Shana tossed her phone carelessly onto the bed before falling back into the mess of pillows and soft toys. She had just called Kyoya to arrange a date tonight at one of the nicer – and more affordable restaurants in the vicinity. She really wanted to show him her new hair.

"Bitch?" The shrill exclamation jolted Shana rudely out of her thoughts. She flicked a disparaging glance towards the door, where Chantelle had just entered the room. Shana rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Chantelle," she muttered. "I'm in no mood for you right now."

Chantelle grabbed Shana's arm as she tried to walk past her and out of the room so that she could go to Haruhi and Kaori's room, foiling Shana's attempt at escape. Her long, sharp fingernails dug unpleasantly into Shana's flesh, cutting skin.

Shana jerked her head sharply towards Chantelle, sending her newly dark hair arcing out behind her. "Let go of my arm," she said in a deathly quiet tone that promised retribution. Still, Chantelle, undaunted, simply laughed. "Well, nice hair. Now it matches the rest of your dowdy, ugly-duckling personality!" she crowed.

That had struck a nerve, although Shana logically knew that Chantelle's words didn't matter a whit. She yanked her arm out of Chantelle' grasp and sneered. "And what would you call a beautiful swan, Chantelle?" she asked with deceptive sweetness. "Would you call it buying every shirt you own three sizes too small to show off the maximum amount of skin? Or saving up for months to get a nose job? Or… oh yes, getting the 'very sought-after' invitations to those disreputable parties that have you stumbling back into the room at six in the morning reeking of cocaine, alcohol and semen – a very pungent and unpleasant smell, by the way?"

Chantelle stiffened. "For your information, I didn't have to save up for my nose job, and I do not smell weird," she informed Shana acidly. Shana rolled her eyes and laughed. "Oh, yes. I forgot that your boy toy of the moment paid for your nose job – how is he, by the way? Oh wait, never mind," she said, waving her hand in a blasé manner. "I'm sure you can't even remember his name now," she said. "And how would you know how you smell? You're always so wasted half the time you fall asleep on the toilet and I have to haul you out and into your own bed so that I can get ready for class," Shana told Chantelle snidely.

"You… you fucking bitch," Chantelle snarled at Shana, before slapping her so hard that Shana's neck snapped back. Shana was tempted to slap her back, but that would only have ended up in a brawl, which would have benefited no one, so she just smiled coldly. "And only someone who is so utterly refined would slap someone like you just did," she said coolly, walking calmly out the door after delivering her parting shot.

The moment Shana left the room, Chantelle slammed the door shut with a satisfying bam!, before pacing back and forth in the room, muttering angrily under her breath. "That stupid bitch doesn't know anything! What the fuck is her problem anyway. I bet she's not getting enough. Hmph, after this she'll be crawling back to me begging me to take her in as a disciple. And then we'll see who's the swan."

Shana stalked angrily over to Haruhi and Kaori's room across the hall. She fingered her jaw for a moment, then grimaced. "Stupid bitch didn't need to hit me so hard," she muttered before opening the door and walking in. Kaori was sitting in the bean bag and Haruhi was sitting in one of the swivel chairs at the desk. Shana walked in and lay on Kaori's bed, giving a gusty sigh.

Haruhi and Kaori exchanged glances and looked at Shana again. "Dude, you have a mean bruise forming on your jaw. What happened?" Kaori ventured. Shana propped herself up against Kaori's fat pillows and glanced at the mirror. "Holy crap I really do have a giant bruise here," she said, poking gingerly at it and wincing when waves of pain resonated. She sighed. "Well, Chantelle slapped me today," she said, rolling her eyes. "That stupid bimbo doesn't know when to quit, I swear. Still, this does pose a problem – I have a date tonight and Kyoya is going to freak out when he sees this stupid bruise. Any of you have powerful concealer?"

