A/N: Thanks so much for reading this fanfic and giving encouraging reviews, dear readers! I'm so glad because of that! ^^

Well, this is supposed to be one-shot but it's too long so I break it into 3 or more chapters. Anyway, enjoy the second chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC.

Chapter 2: My Marriage Interview Partner

"Father, we're here!" shouted Haruhi happily as she waved her hand at his father while Kyoya supported her in walking by holding her other hand securely. Ranka, wearing a black suit, looked back when he heard his daughter's voice. He just finished paying his respects to his deceased wife in front of the big tombstone. When he saw them, he wanted to run towards his only child and to cuddle her tightly like a doll in his arms but seeing the two teenagers together with hearty smiles made him stunned. They seemed to be… enjoying each other's company. It almost made them look like a perfect couple. Was he only dreaming? He shook off his weird ideas from his mind for awhile and greeted them gladly, "Haruhi! Kyoya-kun! I'm glad you two came earlier than I'd expected!"

The brown-haired girl agreed, "Yes, we came early because Kyoya-sempai's marriage interview partner isn't still at the designated meeting place apparently."

"Oh my, you're so pretty today, Haruhi~!" complimented her father as he viewed her closely from head to toe with sparkling eyes as if he's looking at a princess. Then he cuddled her, rubbing his cheek on hers rapidly like a crazy mother though he's a father.

Haruhi pushed his father away a little as she replied tiredly, "Thanks about the compliment but stop cuddling me, father! Kyoya-sempai paid a lot just to make me look like this."

She glared at the man with glistening eyeglasses who's clearly responsible for her looks today. Her father clasped his hands together like an overjoyed woman when he praised the black-haired guy, "Kyoya-kun, nice job! Can you do this more often to her?"

"Sure! Of course, Ranka-san. I'm willing to improve your daughter's sense of fashion for she's such an overly studious person, causing her to be a little pathetic with her looks. That's unbecoming for a lady like her so I'm ready to help," replied Kyoya coolly, yet rudely for Haruhi.

She thought with a crooked smile, "You're pointing out clearly that I'm really pathetic with my looks, Kyoya-sempai…"

However, he added sincerely, "But I think she's truly beautiful when she arranges herself properly, so I'll help her gladly with all of my might."

After hearing it, her eyes widened up in disbelief. Really? She's pretty? She heard it many times from others but when the black-eyed man with eyeglasses said it only once, she felt her heart throbbing and rosy hues started to appear on her cheeks. How weird… however, a certain blond-haired man showed up on her mind, making her feelings stir crazily as she recalled her warm-filled moments with 'him'… She's becoming confused when she tried to balance her different emotions but it's crystal clear to her which side outweighed the other. Ranka noticed it and began to chuckle softly for his daughter was realizing something important to herself slowly. It would take a lot of time before she could find it out.

The red-haired father patted Kyoya's shoulder with a wide grin, "Okay! I'm counting on you, Kyoya-kun. I hope she'll be prettier each day you're helping her."

Kyoya answered with a bow, "Yes. It'll be my pleasure to help her in any way I can."

~o~ 4 years ago ~o~

"What is love for you, Fuyumi-neesan?" asked a twelve-year-old Kyoya while doing a reaction paper about the famous novel, Romeo and Juliet, inside his modern-style room with wide space. He was totally annoyed by the outcome of the story. He wondered why Romeo disobeyed his father and went to Juliet, his enemy, instead. It would never be a tragedy if Romeo listened to his father's orders. As a noble, the male protagonist must do his tasks without complaints. So, he thought that love hindered Romeo to be an obedient heir and it also meant failure for he easily gave up his honor just for Juliet. The black-haired lad lacked information about the meaning of love so he couldn't fully understand it with mere words from a dictionary, and he's not quite sure if his point of view about love was true enough to be a fact. Thus, he inquired others' opinions about it to know and to understand what it truly meant.

"My, my, my, Kyoya-san! Are you in love?" his sister teased him innocently with a happy face.

He exclaimed with an annoyed face, "Hell, no! I'm just curious. That's all."

