Chapter Eighty – Six: Not Like I Do

"So, we're doing this why?" Haruhi asked me confused.

"I have no clue." I replied dryly. Tamaki had sent us on some mission, we had no clue what we were supposed to be looking for, he was very vague. "Wanna go shopping instead?"

"Anything has to be better than this." She agreed.

"Would you rather drive or walk?" I asked her.

"I've seen the way you drive, I'd rather walk."

I laughed, "Don't like the way I drive?"

"No, I'd just rather not live Fast and Furious."

"Fair enough." I shrugged as we started to make our way to the mall.

"So where did everyone else go?"

"I have no idea." I replied, "I was supposed to race today, and the next thing I know I'm sent on a mission for god knows what." I rolled my eyes, "What were we supposed to look for again?"

"I think it was a furby."

"We tell him they're not made anymore." I replied, "There's no way I'm getting one of those annoying things for him."

"You don't think he'd just find something more annoying?"

"What could be more annoying than a furby?" I asked as we headed into the mall, "It's not like he's gonna get a pet that I'm gonna have to take care of until I leave."

"You don't like pets?"

"Oh, no, I love them, I just don't think he should have one."

She shrugged, "Fair enough."

"So, where do you wanna go-" I started, but was interrupted by Haruhi.

"Um, Yuki, is that Kyoya?" She asked, pointing to a severely pissed off dark haired dude.

"That's my man." I smiled, "Let's go save him."

"Kyoya – senpai?" Haruhi said to get his attention, he turned to face us surprised and slightly relieved, "I didn't expect to see you here today."

"Kyo, what are you doing here?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion. He studied us for a moment.

"How much money do you guys have on you?" He asked us.

"What?" Haruhi replied, confused, before looking at me.

"Tamaki dump you here?" I asked Kyoya. He nodded. "You missing your wallet?"

He nodded again, "And my phone. Is there anyway, you could be so kind as get me-"

"Food?"

"Yes."

"You haven't been talking to me for the last two weeks because I'm engaged to your brother, wh-"

"You're engaged to his brother?" Haruhi asked.

"I'll tell you about it later." I told her, before continuing, "Why should I help you?"

"Please don't do this right now, Yuki, I don't really feel like arguing with you at the moment." Kyoya replied exhausted.

"No, that isn't fair, I-"

"You're not going to leave me and let me starve, I know you better than that."He said pointedly. He was right. I knew that and he knew that. It didn't mean I was going to take him to eat somewhere nice…at all.

"Haruhi, you feel like going to the food court?" I asked her, "It's on me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I got some extra cash I want to get rid of."

"You win that illegally?"

"Illegally?" I smiled, pretending not to know what she was talking about. Kyoya had no clue what she was talking about.

"In a street race?"

"I don't-"

"Yeah you do and you bet yourself." She replied, "You raced a neighbor of mine last week."

"How is Genji?" I asked her.

"Nursing a bruised ego and a dislocated shoulder." She replied.

"I didn't do that."

"Street race?" Kyoya asked annoyed, "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"I don't see how that's any of your concern." I retorted, "I can do whatever I wish with my life."

"Not if I have a say in it."

"Unless you feel like marrying me anytime soon, Kyoya Ootori, you don't." I retorted. Kyoya looked at me stoically. "You're not my husband, you can't tell me what to do."

"You wouldn't listen to me, even if I were." He replied.

"So, uh, food?" Haruhi asked awkwardly, getting our attention.

"Yeah, let's go." I replied and we headed over to the food court, but ended up splitting due to the types of food Haruhi and I wanted. I gave Haruhi some of the money I had on me and headed over to the other side to get Thai food.

Haruhi's POV

"Kyoya – Senpai, you never said you wouldn't marry Yuki – Senpai." I commented.

"I would, I was almost able to, but my brother won out." He replied.

"She's not a prize to be won, if you want her-"

Kyoya cut me off, "I know, I just need a plan first."

We got our food and found a place to sit down, Yuki joined us a few minutes later.

"You know, Kyoya, just because you're in a bad mood today doesn't give you the right to go around talking to people like that." I told him.

"He give the girl at the register a hard time?" Yuki asked me.

"How did you-"

"Because he's Kyoya." She replied simply. It wasn't a logical answer, but they both looked like they understood what she had said and he looked almost touched by it. I didn't really understand, but I didn't usually understand them.

"Her job is to serve us food, not irritate me with a sales pitch." Kyoya told me, before taking a bite of his burger. "Now what?"

"Nothing, I just don't think I've ever actually seen you eat before." I told him. I have never seen either of them really eat before, other than Yuki eating ice cream in the kitchen when she thinks no one notices. "Somehow I thought the experience would be more refined. I'm surprised food like this even appeals to you."

"It doesn't appeal to me in the slightest." He replied, "The quality is poor and it is meant to be eaten quickly. Besides, no one of consequence is here to see my lapse of manners. It benefits me nothing to keep up appearances in a place like this and this includes any special treatment I may give you here."

