Like a Cloud in the Wind

by E.M. Megs

From the moment my hand shook his and I saw his fake smile, I knew I hated his bastard guts. And that would never change. He would put himself before me. What I didn't know, was that he would be the one who searched the hardest for me when I disappeared.

2. Flying Through Time

Like a Cloud on the Wind

By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl

Chapter 2 – Flying Through Time

Despite how much I wanted to avoid them, there was no way to. It was like they stalked me where ever I went. Tamaki obviously couldn't stand rejection. Over the next six months they transpired to trying to get me to come back to the club. I smartly refused and avoided them the best that I could.

It's easier said than done.

"Princess Kay! Please! You would enjoy it if you just stayed once," Tamaki pleaded. I stared at him. He had been bothering me about this since I had come to Japan and started at Ouran. I was sick of it. Just this once, I let my tongue loose. I let my anger show in the form of the callously harsh colorful words of my choosing.

"I am not a princess!" I snapped irritably. "I am not and never will be a bloody princess! I don't know how the fuck you got that delusion in your head but I'm ending it right now! I also refuse to conform to the illusion you have wrapped around every other damn girl in the school's head! And you may call yourselves Princes, but I know Kyoya-san's just an egoistic selfish brat that's only using you and the other members of your shitty club to create profits for himself!" I promptly turned on my heel and continued down the hall towards my next class.

Tamaki followed, much to my dismay. "But–!"

"I don't give a rat's ass!" I threw over my shoulder angrily. He continued to pester me all the way to the class that we shared. Kyoya was already sitting in a seat, awaiting our arrival. He smirked as he noticed me enter, bickering with his best friend. "For the last fucking time, Tamaki-san. No!"

"If you go just once, I'll never bother you again," he said quickly. I froze at that. It was tempting.

"One time? And then you'll leave me alone for good?" I was suspicious, naturally. I wasn't about to waste two hours of my life if it wasn't going to be worth it.

"Yes. Just once. But..." I knew there was a catch. There was always a catch. "If you like it you have to be the club's friend and come back. If not, you're free to leave and I'll never bother you again." I thought about it. It was certainly a good deal. It made sense. And even if I did like it, I could always lie to them and say that it was as horrible as I expected it to be just to get away from the egoists that made it up.

"Lemme think about it," I stated.

–

By the end of class into lunch, Tamaki was eager to hear what my reply to his proposition was. I walked down the hall, books clutched to my chest, ignoring him until he burst with anticipation. "Well, Kay?!"

"It isn't proper to call someone by their first name alone when you barely know them," I reprimanded hotly. In all honesty, I really didn't give a shit about honorifics. I was from England. They were just a bloody nuisance to me. Tamaki corrected himself anyway, obviously missing the complete sarcasm in my voice. I felt a familiar presence at my side and looked over to smile at Tate. I turned back to Tamaki, who was still waiting for my answer rather impatiently. He was like a small deprived child. "Fine. But, remember. You have to leave me alone after this."

He erupted in cheers. I licked my lips dryly, not looking forward to school ending.

–

I opened the doors to the third music room for the second time ever, once again squinting against the bright light that came from it. "Welcome Princess Kay!" Tamaki said cheerfully.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Sure. Let's just get this over with," I muttered. I had, smartly, sent Tate home to study. He could tell Felicity and Layne where I was and then they wouldn't have to worry their pretty little heads over their only daughter's safety.

"Which type?"

"Pardon?"

"Type, Kay-san. I explained last time you were here."

Ahh, yes. The types of men. I felt my lips twitch. Wild didn't sound particularly pleasing. Nor did Lolishota. And I had seen the Little Devil type at work with their disgusting incestuous act. I would probably end up punching Tamaki in the face if I chose him. That left one. "Cool type, I suppose." His face lit up in a grin which placed a large knot in the pit of my stomach. Bad feeling was bad. Bad feeling was very bad. He stepped aside to reveal who would be my host.

"Bloody fu–," I managed to cover my mouth before any extremely unladylike-like words escaped my mouth. It just had to be him. The damn unfeeling bastard was smirking too. I muttered incoherently under my breath, thinking up the worst insults and obscenities I could possibly imagine.

"Nice coverup," Kyoya mentioned, that blasted smirk ever-so present on his face.

"It's only an hour," I told myself quietly.

"Two," he retorted.

"Shut your bloody trap."

"Make me."

