"Pumpkin-senpai?" A soft voice from beside her said. It was Mio Ayama, a first year, and a recent customer of Pumpkin's. Though the other customers had mostly left, she'd stayed behind, standing behind her chair and fumbled her fingers against the intricate carvings at the top of it.

"Yes, what is it, darling Mio-chan?" Smiling, Pumpkin rested her chin on her fingers, something she'd seen Kyouya do.

"Oh! Uhm.." The girl blushed, and she averted her gaze for a moment. "T-the truth is, I've been wanting to ask you something for a long time now. I waited behind to speak to you."

And she had to do this now? The last thing Pumpkin wanted to do was sit and listen to more of these spoiled brats. Glancing in Kyouya's direction, she saw he was nearby, attention on someone else, but definitely in full view of them. "What is it I can do for you, my dear?" She asked, eyebrows raising slightly at the younger girl. Now that she was looking at her properly, she thought she'd seen her somewhere before, but the feeling was so fleeting she figured she'd just associated it with being around Mio for the past few days.

"Uhm- t-truthfully, I- wanted to give you this!" The girl produced a small envelope from her pocket and handed it to Pumpkin. It was pink and yellow stationery with small heart stickers on it, with Pumpkin's name on the front. Inwardly, she threw up from looking at it. But, eraser marks were smudged under her name, and she could just make out indents of some other characters.

"Is this- for me, then?"

"It is! I wanted- to ask, if you would go out with me, I- I really like you!" Mio bowed to her, arms out straight with the envelope presented in both hands.

A flashback to a little bit ago, a girl in a similar position, bowing to Kyouya in a similar fashion in front of the hedge maze entered Pumpkin's mind. Was this the same girl? She wondered something. "Mio-chan, before I answer, may I ask you something?"

"Oh! Yes, of course." The girl stayed bowed.

"Are you in fact, in love with Ohtori-san?"

"Huh?" The girl looked up, face reddened as she glanced from Kyouya to Pumpkin, her body still in it's bowing form. She looked flustered, but upset. "How can you- of course not!"

"Your eyes deceive you, my dear. There is one thing I despise more than the color pink. It's a liar." Boy, she was one to talk. She was a liar herself, though she justified it by not lying often, and only lying if it benefited her somehow.

"P-Pumkin-senpai?" Mio's eyes darted back to her from Kyouya.

Standing slowly, Pumpkin pressed the girl's fingers away. "Save your love, for the one you marry. Flip-flopping around like this is unbecoming, especially for a girl your age. If you truly loved someone like me, you'd at least learn what I like, and not write on stationery that was meant for someone else!" She slapped the girl's hands away, the letter scattering across the floor to Kyouya's shoes. "And to top it off, you tried to make Ohtori-san jealous by 'confessing' to me? There is one thing about him you failed to learn, despite your 'crush'. He's only interested in things that benefit him. Perhaps if you paid more attention, you'd learn I am the same!" She was mad, soo mad. Earlier events had already made her uncomfortable, and now this? That girl was like a piece of plastic, so easily see through and readable like a children's book.

"How sad." Kyouya approached, letter sitting between two fingers.

Mio looked like she was about to tuck tail and run. "I- I- I'm s-sorr-"

"To be treated so sourly by Pumpkin in this way."

"She's a sour grape!" Hikaru and Kaoru magically appeared from nowhere as they laughed.

"What?" Pumpkin glanced from them to Kyouya.

"Ayama-chan, if you wish to return to the club at any time, that is all well and good, please don't hesitate. But for your safety, I would advise not asking Pumpkin to be your host, as her aggressiveness toward you is disturbing. I apologize." He handed the letter back to Mio and smiled. "Feel free, by all means, to look into our limited edition.." He escorted her to the door as he spoke, offering a sales pitch to her.

Meanwhile, Pumpkin sat fuming in her chair as he walked away. "That pompous ass." She muttered under her breath as he cheeks grew hotter.

