scars from the sun: lol I figured it was time to lighten up all the downer stuff with some shojo cliche stuff! I hate Amaya, and I look forward to reading everyone else hate her too!

bored411: Kyoya and Kosuke def are going to have a forged-by-fire friendship for a while. Like yes they get to know each other better as people but also they have to deal with so much crap together. Thanks so much for the review!

Alnitak8: Aww, I hope all is alright for you!

Akari Wolf Princess: Thanks so much! It was fun to write a more lighthearted chapter after all the angst.

Having Amaya fixed in what used to be the sanctuary of the classroom—sweetly manipulating a classmate to let her sit next to Kyoya, standing in front of the aisle to trap him into small talk, and, once, "accidentally" knocking his pen off his desk and waiting until he reached to pick it up to do so herself, ensuring that their hands brushed together—has given Kyoya something he hadn't had yet: a sense of entitlement.

It isn't that mature, stamping his feet and demanding something good happen for once, but it is very much justified to him. After everything else, Amaya was the eyelash-batting straw that broke the camel's back. He looks at his watch and waits for long-overdue fortune.

And for once? It actually comes.

After just a little over a month overseas, Haruhi has returned. She will only be back for a short visit, only four days not including her arrival and departure, but that makes no difference to Kyoya. Perhaps the past few weeks may have been more bearable if she'd been around.

The shortness of her return also makes no difference to Tamaki, who, of course, declares that a celebration is in order. Which brings them—the entire Host Club (Renge included), Reiko, Kosuke, Ranka, Anne-Sophie, and Yuzuru—where they are now.

"Hurry, Haruhi, before the wax melts into the frosting!"

The candles reflect off of Haruhi's eyes, rounded at them as if she's never seen candles on a cake before. As is typical for her, the wonder wears off quickly. "It's not my birthday."

The twins tut. "Looking a gift horse in the mouth, huh?"

She shakes her head, but the candles are extinguished, and she smiles as Tamaki fastens a cone-shaped party hat onto her head. The twins and Anne-Sophie applaud, and Mori grips Hani's shoulder, knowing without even looking that his older cousin is so eager to dive into the cake that he's vibrating.

Ranka ducks away for a moment to grab the knife, which he hands out to Kosuke. "Here, dear, you can probably cut it better than any of us!"

"Oh, no!" Kosuke flaps her hands at him and backs off, like he's trying to stab her with them and not hand them over, "No, no, no! My hand is, uh…sore. Did a lot of homework last night."

"Well, alrighty then." Ranka takes to cutting the cake himself, oblivious to the twins' sniggering and Kosuke glaring off at nothing.

Kyoya doesn't have a taste for sugar, but he knows he won't be allowed not to eat some. He feels very normal right now. Looking around gives him a sense of nostalgia—it's a scene that wouldn't be out-of-place during the Host Club's prime.

The only oddity of the small gathering is that it is a bit too small. The ballroom of the Suoh's estate echoes around them. What they lack in guests is made up for in the swan ice sculpture, the champagne pyramid, and the endless spread of sushi, behind which stand the most skilled itamae in Japan.

"So is this from the baker who'll be doing the wedding cake?" Anne-Sophie asks as she cuts into her slice. "It's absolutely delicious."

"No, this is from our personal chef. Miu Osaka is who we recommended for the wedding!" Hani has devoured half of his slice in record time—even Reiko, former vice-president of the Black Magic Club, looks frightened—but he pauses before another bite to ask Kyoya, "Are you going to have her bake your cake, too?"

Kyoya had been distracted for a moment, handing a plate to Kosuke. He's noticed her sudden aversion to sugar, even if he doesn't know the reason behind it. It takes her a full twenty seconds just to take the plate, like the slice is a wild animal that will scratch her at any moment.

They both start a little, realizing that Hani was talking to both of them, and look at each other for a long, silent moment. They have made exactly zero plans for the wedding. Kyoya doesn't think they've discussed it period.

He answers quickly, "If they come with such high recommendation, I have no objections."

"Yeah," Kosuke agrees. She cuts a bite off, very surgically. "You would know best, wouldn't you?"

"If you want them to do it, you should figure it out soon," says Reiko. "Hani and I had to book her two years ago for three years from now."

Kosuke and Kyoya nod and say nothing else of it. Kyoya makes a mental note to include this in his planner: Get wedding talk out of the way already.

