To Chase a Criminal
By E.M. Megs
Part 2: Getting Personal
Haruhi began to make it a habit of showing her boss small acts of kindness - which she considered to be flirting but after a week or so she began to think that he didn't even notice. She brought him coffee every morning and sometimes in the afternoon when he started looking a bit run down. A few times she brought him lunch. And once, she even took it upon herself to schedule an extra massage for him when she noticed that he had an extra slot of free time.
Just when she thought she might need to change tactic, he gave her a glance when walking in for the day and nodded. "The massage was a very nice bonus for the day yesterday, Haruhi-san. Thank you." She smiled at him. He did look a lot more comfortable. She had noticed some time ago that he walked stiffly like his back was sore.
"Any time, Kyoya-sama," she murmured in reply.
After that, he seemed to trust her a little bit more every day. And some days he would grace her with a small smile or a nod, something that told her he noticed.
One night came when he stayed late - extra late - later than he ever had since hiring her. She walked into his office after finishing up her work for the day and getting ready to leave. "I'm about ready to head out. Do you need anything else, Kyoya-sama...?"
He looked up at her with a glare from where he sat, needle in hand, stitching up a gash on his own arm. His fist clenched and unclenched. His breathing was heavy and she could just see the pain that he was trying to hide in his eyes. She stared at the gash for a couple seconds, then back at his face. His blood was soaking through the cloth that he had placed between his arm and his knee. She could either walk out like she hadn't seen anything, or show him yet another kindness and help him treat his wound.
She made a split second decision.
"What happened?" she asked softly as she strode toward him.
"Stop," he snapped, "Just stop, turn around and go home."
"You're hurt."
"Go home, Haruhi," he growled. She didn't pay him any mind, kneeling right down on the floor in front of him. She reached for the needle and thread in his hand. He jerked back quickly. "Go!"
"What kind of secretary would I be if I didn't help my boss when he was in need? Professionally or otherwise?" She saw his eyes flicker slightly, perhaps in resignation or something else. His pride seemed to be hurt by it, but he relaxed his arm and angrily pressed the needle into her hands. "There. See? That was easy." She carefully started sewing the skin back together with careful stitches, just as she had been taught in her emergency medical training for Interpol. She attempted to ignore every small grunt of pain he made as the tip of the needle pierced his skin. "Now, are you going to tell me how this happened?"
He stayed silent until she finished up. "You'll remember that I sent to on break about an hour ago. My father arrived."
She swallowed, the information that his father had possibly done this to him hitting her like a ton of bricks. "And… He did this?" Kyoya neither nodded or denied it. Though the idea of a possibly elderly man abusing his 29-year-old son seemed a bit over the top. "Do I need to call the police?" she asked anyway.
"No," he said sharply and suddenly loudly. He calmed and lowered his voice a bit. "Never call the police. Is that understood, Haruhi? You're never to call the police unless the building is burning down."
"Alright… Do I need to call Akito?"
"No. Don't bother him with this… It's nothing I can't handle."
"Yes. That's why you're sitting in your office attempting to deal with the pain while sewing it up yourself," she muttered sarcastically, giving him a small glare.
"And that is why I have you," he retorted, "To help me in whatever way I might need." He stared her in the eyes through his glasses. And she felt something spark. Like he understood why she was there. Like everything she needed answered would be answered in time. "Thank you," he breathed as he sat up. "You can go now."
"Are you sure? I can stay."
"Your father will worry."
"How do you know that?" she asked then stopped and shook her head. "I'll call him and say that I'm staying late."
"You've already missed dinner."
"So have you. You worked straight through it. Though, your father's appearance may have caused your appetite to disappear." He sighed, looking at her still knelt on the ground from his position in his chair. "Come to dinner with me. Put everything away until tomorrow and come to dinner with me, Kyoya." It was the first time she had said his name without an honorific. He noticed and looked at her sharply. He didn't comment on it, just stared at her like he was trying to read her thoughts. "Let me take care of you…"
"You can't," he stated simply.
