Author: DreamCager

Title: A Commoner's Gift

Date: began 12/23/06 - finished 12/27/06

Rating: PG

Genre: Light Romance

Pairings: KyouyaxHaruhi

Disclaimer: It's all good when it's not mine. (Everything here belongs to BONES and Bisco Hatorine, ya?)

Reason: Christmas! I hope you like holiday fics!

Problems: Possible OOC, though I try to avoid it. Oh, and I tend to mix the manga and anime spellings of names throughout the story. For example, I spell Kyouya's name 'Ohtori Kyouya', though I have seen his first name spelt 'Kyoya' and his last name spelt 'Ootori'. It's also a bit long but it is just a one-shot.

Notes: This is sort of a follow-up to what was said between the fathers Suou and Ohtori at the end of episode 26. It also takes place during Kyouya's senior year at Ouran, Haruhi's junior year. I italicize words that are thoughts or full Japanese words. Words that are bolded and italicized are more like flash-back/memory type sequences. All comments are welcome, including flames so do your worst.

A Commoner's Gift

The Ohtori Christmas Eve Party was always a grand affair. Bright white Christmas lights adorned the mansion's outside and all the trees on the grounds. Snow, which had fallen thickly the night before covered the land with a pure-white sheet. New flurries had begun to appear in the air and floated gently down to rest on the many expensive cars that lined the driveway. Even now more automobiles were pulling up to allow their rich owners to enter the warmth the mansion offered.

Inside the western-style house friends and business partners of the Ohtori family gathered forming a metaphorical cornucopia of Japan's elite. Politicians, businessmen and nobles from all over the county met all at once on the night before the holiest of nights.

Kyouya hated it all.

Brats from every family were constantly underfoot while their parents chatted merrily about nothing, forced smiles plastered across their faces all the while. In the end, it was just a big power show and Kyouya wanted no part in it this year.

An egoist by pretense but sincere in his ambition Ohtori Kyouya thrived at such events. Today, however, he just didn't feel like it. Never before in his life had he relied on his emotions to dictate his actions. This was something new.

Why tonight? Kyouya asked himself as he walked out onto the third floor terrace, already knowing his answer.

He hoped the chill of the air would keep others away, allowing him some time alone to think.

Kyouya glared at the scene before him as he shrugged his jacked tightly against himself, trying to block out some of the cold. He didn't care for cold weather, especially snow. It only served to sour his already terrible mood. He thought back to the real reason for his anger and for a moment went blind to everything around him.

"She would make a very fine wife for you, Kyouya."

He still thinks he should choose my actions for me, even after I bailed him out of that messy Tonnerre problem, the very thought making Kyouya ball his fists in anger.

In his agitation he didn't even notice that he had begun to grind his teeth together. Had anyone been close enough to view his face they would probably have fled in fear of the undisguised wrath they would see there.

He has the nerve--the absolute gall--to suppose that I would be willing to marry whomever he chose for me? And then to choose her. Her! Of all the rich, powerful spouses he could have suggested he decides to play the hypocrite and--

The youngest Ohtori smiled, a soft, almost evil chuckle escaping from his lips only to be muffled by the thick snow piling up around him.

Otou-san, you really have not yet fully grasped the situation, have you?

The unguarded smile that had stole across Kyouya's face suddenly vanished, just as fast as it had come. He resumed his default, blank expression, his mind going then to the troubling words he had heard from his father just after he had voiced his bride-to-be choice for Kyouya. What should have been of no consequence to the young man suddenly set him ill at ease.

He didn't like the feeling.

"Goodness, Haruta, look at that horribly ugly lady!" came a sudden small voice, surprising Kyouya into looking down.

Two of the youngest daughters of a Tokyo hospital Chairman had come onto the balcony having apparently been drawn by the falling snow. The cold didn't seem to bother either of them for they were bundled quite warmly in expensive, stylish coats.

Curious as to what the girls were talking of, he followed the small girl's finger as she pointed out the object of her words. What he saw nearly made his heart stop but the only outward show of surprise was the raising of his eyebrows.

