Chapter 16 Different

As many wise people have said, time seems to heal all wounds and as the next six months seemed to fly by I felt my heart forgive and forget most of the pain it had felt. That said, my mind was exhausted and when I arrived home from the vacation and I had to stay another week away from school as I had gotten a deathly cold. The boys as usual were their lovely, kind selves and had come to visit as often as they could but I also noticed that after the hellish vacation they weren't quite as unbearable. The visited me often but I didn't find their visits to be exhausting or even stress inducing, this whilst was also due to my increase in patience, was mainly due to the boys being on their best behaviour and of course the remarkable change in Tamaki. Kyoya never came round but I don't think I had ever expected him to, after all we had been through I knew it would be difficult for us to remain friends. That said, every time the boys came around I did expect to see him standing at the back, typing away. And each time they did come around, I was disappointed. One afternoon when Honey-Sempai was sharing one of his beautifully adorned cupcakes with me I asked him why Kyoya had not come, not even once. I didn't want to admit that I felt dejected or even that I missed him slightly but in my heart I knew that I felt a loss when he wasn't around. Honey looked up with his bright blue eyes and asked in a sweet, singsong voice, "Don't you know, Haru-chan? Kyoya-kun is studying overseas for a while. He is doing an overseas business venture with his father and studying abroad while he does it. He seemed quite relieved to leave, I think Kyoya-kun has been under a lot of stress lately, just like you Haru-chan"

I felt my forehead pinch and furrow, sensing my confusion he continued, "He wrote you a letter but in your weakened state we didn't think it best you read it…but if you would like to Haru-chan I will leave it here with you, k?" he smiled angelically, holding up Ossa-chan to his small chest. I thought for a moment about reading it and noticed the small letter in Mori-Sempai's hand as he stood against the wall of my room silently.

"But where did he go?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even.

"America," Honey replied with a mouthful of cake, "he'll be back in six months though, so not to worry! We'll see Kyoya soon!"

I lay silently in thought for a long time and without noticing, the boys filed out and promised to return tomorrow. My heart gave a small lurch when I let the information sink in. He wasn't even in the same country as me. And as this thought escaped my mind, I felt my eyes fill with tears. What if he never comes back? Would that be my fault? Is that what he wrote to say? The letter was left on my dresser and there it remained for the next five months gathering dust.

Exams followed, one after the other and before we knew it December had come again and winter break was all that anyone at Ouran talked about. Of course, Tamaki had planned special winter themed days at the host club but without Kyoya it was obvious the club was falling into disarray. Frowning at my already heavy school load I decided to take on the budgeting for the club, as each of the boys seemed completely and utterly inept. It was as if they'd never had to worry about money before, uh I sighed, that was right. They had never needed to worry about money before and as far as they were concerned I was sure, it seemed to be an infinity pool that poor people simply did not realise was there.

After the months passed I found myself growing distant from the past events of the year and began to focus on smaller things. At night I lay in bed, accounting for the next lavish event Tamaki wished to throw, I found myself smiling in thought about how frugal Kyoya was. True, he was just as frightfully rich and sometimes just as obnoxious as the other boys, but he didn't treat money as though it were an infinite substance. He meticulously calculated every cent and ensured it was being well spent. That was something I could admire. After doing most the accounting in my home for the past two years I was mesmerised by his past notes and ways of producing money when times were tight to maintain a consistency of lavish and relaxing atmosphere for the lady clients. And the next morning when I was awoken to the sound of a sizzling pan and a screeching kettle in the next room I found that I had fell asleep on my notes. Quickly throwing everything together in my satchel I got dressed and headed to the kitchen where Dad was making breakfast.

"Morning sweetie" he chirped and flipped the egg he was frying.

"Morning dad," I smiled and started pouring the tea for the both of us.

The rest of the morning was silent while we ate, my fathers gaze began stuck on me and I grew uncomfortable before finally giving up, "why are you staring, what's wrong with me now?" I questioned, swallowing the steaming eggs.