"Only because you won't let me." He let out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh. "I'm your secretary. And your friend, I hope. You're hurt. You're obviously tired. Just trust me. Let me take care of you tonight just as I have since I started working for you." She stopped and drew in a deep breath, drawing in the courage to do what she was about to do. She placed a hand gently, tentatively on his knee. "Let's go to dinner."
He gave in with a sigh torn between frustration and relief and took his suit jacket off the back of his chair. "Very well," he muttered, pulling the sleeves of his shirt down to cover his recently stitched wound before tugging the jacket on. "Dinner it is."
One small step closer.
~o~
Kyoya was a very quiet dinner companion. "What are you going to do?" she asked finally.
He just shook his head and replied with a simple, "Nothing."
"He gave you a gash almost the length of your arm!"
"And?" Kyoya retorted sharply. "What do you suggest I do? I've already stitched it up. He's already gone again. What do you suggest that I do?"
"He shouldn't just be allowed to do that… I don't understand…"
"It's simple, Haruhi. I'm a disappointment. He's angry that I can't be the son that he wants. Therefore, despite my age he disciplines me."
"With what? A knife to the arm?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Yes, it does." She stared at him and when he looked up into her eyes, his gaze was cold.
"I don't know why you care so much," he stated, voice mirroring his eyes.
"You're my employer. My friend. Of course I care."
"You've known me for less than four months. That hardly entitles this degree of concern."
"By your standards," she snorted. "Perhaps… I just feel some kind of connection with you."
"Are you admitting attraction, Miss Fusao? That's hardly becoming, seeing as you're my employee." His gaze was sharp and she sighed, biting her lip. "Not to mention you appeared to be completely different from the other women who applied. You weren't concerned at all with how attractive I was."
"I'm not admitting anything of the sort," she scoffed, scowling at him, "I'm just saying that all people are different. Some would be concerned after only a day of knowing you. Four months is significantly longer. I've gotten to know you far better than most."
He raised a single eyebrow in challenge. "Well then. Impress me with your knowledge of me."
She stared at him, not completely comprehending his request for a moment. "What?"
"Go on. Tell me all about me." When she was still silent he smirked and nodded his head as if that proved his point. "As I thought." He stood, tossing his cloth napkin on top of his cleaned plate. "Thank you for dinner, Haruhi." He began walking away, something that she couldn't stand to let him do.
"You work. All the time," she started softly, voice building confidence the more she spoke. "Sometimes you stay so late that I think you'll never go home. Some nights you don't. Because there's nothing waiting for you at home. There's no reason for you to go home. No one waiting, no unfinished home improvement project, no reason to go home except the comfort of your bed which is really nothing compared to the work you could get done while you're lying in bed unable to sleep. You have insomnia and low blood pressure.
"You act cold to shut everyone out, but you really aren't. You have a kind side that does not show itself often. You pretend like you use everyone for monetary benefit when really, sometimes all you want is a friend, someone that you can trust.
"Your father treats you like a child. Your mind is absolutely brilliant. You can make deductions about a person in a blink of an eye just by looking at the small details that others would overlook. You try to pretend that you aren't a genius, just so you can sink below the radar of society. You pretend to be smarter-than-average aloof CEO, but really, Kyoya, you're a genius. An absolute genius in your personal life and your professional. And that is why I'm concerned. Because you're the genius that I always wished I could be."
His coat dropped from his hand to the floor in a rustle of fabric, his eyes staring straight at her, searching like he was searching her soul for the truth in her words. "How can you possibly know all that? You're just my secretary."
For a single moment she feared that she had said too much, strayed into the information that she had read on him in his file - the file she had compiled on him of all the information she'd known previously. Fortunately, she found her voice again and murmured, "Observations. I can observe quite a lot about you by being your secretary, Kyoya. I basically create your schedule. And I see the people you meet with before you ever do."
"That doesn't necessarily mean-" He stopped when his cell phone began ringing. He glanced at the screen once before opening it and quickly asking, "What Tamaki?" Even Haruhi heard the screaming that happened on the other end of the phone in his hand. "What?... Calm down, Tamaki… I'm sure everything's fine… Did you call Akito?... Then what the hell are you calling me about?... I told you I didn't care whether or not- Fine. I'll be there in 5 minutes." He tsked as he hung up on the blonde, looking up at her with a single look. "Lucienne's gone into labor. Might end up needing a C-section if things get anymore complicated…" He looked like he wanted to say more so she waited.
