A/N: Dearest readers, this is my Christmas present to you all--the LAST CHAPTER. Yes, you read it right. But don't worry, there's still an epilogue to come along; only thing is, it's mostly just a light-hearted filler.

Ahem. Anyway, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed this short little fanfic and cheered on Kyouya and Kaoru, especially those who started reviewing from the very beginning and continued with me to the very end. sniffles I enjoyed being with you guys and writing this. I'm dedicating this fic to all you wonderful readers out there. Thank you, thank you and thank you! Merry Christmas!

Chapter Five: To Determine the Truth

"I don't know how much longer I'll be able to stand this," Haruhi said. She fiddled with the sleeves of her jacket. "I've got guilt the size of the Pacific right now, and I think that we really hurt them."

Her eyes followed Kyouya and Kaoru's movements through the host club. Kyouya was busy calculating like always, but his eyes were far away, focused on something else—he was watching Kaoru. His heart didn't even seem to be in his equations for once. In fact, after a while, he put down his calculator and began rubbing at the back of his neck, as though weary of the whole ordeal. He shook off Tamaki's hand when the host king tried to ask him what was wrong.

"I'm fine, Tamaki. Just leave me alone," he muttered, carelessly tossing his notebook onto the table.

"But Kyouya!" Tamaki protested, scrambling to catch the notebook. He bit his lip. He didn't even have to ask what was wrong anymore. He already knew.

Kyouya gave him a death glare. "Stop being such a damn—!"

The look on Tamaki's face silenced him. "I'm sorry, Tamaki,' he sighed. "I didn't mean to say that. I'm not myself today." I haven't been myself for quite a while now.

Kaoru, on the other hand, was sitting in a blue funk with some of the customers. The girls tried to force him into conversation, but he seemed too depressed to even talk properly. He replied as shortly as possible before lapsing back into silence, regardless of his brother's efforts to draw him into the fun.

"I just have a slight headache," he said. "Please, just go on talking without me."

"You could take an aspirin," one of the girls suggested.

Kaoru's smile thinned. That would mean going to the host club's medical room. And to go to the host club's medical room, he would have to pass by Kyouya. And if he passed by Kyouya, he was sure that he would snap and slap the Shadow King silly while asking him why the hell he was ignoring him.

"He's okay," Hikaru said quickly.

Haruhi shut her eyes. "I can't bear to watch them." They were so obviously lost and pained without each other that she couldn't help feeling like she had just killed someone. It was partly her fault that they were in this mess; they had been happy enough on their own. Why had she gone along with what Tamaki and Hikaru had said in the first place? It had been evil… and wrong.

Hunny nodded. "I thought that this would happen," he said. "But when Tama-chan told us that the host club would break up if they got together, I decided to help them. I didn't think it would be this bad, since Tama-chan and Hika-chan are so attentive to them now. But…"

"It was wrong, Mitsukini," Mori said softly, echoing Haruhi's thoughts. "They can't do without each other now, even with Hikaru and Tamaki."

"Well, now that we know it was wrong, what are we going to do?" Haruhi asked. It was a good thing that the three of them had a lot of time to plan since they didn't have customers at the moment. Most of them were trying to see whether they could cheer Kaoru up. Kyouya had already insisted that he was busy adding up their overhead, so he wasn't taking customers for that day.

Actually, he had insisted on not taking customers for quite a while now, on the same pretext. Before, he had added up the overhead in less than an hour. Now, he was claiming that he was still doing the same job for a week and a half. Even he knew how stupid and obvious his lie was, but he couldn't muster up the energy to make up something better. He wasn't usually the type to wear his heart on his sleeve, and now everyone could see how hurt he was over what had happened. But for the first time ever he couldn't do anything about it. He just couldn't help himself.

"I've never seen Kyouya-sempai like this," Haruhi muttered.

"It's worse than you think," Mori said darkly. Haruhi had only met the Shadow King now, as she'd never gotten mixed up in their social circle before. Before he met Tamaki, Kyouya was the epitome of perfection. Everyone had admired him—he was almost too good to be true, with kindness and warmth that could rival Buddha. But he had been lonely. A lot of his friends were superficial. He had never minded when they left.

But this time was different. This was the first time that Kyouya had actually opened his heart to someone who just vanished. "He's never lost anyone who really mattered to him before," Mori said. "And I think that Kaoru ended up being the most important person in his life in the time that they shared, without him even realizing it."

Haruhi stared down at her feet. "And Kaoru…"

"Has he ever really opened up to anyone but Hikaru?" Hunny pointed out softly. "Haru-chan, people say that you're included in their world, but that's not exactly true. It's not that Kao-chan doesn't like you… it's just that if he had had his way, it would have always been just him and Hika-chan alone in their private little universe, with no one else getting involved. Hika-chan was really the one who reached out and pulled you in. Kyou-chan was the first person whom he actually befriended beyondHika-chan. And now that he's lost Kyou-chan…"

"We have to fix it somehow," Haruhi agreed. She glanced at Mori. "Maybe we could…?"

Mori shook his head. "If we tried to do anything, we'd only make it worse. The best thing to do now is to let them alone. Provided we can make Tamaki and Hikaru leave them alone too."

"How're we going to pull thatoff?" Haruhi asked. "Those two are practically sitting on Kaoru and Kyouya to keep them away from each other."

The senior frowned. "Things will take their course, Haruhi," he said. "Don't worry about it." He seemed to be meditating over something, as though debating with himself. "I think that it can be arranged somehow."

"But Takashi, how long is this going to take?" Hunny demanded. "Kyou-chan and Kao-chan…"

"Give it time," Mori said wisely.

