AN: Wow. Lots of stuff happened this week. To make a long story short, I'm moving, and I don't know what that means as far as internet access. Joy. And I just read the most amazingly well-written and gut-wrenchingly tragic fanfic ever, which makes me doubt my own writing, lol. In any case, hope you enjoy this chappie, and thanks to everyone who has alerted/favorited/reviewed. ~Aly

He was sitting on his leather couch, his laptop perched in his lap. He was punching away random keys as usual, never taking his eyes off the screen for a moment. I awkwardly hovered in the doorway.

"Take a seat," he offered cordially, pausing to gesture at the couch across from his. The atmosphere in his room was extremely stiff; everything smelled like fresh paper and ink.

I ambled over to the coffee table and smacked down the paperwork he asked me for. Trying not to sound rude I evaded, "I actually have some stuff to do today-"

"What do you need to do, exactly?" He mumbled, interrupting me.

I racked my brain for an excuse. "Hikaru and I-" I started, but he cut me off again.

"If my status reports are precise, which they are, your brother is currently assisting your father in preparations for the next Hitachiin fashion show in Europe, and shouldn't be finished for about two hours. I'm fairly positive you have no plans for the time being - if you'd like we could keep arguing on the subject, but since I'll just prove you wrong time and time again, let's just skip the feuding and get down to business. Besides, I'm sure you'll find my company very interesting."

I raised an eyebrow at him. That was kind of forward. I assumed he just didn't want to waste time - after all, being Kyouya, he probably had tons of work he needed to get done today. Internally cursing I slouched onto the edge of the couch, ready to leave at moment's notice.

At the sound of my submission he finally closed his laptop and set it to the side. Pushing his glasses up his nose he retrieved the paperwork from the table, examining them uninterestedly for a millisecond. He stood up and walked over to one of the many file cabinets, sorting them accordingly.

"Can I leave now?" I asked impatiently, starting to get nervous. Everything about him was intimidating.

"Not quite," he said softly, and turned back towards me. There was a slight smile on his face; at that point in time he truly resembled the devil himself. I had never seen Kyouya so happy, yet so mischievous at the same time. He reminded me of myself, which scared me to death.

I watched anxiously as he slowly slipped off his glasses and placed them in his shirt pocket. A chill ran down my shoulders, and I subconsciously hugged my arms to my chest.

"Kaoru," he started pleasantly, sauntering over to me. "There is one more thing I'd like to discuss with you."

"Why'd you take off your glasses?" I blurted, unable to help myself.

The horrifying smirk was back. "Glasses give me a sense of professionalism. So, whenever I deal with something that is unprofessional or doesn't concern work, I often take my glasses off to differentiate."

His eyes shone with pure death. What the hell? I complained to myself, tapping my knee. I was suddenly very jittery.

"Well, what is it?" I snapped.

He again sat down across from me, this time fishing through his pockets and uncovering a small device. "Kaoru, do you know what this is?" He inquired gently.

I studied it for a second, and then said hesitantly, "A tape recorder." Where was he going with this?

"And what do tape recorders do?"

"Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Just answer the question."

An annoyed pang in my forehead sprouted. I was about to reply something snarky but bit my tongue. "They record things. Sounds," I said obviously.

He turned the thing over in his hands, running the pads of his fingers over the clean metal. Absentmindedly he continued, "Yes, they record things. I myself have become very accustomed to tape recorders. I find them to have a very profitable merit. You can use them to your advantage in almost any situation..." He trailed off, eyeing me.

I met his gaze reluctantly, confused and mildly creeped out. His index finger hovered over the 'play' button. In a calloused hum he mumbled under his breath, "Listen to this for a moment, won't you? Tell me what you hear." There was a hint of triumph in his tone.

He seemed to be expecting a response, so I unwittingly nodded. His finger closed down on the button.

First there was nothing. Then a bit of unsteady breathing, wrinkling of fabrics. It was mostly white noise, and unidentifiable nothings. Getting a bit ticked off, I raised an eyebrow and began, "I just hear-" but was cut off abruptly by my own voice crackling through the miniature speakers.

"Why did you kiss me?"

I blushed, instantly mortified; my voice was huskier and more labored but unmistakably mine. I held my breath as more strange noises continued.

Next Tamaki's voice cracked the silence. It was high, desperate, and raspy. "Because I want you."

I flushed even deeper, hot bubbles of embarrassment rising up my chest. What the hell was going on? I peeked at Kyouya; he seemed to be enjoying my reaction. I froze, unable to speak as a longer pause ensued while the heavy panting increased.

There were odd, quick noises for a second, then a hitch of breath and a slight gasp. "Ungh, Tamaki..." my voice whimpered.