To her surprise, a small smile - not smirk, smile - came to his lips as he said, "I'm going to be a godfather."
"That's wonderful," she whispered.
"And I have to go. Because I have to welcome my goddaughter into the world properly… And make sure that Tamaki doesn't destroy himself or my family's hospital." He made another irritated noise under his breath.
She just smiled and nodded her head. "I'll pay for you. Go on."
"Thank you, Haruhi."
"Not a problem, Kyoya."
And somehow, just like that, they came to the conclusion that they were friendly enough. Haruhi sat back in satisfaction. Now that was progress.
~o~
Haruhi looked at the new file with a smile curling on her lips. A photo of a beautiful baby girl plastered the top corner of the document on her phone. The words underneath it read:
Akami Anne-Claire Suoh
Born May 26, 2011
7 lbs, 5 ounces, 14 inches long
Daughter of Lucienne Achille Suoh and Tamaki Suoh
Goddaughter of Kyoya Ohtori
Potential to be a very dangerous girl
"Haruhi!" Kyoya called from his office. She glanced at the partially open door then at the clock with a small frown. He appeared in the doorway seconds later. "Since Tamaki is currently on paternity leave, you're now my second-in-command. We have a meeting in 20 minutes across town. Pack your laptop and these," he paused long enough to hand her a file.
"What the hell is this?"
"The file on the most dangerous man on the planet." He stared her in the eye, which only emphasized his seriousness. "Read it." She did as she was told with pursed lips, stuffing her laptop in her messenger bag that carried her other files and her phone in a secret pocket. When he returned with his coat and own bag, she stood in front of him.
"What are we doing? You don't have an appointment scheduled."
"Check again," he said with a growl. She frowned and looked at her phone with confusion. In red, she now had Kyoya's only open slot until 8 that night filled with one word: KUZE.
"Why do I need to go?"
"Stop asking questions, Haruhi. I already told you."
She stopped walking, staring at his retreating back until he stopped. "Why are you so angry?" He stared at her with a look that said, Walk or else.
She started walking again until she had caught up to him, where he grabbed hold of her arm and walked with her next to him. In a soft deadly whisper, he murmured, "I will explain everything in time. Right now, all you need to know is that this man we're about to go see… He crossed a line."
He pulled her along until they reached the car, then opened her door for her courteously, shutting it behind her in the same manner before walking around to climb in the driver's seat. Haruhi took out the file he'd given her and read through it carefully. Her face started going pale. "Kyoya… This says that this man killed someone."
"More than just someone," Kyoya muttered with a hard edge. He was driving fast, shifting between gears so roughly that she almost thought that he was going to kill the engine of the stick-shift. "Several someones," he added in a low voice. "Including my grandfather."
"Why the hell are we going to him then?"
"Because… I told him that if he ever went near my family again, I'd personally make sure that he didn't live to see another day. Guess what?"
"Kyoya… You're not going to kill him…"
"I might. He went after my brothers' children at school. That's crossing a serious line." He raced through a yellow light just as it was turning red.
"You're going to get us killed if you don't calm down!" she half-yelled, holding tightly to the handle that was placed above her head right above her car door. She shut her eyes to calm the rising panic at his reckless driving. "KYOYA!" she screamed when he ran straight through an intersection, nearly getting T-boned by a truck in the process. He stopped on the side of the road about half a mile down. She opened her eyes long enough to give him a cold look.
"I apologize," he muttered quickly, "But we need to get there quickly, or he'll be gone before we get there." He pulled back onto the road adding quietly, "If I'm not going to kill him I'm at least going to make sure that he's scared for his life." His hands tightened on the wheel as he urged the car faster, though he made sure to be more careful. When he pulled into the parking lot of a warehouse and stopped, she looked at him sharply as his gaze turned to her. "No matter what, don't say a single word. I just need you there to make sure that I have other eyes in the place than just my own. I'm observant, but even I could miss something that could kill us." He climbed out of the car, looking towards the large warehouse as he did so.
"So… You're risking both our lives over what?" He glared at her.
