With a yawn, Kyouya sat up and stretched, squinting as the light shined into the room from the large window. He rubbed his eyes and patted the floor for his glasses. Wait- Why am I on the floor? Kyouya looked around, finding himself in a mess of blankets and pillows in the middle of his bedroom, and Tamaki was still asleep. What the hell happened last night?
Once he found his glasses, he looked around the room again before his eyes widened in panic. He stumbled to the large window and hastily pulled the blinds to hide his room from the outside world. Kyouya was a dead man if any press saw what he was doing on the floor with another boy in his room. He would be a dead man.
When he heard clamoring, the other woke up, opening his violet eyes and rolling around sluggishly before deciding to sit up. "Mm…bonjour, mon ami~" he greeted sleepily, stretching.
"Bonjour, hardhead," the other greeted with an amused smirk before frowning again. It was later in the day and he wondered if anyone had come into the room. Of course, his family was used to Tamaki coming over, and they knew the two boys were close friends. Kyouya hoped that nobody would think much of whatever they may have seen. "Hungry? I'm sure it's too late for breakfast, but there's certainly still time for brunch. Did you sleep well?"
"Mm…too many questions…" he mumbled, ruffling his hair into place.
Fucking moron with his perfect hair and stupid-ugh. "I'll just ask the cook to fix something. How does that sound?" After getting a nod of approval, he called down and made a quick order before returning his attention to the blond, who was finally recovering from his sleep. "I apologize for falling asleep on you."
"It's okay, you were a lot lighter than I expected, Kyouya!" he said innocently.
"What are you talking about?" the other asked, bewildered.
"You fell asleep on me, remember?" Tamaki asked, looking at him, confused.
Oh. I literally did fall asleep on him. How embarrassing. "Er…I meant that I was sorry that I fell asleep while we were watching the French Revolution documentary you picked out," he explained.
"It's okay! Mommy needs the rest, after all!" he said, already much chipper than he was. Despite it being almost eleven in the morning, he was still slightly grouchy.
"Are you still carrying out with that nick name?" he asked in an exasperated manner, walking to his personal bathroom to comb his hair and brush his teeth. His clothes were wrinkled and rumpled. He didn't even change before falling asleep, how disgraceful. Oh well, nobody saw him other than Tamaki.
"So, Kyouya!" the blond began, digging into his bag and finding an outfit to change into. "I've got a great idea for tomorrow! We can totally dress up as cops, and…"
Kyouya continued with his morning routine, not completely droning out the other, only listening enough to keep up with what he was rambling about. Not surprisingly, he was still going as he checked his phone and computer, even managing to construct an email before he decided to ask what he was doing. "Just handling some business, nothing to worry yourself over," he responded as someone knocked on the door. "Come in."
The smell of French toast and strawberries began to fill the room as one of the maids placed their food onto the table that they had been sitting at the night before. "Thank you," he said monotonal.
"Kyouya! You always know! You're so smart!" he exclaimed, sitting down at the table and began to devour the delicious food in front of him. "Aren't you gonna eat?" he asked after a minute, stopping mid-chew to look at him.
Smiling, he looked over his computer screen, hiding his adoring smile. "I'll be right over," he assured before returning to his work. This was one of his favorite parts of their little sleepovers. They were both just being themselves and relaxing. Then another daunting thought crossed his mind. Why was it that, lately, every time he was happy, something crossed his mind to destroy it? There is so much he doesn't even know. He doesn't even know about my father, or my hobbies, or even my sexuality. Isn't he someone I can confide in? After his thoughts took over, his mood dampened considerably as he joined his friend at the table, taking small bites of his own food, mainly just scooting his food around.
They ate in silence for a while before it was broken. "Hey, Kyouya?"
"Yes?"
"Am I really your best friend?" he asked, his voice unsure.
He looked up from his half-eaten brunch to see the other looking down at his plate. "Well, of course, Tamaki…" he said.
"So…if there was something you ever wanted to talk about…you'd talk to me, right?" he asked, seeming even more unsure than before. He slowly looked up and looked the other in the eye, concern and sincerity etched onto his beautiful features.
Kyouya thought for a moment, really considering the other's question. "Don't doubt it for a second."
Tamaki didn't look completely satisfied, but he broke out into a smile. "Good! Cause you're my best friend and nothing's changing that! Can't get rid of me!"
Kyouya nodded, a small smile forming on his lips.