"That was really mean, Pumpkin." Hikaru said, leaning against the back of the chair.

"Yea, after all, her family's in charge of the company that built this place." Kaoru inspected his fingernails.

"What." She looked up at them both, lips pursed.

"Yea, apparently, she's way wealthy, even more than you- oh wait, we're all wealthier than you. Hahahaha!" They laughed as they walked away, arms wrapped around each other's waists.

"Dammit." Her head clunked over on the table, tears spilling out over the side to the floor. "I hate meee!" She muttered as she frowned, kicking her legs under her chair.

"Pumpkin-san?" Haruhi approached, setting a cup of coffee down for her. "Don't worry about them. I don't think you're a sour grape at all. I may have reacted similarly if I'd seen she'd just reused a love letter like that, too."

"Thanks, Haruhi-chan." Sitting up, Pumpkin sipped the coffee slowly. Bleh, instant.

"Oh hey! I was able to get a good piece of meat from the supermarket last night, would you like to come over and eat it with me?"

Pumpkin stared at Haruhi hard, lips pursed and eyes slit. Meat? She saved enough for a slab of high grade meat? Pumpkin could barely afford the noodles she got for free from Kissin! "It's not fair!" Throwing her arms up, she closed her eyes tight and shouted at the ceiling. "Even Haruhi is wealthier than me, and she's a commoner! Dammit dammit dammit! I just want something to go my way, for once!" Kicking her heels under her chair she continued her little rampage when Tamaki appeared.

"Pumpkin, Pumpkin! Why not bounce this around for a little, it will cheer you up!" He handed her the bouncy ball Haruhi had given him.

Dread lines appeared behind her head. "I'm not you, I don't find entertainment in the most mundane things." That sent him to a corner.

"Do you want to hold Usa-chan?" Hani offered his rabbit to her.

"No thanks."

"Dutch chocolate?" Mori offered a plate.

"Food is a temporary pleasure!" She grabbed the cake and stuffed her mouth before standing up.

"Why not go shopping with Haruhi then?" Hikaru suggested.

"Idiot! I just said I have no money!"

"That's not true." Kaoru said, thinking. "You said you have no wealth, not that you had no money."

"Screw you! I'm going home." Pumpkin went and got her bag, throwing it over her shoulder. Pausing in the doorway, she looked over at the frame before kicking it a couple of times, hard, then proceeded out, pretending not to limp from the pain she just caused herself. What the hell was her deal today? Had the incident from the day before and earlier's run-in with Kyouya made her this irritable? She really wanted nothing more than to punch someone. Where was Kasanoda, she'd go punch him in the gonads. But that wouldn't fix her predicament. What the hell did he mean anyway by 'repay a favor' and taking over her father's companies? Damn that Kyouya.

"Pumpkin."

Speak of the devil! "What!" She whirled around, looking pissed.

"I need to speak with you."

"I'm right here, what do you want."

"Not here. We'll speak at my home." He motioned for her to follow.

"What! Why the hell would I do that!?"

"Because if you wish to discuss your father's companies and my involvement, there is the place to do it."

"Shouldn't my father be there, too?"

"Not this time."

Not this time? That had to mean her father had just signed it over to this greedy lech. "Fine. But you're providing my dinner." She followed him out. "Can I at least stop at my house and change?"

"You can wear something of my sister's."

Sister? She didn't know he had a sister. She'd only ever heard about his brothers. "Fine."

-x-

The ride over was quiet, and felt a little awkward. She couldn't help but give sideways glances in his direction, mind filled with thoughts of the previous night and wondering if he was thinking about it, too. She also couldn't help but think about what he looked like under his clothes. Swallowing a gulp, she leaned forward a little as her thighs shifted slightly, warmth spreading through her body. Was she getting turned on? From what? Just thinking about last night? Oh God. Looking out the window, she stared hard at the passing buildings, her breathing hard. I really hope he doesn't notice. She thought to herself.