We were acting childish, I knew. But it was better for me to use my words to express myself then my fists. At least words never physically hurt anyone. Fists on the other hand, had. I was standing in front of him by now. "Do you really want to go there?" I asked him softly, eyes full of fiery anger. God, I couldn't stand this guy. He was a complete nuisance in my eyes.

"I believe, it's up to you whether you want to go there or not," he replied, laughter flitting in his eyes. I had half the mind to smack him. He was seriously getting on my last nerve. It occurred to me that he was probably trying to get that kind of reaction from me though so I held myself back. Tamaki had run by now, knowing that this would happen. "Shall we sit?" Kyoya asked, reverting to his business-like politeness. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and nodded, taking a seat on a nearby couch. I stayed silent, expecting him to do the talking. "You're quite anti-social, aren't you?"

"I avoid being social and talking to others when possible, yes. If Felici–Mother would just stop trying to force me into social situations there wouldn't be a problem," I retorted dryly. It wasn't any of his damn business if I was anti-social or not.

"Tea?" I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. "It's not poisoned, if that's what you're wondering," he added, "I thought the British liked tea."

I made a face. "Just because I'm British, doesn't mean I like tea. It repulses me actually. Except mint and raspberry." Fuck, we were actually getting along. This wasn't part of the plan. I was supposed to hate him. I did hate him. I guess, even people who hate each other have to get along at some point.

"Something else you'd prefer then?"

"Coffee," I said immediately. "Coffee is my replacement for tea. One sugar, one cream." I folded my hands in my lap, watching him pour it and slip in a bit of cream and sugar. He handed me the cup and I sipped it gratefully. He watched me bemusedly. "Why do you always have a blasted smirk on your face?"

Said smirk alighted his face as soon as I mentioned it. "Criticizing character is rude, you know," he successfully avoided my question, much to my frustration. I rolled my eyes, looking past him out the window. Birds were flying overhead. It was definitely May. I fiddled with the book I still had in my lap. "Enjoy reading?"

I let myself smile a little. "Yes. I do. I'm particular to the classics though. And realistic mysteries." He nodded, seemingly agreeing with me.

"Which one's that?"

"All Unquiet Things," I murmured, fingering the pages. "Murder mystery. Sherlock Holmes is another favorite of mine." Was it just me or were we having some sort of odd bonding moment over books? Maybe Tamaki had convinced him to make sure that I had a good time so that I would come back.

"Yes. I pegged you as the murder mystery type," he stated, amusement flickering in the eyes he had hidden behind his glasses. I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" He merely smirked again and shook his head. "What? The mystery and psychology behind it all enthralls me, really."

"I agree," he murmured, pouring himself tea. Wait, what? Agreeing definitely didn't sit well with hating someone.

Maybe my sense had been wrong for once.

–

I ended up actually enjoying the time I had spent at the Host Club. I didn't have the heart to tell Tamaki otherwise, too. "How was it Princess Kay?" I wanted to strangle him for calling me a princess repeatedly. I was far from being one. Between having a potty mouth that rivaled a sailor's and being anti-social I was almost the exact opposite of a princess.

I let out a sigh, knowing this would happen. "It was," I paused, watching him bounce with anticipation. "It was alright, surprisingly." 'Moron,' I thought as he cheered and pumped the air with his fist. "Just because I was tolerant of it does not however mean that I'm coming back."

"It was part of the deal," Tamaki sang. Bloody hell. I had forgotten about that part. Kyoya hid a smirk behind his hand from where he was walking next to me. He had offered to take me home so I wouldn't have to call a limo for myself. I wanted to hit myself over the head for accepting. And also for making that stupid deal with Tamaki in the first place. Now he had license to bother me. He thought I considered him a friend now. I held my tongue, wanting to spill a thousand obscenities at the current moment.

It couldn't get any worse.

–

Despite my utter dislike for the Host Club's antics, I kept my word and returned to put up with another Hosting session with Kyoya. His lips were just twitching with amusement when he saw me enter the room. I glared at him. "I thought you said you weren't coming back," he stated with that bloody smirk of his.

"Malronda women keep their word," I retorted hotly.

"I respect that." I did a double-take. Seriously? He respected me because I kept my word? Wait... He respected me at all? That was news. Better to be looked at and respected as an equal than looked down upon like filth, I suppose. I snorted sarcastically.

"I wouldn't peg you as the kind of person to respect women as equals to men," I muttered.

"You think of me as prejudice?" His eyebrow rose. I mulled it over, rethinking my words. Now that I thought about it the way I had worded it hadn't exactly sounded very nice. And it did kind of accuse him of being prejudice.

