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Chapter 18

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From every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven. And when two souls that are destined to be together find each other, their streams of light flow together, for eternity in perfect harmony. Even though they find grounding from different sources. Even though they are different entities, they possess the power to create a single home according to their compatibility and conjunction.

-

Yuuki stood on a pedestal and chatted to Haruhi. They were at a dress makers, the bride to be getting hers stitched and the maid of honour to be getting hers fitted.

Haruhi was talking about her spring wedding plans. Outside it was snowing. "Well, Tamaki wants swans but I think that's too much. What do you think?"

"Animals, at a wedding? Sounds like a disaster."

"That's what I said."

"And he said?"

"Ambience."

Yuuki laughed. "He would say that."

Haruhi stared at her reflection. Her dress was simple and suited her beautifully. White gown, glass beading, spaghetti straps. "Would you be scared leading up to your wedding?"

"My wedding?" The girl looked up, wondering how much Suki had spilled, if any.

"Yes. You'll get married eventually."

"Oh. Yes. I would be scared." She was petrified already.

"Why?" The girl ran her hands over the soft blue silk of her gown. It was cut just below the knee and was detailed for spring.

"What do you mean, 'why'?"

"Well, when you know you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you cant wait for the rest of your life to begin, right?"
"Right..."

"Yes. So...if you find that special someone, and its perfect, why am I so nervous?"
"You have months yet."

"I know it's the right decision. The best decision. But..."

"You're giving yourself to someone forever. You. When you've belonged to yourself for so long and no longer will." Yuuki said softly, more to herself than anyone else.

Haruhi cocked her head to the side. "Yes. I think your right. Giving myself to Tamaki, forever, even though I want him to have me...what if he doesn't like it?"

"He obviously likes you enough to give himself to you." The Cunxin was more consoling herself than her friend.

There was a long silence. "Yuuki?"

"Yes?"

"Can I see something?"
"What?"

The girl held her hand out to Yuuki's left. She gave her right. The engagement ring had been twisted under to her palm, leaving just a thin line of gold across her finger. In two weeks, no one had noticed.

"No, you're left."

"Why?" She closed her hand around the ring.

"Because, I have a sneaking suspicion that in the time you were consoling yourself and not me, you finally broke some form of impasse."

"Stop being a lawyer and trying to read people."

"Please?"

The Cunxin sighed. She knew people would find out. This was not a secret, it was just something they kept private for the meantime until she was comfortable with the fact. Yuuki had realised through Haruhi's worries, that her own were nothing. She wanted to be the greatest gift Kyoya ever got, to give him ever secret, every habit, everything. She was just worried he wouldn't like it; just like Haruhi. Except, both girls had come to the realisation that their men had asked for forever, which meant they had asked for them. Yuuki gave over her left hand and watched Haruhi hesitantly. The girl's eyes widened as she turned the gold band to the bottom.

"Jehosephat." She looked up at the Cunxin. "No wonder you understand my concerns. How long has this been going on?"

"Almost two months."

"And you didn't tell?"

"Like you said, it's unnerving."

There was a stunned silence. "Oh my gosh. When did he ask you?"

"At the airport. In London when you arrived." Yuuki was shy about the topic.

"And the wedding?"

"He wants September."
"And you?"

"I always wanted an autumn wedding."

Haruhi smiled sweetly. "Well, when you find them, you find them."

Yuuki smiled back, embarrassed. "Yeah." She knew she had more than found him. She had found herself in him. "Um...I don't know how to announce it. Kyoya has left that to me, and I don't know how."

"I'd tell his parents first." Came the reply. "They're the ones you'll have to win over. The host club will be thrilled. I'll even keep it from Tamaki until you're ready."

Yuuki felt blessed to have two people who understood her unease with the topic. "Okay." She breathed. She was at dinner at the Ootori's that night. "Okay."

She would have to try. It was the only way to conquer her fear of herself.

-

Yuuki arrived at the Ootori estate an hour before dinner. She needed to talk to Kyoya. He was walking through the foyer to the lounge, his mind occupied by the folder in front of him, when the girl burst through the door and grabbed his elbow, spinning him and changing direction.

"Hello to you too." The Ootori let her drag him to his room at the end of the hall, somewhat annoyed that she had caused him to draw a long black line across his paper with her efforts to direct him. "You're early."

Yuuki paused. "Sorry."
"I don't mind."

"Um..." The girl sat on one of the couches. "I was with Haruhi today. And I told her. And I asked her who we should announce it to first. And she said your family. And that makes sense. And...oh my gosh I have no idea how to do that."

