Maybe You're My Love
Chapter Twenty: Kyoya's…Engagement?!
Summer was just around the corner…
Tamaki couldn't believe a year in America had gone by so quickly. They had done so much, met so many people, and created amazing friendships that he didn't want to see fade away. He was looking forward to going back to Japan, only because he'd get to see his mother whenever he wanted…but he was sad he had to leave so many people behind. Tamaki tried to talk to Kyoya about what he was feeling but Kyoya had reverted back to his cold, indifferent, ways. He didn't know what to make of it. Ami and Kyoya hadn't been spending much time together, but Tamaki just thought that was due to Ami preparing for the end of the year summer festival. She and the school president had teamed up to throw a great send-away for all the exchange students. But even still, when the two were together, they seemed friendly, so Tamaki didn't think they were fighting.
Honey noticed that things weren't quite the same with Mori either. He seemed more distant and distracted. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going and often wound up getting himself lost a few times because he was so lost deep in thought. Mori and Kyoya were still avoiding each other, and Tamaki had, had just about enough of it.
"Honey-Senpai we have to fix whatever is going on between these two!" said Tamaki, "This is unacceptable. The host club can't continue like this!"
Honey nodded in agreement, "In our family, whenever two people have a disagreement, we make them fight it out!" said Honey cheerfully, "So why don't we just have Takashi and Kyo-Chan locked in a dojo together and wait to see who wins?"
Tamaki looked at Honey as if he were crazy. Mori would easily destroy Kyoya and that would start a war between their families. "Or better yet! How about we just lock the two in a room and make them talk to each other?"
Honey shrugged, "If you say so. But Takashi would really prefer to fight it out."
After class, Kyoya was on his way back to his dorm room when Tamaki approached him and said he had a few Host Club ideas to go over. Having nothing better to do, Kyoya agreed as Tamaki led him to the music department of the school grounds.
"Why are we on the South side of campus, Tamaki?"
"It's got the best sound booths!" Said Tamaki, matter of factly, "We need as much privacy as we can get. These are very important, top secret, topics we have to discuss!"
"Whatever," Kyoya said as they walked inside.
The building was empty except for one class down the hall that was practicing orchestral arrangements. Tamaki walked Kyoya into a recording booth and then locked the door behind him.
"Tamaki, what on earth are you doing?" asked Kyoya. A shadow loomed over him and he turned to see Mori standing behind him. Honey and Tamaki waved at the two from behind the booth.
"We're tired of the two of you ignoring each other," Honey said through the microphone. "You're gonna stay in here and work out your differences until you can come to an agreement!"
"You can't keep us in here like this. What if people need to use this booth?" asked Kyoya.
"We rented it out for two days…" said Tamaki slyly.
"And there are plenty of snacks in there for you to eat in case you get hungry, k?" said Honey.
Kyoya started ranting at the two but Tamaki switched off the microphone and sat in the chair and waited. Once Kyoya figured out they couldn't hear him, he gave up and then pushed up his glasses.
"So…" said Mori, "We might as well get this over with."
Kyoya finally looked at him, "There's nothing to get over, because we have no business to take care of."
"Ami-San confessed to you." Damn. How did he find out? They had been so casual about it. "I can tell, because she doesn't smile like she used to."
Kyoya thought of Ami's usual cheerful self and then thought of what she looked like the day before, when he saw her. She was smiling and greeting everyone like normal, but there was something missing. Something broken.
"You're right," said Kyoya, "She did. And we discussed it like adults."
"You broke her heart," said Mori, and his hands closed into fists. Kyoya knew he wouldn't hurt him, but still took a seat across the room from him.
"It's for the best," Kyoya recited this like he had rehearsed it over and over, "Amelie has a great opportunity to inherit her fathers company. I would only be competition to her. Besides, I have more pressing matters to focus on in Japan."
"That's a lie," Mori said, he was visibly upset now, but remained in his place with his arms crossed. "You fought all year to get her to fall in love with you…and then you just turn her down?" His voice was rising, "Why?!" Kyoya was astonished that Mori could snap at someone. He had always been the benevolent one, the one everyone turned to for advice without fear of judgement. "Was this a game to you?" Mori went on, "Were you just playing with her heart? What did you have to gain from hurting someone so kind?"
