WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR THE ANIME AND MANGA IN THIS STORY. READ AT OWN RISK. Thanks.

How can somebody make a promise they're not willing to keep? Doesn't it eat at them inside? Doesn't it at least hurt them in some way to know that they're bringing pain to others?

Haruhi pondered this as she waited for her blond boyfriend to finally meet her at the designated place.

It had seemed like almost an hour ago already she left the Ootori estate with Kyoya. Although his company had felt nice at the time, now he was just bothering her greatly, especially since he wouldn't let up about her relationship with Tamaki and teasing her about her 'love affair' and 'cheating'. She knew he was joking, though, so she didn't really try to make a point about how she was dating him first before all this marriage garbage got in the way.

She'd been living with the Ootoris for almost a full month now. Haruhi felt strange knowing that. She was beginning to feel at home, though, which frightened her. She didn't particularly want to get used to living like Kyoya, let alone with him.

Then there was the whole fact that she wasn't allowed out of the house without an escort, namely Kyoya. Apparently Kyoya's family was afraid she'd run away or something – rightfully so, at least right now.

They'd gotten by at school without any fuss about the rings, thankfully. Truthfully, a few girls had seen Haruhi's, but she quickly made up a story about it being her mother's before she passed away, and she gave it to her to wear on her ring finger until someone worthy enough of putting a different ring on it came along – a story the girls seemed to buy, actually.

Kyoya was able to take his off. She didn't know how, considering whenever she tried to take off her own, it wouldn't at all budge. Maybe hers was rigged…

In all seriousness, Haruhi was tired of having to be with Kyoya basically twenty-four-seven. She lived with him, ate her meals with him, slept in the same room as him (and at times in the same bed). It was beginning to wear on them both, she suspected. She didn't know how actual married couples did it.

But this just led her back to the problem at hand, which just so happened to be Tamaki and his tendency to show up late for one of their dates, yet again. Though…she supposed she couldn't exactly call it a date – or many of their other prior meetings – because of Kyoya the chaperone looming over them. Of course he always kept a fair and safe distance, but that never made it any less awkward. Truthfully, she would have been all right if they could have cancelled a couple times, if only because of the awkwardness of knowing that someone was watching her flirt with her boyfriend.

Though, she supposed it wasn't so bad this time, if only because she hadn't been seeing so much of Kyoya lately. He was always shut up inside his room while she was forced to converse with the servants, which was hardly something that anyone would rather her do when she's not with Kyoya. She was able to talk with Fuyumi for little more than minutes at a time, and she still had to figure out what Kyoya's sister wanted to tell her about.

She felt something vibrate against her side. She glanced down and opened her clutch purse, finding it was her cell phone. She sighed inwardly, already fearing she knew what was in store for today.

She opened up the phone and pressed it against her ear. "Hello?"

"Haruhi!" came Tamaki's voice. He sure sounded cheerful, but Haruhi knew better.

"Senpai? What's wrong?" she asked, not bothering to beat around the bush. It was reasonable, considering she was all dolled-up with nobody to share it with. Nobody except Kyoya, who she didn't really feel like speaking to yet again. It wasn't like he was her boyfriend.

She could hear hesitation in his voice on the other side of the receiver.

"Well…"

She sighed, this time out loud. "Spit it out, Senpai." She ignored his wish for her to call him by name.

"I can't make it to our date!"

Haruhi's face fell, though she suspected this already. "Why not?"

"Exams," was his forced, rushed answer. There was a lot of background noise. "I have to go bye."

Her mouth fell open a bit. She could barely understand what he said at the end, but it sounded like he was busy so she decided not to press the issue further.

Several feet away in the public park, a group of three kids walked, looking over at Kyoya and Haruhi. One of them pointed at the two and shouted, "Look! They're getting married!" The other two kids laughed and they all ran away when they saw the glare that Kyoya gave them.

She lowered the phone away from her face and put it back in her purse, confused. The usually smug Shadow King sat beside her on the bench, most likely to keep her company while she waited for Tamaki, she presumed. It was also probably because if they were caught together by one of his servants they would be less suspicious since at least they were together. He was fumbling with his clipboard as always, but he kept just enough distance in between the two of them so that she couldn't see what he was writing.

