Sorry for the long wait! Life's been throwing some curve balls at me and i've been drifting back into a depression lately, but i've cheered up now and finally got my butt in gear to finish typing this. i had finished hand-writing it a few weeks ago, but couldn't get enough enthusiasm to type it out. but it's done and i hope you guys and girls enjoy it. it gives a nice look at another side of kohaku and kyoya, and definitely some silly fluff going on. so please review and let me know what you think! ^^

Oh! and also, i'll be posting a new Doctor Who OC fanfic soon, for those who may be interested! i've learned my lesson and have at least 36 chapters prewritten so updates shouldn't be as they are for most of my other stories. i'll have it and a schedule for it's updates up soon!

Disclaimer: I own no one from Ouran except my own characters and i don't own the songs below.

PS. to clear any confusion, Kohaku will only be called 'He'/'Him' when there are host club guests and such around. have to keep the secret in the club, after all. ;)

"Addicted to You"
By Avicii

"I don't know just how it happened,
I let down my guard...
Swore I'd never fall in love again
But I fell hard.

Guess I should have seen it coming,
Caught me by surprise...
I wasn't looking where I was going,
I fell into your eyes."

"I Just Wanna"
By Amber ft. Eric Nam

"Yeah cut to the chase
We don't play no games
The beating of my heart
Just tell me
If you feel the same
This feeling is true
You ain't gotta play it cool
I've been searching all my life
Baby boy i know it's you

Because i know you
The one i've been searching for
I know with you
My life means more
I wish i could say
These things to you
Now come here baby boy
Let me listen to you"

Winter was here and with it, came the harsh icy chill of a winter breeze.

"Achoo!"

I rubbed my nose with a sniffle, curled up in a thick blanket on my couch as I flipped through the next scene that was due in a couple of days.

"Why's it got to be so cold?" I grumbled under my breath. "Winters where I'm from weren't even close to this. It got down to sixty degrees and the most we got was rain or the occasional hail. Not twenty degrees with a chance of snow."

I tossed the finished scene onto the table and begrudgingly rose from my seat to pad into the cold kitchen in search of hot chocolate. I dug through the cupboards and just pulled out the tin, when a thought came to me. Are Kyoya and I actually together?

I sat the tin of hot chocolate mix down and glared at it for a moment before going to grab a cup. I mean, sure, we admitted we liked each other, but what now? We can't exactly tell anyone since everyone at school still thinks I'm a guy and I doubt Kyoya's family will be pleased. A shiver ran up my spine at that thought and I pulled my blanket closer around my shoulders. Yeah... I don't even want to think about that.

I grabbed my finished drink and moved back into the living room, where I sat on the couch and stared into space as I thought. Is anything going to change between us? It'd be nice to not have him angry at me this time, so that's a plus... but what about... other things? Boyfriend-girlfriend things? We can't exactly do much at school, but... I paused, suddenly feeling my face heat up and I put my cup down before burying my face in my knees.

"Why am I even thinking about this?! Like I know what being together with someone means! You'd think someone would make a manual for this or something!"

I sat up for a second, before grabbing my laptop and pulling it into my lap, typing away furiously. Why didn't I think of looking this up earlier?!

"Welcome!" We all greeted, decked out in Turkish outfits; though my greeting was a bit lackluster.

I wasn't the only one though. Haruhi appeared to be a lot less cheerful as well, and claimed to be getting over a cold; whereas I felt I was catching one. It was my own fault though, seeing how I spent the past couple of nights looking into some sort of guide as to what I was supposed to do next, now that Kyoya and I were technically together. Needless to say, I found more shoujo manga than anything else and got little to no sleep; other than the two hours I got before school when I passed out with a manga over my face. The other hosts were rather cheerful though, and I watched as they went about doing various things to please their customers.

"Tamaki-kun, we're so pleased to hear your stomach ache has gone away." One guest cooed as another followed.

"It's so lovely to see you in a gorgeous costume after so long! The turquoise stones contrast so nicely with your light hair."

Thank you, princess. Ancient people believed that happiness descends from the heavens and would put their hopes into these sky-colored stones." Tamaki said, moving closer to touch the guest's chin. "But for me, you are the beautiful jewel that brings hope."

"Oh, Tamaki-kun.~"

I glanced at Kyoya and flushed before quickly turning away, pushing aside the slight jealousy towards the guests he was handing gifts to. No point in being jealous, Kohaku. They're guests. Nothing more. I took a deep breath and brought my attention to Honey and Mori with their table full of sweets.

"These are such unusual treats, Honey-senpai."

Honey nodded to his guest excitedly. "Yes! This one is 'dondurma' and this one is 'lokum'. And if you want something to drink, try 'ayran'. It's a slightly salty yogurt drink."

Mori walked over with a tray of said drink as Honey went on with a big grin.

"But really my favorite is drinking Çay. With lots and lots of sugar!"

I rolled my eyes and looked over at the twins who were receiving compliments now that Hikaru dyed his hair.

"Hikaru-kun, that dark ash color in your hair suits you. When you two stand beside each other, the contrast is quite refreshing."

"Now it's easy to tell us apart, right?" Kaoru smiled as he and Hikaru pressed their foreheads together.

"Once I changed my hair color, I suddenly realized we twins are two separate people. Hikaru said as Kaoru followed up.

"And because of that, we support each other at a very close distance."

Nekozawa poked his head in then, ruining any pleasant atmosphere the twins had, so I glanced at Haruhi and her guests.

"Haruhi-kun, how are you feeling? What did the doctor say?" A guest asked.

"The doctor at the hospital said it was nothing." Haruhi replied, looking down at a plate of Turkish delights forlornly. "I have no appetite... Will the Turkish delight keep for a few days?"

The guests at her table begin gathering up sweets for her to take home, just as Tamaki came by to make things better... or worse.

"Haruhi! How are you feeling? You're still not over your cold?"

Face bright red, she tried to stutter out an answer, but Tamaki quickly went in for the kill; pressing his forehead to hers in search of a fever.

"It doesn't seem like you have a fever... Wah!" He suddenly pulled back as her face grew even more flushed. "You got hot all of a sudden! Call an ambulance!"

"No! I'm fine!" She called out as she quickly turned to make her escape. "Ah! I better fetch another pot of hot tea!"

Tamaki wasn't deterred though, and chased after her as she ran from him. I wrinkled my nose as I felt a sneeze coming on and quickly grabbed my handkerchief out of my pocket to cover my nose.

"Achoo!"

My guests looked at me in worry as I put it away and leaned back on the couch with a drawn out sigh.

"Are you getting sick too, Kohaku-kun?"

"I might be... A-Ah, but I don't mind. I really enjoy winter, even if it is a bit cold." I said, not knowing how 'adorable' I looked in the eyes of my guests with a slightly red nose and a small smile.

"W-What do you like most about winter, Kohaku-senpai?"

"Oh, a-all sorts of things, really. Snow, the leaves falling off trees, scarves, big comfy sweaters." I chuckled a little with my guests, a pair of eyes watching me unknowingly. "But I-I probably enjoy sitting on a couch with a nice cup of hot chocolate the best."

One of the guests looked at me, confused. "What about your family? Aren't you going to spend time with them over the break?"

I stiffened at those words and looked at the guest who had asked the question. She had curly brown hair and hazel eyes that held only innocent curiosity. She was new, obviously, and had come with one of my regulars who had begun to look panicked.

"I-I'm sorry, Kohaku-kun! I should have told her."

I gave them a slight smile, holding my hands up to calm her and—the now worried—new guest.

"I-It's alright. You were only curious, right, Asumi-san?"

The new girl nodded, face red in embarrassment. "S-Sorry."

"It's fine. R-Really. But, um... I don't have any family. They're gone. I-I usually spend the holidays with Haruhi and her father though." I smiled, trying to ease up the atmosphere slightly. "We had fun last year, b-but I wouldn't mind spending it with you ladies. Ah, i-if only I didn't have this cold."

They fell for the ruse, comforting me, but I still felt a little guilty for using it even if I had only wanted to take the conversation away from the subject of my family.

"Excuse me, ladies."

I jumped as a hand was placed on my shoulder and I looked up to see Kyoya smiling politely at my guests.

"I would like to borrow Kohaku for a moment. Is that alright?"

My guests all nodded, faces equally as red as mine as I got up and followed after him; watching as his polite smile fell into his usual bored expression. I thought he was going to take me over to where the others were—no doubt discussing Haruhi's odd behavior—but he instead led me to the back room before facing me.

"My sister wishes to have you over for dinner during the break. The rest of the family will not be present."

I blinked in surprise. "O-Oh, um... okay. Does she know about—" I pointed between us. "—this?"

He raised a brow, looking slightly amused. "If you are speaking about us, then it's quite possible she does. She believes to know something is different between us due to the change in my attitude."

"Attitude?"

"She claims I am 'less grumpy' at home now." He said with a small frown.

I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my lips at his seemingly pouting face.

"G-Grumpy? You?" I said sarcastically between chuckles. "I-I-I never would've guessed—Eep!"

I flushed at the embarrassing sound I let out as Kyoya pushed me back against the wall almost angrily.

"You shouldn't mock me, Kohaku." He said, not angrily like I first expected.

And as he leaned forward, my mind went into a panic. W-What is he doing?! I-I only teased him a little bit! If he kisses me back here and someone walks in—Ah! What am I thinking?! He's going to kiss me! What do I do?! What do I do?! I snapped out of my thoughts as his forehead touched mine and he hummed.

"Hm, as I thought. You have a slight fever." He pulled back and started towards the door. "You would do good to get more sleep. Working too hard will only make your cold worse. You shouldn't worry me."

I looked at him in surprise. I worried him?

"How would I make up for the losses caused by your sick days?" He continued, making that image of a worried Kyoya in my head shatter as I pushed off the wall.

"Y-You brought me back here to keep me from loosing money?!"

He looked at me from over his shoulder, a smug smirk on his face. "What did you think I was going to do?"

He left the room, leaving me red faced in embarrassment and my mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"B-But he just... H-He was... Whaaaat?!" I crouched on the floor with my head in my hands. "H-H-He was just teasing me! That demon shadow king was teasing me and he knew it!"

I got up and scrambled out the door, a grin on my face despite my annoyance.

"I'm so gonna get him back."

I staggered after Haruhi as we both walked home worn out and exhausted. With her running from Tamaki and myself trying to get back at Kyoya for teasing me—unsuccessfully, I might add—I wouldn't doubt that both of our fevers had gotten worse.

"Haruhi." I groaned. "Can we have udon today?"

"Only if you help me make it." She grumbled back. "I'm too tired to do it myself, especially since you always want so much stuff in it."

"If I have to." I sighed, before sneezing loudly.

Haruhi gave me a look. "You know, I wouldn't have known you were catching a cold with how you were bugging Kyoya."

"Says you." I muttered, sniffling and rubbing my nose. "You were the one running around the clubroom from Tamaki. Ah, don't think about it. Your fever's going to go up.~" I teased with a smirk as her face went red.

"S-Shut up! You and Kyoya were the ones sneaking off to the back room!" She countered.

I turned away slightly to hide the redness in my cheeks as I pouted.

"He was telling me to get better so he wouldn't loose money."

She scoffed. "Sounds like him."

"Haruhi!"

"Ko-chan!"

The two of us looked over to see Mei crouching in front of our apartment complex and a grinning Shindo standing beside her, waving. Mei got up and eyed me seriously.

"Kohaku-kun."

"Mei-chan." I greeted back, equally serious. "You've lightened your tan."
"I'm going for bihaku." She responded, looking me up and down. "I don't like you."

"Love you too." I said sarcastically as we stared each other down, lightning sparking between us.

"Ooookay!" Shindo said loudly, draping an arm over my shoulder and poking my cheek. "I'm stealing her for tonight. We're going to watch a new horror movie I bought and pig out on junk food as we talk about manly things, like boyfriends and tattoos. Do you mind, Haru-chan?"

She shook her head. "No. Saves me from having to make udon for dinner." She then gave Shindo a look. "Are you planning on getting another tattoo?"

He grinned. "Nope! Kohaku is though!"

"Shindo!" I punched him in the ribs in scolding as I caught Haruhi's glare.

"Kohaku."

"U-U-Uh, bye, Haruhi! I-I'll see you tomorrow!" I called out, grabbing Shindo and making a run for it.

We didn't get far before I had to stop, kind of dizzy from my fever, but not dizzy enough that I couldn't punch the laughing Shindo in the arm.

"W-Why did you say that?! I didn't tell her I was thinking about getting a second one yet!"

"Well, now you don't have to!" He chuckled. "I made it easy for you. Besides, it's not like I told her about you and Kyoya-kun.~"

"W-What about us?" I asked, playing innocent.

He, in turn, poked my nose. "There's no hiding it from me, Ko-chan. I've known about you two before you've known."

He turned and started walking and I scrambled to catch up.

"What?! But how did you know we're together?! It's only been a few days!"

He rounded on me in surprise. "Oh! You're finally together? Congrats!"

"W-W-What?!" I sputtered. "You didn't... But you just said—"

He grinned cheekily. "I said I knew about you two liking each other the most, but I never said I knew you were together. That's good to know though. Now I can tease you about it! Ooh, I can make him jealous too!"

