"Haruhi?"

The Hitachiin brothers, Hikaru and Kaoru peered at Haruhi's face as she blankly stared out the window of the Third Music Room, seated on a chair. They blinked several times, pursed their lips in wonder and even poked her nose. But Haruhi didn't budge. She was lost in some dream world, and they couldn't shake her out of it. Finally, after a few more minutes of trying to get her attention, the brothers gave twin shrugs and walked away with worried faces.

They stopped beside Suou Tamaki, who was panicking over Haruhi's state. He was quickly pacing back and forth, and his usually smooth blonde locks were rumpled with distress. Hikaru gave Haruhi another glance and sighed. "My Lord," he said, looking at Tamaki. "She came in with that look on her face. She refused to be designated, or, rather, she never heard any of the words we said and so couldn't be designated."

"What's wrong with her, Hikaru? Kaoru?"

The twins shook their heads with the same bewildered rhythm.

"Is Haru-chan okay?" Haninozuka Mitsukuni, a cute, short, dusty-blonde-haired senior who could pass for a grade-schooler said. He was sitting on his cousin's shoulders, Takashi Mori, who was a tall, dark-haired senior, a champion at Kendo and had the looks of a sinister gangster.

"Honey-senpai!" Tamaki whimpered, looking up at Mitsukuni with teary eyes. "What is happening to my daughter?"

"Maybe she needs a nice strawberry cake! Tehe!" Mitsukuni cried, raising his arms in delight.

"I don't think that's what she needs, Mitsukuni," Mori said, keeping his face devoid of expression.

"Is that so?" Mitsukuni asked. "Then, I don't know what to do either, Tama-chan."

"Wait," Kaoru suddenly said. "Where's Kyouya-senpai?"

Suddenly, Haruhi stood up and all of them froze, not knowing how to react to her bizarre actions. Slowly, she turned her head at them, her eyes seemingly empty and her face crest-fallen with some inner conflict they couldn't guess.

"H-Haruhi?" Tamaki meekly called, tentatively taking a step towards her.

Haruhi stood looking straight at them, but they all felt as if she they were invisible to her and that she wasn't aware of their presence. After tense minutes of silence, Haruhi moved back to her sat back down and stared out the window again.

At this, Tamaki fell on the floor with a cry, "What's happening?!?"

He sat all day behind those curtains. No one else was allowed to go in once he started typing on his laptop. Haruhi listened intently at theclickety-clack of his keyboard, while keeping her eyes on the courtyard. She wanted to be sure that he was still in the room, still near her. When Kaoru asked where he was, she thought he had gone, and so she stood up and was about to go out the room when she heard the faint sound of his fingers tapping on his table. He was probably thinking of ways to solve some financial problem, and was still busy. But he was still there, so she sat down again, assured.

She didn't know what was wrong with her. She couldn't stop thinking about last night's kiss, his eyes and how he carried her home. Both of them were drenched in rain, and her father had insisted that he stay the night. And he did.

He slept next to her, but his back was turned so she couldn't see his face. But she remembered his calm, steady breathing that lulled her to sleep. She found him gone that morning.

His eyes were so deep… and his lips were so warm against mine. She touched her lips with her fingers. She saw his true feelings, his true nature. And she was so sure of what she saw.

But now, she couldn't be quite sure. That was what troubled her. The glasses were back in place, and so was the attitude. The romantic and passionate side was once again pushed down by his practicality and careless manner. Haruhi sighed helplessly.

Will he never stop pretending and hiding behind that mask?

"What do you want?"

"I just…I just want to talk to you."

"I'm busy."

"Just for a few minutes."

"I said I'm busy."

"Well, I don't care! I'm going in whether you want me to or not!"

Haruhi pulled the curtains open and found Kyouya staring at her, sitting with his back straight, hands poised over the keyboard of his laptop. She had gathered enough confidence to sweep away the curtains and go in, but she realized it wasn't enough for the next part: facing Kyouya.

"Yes?" Kyouya asked.

"Last night…"

"Last night was nothing. It was just simple give-and-take between tradesmen. Nothing more."

Haruhi's brows joined in confusion. She took a step forward. "What do you mean?" she demanded. "That kiss meant nothing to you?"

"Yes." And Kyouya looked at her with a hard expression, glasses glinting in the lights, hiding his eyes from view.

"But…" Haruhi's eyes suddenly swelled with tears. "But…then…what was it?"

"I told you. It was give-and-take. Remember what I told you? I don't do anything unless there are merits for me."

"What was the merit in that? That you got to kiss me?"

To Haruhi's surprise, Kyouya laughed, a little too cruelly. The cold, manic sound hurt Haruhi even more than the words that followed it. "I won our little contest, didn't I?" he said. "Don't think kissing you was any merit. I got to pull my joke on you and the merit is that you were convincingly fooled. Weren't you challenging me yesterday, with your sly attempts at avoiding me?"

Haruhi was breathing deeply now and was turning defensive. She was getting too hurt. "I thought a merit for you would be money and connections with top people," she said. "Not winning a sad little game with a nobody."

"Well, sometimes people need a break," Kyouya said, leaning back on his chair. "You gave me just what I needed."

Tears fell from Haruhi's eyes, one by one, but she refused to acknowledge. She brushed them away. It couldn't be true. He's kidding, right? He's lying!

She rushed at him and grabbed his shoulders, angry and hurt at the same time. Kyouya stopped laughing and Haruhi wrapped her arms around him and kissed him as furiously as he did last night.

The world spun around Kyouya and for a few moments, all he could feel was Haruhi's lips moving against his. As his eyes began to close, a sudden realization brought him back to his senses. He pushed Haruhi away, eyes wide with disbelief. "Stop!" he cried.

"Why are you being so stupid?" Haruhi shouted.

"Don't you dare do that again! Get out!"

Haruhi stormed out of the small space, throwing the curtains aside, her face wild with anger, tears pouring freely down her cheeks. It didn't matter to her that everyone, from the other Host Club members to the guests were watching her with wide and scared eyes.

Kyouya followed after her with the same angry expression. "Don't come near me again!" he shouted.

"I won't!" Haruhi screamed back. "And for your information, I quit!"

Kyouya's eyes widened. "You can't quit!" he said.

"Yes, I can! I just did!"

"You have a debt to us!"

"I don't care! I'll pay it off somehow, but I won't be doing it working for you! I'm out of here!" She ran out the door and slammed it hard behind her.

The loud bang reverberated across the room, leaving a chilling silence no one could break.

Tamaki turned to Kyouya, his face reflecting a seriousness rarely seen in him. All the others had scared expressions, looking at him with teary eyes. Mitsukuni was already crying. The twins only looked at each other with unreadable faces. Kyouya couldn't take it anymore and went back behind the curtains.

Haruhi was gone.