A/N: Well . . . at the rate this is going, I might be able to crack 200 reviews before the end . . . which would be FREAKIN' AWESOME. I owe you guys so much. I feel like my fanfic isn't even worth all of this love. Seriously. So I'm going to announce something sorta early. A prize of sorts, maybe. To whoever is the 200th reviewer, I will grant them a oneshot request. It can be any pairing, any situation. It can even be something outside of Ouran Host Club (but only if I'm familiar with the anime: something like Fruits Baskets, Gakuen Alice, Bleach, Soul Eater, Durarara!, Hana Kimi, Honey and Clover, or FMA would work). Also, I'm not a fan of writing yaoi, yuri, or anything too lemony. But beyond that, you have complete control over the fluff or absurdity. ^^ Just a way for me to say thank you.
This chapter may seem a little low-key. It's sorta a transition chapter, just bear with me. Things are about to heat up, and I can see the climax in sight. i wonder what i'm going to do when i finally finish my first multichaptered fic . . . oh wait. i'll just write more fanfics of course. duh. XD guess who doesn't have a life?
Usually, Kyouya cringed inwardly at the thought of trying to work during club hours, knowing full well that by the time he was released, he would have a tremendous headache worthy of two or three aspirins. But today he was surprised to find himself welcoming it. The combination of noisy conversations and monotonous budget balancing left little room for thinking of much of anything. Which, in his current predicament, was certainly a pleasant relief.
He flexed his fingers absentmindedly for a moment, cracking his knuckles. As he gave his fingers a short break, his eyes traveled the room. It was funny how he was always able to locate Haruhi in an instant. She was currently busying herself at all the tables, bringing tea kettles and cups of coffee to the customers. The twins were harassing her at every step, and even from a distance Kyouya could tell that her patience was beginning to wear thin.
His mouth twitched upwards into an amused, half-smirk. Shall I save her? he wondered idly as he turned back to the laptop. His fingers tapped against the desk for a moment, indecisive, before returning to the keyboard. She can handle it. After all, I won't always be there to save her if I—
Kyouya paused at the clinking sound of china, and he looked up. Haruhi was hovering over him with her natural smile. "And a cup of coffee for you sempai," she said, slipping a cup on the desk.
He stared. "I didn't ask for any."
"I know. But you look a little more tired than usual, so I figured you might need it."
Kyouya blinked, slightly taken aback. "Oh."
"That is," Haruhi said, grinning a little wider, almost mischievously, "if you can stand to degrade yourself by drinking commoner coffee. Because there's no way in hell I'm gonna go out of my way to get you some fancy brand."
"Why not? I'll dock off some of your debt," Kyouya remarked all too innocently as he brought the cup up to his lips.
Haruhi scowled a little. He heard her mumble something that sounded like "rich bastard" under her breath, and Kyouya couldn't help but chuckle. "It'll do," he told her with a wave of his hand, as if dismissing her. But Haruhi lingered a little longer.
"Oi, Haruhi!" two voices called just then, and Haruhi found herself sandwiched between the two twins. Haruhi accepted her fate with nothing more than a resigned sigh.
"Haruhi, looking out for the Shadow King, are we? Are you trying to suck up?" Hikaru asked loudly as he leaned against her.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kyouya watched Haruhi's brow furrow. "It's not that," she said, clearly beginning to get annoyed.
"Though I'm surprised you could even tell he looked tired," Kaoru remarked. "The only person more emotionless and cold than Kyouya-sempai would be Mori-sempai. Well, I guess you can't really call Mori-sempai cold."
Now even Kyouya was starting to get a little annoyed. His fingers twitched slightly, but he forced himself to continue to type away at the laptop.
"Really? I thought it was pretty obvious," Haruhi said with an offhand shrug.
"Hnnn? You know him so well?" Hikaru asked slyly.
Kyouya couldn't take it anymore. He banged extra hard on the keyboard for a moments to announce his irritation (which made the freshmen trio stiffen in fear) before saying coolly, "Haruhi is simply a perceptive being and is adept at noticing things about people. She can tell you two apart, can't she?"