Kyoya pushed his glasses up. "Well, just turn the ring around to how you'll wear it when the news is public." Then it will be public.

Yuuki ran her thumb over the ornament. "And then they'll trigger the conversation?"

"Most likely. We don't miss things like that."

"Really?"
Kyoya raised an eyebrow.

"Okay. No, you never miss things like that. I'm just freaking out. People are going to know." She stared as the man sat down beside her. "They're going to know and they're going to talk and they're going to want to know more and maybe they'll start rumour and..."

"And they'll love you." He pressed a finger to her mouth. "Your here most days anyway for Zero. Its not like they don't know your part of my life."

"Yes, but I don't think your father will like the new 'permanent' part of your life part....part"

"Relax. Your overreacting."

"I'm not. I'm...am I overreacting?"

"Yes."

"How do you know?"

"Because I've seen you react to things and you don't react like you are now."

"Sorry...I'm..." It was a big thing for her.

"I know." Kyoya opened the folder he had been holding and stared at the page. He changed the topic. "I've been looking at the statistics of the bombing."

Yuuki craned her neck to see. "Yes?"
"And, it turns out that without the Ootori group, the funds of the cleanup and health services would have not stretched far enough."

The girl wrapped her fingers around his upper arm. "So...you get lots of profit?"

"We will."

"Yay." She said quietly in support.

Kyoya felt her against his side and stared at the page as he allowed his head to tilt sideways to rest on hers. "You know, I think out of any project, this is the best I've done."

"You worked very hard."

"No, not work wise. Or profits. It's not the hardest or best I've done. But it's the most beneficial. The one with the most merit." He finally realised that real profit didn't come from the stock market, although, that kind helped a lot.

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

"Sorry."

Kyoya closed his folder. He had structured his day to finish work just before she arrived. "Tell me about your day." Her voice helped him unwind to a human level again.

"Well. I got my bridesmaids dress today."

"Yes?"
"And it was awful getting it fitted."

"Why?"

"Quote. 'oh, honey, you need a bigger bust. Oh, you have such a nice waist; it would be better if you let yourself go a bit and got some real curves...'" She buried her face in his shoulder and made a melodramatic weepy noise as a mockery to the abuse. "It was awful."

Kyoya smiled. "You have a waist."

"Yes. I'm supposed to be an hourglass, but the lady said I was so slight I was practically a rectangle. I can't help it. I'm healthy. I exercise. I eat fast food and drink soda." Pause, that was a bit of an oxymoron; health and fast food in the same sentence. Kyoya would understand though. Its not like she lived off celery. "Being a woman is so hard." The pursuit of perfection that could only be attained with Photoshop.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with you."

"Yes. But you're biased."

"No I'm not. There is nothing wrong with you at all. Beauty is subjective. It is an ephemeral entity. It always looks different each moment of the day, but it's always beautiful."

"Oh." She pushed away from him. "Go write Hallmark cards."

Kyoya laughed softly. He had said roughly the same thing about beauty at the host club and girls had squealed in joy. Yuuki was different. Perfect with every flaw society claimed she had, but that she didn't actually posess. "I think you're beautiful."

"Yes. But you're biased. Your one of those 'oh, inner beauty' kind of people. You studied humanities. Along with various other subjects. I know these things." She tapped her nose. "And you're a boy. Inherently, you think you're beautiful and wonderful and amazing. Girls inherently think their awful and awkward and confused."

"No. Women become like their mothers, that's their tragedy. No man does, and that's his."

"Oscar Wilde." Yuuki smiled slightly.

"I don't think you see yourself clearly." It had always been her problem.

"How do you see me?"
"You have a straight nose, your lips are one third the height of their length – an apparent sign of perfect dimensions, your skin is always clear because of the copious amount of water you drink, your hair is dark, you might be just below desired height but you're my desired height." He could go on but she would get embarrassed and words would lose their effect. "All in all, you're..."

"Very normal." Yuuki pulled her legs to her chest. "I have brown hair, brown eyes and since when was a mouth an indication of dimension? That's absurd. My skin...that's just luck, and genes and lifestyle; or whatever. I'm short, and..." Oh, how one statement from a stranger could crush an entire perception of one's self.

"And I fell for you." Slight subject change.

"I don't think we ever fell in love. I think we just loved. Falling implies hitting the ground, and that never happened. Not even when you let me fly away. It was progressive, but it was a climb. Not a fall." Pause. "I don't think there was ever a point where I didn't love you. Not that I can remember."

"If there is no definitive start, then there cannot be a definitive end. Or one at all."

"Okay. No more talking."