"Just don't say anything and you'll be fine. And when this is over, just forget about everything that happened here, alright?" She stared when he pulled a gun from his bag and handed it to her, pulling a second one out for himself.
"Who are you?" she asked incredulously, even though she knew.
"I told you at dinner, Haruhi… You don't know me like you think you do." He hurried away from her. She took a deep breath in partial irritation.
"Who knows anyone anymore?" she muttered, pulling the top of the gun to load the ammo clip in and heading in after him. She was irritated at his willingness to put his "perfectly innocent" secretary in danger. But at least this meant that she was getting somewhere; that she was getting him to trust her completely. She estimated another week or two before he caved to the inevitable relationship.
And once that happened, she'd have an ace in the hole.
She didn't know what they were doing exactly until they entered an huge open room where a single man stood in the center. "Keep your guard up, Haruhi. Just because he appears alone does not mean that he is," Kyoya breathed back to her. She pretended like he hadn't said anything, doing nothing but a tiny little nervous nod as indication that she'd heard him.
Instead, Haruhi studied the man that they were approaching. His hair was swept to the side, an orange-ish brown color that reminded her of the twins, except darker. His eyes were hazel. She couldn't tell if he had foreign blood in him or not due to the scar that crossed his entire face diagonally from above his right eye down to the left corner of his mouth. "Ohtori!" he called, his voice sounding welcoming. Haruhi vaguely heard Kyoya growl under his breath. "What brings you to my humble abode?"
"You know what," Kyoya snapped, anger coursing through him. His gun still remained at his side. "I told you to stay away from my family. They have nothing to do with our feud."
"But your brother-."
"My brother has nothing to do with this. He's a doctor! My doctor. My company's doctor. He has nothing to do with you. If there's anything bothering you, it should be taken up with me. Not their children."
"It's funny how you assume that I meant Doctor Ohtori."
Kyoya's facial features slackened, his gaze shifting away from the man slightly. "What on earth would spur you to act against an honest businessman?"
The man snorted humorously, like guns and scaring children was a joke. "Are any of us really honest businessmen, Ohtori?"
"Yuiichi is. My father… Had several dishonest ventures, but fortunately, Yuiichi has not followed his path, my path." He took a glance at her, the look on his face one of partial shame at admitting it in front of her. She avoided his gaze. He had no idea that everything he was saying was being kept locked up in her mind for later evidence against him. Somehow it felt wrong for her to do this to him. "It still doesn't matter. I told you not to bring my family into this."
His hand raised, bringing the revolver held in it to the man's eye level. "Kyoya," Haruhi whispered, "Stop."
Kyoya ignored her. "There's one bullet in this gun, Kuze. You have six chances, four of which are going to be used right now. The other two, I hope you'll leave at two, since I definitely don't want to kill you."
Kuze snorted and chuckled, like there was a water gun being pointed in his face by a child instead of a 29-year-old man with an apparent vendetta against him. "You think this is the first time someone's played Russian roulette with me, Ohtori?"
Kyoya raised an eyebrow, pulling the trigger once. Haruhi's nerves escalated as it clicked without firing. "I dunno, Kuze. How nervous are you going to get by number four though, I wonder? It has to be one of these. And after every click your chances of getting hit increase by a whole decimal point."
Kuze just shrugged his shoulders. "For God's sake, Ohtori… If you're going to kill me, just do it! Don't play this stupid game with me when it obviously doesn't work." Kyoya pulled the trigger again, registering another click. "Besides, we both know that you don't really want to kill me. That wouldn't be any fun. You probably purposely placed the bullet in the last slot."
"If you're so sure, just keep talking. My family is very important to me. And you crossed the line of my patience with you by going to my nephews' school."
"God you are BORING. Just. Shoot. Me."
Another click.
"One more chance, Kuze. You have a one-in-three chance of getting hit."
Haruhi couldn't just stand there and watch him do this. "Kyoya. Stop it. Stop it now." She was ignored in favor of a staring contest with Kuze. She saw his finger tense on the trigger. "STOP IT. This isn't you! You aren't a murderer!"
