"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Haruhi called breathlessly. She finally made it to the table where the twins and their hosts were sitting. "You all wanted instant coffee, right?"
"Yes!" chirped the clients with excited giggles.
"Hey Haruhi," Hikaru asked as their only female host set down the cups. "I noticed it before in class, but you don't seem to be feeling well. Is something on your mind?"
"Ehhh? Haruhi-kun! You're not sick, are you?" one of the clients piped up worriedly.
But Haruhi dismissed them all with a sheepish smile and straightened up. She scratched the back of her head. "Oh no. I'm perfectly healthy. It seems I'm just a little out of it today. I'm sorry to have made you all worry." And then her "rookie" smile turned on to full power, making the girls swoon.
Haruhi bowed and started to turn away, but then Hikaru grabbed her hand and made her sit down on the couch next to him. He placed a hand on her forehead. "Are you sure you don't have a fever or anything? You're always in a daze, it seems." Then he held her face in both his hands. "Don't worry me like this."
"Hikaru!" Kaoru gasped, clapping his hands to his mouth. "What is this? Have you been cheating on me with another guy?"
"Eh?" Hikaru exclaimed and automatically shifted back to Kaoru's side. He embraced his twin, and with tears in his eyes he declared, "Kaoru, how could you ever come to doubt me? Surely you believe those words I whisper in your ear every night before we fall asleep? Or shall I say them more and more often?"
Haruhi sighed and looked the other way, somewhat disturbed.
"Wait! Is Haruhi-kun jealous?" one girl whispered to her friend.
"Just look at him! He can't bear to look at the twin's overwhelming love!"
"Perhaps could this mean . . . a love triangle!" they gasped to themselves.
"Here, Haruhi. Say 'ahhh'," Hikaru said, poising a cookie in front of her mouth.
"I don't want any," Haruhi replied bluntly, tired with their antics.
"Look, look! And now he's getting upset because Hikaru had forgotten about him for even a moment! Poor, Haruhi!" a girl squeaked.
"But Hikaru's trying his best to make it up to him!" said another.
"But you need your strength!" Hikaru insisted. "You can't afford to get sick now."
"Hikaru's right," Kaoru said getting up so that he could sit on Haruhi's other side. She was trapped between them now, and she had a rather resigned feeling that something was up. "What are you going to do if you get sick during the big Physics test?"
It was quiet for a long moment. And then.
". . . . Eh?" Haruhi stated blankly.
"EH? WHAT DO YOU MEAN EH?" Hikaru shouted.
"HARUHI NEVER FORGETS ABOUT TESTS! YOU REALLY ARE SICK AFTER ALL!" Kaoru exclaimed.
"DON'T WORRY HARUHI! WE'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU! EVEN ON YOUR DEATH BED!" the twins cried together before latching onto her and cuddling up with her sympathetically, muttering things like "poor guy" and "it'll be alright."
"No! It's not even a love triangle!" one girl said, jumping to her feet with sparkling eyes. "It's a THREESOME!"
"KYAAA! How lovely!" All the girls shrieked, and they all would have suffered through nosebleeds and fainted had it not been for one stern voice to break through all the idiocy.
"Haruhi," an icy voice called from across the room.
The twins froze. Then they immediately released Haruhi and retreated to the opposite sides of the couch. "Ooo, Haruhi's in trouble!" Hikaru mocked in a hushed voice like a five-year-old.
"Kyouya's so scary! Hey, Haruhi. If you die, can I get all your notes?" Kaoru asked in a whisper.
"I'm not gonna die!" Haruhi huffed in exasperation. But of course, the minute she took three steps, all her confidence melted away. A huge knot formed in Haruhi's stomach, and she had to swallow hard a couple of times before she could continue on. Dang! Why did Kyouya have to be sitting in the shadowy corner all the way across the room like this? What did he want? Ahh, the suspense was killing her!
"Haruhi?" he said again, making her jump. She hadn't realized that she had already reached his desk. The twins weren't kidding. She really was spacey today.
"Y-yes!" Haruhi squeaked .
Kyouya stared at her. Then he turned his eyes up to the ceiling and tapped his chin in thought. "Hmm, it seems I forgot why I called you over here," Kyouya remarked a little too innocently.
"Huh?" Haruhi stammered. She stood there like a moron for a few minutes as it slowly dawned on her. "Oh! Thank you very much!" she exclaimed, falling into a bow.
Kyouya cocked his eyebrows and resumed typing on the laptop. "For what?"
"Just now, you were trying to save me from the twins, right?"
"And why would I do something like that? It holds no merit for me." But Haruhi saw the way he was fighting back a satisfied smirk.
"Jeez, why do you have to act all cool and mysterious all the time?" Haruhi laughed, reaching out to nudge his shoulder playfully. But then she caught herself, and she quickly dropped her hand back to her side, clearing her throat.