"I don't have to answer to you," Kyoya said coolly.
Suddenly Kyoya was pinned against the wall. Tamaki tried to open the door to the booth but Honey got in his way and shook his head. "Watch." he said.
"Hit me if you think it'll make you feel better." Kyoya said. His glasses had fallen off and Mori could now see the hurt in his eyes. He wanted this. He was punishing himself.
"I think...you think it'll make you feel better." Mori said as he dropped Kyoya.
"Are you more upset because she chose me?" Kyoya asked, he gave a devilish smirk and stood up, straightening his clothes.
"Don't bait him, Kyoya…" whispered Tamaki as he and Honey watched on the edge of their seats.
"Or perhaps you're more upset that she chose me, got her heart broken, and didn't come running into your arms for comfort…is that it? No matter how patient you were, Mori-Senpai…you still weren't enough for her." Kyoya pushed the chair aside and walked up to Mori, his smirk still dancing on his lips. "You see, unlike you, I can read a person as soon as I see them. I knew what kind of man, Amelie wanted and I became him for her. I mostly did it because I saw how you felt about her. I wanted to take that from you. I may not be a judo champion, but when it comes to mind games, there's no one better than me."
Kyoya's heart stopped when he saw the fist coming at him. He stayed in his place ready to take it, but it never hit him. Instead, Mori hit the wall right behind Kyoya, putting a hole right through the sound proof foam and straight to the concrete beneath.
"I'm not falling for your trap," Mori told him, "You want to get hurt. You want to feel what she's feeling. I'm not the one who will do that. You should rot in your guilt."
Silence.
Mori remained with his back to Kyoya, who was staring ahead at the wall, lost in his contemplation. Tamaki worriedly looked at Honey who was staring deadly serious at the two.
"Not yet…" Honey said.
"My father has arranged a marriage for me," Kyoya said after minutes of silence. Tamaki and Honey gasped, Mori finally turned around. "It was a few days before the sports festival. Said he found a good match for me. A girl who was fond of my endeavors with the host club. Her family is very wealthy and produces top of the line physicians who work in world class hospitals…he was so proud of me. Said that I'd be the first of my brothers to get married. To…become the patriarch." Kyoya pushed his glasses up and sighed, "How could I say no? What could I tell him?"
"You should have told him, no!" came Tamaki's voice from behind the glass. Kyoya was taken aback by how abruptly Tamaki yelled at him. "You're selfish, Kyoya! Selfish! You are your own man, you can make your own decisions. You're throwing away your happiness to get something you had given up a long time ago…"
If you show your father you don't care anymore…then he'll see who you really are…Ami's voice echoed in Kyoya's mind and he finally understood why this was happening.
"You idiot!" said Tamaki, "Is losing true love worth the short praise of your father?" Tamaki had gone red in the face and he slammed his hands down on the sound board. "The least you could have done was tell her the truth."
"It's too late," Kyoya said, "She and my father are flying from Japan tomorrow to meet and sign the marriage contract. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't back out of it. I'd be disowned. My father couldn't risk the embarrassment of his third son turning down a wealthy heiress."
Honey opened the door, "Leave." was all he said.
Ami sat in her room watching a television show she knew nothing about. She hadn't the energy to go to the E-Club and she had finished all of her work so now…she was bored. There was a knock on her door that took her out of her thoughts and she got up to answer it. It was Kyoya. Before she could say anything, Kyoya grabbed her and kissed her hard.
"I'm sorry…" he whispered in her ear before he turned and left.
Ami's breath was taken away as she listened to the recording of Mori and Kyoya's confrontation. Tamaki sat next to her, not sure what to say. He saw the tears in her eyes and looked over to Haruhi who got her a box of tissues. Ami pushed the box away and stood up, she wiped away her tears.
"That idiot…" she sighed under her breath.
