A/N: I'm glad you all liked the last chapter! The reviews made me smile~ I finished my assessments a bit quicker than I'd expected so I'll dedicate the rest of my last day of freedom writing :3 I was going to make this a longer chapter, hmmm, oh well, this will do for now!

So enjoy, my little munchkins~

Dinner was unbelievable. I needed to come to fancy restaurants more often. We watched as the sun slowly sunk below the horizon and left the sky stained in reds and oranges that reflected onto the still water of the lake.

"You really do pull out all the stops, don't you Kyoya-sempai?" I asked as we shared a small selection of homemade chilli dusted chocolates for dessert. It was the only dish that didn't look too sweet and I was very aware of Kyoya's distaste for sweets.

"Haruhi, you're aware that you can drop the honorifics now, no?" He reached across and popped a chocolate into my mouth then doing the same for himself. I savoured the bitter flavour as I chewed, taking my time before answering him.

"Oh, force of habit I guess. Fine… Do you always treat a girl like this on a first date, Kyoya?" I raised an eyebrow as I said his name informally for the first time. It was slightly odd, but I supposed that I could get used to it.

"I don't do dates very often, if you must know," he informed me.

I blinked. That couldn't be right. I'd seen tons of girls approach him before and most of them were flawless specimens of the human race. "A host that doesn't date much?"

"You're a host and you don't date very often," Kyoya laughed, crossing his arms in a defensive manner.

"All the boys at our school think I'm male as well, if you've forgotten," I reminded him. "And I've never been on a proper date before."

He narrowed his eyes and leant forward over the table towards me, curiosity shining in his features. "What about that day with Hikaru?"

"That was meant to be a date?" I blinked owlishly, my hand halted as it was just about to pop another chocolate into my mouth. Honestly, I had no clue. Wasn't it meant to just be a day out in town with Kaoru? How did that turn into an apparent obvious date with Hikaru? Thinking about it just made my head hurt.

"You really are clueless," he shook his head in disbelief, chuckling.

"I resent that," I knocked my foot against his under the table.

"But you are. You're an attractive young woman and you never realise the attention you're receiving or do an immaculate job of ignoring it." That made me blush. I had hardly ever heard him speak to anyone like this before. It would take a little getting used to seeing the usually icy Shadow King showing something close to a soft side.

"If you're referring to the way that Hikaru and Kaoru treat me, I'm not completely blind," I mumbled, slightly annoyed that he'd even infer that I could miss such blatant advances. The only reason I didn't respond to it was that I knew the twins were only joking and playing and looking for a reaction. If either of my best friends actually liked me, I think I'd notice.

"They are only one of many."

"Yeah, yeah. But what about you? Notorious Ootori boy: rich, smart, handsome. So why haven't you got a girlfriend already?"

"It's hard to catch my eye. There aren't many girls out there I would consider worth my time. The only times I have dated have been because I was ordered to."

"I can't imagine being ordered to date someone…"

"When you grow up with the knowledge that you may be married off at any moment for monetary gain, it seems normal," he said. I wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure me or trying to reassure himself. The waitress stopped by to pick up the now empty plate and drop off the bill for us, with complimentary coffees.

"Just do what makes you happy, Kyoya," I smiled at him, unsure of what I could say to him that would be useful at this point. He just smiled back and we enjoyed our coffees in companionable silence. It was dark now; a full moon was peeking out from behind the sparse clouds in the sky.

As we left, it was pitch black and the lanterns seemed to glow brighter than ever. He held my hand as we glanced over the lake once last time and headed back up the lit pathway to the main road. I was disappointed to be leaving; I would have happily sat in there until closing time and beyond enjoying the ambience and most of all the company. This had definitely gone better than I had expected it to.

He held open the limousine door for me and quickly crawled in after to escape the now chilly air. Goose bumps covered my arms as I tried to warm myself, wishing that I had brought a jacket along. Then I realised that I could take full advantage of being someone's girlfriend at that very moment. I snuggled into the side of Kyoya and he instantly went to put his arm around me, providing the much needed warmth. If I wasn't careful I'd end up falling asleep and I wasn't about to use his lap as a pillow again, once was embarrassing enough in my opinion.

"Thank you for the great night, Kyoya. It was lovely," I smiled up at him at we reached my door. Inviting him in was the first thing that came to mind, just for a cup of tea before we called it a night but it was getting rather late and we did have school in the morning. So I reached up and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek and then his lips.

"Thank you for saying yes. Goodnight, Haruhi." He bowed his head to me and I waved as I closed the door.

Now alone in the house, I slumped against the door and let a silly smile come to my face. If that's what dating is always going to be like, then I had definitely been missing out. Then I shook sense into myself. I had no time to be over-romanticising anything; study came first, romance second. At least I had the comfort of knowing he couldn't openly distract me at school without the whole school believing we were a gay couple right now.

I stepped out of shoes and rubbed at my slightly aching feet then slipped out of the dress and hung it back up in the wardrobe. Thankfully my Dad had taken the time to replace the scattered clothing from earlier before heading out to work for the night. I would have to thank him in the morning.

My phone buzzed just as I settled into bed. I pulled the blankets up around my shoulders to get cosy and held the phone close to my face so I could make out the fuzzy characters on the screen.

Kyoya Ootori (22:48) – Sweet dreams x

I went to sleep with a smile on my face that night and dreamt of red painted skies and hanging lanterns.