The door slammed open and six bodies began walking in the room and froze.
The twins snickered and Haruhi just stared with a judgemental look on her face and a tinge of red on her ears.
"Emi-chan?" Hani asked, sweetly but externally he looked prepared to attack Kyouya.
Kyouya leapt up and began giving an explanation with a completely straight face.
Any other time Emi would be impressed but she would think about his acting ability later.
~I was about to confess to him? Me? How far gone am I?!~
She couldn't even think about being embarrassed she was too focused on what she was about to do and how genuine it felt.
~I love him. I love him more than anything. It's only been a month Emi are you crazy?!~
Finally her cheeks warmed up and she forced herself back into reality.
Tamaki had been reanimated and was going full daddy mode on Kyouya who stood there emotionless. Through the shrieking she gathered that he wanted to go to the aquarium and that "auntie and mommy shouldn't be doing that sort of thing".
"The aquarium sounds like a great idea." Emi said, sitting up in the bed and emanating every piece of authority available in attempt to calm the room.
Thankfully it worked and before Emi knew it she was being shoved into a limo.
"W-wait! I'll drive myself!" She yelled, jumping away from the automobile like it was fire.
Everyone gave her a funny look,
"You don't want to be with us?" Hani asked sadly, using his puppy eyes.
"I don't like other people driving. I'll meet you there."
"I'll come with you." Haruhi said, squirming out of the twins grasp.
"We want to comeeee!" The twins, Tamaki, and Hani whined. Mori grunted in a agreement which gave Emi an idea.
"Fine, the seniors ride with us to the aquarium and everyone else can ride with us back."
They all agreed enthusiastically and didn't stop to think that they wouldn't need a ride back to Kyouya's house.
Emi giggled as she entered the car and Haruhi joined in when she realized Emi's trick.
"Those knuckleheads." Emi said, settling down in her seat and buckling up. "Hani-senpai do you want to sit in the front with me?"
Haruhi gave her a questioning look but moved to the back when Hani agreed.
The ride was pleasant and relatively quiet. Emi had shared a knowing look with Hani that communicated to her that he approved of the pair in the backseat.
~Glad I'm not the only one who noticed Haruhi and Mori would be a good match.~
The aquarium was entertaining, Emi walked with Kyouya and Haruhi (when she wasn't being pulled around by other members) and enjoyed the various forms of aquatic life.
~I'm glad nobody messes with me like that.~ She thought as she watched Tamaki point out every fish he saw to the obviously annoyed Haruhi.
Emi stopped to take some pictures of the fish for future sketches and Mori offered to take her backpack. She agreed offhandedly and allowed her artistic side to make an appearance.
She felt Kyouya entwine his fingers in hers after a few minutes and she couldn't help the smile grow on her face.
As the group entered one of the last sections of the aquarium, Kyouya pulled her over to the aquatic plant area.
Emi was drawn to the wide range of gorgeous fresh water flowers. She pressed herself up against the glass and stared in awe, oblivious to the fact that she and Kyouya were completely alone.
His hands rested on her hips and turned her around. She saw a flash of his dark grey eyes before he kissed her softly. Her arms wrapped around his neck instinctively and she felt him press her into the glass wall.
"Kyouya," she breathed in between the light kisses, "We're in public."
He drew back enough to allow them to breathe but rested his forehead on hers.
"I love you Emi." He whispered,
She froze. ~Oh my god. Oh. My. God. He-he
me?~ Her heart felt like it would break through her rib cage. An unusual aching filled her chest and her stomach was doing back flips.
She stared at him with her mouth open, eyes wide, in complete shock by his sudden confession.
He laughed lightly and planted a kiss on her nose then pulled her into a hug.
"You're so cute."
Emi felt her cheeks heat up and seemed to lose control of her rational mind. She freed herself from the embrace, grabbed his face and threw herself into a passionate kiss that left them both breathless.
"I love you too." She said, planting butterfly kisses on his face.
He gave her one more lingering kiss on the lips before grabbing her hand and leading her back to the main area.
~Good thing we were so isolated, that would be hard to explain~ She thought, suddenly embarrassed.
She spotted Mori still carrying her backpack by the stingray exhibit with Hani and made her way over.
"Hey Mori-senpai can I have my backpack back? I didn't mean for you to carry it so long." She said,
"Why did you bring it with you Emi-chan?" Hani asked as Mori took it from his shoulders and started handing to her.
Emi opened her mouth to answer but noticed how stiff Mori was. He had frozen, holding her backpack in one hand in the process of returning it. A strange aura came off of him that Emi could only describe as... threatened.
She snapped to attention.
