Chapter 9: Kyoya's Strange Feelings


A few weeks passed since The Incident and there was a distinct-sized hole in the small corner of Music Room 3.

The news of The Incident was kept relatively private as per the request of Kagome's mysterious benefactor. But even so, the girls speculated and fretted over their dear maternal figure's sudden departure. Without so much as a cell phone or email, it was impossible to contact the girl.

Many pairs of eyes would flit to the small chair and table where the phantom of a girl with bright blue eyes studied. Each day the seat wasn't filled, a deeper pull of disappointment weighed upon the girls.

The sudden change also affected the hosts. Tamaki worked earnestly to pull Kyoya out of the depressive stupor he had entered since then. For a person with as much decorum as Kyoya, the changes in his facade were only conceivable to Tamaki's keen senses. He would snap easily at him and became even more antisocial. Luckily for the bespectacled host, the blonde was not one to be so easily deterred.

One day, during a meeting for upcoming events for the Host Club, the members gathered around the comfortable couches. Kyoya chose to sit at a table behind the group and took notes as they collaborated. Concerned violet eyes watched him as he worked.

"Uh, Boss?"

"We've listed, like, five different ideas and you haven't said anything."

"What's wrong with you?" The twins asked rudely.

Snapping out of his concerned trance, Tamaki scolded them for their rudeness and promptly returned to their business at hand.

The meeting ended a short time later with many promising events that would surely lift the spirits. Tamaki leaned into his chair with a sense of relief melting the tension in his body. Life had taken a stressful turn for the blonde host with the sudden disappearance of his friend alongside Kyoya's moodswings.

Glancing over at Kyoya, Tamaki watched as he typed away at his laptop. He had been working nonstop since the Host Club opened that afternoon with his cadence of keyboard clicks.

"Kyoya?" Tamaki called out his name uncertainly. The bespectacled host looked up from his work briefly ot meet his gaze before returning to the computer's screen.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to come over to my place for dinner tonight," said Tamaki.

"Oh? Any reason for the invitation?" asked Kyoya as he shut the laptop. Slipping it into his school bag, the host stood up to leave. Sensing his imminent departure, the blonde hurriedly picked up his things and followed out the door.

"No reason! Just inviting a friend over to spend some time with him." Tamaki chirped.

They walked down the empty hallway, the sound of their shoes hitting the floor. Exiting the school, two black limousines waited for them.

"So what do you say? It'll be fun!"

When Kyoya didn't reply once again Tamaki's stomach dropped, sensing a rejection coming his way.

"Thank you for the invitation, but I'm–!"

Before he could finish, Tamaki wrapped his hand around his wrist and launched him into the back of his family's limousine. The tumble knocked Kyoya's glasses askew and the surprise on his face was quickly replaced with anger.

"Driver, go!" Tamaki demanded before Kyoya could escape. The driver said nothing as he started driving the car.

After several minutes of furiously scolding Tamaki for essentially kidnapping him, Kyoya collected himself into his typical cool facade.

"I'm not sorry," he whispered. Kyoya's flinty glare made shivers crawl up Tamaki's spine, but he held himself steadfast. "You've been separating yourself more and more lately, I'm getting worried."

"I have no idea what you are implying, Tamaki. I am the same as I always have been."

"Not since she left, you haven't."

A pregnant pause followed by another intense glare from Kyoya made the blonde sweat nervously.

"She has nothing to do with this," seethed Kyoya. "I would rather not speak of her."

"But she's our friend, don't you miss her?"

"No."

'Yes. More than anything.'

Tamaki frowned at the convicted response the Ootori gave. As difficult as it was to read him, the blonde could sense the lie from miles away. Leaning against the window, Tamaki watched the city around him move with a mind full of wandering thoughts. He needed to rectify the situation, but how?

Then a truly brilliant idea illuminated in his mind.


"Thank you for this meal and hosting on such short notice, Miss Maezono," said Kyoya.

He and Tamaki sat alone at the Suoh's massive dining table, sipping coffee as their dinner plates were being cleaned up. The chief of staff, Shima Maezono, smiled appreciatively at the respectful boy.

"Not a problem, we always adore hosting the young master's friends," replied the older woman with a small smile. "I will leave you two to your own devices, but remember young master to not stay up too late. You still have school tomorrow."

"Of course, adieu, madame," Tamaki replied breezily. Impatient fingers tapped nervously against the teak surface of the table. He had finished his cup already and could barely hold in his anticipation for Kyoya to finish his.

The Ootori quirked a brow at him as he slowly drank from his cup, sensing something off with the blonde immediately.

"Is there something wrong with how fast I drink my coffee, Tamaki?"

"What? No no no nooo, of course not! But Maezono is right, it is a school night. Perhaps we could have coffee together another time." Tamaki rambled. His terrible attempt at covering his intentions was laughable, so Kyoya made sure to take more of his time with his drink.