"Haruhi," Kyouya said after a period of silence.
"Yes?" Haruhi replied with an eager smile.
He looked up at her, his glasses glared. "Why are you still standing here? Don't you have work?"
"Eh?" Haruhi exclaimed. "Ah! I forgot! Bye Kyouya!" And she dashed off to bring refreshments to the other customers.
Kyouya watched her go and then turned back to the laptop, where numbers and figures and pie charts (oh my!) greeted him. "I wasn't being serious," he grumbled. "You could have stayed if you wanted to."
"What were you two thinking! You know I don't like being included in your ridiculous 'acts'!" Haruhi scolded.
Both twins lifted their hands up in defense. "We couldn't help it. You've been so out of it all day. You just looked too cute to pass up!"
"That's not the point! I'm not your toy!" Haruhi insisted.
"You fiends! Stop molesting my daughter!" Tamaki screeched, somehow jumping down from the ceiling and leaping down on the twins.
"Tono! How did you get up there?"
"With the super mega awesome might of a daddy's love, that's how!" Tamaki shouted, wrestling with the two twins.
"Ughhh," Haruhi sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Are these two devils bothering you? I'll take them outside for you! I'll be right back!" Tamaki sang as he dragged the two twins out the door.
"What are you doing? You can't just kick us out!" Hikaru yelled.
"I'm giving you both a time-out for doing perverted things to my daughter. Look at how troubled her expression is right now!"
"We're not five!" Kaoru protested, trying to wriggle out of Tamaki's grasp. "Besides! If she's troubled it's because she finally remembered about the Physics test from all this time!" But it turned out that Tamaki's power of daddy love had some legitimacy after all. Even though it was two to one, and Tamaki was no Honey-sempai, the host club king was able to drag the two twins all the way out of the room.
Haruhi sighed again. "I wonder how long it will stay quiet this time."
A hand brushed against her back, sending electricity coursing down her body. "We could run away, if you want," someone whispered in her ear.
Haruhi's head snapped to the right. Kyouya was gazing down at her, waiting for her reaction. But she was still too shocked from his sudden appearance, so she couldn't speak. His touch sent her back into the sweet tones of reminiscence, and scenes of them in the limo overwhelmed her for a moment.
Seeing that he wasn't going to get a coherent answer anytime soon, Kyouya let his hand drop, and he took a step back. "I overheard. You forgot to study for your Physics test this weekend?"
Haruhi could only manage to nod a couple of times. Truthfully, she had been lost in a daydream pretty much throughout the entire weekend after meeting with Kyouya, a fact that she admitted grudgingly to herself, because it seemed like something much too girly for her to be doing. At one point, she even almost set the house on fire because she spaced out while cooking. Her dad had been giving her wary looks every time she approached the stove ever since.
"Club activities are over anyway," Kyouya remarked, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "If we escape now, before they return, we could probably reach my limo in time. We could go to my house to study."
Haruhi flushed. Something held her back. House meant bedrooms. And bedrooms meant beds. Ahh, wait! Why was she thinking along those lines? She trusted Kyouya to be a gentleman. What did she have to worry about? It was only studying after all. Plus, it would be the perfect chance to slip away from all the noise and antics of the other host club members.
Haruhi forced out a laugh, trying to act natural. "That would be great, thanks! Truthfully, I usually study about a week in advance for big tests like this. I don't know what got into me to forget like that." Then she clapped her hand to her mouth, cursing herself. Why did she say that? She probably sounded like such a nerd just then.
But to her surprise, Kyouya smiled softly. "Yeah, I usually do the same thing."
"Really?" Haruhi said as they walked out of the music room. "You always struck me as one of those genius types who never have to study at all."
"Over-confidence like that gets you ranked number 2 instead of number 1. Even I work for my grades. But thanks for the compliment."
Haruhi chuckled again, but it quickly died. Her eyes unconsciously drifted over to Kyouya's hands, which were still stuffed in his pockets. Her own were bumping along at her sides, feeling somewhat small and empty. After a while, Kyouya caught her stare, causing Haruhi to blush and look the other way. But Kyouya simply smirked in amusement. Haruhi felt his hand enclose around hers, and then a smile twisted onto her lips as well. Nothing more was said, but then, why did there need to be? Haruhi was slowly becoming accustomed to the silence. It was a comfortable quiet now, as long as her hand was trapped in his warm grip.
A/N: Someone once reviewed and said that they wanted to see Kyouya and Haruhi studying together. Well, here we go! I know that this chapter was a little short, but I promise to make it up to everyone in the next chapter. Be grateful! I was in the middle of working on a different fanfic, but I decided to post one more chapter here before finishing the other one. (well, more like i'm having a slight writer's block with the other one, but don't tell anyone!)
Ah, Haruhi's going over to Kyouya's house. I wonder how his family will react to her . . . ? ;D You'll just have to wait I suppose.