Haruhi smiled. When Mori got like this, she felt like nothing could stop them; it was rare that he spoke so much, and when he did, it was a sign that he had a plan. And Mori never committed himself to something that he didn't have absolute faith and trust in. This would work.

Sometimes she wondered whether Mori saw more than Kyouya did. Now thatwas a scary thought. "I trust you, sempai," she said simply.

Mori offered her a small grin in return. "I just hope that those two will realize it, soon" he said. "Kyouya and Kaoru tend to wait and watch instead of act."

"Don't worry, Takashi! Your plan will succeed," Hunny reassured him. He turned to Haruhi. "Takashi's plans always work, even if they take a long time sometimes. It's because he's patient with what he really cares about."

Haruhi nodded. "I know that, Hunny-sempai," she said gravely. "I just hope that Kyouya-sempai and Kaoru are like that too." She crossed her fingers. All they needed was a little patience, a little love--and she was sure that things would be set right.

If Kyouya and Kaoru had been in their normal states of mind, they probably would have noticed that something was up in the weeks that followed. As it stood, they didn't even realize that Haruhi, Hunny and Mori kept Tamaki and Hikaru busy all the time.

Haruhi wasn't too happy with the part of the plan where she had to act all sweet and girly, though. But as Mori and Hunny predicted, Haruhi's 'home-cooked lunch', Haruhi 'wearing a cute dress' and Haruhi 'inviting them over to her house' was irresistible to the terrible two. And as she was an accessory to their 'crime', as Hunny put it, she went along with it, albeit slightly unwillingly.

On the other hand, Mori and Hunny kept orchestrating things so that Kyouya and Kaoru got together, which was how they found themselves looking at each other over bolts of cloth and fabric swatches, supposedly to make the costumes for tomorrow's activity almost a month after Haruhi, Mori and Hunny had put their plan in motion.

"The theme is star-crossed lovers," Kaoru said, reading from a slip of paper. He glanced at the Shadow King. The silence was almost oppressive. He tried to pitch his voice naturally, but inevitably found it going up a notch or two. "I'm surprised Mori-sempai would choose such a thing. It sounds more like something milord would pick."

Kyouya instinctively felt Kaoru's discomfort around him. "Yes, well, Mori-sempai is highly unpredictable at times," he said shortly. He was only here since Hikaru was busy with Haruhi, working on a math project together, Tamaki had been roped in by the Black Magic Club (courtesy of Hunny appealing to Kanazuki from 1-D, the scary 'curse-addict' who belonged to said club and had a major crush on the blond sempai) and Hunny had insisted that he go along with Kaoru.

Kaoru heard the detachment in Kyouya's tone. "We need costumes for Romeo and Juliet, Aragorn and Arwen, and… um… is this the Little Mermaid?"

Yes, Hunny definitely had a sick sense of humor. "I think it's the traditional fairy tale," Kyouya sighed. "It's a bit gruesome, but it'll suffice. There was once a mermaid who fell in love with a human prince. She wanted to shed her tail and gain human legs, so that she could be with him. So she visited a sea witch; in exchange, she offered up her power to speak." He pursed his lips. "In some versions, the witch just silences her forever; in more realistic ones, her tongue's cut off."

Kaoru shuddered. "That's awful."

"A bit like selling your soul to the devil," Kyouya said softly, sitting perched on a crate. "It doesn't end well—it never does. Strange, isn't it, what some people will do for love?" Like you, Kaoru, using me to make Hikaru jealous. "And yet, how can we blame them?" Actually, I can. I can really blame you for using me.

Are you talking about using me to forget your love for Tamaki? "Yeah," Kaoru said, not meeting his eye. Not that Kyouya was looking at him either; the Shadow King's gaze had dropped to the floor, as though he couldn't—and wouldn't—look at Kaoru.

His tone became unnaturally brisk again. "I think that Mori-sempai is supposed to be the mermaid. It shouldn't be difficult, since he doesn't talk much to begin with. And Hunny-sempai will be the prince, naturally."

The Hitachiin choked at the image of Mori in a mermaid's tail.

"Strange though it may be…" Kyouya said grimly, picking up some shimmery blue-green fabric. "I think this will do." He cut off a small snippet and handed it to Kaoru so that the redhead could pin it against the design.

"Yeah, it looks okay," Kaoru said. It would be pretty easy to make trousers out of the soft, silky material. He took the cloth from Kyouya and felt his fingers burn when they brushed against the Shadow King's. He quickly withdrew his hand, looking shocked. Kyouya seemed to have felt it too, because he had backed away hastily.

"Ah… all right then," Kaoru said, pretending that nothing had happened. He glanced at the designs. "You get to play the Romeo and Juliet part with Haruhi."

"Yes," Kyouya said. "Although I have no idea why. Tamaki, being the odd number out, is obviously going to play Paris."

"Then that leaves the Aragorn and Arwen stunt to me and Hikaru," Kaoru said.

"Yes, you're actually fortunate to only have Aragorn and Arwen. I believe that Tamaki recommended a few… distasteful… shojo manga, concerning illicit affairs between twin brothers," Kyouya said. "But I suppose that wouldn't have been difficult for the two of you. Perhaps you would even have enjoyed it."

Kaoru's cheeks flared at the comment. "It's lucky that they didn't pick one of those, then," he said evenly. "I think that I have the right outfit for your Romeo costume back home. I've already made something like that for a play that never pushed through…I think that the costume's roughly your size, anyway."

