Chapter Text
"Oh, my apologies sir, I didn't mean to intrude!" Haruhi bowed her head slightly.
"Don't be silly, it's just me," said Kyoya, his hair still wet and a towel around his shoulders.
"Oh, Kyoya-senpai… senpai, I really didn't mean to make everybody worry about me today." Haruhi was apologetic, looking down at the floor.
"Thanks, but I wasn't especially worried." He paused to take a drink. "Although, I did have a hard time separating Kaoru and Hikaru from those two punks." He chuckled. "They almost beat them half to death."
Haruhi laughed awkwardly.
"And because of you , I had to send each of the girls a bouquet of flowers to apologize." Kyoya got up from his chair and began walking towards her. "They've been looking forward to this trip and we don't want to disappoint them."
"I'll pay you back for the flowers, senpai," Haruhi promised, even as she wondered how exactly it was her fault the girls got attacked in the first place.
Kyoya reached out to a light switch a few feet from Haruhi. "Each of those bouquets cost me fifty thousand. That's a grand total of six hundred thousand yen, Haruhi." He flipped the switch, leaving the two in darkness lit only by the moon outside the windows.
"Uh, why'd you turn the lights off?" Haruhi asked, her voice shaking just slightly.
"If you want to," said Kyoya, his voice low as he leaned closer, "You can pay me back with your body."
Haruhi was speechless. She opened her mouth to try to respond, but before she could Kyoya had grabbed her hand and thrown her onto the bed beside where she'd stood. She cried out as she fell, and before she could grasp what was happening Kyoya was on all fours, trapping her below him.
"Surely you weren't so naïve that you actually believe a person's sex doesn't matter. You've left yourself completely defenseless against me." Kyoya's voice was soft, but not gentle. He spoke softly in the way a tiger might step softly before pouncing upon its unsuspecting prey.
"I--" There was a knock on the door.
"Kyoya," Tamaki called, stepping into the room without waiting for a response. "D'you have any lotion? This sunburn is worse than I--" Tamaki was stopped in his tracks, his face quickly draining of all color. He made eye contact with Haruhi first, and though she did her best to show a pleading expression, she knew it was unnecessary. He'd help her no matter what.
"You bastard !" Kyoya was up like a shot, his palms forward in the air, but Tamaki was faster. He smacked his best friend across the face without hesitation. "What are you doing !?"
"T-Tamaki…" She didn't want to see them fight. She just wanted to get out of here. Tamaki was by her side in moments.
"Haruhi, what the hell did he do to you?" He looked terrified.
"Nothing, Tamaki. I was only trying to prove a point," said Kyoya.
"Shut up , Kyoya. I'm asking her." Tamaki didn't even look at him. He stared, his eyes full of concern, at Haruhi. "Did he hurt you?"
Haruhi couldn't speak, but she shook her head. She watched the relief spread across Tamaki's entire body. He extended a hand towards her, and she took it.
Tamaki's eyes hardened, but not at her. "Explain yourself, Kyoya."
"I was merely trying to prove your own point to her--That as a girl, she couldn't protect herself, and needed to be more careful," he sighed.
"But to do so in such a callous way… that was completely unacceptable, and unbefitting of somebody of your class, Kyoya. Get out. I can't even look at you right now."
"Fine." Kyoya pulled a shirt from his wardrobe and walked out of the room without arguing.
Tamaki shut his eyes. "Haruhi… now that he's gone, I'll ask again. Did he do anything to you? Anything at all?"
Without letting go of his hand, Haruhi slowly sat up, turning to face him as she moved. "N--no."
"Promise me," Tamaki asked, his voice shaking as he stared into her eyes. For a second, she was almost distracted from the situation, studying his big, shining blue eyes. They were so genuine and concerned… Haruhi couldn't help but trust him.
"I promise, senpai. Nothing happened that you didn't see. You don't have to worry about me again, I'm sorry."
Tamaki screwed up his eyes, shutting them tightly. He let out a short breath and looked up at her again. "Don't apologize, Haruhi. I was wrong before. You worried us, yes, but you did the right thing, protecting those girls. Even though you are yourself a girl, there is nothing more honorable than protecting a maiden in danger. You really do make a great host, Haruhi."
For a second, Haruhi just stared back at him, not knowing what to say. But then…
She burst out laughing. "Senpai, you're incredible. Even in a moment like this, you're still thinking about the host club."
Tamaki's face turned bright red. "Uh, was that the wrong thing to say? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, please let me--"
"No, no, you're fine," she laughed. "I appreciate it, really." After another second of giggling, she took a breath and calmed down. "Really though, thank you for coming to my rescue like that, Tamaki-senpai. Honestly, it was the most princely thing I've seen from you in a--"
Suddenly, there was lightning, accompanied by a loud crack of thunder. She gasped, squeezing Tamaki's hand unconsciously.
"Haruhi? What's wrong?"
"N--nothing! Everything's fine!" Haruhi insisted, finally pulling her hand away. "Sorry for crushing your hand like that, I ought to be going anyway, don't mind me at--" The thunder sounded again, making her yelp and fold in on herself, her face between her knees. Forgetting whose room she was in, she drew up the blankets around herself and hid in their folds. "Don't mind me, I'm very busy in here!"
"What business could you have in a pile of blankets ?" Tamaki sounded confused. The thunder sounded again as she shook with fear. "Haruhi, are you afraid of thunder and lightning? Is that why you're hiding? Wouldn't it just make it scarier to wrap yourself up like a mummy?"
"It's fine, I'm used to dealing with stuff like this by myself," she insisted, even as she could feel him tugging on the blankets.
