Chapter 9

For the rest of the day, Haruhi decided to take it easy and have someone near her at all times. Like most people who have been in Haruhi's situation, she is frightened, not knowing if she will be put through that particular event again. The twins and Tamaki would keep asking her if she needed anything and list off several suggestions, but Haruhi being Haruhi, she had refused all offers. That night, Haruhi slept like a log; having a near death experience is quite exhausting.

The next day, like the last, they all relax on the beach. Haruhi lies on her back in her bikini, only because Kyoya is reducing her debt, otherwise she would rather wear long baggy shorts. Honey is in the water with his pink bunny float. Mori stands near by his cousin, to make sure he is safe. The twins are playing one-on-one volleyball. Tamaki is looking for red roses to admire. For last but not least, Kyoya is sitting on his lawn chair with his laptop on his lap, typing away as per usual.

Honey races out of the water, up to Haruhi. "Haru! Do you want to help me find selfish?" he asks with wide hopeful eyes.

"I think you mean shellfish," Haruhi corrects the child-like senior. Honey starts to look sad and disappointed, because Haruhi hasn't answered him. "Alright," Haruhi sighs.

"Yay! Takashi, did you hear that? Haru is going to play with us!" Honey tells his silent cousin excitedly.

"Mhm," the larger man replies to the tiny blonde. The three of them walk closer to the water to try and find some shellfish for their dinner.

Before they know it, the three friends have gathered about ten buckets of shellfish. Haruhi is excited; dinner will be great; she doesn't get these kinds of meals very often. "Dinner is going to be awesome!" Haruhi exclaims to her friends.

"Come on Haru; let's make a sand castle now. Takashi and I will build it, and you can go find sea shells to decorate," Honey tells her.

Haruhi nods, and sets out to find a few shells. There are beautiful colourful sea shells everywhere. They are all so pretty, that Haruhi has a difficult time choosing which ones to take back to Honey. She cannot just pick a couple when there are so much more to choose from. As she picks them up off of the sand, she dusts them off and inspects it; thinking whether or not to put it back down.

By the time Haruhi gets back to Honey, she has her arms completely full of shells and sand dollars. She gapes at the sand castle that Honey and Mori has made. The castle is humongous! The only kind of sand castles that Haruhi is used to, are the ones that is only the size of a small bucket. Good thing she had picked up plenty of shells to decorate it with. "I wasn't gone that long, was I?" she asks flabbergasted.

Honey giggles. "No, not too long. You stay here, Takashi and i are going to make dinner. Have fun!" the tiny boy waves, leaving Haruhi behind.

As Haruhi almost finishes the castle, she feels as if someone has been watching her. She has been having this feeling constantly all day. As she places the last shell on, she looks over her shoulder to see who it is. Aha! She catches Kyoya Ootori red hand for staring at her. She stands up with a small smirk on her face. Haruhi dusts off the dry sand from her body, and proceeds to make her way to Kyoya.

'Damn!' Kyoya thinks as he gets caught, by her of all people. With anybody else, he could cover it up. The twins and Tamaki are usually too oblivious, and into their own world to even notice anything. As for Honey and Mori, Kyoya has a feeling that they, or at least Honey, would be ecstatic about it. He diverts his gaze from her, and continues to type on his laptop.

Haruhi lies down on the sand beside him, propping herself up onto her elbows. She turns her head slightly to look at him. "Why have you been watching me?" she bluntly asks, getting straight to the point as per usual.

Kyoya replies as he continues with his business. "Just making sure you are safe, that's all.'

His response does not satisfy Haruhi. "But why do you even care? All these years you have either been cruel and pick on me, or just simply ignored me. But for some reason out of the blue, you are being nice to me, and watching over me? That doesn't make any sense," she tells Kyoya; wanting more of an answer from him.

Kyoya doesn't want to answer her; it wouldn't really benefit him, or would it? But as the man that he has learned to become, he is now not one to ignore a lady. He stops typing to look over at Haruhi. "We may not agree to our fathers' contract, but I do care for you Haruhi. It does not do anyone any good if you get hurt," he tells her honestly.

Haruhi gapes at him. She was not expecting him to come up with any kind of answer like that.

"Haru! Kyo! Dinner is ready," Honey calls from the doorway of the mansion.

Kyoya and Haruhi unlock the intense gaze they had unleashed on each other. Kyoya stands up and, offers his hand to Haruhi to help her up. She takes his hand, and he pulls her up. When Haruhi is steady on her feet, she once again brushes the sand off of her. Kyoya swipes off the sand on her back, causing Haruhi to shiver. Kyoya places his discarded shirt over Haruhi's head. It covers most of her body, resting just above her knees.

"Thanks," she tells him as they start walking towards the Ootori's villa.

Kyoya does not know that the reason why Haruhi had shivered was because of his touch. Haruhi doesn't know that Kyoya's ulterior motive for lending her his shirt is, because he doesn't like it when the others look at her the way they do. This is a way of Kyoya marking his territory, but most of the others are probably too oblivious to notice that.

Half way through the delicious dinner, Tamaki bursts. "We can't pretend that yesterday didn't happen! Haruhi, why didn't you call for help? They're boys. You're not like Honey and Mori; you don't know any martial arts training. You're just a defenceless girl!" he finishes.

Everyone is sitting still and staring silently at the two, waiting for Haruhi's reaction to the outburst.

"If they hadn't snuck up on me, I would have been perfectly fine. I'm not going to apologize for not calling for help when I could have handled it on my own," Haruhi replies coldly.

Tamaki stands up from his seat. "You're not going to apologize? Haruhi, you almost died! I'm not going to talk to you until you find a better way to protect yourself," he pauses for a moment. "If you'll excuse me, I think I will be going to my room now," without any protests from the others, Tamaki turns and walks out of the dining room.

After Tamaki leaves the room, Haruhi feels a bit remorseful. She shouldn't have been so cold to him, she understands that he just cares for her well being, that he doesn't want her to get hurt. But Haruhi can't help the way she is. She has always been an independent girl; she has never really had anybody to rely on. 'Maybe I should earn how to protect myself better, just in case there is another sneak attack," she mentally tells herself, thinking about Tamaki's words.

Dinner passed quickly after the argument. The darkness takes over the bright day, as the rain replaces the sun rays. Everybody decides to go to their rooms. Kyoya does not fail to mention that his room is directly across from Haruhi's.

Raindrops are plastered to the windows. It pitter patters harder onto the glass. Haruhi can barely see out of the window. "I really hope there isn't a storm," she mutters to herself aloud. She has no idea what is in store for her.