Bright realizations

Chapter four: Fifth light
by Reiyuka

She ducked and picked up a mother-of-pearl shell, wiping it clean of sand before handing it to him. "I wonder why Tamaki suddenly wanted to bring shells as souvenirs." Kyouya shrugged lightly as he dropped the gleaming pink thing in the bucket, "You know how he gets sometimes." She nodded lightly, knowing well enough how silly the King could be, carefully picking her way through the shells and stones in the surf. He was somewhat reminded of how she had walked through the hallway of his house and smiled softly at the memory. "My sister will probably like the shells, though," he noted, bending down himself to pick up an exceptionally pretty one, "she's always been fond of things related to the sea." She didn't really reply and continued picking up shells, giving him a nice view of her bare legs. A warm feeling rushed through him at the sight of her soft, white skin and he sighed a little in annoyance of his own emotions, no matter how used to them he was getting. He turned away from her so that he wouldn't be confronted with that sight every time she picked up another shell.

"Your sister is really nice. So is your mother, for that matter." He turned back at that, surprised when he found himself looking straight in her eyes. Apparently she'd stood up and turned to look at him while saying that. As an afterthought, she added, "I had fun, then." They hadn't really talked about her visit yet. He wasn't sure if it was because he was worried about what she might say, or because he just wasn't ready to talk about it himself. Either way, what was fun? The kiss? To him, that had been the highlight of the visit, Kyouya admitted, but she might mean something else. He glanced at her figure a moment before asking something he'd been meaning to ask her. "You really dislike my father, don't you?"

She stayed quiet for a while, frowning lightly at the setting sun as she thought about how to answer. Kyouya figured she was probably trying to find a nice way to say how much she hated the man. That'd be such a Haruhi thing to do. Instead, she started with, "I admire him." He blinked and turned to look at where she stood with her feet in the water. "He has accomplished a lot and is very successful. But... I feel like he takes a lot of things for granted." He turned full now, intently watching her face to decipher how much truth there would be in her answer. "Like what?" Instead, his heart jumped slightly as she turned to him and replied, "Like you." Was he having heart palpitations now, too? Maybe he should go see a doctor. First the feverish feelings, now the heart palpitations... They were enough to perhaps deceive himself into believing he was truly ill. But not quite.

"He has such marvellous children who do their best to please him and still he demands more. I mean, I'm pretty sure your sister didn't marry out of love, or at least not completely. She probably forced herself to care for the man that she thought her father would like. And instead of being content, he complains that she's always over at your house. Seriously!" She continued her voice calm though her face betrayed how angry it made her feel. "Is he ever content? Can he truly say, "this is enough" and be happy with it?" She shook her head in frustration. "Not only does he make it difficult for himself to be happy, but he makes it even more difficult for you." Kyouya placed a hand on her shoulder and she stared up into his face, eyes blazing, and he wondered what it would be like to have someone like Haruhi in his bed. She'd probably give without taking or demanding anything. The thought alone aroused him, and he smiled in disgust of his own lust. "Calm down, Haruhi." She breathed in deeply and the fire in her eyes died, making Kyouya wish he hadn't asked her to relax. "I'm sorry, Kyouya-senpai," Haruhi's voice was its normal tone again as she apologized to him, "I didn't mean to rave at you like that. It just... bugs me. Like I said, I admire him a great deal for what he's accomplished professionally, but I disagree with him when it concerns personal things." He figured it was useless to try and explain to her that, like with most of the children of their rank, professional and personal were not really separated.

"Rant all you want, Haruhi," he smiled softly at her and removed the hand from her shoulder, as usual shaking it a little to get rid of the tingly feelings. He'd really have to take care of those lustfull feelings sometime soon – kissing her really hadn't helped, on the contrary even. "I find it amusing, really. You're one of the only people who talks back to my father." She laughed almost shyly, he noted, as he recognized a soft blush on her cheeks.

"Well," she mused with a smile, "at least one of us is amused."

They sure were a sight for sore eyes, standing together like that in the surf. She hadn't even noticed that the clouds were darkening, a sure sign of an approaching storm.

He hadn't believed his cousin when he had told him his suspicions. Nor had he thought that Tamaki had reason to send the two off to do some fools errand. Seeing them together now changed his mind, though. Haruhi's face was always gentle, so that was nothing new, or so Mori thought, although the same couldn't be said about Kyouya's gentle look in his eyes. The raising of her voice and intense look were very uncharacteristic of her, though.

When he had placed his hand on her shoulder, he'd unconsciously stepped closer. They were so close together, their faces only inches apart. If they kissed... well, Mori didn't know what he would do, but he knew he'd certainly do something. If Kyouya dared to take advantage of the innocent girl, there would be hell to pay.

He had been both disappointed and relieved when he heard Haruhi chuckle softly. It would've made him feel a bit better if Kyouya had turned out to be a fiend. At least then he could've defended the girls' honour, or something like that. Sadly, though, he knew the Ootori better than that. If – and that was a big IF in is opinion – Kyouya truly loved Haruhi... well... then he'd no longer have to protect her.

His heart stopped for a moment as he saw him take her hand with a smile and head towards the house, actually laughing out loud at something she had said.

Life was so unfair sometimes.

- A fifth bulb switched on in the now fairly light room, revealing that there was only one light left in the row. -

Authors' notes: This was definetly one of my favourite chapters to write. Honestly I love Mori-senpai; if I was a customer at the host club I'd definetly go for him or Kyouya. I also think that he's one of the more "worthy ones" when it comes to Haruhi. While silent, I imagine his love to be strongest. Hence why I put him last, really, although truthfully this is the only place where Mori has the opportunity to watch the two interact.
In any case, like I said, last chapter - which is the next one - is going pretty well, so you'll probably be getting the ending of this little tale next Saturday. I hope you'll look forward to it, and I hope you liked this chapter, too. Let me know what you think, as usual, and thanks for reading!