"I'm sorry, Ami-Senpai…but I don't think there's anything the host club can do…" said Tamaki, he was defeated and let his head fall into his hands. He had worked so hard to get them together, only for fate to tear them apart. "Kyoya's father is incredibly strict. If Kyoya is disowned..."
"And you call yourself a prince?" she asked. Tamaki raised his head to see Ami stretching her hand out to him to help him to his feet. "I thought a host doesn't give up, not even if they've exhausted all of their options?"
"But what can we do, Senpai?" asked Haruhi.
"It's a simple equation really…" said Ami, and she smiled. "We just have to do the math!"
Mori was in the gym taking out his frustrations on a dummy when Ami arrived. He looked down at her as she smiled up at him. It was her real smile. What did Kyoya do? He wondered.
"Mori," Ami started, "I love you," he lost his breath, "But not in the way you want. You're such a great guy and you're one of my best friends, and I will cherish our relationship forever. After a lot of thinking, I think you may have overlooked some details of your feelings for me. Honey and I think you're projecting onto the wrong girl." Ami grinned and Mori raised an eyebrow in confusion, "I need your help before I can reveal to you, who you're really in love with."
Kyoya sighed as the driver took the slowest route to get to the hotel his father had arrived at. He knew the negotiations were going on without him, and him being there was just a formality. He had read the profile of the girl he was to be engaged to nearly a dozen times. She was pretty…not beautiful, but average. Her name was Kaneko Funaki, a third year like Kyoya, and apparently she went to Ouran. He hadn't noticed her before. Never saw her at the Host Club. She was adequate at nearly every subject she studied, she was shy—that'd be boring—and her aspirations were—surprise! She wanted to be a surgeon, like every other member in her family.
The car veered off to a different road and started taking a new path, "Driver, you're headed the wrong way." said Kyoya.
"No sir, just got updated instructions from your father. They're moving to a new location, seems there's a problem with booking." said the driver.
Kyoya laid back in his seat and shrugged. Whatever took him the longest to get there was fine with him.
Tara got off the phone with her father and gave a thumbs up to Tamaki who bounced up and down in the limo with excitement. They were lucky Tara's father was a real estate agent. He called in a few favors in the Boston Area and managed to have some investigations opened up about the foundation of the hotel Kyoya's father was staying in.
Ami got on the phone with her father, "Hello Daddy? How quickly can you get out to Boston?"
A sudden road block caused Kyoya to spend two hours in traffic. He was practically hitting his head on the window out of frustration. He contacted his father to let him know what was happening, but apparently they were stuck in the same traffic as well.
A head in the street was a construction crew fixing what appeared to be a very large pothole. They were directing people down an alternative route. The names on the back of their uniforms read, Williams Co.
Margo who stood on the side of the street sent a text to Ami, telling her that she had more time and her dads construction company was taking care of the path.
Kyoya finally arrived to the hotel and let the staff take his bags. He read the name just as he crossed under the archway and felt a hole develop in his gut. Of course it was a Noble Hotel. The irony slapped him in the face as he walked in and found his father and Kaneko in the lounge. He bowed to her and then greeted his father.
"Sorry for all the delays," Mr. Ootori said to Kaneko in Japanese, "Something strange is going on in this city."
"Oh it's quite alright," said Kaneko, "I've never been to America so it's wonderful to see as much of it as I can."
"Perhaps Kyoya can give you a tour of what he's seen while you're here for one more day." Mr. Ootori said this as if it were a demand, not a request for Kyoya to do so.
"I would be happy to." Kyoya said with his empty smile.
A commotion stirred outside of the lounge and people rushed forward with cameras and loud voices. "What is going on?" asked Mr. Ootori. He walked over to the service desk but the staff member was gone. Moments later, cheering erupted from the lobby.
"Please, please, everyone, go about your business, you're embarrassing me!"
Kyoya knew that voice.
Mr. Noble walked through the crowd and shook hands with as many people as he could while he made his way to the lounge. Security pushed back the crowd as he entered the lounge, two of the members were a tall spiky haired young man and a very, very, short but strong blond young man. It was hard to make out just who exactly they were but they blocked all the fans from entering the lounge.