~Oh shit.~
She grabbed his arm and started dragging him across the room. Hani and Kyouya trailed after them, confused, and the rest of the club stared at them.
"Go away. We need to talk in private." She said with a glare that stopped the two boys in their tracks.
Mori was still tense but allowed Emi to pull him around the corner and into an empty room. The room was dusty and full of tables with no trace of recent human activity. It appeared to be an abandoned break room but Emi had more important things to worry about.
"You weren't supposed to know about that." She said stonily, all trace of the sweet girl gone.
He gave her a questioning look, the bag still in his grasp. "This is dangerous." He said,
~What do you know, he spoke.~
"I have it for a reason." She quipped in return,
He shook his head as if that reason didn't justify.
"My presence has lead to multiple tragedies and I will not let another one happen." She added, trying to ease the seniors defensive nature.
Her words seemed to affect him because he softened his stance and he replaced the threatening aura with one similar to protectiveness. He put his hand on her head for a second then slowly held out the bag.
"I take every precaution." She promised as she opened the bag to check on the small handgun inside. It had fallen out of its special compartment and she carefully returned it.
He nodded, "I won't ask why, but don't let the others know."
It struck her then that Mori must have gone through a lot to accept this situation so easily. Guns are hard to come by in Japan so owning one, let alone carrying one, is rare.
She put the straps of the backpack on her shoulders and pulled the tall boy into a hug.
"Thank you, Mori-senpai."
He returned the hug tentatively, as if worried about breaking her.
A sharp intake of breath forced them apart. Standing at the door was a young girl who stared at the pair with shock in her eyes.
"You are dating! How could you!" She yelled before bolting away.
"Um... Who was that?" Emi asked, still dazed from Mori's acceptance.
Mori looked down at her with worry in his eyes, "A guest."
~Well this is better than someone seeing the gun at least.~ Emi thought, exasperated,
"Oh well, I'll tell Kyouya that you found a tampon or something then some chick caught us hugging when I thanked you for not embarrassing me." Emi said,
Mori's eyes bugged out a moment then he turned and stared at her in horror,
Emi laughed, "Okay I'll just hint that I was worried you found it, don't worry so much!"
She gave him a punch in the shoulder and floated out of the room to find her boyfriend.
~I don't know if I'll ever get used to calling him that.~ She thought giddily,
She found the bespectacled teen near the exit waiting for the rest of the hosts to finish staring at the jellyfish display. She quickly explained her story and was surprised with how defensive Kyouya got.
~I always forget he is the jealous type.~ She thought, watching him eye Mori from across the room.
She rolled her eyes and looped arms with him. He still refused to look away from his new enemy. Determined to gain his attention she rose to her tiptoes and quickly placed a kiss on his cheek.
He whipped his head down and stared at her.
"What?"
"I've rethought your offer."
He furrowed his eyebrows, obviously confused.
"I think you're right, it's time we announce being a couple."
He visibly relaxed and smiled. "I'll begin preparing right away."
"Wait, what are you preparing for?"
He grinned his signature malicious smile, "You'll see."
"Hell no, tell me or I'll do it my way." She said stubbornly despite a sweet smile playing on her lips.
He sighed and entwined his fingers in hers,
"Fine, I plan on hosting a ball and in the end we'll announce it."
"I disapprove. Although it will increase profits it's wrong to mess with girls hearts after they've danced with you. If we host a ball it should be after we have announced us."
Kyouya thought for a moment. "If we do it that way there is chance the ball will be boycotted. But then again we may gain admirers that increase profit despite the loss of a few guests…" Kyouya nodded, "Okay, we'll do it your way."
Emi grinned and kissed him on the cheek again, too wrapped up in her own world to notice the bewildered looks of the hosts around them.
"Uh. Guys." Kaoru said awkwardly,
"You two are making a scene." Hikaru added,
"We're gonna go public!" Emi said happily, dazzling the group with her perfect smile.
Haruhi was the first to understand and returned Emi's smile. Eventually the others caught on and we're happy for their friends.
After leaving the aquarium they all decided to eat out for dinner. Other than Haruhi grumbling something about "rich bastards" the group was happy and enjoyed a celebratory meal for the couple.
Emi couldn't believe that in a duration of one month she had found friendship and love, two things she shought she was destined to live without. She imagined she would grow up alone and independent but she had been proven wrong. Never had she been happier to be wrong.
After the meal, and an impromptu food fight hosted by the twins, the club went their separate ways. Emi gave Kyouya a hug before slipping away to Olivier. Internally she couldn't quell the butterflies that erupted each time they touched in the open.
She was excited for the upcoming week as Kyouya's girlfriend but she hoped it wouldn't lead to too much trouble.