The twins finally agreed on a direct line of attack, and walked into the restaurant as if they were customers. When the hostess approached them, Hikaru politely told her they were still waiting on some people, and they sat down on some of the benches provided. Then they started looking around.

"Over there," Kaoru whispered, "the divider behind those plants is mostly glass. If we look through them, I bet we can see into the dining room."

The two got up from their seats and slowly strolled over to the other side of the lobby, pointing to different parts of the architecture as though they were admiring it. Once they reached the divider-hiding-behind-plants, however, all pretenses were lost and they both stuck their heads into the leaves to peer through the glass.

They quickly located a slightly nervous looking, but smiling Kyoya, seated at a small table in a private corner of the bistro. His lack of composure was enough to shock the twins, but even more surprising was his dinner partner, a fairly pretty young woman with wide eyes and a petite frame. Her pencil skirt and neat updo suggested a no-nonsense attitude, but her posture was relaxed and she was smiling warmly at the young man across the table from her.

Hikaru and Kaoru watched, mouths agape, as Kyoya reached down into the bag he had been carrying and pulled out a small bouquet of white gardenias. The young woman looked delighted as he offered them to her; she inhaled their scent deeply and said something inaudible, before laying them on the table. Kyoya had now pulled another item from the bag, and he laid the narrow velvet box with a red bow on the tablecloth and slid it across the surface. The girl's eyes lit up again as she opened the box to reveal a simple tennis bracelet set with sapphires.

Kaoru finally composed himself enough to look at his brother. "I don't believe it."

"Well, we certainly are seeing it, but I'm having a hard time with it too."

"I guess this solves the mystery. What do you say we hea-" Kaoru was cut off by a sudden tapping on his shoulder. Both boys turned around and gave the hostess their most charming smiles, but her expression remained unaffected.

"We're sorry, miss. It seems our friends are not coming after all. We'll just be getting out of your way." Hikaru gave the woman a respectful nod of the head, grabbed his brother's hand, and bolted for the door.

"Dammit," he muttered under his breath, "Just as it was starting to get good."

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A/N: A shorter update here, but now you finally know what Kyoya's been up to. The next chapter will wrap things up (expect some fluffiness), and then I might include an 'alternative opening' that got cut from my original. As always, R & R is appreciated!

Reviewer Responses:

-iTorchic- I didn't want to say anything before, but, you guessed it! I hope it hasn't made the story boring for you.

-Shards-of-Wishbone- Thanks! It's good to know that things aren't getting lost in translation between my head and the screen.

-Fence Walker- I take full responsibility.. I got that song stuck in my head as I was writing this, and it didn't go away for two days. But the mental image was too funny not to include.

-StarlightWish17- I'm glad you enjoyed it! I had a lot of fun writing that chapter.

Disclaimer: All non-original characters are the property of Bisco Hatori. I'm just borrowing them, and promise to return them (eventually) in (more or less) the same condition I found them in.

[edited to add disclaimer to all chapters]