"Shindo!" I whined, hoping that he wouldn't mess with Kyoya, but knowing that he probably would; if given the chance.

He just laughed and waved it off. "Ah, don't worry so much. You're not the only one who found someone."

"Oh? You found someone who will put up with you? That's a shock." I said with a smirk as he got dramatic.

"You don't even know, Ko-chan! He's so amazing with his dazzling, dirty blonde hair that you can just drag your hands through, and his honey brown eyes that you can get lost in. And his body—"

"Okay! Mr. Dramatic." I cut him off, seeing the looks we were receiving as he hugged himself blissfully. "Save the rest for later."

"Oh, he is such a catch.~" Shindo said, before shooting me a grin. "And you get to meet him! I invited him over!"

I rolled my eyes with a chuckle, glad that Shindo had found someone who made him happy.

"Sounds great, Shindo, but I hope he's not as chicken as you are when it comes to horror."

"Nah, you and him would get along, I'd think. He's a big history buff and I know how you're all into that."

I paused, thoughtful. "He wouldn't happen to be reading a book called 'Forgotten Samurai', would he?"

Shindo looked at me in surprise. "Yeah. He loves it. How'd you know?"

I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. "Um, you know how I told you I have a job, right?"

"Yeah. You write some small stuff for some publishing group, right?"

"Well... The thing is, it's a bit bigger than that."

He moved in front of me and put his hands on my shoulders, stopping me with a serious look.

"How big?"

"I-I, um... may have wrote your boyfriend's favorite book?" I said, thought it sounded more like a question.

Shindo's mouth dropped open in shock and he started violently shaking me.

"No way! But that book is practically famous! I've read it and I hate history! And it was amazing! How could... It doesn't even sound like you! Why didn't you tell me?!"

My vision was spinning after his little assault, but I managed to stay upright somehow.

"I-It's kind of a secret. My manager said we'd loose sales if people found out how young I was. A-And I only didn't tell you because I figured you'd never read it."

He moved back to my side, leaving an arm draped over my shoulders as he nodded. "That makes sense. I probably wouldn't have read it, if my boyfriend wasn't so adamant about it. But seriously?! You're the author?"

I nodded and he grinned maniacally.

"Ooh, he's going to be so jealous."

I smirked. "Wanna mess with him a bit?"

Shindo leaned forward with a wink. "You know it."

Needless to say, Shindo's boyfriend Kenji was more than excited to meet me once Shindo and I teased him. He was a great guy too, and we talked a lot about the book and other things before watching the movie. Turns out, Kenji was a lot like me when it came to horror, and laughed when Shindo freaked out. Though I had to say, they were a good couple.

That being said, as much as I enjoyed staying up late and goofing off with them, I was most definitely sick by the next morning. I still went to school however, despite Shindo and Kenji's protests. And once they'd walked me partway to school, we split up and I let out a long sigh, followed by a coughing fit.

"Ugh, maybe I should've just gone home." I muttered, before remembering the conversation Kyoya and I had the day before.

Then again, he'd be pissed if I cost him his precious money. I thought sarcastically with a roll of my eyes as I walked through the school gates. Not like there's anyone at home anyway. Wouldn't make a difference if I was here or there. I proceeded to rub my temples in a vain attempt to fight against the pounding headache, as I tried to figure out what was supposed to be happening today. I think it's got something to do with Haruhi and Tamaki and that weird lawyer person, but I can't think straight. It was then that I bumped into the hosts.

"Oh, looks like Kohaku's sick too."

They quickly crossed their arms into 'X's.

"Don't touch us!"

"Yeah, we're clean! We're clean!"

I scowled. "I'll sneeze on you two if you don't cut it out."

Tamaki looked at me in slight worry out of the corner of his eye as he approached Haruhi; who also looked under the weather.

"What's wrong? Had it gotten worse?!"

"No!" She said, waving her hands around. "I was up reading a magazine."

"A magazine?" Tamaki questioned while Haruhi's face turned red and she panicked.

Oh... I remember this. Haruhi's finally conscious of Tamaki. I mentally sighed. I suppose it was a good thing I didn't stay at her place last night. That would've been an awkward conversation to get involved in. 'Hey, Haruhi! I know every aspect of your soon-to-be-love-life! Shame I can't tell you anything.' I sweatdropped. Oh, yeah. That would've been weird.

"Wait! Haruhi, you should go to the hospital!" Tamaki called out as she ran off, but she kept going, and I sighed; pulling a hand through my hair.

"Well, that could've gone better. Eh, Tamaki?"

I turned around, but he was decked out in some bear outfit, sobbing to Kyoya.

"Kyoya, do you think this animal costume is okay? It's not scary, is it?"

"Yes, yes. It's fine."

I sneezed, rubbing my nose as I looked over at an angry Hikaru and I decided that I better head to the classroom before I got dragged into anything. Of course, Tamaki took that moment to latch onto my arm and start tugging me down the hall.

"Kohaku, you've got to come with me to help me convince Haruhi to go to the hospital!"

We were nearly to the nurse's office before I managed to pull him to a stop, dizzy and breathing hard as my fever went up.

"W-What the heck... do you expect me to do?! She probably already went home and I need to go to class."

He turned to me with puppy dog eyes as I stared back evenly. "B-But Ko-kun—"

"No." I cut him off bluntly, turning around and walking back the way we came, past Kyoya and the others as I pulled a tired hand through my hair; hearing the twins pat Tamaki's back behind me.

"It's no use, Tono. Kohaku's immune to the puppy dog eyes."

"Yeah. You'd have more luck trying to move a boulder."

"Punks." I hissed under my breath before walking out of earshot and heading to class in the hopes that everything turned out okay for Haruhi and Tamaki, and that I'd be able to get through the day.

(No one's POV)

"Is Haruhi alright?!" Tamaki shouted as the group of hosts rushed into the nurse's office.

"Huh?"

The room was empty and Haruhi was nowhere to be found, so the nurse explained.

"Fujioka-san went home early."

"What?!"

The nurse was already used to the rambunctious group, having dealt with them numerous times before, and she calmly continued.

"She rushed in, then ran away saying, 'I've decided to go home early after all'."

"Eh?!"

"Haruhi!"

"Is she okay?"

"Why are you in an animal suit?" The nurse questioned as they panicked, though not receiving an answer.

Kyoya stepped forward however, as the others made to leave and Tamaki pulled out his phone.

"Has anyone else come in here?"

The nurse shook her head. "No. Just Fujioka-san."

He nodded and walked out with the others, an exasperated frown on his face. That idiot workaholic. She's in no shape to be at school.

"She's not answering her phone." Tamaki said in worry as Hikaru took a more frantic approach.

"We have to go find her! What if she passed out somewhere?!"

"Poor Haru-chan." Honey cried, holding onto Mori's school jacket and looking up at him in concern. "Ko-kun didn't look good either."

"Ah." The man grunted, also anxious about the two sick hosts.

Kyoya sighed, ignoring the jealous feeling knotting in his stomach as he grabbed their attention.

"We can't all go in search of Haruhi."

"I'll go." Tamaki said, determined. "I've already contacted someone in the area, so we should find her soon."

Hikaru went to argue, but Kyoya didn't have time to sit through a jealous spat.

"But—"

"Then it's decided." He cut him off. "Tamaki will go find her and the rest of us will go to class. As soon as he finds her, he'll send us a text."

The group reluctantly agreed, but Tamaki spoke up.

"What about Kohaku?"

"We'll watch her in class, right, Takashi?"

Mori nodded, glancing at Kyoya as he pushed up his glasses.

"If she's still not well by lunch, I will take her home."

The group nodded and soon went their separate ways. Hikaru sat in his class bouncing his foot anxiously and waiting for his phone to buzz in his pocket, as Kaoru watched him in worry. Kyoya went to his own class, explaining to the teacher and students that Tamaki wouldn't be coming, before trying to focus on the lesson; thoughts of Kohaku fluttering around the outreaches of his mind. And Honey and Mori sat in their class, sending concerned looks at Kohaku as she rubbed her temples and tried to push past her fever. It wasn't too long before the group received a text from Tamaki about Haruhi, and the hosts relaxed at the good news; some more than others.

Kohaku wasn't looking very good though, and the moment the bell rang for lunch, she dropped her head onto the desk with a groan. Honey gave Mori a glance, before heading over to the white haired host in concern.

"Ko-kun? Are you okay?" Honey asked, making sure to use the masculine form of her name since students were around.

Kohaku turned her head towards him, frowning a bit and rubbing her eyes as the fever blurred her vision.

"Fine... I'm fine." She grumbled, turning away with a sigh. "Just... give me a minute..."

"Ko-kun?"

Honey shook her shoulder, but she didn't respond and Mori went to her other side, placing his large hand on her forehead before glancing at Honey seriously.

"He has a high fever."

There was a sigh that came from behind them and Kyoya wandered over; having left to check up on Kohaku the second the bell rang for lunch.

"This is why I said he's an idiot."

He looked over at Mori, who stood upright and stared back evenly, unmoving. One could see the tension between them, but after a moment, Mori moved aside and went back to his seat; calling out over his shoulder.

"Take care of him."

"I will." Kyoya replied, reaching over and picking Kohaku up out of her chair, taking her bag and walking out of the room; leaving behind a class full of shocked students and excited girls, who were already coming up with all sorts of ideas about what just happened and Kohaku's relationship with Kyoya.

Said hosts made their way out of the school and Kyoya carried her into his limo, before telling the driver where to go. Only thing was, they weren't going to Kohaku's apartment. Kyoya knew Tamaki was probably next door with Haruhi, and he didn't want Kohaku to be left alone when he had to return to school. No doubt Ranka will be busy with Haruhi and... He looked down at the sick host in his arms. And she doesn't have anyone else.

He sighed, feeling strange for being so concerned about Kohaku but also feeling rather pleased. He was glad they had made up and overjoyed that they were together, though he hid it well. But there was still a large part of him that was uncomfortable about the whole thing. He wasn't used to this. Letting people in and having them return that trust. Much less caring for someone as much as he cared for Kohaku. And for her to care for him back and try so hard to show that, baffled him. Tamaki and his sister were the only two people who had done that, and never to the point of following to another country in a dress.

He still couldn't stop thinking about that. She had looked amazing, but she was so self-conscious that she couldn't see that. Something I will have to work on. He mused as the limo pulled to a stop and he climbed out, carrying Kohaku into his own home and lying her down on his bed. He sighed quietly as he took off her school jacket and tie, pulling off her shoes and then calling a maid to change her into some of his clothes and go get a wet cloth.

Once she finished, he headed back into the room and sat at his desk beside the bed, chair turned so he could watch her. She was breathing hard and her hair stuck to the side of her face, which was contorted into a pained expression and covered in a light sheen of sweat. He heard beeping and reached over to check the thermometer, letting out another sigh at the results.

"39.7 °C (103.46°F). You truly are a moron to be trying to work through that."

He took the pill and cup of water the maid had left behind and popped it in his mouth with some water, before pressing his lips to hers and forcing her to swallow the medicine. As he sat back down, he wondered what Kohaku would have done if she'd been awake for that; smiling slightly at the mental image of her in shock with her mouth gaping. Resting his elbows on his knees, he reached out and brushed his fingers lightly across her cheek. You never cease to amuse me.

"...mom..." She murmured, barely a whisper.

He stiffened at that, watching as Kohaku's face saddened and a tear slipped down her cheek. Kyoya slowly brushed it away, questioning what Kohaku had done the last time she stayed home sick and if, perhaps, the reason she went to school despite her fever, was so that she wouldn't have to stay home alone.

"What am I going to do with you?"

(Kohaku's POV)

I woke up confused, in a room that was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, and sat up dizzily. Ugh, what hit me? A train? With a hand on my head, I tried to get my feverish mind to work and recognize the room, but luck was on my side and I didn't have to when Kyoya walked in; immediately giving me an annoyed look.

"Go back to sleep, Kohaku. I doubt you are well enough to be moving about."

He came over and set his glass of tea down, before pushing me by the shoulders gently back onto the bed.

"Sleep, Kohaku."

I scrunched up my brows as I closed my eyes, feeling tired once more. "But why am I here?"

He sighed, moving his chair beside the bed and opening up a book to read. "You passed out at school, so I brought you here."

I hummed wearily. "Mm... but why here? You could've taken me home..."

I curled up under the blankets, facing Kyoya with a tired sigh and feeling him brush a hand over my forehead.

"I couldn't leave you at home alone." He said, making my heart swell, only for him to kill it with his next words. "There's be no one around to tell you how idiotic you are for going to school with a high fever and a cold."

"Mm, glad I could count on you." I murmured sarcastically, starting to slip back to sleep.

He chuckled, the sound ringing pleasantly in my ears as my breathing evened out and I relaxed into unconsciousness.

"Go to sleep, Kohaku. I'll be here when you wake up."

Thank you... Kyoya...

(No one's POV)

"Kyoya!" Tamaki wailed as he rushed into Kyoya's home with the rest of the Host Club behind him. "Kyoya! We came to see how Ko-chan is doing!"

There was no response and the twins both raised a brow.

"Maybe they're not home."

"No! They must be home!" Tamaki said confidently. "I can feel it!"

"Ooh, his mommy senses are tingling.~" They joked with a chuckle as Honey pointed at the stairs.