"No," I paused, still thinking it over, "Well... Yes. You seem kind of like a male elitist type to me."

"Really?" He seemed rather intrigued. "That's... interesting." He fell silent for a moment or two before speaking again, "I don't think men are always superior to women. Just most of the time."

I scoffed. He was honestly telling a feminist that men had any superiority to women at anytime. The nerve of the man. Insults ran through my head, any of which I could utilize for the purposes to get my point across. I held my tongue and instead tried to get out his reasoning. "What makes you think that? Just because most of the runners of the business world are men doesn't mean that women can't do the same." Instantly the song, 'Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better' popped into my head. I mentally shook my head to get rid of it and cursed Tate and Pierce.

"I never said they couldn't," he stated slowly. "I said most of the time. Not all of the time. Tamaki's grandmother and Hikaru and Kaoru's mother are enough proof for me that women are competent enough to run a business well. However, look around you. How many of these girls do you think would be ambitious enough to keep up in our world?"

I stared at him, my jaw locking in place. He was impossibly infuriating. "Ambition has nothing to do with it! Anything men can do, women can. Just look at the Olympics."

"Yet the Olympics are still divided by gender," he retaliated, "Which indicates that there is still a fine margin between the abilities of males and females."

The bastard had me on that one. My mind raced to come up with another example. It came up blank. "That only pertains to sports and physical ability," I finally managed, "In many intellectual departments women have proven to surpass men many times."

"This is true," he conceded. I found myself eager for his rebuttal. I was actually enjoying debating with him, as infuriating a man as he was. He poured me some coffee while I assumed he was thinking up a retort. He had come up with nothing by the time he handed me the cup so I continued.

"Besides, the fact that women can perform to the standards of men, even if it is to a slightly lesser degree, just proves their worth." I sipped my coffee, looking at him expectantly over the edge of my mug for a response. By his silence I knew I had received the victory this time. A triumphant smirk overtook my normal neutral expression.

"You're quite intelligent," he murmured, pouring himself some tea. My smirk grew at the compliment. The compliment gave me an ego boost and lightened my, currently rather dark, mood. Inside, I was wondering how I had managed not to swear yet. The horrible habit had to have slipped out at some point during our heated debate.

"Thank you. You aren't bad yourself," I replied. More bonding moments. What was this? 'Get to Know Your Enemy!' week?

–

I returned to the Host Club every day that week before deciding I could slack off a bit on my promise. Tamaki surely couldn't be expecting me to come every day. I also hated to admit it, but I did enjoy the company that the Hosts offered the girls that came to them. They were rather enjoyable.

I also found that Tate had been right when he had said that the two classmates of his that were in the club, Morinazuka and Hanizuka (or Mori and Hunny as they liked to be called) weren't really that bad. In fact, they were my favorites out of all of them. Kyoya was my favorite to debate with but Mori and Hunny were my favorites to just hang around. They were very likable company, even if Hunny went overboard on the sweets sometimes.

For the rest of the school year, I actually made my first friends since I had befriended Tate in fifth grade. Now I was in tenth by English terms and I was making friends again. It astounded me when I stopped long enough to think about it. I even considered Kyoya a friend, even though he was a bastard and pissed me off more than he helped me most of the time. He still gave me a ride home from school on all the days that I stayed for Host Club. Which actually proved that he was a somewhat decent human being.

–

Once summer came around I was so glad to finally be away from the Host Club. They were my friends now, but they still got on my nerves. They got on them just a little too much most of the time. It made me want to murder little kittens. And I love cats.

I was supposed to go back to England and visit my grandparents and other family for the summer. However, like most of my plans, my father tended to change them at the last minute. I was eager to go see them. My grandparents were the reason that I hadn't gone nutty when I was growing up. Layne's excuse? They were too old to watch me.

I practically take care of myself anyway. Nice logic, Father.

By some strange oddity of our air-conditioning breaking down, I ended up at Kyoya's to escape the heat at the end of June. His parents didn't seem to mind having their neighbors over for heat-relief while we got our AC fixed. When Layne had first suggested the idea I scoffed and ignored him, not wanting to deal with the bastard who was my neighbor during my summer. The heat got to me though. I was very heat-sensitive. So, now I sat in his living room, trying to ignore him and failing for the most part.

There was something about him that had been catching my attention lately. But I couldn't put my finger on just what it was. I was rereading a Nancy Drew book for the millionth time just that summer, he was doing his summer schoolwork across the room like I should have been doing.