The twins shut their mouths at that statement.
"Now, if you don't mind." Kyouya slowly turned around, smiling icily. A dark aura started building up around their sempai. "I'm busy, and all three of you are proving to be a terrible nuisance."
They didn't need telling twice. Frightened, the twins picked Haruhi up and zoomed to the other side of the room. Once they were gone, Kyouya sighed out in relief and grabbed the mug Haruhi had brought for him. Usually, he didn't like drinking instant coffee, but the female host had been right. He did need it. As the warm, bitter liquid slid down his throat, Kyouya briefly entertained the thought of Haruhi making him coffee, real coffee, every morning—preferably while adorned in a cutesy, frilly apron—but he quickly squashed the notion and returned to work.
"HARUHI!" the blond host club leader screamed before promptly glomping her. "Haruhi! Haruhi!"
And the interruptions continue, Kyouya thought to himself as he nursed his coffee. Maybe I miscalculated. With the noise in this room, I'm going to need a whole bottle of aspirin.
"Sempai, get off!" Haruhi protested. To which Tamaki politely ignored, as usual.
"Oh my lovely daughter, where have you been?" he cried.
"What do you mean where have I been? I'm right here. Hosting. Same as I've been doing every single day."
"But why haven't you come to my house?"
Haruhi stared at him, as if amazed at how far he could take his idiocy.
Tamaki started to pout and wring his hands when he saw her obvious lack of enthusiasm. "B-but you promised," he sniffed.
"Huh?"
He had invited her to his house? Kyouya sat very still so that he could hear what played out.
"You promised that you would visit Lou-chan, remember? He's been telling me that he misses you!" Tamaki gushed.
"Tamaki-sempai, dogs don't talk." But Haruhi's voice was softer now, and she was slowly beginning to smile and roll her eyes in amusement.
"Lou-chan can talk in the only way that matters. Listen, every morning when I get up, I go out to greet Antoinette and Lou-chan, and Lou-chan always looks up at me with these eyes that seem to say 'But where is my beloved cousin, Haruhi?' "
"So I'm the dog's cousin now?" Haruhi muttered under her breath, but Tamaki continued on, not hearing.
"Lou-chan will whine and ask 'Why does she never come see me? Does she hate me?' But there's no way you could hate Lou-chan, right Haruhi?"
"Well . . . no, but—"
"Then why don't we go over to my house today? Right after school!" Tamaki declared, simply overflowing with excitement.
"T-today?" Haruhi stammered, unsure. As Kyouya stared at her, he noticed the way her head started to turn in his direction, but she caught herself and met Tamaki's eyes again.
"Awww, why not?" Tamaki persisted.
The female host fell quiet for a moment, but Kyouya already knew what her answer would be. He drained the last bit of his coffee and returned to his laptop.
"You're right," Haruhi answered with a big smile. "Why not?"
"Haruhi! Come on, come on!" Tamaki said, sounding like a little child as he bounced on his heels in impatience.
"One second. Let me grab my bag."
Haruhi headed for the long table where she had left her things, and she paused. Kyouya was sitting a few seats away, still typing on that laptop. She took a hesitant step closer and said, "I'm leaving with Tamaki today. We're going to stop by his house and take the dogs to go play in the park," she explained, though she didn't really know why she suddenly felt the need to explain.
"I heard."
Haruhi frowned at his terse response and looked over to Tamaki, who was waiting for her on the other side of the room. She leaned back against the table casually. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Kyouya asked, seemingly without interest.
Haruhi shrugged. They were quiet for a moment.
"Haruhiiiiiiiiii!" Tamaki whined.
"I get it. I'm coming!" Haruhi called back. She turned to Kyouya and said with a gentle smile, "Don't overwork yourself, Kyouya. Don't be tempted to stay here all night just because you don't have to take me home."
Kyouya scoffed. "Like I would ever do something so ridiculous."
