Author's Note: I know in the last chapter Haruhi seemed to have given up too easily. However, in this one, it'll quickly make up for it, I promise!
Chapter Three: A Thief Never Quits
"I refused to become your servant!"
"Too bad you don't have a choice. It's either me or the noose."
Haruhi glared at her reluctant captor, "Bastard. You really believe I'm that easy to take over? You're sadly mistaken."
Kyouya was silent, his lips curled in a smirk as he stared at the spitfire thief he had taken. He had to admit, she wouldn't have been his first choice for a servant, preferring more docile, friendly, and obedient women. However, something about this one, this cursing, raving lunatic of a pickpocket, churned his interest and he really couldn't see her going to waste.
"We'll see, little Haruhi."
"Stop calling me little. Freaking jackass."
"Heh, such a mouth."
Sometime during the trip, Haruhi fell asleep, her hat over her face to block out the world, particularly Kyouya's ever-observing stares. She had to admit, although only to herself, she felt peaceful and at ease for the first time in months. No need to steal for food, no perverts threatening her greatest treasure, no Dillon yelling at her for accidentally killing someone...it felt good to relax.
"Haruhi, wake up. We're here."
She groaned at the kicks against her legs, and reluctantly she lifted the hat off her face. Her eyes squinted, adjusting to the new light of sunset, "Ugh...where am I now?"
"You're at your new home. This is my villa," Kyouya said, stepping out the carriage and extending his hand to her gentlemanly. Haruhi glared at him, jumping out of the carriage onto her feet, "This won't be my home for long, I assure you. Thieves have no real home."
The lord just smirked, "We'll see about that, my little Haruhi."
"I told you not to call me that."
She glared at him, her hand itching to slap the smirk that curled his lips, but she growled and turned away from him, covering her eyes with the brim with her hat.
"Kyou-chan! You're back!"
Haruhi turned to the child-like voice that joined the conversation as Kyouya smiled, "Hello Mitsukuni, Takashi."
"Welcome back, Kyou-chan!" exclaimed Mitsukuni, a short, child-like blonde man that Haruhi found to be too sugary-sweet for his own good.
"Welcome back," said Takashi calmly, a much taller, dark-haired man with a solemn expression that was a little more relaxing to the genius master thief.
"Thank you. We have a new occupant, my friends. This is Haruhi Fujioka; she will be my personal servant," Kyouya said, pushing the brunette forward by her arm. Haruhi glared, "Not on your life. I told you, I refuse to be your servant."
"And I told you that you have no choice."
"Bastard."
Mitsukuni waved his finger, "No-no! No cursing in front of me! I don't like those kind of words, Haru-chan! And neither does Takashi!"
Haruhi blinked at the blonde, then sighed, muttering an apology under her breath. "I'll try to control myself better. As long as this...jerk doesn't keep ticking me off," she said, "Although it doesn't matter. I won't be here for long."
"Don't count on that, my little Haruhi."
"What the hell did I say!?"
"Haru-chan!"
"...An interesting day."
The entire way to her new room, Haruhi grumbled and shuffled her feet, the total opposite of her cheerful companion.
"I can't believe that jerk. Making me room with him. An UNMARRIED woman rooming with an UNMARRIED man? Yeah, that doesn't reek of something foul."
"All of Kyou-chan's personal servants slept in his room, Haru-chan. That way if he needed something in the middle of the night, he could get them to do it."
"Freaking--"
"No-no!"
Haruhi sighed, biting her bottom lip to swallow down the curse that wanted to slip from her throat too easily. "Freaking jerk...why did I have to choose him as my target?" she muttered, "If I didn't decide to be greedy, I wouldn't be in this mess."
Mitsukuni ignore the thief's mumbling as he stopped in front of a pair of large doors, "Here's your new room! There should still be some clothes in the closet from when the last servant stayed here, in case you want to change."
"I don't want to change. These are my clothes, and I happened to be dang proud of them," she said, "Thank you, Mitsukuni. I can take care of things from here."
The blonde smiled, "Call me Hunny! Either I or Takashi will on you later, Haru-chan, okay? Bye!"
With a bit of a smile, Haruhi waved the rambunctious man off before opening the doors to the room. Upon entering, she had to admit, it was rather large compared the other rooms in the villa that she had seen. She quickly saw the separation between what would be her part of the room and his ("Of course I get the ratty ass bed," she muttered), and began to explore through his half for hopefully a secret weapon she could take as her own in place of her discarded knife.
