--+--

Chapter 3

Engagement

Kyoya gazed across the table at Hitomi, her dark blue eyes meeting his own blackish-gray. He could spot a frown forming along her forehead. Hitomi turned to her father who was at the end of the table.

"Father, are you serious about this?" She asked.

"Perfectly serious." Seiko replied. "The Itachi and Ohtori family have been rivals in many industries."

"Yes. It is now time for that rivalry to end, and what better way to merge our companies than through the bonds of marriage?" Yoshio said from the opposite end of the table.

It was now three weeks after the dance party. Hitomi and her father went down to the Ohtori mansion that night to have dinner with Yoshio and Kyoya Ohtori. It was just them. Kyoya's brothers were working late that night. After dessert, the news was sprung on both Kyoya and Hitomi: they were now engaged in a politically arranged marriage.

"Do you have any objections, Kyoya?" Yoshio asked.

"No, Father. Whatever you decide is surely the best for the family and for the business." Kyoya answered.

"Hitomi?"

Her face did not show her discomfort, but her eyes showed how unhappy she really was.

"I guess I don't have any other choice." She replied.

"Excellent. Now, Mr. Itachi and I have a few more matters to discuss about your engagement." Yoshio said. "Kyoya, why don't you take Miss Hitomi into the gardens or around the house?"

"Yes, Father."

Kyoya stood up and walked over to Hitomi. He pulled her chair gently from the table and offered his arm to her. Hitomi took it and they walked together out of the dining room. They did not speak until they out in the gardens behind the mansion.

"So, now that we are alone, what do you really think about this engagement?" Hitomi asked.

They walked along the hedges and to the fountain that lay in the center. It was a moonlit night with stars lighting up the sky. The time and mood was certainly romantic… The only problem was that the newly engaged couple was not in love with each other at all.

"It isn't the most fondest idea to me…but I am willing to go through with it." Kyoya explained. "And you? I hope you are fully aware that you and I both gain something from this engagement."

"I am aware of it." Hitomi sat down on the edge of the fountain and gazed up at the moon. "I just don't appreciate the fact that the one thing I do want to gain won't be gained at all in this organized relationship."

"Oh, what? Love?" Kyoya replied.

She frowned at him. "Yes, that. I just didn't realize that my father would agree to a political engagement even after what happened to him." She said.

"Hm?"

"You didn't know? My parents' marriage was completely political and arranged, and it fell apart. They never loved each other. It was all for the sake of the business."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I offer my condolence. (Not that it really matters to me.)" Kyoya replied.

Hitomi waved her hand. "I don't want your condolence, and I don't need it."

"… Have I ever mentioned how you are such a mean snob?" He asked in a pleasant manner. "I know the rule states it is okay to think you are better than the rest of the planet (as taken from Volume 6, Chapter 26 of the manga), but it also states that it is only okay to just as long as you keep it to yourself. You're stepping out that line, Hitomi."

Kyoya admitted that he was much like Hitomi before. He used to think he was better than everyone else, but that all changed since meeting Tamaki. Hitomi hadn't spent much time around him so he didn't have an effect on her…yet, at least.

"Am I?" She said peacefully. She didn't blink an eye as she said, "I know I am mean. I know I can be a snob. That's how I was raised. All members of the Itachi family have always been talented, intelligent, and aggressive. Is that really so bad?"

Kyoya smiled at her. He remembered her at the Host Club when she returned him his binder. Now that he was thinking of it, she was rather aggressive in making him that deal.

"Shall we get back to the house now?" He asked. He offered his arm again to Hitomi. She stood up and linked her own arm with his. "Speaking about being aggressive, I remember you demonstrating that when you gave me my binder back."

Hitomi smirked at Kyoya as they walked back to the Ohtori mansion. "You can rip up that contract by the way. I never wanted a profit from the Host Club. I was actually trying to look for a name inside the binder when I came across your writing." She replied. "I only did what I did because I was curious to how you would respond."

Kyoya laughed. "With a pair like us, we will contribute greatly to the merge of our companies." He replied.

"Yes. Let's do our best."

