A/N: The next couple chapters are going to have some dark elements to them. I'll give proper warnings for all upcoming dirtiness.
Short chapter! Love you all!

She held it out, whole body numb. "Yes. I am." She was. She was pregnant. Pregnant with that horrible man's baby. She couldn't move.

He paused, checking the results, just in case. Maybe she'd gotten it wrong... But, no. There it was, plain as day. "I see." He replied. All of the careful plans he'd been trying to make all day suddenly left his mind. The finality of it all just seemed to change everything. "Do you intend... To keep it?"

Tears filled her eyes. "Keep it?" She couldn't just... throw it away. "I don't know." You're my master! "I can't besmudge-" She hiccuped, tears coming faster. "Your name,"

"Haruhi, that doesn't matter anymore!"

There. He'd said it. It felt sort of nice to get that off of his chest. Although, he supposed he could have gone about it in a much gentler manner...

She put her hands to her stomach in defense, an automatic reaction to his raised voice. "Senpai," she said, her voice low and breaking, "this would change everything." How could we do this? Would you leave me when it got hard?

He took a breath, his voice coming back down, much quieter. "I realize that." He replied. But he wasn't going to ask her to get rid of the child. He could only push her so far. "But this doesn't have anything to do with my family anymore."

She wavered in the air, suddenly needing somewhere to sit down. This was all too much. She found the couch and sank into it, taking a deep breath. She looked up at him seriously. "Senpai, you didn't sign up for any of this." Neither did she, but that wasn't the point, "I will do what needs to be done if that's what you want." Her mouth was dry. "Or... I can leave; repay my debt from afar."

"And do what? Raise a child on your own?" His emotions were running everywhere. He calmed himself down once more, before he started yelling again. "Haruhi, I'm not your master. I'm your... Friend. I want- I want your happiness."

Friend. She'd used that too, hadn't she. It was so... platonic. "I don't know what would make me happy!" Her eyes were clenched shut, body hunched over in anticipation, of what she didn't know, "So please; tell me what to do!" Her shoulders shook in fateful attempts to not burst out sobbing.

"No, no more crying. I won't allow it." He couldn't do this. How was he supposed to make this decision for her? This would effect her for the rest of her life.

"I'll go with you to America."

Wait, what? Was that really what he intended to do?

"My family isn't as well known there. You'll be able to delivery the child in peace." What to do after the child was born, though... One thing at a time.

"And... I don't want you going alone."

Her head snapped up, "No. That isn't an option." She gave him her fiercest look. "Your future is here, Senpai. Even when I was considering going to America, I wasn't going to even hint that you should come with me. No. I won't have it. We're just friends, right? I refuse."

Then again, why should she not just go? No one would care about some random pregnant girl there, and the media would certainly leave her alone. She could have the baby, find it a good home, and begin her education all at once.

She didn't understand. Deep down, he hoped she would. Hoped she would understand why. Why he felt so strongly about leaving her alone.

He wished he could just say it.

But she was off limits.

"Is that really what you want?"

No, of course not. She wanted to spoon every night and wake up in his arms and get kissed and cuddle on the way home from school. But her life wasn't that simple. "No, but I won't ruin your future. I haven't had one up until now, but you have." She paused, rubbing her forehead. "I wouldn't... show for a while, would I?" Not that she wanted to try to hide a bloated baby bump for nine months, but maybe the extra time would help her make a concrete decision that was rational and thought out. "I could at least finish this quarter."

He looked her over, taking her progression of symptoms as well as time line into account. "You should have a few months before it becomes obvious." He replied, trying to leave all emotion out of this. They were only making things worse. "Finishing this quarter should be a seasonable enough request."

She put her head in her hands, relieved to at least have a few more weeks with Senpai. "Is it alright if I still turn down your father? My father has a friend in Karuizawa I could stay with." Yes! That was logical! That was good! Not too far, either.

"That decision is yours." He replied. He wasn't sure he wanted her in Karuizawa... But then, Misuzu seemed like an attentive enough care taker. "It sounds logical enough."