Not too long later, Tamaki had left and he was once again left alone. He covered his face with his hands, sitting on his bed. He was a train wreck and, to be blunt, he really needed to get his shit together. Thankfully, Tamaki seemed to understand that he did not want to be confronted about the out of character hug he had given him last night. Keep your distance. It's for the best.
A couple of weeks later, with fresher air and more self-control, Kyouya found himself standing in a kimono in the newspaper clubroom. Tamaki was in front of him, practically blubbering as he apologized for the incident that caused them to be here in the first place. They looked ridiculous, but it seemed suspicious how calm the newspaper club president was. What was his name again? Ah yes, Akira Komatsuzawa.
As he began to actually pay attention to the conversation rather than hiding behind his small black book, he realized the situation, and how horrible it would be if he actually let Tamaki do what he wanted in this instance. He pushed him to the side and gave the newspaper club president a smile. "On behalf of the Host club-"
"We would have to decline," he interrupted. He would have to talk to Tamaki about his lack of judgment later. There was no way in hell he would jeopardize the club like that. The newspaper club was obviously guilt tripping him, if only he were able to see that.
After they had left the room despite the prince's protests, they got silence. The idiot sat in a corner and kept fiddling with a ball. This damn child. Ignoring us because he's upset.
At that moment, Haruhi tried to talk some reason into them, explaining how the second Tamaki looked over, they would all end up doing what he wanted anyway. She wanted to act like she knew him so well, like he hadn't had the same treatment from the blond in the past. Get ahold of yourself. Are you seriously getting jealous? Grow up. This is supposed to be how it goes. This is a good thing.
"Let me guess, you're speaking from experience, aren't you?" the twins asked in unison. Kaoru, however, looked over at Kyouya. If anyone, he could save them from the hellish nightmare of working with the newspaper club. I mean, he's practically made of ice. Right?
"But don't you guys usually go for opportunities like this?" she asked.
"Well…no. More trouble than it's worth," they said, once again in unison. The last thing they needed was the newspaper club trying to pry information out of them. They risked finding out Haruhi's little secret, not to mention finding out about he and Hikaru.
Haruhi now began trying to get Mori and Hunny on board with the newspaper club. It's like she wanted them to destroy the host club. Sheesh.
Kaoru looked over at Kyoya again. He does seem pretty set in stone, but I wonder if he has something to hide. He wondered.
Just as he thought this, Tamaki looked over. They all stopped dead in their tracks.
"Those are the eyes," she said, giving up without a fight. She knew she wouldn't win.
"…Puppy dog eyes," the twins growled as they too gave in.
The last to give in was Kyouya. "…There will be some conditions."
Damn it. We were all counting on you, asshole! Kaoru thought, groaning. They were doomed. He knew Kyouya was smart, so maybe they weren't so doomed after all. He always has a plan. Sneaky bastard.
"Well, if Kyouya is cool with it…" they both groaned. Everyone else seemed to agree.
That's the shadow king for you… Haruhi thought bitterly.
"That settles it," Kyouya said, closing his black folder he always had. Why was everything he had black?
With that, they all shoved Kyouya out the door and wished him luck. If they had to do it, Kyouya would know what to do the best. Plus, nobody really wanted to talk to the infamous liars of a newspaper club.
The next morning, he had brought a fake first aid kit as an 'apology gift' to Akira, hoping to find out exactly what it was the club was planning. He was not stupid and he would take the newspaper club down without barely lifting a finger if they went as far as threatening the Host Club.
When he walked in to give him the disguised tape recorder, he was practically cornered. "So, we heard you finally agreed to let us cover your club," Akira said, evil vibes radiating off of him. "Wouldn't the whole school like to know just how close the host club founders really are," he said, a cruel smile on his face as he held up a picture.
Fury and embarrassment flared up inside of him as he saw the picture being taken from a distance away from his window the morning he and Tamaki had fallen asleep at his house. "I'm sorry, for a moment, I thought I was being threatened by someone who can easily be expelled by Tamaki's father, the chairman. Not to mention that I can have my family's private police report arrest people who stalk and take pictures of unknowing people. However, I know you're much smarter than to threaten people like us, so that must not have been it," he said, smiling as he grabbed the picture from the now frozen boy.
"And for your information," he began, satisfied that he now had the upper hand. "I will not tolerate any more snooping from you all. We are doing this on behalf of our president, Tamaki Suoh. Count your blessings," he said before setting down the first aid kit on the desk and leaving. "You have today and today to observe our club. We will be meeting in the courtyard. I have forwarded an email of the outline for the article you are to use. Take care," he said coldly.