"Neh, maybe they're upstairs! Let's go check, Takashi!"

"Ah." Mori agreed, scooping up his cousin and heading upstairs.

"Ah! Wait for us!" Tamaki called out as Haruhi rolled her eyes and trailed after them.

"Kyoya is not going to be happy."

Once everyone was upstairs, they stealthily opened the door to Kyoya's room and poked their heads in.

"Kyoya?" Tamaki called out quietly. "We came to see how you and Kohaku are doing."

"Um, guys? Maybe we should just go. Kyoya's not going to be happy about us breaking into his ho—"

Her words were useless though, because the group was already wandering around the large room in search of the two missing hosts. Sighing, Haruhi headed over as the hosts gathered at the base of the stairs leading up to where the bed and Kyoya's private study was.

"Okay, men. Upstairs may be where they're at." Tamaki said, the group huddled together like a football team. "And because Kyoya didn't answer, it's safe to assume that he's asleep."

"Sir!" The twins raised their hands in question, Hikaru speaking first.

"If he's asleep..."

"...are we going to wake him up?"

"I will have to assess the situation before any move will be made towards waking up the low blood pressure demon." Tamaki said sternly.

"But Tama-chan." Honey spoke up. "Why did Kyo-kun take Kohaku here instead of her house?"

"Hm. That's a good question." Tamaki muttered, a finger on his chin.

"Did they get together without us knowing?" Kaoru asked, making Tamaki wail.

"No! Not my darling son!"

"Kohaku's a girl, senpai." Haruhi grumbled, but was ignored as Hikaru scoffed and waved a hand back and forth.

"No way. Those two? Actually agreeing that they mutually care for each other? Good luck."

"But Ko-chan did go to France while Kyoya was there." Honey countered.

Hikaru still wasn't convinced. "Well, yeah. But they were fighting, remember? She probably went to go make up with him."

"But flying to France to do it?" Even Haruhi was skeptical now.

"You know Kohaku." Hikaru argued. "Why wouldn't she?"

The group had gotten off topic at this point, but Honey decided enough was enough and that he'd go upstairs to find out for himself.

"Kyo-kun! Ko-chan! Where are you?" He called out and the other hosts turned to the stairs in shock.

"Honey-senpai!"

"Don't!"

"Mitsukuni!"

The group rushed up after him—Mori catching him around the waist—but they all stared wide-eyed in shock at what they saw. Two heads poked out from under the covers of the bed, one black and one white, and Tamaki immediately went insane.

"My son! My darling son has been corrupted by the low blood pressure demon!"

"Tono! Be quiet!"

"You'll wake them up!" The twins said none-to-quietly themselves, as they held him back.

Haruhi was quivering and pointing at the bed in shock at what she was witnessing. "K-Kohaku and K-Kyoya..."

Honey though, was holding Mori's hand tightly, looking up at the angry host in worry. He was happy for Kohaku and Kyoya, but he knew that Mori had feelings for her too and jealousy often clouded rational thought; which was telling Honey that something else had gone on here other than what the others were thinking. Just then though, there was a groan and Kyoya shifted in bed, sitting up and pulling a hand through his hair with a furious glare aimed at the wailing Tamaki.

"Shut up."

Tamaki stiffened, but pulled away from the twins and stormed up to the tired man, grabbing the front of his pajama shirt angrily—something no one expected from the usually cheerful host.

"What did you do?" He growled and Kyoya angrily snarled back.

"Nothing." He pulled Tamaki's hand off him and picked up his glasses from off the end table as he explained. "She's been asleep since yesterday evening. I, on the other hand, just got to sleep a few hours ago after taking care of her all night and falling asleep at my desk. I must have gotten up and crawled into bed at some point during the night."

So he said, but when he pulled back the covers, he revealed Kohaku's arm wrapped around him and her face snuggled into his side; enticing Tamaki to wail once more.

"You've corrupted my son! The devil has—"

"Shut up!" Kyoya growled out, shoving Tamaki away as Kohaku mumbled incoherently and moved closer.

Tamaki went to continue his dramatizations, but cut himself off as Kyoya sighed and carefully untangled himself from Kohaku's arms and covered her back up again; replacing himself with a pillow for her to hold instead. Once he finished, the surprisingly gentle action, he turned to the others with a glare and pointed at the stairs.

"Go. Now."

The group scrambled up at the fury of the low blood pressure demon, and rushed out of the room as he went to change and soon joined them in the main room downstairs.

"Nothing happened." He reiterated, sipping some coffee that a maid brought him. "And I only brought her here because there would be no one to watch her at home. What with Ranka-san taking care of Haruhi."

Hikaru raised a brow. "Nothing happened. There's a girl in bed with you and nothing happened."

"Hikaru!" Haruhi scolded and he held his hands up.

"Just saying."

Kyoya's eyebrow twitched. "I'm not so devilish as to take advantage of someone while they're sick. I'm not like you, Hikaru."

"Why you—"

"Neh, Kyo-kun?" Honey interrupted before an argument could break out. "Does this mean you and Ko-chan are together now?"

Kyoya sipped his coffee slowly, mentally calculating his response as he eyed the innocent third-year. He's cunning. I should've known what his childish persona was hiding. But how to respond... I could just tell them, they've practically figured it out anyway... but the last thing I need is for them to over-exaggerate and bother Kohaku as she's still getting over her cold. Not to mention I doubt the idiots could keep it a secret. So why not have a little fun... He sat his mug down and frowned at the hosts, easily hiding the devilish plot in his head.

"Together? What gave you that idea?"

Tamaki blinked, obviously confused. "You're not?"

Kyoya shook his head, mentally chuckling at how clueless they all were. "Not in the slightest. The only reason she came to France was to apologize about hiding her gender, which I reluctantly accepted. And my bringing her here instead of her home, was a choice based on common sense. With no one to care for her at home, she would've been ill longer and we would've lost far more profits otherwise."

"He's right, guys." A new voice said tiredly, Kohaku having come downstairs and making Kyoya stiffen in worry and guilt; though he wasn't sure why. "Nothing's going on. He was just being... polite, I guess."

"Kohaku!"

"Ko-chan!"

"My darling son! Are you alright?!"

She groaned and put a hand to her head as she sat beside Kyoya, accepting some tea from a maid. "I won't be okay, if you guys keep shouting."

They calmed down and eventually had a nice conversation about what happened in class that day since both, Kohaku and Kyoya, were gone. But no one really noticed the slight tension between the two. Both were feeling a little out of place since Kyoya knew Kohaku had overheard him earlier, and she realized that he knew. Kohaku had been a bit hurt by what he'd said, but continued to mentally reassure herself that he didn't mean it and was just trying to avoid the chaos that would come along with the hosts finding out.

Despite that, it bothered her. And Kyoya had figured out that what he said may have upset her, and was currently in the process of trying to find a way to fix it. He didn't want to loose her after they had just got together. She was his. Not Mori's, not Shindo's, not his father's, but actually his. So once the hosts all left and Kohaku went to change out of his clothes and gather her things to leave, Kyoya waited on his couch downstairs and fidgeted, feeling nervous.

What am I? One of those bumbling idiots? I shouldn't be nervous! I won't allow this caring for Kohaku to turn me into some moron like Tamaki. He thought sternly, pushing up his glasses and picking up a book from off the table to read. It was only when Kohaku came down that he realized what he was reading.

"Oh! You found my book."

"Hm?" He lifted his head and flipped to the worn out cover that labeled it as the 'Forgotten Samurai' by Hakusei Murasaki. "My apologies."

He went to hand it back, but she waved her hands back and forth.

"No, it's okay! You can borrow it if you want. God knows I've read it enough times, not counting proof-reading." She grumbled the last part, looking away and rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

Proof—"Proof-reading? You wrote this?" Kyoya asked in disbelief, having been quickly sucked into the story despite his uninterest in Japanese history.

"W-Well, yeah. What did you think I was writing at home?" She questioned. "I mean, I wasn't actually writing to publish, but it happened and is now a national bestseller—which I didn't expect. I sent in the draft on a whim. I actually thought it was crap."

She chuckled a bit, but Kyoya was still in shock, so she went to nudge him back in the right direction.

"So, um, you're welcome to borrow it if you're that interested. You can just give it back to me at school or something. But... um... s-shouldn't we be going? It'll be dark soon and Haruhi will be ticked if I miss dinner."

She coughed a little, reminding Kyoya that she was still sick and he nodded; standing up and setting the book down on the table as they headed out to the awaiting limo. Once they were off, things grew tense once more and even the driver was fidgeting uncomfortably. The two hosts had remembered what happened earlier and both were now debating on whether or not they should be the first to speak up.

"Kyoya, I—"

"I wanted to—"

They both had spoken up at the same time and turned to each other in surprise and reluctance.

"Um, go ahead."

"No. I wish to hear what you have to say first."

Kohaku frowned a bit. "Why do I have to go first? You go."

"And why must I?" Kyoya argued, a matching frown on his face. "You're the one who is upset."

"I'm not upset. You're the one acting weird."

"I am hardly the one acting strangely." He countered, pushing up his glasses smugly. "If anything, you are the strange one."

"Oh, moving onto name calling, are we?"

"That was not 'name calling' as you inaptly put it." He declared. "I was stating a fact."

Kohaku threw up her hands. "Of course! How could I be so thick?! Here's a fact for you. For being such a big smart aleck, you sure are pretty stupid. Because stalking people and writing down their life facts in a little black book? Yeah, last I checked that's far weirder than anything I've ever done."

"On the contrary. I believe writing bestselling novels and taking down behemoths three times your size in a brutish sport like boxing trumps my occasional notes on family business."

"Oh right! Stalker trumps hard-worker. I forgot you're a business kid." Kohaku drawled out as the car pulled up to her apartment complex. "Saying mean things is in the job description, right?"

She grabbed her bag and climbed out, stomping away, but Kyoya got out and yanked her back to him.

"Hey! What are you—"

He grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her, abruptly cutting her off, before he pulled away.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, still very close to Kohaku; who's face was red and her mouth hanging open. "I'm sorry for upsetting you earlier. I... didn't mean—"

She cut him off this time with a kiss, pulling back with a flushed face and a nervous expression as though just realizing what she'd done.

"I-I, um... I know... that you didn't mean it. I don't know why I got upset, and I'm sorry about the name calling. I-I'm not really good with this whole..." She waved her hand around, face getting redder every second. "...l-love thing. I never... I-I don't really understand wha—"

"You're rambling." Kyoya interrupted, moving her closer to him and smirking slightly as he pressed her forehead to hers. "It's cute."

He chuckled as her face turned as red as it could go and she started stuttering.

"D-D-Don't do that! I-I can't—It's n-not—You—"

"You talk far too much."

They kissed again, neither wanting to pull away this time. Hiding it from the hosts, hiding it from the students, hiding it from Kyoya's family. They both knew it would be hard. That chances like this would be rare and they had to make the most of it while it lasted. Because they never knew when they would get caught. And it could be sooner than they thought.

(Kohaku's POV)

"Kohaku!"

I jumped, turning to see Haruhi frowning at me. "Um... yes?"

"I'm leaving."

It took me a second, staring blankly at her in confusion from behind my glasses, before realization hit and I bolted up from my place on the floor.

"Right! Leaving! To the... uh..."

"Ski resort? For my class trip?" She narrowed her eyes at me. "Were you listening to anything I said?"

"Um..." I glanced away before turning back and pushing up my glasses in a Kyoya-like fashion. "I can assuredly assure you that I was not not listening to the thoughts in my head while possibly avoiding the thought of listening to the sounds of you not not talking."

I swear you could hear crickets chirping in the silence that followed as Haruhi gave me a deadpan expression.

"So... you weren't listening."

"Not in the slightest!" I said with a big cheesy grin.

She groaned, dragging her hand down her face before glaring at me. "I'll repeat it, but only once! If you don't listen this time, then it's not my problem."

"Yes, sir!" I mock saluted, following her into my kitchen as she opened the fridge and pointed out the bowls of food covered in plastic wrap.

"I've made your dinner for the next few days, since I won't be around and I know you'll just walk down to some noodle stand and put yourself into a food coma otherwise."

"Good decision." I chirped with a smile, grabbing a soda and opening it as she rolled her eyes. "Anything else, mother?" I teased, knowing she hated it when I called her that.

"Yeah." She snapped, gesturing to the papers scatted around the living room. "Clean up after yourself."

I opened my mouth to argue, but she didn't give me a chance.

"I don't care if you have a deadline. That's no excuse to leave papers and mail all over the place. She picked up a stack of envelopes and shoved them into my arms. "The water and utility bills are due this month, so make sure you pay them. Deadlines or not."

I sighed, tucking the mail under my arm. "Yes, yes. I won't forget."

There was a honk outside and she went to grab her duffel bag, but I grabbed it first with a smile; dropping off the mail and my soda on a small table by the door.

"How lucky are you.~ You get to go play in the snow with a bunch of rich kids. Don't have too much fun." I joked as we headed downstairs to the twins' limo.

"I'll try not to." She said, sounding as enthusiastic as a rock.

I snickered as I handed her bag off to the driver to stuff it in the trunk, and hugged her around the neck from behind.

"I'll miss you, Haruhi.~"

"I won't."

