Lost in the Dark

By E.M. Megs

Chapter 29 – Deception

"What?" Kyoya demanded sharply, not quite believing Yoshio. Why would his father pick him if he was such a disappointment? A screw up. There had to be some kind of ulterior motive to this plan. He thought about it a moment while his father repeated his words slowly. Then he looked at Haruhi quickly.

"-take her with y-."

"No," he cut off his father with a glare. "No. She is not going with me." Haruhi now looked at him like he was insane.

"Why not?" she demanded while Yoshio merely looked at his son over his spectacles.

"It's not safe," Kyoya said calmly, still glaring daggers at his father. "I won't let you use her as a pawn in whatever bloody scheme you have going in your head."

"I merely meant for you to take her as a show of good faith," the elder Ohtori replied with a smirk and a calm voice.

"What? Like you did in Mora with Mother? Mother died, Father."

"Your mother was murdered. She didn't merely die. And that was not in the plan. I never planned for your mother to be anywhere near danger or any of the four of you." Kyoya stopped and stared at the Narian King. His voice was bitter, filled with regret; something that his father never ever showed. It was wrong. Something was wrong.

"You never talk about Mother…"

"Stop questioning my motives and do as you're told. You're going. As for the girl, you'll have to decide whether she goes or not amongst yourselves, though it seems as though she wants to."

"She won't be going," Kyoya insisted. Yoshio didn't reply so they took that as their cue for dismissal. He promptly placed a hand on the small of Haruhi's back and pushed her toward the exit. She scowled at him and stopped her slow hobbling the moment they were outside the dining room.

"I'm going with you," she said in a low voice.

"No you are not."

"I won't let you go without me… It's more dangerous for you to go alone than it is for me to be with you."

"Haruhi, you aren't going."

"That isn't solely your decision to make." He looked at her with the biggest amount of loathing. "I understand that you want me out of harms' way, but Kyoya… I can protect myself. You don't need to do it for me."

"No. That's not it. I don't want you being played into his hands. He had Saren hung to keep her away from me; I'm not sure what he'll do to keep you away."

"You don't honestly think that he'd arrange to have the Kiran military kill me." He gave her a short glare that said he thought that Yoshio could and would do just that. "That's madness."

"Madness or not, you aren't going."

"It still isn't only your decision, I get a say in this too."

"Haruhi-."

"Kyoya, I'm going. There's no way that you'll get me to stay here while you go off and deal with two of the biggest assholes on the planet." He drew in a sigh while she looked around for some way to convince him that it was safe for her to go. "Look… I can help."

"They'll demand that you be returned to them as their prisoner."

"Do you honestly think that that will stop me?"

He pursed his lips and didn't answer.

~o~

"Haruhi, you're nowhere near well enough to accompany me," Kyoya tried to convince her the morning that they were to leave. She shot him a glare as she tugged her shoes on her mismatched feet, scowling at the fact that her prosthetic was just big enough that it stretched the shoe.

"Bullshit. You know that I can walk quite well now without pain and without crutches. That means that I'm well enough to go." She turned her eyes from her shoes to meet his carefully. "You may not want me to do this, but there's no way that I'm letting you go alone. You can't get rid of me, Kyoya."

"It would appear so," he replied drily. She smiled at his defeated demeanor and stood, following his retreating figure out of the room and down the stairs. When they ran into his eldest brother and father Kyoya motioned her to go ahead of him to the carriage that would take them to the Kiran border. She glanced back at him just before turning a corner. The conversation he and his father were having seemed to be very heated although it had only just started. She sighed and stopped just out of earshot, waiting for him there.

To her surprise, Yuiichi rounded the corner before Kyoya could, a smirk on his lips that made him look very much like his youngest brother. He stopped just in front of her, regarding her for a moment before murmuring, "You know… I really don't understand you two."

"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

"You and Kyoya are so protective, yet you never show one another. You're a soldier, he's a Prince. I told him once not to fall in love with you because it would only hurt him. And yet… You haven't. Around Father and Akito, you're reservedly affectionate. Around me, you don't really care. By yourselves it varies depending on your moods. But you're never not affectionate. And he still denies being in love. I don't get it."

She shrugged uneasily. "He's not really that public with his affection and I don't show it very easily. That makes it easy to fake."

"But it's not fake!" Yuiichi muttered in a low voice. "I can tell. You look at each other like Mayuri and I did."

