A/N: Hey everyone, i hope two chapters this week helps to make up for the months without an update. Again, so sorry for that long hiatus. As always, your reviews are most appreciated. I love hearing what you all have to say, both positive and negative (if it's constructive).


Kyouya Makes His Move

Nagisa ran to open the door as Karma positioned himself by her head. "What are you doing?" She asked warily.

"Shh. Just watch."

"You can just call me Nagisa. Please," the bluenett's voice filtered to them as he led Kyouya to the living room.

"As you wish. Haruhi, your father asked me to bring you dinner, though I was not expecting you to have company. My apologies, I didn't get enough." His thinly veiled irritation was not lost on anyone as he stiffly set the food on her living room table.

"Actually, Nagisa and I were just heading out. We didn't want to leave until she had someone else here with her. This girl does not know the meaning of bedrest, let me tell you. She tried to get up once already. Anyway, see you tomorrow. Later, Haru." He gently hugged the girl he wanted so badly to call his. Nagisa also bent down to hug her goodbye.

"Bye guys, I'll see you next time!"

Kyouya waited until the door clicked shut before he visibly relaxed. He grabbed plates and forks from the kitchen, then took Karma's place by her head before he started divvying out the food he'd brought. "I hope you don't mind okonomiyaki and takoyaki."

"Of course not," she said, nearly salivating over his shoulder. "Thank you for going through all the trouble. Honestly, you didn't have to. I could have figured something out."

"Like what, Haruhi? Ordering? You wouldn't have been able to answer the door. Besides, it was no trouble. I'm sorry I took so long. My father called me into his study right before I left."

"Well, I appreciate it anyway." He helped prop her up on her pillows and as he pulled back, Kyouya paused, transfixed, his face inches from hers. He'd never been so close to the girl, had never really seen her bathed in the light from a glowing sunset. He was momentarily stunned by the depth of expression in her eyes and the way they sparkled. So many layers of Haruhi, all of them swimming in pools of the purest golden honey. She smiled a little, almost as if she could guess what was going through his head. The expression brought a coyness to her face that on anyone else, would have left him internally retching. But Haruhi? It just made him want to take her face in his hands and-

"You're quite welcome." He returned to his spot by her head. His, and he'd make anyone else regret ever thinking it might be otherwise. But it was too soon, much too soon to try anything with her. If he acted too soon, he would lose her altogether. He cleared his throat. "There was a matter which I needed to discuss with you anyhow, concerning the Christmas Party."

"Oh?" Haruhi tilted her head, fully aware of the effect she was having on her senpai. She wasn't going to lead him on, but there was no harm in tweaking the circumstances to keep him talking.

"Yes, we need to discuss the guest list. If you are familiar with who will be there and what their role is in society, you'll be less likely to become embarrassed or flustered. You won't be at my side for the whole evening, therefore, you will want to be prepared for who might talk to you."

"That makes sense. But I do have one question, senpai."

"And that is…?"

"Why would you go through so much trouble?"

"I'm sorry, Haruhi, I don't follow. If you're asking why bother to teach you about the guests who will be attending, I believe I made myself clear on that."

"I'm asking why you would go through the trouble. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't think twice, however, your previous treatment of me suggests you wouldn't care if I tripped, fell, made a fool of myself. You've been acting differently towards me ever since the start of vacation. Even before I told you about E-Class, but especially after. What I want to know is why. Is this how you treat your friends who don't owe you money? Or is there something else?"

Unbelievable! This audacious common girl saw through him yet again! How much did she really know? How much did she suspect? Acts weren't going to work with Haruhi. He couldn't simply manipulate her like any other circumstance. She was too intelligent, too honed in on her surroundings. He berated himself for not realizing it sooner. If he wanted to gain Haurhi's affections, he'd have to play her straight. Otherwise, she'd notice and call his bluff. Much like she just did. Kyouya pinched the bridge of his nose, preparing himself for something he'd never had to do before: lay all his cards on the table and not hold anything back.

"Why must you complicate things, Haruhi? Alright, here it is. My father did not simply order me to bring an escort. He ordered me to bring you." He paused for a moment, letting that sink in. Taking off his glasses, he looked her in the eye so that she knew he wasn't hiding anything from her.

"The truth is, he wants to meet you again. You impressed him at the festival. Your loyalty and tenacity resonated with him. Later on, when I bought the company that would have gone with Tamaki to Tonnerre, I gave all managerial rights back to him. He took that to mean I 'found something worth more' than his company to me. He deduced that something to be you and has even made a bet with Chairman Suoh over which son you will end up with.