"Kotaphira."

She leaped out of her skin. "I said don't call me that!" She shrieked, turning to face him quickly, face still red.

"No one else is around, I see no reason not to."

"Because I don't like it!"

"You don't like to be associated with it, you mean. How about a nickname, then?"

"I have one, it's Pumpkin." She grumbled.

Kyouya shook his head. "I refuse to continue calling you after a gourd, it's unbecoming."

"It's been my nickname since I was a kid, I was born on Halloween, after all."

"Kodo."

"What?" She wasn't sure what he was getting at.

"It's a shorter term than Kotaphira, and simple to say. It has little to no vocal association to the name, and no one would be reminded of your mother. Besides, I'm sure it wouldn't offend the one who originally called you Pumpkin to begin with."

That was true. In fact, it had been her father who'd called her Pumpkin, she remembered when he'd said it, too. He'd put a carved pumpkin on her head and laughed at her. She hated it and cried, they'd even taken pictures of it and laughed about the story years later.

"So, I think Kodo would be more appropriate."

"I thought you called me Sagano-san."

His head tilted at her. "Are we not friends?"

Skepticism filled her. What was he gaining from this? Why would he care about that? "Are we?"

The corners of his mouth went down a little. "I assumed so. If you wish for me to continue calling you Sagano-san, you'll hear no argument from me."

"But you won't call me Pumpkin?"

"I refuse."

"You did earlier!"

"Because that is the name the others associate to you. Trying to explain any changes at this point would be exhausting and a waste of time, especially if you agreed to the cha-."

Her shoulders slumped. "Kyouya." She said that without thinking, and her eyes widened. What the heck was she even saying! But, his reaction was something else. His back straightened as his glasses glared over. Clearing his throat, he pressed those glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"What is it?"

She looked straight forward, missing the blush on his face. "W-what were you saying?"

"It wasn't important."

Oh, that's why she'd said it. Being reminded of the previous night, she was actually curious what he'd do if she said his name. Thankfully her mind didn't allow her to say it in a similar fashion as she had then. Which made her wonder, how would he react if she did? That thought alone made her cheeks burn as her thighs shifted again. "Hey!" Turning to face him quickly, she noticed his eyes jerk back to her face. "Why'd you say Kotaphira so suddenly, anyway?"

"I only wished to see how you'd react."

"Huh." Rude. "And what's your conclusion on the matter?"

"That you respond best to Sagano-san."

Nodding, she leaned back in her seat. "Good."

"Why did you say mine so suddenly?"

"Similar reason you had for saying mine."

"Did you expect to get some sort of reaction out of me because of last night?"

Damn, he really preferred getting to the point of things. But, that was a good thing, she supposed. She glanced sideways at him, smirking. "But, I did."

"Did you?" He was trying to make her doubt herself with that tone.

She nodded. "Which makes me wonder about things, but I suppose those are thoughts for myself." Could she control him if she said the right things? Doubtful.

"We're here."

Looking out the limo window, she saw the house before them. It was so modern, with glass windows that went from the ground to the roof. No doubt they had vaulted ceilings. Somehow, it fit for him. Once inside, Pumpkin first noticed how cold it felt, though the temperature was preferable. "Is anyone here?"

"My sister might be. My father and brothers are working right now."

"What about your mother?"

"Mh."

Was that bad? Should she have not said anything about it? Suddenly she felt guilty for saying anything about it. "Sorry for prying." She whispered apologetically as she followed him into a grand room that was divided in half by a balcony, stairs leading to the lower area on either side. "Wow, what a fantastic place!" Running down the stairs, her eyes scanned the area and saw quickly a low desk, an entertainment center, and a bed, all laid out sparsely. "Is this.. your room?"

"It is."

"Wow." Under one of the staircases was a door that was cracked open a little. Peering in there from where she stood, the tiled floor hinted it was a bathroom. "You even have your own bathroom?"

