A/N: Ok, I know that this chapter is a bit late in the release and I apologize for that. But, I hope that the length of this chapter will keep you all at bay for a bit. I have actually started the next two chapters, and am working on them both simultaneously. (Actually, this one was also being worked into that mix before I finally declared that it was long enough.) But, the next chapter will be the last official chapter before the epilogue.
Akito's POV
She really was alluring, even as she was cleaning up those shards of glass and ceramic. For some strange reason, I could see the two of us living off in some country home styled place with only a maid and a nanny in the house. Haruhi would be in the kitchen doing some sort of cooking, or else running around the house after their children. Wait, children? Was he really going to go down that road so soon? He wanted to, but that time would have to wait for the time being, considering that he had not even asked her to be his official girlfriend yet. But, that time would be coming soon.
"What was it that you wanted to ask me, Akito-san?" Haruhi's voice interrupted my little interlude into the future. She had been looking right at me while holding the dust pan. She looked confused. I had to shake my previous thoughts away, though they would return later.
"I will be completely honest with you Haruhi. I have felt attracted to you since that first night, the one where you were at our mansion with the rest of the club. Since then, you have been on my mind." I started in on my confession.
Haruhi seemed to ponder something for a few minutes, though there was evidence of shock on her face. Though, I did watch it slowly disappear before she replied. "I am not sure how I really feel about you right now, Akito-san. I do know that you have appeared in my thoughts as well. I feel, how can I say this, comfortable? That is whenever you are around. My heart seems to race for no reason when you are near too. I guess you can call these feelings towards you?"
"Would you be willing to give me a chance then?" I asked, stepping forward a bit. She took a moment to think. "If you need some to think about it, I understand." I offered up.
"No, I just needed that time. But, I would be willing to give us the time and dedication for a relationship. At least to see if we are compatible to each other. Though, I think that we should wait to tell the rest of our groups until tonight." Haruhi said. She did have a good point there. I had a feeling that there were a few people in her group that would be pissed. Wait, there would be at least one in my group too, but oh well. Each and everyone would just have to get over it then.
"That, I could not agree more on. Now, give that dust pan to me so that I can dispose of it. At least before your arm gives out on you from holding on to it for so long while we discussed this." I had leaned in closely. I gave her a quick peck on the cheek at the same time. When I pulled away, I just couldn't get over how much she had blushed too. She looked really cute. I laughed internally at that. But, it wasn't before long that I heard footsteps approaching. I had a feeling that it would be my brother.
"What were you going to be telling us tonight?" I was right. It was Kyoya.
"Ah, you managed to escape the idiot, did you? And, you will find out from both of us later." I commented before guiding Haruhi out of the room. We had a date to get on to. I couldn't have thanked the blond idiot any more for giving us this day together anyways.
Kyoya's POV
I had finally managed to tell Tamaki to stay down in the living room with the rest of our guests. He could entertain everyone while I wandered up to where I had long suspected Haruhi to have disappeared to. And, I was right. However, the miscalculation that I had was that my brother had also come up here. I thought that he would have gone to his own room. I was around the corner from my room while I had heard Haruhi say something that had caught my attention. She had mentioned something about waiting to tell us something tonight.
Well, may as well try to get the information now. That was when I finished the last few steps to my room. Looking around, I noticed that my brother was awfully close to Haruhi. I knew that she was his secretary and all, but really? The position they were in was awfully intimate. Not to mention that Haruhi was blushing. So, something had to have happened?
"What were you going to be telling us tonight?" I asked. I was really curious now. I smirked.
My brother answered the question while also skillfully diverting the actual question. He told me that I would find out tonight. It was annoying at how he managed to do it that way. But, it was still an answer. I watched as my brother had escorted Haruhi out of my room, considering that she was done in here now. I sighed. I came to grab my notebook, pen and Tamaki's cell phone. I grabbed mine off the wall charger too before going out. I really was hoping for a quiet day indoors, but it looks like the idiot had plans again to going outside.
Haruhi's POV: Time Skip
Akito and I had decided that we were going to walk in to town for our time together. The trip would take us about ten minutes while walking, as I had been told. To be honest, I had meant what I had told Akito. I felt comfortable with him. To prove that I was going to do my part in this relationship, I leaned myself into Akito. I felt him put his arm around me, which felt better than when I had been faking to be his date the night of the ball. Though, it wasn't long after that when I threaded my fingers through his and my eyes slipped shut for a moment. I breathed in his scent. It was a rather woodsy scent, which I had actually not noticed last night. It reminded me of the woods when my mom, dad and I would all go hiking and camping in amongst the forest every year. I felt at peace for about a minute.