She stared at her hands for the moment, feeling as if this 'normal' thing was even harder than what she'd done before. Finally she looked up to him. "Senpai, can I just have a hug?" He'd deprived her earlier, whether on purpose or no, and she desperately needed his warmth right now.

He wanted to. But he felt they'd been getting so close lately. They were, after all, 'friends.' No. Friends could do at least this much for each other, couldn't they? Without another word, he pulled her into his arms.

She knew he'd said to stop, but she cried into his jacket. She fisted hand fulls of his shirt and clung to him like he was the only human on the planet. Still, she realized, he seemed hesitant, so she pulled away first, wiping her eyes and apologizing. "Thank you; I'm so sorry." I didn't mean to dirty your clothing, (or your life).

He absent mindedly stroked her hair. One could only hear that phrase so often before finally coming out with it. "You didn't do any of this by choice." He said. "Now. I have a summer house in Karuizawa." He began with the formalities, if only to move the conversation along before another emotional outburst could happen.

"You do?" Actually, that was stupid. Of course he did; he was Senpai. "Do you mean so you can visit me?" She wiped at the leftover tears savagely.

He nodded. He still didn't want her to be alone. "And, if things shouldn't go well at the penchant, I will bring you on staff as a maid."

She nodded, wondering how helpful she would be at eight or nine months. "Okay. And when the baby gets here...?" Maybe that was too far in advance, but was he expecting her to give it up for adoption? Not that that wasn't an option, but...

"We'll take care of that when it happens." He replied. Not his usual strategy, true, but, there had just been... Too much today. And they still had his father to face yes.

She reached out to run a finger along his hand, suddenly very glad they hadn't... done anything that night in the car. The added worry of if was Senpai's or not would have been absolutely too stressful for her to take, not to mention hide from the media. "Alright. I trust you, Senpai." Words she still couldn't believe were able to be uttered so truthfully.

"Good." He said quietly. He promised he would take care of things. Somehow. It felt good to have a game plan for at least the next couple of months. Who knows. Maybe a little time apart would be good for them.

She sat back down, pulling a blanket around her. "I think I need to lie down for a bit, if you don't mind." She was really tired, actually.

"You're probably right." He put a soft hand on her shoulder. "Rest a bit. We'll work out the details later."

She nodded, not even questioning that this was the couch, and curled in on herself, falling asleep within minutes. At least that was something; she didn't have much trouble sleeping anymore.

He sat with her for a time. When he was confident that she wasn't going to wake up, he set about making preparations for the summer. There were a lot of contingencies to put in place.

It was the first time Kuretate Arai had been sober for a long time. Not to say that he was in a good mood, of course, but he wasn't drunk yet. Peeling himself off of the mat in his room proved to be more difficult than he'd thought, but he eventually was standing up, wondering what the hell had happened.

How long had he been drunk, anyway? It almost seemed like as soon as he was about to sober up, he started drinking again, or was passed out. A few days? He vaguely remembered talking to someone... who was that?

"HIRO. COME HERE, NOW!" He bellowed out, not bothering to open the door. He heard his stupid mouse of a brother skitter up the door, opening it respectfully. "Yes? Did you need something?"

Hmph. He had the kid almost as trained as he had had the girl. The girl. "Somebody was talking to me about the whore. Who was it? What did you do?"

Hiro's face twitched, having been up with the baby almost 48 hours straight now, and hardly in the mood to remember anything. "It was some man. I didn't know him, brother."

Kuretate stalked over to loom above the kid. "Why did he come? Who did I sell her to?"

(It would have been funny if it weren't so sad; but when you're not in your right mind so much, it did take someone else's memory to work for you)

"It was just some punk kid, brother! He didn't look important at all." But the new one did. Boy, did that one look powerful.

As a solid D's student, Kuretate couldn't tell much about reading expressions past knowing that his little brother almost always knew more than he let on. He grabbed fist fulls of the kid's shirt and hefted him up quickly. "You know something, little brother, and you better start talking." Or what? He knew Hiro really didn't care if he beat him. The baby! "Or I'll give away that screaming kid!"