She smiled warmly, "Curiosity makes you knowledgeable, as they say, so I'll help you out. Hmm… Love is like… a bird, I guess."

He tilted his head on the left side with a puzzled look, "A bird? Why?"

"Because love is flying everywhere and it only lands to a safe place like a bird does," she answered yet he still couldn't grasp her concept.

"I don't get it, Fuyumi-neesan and please, don't rummage through my drawer…," he pleaded while observing his sister arranging his clothes desperately on the drawer which was already untidy because of her stubbornness. Realizing she'd done a great havoc in his clothes and drawer, she sighed and rested for awhile when she faced at her little brother. She explained her concept further while sitting on the velvet carpet on the floor, "Okay, we always tend not to notice it but we never know that maybe love already landed on our hands so when there comes a time that you notice it, you'll understand what love is. Love has many forms like different types of birds. So, wait patiently until the right time comes for you to understand it, okay?"

Kyoya frowned because he's not satisfied with his sister's opinion, and was still clueless about it. He's like a hopeless man, leaning on the wooden window sill while staring at the same clear blue sky, waiting for someone to come.

"When will I understand it?" he wondered, crumpling his reaction paper full of errors… and doubts.

Back in the present, he's currently watching Haruhi paying her respects to her mother's funeral, where they put two bouquets of flowers, several incenses and a box of sushi, after cleaning it with fresh water. He felt sad for her because the brown-haired girl didn't spend much time with her mother since she died early, leaving a five-year-old Haruhi behind. How tragic it was for a promising lady like her… He hoped that Haruhi would find great happiness after experiencing it and hoped that her mother would continue watching over them . . . He kept on thinking about it with a sympathetic smile, hoping his prayers would be heard by Haruhi's mother in heaven. Ranka went beside him and while they observed the pretty girl, her father spoke to him sincerely, "Thank you very much for staying with her all the time, Kyoya-kun. I'm really glad that she found herself a bunch of true friends that she can rely on."

Kyoya smiled gently, "It's nothing, Ranka-san. I think we're the ones who should be thankful for her for joining the host club. She helped everyone to be happy . . . , including me. Your daughter is simply amazing."

Ranka gave him a warm smirk, "Really? What else can you say about my daughter, Kyoya-kun?"

Without hesitation and doubt, he answered, "She's smart, kind, reliable, straightforward, and responsible yet she's reckless when it comes to saving and helping others in need, and doesn't want to rely on anyone. I guess I learnt some from Tamaki but others are pure observations."

Haruhi's father laughed hysterically upon hearing the name of the blond-haired man, "From that idiotic club president of yours? Well, I have to admit that he's quite special to Haruhi so I wouldn't belittle him."

"Yes, I used to look down on him as well but in the end, I came to respect him. There's no wonder why we joined his bizarre club," said Kyoya while adjusting the position of his eyeglasses on his face as he reminisced the time how Tamaki changed his miserable life and how he accepted him as a bad boy.

"Kyoya-kun, this might be sudden but…," Ranka glanced at the black-haired guy seriously before continuing, "… do you like my daughter?"

When he heard it, time stopped by for a moment. Then, an image penetrated his mind. He saw himself as a hopeless man, who's leaning on the wooden window sill while staring at the same clear blue sky, waiting for someone to come until a beautiful white bird with brown spots landed on his palms gently and chirped at him blissfully. Yes, it was the same. She came to his life like that. Aside from Tamaki, she saw him through easily. She saw his true colors beneath his poker face. Meeting a special girl like her, who's totally different from the unsophisticated girls he met so far, was truly rare. If she already saw him through, then why shouldn't he admit that he likes her?

He replied with a chuckle, "How could I hate a great girl like her, Ranka-san?"

Ranka laughed again, amused by what he just said. Suddenly, Ranka's cell phone rang in his bag so he quickly grabbed it from his bag and answered the call. It seemed to Kyoya that Haruhi's father would do something urgent on his work. After finishing the call, Kyoya's guess was right. Ranka showed a troubled look as he pleaded to the black-haired guy, "Sorry, Kyoya-kun but can you take care of my daughter for the time being? My co-worker told me that they need some help as soon as possible so I'll leave you two on your own. Is that all right with you?"

