Disclaimer: I have no rights over any Ouran characters.

Kyoya groaned.

He didn't want to, but he couldn't help it.

Everything hurt.

He didn't think he'd ever felt so much physical pain before in his life. Not that he'd been alive for very long, at least when you thought about the average age of death for men in Japan. And that was 82, the second highest average age of death in the world, only beaten by Monaco, which had an average age of 85.

Though, now that he thought about it, three years was a very large age gap, what made men in Monaco live so much longer than Japan, which was number two?

Maybe it was due to Monaco's small size? Or was it the clean Mediterranean Sea air. No, that didn't make sense. Italy was on the same sea, and it had an average age of 80.4. Spain and France were even worse at 79.5 and 79.4, respectfully. Hmm, this bore further investigation. Those extra three years could make a big difference when it came to achieving his goals. Though, that was just an average, he had a good chance of beating it since his grandfather had lived to be 87 and he hadn't been known for living a healthy lifestyle. Yes, this held definite possi-

"Um, excuse me?"

Kyoya blinked, startled. He drew his eyes away from the stars above him to the young waiter leaning over him with a very concerned expression.

Just how long had he been laying here, thinking about…he scowled. Why in the world had he been thinking about average life expectancies of men around the world? Had he hit his head that badly when she knocked him to the floor?

He hadn't thought so.

"Sir? Do you need us to call an ambulance?"

Kyoya scowled harder, "No, just some ice."

The waiter quickly scurried off to get ice.

Kyoya tried to sit up and groaned again. It hurt so much! How had he not known she was an accomplished martial artist? Sure, he'd seen that she took it in high school and had even put a boy in the hospital when he attacked her, but that had been years ago! He'd found no evidence to show that she'd continued to practice it once she left Australia. He'd spent too much time with Hunny and Mori, he knew her skills weren't rusty from almost ten years of no practice, she was very, very good. And she must practice very regularly.

In fact, he could've sworn he'd seen a kick in there that Hunny had once used on Mori when he had a toothache. Did she study Haninozuka style? Or did his eyes deceive him because he was the target of the kick this time, not just an observer?

Kyoya had managed to sit up all the way and was trying to devise a way to get his aching legs to put his feet under him when he heard someone snicker.

Turning his head as swiftly as he was able, he glared at the source of the snicker.

Standing in the entryway to the courtyard stood his older brother, Akito.

"Well, well, I never thought the poor sap being beaten up by a small girl in a frilly dress was my baby brother."

"Oh, shut it. What are you doing here?"

Akito snickered again, "Me? I'm on a date with a lovely lady from the Kuze family. I believe you went to school with her cousin."

Kyoya ground his teeth, "That still doesn't explain why you are standing HERE, in front of me."

"Well, I am a doctor, unlike you. So, when I heard that someone had been beaten up, I offered to come take a look."

Kyoya closed his eyes and tried to stand up, but failed.

Akito rolled his eyes, "Idiot."

He immediately came over and helped Kyoya stand up and slowly move to a chair. Once Kyoya was in a fairly upright position Akito pulled out his phone and began typing.

"I'm sending for some pain medication, it should be here in a minute or two. Now, what did you do to make that girl so mad, and who was she?"

"She is Ms. Haruhi Fujioka and I accused her of trying to manipulate me into marriage."

Akito snickered again. Kyoya really hated his snickers. "You? Be manipulated into marriage? What, did your brain stay in the US?"

Kyoya frowned, he did not want to think about manipulation and marriage right now. Two close calls was two too many. "Put a sock in it Akito. My head hurts too much to spar with you."

"Of course it does. Only an idiot would antagonize Haruhi Fujioka," said a new voice.

Kyoya looked over to see a very beautiful young lady in a very well appointed dress.

"And you are?"

"This is Miss Natsuko Kuze, my lovely date. Miss Kuze, this is my baby brother, Kyoya Ootori."

Kyoya inclined his head, "Nice to meet you Miss Kuze. May I ask how you know Ms. Fujioka?"

"Oh, I met her once when I was out drinking with some friends. She was wearing this gorgeous little outfit, designed by Hikaru Hitachiin. I was so jealous. She was with Mamoru Tachiki and a French boy I think was Alianore Rouh's brother. We all ended up going to karaoke together. It was loads of fun until I started getting a headache. So after karaoke I decided to call it a night. The rest of the girls did as well. Tachiki and his friend went to grab another drink. Haruhi walked with my friends and me towards a main road so we could call for our cars. On a small street a couple of big foreign guys came out of nowhere and started hitting on us and making us uncomfortable. She told them to go away in English, they just laughed. That's when one of them grabbed Kimi. The other one went to grab Ms. Fujioka. I turned to run for help, but my heels made me trip. I lay on the ground with a sprained ankle and scrapped up legs. I was scrabbling for my phone when I heard a solid thunk. That's when I looked behind me to see Ms. Fujioka laying those two men flat. Thanks to her my sprained ankle was the worst injury among the three of us."

Akito whistled, "She must be pretty tough. Did she say where she learned to do that?"

"Apparently she's been studying taekwondo since she was in high school and started studying Haninozuka style a few years ago."

Akito snickered, "No wonder she laid you flat Kyoya! You barely survived father's mandatory five years of karate."

Kyoya grunted and forced himself to his feet, "Sure, like you did any better."

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't, but who's the one that got beat up by their date? Not me."

"Whatever, I'm going home."

He pulled a couple of ten thousand Yen notes out of his wallet and dropped them on the table before striding out the restaurant. That was more than enough to cover the bottle of wine he'd ordered, as well as the minimal damage caused during Miss Fujioka's attack on him.