Tamaki stopped. "By yourself…?" For a few moments, he didn't speak.
"I get it." He pulled the blankets gently from her hands. "I understand now, Haruhi. I know you grew up not relying on anyone else, but not anymore."
She looked up at him, feeling tears drip off her chin. He was standing now, looking down at her with soft eyes. Not soft like Kyoya's voice, though. Soft like... an inviting bed.
Tamaki extended his hand to her again. "I'm here."
Thunder struck again. Without a moment of thought, she leapt off the bed into his arms, burying her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her comfortingly and ran his fingers through her short hair.
"You don't have to be afraid. I'll always be here for you, Haruhi. I promise that you'll never be alone again," said Tamaki. She gripped the back of his shirt tightly.
"Senpai…" she mumbled into his chest. "I don't know what to--" Another thunderstrike.
"Shhh. You don't need to say a thing," Tamaki told her gently. "Come, sit with me, princess."
Normally, Haruhi would have yelled at him for calling her that, but… not now. She let Tamaki put her in his lap as he sat. Normally she wouldn't let him hold her like this. Normally, she'd never let herself be so vulnerable.
Right now… she'd let everything be different. Just for now.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to leave the two of them alone?” The twins asked.
“She’s with our prince, Tamaki. What could possibly go wrong?” Kyoya reminded them.
“Hey Boss, we’re coming in!” The twins called, throwing open the door to Kyoya's hotel room.
"Shh!" Tamaki threw up a finger in the universal gesture for "be quiet".
The boys froze in the doorway at the sight. Tamaki was sitting at the edge of Kyoya's bed on the other side of the room, holding Haruhi in his lap, her sweet, sleeping face pressed against his broad chest.
"Oh, Haru-chan looks so cute when she's asleep!" Honey squealed.
"Hush, Mitsukuni. Don't wake her," Mori admonished his cousin.
"Boss, what are you doing with her!?" The twins exclaimed.
" Hush !" Tamaki repeated. But it looked like it was too late. In the commotion, Haruhi had started to stir.
Hikaru and Kaoru froze yet again, finally realizing they didn't want to wake her and risk losing their view of her adorable sleeping face. Almost the entire host club crept closer, crowding around Tamaki and Haruhi. Except for--
"I'd like my room back, Tamaki. Won't you take this little rendezvous elsewhere?" Kyoya pointed out, not minding to keep his voice down.
" Kyoya !" They all whisper-yelled at him, horrified.
"Mm…?" Haruhi began to move again. She lifted her head from Tamaki's chest and wiped the sleep from her eyes. "T-Tamaki?"
The twins, Honey, and Tamaki could feel their hearts beating right out of their chests, and channeled Renge herself, muttering " Moe …!"
Haruhi looked around the room with a sleepy gaze, slowly registering the crowd of boys around her--"Aaah!" She leapt out of Tamaki's lap, throwing his arms off of herself. Her face was beet red and steaming with embarrassment.
"I have to go!" Haruhi yelped, running out of the room at topspeed, kicking up a cloud of dust behind her.
Tamaki glared at his friends. "How could you wake her!? She was so precious!"
"I wanted my room back. Please leave," Kyoya growled.
"How cold…!" whispered the rest of the club as Kyoya dragged them out of his room.
"She left this on my bed. One of you take it back to her." He threw one of her pink hairpins into Tamaki's lap. "Goodnight."
The door slammed in their faces.
"Tama-chan, how come Haru-chan was sleeping on you?" Honey asked.
"It would be ungentlemanly to disclose information about such a private moment," Tamaki said smugly. "Obviously, Haruhi didn't want you thugs involved."
" Thugs ?" Hikaru and Kaoru pretended to be offended. Kaoru snatched the hairpin from Tamaki's lap.
"You already stole her away for half the night, Boss," Hikaru pointed out.
"So it's only fair somebody else gets to take this to her!" Kaoru wiggled her hairpin in the air.
"No! I won't allow either of you mischievous twins to enter my precious Haruhi's room!" Tamaki protested, standing up and pointing an angry finger in the twins' grinning faces.
"I'll take it to her, Tama-chan! Hika-chan and Ka-chan are right, you already hung out with her plenty." Honey beamed. "And I wanted to share this with her!" He produced a small strawberry cake. "Strawberries are her favorite, remember?"
"Aww…" Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki cooed, and even Mori seemed moved.
"I'm sure she'll appreciate that, Mitsukuni." Mori patted Honey's head approvingly.
"Fine, fine, here you go." Kaoru dropped the pin into Honey's waiting hands.
"Thanks, Ka-chan! Come on, Takashi. Let's go share some cake with Haru-chan," Honey walked away happily with Mori in tow.
"Really though, Boss, what happened with Haruhi back there?" Hikaru asked.
"Yeah, what in the world did you do to convince her to sit on your lap like that?" Pressed Kaoru.
"Especially for long enough to fall asleep !" Hikaru added.
"It's none of your business. A gentleman does not just spill a lady's secrets, even for the admiration of his peers," Tamaki repeated. The twins put up their hands in defeat.
"Fine, fine." They conceded in unison. "We'll go to bed then. Night, Boss."
"Goodnight, Hikaru, Kaoru."
They parted ways, the twins heading for their room and Tamaki for his.
Once Tamaki found himself alone in his room, he smiled, his mind dancing with images of the girl's sweet face, her fluttering eyelashes, her slowly rising and falling breath…
Maybe… maybe I am falling for her.
He'd never have known it, but at that same moment, several rooms away, the object of his ponderings was pondering exactly the same thing.