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

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

--

A shiver ran up her spine and after a long moment, Haruhi realized that she was running out of air.

Pulling back from the kiss and panting heavily, she avoided Kyouya's gaze, feeling utterly embarrassed. This certainly wasn't what she had in mind when she had invited him in for tea.

Or… was it? She thought to herself, fighting a grin that was edging its way onto her face.

"Are we really going to have some tea or…?"

A frown replaced the grin instead as she found a knowing smirk on Kyouya's face, as if he knew something he wasn't supposed to.

"Never mind. I'll go make tea," she muttered, backing into the kitchen. A gentle hand on her shoulder paused her retreat. She turned back around to face him, subconsciously expecting another kiss.

"I'll help," he said quietly.

--

Haruhi set the teacups down onto the table and poured the tea carefully. Kyouya sat down beside her, grasped the cup from the other end of the table and took a sip. He looked satisfied.

Raising an eyebrow at his uncharacteristic display of affection, Haruhi sat down in front of her own cup of tea, inspecting him curiously.

Kyouya looked back at her, mirroring her expression.

"Am I not allowed to sit next to you and drink tea?"

That's right, she thought to herself. He's already reached the level of a mind reader.

Wait a second…

"That would mean that you have acknowledged that it's strange to sit next to me," Haruhi replied, looking wry.

Kyouya stared for a brief moment before replying, "That means I acknowledge that you think it's strange for me to sit next to you."

"You'd have to think it strange in order to recognize that I would think it strange, wouldn't you?"

"Not necessarily. I can tell when you think something is out of place, and it is only a matter of recognizing what you consider to be peculiar about a given situation." He retaliated.

"Ah. Then you must have already noticed that I find it odd that we're having this conversation."

Kyouya paused for a moment before stating, "Maybe I have."

Haruhi couldn't help but let out a small laugh, and Kyouya gave her a soft smile as he sipped his tea. "Being with you like this still feels… a little strange to me."

Her laughter subsided, and she found his warm eyes on hers, making her heart flutter a little.

"Is that so?"

The two leaned closer, and Haruhi closed her eyes as she inhaled his scent that she was getting quite familiar with. Mixed with the tea that she had made for them, the smell was… how does one put it…?

BLEEP BLEEP. BRRRRING.

Well, not quite that.

Their faces were only an inch away from contact and Kyouya jumped back, reaching into his pocket. "Ah, my phone," he said, looking just the slightest bit embarrassed.

"I know," she said, rolling her eyes. "I wonder who it could be."

Kyouya produced his phone from his pocket, looking at it almost disbelievingly before answering. "Hunny-senpai?"

"Kyo-chan, Kyo-chan!" Hunny wailed into the receiver. "Something terrible is happening!"

"What is it?" he asked, sounding concerned. It was already uncommon enough for him to receive a call from another member of the Host Club that wasn't Tamaki.

"I'm afraid I can't understand you," Kyouya explained to the babbling senior.

"Kyouya." Mori's crisp voice came through clearly through the receiver.

"Mori-senpai, has something come up?"

"Tamaki. He wants to dissolve the Host Club. We think he's already handed in the papers. That means…"

"Damn," Kyouya gritted his teeth. "That means I only have two days."

"Twenty-four hours," Mori corrected. "It appears as though he submitted them yesterday."

"That idiot." Kyouya punched the wall, causing Haruhi to jump a little bit.

"Hey!"

"Sorry," he apologized. "I forgot where I was."

"You're with Haruhi," Mori observed. "Perhaps it's best that she is the one to speak with him."

"I considered that," agreed Kyouya. "But I'm not quite sure how he'll react."

"That's true. But we can be certain that he won't be happy to see you."

"Agreed. Alright then, we're going to stop him."

Kyouya hung up his phone. Haruhi glanced at him expectantly through curious eyes.

"Tamaki is trying to close down the Host Club."

"What?!" Haruhi stood up, almost knocking over her cup of tea before she hurried to rescue it.

"He submitted the forms yesterday to the administration. We still have one day left to change his mind and have him reverse the process."

"You want me to go then." Haruhi said quietly.

"Yes," Kyouya replied as he slipped his cell phone back into his pocket.

