(- -)

Chapter 3

Mistletoe

"You look flushed, Nanami."

"You've been acting strange these last two weeks."

"Did you have a romantic encounter during a snow day?"

Nadeshiko and Barako Kuronuma grinned eagerly at Nanami. The twins were also teachers at Ouka High School. They ran the Chemistry Classes together. They continued to inhabit the Chemistry Prep Room and concoct strange experiments with their witchcraft.

"Please shut up," Nanami muttered. "I don't feel well."

"We think you are sick with love!" The girls replied together. "So who's the lucky guy?"

Nanami's head snapped up to glare at the twins. "It's more like I'm the unlucky girl that he managed to fall for…again."

The twins stared at each other and then the woman.

"Again?"

"Ugh…"

She buried her head in her arms and didn't say anymore.

"We could guess, Nanami, or unless you would like to tell us who this person is," Barako offered.

"Oh, go away," The woman snapped. "No, I'll go away. I have to go train the track team inside the gym." She quickly got up and left the faculty office.

"Boo, she didn't tell us," Nadeshiko commented dully.

Barako suddenly looked out the window and smiled. "She doesn't need to tell us anymore. Look here."

Her sister looked out the window to where she was pointing. She saw Kyoya Ohtori approaching the school.

"He wouldn't come here without a good reason." Nadeshiko remarked. They looked at each other and grinned.

"Nanami."

(- -)

Nanami blew her whistle. The track members shot from the line like a bullet. They sprinted from the very end of the gym to the half-court line and back. After a couple of seconds of regrouping, Nanami blew her whistle again and the athletes shot off.

Finishing that lap, Nanami blew her whistle and announced, "Good job! Five minute break and we'll do another 10 laps!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kyoya approaching her. She didn't turn to him, but immediately said, "The answer is no." He had been chasing her for the past two weeks. The more she pushed him away, the more he tried being with her.

Kyoya smiled wryly and said, "That's cruel, Nanami. I didn't even say anything yet."

"The answer is no," She repeated. "Now will you please leave? I'm trying to do my job right now."

"Dinner tonight, eight o'clock," Kyoya proposed, ignoring her previous answer.

"No! Go away!" She snapped.

The track team was starting to get interested in Nanami and Kyoya's exchange.

"Isn't that Kyoya Ohtori of the wealthy Ohtori family?" a girl asked her teammate.

"You're right, it is! Why is he here?"

"How does Nanami-sensei know him?"

"Are they dating?"

Nanami could hear all of the questions her students were whispering to each other. She frowned and snapped, "That's enough!"

"I really have to return to work, but I won't take no for an answer, Nanami," Kyoya replied pleasantly.

Finally, Nanami turned her head to glare at him.

"I'll tell you what. We'll have a relay race where you and I will be the anchors. If you win, I'll go to dinner with you. If I win, you leave me alone," She proposed.

Kyoya smirked. "And what if there is an unlikely chance that it is a tie?"

"I'll give you a nice kiss and you can leave me alone for a while."

"Deal."

They stuck out their hands and shook on it.

Nanami blew her whistle. "Everyone, get in a straight line in front of me please!" The track athletes quickly did as they were told. "We're going to have a relay race! This will be your training for today. Begin counting yourselves off. Odds will be on Mister Ohtori's team, evens will be on mine."

As teams were divided and the starting order was being decided, Nanami began stretching herself out. She hadn't done a relay since her college days. Kyoya was pretty fit and he was taller than her as well. Perhaps he was as good as Takato, Nanami's friend from her high school track team.

There was an odd number between the teams so one girl was elected to be the judge. Kyoya and Nanami's respective teams took their places. As soon as the signal went off, the athletes took off. Nanami was starting to get anxious each time the baton was passed. Finally, it was her turn. Nanami received the baton and sprint off. She was in the lead, but she couldn't get overconfident yet. Nanami was running her hardest as if she was trying to escape Kyoya from when they used to be engaged. She didn't look back to see if Kyoya was closing in on her. It would be distracting. Forward…that was the only way to go.

"And the verdict is in!" the judge exclaimed, waving the picture.

Nanami and Kyoya lay on the gym floor just past the finish line. They were exhausted.

The girl loomed over both of them and showed them the picture.

"It's a tie, Nanami-sensei," She replied.

Sure enough, the picture showed Nanami and Kyoya at each other's throats as they passed the finish line.

"Kiss now!" a member yelled.

"Yeah! Do it now!"

Nanami sat up and scowled at her students. "That's enough for today! Go home now!" she ordered. The students laughed and giggled as they reluctantly left Kyoya and Nanami. Kyoya was the first to get up from the ground.

"I underestimated you again," He commented. "Do you want to kiss now, or can I take you home first?"

"I think you should take me home first. I think I pulled a muscle," Nanami answered.

Kyoya extended his hand and pulled her up. Sure enough, Nanami could feel the pain in her muscles throbbing. She leaned against Kyoya as they walked (or in Nanami's case, she limped) out of the school where Kyoya's car was waiting for them.

The drive felt long, but Kyoya felt like asking questions now.

"Why do you keep me at bay, Nanami?" He asked.

"You don't want me," Nanami replied quietly.

"Oh, but I do want you."