"Kaydence." I shh'd him quickly, getting to the good part. "Kaydence. You know it's almost July, right?" I shot him an annoyed look and shh'd him again. He rolled his eyes. "You have two months to finish three months of work, Kaydence."

I sighed and ignored him. He could bother me about my procrastination habits all he wanted. It would get him nowhere. He let out a frustrated sigh and continued working, launching us back into silence. Two minutes later I finished my chapter and placed my bookmark in place before snapping the book closed. "What were you saying?" This time he shh'd me. "Kyoya."

"Kaydence," he retorted, glancing up from his work over his glasses.

I rolled my eyes, half-smiling, half-annoyed. I wanted to get back to my bloody book, dammit! "Will you just tell me what the bloody hell you were talking about so I can go back to ignoring you?"

He took off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose in irritation. I had to smirk at my handiwork. "Have you done any of the summer work assigned to us?"

"None at all," I muttered, fingers itching to open Nancy Drew back up.

"You have two months until school starts. And we have 3 months worth of the stuff," he stated, now cleaning his glasses on a hanker-chief he seemed to have pulled out of absolutely bloody nowhere. How the fuck did he do that?

"Your point is?"

"If I were you I'd stop procrastinating and get to work." I scoffed. I knew he was right. I just didn't want to admit it. I really should have started my work the moment I got it. But being a procrastinator I just kept putting the stupid stuff off. And my birthday was coming up. I didn't want to do anything when I was making plans with Tate and my family for my birthday. "Your birthday coming up in 2 days isn't an excuse."

I jumped and stared at him. Blood mind reader?! "What the fuck was that? ESP?" The swear slipped out before I could stop myself. He smirked with satisfaction. "How the hell did you even know that my birthday was on July 1st anyway?"

"I have my connections," was all he said in reply before immersing himself in schoolwork once more. I watched him curiously. There seemed to be an odd expression of ease on his face. One that I imagined was with him while he slept. Like he enjoyed the work he was doing, no matter how much a complete nuisance it was. He was focused. Content on what he was doing. I knew he was ambitious. I was as well. But unlike him I had no chance to impress my father enough to inherit the family business. I was a girl. I was a woman and the Malronda family had a long line of male heirs. I doubted that Layne was about to change family tradition just because I impressed him with what I did.

"You asked my father didn't you?" I asked suddenly, the idea popping into my head. He glanced up but shook his head and chuckled lightly, almost evilly. I shuddered. That was just scary. He was kind of stalker-like, creeping me out.

I let out a soft sigh and pushed my book aside, conceding that he was right. I should be getting to work. Begrudgingly, I pulled out my giant math book and set it on my lap with the list of things that we had to do and a notebook to write it all down in. I noticed Kyoya smirk triumphantly. "Oh, stop it with your smirk," I snapped unhappily, taking out a pencil that I had unceremoniously chewed the eraser off of previously. My comment only made his smirk grow.

We worked in silence. I don't know how long it was before I started growing increasingly annoyed with my mathematical inability. I was ready to chuck my math book out the window before long, though. Kyoya seemed to sense my annoyance. "Having troubles?"

I scoffed. Yes, I was. But no, I wouldn't admit it. "No," I said stubbornly, "I'm doing perfectly fine. What about you?"

He shrugged. "Just ask if you need any help." I rolled my eyes and looked back down at my book. I hated math. It was my worst subject. Literature was my best subject. Literature analysis and writing. Literature in practically any language. And I didn't mind music either. I enjoyed singing well enough. And Felicity had forced me into flute lessons when I was a small child. They hadn't been too bad. I tried to focus back on my work.

At last, after staring at the bloody page for over five minutes I huffed with frustration and swallowed my pride. "Kyoya, help?"

His blasted smirk once more alighted his face. "With?"

"I hate math," I muttered, "I've hated it sense I was a bloody child." I put two fingers to my temple, rubbing them in circles. My head was starting to pound, letting me know of an impending headache. It was surely about to get worse, too, knowing Kyoya. He got up and came over to sit next to me on the couch, gently pulling the book out of my grasp and taking on a teacher-like air.

Kyoya as a teacher was a very funny image. I almost burst out laughing on the spot, but managed to snort instead. He rose an eyebrow at me but I shook my head, containing my laughter for the time being. "What exactly are you having trouble with?"

–

"Oh, so Mother thought it would be fun, did she?" I raved angrily on the night of my birthday. "She had half of the bloody mind to put this entire thing together knowing that I hate socializing? Why the fuck didn't you stop her?"

