Title: Strings (of a spider's web)
Chapter: 4/?
Author: The black gryphon/Zaheela
Overall Rating: PG-13
Chapter rating: G
Status: Unbeta'd
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...

Haruhi frowned as she stared at the stray cats her son had brought in, a pair of twin cats, complete with sly grins, evil intentions, and a coil of rope in hand.
"Hikaru, Kaoru, just what are you doing here?" Haruhi half heartedly asked, the look on her face screaming 'why do I even bother with you?' "And why in the world do you have rope?"
"To abduct you in case you refuse our request." Hikaru cheerfully replied, the sly look remaining in place.
"Request?"
"If our memories are correct, recently you were asked to escort us to a gathering of your social betters." Kaoru supplied, the smirk somewhat irritating her. Haruhi leaned against the door frame, her fingers tapping against her upper arm.
"I recall stating that I didn't want to go."
"Ah, that's why we have the rope." Said rope was presented to the rather pissed off lawyer.
"And you're aware that this is an serious offense punishable by law?"
"Since when do we care?" Damn infuriating twins...
"You should. You are aware that there is a child in the room and I have no sitter on hand, and I very much doubt that I would entrust you with watching over my residence." A brief memory of when she had foolishly left the devious hell spawn alone in her house with her son. There were still scorch marks behind her new oven.
"We have that taken care." Both of their eyebrows wriggled in glee at some sort of secret kept between the two of them.
"No." Haruhi turned, intent on leaving the two standing there when she discovered moving with your own offspring wrapped around your legs was near impossible to do. Her balance lost, she felt herself fall backwards, only to be wrapped by two pairs of arms. Hatori giggled as Kaoru quickly took the offered opportunity to tightly bind Haruhi's arms to her sides. WHEN they had convinced her little angel to turn to the dark side she didn't know, but she was sure that when she got home, Hatori would regret it. (A little voice inside of her stated otherwise.)
"We'll bring your mom back safe and sound, Tori-chan! Make sure to let Hunny in when he comes over alright?" Hikaru yelled out as he threw his reluctant baggage over his shoulder. Haruhi wriggled with all her might, but she was slight in weight and Hikaru was more physically fit then he looked.
"The cookies are hidden in the cabinet by the sink!" Kaoru revealed, earning a cry of glee from the young boy, who promptly slammed the door once the location of the much coveted cookies were revealed. Haruhi gave up at that point, her eyes glaring at the twin she could see.
"Rich bastards." She muttered. Kaoru just smiled.

A few unbearable hours later, Haruhi was standing in the middle of a lavish ballroom. The topaz earrings she wore felt like seven pound weights, and her skull was being impaled by roughly two dozen jeweled pins. Wearing a simple silk dress the color of sakura petals, she felt very out of place. Perhaps dress wasn't the most accurate term for what she wore, but being less then knowledgeable in the terminology of fashion gave her the right to call the Hitachiin creation she wore whatever she wanted. It was rather discomforting, having one shoulder left bare while the other had the ends to the cloth buttoned together, the extra cloth fluttering over her shoulder every time she moved. It wasn't a princess dress, since the skirt didn't sport the extra fluff, lace, ribbons, sequins, bead work, or numerous layers of cloth, but it did flare outwards somewhat. The hem of the dress barely brushed against the ground, and to finish the whole mess up, a simple gold rope was tied around her waist. On anyone else, Haruhi was sure the dress would have been stunning, simple yet flattering the figure, but on her it was like sticking a peacock feather on the tail of a common house cat. She squirmed a bit, the cool silk of her dress and dress gloves chilling her body, but she remained rooted to the spot.

Perhaps she could see what delicacies were lined up on the buffet table.

"HARUHIIIII!" Or not... Haruhi calmly sidestepped as a blond blur streaked by, hugging the pillar she had been leaning on instead. She frowned, cursing the man as all eyes turned on the spectacle in the corner of the ballroom. Suoh Tamaki, the heir of the Suoh conglomerate, was hugging a poor defenseless pillar as the woman who had narrowly dodged death watched with indifference.
"Tamaki-san. It's been a while hasn't it?" She said, though her smile was strained. While she was a tad irritated with his foolish antics, part of her was glad to have someone so familiar in a crowd of strangers.
"Daddy has been so worried about you! It's been ages since we last talked over the phone." He cried as he wrapped his arms around the slender woman.
"We talked over the phone last week." Haruhi pointed out, her eyes scanning the room for a plausible savior.
"But, it's been a WEEK! Daddy can't help but worry about his precious daughter!" Haruhi fought back a smile as memories plagued her, and she finally broke down. Their conversations always started like this, Tamaki overreacting over the short periods of separation, and her being stubborn until one of them finally caved in. They talked about many things, of her recent cases, his problems with his grandmother, and various things occurring in their lives. Sometimes, Haruhi wondered why she couldn't of fallen for a man like him, a warm, optimistic man, but she always rationalized that he would have eventually driven her insane. She just couldn't see herself married to him, as hard as he tried to get her to love him beyond the love a friend has for one another.

