Author's Note: Have I mentioned that technology is not my friend? Let me explain. I wrote all of Chapter 10 on Monday after I'd gotten back from my weekend trip to visit my sister in Madison. It was late when I finished, so I figured I'd edit it and post it on Tuesday. Except, come Tuesday, I wound up taking my new, two-week old laptop to Chicago to get it checked because IT BROKE! Don't ask me what happened because I have no idea, and neither did the tech guy at the electronics store. So I've spent the past couple days setting up my new new laptop—I've had to reload a bunch of my songs and documents back onto this computer. So yeah, I'm peeved, and this is being published late because I had to rewrite it. I am incredibly sorry!

As for the disclaimer . . . if I owned OHSHC, I could afford a better laptop.

Thank you for your patience, and now, please read, review, and enjoy!

Haruhi and an Ootori

Chapter 10

Akito had been sitting at the kitchen table for an hour already, waiting for Haruhi and Kyoya to join him. With every passing minute, his patience waned. He knew that he ought to forget about it; they had been friends since high school, after all, and Haruhi had never expressed any sort of interest in Kyoya. If she had, their father would have jumped on it, Akito was sure.

But Kyoya . . . Akito was certain Kyoya harbored feelings for Haruhi, but his brother had never been good at expressing his feelings. So the chances that something had happened between Kyoya and Haruhi last night were nonexistent, right? Just the idea of Kyoya and Haruhi in Kyoya's bed as friends, though, sent his blood boiling. He didn't like the idea of Haruhi spending time with Kyoya, as unavoidable as it was, in any capacity.

Akito was fuming over his coffee mug, trying to dispel the images playing through his head. When he had gotten up that morning and went to find Haruhi, he had not epected to find her in his brother's bed, curled up next to him fast asleep. The fact that they were both fully clothed was the only thing that kept Akito from committing fratricide. Still, the idea of them together all night . . .

Kyoya with his arm around Haruhi's waist.

Haruhi nuzzling into Kyoya's chest.

Kyoya's lips brushing against Haruhi's lips.

The two of them, together, in Kyoya's bed.

Akito chased the images of Kyoya kissing Haruhi, Kyoya touching Haruhi out of his head while fighting down his barely-lidded temper. He hated that he was jealous of his younger brother. He hated that he didn't know what was going on between Haruhi and Kyoya. But mostly he hated that he wasn't sure what his own relationship with Haruhi was.

The only reason he had asked her to dance at the ball was because he knew it would upset Kyoya. It was always a competition between the Ootori brothers. But then he had talked with her, gone a date with her, kissed her! She was spectacular, possibly the most amazing girl he'd ever met. She had so many habits that were so very uniquely Haruhi that she was irreplaceable. Kyoya had known that for years. Akito might be joining the race late, but Kyoya hadn't exactly progressed very far.

Losing her to Kyoya was not an option in Akito's mind, but he had learned already that Haruhi would do what she pleased, other people's opinions be damned. So he would have to step up his game if he wanted to keep the girl.

He had a few ideas on what might win her over, to say the least.

Haruhi shifted and found herself waking up very suddenly as her eyes flew open and her fingers knotted in the expensive dress shirt underneath her.

"Owe!" Came a deep, sleepy voice from somewhere just to the left of her right ear. "Haruhi, please retract your claws."

"Kyoya, what time is it?" Haruhi choked out as she searched around the room madly for a clock. She spotted one. "Crap!" she cried as she flung herself off the bed and towards Kyoya's closet.

"Haruhi," Kyoya mumbled, slightly dazed but quickly waking up as the small brunette scrambled about his room in a frenzy. "What on earth are you doing? Nothing of mine will fit you, you know."

"I don't care, I just need something to wear!"

"Isn't there a closet full of your-sized clothes in the room down the hall?" Kyoya inquired.

"No time!" Haruhi called back. She was somewhere in the depths of his closet now, and the large sweats she'd worn to bed went flying, landing on the edge of his closet. Kyoya assumed she was pulling on some of his clothes.

Haruhi emerged in a pair of his old jeans rolled up to her ankles and a long-sleeved Todai shirt. She flung her hair up into a ponytail and looked around for her shoes.

"They're downstairs," Kyoya informed her. He was amused by her frantic searching, but he was mostly curious as to why she was behaving this way. It was 10:12am on a Sunday. What reason could she have for needing to leave in such a hurry? Kyoya normally wasn't even up till lunch on a Sunday.

He reached out and grabbed her wrist as she grabbed her cell phone off the bedside table.

"Haruhi, what is the rush?"

