Chapter Four: Kyoto with Kyoya


"Hey, what the hell is this?" Kyoya voiced bitterly as he adjusted his specs. Tamaki and Ai were smiling like stupid birds looking at the sakura trees. They were so giddy it was irritating him.

"Aw come on Kyoya, enjoy yourself a little." Tamaki exclaimed. Ai nodded happily as she scanned through the pamphlet. Kyoya was irritated by it all. How the hell did they ever get him into the train? And why the hell did he obediently take this?

"Oh, lets go to the Temple!" Tamaki suddenly suggested pointing to a temple arch at some random temple. Kyoya looked at all the steps and became increasingly agitated. It was about 150 steps up to the temple and a 150 steps back down. What was this stupid blonde thinking? The streets were busy since it was a weekend and during a festival, people were stopping to stare at them and it was only making Kyoya more miserable.

"Lets go Ai-chan!" Tamaki skipped taking Ai's hand and walking up the steps. She didn't seem to mind that Tamaki was always grabbing her hand and leading her to places, in fact she seemed to be enjoying herself a lot. That smile of hers, the happiness she was experiencing with Tamaki was making Kyoya very upset. He figured that it was because they both abruptly woke him up and dragged him here, was the reason he was so bitter. He wasn't even given the chance to properly plan the short trip. For 2 ½ hour ride, Kyoya had to sit in the bullet train trying to plan something with only brochures to work with and his mobile internet which cut out a lot. It wasn't enough time to carefully plan, nor was Tamaki really listening. He just saw something and then led them that way. It brought back painful memories of when they first met.

He sighed and followed not able to fight back. At the top, both Ai and Tamaki were the only one's full of energy, while Kyoya was dead sleepy and tired. Had he had proper sleep, this excursion would have been less painful.

"Ah, look look, Kyoya!" Tamaki exclaimed with his hands waving everywhere, not really paying attention to the fact that Kyoya's eyes screamed bloody murder.

"Ootori-san are you not feeling well?" Ai asked walking towards Kyoya who could only watch the ground as he walked towards her.

"It's fine, I just didn't get enough sleep." Kyoya said harshly staring daggers at Tamaki who seemed to be fluttering around like a bird. It was enough to make him sick. The other tourists stared at Tamaki as if he was a model, ignoring the fact that he was an idiot.

"He seems like a nice friend." Ai smiled walking with Kyoya towards the many different places Tamaki was zooming to.

"Not really." Kyoya said grinding his teeth, making Ai smile nervously. She was starting to understand his personality and he didn't seem like the one who could say outloud what he felt. She could only smile on watching Tamaki feeling like somehow that childish friend was the one who kept Kyoya company during his loneliest times. Kyoya glanced at Ai and noticed that her eyes were staring off to Tamaki…somehow this affected him.

"Sorry about dragging you here?" Kyoya suddenly said clearing his throat. He felt uncomfortable with her.

"No it's really not a problem. I should be thanking you Ootori-san. I have never been to Kyoto before, and you paid for my ticket too." Ai smiled, the wind picking up and brushing her long black hair in the back. She normally had her hair tied up in a pony tail at home, so it was very nice to see it down. It was somehow breath taking and Kyoya couldn't help but stare at her for a moment. She was just wearing plain clothes, nothing special and a light jacket and scarf, but somehow, she looked extraordinary.

"My parents had always wanted to come to Kyoto, I only saw pictures about Kyoto from travel magazines..." Ai continued feeling a little reminiscent of one of her peaceful days with her family. Kyoya could see she had a big connection with her family, a bond that he didn't seem to understand. His only memory of his family wanting to do something together, were plans to make the Ootori name bigger and higher. He had been to Kyoto many times, with Tamaki and with Tachibana (his body guard) or on trips where he had to fill in for his brothers or father.

"You must miss them." Kyoya said not sure what that feeling was. Ai smiled gently staring up at him.

"Yeah." Her eyes were glassy, her face a gentle blush. Kyoya couldn't help but stop in his tracks and stare at her with his eyes wide and his heart beating that strange way it had that night.

"Kyoya, look look! Buy me this!" Tamaki suddenly jumped between Ai and him, with his cheeks bright red, clearly he had been running around too much and was too excited.

"Buy it yourself." Kyoya said snapping out of his trance.