"My father doesn't like to lose and he nearly lost one of his companies. He wants me to date you and has even promised me the zaibatsu if I succeeded. The Christmas Party is to be seen as proof of my progress with you. If you were to learn about the other guests, it would have been evidence enough that we'd been spending time together and talking. Now that you are out as a girl, so to speak, he wishes me to make a relationship between us public."

It was silent between them for a long time after that. No sounds except the scratching of forks on plates as they ate while Haruhi took everything in. She never expected him to spill everything. That was unprecedented. The information swirled around in her brain as she thought of a way to use it without compromising her friendships or the mission.

"Let me see if I've got this straight," she said slowly, the beginnings of a plan starting to take form. She was still mulling over all she had been told and needed to stall him. "Your father was actually impressed with me yelling at him and instead of wanting my head on a silver platter, has made me the butt of a bet with the Chairman, who by the way holds my scholarship in his hand, as to who I would marry, you or Tamaki-senpai? Your father even went so far as to bribe you with the family business just to win said bet and the Christmas party you invited me to is supposed to be some sort of progress report?"

"That is a concise summation of events, yes." Kyouya stared at her, unable to fathom what was going through her mind at that moment. He'd expected her to be furious, to demand that he go and never come back. He was prepared for that. But when she spoke, she sounded more contemplative than anything else. Did he dare hope? He decided to test the waters a little. "I believe I understand your silence. I'll take my leave now." He started to get up when he felt a gentle, gauze-covered hand on his arm halting him.

"No, no, don't do that, just let me think for a few minutes." He nodded, though she paid him no mind. Would she really agree to date him, even after being told it didn't seem much more than his father winning a bet? If she was going to refuse, she would have done so already. Did that mean…but why? What could she possibly have to gain that she cared about? Kyouya didn't dare hope that it was her affections for him after seeing the way she looked at her red-haired friend.

"Okay, I'll do it."

"You'll…wha?" 'Oh how eloquent, Ootori'. He mentally facepalmed.

"I'll pretend to be your girlfriend for a while. After all, your father did say if you got me to be your girlfriend, he'd make you the successor. He never said anything more than that. So, I'll pretend to be your girlfriend, we'll make the relationship public, we date, you bring me around for a family dinner a few times, he finalizes the will, a few months after that, we 'break up'. You tell him that we mutually decided we were better off as friends. It doesn't have to be a big scandal, neither of us has to risk our reputations by making a scene or risk our friendship by hurting each other's feelings.

"You get to keep the zaibatsu and your father wins his bet because I absolutely refuse to date Tamaki. If your father tries to retract his end of the bargain, you can fire him from the board of directors of the company you saved. After all, you only gave back managerial rights, not ownership rights so technically you still own that company. If he's as smart as I've been led to believe, he'd rather have you as an ally instead of an enemy."

Once again, she'd managed to catch him completely off guard, but if there was ever a doubt in Ootori Kyouya's mind that Haruhi was not the girl for him, that speech silenced it for all eternity. She took the information he gave her and twisted it so that any way it was looked at, the ball would consistently be in his father's court. He and Haruhi would be innocent on all fronts. The only downside he could see was she'd given herself an out. She would pretend to be his girlfriend. He didn't want her to have an out. He didn't want her to pretend. However, if he went with her plan, it did give him ample time to court her openly and without reserve. It gave him time to show her how much he needed her.

"I'm impressed, Haruhi. It's not many who can outwit my father. He is a master at manipulation. I'm sure there'll be hell to pay once he's figured out he's been outmaneuvered, but I'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, I accept your proposition. But why did you agree to it?" He had to know her motives if only to know how much work he had to do to convince her of his affections.

"Because if that's all it takes to help you attain that which you've been striving for your whole life, it's hardly a sacrifice. You're my friend and you told me the truth instead of trying to hide it, of course I want to help. Besides, I can't imagine being the fake girlfriend of Ootori Kyouya would be that bad. Who knows? It might even be fun once in a while." She giggled as she nudged him playfully. When he nudged her back, she continued. "I do have one condition, though. Well, two really."

"My girlfriend's wish is my command." Kyouya winked at her and chuckled lightly as she snorted. He knew she thought he was joking, but she was about to see a whole new side of him. If being honest with her had gotten him this far, he was going to dedicated himself to being completely open with her all the time. Even if that meant indulging in his softer side more than he'd ever done before. Somehow, he thought that wouldn't be so hard with her. Haruhi, whose only motive in the duplicity was to help him reach his goal. Of course it was. Beyond anything else, Haruhi was a genuinely good friend who went out of her way to help someone. "What are they?"

