Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way.

Shelter in the Storm

Previously in chapter seven: The maids that had brought the food cleaned up the mess and made their exit leaving Kyoya and Haruhi alone. Haruhi gathered the homework up to set it aside for the night, while Kyoya stared at her.

Chapter Eight

"Haruhi?" Kyoya spoke her name, more so to hear himself say it, than to get her attention. But then curiosity hit him.

"Yes?"

"May I ask you something rather personal?"

"Uhn. Certainly, what is it?"

"What is your standing on romantic relationships?"

"Ano, what do you mean my standing, senpai? Are you asking if I am involved in one, or just what I think about them?"

"Well, I guess both. I have to admit that I never thought about you being involved with anyone considering your involvement with the host club, but I supposed that it could be possible, right? So, yes, I am wondering if you're currently involved with someone. But also, I am curious what you think about relationships. Are you opposed to having a relationship with someone? Or maybe have someone in mind that you would specially consider having a relationship with?

"I'm not involved with anyone. Why do you ask?"

"Curiosity, I guess. So is there anyone in particular that you have your eyes on? Someone you have feelings for? I mean, we're friends, right? Having a friendly chat, getting to know one another better that's all. But lately, I've heard talk, and well, believe it or not, there are tidbits of information that my sources do not have access to. They may be few and far between little tidbits, but some exist none the less."

"Are you talking about the night that Mori-senpai laid in my bed while I curled up with him after my nightmare?" She asked innocently enough that it caught him off guard. Hmm, I guess I should go back and look at the security videos after all. He hid his confusion about what had happened between her and their senpai since she assumed that he had already viewed the footage.

"No, I would not question you about that. I just was wondering, as are some of our other friends, if you prefer a particular companion over others. Maybe someone who makes your heart skip a beat when he looks at you?" Well, maybe I would question you about senpai, if I knew what happened. But since I said I wouldn't, an Otori always keeps his word so you won't be questioned by me. I can't say the same for others if they find something undesirable in those videos. He had decided that he would watch the footage and if need be, discreetly allow Tamaki to see them so that he would be the one to question her.

"… Not really… I don't have time for that sort of thing anyway. Between school work, club duties, home work and house work, that doesn't leave much time for anything else. Besides, everyone at school thinks that I am a boy. Wouldn't it be odd for two boys to become too close?" He knew that she had no regards for gender differences, but he had figured that maybe, as time went on, she would start to feel the giddy feelings most teenaged girls go through.

"Ah, ok. That does make sense, but I know that in your past, others had confessed to you. I didn't know if any of them had tried to come back, or maybe … just maybe one of the other hosts had tried to deepen the relationship. Well other than the idiot Tamaki, that is."

"No, not to my knowledge. Umm… senpai, am I missing something? What brought these questions on?" And where is the merit to this conversation? You say that it's just two friends getting to know one another better, but you do nothing without merit, that you will admit to. She couldn't figure out what his angle was.

"No nothing, I was just curious. I mean, after all, we wouldn't want your debt to go unpaid because you chose to get a boyfriend of something to that effect, right?" He didn't know why he threw in reference to her debt. He also didn't know what the feeling in the pit of his stomach was. Whatever it was, he didn't like it. Nor did he like the idea that he was saying things that he knew jabbed at Haruhi, but since the comment about Mori-senpai lay in bed with her, he couldn't help it. He wanted to know everything, now. Haruhi just sighed. "Well, you're probably tired by now. I will be here if you need anything. Please don't hesitate if there is anything I can do, ok?"

Haruhi excused herself and left to go to bed. No sooner had she left the room than Kyoya immediately connected the security servers at the hospital and downloaded all the videos of Haruhi's room while she had been there. With headphones in so that Haruhi would not hear what he was listening to, he watched, and waited, and observed.

He finished watching the videos, fast forwarding through more but watching the parts that caught his attention, and made a few notes in his notebook. One of the first things on the agenda after school in the tomorrow would be to have a talk with the nurse that told a hormonal teenage boy to lie in bed with my girl. No wait, I mean our girl, as in the host club, right? But if one refers to her as the whole host club's girl, then that means that she is Mori-senpai's girl as well, right? Wait. No. What do I mean? Why would I call her mine? And why do I suddenly want to see Mori-senpai removed from the host club? Kyoya was so unused to emotions for other people, that he didn't know exactly what he was feeling. All he knew was that it was unpleasant to see Haruhi cuddling with their senpai. He also knew that what he saw in Mori's eyes as he comforted her, he had seen somewhere else before. Maybe Tamaki should see this video. Tamaki! That's where I've see that look before. It was proving to be too much for Kyoya to handle in one night, so he closed down his laptop and tried to sleep. Rest proved unobtainable as he tossed and turned. He could not get the girl sleeping a few yards from him in the next room off of his mind.

He stood up and stretched. It couldn't be helped. If he checked on her, maybe he could calm his mind enough to sleep. He slipped into her room and walked over to her bed. He bent down and stroked the side of her cheek as she lay sleeping. "I meant it the night that you woke up. You're the glue that holds that club together. You might even be the glue that holds me together, but I don't know how to tell you. I can't host you like I do the girls at the club or father's business partners. You aren't that kind of woman. I'm lost when it comes to telling you things that would come easy if you were anyone else. How can you do this to me? No one else has this ability over me." He straightened up and slipped out of the room.

Rest came easy after that. He found himself slipping into a deep sleep laden with sweet dreams of Haruhi hearing what he said to her as she awoken from the coma as well as dreams of him comforting her instead of Mori when she had her nightmare. He was rousted out of one of the more pleasant dreams by Ranka when he came in from work. The Low Blood Pressure Demon Lord found it easier to fake sleeping than to deal with the hyper Tamaki-like man who had just walked in the door. Besides, if he could avoid long drawn out conversations with the man who loved to talk your ear off, then he could get back to his dream sooner. He would rather been with Haruhi in his sleep than her father awake. Luckily, Ranka knew that Kyoya still had school in the morning, so he did his best to not wake the supposedly sleeping teen.