Title: Invisible
Written by: WraithR249 & Yue Guang Kuroneko
Pairing: KyouyaxHaruhi
Rating: K (for now)

Invisible
By WraithR249
(and BETA'd by Yue Guang Kuroneko)

--

Haruhi shivered against the wind, the cold feeling was like a sheet of needles slapping her in the face. She had decided that she would be sick the following day when a black car pulled up beside her. The window rolled down and Haruhi gazed up to find Kyouya gazing at her through unreadable eyes.

"You look like you could use a lift."

--

Looking out the window, Haruhi wondered again if all of those people that were staring at the passing black car were really unable to see her, sitting restlessly inside of it and looking completely out of place.

"Are you sure they can't see me while I'm in here?" she asked, folding her hands in her lap anxiously. This was the first time she truly cared about how she looked to the public eye. It was strange, wasn't it? That a simple person like her would be sitting inside a luxurious car with a man that was more than a step above her on the society ladder?

"They can't," Kyouya answered smoothly but quickly, as if he expected her to ask that question. His voice was cold, but Haruhi knew that he was deep in thought. She was quite certain she knew what he was thinking about too. Truthfully, she also wondered what those two friends of theirs were up to.

She sat idly beside the thinking man, wondering about her own feelings that brought her to where she was at the moment. She had to admit that she herself was surprised to end up with Kyouya, of all people.

Truthfully, she had previously imagined- no, previously considered- herself beside either Tamaki or Hikaru. If she were to follow up on those feelings, she figured that either boy would most likely reciprocate.

What engrossed her to Tamaki, despite his incredibly annoying behavior, was his predictable nature. Although his speech was nonsensical and his attitude was narcissistic, Haruhi found comfort in his obvious transparency and his straightforward demeanor. As far as relationships ran, she admitted that they would be able to talk openly about their feelings (or at least him to her) and be comfortably honest about it.

As for Hikaru, Haruhi was intrigued by his enigmatic and (although she hated to admit it) sadistic nature. While she understood some aspects of him, his true nature was a mystery to her, and the prospect of exploring and understanding him excited her. He did treat her like a toy, but she saw the way he cared for and treated his brother, and she knew that she could look forward to the same attention if he cared for her that way as well. She was sure that in a relationship with him, she would probably never grow bored. Having new and stylish clothes wasn't a high priority to her, but it might help in the future.

There was however, something about Kyouya that quickly convinced her that she should choose him instead. And so she did.

After much thought and deliberation, Haruhi came to the conclusion that Kyouya commanded a well-balanced blend of these traits. She took comfort in that his decisions were dictated by logic and reason, making him an understanding man. While his train of thought was profound, it followed a logical procession that made his ideas correct, and his reasoning linear and predictable. And yet…

"Merry Christmas," she said cheerfully, handing him a small wrapped package.

He raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair to open up the present that she handed over to him.

"What is this?" He asked, inspecting the small box.

"It's called a Rubik's cube," she told him. "It turns several different ways, and the nine squares on each face of the cube are supposed to match."

He stared at it more. "They already do. What's the point of a gift like this?"

Haruhi grabbed it from him, slightly irritated at his lack of appreciation for the gift that she got him. It was already hard enough shopping for him! He didn't have to look so unappreciative.

Turning a few of the sides rapidly, she quickly ruined the matching faces of the puzzle.

"There."

As she placed down the toy, Kyouya immediately picked it up.

He turned a few of the sides slowly. Then, after a few minutes, more rapidly, looking irritated. "Never mind," he grumbled, putting down the gift firmly.

The following day, she had found the puzzle on her living room table, solved. She wondered how he had gained entry into her home as well.

"I developed a formula for several different situations," he described later that day. She gave him a sideways smile. She had never seen him so focused on something. He seemed not to hear her when she asked how he was able to put the cube in the living room in the first place.

There was still so much about him that she didn't know. It was not too long ago that she discovered the warmth of his smile, the depth of his life. His intricate mind… it was a puzzle that she would never be able to solve...and perhaps that was why she chose him out of the Host Club.

"What are you thinking about?"

Haruhi snapped back to reality, finding Kyouya's gaze upon her. His voice had lost the sharpness that it held a moment ago. The look in his eyes revealed just how weary he had become.

They looked at each other for a moment like that.

"You," she sighed, tired of everything that had been bothering the two of them since the very beginning. He didn't react.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked back, trying to fill the silence.

Kyouya sighed, smiling slightly. "Well, nothing in particular…"

"Huh?" came her intelligent reply as she watched him carefully.

"I was thinking about Tamaki and Hikaru… and how much they want to keep you for themselves."

Haruhi pondered this statement herself for a moment, and then shook her head in disagreement. "At this point, I don't think that's what they're even focused on… It seems as though they just want to make you miserable. They just want to drive us apart."