"I think we're of consequence and a benefit to you. As for special treatment, you better be talking to me." Yuki replied, "And if you don't want it, I'll eat it."

"Of course that regards you." Kyoya replied, "What would be more likely is that I would be finishing yours."

"How do you figure?" She asked.

"Every time we go out, I end up finishing your meal." Kyoya stated.

"Um, excuse me, if you're not using this chair, can my friends and I borrow it?" A girl asked as she came up with her friends.

"Why not?" Kyoya sighed.

"Thank you!" The girls gushed.

"You're welcome…" He replied indifferently.

"You're probably wondering why Tamaki and I compliment each other so well." Kyoya commented. Yuki smirked. "The answer is simple, I have something to gain. There is no better motivator than self interest. I have to look out for number one, you know."

Without Kyoya noticing, Yuki's face slightly fell and she shook her head. She stood and went to go over to the ice cream place across the food court.

"Tamaki – Senpai would be heartbroken if he heard you say that." I told him.

"On the contrary, he's been aware of our arrangement from the very beginning." Kyoya replied, "Same goes for all of them." He listed all of the members. "The glue that holds the club together is our mutual egocentricity. It is the principle that drives most of our families, that ensures each of our futures, though there's quite a bit you do not understand, although Tamaki is a fool, his self sacrifice does come naturally to him. So, I guess the point of this is, we are very different preachers." He finished as Yuki came back, she pushed the leftover Thai food towards him, and started eating the ice cream.

'I wonder how often that happens.' I thought, watching their actions.

Kyoya's POV

I should have rephrased that, I knew when she got up where she was going. I wasn't going to tell Haruhi the truth, I didn't see a reason to. I knew when she shoved the Thai food over to me, which she had loved, I had behaved poorly since they had run into me. After we finished the food, we made our way to the products expo. Yuki and I stood back as Haruhi looked at the different products.

"I'm sorry." I told her after a few moments, "I've behaved abominably."

She looked at me surprised, and looked down, "You behaved how you felt you had to. I don't expect you to play host all of the time. We all have our bad days."

"I've been treating you poorly since you became my future sister in law."

"I'm not marrying Akito, I'm leaving Japan."

"When?"

"The night we graduate." She replied, "Kyoya, I want you to come with me."

It was now my turn to be surprised, I shouldn't have been, but I was. I knew she was going to leave, the last thing she wanted was to marry Akito. I knew she was leaving, I didn't know where she was headed, but I knew she would be gone soon and that there was a possibility of me coming with her. Tamaki's words rang in my ears, 'if that was the only way you could be with her, would you do it'. Would I? They were two very different lives. Not one ultimately better than the other, or at least not that I could tell anyway.

"I'm not expecting you to say yes, Kyoya, I'm only asking you to consider it." She stated, "We wouldn't be rich, far from it. You'd be giving up a lot if you came, but you would be loved more than you can imagine and you would have a family that cares for you deeply just for who you are and not for how you can benefit them." She left to go join Haruhi. I stood back in thought. I had two choices before me that were both very clear and very different. I could have my family businesses and power or I could have a life and family with a woman I loved who wanted me to leave the country with her. I went to join the girls still contemplating between the two.

"So, Kyoya – Senpai, how is it after how long I've known you I still know next to nothing about your family?" Haruhi asked.

"Because there's nothing really for you to know about my family." I replied, "At least nothing that should be of interest to you."

"Well, that seems to be a little bit unfair, don't you think?" She asked.

I stopped and turned back to look at her, "Just what do you mean unfair?"

"I mean when it comes to my personal life, you know everything about me, you even keep tabs on who my dad's friends are." Haruhi replied, "And I have no clue about yours, so that's kind of unfair."

"That's a very intriguing notion in its own way." I replied.

"You've got two older brothers, right?" She asked, "For a start, you could tell me something about them. What kind of people are they?"

'She's a little demanding, isn't she?' I thought and then looked at Yuki, who merely shrugged. I looked back to Haruhi and told her, "They are rather exceptional. Enough so, that my father puts a lot of stock in them. Though as the third son, things work out a little differently for me."

"I didn't realize there was so much pressure on you to succeed." She replied.

"Pressure?" I smiled softly, "Oh no, Haruhi, I can think of nothing more fun than this."

She shrugged and sighed and we continued on.

Yuki's POV

"Oo books…" I said to myself, before slipping away to the exhibit with an array of books for sale as Kyoya and Haruhi continued to talk. I scoped out the books out for sale. He had The Princess Bride in hardcover. He also had the whole Anne of Green Gables and Mary Poppins collections, and Matilda, and Cyrano de Bergerac, and The Legend of King Arthur…Oh the array was wonderful.

"May I help you?" The bookseller asked.

"I'd like to buy all of your books." I told him.

"I'm sorry what?" He asked confused.

"I want to buy all of these." I repeated, gesturing to his exhibit.