She shook her head, opening her mouth to reply when Kyoya walked around the corner. She closed her mouth quickly as he approached and put a protective arm around her. "What're you two up to?"

"Just talking," Yuiichi said nonchalantly. "I'll see you when you get back. And Haruhi, go easy on him." She scowled at his warning, not sure of what he meant while Kyoya gave him an odd look.

"What was that?" the youngest Ohtori asked her in a mutter once his brother was out of earshot.

"I… don't know," she stated carefully. "What did your father want?"

"Nothing of importance. Just reminding me of a few facts that I need to remember and basically telling me not to screw up."

He answered a bit too quickly and nonchalantly for her to believe that what he was saying was true. They'd also been talking a bit too intensely for her to believe that that really was all that was being said. She didn't push him though, knowing that would do more harm than good. She shrugged off the nagging feeling in her stomach that there was something he wasn't telling her and allowed him to usher her into the carriage that would take them to the Kiran border.

The ride passed mostly in silence. Occasionally his arm would find its way around her shoulders, squeezing her to him. The man the arm was attached to, seemed to be deep in thought, something that Haruhi dared not interrupt. At one point she fell asleep laying against his chest. When she woke, the carriage had come to a stop.

She rubbed her eyes sleepily and looked up at her companion as a sigh came from his lips. "As much as I'm glad that father trusts me enough to do this, I really wish that he hadn't sent me," he mumbled under his breath just loud enough for her to hear. She shrugged. "I also really wish you had just decided to stay back."

She scowled. Why was he so set on her remaining behind? "Kyoya, why do you want me to stay so badly? Isn't it better for me to be out of reach of your father and Akito?"

He shook his head, a note of sadness hitting his features. "Not this time. I'm sorry." She didn't have time to react before she found herself being hit with a bolt of magical energy so strong that the world went black.

~o~

She woke to the sound of clashing swords. For several moments her vision was bad enough that she couldn't even tell the difference between her surroundings and the scenes in her head. She couldn't remember anything. Her mind was too foggy to even pull herself through the final veil to clarity.

"I'm sorry."

"Kyoya?" she mumbled, pulling herself into upright position. She was sitting against a seat. A carriage seat. She was in a carriage.

The clanging of a sword prevented her from remembering exactly how she had ended up asleep on a carriage floor while Kyoya had become separated from her. She couldn't quite tell if the clashing was from the aching in her head or from outside the vehicle.

After several seconds of sitting in a daze, she decided that it was coming from outside instead of in her skull. All of her limbs felt heavy. Somehow, she was able to find the door of the carriage and push it open, stumbling out into the open area. It took a while for her to process the scene in front of her but once it did she started moving to stop it.

"Kyoya! Stop!"

The swords clashing were Larsen's and Kyoya's. For some reason, they were fighting fiercely, Larsen with his cursed short sword and Kyoya with the one that he carried constantly. Fusawa's larger form lay on the ground, a sword wound in his stomach, still dripping blood although she was sure that he was already dead.

And Kyoya had killed him for sure.

She just couldn't figure out why he had.

"Kyoya!" she yelled, starting to move forward, stumbling. He turned to look at her in surprise, stumbling a bit in a way that he couldn't recover from. That was all the opportunity that Larsen needed to strike.

She watched Larsen's blade go straight through Kyoya's chest. The Ohtori froze in place, shocked at being outmatched. His sword clattered to the ground while Larsen's pulled out, allowing Kyoya to fall to his knees.

"NO!" It took only seconds more for the fire to begin. Mori appeared seemingly out of nowhere and held a blade to Larsen's neck, giving Haruhi the chance to run and drop to her knees next to Kyoya. "You idiot!" She couldn't stop yelling at him. It was the only way she could think of to not break down. He was not supposed to get hurt. No one was supposed to get hurt. He was practically choking on his own blood and burning to death from the inside and she couldn't think of anything that she could do but yell at him for being a moron.

"Why would you do that?" She lifted his head to her lap gently, fingers worrying their way through his hair. Larsen merely smirked at her.

"How'd you like the litriads, Marioka?"

"Shut up!" she snapped, "You just shut up, you… bastard." She couldn't think between Larsen's taunts, the sight of Kyoya bleeding to death, and the already present aching of her head.

