Chapter Ten

Everyone Loves the Host Club!

For a while Kyouya had to explain to a surprised Ranka that Haruhi had just then fallen asleep and he had already called a car so there was no need to concern himself with his presence, even though she was passed out in her room. She owed him for explaining that they were waiting for the car to arrive when she fell asleep in the middle of discussing what he had been up too. Passing it off as boring her to sleep seemed to satisfy Ranka and Ootori was in the car and heading home before you could even think of the word "Liar."

The driver asked him about his night for the first few minutes of the drive but after Kyouya ignored the inquiries, he silenced. Kyouya did not feeling like opening up to anyone else that night. He just wanted to sleep off the weariness his day brought upon him that the mini-nap failed to satiate.

When he took the time to check his phone on the way, he could see that Tamaki had been trying to call him since the storm. The phone had been on silent since he did not expect any calls that evening and yet there they were. Fifteen missed calls, all from every phone Tamaki could get his hands on in his manor. There were a few from the other hosts but he could have guessed that Tamaki was behind those calls as well. The thought of the blond pouring over a phone, listening intently to the ringing until his voicemail came on before shouting a desperate message into the mouthpiece made him chuckle, looking out the window just as he deleted the missed calls from the register.

If Suoh wanted to talk to him, let him come to him.

The room was silent; it always was whenever he was home. The servants cleared out the moment they were aware that he had pulled into the driveway and would not disturb him when he slept if they wished to keep their lives, let alone their jobs. He wasn't sure how long he had been home, having not been able to accomplish much before his door was suddenly flung open.

"Kyouya!"

The teen's brow rose at the sight of Tamaki Suoh standing in the doorway.

"That was fast." He mused; sounding impressed as he turned around and sat down upon the white couch.

"Kyouya, where have you been?" Suoh demanded, rushing over to him and Ootori glanced up just in time to notice his older sister smiling apologetically at him as she shut the door to give them privacy.

So, Fuyumi had been responsible for notifying Tamaki of his return.

"I've been in town."

"What could you have been doing there?! Why didn't you pick up your phone when I called?"

"It was on silent. Besides, I wasn't expecting any phone calls, especially as late as it is now." Kyouya sighed, shifting his glasses, "But, since you are here…mind telling me why you called?"

That calmed Suoh down immediately, the blond lowering his eyes to the floor and appearing a bit embarrassed as he nudged at the blue rug fibers that claimed most of the flooring in the room. It was obvious why he was here and why he called him so desperately. Kyouya knew what it was ever since he left the host club, and that was the exact reason.

He wanted him back in the club.

"Kyouya, are you really ok with being out of the club?" Tamaki asked, lifting his eyes a bit, "When you quit you were out of there so quickly I couldn't tell if you really wanted to leave or not."

Bingo.

"I said I had matters that took up my time and so I had to drop out of the club in order to finish them off."

"Are you finished then?" he looked hopeful.

"Not yet. Someone has to make the final move before I am completely free to do what I want again." He smirked, resting his arm over the back of the couch.

"Is there something I can do?"

That was what he was waiting to hear from him, which made everything closer to ending than he thought. It was a bit exciting to know that Suoh was finally saying the right words and asking the right questions for once. Also, it could have been because he was tired of nothing to do. Kyouya left the host club but he had nothing to do. Car rides, television, visits to foreign countries on breaks…everything imaginable, he managed to do, but in the end he was left without something to fall back on. Not even checking on the progress of his father's work with the company.

"You sure you want to help?"

The blond nodded feverently.

"It may take some thought, a difficult task for you, I imagine."

The pout that spread across the King's face made him chuckle, missing that expression was something he didn't expect. Exposure to Haruhi must have had some aftershocks of tenderness left to make him treasure those little tid-bits of personality belonging to his friend.

"Alright." He rose from the couch and approached Tamaki, standing in front of him and ignoring then barely noticeable difference in height between them. "I want you to think about last year. You realize what I am mentioning? During the Ouran festival. Think, think really hard and I'm sure you will know what I'm talking about."

And so he did, Tamaki thought about it, shutting his eyes and folding his arms as he reminisced back to that time in their lives. He needed to make a recollection of what he had done to cause something memorable from that festival. But what did he do that had anything to do with Kyouya's time?

"Any hints?" he asked, peeking over at him with one eye.

"None."

Groaning, he went back to thinking. The gears were turning, slowly but surely. Time was an excellent thief of memories, but if given the right amount of a space to ponder, he would eventually recall it. He was an idiot, but he was also second in his class. Something had to be floating around in that yellow head of his.