"Every bedroom in this house does."

"That's not bad. Our old house had something like that too, but it certainly wasn't the most efficient with it's spaces like this house is."

"It was the Ayama family who helped plan and ultimately built this place."

Her head slowly turned to him. "That Ayama?"

"Not her in specific, but her parents and their business, yes."

"Oh. No wonder you were giving her special treatment." Slumping down in his computer chair, she spun a little as she looked around the room. "Hey, you said I could change into something else, do you mind?" She asked, scratching at her collar.

He looked perturbed, and it amused her. "One minute." She watched him trudge up the stairs and out of his room. The second he was out of view, she jumped up and ran over to the bed. It was expertly made up, crisp and clean. Grinning wickedly to herself, she leaned over and inhaled the scent of his pillow. Nothing but clean and detergent met her nostrils. They must have cleaned up their sheets every day. That was disappointing. Listening, she could hear him speaking to someone, and their tones hinted at their point in the conversation. It'd be a couple of moments before he returned. An evil thought crossed her mind and she couldn't resist but doing this. Reaching under her skirt, she tugged at her underwear.

By the time he returned, Pumpkin was back to her spot, spinning back and forth in the chair as she watched him enter and descend the stairs. "Did she get upset you brought a girl over?"

"I told her not to enter since it's an important business meeting."

"In your bedroom?" She teased.

"She had that same reaction. But she won't be disturbing us, so it's fine."

"This really sounds like a romantic meeting, you know~" Standing, she walked toward him as he handed her the clothes.

"Despite what this sounds or looks like, you and I both now the truth."

"Yea, I guess."

"You can change in my bathroom." He pointed.

Just as she'd suspected, that door led to a bathroom. Entering, she felt her eyes widen as the door shut behind her. A shower, a separate standalone bath, a bidet, a toilet, a sink, lots of counter space- good Lord this was a nice bathroom. Changing quickly, she folded her school uniform as best she could before exiting. Kyouya sat at his desk, tapping away at his laptop. "It's.. kind of tight." She said, pulling at the shirt and pulling the pants down a little so it didn't give her a cameltoe.

"Being part German, it's no surprise your body type is different than the average sized woman here."

"That's rude!" She called out, dropping her folded uniform on the foot of the bed. "Blame your sister for being too damn skinny." Walking over to a shelf on the wall, she examined some of the small things there.

"Don't snoop through my things."

"Oh, you have a picture of you and Tamaki together, where is this?" She asked, grabbing the frame off the shelf and in the process knocking something small off to the floor, where it shattered. "Ah! Oh, I'm so sorry!" Putting the picture back, she knelt quickly to scoop the small pieces up. "Ohtori-san, I'm really sor-" She was looking toward him as he approached, kneeling next to her to help.

"Don't worry about it, it was a cheap memento anyway."

Looking at the glass-like pieces in her hand, she held them up to examine it, when the light reflected off the pieces, showing colors everywhere. "This is crystal." Looking at him quickly, she had a puzzled look on her face. "Ohtori-san, if this was last week, you would have gotten really upset and tacked it on to my debt. What changed?"

He stopped his movements and looked up at her slowly. "Because there is no reason to be upset about something as trivial as this." He smiled a little.

"Trivial? Your glasses weren't trivial. In fact, they were really stupid expensive. So what makes this any different?"

"Really, I'm not sure what you're getting at." He continued cleaning up the mess, his tone sounding slightly amused, though she could tell he was hiding something.

Swallowing hard, Pumpkin had to struggle not to hit him as she stood. "Did you speak to my mother?"

He paused again before standing, the crystal pieces enclosed in his hand. "I did."

Every curse word she knew rattled around her head as she struggled not to say them. "What did she say to you?"

"That you are a wonderful young woman with the most potential in a person she's ever seen."