Layne flinched visibly as I spat my angry words at him. We were in the kitchen where the guests outside couldn't hear us. "Kaydence. Honey. It's your 16th birthday and you expected not to get a party?" he tried to reason.

"I don't give a shit if it's my 16th birthday! I don't and never will want a birthday party no matter which birthday it is!" God, I was so pissed at them and their shitty common sense. They should know after 16 years that I didn't like parties or socializing. And the fact that they had just gone ahead and invited the entire Host Club plus some of my classmates that I hardly knew and didn't really consider friends, just pissed me off more.

"Kaydence Janessa Malronda," he scolded sharply. Fuck, I'd gone over the line this time. Any time that he started using my full name I knew I was in trouble. "You will go down to that party and you will enjoy yourself. Even if you have to fake it, you will do it. I won't allow you to upset your mother!"

I huffed with frustration but nodded reluctantly. "Yes, Father," I mumbled, glaring at the floor. He patted my shoulder.

"I understand, Kay. I do. Just please, for your mother's sake." I rolled my eyes and shrugged his hand off.

"Whatever," I grumbled, stalking off back to the main hall where everyone else was. Tate grinned as soon as he saw me. I forced a smile on my face. Kyoya's face was set in it's regular smug smirk. Bastard. Tamaki's face lit up like a child's on Christmas Day when he saw me. Immediately I felt like another chorus of Happy Birthday was coming on.

I was right. "Happy birthday to you~!" Tamaki sang, rather loudly. I glared at him briefly, sending him to his corner of woe to grow mushrooms. Hunny bounced in front of me, cheering for birthday cake. I had to smile at that. Mori patted his head. The twins were whispering about something or another in a corner, pointing at me and then Kyoya rather suspiciously. 'What could they be up to?' I shook it off, not wanting to think about it.

Several people that I didn't even know came over to greet me, putting me on edge as I shook their hands. My head was reeling by the time I was able to get to a corner where I could be by myself for a while and perhaps take a few asprin to help my headache. My mother and her bloody notions were going to get me killed one day.

Someone nudged me, causing me to jump. It was only Tate, thank God. I glared at him for scaring me half to death. He held up his hands in silent apology. I rolled my eyes and smiled. "Happy birthday," he murmured, pushing me slightly with his body.

I gave him an exasperated sigh. "Do you have any clue how fucking sick I am of hearing that? I'm about ready to bludgeon my mother with a baseball bat because she did this to me." He chuckled and I whacked him in the chest. "This is no laughing matter, Tate."

"I didn't say it was," he retorted, rubbing his now sore chest. "Damn, Kay. Did you have to hit me so hard? I think you broke something. Jesus."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Cry baby. You deserved it and you know it." He looked at me with a pout on his face. I rolled my eyes again and sighed. "Alright. Are you going to give me a hug or what?" A grin popped onto his face just before he picked me up and spun me around. My surprised squeak quickly subsided to a soft laughter as he put me down again. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Maybe," he replied slyly, a look of pure innocence on his face that I saw through immediately. I shot a glare of resentment at him that told him exactly what I was thinking, 'Trying to kill your best friend and make it look like an accident, eh?' This made him rub the back of his head guiltily. "Alright. I lied."

Smiling with satisfaction, I turned around and walked away from him, towards where the Host Club was talking about one thing or another. "Tamaki, I re–," Kyoya silenced himself at the sight of me approaching them. I gave him a curious look. He just stared at me. Tamaki and the twins gave him a nudge. He glared at them.

"Do I... want to know what's going on?" I asked, eyebrow raised and hands on my hips.

"Yes!" Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki all blurted at the same time Kyoya deadpanned, "No!" Again, he glared at them.

"It isn't nice to keep secrets from the birthday girl," I murmured to him. He stared at me, anger showing only to the trained eye that saw his jaw tighten. He was so much fun to annoy. He would rarely burst but instead show these little signs that hardly anyone noticed. It was so amusing. And at the moment I felt like I needed and deserved some amusement. "Enlighten me," I said softly, staring into his onyx eyes. He stared back into my bright green ones with pursed lips. "Well?"

He glanced at Tamaki and the other Hosts before taking my arm and gently pulling me away to another secluded part of the room. He was still glaring over my head at his friends when I cleared my throat, causing him to look back at me. "They... They're convinced that I like you," he said bluntly. My eyebrows shot to my hairline. Definitely hadn't been expecting that. He cut in before I could say anything. "I don't, Kaydence. Not like that. But those idiots over there," he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, "won't leave me alone until I ask you to dance."