Now that Kosuke is free once again, Renge swoops back to where she was, her pencil her spoon and her notepad her fork, hungry for details. "And when he saved you from drowning, how did you feel? Did you get lost in his eyes? What did he look like, with the water dripping out of his raven hair?"

Outside of the surprise party and the camping trip, Kyoya doesn't think Kosuke has talked to Renge that much. Now she knows that Renge is an otome writer, and a very successful one at that—twelve published, produced by the three most prolific game developing studios in the country, each with too much merchandise to list and one in the talks of a filmed adaptation.

Renge has said (in person, but also in her how-to guide, The Art of the Romance Genre by Renge Houshakuji) that she finds inspiration everywhere. Her latest source being none other than Kosuke and Kyoya's relationship.

The cake is vanilla-flavored and iced in buttercream flowers, but Kosuke looks like she just took a bite of lemon. "I didn't fall of the pier, I didn't almost drown, and he didn't save me. Weren't you there?"

"Well, you have to spice it up somehow!" Renge furiously carves a thick X onto the page and flips it over. "The challenge of arranged-marriage romances are that you already know the leads are going to get married, so you have to find ways to keep readers engaged!"

"But how can I tell you 'what it was like' if it never happened?!"

Kyoya is sympathetic, but there's no stopping a Renge on a hunt, so he lets them be. Between Ranka and Haruhi, Tamaki turns left and right at their small party. He's been doing so every five minutes since it started. First he noticed the cake had a strawberry leaf on the frosting, then he noticed that the perspiration from the cold champagne was getting the tablecloth wet.

Ranka stops a bite of strawberry halfway to his mouth to ask, "Oh, Tamaki, what is it now? Everything is fine."

"I know, I know…but I feel like we're missing something."

"You remembered to take present-opening out of the itinerary, right?" Haruhi asks. It's hard to say if it's a joke.

"Maybe it's nothing…"

Yuzuru clears his throat, and all chatter goes quiet. "I believe I know what's missing. A toast."

"No," Haruhi protests, at the same time that Tamaki exclaims, "That's it!"

Glasses of champagne (and, in Kosuke's case, non-alcoholic sparkling wine) are lifted into the air, and though Haruhi looks overwhelmed by it, she still stands and smiles as Yuzuru speaks.

"To Haruhi and her success. I think I speak for us all when I say you have a bright future ahead of you. Anne-Sophie and I couldn't ask for a better daughter-in-law."

He gives her his signature smile, and Haruhi's ears flush pink as they all take sips. Kyoya hears Kosuke mumble something under her breath about Tamaki being his father's son.

Afterwards Anne-Sophie swoops down upon Haruhi for details of the wedding plans her and Tamaki have made so far. Where Haruhi generalizes, Tamaki paints a picture. Kyoya knows that they are heading towards the smaller details now, hors d'oeuvres and seating arrangements and the songs the live orchestra will play. It's all been on the backburner since Haruhi left, but Kyoya has always been involved.

This is why he wonders why it just won't stop hurting already.

The others buzz about it, but Kyoya keeps his distance and sips champagne, knowing that one step closer and he'll be roped in for sure. The wedding is still years away—he hopes it will be enough time for him to brace himself for watching Haruhi walk down the aisle to Tamaki's side, to not wish to be one or the other.

Feelings. He wishes he could get them surgically removed.

Unfortunately for him, his solitude does not go unnoticed forever, and Yuzuru joins him with one arm behind his back and the other holding his glass. "Kyoya. It's been a while since we've last talked, hasn't it?"

"It has," Kyoya agrees. He never has quite figured out where he lies with Yuzuru. His best friend's father, but also his father's best friend. The man who almost let Tamaki marry Éclair, and the man who happily blessed his engagement to Haruhi from the first moment. "I hope you've been well."

"Never better," Yuzuru says, with a smile that is more sincere than charming. Having Anne-Sophie back in his life has made him thaw just so. Not that he was ever a cold man to begin with, but he prided himself on his professional image—such as now, when the smile drops and he says, "It's unfortunate to hear of Yoshio and Jin. I had no clue beforehand."

Kyoya nods. The talk is fading more and more, but it isn't gone yet, still springing up in obligation—just as they have to say hello, they must also say I'm sorry about your parents. "Thank you, but our family is doing fine. My parents are remaining on civil terms as business partners."

"Even so. It's sad to see a marriage that lasted so long fall apart. I can only hope it's for the better. Yoshio isn't one to make choices he regrets, but I suppose we'll just have to wait and see for this one."