Hiro's eyes widened slightly, giving away how much he cared. "There was someone who came to talk to me a few days ago. A businessman. He wanted to know about Haruhi's past, but I didn't know anything. He probably sent someone to question you since I didn't know anything."

Haruhi? The whore? "And why did you tell him anything at all?" He pulled him closer to his face. "Huh? Why'd you think that would be okay?"

Hiro's eyes were everywhere but looking at him. "I'm sorry, brother."

He dropped the squirt on the floor, pacing across the room. "So I need to go beat the sense outta some preppy rich kid? I'll have to practice on you again, huh?"

After being dropped, he was still catching his breath again, but gasped enough air to say, "They probably wanted to find you for a DNA sample, you know. She's probably pregnant." He didn't know why that had popped out, but it had suddenly. He clapped his hand over his mouth.

Kuretate stopped. "Oh really? Hm." He stalked over to his brother again. "I'll have to take care of that then, huh?"

Hiro braced for impact.

Kyouya wasn't sure when or how, but somehow, he'd fallen asleep. Maybe all of the emotion from the day had drained him out more than he'd realized. He still felt incredibly tense, but his rational side was coming back to him after a proper rest.

He looked to the clock. Almost six... Father would be wanted to speak with Haruhi soon. Ah, she was still asleep. He pulled himself out of bed, and went to put a soft hand on her shoulder. "Haruhi?"

She stirred softly, moaning a bit. After a long moment of shifting and dragging her eyes open, she hazily murmured, "Senpai?" She smiled. "Good morning."

"Good morning." He replied. "I think it's about time you talked to Father."

She sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Right. Okay." I can do this. "What do you think he'll do when I give him my answer?" She asked, pulling out the same outfit from before. Huh. It was wrinkled even worse this time. Maybe she should go with the school uniform...

"It's hard to say." He replied. "I don't think he approves of you staying here, however. Be prepared for that."

She hesitated for a second, then shook it off. What happened happened. And if Senpai wouldn't step in to let her stay here, that was his choice. They were friends, right? It only took her a minute to change. "Ready."

He took her hand once more. He doubted he would be allowed to take part in this meeting. Probably for the best. He wasn't sure he would be able to stay quiet about the situation. He came to a stop in front of the man's door. "Are you ready?"

She nodded, not wanting to relinquish her grip on his hand. "Senpai," She stopped, staring at him for a moment. No. She couldn't say anything important here. She reached up to run her fingers along his face, and smiled softly. "Never mind. Thank you for walking me here." Undoing her hand from his was harder mentally than physically.

"I have faith in your abilities." He said. He sounded much calmer than he felt, to be honest. "Go on."

And she did.

He barely looked up to her arrival. "Sit down, Haruhi," He said, finishing his paperwork quickly and putting it aside before looking to her. "I trust you gave this matter your complete attention, and thought it through as thoroughly as you could?"

"I have, sir." She replied. True, it wasn't the answer he was looking for. Undoubtedly not the most logical answer. But she was going to stand by it. "Thank you for your offer, but I'll choose to stay in Japan."

He wasn't surprised, but was still perplexed. "You've been offered a free ride to one of the most prestigious schools in the world. Explain, please."

"To be honest, sir, I'm not sure how well I would function in that sort of environment." She replied. "I'm only just beginning to adjust to my current one. Perhaps after a few years of-" She almost said 'normal.' Did that sound weak? "High school, I'll be more inclined toward this more drastic move."

"Hm." He turned his chair to look out the window. "Haruhi, as I'm sure you know, my sons have very hard jobs of protecting their names. The media is a cruel and wicked entity, and they do not hesitate to rip you apart if the opportunity arises." He tented his hands over his lap. "Whichever one of my sons takes my company for me is going to have a very hard job indeed, especially if their name is sullied so early on." He shot her a glance. "Does this all make sense to you?"