"You won't find anything worthy of your time there, Haruhi. You have plenty of my money, and I have no weapons for you to steal in here."
The brunette cursed under her breath as she turned towards the doorway, "I figured I had to try. It's the best I can do to defend myself from a pervert."
Kyouya chuckled, pushing his glasses onto his nose. Haruhi moved away from his half of the room, watching him walk in as she sat onto the squeaky bed. "You're too tense, my new servant. You need to relax a bit," he said with a smirk, and Haruhi's eyes narrowed.
"I don't need to relax. Especially since I won't be here for long."
"You will be here for as long as I say you will."
"A thief never quits."
No more words were spoken between the two as Kyouya sat on his bed, his position mocking hers. Haruhi growled and turned away, cursing under her breath as he chuckled low in his throat.
"I'm hungry. Go and get me something to eat."
"Go to hell."
It took all Kyouya took from laughing heartily at Haruhi's angrily departure from the room.
When Haruhi entered the kitchen, she instantly took notice of Takashi, hard at work over the stove. "Oh. Hello, Haruhi. Did you come and get something to eat?" he asked, looking up from the pot he was stirring to acknowledge the woman.
"Not me. That jerk requested food, and since I'm sadly his servant, I have to get him something. Bleh."
Haruhi faked vomiting, as if the words stung her stomach to say, as she looked around the kitchen for a quick meal, "I'll grab something small for him, since it looks like you're making dinner or something like that. It should keep him off my back and both of us out of your way, Takashi."
"Please, call me Mori," he said sincerely, "Take your time. I don't mind the company."
Haruhi smiled, then continued to rummage through the cupboards and barrels until she grabbed an apple chilling in a bucket of water. "This will do. And if he doesn't like it, tough luck. Thank you, Mori," she said, ready to take her leave with the apple in hand.
"You're welcome," he said, his eyes focused on the pot.
"About time. Did you get lost?" Kyouya mocked, still sitting on his bed, arm resting on his knee with his chin in his hand.
Haruhi glared as he tossed him the apple, which he effortlessly caught with his free hand, "Screw you. You didn't give me specific instructions, so I had to freaking guess on what you wanted. Damn jackass, did you actually expect me to know what you like right away?"
He said not a word, choosing instead to bite into the apple, an eye lingering on his servant as she sat on her bed. He watched her closely as her brow furrowed, trying to adjust to a bed that was unfamiliar and possibly uncomfortable, and smirked behind the red fruit as she punched the pillow in an effort to fluff it up. He heard her growl as she kicked off the heaviest blanket to the floor, sticking solely to the sheet as her blanket from the night air.
"What is so amusing over there? You have your food, so eat it."
"You're the amusing one, Haruhi. Trying to adjust a bed you really don't want to sleep in," he said, his eyes glinting mischievously behind his glasses, "And trying to hide that knife under your hem is a great feat as well."
At that moment, Haruhi froze, and Kyouya removed the fruit from his lips.
"You...you knew I took the knife from the kitchen?"
"I knew you couldn't resist. The knife is your specialty."
The room went silent. Then suddenly Haruhi moved, the knife in her hand. Kyouya quickly stood, grabbing her wrist and holding her at bay.
"I told you, a thief never quits," she said, her teeth barred, "And I will not allow you to keep me here and take my greatest treasure from me!"
With a well-placed kick, she sent him backwards and allowed herself freedom, the knife barely knicking his cheek. However, Kyouya quickly recovered with a kick of his own, forcing her to her back with her knife dropping to the floor out of reach. He overtowered her, trapping her wrists over her head, "You lose again."
"Damn it! Damn it, let me go!"
"I know all about you, my little thief. You act like this to protect your greatest treasure, that genuine virtue that so few women value now. To either spend the rest of your life in the brothel or in danger as a thief defending your morals...yes, I know all about you, Haruhi Fujioka."
Haruhi went silent, her brown eyes wide. It was surprising, yes, for someone to actually understand her predicament, however, it was another thing entirely to have it be the one that was currently overpowering her.
She wasn't won over; not by a long shot, she knew that. He was still a man, and a man still has their lust and their wants. Her eyes calmed and she licked her lips to speak.
"I...bet you that I can escape here with my greatest treasure."
His lips were stern, but his eyes shown the fire he had for the woman's game. He smirked as he released her wrists, "I accept."
I would've added more, but I thought the chapter ended well here. Don't worry, the next chapter will be up soon and it will be just as interesting, I assure you! Until then, ja ne!