"Haruhi!" I whined as she ducked out from under my arms and into the limo; the twins grabbing a hold of her with chuckles.

"Sucks for you, Ko-kun."

"Yeah. She's ours now."

I smirked devilishly at them. "Oh, you better take that back or I might just come up to the mountains after you to take her back."

"Ha! Good luck!" Hikaru laughed, but I continued to smirk and winked at Haruhi.

"See you later.~"

It took her a moment, but her eyes widened in realization, and she scrambled to the window as it was rolled up and the car drove off; leaving me smiling smugly and waving.

"See you tonight, I mean." I chuckled, turning around and heading back up to my apartment, with my hands tucked away in my pockets. "Ah, I love foreknowledge sometimes."

Humming to myself, I returned to my humble abode and started flipping through the mail as I went and plopped onto the couch. Bill, bill, spam, spam, spam, magazine subscription, spam, and—My thoughts came to a stand still as I found a letter addressed to me from the man I had completely forgotten about until just now. I opened the envelope and pulled out the index card inside, two words scrawled neatly on the front and a name signed just below it.

I'm waiting.

Yoshio Ootori

(No one's POV)

The second and third years were all gathered at Tamaki's house for a group discussion, though Kyoya didn't want to be there and Kohaku was distracted; scribbling in a notebook beside him.

"Hey, hey, Tama-chan." Honey called out to the other distracted host. "Are you really not going to the mountains to see Haru-chan and the others? You said you wanted to eat cake in the hot spring while looking at snowy mountains."

"I'm sorry, Honey." He said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "When I thought about it, now wasn't a good time. My father gave me a lot of reading to do and I haven't been able to pay enough attention to Antoinette."

"Hm, but you know..." Honey pointed to the book Tamaki was supposedly reading. "...that book is upside-down."

"No, no, no! This is a new way of reading!" Tamaki shouted, waving his arms around to try and cover his mistake.

"Tamaki, what's wrong?" Kyoya questioned, trying to get the conversation moving; as Kohaku propped her legs up on the arm of the couch and leaned her back against his arm as she wrote. "Did something happen with Haruhi?"

Kyoya leaned back, draping his other arm over the back of the couch and, subsequently, around Kohaku, as Tamaki flipped through his book nervously.

"N-Nothing happened with Haruhi..."

"Then... it's Hikaru." Mori said and Tamaki dropped his book as he started drifting away in the wind like a pile of sand.

"I see." Kyoya sighed and before Tamaki could speak up to defend himself, Kohaku went and explained.

"Hikaru told Tamaki to avoid Haruhi, and now he's in the dumps about it."

Tamaki sank to the ground in tears as Honey sweatdropped.

"Bullseye."

"D-D-Did you all know?!" Tamaki questioned from the ground. "That what Hikaru feels for Haruhi is lo... lo..."

"Love, Tamaki." Kohaku finished for him. "Hikaru loves Haruhi. And yeah. I knew."

Kyoya nodded as everyone got up and headed over to the upset blonde. "It's obvious."

"I think Tama-chan and Haru-chan are the only slowpokes who haven't realized it." Honey commented with a sigh. "And how do you feel, Tama-chan?"

"I... I feel bad for not noticing until now..."

"But how do you feel about Haru-chan?" Honey clarified.

Kohaku let out a premature sigh and headed over to a table nearby it grab the tissues; something Kyoya found odd, but he didn't question it as Tamaki began wailing.

"Haruhi... uh... ow! My heart hurts!"

"Wah! Tama-chan!" Honey panicked as Tamaki rolled around on the floor.

"It feels like my heart is constricting. Like it's being crushed."

"I see." Kyoya mused. "Even you have come to realize what's going on."

Kohaku passed Tamaki the box of tissues and he blew his nose before speaking.

"Ugh, maybe this is the heartache a father feels when he sees his daughter being married off.

"What?" They all questioned, before Kohaku groaned loudly, catching their attention.

"Ugh! Can't I just tell him?! This is getting ridiculous!"

She grumbled to herself and flopped in a chair nearby, going back to what she was writing, already knowing that the answer to her question would be no. Kyoya sent her a glance as he pushed up his glasses to hide it, mentally sighing. She's in a bad mood. I know she has a deadline, but this seems to stem from something else. I'll have to talk to her later.

"But it's not certain that Haruhi like Hikaru in return. But Hikaru is a cute fellow." Tamaki cried and Honey tried to give him a hint.

"But Tama-chan, that's not the heartbreak a father feels—"

"Is it an illness then?!"

"Um, well—" Honey was cut off as Tamaki panicked.

"Ack! This is bad! Should I call a doctor?! Oh! But I need to finish that book first."

"Tama-chan..."

"A father figure needs to have a lot of wisdom at his disposal."

Tamaki became engrossed in his book once more and the group left his study in worry.

"Kyoya, you know..." Honey mumbled. "Maybe I misunderstood."

"Me too." He replied, eyeing Kohaku as she muttered quietly under her breath and scribbled something down.

I wonder if she's the same... The group climbed into the limo to head up to the ski resort in order to 'report' their findings to the only other host not involved in this; Kaoru. They got comfortable for the trip and blankets were passed out should anyone need them, but Kyoya was more interested in what Kohaku was doing.

"You're not writing a manuscript, are you?"

"What? No. Course I am." She lied, brows furrowed as she glanced down at her notebook.

He gave her a look. "No. You're not, because that's a lot of numbers for a novel."

She flushed in embarrassment and held her notebook closer. "I-I was calculating my budget. F-For bills."

Kyoya raised a brow. "Most people do that before they pay their bills, and you paid yours this morning."

"Um... double checking?"

Even Honey and Mori exchanged looks behind them, not convinced, and Kohaku groaned.

"Fine. I'm trying to come up with something to impress a very stubborn business man, without using any of my savings. And it's very...vexing."

"Is that why you've been cranky today, Ko-chan?" Honey asked and Kyoya sighed.

"You didn't eat breakfast or lunch again, did you?"

Kohaku stiffened and turned her head to look over her shoulder at him with a nervous chuckle.

"Heh... you caught me."

Kyoya sighed and dug through the limo's mini fridge as Honey scolded her.

"Ko-chan! That's not good! You need to stay healthy! Right, Takashi?"

"Ah."

"Says the kid who eats cake three square meals a day." She grumbled as Kyoya handed her a banana.

"Here. It's all we have, but it'll pass you over until you can get something at the resort."

She pouted, but accepted the food with a nod, before going back to writing; leaning her back on Kyoya's arm once more. The group fell into silence and after a while, Kohaku fell asleep. Sighing quietly, Kyoya took her notebook and closed it, setting it aside, before covering her with a blanket and lowering her head onto his lap.

"Did you two make up?"

Kyoya's hand twitched at Honey's question, realizing that the two seniors were still in the limo and had seen his actions towards Kohaku. He felt more than a little embarrassed, but hid it well as he pushed up his glasses.

"I don't know what you mean."

And he truly didn't.

Honey swung his legs back and forth innocently. "You lied at your house when you told us you and Ko-chan weren't together, but she heard you and got upset, right? So did you make up?"

Kyoya eyed the host, shifting his gaze to the taller of the two briefly before turning away slightly.

"We did."

They always were smarter than they looked. He mused, taking note that he'd have to be more cautious around the seniors from now on.

"That's good." Honey chirped with a smile. "Ko-chan really likes you, so don't upset her, neh? I like it when she's happy. Takashi too!"

"Ah."

Kyoya adjusted his glasses again, his hand absentmindedly running through Kohaku's hair as he struggled to relax. Did they just threatened me?...

(Kohaku's POV)

Once we got to the resort, I was woken up and dragged upstairs with the others to go find Kaoru. Needless to say, he chuckled nervously at me as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I guess you really did come back to get Haruhi, huh?"

"Couldn't leave her alone with you two devils. Wanna point me to her room while you guys have a chat?"

He gave me a look. "You just want to freak them out, don't you..."

"Oh, you bet." I grinned, making him smile and shake his head at me.

"Third door down on the left." He chuckled as I headed that way and held up my phone.

"I'll send you pictures!~"

As I walked off, I quickly sent a text to Tamaki, warning him about the sulfur bath stuff he was—no doubt—about to use and tried to relax a bit. I'd been trying to figure out what to do about Kyoya's father ever since I'd gotten that piece of mail from him, but I was at a loss and that was making me frustrated. I hadn't really thought about what I was going to do when I'd said it and had only been thinking about biding my time. I regretted it now, seeing as I forgot about my challenge to the older Ootori. I'd figure something out eventually, I knew, but it was just a matter of finding the time to think it through without all the hustle and bustle the hosts were dealing with right now. Good luck. I thought sarcastically, standing outside of Hikaru and Haruhi's room and taking a deep breath. I'll be lucky if I have a few minutes to think about it. But for now... I grinned devilishly, preparing the camera on my phone. For now, I'll have some fun. I burst through the door dramatically and faked being angry as I made for Hikaru, secretly taking photos of their shocked expressions.

"Hikaru! I told you I'd come for Haruhi and I find out you're bodacious enough to sleep in the same room?!"

"W-What?! A-Are you serious?! I thought you were joking!" Hikaru questioned as I grabbed the front of his shirt and got in his face; with as serious of an expression I could muster.

"I never joke about Haruhi."

He stared at me in shock, his mouth gaping, before I suddenly grinned and released him; lightly patting his face.

"Just kidding~" I teased, standing upright and flipping through the photos I'd just taken. "Oh, but your face is hilarious. Especially this one."

I showed him the one I'd just taken and proceeded to burst out laughing as he finally realized I was just messing with him.

"A-A joke?! You were joking?!"

I nodded, heading over and sitting on Haruhi's bed with a chuckle.

"Course! I thought it'd be more fun than listening to what the others are talking about."

"The other hosts are here too?!"

"Yup." I said, popping the 'p' and watching as he rushed out of the room, before turning to Haruhi with a grin. "Isn't he fun to mess with?"

She eyed me suspiciously as I flopped back onto the bed with a sigh.

"You should go take a bath, Haruhi. He'll be gone for a while."

"You... You predicted this, right? That's why you hinted at it before we left."

"Mm, yup. Good job catching that, by the way."

She went quiet and I peeked an eye open to see her frowning at the door. Rolling my eyes, I reached up and grabbed the back of her shirt, pulling her back onto the bed with me.

"Kohaku!" She shouted indignantly.

"Oh, shush. What's on your mind, wrinkle-brows?"

She smacked me on the stomach and I grunted, before she spoke.

"For one thing, you're being awfully rude."

I pouted, rather melodramatically. "I'm allowed to be rude. With a manuscript, a movie script, another tournament, and having to come up with something to impress Kyoya's dad? Mm, yeah, I think rudeness is allowed."

"Why are you trying to impress his dad?"

"To keep it short?... Remember when I said I showed up at his house for dinner and a business discussion?"

"Yeah."

"Well, let's just say I sort of challenged him that I would make things interesting for him, and become a better person than he could ever be."

She turned to me in shock. "You openly challenged Kyoya's father?!"

"Not like I had a choice." I grumbled, before giving her a look. "Now you know why I'm cranky, but you still haven't told me why you're frowning at the door like a grump."

She sighed, clasping her hands over her stomach and looking up at the ceiling. "Hikaru has something bothering him, but he's not willing to tell me anything, and... I don't know what I should do."

"Well, believe it or not, but you've already helped him out and if worse comes to worse, hypothetical questions are always an option." I told her, not really knowing what to say myself. "He'll come to you soon enough so just be sure to think things through and give him a good, honest answer."

Never mind the fact that he'll be asking you about what to do with you and Tamaki.

"Alright... I guess that makes sense." She muttered, sitting up and smacking my leg playfully. "You best go and get back to the others. I need a bath anyway."

"Yeah, yeah." I complained, before shooting up into a sitting position. "Oh! You think the rich have amazing hot chocolate?"

She laughed at my enthusiasm, grabbing some clothes and heading to the bathroom. "Leave it to you to question the greatness of a rich person's hot chocolate."

"Don't you know it!" I chuckled back, bounding out the door to find Kyoya and satisfy my sudden craving for chocolatey goodness.

My cheer dissipated though, when I remembered what I had to return to. Ugh, note to self; don't challenge business tycoons without a plan of how to actually do it.

"Hey! Here I come!" Honey called down to the guests below, jumping off the jump with his snowboard; doing a nose grab. "Bunny jump!"

The guests cheered, before he shouted back up at where I was waiting with Mori.

"Takashi, all clear!"

Mori gave me a nod and went down himself, doing a mute grab, much to the excitement of the guests. I pulled my goggles on and grinned in excitement as he called up at me, giving me the all-clear. Turning my own snowboard, I went down the jump and did an amazing method grab, landing perfectly and pulling up my goggles with a huge grin.

"Aw man! That was great! Kyoya! Did you see that?! Can I go again?!"

He rolled his eyes at me and waved me off, giving me the go ahead and I fist pumped before getting on the lift to go back up and do it again. What can I say? I never had snow where I came from and I just learned how to snowboard this morning, but it wasn't much different from surfing or skateboarding, so I caught on quickly and couldn't help how excited I was.

Landing and finishing my brief talk with the guests, who complimented me, I went over to where Kyoya and Haruhi were, catching sight of a worn out Hikaru taking the class president towards the ski lift. Ooh, what to do, what to do...