"Kyoya-senpai?"

"Yes?" he asked without looking up or over at her, completely focused on whatever work he was doing.

"When are entrance exams?"

It was a stupid question and she knew it.

"Next month. Why?"

What month was it right now? March? So next month was April already… That meant it was almost time for the new year to start. She couldn't believe she missed that. Her birthmonth came and went quickly, though she supposed it was a good thing because that meant she'd have to spend less and less time with Kyoya due to college. But then again, maybe that was a bad thing, considering their situation…

He uncrossed his legs and stood up, turning around to face her. He offered a hand for her to grab so she could stand up. "I presume Tamaki isn't coming."

It wasn't a question and she knew it. And he was right – he wasn't coming. Again. It was hard to keep up an 'everything's all right' façade all the time without somebody to seriously talk to. Kyoya was there, but she hardly ever felt like talking to him about anything other than school, if at all.

But still, if entrance exams were coming up, then that meant that Kyoya had to be taking them too…right? And why would Tamaki be so behind them if his father was the superintendent of the school?

"Kyoya-senpai?"

"You're wondering if they're entrance exams, correct? And if they are, have I already taken them?"

He was still sticking his hand out for her like an idiot, and only after he asked that did she realize it. She took it and stood up at long last, brushing the bench's dirt from her dress.

He didn't really wait for her to answer. "You see, Haruhi," he began, pushing up his glasses, "I'm nowhere near as irresponsible as Tamaki is." He started to walk away and she hurriedly followed after him. "I have been studying for entrance exams for a while now, as you've no doubt noticed."

She nodded but he couldn't see her. In other words, she thought, Tamaki-senpai's just an idiot.

Neither of them talked for a while. When Kyoya opened his mouth again they were already in front of the family car.

"In any case," he said, opening up the door for her, "we should return home, don't you think?" He waited for her to climb in before going in after her and shutting the door. It was hardly a limo, so the doors and inside weren't nearly as roomy as one; instead it was a simple Ootori family car, yet it enticed outsiders with its looks.

It was silent inside the vehicle as they made their way back to the Ootori estate.

…

Once back at the house, Kyoya was asked by his father to resume his exam studying. The Shadow King originally intended to anyway, but later in the day considering Haruhi's date was supposed to take longer than it did. He did feel rather bad about that, but it wasn't his problem.

He retired to his room and Haruhi was again left to herself to do as she pleased as long as it wasn't disruptive.

Haruhi huffed, already bored, and decided it was probably best to change out of her dress. They were uncomfortable, to be sure – and the hair extensions were painful, to say the least. She quickly yanked them out and uncaringly threw them on an end table, already beginning to walk down the hallway towards the bedroom she and Kyoya shared.

She didn't really care that he was studying – he'd just left not even two minutes ago, so he couldn't have been too far just yet, so it wasn't like she'd be bothering him. Besides, he'd surely understand why she wanted to change out of the uncomfortable clothes the maids had coaxed her to change into.

As she approached the door, she was so lost in thought with Tamaki and Fuyumi and her father and everybody else plaguing her mind. She tried to push away all the overwhelming thoughts, but all it did was make her think about them more. She thought a lot about her father, remembering the first time she had found out that he was a cross-dresser.

She had been scared of the thunderstorm outside and wanted to sleep in her dad's bed because it was more comfortable than hers. She just slid the door to the side, blanket in hand, which she used to cover up her face to shield her eyes from the sight in front of her. Her father was in the process of stuffing his bra with tissues. He profusely apologized, and since then it'd been awkward during the nights since Ranka would often leave halfway through the middle even if there was a thunderstorm and Haruhi was scared.

He'd tried to insist that it was just a hobby – that it didn't mean anything – but unfortunately for Haruhi, as she grew older, she began to understand more and more of her dad's life. It scared her. To know that her father had a secret life completely separate from his household was too much for her to handle while she was growing up.

Now, though, she just accepted that her father was different than the rest, but in a good way: there was never a boring day at her house.