"I didn't bring my wallet since I didn't know we were going to Kyoto." Tamaki smiled like a little boy. Kyoya was feeling as if he was trying to blame him for coming to Kyoto suddenly. Regardless of his agitation he walked with Tamaki to the stall to purchase the little trinket.

"What is this?" Kyoya asked looking at the stupid plush raccoon he was purchasing.

"It's for Haruhi, I think it looks just like her." Tamaki laughed wiggling the little plush toy in front of Kyoya's face. It did look like Haruhi. Tamaki seemed very happy about it, and even though he wasn't with Haruhi, he was still thinking of her. Out of everyone in the Host Club, it was for her that he was buying this toy for.

As Kyoya paid for the plush, Tamaki gasped.

"OH, look at this one. This one looks just like you Ai-chan." He smiled proudly pulling on her arm to see the toy. She blushed looking at a plush version of herself, it was a small doll with long black hair, and a little maid's uniform. It definitely resembled her. Tamaki giggled. Kyoya was irritated and wondered if Ai perhaps felt the same, but when he looked at her face closely, she seemed to like the doll.

"Hey Kyoya get this one for Ai-chan too." Tamaki suggested. Ai felt nervous about this.

"No, thank you but I can't possibly ask for that." She smiled rather confused and nervous. She didn't know how to feel about this. On one hand the toy was cute and she liked it, but on the other hand she didn't have money to spare to buy it herself and couldn't possibly ask her employer to buy it for her since he had already taken her to Kyoto.

Kyoya walked to them and examined the toy, it resembled her to a T, and it made Ai blush when he gazed at her for comparison.

"Really, please it's alright." Ai nervously said still trying to smile.

"Oh come on Ai-chan, it's cute, just like you. Here Kyoya buy it and I'll pay you back for it when we get home." Tamaki smiled handing it to Kyoya to purchase. This caught Kyoya off guard, Tamaki was the one who was intending to give it to Ai. This made Kyoya irritated, suddenly he didn't feel like buying it. Ai and Tamaki were talking to each other leaving him out of their little conversation, he was right there, but Ai was asking Tamaki not to buy it for her instead of asking him.

"She doesn't want it so leave it." Kyoya said putting the toy down. Ai saw the expression on Kyoya's face, and though it didn't look any different from his normal scowl, she felt like he was upset.

"Aw, Kyoya, she wants it, she's just being polite." Tamaki insisted as Ai trailed after Kyoya who had walked off feeling irritated.

"Ootori-san." Ai chased after him feeling like she had offended him.

"I'm sorry, I just don't want to burden you, you've already paid for everything for this trip." She smiled trying to explain how she was thinking. Kyoya's only response was a 'hm'. He didn't understand why this whole thing irritated him, Tamaki was already giving one to Haruhi, why did he have to give one to Ai too. He didn't know Ai, they weren't close associates, or friends, in fact Tamaki just met Ai this morning; and it already seemed like they were close friends. This whole situation was bothering him and it all stemmed from Ai. He could tell she was worried, he could also tell that she felt horrible for whatever mistake she thought she made; but he didn't care to make her feel better. He somehow felt she deserved to feel bad.

"Ah, you guys almost left me behind." Tamaki said catching up.

"I asked the clerk to hold the toy just in case." Tamaki smiled brightly to Ai, she could only smile back and say thank you.

"Anyways, we should get something to eat right? I'm getting hungry." Tamaki said petting him stomach. Ai smiled to him.

"Souh-san, you really enjoy eating different foods?" Ai giggled recalling the trolley incident in the train, when Tamaki saw bento's for sale.

"Where should we eat Ai-chan?" Tamaki asked scanning the different stalls.

"There is a food stall festival going on right now, so there are lots of different places to eat." Ai smiled much to Tamaki's delight.

"A food stall festival!" He wanted to see this, and he made it clear with his big teary eyes when he snuggled to Kyoya begging to go.

"Hang on, lemme look it up on my mobile." Kyoya sighed unable to defeat Tamaki's puppy eyes.

"YAY!" Tamaki exclaimed with Ai as Kyoya looked up the closest food stall festival site and they were in luck; there was a big one close by the temple.