Hunny seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Kao-chan! We couldn't help overhearing, and you said that you have Kyou-chan's clothes back at your house, so why don't you bring him there to see if it fits him?"

Kyouya looked nonplussed. "I'm sure that it's unnecessary—"

"We wouldn't want to have an unforeseen costume disaster tomorrow, now would we?" Mori pointed out.

"But I'm sure it fits him—"

"Better make double sure," said Hunny, practically shoving him out of the room. For such a tiny little thing, he had amazing strength. Kaoru pitched forward and would have landed hard on the floor, had not Kyouya caught him in time. Kyouya glared at Hunny with venom that rivaled even his morning fury.

"Sempai!" he said furiously, holding tightly onto the redhead. "You could have hurt Kaoru!"

"Sorry, Kao-chan!" said Hunny, covering his mouth in surprise—or rather, to cover up a delighted smile. "I didn't mean to push you. Good thing Kyou-chan caught you, ne?"

"Um… yeah," Kaoru said. Kyouya was still holding him, and he knew that the proper thing to do was to say that Kyouya could let go of him now. But he didn't. He closed his eyes, wanting to stay like that for just a while… Kyouya had been pretending that he didn't exist, but now he knew that he was real; it was impossible not to feel that way, with the older boy's arms around him.

Kyouya knew that he should let go, but he had missed the scent of Kaoru's hair, missed the touch of that pale skin. With supreme effort, he finally released the younger boy. It was stupid; Kaoru had manipulated him, and he knew it.

Kaoru looked away. "Thanks, sempai," he said dully. He didn't move to take Kyouya's arm the way he used to. "I think we'd better go."

"Oh, Kyouya-kun! What a pleasant surprise—you look marvelously well." Both Kyouya and Kaoru stopped dead in their tracks at Hitachiin Yuzuha's voice. Kaoru looked flustered. Of all the days that his mother could have chosen to stop by suddenly, it had to be now?

"Hitachiin-sama," Kyouya said, bowing courteously to her. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"It's been too long," she said probingly. "You haven't been stopping by recently."

"I'm afraid that I'm very busy these days, Hitachiin-sama," he said.

Yeah, busy. Busy avoiding me. Kaoru forced a smile. "Mother—"

The Hitachiin matriarch looked at the uneasiness between them and felt her hopes disappear. Whatever had happened between them, it definitely wasn't pretty. "You should stop by more often, Kyouya-kun," she said. "I'm sure that Kaoru misses you."

Kaoru's cheeks burned. "Mother, don't be silly," he said quickly. "Of course not."

"Yes, Hitachiin-sama. Kaoru has been doing admirably well without me."

Last night, she had come across Kaoru in the kitchen, crying as though he'd just lost his best friend, resting his head on his knees and muffling the sound in his arms. Obviously he'd thought that the kitchen was the last place anyone would think to look for him. "Kaoru, what's wrong? What hurts?"

"Nothing," Kaoru had said, gulping back his sobs. "I'm fine, mom. I just…" He had given in to a moment of girlish weakness, missing Kyouya. "My head," he finally managed to say. "Just a headache." With a watery chuckle, he got off the cold, tiled floor. This was where he and Kyouya had been laughing so hard, participating in Tamaki's ridiculous 'commoner baking' idea.

"Are you going somewhere with Kyouya-kun tonight?" she had asked tactlessly. "I haven't seen him around lately."

He had flinched. "No, mom. I haven't seen him lately. He's kind of busy with Tamaki-sempai."

"Oh. I see." She had known better than to ask further. But she could clearly see that her son was hurting over this. It had gotten so bad that she could now distinguish between him and Hikaru—Kaoru was the one with the perpetually tragic expression on his face. "Kaoru… if you ever want to talk about it…"

"Mom!" He had been shocked and furious. "God. It's not like we were all that close. He just happened to be bored, and I was around. It's no big deal."

A picture lay next to him—the photo of him and Kyouya from the art gallery, that one time. Apparently Kaoru had asked the photographer for a copy, and had gotten it framed. Yuzuha bent down to pick it up. "Are you sure, Kaoru?" she had asked gently.

A spasm of pain crossed her son's face. "I'm sure," he had whispered, without really looking at her.

And now, looking at the Shadow King, she could tell that he was pained too. "You two need each other," Yuzuha pronounced.

Kyouya was much too self-possessed to look down at his feet or blush. "I'm afraid that I must refute that statement, Hitachiin-sama." Kaoru doesn't need me at all.

But I need him. And I hate it, but I can't do anything about it. Even his sister knew it. Fuyumi had watched him brood all of last night. "Kyouya?" she had ventured timidly, after watching him sit staring into space for two hours. "Are you feeling all right?"

He had considered the question, but decided that it was too much trouble to even bother talking or convincing her otherwise, so he had simply shaken his head.

She bit her lip. "Is it… Kaoru-kun? You two haven't been speaking recently." What she didn't tell him was that she had had her ear pressed to the door the day that he had thrown his cellphone at it in a fit of despondency, after calling Kaoru's number for the twentieth time and still hadn't gotten any answer.

Kyouya had looked dully at her and shaken his head again.

"Talk," she had pleaded.

"Leave me alone," he had said flatly. Then he had simply gotten up and walked into his room, slamming the door behind him. She heard the click of the lock sliding into place and knew that she wouldn't be able to get to him.

It seemed, these days, that no one could get to either of them anyway.

"Mom, we've still got some stuff to do," Kaoru said stiffly.

"Should I send up some tea, or—?"

"There's no need, Hitachiin-sama. I won't be staying long. Please don't worry," Kyouya replied. "But I thank you for your hospitality."

