A/N: Okay, I know it might be kinda OOC at times, but I tried. :) I'll update when the muse strikes me, so no promises there, but it won't be so long, I promise. Probably won't sound perfectly at first, but that'll improve over time. I'd love some feedback regarding what could be improved, since I'm no good at judging my own stories. Um... Read & enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: Ouran High School and its characters belong entirely to Bisco Hatori. I don't own anything besides this very plot, which is probably already used somewhere.

"What's wrong, Haruhi?" Kyoya's soft voice rang through the empty hallway.

"N-nothing, senpai" she stammered, quickly wiping away the fresh traces of tears from her cheeks.

He swiftly crossed the small distance between them and squatted to level his eyes with hers.

"It's… alright. I'm okay," she nodded, using her most convincing tone, but her uneven breathing and half-hearted attempt at a smile gave her away.

The boy didn't reply, but lifted her chin with the tips of his long, graceful fingers, and looked her in the eyes. His penetrating glance went right through her…

"What did he do?" he asked as she turned her eyes, unable to stand the intensity of his gaze without spilling her heart out.

"It's not his fault!" The girl immediately responded with a mixture of accusation and bitterness. 'Why does he think it's his best friend's fault…? Shouldn't he be on his side?'

"Oh, but it's exactly his fault, and your condition proves it," he replied calmly, a tiny bit of pity discernible in his tone.

"This isn't a condition! I don't have mental issues for you to call it that way, Doctor," The stinging answer came immediately. She was getting irritated by the way he always thought he knew everything… To her unpleasant surprise though, he was right once again… "And it's not his fault," she added matter-of-factly, but it was directed to herself rather than him.

Because deep down inside, she was sure it was exactly his fault. That indecisive joke of a man… Coward. Fool.

He wanted to be with her so much he'd dumped the chance of seeing his mother, and yet he was having second thoughts. 'What if my feelings for her really are those of a father,' she'd heard him say to Mori-senpai just a few hours ago. What hurt her even more was how he didn't even talk with her – the one it was about, but some third party, be it one of his best friends.

"I know Tamaki. Just tell me what he messed up this time," Kyoya was just too sure to give up. There was no other reason for Haruhi to be crying, curled up into a ball in the middle of an empty hallway. She simply wasn't that kind of girl.

Was 'not telling him' even an option? His piercing eyes seemed to already know everything, and she needed to talk with someone so badly. He wanted to know, didn't he? They were friends… Good friends, at that. He deserved her trust.

She sighed, making a mental note not to try resisting Kyoya-senpai in the future – it was an impossible task, and reluctantly began, "He's been acting weird for a few days… I can't put my finger on it, but it wasn't the usual way he behaves," she paused and looked up at the boy. He was listening carefully, probably analyzing her every word as she spoke. Noticing she'd stopped, he nodded at her to continue.

"Today I heard him talking to Mori-senpai, and he… he said something." Haruhi's lips refused to recreate the exact phrase, feeling she was already on the edge of tears. She took a deep breath to calm herself and tried her best to finish the thought.

"He said… he said his feelings might… probably were just those of a good friend… of a father…"

Her voice got stuck in her throat as drop after drop escaped her eyes and made its way down her cheeks. The girl squeezed her eyelids together in hope it'd stop the tears from falling, but with no luck.

Kyoya was still going over the information he'd just received, tapping his lower lip thoughtfully, and gazing in an undefined direction without actually seeing anything. His best friend, who seemed so blissfully enamored with this girl, was apparently having some sort of regrets. He was still wondering how this had escaped from his attention, when a loud gasp for air just a few inches away pulled him out of his thoughts.

"H-Haruhi?" It was so unlike him to stutter, but the sight of this girl, who up till now he'd always considered much too strong for her own good, literally falling apart because of a boy… It caught him unprepared. He didn't think it meant so much to her, but as he observed her desperate tries at taking a breath between the sobs, he realized just how in love she was.

With someone who clearly didn't deserve it.

His coolness vanished the second she opened her eyes to look at him. They were filled with so much pain and despair that it was frighteningly hard not to find Tamaki and beat him up for causing her all this heartache.

At the moment though, she probably needed someone to stay by her side instead, so Kyoya settled himself down and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Now, Haruhi-chan, I want you to get a grip on yourself! Tamaki stayed here because of you, so you shouldn't…" But he didn't finish his sentence. That was definitely not the proper way to make her feel better. Instead her figure started shaking even more, her sobs growing louder and more uncontrollable.

'Moron...,' he thought, 'But what to do, what to do now…?' His brain was working at full speed. 'A hug might help… I've noticed it eases Onee-san,' he finally figured, so he wrapped his arm around her shoulders ever so lightly. Sadly his gesture produced no effect on her condition – it was as though she didn't notice it… His only experience at comforting girls was his older sister, but that was different. He'd known her for his entire life, and Haruhi – for less than a year. He was puzzled.

'Perhaps something more… physical then,' he thought as he put his other hand on her back and pulled her a few inches closer into his arms. She obediently followed the motion, settling her head right below his shoulder, where it fit perfectly.

His left arm tightly wrapped her in a hug and he instinctively began stroking her hair. 'Well, it works on kids…' he explained to himself, justifying his own actions. Her little figure was still shaking, but his embrace was efficiently reducing the trembles.

After a few minutes the cries slowly quieted, her body now resting completely on his. He daren't speak, afraid of triggering a new burst of tears from her just as he'd finally managed to soothe the last. Kyoya kept on caressing the back of her head in slow, calming motions – just in case.

The girl adjusted herself into a more comfortable position with her arms folded on his chest. She looked calm with her eyes closed, curled into him like a child. 'Safe…'

She slowly lifted her head, her eyes now clear and full of gratitude.

"Sumimasen, Kyoya-senpai," she mumbled quietly. Her voice was slightly husky, but he judged it to be normal – she was crying her eyes out just minutes ago, after all. She didn't seem happy, but he was content as long as she wasn't weeping anymore.

"Don't worry," he replied with a smirk, "I'm adding it to your debt."

Enough cheesy weakness from him for one day, no?

Haruhi lightly chuckled at his remark, but the thankful look never left her big chocolate eyes.

A/N (again): There. I tried cutting down on the fluff, dunno if I made it. :P Hope you liked. :)