I stood on my tiptoes to look over his shoulder, eyebrows still raised. "You really expect me to dance with you because of that?" He gave me an exasperated, almost begging, look. "Alright, fine. You're lucky I have a heart," I muttered.

"Honestly? I didn't know," he retorted, smirking and taking my hand. The other thing I hated about the party my mother had planned, was that all the background and dancing music was classical. I admit, I don't mind classical music. But considering that it was my 16thbirthday I wasn't too keen on it being all elegant. I would have preferred if it were soft rock or something like that. Something with gentle lyrics. Classical music had absolutely no lyrics at all, which irked me.

I smiled sarcastically. "Oh, haha. You're so funny," I sneered.

"Why thank you. I pride myself on my humor quite a bit," he responded immediately, gazing down at me through the 5 or so inches of height difference between us. This was how we had managed not to be at each others throats over the past 9 months. Sarcastic retorts and good humor.

I placed my hand on his shoulder as he put his on my waist. I hated ballroom dancing. It was just plain, bloody annoying. I gritted my teeth silently and put up with it though. Only for a friend. I was only doing this for a friend. I shuffled around awkwardly, following his eased lead. As well as hating dancing, I also wasn't very good at it. "I must be the worst dancer on the planet," I mumbled when I stepped on his feet for the 10th time.

"You aren't that," he winced as I stepped on his toes again, "that bad." I rose a skeptical eyebrow at him before looking back down at me feet. "Relax. It'd be a lot easier for you if you weren't so tense." I scoffed, glaring at him. "Honestly, relax. Trust me."

I sighed softly and did as he said. Surprisingly, he was right. It was much easier for me to dance, or rather follow him without stepping on his feet. "Told you," he muttered, smirking. I glanced over to the Hosts on the wall. Tamaki looked giddy with happiness at his "matchmaking" skills. The twins were both snickering. Mori looked indifferent while Hunny bounced next to him eating a piece of my birthday cake. I shook my head.

"Why the bloody hell would they possibly think you like me like that?"

He shrugged. "It's Tamaki. The king of exaggerating and romanticism. Did you expect less?"

"But why, you in particular?"

He sighed. "Ask Tamaki, not me."

"Maybe it's because they think we're hiding our 'love' for each other by pretending we hate each other instead," I muttered, voice dripping with sarcasm. Kyoya shook his head and stopped spinning. I gave him a quizzical look before realizing that the orchestra had paused between pieces. He bowed respectively and left me to be by myself.

No sooner had he left than Felicity wandered over and started nudging me. I could tell Layne was watching as she did so too. "You wouldn't by chance have a relationship going with Mr. Ohtori over there would you?" she asked subtly.

I rolled my eyes. "Why does everyone think that?" I retorted, "No. No I don't. And I doubt I ever will. The day that I ever feel anything more than subtle dislike for the man will be the day that I die."

My mother snorted and patted my shoulder. "Kaydence, Honey, just remember what you said about your husband after you're married." She smiled, looking distant. She was probably remembering something from when she had married Layne. I had no clue what it could possibly be, considering they had met for the first time two weeks before they were supposed to marry.

"Trust me, Mother," I muttered. I didn't want to be having this conversation. I didn't like Kyoya, dammit. And I'd rather die a painful, horrible, death than ever marry him.

"Whatever you say, Kay," she replied, leaving me be. I rolled my eyes, watching her return to Layne's side. There was no way that I was ever going to fall in love with that bastard. My sense had told me all that I needed to know about him, like it always did.

–

"Do I really have to start school again tomorrow?" I asked Tate. "Seriously? What happened to summer?" There was absolutely no way I was going to go to school again so soon. If I had a choice I would never return to Ouran Academy. Maybe Lobelia. But not Ouran. Sure, I had the Host Club as friends. But I was still quite the outcast, even among them.

Tate nodded solemnly. He was in for even more stress than I was, being a senior. I had slightly lesser duties, being a junior. I sighed and fell back on my bed, moaning the whole way down. Why did time always move so sluggishly slow during the school year but then decide to magically speed up in summer?

One of the many mysteries of teenage years.

"Kay! You should be asleep!" Annabeth scolded, bustling into the room. "You, too, Tate! It's no good starting your senior year on less than nine hours of sleep!" Tate silently rolled his eyes, letting out an audible sigh.

"Alright. Night Kaydence," he murmured, giving me a quick hug before retreating out my bedroom door. Annabeth turned to me after he left.

