Title: Strings (of a spider's web)
Chapter: 2/?
Author: The black gryphon/Zaheela
Overall Rating: PG-13
Chapter rating: PG
Status: Unbeta'd (and looking for one!!!)
Pairings: Mori/Haruhi, Kyouya/Haruhi
Disclaimer: Ouran host club Bisco Hatori. Thus saying, i am not her. Bottom line, Not mine... Much to my dismay...

"While it may not see like such a 'huge problem' to you, I am happy to inform you that ANY clerical error is a problem for this cooperation. Please ensure that the paperwork on the Yamaguchi cooperation will be corrected and that this will never happen again. If you are unable to do so, clear your desk immediately." With a slam, Kyouya hung up the phone and wondered if some greater force was punishing him for misdeeds in a previous life. His 'wife' was intolerable with her material based fits and his father's employees seemed to lack usable minds, and to make things worse, he could not sleep without phantoms of an obviously better past haunting him. It appeared to Kyouya that he was doomed to suffer both in the world called reality and the land of dreams. Though his father never had said it outright, Kyouya knew he had concerns about a heir being born, but that meant getting physically close to Mayura. Even the THOUGHT of getting near that shallow woman, with her overly inflated breasts and chemical puffed lips made him retch. Mayura was not beautiful, nor was she kind or in any way perfect. She was not Haruhi, the woman who plagued his dreams, lingered off the tip of his tongue; the woman he had lost.

No one could call Kyouya an idiot when looked at from a professional point of view, but Kyouya knew that, as talented as he was, he was not perfect. Close, but even he harbored some flaws. Kyouya couldn't help but consider himself the fool for letting Haruhi slip from his arms and an even bigger fool to keep clinging to her memory. Back then, Kyouya realized, he was a fool, a god be damned fool. To think he passed off the perfect partner with thoughts of 'I need to focus on my empire' and 'She'll just be a distraction' when he had her right where he wanted her. It was true, all reason and common sense flew out the window when it applied to her, but he supposed it was a welcome loss of reality. It at least kept him reasonably sane. There was no Tamaki to lighten the mood, no Twins to insert well needed chaos when it was needed. Kyouya had lost touch with Hunny-sempai and Mori-sempai, due to 'conditions out of his control' and contact with Haruhi was near impossible. Though he had the chance to pull her aside, she had made it clear that she had no interest in whatever he had to offer. To add insult to injury, she had with sweetened words, hinted at the threat of her finding a way to bring him down from his high and mighty perch, even if was only for a moment. It would only take that moment for her to show Kyouya that she was in no way to be pushed around by a man with such a past.

"What does the cruelest mistress of all have in store for me? I wonder..." Kyouya said to the empty air as he stared at the wall before grabbing his jacket, teeth grinding, and leaving his office. He needed a stiff drink and a well-deserved rest. Maybe this time Haruhi would not come trapezing into his dreams. A voice in his mind sniggered and pointed out the obvious fact that that was impossible, but Kyouya was a man of chances.

"Mama! Can we go in to the pet store later?" Why couldn't shopping be a simple of a task like when she was living with her father?

"Mama, can I have some pocky?"

Why?

"Mama!"
Ah right, because she didn't have to worry about sly little hands placing things into her basket. She only had to worry about her father's overeager hands, and those she could see easily. At least, when she handled the household chores.
"Hatori, calm down." A deep voice interrupted her son's endless stream of requests and questions and silence settled back in. Haruhi envied Mori's ability to instantly calm down her over eager child, but she supposed he was imposing in that fatherly figure/older brother sort of way. It seemed odd, how Mori had always found time in his obviously busy schedule to accompany her for these minor things, shopping for the next week, taking Hatori to the park, minor things. It wasn't unwelcome, it was just strange. When she really thought about it, she supposed it was the 'protector' in him over Hatori, who she noted was trying to sneak a box of chocolate pocky into her hand basket. Well, she supposed one box would never hurt, as long as he didn't pick up Hunny's problematic sweet tooth.
"Hatori, would you do me a favor and go with Mori-san to go the vegetable section and pick me up some spinach?" Haruhi asked of her son, who made a 'ick' face at the mention of the dreaded plant.
"Mama, do I have to?" Hatori whined, tugging at the hem of shirt and she simple smiled a knowing smile before responding.
"Please, for me?" Hatori sighed and then held out his hand for Mori to take and the two males set off, though Haruhi swore she could hear Hatori's whining from the vegetable section. She wore that content smile until she heard a pair of women whispering in a tone they thought she could not hear.
"Isn't that so sweet? Don't they look like the perfect couple Minako-san?"
"Oh I agree, they must be very happy with each other!" There was no malice, if anything it was a compliment, but the truth was apparent to Haruhi. Though to any stranger, they may look like a loving family, with Hatori inheriting her eyes and his father's dark hair, to Haruhi, it was painfully obvious that Mori was not the father. First off, the texture of the hair differed greatly. Kyouya's had been smooth and silky, like the well groomed hair on the back of a mature cat's back, while Mori's was somewhat coarser, thicker, and softer. The color was different as well, as Haruhi knew well. While Mori's was could only be considered the color of high quality black India ink, Kyouya's reflected his devious nature. The color of a raven's wing or a black jaguar were almost perfect ways to describe the color of Kyouya's hair, but not quite. Haruhi couldn't think of a proper name, but all she knew that was it was a color that whispered sleek, sly, a deep color not quite evil.
"Here mama! Mori-san helped me pick it out!" Hatori offered the bag of spinach (Haruhi noted that it was rather small) out for her to grab and Haruhi smiled, eyes glimmering.
"Thank you. Mmm, what should we have for dinner tonight then? Tempura? Or perhaps some dumplings?" Haruhi questioned her young son, who eagerly responded. So intent on watching her son she did not realize that there were two pairs of eyes staring at her. The pair right beside hers reflected an emotion called 'endearment' and then alarm as the owner realized that someone outside was also watching the scene with great interest. Eyes met, and Mori moved so that his body blocked Haruhi's view of the window.
"Haruhi, You're blocking the way." Mori motioned to the woman who laughed nervously. Immediately Haruhi turned to apologize and Mori took this opportunity to stare at the unknown man. His warning was clear, Back off. The stranger turned, but Mori's sharp eyes caught the satisfied smirk on his face. Mori's face was etched with worry until Haruhi placed her hand on his elbow.
"Is something wrong Mori-san?"
"No."