"What did you talk about, why did you call her, what reason did you have to speak to my mother!" Near tears, Pumpkin gritted her teeth as she clenched her fists tight, ignoring the crystal pieces that dug in to her skin.

"As I said before, what I do with my work is my own business."

"Liar!"

"Why not call her and ask her yourself?" He asked, brushing his hands off into the trash can.

"Because I want to know from you."

He sighed heavily before sitting back in his chair. "I spoke to her about an alliance of companies."

"What does my father's business have to do with this?"

"It doesn't. At least, not yet." He attempted to hide a yawn as he spoke. He looked really tired.

"Then what were you talking about before, how you 'arranged it' so my dad's companies wouldn't go under? More importantly, why are you interfering so much with my life!" Right then, her cell phone rang. Grumbling, she took her phone from her school bag. "It's her."

"I'll let you speak with her." Kyouya stood and began walking away.

"No. I want you here." She flipped open the phone and hit the green button. "Hello? Hi, mom. I'm alright. Well, I was, until I found you you've been conspiring with a classmate of mine. Would you elaborate, please?"

Kyouya watched her eyes widen after several moments of her mother's ramblings and the phone slipped from her fingers to the floor. The shocked look on her face said everything it needed to. She knew the story now.

"How.. how could you?" She whispered at him before sitting on the floor, picking up her phone and putting it to her ear. "Yes, mom. I'm here. Why did you do this, without telling me, without- without including me? ...WHAT!" Looking up quickly, she stared at Kyouya, blushing hard. "He told you!? I can't- I can't trust any of you people!" Hanging up, she looked back at the floor, her left hand still clenched shut.

"You're bleeding."

"Huh?" Looking at her hand, she saw blood dripping slowly from her fist. "Oh, dammit!" Standing, she raced to the bathroom to the sink, fighting back tears. How could her mother do this behind her back? And with Kyouya of all people! His presence at the door caught her attention as she struggled with the bleeding in her palm. "What?"

"Let me help." He wandered to his medicine cabinet for a box.

"Haven't you 'helped' me enough?" She gritted her teeth as she scraped the small pieces out of her skin. "Why do you care any way?"

"Honestly, I believe we both could benefit from this alliance. After all, you wish for a successful future, and I wish for a greater profit margin." Opening the medicine box, he pulled out a strip of gauze and held his hand out for hers.

"What could my father's failing companies have anything with you gaining a higher profit margin? If anything, you'd lose money! If anything, they'd just get swallowed up by other food companies." Slowly she held out her hand, seething as her fingers spread.

"Because your mother asked that I look after you." Deftly his fingers worked to wrap her hand, gentle with his movements. "Or if you preferred, you could watch him fall into a debt that he could not climb out of to the point of having to lose everything."

"Or let me find my own way without a crutch!"

"We both now the reality of that situation. You are ambitious, but you have nothing to start with."

"I didn't ask for this." She mumbled, rinsing the blood off the sides of the sink.

"No." He leaned back against the counter, arms crossed and one knee bent. "She did. Your mother is a remarkable woman, you know."

"Yes, I do! It's why I wanted to do this on my own! So she could see I was capable and that I don't need my father, just like she didn't need him when she left him all that time ago!"

"Independence is an often sought-after trait, but if you are unaware of the consequences, you will be a failure just as your father is."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"There's no shame in having help from others."

"But you want something in return for this, I know you do. What is it? Because long term means having to wait a long time for any sort of monetary profit. What are you getting out of this right now?"

He turned to look at her with a look on his face that read, what, you didn't already know? "If I have to explain that, then you're just as daft as Tamaki." Leaning forward, he moved to leave the bathroom.

"Wait!" her hand grabbed for his arm and he paused. "What 'favor' are you repaying me by doing all this stuff anyway?"

Slowly, he looked back at her. "You misunderstood. It wasn't a favor you did for me. It was something your mother had done. It isn't something to worry about."

"Of course I worry about it! What are you planning?!"

"For you to replace your father, just as you wanted."

