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"I know you don't like sweets but I thought you might like some watermelon." Said Haruhi.
He was speechless. He didn't know if it was because her gentle words had deftly cut through his well-controlled exterior or because she stood before him her hair ringed in sunlight, her dark green dress emphasizing the heated blush on her cheeks, offering him a plate of watermelon.
"Bun-bun chop!" shouted Hunny as he split a watermelon nearly perfectly on the deck table near the pool.
"Do you have to say that everytime!" growled Yasuchika wiping the splattered watermelon off his arm. "Oww! Satoshi!"
"Be polite! It was thoughtful of your brother to invite us!" said the younger Morinozuka brother pinching his friends ear as he sat in a nearby deck chair. Meanwhile Mori was holding another watermelon ready to be split.
"Marco!" said Tamaki blindly swimming in the pool.
"Polo." Replied the twins lazily as they lay on patio chairs nearby, sunbathing.
It was a warm summer day and the members of the host club had gathered at the Haninozuka mansion to enjoy an afternoon poolside. Meaning they were all bored and it was yet another group kidnapping of Haruhi.
"Kyoya," asked Haruhi worriedly, "are you ok? Maybe you should sit in the shade for a while." Touching his elbow, she led him to the shaded patio. She sat down and looked up at him, her head tilted. "Kyoya?" Unbeknown to her, she had totally disarmed him with that look.
"Ah, yes." He said, luckily some part of his brain began functioning, and sat in the chair next to her.
"Here you go." She said offering him some watermelon as she took a piece for herself.
"Thank you." He replied still a little caught of guard.
"Mm-aaar-c-ooo!" said Tamaki a little louder, splashing around the deep end of the pool.
"P-oo-ll-ooo." Replied the twins quietly getting up and sneakily moving towards the end of the pool.
"More watermelon!" said Hunny happily as Mori silently got up to get another whole melon.
"What! That's the second whole one you've eaten!" cried Yasuchika.
"That's nothing!" said Satoshi holding up half a melon. "I bet I could easily eat five. They're mostly water anyway!" His friend just glowered at him.
Kyoya looked at the sweet, red melon in his hands and remembered that his happiest moments growing up were when he and his older brothers and sister had shared a cool melon on the hot, humid summer days.
"How did you know?" Kyoya asked quietly staring at the melon he held in his hands.
"What?" asked Haruhi.
"How did you know I liked watermelon?" he asked again looking at her with a thoughtful gaze.
"Well, I remembered when the club followed me to the grocery store you were looking at the melons and when we were at the mall together you were interested in the melon candies." She said.
"I see." He said looking again at watermelon he was holding.
"MARCO!" bellowed Tamaki.
"POLO!" shouted the twins as they simultaneously did cannonballs into the pool near Tamaki.
"Kyoya, its ok to indulge in what you like once in while." He looked at her quietly. "I promise," she continued with a little smile, "I won't tell anyone."
"I," he faltered. No matter how controlled he could be, somehow she would manage to bypass his best defenses and make him feel better for it.
"Mmm, that was the best watermelon!" said Hunny with self-satisfaction. For once his brother agreed with him.
"Thank you, Haruhi." Said Kyoya gladly as he took a bite of the sweet, cool melon. When she returned his smile with one of her own, he added another notation under the 'Happiest Memories' column in the ledger in his mind.
"Mom!" sputtered Tamaki clinging to pool wall. "Our sons are misbehaving! Put them in time-out!"
Kyoya stood up and looked kindly at Haruhi before turning around and crossing his arms as he walked over to Tamaki. The twins were splashing him mercilessly while chanting 'Marco Polo.'
"I think it's about time you got out of the pool. You don't want your skin beet red and peeling do you?" sighed Kyoya.
"What!" cried Tamaki as he looked at his red arms and chest.
"Yeah! You'll be called 'King Tomato' for sure!" teased Hikaru as Kaoru broke into a laughing fit.
"Gaack!" uttered Tamaki has he scrambled out of the pool.
"It looks like we're all out of watermelon." Said Haruhi looking at the empty deck table.
"No!" shrieked Tamaki swirling into his own pit of despair.
Author's Note: I just read HC Vol. 7 and thought to myself, "Kyoya must really like melon!" For real.