He remembered the festival's activities and the ecstatic parents…and then he recalled Éclair, the girl who had become his momentary fiancé and promised a meeting with his mother. Suoh remembered his grandmother and her words to him, the way they stung yet he continued to smile for her and obeyed without question. The more he thought about it and how it might have something to do with Kyouya's actions, the more the realization slowly dawned on him.

It came back as clearly as if he was watching it within one of his inner-mind theaters.

"Once the Ouran Festival is over, the Host Club will be dissolved."

The way Tamaki's eyes snapped open told Kyouya what he needed to know.

One desperate look shot directly at him created the cue that it was his turn to agknowledge his thoughts. He gave a slow nod to confirm the blonde's memory, unsmiling. "You realize that statement was what triggered everything that followed afterwards." Kyouya said, turning away and returning to the sofa.

"But that was—"

"Forgotten? No, not by me." He said, jerking around and narrowing his eyes at the Idiot King, "You made a grave mistake in sacrificing the club in order to see your mother, Tamaki. While the others forgave you, I took it upon myself to ensure you were punished for believing you would dissolve everything we created just on a whim."

"I understand that it was selfish of me, but I wanted to see her, Kyouya!"

"Then we'll go to France and look for her!" Kyouya snapped, "Selling yourself off to the Tonnerre family was hardly befitting of a guarantee to see your mother!"

"Your father's company—"

"I spared it from them by purchasing it before they could."

Suoh's jaw must have dropped to the floor, making it hard for him to continue to be short with him. He continued with a much more calm tone in his voice, slowly sitting back upon the couch. "I didn't inform you of that, because it was something I wanted to keep to myself from the person who taught me how to overcome my brothers."

Tamaki sobered up enough to notice the small smile on Kyouya's face and he found himself smiling in return. A boyish smile that made him appear even more like he did the day they met in their final year of middle school.

"Have you learned your lesson then?"

"Ah—so, being hosted by Haruhi…that was a part of trying to punish me?" The confusion returned in the blink of an eye.

"Only a minor stage, you recovered from it quicker than I expected because of Haruhi's influence over you and how you are maturing. The finalé was leaving the Host Club. That gave you a taste of what I encountered when you made that stupid announcement that day. I couldn't express it because it is not in my nature to be effected outwardly by something or someone…but I was just as shocked as the others, if not angered. You dragged me into it the day you told me of your plans and I helped you."

"You left, because of what I did then." Tamaki murmured, but snapped out of his shock and looked directly at Ootori. "But, everyone is over the festival now. There's no need for you to be out of the Host Club anymore!"

"On the contrary, I have a reason to stay away. You have to tell me otherwise before I will re-join, not that I expect everything to go back to the way it was if I do go back."

"What do you want me to do, Kyouya? I'll do it!" he said quickly.

"I want to know if my plans were well spent on you. Do you regret what you did?" Kyouya asked, fixing his glassed again.

"Yes!" he said, striding over and dropping to his knees, "Kyouya, I'm sorry! I didn't know you were still mad about what I said that day! I don't know what I was thinking, I regret it! I regret everything about that day! I just want you back with the club! It's not the same without you there!"

Ootori was silent as he looked down at the teenager kneeling beside his legs, his hands grasping one of his own before he realized it and the pleading eyes made him falter inside.

He turned his head away and sighed. Playing hard to get was a game that got old fast.

"You really want me back that badly?"

"Yes, yes!"

Another sigh, "I guess it can't be helped."

Slowly looking back to Tamaki, he noticed that the blonde's eyes had watered up but his face was split into a ridiculous grin that made him immediately want to change his mind just to erase that stupid smile off of his face. However, he ended up smiling a little himself, feeling some-what relieved to know that he had been asked to come back. And from the looks of it, he would be back in the position of Vice President as well.

"Kyouya, Thank you!" he cried, jumping up and throwing out his arms to embrace him until Kyouya used his foot to push him away.

"Back off."

"Oh, by the way, Kyouya…" Tamaki recovered from regret and over-excessive happiness quickly. He was already speaking in that clueless tone again when Kyouya lowered his leg and rest back against the couch again.

"Hm?"

"You said once that you like someone. Who is it?"

The Shadow King raised an eyebrow at this sudden question but averted his eyes and smiled off at nothing. "I don't plan on telling you anytime soon."

"Oh, why not?"

"Because an idiot should stay oblivious to feelings they don't understand." Kyouya said, pushing him over with his foot again.

