A/N: For those of you who follow my Nekozawa/Haruhi story, I will update that one later in the week. I kept working on it and Bitter2 was swimming around in my head giving me block. Ergo, you are getting Bitter2 earlier than normally scheduled. As for the guesses on who… no one got it and it may shock you. Let me know what you think of who it was after you read the chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 29 – The Source

The school wide search for the rumor source began immediately… thanks to Tamaki. Kyoya wanted to do some research to see if he could determine the cause of the latest rumor, but his best friend had different ideas and before the sensei arrived for their first class that morning, Tamaki was up in front of the class and confronting them, lacking the patience the Shadow King possessed. The method yielded some results; however, some people looked as if they were a little uncomfortable to share any information and/or with the subject period.

By the time lunch rolled around, everyone had heard the rumor that Haruhi was really in love with Tamaki and the only reason she stayed with Mori is because he won the competitions. To the female host, it was beyond ridiculous and she couldn't believe that anyone was actually buying it, especially their customers. The people who attended Host Club could tell how much she and Mori were in love with each other… couldn't they? So if that was the case, why was the rumor spreading like wildfire?

During the break, student after student would walk up to any one of the hosts and ask about the rumor. Every time it was denied, but the number of students approaching had not decreased.

The twins had heard about it this morning from other students and had laughed hysterically when they were told believing it was some sort of joke. It wasn't and they set the record straight, but it didn't seem as if anyone trusted their word; which made them wonder if they had done one too many pranks before shaking their heads that it couldn't be that. No, this rumor had taken hold and no one wanted to let it go, and the members of the Host Club couldn't understand why.

Kyoya had tracked the rumor backwards and by the time the Host Club was opening its doors, he was making progress, but there was still so much to go through in order to find the student that started it. One of the male students said he heard something about a letter, and yet he wasn't sure who had it or what the letter contained. It was at least a lead though, the best one he had at the moment; however, that would need to wait until after the doors closed to the customers once again. At least that was his mindset, the president had another one.

Believing that they could get more answers by confronting the people about the rumor, he stood upon his throne and shouted (and yes dear reader, normally this would be very unhostlike, but this is Tamaki and sometimes he has his own rules), "I need everyone's attention! Gentlemen, princesses, we need your help. Please, gather around." He cleared his throat and continued when he had everyone's attention, "I am sure by now everyone has heard that little rumor about Haruhi, Mori-senpai, and me, and I would like to make the pronouncement now… it is not true. My little girl is very happy with her fiancé and I would never want to come between that happiness. They are very much in love with each other and I can honestly say that she is not planning on leaving Mori-senpai for me." He didn't add that he had tried to win her over and lost, or that part of him still wanted her, but that would have probably hurt them instead of helped them (he did know when to shut-up sometimes dear reader).

Haruhi glanced up at the tall man behind her and smiled, "That is very true."

Unable to resist, Mori leaned down and gave his fiancée a small kiss as he whispered across her lips, "Agreed." They broke apart to the squeals and screams of the girls in the room. The flames of Moe could probably be seen from outer space, and hearts were in every single girl's eyes… and some of the boys too.

Tamaki could feel himself blush and his heart pound at that display and felt someone knock into his chair. Glancing down, he saw Kyoya standing next to him and giving him a look… well actually he wasn't sure what kind of look since the glare on the vice president's glasses obscured his eyes, but Tamaki was sure it was a bad look and one that told him to move on. Nodding at his friend, the blond continued, "As you can see, they are very much in love. So whoever started this rumor is under false assumptions. We want to talk to the person that started such a falsehood, but we do not know who it is. Do any of you have information?"

A low buzzing noise could be heard amongst the customers before one of the girls shouted, "But if it is a lie, why did you say that she loved you and was only with Mori-senpai because you lost?"

"WAH?" Tamaki's intake of breath was loud and everyone wondered if he would ever breathe again since he was frozen in mid action.

Smiling, Kyoya spoke with a honeyed voice as he asked, "I'm sorry Princess Sora, but could you explain?"

The girl walked forward and expanded, "A letter was found on the ground addressed to 'To whom it may concern'. So naturally when my friends and I found it, we read it. There were about fifteen of us because it was during PE time on Friday when we found it in the hall and were walking into the gym. It was stuck to one of the bleachers."

"A letter from Tamaki?" Kyoya questioned as he pushed up his glasses and glared at his best friend.

"Yes, that is correct," Sora stated with a grin. She had really no idea the problems she was causing for one of her favorite hosts (yes, she had declared Tamaki as her favorite and was one of his regulars, and you can imagine what trouble this might stir up).

Haruhi face palmed, "What did this letter say?"

"It talked about how you really loved him and he loved you, but you two couldn't be together because your father had already given you to Mori-senpai; and he tried to fight for you, but he lost all of the duels. He said the only reason you were with Mori-senpai was because of the wins," another girl ticked off on her fingers the main points.

Falling to the ground in a boneless heap, Tamaki looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock and hide. How was this even possible? A letter? A fine mist was seen starting to come out of his mouth as he soul slowly started to exit his body.