I do not know how long I was leaned in to Akito during our walk, but I did feel him stop. Opening my eyes, I took in our new surroundings. We were actually by a lake. They had a small cabin here too, but it was in a more public place.
"As it is almost close to lunch time now, I figured that you may be hungry."
"To be honest, I am not really that hungry right now." I replied.
"Not to worry. We can hang out around here for a bit and then go in if you do get hungry later. This place is the best for when you have difficult questions to ask or if you want some solitude. When our whole family use to come down here, we'd all be sitting in silence. Each of us reflecting on something else. Well, except for Kyoya, of course. He would try to get into everything due to the fact that he was only an infant the last time we all had come here." Akito said.
"This place is absolutely beautiful, Akito-san." I told him. I was not lying either, since it was rare that I even got this much quietness while being with another person. The lake shimmered in the late morning's rays at that point. "I wonder how this place would look at night." I whispered. I was not aware that he had even heard me.
I bet that the two of us actually stayed out in the sun for at least an hour and a half. It was actually quite quiet around where we had continued our walk from. It made me wonder where the rest of civilization was. But, then I had to quickly banish those thoughts since I rarely had a moments time to enjoy peace. My father's antics. Tamaki-senpai's antics. The Twins' constant pestering. Or, just in general, the Host Club coming over unannounced on the weekends when I often had things to do. However, no sooner had I thought of the Host Club, my phone rang. I groaned. I quickly opened it up, then pressed the end button. I wanted to keep up the peace, even for a bit longer. Though, we were interrupted again anyways by my cell phone again.
"Are you going to answer that? Or would it be one of those other people in that club?" Akito asked, finally breaking the silence.
"I guess I should answer it. I didn't even look to see who I had hung up the phone on the first time. I have a feeling though that if it was your brother the first time, I am going to have more added on to my debt. If it was Tamaki-senpai or the others, I could care less." I shrugged before I looked to see that it was actually Kyoya-senpai.
"Senpai, what is so urgent that you are calling me when we are suppose to be going out today with our roommates?" I asked, getting to the point. He was saying that he was calling everyone back earlier than normal, as Tamaki wanted to have everyone get to know more about the others. With that, he had hung up. I sighed.
"What did my brother want?" Akito asked.
"It seems as if Tamaki-senpai wants us all to come back as soon as we possibly can. He wants each and every one of us to get to know the others. Though, I have a feeling that there will be a game in there somehow." I replied.
"Then, we shall start to head back. It is best to not keep my brother waiting then." Akito grinned.
"That is true. After all, he may add it to my debt. Also, thank you Akito-san." I had laughed at the first bit, knowing that it could be true, before I had switched to a serious tone.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of those words, Haruhi?" Akito asked, surprised. He had turned his head to look down to me.
We walked in silence for a few paces before I answered him. "For being able to bring me to this lovely area. It felt so nice and perfect while we had been out here. Normally, everyday is a bit of chaos. My father acts a bit over the top, but I can understand it since I am all he has left of our family. Then, there is the rest of the Host Club. I see them every day at school, yet they always seem to appear out of nowhere on the weekends whenever I was hoping it would be peaceful. Though, that is more Tamaki-senpai's fault, I think."
"You are most very welcome then, Haruhi. I know that we are about five minutes away from the villa, and so I need to ask you what you think about telling the others?" Akito suddenly said.
"You know, I think that we should tell them everything about our relationship. As much as I don't want to hurt anyone else's feelings, I know that is not a possibility. I also don't want to lie to them by keeping this a secret. As if this weekend wasn't any indication as to how well keeping the employer-employee relationship a secret thing went." I replied. I grabbed Akito's hand like I had earlier.
"You make valid points. It is time after all." Just as soon as Akito said that, we arrived at the front gates to the villa. After entering, we found everyone in the living room. Though, we were also greeted with Tamaki-senpai's shouting, considering that we had just entered.
"Mommy! Why are they taking so long?!"
"What's going on? Why were we all called back so early?" I asked, finding two open spots on the love seat for Akito and I to sit down on.
"There you are, young lady! Where did you go off to without consulting daddy?" Tamaki was a bit serious then.