"Okay."

"I said no more talking."

"Then stop talking."
"You stop talking."
Kyoya leant back and stared incredulously at her. She didn't want to talk, but she still wanted to converse. He let her rest herself against him before tilting her chin up and kissing her. Yuuki liked how he could leave a topic but close it at the same time, make his point and leave her to make up her mind. A process that took a lot more time for her than it did for him. Outside it began to snow again and the girl rested a hand on the Ootori's shoulder as she kissed him back and watched the world move around them while they kept their progress solid and smooth, open to outside factors but controlled to the combined needs of themselves. Not specific needs, amalgamated beings and the world they created. Kyoya let his hand stray up her back and to the base of her hair. There he traced the start of the waves that formed the dark mass. Yuuki closed her eyes and pulled away from him and buried the bridge of her nose against the curve of his neck. He turned his head and pressed his mouth to the girl's throat, just below her jaw.

"Okay." Kyoya stopped breathed against her. "You need to face your demons now."

"You mean your parents, right?" Yuuki cringed into him.

"Yes."

"Let them drink cosmos."

"You have to stop comparing the upper classes to Marie Antoinette."

"But I like to."
"Because she got decapitated?"

"No. Because she painted her face, wore hideous dresses just because they were in fashion and married for alliance, not love."

"Hasn't changed much."

"Exactly."

"Well, you need to go tell Louis that his dear son is not following tradition and is not going to wed himself to some tart whose father owns a string of resorts in Spain."

"Oh, snap." Yuuki sat up and ran a hand through her hair. "You're still marrying an upper class kid."
"Yeah, but you weren't born like that."
"Yes. My family has drive."

"And divorce."

"Stop with making the negatives all obvious. I'm an Olympian."

"Yes, ma'am."
"Good boy." She petted his head mockingly. "Now, go stand guard and sic anyone who attempts to set their teeth into me with disdain."

Kyoya pushed his glasses up. "Overreacting."

"Scared."

"Don't be." He took her left hand and spun her ring around. "They'll accept you. They cant not. If they don't, they lose me. And they need me."

"Oh, comforting." She blinked as he kissed the top of her head.

"Just pretend it's a normal, relaxing dinner."

"Oh yes. Because eating here is a normal, relaxing experience."

"Yuuki. Just behave."

"I always behave."

"Yes. This is what we both want and you can't not work for something you want."

"Okay capitalist man."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

She trusted him. She had given him her heart, she had yet to hand over her life but she knew it would be perfect. She knew it was what she wanted more than anything. All she wanted was to be with him. Bound officially to the worlds standards, and not just to their own.

-

My heart to you is given:
Oh, do give yours to me;
We'll lock them up together,
And throw away the key.
(Frederick Saunders)

-

Yuuki glanced across the table at Kyoya as everyone settled into dinner. It just so happened that his mother was on her left. The brothers were both married as was the sister. It was just her, him and the wolves.

"Evening, Yuuki." Kyoya's father's voice reverberated through the room.

"Good evening, sir."

"I hear from Suoh that you went shopping with his son's fiancé today."

"Yes, sir."
"Good girl she is. I had planned for her to marry Kyoya, but Tamaki got there first."

"I'm, sorry to hear that." She sent a pleading look at Kyoya who just took a sip of water and said hello to his mother.

"Well..." The woman turned to Yuuki. "When's the wedding again?"
"May."

"A Spring wedding, how delightful."

"It should be, Haruhi's dress is perfect for it."

"Oh, and what does it look like?"
"I'm not at liberty to tell, not with the best man sitting across the table."

The woman laughed. Yuuki relaxed. Get on good notes first before letting them unleash the bomb. "So, how about you. What about you're wedding? Whenever that happens..." She veered off.

"Um...what about it?" Tension.

"Well, I don't expect you to have thought of it..." Kyoya's mother trailed off as the girl drank some water, an effort to open her throat again. "Um..."

Yuuki paused as she put the glass down, her hand still around it, the moisture wrapped around the ring. She didn't look at her unsuspecting-mother-in-law-to-be.

"Dear." Mrs Ootori looked at her son. He looked vaguely amused. As if this were the best game he had played in a while. "Um..."

"What's the matter, woman?" Mr Ootori said from his seat. Demanding.

"Um...I think that..."

Yuuki didn't say anything. Kyoya took over. "Yuuki and I are engaged."

His father stared icily at the girl before diverting his gaze to his son. "Excuse me?"

"We are engaged. To be married." He seemed so calm. Yuuki wanted to throw something at him. Bread stick maybe. Oh the possibilities.