"Of course, but this blend is quite good. I think I shall enjoy it while I have it."

Tamaki attempted to stifle his annoyance by turning himself away. Behind him, the Shadow King of the Host Club laughed to himself as he slowly, so slowly, finished his coffee.

Once the world's longest drink of coffee finally ended, Tamaki walked Kyoya out to the garage. The blonde smirked to himself as he led his friend into the back of one of the cars.

"See you tomorrow!" Tamaki said as he slammed the door shut. Running to the driver's window, he whispered a new destination for him. The driver simply nodded and rolled up his window.

Watching the car drive away, Tamaki's chest swelled with excitement. He sincerely hoped his plan would work.

Kyoya sensed something amiss the instant the driver turned left instead of right. Narrowing his gaze towards the man steering him elsewhere, the Ootori's finger hovered over the emergency number on his phone. After The Incident, one couldn't be more careful.

"This is not the way to the Ootori residence, sir," Kyoya said pointedly.

"Please excuse any inconvenience, Mr. Ootori, but the young master instructed me to take you this way," replied the driver.

The bespectacled host opened his mouth to direct the driver back to his home when the car stopped.

"Where–?"

"Please exit the car, sir. I will be here when you are finished." The driver said.

Climbing out of the limousine, Kyoya was met with a steep set of stairs. Heart clenching in his chest, he realized where he was.

"Take me home, I do not want to be here." Kyoya seethed at the driver through an open window. The infuriating man merely shook his head and drove off. Furious, the Ootori began to spout a set of angry cuss words and threats against a certain blonde classmate.

"Ootori?" A familiar sweet voice called his name softly. Whipping around, Kyoya came face to face with Kagome Higurashi.

Dressed in a flowy blue checkered sundress, she didn't look any different save for the heavy bandaging around her bicep. The wrapping was somewhat covered by a cream cardigan. Kyoya stared mindlessly, words utterly failing him at this moment.

"Uh, earth to Ootori? You okay?" Kagome asked again, quirking her head to the side. Kyoya stiffened and stood up straighter in an attempt to regain his composure.

"I am fine."

"Okay? What are you doing here? This is pretty far from your house isn't it?" Kagome asked.

Kyoya said nothing, thinking back to the events of the evening. Clearly this charade was orchestrated by Tamaki, but his reason for doing so was unclear. Why would he drop him outside of the Higurashi Shrine?

"She's our friend, don't you miss her?" Tamaki's words from earlier enlightened Kyoya about the situation. Clenching his fists, the bespectacled host silently promised Tamaki certain death when he got his hands on him.

"Kyoya, are you okay?" Kagome's concerned voice broke through his thoughts. Her hands softly touched the side of his face to bring his gaze to hers. His breathing shortened seeing a familiar concern in her bright blue eyes. How long had it been since he'd seen her? Why did it feel like eons ago?

Not waiting for a response, Kagome grasped his hand and pulled Kyoya up the stairs. The Ootori numbly allowed her to lead him to her home where they were greeted by the three main members of her family.

"Ah! This must be Kyoya Ootori, welcome to our home. It's been a while since we've heard from you." Kagome's mother welcomed him with a kind smile. Kyoya smiled back at her.

"It is a pleasure. How has your father been doing?"

"Much better since we were able to get an appointment with the podiatrist you recommended. He hasn't been so active in a while!"

"Wait, wait, what?" Kagome interjected. "Why are you two talking like old friends? Mama, you've never met Ootori."

"Not in person, no, but he calls every so often to check in." Nodoka explained. Kagome stared at both of them, gaping at them in surprise. "Oh dear, I still need to finish cleaning up dinner. You two go sit and catch up, I'll put on some tea."

Once they were seated and comfortable, Kagome turned to her classmate with a quirked brow.

"So you can my mom, huh?"

"Indeed. We've had frequent communication since your role in the Host Club was officially instated."

"And you didn't think to ask to talk to me?" Kagome's question was angry and wrought with hurt. Kyoya met her eyes briefly before averting his eyes with a push of his glasses. He wanted to say something, but nothing would come out. "It's almost been a full month since it happened and you've made no effort to contact me when you could do so. Why?"

Through budding tears, she asked the damned question. Why? Kyoya remained silent, unwilling to let the truth slip from his barrier. Those feelings would stay where they should: to himself only.

"I don't know how to explain it," Kyoya started. "What happened then was not something I'd like to revisit."

"Does that mean you're leaving me back there too? That it's too painful to speak to me because I remind you of that day?" Kagome whispered. Rain fell from her eyes which were tight with anguish. Kyoya wanted to reach a hand to wipe the offending water away, but couldn't bring himself to do it.

"No," he said sharply.