Kyoya rolled his eyes, "Hikaru, Kaoru prepare the net for Tamaki."

"Got it Kyoya-senpai," the twins declared together and got ready to catch their president's soul if it were to completely leave.

Turning back towards the two girls that had spoken, the Shadow King smiled and began his questions again, "Princess Yumi, you also saw the letter?"

"Yes, senpai," Yumi answered.

"Do either of you happen to have the letter still?" Kyoya asked inwardly sighing. The one thing he had not expected was that Tamaki had been the start of the rumor the whole time. His best friend was hunting for his best friend… well they were all looking for him in actuality, but it was almost laughable.

Sora walked over to her bag and reached in to extract a single piece of paper and handed over to Kyoya, "Here you go senpai."

Kyoya gave her one of his best host smiles and bowed over her hand, kissing the back of it, "Thank you both Princess Sora and Princess Yumi." He extracted the letter from her outstretched hand and scanned the contents. Sure enough, it was Tamaki's handwriting. The idiot had written a letter without a date and had indeed addressed it "To whom it may concern".

Haruhi and Mori approached Kyoya and asked to see the letter as well, and everyone could see them both sweat drop before red tick marks appeared over their heads. "This is the cause of the problem?" The female host grumbled.

"So, when you found and read the letter why didn't you come and ask about it?" Kyoya inquired pushing up his glasses again.

Yumi and Sora gave each other a look before the former answered, "We had every intention of doing that, but neither of us was here Friday afternoon and by the time we arrived this morning the rumor had already spread."

Sora added, "It wasn't a small group and I am sure they were talking amongst themselves and others overheard, and well it spread from there."

Grinning good naturedly, the Shadow King said, "Yes, we can see how that happened. Thank you for informing us and giving us the letter that Tamaki wrote. I can assure you that regardless of what he wrote here, the rumor is not true. Haruhi and Mori-senpai are very much in love and plan on getting married, not because they are being forced to be together, but because they want to be together."

"I am not with Takashi because of the competitions. I was with him before that and continue to stay at his side because I don't want anyone else. Others have attempted to win me over since they discovered I was really a girl, but it hasn't worked and it will never work. Takashi is the only man for me," Haruhi announced making sure everyone in the room heard her.

"If Haruhi wasn't happy and her heart belonged to someone else, I would let her go because I love her that much, but she doesn't want to be with anyone else. I love her and as long as she wants me, I want her. She doesn't have feelings for Tamaki and never has," Mori added.

Jumping up and down to get everyone's attention, Hunny spoke next, "That's right. I set them up and they have been together ever since. If Haru-Chan didn't love Takashi, they would not be engaged right now!"

Kyoya gave a small signal to the twins and suddenly Hikaru and Kaoru pulled Tamaki to his feet and shoved his soul back in. With that done, they slapped his face to try to get him to regain consciousness. The Shadow King knew that if everyone was going to really believe that the rumor was false, they would need to hear it from the blond princely host. Walking up to his friend, he whispered low, "If you do not address this matter and tell everyone that this is a lie, you will have to contend with me; and I promise that your punishment will be a lot worse than what I concocted for the twins."

Sucking in a loud breath, Tamaki jumped away from his friend suddenly very awake. He grabbed the letter and scanned in quickly wincing. He could remember when he wrote the thing and it was never supposed to see the light of day again. Shaking his head, he gave all of the girls his princely smile and declared, "I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea from this. It is not true. Haruhi and Mori-senpai are together and happy."

"Then why did you write the letter Tamaki-senpai?" Yumi questioned confused.

"Yes, Tamaki, why did you? I am curious myself," Kyoya crossed his arms and waited patiently for an explanation thinking that it better be a really good one if Tamaki hoped to get out of this alive.

The blond president scratched the back of his head and looked a little sheepish, "Well because of that saying."

Tilting his head to the side, Hunny asked, "What saying Tama-Chan?"

Tamaki could feel his face turning bright red, "Well the one that says you write a letter about your loved one and your feelings, and then you burn it so that the feelings will disappear or the girl you love will love you back." Turning to the twins, he asked, "Which one was it?"

Everyone looked at each other with confused expressions, and while pinching the bridge of his nose, Kyoya probed (and he thought he might not like the answer when he hears it, but he still had to know dear reader), "Where did you hear that? There is no such thing."

"What? But Hikaru and Kaoru said…" Tamaki argued.

Kyoya knew he wasn't going to like it and decided before anything was said that could start another set of falsehoods around the school, he needed to get the girls out of the room, "I'm sorry ladies, but today we will be closing early. Thank you again princesses for setting the record straight. We do appreciate it." Once all of the girls were gone and it was only the hosts remaining, the bespectacled teen rounded on his best friend, "The twins… the Hitachiin twins, who like to pull pranks, told you that if you write down your feelings and burn the letter, your feelings will disappear or…? What about the stuff about Haruhi?"

"Well, I figured that if it would make her love me, it would be so much more if I put that stuff in there," Tamaki grimaced. He knew he was in trouble.

Ignoring Tamaki for a moment, the Shadow King turned his glare on the twins, "So he wrote this trash because of you two?"