Besides, it's more fun to be rival to an idiot.

"Look who's back!"

"Ah—Kyou-chan!"

"Kyouya-senpai!"

"How did you get him back without any restraints?"

"Kyouya-sama!"

Kyouya moved around Tamaki and the numerous squeals coming from customers already sitting at tables in the room. Standing beside one of the tables, he observed the contents upon it and saw that there was a whole cake on each table ready to serve but definitely different than he remembered.

"You realize the cakes will dry out if you let them sit out too long, right?" he asked, turning to the club with a dangerous gleam in his glasses.

"W-We thought it would be better to have the cake ready for someone to take as much as they wanted." Hunny said, clinging to his bunny.

If he could still intimidate Hunny in spite of the fact he and Mori had already graduated, he was certain that he wouldn't have to work too hard to go back to work for the club. Looking up at Tamaki and resting a hand on his hip, the blond made a mute nod and immediately started to order his subjects to take the cakes off of the tables and back into their storage, one cake would be served a slice at a time and fresh instant coffee would be made immediately since many of the cups were growing cool at this point.

Kyouya worked through Tamaki to get the ball rolling, things appearing more and more as they used to be and Ootori couldn't deny that he was happy to see it all again.

"Kyouya-senpai."

He turned around and Haruhi was there, smiling a bit as she withdrew something from behind her back and held it up for him to take. "If you haven't bought a new one already, we kept it in one piece since you left."

The black notebook in her hands was a forgotten sight, he plucked it from her and let it fall open, fitting in his fingers and thumb as if it belonged there all over again.

Which it did.

"Thank you, Haruhi." He glanced over at her, "But I would get back to your guests if I were you."

She frowned, but soon enough, her lips curved up into a smile and she was off to re-join her customers. Watching her wonder back to her table brought back memories, he had watched her leave for her charges countless times before but today there was another memory that surpassed the others. It was of the day he was with her in her room and consoling her as the thunderstorm rattled the doors or the rain drummed harder on the roof. That one kiss that she would never remember would be one to haunt him the rest of his life…whether or not there would be more one day, he would have to wait and see.

"You know, I didn't expect you to come back so suddenly, Kyouya-senpai." Kaoru said, leaning on the back of a chair; observing Kyouya's hands as he typed away at his laptop with one hand holding papers marking the funds the club had gone through in his absence that he knew he would have to calculate and sort through before they made any more purchases. It was strenuous work, but he didn't mind it at this point.

They went way over budget in his absense and profits were rather low as well.

"I would apologize for leaving so suddenly, but I think everyone knows why I won't." he said, not looking up from the screen.

"No, no one expected an apology from you. I think we missed you too much to want an apology." Kaoru mused, watching Tamaki pitch a fit while Hikaru teased him by clinging to Haruhi. He had snuck away from the twin to get a few words out of the long lost Cool host before the day passed by too quickly.

"I suppose you caught onto my intentions shortly after I allowed you and Hikaru to have Haruhi for a day."

"Well, I didn't understand your motive for it…but I figured that you would be up to something. Mostly I thought that you just wanted to spend time with Haruhi that Tono wouldn't have been able to do because of his popularity with customers."

Ootori's fingers paused and he lifted his eyes to the younger twin, smiling very slightly, "I suppose you could come to that conclusion in the end. I did want to try a few things with Haruhi that he wouldn't as long as there were customers around."

"So, you like Haruhi?"

"Tell me which of us do not in some way. I would love to have a few names."

Kaoru shrugged, "Point taken. She's drawn us all in, hasn't she?"

"It appears so. I've spent enough time around her to feel that change she manages to make all who are around her encounter. I'm not myself when she's close…perhaps that happened because I had her with me that week."

"You have had her longer than any of us." Kaoru pointed out, resting his chin into his palm, elbow on the back of the chair.

"It seems that way. But there's nothing for the others to worry about. I have already decided that she will not end up with me any time soon." Kyouya said, adjusting his glasses again before glancing off at Haruhi, who was back at her table and talking casually while one of her customers leaned a little closer to her to listen more intently. "That time was a punishment to our Idiot King, but also to satisfy myself."

"And were you satisfied?"

Kyouya smirked and looked up at the more intellectual twin once more.

"I am never satisfied."

A/N:

Alright, there you have it. I would love some final reviews so I know whether or not to try and write a sequal where Kyouya and Haruhi may just get together...but if it's better left alone then I'll do that. Thank you for reading this and I'm sorry I'm so poor at making people clever. I'm really stupid so it's hard to write smart. Goodbye!