"All right," she said, frowning at their retreating backs.

"I think that's it," Kyouya said. He had known that Kaoru's costume would fit him; Kaoru knew that his costume would fit him; in fact, he was pretty sure that Hunny and Mori knew it too. The whole trip had been completely unnecessary, but he had given in to the senior's insistence. He plucked at the black velvet sleeves and fine gold piping; simple, and its very plainness was what made it so dramatic. It was beautiful, like everything that Kaoru ever made.

Kaoru nodded. "Mmph," he said, his mouth full of pins. His eyes widened when Kyouya stepped out of the dressing room. He had never seen Kyouya so handsome. He fit the Romeo part perfectly. He removed the pins from his lips, certain that he'd swallow them if he continued looking at Kyouya.

The Shadow King nodded. "I think it's magnificent," he said, indicating the clothes. "A real work of art."

"Yes, it is," Kaoru agreed, unable to help himself. As a designer, he had an eye for beauty—and this was definitely beauty. "Breathtaking."

Were they still talking about the same thing?

Kyouya smiled wryly. "Then again, everything that you design is stunning," he said. He took a look at the Juliet costume that Kaoru was putting together, in brilliant hues of gold and white. "That looks nice too."

"It's for Haruhi." Kaoru adjusted a little bit of the low collar. "Do you think it'll look good?"

The Shadow King's eyes judged it critically. "Yes. But don't you think that it's a bit too long for Haruhi?"

"There's no way I can be mistaken," Kaoru said. "Mori-sempai handed me these measurements himself."

Kyouya frowned. "You're about an inch or two taller than Haruhi. Why don't you see whether it's too short on you or not?"

Kaoru's cheeks heated. "Sempai! I can't wear girl's clothes!"

One dark eyebrow was raised. "May I kindly remind you of the Zuka club occasion?"

The redhead flinched. That particular cross-dressing incident wasn't exactly his favorite memory. "Okay, okay," he grumbled, heading off to the dressing room. "Anything to get it over with."

He emerged after ten minutes and saw Kyouya's eyes light up in admiration before the Shadow King could stop himself. Kaoru was glad that Kyouya hadn't been able to prevent himself; he had missed that light in Kyouya's eyes. In fact, he had missed Kyouya's eyes… no, he had just missed Kyouya. "It… uh… it fits me perfectly," he managed to say. "That means that it probably would be a bit too long on Haruhi."

"Yes…" Kyouya murmured, his eyes drinking in the sight of Kaoru in the dramatic gown. Male or not, Kaoru made a stunning Juliet. Those dark red-gold eyelashes swept own over his pale cheeks, and his pale pink lips trembled slightly. "It's… it's beautiful." You're beautiful. He felt a spasm of horror at his thought and he clamped down on it immediately.

They looked at each other. One was Romeo, one was Juliet; two star-crossed lovers, meant to be together with someone else. Two torn apart by warring factions. In the mirror, their reflections played off one another in a study of contrasts. Dark and light. "It looks like it was made for you," Kyouya said quietly.

"It's for Haruhi," Kaoru pointed out. "I'm supposed to play my part with Hikaru, remember?"

"I remember," Kyouya said, in a strangely strangled voice. He checked his watch but his mind never even registered what time it displayed. "If that's all…"

Kaoru nodded. "That's all, sempai," he whispered. He looked up just as Kyouya was going out the door. "Sempai… I've been regretting about… about this thing… why we're not... not talking…"

Kyouya felt his heart harden. So Kaoru thought that it was that easy to get back into his good graces, after all that he had done to him? "Is that so?" he said coldly.

Kaoru snapped at the chilly tone. "But it looks like I was wrong," he said.

The Shadow King wouldn't look at him, knowing that if he did, he would cave almost immediately. "I suppose that we agree on something, then," he said bitterly, and closed the door softly behind him.

That night, Kaoru tossed in restless sleep. There was no reason for him to feel this way; he was in love with Hikaru. And wasn't he happy? Hikaru had been showering more attention on him as of late. But he wasn't happy, and he didn't even reciprocate that attention.

He had stopped reaching out for Hikaru…

Do you know, sempai, that I never even asked you how or why you could tell that I wasn't Hikaru?

When he woke up, it was to sweat beading his forehead, a tangled, sticky blanket and the remnants of a dream about Kyouya. Kyouya… was doing things to him. And he had liked it. No, he had even been the one to initiate the whole affair in his dream. His hand flew to his mouth. No. Dreams were no indicator of your true nature… it was a fluke. It had to be.

Why now? Why when it's too late, when he doesn't even pay attention to me anymore? He winced, disgusted, when his pajamas made a squelching noise as he got off the bed. What he needed was a nice, long, cold shower.

He had never dreamt of Hikaru that way.

But he couldn't be in love. Not with Kyouya... but what other explanation could there be? He groaned, covering his face with his hands.

"Mother, you shouldn't drink so much," Tamaki said, trying to tug away the glass of wine from Kyouya's grasp.

The Shadow King couldn't help smirking. If anyone needed to be told that, it was Tamaki. Kyouya held his alcohol quite well; on the other hand, the blonde boy didn't, and yet the Suoh heir continuously tried to match him glass for glass. It was kind of pathetic—and yet endearing. Already Tamaki's cheeks were flushed, and his words were slightly slurred.

"I'm perfectly sober," he assured him. "But I think that it's time for you to call it a night, Tamaki."

The blonde shook his head dizzily. "Hey Kyouya… I'm sorry, okay?"

Kyouya frowned. "Sorry?"