How did it start? How did she come to realize her father's strange 'hobby,' as he called it?

It was just a slide of the door… a turn of the knob…

She was staring into a bunch of nothingness, or so she thought. There was just one solid color in front of her that she could see – blue. But, wait… a bit of black began to come into focus, and there was some sort of pale color – and on top of that, she was pretty sure she'd heard a slight gasp.

"Haruhi, don't you know it's rude to barge into other people's rooms?"

Haruhi's eyes widened. Oh, jeez… What did I do? She didn't know whether to still act shocked or apologize or just turn around and walk away –

"It's my house, too," she found herself blurting out, quickly covering her mouth with her hand. She had to remind herself to avert her eyes from the half-naked Kyoya in front of her but it didn't seem to be working too well. She did have to admit, though, for all the time wasted being the club's finance manager, he certainly found the time to stay fit.

Kyoya cleared his throat, causing Haruhi to look away, a crimson blush beginning to appear on her cheeks.

"If you're quite done now…" he began, "I would very much like to resume changing out of my formal clothes."

Oh yeah. Haruhi remembered that he was still clad in the suit he had to wear practically everyday, even more so today because of the date – every time he left the house with Haruhi, it was because Kyoya had persuaded his father into thinking he was taking Haruhi out, rather than escorting her to her real date.

"Um…sure." She stole another glance at him, not really knowing why. "Do – do you want me to leave?"

"I think that would be a suitable conclusion, yes." He stared at her. "Unless you would rather stay here while I leave for the bathroom."

"That won't be necessary!" she replied hurriedly, turning on her heel and dragging her feet through the door, shutting it behind her.

She sank down to the floor and heaved a sigh. "That was weird," she said to herself.

In any case, though, why was she so warm after that? She seemed to be sweating a little, too. This wasn't right. She'd seen many men shirtless in her life, especially since when she was little she loved the beach, so why was she so flustered this time? Was it just because Kyoya was a friend?

That had to have been it. But, then again… The whole club had donned costumes consisting of just pants before and she'd never had a problem with it.

Then it must have just been because she was the only one there with him, right?

She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. The whole scene was too overbearing that she forgot to grab her more comfortable clothes. She supposed she could wait until Kyoya was done getting changed, though. She certainly didn't need another event like that happening any time soon.

Haruhi stood back up and decided to knock on the door. She still didn't quite understand why she couldn't just have her own room, but she guessed it was best not to question it. She exhaled, and then knocked on the door.

"Kyoya-senpai?" she inquired semi-quietly.

"Mm? You're still here, Haruhi?" came his reply.

She bit her lip. "Yes. I just need to grab some clothes." Just a few seconds in the room to dash to the dresser and grab whatever she could grab first would suffice for now, as long as she made sure to grab one of each garment.

"Ah. Come in, then."

"Are you – "

"I'm done changing, yes. There's no need to worry."

She heaved another sigh of relief and turned the knob, stepping into the room she was in just a few minutes ago. Kyoya was at the small table with some open textbooks, presumably studying for exams. She rushed past him to her dresser on the other side of the room, doing her best to ignore him.

It worked until he spoke, of course.

"You seem tense, Haruhi."

The brunette dropped the clothes she'd gathered back into the drawer and she turned around to glare at him, but when she did, she saw that he was still just staring at his textbook. He wasn't even looking at her when he spoke.

Of course he'd forgotten about it already, she realized. She smiled. It really wasn't anything to get all worked up over. It was just a spacy moment for her, and Kyoya probably knew that. It wasn't that big of a deal.

She gathered up the clothing again and retreated into the bathroom, feeling much more relieved than earlier. Laying the articles on the sink, she began to strip, replacing her dress with more comfort, like her sweatpants and simple t-shirt. She had the nicest set of matching underwear to go with the outfit, too –

But of course she hadn't grabbed the bra and was only left with the panties. She huffed. Without the top she would feel naked…and she practically was if it wasn't for the t-shirt. It wasn't like she had much to cover, she knew this much, but still, a lady going without the proper under attire wasn't something she liked to think about much.

