gently down on it, he tried to pull away but she still hung onto his shirt tightly. "Kana, let go of my shirt."

She shook her head.

"Kana, I'm not going anywhere, I promise." And with that she let go. He walked to the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth. He returned and laid down next to her, he started to wipe away her tears, how many times has he seen this strong woman cry now? They sat together, in silence, until she finally spoke.

"Kyouya, thank you for understanding; that was a part of me that I was ready to forget forever, but it always comes back to me, I'm sorry that I reacted so badly to you."

"It's fine. I wasn't offended at all. I just wanted to know where all that was coming from. You scared me."

"I scared you?" She looked at her ring. "Kyouya, where did you get this ring? I know it's not new."

He looked at her ring and took her hand to get a closer look. "This ring," he started. "Was my mothers, and grandmothers, and so on, it has been in my family for generations and so my father gave it to me to give to you." He put her hand down and gave her a weak smile.

"Oh. It's beautiful. Did you want me to have it?"

"Of course I did, you are marrying into the Ootori family are you not? It's your right to wear it." He said, a little appalled at her for questioning it.

"Well yeah I know that but, what about your brothers? Why don't their wives have this ring?" she asked without looking at him.

"Well..." he began. He pulled her face up to look at him as he continued. "My father was going to give it to the sole heir of the company, and since I was promised half the company that means I will have the most control. My brothers have to split the other half, and who knows, maybe I can buy their shares from them, and my father knew this and thus, gave the ring to me." He smiled a little more warmly now.

"What about your sister?"

"She will never be heir, so she shall never have this ring." He stated simply.

She shook her head. "Well then I guess I am honored." She smiled back at him and leaned her head on him.

"Good."

The summer was nearing an end and Kana went into Kyouyas room without knocking, to see him on the phone, it was obviously Tamaki by the way Kyouya hung his head.

"Tamaki we can't just drop what we are doing to go run off to some beach... no, you cannot use my families' private beach again... because I said so! Tamaki, can we talk later? Yeah... bye." And he hung up. He stood up with a sigh and walked past Kana into the bathroom. While he was in there she took it upon herself to sit down on his bed. Then he came out of the bathroom and sat down next to her on the bed and then lay on his back. "What am I going to do about him?" he asked while reaching his hand to hers. Over the last few months they had made it a point to become more affectionate to each other, they smiled more warmly to each other and held hands alot, they even kissed more frequently, but they never shared a kiss as passionate as the one they shared the morning after her nightmare, and that one was still considered very mild, even to Kyouyas standards. Kana looked down at him as he took her hand and brought it to his mouth for a tender kiss, she smiled, he always kissed her hands.

"Kyouya, I've been thinking..."she started to say, and when he looked up at her she leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on the lips, she pulled away slightly to look at his reaction and when he did nothing, she kissed him again, and then once again pulled away, but this time he put his hand behind her head and pulled her down for another kiss, but this one was deeper, she pressed her body against his and deepened it even more. Kyouya parted his lips some and licked at her mouth, begging for entry and when she allowed him, she could feel him exploring her mouth; she opened her eyes in surprise at his earnestness but closed them and started to explore his, they tasted each other, her mouth was sweet and to her surprise, so was his. Kyouya let his hands trail down her back to rest on her lower back and he tasted her, suddenly she gently nipped at his lower lip and he let out a small gasp, surprised by how much he liked that. He pulled her closer as he sat them both up and gently pushed her down on her back, he crawled on top, never parting their lips once, as she ran her hands up his arms and around his neck , she pulled him against her till he was lying flat on top of her body. His hands explored, running up her sides and back down to her hips, he gripped them with great force and pulled even closer to her until she parted her legs to allow him rest his knees onto the bed, he pressed even further down and she stifled a sigh. Finally he parted from her lips and without even taking a break he started to trail kisses along her jaw line and on her neck, he nipped at her collar bone and smiled slightly as she let out a soft gasp and gripped his hair softly, he trailed them back up to meet her lips again. Then he stopped, looked right into her eyes, and smiled

"Kana, I've been thinking as well." He said with a smirk. He kissed her one more time and then sat up to sit on the edge of the bed, he adjusted his glasses and looked back at her, she still lay there on her back, looking up at the ceiling with a soft smile on her face. He stood up and offered his hand to her, she just looked at him. She slowly lifted her hand accepted his, but instead of standing up she pulled him down to lay back down on the bed next to her. He stayed there and they both looked up at the ceiling, hand in hand.

"Kyouya," she began a few minutes later. "What is it that Tamaki Sempai was talking to you about?" she asked while still looking at the ceiling.

"He wanted us to all go to my families' private beach for a week. I told him that it was too late of notice." He replied in almost a whisper, he turned over to lye on his side and faced her.

"Does that mean you don't want to go? I would like to. Can we?" she turned her head to look at him.

"I guess if you really want to we can." He knitted his brow some. Why did she want to go?

She saw his facial expression and decided to explain. "It would be nice to see the Host members again, and it's our last summer before we enter the world of marriage, let's just... act like kids, after all, you yourself are only 21 years old, I see no problem with taking time off for some fun."

He thought about it for a moment. She wants me to have fun? I guess she is still a kid and wants one last moment of fun in the sun, but why does she have to drag me into it? Well I can't just leave her alone with them, especially the twins and Tamaki. He nodded. "Ok, we'll go, I'll start the plans." And with that she smiled, kissed him once and left him be to make plans.

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