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Kyoya had decided to stay an extra week in America to help her pack and prepare to move back to Japan to begin studying for the bar. After setting down another full box he silently watched her across the room as she organized a box in the kitchen. "Care to go for a walk?"
"Sure but it's still raining outside. Don't want you to melt from the wet."
"At this rate, we will finish tonight and still have two days left before our flights. Plus, when are we ever going to be here again like this?"
Glancing around the room, her boxes lined the walls, neatly organized by importance. "Ok, fine. You've convinced me." Peering around the corner she dug out their raincoats for the closet and slipped on their shoes to brave the light rain.
"Anywhere, in particular, you would like to walk?" He questioned looking up and down the empty street.
Pointing away from the row of buildings she gestured to the left. "If we go this way there is a nice park near campus that I like to visit."
With a broad sweeping gesture, he motioned her to take the lead. "After you." He smiled, stuffing his hand back into his pocket. His fingers rubbed softly against the small velvet box secretly tucked away. Making his heart begin to jump and sputter much to his dismay.
They walked silently side by side listening to the rain drop unceremoniously to the ground. "I think I am going to miss this." Haruhi mussed, keeping her steady pace.
His eyes sneaking quick glances at his companion. Behind his glasses, he has watched her world morph and change. "This has been the place you have spent much of your time. You were bound to get attached. Though it is nothing like home." She was no longer the oblivious blunt girl she was in high school but now an observant, headstrong, law school graduate.
"This might not be where I was raised but it has become a home. The feeling of home is less about the physical place but the memories your heart holds onto. I have grown so much in this place I contemplated staying for a while." She smirked. "But we both know that Tamaki would never let that slide. I am sure once I get back Japan will feel like home again too."
Turning the corner he watched as her eyes lit up with excitement at the lush greenery surrounded by red brick buildings. Though he would never understand the appeal of Boston his eyes were set on a different goal. A long-awaited accomplishment to add to his list. It didn't matter what happened to his life, he was bound and determined to have her face light up like that for the rest of her life. "Care to walk through or are we just going to look at it?"
"Walking through. My favorite times to come here are right after it rains. It makes everything smell like new beginnings." Her eyes held their dreamy wonder as they approached the opening of the park.
Kyoya's heart swelled as they continued their walk through the flourishing greenery. New beginnings are exactly what he wanted. Haruhi would be back in Japan and they could begin planning the rest of their lives together. His hand fidgeting nervously around the box as they approached a low hanging branch. Reaching out quicking he grabbed the crook of Haruhi's elbow stopping her under the small sanctuary of the tree.
"Kyoya? What's wrong?" She asked, cocking her head in confusion.
Sliding his hand down to hers he clutched it lightly as he settled down onto one knee. "Haruhi, I know that I am not the easiest person to get along with and for that, I want to thank you. It has been a joy and a pleasure watching you work hard to achieve and surpass your goals. You are an extraordinary woman and I would be remiss to not want to be beside you while you rise to new heights. I want each day of your life to be better than the next and not only that, do I want to play a role in that. I want to be the person you create new beginnings with. I want to be the person to comfort you and stand beside you. Will you do me the honor and privilege of becoming my wife?" Momentarily letting go of her hand, he fumbled the small box out of his pocket revealing the dainty ring nestled in velvet and satin.
Haruhi's eyes were blown wide with shock. Her eyes flicked between the ring and Kyoya's steady gaze. "What?"
Chuckling he let out a small sigh. " Marry me Haruhi?"
A pregnant pause lingered between them. "No." Her voice stuttered breathlessly.
"What?" Feeling his stomach drop he looked at her pleadingly.
"I can't."
Steading himself back on to two feet he watched as she took a tentative step back. "Why not?"
"I just can't." She repeated.
"You said that already. I was more so looking for an actual reason." Snapping the box closed he placed the ring back into his pocket. Stepping cautiously towards her, he found his hands reaching out for hers.
"I don't want to be with you because of your money or your status." She tried to come up with some reason to appease Kyoya.
"Then don't be with me for those reasons. Be with me because of the connection we have between us, for the love I hold for you. I never thought I would be able to be with someone of my choosing. Someone who not only kept up with me but threatened to surpass both my expectations for them but also the expectations that I hold for myself. Be with me for any reason of your choosing but all I ask is that you be with me." He could feel his walls begin to crumble. "I am not one for begging but please be with me?"
"I'm sorry." She whispered as her tears mimicked the ever-present rain falling around them.
Kyoya was feeling even more desperate, he never expected her to say no. "I can give you anything and everything you could ever want. My name alone has cleared a path for any position in any law firm that you could ever possibly dream of being a part of. I have placed my life on hold for years while watching you reach towards your dreams. I have sacrificed more than anyone else around you to make you happy!" He felt his jaw clench and unclench trying to regain some composure.
"But I never asked you too." Her eyes never wavering. Watching him silently as his world crashed around him.
"You might not have but they are all things I did for you. It is because of you that I am who I am at this very moment. Against all suggested advice I have carried on, biding my time, and clearing a way for you to succeed. There is nothing more that I could ask than to be by your side while you bring justice to those who need it most."
"This is bigger than the two of us." Her lip quivered as she dropped her eyes to stare at the ground.
"What more could I do to be with you? Tell me what you need and I will do it. Tell me to change for you and I will. I will become whoever you need me to be. No matter the monetary cost or personal sacrifice. If you ask me for more I will give you more." His weak voice grating against his soul.
"You say all these things expecting me to change my mind. I know you do not say these things lightly nor do you say these things without the personal expectations to do whatever it takes to accomplish those goals. Even after your declaration of love to me, you still missed what I said. You are so caught up in your goals and the situations that you control that you want that you become blind to others. You offer me everything. You place me on an unrealistically high pedestal that I will neither be able to stay upon forever or safely get done from without you. I understand that if I am to be with you that I will never have to struggle. That my whole life, all the things I have done, becomes null by taking your last name. No matter what happens. Being with you is not feasible. In the eyes of those around us you are still the Shadow King capable of anything. And yet, you're still not enough."
His heart twisted and stalled as his mind played over her words. And yet, you're still not enough. "How is it that I offer you everything and even still you are not satisfied with my proposal?"
"Because you are asking me for the impossible." Twisting her hands together, she watched his face shift from frustration to confusion. "You are asking me to change you. To morph you into someone unrecognizable from your true self. I cannot ask you to give up everything for me. You cannot change your status or your ambition. You say that you will do all these things out of your love for me but it is because of my love for you that I cannot accept your offer because you become less of who you are and more of the person you think I need. I don't need your money or your prestige to be successful. I want to be seen for my own abilities not by my last name and for that there is nothing you could do or say to be enough for me because you will never not be Kyoya Ootori."
He listened as her footsteps and light sniffles faded into the cadence of the falling rain. And yet I still want to be enough for you.