"I heard that you turned down another marriage proposal." Haruhi said, her eyes focused on the ceiling of the ball room.
"Are you jealous?" Tamaki questioned eagerly, edging towards her and draping a warm arm around her partially bare shoulders. Her eyes traveled down to where his arm lay and calmly pinched his hand.
"No." Haruhi sighed softly as Tamaki huddled down, hugging his knees and once against causing several eyes to turn in their direction. Several murmurs could be heard and Haruhi knew that later that week several 'interesting' rumors would be circling the tabloids. It was interesting to see how people interpreted their relationship. Very few people, other then the host club anyways, knew that Tamaki was the closest thing to her father and even though Haruhi felt like she could trust him completely. However, because of his close ties to Kyouya, and the fact that he was very prone to accidentally blurting out secrets, the one topic they never talked about was Hatori. Tamaki had no idea that the young boy existed and was the only one, other then the father himself, to not know of Haruhi's predicament concerning children in the original Host club.

"Grandmother wants me to marry within the year, what should I do?" Bemoaned Tamaki, his showy nature once again appearing, but before Haruhi could reply with a snarky reply, her hand was roughly grabbed and her body twirled onto the dance floor. Her head spinning and her dress flaring around her ankles, she blindly allowed whoever had pulled her away from (the now fuming) Tamaki, to guide her into the first form of whatever dance was required. Blinking once, then twice, she stared into the eyes of a rather impish looking Hikaru.
"Couldn't you of just asked for a dance like a NORMAL gentleman?" Haruhi muttered as she glared at Hikaru.
"That wouldn't be any fun, now would it?" Was Hikaru's reply as they twirled around the dance floor. They merged into the crowds,stepped into the flow of the beautiful music from ancient composers, and were soon lost in a world of rhythm and joy.

Tamaki seethed as he watched one of the twins waltz off with his beloved daughter but then paused as he heard another body lean against the pillar.
"Kyouya, is something wrong?" Tamaki, for once, decided to cut to the chase. He heard the shift of cloth as muscles tensed.
"Nothing that I am aware of. What makes you think that something happened?" Kyouya replied, his voice cold and his eyes focused on the distant wall.
"Well, first of all, your not in the crowd with all the future business partners. Secondly, you're not dancing with Haruhi, which I add, wouldn't hurt." Tamaki calmly pointed out, hiding a frown as his friend refused to budge from his place against the pillar. Both men watched as Haruhi was passed from one of the twin's possessive arms to his twin's similarly possessive embrace. Tamaki eyed Kyouya and his grip on his sleeve, but decided against mentioning anything about it. He knew that for all his knowledge and cunning ways, Kyouya was somewhat lacking in experience when it came to indulging in random impulses.

"It wouldn't kill you, now would it? What gentleman denies a sweet maiden to live out her inner most fantasies? Though, I do see your wife," though all the sweet talking and princely mannerisms couldn't hide the hint of discomfort in using the word, "Looking for possible dance partners over there. Perhaps a dance with her to further your relationship?"
"I'm afraid that my consort is too busy trying to get acquainted with the son of the councilman. As for Haruhi, I am well aware that you know that she and I no longer have a relationship." Kyouya replied, adjusting his glasses for a moment. A sure sign that he was uncomfortable. Tamaki could no longer hide his frown and pushed himself off the pillar and placing his hands in his pockets. Before he left for the dance floor, he turned his head slightly towards Kyouya.
"A dance between friends and potential business partners is just a dance, it's not like you're declaring your love for her, again. Besides, since you two were in a relationship, does that not mean that your two shared feelings of love? Does love die that easily?" With that, Tamaki left his scowling friend and decided to rescue his daughter from the wandering hands of a devil. He'd have nothing to worry about, like a lawsuit or a forceful corporate take over, or something more physical like a table to the head... He hoped anyways.