"Now… now this was way before the triathlon," Hikaru stammered afraid for his life.

Kaoru nodded, "Yah, we told him that right after the judo competition."

"It isn't our fault he lost it instead of burning it!" They cried together and clung to each other.

Pushing up his glasses, he smirked, "You do have a point there and I believe you were punished enough this weekend (dear reader if you want to know how bad it was for them… go and read Twins: Slaves for a Day). Tamaki on the other hand should have known better than doing something like this at school." He faced his best friend once again, "I can't believe you wrote something like this and then let it get out!"

"Well, in my defense, I kept the letter for a couple of months before it was lost," Tamaki attempted a grin, but it came out as a cringe.

"It is the fact that you wrote those lies at all senpai!" Haruhi yelled. She was furious right now.

Hunny asked, "What does the letter say Kyo-Chan?"

"Shall I read it?" Kyoya inquired and then began:

To whom it may concern,

I am in love with the most beautiful girl at Ouran and currently she is engaged to Mori-senpai, but Haruhi doesn't want to be with him. I know deep in her heart she really wants to be with me, however, since I am unable to best Mori-senpai on the field of honor, she cannot leave him in order to become mine. I have lost each duel that I have challenged him to and he keeps winning. Is he cheating? How is it that I cannot beat him? Oh, Haruhi, I am trying to win you to my side, but it is not working and I am at a loss as to what to do. I know you want to leave him and your father will not let you. He gave you to Mori-senpai and will not allow you to be with me. We are two star crossed lovers and it seems as if you are my Juliet and I am your Romeo. You love me, I love you, but no one will allow us to be together. Give me some guidance so I know how to proceed. It is unbearable being apart from you and I know you feel the same since we have spoken of such matters under the sakura trees watching the stars twinkle across the sky. We have made wish after wish on those stars and we are still apart. Maybe we can run away together. Don't worry my darling, I will figure out a way for us to become one and no one will stand in our way. I will love you in all my lifetimes to come…

Please wait for me,

Tamaki Suoh

"And with that, it is no wonder everyone got the wrong impression," Kyoya stated.

The twins and Hunny deadpanned. They couldn't believe that their friend had actually written that letter and then lost it. The vice president was right; it was no wonder the rumor spread the way it did after reading that. Plus a group of 15 girls finding the letter… well, it was a wonder it had not spread outside of Ouran… that they were aware.

"Boss, when we told you to write that," Kaoru muttered.

"We didn't tell you to lie," Hikaru finished grumbling.

"And you were to burn it immediately," they shouted together.

Sighing, Tamaki bowed his head and mumbled, "I was going to, but then I would read it and pretend it was real and then when I was finally ready to burn it, it was gone."

Haruhi scowled, "How long?"

"What?" The blond asked.

She glared at him and growled, "How long has the letter been missing?"

Tamaki looked sheepish again, "Oh, well I remembered about it last week, but then I dropped my notebook and a bunch of papers scattered everywhere. I thought I had them all… I guess I didn't. I couldn't find the letter, so I thought I might have thrown it away in the past or something."

"You guess?" Haruhi yelled fists at her sides.

Mori was afraid of what his fiancée might do and grabbed her around the waist, lifting her into his arms before she could lung at the club president, "Haruhi, what's done is done. He wrote it before he decided to stop trying to win. We found out the truth."

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" Haruhi frowned.

He gave her a small kiss, "I love you, and as for this, the truth is known and there is nothing we can do to change it. Hitting him or killing him will not change anything."

Rolling her eyes, she harrumphed, "I guess so."

"I should have known it was you," Chika sneered.

Satoshi placed his shinai in front of his cousin's chest, "Don't. I won't hit you for that, but Taka-bro is right. You should listen to your elders and my brother knows what he is talking about."

Chika shook his head, "Not worth it."

Feeling his knees get weak, Tamaki once again sank to the floor. He had been issued a reprieve.

"Why don't all of you go ahead and go. I need to have a moment with Tamaki alone," Kyoya smiled jovially (maybe a little too much because the other deadpanned and quickly left the room afraid of what would happen).

As soon as the door was shut, everyone stopped on the other side and stared at it. They were heavy and it was hard for sound to travel through, but they heard a few yelps, yells, and a "NO MOMMY!" They didn't know what Kyoya was doing to Tamaki and they were glad they were not witnessing it; however, they did wonder if they should go in and rescue him. Nobody moved though.

Inside the room, Kyoya was dusting off his hands on a napkin, "Will you listen to the twins again about something like that?"

"No, mommy," Tamaki sniffled.

"Will you do something so stupid again?"

"No, mommy."

"Good. I'm glad you learned your lesson. You can keep holding those books for another hour. Just think, your punishment could have been worse," Kyoya declared and returned to his desk. "And don't let them drop," he smirked glancing over his shoulder at his best friend. Tamaki was kneeling on the floor with two very large hardback Oxford dictionaries in his hands (one in each), and his arms were being held straight out at his sides as his punishment for the trouble he caused. He had a lump on the back of his head from a shinai. Kyoya really was the mother of the family.