Merry didn't fall asleep after the encounter with Kyoya. Her mind was whirring with new plans, scrapped plans and idle musings. What happened in the kitchen was…

Dangerous.

She wasn't so blind or in denial that she couldn't admit the Host's were all attractive in their own individual ways. That included Kyoya. And Haruhi could definitely pass for an effeminate, cute boy. But since she'd overheard Kyoya revealing a little more than she was comfortable with to his fellow Club members, she had been intrigued.

And when he took up her subtle challenge, she was excited.

She was having fun, and that meant danger.

But luckily, whether he found out her past or not, either way it was Merry who would win in the end.

When Merry followed the scent of breakfast at 7:30am, the rain had gradually come to a stop, a few lingering grey clouds lazily drifting away to reveal blue skies.

"Good morning, Jun-san," Merry greeted, taking a seat at the table. She pulled Hideo's discarded newspaper closer to herself, the butler having already started his day half an hour ago.

Jun grunted, flipping over some eggs.

Merry's lips twitched as she scanned the front page. Jun was typically a morning person, but no doubt Hana had kept her awake with fretful tossing and turning because of the storm, resulting in her current sour mood.

"Watanabe stocks are up again," Merry noted as Jun placed a cup of coffee in front of her. "Father must be working wonders in Kyoto. That, or chaos."
"He didn't get where he is by being nice, Miss Merry," Jun muttered, turning back to her stove.

Merry's lips thinned as she sipped her coffee. "I know, Jun-san. I know."

Eventually Jun's delicious cooking wafted through the house, luring the others out of bed. The clock had just ticked over to 10am when Haruhi's shouting at Tamaki to get out of the room echoed throughout the mansion, shortly followed by Tamaki's wail of despair at how his 'daughter hated him.'

Everyone save Kyoya was ushered into the kitchen to eat.

Merry watched with some sick sort of fascination as Honey drowned his pancakes in maple syrup, following that up by dollops of ice-cream and sweet tea. When he inhaled the lot, she thought she probably shouldn't have been all that surprised.

He was a miniature human garbage disposal cued in to anything with more than a cup of sugar as a base ingredient.

"I trust everyone slept well?" Merry eventually asked as her guests plates were gradually scraped clean.

Everyone nodded. "Thank you. For last night, I mean, Merry-chan," Haruhi added.

Merry smiled over the rim of her coffee mug. "It was no problem, Haruhi-san. I hope the music helped a little."
"It did. It was beautiful, by the way."
"I know."

One of the twins tried to fry Tamaki with his eyes, viciously tearing off a chunk of French toast while his brother nudged him with an elbow. They'd been oddly subdued all morning.
"How's Hana-chan?" Honey asked, pouring another helping of maple syrup on his plate. "She got sick so Takashi-kun and I went to help her out, right Takashi-kun?"
"Aa."
"And then she got really scared when the storm came. Kinda like Haru-chan!"

"Hana-chan accompanied Hideo-san to the markets this morning," Merry answered. "And she's fine now as far as I'm aware. Storms are… difficult for Hana-chan to cope with."

Jun stiffened slightly at her spot at the bench, her chopping of vegetables for dinner becoming a little more vigorous.

"Storms can be scary," Honey nodded sagely.

"I've been meaning to ask, where is Kyoya-san? It's not healthy to sleep so late. Should someone go and wake him?"

Together, the Host's paled. Just as Tamaki began to stutter something out, the twins dove over the table to clamp his mouth shut, smiling brightly at Merry.

Her non-existent trust for the two plummeted into the negatives.

"You're absolutely right, Merry-chan! Don't you think, Kaoru?"

"Couldn't agree more, Hikaru!"

"Why don't you go and wake him, Merry-chan?" they gleefully said together.

Merry raised a brow, but a gnawing curiosity over why they seemed so eager made her rise from her seat. "Alright. I'll be right back."
She strode out of the door and made her way towards Kyoya's guest suite, unaware of the band of merry misfits watching her walk to what they assumed were her gallows.

The bay window curtains were drawn over, not a lick of sunlight entering the dark room. In the darkness Merry could make out the opulent bed and its current occupant, sheets tugged up and over his head.

She sighed softly as she made her way towards the curtains, opening them to let light flood the room. Kyoya didn't so much as twitch.