A bullet flew from the gun barrel straight toward Kuze with a bang. Haruhi jumped, turning her head away from the other man, sure that the bullet would hit him straight on. To her surprise, he spoke in a bored tone. "See? Told you. You won't kill me, Ohtori. You'd miss me too much."
Haruhi, against all her self-respect and training, felt aggravated, angry tears build up in the back of her eyes. "You could have killed him!"
"Quiet, Haruhi," Kyoya said smoothly, jaw on edge.
"Oh… I didn't even notice that Suoh was absent. Though it was rather quiet… I should have known." Kuze shrugged to himself and raised an eyebrow at Kyoya. "So… You brought a rookie with you this time? And she doesn't even know what we're talking about… Let me guess. Your secretary? Girlfriend? Am I close?" He took a step closer with every question, putting him about 5 paces away by the end of his spiel.
"She's not part of this either, Kuze. She isn't to be touched."
"Oh… Definitely girlfriend. You wouldn't be so protective of her if she were merely your secretary." Now he was 3 paces away and leaning in toward her.
"Kuze," Kyoya warned.
"Oh hush. Don't be so uptight. If I wanted leverage against you, I'd just kidnap your sister or your nephew. Though… Sleeping with your secretary… that's a bit low… Even for you." His hand reached toward her face. "She is rather pretty."
"Kuze!"
The hand withdrew, being replaced by a dot of red light. "Oh fine. I'll leave her alone. I can't promise that my snipers will though!" He returned to his original position, staring across the empty room at them. Kyoya cursed.
"She doesn't know… anything. Just… Leave my family alone, and I'll leave you alone."
"Somehow I doubt that," Kuze muttered. "You like me way too much." Kyoya gave him a hard glare. Kuze produced and orange from his pocket and started peeling it while they stared at each other. Haruhi was afraid to move due to the sniper sight set right on her left cheek.
"Kyoya," she whispered, cursing herself when her voice cracked in fear.
Kuze rolled her eyes and waved a hand in the air. "Fine. You can leave. I don't want her soiling my newly cleaned floors." The red light disappeared. Haruhi closed her eyes. Kyoya turned away and took her hand, pulled her out of the warehouse. She refused to open her eyes until they were back in the car.
Finally, the tears broke loose. "Don't… Don't ever do that to me again," she mumbled, wiping at her cheeks angrily with her hands. He didn't say anything, just drove without looking at her once. When he stopped in front of her apartment complex, he looked at her.
"If I find your resignation letter on my desk in the morning, I'll understand," he said softly, "Takeshi Kuze is someone that I don't normally like to associate with, mostly because he can be so unpredictable. However, he's made it his life goal to terrorize my family and beat me, so I have to rise and meet him every once in a while."
"Do you have any idea what you just put me through?" she asked, playing the angry upset victim for a moment. "I was in a sniper's sights! That was not in my job description! I thought I was going to die in there! And you were just this… calm cold…" She shook her head, wiping more tears away.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, reaching across the center console and wiping a missed tear away with his thumb. "You act so strong sometimes that I forget you're just a secretary." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Get some sleep. It'll help."
She shook her head hesitantly. "I'm afraid if I let you out of my sight, you'll turn right back around and really go kill him."
He chuckled. "Are you suggesting that I stay with you?" She just looked at him, eyes watery, expression exhausted. He sighed. "Alright. I'll take your guest bed." Most bosses would never offer to stay the night at their employee's house.
Kyoya was not 'most bosses'.
And Haruhi now had managed to get exactly what she wanted. A way into his personal life.
~o~
She woke to the smell of coffee and scrambled eggs and turned sleepily in bed to look at the clock.
10:00 AM.
"Shit," she muttered. She was late. Kyoya would have her skinned and placed on a pl-. Except he was standing in the doorway, raising an eyebrow at her. She scowled. How…?
"I honestly thought that you would be up sooner," he said, his voice taking on a slight teasing tone. "And I didn't think you'd let your guest make his own breakfast." She sat up, wiping sleep from her eyes and tried to remember why he was here.
Then she remembered Takeshi Kuze. The revolver firing at him. The sniper targets. Him offering to stay with her. She drew in a deep breath. "Sorry," she muttered, "Apparently I was more exhausted than I thought. I'd normally be up 2 hours ago." Then the thought that he was still there dawned on her. "Shouldn't you be at the office?"
