I was going to wait until next week... But since I finished writing the chapter earlier, why not just let you readers read it? XD

Thanks to , -my-forgotten-rose, codenamehawkeye, REDRydingHood and Rose527, for commenting/reviewing! ^^

Anyway, do enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 10: Feelings

Kyoya sat on a couch in his room. Haruhi had barely managed to escape for a week before Tamaki started panicking. Why did I ever befriend that fool? Kyoya wondered. He heard the door open and looked up to see Lia enter the room with a basket of laundry. "Weren't you suppose to have folded that elsewhere?" Kyoya demanded as she sat down on the floor across from him with the basket.

"The laundry room was a little too crowded and stuffy," Lia answered as she begin to fold his clothes in front of him. "It seems like that room is the best place for all the maids to gossip." She placed a folded t-shirt on the coffee table followed by another.

"And you have no intention of gossiping?" Kyoya asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I have work to do," Lia shrugged. She ignored the glares that he threw at her and the wild beating of her heart. After awhile, Kyoya got up and went to his desk to study. There was silence in the room as both did their own work. After a few minutes, Kyoya's phone rang.

"Hello?" Kyoya said impatiently.

"Kyoya, we must go and rescue our daughter!" Lia heard Tamaki's voice from where she sat. She watched as Kyoya held the phone away from his ear.

"If that is what you wish," Kyoya replied. He listened as Tamaki told him about the 'brilliant' plan he had. "Uh-huh… Alright… I guess the helicopter can be used… I will call the pilots and let them know about our arrival." He cancelled the call. Then, he looked at Lia and said, "Pack my bags and yours. We will be going to Karuizawa. I will make sure that Aijima drives you to the summer house. Be ready in half an hour."

"But-" Lia begin to protest. But Kyoya turned and left the room, dialing another number on his phone and calmly telling the person his instructions.

Lia pouted. How long will they be staying in Karuizawa? She needed details before she knew how much to pack. She sighed. No point asking Kyoya, he probably disappeared by now. She dragged two huge luggage bags from a hidden closet that was in Kyoya's room, throwing in the clothes that she thinks Kyoya would like to wear.

They should have his toiletries there since it is owned by the Ootori family… Lia thought as she closed both the bags and had them ready beside the door. Then, she went over to her room and packed whatever she thought she would need. Which wasn't much since most of her things were still in back at home.

He could have given me earlier warning… Lia thought. From the look on Kyoya's face earlier, he had expected that morning's event to happen. But still, he had failed to notify her. Demon Lord… she thought as she climbed into the car.

Lia's mouth dropped open the moment she entered the house. Outside, the gardens looked perfect and beautiful. But inside the house… It looked as though no one had stepped into the house for years. There was a thick layer of dust on every available surface as well as cobwebs in every corner. The house felt humid and the furniture was wrapped in plastic.

Wait… Does this mean that nobody used this house before? Lia thought. She turned to see the car racing off. Aijima most probably knew that this would happen and didn't want to stay around to help her.

Lia sighed and went into the house with the luggage bags, closing the door behind her. She placed the luggage bags in the living room. First thing she had to do was find a mop and a broom. She needed to get rid of the dust. She was happy to see that there was necessary electrical appliances in the house as well as bed sheets, towels, blankets and pillows in a closet.

She opened the fridge and frowned when she saw that it was empty by the electric was running. Wasteful… she thought. She needed to get food if she were to cook for herself to eat. But first, a quick clean up! She dumped a couple of bed sheets, towels and pillow sheets into the washing machine. Then, she grabbed the vacuum cleaner and headed to the first bedroom. It looked huge and suited enough for Kyoya's taste. She cleaned the room first and then headed downstairs to clean the rooms in the house that she thought would be in use.

Then, she went back upstairs and found a small bedroom across from Kyoya's room with a bed and simple furniture (most probably for a servant). She decided to use that as her room and cleaned up the place. She went back to the laundry room, took out the wet laundry and hung them on a line at the back of the house. Then, she went into town to buy some groceries.

Kyoya watched as the others begin to plan what they would do to earn refreshment points. His holiday was going to be fun for awhile. He wondered whether Tamaki noticed the piano that sat in the café area. The fool could win the entire contest if he noticed the piano. But he doubted that Tamaki had even seen it.

He wondered what Lia was doing. Knowing Aijima, he would have left Lia to do all the cleaning herself. Kyoya looked at his watch and decided that it was time he went to the house to check on her. He slipped from the house and took a slow stroll, thinking about the recent investments he had made before his mind moved along another train of thought towards Lia.