Tamaki's fuzzy head cleared just enough for him to realize that he shouldn't pursue that train of thought. At least, not if he wanted to keep his head. "Nothing. Just for doing all those stupid things… um… kind of always, now that I think about it."

The third Ootori smiled. "Don't worry about it," he said, taking another sip of the wine. "I honestly prefer you and your dim-wittedness, Tamaki."

"Hey, hey… don't call me dim," Tamaki muttered, reeling slightly. Kyouya caught him by the arm, rolling his eyes.

"Don't drink if you can't hold your liquor," he said, scowling. He and Tamaki had practically been raised to be accustomed to this sort of thing—it was a must for social gatherings. And obviously, the boy was French, so he was supposed to be even more experienced than Kyouya was with this sort of thing. They lived in a world where wine was poured out like water. "Tamaki, you've had enough." He regretted even having the host king over, but he his best friend had flat-out insisted on tagging along with him. And to be honest, these days, he lacked the energy even to hold him off.

Tamaki just smiled, turned his head to face Kyouya, and pressed his lips on the Shadow King's.

For a moment, Kyouya just sat there in wide-eyed shock as the host king's mouth moved over his own, Tamaki's deft fingers unbuttoning his shirt, the slender blonde pushing him down and then straddling him. Then suddenly, he pushed Tamaki away with a force that sent the host club king slamming into the opposite wall. He backed away, his face contorted with horror. "Don't touch me," he whispered, although he was pretty sure that he had knocked his best friend out cold.

Why had he pushed Tamaki away? It didn't make sense. Even if he knew that Tamaki was in love with Haruhi, Ootori Kyouya was not the type to waste a golden opportunity; after all, Tamaki was drunk, and likely wouldn't remember anything in the morning. Or if he did remember, he could always be convinced that he had just been hallucinating in his inebriated state.

But Kyouya had pushed him away. He hadn't wanted Tamaki's hands on his skin, hadn't liked the feel of those lips on his own. And it wasn't just that it was fueled by alcohol, or the knowledge that Tamaki liked Haruhi—it was something else.

Fuyumi appeared at the door. "Kyouya? I thought I heard some noise…" Her eyes wandered from her brother with his shirt hanging open to the golden-haired boy on the ground, obviously unconscious. Kyouya's lips were bruised with the clash of teeth from the impact of pushing Tamaki away.

"Fuyumi…" Kyouya slowly got to his feet. "Get him out of here. Please. Right now." He didn't face her. "Put him in one of the guest rooms."

"K… Kyouya…"

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, for once not caring how common and unhygienic it might have been. "Fuyumi," he said sharply. "He's drunk, and he didn't know what he was doing. It isn't his fault."

His sister dropped her gaze. "I thought you were in love with him," she said softly, as she rang for the servants to take Tamaki out of the room.

"No… I'm not." And that, he realized, was the truth. "I'm not… I'm not in love… with him."

Fuyumi paused, frowning at the hesitation in the words. "But you arein love, aren't you, Kyouya? Kaoru-kun…"

The Shadow King closed his eyes, his mind swirling with alcohol and half-formed thoughts. For once, he thought, he had miscalculated on a large scale. "I think so."

"WHO, IN THE NAME OF HELL, MIXED UP OUR MEASUREMENTS?" Kaoru barked out, obviously furious when his Arwen costume was just a few inches too short, showing his ankles, and so tight around his chest that he was having trouble breathing. He hadn't exactly had a good morning, and now, on top of it all, he was having a headache over the costumes. Heknewthat there was something wrong with those Juliet measurements, but he had been so mixed-up after Kyouya had left that he didn't even realize that his own measurements were flawed. You would think that being a designer who frequently made his own clothes, he would have noticed. But no, he had been distracted.

Haruhi shrugged. "I guess it's my fault," she said. "I must have written down the wrong names after the measurements were done." The fabric of the Juliet costume pooled on the floor around her feet. Kaoru meant to pin the hem up for her today, but it wasn't the only flaw; it was just a smidge too loose around her chest area, as though it was meant for… for, well, him. He let out an exasperated sigh, wondering exactly what he had done to deserve the wrath of heaven on his head.

"It's no problem, Kao-chan! Just switch roles with Haru-chan today!" chirped Hunny.

By this time, Hikaru was confident that his brother would never get that weird connection with Kyouya again. "Yeah, I don't think that it's that bad," he agreed.

Kaoru felt a stab of horror. He had resolved to avoid Kyouya. He hadn't thought that it would be difficult, seeing as Kyouya had been the one to start avoiding him anyway. But now it looked like it would be impossible. Even his own twin brother wasn't supporting him.

"Where's the Paris costume?" Tamaki asked, hands flailing around as he rooted through the costume bags. As Kyouya had anticipated, Tamaki hadn't remembered what had happened last night.

Kaoru blinked. "I'm sure that I brought it with me."

Mori hid a secret smile. The Paris costume was now safely hidden in his locker. Never let it be said that Morinozuka Takashi didn't have his own secret, sly side.

"There's always the Legolas costume left over from our last fantasy role play," suggested Haruhi. "That was the one that you wore last time, right? There's only half an hour left for us to get ready, so we don't really have a choice. You can always play a love triangle with me and Hikaru."

Tamaki sighed dramatically. "If I must… well, the show must go on, after all." He went off to the back room to hunt for the old costume and found that it had been laid out in a rather obvious position. With a shrug, he picked it up and headed off to dress.

"Kyouya-sempai?" Haruhi said, knocking on the dressing room door. "I can't play opposite you today, since the costume doesn't fit me."