Haruhi laughed and walked away. At the sound of her giggling, Kyouya felt his face soften. But he stiffened when Tamaki jogged forward to meet Haruhi and seized her hand. "You take so long! Lou-chan's probably dying of loneliness by now."
"Please! He'll be fine," Haruhi laughed and let Tamaki lead her out of the room.
Once their voices faded away, Kyouya shut the laptop. He stared at it for a while, and then he abruptly stood up and moved to put the laptop in his bag.
If you leave, this sort of thing would happen all the time, a voice in his head whispered. Haruhi might even get lonely and start to go out with Tamaki. And there's no way that you could blame her. After all, he's probably so much better for her.
Kyouya laughed bitterly as he walked out and locked up the music room for the day. "Fuyumi was right," Kyouya mumbled. "I'm too possessive for my own good."
"Wahhhh!" Tamaki cried, falling backwards as he was attacked by Lou-chan and Antoinette. "Ah! You're nose is cold! Don't lick me there! Ah ha ha!"
Haruhi stood off at a distance, sagging and feeling particularly unneeded. "What were you saying about me being missed?" She eyed the mini limo in exasperation. "And was it really necessary to have the dogs be chauffeured to the park? We could've just walked."
"Oh, that's right!" Tamaki exclaimed, sounding as if he had forgotten her presence as well. He gestured to her wildly, whistling. "Lou-chan, it's Haruhi! Haruhi! Get her too. Attack her with an extra sloppy kiss."
"Eh?"
Obediently, the little terrier raced off to Haruhi, his tongue lolling in excitement. Haruhi took an uncertain step back, but Lou-chan persistently jumped at her legs, yipping for attention. "Oh jeez," she mumbled, softening, and she knelt to give him a good rub down. "He's gotten so much bigger," she told Tamaki.
"Yep," Tamaki said as he attached Antoinette to a leash. He came over to Lou-chan to do the same thing. "Look at that tail wag! I think he likes you."
Haruhi chuckled, unable to keep from smiling. The little terrier was pretty cute.
"You can take Lou-chan," Tamaki said.
"Alright."
They walked around the park, which Haruhi immediately recognized. Her mom and dad used to take her here a lot as a child. She saw the fountain that she had always loved to dance around and jump in, but it was turned off due to the fact that it was winter. But there were still plenty of kids hanging around the swings and the playground. More than once, Haruhi caught Tamaki watching a group of children playing together, his eyes soft and warm. The sight made her roll her eyes and smile as well.
"Alright, I admit it," Tamaki said out of the blue. "Lou-chan missed you, but really I missed you more. I only asked you to come because I wanted some bonding time."
Haruhi's smile faded, and she looked away. "Father-daughter bonding time?"
"Yep!" he grabbed Haruhi's free hand and swung it back and forth with a childish energy.
Haruhi rolled her eyes again, but this time in annoyance.
"Sometimes, it feels like you're closer to your brothers or your mom. So daddy formed this brilliant idea and decided to take you to the park! What do you think? Commoners like the park, right?"
"Uh . . . yeah." But Haruhi was distracted by a rather amusing thought. I guess I never thought about it before but . . . if Tamaki's the dad and Kyouya's the mom then . . . Haruhi's face warmed, and she nearly let out a giggle. Ahh, Kyouya would kill me if he knew what I was thinking about right now. But Tamaki and Kyouya . . . or better yet, Kyouya in a dress and high heels and make-up. But that just made her think about her real dad, and Haruhi wrinkled her nose. Never mind, that's a little disturbing.
"You're quiet," Tamaki noted.
"Just admiring the scenery," Haruhi said quickly. Which was a lie. The park was beautiful during almost any season . . . except for winter. Then it just looked bare and dull.
"How is Kyouya, by the way?"
Haruhi stiffened. Why was he asking her? Did he know? "H-huh?"
Tamaki blinked at her. "He's seemed a little more preoccupied than usual lately. A little down, you know? Have you not noticed?"