She nodded. "I understand, sir." She folded her hands before they started shaking. "However, I do work with your son. Cutting contact completely would be next to impossible."

She was absolutely correct. He'd seen the way Kyouya had looked at her, so in any case he probably would have put up a fuss. He turned to her. "Haruhi, have you denied yourself to my son?"

He'd done that all by himself, it seemed. "We're nothing more than friends." She replied, treading very carefully.

He snorted aloud. "You may be dismissed, Haruhi. Please send Kyouya in."

"Very well, sir." She stood, bowed, and left. She wasn't sure if she managed to hold her trembling until she'd left the room. She closed the doors behind her, about ready to pass out.

She sent Kyouya in.

"In any given situation, there are a certain set of paths and outcomes, Kyouya. You seem to be ignoring that." He looked over his glasses, noticing a slight foot tap.
"I would disagree." Kyouya replied, sitting. "I'm very aware of the possible outcomes. It takes time, but it is more than possible to manipulate those paths so that they lead where you wish them to. As I'm sure you know."

He paused, weighing the words. Finally, he said, "Kyouya, you are becoming a man. You will need to prepare yourself for whatever work you should choose, and you'll need to have a family, if only for appearances. Up until recently, you had been very thoroughly preparing yourself well enough, but you've been distracted. On this path, you'll never find a suitable mate; no woman would agree to marry a man who is already so involved with a slave. Furthermore, Haruhi's loyalty would drop significantly once you did have a spouse."

"With respect, I disagree once again." Kyouya replied. "By that point in my life, Haruhi will have paid her debt to me. She will no longer be a slave. Her loyalty to the family will be profession, and well compensated. One the issue of our current relationship: We've gone to great lengths to keep it, first, a secret, and second, platonic. I see no reason why any woman should object to a man of my standing."

Yoshio was tired of his son's rhetoric. "Leave. I'll speak with you later."
Kyouya blinked, standing. "Thank you, Father," he said, bowing to leave.

Yoshio regarded his son for a moment. "Did I mention Haruhi?" His mouth turned up slightly. "I only ask because I need to start weeding out unlikely candidates soon." He was completely and utterly pushing Kyouya, seeing how far he could go before the boy snapped. He felt a bit bad, but not entirely. People would do this to him all of his life, if he were to take the company.

"You did not." Ouch. He almost got him there. "However, I knew what you were implying with such a question."

"No, you seem to have taken my words completely out of context. You will marry someone of high standing, with strong roots. Haruhi has neither of those."

"I understand this, father." He replied. "As I've previously mentioned, my relationship with Haruhi does reach beyond the boundaries of business partners and colleagues."

He raised his hand. "Speak frankly with me; I can tell when you're lying." He lay his hands on the table firmly. "While you will marry for those things, I have never forbidden you from having a lover who possesses other qualities." His face softened. "That is even a common practice in our world." He knew, personally, how much it affected one's financial well-being to be cut off from someone you cared deeply about because of the politics of his work. He knew also how open he was being with Kyouya. That wouldn't happen again, at least not in the foreseeable future.

Was this.. What, another test? "While I appreciate the gesture, that will not be necessary." He said. "She is in no fit state for such a relationship and, as we've mentioned, if word got out, it would be pure scandal."

He shrugged. "As you wish. However, I disagree about it being scandal, assuming you claimed her as your lover. As I said, it is quite a normal relationship in yours and my world, Kyouya. However, she is still in recovery, as I've seen, and it is completely your choice to deprive you both of something so anticipated." He adjusted his glasses. "Although, that is neither here nor there. I wanted to remind you that I will need your transcripts soon to look over your work. Have them to me at your earliest convenience."

Just what did this man want from him! Of all the mental labyrinths he had to navigate when dealing with this man, this above all else felt impossible.

He stayed calm, however. "Very well. You'll have them in the morning. Will that be all?"

