Chapter Seven:

Bobby fell onto her mattress tiredly. It had been a long day at school, and all she wanted to do was sleep. She couldn't of course. There was work to be done. The homework had piled up, and she would be kept very busy with it, but she would be kept even busier if she wanted to stay three steps ahead of Kyoya Ootori.

A battle of wits had commenced, and the two roommates were unrelenting in their efforts to fell the other. The banter was endless and the trickery was unyielding. Bobby's greatest masterpiece was hacking into Kyoya's laptop (Which wasn't hard once she figured out the password was MUSICNo3.) and changed the names of his files to that of literary characters throughout history. She made a key of what was what and left it for Kyoya. He could right everything in the end, but it would take some time.

Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one messing with someone else. Kyoya had rearranged her book shelves in reverse alphabetical order while she was away at work. It was tedious task, but Bobby had managed to get everything in its proper place after a couple hours.

Bobby turned on her side as she wondered what would happen next. Was Kyoya growing tired? Bobby didn't think she could keep things going. She was running out of suitable tricks, and at the very beginning of this battle both had come to some sort of mutual understanding that school, reputation, and friendship was simply off limits. All of their tomfoolery was conducted inside the walls of their condo, and it would remain that way until there was a clear winner. There had to be a modicum of sensibility about this whole thing.

Bobby heard the door open and knew that Kyoya was back from whatever it was that he had gone off to do. She wouldn't put it past him if he had found some new trick in a toy store, or joke shop. She had just spent the entire Sunday at the university library, but she couldn't say that Kyoya had been at Harvard looking at dusty old books for that one sentence that supported his ten page paper on the World Trade Organization because he hadn't told her what he would be doing.

Bobby closed her eyes determined to just take a small cat nap. She could do her homework later. All she needed was a little sleep, and maybe then she could function in society once more.

"This is such a nice little home," a flamboyant voice pulled her from her thoughts of slumber.

Her eyes snapped open and she pushed herself up. She had never been more awake then she was at the moment. That wasn't Kyoya. It was someone else. Someone else was in her home. Someone unwelcome. Bobby slipped off her bed and bent over to pull a bat from under her bed. She held it tightly in her hands and lifted it up as she moved to the stairs. She slowly made her away up the steps as the voice continued to sing praise of the houses interior design.

Bobby lifted the bat higher as she entered the main living area. She stopped dead in her tracks and lowered the bat when she saw Kyoya making tea in the kitchen and a blond Asian fluttering about the living room.

The blond turned to face Bobby and gave her a princely smile. "You must be Bobby," he said with a debonair flourish of his hands.

Bobby eyed him warily before she turned her attention to Kyoya. "We have a guest?" she asked stiffly as she rested the bat against the wall. "I wasn't aware that we would be having company."

"It must have slipped my mind," Kyoya shrugged lightly. He aimed a fake smiled in Bobby's direction.

Tamaki sauntered over. "It's so lovely to meet the beautiful princess living with Kyoya. He is so lucky to have a roommate like you." Tamaki took Bobby's hand in his and kissed it gently.

Bobby's cheeks turned bright red and she yanked her hand back quickly. She stepped back and bumped into the wall. "Who the hell are you?" she asked.

Tamaki put a hand delicately over his head and prepared to introduce himself. "My name is Tamaki Suoh. Kyoya and I went to high school together."

"Oh great," Bobby muttered in Irish. "He's getting help from an old chum."

"Did you say something?" Kyoya asked.

Bobby moved away from the wall and grabbed her shoulder bag off of the dining room table and slipped it over her shoulder. "Nothing, Kyoya," Bobby said. She smiled over at Tamaki politely. "I'll be making some stir fry for dinner. Will you be staying?"

"You'll be cooking dinner for me?" Tamaki asked as he clasped his hands and tears brimmed in his eyes at the prospect of a home cooked meal. Of course, Haruhi made dinner for him all the time, but to have someone he didn't really know offer to make food. It was a pleasurable feeling to say the least.

Bobby felt her eye twitch. She had done her research when it came to the host club. She wasn't all too sure if this Tamaki fella was all too bright, but she knew that looks could be deceiving. "I make dinner most of the time. Kyoya doesn't know how to cook, so he's hopeless in that area," Bobby said while she mentally smirked.

Kyoya took a breath before looking up. "Do you need any assistance with the shopping? I'm sure we could both help you out if necessary."

Bobby felt her face lose all of its color. Her jaw fell slack. She shook her head quickly. "That's not necessary," she said quickly.

She moved to the door, but Kyoya moved in front of her. He smiled mischievously as his glasses glinted in the light. "I insist," he said with a tight smile.

"We're going shopping?" Tamaki asked hopefully. He walked over to Kyoya. "I love supermarkets!"

Bobby rolled her eyes and gently pushed Kyoya out of the way. She opened the door and let out an annoyed grunt. Tamaki looked at Kyoya questioningly before following her into the hall.

Kyoya smirked in triumph. He had irked Bobby, and all that was left to do was push her over the edge. Bobby would relent eventually. He wasn't one to give up when presented with a challenge, and what a challenge indeed. This would certainly be an interesting experience for the two of them.

0o0

Bobby was walking down the baking good aisle of the local supermarket. Headphones hung from her ears as she listened to some music. She thought about making a cake for her guest. Even if she and Kyoya were having a little game, she couldn't afford to be rude to their guest. Her parents had raised her right.

She grabbed some cocoa powder as she came up with an idea. She would make some special cookies. She reached up to grab some sugar. She pulled her hand back when a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed the pack of sugar. She looked up to see Tamaki smiling at her. He handed the sugar over as she pulled her headphones out.

Bobby dropped the sugar into her cart and nodded at Tamaki in thanks. She pulled her headphones out and tucked them into her purse. "Where's the Shadow King?" she asked as she pushed the cart farther down the aisle.

"He's in the fresh fruit section," Tamaki answered. "I thought I would come find you. Are you planning on baking something?" he asked as he looked at the cart contents.

Bobby smiled at him. She liked Tamaki. He was polite, kind, and despite his childish behavior, there was a maturity to him that wasn't lost of the young woman. "I'll be making some cookies for dessert. They don't involve an oven, so it should be interesting to do."

Tamaki nodded. He didn't quite understand what she meant by cookies that didn't require an oven, but he would wait and see how it was done back at the condo. He looked down at her. "I'm not sure what kind of game you have going with Kyoya, but I want you to beat him at it," Tamaki stated. He had figured out what was going on while they were driving to the store. All the creative jabs veiled in a compliment or simple statement were not so abstract as to confuse the Host Club's king. "Kyoya has spent a large majority of his life under a lot of pressure that comes with being a member of the Ootori family. What you're doing, it's opening him up to new things, new experiences. Don't make it easy, don't let him win. He needs more people who can give him a fun challenge, but he can't win them all."

Bobby stopped walking and stared at the blond. She pulled her red curls away from her face as she thought about what he had just said. She smiled and pushed the cart once again. "I have no intentions of letting him win. There's no fun in losing this time. If I lose, I'll have to find a new place to live because I'm afraid that losing would mean that I'm not worthy of staying."

Tamaki smiled. He knew that would end up this way. Ultimately, this was a fight to see who could fall for the other first when in truth; they had both fallen for the other. They were just afraid to admit it.

"You're smarter than you look," Bobby said as she reached the end of the aisle. She saw Kyoya walking towards them.