Approaching the bed, Merry wondered what the best course of action to wake him would be. Kyoya wasn't exactly considered a close friend, so jumping on him like Tamaki would do was not an option. A bucket of icy water like she assumed the twins would do was also out.

She'd prefer not to make Hideo's job any more arduous for a Sunday by adding a soaked bed to his extensive list of jobs.

Usually, the smallest noise or sliver of light would wake Merry up from her light sleep. Judging by the soft snores emanating from underneath the covers, it didn't bother Kyoya. She came to a stop beside the bed, staring down at the lump with a finger raised to her chin in thought.

"What to do, what to do," she murmured, eyes flicking about until they landed on the bedside table. She quirked a brow, gently reaching over to shift a leaf of paper off the top of the pile he'd managed to smuggle into the house.

She clicked her tongue lightly as she read, uncaring if she would be caught snooping. Her father's company header on the first few correspondent emails made her curious enough to not care. She raised a brow at the acerbic nature of the exchanges, mainly listed between her father's secretary – reiterating any and all words spoken by her father on the matter – and Kyoya. The penname was a simple 'K.O.' but the structure of his replies, though cordial, was familiar enough to her that she could pinpoint who wrote them.

Just as she was about to flip another page, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She peered over her shoulder to the bed, slightly nonplussed at the sight of Kyoya sitting up in bed, blankets pooled at his waist and no glasses on. The bags underneath his eyes let her know he hadn't gone to sleep immediately after she left him in the kitchen.

She took a step back, away from the bedside table. Her movement made Kyoya's gaze zero in on her and she was suddenly on the receiving end of a vicious glare. She stiffened slightly.

"I never took you for the lazy type," she said dryly. "It's 11am."

The darkened aura surrounding him multiplied, but Merry couldn't help but compare him to Hana-chan when she was denied chocolate. Like a child throwing a tantrum because he was a little tired.

Nothing she hadn't seen nor handled before.

"What are you doing?" Kyoya hissed, expression darkening.

"Waking you."
"I didn't fall asleep until 5am," he snapped. "Get out!"

"I didn't fall asleep at all," Merry replied dryly. "My, my, you are crabby in the morning."
Kyoya moved quickly, grabbing the nearest object and tossing it at his tormentor, not awake enough to realise or care who it was or where he was.
Merry casually ducked as a lamp sailed over her head to smash against the wall, mentally thanking Jun for all the times she'd thrown knives at her head. "Good arm, but your aim sucks. Get up. Stop acting like a child. Coffee's downstairs." Cue another glare. If looks could kill, she'd be dead a hundred times over. "If you fall back asleep I might do something drastic," she threatened, meeting his gaze.

Kyoya scowled, flopping backwards and tugging the sheets over his head once more.

Merry raised a brow. Did he not take her seriously?

A plan of action popped into her head. Risky, but if she was successful she would one-up him in their little game.

In an instant she was straddling him on top of the covers, peeling back the sheets to reveal his hazy, incredulous stare. She leaned forward, placing her hands on either side of his head and trapping him against the pillow. He was minutely more alert now than what he was moments before.

Her eyes held his as she leaned down, down, down, until her breath ghosted over his lips. He didn't dare move.

A loose strand of her hair brushed against his nose as she tilted her head. He made a vague note of how her hair smelled of sunshine and roses when her lips gently brushed against the shell of his ear. Unwillingly, he broke out in goose bumps, blood pressure rising faster than normal.

Then Merry whispered, quiet and seductive.

"You owe me a lamp."
And with that she was gone, walking calmly away and out the door without a backwards glance.

Kyoya was definitely more awake than he had been, and he scowled at the realization.

Teehee (^x^)

Review if you want to~!

Also, I probably should have mentioned how many OC's I have in this story. Sorry!

My OC's are:

Merry (duh)

Ran

Isamu, Kat and Yori (the Janitors)

Daisuke the Driver

Hana

Jun

Hideo

aaaaaaand Merry's (upcoming) family. Basically.

... Yeah, I think that's it.

Woopsie! Sorry if I confused anyone! :/

Also, any manga/anime character that appeared but was unnamed and they make an appearance, I'll probably be making their names up too.

Again, SORRY~!