He really wanted to be angry at her for beating him up, but he couldn't quite manage that. Rather, he felt rather impressed.

It wasn't often someone got the drop on him, physically or mentally. And, somehow, this intriguing, scheming woman had done both.

Kyoya sighed and slipped into his waiting car. He was tired of falling for lying, scheming women. Though this time at least, he caught her before she dug her claws into deeply.

Last time…

Last time he'd already given his heart and was a second away from throwing away his chance at the zaibatsu.

He'd first seen her from the window of Music Room #3. She'd been sitting quietly by the fountain reading a book. His interest had been piqued, which had never happened before. It had taken less than an hour to learn she was the new scholarship student. It had then taken less than a day to put himself in her path.

He hadn't been disappointed.

After a few moments of conversation he'd invited her back to the Host Club and that had been the start of it all.

She'd become friends with them all, but she and Kyoya had always had something special. He hadn't been surprised that, when they were in Ouran University their friendship had blossomed into something stronger. She'd been everything he thought he needed. She'd been intelligent enough to run circles around him if he wasn't paying attention, and, sometimes, even when he was. She was beautiful enough to hold her own among anyone. She was also extremely ambitious, talking of her plans to go into politics and change the world.

When he'd told his father of his plans to marry he'd been firmly told that if he went through with it he'd have no chance of ever being part of the zaibatsu. No unknown and unproven commoner was going to be married to the heir of the Ootori Group.

But Kyoya had thought that she was worth it. He made plans to go his own way after University, making sure they'd be financially setup so she could make a real difference in politics. He'd been all ready to propose to her and screw his chances of inheriting when it had all fallen apart.

He'd decided to surprise her on her walk home from the bus stop. He was going to whisk her off on a romantic date and propose. He even planned to tell her about all of his plans for the future.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, he'd heard what he wasn't supposed.

Kyoya slipped out of the car and moved over behind one of the ancient trees in the park near her house. He'd walked with her enough to know she always took this path. She'd just said goodbye to him less than an hour ago at the university. She wasn't going to expect this.

He grinned. He couldn't believe he was going to propose. It felt like they had always been together, even while he remembered the first time he had seen her like it was yesterday.

A familiar voice came from down the path and he pulled farther back behind the tree. She was likely speaking with her old elementary school friend; he had watched them board the bus together.

"So, has he popped the question yet?"

"You know I'd tell you if he had."

Kyoya grinned again. Apparently they were on the same page.

"I know, but it's been so long. I still can't believe you're going to pull it off."

The grin slipped off his face. Pull it off? Was she planning to go against tradition and propose to him?

"Ryo, it's not been that long. We only started officially dating during my first year at university. We're still in university, he hasn't even graduated yet."

"Nana, you set your sights on a rich boy as soon as you decided to go to Ouran. That was back in our second year of middle school. That is a long time."

"Well, yes, but I was just a silly girl and didn't really know any rich boys."

Kyoya didn't quite know what to think. His brain said she was smart for aiming for a rich husband, especially since she wanted to go into politics and that required connections and money, but he still felt a bit hurt.

"That didn't stop you from setting your sights on one of the top six as soon as you started at Ouran. That was about six years ago. You usually get what you want faster than that."

He wanted to step out from behind the tree, but a part of him felt frozen. She set her sights on the top six? Did she mean that any of them would do? Or had she thought that before actually meeting them? Maybe she had changed? After all, he wasn't the same person he had been during his first year of high school.

"Ryo, marriage is for life. I had to scope out all of the boys and then pick the one that would make the best husband. Those twins were too much trouble while Haninozuka was way too cute to think of ever marrying, Morinozuka was the exact opposite."

"Then what about Suoh?"

"I considered him; he would be fairly easy to control. I even made a few overtures, but he was completely captivated by some girl he knew back in France. He told me he was going to win her back as soon as he graduated. It would be too much trouble to compete with a childhood sweetheart."

"But-"

"Enough, Ryo, we've talked about this. I'll be married to Ootori before I graduate and eventually I'll be married to the Ootori Group's leader. Don't worry, you'll get your reward for helping me pass all those tests and stay number one at Ouran. You won't work another day in your life. I'll even help you find your own rich husband."

He hadn't been able to move. Every muscle was locked in place as his heart plummeted. How could he have been so wrong? And it wasn't just him. She'd tricked all of them. They'd accepted her into their group and made her one of them. And she'd merely been fishing for a wealthy husband.

Well, she'd just failed.

He'd thought about breaking up with her in person. But he'd decided against it. Rather, he'd typed up a very short and curt letter plaining why he was breaking off.

Then he'd transferred to Harvard and never looked back.

Until Princess, or should he say, Ms. Fujioka, had come into his life and started tying him into knots.

What was it about him that made him so susceptible to intelligent women?

Maybe he should give up the idea of finding his own wife and look into an arranged marriage, like Yuuichi had done.

Not that there was any rush. He wasn't even thirty yet, and he did expect to live to be 82. Unless he could figure out how to get those extra three years they had in Monaco.

Wait, Monaco again?

Just what was in those pills Akito gave him?

Author's Note: Once burned, twice shy. So, here's the why of it. Not that it excuses Kyoya's behavior. But it does give him a reason. Also, I know I said I'd get this out on Tuesday, and I really, really meant to. Thing is, I left Korea at 7:50 am Tuesday and landed in Florida at 12:12 pm Tuesday. I never even got my laptop setup until Wednesday evening and then I was busy emailing my husband and parents videos of my sister and grandparents freaking out over seeing me (they didn't know I was coming). So, I've been busy. Here's the chapter though and I'll have the next one up on Saturday or Sunday.

Enjoy! :)