Mr. Ootori stood immediately and bowed to Mr. Noble.
"Kyoya!" said Mr. Noble, he walked up to Kyoya and shook his hand. "So good to see you again, my boy. What brings you to my humble establishment?"
Kyoya moved to the side and introduced his father, "Mr. Noble, please meet my father, Yoshio Ootori, partiarch of the Ootori family and President of Ootori medical." Yoshio bowed and Mr. Noble reached out to shake his hand. "Father, meet Mr. Terrance Noble, owner, president and CEO of Noble Entertainment, Resorts, Health Spas, Inns and Hotels."
"Such a grand title," said Yoshio.
Terrance grinned, "That's the short version of it!" He laughed loudly which forced Yoshio to chuckle. Kyoya had never seen his father act like this before. What was happening?
"My son has told me all about your family. You're quite innovative, well versed in business, and it sounds like you have a wonderful daughter." Yoshio said.
"If we're trading compliments then let me say, I have never met anyone—aside from myself—who has impressed me more than Kyoya has."
"Sir, you are too kind." Said Kyoya
Terrance took a seat as did Yoshio and Kyoya sat next to Kaneko. "Your son is humble," Terrance went on, "A while ago, I told Kyoya that if he impressed me, I'd save a spot for him at my company, as a shadow, so to speak." Yoshio looked at his son with interest. Kyoya hadn't told him that. "Most young men would go out of their way to show me their portfolios and go about trying to suck up to me get ahead…but not Kyoya. He's sneakier than that!" Terrance laughed again and then winked at Kyoya, "Instead of trying to impress me…he made an impact on my daughter...And that isn't easy to do."
Yoshio said nothing as he waited for Terrance to go on. Kyoya looked down at his feet to hide his smile. Now he knew what was happening.
"As a man who built his business from the ground up, starting with nothing, I've seen nearly every type of man you could imagine. Good men, bad men, strong men, weak men…even those in between. Never did I think I'd find a true, honest man…until I heard about Kyoya," He thought for a moment before he went on, "My daughter means the world to me, and it hurts me to see her unhappy. The day she met Kyoya, I could tell something in her had changed. She had suddenly become outspoken, brash, disobedient and rebellious…I loved it! The real her. And it came to my attention that I had only one man to thank. Her hero, her knight in shining armor…he saved her life—twice. I am in a huge debt to your son, Mr. Ootori. And it's for that very reason, that I'm in this room now."
The doors to the room opened and in walked Ami in a beautiful lavender dress. She bowed to Yoshio who stood and bowed back to her. Terrance stood and introduced his daughter. "Mr. Ootori, I'd like for you to meet my pride and joy. The one person in this world I would happily give up everything I own for. My daughter, Amelie Elizabeth Marie Noble."
"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Ootori." She said.
"Amelie has brought to my attention a certain situation that has arisen that may cause some…dysfunction. So she's here to propose…a new route." Terrance said. He took his seat again and Ami then handed out folders to everyone in the room.
"Mr. Ootori, it was recently brought to my attention, that you've decided to enter Kyoya into an arranged marriage. And although I'm sure you've spent countless hours finding the perfect prospect for him, let me offer you one more to consider. Please turn to page, 3…" Everyone flipped through the folder and stopped on a head shot, resume, and cover letter from Ami.
"Ami—Ms. Noble…" said Kyoya. He stood up.
"Mr. Ootori, I'm not done with my presentation, please hold all questions and comments until the end." She smiled at Kyoya and he sat back down, wondering why she would go through all these lengths for him. Was he truly worth it? She went on, "As you can see, I believe I should also be considered as a prospective fiancé for Kyoya. I'm at the top of my class, I've been offered a place in nearly all the top Ivy League schools in the united states, and I'll be the sole inheritor of all of my fathers estates, fortunes, prospects and business ventures, including all the international associates and contracts we currently hold and will continue to grow. The Noble name itself is worth several billion dollars and will only triple in value once I take my father's place.