"I'll try my best." Haruhi made to get her coat.

"Wait." Kyouya grabbed her arm before she could reach for it.

She looked at him, surprised, as she asked, "What is it?"

"Haruhi…" Kyouya paused, not used to talking so openly about feelings- others' or his own. "I know how much you love the Host Club. And we're going to try our best to stop this from happening, but—"

"Sen-pai," she said slowly, interrupting him. "No, Kyouya," she corrected herself, reaching out to touch his face. "The Host Club… it made my first year at Ouran an amazing one. I have so many wonderful memories from being around you strange, rich people," she teased.

"But it's not the Host Club I love. It's the people in it, my friends. They are what I care about the most. And to be honest," she sighed, looking away. "To be honest, it hurts that everyone is acting this way. I really wanted them to be happy for me—for us."

Kyouya seemed to ponder this for a minute, and then nodded his head. "I understand. Then, if you're ready, shall we handle this?"

"I don't see why not. Now is as good a time as any."

Kyouya smiled, "Let's go stop our idiot king."

--

Authors' Notes:

-WraithR249: Ha, I was going to make this chapter twice as long to make up for the slow updates recently, but I figured, why do tonight what I can do some other unknown night in the future? Which sounded much more appealing to me.

Not much to say about this chapter except… well… at least I have an idea as to what will happen next…

As you can probably guess there is no scientific investigation incorporated into this chapter (sadly)! Therefore this A/N goes out to the readers (I guess)! I'll address the few (more like ultra-meager) reviews that we got for chapter 16. Without naming names.

First one is about Tae Kwon Do (how I learned to spell it in English). In one of the reviews, one reader mentioned something about using sensors in case a judge couldn't really see.

My response: That's interesting. I have trained in Tae Kwon Do for 13 years and been to a few tournies, but all of them have only been states (I haven't been to any nationals), and I haven't seen any electronic sensors- do they use them for like the Olympics, too?

To be perfectly honest with you, I don't see the practicality in the use of sensors there- in the sparring matches I've been in, a lot of speed and force was used, and at times when I have blocked some kind of strike, it had enough force to make my block (arms) make contact with my body/head. Would that not set off the sensors? We used the 4 judge system in my tournies.

Next review is about McDonalds. Or more specifically, Ronald himself.

My response: You know, I haven't seen the big guy in a long time. Where the heck has he gone? I guess he doesn't really appeal anymore, what with all the health awareness we have these days.

Third review is about kicking me. Followed by running away.

My response: Ow. Here's the next chapter. Written fast and sloppy, just for you.

Fourth review is thanking me for updating.

My response: You're welcome. Have another, coming your way.

Most recent review for chapter 16 decides that the rubik's cube was a good idea for a gift.

My response: DAMN!! I saw the movie "Pursuit of Happyness," and Will Smith solved a Rubik's Cube. Essentially what I did in a nutshell is bought a Rubik's cube, screwed it up, and did what I made Kyouya do- figure out how to solve it. It took me around 3-4 hours to figure out how to solve it the first time… As you read last chapter, something like "I developed several formulae to deal with several different situations that came up," or something like that. I was able to solve it in about 1-2 minutes pretty consistently when I was on the train (from Rutgers Newark to Trenton, so I could then head back to school in Philly, Drexel) when I fell asleep solving it… and when I woke up, it was gone from my hand! Thinking that the cube was in my bag somewhere, I got up and left Trenton to head back to Philly. On the way to Philly, I realized I had dropped my cube somewhere on the train, leaving it behind.

I fell asleep again on the way to Philly, missing my stop. I got off three stops later when I woke up, ran under the tracks to get on a train heading back, which closed the doors IN MY FACE. This was not even a freaking joke. I have never been so close to catching a train in my life and missing it.

Made it to class on time though.

Okay, 1.5 pages of Author's notes is too much. I'll put up chapter 18 like… tomorrow night to make it up to you guys.

Btw, if you haven't seen it, watch this to hole you over:

www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v(equal)7r-aBe2dvXo

-Yue Guang Kuroneko: I'm not even going to bother reading Wraith-san's author's notes. Way too long. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Ganbatte, Kyouya and Haruhi!