"Neh, Kyoya?" I questioned, keeping a big grin on my face. "Can I head up to the advanced course?"

He gave me a look. "Why are you asking me? You're perfectly capable of making your own decisions."

I grinned, waving at him as I headed over towards the lift. "Whatever you say, mother~"

Behind me, he groaned and dragged a hand down his face.

"I'm surrounded by idiots."

(No one's POV)

"H-Hikaru. You're not lying to me, right?"

"Nope. I've never told a lie."

The class president snapped, wailing from the top of the mountain. "Please tell me you're lying to me! There's no way I can ski from such a high place! What are you trying to do to me?!"

Hikaru hardly seemed bothered. "I made a simple mistake, mixing up the lift for the beginner and the expert course, so there's nothing I can do, right?" He shrugged with tired eyes; having not slept the night before. "Class president, you learned how to snowboard pretty well after the morning training, so don't worry about it."

This didn't calm the class president though, with his fear of heights.

"It's too high! I'll call for help! M-My cell phone... My cell phone!" He pulled out his cell, only to let out another wail. "There's no signal!"

Kaoru, who'd followed them up to try and stop Hikaru, sweatdropped; a bit worried.

"Um... this might be tough for the class president." He then turned to the other tag-along. "Are you doing okay, Haruhi?"

Said person was frozen in shock as she stared out blankly at the mountain they had to go down. Yeah, that's what I thought. Kaoru mused.

"I-It's... You'll be okay, Haruhi!" He tried to reassure her. "Haruhi, you've gotten pretty good. You just have to choose the less steep parts to go down! I'll lead you!"

She snapped out of her trance and nodded, trying to be more active like Tamaki.

"Um... right."

It was still hard though. That's a really long way down... but I-I think I can do it.

"I'll try my best!" She settled.

"Wow, it's active Haruhi." Kaoru smiled, before spotting the panicking class president behind her, still trying to find a signal.

Best help him too.

"Class president, you must be brave! If you can successfully ski down this slope, you'll get really good and Kurakano-san will hold you in higher esteem. Okay?"

"I-I see." The class president muttered, falling for the bait. "I need to be brave."

His bravery disappeared the moment he looked down the slope, and Kaoru mentally apologized before catching sight of the incoming clouds.

"What should we do? We can't waste too much time. I think a storm is coming."

Hikaru however, had begun to feel guilty for dragging the class president up here and sighed. "Kaoru... Sorry, but can you take Haruhi and go down the mountain first? And call a rescue team when you get to the bottom. I'm going to wait here with the class president."

"What?! If that's the case, I'll stay here too. You and Haruhi can—"

"No." Hikaru cut him off, knowing what Kaoru was trying to do. "I'm the one who brought the class president here against his will. I know I was sleep-deprived and irritated, but this crossed the line." He rubbed his head, feeling a headache coming on. "I'm sleepy and I'm not thinking straight. I think you would be better at leading Haruhi down."

Kaoru was surprised. He didn't expect Hikaru to own up and admit to his wrong-doing, let alone not go down with Haruhi and actually take responsibility for his actions by staying with the class president. Maybe... Maybe he's finally growing up.

"I understand." Kaoru smiled, pulling on his goggles. "Haruhi, let's go slowly, but as fast as we can."

"Okay, but... Hikaru?" Haruhi turned to the worn out Hikaru in worry. "I'm sorry. Kohaku tells me I snore. Was my snoring too loud? Is that why you couldn't sleep?"

"No, no. That's not it. You were sleeping like a Jizou statue." It was your presence in general that didn't let me sleep. "If you're worried, you can help me by being brave and skiing your best."

"About what you asked me last night..." Haruhi looked at him in concern. "Kohaku said something and... I apologize for such an uninspired suggestion. But Hikaru, it seemed like you had already come up with your own answer."

I did... didn't I... Hikaru thought, unable to say anything, so Haruhi went on.

"But as for my personal opinion, although I feel bad for the other person, I would hope that you would choose the path that causes the least problems for you. Because I'm your friend. I don't want to see you upset or troubled."

Haruhi...

"Haruhi!" Kaoru called out. "The wind is picking up! We have to hurry!"

"Ah, okay!" She smiled over at Hikaru. "So wait for us. Take good care of the class president!"

She skied off in the wrong direction at first, making Hikaru wonder if they'd be okay, but they were soon out of sight and he focused more on the situation at hand... sort of. Thank you Haruhi, but isn't it better for her if Tono realizes his feelings? He stuck his skis in a snow pile. If I leave things the way they are now, Tono will remain in pain, unable to realize his feelings... and I'll be too guilty to make a move... and Haruhi... He sighed, feeling the wind grow stronger and vision getting limited, and he turned to where the class president had been.

"It's a blizzard! Class president, get in the lee of the ski lift! Wha... class president?!"

The class president wasn't there behind him and only his skis and poles were left in the snow. Hikaru quickly began looking around in worry, but his thoughts were still on the situation between him, Tamaki, and Haruhi. It's an awful situation. In the end, Tono isn't confronting his emotions. Doesn't that mean he isn't facing up to Haruhi or me either? Upon not finding the class president near the lift, he moved towards the forested area nearby. It seems like he has a bigger heart than everybody else... but at the bottom of his heart, he's hoping for a very small world. He's created an ideal enclosed garden and he protects it with the utmost care. Hikaru's heart clenched tightly, starting to see that Tamaki was just like Kaoru and him were before Tamaki found them. And so it won't get destroyed, he's refusing to acknowledge any inconvenient feelings. That's just... He stopped, suddenly hearing distant cries for help.

"Class president?!" He followed the voice and found the class president sitting in the snow. "Class president!"

"I'm sorry!" The boy called out as he spotted Hikaru. "I was looking for a place to get cell phone reception and lost my footing. I think I sprained my ankle. Actually, it might be broken."

"Wait there! I'm coming right now!" Hikaru called out to him, being careful as he made his way down to him; thoughts from before continuing.

Yeah. Now I'm beginning to get seriously angry, because what Tono is doing is unfair to Haruhi and me. But if it's due to his trauma, what should we do? He reached the class president and removed his boot, checking his ankle.

"Oh, it's swollen. It might really be broken."

"I-I'm sorry, Hikaru." The boy apologized, feeling like a burden.

"No, I'm the one who should apologize." I'm the one who dragged you up here. "Anyway, get on my back. Even if a rescue team comes, they won't be able to find us here."

"It's not possible!" The class president argued. "It hurts when I move it. And besides, carrying me up the hill would be..." His voice trailed off as Hikaru tried to think.

What should I do? What... What should I do?! He wasn't just thinking about the class president, but Tamaki too.

"Just get on!" He shouted, coming up with an answer. "I'm definitely going to save you, so try your best too!"

"Nicely said, Hikaru!" A voice rang out, making the two of them turn in surprise to see a smiling white-haired senior. "I'm glad you figured everything out, but what do you say we try something else?"

"K-Kohaku?! What are you doing here?!" Hikaru asked as she carefully picked her way down to where they were; a sled following in her wake.

"Saving you two, apparently." She said, helping the class president onto the sled. "Unless you'd rather I left you here in a blizzard?"

"No!" He shouted, before lowering his voice. "No. Um... thanks, Kohaku."

"Thank me when we're at the bottom." She smiled, before pulling the sled up and out of the forested area.

Hikaru was going to go grab his skis, but Kohaku stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

"To get my skis." He grumbled. "I'm not walking down."

She rolled her eyes with a sigh and gestured to the sled. "Get on."

"W-What?! No! Then you'd have to pull us both!"

"Yeah. Why do you think I brought a sled instead of a snowboard?" She asked, giving him a slightly annoyed look. "If you want to walk or ski all the way down the mountain in your condition, that's fine. But I'm offering you a free ride. Don't you think that's a better deal than possibly collapsing in the snow somewhere, exhausted?"

"But pulling two people is—"

"Good training." She cut him off, grabbing the rope on the sled and giving him a stern look. "Now get on."

He begrudgingly did and Kohaku started pulling the sled down the mountain. Hikaru felt bad for making her pull the sled alone, but she was right. He wasn't feeling too good and he thought he might even have a fever. Not only that, but she's not even winded! What kind of hellish training has she been going through?! But there was one thing bugging him.

"Kohaku?! How did you know where we'd be?!" He shouted over the howl of the wind.

"Can you keep a secret?!" She shouted back, confusing him.

"What?!"

"Can you keep a secret?!" She repeated.

"Sure, but what does that—"

"I'm psychic!"

He froze, mouth gaping open before he snapped out of it. "What?! A-Are you serious?!"

"Yeah!" She called back, chuckling. "Only certain things and only to a point, but haven't you ever wondered why I did some things?! As though I knew what was going on!"

Hikaru thought back and realized that Kohaku had done strange things, but he'd always brushed them off as coincidences or just good guesses. I never even thought that she might already know.

"You have to keep it secret though! Tamaki and Haruhi are the only ones who know! I think I may have told Honey and Mori too, but I can't remember!" She said with a laugh. "I'm still trying to figure out a way to tell Kyoya! But keep it in the Host Club! Alright, class president?!"

"O-Okay!" The injured student called out, lights up ahead letting them know they were nearly back to the resort.

"You can tell your brother though, Hikaru! I'm... sure it'd explain... quite a bit!" She said between breaths, starting to get tired now that they were nearly at the bottom.

"Are you alright?!" Hikaru called out, getting a little worried.

"I-I would be! But talking... ruined my breathing pattern!... We're nearly there!... I'll be fine!"

Hikaru wasn't sure about that, but he couldn't think about it. His fever had risen and he was exhausted, so he slipped off to sleep as Kohaku pulled them the rest of the way back to the resort.

(Kohaku's POV)

I was exhausted by the time I reached the resort and, once Hikaru and the class president were taken care of, I collapsed in a large chair by the fire in the lounge. Okay, that was a bit much. Glad I did it though. Better than Hikaru collapsing like an idiot later. I let out a long sigh and sank into the chair, only to stiffen upon feeling hands on my shoulders.

"Relax." Kyoya ordered, his hands beginning to work at the knots in my back and making me quickly melt into the chair. "Really, you're always getting into trouble, aren't you?"

"Mm, I might get into more trouble if it means I get to enjoy this again." I hummed, not realizing how it might've sounded.

"Is that so." He leaned closer, his breath brushing over my ear. "If I didn't know any better, Kohaku, I'd think you were flirting with me."

Realization hit me like a train and my face turned a bright cherry red as he chuckled and moved back.

"You've tensed up again." He teased and I frowned, pouting as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"S-Shut up."

"Don't be so childish, Kohaku." He lightly scolded, and I could practically hear him rolling his eyes. "You won't be able to impress my father with words like that."

I froze, pulling away from his hands and looking back at him in shock. "H-H-How did you know?!"

"I'm not an idiot, Kohaku." He said, glasses flashing in the light. "I may not be actively involved in your business, but there is only one 'stubborn business man' that you have personal contact with and it's not Tamaki's father."

"B-But... I-I mean... Am I really that bad at lying?" I asked, completely embarrassed knowing that Kyoya knew I was trying to impress his father.

"Only to me." He hummed kissing me briefly before pulling away. "Now come on. We best get going before—"

"Hikaru!" A voice called out, the doors slamming open and letting in the cold, as well as a familiar blonde French idiot. "Hikaru! I'm coming!"

Tamaki rushed out of the room and Kyoya sighed, pushing up his glasses as I chuckled.

"Looks like we've got some more work to do."

He gave me a look. "The only work you're going to be doing is going back to the hotel and resting." He brushed a thumb under my eye. "It's obvious you haven't been sleeping enough."

I pushed his hand away with a knowing look. "Says you. I'm not the only one with bags under my eyes, Kyoya." I said, getting up and out of my chair with a stretch. "You've been staying up late too. Looking into Tamaki's mom again?"

"Hm." He hummed, not really giving me an answer as he kissed me again before pushing me towards the doors. "Go back to the hotel, Kohaku. I've already called the limo."

I frowned, not happy that he'd expect me to go so willingly, and he sighed; spotting my annoyance.

"I'll inform you of what happens, so don't be stubborn."

"I'll be stubborn if I want, kissing fiend." I mocked, watching as his eyebrow twitched in vexation.

"I am not a... kissing fiend."

"Are too." I taunted, rolling my eyes. "The moment we're alone, it's like you never stop."

"I'm making up for lost time." He claimed, before smirking in a way that would send chills up anyone's spine. "I'll stop, but that's not what you want, is it? You like it."

Heat went up my face as I sputtered, and turned away in embarrassment; heading for the doors.

"S-Shut up! You teasing j-jerk face!"

He chuckled as I walked out into the cold and climbed into the awaiting limo, letting out a loud groan as I slumped into the seat.

"How do people deal with him?!"

(No one's POV)

"Hi! Come on in!" The twins greeted. "Welcome to our house!"

Multitudes of guests headed in to their home for the—very last minute—'Drink the Old Year Away Year-End' party. Host Club guests flocked the halls along with a number of other friends who were also invited; such as the class president, Kasanoda, and even Shindo. The hosts themselves couldn't be missed, with their suits and coats, and their usual flashy appearance.

"Hika-chan! Kao-chan! We're here!" Honey called out as the group scattered to entertain guests.