He had many more pressing things that needed his attention, although pushing his son's buttons was an interesting past time. "Yes, go. And Kyouya? Don't take too long to decided on what I said; the rumors would be worse than a declaration."

"Yes, father." He replied. As if that man understood anything about Haruhi's situation. Taking her as a lover? Out of the question. That would be flagrant abuse of her vulnerable mental state. How was she ever to heal if he took advantage of her, just as she was starting to feel human again? Ridiculous. He bowed stiffly before exiting the room.

Baffling.

The one in question was planted unceremoniously on a chair outside of the office. She looked up, obviously stressed. "Well?"

He wasn't entirely sure. "Your position is looking optimistic." He replied.

She brightened. "Really? I thought for sure he would... well, never mind." She stood to join him, taking his hand happily. "What did he say?"

"Quite a few things." Kyouya replied. None of which he was comfortable with putting on her. He had no intentions of putting even more pressure to... 'Preform' on her. "Over all, he doesn't seem to entirely disapprove of our relationship."

That was such a relief. She hugged his arm, resting her head against it as they walked. "That is so good to hear. Excellent. I'm glad he didn't throw us anymore curve balls this time."

Oh, he wouldn't go that far. However, he would handle this particular curve ball on his own. "Let us hope this trend continues."

She ran her hand over her belly unthinkingly. "Yeah. I'm glad he's happy." She paused, then added, "Although I'd much rather please you than him, Senpai."

Despite everything, he allowed himself to smile. She was so... He refused to use the word 'sweet.' "Ensuring my father is content certainly does please me." He assured her.

Despite everything that had been happening, she still kind of wished that he would sweep her up in a fit of passion and carry her off to do unspeakable(ly wonderful) things to her. All she could give him though, was a smile and another little squeeze to his arm. "Should we have dinner sent up?" She asked as they entered his room.

"Yes, let's." He wasn't sure he could stomach any more of his family right now. "What would you like?"

She shrugged, flopping onto the bed, her feet tired already. "Whatever you want." She stretched, her arms as far above her head as they'd go, the muscles loosening deliciously. "I don't care."

"Very well." He watched her through the corner of his eye. Why did he do things like this to himself? Oh well. He brought her to the bedroom, their only safe place these days.

Come to think of it, she was really tense. Her whole back felt like one big knot. As Senpai went to the phone, she stood up to stretch. She started with her legs, moving on to her arms, to save her back for last. She arched, trying to work the lumps out on her own. Ouch. That hurt more than she'd thought it would.

He watched her, hanging up the phone after a brief conversation. "I do have some training int he field of massage therapy." Again, why did he do these things to himself. "If you'd like."

She looked up at him, surprised, but not too much so. "Yeah, that would be wonderful." Wait, should she stand? Sit? Lay down? "...Where would you like me?"

"On the bed, please." That was a perfectly platonic thing to say. "Or the couch, if you prefer."

"No, the bed's fine." She thought back to the bath, wondering if she should disrobe, but unsure of how to ask. "Should I... do anything to get ready?"

"Well, it would be more effective without your shirt." He said, as clinically as possible.

She ducked her head and colored, nodding dutifully and unbuttoning her shirt as quickly as her shaking fingers would allow her to. "So I'll just," She began, not quite finishing and climbed onto the bed slowly, tummy-side down. She couldn't look at him, and she knew how hot her face still was.

"Just relax, if you would." He moved to stand behind the bed. This was a bad idea. Friends didn't do this for each other, did they? He flexed his nervous fingers, before laying them on her back. Gentle, at first, feeling for the knots. Soon, his fingers and palms began to dig deeper, burying themselves in her soft, smooth flesh.

She nodded a little, thinking how easy it would be to simply melt under his ministrations. She knew how quiet she'd always been made to be during intimacy, and tried to implement that rule now, desperately trying to ward off the soft moans of pleasure as his strong fingers worked away her aches.

Kyouya stayed quiet, as well, working through the process as professionally as he could. Although, it would be a lie to say he wasn't taking his time. She was so warm... So soft... And yet, this wasn't enough. His fingers thirsted for more. That electric feeling was back, the tingling sensation slowly working its way up his arms.