"No, you are not."

"Yes, father, we are."

"Kyoya. I will not allow you to marry a disrespectful, unnamed 'fling'."

"I will not allow you to talk about Yuuki like that. It is just as disrespectful and unnames you."

Mrs Ootori had snatched the girl's left hand and was examining the collection of rocks. "When..."

"Almost two months."

"Why?"
Yuuki took her hand back gently. "Because, I love your son."

Mr Ootori scoffed. "There is no such thing."

"But sir, there must be." She sat up straighter.

"Yes, prove it."
"Close your eyes." Kyoya watched her smugly from his seat. She was obviously sick of their ill veiled insults. Yuuki threw a grape at his father and he had to try not to burst out laughing from shock.

The man's eyes shot open. "What was that?!"

"What? Nothing happened."

"It was not nothing. You threw something at me."

"Prove it."

"I felt it."

"So did I. And so does your son."

Mr Ootori sat back and contemplated her argument. He began laughing. Yuuki hadn't breathed in a minute and didn't know whether it was safe to yet. Kyoya's father leaned back in his chair, she outwitted him. "You make a valid statement."

"Yes, sir."

"Ha. Hm. Well. I might not like it, but I can't stop it. Your getting a prenup though."

Yuuki nodded. "We already discussed that."

"You're willing?"

"Yes, sir. I have no intention of divorcing your son, ever."

"But you've divorced before."

"Yes, sir."
"How can you say you won't again."

"I can't to you in terms you will understand. But I can say I know it won't."

Kyoya crossed his arms. "It won't happen."

His father turned to him. "How can you be sure?"
"Calculations. Would I do it if it wasn't a profitable endeavour with long term benefits?"
Mr Ootori thought. "No. I raised you well." Pause. "Alright."

"Alright?" Yuuki stared at him.

"Alright." The man said firmly. "I need my son and he apparently needs you, for reasons I cannot see."

"Thank you, sir." Yuuki breathed and ignored his unveiled insult.

Kyoya smiled coyly across the table at her. The girl wanted to throw a grape at him but refrained from the act. Not in front of his parents. Mrs Ootori sat in silence the rest of the evening. She did not consider the girl good enough for her son, but she had considered none of her other children's spouses worth her own. She had married for money and power and very few had as much as the Ootori's. No one could match them for breeding and prestige and all below that were looked upon with veiled disdain.

-

An hour later, the pair were watching one of Kyoya movie picks. Something about conspiracy, calculations and confusion.

"He's going to die. In ten minutes." Yuuki said, indicating the man on screen. "They just told you about his wife and children and how happy his life is."

"Are you saying all happy people die?"

"No. That would ruin Disney forever. I'm saying that all happy people that tell you about their lives and who don't have something to angst about die in these movies die."

"There are plenty of other happy people in this."

"Yes." She said flatly. "But they all have STD's."

Kyoya pushed his glasses up. "All of them?"

"All of them. James Bond shouldn't technically be alive."

"This isn't a James Bond film."

"No, if it was, I would be much more interested."

"How much of that is the film and how much is the actor?"
"I'd say...40%, 60%."

"Mmmhmm."

"Your dad was...not very happy." At the end of the meal, he had risen silently and left the room with a storm cloud over his head. His wife left though another door with her face puckered.

"But things worked out."

"Yes, they did."

"I told you so."

"You told me so."

"I also helped you when I said I wouldn't. You owe me."

"Owe you what?"
Thoughtful pause. "You're telling Tamaki."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."
"You said I never owed you anything."

"No, technically you don't. You're the only person I don't charge. But really, I'd much prefer it if you told him."

"But..."

"Please?" He asked for the first time ever.

"Why?"

"Because, I'm tired, I'm stressed, Tamaki's annoying and I have a lot of work."

"Stop trying to make me sympathise."

"All you do is ride, and you only train four times a week now as opposed to the six you used to."

"That's still a lot of riding."

"Its heavy hobby, not occupation."

"Are you calling me unemployed?"

"No, I'm saying your unemployed."

"There's FEI in a year and a half."

"You don't want to compete in it."

"Yes I d..."

"No, Yuuki. You really don't. You cringe when they call your name on the speakers. You only rode competitively because your mother used to and because your father made you."

Yuuki crossed her arms. "No..." Pause. "I liked the prize money."

"Liked."

"Okay. Okay. Alright." She raised her hands in defence. "I hated competing. Yes, past tense. No, I don't think I will again. But it doesn't mean I can't ride. I still like it. It's what I know."

"You should do what you want to do."

"I want to marry you."

