HARUHI's POV
The following evening I was reading in bed when my cell rang. I checked it, surprised it wasn't one of the Hitachiin brothers. They didn't call often, but they were pretty much the only ones who knew this number.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Have you ever tried these melon corn snacks?"
Melon-what? Wait… "Kyoya-sempai?"
"Yes. I asked whether you have ever tried those corn snacks we purchased at the Expo."
"How did you get this number?"
"From the twins." Ooooh, they're gonna get it!
Seeming to read my mind as usual, Kyoya explained. "When I borrowed Kaoru's cell the other day I looked up your number. Simple, since you are in his 'Top Five.'" I could hear him smirking. For some reason it made me happy. I guess I had missed my Dr. Jekyll.
Still… "What makes you think you can just lift my number and call me out of the blue?"
"Well, I call your father often enough. Besides, now you have my number as well. You can call me any time you need me, day or night," he said, an inviting undertone in his voice.
"I…" My head was spinning at his …flirtation?... but I tried to recover some semblance of normalcy. "No, I haven't tried them. How did you like them?"
CRUNCH. "You can't taste the corn at all, but the melon flavor is complemented quite nicely by the added salt." He paused, and when he continued his tone was laden with meaning. "Sweet and savory make an excellent pairing, don't you agree?"
Was he trying to make a point? I didn't get it. "I guess so. Since I haven't tried them I'll have to take your word for it."
"Very well. By the way, when school starts up again the host club will meet for planning but we won't be open for guests during the first week."
"Okay. Thanks for the heads up."
"Alright. I'll see you then," he signed off.
I closed the phone and set it down on my chest. My mouth twisted in thought. I wasn't sure what to make of that phone call. After his repeated brush-offs over the last couple weeks I was still wary of trusting Kyoya. But part of me missed the man who'd teased me on the ferris wheel and nearly kissed me on his couch. Could we ever go back there again?
School began with a flurry of activity. The teachers seemed bent on outdoing one another with their stern lectures and mountains of homework. I had little time to worry about the host club.
As Kyoya had said, we spent the first week discussing ideas for cosplays, special events, and of course the Vice President wanted to discuss how we would raise funds. Renge thought it would be fun to enact a full club version of some Power Rangers scheme she had concocted over the summer. "Every girl has a favorite Power Ranger," she insisted. "Each of them represents a type women fall for, you know. And Haruhi could be the Pink Ranger."
And so it went. Kyoya was friendly, teasing me occasionally in his dry manner, but not overly intimate or haughtily cold. I was beginning to be able to relax around him again. Once in awhile he got that calculating look on his face and I wondered what he saw that the rest of us didn't. I now knew that the wheels of his mind were always spinning, despite his placid appearance.
The following week brought a tense showdown between Honey and his younger brother. By the weekend, I was ready for a break. Saturday morning I said goodbye to my dad and was headed out to the supermarket when two girls in Lobelia Academy uniforms sidled up to me and persuaded me to take a ride with Beni-bara. Apparently the Zuka club always put on a fantastic play to kick off the school year. One of their leads had injured herself and would be unable to fulfill her role that evening. They assumed I had the intellectual wherewithal to memorize the few lines and stage directions in a hurry, and they insisted I was perfect for the part. The stage was not my milieu, but Beni-Bara's heartfelt desire to honor her mother's memory hit too close to home for me. I found myself reluctantly agreeing.
As the time for curtain drew near, I felt nervous but was reassured by the fact that no host club members would be present, since they had no knowledge of my debut tonight. Beni-bara did not seem anxious at all. From time to time I even caught her grinning slyly.
As the play progressed I was nearly incoherent under the eyes of so many. The stage lights blinded me, and I itched to rake off the heavy makeup they had applied to my face. Through my inner turmoil I heard Beni-Bara utter lines we had not practiced. "The love I have for you and the desire I have for revenge are things not easily forgotten." Revenge?
A spotlight suddenly shone on the side aisle illuminating…
"Sempai? Dad?!" I jumped to my feet trying to make sense of seeing the host club guys here. Well, all except one. Apparently Kyoya was sitting this one out as well.
Before I could say anything more, a strong hand closed around my wrist and jerked me harshly. I found myself clutched tightly against the bosom of Beni-Bara. In a spiteful voice she said, "I will steal your first kiss right before his eyes."
"Huh?" Whose eyes? Wait…kiss? No, no, no, no, no, just…no.
"That will be my revenge," she vowed.