Tamaki had to be pushed into doing it by Hikaru due to his nervousness about even being there, but the others went their own ways and Kohaku headed straight for Haruhi and Mei; both of whom were surrounded by guests; though none approached.

"Ever get the feeling a bunch of girls are milling around just to look at you?" Mei questioned, making Kohaku smirk as she headed over with a glass of champagne.

"All the time. You jealous, Mei-chan?"

"Like I'd ever be jealous of you." Mei snapped back as Kohaku continued to smile innocently.

"That's okay, Mei-chan. You don't have to say it, I already know you're jealous of me.~" She hummed, sipping at her champagne with a smug grin as Mei's eyebrow twitched.

"Why you—"

"Will you two stop it?" Haruhi complained as the two stared each other down. "Why don't you both go talk to some of the guests?"

"Mm... no. I'm good." Kohaku hummed, making Haruhi's eyebrow twitch in annoyance before she calmed herself and turned to Mei.

"Well, you can go talk to them if you want, Mei."

It was Mei's turn to twitch and she soon exploded. "Do you really think, after getting invited to a super-glitzy party like this out of the blue, I wouldn't get incredibly nervous?! Look at my legs! They're shaking! Come with me, at least!"

"Mei, you're too loud..." Haruhi said, trying to shush her, but Mei continued.

"And what if one of these rich boys were to fall in love with me at first sight?!"

Kohaku snorted, but went unnoticed.

"What would I do?! Wouldn't a true friend stay beside me to make sure I didn't embarrass myself?!"

"O-Okay... Sorry?" Haruhi stuttered out, not knowing there was such an obligation.

"You should be! You and Kohaku-kun lack any sense of delicacy!"

"Rude." Kohaku grumbled as Haruhi's mood took a tumble.

"Delicacy?... You're probably right... I'm sorry."

Kohaku and Mei shared a glance, before Mei stepped forward.

"What is it? Are you thinking about Hikaru-kun?"

"Yeah. Mei... do you think I'm rather obtuse?"

Kohaku mouthed the word 'obtuse' with a contemplative frown on her face. Mei, though, didn't miss a beat.

"Completely. Well, not so much 'obtuse' as 'insensitive', if we're going to be frank." Mei held up a finger as Kohaku nodded, liking the change of words. "Actually, your level of insensitivity is almost criminal. It's gotten to the point where I can't even recount all the wrongs you've committed! Rather than obtuse, I'd say you're utterly apathetic! It's inexcusable!"

Haruhi, struck painfully by her truthful words, pressed a hand to the wall, depressed.

"I-I see... yes... but I was caught off guard when Hikaru said what he did the other day. If I've been the cause of his troubles, I probably said all sorts of insensitive things to him without knowing it."

"Yeah, I bet you did." Mei deadpanned as Kohaku joined her.

"Oh yeah. Definitely."

Haruhi went on. "When I think about it, I was probably pretty rude to Arai-kun too, wasn't I?"

"Arai-kun?" Mei questioned and Kohaku leaned over a bit.

"Her old friend from middle school who confessed only for her to completely blow him off."

"Oh! That demonically horrible story you told me that guy in Karuizawa you rejected."

Haruhi grew more depressed as a dark cloud hovered over her. "'Demonically horrible'..."

Seeing her error, Mei quickly tried to fix it.

"Ah, okay, okay. That's in the past. Continue, sorry..."

"Right..." Haruhi murmured, a little downtrodden. "That's why... I don't think I realized until now that someone falling in love with me... is actually a pretty amazing thing, isn't it?"

Mei and Kohaku exchanged glances, but before either one could say something to possibly comfort Haruhi, Kaoru hurried over.

"Haruhi! Hikaru says he wants you to join him on the terrace."

"Oh... sure. I'll head over."

"Haruhi." Mei stopped her. "Just in case, I'll say this. Don't answer him based on sympathy or guilt, okay? Because that would be even ruder to him. Got it?"

Kohaku smiled as well. "Just be honest. Don't be afraid to say 'no' if that ends up being your answer, because if he really likes you, he'll accept whatever you choose."

"Yes. Thanks Mei, Kohaku. I'll see you two later."

Haruhi smiled and hurried off as Shindo came up behind Kohaku and hung off her shoulders.

"Ah, young love.~"

"Hello, Shindo." Kohaku hummed, finishing her champagne and waving the glass at him. "Have you tried this? It's really good."

"Don't tell your boyfriend that. He might just take it from you."

"Boyfriend?" Mei and Kaoru questioned, and Kohaku quickly stomped on Shindo's foot.

"Excuse me." She said, ignoring Shindo as he clutched his bruised appendage. "I'm going to go refill my glass."

"Shindo-kun?" Kaoru questioned, but Shindo just smiled and took a few steps back with a thumb pointed over his shoulder.

"I-I'm just going to, um... help her with the drink. Bye!"

He quickly hobbled off after Kohaku, and Mei and Kaoru gave each other odd looks before shrugging and turning their attention back to Haruhi.

"Hey, Kaoru-kun? What's Hikaru-kun really thinking? He went out of his way to throw this party just to get her answer?" Mei asked.

"Yeah. I don't quite understand what he's doing either, but surrounding yourself with merrymakers helps alleviate sadness, after all." He replied, shifting his glance to Tamaki. "I think Hikaru already has some idea of what Haruhi's answer will be. The fact that he confessed to her anyway must mean that he's gone and decided something on his own in that way of his."

"Hm?" Mei hummed in confusion, but Kaoru just smiled at her.

"It's nothing. Sorry." He spotted Kyoya heading for Kohaku then, looking rather frustrated at the fact that Shindo was hanging off her shoulders, and Kaoru couldn't help but chuckle. "Though it looks like it's not just him who's having love problems."

"No kidding." Mei grumbled, the two of them heading for the buffet table. "Which one is she going for anyway?"

Kaoru shrugged. "I don't really know. Her and Shindo-kun are pretty close, but she did go all the way to France to make up with Kyoya. Just the other day, we found them in bed together."

"What?!"

Kaoru winced at her volume and tried to shush her. "Sh! They said nothing happened."

"How could nothing have happened?!" Mei demanded to know.

"She was sick and he took her home because she'd have no one to take care of her. Apparently, she slept through the day and Kyoya climbed into bed with her half-asleep. Nothing happened." He explained, eyes scanning the room to see if anyone had overheard.

"Then they are together?"

Kaoru shook his head. "They said they weren't."

"And you believe that?" Mei inquired, a brow raised in disbelief.

"What else are we supposed to do? They both said it pretty seriously and you don't really question someone like Kyoya."

Mei gave the trio a glance and felt a shiver go up her spine at the harsh glare Kyoya was giving a grinning Shindo.

"Yeah. I can see that." She muttered, turning back to Kaoru with a frown. "But what if they are?"

Kaoru gave Kohaku a sad look. "Then I'd feel bad for them, because they may never have the chance to be truly happy."

(Kohaku's POV)

The rest of Hikaru and Kaoru's party had ended rather... excitedly when Tamaki had returned from his talk with Hikaru, only to have to defend the fact that he had not rushed to the bathroom after a—quote-on-quote—'happy squirt'. As hilarious as it was, I had since drained a number of champagne glasses and had been escorted back home by Kyoya before I could get intoxicated enough to do something stupid. Of course, I had gotten a call the next day about going to a shrine with the hosts on the fourth of January and, not really having a choice, I agreed. Which brings me to where I was now, shivering in the cold winter weather between Kyoya and Haruhi as we all waited for the only host who'd yet to arrive.

"I swear, I'm going to kill Tamaki if he's not here within the next five minutes." I growled tiredly; ten in the morning being far too early when I had only gotten to sleep three hours ago. "I need a soda."

I began digging through the backpack I'd brought with me, grumbling under my breath as Haruhi frowned.

"A soda? Kohaku, it's ten o' clock!"

The twins agreed.

"Don't you think..."

"...it's a bit early..."

"...for a soda?"

I looked over at them with a deadpan expression. "It's never too early for a soda."

The twins shrugged as I found my drink, and I scowled as I struggled to pry it open in my half asleep state. Haruhi though, was not so easy to give up.

"Kyoya! Aren't you going to stop her?"

He glanced at Haruhi, and then turned his gaze to me as he pushed up his glasses. "Why should I? Her reasons seem viable enough."

Haruhi's mouth dropped open in shock at Kyoya's oblivious lack of caring towards my actions, and I had finally grown fed up with trying to open the stubborn soda bottle.

"Kyoya!" I whined, passing him the bottle. "Open it."

He gave me a look, before rolling his eyes with a sigh and opening it; handing it back to me just as Tamaki finally showed up.

"You're late, milord." The twins called out as I sent a glare Tamaki's way; taking satisfaction in the fact that he flinched away from me.

"Tama-chan! Happy New Year!" Honey cheered from Mori's shoulders, oblivious of the look I'd sent the man.

Tamaki and Haruhi had caught sight of one another though, and an awkward silence settled over the group. Oh, for Pete's sake. I bumped into Haruhi, making her stumble forward and send me a glare over her shoulders. With a pointed nod towards Tamaki, I managed to make her end the silence.

"H-Happy New Year."

"H-Happy New Year." He repeated back, both their faces tinted pink as I rolled my eyes and sipped my soda.

They're so in love...

"D-Did you eat mochi for New Years?" Tamaki asked, approaching her and trying to keep the conversation going.

"Y-Yes." Haruhi muttered, bowing her head in shyness.

"How many?"

"Since New Year's day? Eight total... I guess."

Tamaki's mouth dropped open in shock. "Eight?!"

Haruhi turned red in embarrassment, tossing a finger my way. "K-Kohaku had twelve!"

Tamaki turned to me and I felt heat creeping up into my own cheeks.

"I-I-I really like mochi!" I defended weakly, hearing Kyoya snort from beside me.

I punched him in the arm though, quickly shutting him up. A smirk stayed on his face however.

"Time's a-wasting!" Hikaru called out, interrupting any further conversation. "We're in the way of folks visiting the shrine. So let's walk while we talk, huh?"

The group agreed and we headed off, my eyes scanning the festivities excitedly—now that the caffeine was kicking in. This was my first New Year's festival, after all. And it all looks so cool! My face fell a little as my chest ached. I wish Fu-kun was around to see... A heavy hand landed on my shoulder and I looked over to see Mori giving me a worried look. Idiot. Look what you're doing. Stop thinking about it and stop worrying people. I gave Mori a small smile, reassuring him I was fine, and he nodded before heading off after Honey.

Once he was gone, I let out a soft sigh and pulled my hand through my hair, jumping slightly when an arm wrapped around my waist. Looking up to my left, I relaxed upon seeing it was Kyoya, but remained a little tense as I watched the hosts ahead of us cautiously.

"Someone's going to see if you're not careful."

"I'm always careful." He replied, not shifting his eyes from the group. "What did Mori-senpai want?"

I felt him tighten his grip slightly and glanced at him out of the corner of my eye; only catching sight of the reflection of his glasses. Is he... jealous? I smiled a bit at the thought, heart fluttering like the love-sick idiot I was.

"It was... It was nothing."

"It didn't look like nothing." He snipped with a small frown.

I couldn't help but chuckle, playfully bumping his hip with mine. "Don't get your boxers in a bunch."

"My boxers are hardly bunched."

"Pft. I-It's a figure of speech!" I laughed, before looping an arm around his back and leaning into his side. "Good to know your underwear preference though."

I suddenly realized the words that spilled out of my mouth and turned a bright red as I pulled away, backtracking.

"I-I mean, n-not that I was interested or a-anything! I was just—"

Kyoya raised a brow and I questioned if it was even possible to be as red as I was.

"I-It was a figure of speech!" I squeaked out rather loudly, catching the attention of the other hosts.

"Oi! What are you two doing back there?" Hikaru smirked. "Nothing indecent, I hope."

Oh look. I can get redder. "S-Says you! Your middle name is 'indecent'!"

Hikaru laughed, holding a hand over his stomach as he did so. "Ahaha! That is the lamest comeback I've ever heard!"

"Whatever, Hikaru 'indecent' Hitachiin!" I yelled back, before grabbing Haruhi. "Come on, Haruhi. Let's go get some dango or something."

"W-What? But I—"

I didn't give her a chance to say anything more, and I pulled her away from the group, heading the other way. Stupid Hikaru! I wasn't trying to be indecent! I-It just... came out! I paled then as a sudden thought came to mind. Oh God. Kyoya's going to think I'm a pervert! He probably thinks I imagine him in different underwear now! An image of Kyoya in briefs popped into my head and the heat in my face traveled up to the very tips of my ears. Gah! Stop it! Don't think about it!

"Kohaku!"

I was yanked to a stop by Haruhi, who I had forgotten about while dealing with my—indecent—mind, and I turned to her with that deer-in-the-headlights look.

"I-I wasn't thinking about indecent things!" I blurted out, only to bury my face in my hands in embarrassment as I crouched to the floor. "S-Sorry. Just ignore me. Better yet, just kill me now."

Haruhi sighed and grabbed my hand to pull me up off the floor. "Get up, Kohaku. You're going to get stepped on."

I did as she said and followed her like a dejected puppy as she tugged me along. I only lifted my head when a taiyaki was shoved under my nose. I took it and nibbled on the end as we went to sit on an empty bench nearby.

