Social Rounds

Despite having a full course load at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, and despite the fact that his brothers were already under his father's tutelage, Kyouya had become more and more involved in the family's hospital business.

The number of responsibilities and obligations increased every week, but Kyouya gloried in the kind of challenge this posed. His one difficulty had been avoiding marriage talks, but a quick plan fixed that problem too, for Haruhi remained one of the few female friends whom he trusted, and it was easy to talk (manipulate) her into helping him fend off unwanted attention. The only reason it worked so well, he knew, was because his father wanted a real match to form between them, and so kept any over-eager mothers away. Personally, Kyouya wasn't ready to make public his feelings towards marriage, whether it be marriage to Haruhi or anyone else.

Still, it was nice to be able to have an easy solution to the numerous business parties he had to attend, knowing that no misconceptions would arise on her part after the night was over. If anything, he wished she would assume something, sometime, to show him that he wasn't just another face, another friend who got the Haruhi treatment.

Usually, he was grateful for the reprieve, not needing to escort her around, or introduce her, for by this time her own work had thrust her into the social group he had grown up in. There was no need, either, to wait on her hand and foot like he might have been required to do, if it was a spoiled, upperclass girl on his arm.

He could discuss business as much as necessary, and not suffer any guilt in leaving Haruhi alone. In truth, she seemed to form her own, more personal connections with the upper class families who were involved in law while mingling at the parties. He saw it as a mutually beneficial relationship, one he was loath to give up.

And for now, there was no reason to. His father had finally let up on some of the pressure to see where Kyouya would take his part of the company, and Haruhi seemed pleased enough to make new acquaintances. She had always been like that, he recalled. She wouldn't seek people out, but at the same time, she was so automatically friendly, and genuinely kind that people were just drawn to her.

At the moment, however, he was stuck in conversation with a group of men his father's age, discussing the future of their businesses, and how they could possibly profit off one another, officially or privately.

Kyouya didn't really need to listen to them boast and brag to get the information he wanted; just a little hacking would tell him everything in much more concise and manageable terms, but out of the corner of his eye he could see Haruhi talking with his father and a few other young heirs, so he was content to wait.

From a distance it was hard to tell if the unusual girl was enjoying herself of not; before, he wouldn't have expected her to, but this was Fujioka Haruhi he was talking about, and despite her origins, she was the most uncommon woman he had ever known. So hypothetically, she could be enjoying herself.

He flicked a glance over the three most fawning young men facing her, calculating the odds that any of them would appeal to her. Over the last five years, she had never once shown interest in a man like the females they had gone to school with, and those who got close enough to be interested often found that their wealth and class status were more of a hindrance than a help in trying to woo her. Frankly, Haruhi just wasn't aware of men in a romantic sense. Those who were blunt enough to state their intentions towards her were politely but firmly turned down.

Kyouya had never met a girl who was so oblivious to her own attractions, or so careless about making a permanent alliance. From what her father had told him, she had grown up with an ideal marriage right in front of her, and yet she showed no ambition to attain what her mother had obtained.

Kyouya never tried to broach the subject with her; there was a subtle fear there, that if he ever approached her seriously, he would be kindly rejected like the rest – and he couldn't be sure how he would react at being lumped in with the rest of the losers and fools who hadn't been good enough. It was a case of patience, not cowardice, he thought: waiting for the opportune moment in which to open her eyes.

As the voices droned on, he wondered what it would take to convince her he wasn't just trying to gain a benefit, or trying to teach her a lesson. She was a smart girl; if they somehow ended up back on a bed again, would she realize the truth?

As one of the younger men bent over her hand, looking as though he would kiss it, Kyouya broke away from his group, plans changing in an instant. He went directly to her side, with a recklessness that was unlike himself, causing a speculative look to cross his father's face. He ignored it. Time enough to cover his tracks if this fell through.

There was only one way to know for sure if the future held anything for him, and even if she was so dense as to misunderstand a second time, Kyouya wasn't a man who gave up easily. A small smile curled the edge of his mouth. After all, he had always enjoyed a challenge.