He nodded with understanding, "Yes, don't worry about us, Ranka-san. I'll take care of your daughter. Be careful on your way there."

"Thank you very much, Kyoya-kun!"

Before leaving, he whispered to Kyoya, "Oh! Before I leave, please escort Haruhi to Cresson Café. After all, she's your marriage interview partner."

Kyoya's eyes widened up after hearing it.

He added with a mocking grin placed on his face, "Well, she still doesn't know about that so you just inform her about it when you're already there! I hope you two enjoy your time there! Goodbye!"

As Ranka left the memorial park, Kyoya was frozen… completely! Haruhi, who's going to pretend as his girlfriend, was actually his marriage interview partner?! What should he do?! It's totally out of his league! He never thought of that possible situation! Good thing that she still didn't know about it! He tried to calm down but he's walking around in circles which was absolutely obvious that he's going crazy.

The brown-haired girl noticed it after paying a visit on her mother's grave. She became worried so she went to him and tugged the lower part of his black shirt like a child. Kyoya looked at her with wide eyes when he felt it. Then she asked, "Kyoya-sempai, what is wrong with you? Is something troubling you? And, where's my father?"

He shook off his troubled thoughts for awhile and pretended that he's fine, "Nothing… I'm just thinking while walking. Is that bad?"

"Umm… no, it's not bad…," she replied with a sweaty face when he gave her a deadly glare. She thought, "Why won't you just tell the truth that something is troubling you, Kyoya-sempai?"

"Speaking of your father, he just left a few minutes ago because he has something urgent to take care of, so I'll escort you for today."

"Oh… So, my father is still busy, eh? I already told him that it's okay if I'm the only one who will come here if he's busy in his work. I know that my mother will understand that…," mumbled Haruhi with a deep sigh.

Observing her with concern, Kyoya knew this kind of situation wherein a person is willing to sacrifice anything just to be with that another person, who's really precious to that person. It's like Romeo and Juliet. The question, which he kept on trying to understand a long time ago, came back again in his mind. He unknowingly asked it to her in order to make it clear to himself what it really did mean, "Say, Haruhi…, what is love for you?"

"Love?" she gave him a puzzled look.

He gave an example so she would understand, "Your father, who's really busy on his work, still came here to visit your mother's grave with you, right? The reason for his reckless act today is… love, isn't it?"

Haruhi's eyes opened widely when he said it. She realized it now… Yes, she did. She smiled warmly as she thought of it. Then she answered him, "Yes, you're right, Kyoya-sempai… I think love is unconditional… It is doing something reckless for the sake of that person, I guess . . . It's like you're always thinking about the happiness of others first before yourself."

Kyoya was surprised when he listened to her like a surprised man, leaning on the window sill, as he watched the bird fluttering its wings as it tried to fly from his palms.

"Doing something reckless for the sake of that person, huh?" he thought as he adjusted his eyeglasses. Immediately, he grabbed her wrist and said, "Let's go, Haruhi."

"Whe-Where are we going?" she stuttered, curious about his weird actions.

He smirked, "To my house."

Meanwhile in the street, the other host club members were wandering like zombies for they were clueless where Kyoya's limousine went.

"Tono, could we stop doing this now? We'll look really pathetic if we continue this," growled Hikaru.

Tamaki tried to encourage him, "Don't give up, Hikaru! I know that they went somewhere on those directions!"

"Oh, come on! Why did Kyoya-sempai turn off his phone?" complained Kaoru as he looked at his orange cell phone with dismay after he tried calling the Shadow King for his location.

Honey nagged their club president with a growling stomach, "Tama-chan, I'm hungry!"

"Yeah, we're hungry, too!" the Hitachiin twins agreed in unison with growls from their stomachs.

"But we just ate a mountain of fat tuna awhile ago, right?" answered Tamaki.