"Yes. I know that. But other than that."

"Your mother doesn't work."

"Yes, and she's miserable. I don't want you miserable. She thinks that in matter of importance, style, not sincerity is the most vital thing"

Yuuki stared out the window. She had put Zero away that night and felt at peace with the fact that he wouldn't have to throw himself over jumps for her again. He hated noise. "I know that this whole engagement thing is a big step for me. I'm still learning. I do want a real job, but I want it to be my job. Not the one you suggested."

Kyoya stared at her. "Hm."

"No, not like I don't want you to help. But I just want to make my own decision on this. For once. My saying yes to you was the first decision about my future that I really made for myself. And I wouldn't have had it any other way."

"Alright." Kyoya pushed his glasses up. "You think about it and come back to me."

"I won't have to come back. I won't have left."

Pause. "You're still telling Tamaki."
Yuuki scowled. "No."

"Yes."

"No."
"Yes."

"No."

Kyoya wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck and pulled her into a deeply enchanting kiss. "Yes?" He let his breath was over her face. Yuuki swallowed and nodded slowly, her mind had to clear and she didn't realise she had just fallen prey to one of Kyoya's new tactics. He thought it needed to be tested again in order to be proven.

"Will you tell the twins too?"

Yuuki put her fingers on his mouth. "Don't push your luck."

Kyoya laughed. He hadn't wanted her to anyway; he just needed an excuse and said so.

"Well..." The girl thought for a minute. "You don't need an excuse." She kissed him sweetly. Something in the movie exploded and someone started yelling.

Both of them tensed for a moment and stared at the remains of a building on the screen. Kyoya turned the TV off. Something like that suddenly held no entertainment, it could not be acted. It was too much a part of the world to not be real on at least some level.

"Hm..." Yuuki crossed her legs under herself.

"Indeed." Kyoya crossed his arms.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes."

"Sure?"

"Yes."

"Liar."

The man glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Yuuki was watching him. He was feeling the same thing she was. Seeing the face of the young man who had died. Who died without the chance to say goodbye. The Ootori opened his arms, needing her comfort from the fact that he had almost left the world too, at the same age. From how he had almost become a broken statistic. Yuuki liked being caged in his arms. She had the key to get away too, but she didn't want to. It was calming. Like a balm for every time she'd been hurt and an assurance of her forgiveness for every time she had hurt him. Peter Ustinov had once said that love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit. Kyoya understood that. He didn't like revealing emotion, but he had it nonetheless. Yuuki was one who understood his mannerisms to the point that he was a human. To her, he had a heart that wasn't cold and calculating and totally focused on profit. That's what he was to the world. But to their world, he was a comfort, a best friend, a silent support, a calculating lover. He was everything he was in reality, only expressed from a different perspective. Yuuki, however, would always be Yuuki. She just was. In both worlds. Only, she closed off to the one that wasn't the one they created. She kept herself horded away from hurt and only let him in to explore the regions unknown to everyone except those who had the key.
Flaws that enabled perfection.

-

Any girl walk by, don't matter
Every time you're looking better
I think you're perfect,
there ain't nothing I would change
She can be a supermodel
Every magazine the cover
She'll never ever take my heart away

I don't want…nothing… I don't got
I don't need…nothing…but you
I can't get…more than…you give me
So don't stop anything you do

You're all that…all that…and then some
You know what…just what…I need
And no girl…no place…nowhere
Could mean a thing to me

(She's no you, Jesse McCartney)

-

As autumn arrived and blended into winder, the Host Club decided to take the weekend to go stay in a mountain retreat and watch winter begin the climb to its middle. It was almost the end of November and everything had a bitter chill to it.

Hunny sat wrapped in front of a fire as night deepened and held a stick covered in marshmallows over the flames. Mori sat in an arm chair and enjoyed the warmth after a day making snowmen. The twins were making instant hot chocolate, amazed that there were more instant, heated beverages than coffee. Tamaki had put the Jackson Five on the stereo and was making a valiant speech about the soul of African American music.

"Do the dance with me!" He held a hand to Haruhi. Rockin' Robin was playing. The blonde saw his fiancé shake her head and went straight for Kyoya's. Of course, Tamaki didn't know that the pair were engaged and thus saw no problem with dancing with the unknown-wife-to-be.

Yuuki tried to pull away from him, but Suoh had the mannerisms of a determined Labrador. Determined to be joyous, right to the end. He spun her and Haruhi laughed. The Cunxin didn't know what to do or how to get away. Kyoya stood behind the sofa with a hand on his hip and the other on the noseband of his glasses, smiling quietly at the scene.