--+--

"What? You're engaged To Miss Hitomi?" The Host Club asked Kyoya.

"Yes. Father sprung this on us just last night." He said coolly.

"Kyoya… Will this engagement affect the Host Club?" Tamaki asked.

"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm amazed that you would be engaged to Miss Hitomi, Kyoya." The twins replied.

He looked at them and said, "Why do say that?"

"Miss Hitomi's mother has always been keen that she gets engaged to one of us." They answered.

"Ah, of course. Miss Hitomi's mother is the international president of the Hitachiin brand. It would make sense to have a marriage between allies." Tamaki responded.

"It also makes sense to have a marriage between direct competitors." Kyoya added.

--+--

And so, it became familiar knowledge in Ouran that Kyoya Ohtori and Hitomi Itachi were engaged. Customers of Kyoya were reluctant to designate him because they were scared they would incur the wrath of Hitomi. She instead remained willingly and blissfully ignorant about it. She didn't really care about what happened at the Host Club.

Hitomi did monopolize a lot of time with Kyoya though. They often had dinner with each other either at her mansion of his. They also did homework together, studied together. Even with all the time they spent together, there was not an ounce of intimacy between them. They had stopped regarding each other a threat, but they did respect the other's abilities. They only remained fiancées/acquaintances/study partners/classmates. It was a sad, sad thing. Hitomi agreed that there possibly would never be any love that would come out of their relationship. But there was one thing she wanted to know, which she asked her fiancée one night at dinner at his mansion.

"Kyoya, do you like Miss Fujioka?"

Kyoya looked up from his main course at his fiancée across the table. "What did you say?"

"Do you like Miss Fujioka?" Hitomi repeated.

He smirked. "I had a feeling you knew her real gender." He replied.

"It wasn't hard to figure it out since meeting her at the Host Club the day I transferred to Ouran. It is easy for her to hide her real gender, but it will prove to be difficult once she begins growing into her looks." Hitomi said. "Now, please, answer my question."

"Do you think I would gain something from my relationship with her?"

"The benefit you would gain from a relationship with Miss Haruhi Fujioka would certainly be priceless only to you and her if she reciprocates."

"It is an interesting analysis, Hitomi." Kyoya commented calmly.

"You're evading my question still."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Only because of the fact that I do not want to marry someone who is in love with someone else." Hitomi replied as she sipped her drink. "If you say that you love Miss Fujioka or any other girl, I will call this engagement off. I would rather save the embarrassment of a divorce."

"Say that I do love her. There is the chance that she may not love be back at all." Kyoya replied. "And not only would she have to answer me, but to others like Tamaki and Hikaru."

"You're still stalling." Hitomi answered.

"… No, I do not love Haruhi or any other girl." He finally replied.

"Thank you. That is all I wanted to hear."

They finished the rest of their dinner together in silence before going to Kyoya's room. They sat together at the table, immediately pulling their books towards them. They didn't talk at all, their minds burrowed into complicated equations and words.

(Ha, ha, Chantalle, remember this? xD)

Kyoya's hand slipped from the table onto his lap as he began doing complicated math problems. He looked up slightly and muttered quietly how he couldn't feel his leg. He began pinching his leg to get back the feeling into it, or at least what he thought was his leg. Hitomi looked at him slowly. She picked up his hand from her leg and placed it on his own and said:

"That was my leg."

Kyoya gazed at her with silent embarrassment. He placed his pencil down and quickly grabbed Hitomi's wrists, pushing her down onto the floor.

"Ah!"

"Maybe you should rethink the questions you ask." He said darkly. "Others might get the wrong idea."

"And what do you think you will gain from sleeping with me?" Hitomi asked.

"An heir perhaps?"

"That is if you are able to impregnate me."

"Then I will have to make sure that happens."

"You and I aren't even married yet. If this engagement gets called off, then I would be nothing more than your mistress." Hitomi replied coolly. "Did you really think you would get any merits from this?"

Kyoya let go of Hitomi and sat up. "No, but do you understand?"

"I don't really."

"Sometimes, a person's relationship with another doesn't always have to do with the merits gained from it."