"So... what were you thinking about that was so indecent?" Haruhi asked bluntly, making me choke as the image I'd conjured up of Kyoya returned.

I quickly downed some of my soda and silently returned to eating, not looking her way as I tried to figure out if I should tell her or not. She'll keep it a secret if I tell her to, but that doesn't make it any less embarrassing.

"So?" Haruhi questioned once more as I ducked my head.

"Mmnmm." I grumbled quietly.

"What?" She asked, leaning closer.

"Mmnmm."

She frowned, annoyed. "Kohaku, I can't hear y—"

"Kyoya's preference of underwear!" I said, a bit too loudly, and earning a couple of odd looks from passerbys as my face lit up like a Christmas tree.

Haruhi blinked, stunned into speechlessness, and she opened and closed her mouth a few times as she tried to think of what to say. A frown slowly formed on her face as she snapped her mouth closed, before turning to me and finally speaking.

"Y-Yeah, sorry. Could you repeat that?"

I groaned, still red. "Haruhi! I'm serious!"

"Oh." She said, the words I had told her a moment ago finally sinking in. "Oh! You were thinking about Kyoya naked!"

"W-Was not!" I shouted, a whole new image coming to mind. "I-I... He was jealous a-and I told him not to get his boxers in a bunch, but he took it literally and I... sort of... said it was nice to know he wore boxers and..." I buried my face in my hands once more. "God, Haruhi! He probably thinks I'm a pervert now!"

Haruhi was still trying to get over the fact that I'd been imagining a naked Kyoya though, and hardly heard what I'd said.

"You were thinking about Kyoya naked." She muttered and I shook her shoulders.

"You've gotta help me, Haruhi! What am I supposed to do?! I-I won't even know what to say!"

"A-A-Are you sure you two aren't together?" She asked as I shook her, only for me to stop and turn a bright red once more as realization dawned on her. "You are together! I knew it!"

"Sh!" I shushed her, covering her mouth with my hands as I looked around nervously. "Y-You can't tell anyone. Not Mei-chan or Ranka, or the hosts. No one."

Once she nodded her consent and rolled her eyes, I lowered my hands and sighed; going back to eating the taiyaki I'd set aside.

"Uh, why can't I tell anyone?" She asked.

"Because if one of the them knows, then they tell everyone through their stupid telephone network and I'll never hear the end of it." I grumbled.

"Oh man. I didn't think about that. The twins would tease you two to death."

"Uh-huh." I muttered, finishing off my food.

"But when did you guys... you know."

"France."

"Oh."

Things slipped into silence for only a moment, before Haruhi snickered.

"Pft, you were thinking of Kyoya naked."

"I-I was not!" I said loudly, trying to get her to stop laughing at me, unsuccessfully. "Stop laughing!"

"H-How can I? I-I-It's so funny!"

Pouting, I got up and started walking away; Haruhi following and still chuckling.

"K-Kohaku! Where are you going?"

"To drown my embarrassment with dango since my best friend is too busy laughing."

"Kohaku!" She whined, though the smile was still on her face. "It's funny!"

I had stopped at a dango stand and took one of the sticks and shoved it in her mouth to stop her laughing.

"Don't laugh, Haruhi." I said with a sickly sweet smile. "You might choke."

She paled as I bought another stick for myself, before she managed to finish eating it and gave me a look.

"So... you two really are together."

"Yup." I replied, popping the 'p' as I paid for my food.

"And you imagined him na—"

"No." I cut her off, pulling a piece of dango off the stick with my teeth and eating it with a frown. "We were talking about boxers. I imagined him in his boxers."

Haruhi smirked and raised a brow at me as I started turning red in embarrassment.

"You're thinking about it again, aren't you?"

"S-Shut up." I muttered, turning away slightly. "You're not helping."

"Just talk to him like you normally do." She said with a shrug.

"Not that easy when he caught me thinking about his underwear preference." I grumbled, before someone else spoke.

"Kohaku? Haruhi?"

I turned and spotted Tamaki—Haruhi doing the same as she bought another dango stick—and I suddenly knew I had a decision to make. I haven't thought about the plot in a while, but this is where Haruhi get's kidnapped, right? Nothing bad happens and it's a chance for Tamaki to figure out his feelings for her a little, and vise versa. So I better just let things go the way they should. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and smirked. Perfect timing.

"Uh, I'm gonna go, Tamaki, Haruhi." I announced, making the two of them glance at me as I waved my phone at them. "Kyoya just texted me so I'll go meet up with him and the others."

"Have fun." Haruhi snickered. "Don't do anything indecent."

I felt the tips of my ears heat up in embarrassment, before I found a comeback.

"You too, Haru-chan.~"

She too, turned red at what I was insinuating and I bounded away with a snicker; knowing that Haruhi would have a hard time looking at Tamaki with a straight face. She deserves it after teasing me. I mused as I moved to the side of the main path to text Kyoya back, saying that I'd be there in a few minutes.

Don't be late.

I smiled at his reply, texting him back to tell him I won't, and tucking away my phone as I searched for a break in the crowd to be on my way. Just as I stepped out though, I spotted something unusual and quickly went to help.

(No one's POV)

Tamaki and Haruhi sat beside each other, chewing on dango silently; both too nervous and embarrassed to talk right away. Tamaki was the one who finally broke it.

"U-Um, hey... about Hikaru's love confession... I heard you rejected him?"

Haruhi choked on her dango, throwing Tamaki into a panic until she could breathe again.

"Um, yes. Yes." She said, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Don't do anything indecent."

Her own words came back to mind, making her frown slightly. Stupid Kohaku. This is your fault. Tamaki, oblivious of her internal plight, went on.

"I-I see. Hikaru said he wouldn't give up though."

"Oh, yeah... But he said he was fine if we go on as usual." She answered, though still unsure. "I-I want to stay friends with him, so I'm really glad for his consideration, but... there's a part of me that's not sure if it's okay to leave things as they are."

Haruhi frowned a little as Tamaki listened.

"Lately, I've been second guessing myself on things I do and say. Ever since I realized that 'all experience is good', I've been trying to make more of an effort at various things." She picked at the collar of her turtleneck. "But despite that, I still failed to notice Hikaru's feelings for me. It's shown me how much I have to work on to improve myself." She steadily became gloomier. "So now I've started to wonder if someone as obtuse as I am is really suited to be a lawyer..."

"Haruhi." Tamaki interrupted before she could go on. "My comment about experience wasn't intended as a way for you to find yourself lacking. It's, um..." He scratched his cheek nervously. "It's actually similar to something Kohaku had told me about my own experiences."

Haruhi looked at him in surprise, having not expected Kohaku to say something like that; much less, to someone so happy-go-lucky as Tamaki.

"I just meant that if you could learn about various things, you'd be closer to your dream, that's all." Tamaki further explained. "It was never meant as an evaluation. I mean, only a ninja could read all the emotions of another person, right?"

What does that—Haruhi shook the thought from her mind as Tamaki continued.

"Haruhi, even though doing things in a clumsy, oblivious, and dogged manner is your trademark..."

Geeze, Tamaki. Thanks. She thought sarcastically.

"...I don't believe you'll ever overlook what's truly important. That's what's most charming about you." He smiled at her, making her heart skip a beat. "I was a little blindsided by this whole thing with Hikaru too, but... it made me realize something. Rather than feeling depressed over not being aware of something, what matters more is how you react once you've discovered it."

W-What is he saying? Haruhi mentally questioned. Why is my heart racing?

"Haruhi, when you realized I was seeing my mother in Princess Michelle, you didn't laugh at me. Kohaku didn't either, And when you found out about my dream, you encouraged me to follow it. I was incredibly happy for your support in those things." He looked over at Haruhi with a kind smile. "So you're fine just the way you are, Haruhi. Believe in yourself and act the way you want to with confidence."

"Tamaki..."

His eyes suddenly brightened as he dug through his pockets and pulled out a little paper bag.

"Oh, that's right! Look what I found in Nakamise-dori! I thought it would suit you perfectly!"

Haruhi held out her hand in surprise up until Tamaki dropped a plastic giant tuna ring into her palm.

"Thank you very much..." Haruhi drawled out as Tamaki pulled out a second one, putting a hand to his chin.

"Ah, yes. The second I laid eyes on that ring, your face came immediately to mind! My instincts are never wrong about things like this! My choice was made in an instant!"

Haruhi continued to look at the ring with an annoyed look. You idiot.

"So... yes. You certainly do live and act with full confidence in yourself at all times, Tamaki." She muttered.

"Oh, I'm not..." Tamaki rubbed the back of his neck in bashfulness.

"I didn't mean it as a compliment."

His smile dropped. "Huh? Could it be you don't like it? Has your passion for giant tuna abated?"

"You don't get it, but... pft." Haruhi couldn't help it anymore and laughed. "It's so ridiculous it's made all my worries disappear."

Unbeknownst to her, her smile and laughter had stirred something in Tamaki that he didn't understand.

"If we're not family, then just what kind of love do you mean?"

Hikaru's voice rang out in his mind as his body began to move on it's own. If we're not family...then...Before he knew what happened, his hand was on Haruhi's cheek and he was leaning in towards her.

"Huh?" She breathed out, face a bright cherry red.

Tamaki quickly regained control and also turned a vibrant pink. "Wah?! S-Sorry!" He threw his hands up in a panic and took a step back. "My hand just moved on its own! Oh! That's right, Haruhi! I have some terrible news for you!"

"What?!" She said in shock, not sure what was going on anymore.

"Well, you see... Hikaru told me that we're not a real family!"

Her worry suddenly faded into disbelief. "Huh?"

"Yes, yes. I understand. Even though we're not related by blood, it really felt as though we were family through our club activities, didn't it?" He said, not noticing that he was coming to the wrong conclusion. "So to you, Haruhi, who sincerely regarded me as a father, I must offer my deepest apology and condolences—"

"I..." Haruhi cut him off, confusion and anger and a multitude of other emotions boiling in her. "I have never once thought of you as a father! How much of an idiot are you?! Just forget it!" She shouted, turning tail and running away from Tamaki as he called after her.

"Wait, Haruhi!"

"I need to use the bathroom!" She lied as Tamaki got trapped in the crowd.

I-I should actually find Kohaku and the others. Maybe she could explain what just happened. As she ran though, she caught sight of a familiar woman, making her pause. Isn't that Kosaka? That lawyer from Tamaki's family company?

"Kosaka-san?" Haruhi called out, rounding a corner after the woman, only for her to be nowhere in sight. "Huh? Where did she..."

Before Haruhi could question it any further, someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You need to come with me." The older man said; someone she didn't recognize, which made her put her guard up.

"Um, I can't. I need to go meet up with my friends and—"

"We weren't asking." He said as another man helped him grab her and force her towards a car.

"W-Wait! I—" Haruhi was abruptly interrupted as she banged her head harshly on the car; knocking her into unconsciousness with no sign of help anywhere in sight.

Kyoya frowned, pulling out his phone for the umpteenth time, a gnawing in his stomach as he wondered what was taking Kohaku so long to meet up with him and the other hosts. She should've been here by now. Knowing her, she probably got distracted by something, but it's been nearly twenty minutes since she texted back. What could that idiot possibly be doing? Before he could worry any further, Tamaki ran up to the group panting and out of breath.

"Haruhi's been kidnapped!"

"Huh? Haruhi's been kidnapped?!"

Kyoya rolled his eyes. Please. She probably went to the restroom or something and he's overreacting... Again. Kyoya sent a text to Kohaku, asking her where she was at as Tamaki answered questions from the others.

"What's going on, milord?"

"I have no idea!"

"Who took her?! Did you see someone grab her?!"

"I don't know! But she's not picking up her phone no matter how many times I call! And the definite piece of evidence..." Tamaki lifted up the ring he'd found while chasing after Haruhi. "I found the giant tuna ring I just gave her lying on the ground."

I knew it. Kyoya mused as the others caught on as well and gave Tamaki annoyed expressions.

"Would you kindly refrain from needlessly shortening our lifespans with unnecessary shocks to our systems so early in the year?" Hikaru growled out, foot raised to kick Tamaki. "What is this? An appeal to be the town idiot this year too?!"

"Fool! I'm serious! There's no doubt in my mind! She must've been kidnapped!"

"Tamaki." Kyoya grumbled. "It might be difficult for your stricken mind to grasp this, but I think your explanation is a tad farfetched."

I might consider it if he had proof, but a forgotten trinket hardly counts. Kohaku's lack of response is more concerning, but she is more than capable of handling such a situation should it arise. He frowned a little. Though it is possible if she was taken unawares—Kyoya pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. No. She's fine. Tachibana would've informed me if anything happened. She's probably eating or with Haruhi. Just then though, a woman ran towards the group.

"Haruhi-san was forced into a car and taken away!"

The group all turned to her in shock; Kyoya's stomach twisting in worry.

"Kosaka-san?!" Tamaki rushed over to her, equally shocked as she continued.

"I got the license plate number. I've called the police as well, so they should be arriving soon."

"Huh?" Kaoru gasped. "The Haruhi really was..."

Kyoya stepped forward, hoping to get the situation under control before anyone began panicking.

"Tamaki? Care to introduce us?"

"This is a lawyer who works for my family." He said before turning back to the woman. "Kosaka-san, which way did the car go?"