"No. Tamaki. No...don't..." Yuuki tried to get free but failed every time. "Haruhi, your dead."

The girl laughed. "Just relax and go with the flow. He'll let you go eventually."

Yuuki growled.

"Do it. Seriously. Don't fight him or he will get worse." Haruhi knew from experience.

Yuuki tried to relax. Tamaki was singing. "Twiddley diddly deet. Diddly, diddly, diddly, diddly. Twiddley diddly deet. Diddly, diddly, diddly."

The girl found herself laughing at him and then at herself when she found herself doing it too. By the end of the song, Tamaki had had his fun and saw no need to dance A-B-C with her. However, he did mention something about Thriller. Yuuki told him no. The blonde made a face and squeezed her hand. He paused and frowned.

"Wait..."

The girl cringed, waiting.

"OH MY GOSH!" Tamaki exploded. "JEHOSEPHAT! YAHOO!" He leapt into the air and Yuuki quickly took a step back, only to be embraced and spun in a tight circle.

Kyoya laughed quietly to himself. She had no idea what was coming. He did and had stood behind a piece of furniture.

"WHEN? WHO? HOW?" Tamaki clutched the girl's hands in his own and beamed at her. The rest of the host club had suddenly found a place for their undivided attention.

"Um...Heathrow Airport, Kyoya, by asking...?" Yuuki tried to make herself small and avoid the exuberant attention.

"YAHOO!" Tamaki exploded again and picked the girl up this time. He then put her down and threw himself at the couch, over it and into his best friend. They landed with a thunk on the floor. Kyoya growled, displeased. "YOU SLY DOG!" Tamaki exclaimed. "All this time!"

The Ootori looked up. Yuuki had her arms crossed and a coy smile on her face that said it served him right. "You're crushing me, Tamaki."

The Suoh realised that he had completely tackled Kyoya and was currently on top of him, not supporting any of his own weight. He quickly and gracefully stood up and brushed his hair away.

Hunny was standing beside the arm of the sofa that had once been used as a defence mechanism but had failed miserably. "What happened?"

Tamaki grabbed Yuuki's hand and paraded it over to the short blonde. "Look, isn't it pretty. Isn't it perfect? Not as pretty and perfect as Haruhi and I, but its close."

The girl sent Kyoya a long-suffering glance. He didn't sympathise.

"Yuu-chan?! YUU-CHAN!" Hunny threw himself on the girl. "We will have a party. With cake. And strawberries. You'll have a strawberry cake at your wedding? And a chocolate one at your engagement party? Actually, you should have both and..."

"Umm..." She lifted the man by his armpits and lowered him to the floor again. "Haruhi's wedding is first. If you want cake, ask her."

That got rid of one set of prying eyes and two sets of attention. Mori congratulated her and then went to stand by Kyoya. Doing the same in a manner the Ootori would understand. When the twins came near, Tamaki pulled Yuuki's hand back.

"No. You two will try get her drunk."

Kaoru scoffed. "No we won't."

Hikaru put his hands in his pockets. "Not while Kyoya is around anyway."

The Ootori glared at them, Yuuki tried to get away from Tamaki but in vain.

The Hitachiin pair examined her ring. "We defiantly saw this one coming."
Tamaki's jaw dropped. "You knew?"
"From the day they met."

Yuuki took the chance to reclaim her limbs and escape to Kyoya's side. "Next time, keep your tactics to yourself."

He laughed, low and deep. "Next time, stop Tamaki from playing rugby in the lounge. This house was expensive."

"You own this house? I thought it was a rental thing."

"We never rent things." He said matter of factly. "This is actually Hunny's families holiday villa."

"Huh." Pause. "How many...?"
"One beach, one city, one mountains. Three on average." Houses. He saw her waiting. "We have two beach, one city in Japan, one in Paris, one in the mountains."

Yuuki stared. "Why do you need so many houses?"

"Because, we go on holiday and like personal comforts. Seeking happiness."

"Yes. Yes. I know the host club jargon, but wow."

"You want more?"

"No. I would be happy with just a little cottage. As long as you were in it."

Kyoya smiled. "Yes. Well. I would be happy with a big cottage, as long as you were in it."

She pinched him before turning her attention back to the tease-fest between Tamaki and the twins. "Did he take it well?"

"Very. They all did. Can't say they didn't expect it."

"Really?"

"Well..." He said smugly. "You are perfect in absolutely every way."

Yuuki crossed her arms. "Thank you Merry Poppins."