"Then what, Kyoya?" Kagome cried out, raising her voice angrily at him. "You're my friend and I didn't want to lose you. Now I think I have and it hurts!"

Catching her confession, the girl shoved her face into her hands and wept. Kyoya watched shamefully as she cried. Without another thought, the Ootori slipped into the spot next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He pulled her close so that her forehead lay against his chest.

Kagome looked up in shock at the contact. Before she could comment on his odd behavior, she stopped herself as they locked eyes. In his dark gray eyes was a hurt and sadness she had never seen before. In his gaze, she saw the trauma from what transpired that fateful day and the damage from being so close to losing someone he cared about.

"You haven't lost me," whispered Kyoya. "I promise you will never lose me."

"Kyoya," her voice calling his name was cut off as Kyoya's mouth slanted over hers.

The brief shock of the kiss was swiftly overridden by the crushing desire to lose herself in this kiss. His lips were soft and achingly warm. Using his other arm, Kyoya pulled her flush against him. Kagome's hands grasped the side of his face to deepen the kiss.

An aching warmth between her legs flared as his hands held her hips firmly. Unrealized feelings that dwelled within her own heart come to light in a furious shining beam as they embraced.

Suddenly, Kyoya pushed her away. The break from their kiss left Kagome feeling cold and simultaneously hot.

"Here's the tea. Oh dear, Kagome are you feeling well? Is your wound hurting?" Nodoka made her appearance then with a tray of tea fixings. She placed a hand over her daughter's forehead to check for a temperature.

"No, Mom! Thanks for the tea!" Kagome exclaimed, trying her best to hide her flaming face.

"Okay, but take it easy, dear. " Nodoka instructed firmly as she left the room.

The two teenagers sat in silence as each sipped at their cup of tea. After a massive display of affection like that, it was hard for either to come up with the proper words to move on.

"I didn't know you felt that way too, Ootori," Kagome said, keeping her voice light. "So… what do we do from here?"

"In all honesty, I have no idea what we should do," Kyoya confessed.

Nodding her head, Kagome pensively sipped at her tea. She didn't want to lose whatever was between them, but at the same time how would their peers react? Or their families? The miko recalled Kyoya's caginess surrounding any discussion of his family life. Was she the kind of girl they would approve of?

"Well, for now, let's keep it our little secret, yeah?" Kagome suggested and pushed her pinky finger towards him. Kyoya considered it before locking his own around hers.

They spent the rest of the evening catching up. He filled her in on the goings-on of the Host Club. The twins had finally perfected their brotherly love package enough that they finally had recurring customers. Tamaki was the same as their seniors. Kyoya mentioned how much the girls had missed her presence there which touched Kagome's heart. So much so that she quickly scrounged up some paper and wrote a few short letters to them.

Then the hour became late and it was time to go. Kagome walked Kyoya out of the house to the shrine steps. Before he could descend, she caught his sleeve.

"Before you go, here!" Kagome shoved a pink cell phone in his face. Kyoya took the device, entered his information, and returned it. Slipping it into her pocket, a bright smile came over her face.

"Now you have no excuse for not keeping in touch. I won't be back to classes for a bit, but try to text once in a while, okay?"

"Of course, Kagome," Kyoya nodded and a rare smile graced his lips. Kagome froze as a pink flush bloomed over her cheeks. Who knew he could be more handsome when he smiled?

"See ya later, Kyoya."


The next day, back at school, there was a different air surrounding Kyoya. The cold and angry energy surrounding him the past few weeks was gone. Tamaki congratulated himself for his plan and enjoyed the fact that his friend back to normal.

During club hours, the blonde happily skipped up to Kyoya with a sparkling expression. Before he could formulate the sentence to ask how the previous night was, Tamaki was pinned with a deadly glare.

"Pull anything like that on me again and you're dead, understand?" Kyoya said, his voice calm and face furious.

Gulping, Tamaki nodded his head furiously and ran away. As the blonde ran away with dramatic tears, Kyoya sighed and returned to his notebook.

Never in a thousand years would he admit to Tamaki that his little scheme did something good for him. The recent development provoked fiercer emotions than he was used to when it came to his blue-eyed classmate. If Kyoya thought his feelings were confounding and frustrating before Tamaki's little scheme, he was woefully unprepared for the subsequent tsunami of emotions that followed.

In truth, he did not intend to kiss her that night. However, Kyoya found that his body reacted before his mind did. As much as it shook him, he did not regret his decision to do so.

More time passed and the Ouran High School Host Club slowly regained its curated vibe. Guests were treated like princesses and the hosts curated the space to their needs and endlessly doted on them.


Then, shortly thereafter, a first-year student shattered an eight million yen vase. The hole left by Kagome remained, standing out like a tear in a fine dress. However, as the days continued, the prominence of her vacancy wasn't as depressing.