"Daddy said this would be a nice party but--"

"Kona, you shouldn't talk like that!" the older girl, Haruta, suddenly cut in. "Anyway, I doubt she is here for the party. She may be lost or--"

Kyouya didn't hear the rest because he was moving away from them now, back inside the mansion and doing his best not to look like he was rushing down the stairs to get to the main entryway. He had heard that his father had planned on inviting Haruhi to their Christmas Eve Party but he had never really expected her to come, let alone even consider the invitation. To see her standing out in the snow, and not in a dress but a suit, one that the twins had lent her, and looking so utterly... awestruck. It would do no good for any of the other partygoers to see her as she was now.

Kyouya didn't know what he was doing but he knew he couldn't allow her to just stand out there in the cold. He heard someone call his name but he ignored it, knowing if it was someone important that he could simply blame it on the noise of the crowds, and continued walking, pushing the doors to the entrance open as he reached them.

Haruhi had just began to come up the steps but stopped when she saw her friend coming down towards her.

"Kyouya-sempai," she said in way of greeting, still trying to gain a grip on reality.

"Haruhi, come with me."

It was not a suggestion, it was an order. Kyouya grasped Haruhi's slim wrist and began to pull her away from the main entrance and along the side of the house, moving towards the servants' entrance. He wasn't worried about her mesmerized state, knowing through experience that she would snap out of it in time.

"Where are we going?" she finally managed to say as they rounded the side of the mansion.

"Inside," was Kyouya's stiff answer, trying to avoid thinking about the cold snow he was trudging through or why he was doing this in the first place.

---

"Kyouya, what are you doing here?" his older sister Fuyumi asked when found him waiting in her old room.

Kyouya couldn't help asking himself the same question. It had seemed like some demon had taken over him as he led Haruhi from the servants' entrance through the busy kitchens, up some of the more obscure stairways and to his sister's former bedroom. Once there he had led her to the closet, chosen a formal dress that suited the occasion as well as complimented her small frame, then pushed her into the adjoining bathroom to change.

When she had insisted she didn't feel comfortable wearing such a fine dress he had replied by saying he wasn't going to argue about it and pulled the bathroom door shut.

"I apologize, Fuyumi Onee-chan, but a friend of mine was in need of a change of clothes and I said she could use one of your dresses."

"Oh, a girl is it, Kyouya-chan!" Fuyumi nearly squealed, her hand going to her mouth as she tried to contain her excitement. "What is her name? You must introduce me to her!"

"She's--" began Kyouya but the subject of his words emerged from the bathroom just then, looking slightly harassed as she tried to walk comfortably in the long, elegant dress.

"Are you sure this is alright, Kyouya-sempai?" Haruhi asked with a frown, not having noticed that Fuyumi was gazing at her in amazement. "I think it's much too fancy for me and it's not very comfortable to wear."

"Oh, but it looks perfect on you!" Fuyumi managed to answer before Kyouya could even draw a breath to reply.

Indeed, it looked quite beautiful on Haruhi. Tamaki would have had a million different words and flowery phrases to describe her but in Kyouya's utilitarian opinion she really was rather striking. It was a long dress of a dark, midnight blue. Haruhi called it fancy but it actually was quite plain compared to many of the dresses the other female guests wore to the party. It was sleeveless but came with a thin jacket that had a single silver clasp in the middle, stopping just above her small bosom. The dress was very slim, all the way down to the waist but fanned out a little as it reached her feet. When she walked, however stiffly, the dress would flow along with her making her seem quite graceful.

Kyouya had also managed to find a pair of matching blue shoes that would not make Haruhi's feet uncomfortable but had found that they were actually a little big for her size of foot. He wasn't sure why but knowing that she had small feet, even smaller than those of his sister, was slightly appealing to him.

"Kyouya-chan!" cried Fuyumi in a sing-song voice after a few moments of tense silence. "Please, introduce me to your girl-friend."

"She's not my girl-friend, Onee-chan, just a friend and her name is Fujioka Haruhi," was Kyouya's reply which he made with a slight smile after seeing Haruhi's eyes widen at Fuyumi's misunderstanding. "Haruhi, this is my older sister, Shido Fuyumi, from whom you are borrowing that dress."

"Oh, Fujioka-san, it is such a pleasure to meet you!"