Kyoya can't help but side-eye him for a moment, wondering if perhaps he's had more to drink than Kyoya thought. It's the first time anyone voiced doubt instead of comfort, with no apology to follow. Yuzuru would never say such a thing if Kyoya wasn't his son's best friend, but Kyoya doesn't know if that's better or worse.

He supposes he can be thankful for the honesty. It's a change of pace. "I doubt this will be a regretful choice for either of them. Neither of them make decisions without carefully considering the consequences."

Yuzuru laughs and shakes his head. "You really are just like your father. Always keeping it textbook, even for the most personal things." Insult or compliment, Kyoya feels woundedfor a fleeting moment. "But if you're not worried about it, I suppose that's comfort enough for anyone."

Kyoya can't decide how to respond, so he doesn't. In the cluster, the conversation has gone to the arbor. Tamaki is insisting on a pristine white arch of red roses, and perhaps some roses gilded with gold, or perhaps the arbor can be made of gold instead? Haruhi says that she thinks roses are pretty and leaves it at that.

"You know, for a while I regretted not having a proper wedding," Yuzuru says as they observe. "I'd gone through one already, and didn't see much need for it, but I started to wonder if maybe I was wrong. If I should've given Anne-Sophie the wedding she deserved. Then this wedding was set in motion, and now I'm positive I made the right choice after all."

Amusingly, Kyoya can agree with this even as the only Ootori child never married. He's seen all four of his siblings wed, and all four times have been nothing short of draining. He thinks that, combined, the Ootoris have spent years planning weddings. He isn't enthusiastic to add to the count.

"At the least, it seems to be a wedding to remember," Kyoya offers. "Tamaki will not accept anything less than perfection."

"Even so, remember that this is all for one day. Not even a full twenty-four hours, and it will all be over. I'm sure you're overwhelmed by it, and you're not even the one getting married."

"It's an honor to be assisting with the planning. I want Tamaki and Haruhi to have the best wedding they can. And one that is stress-free, at that."

"We thank you for your sacrifice. I shouldn't be so sour." Yuzuru raises his champagne for another toast. "This looks like it'll be one of the happiest marriages I've seen in some time."

"Agreed." Kyoya joins in the toast, and silently thanks Yuzuru for reminding him of what has always soothed the ache: that even if the multiverse is real, and there are an infinite number of worlds for each and every tiniest variable, a world in which Haruhi and Tamaki aren't meant for each other does not exist.

Anne-Sophie waves for Yuzuru to join them—she has forgotten if they'd had their rings presented to them on a satin pillow or a velvet one. It seems talk of the wedding is resting at last. Reiko is talking to the twins about possibly designing her own wedding dress—dahlias must be incorporated—while Kosuke is telling an enraptured Hani and a politely-listening Mori all about the history of wedding cakes.

Just as Kyoya is hoping to sink back into the warmth of normalcy again, his eyes fall on Haruhi's face.

She looks exhausted. Not just from the jetlag that she's still shaking off, either. It's a deep-rooted tiredness that's keeping her smiles short, that's keeping light from her eyes. It is unhappiness, and it is alarming.

Whatever it is, she's kept it a secret. There's no way that Ranka or Tamaki would both be chipper knowing that she was anything but. Kyoya wonders if he should ask about it, and how to do so. Again he questions how he can be in love with Haruhi, while also not recalling if he has ever asked her the question Are you okay?

Kyoya watches her for so long that he doesn't realize when talk of the wedding goes to sleep at last. Ranka has joined Yuzuru and Anne-Sophies for proud, albeit tired, parents-of-the-betrothed talk. Tamaki turns to the others and politely waits for Kosuke to finish her monologue ("…so for a long time pillars between the tiers were a symbol of wealth.") to clap his hands together and exclaim, "Isn't this just like old times? It's like the Host Club never disbanded."

"Like you could ever get rid of us," says Hikaru. His brother adds, "Or like we could ever get rid of you."

"We sure did a lot of things in the Host Club, didn't we, Takashi?" Hani asks, and his cousin hums in agreement. "Like that time we went to Kyo-chan's resort and I got sucked away by the whirlpool and the police force attacked us on accident."

Kaoru taps a finger on his chin. "Was that before or after we went to the beach where that drunk guy shoved Haruhi off of a cliff?"