Outwardly, Kyouya showed no signs of any emotional disturbance, but inwardly, he was seething. How DARE Tamaki, that idiot among idiots, suggest something as impractical as lingering regrets about breaking his relationship with Haruhi. Didn't Haruhi turn down Tamaki when he tried to pursue his own relationship with the young woman? It wasn't like there was anything to gain from such a marriage. As a lawyer, she would be driven by her honor not to get involved in the legal issues of the various Ootori businesses, and if she was asked to take a case against them, she would have an insider's advantage. A weakness in every way. He refused to acknowledge the little voice in the back of his head with countered his every excuse. As a lawyer, he would be able to consult her about various legal issues, not to mention she was practical, frugal, far more intelligent, and actually HONEST, unlike that simpering excuse of a wife he currently sported. It was no secret that he had no love of his wife, but she was his legal wife, and by divorcing her and suddenly marrying another woman, or even worse, having an affair while married, would send the mass media crawling all over it like ants over a pile of sugar. A headache he would rather avoid. Then why was he heading over to steal Haruhi away from Tamaki?

Well, he could consider this Tamaki's punishment.

Haruhi was honestly surprised when her hand was grasped tightly by someone standing behind her and Tamaki began to back away, a look of dread in his eyes. Glancing over her shoulder, she made a small noise of surprise before Kyouya had twirled her around and forced her to take a step forward. Shakily, she followed his steps.
"What..." Haruhi leaned back slightly, one of her hands trapped in Kyouya's iron grip and a strong hold on her hip. Silence lingered between the two like the space between their bodies. Fear crawled through her like frost on a windowsill as her mind began to formulate plausible reasons that Kyouya would practically steal her from Tamaki. She expected such a move from Hikaru, or perhaps Honey if he had been here, but as far as she knew, Hunny was back at home with her son. She struggled to figure out a plausible reason why, but the only reason she could think of was that, in some way, he had found out. Before she could properly panic, his cool voice soothed her nerves.
"Surely you aren't afraid of me, are you Fujioka-san?" Kyouya smoothly teased, that infamous smirk on his face. His tone didn't hint at any hidden anger or frustration, and his smirk wasn't the one he normally sported when he was planning some sort of devious plan. Haruhi felt her fear slip away before a gentle smile appeared on her face and she tightened her grip on his hands.
"I'm just worried about you finding a way to bill me for taking up your time while dancing with you Kyouya-san." Haruhi teased back, unconsciously edging a bit close to her dance partner. Kyouya noted this slight change in distance and a kinder smile appeared on his face for a moment.
"Don't worry, if anything, Tamaki will be paying the fees for my lost time." Haruhi couldn't help but laugh softly.
"Then perhaps I should optimize my time with you then?" Kyouya didn't know how to answer that, but his grip on her waist grew tighter, as if he was ensuring that she remained with him as long as possible. If Haruhi noticed, she didn't react to it and they continued to dance.
"Are you planning on raising a family soon? I'm sure that your mother is eagerly awaiting her to meet her future grandchildren." Haruhi said innocently, her eyes staring straight forward, focused on memorizing the pattern of his silk tie.
"It's a possibility." Kyouya replied, ice creeping into his tone as he mentally cringed with the thought of touching his 'wife' in such a way. 'I'd rather suffer trying to seduce a cactus then getting near that poor excuse of a woman.' He mentally growled in his mind, the bitter taste of bile growing stronger. Haruhi laughed nervously, apparently realizing that such a topic was not exactly safe ground to tread on. From the corner of her eye, she observed the lovely lady who had the fortunate, or unfortunate depending on how you looked at it, honor of being Ootori Kyouya's wife. 'She certainly is a social butterfly... With anything that is male anyways.' She was a tall, pale beauty, with generous hips, full lips, and overflowing breasts, but there something about her that rang false. Something... It was on the tip of her tongue.