"Mr. Ohtori will be here to get to you at 7 AM sharp." I groaned loudly. Why did he always insist on taking Tate and I to school? That's why we had our limousines. "Miss Kay, he's very considerate, allowing you to ride with him so you don't waste gas."

I snorted sarcastically. "Yes, he's so bloody considerate," I muttered, "So considerate even that he's using me to get to Father. Yeah, that's definitely considerate." Annabeth gave me a stern sort of look, making me sigh. "Alright, fine. I'll go to sleep so I'll be able to wake up for his Shadowly Highness." Annabeth smiled and nodded with approval before leaving me to get ready for bed.

–

I glared at Kyoya as I walked into the dining room. He was smirking, as always. "Come on. We'll be late," I grumbled, grabbing his hand and yanking on it on my way past. He allowed me to drag him, looking rather amused with my morning grumpiness. "Get that bloody smirk off your face before I smack it off, Ohtori."

Of course the threat only made his smirk widen. I shook my head and ducked down into his car. This was looking at being just the most lovely day there ever was, wasn't it? Kyoya slid in next to me and Tate after him, looking rather annoyed with someone. I wondered if Felicity or Pierce had done something to piss him off again.

"Are you going to release my hand, Kaydence?" Kyoya asked in a subtle manner. I looked down. Oh fuck. I yanked my hand away, willing my face not to turn red. He chuckled lightly while Tate glared at him. What was wrong with him? He never acted this way. Never in all my years of knowing him had he ever acted like this towards anyone.

I shook it off and turned to look out the window in silence for the remainder of the ride to school.

–

After school wasn't much better than the first day of school had been. Once again I also had the duty of going to the Host Club which was supposed to be some big return to school session where there was an announcement for some sort of event.

Kyoya had told me what it was going to be prior to the meeting of course.

A ball. A bloody school wide ball. And Tamaki had apparently seen it fitting to choose escorts for all the Hosts. Guess who got stuck with Kyoya? Yeah, that would be me. I had the urge to kill the blonde and destroy all evidence of his being. Somehow I doubted that I'd get away with it though. Even with the help of a rather enraged Kyoya.

"Tamaki, for the love of the few things that I actually care about! I don't like Kaydence!" Kyoya snapped as I walked into Music Room 3, first of the girls to get there.

I snorted. "Nice to know that I'm loved," I muttered, trying to keep from smirking. He just gave me a look that said not to get Tamaki started.

"But Kyo-chan and Kay-chan look so cute together!" Hunny said cheerfully, bouncing from where he was seated with a piece of chocolate cake in front of him. I twitched, my palm coming to my face. There was no reasoning with these people! Kyoya looked vastly annoyed and I was sure that my own annoyance was showing on my face through my indifferent sarcasm.

Though, when I thought about it, it was actually quite logical from their point of view. He gave me rides to and from school. They had no clue that we weren't seeing each other outside of school. I would have come to the same conclusion if I wasn't me. I sighed softly. "Hunny-sempai, Kyoya and I don't like each other."

"Then why," Hikaru started, triggering the Twin Double-Team that I hated so much.

"Do both of you," Kaoru continued. My jaw clenched.

"Call each other by names without honorifics?" they finished, crossing their arms over their chests as if that was going to prove their point. Again, felt my palm coming to my face.

"Oh, I don't know," I said sarcastically, "Maybe it's because I'm British and I don't give a shit."

"But Princess! Even you're too polite to disrespect Japanese culture while living in Japan!" Tamaki retaliated. Dammit, he was using that stupid nickname again.

I spluttered. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" I raged, "Are you telling me that I'm not polite all the time? Are you trying to insinuate that I'm not a lady?" He had backed into his corner by now and was growing mushrooms there with a cloud of gloom over his head. "I bloody thought so!" I turned to Kyoya. "There is no way that I'm going to that ball with anyone," I stated.

"Never said you had to. The blonde idiot in the corner was the one that said you did," he replied, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "Though it would be better to go with you than some other idiot he chooses," he admitted, looking like he was mulling it over in his head.

I stared at him like he had lost his mind. "Are you seriously asking me out?"

"No," he started slowly, "I'm saying it would be less of an annoyance to both of us if we went together instead of with someone that we don't know well."

Well, there he had a point. Even if Tamaki didn't choose someone ridiculous for me, my mother would probably find out about it somehow and force me to go with someone of her choosing anyway. "Fine," I grumbled as a person with shaggy hair and a sweater that was about 3 sizes to big walked in. Tamaki was quick to invite (and scare) the poor person.