"What the fuck is this?" I roared, jumping off the leather.

His disturbing, conniving grin only grew as the wanton panting and moaning continued from the speakers. "Nn...agh! Kaoru!"

I clasped a hand over my mouth, almost shaking with a mix of mortification and anger. "Turn it off!" I hissed from behind my hands, groaning.

Surprisingly he complied, pressing the stop button just as the moans seemed to reach their high point.

I didn't speak; I had no idea what to say. Whatever I was expecting wasn't that.

He waited, crossing his arms over his chest. I paced around the area at a snail's crawl, trying to get over my shock. After several moments I growled, "What the fuck was that, Sempai?"

He shrugged, feigning indifference. "You tell me," he answered simply.

I spun around to face him, livid. "None of that...it never happened!" I protested, seething.

"How do you know?" He challenged, standing up. "You two were wasted last night. Anything could've happened. I've already talked to Tamaki today, and he claims he doesn't remember anything from last-"

"Wait, you talked to him?" I screeched, my heart pounding. "Did you show him this?" I demanded.

"Of course not," he chided like it was obvious. "There was no reason to. He doesn't remember anything, as I was saying, so in his mind none of this ever happened."

"Because it didn't," I insisted, bunching my fingers into fists. And why did he even care? What was going on?

"That may be true," he admitted, walking to stand directly in front of me, "After all, it would be unimaginably easy to take an innocent segment of audio and edit it into something not so innocent. So easy, in fact, that I happen to have all of the appropriate software right on my laptop. It would've only taken me a few measly hours to create something as scandalous as this." I gasped, livid. So much for being subtle. He rambled on as if I had been silent.

"So, in that sense, it's absolutely plausible that none of that happened, and that this entire audio file is counterfeit. But if someone were to listen to this without considering the possibility of it being fake, they would immediately jump to the wrong conclusion, right? You did." He pointed out. So many thoughts were swarming my head. He was going to blackmail me with this thing. But why?

A random questioned popped in my mind, and I demanded, "Where did you even get the basis for this?"

"Ah," he sighed, tapping my nose playfully with his finger. I wrinkled my nose, cringing away from his touch. "That part is entirely your fault. You recall the phone call between us last night? It seems you simply forgot - or was otherwise distracted - to hang up the phone. I managed to hear an exchanging of words between the two of you, and thought I could use it to my advantage, so I taped the conversation. If you had just ended the call last night, none of this would've ever happened."

I wanted to smack myself. But how could I have known what would happen because of that? I knew for a fact Tamaki and I didn't have sex that night - all of my memories were completely intact. It was that stupid tickle fight. And that kiss...but I knew we didn't do anything beyond that.

In strangled tone I forced out, "Why?"

He eyed me thoughtfully. Inching his face closer to mine, he said in a voice barely above a whisper, "I needed a way to get you to do my bidding. You see, I have certain...tasks I need to get done that I have concluded only you can help me with." I raised an eyebrow warily. That couldn't be good.

"If you obey me, all of this can pass smoothly, and nobody needs to get hurt. We can keep this audio file from ever going public. However..." His tone sunk a couple notches. I couldn't breathe. "If you rebel against me, I won't hesitate to expose this to everyone. Your family friends, coworkers...how will you ever make it in the fashion industry if something like this was discovered?"

He began to slowly circle around me, like a shark studying its prey. I stared at the carpet, trying to ignore his footsteps. "How would your friends and family react? Imagine how Hikaru would take it - his own brother whoring around with one of his best friends, and keeping it a secret? And Tamaki - he seemingly lost his virginity when he was beyond blasted to his best friend, who didn't even tell him. He won't take that very well, will he?"

He stopped in front of me once more. "Now, if you'd just submit to me now, none of this will ever happen. It's your decision." I didn't know what to think. I couldn't process anything.

I stayed silent, refusing to meet his eyes. He lifted my chin up and I flinched, biting my lip. He scrutinized my expression, then said softly, "You have 24 hours."

Without waiting for anything more I bolted out of the room, nearly jogging to my car. I never once looked back.

Once there I sped out of the estate, trying to control myself. Why was he doing this? What did he want me to do for him? I couldn't believe this was happening, at least not from Kyouya. It was so...dirty.

He was actually blackmailing me. This wasn't a joke.

I thought of my options. If I refused him, everyone would listen to the tape. I could always deny everything and tell them the truth, but who would believe me? That seemed like what someone with a guilty conscience would try to do, and I didn't have the best reputation. The tape sounded extremely realistic. Besides, Kyouya was unfairly manipulative and persuading; he could get anyone to believe whatever he wanted.