"First of all, senpai, you are not my damn father. Secondly, I don't have to consult to you about where I want to go. And thirdly, I was spending time with my roommate like you had suggested." I snipped at him.
"You know, I am going to echo Haruhi here from earlier. Why are we called back earlier than what was stated?" Akito said.
"Well, to get to know each other more, we are going to be playing the commoner's game of Truth or Dare!" Tamaki declared. I heard several of us groan. Actually, Kyoya-senpai was about to leave.
"I would rather not play." I stated.
"But, you must, Haruhi!" Tamaki wailed.
"I will if you force Kyoya-senpai to play then." I bantered.
"Kyoyaaa! Why are you leaving?! If you leave then our daughter will leave!" Tamaki pleaded with his friend.
"If Haruhi doesn't play then I am also not playing." Akito spoke up.
"I don't want to play this game. There are no merits to it." Kyoya-senpai stated. Well, there was something in it for him.
"Hm. I have two pieces of information. Too bad that I am going to have to keep them to myself for a bit, considering that there was a possibility that they could be revealed during the game." I faked a cough.
"You have information?" The light had shone across his glasses at that point.
"I do. I learned something new about you from Akito-san. The other applies to more recent happenings. Still want to skip out?" I tempted. I knew that it was wrong to play games with the Shadow King too.
"Very well, I will play this stupid game." Kyoya-senpai growled.
"Aw, I was hoping you still wouldn't play. That way Haruhi and I also got out of it." Akito mumbled.
"And then how else would we have broke the news to them, Akito-san?" Earlier, I had waited for Akito to sit down so that I could sit at his feet. When I had asked the question, I had leaned my head back to look at him.
"News?" The twins asked.
"Ahem! We can worry about that after. First off, we need to outline circle rules. Each person has three chickens. As well, each person may hand out one Truth or one Dare to anyone in the circle. You may not choose the same thing three times in a row either. Now, I shall start!" Tamaki started off by choosing one of the others in our group about what they wanted to do, and then the appropriate truth question or the dare was done.
One of the girl's from Akito's group had just finished their dare that one of his guy friends had gave. "Akito-san, Truth or Dare?"
"Truth." Akito replied. We both had a feeling we knew what was going to be asked.
"What is your relationship with that girl by your feet?" She asked. Everyone else in the room had froze. Well, except for Akito and I of course. I sighed as I got up to actually sit by him on the seat this time. I grabbed his hand too. We were going to tell them anyways.
"She is my girlfriend." Akito replied.
"That is some sick joke!" I heard Hikaru shout. When I looked over to our friends, they didn't look happy at all either.
"It isn't a joke, Hikaru." I stated.
"How long?" Was Kyoya-senpai's question.
"He asked me this morning." I replied.
"You have only known her for half a day, dude!" Arnold said.
"Actually, I have known her for a few months now. I met her at my place the second week of December. Making this story short, she was formerly my secretary for all my work. But, it took me even less time than half a day to realize that she is my guardian angel in disguise. I basically fell in love at first sight then, but I knew that it would take time to truly acknowledge my own feelings." Akito said.
"And, when he asked me to go out with him this morning, I think I probably had shock on my face as I realized that he was confessing." I dead panned.
"Was that what you two were talking about when I was going into my room this morning?" Kyoya asked.
"Yeah, that was what we were going to tell everyone tonight, senpai." I told him.
"Though, you had the cutest expression on your face too." Akito mentioned.
"Says the guy who had a dreamy look on his face after I had finished cleaning up. But, as I have had enough of this game, who wants something to eat? I am sure a lot of you haven't ate since breakfast." I had counteracted Akito before addressing the rest of them.
"Sounds good to me. What were you thinking about having?" Akito asked.
"I was hoping you guys would have the answer to that. Anything that you all can think of?." I replied, finally getting up to start heading off to the kitchen.
"Whatever you want to make is fine with us, Haru-chan! Takashi and I are happy for you. Congratulations you two!" Honey-senpai said cheerfully.
"Thank you, senpai. It will mean a lot to us." I told our blond senpai with a smile.
"Did you want me to come help, Haruhi?" Akito asked, starting to follow me.
"I have a feeling that no matter what I say, you will just do what you want to do anyways. So if you do come, you do. If you don't, that is fine too." I said with a sigh. I had decided to make hotpot for supper, so that was going to take a lot of concentration if we were going to be able to eat it. In the end, he ended up coming with me, in high hopes of distracting me away from making dinner. "If you want to actually have food for dinner, it is best to not distract the cook too much." I finally said, after Akito had decided to kiss me.