"But you ate it all!" they countered angrily except for Mori, who just nodded his head and a "Yeah" as his response.

Tamaki gave them an overdramatic shocked expression like in the melodrama series. He knelt down and bowed at them as he apologized sincerely, "Sorry! I know that I'm not a worthy king to be served! How can I be so ignorant~!"

"Oh! What are you doing here?" an energetic red-haired man pushed Tamaki away brutally with an innocent face that made other host club members astonished. Recognizing who he was, they gulped in unison while ignoring their leader, whose face was crashed on a nearby wall.

"Ranka-san!"

"You're rushing too fast, Kyoya-sempai!" the brown-haired girl cried out as Kyoya dragged her inside his modern-style house after riding the fastest limousine she ever ride. She's still curious why Kyoya was hurrying like that so she asked, "What are you planning to do?"

He just ignored her question and only focused on where they're going. When they're finally in front of the designated place, he answered, "We'll talk to my father right now."

"Eh? What will we talk about with your father?" questioned Haruhi. Kyoya suddenly spaced out for a moment. He couldn't say it. He didn't want her to be forced into this kind of business. More importantly, he didn't want her to hate him for this… Hesitating to answer her, he opened the heavy doors in front of them and a wide cosmos showed up to them. All of the furniture and ornaments were modern. The room itself was sparkly clean, not even a slightest speck of dust could be seen. Haruhi's mouth hanged open upon seeing it. Kyoya looked everywhere in the room but he couldn't see anyone besides their maid, who's currently cleaning the said room. He felt disappointed yet relieved to know that his father wasn't here. Maybe there's still time to confirm everything between her and him. He mustn't rush. He must calm down. Calm down… yes, calm down. He took a deep breath and faced Haruhi.

"My father is not here apparently so, do you want to stay and rest at my room while waiting?"

"Sure…Why not?" she nodded with a puzzled look, wondering if he's all right… or not. They remained silent as they walked towards his room. When they got inside, Haruhi was surprised to see his clean room. Kyoya's room had two floors and had the same modern-style furniture.

"Wow… Your room is so wide, Kyoya-sempai!" commented Haruhi.

"Really? I think it's rather small. My brothers' rooms were wider than mine," he replied dryly.

"Umm… your room? Small? I wonder what is 'wide' for you…," she mumbled with a twitching eyebrow.

"Have a seat there, Haruhi. I'll get some tea and a box of sushi," he said as he abruptly turned around to leave the room but Haruhi reached his hand instinctively. "Wait!"

Kyoya halted when he felt her warm hand stopping him. He became more uneasy than before. Was it because his heart was beating really fast?

"Kyoya-sempai, you still haven't answered my question awhile ago… Why do you want to talk with your father all of a sudden? You have a marriage interview, right? It's not like you to avoid any kind of~"

"Haruhi," he interrupted as he faced her seriously. Without control, he pinned her down on a nearby couch, making her immobile. "Wha-what are you doing, Kyoya-sempai…? Let go of me…!"

He breathed, "Haruhi, I have one question for you – do you love me?"

Her eyes widened. She couldn't utter a single word for a minute after hearing his question. Unexplainable emotions started to swirl on her mind while thinking of a clear answer. Whether she would only answer yes or no, she wanted to convey her real feelings. She didn't want to regret in the end, after all. On the other hand, Kyoya felt that he's losing his mind. He was too hasty. He knew that no ordinary guy would just pin down a girl who's pretending to be your girlfriend. He liked to beat himself up for that.

"Yes…," she mumbled suddenly. Kyoya felt his heart racing as he heard it. However, she continued, "… as your pretend girlfriend, I must love you, right?"

He felt his heart sank down after hearing her whole statement. He kind of expected a negative response but not like this…

"That's a good answer…," he smiled bitterly as he let go of her carefully. Without looking back, he left the room, leaving a speechless Haruhi on the couch.