"He attacked us," Larsen snarled, seeming satisfied with his work. Mori threatened him by drawing his sword a bit closer to his neck and the man backed off. "Both of you are traitors. Should be hanging."

"Because I did what I thought was right. Sure," Haruhi snipped angrily, trying anxiously to stop the bleeding in Kyoya's chest as well as the burning. She had to stop the fire but she didn't have the right power to do it. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't control fire.

That was it. "Hunny!" she yelled, knowing that the small blonde-headed man couldn't be far from Mori. "Hunny! I need you!" He didn't answer when called. She looked down at Kyoya's agonized expression a moment then shut her eyes. A fire elemental could pull the fire out of the Ohtori's wounds without a problem, but the only one that she knew was nowhere to be found.

"Mitsukuni," Mori called gently. A twig snapped somewhere close by. Her head shot up hopefully.

"What do you need Haru-kisci?" Hunny asked , appearing beside her.

"Pull the fire out of him. Please. If you can do that then I can do the rest. I can't let him die."

"He deserves it," Larsen muttered just loud enough to be audible. "Attacking us under the pretense of offering peace. Killing General Fusawa."

"Shut up," she mumbled. Kyoya's eyes cracked open a bit and looked up into hers. "You moron, what were you thinking?" He couldn't seem to speak either because he was too focused on breathing or controlling the pain, but he blinked and tears poured down his cheeks. She wiped them away with her thumb. "I know it hurts." At least he wasn't screaming. She wasn't sure if she could have handled it if he screamed. Hunny put a hand on the Narian's chest. Haruhi lowered her head a bit to hover over his.

The Gratweny started whispering under his breath. Kyoya's hands curled into fists, his eyes squeezing shut tightly. His jaw became taunt, a sound caught between a whimper and choking coming from him.

"It won't work," Larsen stated.

"Takashi, will you get him out of here?" Hunny requested politely. Mori grunted and pushed the Major General backwards. Larsen ducked under the sword held to his throat and lunged back toward Kyoya and Haruhi, aiming for the woman's chest. Haruhi picked Kyoya's sword off the ground, moving to block the blow, but it never reached her. The sword and Larsen's body dropped to the ground while a head flew through the air, leaving a trail of blood behind.

Andres Larsen was dead.

Hunny's mouth bent down in a frown as he continued his work. His hand jerked up and down in tiny movements as if trying to loosen something. With each small jerk, a small noise of pain came from Kyoya's mouth. Haruhi unclenched one of his hands carefully and squeezed it in one of hers. Finally, with one final upward jerk of Hunny's hand, a cry from Kyoya, and his nails digging into her hand, a ball of fire leapt from the gouge in the Narian Prince's chest to the Gratweny's palm.

"Got it!" The blonde crowed triumphantly.

"Haruhi," Kyoya croaked, finally able to speak. She shushed him quickly, laying her own hand on his chest and murmuring healing spells. "You need… Get out… Here."

"I'm not leaving you," she whispered furiously. "Mori can you help me get him into the carriage?" He nodded and lifted the Prince effortlessly. Kyoya grunted. Hunny climbed into the driver's seat while Mori placed Kyoya down gently. He climbed up next to his cousin and waited until the door behind him was closed before spurring the horses to action. "Why? Why'd you do this?"

"Hurt you."

"They hurt me? That's not your battle to fight nor is it your decision to make."

"Yuki."

"That still doesn't justify attacking them when you were supposed to be trying to negotiate peace. You moron." She pulled her hand from his chest, frustrated that she couldn't heal him properly. "I can't even heal you. I can't…"

"Haruhi…" She looked him in the eyes and it hit her all at once. Yuiichi had known. That's why he'd told her to go easy on him. "You're… Crying."

"Yuiichi knew. You knew when you came that you were going to attack them." She couldn't even feel the tears running down her cheeks. Something inside of her hardened. "You knew because your father told you to." He didn't answer. "That's it isn't it? Your father ordered you to kill them… And you hid it from me."

"Haruhi…"

She shook her head. "Stop speaking. You're going to kill yourself at this rate."

"Why… You crying?"

"You… For being so intelligent you're an idiot," she muttered. He wasn't going to make her say it. She still didn't want to admit it and if he didn't already know then he didn't need to. "Kyoya… You… I don't understand how one man can be so brilliant and so moronic at the same time. You've defied your father before, so why not now?"