"Yes, and it's a pleasure to meet you," replied Haruhi, seeming a little surprised by the warm welcome the older woman received her with. "I apologize for borrowing this on such short notice. I hope you don't mind. Kyouya-sempai said you wouldn't care."

"Think nothing of it, Fujioka-san," replied Fuyumi graciously as she fluttered over to the petite host. "I daresay, this dress looks ten-times better on you than it ever did on me. Oh, but dear, you need some accessories to add a bit of flash."

"Oh, I don't think--"

"No, no, no! I insist!"

Haruhi really didn't have a chance to decline any offer the older Ohtori had for her. She was soon rushed back into the bathroom to have make-up forced upon her and who knew what else done, leaving Kyouya standing in the room alone. He didn't stay for much longer but he could still hear Haruhi's objections as he moved from the room.

---

Kyouya took a sip from his water glass as he gazed across the ballroom at Haruhi and wished he had something a little stronger to drink right then. He watched as she was dragged around by Fuyumi getting introduced to many high society families. Fuyumi's husband, Shido Joujiro, had been unable to attend so the older woman was able to monopolize Haruhi's time without being frowned upon. Haruhi seemed to be keeping up relatively well but if her eyes were any indication she was slightly overwhelmed.

Why is she here?

For having such a calculating mind able to see many ends meet even before a scheme was implemented Kyouya could not fathom her intensions from coming here tonight.

She certainly wasn't planning on getting an immediate change of wardrobe and then to be assaulted by my Onee-chan

It almost made him want to smile...

He continued to watch her mingle amongst the rich upper-class and he scrutinized every face that turned to her to gauge their feelings as well. Haruhi smiled at a politician, exchanged greetings with a businesswoman, followed through all the proper motions. She was polite and sincere in her responses to the others around her. It seemed that her "training" during all the Host Club activity dinners and dances had taught her the proper etiquette when it came to social affairs.

If anything it had made her wary of when to stay in a conversation and when to move on. There were some who seemed appalled that she, a lowly scholarship student and of the working poor-class was at this upper crust party. Where Fuyumi lacked perception Haruhi had it by the barrel-load.

It was when Kyouya noticed his father walking in the girl's direction that he decided it was his time to take over. He strode across the ballroom floor, refusing to make eye-contact with others. Kyouya felt a little smug when he found he had made it to Haruhi before his father. The older man had been side-tracked by a bank owner's wife halfway there.

"Onee-san, I hope you will excuse me but I would like to have some of Haruhi's time for now," he said softly to his sister even as he placed a hand on Haruhi's arm to lead her away.

"Of course, Kyouya-chan!" laughed Fuyumi as she waved the two of them away. "Just make sure you come back to say good-bye to me before you leave, Fujioka-san!"

"H-hai," Haruhi barely had time to mumble out before her sempai dragged her away.

Kyouya held firm to the girl's arm as he walked her all the way across the ballroom to the corner farthest from his father. He didn't say a word as he moved with her but stopped just as they reached the refreshment table near there.

"I believe, Haruhi, that you may be a little overcome by this and are in need of something to eat and drink," he said then, gaining a blank stare from the young woman.

She blinked at him for a moment, looked at the refreshment table then glanced back at him before she began to make herself a plate. Kyouya was slightly amused by this but gave her a little time before asking,

"And what was that look for?"

Haruhi took a few bites of her food, chewing slowly as she mulled over what to say. She swallowed.

"Actually, I was thinking about some things."

"What kind of things?" Kyouya asked before scanning the crowd again with his eyes, taking note of how strategically placed his father and brothers seemed to be.

"First I thought about how different you are from your sister," Haruhi replied honestly. "She's very open and loud. You have a much quieter way about you."

Kyouya nodded. There was no denying that.

"Then I realized you didn't have any ootoro for me to try here."

Kyouya frowned, if for any reason just to keep from smiling, and turned to look over the table. Sure enough, there wasn't any ootoro in sight.

"I'll have to arrange for one of our other parties to carry it the next time you come, which reminds me--why did you decide to come here tonight, Haruhi?"

He decided it was better to ask now rather than later.

"Well, I didn't have anything else to do tonight," was her casual reply before trying another small treat. "Otou-san is at a company party and I didn't have any school work or chores left to do at home. I finished studying rather early today too and any more would have just made my head hurt."