"After," says Hikaru. "I distinctly remember her complaining about going to the beach again. Man, that wasn't even the first time Tamaki had to save Haruhi from an idiot brute. Remember when we were shooting a movie and those two guys attacked her and Renge?"

"Don't remind me." Tamaki's eyes squeeze tight, and he puts a hand over his belly. "I'm getting worried sick all over again. That's not even mentioning the time she was kidnapped by the Lobelia Club!"

(Everyone is too busy reminiscing and chuckling to hear Kosuke's horrified whimper of What?)

"You know what I wish we could do again?" Kaoru kicks the air. "Kick-the-can!"

"Oh, or The-Daruma-Doll-Fell-Over!" Hani claps in delight. "I was always really good at that!"

Tamaki shakes his head and insists, "The twins would always cheat at that one! Every time I turned around, you were moving!"

"To be fair," says Kyoya, "you'd insist they were cheating at everything. Including Simon Says."

("Were these the only two degrees?" hisses Kosuke. "Kick-the-can and getting thrown off of cliffs?")

"Hey!" The lightbulb over Tamaki's head is almost blinding. "We can all do that now! We're all here and there's plenty of room!"

Reiko folds her arms. "Aren't those games a little below our maturity level?"

"Yeah, boss." The twins shake their heads. "We've kind of grown out of that."

"You two are only saying that because you're scared to get caught cheating again!"

"Fine! Game on! Count us in!"

"Kosuke, you too!" Tamaki is already bouncing on his heels. "You never had the chance to join us before! I know you would have loved it!"

Though annoyed at being ignored, Kosuke doesn't look that opposed. Still, she asks Haruhi, "Do you want to? It's your party."

Kyoya is immensely grateful for her asking, but is surprised when Haruhi answers, "Yeah. It's kind of childish, but it was always fun."

"Wonderful! We'll do Hide-and-Seek first! I'm counting!"

That's all the warning they get before Tamaki slaps his hands over his eyes and starts to count, One…two…three…

Some break into a sprint, others meander away. Ranka, Anne-Sophie, and Yuzuru watch with varying levels of bafflement and amusement as they all go in opposite directions. Almost all.

If word gets back to Kyoya's father—or anyone—that he spent Haruhi's reunion party playing Hide-and-Seek, then Kyoya is just going to end his life then and there.

However, Tamaki will be aghast if he doesn't try, and the twins will call him a spoilsport, so Kyoya sets his champagne down and traipses off to "hide". He will not crawl under any beds, nor will he crouch inside a closet, but maybe just standing behind an open door will be satisfactory enough.

He walks until Tamaki's voice (forty…forty-one…forty-two…) drowns out, and then some more until he's made it up the grand staircase to one of the countless bedrooms on the second floor. He leaves the door halfway open and sits on the floor, knowing that as large as the estate is, this could go on for quite some time.

It's so quiet Kyoya can hear the blood in his ears. Every time he thinks he hears footsteps approaching, they're gone just as quickly. Boredom and embarrassment set in quickly. He wonders if feigning a stomachache will get him out of The-Daruma-Doll-Fell-Over.

Then, suddenly, the silence is shattered by a whisper. "That's not the most creative place, you know."

The two brown eyes peeking past the window curtains blink at him, and Kyoya blinks back. He'd thought he was utterly alone.

"Creativity isn't the issue," he whispers back, "More that a twenty-one-year-old passively playing Hide-and-Seek is better than a twenty-one-year-old actively playing Hide-and-Seek."

"Shhhhh!" He cannot believe his ears. Or his eyes, when the curtain peels back more. "Just get over here so they won't complain."

He complies, because why not, and realizes that there isn't a window behind the curtains, but a window seat. Haruhi sits cross-legged on the cushion so that her feet don't jut out from the bottom, and Kyoya would compliment her cleverness if its payoff was more impressive than winning Hide-and-Seek. He sits beside her and crosses his legs, too, and she shuts the curtain, confining them to the pocket between the glass and the velvet.

Between the bright sunlight and the tiny space, it feels remarkably cozy in here, in the sense that there is nothing else in the world now but this window seat and the two of them. It reminds Kyoya of his cramped office, how the tight walls made him feel comforted instead of claustrophobic—less to take in, less to worry about.

Haruhi's mouth opens in a massive yawn, which she stifles behind the bend of her elbow. Afterwards she rubs at her eyes, which have been half-lidded all day but are now making their way to three-quarters-lidded.