"They… deserved it."

She looked away from him. "Just stop talking," she mumbled, stroking his cheek with a finger. "You really will kill yourself if you don't stop." She replaced her hand on his chest, feeling his shift to grasp it. She could feel his heart beat growing fainter. "Don't you dare die on me. I don't want to have to end the war without you."

"Is… All… I'm good… For?"

She laughed a little and shook her head. "Of course not. Just… don't die, okay? In fact, if you don't I'll marry you."

"Promise?"

"Yes. I promise. If you live, I'll marry you." His fingers started fidgeting, attempting to remove the ring that was on his middle finger. She took his hand carefully and pulled it off for him.

"Keep it," he rasped.

"But it's your royalty ring."

"Temporary… Engagement. Keep it. It… Adjusts…"

She hesitantly slipped it on her left ring finger, watching it shrink three sizes to fit her smaller fingers. When she looked back at him, his eyes were closed, chest moving faintly.

~o~

She was furious with the Narian King. And that fury could not possibly be contained any longer than it already had been. Kyoya was sleeping, now bandaged up and on his way to recovery. She looked down at the once too-big ring on her finger that served as her temporary engagement ring. He'd almost died and the Narian King was to blame. To think that he had ordered his own son to assassinate the Kiran General and second-in-command. His son. When there were dangers that he couldn't even know about or plan for.

She examined the ring for a while in an attempt to calm down. It was rather simple at first glance but intricate when looked at closer. It was thicker than most rings, nearly a quarter inch, but it seemed to suit him when she thought about it. Silver inlaid with two circular amethysts, one on the top that had the Narian royal Ohtori family crest engraved and the one on the opposing side Kyoya's initials. Connecting them were intricate grape vines, winding around the ring, being stopped only at the midpoints between the stones by two other engravings that seemed to be wound into the vines themselves: a number 4 and the initials M and Y. She frowned. She'd have to ask him about that later.

"The M and Y are mine and my wife's first initials," a voice spoke from the doorway. She jumped without meaning to. King Yoshio stood by the door, watching her fiddle with his son's ring. "When he wears it on his middle finger anyone looking at it reads it as Narian Prince Kyoya Ohtori fourth born of Mayumi and Yoshio." Her eyebrows turned down slightly. Why was he being so helpful? "What I want to know is how you got it off his finger?"

"Why?" she asked hesitantly.

"He's the only one that can remove it. It has a protection charm on it to prevent theft and ensure identification."

"He… gave it to me. For a temporary engagement ring."

"Really? Interesting…" He didn't say anything for a while, obviously thinking about something. "How is he?" he finally asked.

"Better… No thanks to you," she muttered, taking Kyoya's hand and squeezing carefully. "He was fine fighting until Larsen got extra angry about him killing Fusawa. Since he was angry too, they were kind of sloppy. Larsen got Kyoya first. The thing is… Some of his organs were burned because of it; I think that nearly killed him almost as much as the blood loss." She stopped, just looking at Kyoya, remembering all the blood that had been on him. How he'd practically been choking on it. She shook her head and spoke again softly, her voice bitter. "How… How can you send your own son in to do your dirty work? Did you even know the dangers? Did you know he could die?"

"It wasn't likely that he would, being Filandrian Hand-to-Hand Combat Champion."

"He was angry. Everyone fights recklessly when they're angry," she growled. "Did you know that Larsen had a cursed short-sword?"

"I did not."

"That was the thing I was most worried about. And you didn't know about it. You didn't know about the one thing that could possibly kill your son."

"And how did you know about it?" Yoshio asked sharply.

She stared at him, her anger only building at his assumptive attitude. "He used it on me! When I was held captive by the Kiran army. Did no one tell you that Yuki was kidnapped? I traded myself for her and they tortured me with that godforsaken blade that burns you from the inside out! Right in front of him! The same thing would have happened to Kyoya if Hunny hadn't pulled the fire out of him! He would have burned to death." She stopped, breathing heavily and standing now without even realizing that she had. "And you sent him into that without even knowing."

"Are you finished?"