When they got to the food stall festival site, it was already really busy. With lots of people from all over Japan who came to enjoy the sites and smells of Kyoto. Tamaki and Ai were in a state of awe, everything they looked at was exciting.

"Wow this is amazing! Commoners are such resourceful people." Tamaki exclaimed as he watched them. The stalls were so well organized, the food had a smell that could not be compared to anything he had before.

"Souh-san, look at that, that's roast squid." Ai pointed at the roasting stalls, they were unique, since everything in that portion was all BBQ. Tamaki hopped there gleefully, skipping like a little girl. It was his first time seeing BBQ being made outside. Ai laughed a little seeing how happy Tamaki was. Kyoya was just slightly interested since it was also his first time seeing such a thing.

"The squid is on a stick than they grill it! How clever!" Tamaki exclaimed observing the commoners technique.

"If it's on a stick then it's easier to handle, so you can walk and eat at the same time. This is called casual eating." Ai explained much to Tamaki's delight. Kyoya was interested.

"I'll take 3 sticks." He said to the vendor and gave one to Ai and Tamaki. Kyoya and Tamaki took their initial bites of the roasted squid on a stick. Tamaki was overwhelmed with the taste, while Kyoya treated it like Ai expected, as something passable.

"This is brilliant!" Tamaki said happily eagerly ordering 2 more sticks without Kyoya's consent.

"How do you like it Ootori-san?" Ai asked knowing that this would be the first time someone as high class as Kyoya had eaten something like that. Something that was prepared in the back of a rusty old shake, squished on a stick and cooked in the open air. It was something completely out of the ordinary for Kyoya and Tamaki, who were used to eating the finest cuts of everything; and the best of qualities with the priciest of price tags. Ai somehow felt pitiful, like a pauper compared to their excellence.

"It's alright." Kyoya said continuing to eat the squid.

"This flavour! This is delicious." Tamaki praised the cook, who smiled nervously, wondering if Tamaki was a foreign model of some sort.

"Oh Ai-chan, they have chicken too!" Tamaki exclaimed ordering one stick. He tried it.

"Brilliant! Try this Ai-chan." Tamaki said moving the stick close to her lips. She blushed, no boy had ever offered her something, she felt that Tamaki was so kind but she couldn't possibly eat from the same stick. Kyoya's eye twitched.

"Ah, no it's alright. I've tried this before." She politely turned down the offer, but Tamaki insisted cupping her face, making Kyoya very angry. He didn't normally lose his cool for nothing, but this scene irritated him more it should have. He was confused with himself and frustrated and in what seemed like a flash, before he could analyze the situation further, he had taken the stick away from Ai's face and bit on it himself. The move surprised Tamaki and Ai who stared at Kyoya.

"It's alright." Kyoya said casually realizing what he had just done. He somehow felt satisfied.

"Kyoya I didn't think you'd be this hungry! I'll get some more. Here Ai-chan, you take this one." Tamaki said handing over the chicken on a stick to Ai to finish. Kyoya watched her become nervous, he could tell she didn't know what to do. He didn't understand what he was trying to do, but Ai getting an indirect kiss from Tamaki was too much.

"Go on, you can finish that one." Kyoya said giving her the shivers. He thought she understood why she shouldn't be eating it. She hesitated looking at him and then the stick. She then looked at him and smiled, surprising Kyoya. She didn't think of it as an indirect kiss, she was just thankful that they were sharing their food with her. He couldn't believe it, could this girl be any more dense? Were all commoners this dense? However, Kyoya felt very satisfied watching her, and then it hit him; what the hell was he doing. He rushed over like an idiot to make sure she wasn't going to share food Tamaki, but didn't have a problem with her sharing food with him? He covered his mouth shocked with himself, was he trying to prevent an indirect kiss with Tamaki and her? But now, he had shared an indirect kiss with her. He couldn't turn around and look at her face.

'What am I thinking?' He thought to himself feeling a little stressed. He had never had an experience like this, where his body just moved. Everything thing he did was always thought about, right down to the details. If the move didn't achieve some sort of tangible benefit, he dubbed it a move that was unnecessary, and yet there he was. When did his legs move? When did he take the bite? He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, watching he eat the chicken silently and obediently, as if she was performing an order. A smile cracked on his face, it was cute, she was being cute. He gasped feeling sick with what he was thinking. Thankfully before he could think about it anymore, Tamaki interrupted handing him his share. It was the first time he was actually happy with Tamaki's annoying interruption.