"I postponed all my morning meetings until later today," he stated, leaving her doorway as she got up and pulled a robe over her nightgown. "Breakfast is ready, if you're hungry."
She stood in the kitchen silently, watching him pull plates out of the cupboard like he belonged there - in her apartment with her. He dished the scrambled eggs and set them on the table, seating himself and waiting for her to sit. "Is this your way of trying to get me to stay?" she asked wearily. "Staying with me, making me breakfast. Are you just trying to make up for last night so that I'll stay?"
He snorted. "If you were going to leave you would have yelled a lot more last night. Not to mention, if you were going to leave, you would have just told me so. I don't need to do anything to get you to stay."
"Why are you here then?"
He shrugged. "You didn't want to let me out of your sight, so I stayed. I just made breakfast because I was hungry and there was extra."
She sighed and picked up her fork, stabbing a clump of eggs and sticking them in her mouth. He smirked at her acceptance of his meal. "I still think you have some ulterior motive in doing this," she murmured after several more bites.
"Why's that?" he asked. "You were the one who said I was kind underneath my hard exterior."
She shook her head, continuing to eat in silence. "I was wrong. Right now, you're just trying to make sure I don't tell anyone." She stood, pretending to be angry. She had to make him chase her, because any advances she tried to make would just fail. She walked to her kitchen sink and starting washing the dishes. She could feel him standing behind her, gazing at the back of her head quizzically.
"You can't tell anyone, Haruhi," he said softly. His voice was closer than she expected it to be. Her hands found the edge of the counter and gripped it, shoulders pushing up when her head dropped slightly. She left the water running. She felt his hands on her shoulders. They sagged in response.
"And why not?" she asked, stubbornly scrubbing at her plate with a brush.
"It… It would ruin me." She turned slowly to face him.
"Are you going to threaten me?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to threaten you. I just want to continue doing what I do, hopefully with you by my side."
"Are you going to include me in this… whatever it is.. Side business or can I just go back to being the secretary for KOMSS?"
"Whichever you want. If you don't want to be included, I won't include you. However, I do need you to attend meetings with me now. At least until Tamaki's off paternity leave." She groaned and stared at him angrily. "I promise none of them are going to be as dangerous as last night's was."
"Fine," she caved. Later, the chances of her being fully integrated into his system would be better if she did this now, though she doubted that any other woman would let him get away with it. "Fine. But only meetings. I refuse to be a target for anyone."
He smiled at her. "Of course." He withdrew his hands and she briefly got the feeling that she was being used. "Now, I must return to my apartment and get ready for work. I will see you in roughly two hours?" She nodded, dismissing him with the single gesture. "You're a very strong woman, Miss Fusao."
"No," she rejected quickly, turning to face him again. "No. Do not 'Miss Fusao' me. I don't want to be 'Miss Fusao'."
He frowned slightly. "What do you want to be then?"
"Haruhi. I just… I just want to be Haruhi to you. Maybe eventually, I won't be just your secretary either. But I do not want to seen as someone you can use and throw away later. Do you hear me? I won't have it."
"Of course."
"Don't 'of course' me. Just… Be yourself. Stop hiding behind that stupid mask of yours and be yourself. I can't trust you to keep me safe if you are constantly hiding from me."
"Is that all you want, Haruhi?" he asked, his voice taking on a mischievous tone that she wasn't sure if she was delighted to hear or frightened. She stared at him, pretending like she didn't know what he was talking about. He took a step back toward her. "You remember that thing we talked about attraction?" She nodded stiffly. "Well… Perhaps there is something to it that's more than just physical." He didn't explain himself, just turned and walked away. Once she heard the front door close behind him, she raised her hands to eye level to find them shaking. Her heart pounded. She took a step back, gripping the edge of the sink behind her.
That wasn't supposed to happen.
She was not supposed to be frightened of him.
And if it wasn't fear, she wasn't supposed to becoming attached to him in any way either. She clenched her teeth in anger at herself.
It was a risk she'd have to take. Because catching him meant so much more to her.