Kyouya wondered why she had chosen to come to his party then but realized his had been the only one she would have been invited to. Tamaki, who would have loved to have Haruhi over, was actually invited for the first time to visit the main Suou mansion for a Christmas party to see how he would handle himself in the crowd now that he was just about to graduate and nearing adulthood--a test set by his grandmother. The Hitachiin twins were with their mother and father on a sort of family vacation in Bali. Their Christmas was going to be a little less white this year. As for the two graduated Host Club members their families had chosen to have a small Haninozuka and Morinozuka get-together for the holidays. In the end, the Ohtori party had been her only choice for company.

"I also made you a present, Kyouya-sempai," Haruhi said breaking the older host's thoughts.

She smiled up at him with that guileless look she always had, her large eyes seeming slightly larger at the angle she was to him.

"It's only a small tin of cookies. I left it up with my suit in your sister's room. Since you don't care for sweets I made gingersnaps."

Kyouya didn't know what to say. He hid it by taking a drink of his water and keeping his expression blank.

There was a moment of silence.

"Care to dance, Haruhi?"

The scholarship student looked up at him before realizing that music had begun to play and couples had started to dance while they had been talking. She didn't have much of choice in the matter because before she even answered Kyouya was placing her plate down and leading her onto the dance floor. She had no idea that he was mainly trying to keep them from being cornered by his father who was sure to say something that would make Kyouya wish she hadn't come at all.

They didn't say much as they began to dance. Haruhi, who had been taught to dance from the man's position, kept trying to lead but Kyouya was able to get her to follow him after a few awkward steps. She had really come along as a dancer in the past two years. He was impressed with how easy it was for her, especially after wearing something as uncomfortable as she was.

"So, Haruhi, have you been enjoying yourself?" Kyouya managed to ask once they had settled into the dance.

"Well, as much as can be expected, I suppose." A straight-forward enough answer.

"I hope you weren't treated harshly by any of the other guests."

"No. I could tell there were a few that didn't care much to talk with me but some were genuinely kind."

"I'm glad to hear that. I would be very disappointed if someone had acted in a way that made you feel uncomfortable. You do not deserve to have anything wrong said to or about you."

She was quiet for a moment, then smiled up at him with the same smile she shared with those close to her. She really did look nice tonight. Fuyumi had added a small hairclip to Haruhi's hair as well as a pearl necklace around her throat and a dab of blush across her cheeks. From here, so close to Haruhi, she looked very pretty indeed.

"You've really changed a lot, Kyouya-sempai," she seemed to whisper, her dark voice expressing the wonder she felt within. "You don't hide your kinder side so much like you used to."

Had Kyouya just been any ordinary man he may have been stunned or in denial, but Ohtori Kyouya was not just any man. He agreed with Haruhi wholeheartedly, in fact. He had changed over the past two years and so much of it had been because of her. Her and the rest of the Host Club. He knew he wouldn't be the man he was now, striving to become the next heir to the Ohtori family business if it had not been for Tamaki but he could not have reached the point where he was now without the other club members too and all the times they had shared together.

They were the reasons why he cared so much about what others did when around Haruhi. They were why he had rejected the idea of his father using her as a bargaining chip to gain the inheritance. Haruhi herself, as a person whom he had grown to care for as a friend, was reason enough for him now to become angry for his father to even think about marrying her to one of his Onii-sans simply because Kyouya himself refused to. It made him livid just thinking about it...

"Kyouya, I think that it's about time for you to choose a wife."

"A wife, Otou-san?"

"Yes. In fact I would like to suggest that you try and convince that Fujioka girl to marry you."

"Fujioka as in... Fujioka Haruhi?"

"Yes, the girl from your... unusual club. She has a fine head on her shoulders and plenty of gumption. She would make a very fine wife for you, Kyouya."

"She's only a commoner, Otou-san. Certainly there are others more suited to marry me to and help create more favorable ties between families. And also, why me father? Neither of my Onii-chans have yet wed or are even engaged. I believe it would seem rather bizarre for the youngest son to marry before the oldest, at the very least."