"Oh nothing…"he started, looking down at the newspaper and I waited, "it's just I was thinking of how much you are like your mother, I mean of course you look like her but you also have that…how do I put it reserved? No…cool and collected maybe way about you," he smiled and I nearly choked. Cool and collected?

"Not that it's a bad thing!" he rushed with his hands out motioning to relax, "you can be incredibly open and revealing with your eyes and I am thankful for those moments because it let's me know when you are okay or in need of some help. But when you are studying, or working on something important you look like that stone, cold lawyer I fell for" he smiled gently and put his hand on mine. I smiled back and then made an excuse that I was going to be late for school and rushed out the door.

Cool and collected? Now where did those traits sound familiar? Kyoya-Sempai's face came to mind, his glasses slipping down his nose and his long fingers tapping away at his computer. He was the definition of cool, sometimes to his detriment and I was pleased that I at least wasn't emotionless.

I cringed, it wasn't fair to call him emotionless I reasoned; he just didn't have a handle on them. But I guess, who at our age does? For someone who is so focused and determined, emotions must be a complete burden and I could relate to that. Shouting at those I loved was now becoming a regular occurrence since joining the host club, and whilst those shouts were definitely warranted – thoughts of those devilish twins came to mind, I did sometimes wish I didn't care as much as I obviously do. From the beginning, isn't that all I had wanted? Time to just focus, study and eventually, one day, become a great lawyer like mum. Sighing, I ducked under the leaves of a low bearing tree and continued my slow walk to the bus stop for yet another day at Ouran.

When I arrived I set out my things in homeroom and began to study before classes started. I had aimed to get through at least two chapters of the advanced math textbook so the next class would be a breeze but as I became focused I heard a small knock at the door to the otherwise empty room.

I turned my head and brushed my hair out of my eyes before gasping, there standing in the flesh was Kyoya. He looked taller, wiser and not nearly as dark as I'd last seen him.

"Hello Haruhi," he said, the cool smile lighting up the room. His uniform was neatly pressed and he had his usual laptop and black book in hand. Gaping like a goldfish, I felt my mind reel. Suddenly it felt as though he had never left, seeing him here in his usual nonchalant pose against a doorway. He chuckled at my surprised face before reading my thoughts like he used to do so easily, "I'm back early as you can see"

Again the room was filled with silence and he sighed and stood up straight before crossing his arms, "I am told you did the clubs accounting while I was gone?"

Regaining my composure, I shook my head and looked back up, "that's right. If you want I can forward all my notes and files to your computer so you can be up to date, I am assuming you're returning to the club?" I asked, and felt my cheeks grow warm. In my mind I could see my messy notes compared to his and felt embarrassed that he would be seeing them now before I could have a chance to put them into proper format.

"Of course, and that would be great, if you could do that I would definitely be even more in your debt for taking on this role for the sake of the club. I did wonder how they would survive without me but Tamaki assured me that he had everything under control and I would be alright to leave. Of course, it was knowing only that you would be around to take care of things that quelled my anxiety enough to get on the plane and let the club be" his eyes lit up and he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose finishing with his signature smile that made my untamed heart beat faster, my face already blushing from his compliment.

"Oh well, we did lose some money after you left, it was quite difficult maintaining the incredible profit margin but I tried my best," I smiled nervously and played with the pencil in my hand. At that the bell rang and we both stood there silently for another minute.

"Well…I better-" he started before I cut him off.

"I'm glad you're back, it's been….different without you around" I smiled and stood up with my things. He seemed uncomfortable and shifted his weight before shaking his head and resorting to his cool smile, "I'm glad to be back, it was….different being away. I had a lot of time to think," he finished quietly and the room suddenly got intense. I stood silently before making an excuse that I'd be late for class and he shook out of his thoughts waving to me as I walked down the hall.

Well, he's back. Things might just start to get…different again. I felt my face beaming as I walked to class. Kyoya was back.