"No… I don't like how you treat him either. Like he's any less of a human being than his brothers. Or everything that he's ever done that even slightly went against your orders is a mistake. I can't stand that you treat him like that when he tries so hard to please you!" Her breathing evened out a bit as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

He waited a few moments before replying to her rant. "I knew the Kiran army would not likely join back with the royal court unless Fusawa and Larsen were taken out. I trusted him to follow through and take precautions. I knew about the dangers, though the blade I did not. It was a miscalculation of mine that he would become angry enough that it made him sloppy. As it is now, he will be fine, injured or not, and the Kiran royal court should more easily be able to regain control of their military so we will not be at war with two Kiran entities."

She stared at the Narian King then sat heavily, asking wearily, "Why him?"

"His skills at combat were necessary but his prior conflict with them involving Yuki's kidnapping and your capture allowed me to write their deaths off as Kyoya seeking revenge, making it a separate motive from the war. Since this gives the Kiran royal court the exact opportunity they need to regain control of their army, I'm almost completely positive that they won't retaliate for their deaths. As for my treatment of Kyoya, I don't believe that's any of your business. I will parent him as I wish and do so for a specific reason." He stopped abruptly and gave her a cold stare. "Miss Yukikawa, I did not need to explain myself to you. Consider this a one-time privilege as next time I will not tolerate being spoken to in such a manner."

"How did you expect me to react when my fiance could be dying?" she muttered just barely under her breath. The King caught it however and narrowed his eyes threateningly.

"Haruhi?" Kyoya moaned under his breath. She looked toward him quickly, all thoughts of the Narian King vanishing in an instant. "Stop trying to aggravate him."

"I wasn't-"

"Don't," he said sharply, giving her a threatening look before turning his eyes to his father. "I apologize if her behavior insulted you, Uherfa." Haruhi snorted, earning her another glare from the youngest Ohtori. "She's… obviously very protective of me." He looked toward his fiancé and swallowed. "Haruhi… Let us talk alone for a bit?" She rolled her eyes but nodded in consent, standing and leaving the room.

"She tells me that you're engaged." He nodded slowly. "Did you take the ring off or did she do it?"

"She did, I think. I honestly don't remember. We were planning on telling you as soon as I was well again." His father's expression was one of distaste, forcing him to sigh. "May I remind you that you were the one that wanted me married by my 22nd birthday? Haruhi's the only one that I'd be inclined to marry. And I believe her diligence in caring for me even when I deceived her deserves the right to be my wife and wear a Narian crown."

"That would be my job to judge."

"Father, no one's going to care that she's a mutt."

"I do."

"You're the only one that does. Yuiichi and Fuyumi both approve. I'm sure that the Narian people wouldn't mind a bit so long as I am married. I don't see what the problem is. I'm the youngest so as long as I marry it shouldn't matter at all who she is as long as she's proven to deserve me." He stopped to take a few deep breaths. Haruhi was right. He shouldn't talk so much.

His father sighed. "Did you hear our entire conversation?"

"No. Just the last part."

"She's very protective. And I've never known anyone besides your mother who stood up to me in such a way. You care for her in a similar way, I presume?" Kyoya merely nodded, his throat suddenly dry. "Fine. For now, you have my permission to marry. If she once steps out of line though, she's gone."

"Yes, Father," Kyoya murmured, bowing his head as well as he could from his laying position in bed. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, boy," Yoshio growled, turning and exiting the room. Haruhi scurried back in moments after his exit.

"Well?" she asked softly, sitting beside him.

"He's allowing us to marry. Just don't step out of line again, Haruhi. He'll destroy you if you do."

She let out a gently sigh and took his hand. "You better heal up then. If we're going to get married then there's going to be a lot of planning that needs doing. Plus someone's going to have to tell my father and Tamaki."

Kyoya gazed at her. There were slight bags under her eyes from her sleepless nights sitting by his bed. Her posture screamed of her true exhaustion. He was getting to marry this woman finally. This woman who cared for and might even love him. Yet when she leaned down and kissed him, he wasn't completely sure if she really wanted this.

"Go to sleep," he murmured, pulling her close with an arm around her waist. "You deserve it." She burrowed under the covers, smiling a bit with her head on his shoulder.

~o~

A/N: Aw shucks. Too late for the June chapter. But bear with me, June was a busy month between moving and graduating and all that fun stuff. Thus, I will try (key word here is TRY) to get a second chapter up this month. No promises though.

Kudos to: Cristine, Nessie-san, Magpie09, LuxenShadow123, Mrs. Ootori43ver, iXheartXrecX75, BitterBreak, and Koharu Veddette!