"This is so great! I'm glad we came today." Tamaki expressed happily eating. Ai nodded shyly, she was almost finished her stick, her heart had not stopped beating that quickly since Kyoya took that bite. She was nervous because this was the first time she was sharing food with a guy like this. She had shared drinks with other before, her parents and her girlfriends, but never a guy. She worried about looking at Kyoya now, did he understand what he was asking her to do. But she believed that this sort of thing was normal for high class rich folk to do since Tamaki didn't mind it either. She sighed wondering why she was stressing herself out like this, it clearly wasn't a big deal. After all it wasn't a real kiss.


They walked around, observed the culture and people of the festival, as well as tried different foods and some games Tamaki and Kyoya were not familiar with. And as expected Tamaki was terribly at the gold fish game, but luckily for him; Kyoya seemed like pro. Because of his over-analyzing and calculating personality, he was able to catch the fish with ease, embarrassing Ai who thought she could at least catch one.

Tamaki won a stuffed bear from another game they played and it seemed to make him very happy. Ai put the bear in her backpack which she had brought along with some snacks just incase they got hungry, she was like a mother; and she felt pathetic for having such a personality.

They bought some souvenirs for the club members, and some trinkets for Tamaki to put in his commoner treasure box. Kyoya returned after a long bathroom break, but neither Tamaki or Ai asked him about it. He leisurely walked to them wondering what they were still doing buy trinkets from the same stall.

"Ootori-san, are you going to buy anything for yourself?" Ai asked putting the items Tamaki bought into her back pack. Kyoya put his finger on his chin thinking about what he should buy to take home, he was making it into a difficult process, Ai could only smile vaguely wondering why he was this way with even souvenirs. He finally concluded that for him, a little box was what he would buy. It had sakura design on it and was blue. It was something he could probably use, therefore a souvenir worth buying. Ai could imagine something like that when he bought it. She didn't really expect him to buy something loud like Tamaki had.

"Good choice." She smiled taking the wrapped box and putting it into her bag. Kyoya noticed that the bag was getting heavy and then looked to her. She didn't seem to mind carrying it, and hadn't complained once that it was getting heavy with their stuff. His hand moved on its own, placing itself on her hand before she could put it over her shoulders. She looked at Kyoya startled.

"Ootori-san?" She asked looking at him with those big eyes. He took the bag from her hands making her wonder even more.

"I'll take it" He said vaguely.

"It's heavy, so I should carry-."

"It's fine." Kyoya interrupted.

"But it's heavy Ootori-san, please give me the bag." She said nervously. Kyoya felt like something was about to snap, was she seriously not getting it. It's because it was heavy that he was taking it from her. But from Ai perspective, she was fine to carry the bag, and couldn't possibly have him hold something like that. He put it over one shoulder and started to walk away, making her rush after him.

"It's fine I said." He replied again getting annoyed. She grabbed on to the bag preventing him from moving.

"No you shouldn't, I should be the one-"

"Let go." Kyoya said looking down at her with dark ominous eyes.

"Ootori-san, please, I can carry it." She said flushed and nervous.

"If I said I'll carry it, I'll carry it." He replied harshly with an increasingly over bearing aura around him. Ai nervously backed off. He put his hand in his jean pocket and strolled off not paying any attention to her stress and panic. His expression showed that it was nothing, but somehow, he felt very conscience of what he was doing for her. The bag was heavy, why hadn't she said something to him about it. Perhaps it was out of her sense of duty that she felt she was responsible for carrying it without complaint. Why hadn't he noticed how heavy this bag was getting? He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, and found her nervously walking next to him, most likely pondering what she should do to get the bag from her employer. A smile came to his face, she looked really cute like that. His eyes shot open.

'…Cute…" This was not like him. Thankfully before he could think about it further, Tamaki came into the picture again, talking excitedly about something else. Kyoya sighed.

'Thank God for Tamaki.' He thought, both glad and annoyed with him. They strolled on, taking their time with the stalls, but it was getting close to being dark.

"But I wanna stay for the fireworks." Tamaki sobbed, large eyes watery and sad.