Haruhi's POV

"Um, Kyoya, Yuki-Senpai's not with us." I commented after we had bought the melon candies.

"I'm well aware." Kyoya replied, "She said something about books and left. We'll find her eventually."

"I want to buy all of the books in the exhibit, how do you not get that?"

Kyoya and I looked at each other.

"Is that?"

"Yeah." He nodded, "Let's go see what trouble she's gotten herself into."

We made our way over to the book exhibit, Yuki was arguing with the salesman because she wanted to buy all of the books he had for sale and he didn't want to.

"Is there a problem?" Kyoya asked.

"No, I've got it." Yuki replied, "I just want to buy all of the books that he has on exhibit."

He sighed, "Fine, do what you need to do."

"You would be spending thousands of yen." The bookseller warned her.

"You and I both know these aren't worth thousands, especially after how worn some of these are." Yuki retorted.

"I'll let you have them for a thousand." The seller told her.

"200."

"700."

"250."

"I'll give you them for 500, no less."

"Deal." She replied, and gave him the money. He left and she sat on the counter top of the stand, picking up one of the books she had just bought, "He should have gotten these looked at."

"I don't understand." I commented confused.

"She got these for a quarter of what they're worth." Kyoya explained, picking up one of the books, "Nice collection though."

"You both knew what it was worth and-"

"That's how it works." Yuki shrugged, "It's not supposed to be fair."

Yuki made some calls and got the books delivered to her house and we sat down on a bench.

"Hey Senpais, why do you think that Tamaki – Senpai is so eager to help people when they're in need?" I asked them.

"You mean when there's nothing to be gained from it?" Kyoya asked her, "Who knows."

"So, then when you help someone, how exactly do you benefit from it?" I questioned, "Money or reputation? Or is it more abstract? Because the way I see it, Tamaki – Senpai gets something out of helping others, but it doesn't necessarily involve their paying him back. So maybe when you get right down to it, the two of you really aren't all that different."

Kyoya looked down, and then stood, helping Yuki up as well. His name was called over the intercom as a missing child. Yuki snickered a bit as everyone started to stare at us as Kyoya was being described.

"It's okay everyone, I've found him, you can go back about your business!" Yuki announced. People slowly started to look away. We went up to the lost child desk.

Yuki's POV

The first thing we see when we get is Tamaki and the rest of the group at the lost child desk and by Tamaki's side was a couple of dogs, a cocker spaniel golden retriever mix with a bow around her neck and a black border collie puppy with a leather collar. He got dogs. Who's going to take care of them?

"Ah! Kyoya, there you are!" Tamaki exclaimed, "We were so are Haruhi and Yuki with you?"

"We were already in the mall." I replied, "You got dogs?"

"Well, Antoinette" He looked down at the golden retriever cocker spaniel mix, before looking back up at me, "is mine. This little guy over here," He looked down at the border collie pup, "is yours, so when you leave, you won't be alone. I got them at this amazing place called a pet shop."

I smiled softly and bent down to meet the pup's level, "C'mere sweetie." I held out my hand to him, he came over to me to check me out and kissed my hand, "Hey pretty boy, ya got a name?"

"Not yet." Tamaki told me.

"Rocket." I tried, he looked up at me, "You like that?" He kissed my hand. "Rocket, it is then." I picked him up as Tamaki was tackled to the ground by Antoinette.

"Did you just name your dog after a raccoon?" Hikaru asked.

"I named him after a unique heroic misfit." I corrected.

"How exactly am I like this moron?" Kyoya asked Haruhi about Tamaki, watching him being pinned down by Antoinette.

"I know you want me to believe your reasons for helping that woman earlier were selfish ones, but that isn't actually the truth because from where we were standing, there's no way you could have seen her was a flag blocking our view. It just doesn't make sense." Haruhi turned, "You go to all that trouble acting like you're such a big jerk when being a nice guy comes so naturally to you, it seems counter intuitive." She smiled and then walked away.

"Someone caught you being a nice guy again?" I smiled at him.

"I guess it would seem so." He softly smiled, "Yuki, I think I would like to go with you when you leave."

I took his hand in mine, "We'll have to talk to Sumi."

"You don't have to, I'll set you two up." Sumi told us, "Takashi and I were thinking about branching out, we'd probably need a couple of people to run the business."

"You'd keep what you earn on that end, we don't need it with everything we plan to do here." Takashi added.

"It won't make too much at first, but after a while it should pick up." Sumi continued, "It's a bit of a risk, but I think you two should be fine."

"Thank you." I told them.

"But you both will have to leave when we say it's time." Sumi told us. We both nodded. "We'll try to get it as close to your graduation date as possible. Either way you will graduate, missing a few days won't hurt you and we'll find ways to figure out the final exams. You two just need to be ready to go when we tell you to."

I nodded, "Thank you both."

"I owe you both a great deal, it's the least I could do." Sumi replied, "Go have fun, enjoy what time you both have here."