He whispers (because apparently they have to whisper), "I wouldn't have agreed to a game of Hide-and-Seek if I was so tired."

She shakes her head. "'M not tired."

"The bags under your eyes say otherwise."

"Gee, thanks."

"Even if you weren't practically sleepwalking, I'm surprised you agreed to this."

"Like I said, it's fun, even if it's kind of stupid." She sniffs. "And maybe I just wanted to stop talking about the wedding for a bit."

He hums. So that's it. "Tired of having the same conversation over and over?"

"Something like that."

Kyoya looks over at her. She's now leaning back against the glass, looking heavier, not lighter.

So that's not it? "I hope that nothing unfortunate has happened?"

"No. Everything's right on track."

The bite to her words is impossible to miss. Kyoya sits silently for a moment and asks himself if now is maybe a good time to change what is "normal" for the two of them. She may reject it, but Kyoya thinks being politely turned down would be better than pretending not to notice anything.

"I have the idea that that's not entirely true," he whispers carefully, "but I won't press for details."

The quiet that follows makes him nervous. He glances at her from the corner of his eyes, but doesn't find her raising a brow at him, or squinting her eyes. She's staring blankly at the curtain, maybe praying that it will stay there.

"Are weddings always this…complicated, for you guys?"

Kyoya could almost chuckle. He'd talked to Yuzuru about just this not ten minutes ago. "Of all my siblings' weddings, I can't describe any of their planning as 'easy'. I imagine you have somewhere around three hundred guests to accommodate?"

"Try four hundred." Haruhi shakes her head. "And I could count how many of them I actually know on my fingertips."

"Weddings are not much different than any social event. Every time you invite a guest, or choose not to, it makes a statement to everyone else."

"Why, though? Why would you be offended if you weren't invited to the wedding of a stranger?"

"I'd be offended if another person equally as much of a stranger was invited."

"So why not invite no strangers at all?"

"Then everyone will be offended because no one likes to think of themselves as a stranger."

Haruhi leans her head back against the window so that it audibly thunks. Guilty though he feels, Kyoya knows that's just the way it is.

"If it's any consolation," he says, "just remember that the only time you'll cross paths with most of them is to thank them for their attendance."

"That's still four-hundred thank-yous. And if it's so important for me to invite them, why do I have to thank them for coming?" Kyoya doesn't think he could have given an answer for that even if he tried. Haruhi runs a hand down her face and continues, "I get it. It's just business stuff. We have to keep ourselves in good graces because our connections are the most important thing to us and all that."

"Is that what's troubling you? The guest list?"

"That's one thing. This just…isn't what I expected my wedding to be like. So big. So grand."

"Isn't a grand wedding preferred?"

She finally turns to give him the look that he'd been dreading. Calculating, considering—hesitating to confide in him. He can't expect anything else.

"Can I be completely honest with you?"

He's relieved. And hurt. "Go ahead."

"I'm not really…happy with what we've got planned." Haruhi buries her face into her hands. "I know that it's so weird to be upset that you're getting gold roses and five cakes and Paris; so ungrateful…"

"I must admit that I'm not following."

"I'm not annoyed about spending more money than we need to, but this doesn't feel like it's about us anymore. Weddings are supposed to be about who's getting married, right? It's supposed to be about celebrating two people deciding to spend the rest of their lives together, not about how many things we can cover in gold."

"It sounds like money is what's bothering you."

"It's just that I feel like this whole thing is about impressing everyone else and not about what we want. And…" She swallows. "And that's not even the case, what am I saying?"

Kyoya knows that he is the last person to observe an unwillingness to open up, but it's there, and for once in his life he's the one doing the coaxing. It is strange, and almost intrusive, but also what friends do for friends. Apparently.

"Do you know what the case is?"

Her face has melted from frustration to guilt, confusing Kyoya even more, but he waits for her to continue, praying that they will not be found.

"Tamaki and I have such different ideas about what we want. I know that compromising is important, it's our wedding, not mine or his. I don't like having so many strangers at the wedding, but I know that we have to. It's just that whenever I imagined my wedding, I thought it'd be at a shrine instead of a hotel, and I'd be wearing an uchikake instead of a wedding dress, and I thought we'd be keeping everything simple instead of all this." Haruhi laughs bitterly. "I didn't ask for this party, you know. I didn't need cake and champagne and a ballroom to myself, I just wanted to come back and catch up with everyone. I didn't tell him that, either, but I wish I didn't have to. Does that make sense?"