"But nothing, I already said we have to catch the train, it'll take 2 ½ hours to get home. If we take the last train at 10, it'll be too late when we get home." Kyoya said sternly like a father, putting his foot down.

"It's alright Souh-san, you can come back some other time." Ai tried to cheer him up.

"Ai-chan, you're my only friend here!" Tamaki cried and hugged her shoulders like a child, irritating Kyoya to a point where he had grown 4 times his size with a deathly aura surrounding him.

Ai felt nervous, and could only smile frightened watching Kyoya suddenly grab Tamaki's head.

"What do you think you're doing?" He said in a low scary tone snapping Tamaki's head back from Ai.

"Can't we just stay here till 9 at least?" Tamaki said wiping a tear from his face, his eyes had doubled, become extremely cute and very manipulating. Kyoya looked down at his face while Ai wiped the sweat from her forehead feeling nervous about the whole situation.

Minutes later, Tamaki was skipping happily along the path towards the area for viewing the fireworks. Ai was smiling even though she was disturbed about the large bump on Tamaki's head, caused by what she witnessed earlier with Kyoya's rage.

"That idiot! Does he know how late we're going to get?" Kyoya sighed irritated that he let Tamaki string him along again. Ai smiled.

"But he seems very happy." Ai giggled. Kyoya sighed again, now he had to rearrange all his plans for homework tonight because of this delay.

"Hurry up! It's gonna start soon!" Tamaki waved calling for them to hurry up. Ai waved back and hurried her walking.

"Lets hurry Ootori-san." She turned around and smiled, Kyoya nodded, he didn't want to admit that her turning around and saying that to him made him feel very happy. How many times had he looked his father and brother's back as they walked ahead of him, going on their own pace, not waiting once for him; or turning around to include him. He was always chasing their backs, and had come to expect nothing like someone turning around to say 'come along'.

As they stood in the crowd, Tamaki talked to Ai about the fireworks. She didn't know much about it, but knew cities normally had many celebrations that had fireworks. The crowd pushed and squished, Tamaki found himself being pushing into Ai more and more, making Kyoya very aware of how close he was getting to Ai. But it didn't seem to faze Ai or Tamaki. They seemed natural with each other.

"Hey I'm gonna go see if there's some space up ahead." Tamaki suddenly said moving to the front a little.

"No Souh-san, we should stay together." She said quickly grabbing his hand before he could wander off more. Kyoya's eyes couldn't help but stare at Ai and Tamaki. She was holding on to Tamaki, stopping him from leaving.

"Aw, it's alright Ai-chan, I'll come back for you." He smiled kindly petting her head.

"But in this crowd." Ai tried to explain but Tamaki's hand slipped from hers.

"Ootori-san, is this alright?" She turned to him, only to find Kyoya blankly staring at her. She had never seen that expression on him before. He seemed cold and yet so vacant.

"It's alright." Kyoya replied coldly and looked away from her folding his arms across his chest. He looked unbothered and bored. He couldn't help but feel really annoyed with her. Why did she care so much if Tamaki left? He was a big boy, he didn't need her to hold his hand and help him. Ai fell silent, feeling scared of Kyoya suddenly. He seemed to be in a bad mood, and she didn't know what caused it. The crowded pushed from her side and behind her, she tried to keep herself steady, but suddenly the crowd ballooned behind her, pushing her forward. She gasped trying to correct her footing, but it was too late she was heading down.

"Careful." Kyoya quickly grabbed her around the waist. He was unsteady himself with the bag slightly falling off his shoulder. Ai steadied herself.

"Thank you Ootori-san." She said feeling bad that he had to rescue her, it was then she noticed that his arm was around her shoulders. She felt them around her, holding on to her tightly. She swallowed hard, the lump in her throat not going. She wanted to tell him that she was alright, but didn't know how to say it without seeming ungrateful.

Kyoya knew where his arm had gone to after she stood up properly, but his left arm would not listen to him anymore. It moved there naturally to steady her. And after a moment not hearing any complaints from her, he accepted it. He wondered what he was thinking, his heart was doing strange things again. He had touched girls before, put his arm around them, held their hands for the sake of the Host Club; and yet no other time had made him feel this aware. Her shoulders were small, and she fit just perfectly in the space under his arm. She was warm and soft. He never knew a girl's body was this small, and she wasn't a very thin girl, she definitely had curves…

'What am I thinking about?' He interrupted his own thoughts. This was not good, he was thinking about her body, the shape of it; the feel of it. He wondered if he should just let go of her before his mind trailed somewhere else. But if he let her go, she might get pushed again. And what if the next time; she falls and hurts herself? The many thoughts were clouding over his mind, making him unable to come up with a solution. This had never happened to him, then he saw Tamaki as if reading the situation, waving from the front like a crazy idiot.