"Kyoya-sempai…, I don't know… really… I'm sorry that I don't know what I feel for you… so don't say that I have a good answer…," she mumbled sadly with half-closed eyes while resting her hand on her forehead. It's true. She didn't know. Why would he say that she gave him a good answer if she didn't know the honest answer herself? It's so confusing…

Meanwhile, the black-haired guy punched the wall after closing the door. He wished that the wall he punched would crumble . . . Much to his chagrin, it didn't.

"I'm so pathetic . . . ," he whispered to himself, putting his back against the wall while massaging the temple of his head. He was planning to tell his father that he didn't have a girlfriend and didn't want to attend the marriage interview either. He was going to announce that he would rather win Haruhi's heart with his own capability rather than having her because of some contract. He knew too well that Haruhi has feelings for Tamaki. Because of that, he was always holding himself back from making an initiative to approach her like a man. But after realizing that love was about being reckless for the sake of that person, he decided to make a move so he could show his real feelings for Haruhi. He wanted her to know how much he cared so badly. Ever since Haruhi was forced to join the host club, he always contacted her father, Ranka, to make sure that she's fine and to inform him about how she was doing at school. And when she tried to protect the girls from the bad boys back then at the beach, she never knew how totally worried he was about her . . . It was true that her presence in the host club brought large merits but when he got to know her more (mostly from Ranka and Tamaki), he learned that she was more than 'a studious commoner who's trying her best to pay off her debt'. She made him realize that he wasn't only a person who's trying to help people for merits, but a caring person who likes to serve others for their happiness. She gave him another reason why he would defy his father's decision for his future. Although he could already have Haruhi just by following his father's orders, he still wanted to play fairly by not forcing her to be engaged with him. Rich people always had a knack for forcing commoners to agree with their selfish decisions and he didn't want Haruhi to think more badly about rich people like him. However he kind of lost his confidence after hearing what Haruhi answered to him.

"Yes…, as your pretend girlfriend, I must love you, right?"

Those words kept on echoing on his mind as if he still could hear her saying them again and again. He knew that her reply wasn't clear enough to answer his simple question. But if he thought about it carefully, she did mean that she didn't love him as a real person. She only loved him because they're pretending as a couple. If that's what she felt for him, he couldn't continue his plan. He might just apologize to Haruhi for dragging her into his problem and might request to his father to cancel the marriage interview. No one still knew that she's his pretend girlfriend so he would make her stop now in pretending as his girlfriend. His alternative plan would still be–

"My, my, my, Kyoya-san! You're already here!"

His trail of thoughts was disrupted when his sister, Fuyumi, came out from nowhere and was staring at him right now with twinkling eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey, I heard from our maid that you bring a pretty lady with you! Is she inside your room? Can I meet her?" she asked excitedly as she held Kyoya's hands tightly in anticipation.

Kyoya gulped. He never thought that his sister might be the very reason why his alternative plan would fail today. Trying to prevent her from destroying his plan, he lied, "Oh, are you talking about my friend? She already left a minute ago -"

Suddenly, the door opened and Haruhi moved her head forward to see the black-haired guy, "Kyoya-sempai, can I -?"

She stopped speaking as she noticed Kyoya's horrified look and a smiling black-haired lady beside him. Kyoya was too stunned to speak immediately so his sister made the first move.

"Oh, who are you?"

Haruhi bowed to her and answered with a smile, "I'm Fujioka Haruhi, Kyoya-sempai's friend-"

Kyoya felt relieved when he heard that but Haruhi halted for awhile, remembering that she's Kyoya's pretend girlfriend for now so she rephrased her statement quickly.

"Err . . . I mean,his 'girlfriend'."

After she said that, Kyoya swore that this would be the worst turn of events in his life . . . His sister would never let this slip by.

To be continued . . .

A/N: That's it for chapter 2! So Haruhi is Kyoya's marriage interview partner! Good job for those who already guess it right! Well, it's really obvious, isn't it? Hehe . . . So what will happen to Kyoya's alternative plan if Fuyumi already heard that his girlfriend is Haruhi? Will he finally reveal his other plan and hidden feelings for Haruhi? Or will he still make another plan to achieve what he really wanted? Find it out on the next chapter! Please review, guys! (^_^)v