"What? I thought that Kaoru already fixed it yesterday," Kyouya called back, his voice muffled by the walls.

"Yeah, but it looks like we mixed up all our measurements, and he didn't notice," Haruhi said. "He's been kind of distracted recently. He seems upset about something, don't you think?"

There was a pause. "I didn't notice," Kyouya replied coldly. "Thank you for informing me, Haruhi. You should go change now."

Haruhi slipped back to Mori and Hunny after changing quickly. She looked gorgeous in her Arwen costume, but the anxiety on her expression slightly marred her prettiness. Then again, the troubled look fit her character perfectly. "Do you really think that this'll work?" she fretted.

"Don't worry," Mori said simply. He looked her over. "Beautiful." She blushed, obviously surprised by the compliment, and as her worries wiped off her face she looked far more like the elegant, composed elf that she was supposed to be. He held out a thin silver necklace to her, with a delicate white gem hanging off the end. "But it needs something." She let him clasp it around her throat. "That's much better."

Kyouya emerged from the dressing room and was met again with Kaoru in the Juliet costume, fiddling nervously with his red hair. "Kaoru," he said softly, his eyes softening when he looked at the younger boy, unable to help himself. "Your hair's already perfect. You don't need to fix it anymore." The words were out of his mouth before he had thought them over, and he cursed inwardly. Since when did he ever speak without thinking?

Kaoru flushed. How could he disregard the Shadow King when Kyouya spoke to him that way? "Okay," he said, his hands dropping down to his sides. He tried to avoid looking at Kyouya, who definitely looked too damn good in his Romeo costume.

"Club starts now," Tamaki said. He looked comical yet cute in his elfin costume. The doors opened.

"KYAA!"

The fan girls stopped still when they saw Kyouya and Kaoru's matching costumes. The redhead was standing a little distance away from Kyouya, as though he didn't want to come close to the Shadow King. A silence fell, of the sort that had never fallen on the host club.

"K… Kyouya-sama," Renge said. "You look so dashing!"

The Shadow King managed a smooth smile. "I'm meant to be Romeo," he said. And boy, he looked every inch the part.

Renge quickly scattered the girls in different directions, sending them either squealing after Haruhi, Tamaki and Hikaru, or asking Hunny and Mori what the heck they were supposed to be. She, on the other hand, joined the group that went with Kyouya and Kaoru.

The two looks distinctly uncomfortable around each other. "Ah… Juliet seems to be hiding behind her maidenly modesty today," Kyouya said with a slight smile. He felt irritated. The least that Kaoru could do was try to get in the act, even if they obviously weren't on good terms at the moment. "What are you thinking of, Juliet?"

"I'm still wondering whether I'm making a mistake with Romeo," explained Kaoru. "See, he killed Tybalt—"

"What was I supposed to do? He killed my friend even after I tried to be nice to him."

"—he killed Paris—"

"He was trying to kill me."

"—and then he killed himself—"

"I thought you were dead, and I just couldn't live without you." He said it with feeling as he spoke, before looking away. Kaoru swallowed hard before continuing. Renge felt her eyes starting to fill with tears, without knowing precisely why. She wasn't the only one; the fan girls surrounding them were watching the two with watery eyes.

"—so I killed myself too. Talk about stupid. It's all basically killing." Kaoru looked down. "Romeo was—is—an idiot. He didn't understand at all. Why couldn't he have waited? Didn't he realize, that no matter what happened, I would have wanted him to be happy… no, like the big jerk that he is he didn't even consider that."

Kyouya gritted his teeth, steeling himself as he made a snap decision. "Looks like Juliet isn't feeling very maidenly or modest after all," he said. He grabbed Kaoru's arm. He had had enough of this. He wanted—no, he needed to know what was going on here. "Come on," he ordered, hauling Kaoru to the back room. "I think we need to talk."

"Let go of me!" Kaoru said, struggling against his grip. Outside, a small crowd had congregated around the door. Hikaru was pounding on it, yelling at Kyouya to release his younger brother.

Kyouya glared at him. "I don't know how much more of this I can take," he said dangerously. "I have no qualms about you ignoring me, Kaoru, but to mess the host club up like this is unforgivable."

"Ignoring you? Who the hell do you think you are? What the heck are you talking about?"

"I don't understand how or why, Kaoru. You haven't been taking my calls, you're always mysteriously 'out' when I come over to your classroom, and you're always never available, never around. I don't understand why you're avoiding me, and I'm tired of looking like a fool chasing after something that isn't there! The least that you can do is explain!"

"Explain? What do you mean explain? When I head to your classroom, they tell me that you said to tell me that you're busy, even when I see that you're not doing anything. Of course I don't answer your calls—you never call at all! And it's not like youanswer my calls either." Kaoru's hands were trembling. "I don't get you anymore, Kyouya-sempai. Why are you doing this? Haven't you had enough of playing with me, pretending to be my friend?"

The Shadow King looked like he had just been slapped. "What do you mean 'pretending'? How could you even think that for a second?"

"I don't like being used, sempai," Kaoru hurled at him. "I know what you were trying to do now. It was all about getting to him, wasn't it?"

"You're not making any sense!" Kyouya looked at him with pained, confused eyes. "I never used you, Kaoru! You used me.To get attention from your brother. While I was running around like an idiot, even after I knew that you had gotten tired of your games and finally gotten what you wanted. Do you know that I call your cellphone at least thirty times a night, even though I know that you'll never answer? At least thirty times a night"

"Wow… even for Kyouya-sempai, that's pretty outrageous," Haruhi murmured.