"But why?!"

An aggravated exhale left his lungs. "Because your mother-"

"Forget my mother! What are your motives!"

A knock at his bedroom door interrupted her. Twisting his arm away from her grasp, he exited the bathroom with her behind him. "Come in." He called as he sat on the edge of the bed, motioning for Pumpkin to sit in his chair.

"Kyouya-kun? I'm coming in." It was a young woman's voice and after she entered, looked down to see them sitting there. "Oh! He didn't tell me you were so- cute!"

What was she actually thinking? Wondered Pumpkin. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm Fuyumi Ohtori-Shido. It's a pleasure!" The girl carried down a tray of drink and snacks. "Are you a classmate of his?"

"I am. I'm Pum-" A split decision made her think twice of saying her preferred nickname. Slowly, almost painfully, she said her real name. "Kotaphira Sagano."

"Sagano-chan, it's so rare to meet his fellow classmates, especially ones who are so cute!"

There was that word again. But, Fuyumi was polite, and actually.. really cute, herself. "Please, call me Kodo." Smiling at the older girl, she didn't notice Kyouya's reaction to that.

"Well, Kodo-chan, Kyouya, I just came down to give you this. I'll be out of your breas- er- hair, pardon me~" Laughing to herself, the woman carried herself up the stairs and turned around to close the doors as she watched them with a grin on her face.

Breasts? Looking down, she saw the shirt she was wearing had a low neckline, and her boobs were creating rather showy cleavage. Flustered, she grabbed the neckline and pulled it upward as her arms attempted to cover herself inconspicuously. Damn, it wasn't like she was huge, but Fuyumi must have had considerably smaller breasts.

"So, you agree to the new nickname?"

"Huh?" She looked up at him quickly.

"You said to call you Kodo. Is there a reason you're suddenly ashamed of the nickname Pumpkin?"

"It's.. it sounds childish now. Life comes with change, so why not a change in nickname?"

"You sound like you're hosting a customer when you say that."

She felt herself sweat drop. "Maybe, I'm slowly applying my alter-ego to myself now? I don't know. Thinking back on it, I remember the story of how I got that nickname, and, I realized I don't like it because of that incident."

"Hm." She watched him lean back a little on the bed.

"It has nothing to do with your influence!" Her face blushed as she spoke, realizing that wasn't necessarily true. "In any case. I need to return home. What does my father know about your takeover?"

"Nothing. As far as he'll be concerned, he'll be selling bits of his companies out to other larger businesses."

"All you?"

"Yes. If he knew the truth, he'd explode much faster and harder than you. His influence is much higher than yours, so the consequences of him finding out could be devestational to everything I'm working toward for you."

Her shoulders slumped. "I get the feeling you not only want me to keep my mouth shut, but to stay out of the way."

"That would be preferable."

"Dammit." Standing up, she walked over to the bed and scooped up her school uniform in both hands. "I'm in no place to ask favors, Ohtori-san, but will you at least allow me to see the transactions, so I can learn?" She glanced at him, holding the folded clothes in front of her chest. "I want to know. Especially since I'm taking business classes, I'll get to see some of the stuff in action in the real world."

"That seems a small favor to ask. Seeing as this will be your empire later on, I see no reason not to."

"That's a lot of trust to put in me."

"You aren't one to back stab. You're too honest, for your own good."

That cracked her up. She couldn't help but laugh, hard, as she sat on the bed so she wouldn't fall over from laughing. "Ahahahaha- K-Kyouya- ahaha- you know nothing about me, then!" Snickering, she wiped her face as she sat up, staring over at him with laughter in her eyes. "I'm the biggest frau-"

"Kodo." He cut off her off as he leaned forward, his mouth pressing in to hers, his hand on her arm to pull her to him.

Eyes widening, she felt her arms stiffen as the clothes fell to the floor in silence, the warmth of the setting autumn sun covering the room in an orange hue.