"It got on the highway heading towards Minowa..." She panted out. "I chased after them thinking I might be able to catch up while they were stopped at a light or something, but it was no use."

"Was there anyone else with her?" Kyoya asked, his concern growing. "Someone with white hair?"

She shook her head. "No. And... I only caught a glimpse, but I thought I'd seen one of the kidnappers' faces before. I think he was some kind of workman I've seen coming in and out of the Suoh Hotel or theater in the past."

Tamaki paled and quickly ran off, but Kyoya had more questions for Kosaka.

"Kosaka-sama, why is a Suoh family lawyer here?"

It's too suspicious to be a coincidence.

"I came for a New Year's shrine visit."

"All alone?"

"Yes." She said a little too easily. "It does seem an uncanny coincidence to run into you all here."

Kyoya pushed up his glasses. "Is that so."

"Kyoya, we're going after Tamaki." Hikaru spouted out as he, Honey and Mori turned towards where Tamaki had ran off. "I can track her phone."

Kyoya nodded as they rushed off, leaving him with Kaoru and Mei as he dialed Tachibana's number. Kaoru was a bit suspicious though.

"Kyoya, why did you ask if Kohaku was with Haruhi?"

Mei frowned. "Yeah! Where is that idiot anyway? She was with Haruhi before, right? Why didn't she prevent this?"

"I haven't been able to get a hold of her for a while now." Kyoya explained. "I assumed she got distracted by something, but with the kidnapping, the circumstances have changed."

Tachibana had picked up his phone then and Kyoya quickly spoke.

"Tachibana, I need you to bring the limo around to the West entrance. And where is Kohaku? I haven't been able to—"

"Kyoya!"

Kyoya sighed in relief as Kohaku hurried towards the group, but he quickly moved passed his relief to scold the white-haired host.

"Where have you been?" He snapped at her, not bothering to push up his glasses and hide the anger in his gaze as he frowned sternly. "We have a situation and with you not answering your phone—"

He stopped and his brows furrowed as he spotted the small dark haired boy sitting atop Kohaku's shoulders with his hands tugging on her short hair. Kohaku gave Kyoya a confused look, wondering why he stopped, only to follow his gaze and look up towards the top of her head.

"Oh! Um, this is Jinta-kun. He got separated from his father so I was helping him look." She started digging through her pockets, keeping a hand on Jinta's ankle as she pulled out her phone with a wince. "And, uh, looks like my phone is dead. Sorry."

"Ko! Ko!" Jinta said, tugging on Kohaku's hair and making her glance up at him. "I want candy floss!"

Kohaku went to answer the little boy, but Mei cut her off before she could even get a word out.

"We don't have time to deal with some stupid lost brat! Haruhi's been kidnapped!"

Jinta's eyes welled up with tears and he started crying loudly, making Kohaku frown at Mei as she took Jinta off her shoulders and held him; him crying into her shoulder as he clung to her neck.

"I understand that you're worried, but yelling at a kid isn't going to fix anything." Kohaku scolded, before relaxing with a sigh and turning to Kyoya. "I can't leave him, so I'll stay here. You go with them and track down Haruhi. I'll be fine."

He hesitated, but nodded, taking Kaoru and Mei towards the west entrance as Kohaku attempted to comfort Jinta and wandered off to find his father.

(Kohaku's POV)

I had finally calmed Jinta down after I went towards the cotton candy stand and bought him some. He wanted to climb back up onto my shoulders again though, and I had to explain why I couldn't let him while he was eating. And let me tell you, telling a little kid that they can't have fun because they're messy and may get food in your hair, isn't as easy as it sounds.

"But I wanna be tall!" He whined as I sighed quietly and he stuffed another handful of his treat into his mouth.

"I'll let you back on my shoulders once you're finished eating. I don't want cotton candy in my hair. It's sticky."

He pouted. "Up! Up!"

I decided to change the subject, having to distract the kid and get more information on his absent father.

"Jinta-kun, could you tell me about your dad so I can keep an eye out for him?"

Jinta grinned, falling for the ploy. "My dad is super cool! Like a super hero!"

I nodded, smiling at his enthusiasm. "How cool! Does he have black hair like you?"

"Uh-huh!" Jinta nodded, a piece of cotton candy on his face. "And one day, I can be tall like him too!"

"Ooh! Taller than ma?" I asked, standing up straight as Jinta looked me over.

"Yeah. Daddy's way taller than you."

My lips twitched as I chuckled stiffly. "Is that right?"

I'm not short...

"Daddy wears silly goggles too." Jinta said, holding his hands up like glasses now that he'd finished his treat. "He says they help him see things."

Good. Now I've got a better description. I mused as I sat on the bench beside Jinta. Tall, black hair and wears glasses. I stifled a chuckle. Sounds like Kyoya. I felt a tug on my jacket and looked down at Jinta, who appeared upset.

"I'm done, so can we go find my daddy now?"

I smiled a little, standing up and kneeling in front of him as I cleaned his face with my handkerchief.

"Sure."

Once he was free of the sticky cotton candy, I hoisted him up onto my shoulders as he laughed. After searching for a while, we still hadn't found his father and he was beginning to fall asleep. I was growing tired too, after walking all day—the sun having set hours ago—but I pushed on and took Jinta off my shoulders to hold him so he wouldn't accidentally fall off. With him asleep though, I didn't have anyone on the lookout for his father. I only had a vague description after all. He could be any tall, glasses-wearing guy with black hair. Which makes things that much harder, apparently. Half the guys here match that description. I let out a soft sigh as my eyes scanned the street around me, only to jump when someone put their hand on my shoulder.

"Have you found his father yet?"

I spun around, facing Kyoya, and went to shout at him only to remember the sleeping child in my arms; choosing to speak in a harsh whisper instead.

"God, Kyoya! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

He pushed up his glasses with a smirk. "Hardly my intention, though you partially deserved it after your earlier actions. And I found your reaction rather amusing."

I gave him a blank, deadpan expression. "I hate you."

I started walking off to continue my search for Jinta's father, but Kyoya stayed right beside me. I ignored him for a while, but eventually I couldn't stand it any longer and spoke.

"What are you doing here anyway? You should be looking for Haruhi."

"Ah, so you do care."

I whirled around to face him angrily, hurt and upset that he would think I didn't care about what happened to Haruhi.

"Of course I care! My best friend was kidnapped, and you think I don't care?!"

It was hard to read his expression, but I placed it somewhere between confused, suspicious, and concerned.

"What else were we supposed to think when you chose so easily to stay behind?"

My mouth dropped open in shock at that accusation, but I quickly shook my head as I tried to look at it from the hosts perspective. They probably saw me as uncaring because I hid all my worry. My foreknowledge of the plot says she'll be fine, but I know things can change and I am worried. I'm just so used to hiding it from people and... I glanced down at Jinta in my arms as he stirred slightly. I know first-hand how perceptive kids can be. My siblings proved that time and time again... So I just... hid it.

"Sorry." I muttered. "I care. Really. I just... couldn't leave him."

I held Jinta a little closer and heard Kyoya sigh.

"I would hardly expect you, of all people, to leave a child on their own." Kyoya said, making me duck my head in embarrassment.

"S-Shut up. When was the last time you left Tamaki on his own?"

Kyoya smiled a bit. "Point taken."

We fell into a comfortable silence, but then I realized something.

"Aren't you supposed to be helping them find Haruhi?"

"I have already done what I could and she was picked up about an hour ago. Unharmed. Though I was already on my way back here."

I raised a brow. "And you're fine with leaving early like that? I'm glad and all that she's okay. Don't get me wrong, but I'd figured that you'd want to be there the whole time. I had to find Jinta-kun's father, but why did you come back?"

He hummed. "To keep you out of trouble."

I opened my mouth to argue, but Jinta stirred in my arms, waking up and rubbing his eyes as he began to sniffle.

"D-Did you find my daddy yet?"

I swallowed my frustration at Kyoya and turned my attention to the little boy in my arms. "Not yet, Jinta-kun, but I'm still looking. We'll find him."

He only began to cry harder and I steered the three of us off to the side as I tried to comfort him.

"I-I-I want my d-daddy..."

"I know, buddy. I know." I hummed, setting him down on a bench as Kyoya stood behind me a ways, and I wiped at Jinta's eyes. "Hey, I thought you wanted to be a super hero, yeah? Super hero's can't give up. So you've got to stay strong until we find your dad, okay?"

I noticed Kyoya slip off, but ignored it, figuring that he wasn't one for comforting kids anyway.

"Do you want anything to drink, Jinta-kun? Water or juice or something?"

He shook his head, choking back sobs. "I-I just want my daddy."

I sighed, knowing that there wasn't going to be an easy way to convince him to be patient, and tried to come up with something to distract him. Thankfully, I didn't have to, because Kyoya returned and he knelt down beside me as well, grabbing Jinta's attention as he held up something.

"You want to be a super hero, right, Jinta-san?"

Jinta nodded, trying to see what Kyoya was holding. "Uh-huh. D-Daddy says they're really strong and I wanna be like that too."

Kyoya nodded and handed him a mask of some children show super hero character, making Jinta's face light up in excitement.

"You can't be a super hero without a mask. Isn't that right?"

"Uh-huh! I-I can have this?"

Kyoya nodded, a slight hint of a smile on his face. "Sure. But you have to help us look for your dad, alright? And no more crying."

"Un!" Jinta nodded, taking the mask and putting it on the top of his head with a big grin on his face. "Thanks a lot, mister!"

Jinta rushed forwards and hugged Kyoya around the neck, said host stiffening and clearing his throat as he pushed up his glasses around Jinta's arm as I chuckled.

"Alright, Jinta-kun, let Kyoya go so we can try and find your dad again. And I think we'll need a bird's eye view, so up on my shoulders you go!"

"Yeah!" He cheered, clambering onto my shoulders as Kyoya and I got up and resumed the search.

However, it wasn't long before Kyoya questioned the large grin on my face.

"Why are you still smiling?"

"Because I saw something unexpected from the Shadow King. I never knew you liked kids."

"I don't." He replied bluntly. "I was simply trying to get him to stop crying so we could hurry this up and find his father."

"Uh-huh. And I'm actually a twenty-two year old from another universe." I hummed, though what I said was the honest truth, whereas I knew Kyoya was lying.

"While that would explain some things, I highly doubt what you're saying is true. And I don't like kids."

"Deny it all you want, Kyoya, I saw you smiling."

"Then perhaps I should ask you what you meant earlier about my preference in underwear?"

My face went beet red and I quickly cleared my throat, voice higher than normal.

"No. Nope. No need. I'll shut up."

He chuckled slightly as I cleared my throat again and went quiet, but it wasn't long before Jinta started bouncing up and down on my shoulders.

"Ko! Ko! I see him! Daddy! Daddy!"

"Jinta! Jinta!"

A panicking dark haired man rushed towards us and I recognized the features Jinta had mentioned as I began to lower the squirming boy from my shoulders.

"Oh, thank God he's alright." The man said as Jinta's feet hit the pavement and he rushed over excitedly.

"Daddy!"

"Hey there, Jin! I've missed you!" The man said, spinning the kid around in a hug before turning to me as I spoke.

"You must be his father. Good to know his description of you was accurate."

The man chuckled, eyes shut in a closed-eye smile behind his glasses. "That's good to know! And thank you so much for looking out for him." He turned to Kyoya then. "You've got a good girlfriend on you hands."

My face lit up a nice cherry red as Kyoya put on an amused smile and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me up against his side.

"That I do."

The man gave me one last smile, before bounding off towards another worried-looking male, who promptly smacked him on the back of the head and began scolding him, despite the man's smile of reassurance. It clicked then that Jinta has never mentioned a mother, but before I could bring up the question to Kyoya, he tugged me away and held his phone out in front of me.

"It's starting to get late."

"Ah. We should probably start heading back too then."

He tucked his phone away and hummed, not removing his arm from around my waist. "I think I can spare another hour."

I couldn't help but chuckle, knowing that I had corrupted Kyoya into this little act of rebellion.

"And who cares is the hosts miss us for a bit, right?"

"Hm." He hummed in amusement, leaning down and kissing me briefly as we went off to enjoy the rest of the festivities.

Please review and let me know what you think! And as i mentioned earlier, for those interested, i'll be posting a Doctor Who fanifc soon. And here's some answers to some anonymous reviews:

Kelsey Sullivan: To answer your request, i purposely make Kohaku as general as i can, because i want people to come up with their own interpretations of how she looks. The most i've said about her is the blue eyes and white hair and that she's around kyoya and tamaki's height. other than that, however, i allow people to imagine her however they wish, because i think it's better than trying to force one image of a character onto someone. I am more than open to fanart though! should you or anyone else be interested, just let me know and i'll post it on the next chapter ^^

Emrie: As for your comments about ferrets, i understand that they don't actually eat things like that and the rodent comment was just Kohaku teasing Fu-kun, i know they're not really rodents :) he was simply not a normal "ferret" and she just liked ot tease him. thank you for your comments though! I'm glad you enjoyed this fanfic so far!

Amber Gail: Sorry about making you cry, but i'm glad you enjoyed it. i felt that Tamaki needed a bit of comfort about his mother and added that in there almost last minute because i felt it seemed right.