"Kyou-chan was never one to do anything by halves," Hunny said.

Renge, on the other hand, was so delighted that she was practically emitting hearts. "Don't you see, Haruhi-kun? This is the grand passion that Kyouya-sama has been trying to hide under his cool exterior!"

Kaoru's was shocked by how daringly he could lie. "That's impossible. Icallyouthat frequently, and you never pick up."

Kyouya tossed his phone at the younger boy. "Look at the call register if you want, Kaoru. You can't lie. You never called. But all the calls I tried to make—for your number—they're all there. I don' t know what your problem is. I never asked…" He trailed away. "I believed, for a split second there, that maybe the benefits didn't matter. Even if I got the benefits, I didn't give a damn about them. I was wrong, wasn't I?"

Kaoru didn't answer for a second. He was scrolling down the call register. They wereall there. His honey-brown eyes were huge with misunderstanding. "Sempai… I don't get it." He handed Kyouya his own phone. "Look. My calls are all there as well."

The Shadow King frowned suspiciously at him but found his scowl melting away as his thumbs flew on the keypad. "I…" He hesitated, then a dark look fell on his face. "Use my phone to try calling yours."

Kaoru typed in his number swiftly and hit the dial button. "It… it says no answer," Kaoru said, bewildered. His phone wasn't even ringing. "Try mine."

Kyouya scrolled down to locate his number and got the same result. "I don't get it," he said softly. Then something clicked in his mind. "You had design classes, right? Your class president chose you."

"Yeah… so?"

"She's the one who's been obsessed with Hikaru all this time," Kyouya muttered, pacing. "And Tamaki's father, Chairman Suoh, was the one who convinced myfather to let me sit in during the evening board meetings." His eyes flashed. Hikaru… and Tamaki. Those two rascals. "I lent Tamaki my phone once because he said that he was going to play games on it."

"Hikaru said that I left mine on the coffee table," Kaoru said. "Oh… my God. I knew that I had it in my bag, but I never questioned him about it even though I thought it was weird."

A muscle jumped in Kyouya's cheek. "The host club girls?"

"They'll do anything that Tamaki tells them, especially if they manage to get…"

"Renge!" they said simultaneously.

Tamaki and Hikaru looked at each other nervously. They could hear every word of what was going on, as did everyone else who was gathered around the back room. They all knew that the jig was up. Had Kyouya noticed—or cared—that anyone was listening in, he would probably have changed tacks immediately. Instead, he gave full force to his explosion of anger.

"GOD DAMN IT, I WILL KILL THOSE IDIOTS!"

"Kyouya-sempai doesn't sound too happy," Haruhi observed, arms folded across her chest. Tamaki shuddered. The wrath of the third Ootori was fearsome. Even the fan girls seemed unusually subdued.

"Tell me, sempai," Kaoru said quietly. "Why does it matter so much to you?"

Kyouya looked at him. "Did you ever wonder why I could tell you apart from Hikaru?"

"Yes… kind of."

"Before, you two reached for each other. It was a little harder for me to tell back then, but I could still see by your eyes. Hikaru's eyes were restless, but yours were always on him. And then Haruhi came—and Hikaru reached for her. You never stopped reaching for him, until that time when he told you that…"

"Ah," Kaoru said, unaware that it was lucky that he had stopped Kyouya just before the Shadow King could let the others hear that classified information. "Yeah… I think people could tell just by the company we kept."

"And your little guessing game. 'Guess which one is Hikaru', indeed. That was really how I could tell. It was by your tone." His dark eyes settled on Kaoru's golden-brown ones. "Your heart wasn't in it; no one else noticed, but I knew the catch in your voice as you recited along with him. It was always 'Guess which one is Hikaru'—but never Kaoru. There was no 'Guess which one is Kaoru' game. No one really cared or noticed much. But I knew the reason why. It was because you didn't want to be found. You didn't want anyone to tell you two apart."

Kaoru bit his lip. "Does it matter? Haruhi can. You can."

"It matters, Kaoru. It matters to me… because there were benefits. There was merit there, but not one that I could measure by money or connections. It was just you." Kyouya caught Kaoru's chin in his hand. "I don't know how it happened, but I liked seeing you reach out for someone. That's why whenever you and Hikaru asked me which was which, I always said your name first. I think I understand that now."

Yeah, a couple of months of psychoanalyzing later, anyway.

Kaoru let out a choked sob. "Kyouya… sempai…" It had all been one big misunderstanding. It was all because of Tamaki and Hikaru, and he hadn't even realized it. "Sempai… I really like you."

Hikaru froze. His brother had finally confessed.

"Oh my God, I cannot believe that I am not getting this on tape!" Renge hissed.

There was a moment of silence. Kyouya had been wondering why he still acted lovesick even though he was over Tamaki. And now he knew. He had known since last night, with Tamaki and Fuyumi. There was really only one person for him, and it wasn't the Host Club king. "Kaoru, I not only really like you. I love you. Please… this time, reach out for me."

The host club exploded in a series of 'KYAA!' screams that shook the school.

Kyouya was irritable. "The least that you lot could have done was let us know that you could hear everything," he muttered. He could not believe he hadn't factored that in. It was a huge error—one that was understandable, given the circumstances—but still one that irritated him to no end.

Haruhi smiled at him. "But if we did that, sempai, we would have interrupted your conversation, and then your confession might never have happened."

Kaoru twined his fingers with Kyouya's. "Personally, I'm just glad we got out of that one alive," he said. The fan girls had attacked right after he and Kyouya had (foolishly) thrown the door open to investigate the source of the noise.