"You do not trust my judgment, Kyouya? If you really do not wish to wed Fujioka then maybe one of your brothers would be interested in her. Despite her common lineage she has great promise within her. I believe that she could fit very well as the heir's next wife."

"... Haruhi would never agree to marry any Ohtori, Otou-san."

Those last words had been said with barely-concealed anger. It was not his father's place to choose Haruhi. Kyouya would have wed anyone else his father desired for him... maybe. But not Haruhi. At least, not as his father wanted them married.

"Kyouya, are you alright?" the girl asked then, her brown slightly furrowed in worry.

"Of course, Haruhi," Kyouya sighed, trying to calm himself.

He smiled at her.

"Though I have no reason to keep up pretense around you I am a little disappointed in myself as a host right now," he surprised her by saying. "I have not spoken much at all and allowed my sister to drag you along to meet more nobles than you would be able to remember."

Haruhi realized that while he didn't out-right say it this was, in Kyouya's way, some sort of an apology. She shook her head in dismissal.

"There really is not problem, Kyouya-sempai. I've been dragged into worse situations with the Host Club."

Without much warning, Kyouya felt laughter bubble up inside of his though he allowed only a small chuckle to escape. This woman... he was so used to her strangeness. Her blunt replies and slightly dense moments were never boring to him.

"We should stop."

Her sudden words gave him a sudden moment of confusion. Then he realized the music itself had stopped yet he had continued dancing with her. He stopped and frowned, not liking how off he had suddenly seemed. He was usually so good about noticing these kinds of things... Kyouya hoped no one had noticed.

Trying to hide his discomfort, Kyouya looked at his watch while affecting a bored expression. It was nearing midnight and he remarked how swiftly time had seemed to pass.

"I'll go get your present so you can open it on time," Haruhi announced as she began to move away.

Kyouya nodded and watched as she weaved through the crowd, smiling and bowing to some of the friendlier faces that looked her way. Kyouya didn't move from the spot they stopped in. It seemed he could only stare and think.

Christmas Eve had been quite strange this year, especially with Haruhi at the party. She had made it interesting as well as a little stressful for him. However, after the initial bumps and once Haruhi was next to him, just talking or dancing with him, everything seemed to slow down. He would not say that he had necessarily fallen in love with the girl but there was a connection... somewhere.

She gave him peace--a stillness that seemed to fall over him on the inside that allowed him to just take things at his own pace. He felt so comfortable with her, so at ease. He had never allowed any other girls to get close to him but Haruhi, through her debt, had managed to breech that wall he had put up between himself and the opposite gender, which he had never had any intension of trying to understand. Haruhi, despite all her tomboyish ways and uncaring nature towards gender differences, had shown him how intensely interesting females could be. Or, at any rate, how intensely interesting Fujioka Haruhi could be.

"So, Kyouya, have you been considering my words as to your future and that of Fujioka?" asked his father who was suddenly behind him, seeming to know the exact question to ask at just the right time.

Kyouya didn't answer. He was watched Haruhi come down the staircase, a small parcel held carefully in her small hands. Even from his distance on the dance floor he could see that it was wrapped in only a simple handkerchief like any other gift of cookies would be. Just knowing that they came from Haruhi, however, made them special.

In the end, Kyouya knew there was nothing common about this particular commoner.

He smiled as she approached him with the gift in her hands. He decided that now would be a perfect time to properly introduce her to his father.

The End

Author's Notes: Well, I don't like how it was during a lot of the middle. It was supposed to center more around Haruhi's cookies and keep more to the idea of a 'Christmas' fic but it turned mostly into boring Kyouya musings. Sorry folks. It's probably better than I give it credit for now but for the next few weeks I know I'm going to hate this fic.

Sorry about the lack of description of the interior of the Ohtori mansion. This one-shot was already pretty long as it stands and I really don't have much to work with by what I've seen in the show and the manga. They generally stick to only showing Kyouya's room...

I made up Fuyumi's husband's first name because it is never stated in the anime or the first 8 volumes of the manga.

I'd like to apologize for how hugely OOC this fic turn out to be. It started off fine but became increasingly OOC as it went along, probably because I spent much of my time writing this at night when I was sleepy. Holidays do that to me... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it notwithstanding the especially horrible parts. :3