Kyouya fell back into his bed, his mind seething and trying to figure out possible ways that he was just seeing things. He did not want to think that... It just couldn't be.

"Dear? Is something wrong?" Mayura purred into his ear. Kyouya quickly covered his surprise and looked up to see his wife dressed up in some overly done negligee the color of a clown's nose. It made her appear like something that even Tamaki would call disgusting, but it was not the pressing issue at hand.

"Mayura, what are you doing in this mansion?" Kyouya forced a polite tone while sorting out who in his staff would have been stupid enough to let the woman in. Once he figured it out, he ensured that at the very least, the person be banned from ever setting foot in Tokyo again.

"Well daddy told me that lately you've been very stressed and I figured that maybe we could 'get to know each other better'?" The taste of bile was overpowering at the very thought of even touching any of what the woman sampled, but Kyouya understood the reasoning. Once Mayura produced a heir to the Ootori family, it would become very difficult to remove her influence from his family's dealings. All the benefits would go in favor of the Matsumori family while his family would suffer a major weak point. Cursing his father, Kyouya stood up and smiled at the woman.

"I am afraid to inform you that I am very busy at the moment. If you could please kindly leave, I'll.."

"Don't give me any of that bullshit!" Mayura suddenly snapped, her face suddenly contorting into something out of a horror film. "You have been avoiding me for 2 years since our wedding night. Need I remind you that we are MARRIED? Do you not realize how many men would fling themselves at my feet if I was not?"

Kyouya felt his tolerance for such a shallow woman strain. "Need I remind you that our marriage was not romantic in any way but political? There is no intimacy or love involved. I have made this clear, I have no interest in a woman such as yourself, and further more, you have no right to demand anything from me. On paper, we may be married, but in reality, you have no other role then to act like a suitable wife. Which I may note, you have failed at miserably." Kyouya's calm appearance barely hid his disgust with the woman laying on his sheets. "Do not think I don't know about your many lovers over these two years. I only played ignorant since it seemed to distract you from trying to approach me. You are testing my patience, and I am sure you are aware of the consequences of angering the Ootori family. Now leave."

Mayura sputtered and seemed to wish to lunge at the man standing before her before her cowardly nature reared it's head. With a huff, she gathered her coat from where she had thrown it on a chair and headed for the door.

"Don't think this is over, 'dear'." With that, Mayura stormed out of the cold mansion and waited for her driver to appear. Once settled in the comforts of her limo, she let a sly smile slide onto her face. Her dear 'husband' was irritated, she wondered why. Her hand slipped into her handbag and retrieved the report from her own little spy.

"Well now, I'll just have to see into this Fujioka Haruhi." She eyed the woman in the picture. "She'll be very useful in breaking that detested husband of mine. I wonder, though..." Mayura frowned at the picture. The woman was obviously a mother, she had that aura around her, but she was plain. Long, flowing chestnut hair, small pert lips, a pair of breasts that were not large but not too small, thin waist, slight hips, and the most expressive brown eyes ever. Hardly anything worth a second glance. "Just what makes this woman so important?"

ANs: Still looking for a beta ;;. Quite honestly i'm torn with who ends up with the girl. I'm in favor of both and maybe even throwing in the twins in the running (highly unlikely), but it's so hard to figure it out. -sigh- and sorry, but updates will be somewhat slow since I want to get this plot down correctly, not quickly, and I'm also trying to make the chapters longer, so do bear with me X.x. I do appreciate the reviews, (actually I adore them) and again, I am in need of a beta. If you're interested, please contact me at:

AIM: darktundrawolf or MSN: zaheela at hotmail (dot) com (DAMN YOU DOCUMENT EDITOR! -Angry growl-) Ok, back to work on chapter 3 T-T

Oh, as a note... I Hate ff net's document editor...