I couldn't go to the police, because his family controlled the entire force; they wouldn't be any help, and the moment Kyouya found out I turned to the authorities, he'd release the tape. I was trapped.

There was also something that I wasn't entirely sure Kyouya knew about - Tamaki was in a relationship. I was positive I turned off my phone before Tamaki confessed that to me, so Kyouya didn't know in that sense. I wasn't sure if he had already figured it out, though - Tamaki was incredibly easy to read, and they were best friends. Whether or not all that was just drunken nonsense on his part, I wasn't sure -but if he actually was seeing somebody, this tape would destroy both their relationship and my friendship with him. I couldn't let that happen.

If I gave in...What would that mean? What plans did he have for me? If he was willing to go to these lengths just to get me to be controlled by him, it couldn't be good. Would he actually be willing to almost destroy the life of not only me, but Tamaki as well?

I shivered whenever I thought about Hikaru's reaction. I absolutely couldn't let it get that far. It was too terrifying to think about. He'd probably castrate me with a bull hook.

I finally pulled into the driveway of our mansion. I sat in the car for a few seconds, resting my head against the steering wheel. Everything had changed so suddenly in such little time.

I tittered out of the car as a chauffeur jumped in to drive my car around to the garage. I inched up the marble steps to our front door, dragging my feet.

Once inside I had a sudden urge to see Hikaru. I knew I couldn't tell him about what was going on, but he always made me feel better. I navigated through the hallways to his master bedroom on the third floor.

The door was cracked open, letting a ray of light cascade into the dim hall. I was about to knock when I heard his voice float from inside. Who was he talking to?

"Intuition, huh?" He was saying teasingly. I had to reconsider his voice, somewhat unsure it was his. I had never heard him use that tone before. It was so...sweet. So sweet it was nauseating.

"Well...intuition or divine intervention or otherwise...I'm really glad you called. I can't believe what a dumbass I've been lately." A thought popped into my head. No. It couldn't be. It was impossible. Holy shit.

A pause. Then, in a voice dropping with uncharacteristic affection, "Yeah...I know. Okay. I love you too. Bye." Fuck.

As soon as he hung up I burst into the room. My expression must have been terrifying, because he jumped a foot in the air from his sprawl on the bed and looked at me sharply. "What the hell, Kaoru! You can't just barge in here like that!" His face was nervous, and guilty. Or maybe his face was totally normal and calm; maybe my imagination was just at works again. I hoped so.

"Who was that on the phone?" I asked hollowly, my voice not sounding like my own. I fought to keep it steady. This can't be happening.

He fidgeted, and instead of answering my question he muttered, "How long were you listening?"

"Hikaru-" I started harshly, but he jumped off the bed and headed towards the bathroom, ignoring me completely.

"It was Mom," he insisted frantically, not looking at me. "She says she loves you and will be back from Europe in a few weeks. That's all."

"Mom's not in Europe," I countered dully. "She's in New York."

"Same thing," he dismissed distractedly. In a rushed mumbled frenzy he said, "I'm gonna hop in the shower, okay?" With that, he shut the bathroom door in my face.

With a sinking heart I turned back towards the bed as the water started running. His phone was still there. My fingers shaking, I picked it up, running my thumb over the cover. I took a deep breath and flipped it open.

I scrolled to recent calls, mentally cursing myself. I was just being silly. It couldn't be true. Of course not.

I clicked on the received tab.

Fucking. Shit.

All Tamaki.

I threw the phone back on the bed like it scorched my fingers. I sort of stood there, letting it sink in as my skin trembled from the onslaught of emotions that attacked me.

Tamaki was going out with my brother.

Neither of them told me until last night, which really pissed me off.

Tamaki didn't remember telling me about their relationship, so they both think it's a total secret.

Kyouya may or may not know about that relationship. Either way, if the tape gets out, it hurts both of them in more ways than one, because they'll both believe we had sex.

I really had no choice now. I whipped out my phone, dialing as fast as I could.

He answered on the first ring, his voice smug yet light. "That was fast," he answered briskly. "So?"

I took a deep breath. I hated my life. Maybe I should just kill myself now. "I'll do it." I managed before hanging up on him, trying to make the ending dial tone convey my frustration.

I paused, deliberating. I hurriedly called my predetermined emotional support.

"Kao-chan?" He answered brightly. I felt a little bit calmer. But not by much.

"Honey-sempai," I mumbled, my voice breaking, "Can I come over?"

AN: Please tell me your thoughts! I adore reviews. I'd also love to hear your predictions, because my plot is still under development. See you next week, ¡Basta la pasta! (Which would be something like "Enough of the pasta? Interpretation from a Spanish 4 student, you espanol aficionados can give me your input, rofl).