Ignoring Shana's attempt at brushing over the part where Chantelle had actually struck her – wasn't this a legal offense? – Haruhi's eyes widened. "Come again? Chantelle actually hit you? Shana, that's not right. You could sue her for that." Shana just shrugged. "And what good would that achieve? It's not that I wouldn't want her to pay me an unreasonable amount of money, it's just that I don't have the time to. Besides, you know she'd just seduce one of her boy toys into getting her an excellent lawyer to defend herself and in the end I'd be the one paying her."

They all grimaced, for they knew it was true. What was it with guys that girls like Chantelle could just wrap them around their little fingers and make them dance like puppets on a string? Still, each girl thought, their significant others would never be so dumb. Kaori smiled at the ring that she wore at all times on her finger, except for in the shower and in bed. It was almost a part of her now, a physical symbol of the love and devotion that Kaori and Mori held for each other.

Haruhi thought of her Tamaki and had to fight back a laugh. While he might seem like an idiot who would be the first person to be fooled by someone like Chantelle, she knew he was faithful to her, and besides, he was a lot smarter than he seemed. She was totally secure in his love for her.

Shana knew that Kyoya was definitely too smart to fall for any of Chantelle's tricks, and besides, she had faith that he would never do something like that to her, especially after she had confided in him. Something like that would totally crush her, and she knew that he would never do something like that, even unintentionally.

She smiled and hugged herself. She knew that he would definitely be faithful to her no matter what and was eagerly looking forward to their date tonight like a child on Christmas Eve.

Kyoya sat in his home office in his house, a bemused smile on his lips as he looked at his phone, replaying his and Shana's phone conversation in his mind. Asinine it might be, but he wondered if Shana was actually feeling nervous about their date.

She had sounded odd over the phone, not as confident as usual, in fact, almost nervous. She had told him that she had a surprise for him, and he couldn't wait. He wondered idly what it was with her that she could distract him from his world of figures and calculations like nothing else could. He wasn't sure whether to be happy or upset that she had that effect on him.

Looking at the folders filled with figures and statistics, he saw Shana's laughing face, in direct contrast to the mathematical emotionless world of business. Still, although he hadn't realised it, he was unconsciously dedicating his efforts to Shana. He had always dreamed of the day he surpassed his two older brothers… he would be successful, turning up to a social function in an expensive suit and a beautiful, faceless woman hanging from his arm. Well, that woman was no longer faceless – she had the face of Shana, his love, his friend, his. And nothing would change that.

He returned to his graphs and charts and began to work with an intensity that he rarely managed to work at. Shana had that effect on him – she could alternately distract him and motivate him to work harder than he ever had.

As he worked, the minutes and hours slipped away, until finally it was time to get ready for their date. She hadn't wanted him to pick her up at the dorm, though he had offered to, but instead had chosen to meet him at the subway station, telling him that she 'didn't want him to keep driving them around', and besides, it would be fun to take the subway with him.

He smiled as he recalled that, for taking the subway was something of a novelty to him; his chauffeurs had always ferried him around. Truth be told, he was looking forward to taking the subway with Shana, and feeling like a normal guy for a while, without the responsibilities of multiple companies weighing down on him.

YAY IT'S HERE! :D And I'm sorry it might be a little bit irrelevant at the moment but it's not okay! ((: And I really hope you enjoy it, and I'm SO SUPER SORRY THAT YOU GUYS HAD TO WAIT SO LONG! I had tons of stuff to do in school (school sucks to the max) like exams and stuff which I had to study for like mad. So yeah. Next one will be up as soon as I can manage it, I make no promises!

Oh yes, another thing. I created the Facebook page and a linoit thing for you guys, it's damn cool. (: Link to Facebook page: .com/pages/Peachy-Hikaru/140695782659852 and link to linoit: /users/Peachy_Hikaru/canvases/Peachy%20Hikaru%20fanfics I tried to make it as user-friendly as possible, but I'm not sure if you need an account to post on it. It's damn cool though, check it out. ((:

Love,

Peachy Hikaru