Finally Kyoya understands, even if not spelled out for him. Their wedding is just the first of many events in their lives together, and if they are so polarized to each other now, what does that say of the future?

Kyoya had always known that Tamaki and Haruhi were the faces of "opposites attract", but the root word of opposites is oppose. It was inevitable for them to reach this point, where they made it out of the shallows and into the deeper waters of their differences.

"Would you like some counsel from someone who's known Tamaki for some time?"

"Please."

"Tamaki wants what's best for you, but his idea of 'best' is 'as over-the-top as possible'. He can be as perceptive as you, but sometimes you have to spell things out for him. For example, telling him that his feelings for you are not that of a father for his daughter."

Haruhi laughs through her nose, and mulls it over. "That makes a lot of sense, actually."

"If you requested to tone things down, so to speak, I'm positive that he would comply."

"He would, but that's not really fair, either. He wants all of that. He's been dreaming about his wedding day since he was little, and he's always wanted all this gaudy stuff. I'd feel awful if I didn't let him have any of that."

Kyoya can't imagine a Tamaki that would ever knowingly bulldoze over Haruhi's wants, but he can absolutely imagine a five-year-old Tamaki daydreaming about his wedding day. Over the years he's progressed out of the mindset that "not rich" equals "miserable", that Haruhi was wasting away in an apartment that was smaller than a country—and Haruhi appreciates this development to no end. Even so, Tamaki has been told all his life that diamonds and silver are the best, and the best is what he wants for his wedding and his wife.

For a moment Kyoya considers stopping here, as this is so far out of his expertise it's comical, but he still wants to try to help, if not succeed. "Then it sounds like you two could benefit from a parley. It would have been better to do it sooner, but you could list what you both want, and divide them into must-haves, must-nots, and what you're willing to compromise on."

Haruhi tilts her head to the side. Her hair has grown even longer since she's been gone, brushing over the tops of her shoulders. "That could work. I like a lot of his ideas, it's just some that push the envelope for me."

"It'll be all the more easy because you have the same goal. You want to make each other happy."

It's subtle, but Kyoya can see a lift in her weight as she sits there, how she sits a little straighter and blinks a little faster. Still exhausted, but no longer carrying cinderblcoks on her ankles.

"Yeah. Alright. Thanks, Kyoya."

He knows he should say you're welcome, but all Kyoya can muster is a hum of acknowledgement. He feels both proud and fidgety, the oxymoronic side-effect of doing something goodbut still alien, like the body reacting to a vaccine.

"If only we could do something about the guest list, though."

Kyoya thinks he's minded his tone well so far, but now he can't help but voice how obvious the solution is. "It's not uncommon to do two weddings, you know."

Her nose scrunches into a knot. "Two weddings?"

"Everyone is annoyed at how their weddings are turned into impersonal social events. I'd say the majority of married couples I know had a second wedding, either for their friends and family or different traditions. I would have thought that was what you and Tamaki were planning to do?"

"Um." She blinks, but not at him. "No, it hasn't really come up, but that makes a lot of sense." When she does look back at him, she's instantly glaring. "Don't look at me like that. I've never heard of someone having two weddings."

"Is that not a very obvious solution, though?"

Haruhi shakes her head again, that all-too-familiar these damn rich people expression on her face—but it doesn't last long. "So are you and Kosuke having two weddings?"

Kyoya thinks they need to be found soon. Being in this small space for so long really has erased the outside world—he'd utterly forgotten that not only he was pretending to be hopelessly in love with Haruhi's best friend, but that he was not the only one who had a wedding to plan. "Yes, but the 'public' wedding has priority right now."

Haruhi hums and nods because that makes sense, and now their cozy little hiding place doesn't feel very cozy at all.

He will say, the unbearable drama that has surrounded his family did do some good for him—for a while he'd been too distracted to even worry about his romantic woes. Now that the dust is settling, he can see the future clearly once again: Tamaki and Haruhi are married, and so are Kosuke and Kyoya. That is how things must be, and Kyoya should really stop being so upset about it.

He should also really stop being so upset that Haruhi does not know that he is so upset, because that is what he's crossed his fingers hoping for. He can see reason in her wishing Tamaki knew her better, but Kyoya cannot see reason in wishing that she knew him better.

One second he's grateful for the distance between them, and the next second he's cursing it. So childish.