"I want to tell our friends what we're doing. It won't go any further than the Host Club and they don't have to know the whole story, but they deserve to know that we're faux dating. I don't want any hurt feelings over this." Though Kyouya didn't know it yet, Haruhi knew that would soon include Karma.

Of course she wouldn't want anyone else hurt. She was such a kind person. It almost made him forget sometimes that she was a trained killer. He smiled. A true Kyouya smile that made her respond in kind. "As you wish. I'll tell them tomorrow. By the time you return to school, everyone shall know that the two of us are dating and the Host Club will know that it's only a set-up." At least for the time being. He had every intention of winning her over completely, he just had to factor in their friends now. "And your second condition?"

"No bodyguards. No tails, no posting men around my building or around dad's bar. I don't like to be followed, it makes me edgy and I don't need to be fighting anyone. You know I'll be able to sense them if you try to tail me without my knowledge and that won't end well for you or your guard. I have a plan in place for my protection and I don't want it interrupted either."

"Agreed, but you will carry a homing device. I can't have my girlfriend getting kidnapped, especially when she can't defend herself."

"No go. I already have a homing device. Isn't that right, Ritsu?"

The pink-haired girl who had been silent up until now brightened Haruhi's phone, smiling. "That's right. Don't worry, Oototi. If anything happens, you'll be the first I contact." Kyouya sighed in resignation.

"Alright, you win. No guards, no homing devices or tracking monitors, you will be entirely on your own, just as you desire."

She grinned. "Thank you."

They became engulfed in a comfortable silence, each consumed by their own thoughts. Kyouya was busy planning how he was going to secure her affections and prove to their friends that he was worthy of them. He was determined to receive their blessing by the school year's end. If he didn't succeed there, he would simply do his best to comfort Haruhi. He would have his position and his girl. His father would end up with the knowledge that his youngest son, the spare son as he was often called, had been the one to defeat him. He was called the Shadow King for a reason and it would all be his.

Haruhi on the other hand, was thinking down a different path. This plan had many advantages. It would guarantee the right person inherits the businesses, it wouldn't compromise her friendships with anyone, it still allowed her to possibly get closer to Karma, and most importantly, it would allow her to get closer to the target than she'd dared hope. Going to the Ootori mansion before the Christmas party meant she had an unobstructed view of the place. It would require Kyouya to give her a tour, which if she knew him, meant she would get to see the private quarters too. Ritsu could scan each and every room as planned but she would gain access to a lot more information from visiting multiple times rather than just one. All in all, it was a perfect opportunity that Haruhi planned to take full advantage of. Yoshio would never see them coming.

"How's your dinner?" Kyouya asked politely, bringing them out of their reverie.

"It's fine, senpai, thanks again for bringing it over. I do appreciate it."

"It really was no trouble. Though while you're my girlfriend, even if the relationship is a rouse, perhaps you should become used to dropping the 'senpai'. You wouldn't fool anyone by calling me that."

"I suppose you're right. Kyouya." She let it roll of her tongue and had to stop herself from habitually adding the suffix. She noticed as she called his given name, his eyes softened and a gentle smile spread across his face. Not his usual smirk, but an actual smile. It was small to be sure, but definite. 'He looks good when he smiles. I wish he would smile more,' Haruhi mused, not for the first time. Aloud she said, "that's going to take some time to get used to."

"Precisely my point. You should get in the habit of just saying my name when we're alone so that you don't slip up when we're in public." In truth, he never wanted to hear her call him 'senpai' again. Unless she was bound in those leather straps she'd yelled about. Damn that girl and her vivid, teasing imagery! He took a bite of his takoyaki to distract himself. It wasn't the 5-star cuisine he was used to, but it wasn't bad. "Now, about those guests…"

They talked a while longer, mostly Kyouya teaching Haruhi exactly as he said he would. First, he told her who would be coming and what they did. Then he spent an hour quizzing her. He was pleased to find her memory sharp as a sashimi knife, only messing up twice in the entire 150 guest list. Afterwards, they simply talked, getting to know each other more personally, as that would be expected of a couple, even a fake one.

When Kyouya noticed Haruhi dozing off, he took her plate from her, picked her up in that strange way, and laid her in bed. Returning to the living room, he quickly washed the dishes they used and put away the food before sitting down to his business. When Ranka arrived home, the second year was warmly greeted and offered a spot on the couch for the night. Feeling it would only increase the chances of convincing his father of their relationship, he agreed and sent word for his uniform to be retrieved in the morning.