No, no, no, that would not due.

"Senpai," she whispered, "Lower, if you would." It was true that her lower back was the area with the most pain, although she could only imagine what Senpai's hands would feel like there. She bit her lip, hoping he wouldn't draw away in defiance of her brash command.

He moved slowly downward. She really was knotted pretty badly. How miserable she must have been lately. "How's that?"

She sighed contentedly before catching herself. "Incredible." More than that, though. It was heavenly, delicious. She didn't want him to ever move away.

Well, if she was enjoying it, maybe he could just take his time...

Though he'd worked out all of the knots long ago, he couldn't take his hands away from her. He felt like he was slowly melting into her...

It felt so good; she couldn't concentrate on anything else. "My neck, Senpai?" All over her. His hands needed to be all over her.

"As you wish." She was the client today, after all. He was all about pleasing the client. He moved his hands back upwards, working the muscles firmly.

She couldn't feel anything but the extraordinary things Senpai was doing to her. "Senpai," She moaned, forgetting the quiet rule entirely. "Everywhere." She wanted to touch him now, too. And kiss him. She opened her eyes, trying to look at him.

And suddenly, his hands were on fire. His face followed suit. He opened his mouth to reply, but a knocking at his door, thankfully, saved him from what was no doubt going to be an embarrassing moment. "That would be dinner." He managed to squeeze the words out.

He'd stopped. She hadn't even processed the words he'd said, but he'd stopped. Her whole body was cold now, everywhere his hands had been were freezing with neglect again. (His hands were good, and she couldn't help but wonder how much better his mouth would be-)

She was in her own mind enough to pull the covers over herself as he answered the door to retrieve dinner. She watched him longingly, wanting to tackle him to the floor and plant big, unforeseen kisses all over his taut muscles. He'd stopped though, he had just been massaging her. He didn't want her.

He brought the tray over to the nightstand. Good. Things were getting just a little too intense. He shuddered. One more minute and they could have... Why did he feel so disappointed?

She sat up dizzily, needing to use the bathroom. She hurried off, leaving him alone with the tray for a moment. When she saw herself in the mirror, she couldn't believe how needy she looked. She could understand why he'd stopped; there was nothing about her now that was attractive. She exited the bathroom and hastily bowed. "I'm so sorry, Senpai! I'm trying my best to be less disgusting!" She said the last part quietly, still bent forward in submission. He must hate her.

He looked confused to say the least. He honestly just wished he understood what went through her head, and how she come to these ridiculous conclusions like this. "What are you talking about now?"

She didn't look at him, but straightened up slightly. "I know I shouldn't even look like I need anything, but I did and I know how revolting that is for anyone above me and I just want to make you happy and I hate how much I disappoint you and... yeah." The whole thing came out as a jumbled rush, while she bobbed a few more times to show how truly repentant she was.

He sighed. "Haruhi. I thought we were beyond this." He crossed the room to put his arms around her again. "You're a human being, Haruhi. Not a slave."

She let him hold her rigidly, unsure of his seriousness. Other things he could let slide, but actual, truthful, horniness directed at your master? That was unthinkable, unspeakable. "I-I-I can make up for it, Senpai. Let me make up for it, please." She shook lightly against his warm body.

"That is inconsequential to either of us." He replied. Though, deep down, his heart was burning to refuse. He didn't want just anyone his father approved of, he wanted... Someone special...

He gave himself a grim reminder that that would never happen. They were 'friends.'

"There's nothing to make up for." He said, stroking gently at her back. "You're just fine, Haruhi."

She shivered, feeling as if she were being tested. She pulled away from the embrace, taking his hand gently, as if holding something valuable. "I just don't want Senpai to become," She kissed each of his knuckles, "upset with me."

"I've no reason to be upset with you." He replied. "Now, come on. You need to eat."

She nodded woodenly, dipping down to retrieve her shirt. "Yes, Senpai."