Kyoya wrapped one arm around her waist. Every time he pulled her close it was as if he were in control. Even if they shared power in their own way. Yuuki however, always found a niche in him and managed to let him know that he wasn't her leader, he was her friend. Her best friend and love. If a man is the head of a relationship, the woman is the neck. Without which, the head can never turn or see new things with ease.

Their relationship was perfect for them. Just as Tamaki and Haruhi's was perfect for them. Kyoya and Yuuki didn't try to smooth each other's rough edges. That would make them unnatural, unable to be raw and completely whole. Flaws are what made the other shine. Perceived flaws like self image, esteem, sociology and misguidance could be changed, but the real thing was not a fault but a part of being. Their edges locked together and strengthened to last into infinity. They had no time, no world to hold them. They just were. There was nothing to explain it and nothing to be explained. It just happened. Like destiny in a world that only believed coincidence. Trust in a world where it did not exist. Hope in a world of shattered dreams. A whole version of what people looked for their entire lives and never found. They were lucky. They were lucky to have someone they didn't want to say goodbye to. Someone they missed even in the split second they blinked. Someone who's love didn't fade. If it ever began to, they knew exactly how to make it shine again. Life like a glass of water. Life that gets spilled, shaken and finds a need to be refilled. They were each other's water source. Life source. Even so, Yuuki and Kyoya were independent beings. That's what made it work. They were themselves and themselves within the other. There was a non-judgemental freedom that was part of their definition. An understanding that was part of their make-up. A code of knowledge that, even if they fit perfectly, pieces were designed separate. Even if they were destined to play together wholly.

"Hey! Yuuki, Kyoya!" Tamaki called them over. "When are you planning to wed?"

"September next." Yuuki said. "Kyoya will have finished university and can take a break before specialising." She shot him a glance that said they would discuss that later. He sent her a glance of annoyance.

"September...autumn."
"Yes."

"What an amazing colour scheme!" The blonde exclaimed.

Haruhi called her fiancé over and waited for him to sit beside her before beginning to talk about their wedding. Distracting him and giving the pair a break. They would get a lot of enthused hell over the coming months. Marital bliss monologues.

"I'm going back to university."

"Not till after the winter."
"Yuuki. I have to get another degree."

"Well, I have to get one." She said firmly.

Kyoya paused. "You decided." He stated.

"Of course I decided. You'll be moving to the University of Tokyo to do a business management degree, although you already know more than they can teach, and I will do psychology."

"Good girl."

"Yes, master." She mocked.

Kyoya smiled and pushed his glasses up. "You will have many options for occupation then, being my wife."

Yuuki felt her stomach flutter. "Okay. The wife thing is making me...fidgety."

"Why?"
"Husband." She titled him.

He thought a moment. "Yes. I understand." If the terms boyfriend and girlfriend hadn't worked, husband and wife would take some getting used to. They would be that, legally, but they would be more than that. The world told them what to be, their world allowed them how to be. That was the difference. The how. The allowance to not settle into a stereotype and keep creating their own world within the real world. non-judgemental freedom extended beyond their barriers and reached into their universe.

"But, when we're married, then that will work. Fiancé is even...odd."

"I wouldn't say odd."
"What would you say?"

"I would say..."

"YUU-CHAN! KYO-CHAN! Come roast marshmallows!" Hunny called from his place by the fire.

"I would say 'us.'" He headed over to the short blonde and stood above him, declining the offer of melted sugar on a stick.

Yuuki sat at his feet and joined Hunny. Every so often she would wave an on-fire marshmallow at him, waiting to see if he would blow it out. He always did.

"I'm so glad you two are getting married." Hunny chimed. "I really am. It's like Tama-chan and Haru-chan, only different. I love weddings. I love weddings with my friends."

Yuuki smiled at him. "I'm glad."

The short blonde grinned and turned his attention back to the fire. Later that evening, the twins declared their approval of the match. Tamaki kept declaring various optimistic views about the planned union and Haruhi was asked to be a maid of honour.

Except, by the end of the night, there was a lingering, unsettling feeling that hovered around the girl. She had her friends, she had a sort of family in Tachi and Suki, but she didn't have the real thing. She needed to see her mother again. She would take Kyoya to meet her silent grave. She would do the right thing and call her brother to tell him. Yuuki told the Ootori this and he stood silent, contemplating.

"Your brother?"

"Yes."

"You're just telling him?"
"Yes."

"And then you'll let him tell your father instead of him finding out another way." Kyoya worked it out in his mind.

"Yes, I didn't have a bad relationship with Mako, and I'm an aunt now. Apparently."

"Just be careful." He agreed with her idea.