"And who is this lovely young man~?" he asked, flailing his arms every which way as he sailed over.

I was pretty sure that, that wasn't a guy. I glanced at Kyoya. He shook his head and turned back to his calculations. I sidled up next to him. "I'm pretty sure that's a girl," I whispered, pointing.

"She is. Haruhi Fujioka, first year scholarship student," he muttered back. "Tamaki's such an idiot." I nodded silently in agreement a crash resounded through the room. I glanced behind me at the same time Kyoya did. "Scholarship student who just broke an eight million yen vase," he added, frowning.

"I... I'll pay it back," Haruhi stuttered, looking very embarrassed and gloomy.

"What would you do, Tamaki?" Kyoya asked his best friend. I sighed and looked at the poor girl sympathetically as Tamaki replied with some stupid proverb.

"From now on, you're the Host Club's dog!" he finally broke out. My palm came to my face for the third time that day. There was no stopping the madness.

–

It took Tamaki nearly a week to figure out that Haruhi was a girl. And by that time she was introduced as a full blown Host. I decided during one of my visits to designate her to see what she was like as I had with the other Hosts when I had first made that stupid deal with Tamaki in the middle of freshman year.

Before I could even think about it though, Kyoya pulled me aside. "Kaydence, no spilling that she's a girl, got it? It's the only way she can work off her debt effectively. And I won't have you ruining the club's image just because you're smarter than that stupid blonde idiot."

I rolled my eyes. "Kyoya, spare me," I muttered, "I won't do anything to harm your precious club. And God so help me I'll flee the country if I do." I turned around to head back towards Haruhi, feeling him watching me as I did so.

She stood nervously as I approached. "Ahh, hello! Haruhi Fujioka," she murmured, shaking my hand.

"Kaydence Malronda," I replied, smirking slightly against my attempts to smother it. She was quite an interesting character. Intellectual in most study fields, completely dense when it came to feelings, and I could just tell we'd be able to get along quite well. "Figured I'd get to know you as well as the rest of the Hosts. And seeing as that shallow bastard is giving you a quota to pay off your debt, this will probably help you a great deal."

She smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Kaydence-san."

"Ahh. No honorifics. I'm British so I don't particularly care for them. I make Tamaki and the twins use them just to get on their nerves."

"Thank you... Kaydence," she corrected herself. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned. "What do you want?" I deadpanned, staring into Kyoya's face blankly.

"Math tutoring. I'll take you straight to my house after club, alright, Kaydence?" I glared at him. He had to mention my mathematical incompetence while I was talking to someone else, didn't he?

"Alright," I muttered dryly.

"Wouldn't hurt if we talked about the ball arrangements while we're at it," he added. Alright, now I just wanted to smack him. I didn't want to think about the coming ball. I still thought that Tamaki was the biggest idiot on the planet and I still wanted him dead. Seemingly sensing my killing intent, he had been avoiding me like I was the plague.

I sighed and nodded my head. "Fine. Now will you leave? I won't blow Haruhi's cover, so stop worrying your pretty little head about it," I said crossly, arms over chest. His eyes rolled visibly as he retreated back to his table.

"Are you and Kyoya-sempai...?" Haruhi let the question hang off. I immediately knew what she was trying to say and started shaking my head vigorously.

"No. God no," I said, eyes wide with horror.

"Then what was that about–?"

I cut her off again, knowing where she was headed with this entire thing. "Tamaki... Set us up. We're going along with it because it's the only damn way that he'll leave us alone otherwise."

"Ahh," she murmured. I nodded.

"We're merely friend-like enemies, really."

"That would explain why you were so harsh with him, I suppose. I'm sorry. I just assumed..."

"It's fine Haruhi." She gave a shaky laugh and poured me some coffee. I glanced over at Kyoya. He was the only host that knew I liked coffee over tea and I hadn't mentioned it to Haruhi.

Could he have possibly...?

No. That's just utter nonsense.

–

A/N: Kudos to thearistocrat and, as always, Koharu Veddette.

As you can see, Kay's quite the potty mouth. But she has good reason. She's like me with that aspect. Haha. Tis what makes this story T-rated. Well, along with some of the later stuff. But you'll find out about that soon enough. Next chapter's where the main plot comes into view. Not really planning on this to be real long.

I'm actually reading the book she mentions. All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab. Great book.

You have no clue how fun it was for me to have that little men vs. women debate in my head. I could totally write a paper on this for English.