~o~
She hardly got a break the next few days. She was constantly answering phones, scheduling meetings, and attending meetings with Kyoya - none of which actually got her anywhere in her investigation since all of them pertained to KOMSS. By mid-afternoon, she was running almost completely on caffeine while Kyoya still plunged ahead at full speed.
A cup of coffee was thrust in her face. She took it, looking up at the giver with a smile. Kyoya smirked back at her. "I don't know how you do it," she told him quietly as he sat down on the park bench next to her. "Constantly travelling , working, talking. Your schedule is filled to the brim every day. Your attention span must be huge to sit through all those meetings."
"Personally, I'm surprised that Tamaki fares as well as he does with them," he muttered. She snorted back a chuckle. Her head hurt, thudding with a dull ache right behind her eyes. She brought two fingers to her head and immediately found two aspirin being pressed into her hand. "You're doing remarkably well for your first day. I've had years of experience."
She swallowed the pills with a gulp of coffee. "How many years exactly?"
He shrugged. "I've been CEO since I was 19. So… 10 years. I was attending meetings in place of my father on a fairly regular basis for three years before that though. And as a child he would bring me along occasionally."
"You've practically been doing this your entire life then." She shook her head in amazement. "How do you stand it?"
"You're the one that wants to be a businesswoman. This is what that entails."
"Perhaps I'll go back to being a lawyer," she muttered drily, sipping at her coffee. Her companion chuckled, settling back in his seat, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Above their heads, the gray clouds opened up, letting rain pour down. Haruhi laughed a bit when he jumped at the water being dumped on his face. He looked toward her, becoming more soaked by the second.
"Are you hungry?" he asked, voice a bit louder in order to be heard over the sound of the rain on the pavement and grass. She nodded a bit, shrugging her shoulders. "Want to go to dinner?"
"Are you asking me out on a date?"
"Maybe. Do you want it to be a date?" His face was suddenly inches from hers, his lips whispering in her ear. Her heart started pounding similar to the way that it had the other morning in her apartment. He pulled back just enough to be staring her in the eye. Without even realizing it, she found herself nodding.
"I… I think I do."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Good." His hand slipped into hers, intertwining their fingers together. Surprise filled her for a moment before relaxing into contentment as he led her away. She smiled, tightening her grip fractionally. She looked at his face out of the corner of her eye to find his lips curling into a small smile too. He was leading her in the direction of a small diner, through the pouring rain, when the first bolt of lightning struck, paralyzing her with fear.
When she stopped in her tracks, Kyoya did as well, frowning back at her. "What?"
She stared at him, eyes wide. "M-Maybe we can just go h-home."
He scowled, turning and taking her shoulders in his hands gently. "What's wrong?" She wouldn't look at him, her heart pounding so hard in her chest that she felt like she couldn't breathe. She didn't want to admit that she was afraid. Not to him. "Haruhi. What's wrong?" His fingers gently took her chin and pulled her to face him.
Another crash of thunder made her jump and shake, answering his question for him. He almost chuckled at the absurdity of it. A grown woman being scared of thunder and lightning. He held back the laugh though, knowing she wouldn't appreciate it, and squeezed her hand tightly. "Come on. We can go back to my apartment. It isn't far from here. I'll make us dinner there."
She nodded, forcing her legs to move again. When the next quake of thunder came, she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, leading her forward.
And the crazy thing was that she actually felt safe.
Safe in the arms of a criminal.
How ironic.
~o~
A/N: Okay. It's 5 parts. Because I introduced Takeshi Kuze when I wasn't originally planning to. Everyone does remember him right? Kyoya's childhood rival? The orange guy? Yeah him. He seems to be perfect for the role of Kyoya's criminal business rival, doesn't he?
This part was actually supposed to be longer… But when it got past 20 pages I decided to split it in two. Makes a bit of sense considering everything that I have plotted out anyway. You will get Part 3 in a few days if you're good little readers and leave me reviews.
Kudos to: Ashling Ivy, She Promised Us Lamingtons, DannisaurLove98, mythogeek, isara-love, and LadyMorph18.
Updating things like mad lately… That will probably stop once I get stuck. Do not hate me.