This wasn't in the script. This felt frighteningly real.
The audience clamored its dismay. I could see partway around Beni-bara's torso, and my eyes fixed on Tamaki rushing the stage. "No way will Daddy allow anything so despicable!" he yelled.
For a moment I felt relief, but in his haste he tripped on the polished stage floor. As he catapulted toward us, Beni-Bara pulled a small remote from her pocket and activated an engine that raised our platform six feet in the air.
Beni-Bara continued to taunt Tamaki, who now was unable to reach us. "I will steal this young woman's lips right before your eyes!"
Tamaki stared up at us in horror, helpless to rescue me from a kiss I didn't want. My mind flashed back to Kyoya's seductive suggestion last summer. I should have taken him up on his offer…that would have been a pleasant first kiss to remember.
The Zuka leader held my upper arms in an iron grip. I struggled to push her away from me. "This is crazy!" I cried. "Please stop!" In my peripheral vision I noted the backdrop changing hue. When it suddenly went black, both our heads turned involuntarily. What we saw next horrified me as much as it did her.
A picture of me accidentally kissing Princess Kanako at the ball last year filled the entire back wall. Beni-bara dropped my arms in shock, processing the fact that my 'first kiss' had been given to someone else. To a woman, even. Her face clouded in rage and she lunged for me. I dodged—not an easy feat in the mounds of skirts I was wearing. On this small dais it would be impossible to evade her forever though. As I considered the likelihood of being injured from a fall, I heard Tamaki calling from below.
"Haruhi!" he beckoned, arms raised to catch me. "Haruhi, come on!" His expression was earnest, so I thrust my fears aside and jumped.
He did try to catch me. And when we both collapsed on the stage in a heap, at least he cushioned my fall. "I'm so sorry, Sempai!" I cried.
As I climbed to my feet I was met by the enraged face of my father. Oh yeah. The picture. Where did it come from anyway?
I turned to hurry off the stage—in the direction opposite my fuming father—but found my way blocked by Beni-Bara's two cronies, still dressed in their voluminous costumes. Behind me I heard their leader shouting threats, along with the scuffling of my would-be rescuers. I froze. My heart pounded rapidly and I frantically looked for an avenue of escape.
Movement behind Beni-Bara's henchwomen drew my attention. The two were forcefully thrust aside by a tall, dark figure emerging from the shadows offstage. Burly men in black uniforms streamed around him, some moving to hold the audience back, others cutting off Beni-Bara and her White Lily 'combat wing.'
As the figure stalked purposefully toward me, my mind registered that it was Kyoya, come to the party at last. But his serene expression was missing. His face was set in furious determination. Reaching me in three long strides, he wrapped his long arm around me, tucking my head under his chin. "This way," he said, leading me toward the stage steps. I grabbed the front of his black button-down, hanging on to his strength as we muscled by my seething captors and the sea of dark uniforms. Like a lawyer protecting his client from overzealous reporters, Kyoya escorted my huddled form past the screaming audience and through the side exit doors.
During the performance night had fallen. After the harsh stage lights, my eyes weren't ready for the darkness, and I clung to Kyoya in a physical and emotional daze. He guided us along the granite wall toward the front of the stately Lobelia theater building. The beauty of the grand entrance, with its sweeping stone staircase and illuminated sculptures, was completely lost on me. Kyoya made a beeline for a black box truck that waited at the curb. A scary-looking man wearing the same black uniform stood by the driver's door. As we approached, Kyoya issued clipped orders that the man acknowledged, then he pressed us toward the fancy gates further down the sidewalk.
As we gained some distance from the theater, Kyoya seemed to breathe easier. He slowed our steps, which was a good thing since I had trouble keeping up with his long legs. We were quiet, each lost in our thoughts. Passing through the high arched gates, I spotted a familiar black Jaguar. After all the craziness of the evening, the pretentious vehicle suddenly looked like home. As Kyoya gently handed me into the back, I could hear a commotion far behind us that the slamming door happily cut off. Through the tinted windows I watched him move smoothly around the hood to confer with the driver. Soon he slid in next to me and the car began to move.
I stared into my lap, my head full of questions. Where had he been? And how did he know when to show up? And where did that picture come from anyway? And how could the Zuka club be so cruel to me?
I saw his hand on the seat next to me, partly covering the folds of my gown. "Sempai?"
"Hmm?"
I slipped my hand under his arm and wound my fingers through his, leaning my head against his shoulder. "Thanks."
I felt a gentle kiss on the top of my head.