"Hey guys I found a spot!" He exclaimed.

"We should go there before that idiot gets himself hurt." Kyoya sighed feeling stressed and relieved at the same time. Ai nodded. Kyoya let go of her shoulders naturally as possible, much to his and her relief.

Ai didn't know what to feel, but the one thing she was certain of; that she felt like she was being protected too much. She was his servant, and did next to nothing for him; and yet he had already done so much for her. She felt terrible. He had taken her on this trip, bought her food, and yet there was no way she could pay him back. She was growing very burdened, and couldn't believe what a useless person she was. She calculated that it would take 6 weeks of works to pay him back for this trip and she was already having troubles paying for her school tuition. She pushed through the crowd with Kyoya, trying to figure out how she could make it up to him. As she stared at his back, a smile came to her face, wealthy people were not snobby people, who didn't care about others. She found in Kyoya the opposite. Even though he acted tough and stern, he was actually a very kind person.

'And he's handsome too.' She thought briefly before she realized that she was talking crazy. She couldn't help but blush, her heart beating fast without a reason. But maybe it was because she was walking fast that her heart was racing this much.


Tamaki fell sound asleep on Kyoya, which was bothering Kyoya a lot. But there was no moving him now.

"Souh-san seemed to have a good time." Ai said smiling. She was very tired too. They had done a lot in Kyoto.

"I told him we should have left earlier." Kyoya sighed feeling burdened by Tamaki. Ai giggled, she couldn't help it. Kyoya looked at her wondering what was so funny.

"Ootori-san, you're a very nice person." She said surprising herself and Kyoya, the only expression he could give her was dumbfounded. He didn't understand how she came to that conclusion. He was well known for being cold and calculating. Putting profits over people had always been his policy.

"Thank you for taking me as well Ootori-san. I had a great day." She replied with that gentle kind smile that did something wild to Kyoya's brain. Everything about his normal personality would shift when he saw that smile. He found himself lean a little without thinking, as if leaning to kiss her. Ai only smiled, thinking he was only adjusting since Tamaki was sleeping on his left shoulder.

"I will work hard to pay you back." Ai added kindly. It reminded Kyoya of who he was and what his body was doing was not logical. He almost gasped when his pulled back straightening himself out. He seemed shocked and terrified. He put his hand over his mouth, covering his total shock.

'Was I about to….' He couldn't believe it. Was he about to kiss her. Had she not said that she will work hard as a servant, perhaps he would not have woken up. It was a hard reality to snap back to, she was an orphaned young girl who was a maid at his home…and nothing more. He looked at her, closing her eyes and getting some rest on the train beside him. She was right there, and yet Kyoya suddenly felt like he was miles from her. His heart was doing that strange beat again, this anxiety was bothering him. He had to calm down. He looked out of the window, trying to get his brain, body and heart to cooperate.


When they arrived home, Kyoya could only think about her. He was irritated now, not able to understand why he was this anxious. Was there something physically wrong with him?

He sat down and took out from his jean pocket the maid doll that he bought. It was the one he refused to buy for Ai. He used a bathroom break to get it. It was an annoying walk there and back to where Tamaki and Ai were. But for some reason it bothered him that he did not buy it, so he went back for it. He put the doll down on his desk in front of him, confused.

"Why did I buy this?" He asked himself feeling like he was becoming stupid. He wasn't being himself, and his anxiety had not gone fully yet. He sighed and put his hands to head, wondering if he needed some medical attention.

"This is stressing me out." He said to the maid doll who could only blindly smile back him. He looked at it and a smile came to his face.

"You're both identical, smiling like that for no reason." He sighed.


So that was chapter 4! Please be kind and review!

On the next chapter: Back in school Kyoya visits the doctor to make sure he's not sick, and due to some weird reason he asks for Ai's help with the October Ball.