The curtains fly back, and Haruhi screams. Tamaki is, of course, utterly oblivious to her terror in favor of his victory.

"Found you both!"

Behind him, the twins, Reiko, and Renge are waiting. Hikaru and Kaoru are exact mirrors of each other, scowling with their arms crossed. Hikaru grumbles, "I cannot believe we lost to Kyoya. Of all the times that you decide to start trying, it had to be now?"

As Kyoya and Haruhi stand back on their feet and straighten their clothes, Haruhi replies, "He wasn't putting any effort into it. I made him join me so he wasn't just standing behind the door."

"Hey!" Kaoru jabs a finger at them and rounds on Tamaki. "How is that not cheating?"

"Stop being sore losers!"

"Hiding together in an enclosed space during a game of Hide-and-Seek!" Renge's pencil is scribbling along her notepad so quickly, it looks like it's about to draw smoke. "That's rife for romantic tension!"

This is such a Renge thing to do that neither Kyoya or Haruhi even bother to be uncomfortable, ignoring her in favor of Reiko observing with just a little pride, "That leaves Kosuke and Hani."

Once they step out of the bedroom, they can see Mori awaiting them in the hallway, looking neither ashamed nor proud. Kyoya is unsurprised; Mori stands so tall he'd have to shrink himself three times for a chance of going undiscovered.

Tamaki takes off for the last wing of the mansion, Renge close at his heels, and the rest of them sit back and wait. Hikaru and Kaoru engage in a heated argument about whether they should've gone for the kitchen or stayed put in the game room (whose ideas was whose is unclear). Kyoya and Haruhi both lean back against the wall.

"Hey." Haruhi doesn't look at him as she whispers. "Thanks again. What you said really helped."

This time Kyoya says, "You're welcome."

Not long after, Kosuke rounds the corner, stretching her arm out. "Hey."

"Wow," says Haruhi as Kosuke sits down on the floor between the twins. Both are giving each other the silent treatment and don't seem to mind. "First game and you managed to come second-place to Hani."

"When you have two younger siblings who can fit into way more places than you can, you learn to get creative at Hide-and-Seek. That said, the shelf of a linen closet isn't very comfortable."

She tries to stretch a crick out of her neck as she says this. Then the twins' fight starts up anew, stranding her in the crossfire.

Watching her sit there, clothes wrinkled and hair messy, Kyoya braces for some kind of bitterness. If the divorce distracted him from his pining for Haruhi and Tamaki, then perhaps it also distracted him from his irrational grudge against Kosuke. It seems he's made a pattern out of half-truths to her. He was upset that his parents were being so dismissive to their children and that his family wasn't really a family. He behaved the way he did during their first meeting because of the stress of DomenMed leaving and because Kosuke was neither Haruhi nor Tamaki.

He waits for his thoughts to sour as he looks at her, waits for the it's your fault, all of this, all of my unhappiness comes back to you. It does not come. He sees Kosuke sitting among the lot of them like she's always been there and he only thinks, This isn't bad.

Hani is found quite a while later, and Kyoya finds himself sitting amongst the betrothed's parents while the others march forward to Tamaki's stop-and-go chant of the Daruma doll fell oooooooo-VER! Of course, Tamaki is keeping an eagle eye on the twins for the slightest hint of cheating. Ranka cheers for Haruhi to move a little faster, and Anne-Sophie tries to coax her husband out of hiding behind his hand in embarrassment. No matter how fast or slow Kosuke moves, Renge is always at her side with her endless questions, until finally Mori uses a turn to pick Kosuke up and set her down between himself and Reiko to spare her any further torment.

The twins make it to Tamaki first, and as they all resume their places (Tamaki with the fire of determination in his eyes), Haruhi catches Kyoya's eye, shakes her head, and smiles. Just like high school, huh? It's just a quick look and nothing more, but from that moment on Kyoya decides that he won't keep maintenance on the walls between the two of them. He may not have Haruhi the way he wants to, but that doesn't mean he can't have her at all.

At first Kyoya thinks that this future, though not perfect for himself, is better than before. Then he realizes that this is the present, not the future. He and Haruhi are friends. No matter their differences, Haruhi and Tamaki are destined for each other. He is sitting in the shade doing nothing more than watching a game of The-Daruma-Doll-Fell-Over, because that is all he has to worry about right now.

This is a decent present. Probably the best he'll ever get, and he should be grateful for it.