Miss Funaki has a great future ahead of her, but I believe the stress of living up to her family name will distract her from her studies and prohibit her from becoming the best surgeon she can be. Now that isn't to discredit, Miss Funaki. With her families name she could be employed at any hospital in the world…" here Ami paused and took a deep breath. "But I believe I know what the Ootori family needs the best," she looked at Kyoya and he met her gaze, "Your family is looking for someone who can take them places and show off the best qualities of the Ootori name. Someone who can defend the name when it calls for it. Someone who will stand tall and proud and not second guess if she made the right choice. You want someone who's aggressive and will never take no for an answer. Who will go after what she wants. Who will stand by your side through the wildest of storms. And promises to try to cook but most likely won't succeed at it because she's too busy focusing on work…a woman who will support you through every good and slightly unconventional idea. A woman who cries a little too easily but isn't afraid to admit she does, because showing you care…showing you're passionate…isn't a weakness…" She laughed and then took a deep breath, "A woman who can make wild, impulsive, business decisions but can be confident that it'll all work out in the end…"
Terrance looked between Amelie and Kyoya. Neither had broken eye contact with the other. He stood back up and took his place beside his daughter. "I've already given Amelie my approval—as painful as it is for a father to let his daughter go and grow up…but I believe if we speak more in private, and not rush too hastily into a conclusion, we can work something out between us."
Yoshio thought for a moment and then looked at Kyoya who was still staring at Amelie. "Let us talk more in private then. Kyoya, Miss Funaki…Miss Noble…if you please."
Amelie bowed and left the room. Kyoya walked out immediately after her and then turned back around to Kaneko. "Miss Funaki, I—"
She held up a hand, a serious look upon her face,"Please Kyoya…" then she smiled, "Your true love is waiting! All the girls are going to go wild when I tell them how she did this grand gesture to win you over!" She started swooning and Kyoya laughed. A true Ouran girl, through to the end. He'd have to remember to thank her later.
Kyoya walked up to the second floor and found Amelie sitting next to the indoor koi pond. The doors slid shut behind him and she kept looking into the pond. "Before you say anything. Yes, I'm sure about doing this. No, Tamaki didn't talk me into this, and if you try and tell me not to go through with this—"
She just didn't know when to shut up.
Kyoya held Ami in his arms and kissed her hard and deep. She wrapped her arms around him and lost herself in his kiss.
"Are you really going to stay in America, Kyoya Senpai?" asked Haruhi as they all sat under the freshly bloomed cherry blossom trees on the hills overlooking the Bizu spring fair.
"Yes. I've already applied to several of the same schools that Amelie has applied to and have no doubt at all that I will be accepted." He said. His head was in Ami's lap and she shared a bowl of little snacks that Andie had pieced together.
"It's just so amazing you two are engaged!" said Honey, "That's great!"
"It was the most practical business arrangement…" said Ami as she ran her fingers through Kyoya's hair.
"Have you figured out what you'll be studying, Ami-Senpai?" asked Haruhi.
"Music therapy," said Ami, "So I'll be in two departments. Psychology and music."
"Wow," said Tara, she was laying on Kaoru's chest and looking up at the clouds, "You can handle two majors?"
"Of course I can!" said Ami, she winked, "I am me after all."
"When will the wedding be?" asked Tamaki, he had his calendar out ready to start planning as soon as possible.
"It won't be for a few more years," said Kyoya, "We're staying focused on our school work before we go into any of those details."
Ami rolled her eyes, "What he means is that my father made him promise there won't be a wedding until we both finished school and Kyoya can finish shadowing him at the company."
"Four years from next Spring then!" said Tamaki. He was already dreaming of the day and what Ami and Kyoya would wear.
"I'll bake the cake!" said Andie, she sat next to Mori who had his arm around her, "It'll be six layers! With an adorable little Kyoya and Ami on the top!"
"I'll help frost it!" said Honey.
The rest of the host club started to go on and on about Ami and Kyoya's wedding, who would do what and where it would be. Kyoya drowned out the sounds of their chatter and instead focused on how warm Ami's lap was and how nice it felt to have her fingers in his hair. He could get use to this.
"A practical business arrangement, hmm?" he said quietly.
"Now that's an interesting notion…" said Ami.