Tamaki walked to the center of the stunned, silent room. All eyes followed him, even the teary-eyed Mitsukuni. Tamaki closed his eyes, cleared his throat and sighed. Everyone waited in suspense while he bowed his head.
And then…
"Did everyone like our little skit?" he announced to the room, grinning wildly and spreading his arms wide.
All the customers' and guests' faces lightened up at once, heaving sighs of relief, and those who had been holding their breaths finally let go and laughed along with Tamaki.
"That concludes our club operation for today," Tamaki continued. "Thank you for coming and please visit us again. Hikaru, Kaoru!" He snapped his fingers.
"My Lord!" The twins cried out together, saluting Tamaki.
"Please escort these beautiful ladies out the door and give each of them the latest edition of our club magazine."
"Yes, my Lord!"
And the twins rushed off in an identical speed, servicing the ladies, who were still laughing at being fooled. When the last girl left, carrying off her magazine with a wide smile, the twins slowly shut the door of the Third Music Room and walked grimly back to Tamaki.
Tamaki rubbed the bridge of his nose between his two fingers.
"That was a nice save, my lord," Hikaru said.
"What else could I do?" Tamaki asked. "The scene those two made would have ruined our reputation forever if I didn't do that."
"What happened to them? Why did they start yelling at each other like that?" Kaoru joined.
"I don't know. They were talking about something I couldn't really hear behind those curtains," Hikaru said.
Tamaki glared at the thick, red velvet curtains that blocked Kyouya from the outside world. He walked towards it, his steps getting louder every time, and, with an angry sweep of his hands, he brushed the heavy curtains aside and found Kyouya typing on his laptop, looking as if nothing had happened.
"Hey!" Tamaki yelled at him. "What was that about?"
Kyouya kept typing, not even giving Tamaki a glance. "Nothing," he said.
"Nothing? I know you well, Kyouya. Probably better than you know yourself. You're hiding something. What is it?"
"Tamaki," Kyouya said. "This is nothing I can't fix. Relax."
"How could we relax?" Hikaru finally shouted, unable to control himself any longer. "Haruhi's gone! She's gone! You made her leave! Bring her back!"
"Hikaru—" Kaoru tried to pull his brother back, but Hikaru resisted.
"Bring her back!" Hikaru shouted some more. "Kyouya-senpai!"
"Takashi!" Mitsukuni cried along with Hikaru, bursting into tears again and burying himself in Mori's arms, who was keeping his cool for Mitsukuni's sake.
Tamaki held up his hands and closed the curtains behind him, leaving him and Kyouya alone.
"Kyouya…" Tamaki said in a softer tone. "Tell me what's wrong. I'm your best friend, aren't I?"
Kyouya finally stopped typing and faced Tamaki. He took off his glasses and Tamaki saw a panicking worry in Kyouya's eyes, an expression so unlike Kyouya that he was taken back with surprise.
"Tamaki…" Kyouya started. "I'm sorry."
Tamaki smiled and placed a hand on Kyouya's shoulder. "I know you are," he said. "What's up with you and Haruhi? Why were you fighting?"
"You won't like what I'm about to say."
"Why not? Is it something bad?"
"Not exactly."
"Then say it."
Kyouya looked directly in Tamaki's eyes.
"I'm in love with Haruhi."
The hand on his shoulder froze and Kyouya knew that whatever Tamaki expected to hear, what he said was not one of them.
There were a few minutes of intense silence, while Tamaki gripped Kyouya's shoulder harder and harder. Kyouya looked as if it did not hurt him in the least. He kept his cool, waiting for Tamaki's reaction.
Then, nervous laughter erupted from Tamaki and Kyouya looked up at him, his eyes narrowing.
"In love—with—Ha—Ha—hahahaha!" Tamaki stuttered between fits of unnatural laughs.
"It's true."
Tamaki stopped.
Kyouya turned his back from him and started typing again.
"When?" Tamaki asked, also turning his back, as if he was itching to leave the dark, curtained space.
Tak-takatakataka-TAK!
The sound of the keyboard stomped on Tamaki's heart. He was feeling something new inside him that he couldn't quite tell. It was like something inside him was beginning to growl and struggle; a part of him wanting to lunge at Kyouya. He shook his head. What was that?
"I don't even remember when I started feeling like this. It just happened," came Kyouya's voice. Takatakatakatak…tak…tak…
"O-oh. I—I see." Tamaki cringed as he began to feel as if each strike on the keyboard was biting his ears and kicking his heart.
TakatakatakatakatakaTAK! TAK! TAK! TAK!
"Will you stop that!" Tamaki screamed and Kyouya turned to him. Tamaki's shoulders were shaking and he couldn't tell if it was in anger or something else.
"I'm sorry. Goodbye."
Tamaki walked out.
"My Lord, what did he say?" Hikaru asked, chasing Tamaki as he strode towards the door. "My Lord?"
"My Lord, where are you going?" Kaoru added, panic rising in his eyes again. Tamaki was acting strange.
As soon as Tamaki reached the door, Hikaru and Kaoru both knew that he was also leaving. "Tamaki!" Hikaru cried and Tamaki stopped dead in his tracks, his hand on the door handle.
Silence.
And then, Tamaki opened the door of the Third Music Room and stormed out, closing it with a bang.
"T-Tama-chan…?" Mitsukuni whimpered.
Hikaru landed on his knees. "What is going on?" he cried.