As he walked down the hall, he tried to calm his nerves. Damn his irresponsibility. He should have closed the blinds on his window. He looked at the picture in his hand. From looking at it, there was no way to tell who the people in the picture were. However, the house gave away some clues that he could not afford to let slip. They hadn't even done anything strange, just a sleepover. What kind of creep was this Akira guy, anyway?
In the courtyard, they played commoner's games in hopes of boring the newspaper club to tears. Tamaki seemed to be enjoying them the most, and it was sweet. Neither of them had a perfect childhood, but Tamaki was trying to relive it to its fullest. He was just trying to get it over with. He would have enjoyed it more (secretly, of course) if the other club had not put him in such a foul mood already. He glared over at them warningly occasionally, which usually earned him a few frightened looks and squeals.
Before Kyouya knew it, he was 'it.' Okay, fine. He crouched down and touched the crumpled can that Tamaki had kicked the life out of and began to count. He heard Tamaki coax Haruhi to follow him and sighed. He hated himself. Half miserable and half amused with his self-hatred, he got up. "Hikaru, Kaoru. Hunny, Mori." He called out.
Knowing the plan, they all came out from where they were pretending to hide. Time for some intimidation.
Kaoru saw the mixed look of hatred and determination in his eyes. Something was definitely up with Kyouya. It was hard to read the guy most of the time, but he learned to see through Kyouya occasionally. The key was to just look as if you were oblivious to it. "We're already on it," the twins assured him, running ahead of everyone else to the newspaper club room.
Once Kyouya had revealed there was a recording device planted on them, they changed their tune fast. Good. Learn your place he thought bitterly. He was used to digging into other peoples' business himself, but for the club's benefit, not to throw it out for the world to see like some revenge-seeking asshole. Now that that problem had been settled, it was now their duty to find out where the hell Haruhi and Tamaki had gone.
When they found them under the canopy, his heart clenched. Of course, he was expecting this. But what he had not expected was to find out that, as they were heading back to the school, Haruhi never even knew that Tamaki's father was the school's chairman. How can you be so intelligent but ignorant at the same time? He thought. He was surrounded by clueless people. Oh well. The twins are safe, Haruhi is safe, and I'm safe. That's all that I need to concern myself with.
Until he was once again watching the club compete over who would be able to bother Haruhi. Personally, he wasn't interested in playing. He had a cottage he could stay in during their time in Karuizawa. His main concern was making sure nobody embarrassed themselves. However, Kaoru's concern didn't seem to be the game, either, though he made sure his brother thought it was. He was being watched by the twin since near the end of the school year.
The staring got even more obvious after he had tipped off Tamaki about there being a piano in the bed and breakfast. "Say, what are you doing trying to help the boss?" Kaoru asked when Hikaru was busy ushering one of the guests to their room with a heavy amount of enthusiasm.
"What do you mean?" he asked indifferently, writing in his black notebook with a bored expression.
"It's not really your style to help people get together. You do trick us doing into things for the ladies all the time, but this doesn't seem to have anything to do with them. What's up with that, huh?" he asked, inching closer to the taller male.
"If we're going to talk about peoples' personal lives, then I would like to hear how long exactly you two have been keeping your secret from the rest of the club and school," he shot back, glancing at the other to see his reaction.
His eyes widened in surprise at the comeback, but he sighed. He knew if anyone were to find out, it was Kyouya. Haruhi was insightful, but she could be really oblivious. "I don't know…just…don't let Hikaru know that you know. He's more emotional, you know?"
"I understand your concern, and I respect your privacy. Therefore, I am asking you to respect mine," he said curtly.
"You're such a masochist, Kyouya," he muttered, smiling slyly as the dots connected in his head.
Kyouya glanced at him, but refused to answer. It was best to just leave the twin to his imagination than to accidentally cause trouble for himself.
This was something Kaoru couldn't tell a soul, not even his brother. He would do something to embarrass the shadow king, no doubt. Poor guy, Kaoru thought as he saw his brother approach. I have to do something. If I don't, he's going to be miserable for the rest of his life trying to keep that stupid façade he's always so concerned about on.
To help Kyouya, he was going to have to work against him.
Hey, everyone! I hope you all are enjoying this. I wanted to show some friendship between Kaoru and Kyouya in this one! And yes, I was definitely hinting that Hikaru and Kaoru are a couple. I know, I know. Some of you probably completely hate it, so I won't be making much mention of it. It was just interesting to focus on another pair of people to give everyone a break! Anyway, please review! Ideas are always welcome! I reeeeaaaally appreciate reviews (hint, hint).