Kyouya watched her, ignoring the urge to remind her that she had missed a step, and his eyes painted a trail to what she was watching and then smiled. Like before, he knew what she had been thinking about and decided to save her the headache.
"Fake?" Kyouya suddenly said, snapping Haruhi out of her musings. Her eyes darted upwards to catch his own and saw that his eyes were staring into her own.
"Kyouya?"
"Her beauty can only be described as fake or man-made Haruhi." Kyouya continued, his eyes still focused on her own. If she were the romantic type, Haruhi would of sword she saw traces of yearning and loneness in those onyx depths. Haruhi was puzzled; She couldn't understand why Kyouya was staring at her like he wanted her to understand something, something important. It memorized her. They had stopped dancing, the world faded away from them, and Haruhi couldn't help but cling to the feeling.
"...Kyouya..."
She murmured before realizing just HOW she had said it and then closed her eyes, a reflex. "Kyouya-san, I wasn't aware that there was a dance where one just stood still in the middle of dance floor."

Kyouya's face would of shown signs of surprise and suppressed attraction when he heard his name roll off her tongue if he hadn't been trained to keep his mask on regardless of the situation. It was like a smooth brandy, blazing though his veins and sending a surge of lust and possession through his blood, but he rationalized with the feelings and shoved them away into the corners of his mind where the rest of his humanity was confined and simply smiled.
"There isn't, but I suppose that we should conform to the current trend and continue our dance." Once again, he lead her into the dance, and once again the world seemed to blur and mesh together. Past hostilities seemed non existent as they chatted as if they were simply old comrades of some tragic war. Years of weariness and stress seemed flow from their shoulders as minutes passed and restrained impulses were let loose. More then once, he had smiled as they talked of their days in the host club, the memories pleasant. It seemed easier to laugh when he recalled her debt.
"You have to admit, that vase wasn't really that eye catching." Haruhi pointed out.
"Ah, but the name attached to such a garish vase such as that demanded such a price tag." Kyouya paused, however, when he noticed a waiter quickly walking up to them.
"Fujioka-sama, I regret to inform you that there has been an accident." Those were the only words needed to send Haruhi running out of the ball room like Cinderella, her eyes frantic. The twins exchanged a look and chased after the fleeing Haruhi, leaving the room to whisper amongst themselves.

Indeed, what could send THE Fujioka Haruhi, who was known to keep her cool no matter how intimidating the opponent was, running out the door as if her world was about to collapse? Indeed, that was the very question that ran through Kyouya's mind as he watched her flee. He turned to ask the waiter of what had happened, but the man had disappeared, leaving Kyouya to curse softly and walk out to the balcony where he watched Haruhi dash into a black car, coat in her arms and the twins shouting a silent command as they climbed into the car after her.
"It's these moments when the prince should chase after his princess." Tamaki said as he stood behind Kyouya.
"Then why aren't you?" Kyouya snapped back, his hand curling into a fist against his side. His night ruined, Kyouya didn't feel like keeping up a polite face, especially since it was Tamaki addressing him with such stupid sentimental ideas. Tamaki frowned and then turned his head to stare at his friend.
"Because I lost my right be be her prince a long time ago, or did you forget that? Not that I wouldn't refuse her offer if she did, but..." Tamaki paused, taking in a deep breath before continuing, "Why are you giving up on her? The Kyouya I knew wouldn't settled for 'what ifs'." Something snapped, but Kyouya reigned in the urge to growl.
"That's because there was no merit to continuing out relationship." Tamaki laughed humorlessly for a moment.
"Since when did it become so easy to place a price tag on emotions?" Tamaki trailed off and turned to head out the door, his blond bangs hiding his eyes. And he left, leaving Kyouya to muse over his thoughts.

Author's Note: Sorry for the late post, this was actually finished over 2 weeks ago, but after a week for waiting for my beta, I suppose i got impatient.

newblue, Laughingriceball, Makka-na-yuki, Xan, Hopeless Romantic, Dragon of blood

Anonymous 3, Rangerette, ColourfulKyouya-SenpaiMaybeNot, seelieseduction, Animefreak03: Awww, thank you :3

Quill and Saber: -; i'm not planning to put it back in Livejournal unless to archive it later. ..; Maybe I should...

GoGothGirl: Well at least I know i'm doing my job XD As the story goes on, I expect people to LOATHE her, but not for the reasons you'd expect from this point.

Crashx: As chapter 4 explains, no he does not, but don't worry, you know the drama gods won't let that be untouched for long...

Hana: I am not opposed to it as much as you'd think, and I consider to the cannon pairing of the series, along with twins/haruhi. I just don't like writing it because I find it common, and It's not in my nature to write things that are overly common(though I conceed to the point that my plot is unoriginal in it's core). I also see that other characters are more suited for haruhi due to certain traits. It's my choice to write it