"Okay." She nodded and slipped outside before she lost the guts to retrace a part of her past.

Yuuki had kept all her contacts, Mako was the exact middle one. The tone rang five times before it was picked up.

"Hello?"
"Mako?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"It's Yuuki."

"Yuuki?"

"Yes, your sister."

"No, I know who you are." He sounded tired.

Silence. "Um...I was calling to tell you something."

"Yes?"
"Just so you don't find out some other way. You are my brother."

"You divorced this family."

"You would have too if you'd had the chance."

Silence. "What is it Yuuki?"

"I'm getting married."

"To who?"

"Kyoya Ootori."

There was an impressed whistle. "How'd you manage that?"

"You chose Ouran."

"Ouran Academy..."

"Yes." Yuuki smiled at the memories.

"Good choice."

"It was."

Silence.

"Mako?"

"Yes?"

"How's my niece or nephew?"

"You knew about that?"

"Yes."

"Your nephew was still born."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"You still with her?"

"Yes. We're married now. She's expecting again."

Yuuki smiled. He wasn't hard like her father. He was a little like her mother. She was like her mother. "Mako?"
"Yes?"

"I'd like you to talk to Kyoya."

Pause. "Alright."

"Hold a second." The girl got up quickly and found her fiancé, she took him outside and picked her phone up again. "You there?"
"Yes." It was getting late, very few people had places to go.

Yuuki put her hand over the mouthpiece and turned to Kyoya. "I don't know what he's like now. But please, he's never been like my father."

The man nodded and brushed the hair off her head. He kissed the bare skin of her forehead and took the phone. His tone was instantly official. "Hello? Kyoya Ootori, pleased to be talking to you. Yes we are. You sent her to Ouran. Yes. It was a good choice. Thank you for your decision to send her there. Yes, I'm more than able to provide for her. More than able. Yes. No. No. Hm. No. Not at the moment. I don't think that's wise. Yes. Yes. Exactly. I'm glad you understand." Yuuki wondered what her brother was saying. She wondered why Kyoya had his business slash host voice on. "Yes. Okay. It was good talking to you." He hung up. "He says sorry, he has to get up early tomorrow."

"What's not wise?"

"Him meeting you."

"He wanted to?"
"Yes."

"Real..."

"Remember last time you went to meet a family member?"

"Yes, but..."
"You trust to easily."

"And you trust like a business man."

"Each to their own."

"Kyoya..."'

"I'm just looking after you."

"I'm glad you talked to him."

"Me too."

"Did you like him?"

"It's hard to make a judgement without bias and on one call."

"Okay." Yuuki looked down. She felt a like she had achieved something. She had contacted something from her past and it hadn't left a scar. "Okay. Thank you."

"Yuuki?"

"Yes?"

Kyoya opened the door inside. "It's freezing."

She smiled and walked through the opening. "Thanks."

The man closed the door after them and joined their friends. Right now, the 'us' was as perfect as it would get. It worked. It clicked. It always had been and always would be. The host club.

Kyoya watched as Yuuki put another jersey on. She loved the cold but didn't do well in it. Bad peripheral circulation. He smiled as he watched her help the twins and Tamaki roast roasted peanuts without argument or question as to the double work on a pre-packaged, ready to eat item. The past would have to wait outside for the moment; it would have to prove itself before entering their world.

-

One, two, three
Counting out the signs we see
The tall buildings
Fading in the distance
Only dots on a map
Four, five, six
The two of us a perfect fit
You're all mine, all mine

And all I can say
Is you blow me away

Like an apple on a tree
Hiding out behind the leaves
I was difficult to reach
But you picked me
Like a shell upon a beach
Just another pretty piece
I was difficult to see
But you picked me
Yeah you picked me

So softly
Rain against the windows
And the strong coffee
Warming up my fingers
In this fisherman's house
You got me
Searched the sand
And climbed the tree
And brought me back down

And all I can say
Is you blow me away

Like an apple on a tree
Hiding out behind the leaves
I was difficult to reach
But you picked me
Like a shell upon a beach
Just another pretty piece
I was difficult to see
But you picked me
Yeah you picked me

(You picked me, A Fine Frenzy)

-

------------

So, I will post again on the 4th.

Sorry. I hope no one loses interest. I value all of my readers and all your reviews. I love reading what you think, what you have to say. Thank you all for your support so far. I mean that. Thank you. All your reviews and messages keep me going and keep the story going.

Anyway. I tried to put enough fluff and plot into this chapter to keep you waiting with baited breath.

:)

Hope you enjoyed it.

Blessings and keep safe.

-pp