"No." Yes, Haruhi thought privately. "Well . . . I mean, I've noticed he's seemed a little tired, but—"
Tamaki nodded. "I saw you talking to him today. I just thought maybe he might tell you. I've asked him several times myself, but he always told me that I was being overdramatic as usual and imagining things." Tamaki let out a breath and smiled. "So like him really. He acts all cold and stiff, but he's a nice guy."
"Yeah."
"He doesn't like to make people worry."
". . . yeah."
Haruhi frowned. Truthfully, she had kind of been looking forward to an outing with Tamaki. He was good at making her laugh and getting rid of any stress. But now he was only making her more worried. But maybe he's right. Maybe Kyouya would tell me if I asked, Haruhi thought. This has been going on for too long anyway.
"Oh look! There's an open field up ahead. You wanna play fetch?"
"Uh—"
"What about you?" Tamaki asked, bending down to his dogs and ruffling their heads. "Do you want to play catch with your most favorite cousin in the world?"
The dogs barked and wagged their tails excitedly. Haruhi felt as though she had been backed into a corner, even though they were just dogs and their opinions really didn't matter that much anyway.
"Alright. A quick game of fetch, but then I really should be getting back home," Haruhi said.
"Race ya!"
"Wait, what?"
Tamaki laughed loudly as he and Antoinette surged forward. Seeing this, Lou-chan instantly dashed after them, dragging Haruhi along with surprising strength for his size. They played around until both dogs were panting in exhaustion, and even Haruhi had broken a bit of a sweat. But even when laughing at Tamaki's childish antics, she never felt completely at ease. Her thoughts kept straying back to Kyouya and how she might ask him what was wrong.
Tamaki finally took her home. She waved goodbye to him and ascended up the stairs to her apartment. She stood by the door, rummaging through her bag to find her house keys. "First thing I'm going to do is call Kyouya," she muttered to herself as she opened the door—
—and walked right into the person of her thoughts. Haruhi jumped back and squeaked in shock. Kyouya simply leaned against the doorframe, looking entirely too cool and casual.
"Yes?"
Haruhi turned bright red and stammered incoherently for a few moments. But when she saw his smirk, she clamped her mouth shut. "I could kill dad for giving Kyouya a spare key," she mumbled.
Kyouya stepped to the side and gestured inside. "Welcome home, Haruhi."
The shock was finally beginning to subside. "How long have you been waiting?" Haruhi asked after she shut the door behind her.
"Not long," Kyouya assured smoothly.
Haruhi narrowed her eyes, waiting for his usual sarcastic remark that always followed, but when none came, her eyebrows rose.
"Never mind," Haruhi sighed. She set her stuff down and then wandered into the kitchen to prepare some tea. "Did you need me for something?"
Kyouya folded his arms, seeming to find a lot of interest in Haruhi's microwave. "No. I just wanted to be with you. Is there something wrong with me coming over?"
Ahhh, too frank, Haruhi thought, her heart skipping a bit. "Of course not."
"But it sounded like you needed me," Kyouya continued, finally tearing his eyes off of the microwave and looking at Haruhi. "What did you need to call me for?"
"Oh, you heard that?" Haruhi let the kettle boil for a while, and she turned around. Only to realize Kyouya was right next to her. Too close. Haruhi lowered her eyes and swallowed. "I-I had to ask you something."
"Yes?"
"Something important."
"Of course."
His hands touched her face, holding her gently. All of her thoughts turned to mush, and Haruhi cracked a smile. "Is it your goal in life to distract me?" she asked.
"Maybe."
His lips were on hers. Haruhi relaxed and leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Kyouya broke off sooner than usual, and he leaned his forehead against hers. "Now what was that important something you had to ask me about?"
She shuddered as she felt his hands slip down her sides. "You're evil," Haruhi scowled.
"Why thank you." When he kissed her again, she could feel him smirking. But this kiss was even shorter than the first. "But surely that's not the important thing you had to tell me." He looked down at her, as if this time he really was going to behave and hear her out.
Haruhi opened her mouth, but no words came out. She snorted. It figured. "Oh, never mind. Forget it," the girl said, and she leaned in for another. "But you're not off the hook."
"I don't expect to be."