"Don't you think they would want to trade places with me in the end?"

"If that was really their goal, they would have been more careful to not damage my image of them. By now, they probably just feel that you deserve me the least… and the best way to deal with their misery is to share some with you."

"I guess that's how some things develop," he agreed. "I suppose they did lose sight of the bigger picture."

They sat in silence, looking at each other affectionately for a few minutes. Finally, Haruhi reached out quickly and took his hand in her own. He didn't protest.

"Why did all this trouble have to come with choosing the only sane one?" She sighed, exasperated. "I'm so tired of dealing with all of this."

"Mm." He replied, squeezing her hand gently.

"Ootori-san, we've reached our destination," the driver reported from the driver's seat. Indeed, the car soon came to a halt.

"Thank you," Kyouya replied, and stepped out of the car with Haruhi.

The air outside was frigid, and Haruhi shivered as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder. She walked with Kyouya in silence to her door. He looked unaffected by the cold.

Plugging the key in the lock and turning it, her hand rested on the knob as she stared at the door.

Turning to face Kyouya, they embraced each other lightly, and Haruhi glanced at the studious, calculating genius. There were so many things about him that she didn't know. She would never learn all of his secrets, but a part of her wanted to try and yet, there was a part of her that wanted him to reveal those secrets to her himself.

"Why do you do this, Kyouya?" she asked him, fully aware but unsure of why she asked such a vague question.

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you push yourself so hard to be the best in your class? Is it really a goal of yours to do better, or make more money than everyone else? Do you enjoy beating out the competition?"

Kyouya shook his head, looking at her as if forlorn. "Haruhi… I don't know what my goal in life is. You are one of the only things that I have ever really…needed—wanted—I suppose. It would be too simple to just forget all of my responsibilities- I don't think that I would be any less satisfied than I am now.

"But I have a feeling that… sometime in the future, I'm going to find something I need, or a reason to live, or a goal for me to achieve. And I am sure that… if I work hard enough… when it comes along, I'll be ready to handle the responsibility of having a purpose."

A cold wind blew past them and Haruhi clutched him even tighter.

--

Authors' Notes:

-WraithR249: I-… really have no idea where this chapter was going, so… yeah. Anyway, it's 10 AM which is way too early for me… and I haven't gone to sleep yet. At least it's a Saturday, so I have no class… This past Thursday, I overslept and missed all my classes.

Anyway, the overall lesson of this chapter is to not forget the big picture, even if you don't know what it is yet. Hikaru and Tamaki have already done so… Kyouya still has everything in focus. I tried to incorporate the fencing lesson into this chapter, but I failed to do so… in a nutshell, it goes as follows.

Scientific Investigation- Skip if this bores you

Fencing, simply put, is what we would like to call the art of sword fighting. It began sometime in the 19th century, but that isn't the important part. Prior to the 1960's, fencing was observed by judges who would attempt to discern, during a match, exactly when a hit was scored. Of course, since fencing is pretty fast, judges can miss these things, so during the 1960's the electrification of the foil (a type of sword) was the first step in using sensors to replace the eyes of the judges.

Okay, this is getting long so… the sensors overrode a lot of rules of fencing, and replaced a lot of the movements and strategies, since a sensor could pick up quick hits that judges couldn't pick up on. Technology helped to evolve the sport of fencing.

But my point is, was it really such a good idea to evolve that kind of thing? Although it makes it more fair, since judges might see some things and miss others (thus granting the favor towards one fencer), would some miniscule little hit really harm a guy if it were a real sword? Does that really matter, you ask me- but isn't this sport supposed to be like, sword fighting, or something? How does a tiny little poke score the same as a huge slash across a guy's chest?

The entire fencing thing is arguable, of course, since it is a sport, and what a sport functions as does not necessarily have to fit any sort of meaning, especially not what I said. Sports are free to evolve and change. But take the meaning out of the example for just a second.

Are you at school to learn, or for the grades? Sometimes we get good grades and learn something, which is what we're supposed to do. That's when we score a hit in fencing and it's a damaging blow. Other times, we get good grades and we don't learn anything. That's when we score a hit and it was a little poke.

So really… think about what you're doing, and ask yourself… what's it really all about?

End of Scientific Investigation

Yeah, so another pointless chapter… maybe next chapter I'll get somewhere with this…

P.S. I want a PS3

-Yue Guang Kuroneko: Ano…what to say about this chapter? I suppose this is a little bit of an insight to what Kyouya and Haruhi feel for each other (although more of how Haruhi feels for Kyouya) and how they are already being accustomed to being more than just "acquaintance" or just "friends."

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and a bit of fluff at the end. (Although I can't say that it's completely fluff…) Hopefully, Wraith-san feels more inspired soon to write chapter 17. Thank you all for reading!