But she was sure she grabbed it, now that she thought about it! She had made sure to hide it in between her pants and shirt to make sure Kyoya didn't see it. That meant…

Oh no, it fell?!

"Ehehe…" She could only hope now that Kyoya was still studying and didn't happen to notice anything falling from her pile of clothes.

Haruhi donned her t-shirt and sweatpants, at the least, and opened the door just a tiny bit, peeking through to see just where the Shadow King was. Sure enough, he was still at his station, studying away. And there was the accursed item…! It lay a few feet from the bathroom, face-up, though there wasn't much to see, anyway.

She sneaked out on all fours and tried a head-on approach. She crawled towards the article, keeping an eye on the studying Ootori son, and once she grabbed it she grinned inwardly. What an accomplishment. The girl retreated back to the bathroom and shut the door quietly.

"Haruhi?"

"Eh?"

"You know you could have just grabbed it, right?"

Haruhi's face went pale, and she slunk to the floor, hands on the floor mat beneath her. She really shouldn't have underestimated Kyoya-senpai's eye, especially when she wasn't exactly the most sneaky person ever.

She decided to let it slide, though – it wasn't as if he'd actually seen it, right? – and finished changing, feeling much better afterwards.

When Haruhi left the small room she was half-expecting Kyoya to look her way but he didn't. He sat in the same position, now a pencil in his mouth, bite marks present. She stifled a chuckle but didn't manage so well. She caught the Shadow King's attention.

"What?" he asked.

Haruhi smiled. "Nothing. I just didn't expect Kyoya-senpai to be a pencil chewer." Even Kyoya-senpai has a weird and bad habit, huh?

"Yes, I suppose," he responded lamely, not really interested. He returned his eyes to the book, and then seemed to remember something.

"Haruhi?"

"Yes?"

"Make sure you tell a chef to come in here. It's almost lunchtime but I don't think anything is prepared yet."

"Y-yes!" Truth be told, she didn't really know how to boss around a servant. From what she'd seen of them, they were just regular people like herself. It was a little disheartening to know that she would be telling adults much older than her what to do.

Still, she supposed she probably should do as Kyoya said for now, so when she closed the bedroom door behind her, she walked down the hallway to try and find a servant to prepare lunch.

A/N: Kyoya-centric chapter, pretty much. I just felt like I had to write a chapter about him so he's not hated in the story :c Really short, but next chapter'll be longer!

Okay so before I go on a half-page rant about how sorry I am for never updating when I was supposed to and breaking all my promises to you guys, let me just say this:

MOST, if not ALL, of the guests know that Haruhi is a girl in the manga when she reveals it at last, buuuuut it kinda sorta maybe doesn't exactly work in here, so I'm just gonna nonchalantly leave that part of the manga out. (I was actually originally intending to edit that part in the last chapter when Haruhi talks to Honey and she's glad that she can act like a girl but decided against it cuz my plans would be ruined.)

Anyway, yeah, so nobody but the club knows that Haruhi's a girl, and all the guests are still infatuated with her because they want to get to know her and everything, pretty much nothing's changed there.

On the subject of change, I really hope I'm not changing the characters' personalities too much. I don't want to be one of those heavily-OOC authors unless it's crack.

I'll save you guys my half-page-long rant with apologies. Instead, I'll just say I'M SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY. To be completely honest, a LOT of the reason why it took me so long to write this is because I was trying my best to research when Japanese students started entrance exams and everything cuz I didn't want anyone to get mad or yell at me, telling me it was wrong... But I stopped caring, so this is the result.

Ehh, all right, another apology. These later chapters may or may not be as funny as my previous ones :C It's been a while since I've watched the series, and even longer since I've read the manga now hah. I've got a bunch of other series stuck in my head before this one comes into play, so it's just kinda stuck back in my head, trying to come out... I'll try and make them better! I've managed to get a page or two full of ideas in Word, so it's not like I'm letting this die.

So yeah. Sorry for the long wait in updates D: I have one more week of high school though! And my birthday's tomorrow so I'll be in much better spirits now :) And hopefully not as busy.

Kay, enjoy!

~CGA