*sigh* I’ll love this forever.

“Same?"
"Am I not meant to reciprocate the feeling?"
"Yeah but, 'same'? Really? You couldn't pull out – you know what, that's okay. I love you for that too." Victoria didn't even both arguing with his choice of vocabulary. He couldn't give a monologue like that unless he planned beforehand and Victoria was not going to expect the man to express his emotions vocally. It wasn't him. And that was more than alright.

They are so freakin’ adorable, I cannot even. Kyouya’s not the type to pour his heart out but he’ll show her through his actions, and that’s alright with her. Gahhhh. I. Love. Them.

The younger woman laughed. "I don't care anymore. I'm actually on planning to sell my shares of the company to Kensington. I want to dedicate my life to my own company."
"I'm glad to hear that."
Emilia paused. "Are you okay with me calling you sis?"
Victoria mulled over the word again. She wasn't sure. It wasn't a terrible thing to be called.
"I guess? No one's called me sis before."
"Do they call you Mrs Ootori instead? Because I'm down to do that too, if that's what you want."
"That's the last thing I want." Victoria finished off her glass of beer.
"Can I call you Em?"
"Only if I can call you Vic."

It means so much to me that Emilia genuinely wants to put in the effort to form a relationship with a Victoria and that you show her character growth. She has dreams and ambition of her own outside of her mother, and I can tell a part of Victoria is proud to see her make her own way.

“Isn't that counterintuitive?"
"Victoria, I hope you aren't going to be that mom who always rains on everyone's parade."
"No, that'll be Kyouya, let's be honest."

A reference to his old nickname perhaps? ;D

“Kyouya was browsing his stocks on his tablet in a room far away from the bride.”

Oh Kyouya, always The Shadow King. Some things never change. (Except the addition of a Shadow Queen ;)

“Mori had the rings. The Shadow King had entrusted the job to him months prior.”

Yup, sounds about right hehe.

“To be honest, Victoria had been checking the Ootori Corporation's stocks as well. The company was her client after all.”

Lmao, what did I just say? We’re all Fuyumi- they’re perfect for each other.

“You had feelings for me, didn't you?" Haruhi half-teased. Now that the man was married, it didn't matter what happened in the past. "To be honest, I came close into returning those feelings at Ouran."
The Ootori stayed silent, amused by what his friend had brought up.
"But your off-putting personality and your drive to win, and only win – it wasn't for me. I couldn't have kept up."
"Off-putting?" the Ootori scoffed.
"Really? Of all the things I've said, of course you'd focus on your off-putting personality." The woman laughed. "I don't know how Victoria does it. But I suppose that is why she is right for you."

Here is a very interesting conversation. I felt the same way. There was definitely a possibility or a hint of a potential for something between them, but we all knew it wouldn’t work out. He was all work and no play, and Haruhi’s not one for that kind of rigidity and maneuvering. She doesn’t care about that world. Ah, how I love Haruhi. She’s always been the level headed one in a friend group where everyone is some type of extreme.

And I lovelovelove reading about their life together.

Again, I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate you not using the typical clichés. It would have been easy to make Emilia vindictive and jealous, filled with spite, but she’s just a girl who happens to have been raised with everything. Victoria sees that and doesn’t resent her for it. She’s naive and spoiled, but Mai was the one who chose to make Victoria an outcast, and even Emilia can’t escape her mother’s controlling judgement and selfish desire for power.

“He saw you in me each time he looked at my face and he never once regretted it. He never once told me that I was a mistake. He told me I was his daughter and nothing else."

Beautiful.

(And I know you said then- in the notes of this chapter- that you didn’t think you’d be writing any more fanfic after this or you weren’t sure, but I’m so very glad you did :)

“Victoria, honey, listen to yourself."
"I sound stupid, don't I?" The lawyer groaned. "I ramble about him because I can't do it to anybody else. I'm sorry, dad. I just…"

Victoriaaaa, babe pleaseee, you DO have friends, you just refuse to acknowledge them as such. They’d probably tell you to not give a shit about what anyone thinks- it’s what the two of you want that matters.

“Yes," Victoria repeated. "A million times over. Even without the ring, or the beautiful scenery and the thought you placed behind this."
"Really?" She didn't blame him for the skepticism.
"Well – this whole thing must have been planned after someone told you that your previous proposal wasn't quite up to par," Victoria smugly replied. "But even so, it... suited you and I didn't mind."

*incoherent sobbing* i’m speechless. you’ve left me without speech.

[“I was grateful and incredibly frightened. I felt like I was... living a fantasy. I couldn't believe you or your words. I was in love with you. I kept telling myself that I didn't. But at that moment I loved you and I was scared that my heart would suddenly turn to glass, breaking into pieces before I could even give it to you. I was looking for a catch. I was looking for a loophole. I hoping you'd see my flaws and leave before it was too late."

He heard her exhale. "Do voice messages actually record for this long? God damn, I need a drink. I'm telling you, if this message cut off minutes ago, I am not repeating this over again. Ever."

Kyouya couldn't help but to smile.
"But this is... cathartic. So I'll just say it. Kyouya, I am so deeply in love with you. Not in that stupid, romantic-comedy sense of love. I don't need you to lift me off my feet or to bring me roses. I don't expect you to kiss me in the rain or make grand gestures of love to me. But I just can't live without you. It the most clichéd and honest thing I can ever say and also about as close as we'll get to being in a movie."

He wanted to stop his car, right then and now. He wanted to replay those words. Kyouya felt his heart skipping a beat. He could hear her voice cracking as she tried to compose herself again. Victoria took another deep breath, hoping that she could speak coherently. His heart churned.