"I promised Hikaru and Kaoru I'd meet them ten minutes ago! They're going to be furious!" Haruhi called over her shoulder as she freed herself from Kyoya's grasp and bolted for the door. Kyoya sighed before hauling himself off of the bed and following after her. She'd been to his house before, and she'd managed to get lost every time.

In the foyer, Haruhi slipped on her silver, short-heeled sandals from the night before and grabbed the little purse she'd brought to the Garden Party. She slipped her cell phone into her bag and turned to Kyoya.

"If I show up looking like this, what are the chances the twins will heckle me about my appearance?" she asked him as she spread out her arms and turned about in a circle for inspection.

Kyoya pursed his lips. The twins would most definitely harp about her appearance; they didn't like it when she wore men's clothes when everyone knew she was a girl. However, Kyoya thought she looked rather . . . sexy. The shirt hung loose around her shoulders, showing off her exquisite neckline and collar bone. The shirt was folded under a bit so it didn't hand down to her knees as it might have otherwise. The jeans were rolled up and looked like a pair of designer boyfriend-style jeans on Haruhi, accentuating her thin legs and displaying her slender ankles. The silver heels only served to add a bit of chicness to the otherwise rough-and-tumble ensemble.

Haruhi in men's clothing was entirely unfeminine. Haruhi in his clothing, however, was absolutely delectable.

"It won't be as bad as the time you showed up to lunch in overalls, let's put it that way," Kyoya responded with a small smile.

"Thanks," Haruhi said slightly breathlessly as she brushed some of her bangs out of the way. "Tell Akito-kun I'll call him later, okay?"

And just like that Kyoya's pleasant morning ended.

Akito watched from the shadows as Haruhi left a mildly stunned Kyoya standing next to the door. He wondered why she hadn't mentioned that she had plans with the Hitachiins, but that was a matter for later. As of present, Akito had a bone to pick with his kid brother.

"So, little brother, did you enjoy your night?" Akito began his interrogation as he stepped out of the shadows and into the sunlight cast down through the skylight above the foyer.

Kyoya studied Akito behind his glasses, the sunlight reflecting off of the lenses so that his eyes could not be seen through them. "It was pleasant," was Kyoya's simple response.

"Yes, I'm sure the banker's daughter proved to be quite pleasurable. Then again, if you had to snake out Haruhi out from under me, I'm guessing she wasn't good enough for your selective tastes," Akito commented, his words filled with innuendos.

He watched Kyoya carefully, and Kyoya watched him. The two brothers had officially entered a stand-off of sorts, the topic of the matter being Haruhi.

It was about damn time.

"You should always have your facts straight, Akito-niisan. It would save you from making horrendously false accusations and looking like a complete idiot," Kyoya informed Akito in the manner of a parent reprimanding a child for doing something obviously uncouth.

Akito looked Kyoya up and down. "So then Haruhi was in your bed this morning because she likes being assaulted first thing in the morning?"

"Well, she always did like things rough," Kyoya drawled out cryptically. "Perhaps if you provided a bit more entertainment for Haruhi, if she actually found you interesting, then she would have spent last night with you."

Akito slit his eyes at his younger brother. It was proving a challenge to keep the full extent of his anger tucked away behind his Ootori mask. Then, throwing away his morals for the sake of getting a reaction out of Kyoya, "I just find it so odd that she decided to cuddle up with you given how . . . friendly she was with me earlier." Akito threw in an icy smirk for good measure.

And then Akito was sent reeling as Kyoya's fist connected with his face.

Akito saw stars for a moment as his vision cleared, and his eyes fell upon his younger brother, who was shaking his right hand. There was blood on his knuckles, and Akito could feel blood trickling down his cheek from the cut across his cheekbone.

"Stay away from Haruhi," Kyoya growled, his breathing slightly labored.

"I think you've got that backwards, brother," Akito spat back. "I'm her boyfriend, not you."

"You're—"

Akito was fairly sure Kyoya would have followed up with an insult, but just then their father came walking into the foyer.

Yoshio glanced between the two disheveled boys before shaking his head.

"I don't know what's going on between the two of you, but I have very important news. Tomorrow night there is a family dinner between our family and the Park family. We're going to discuss the possibility of an engagement between their daughter Hye-mi and you, Akito. Isn't that wonderful?"

Both boys just stared at their father, their eyes going wide.

Haruhi's going to kill me, Akito couldn't help but think.

Author's Note: Again, I'm very sorry, but this was completely out of my hands. Hopefully this laptop will not malfunction, and the rewritten chapter doesn't deviate too much from what I had originally. I don't think it does. Anyway, please review! The Broken Hearts Club will be updated by the end of Saturday or you can set flames to it.