He stopped, surprised that his thoughts had suddenly jumped to her. At that moment, he heard a familiar voice and turned to see Lia coming out of a store with a lot of shopping bags. She laughed at something and Kyoya saw a young man come out of the store as well, trying to snatch the bags from her.

"Cut it out, Hitoshi-kun!" Lia laughed as she ducked under his arm. "I am not a weakling you know!"

"But you always have been!" Hitoshi stated. "Remember back in elementary school how you dropped that pile of books onto Kenji's head?"

"Those books were heavier than these bags!" Lia pointed out, laughing as Hitoshi tripped over his own feet and nearly went flying into an old lady. "And I missed a step. So, that incident was not counted! Stop trying to snatch them from me!" She tried to run.

But Hitoshi was faster than her and managed to grab her around her waist and stop her from escaping. Lia struggled trying to get free from him. At that moment, a hand pressed onto the pressure point on Hitoshi's arm. The moment Hitoshi released Lia, she found herself tugged backwards and collided with someone. She looked up to see Kyoya looking down at her, a rather dark expression in his eyes.

"Oh! Kyoya," Lia said, trying to tug her arm from his grip. But that only made him tighten his hold. "This is my childhood friend, Hitoshi Shinjo. Hitoshi, this is my schoolmate, Kyoya Ootori."

"Pleased to meet you," Hitoshi grinned, holding out his hand. But Kyoya did not shake his hand, he just stared at the slightly shorter boy. Hitoshi let his hand drop back to his side. "You have a rather good knowledge about pressure points. I didn't know that the elite would actually know such things." Hitoshi slightly lifted his chin in a challenge.

"I had the opportunity to learn such things thanks to a certain fool," Kyoya said, coldly. He accepted the challenge with a glare. "We will be going now. It is getting late." Lia looked between them, not understanding the silent language between the both of them.

"Why don't I drive you home then?" Hitoshi asked. "I have a learning license and my uncle wouldn't mind sitting beside me while I drive."

"No need, Shinjo-san," Kyoya replied. "A walk back home will be refreshing to us." He turned and pulled Lia along with him.

"Um… Let me know when you do go back to Tokyo!" Lia said over her shoulder. "Then, we can plan a day to catch up with each other." She waved and then tried to keep up with Kyoya's pace. She wondered what was wrong with Kyoya. He had never been this cold to people before unless he was half-asleep.

After awhile, Lia struggled, saying, "Kyoya, you are gripping my arm too tightly! Let go!" At first, he did not seem to hear her. Lia repeated her sentence and finally Kyoya let go. She thought she could see his fingers imprinted into her arm and somehow... it burned as though his touch had ignited some sort of fire beneath her skin. She stopped in her tracks when Kyoya held out his hand in front of her face. She looked at him, confused.

"Pass me some of the shopping bags," Kyoya said. "They look too heavy for a girl like you to carry."

"Are you making fun of my size?" Lia demanded, passing him a few bags either way.

"I wouldn't want our pianist to damage her hands," Kyoya replied. "It will be shame to not be able to hear your playing."

"Like I will be playing anywhere anytime soon," Lia scoffed.

"There is a piano in the house." When he noticed her surprised look. "I guess you didn't know that… I will call someone to come over and tune the piano before you try to play anything. In the meantime, be careful of what you do."

"Like I will do anything dangerous…" Lia entered the house and placed the bags on the dining table. Kyoya followed suit. He frowned when he saw the things she took out from the bags. Lia noticed his frown and said, "Bear with it! I am not that good a cook and neither did I have enough money when I bought these things."

Kyoya shrugged. "I hope your cooking is edible enough. If I get food poisoning, I will make sure the medical bill is added to your debt. Give me the receipt for the groceries later. I will pay you back for them." Then, he turned and went upstairs. Lia snorted, calling up to him that the master bedroom was his, and then got round to organizing the things, placing the things that she would be cooking aside.

She was turning on the stove when she heard a door open and slam shut followed by footsteps coming down. She turned and felt her blood rush to her cheeks. Kyoya stood at the door without his shirt. "Kyoya! Put on a shirt!" she yelled at him, closing her eyes and turning back to face the stove.

"I can't when you have not placed my luggage bags upstairs," Kyoya reminded her. "And there are no toiletries in the room and no towels either. The mattress is still in its plastic packaging. Did you even finish your work before you went out to do your grocery shopping?" Lia cursed her forgetfulness.