"Kyouya, you make me happy. I've never been so happy in my life when I am with you. I can look past your ego, your annoying smirk and your stupidly childish behaviour. I can look past all your flaws and somehow still arrive at the point of unconditionally accepting you for who you are. You care about me and only me and that is enough for me to think of you as extraordinary. Take it as you will, if it strokes your ego so be it." ]

And there it is.

One of the most romantic, exhilarating declarations of love I have ever witnessed in my life. And I read a crap ton of Romance.

The two of them, Victoria especially, aren’t people who express this kind of sentiment easily. Obviously, they’re both extremely cautious and guarded. For Victoria to voice her feelings in such a sincere, passionate, lyrical way, for her to tell him *that she loves him*, finally and completely uninhibited, is more than fulfilling.

So apparently ffn doesn’t let you post more than one review on a chapter, and I can’t remember which chapters I already have- only that I tried to comment on the previous one and it wouldn’t let me...(remind me why i haven’t logged on in a while?)

Anyway, love seeing them meet each other’s families. Watching them move forward from the previous hurdle is extremely relieving and satisfying. They sure did work for it. (Also, I always liked Richard that sly dog lol)

He hated subjects open to interpretation. Philosophy, for example and even history to a degree. Everything that Victoria loved, he came to abhor.
But even so, the two found each other so fascinating.
Despite their differences however, the two already knew of their similarities...They related on different levels, but were themselves all at the same time.

Oh look, the embodiment of my favorite type of ship~

"I never thought of you as being so… idealistic about love," she admitted.
"I'm not," Kyouya rolled his eyes. "I'm committed," he corrected. "To you."

Yes! Love takes effort and commitment. The honeymoon phase doesn’t last forever, and a lasting relationship is built on more than sparks (but of course those are great too).

“No," he stopped and huskily whispered into her ear.
"No?" Victoria was confused, trying to control her shiver.
"You'd be my Queen."

This is me giggling against my will. Eeeeee.

"Why do you think having someone would make me happy?" Kyouya raised an eyebrow.
"Because you've been so empty for so long," Tamaki easily replied. "I know you, Kyouya."

It can be easy to forget that Tamaki is one of the few people who know Kyouya, known him for a long time, and that he’s more insightful than he seems lol. He comes off as the “ditzy one”, but he and Haruhi are together for a reason, and he’s more emotionally intelligent than Kyouya to be sure. Another example of how two very different people have a wonderful friendship (though Kyouya’s a workaholic...).

Kyouya and Victoria’s moments of intimacy, physical and emotional, like the ending and when they communicate openly, make me irrationally giddy. As for Victoria being the more dominant one in their relationship, I love it. Kyouya may have the “capital” and the persistence and the ego needed to pursue her through that thorny exterior, but his lack of experience with romantic relationships and other matters of the heart make him easy for her to read. A fantastic dynamic.

“Victoria could not help but to chuckle at their conversation. They always had to speak in metaphors, because their pride didn't allow them to speak about their feelings outright.“

Yet, I find that to be kind of hopelessly romantic. Because, when they finally do get to that point, where they can’t hold back any longer and they lay it all out on the table, you know it’s real.

And eh, who cares if he’s a little OOC. Typically I’m not into the whole “follow her around the world” thing, but it’s clear his feelings are returned- she’s just scared.

Wow, so many things. It kills me to see Victoria like this. I’d forgotten just how much her mother gets to her. As much as we grow and change, logic can’t help us escape the emotional scars of our past. She’s successful, smart, beautiful, the list goes on, but her mother can still draw out those old insecurities in a flash, in a way no one else could.

Still, she chooses him. He chooses her. Just two people with a boatload of parental issues taking a leap.

"Because it's easy. Because you think it's selfless, for blaming yourself and not others. Why do you do that to yourself, Victoria? You hurt yourself like it is okay, because it's just you."

Narrator: And with that, he struck to the very core of her.

The tension between them, the constant battle to be the one who sees and not the one who is seen- electric and devastating.

You're in limerence," Victoria repeated. "You want what you can't have. We've discussed the scarcity principle. Well here it is, Kyouya. You can't have me. Let me save your ego from some shame and I'll admit that you're way out of my league. How about that? In other words, I can't have you. But I never wanted you."

Still one of the best passages I’ve had the pleasure of reading. God, what a smackdown. I want to stand behind her and gasp in punctuation of that sick burn.

“How is limerence any different?" Kyouya snapped. "Why is that not good enough?"
"Because limerence is for teenagers that can't control their hormones. Love is a vow for adults that understand commitment, honesty and trust among many other things. But love is also ugly, terrifying and horrendous."

So I’ve loved this fic for a long time, right? But when it’s been a while since you’ve read something, you describe your love for it in broader terms: the characterization, the flow of the writing itself, the realistic development, etc. Rereading this fic is like making a list of all the intensely specific things that, as a whole, form it’s significance to me and my affection. The emotional complexity of love, as a concept and the maturity it requires, demonstrated in the above exchange is something I appreciate even more now, after all this time, because I’ve since realized that so many people, well into their adulthood, haven’t grasped that understanding.

That ending:

Squeeeeeee

I know, I just can’t help it. Ah, my brain shut down as soon as she leaned in.

Aka the first time I’d ever seen the word “limerence”. Never forgot what it means.

Victoria’s fear and vulnerability in this chapter had such presence. Her mask cracking, trying to maintain her walls- an interesting switch in their roles.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve logged in and written a review on ffn haha. I was feeling nostalgic and, before I knew it, I was rereading this. This chapter will always be particularly significant to me in that it was the update you’d just posted when I discovered this fic and started reading. And well, the rest is history~
Man, I still love the two of them so much.

omg it's perfect