Here it is, the first story I'm writing for my true OTP. I'm a little rusty on writing OHSHC, so cut me a bit of slack for now. Hopefully I fall back into writing clearly for it soon enough, but I can't even explain to you how hard it was for me to stay in character and focus on the story. I blame my lack of interest of writing and OHSHC in general, I think I drained myself back in S&C. Well, here's the deal with this particular story. As much as I want to base it around the manga, I think I'll keep it strictly to the anime, and branch out on my own once I reach the ending. Because I haven't read the manga in such a long time and I want everything to be as accurate as possible. So I hope you enjoy! Please leave a review!

I do not own OHSHC

.oOo. Chapter One .oOo.

"Bye the way, a question about your strategy, did you ever consider the possibility the date might go too well and those two might fall in love?"

"Nah, it's still too soon for that, Hikaru is kind of a dummy"

"Hey come down here, it's time for some melon~!"

"Well, then he's lucky, because our club is full of dummies."

It was funny, Kaoru had given so much up today, and yet, he found himself comfortably discussing love with the last person he expected to be. Today marked the day Kaoru opened the gates to their world, and allowed Hikaru to take a timid step out. It was only a matter of time before he walked out, and soon enough, he'll be running. Haruhi was the key for him, but it was another story for Kaoru. He wasn't ready to leave yet. Kaoru was perfectly comfortable watching Hikaru bound away without him, and was happy to help him go.

Well, that wasn't exactly fair to say of Kaoru, he was stepping out, too. Lately, he's been spending a lot of time with Kyoya, designing costumes for the upcoming host club events. It used to be him and Hikaru, but it seems Hikaru has been more distracted with video games and Haruhi, not much time for costumes. Kaoru didn't mind too much, though it was rather difficult not to have a second opinion. One day when Kaoru brought in some sketches to show Kyoya, the upperclassmen noticed the sudden change in the style, it was more clean cut then flamboyant and carefree. After getting an earful of suggestions and revises from the demon lord, Kaoru sarcastically snapped, "Why don't you just help me when I'm making them if you have so many ideas then?"

Then they ended up meeting once a week, every Friday afternoon in the Hitachiin estate. At first, Kaoru was nervous. He couldn't really trust the shadow king. But after a few meetings, he learned that he wasn't so bad. They actually got along quite well. Kyoya wasn't always a cold-hearted demon, rather just a very polite and kind person, at least when he didn't consider something actual work.

"Come on then, don't you want some watermelon?" Kyoya said, pulling Kaoru from his thoughts. He looked up at Kyoya, the light reflected off his glasses as he smirked. (Kyoya didn't quite smile). They headed down the stairs, joining the rest of the club.

.oOo. One Week Later .oOo.

"I think the frills are a bit too much on this shirt, don't you?"

"But it's supposed to be all royal and princely, plus I think it fits Tono quite well."

"Maybe, but I feel like it's a bit too dramatic, and it might be too uncomfortable."

Kaoru and Kyoya were sitting in the main dining room, drawings for a future cosplay spread across the table. Tamaki had decided on fairy tales, so Kaoru took the liberty of inputting his own kind of style for each of the outfits. Just making them Disney-based or anything like that would be too boring.

Kaoru nodded, taking the picture and scribbling a few words onto it. Kyoya picked up two this time, both meant for Mori. Honey was supposed to be the little mermaid, and Mori had two choices. "Why did you design Mori-Senpai a lobster costume?"

Kaoru laughed. "I thought it would be cute, instead of making him Prince Eric he could be Honey-Senpai's caretaker. It made a lot of sense to me at three in the morning."

Kyoya smirked, "Yes, it does fit quite well, maybe we should go with it." The upperclassmen placed it into their "create" pile. Kaoru laughed a little harder-it looked like Kyoya did have a sense of humor.

He picked up Haruhi's next, which was an elegant blue dress and glass slippers. He studied it for a moment. "Kaoru, are you really okay with giving up Haruhi for Hikaru's sake?"

Kaoru blinked, he didn't expect this. "Well... It isn't so much me giving up on her, rather I realized she isn't like that to me. She was the first person to truly break into the world Hikaru and I had made for ourselves. At first I thought I liked her, but then I found out that feeling was just friendly. And you, Senpai? What is she to you?"

Kyoya chuckled. "If I thought of her as anything more to me than a friend, she wouldn't just be a friend at this point." Now that he thought about it, Kaoru knew Kyoya would do anything to get what he wanted. A shiver ran down his spine.

"True, very true." Kaoru wondered if Kyoya actually did like anyone. Would he have actually admitted to liking Haruhi in the first place?

They moved onto the twins' costumes. They were supposed to be Hanzel and Gretel. "Who's the lucky one in the dress?" Kaoru sighed.

"That would be me. Hikaru is the more dominant one in the act, so he gets to wear the pants."

"Well at least you'll be cute." Kyoya chuckled, making the younger Hitachiin blush a bit out of embarrassment.

"Shut up, Senpai!"

.oOo.