"Hm. We really don't have to eat you know. Or you have to cook for everyone. I am sure that they can fend for themselves." Akito's voice sounded close to my ear, as he leaned his chin on my shoulder.
"Somehow I do not believe that. Aren't you all use to having someone wait on you for meals?" I asked, curiously.
"That is true. We are use to having cooks. I'm not even sure I would know how to make something simple on a stove or the microwave." Akito confessed.
"Damn Rich Bastard." I muttered.
"Haruhi, how much longer is dinner going to be?" Both of the twins had poked their heads in. I noticed that Hikaru frowned when he noticed Akito was there with me.
"It should be ready in ten minutes, if you three want to go round up the others." I stated.
"But, Haruhi!" Akito protested as he took a step towards me. Unfortunately, I was already up against the counter by that time.
I gave him a quick kiss before I was finally able to get him out of the door. Sighing, I started to quickly get down the necessary things, like plates, cups and a different serving container for the hot pot. I was just about ready to take the first things I had grabbed to the kitchen when I heard Tamaki-senpai on the other side, yelling.
Walking in to where everyone was seated already, my eyes slightly twitched. They were making a mess of the place. My demon aura started to stir within me. "What is with the commotion out here?" I asked, after setting down the plates and glass ware.
"They were trying to figure out who would sit beside you. They still don't like the idea of you and I dating it would seem." Akito said, coming up behind me.
"Why don't you sit on one side of me, and Kyoya-senpai will sit on the other? If I have one of the others, I am not sure how well I will be able to kill three idiots." I told Akito, yet it was loud enough that each and everyone of the others heard me.
"But, daughter shouldn't be sitting next to Mommy's brother at all! Daddy won't even allow daughter to date!" Tamaki-senpai said.
"That's right! Our toy should be sitting between us!" Hikaru said.
"I don't see a problem with what Haruhi mentioned at all." Kyoya-senpai said.
"Mommy!" Tamaki whined.
"No, that is going to be where I sit. Hikaru, I am not a toy. I am a human being. I do not belong to anyone but myself. I will make my own decisions. Tamaki-senpai, I am not your daughter. And, you can not stop me from dating either." And, that was a point I would have to talk to my father about soon too, I realized. With that, I walked back to the kitchen to start dishing out the hot pot.
The meal was actually quite strained. The room was eerily silent. No one liked the seating arrangement at all. Well, except for maybe Akito and I. Kyoya-senpai tolerated it. I didn't know Akito's friends that well, so I did not know what they were thinking.
When we had all finished the meal, along with the clean up, everyone seemed to retire early for the night. They all claimed to being exhausted. I don't see how when Akito and I were more or less the only ones who took a walk today. Clearing the thought out of my head, I grabbed my cell phone off the night stand. I had actually put it there earlier, before the game so that I did not lose it after all. I decided to give my dad a call, knowing that he would be home by now. I let it ring three times before he did answer. And, he asked me a few questions.
"Dad, there is something that I wanted to tell you. I am fine, so I did not get hurt today. No, Tamaki-senpai did not do anything to me, not that I would let him. But, can I tell you already!" My father had started to rattle off before I could even get my own word in. I noticed that Akito had actually motioned for me to give the phone to him.
"Hello Fujioka-san. This is Akito Ootori. I guess you can say you know my younger brother Kyoya. I know in your eyes that this may be very sudden, but I have started to feel very attached to your daughter. I wish to court your daughter, granted that I am given permission from you. Yes, I do love her, but am also willing to give her the space she needs when she wants it. Unlike my brother's club. I would love to get together with you one day this week as well to formally ask about the courting and in person instead of the phone. Yes, that is all I wanted to say, so I will allow you to talk to your daughter now." Akito bade my father farewell before he returned the phone back to me.
"Yes, dad. That was what I was going to say. We are well aware that we are doing things slightly backwards, but he had asked me to be his girlfriend earlier today, and I gladly accepted. I know you are not exactly happy, but it is going to be the way things are Dad. Just be happy that Tamaki-senpai didn't ask, but Kyoya-senpai's brother. I will let you get to bed now. Good night Dad." I sighed as soon as I had hung up the phone. But, after that, I quickly changed into my nightgown. Before crawling into the bed with Akito, I ensured that our room was also locked.