"I am a commoner. Money and high status doesn't bring me happiness," She answered. "There are plenty of other women who do want it or even have it. They are much better off with you."

There was a cold smile on her face.

"You're pushing me away because of that?"

"Yes. That's why I broke up with you shortly after graduating. I figured that I should let go," Nanami explained. "But really, if you could, would you leave all your money and high status behind for me?"

Kyoya stared at her with a dry smile.

"I thought so. You and I are complete opposites. You belong with your social class, and I belong with mine. We can't be together with that fact alone."

The car pulled up in front of Nanami's apartment complex. She was about give Kyoya the kiss she had promised, but he stopped her, wanting to see her to her door. As they headed for Nanami's apartment, they were in complete silence. When reaching her apartment, she quickly ushered him in, saying, "I don't want the other residents seeing something personal."

She smiled as she threw her arms around his neck and stood on her toes to reach his lips. She had promised to make it a "nice" kiss, but Kyoya didn't know it was supposed to be as intense as it was. He could almost swear that he could feel Nanami's heart beating fast in her chest. His was too, but he wasn't going to admit it out loud. He could feel one of her hands run through his thick hair as his fingers ran down her back. Everything around them seemed to burn up from the intensity.

For what he wished was an eternity, they broke apart. Kyoya grabbed Nanami by the wrist, secretly feeling her pulse. Her heart was beating rapidly.

"Nanami, do you love me?" Kyoya asked again.

"No…" She answered apologetically.

You liar…your pulse is telling me otherwise, Kyoya thought.

He pressed his lips to her hand before retreating out of the door. He almost could have sworn he heard her body collapse against the door and slide to the floor.

As he approached his car, he heard two voices speak.

"You're not going to give her up that easily, are you?" The Kuronuma twins asked.

Kyoya smirked.

"Of course not. There was a loophole in Nanami's promise. I plan on using that to my advantage," He stated.

"So how long do you think "a while" is?" Nadeshiko asked.

"Two weeks should be enough. You'll help me, right?"

"Of course." Barako replied. "It is our job to bring happiness to our couples."

He grinned. "Good to know that."

(- -)

About two weeks after seeing Kyoya for the last time, Christmas was only a few days away. At the time, Nanami was cleaning her apartment when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Nanami, it's your mother."

The tone of her voice did not sound good.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Satoshi. He was in a car accident earlier this morning. We're treating him right now at the hospital, but it would be best to come down here as soon as you can," She answered in a strained voice.

"I…I'm going to leave right now!"

Nanami hung up and dressed into warmer clothes. She got a cab to take her to the hospital. She approached the entrance in a run. She slowed down as she got inside. The waiting room was a lot more crowded and quieter than usual. As she advanced the front desk, she found many people waiting for her. Her mom, step dad, the Kuronuma twins, Ruka and her family, Tamaki and a very pregnant Haruhi, and Yoshio Ohtori and his two oldest sons and only daughter were beaming at her.

"Mom? Satoshi?" Nanami asked. She was really confused and surprised. "Nadeshiko, Barako? Ruka? What's going on here?"

"Sorry. This was all my doing," Kyoya answered. He emerged from behind his family.

"K-Kyoya?"

Blush tinged her cheeks along with wonder and surprise.

"O-oh, I've been had!"

"Nanami, do you love me?" Kyoya asked once again. "And don't lie either."

"What makes you think I'm lying?" Nanami asked.

"Denial is a really common thing in relationships, you know," The Kuronuma twins commented pleasantly.

"Nanami, if you don't love Kyoya, then why are you blushing?" Mrs. Nagamori asked softly.

She touched her cheeks gingerly. She could feel the heat radiating from them.

"I-It's from embarrassment for being caught in this situation!" She countered quickly. Everyone smirked at her.

Kyoya caught her by the wrist. He could feel her pulse quickening.

"I wonder which I should believe: your words or your the way your pulse is acting." Kyoya commented. "Do you love me?"

She seemed to crumble under the intensity of his gaze. Barely above a whisper, she croaked, "Yes."

"We don't have to live in a mansion. I won't flaunt our money or high status to others. We can live in a commoner house of your choosing. It will be like how you lived after leaving Ouran." He explained. "So, please. Marry me."

Kyoya held up a ring in front of Nanami. It was a silver band with a single alexandrite stone embedded into it. In the lighting of the hospital, it was a beautiful raspberry red.

"W-what about approval?" She asked, looking at her parents and Kyoya's father.

"You have our blessing," Satoshi answered.

"I engaged you to Kyoya before, believing you were a most suitable choice. You have my blessing as well," Yoshio added.

Nanami's face broke into a smile. She couldn't find the proper words for her answers. She nodded as her reply. As Kyoya slipped the ring onto her left ring finger, the entire waiting room erupted into a chain of applauses and cheers.

"You know, we're under a mistletoe," Kyoya pointed out.

Nanami looked up. It was there as if it had been placed there just for them.

"How long are you going to keep up these sneaky tactics of yours just to kiss me?" Nanami asked.

He smiled deviously. "As long as I want."

But really, this would be the last time. They were engaged now. In a couple of months to a year, they would be married, and kids would arrive after that. Tactics were no longer needed. After all, now he could kiss her any time he wanted.

The next chapter will be the finale! I was originally thinking of ending the story with this chapter, but I decided against it.