Hikaru and Tamaki were shuffling their feet in a corner of the host club. "Don't you two think that you should talk with them?" Hunny asked them.

The Shadow King's eyes narrowed. "It would take a bigger man than I am to forgive what they did."

"Yeah… I don't know if I can ever trust Hikaru again after this," Kaoru said in a low voice. It was the one dark spot on his happiness now; his twin had done a sin so great that he didn't know what to do.

"You don't have to trust him right now," Mori said. "But he's your brother. You should forgive him."

"Kyou-chan, Tama-chan is your best friend," Hunny pointed out. "And you were ignoring him back during the days when you were with Kao-chan. I think it's understandable why he acted the way he did. And after all, Haru-chan, Takashi and I are just as guilty—we got involved too. The only difference is that we weren't affected as much by you two being friends, which is why we were able to decide to put you two back together."

Kyouya sighed. "Well, he isa Suoh… we of the Ootori family really must keep up business connections…"

Kaoru nodded. "And I have to admit that Hikaru ismy brother…"

"They're idiots," Kyouya concluded. "And as such, they didn't know what in the name of hell they were doing." He sighed. "What the heck, I'm too glad to stay mad at them. In retrospect, perhaps without their influence, we might not have gotten to this point." He smiled warmly at Kaoru. It was a nice smile, made all the more precious since he frowned so frequently.

They headed over to the two. "Look, I think that we have to talk," Kaoru said. Tamaki and Hikaru both looked up, obviously dreading what Kyouya and Kaoru would have to say. But the light tone that Kaoru adopted gave them just a little more hope.

"I never thought that you two were cunning enough to adopt a plan the way you did," Kyouya said, shaking his head. "It's so good, it might have been one of my own."

Tamaki blinked. Was Kyouya… complimenting them?

"Not that it wasn't wrong, mind you," Kaoru added. "But we didkind of shoulder everyone out of the way when Kyouya and I were together—although you were both idiots; we were just friends."

"It was like I didn't even exist," Hikaru confirmed. Tamaki nodded in agreement.

"So we acknowledge that that was wrong," Kyouya said. "And we understand why you two did what you did." The Shadow King's hand tightened a little around Kaoru's. "You two are important to us. So… we just wanted you to know that it's okay among us four, all right? We can't hold grudges."

Hikaru blinked. "Pinch me, I must be dreaming. Is that really the Shadow King?"

Kyouya let out a low growl, sorely tempted to take back everything he'd just said. "Don't push it, Hikaru."

Tamaki nodded slowly. "I guess that it's okay now," he said. "I don't know why I overreacted like that." He offered them a tentative smile. "I'm really sorry, Kyouya… Kaoru."

"Apology accepted, milord," Kaoru said. "I can't stay mad at you guys for too long anyway." He looked down at his twin. "Hikaru?"

His twin solemnly stood up. "Kaoru… I can't believe you hooked up with someone before I did," he said, giving his little brother a shoulder thump. "Damn. To think that I'mthe older one." He glared at Kyouya. "Look, I'm sorry for everything. But if you break his heart, I'll break your ass. Got that straight?"

Kyouya laughed mirthlessly. "I have no intention of ever breaking Kaoru's heart. But if you ever tried to 'break my ass', as you referred to it, I would have my security guards after you, never fear."

"Glad that's settled," Tamaki said with a sigh of relief.

"Not quite yet, Tamaki." Kyouya's eyes glinted. "I'm going to call up Takada Catering for tomorrow's activity."

Tamaki let out a wail. "MOOOOOOTHEEEERRR! Don't take it out on daddy's wallet!" His grandmother was definitelygoing to have his head once she saw his credit card bills.

"Andyouwill be doing my math and physics homework for the rest of the week!" Kaoru said cheerfully, depositing his bag onto Hikaru's lap.

"What?" Hikaru blurted out. "But…"

"It leaves me free to go out with Kyouya tonight," Kaoru said, threading his arm through Kyouya's. "Want to go?"

"But what about the evening meeting?" Tamaki asked the third Ootori.

"I already convinced father that it was decreasing my efficiency," Kyouya said. "That was what I was talking to him about over the phone awhile ago. He thinks that he came to that conclusion himself." He chuckled. It was getting easier and easier to manipulate his father. "So I'm thinking Italian tonight."

"Pasta," agreed Kaoru. "It's like you read my mind."

"And then you can come over to my place for dessert," Kyouya said. "I have a feeling it'll be a little more private at my house than yours."

Hikaru's eyes bugged out. Overprotective-older-brother mode kicked in. "If you do anything to my little brother—"

Kaoru smirked. "Oh, I doubt that I'll protest much if he tries."

Tamaki glared at him. "Devilish twin, don't you dare—"

"It isn't Kaoru who dares, Tamaki," purred Kyouya, tightening his hold on Kaoru and obviously enjoying the expressions on Tamaki and Hikaru's faces. "It's me."

Haruhi shook her head. "They really enjoy tormenting Hikaru and Tamaki-sempai, don't they?"

Mori shrugged. "Think of it as a little justified payback."

Hunny just grinned. "I'm just glad that Kyou-chan and Kao-chan had a happy ending."

A/N: So there you have it, everyone! Gives me a warm, fuzzy Christmas-y feeling just typing all this. Haha. If you liked it, please review! I'll be away for a seminar right after the 25th, so I may not be able to reply to your reviews right away. But thanks again for everyone who stuck by this fic for all six chapters of it. The epilogue is coming up next, but like I said, it's just a short filler.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Peace out.