"The laundry is outside," Lia said, looking aside as she went towards the door. She was grateful when Kyoya stepped aside to let her pass. She went outside and gathered in the laundry, seeing that it was nearly dark outside and the stars had begun to appear. She noticed that there would be a full moon as well. Maybe she would sit outside after dinner to watch the stars for awhile.

She went back inside and up into Kyoya's room, getting ready the bed and placing two towels in the bathroom. She went back downstairs with the rest of the laundry and just threw them onto her bed. She would deal with that later. She went back into the kitchen and saw Kyoya still standing there.

"I have already prepared your bed, Kyoya-sama," Lia said, bowing. She wished that he had put on a shirt while she was upstairs. Her cheeks were going to betray her again. "As for your toiletries. I will lend you my shampoo and shower gel first. I will go back into town after dinner and get the rest of the things. Your bags are in the living room…"

Kyoya sighed at her incompetence. "No need. I will go and get them myself. Just cook dinner." He grabbed his luggage bags from the living room. He frowned when he noticed that she had only one small bag. How was she going to survive for more than three days with that small bag? He was amazed at what the commoners could do.

He went into the master bedroom and placed his bags there before going out again. He entered another room, that he assumed would have been Fuyumi's room, going into the toilet to grab the shampoo and bottle of shower gel that was there. When he goes back home, he is going to hire another caretaker for this house.

"Why are you sitting out here?" Kyoya asked, coming out onto the balcony.

"The stars are nice," Lia answered, looking back at the stars. She hoped that he did not notice her blush. "You can see so many of them compared to being in the city." She breathed in deeply, a soft smile on her lips. Kyoya sat down beside her on the ground. "Don't you have other things to do?"

"No," Kyoya replied. "Thanks to a certain someone who forgot to pack my books or my laptop."

"Sorry…" she muttered, hugging her legs closer to her. Kyoya did not respond, looking up at the sky as well. She glanced sideways at him, studying his countenance that had been lighted up by the moon.

He looked very relaxed compared to when he was at home. As if coming to the countryside had lifted a great burden from his shoulders. Kyoya felt her gaze on him and looked over at her. She quickly looked away, trying to still the wild beating of her heart.

"Are you angry at me?" Kyoya asked quietly. Lia nearly missed what the question because his voice had been very soft.

"Angry at you?" Lia echoed, looking at him in surprise. "For what?"

"For dragging you away from your friend."

Lia looked back at the sky. "Well… I am not… Just that… I am curious as to why both of you treated each other that way… Hitoshi is usually the bright sort of person that is the life of any party. I have never seen him act so coldly towards another person before. And you rarely behave that way unless you have just woken up from your sleep."

"Then, you have not known me well enough. I can be cold to people that I don't like."

"I see…" Lia murmured. Did that mean that maybe she had a chance to be with him? No! her brain told her. You are a commoner and he is an elite. There is no way you can be together. For all you know, his parents already have someone in mind for him to marry! Can you stand the heartache when he has to leave you to be with that person?

Lia closed her eyes. She doubt she would be able to bear with the heartache. Friends… That was the best thing they could be. Friends. She shouldn't hope for more. She opened her eyes and looked back up at the stars.

Kyoya looked over at her before looking back at the sky, wondering what was going on in her mind. Sometimes she was easy enough to read. But most times, she wasn't. Did she really mean it? When she said that she was not angry at him? He had not known what had possessed him at that moment, seeing her laugh and smile with another guy.

It was as if envy had crept into his heart. He remembered seeing the happiness in her ice blue eyes. He wished that he could be like that for her, be her happiness. But he did not know how. Showing his feelings had never been on his list of skills. He had always known to hide them. To show them now to Lia would be the hardest thing he could ever do. But he was willing to try for her sake.

"Lia…" he begun to say, looking at her. He noticed that her eyes were closed. He leaned towards her and realized that she had fallen asleep. He smiled to himself and got up, lifting her gently off the floor like she was a fragile piece of glass.

He went into the house. He had realized earlier that the bedroom she chose was small and still not yet ready. He placed her on the bed in the master bedroom, covering her with the blankets. He would most probably sleep on the couch in the living room. He turned to go but stopped, looking back at her sleeping form. He leaned down and gently brushed his lips across her forehead. "Sleep well, Juliana," he murmured as he left.