Kyouya loses his glasses, and becomes slightly out of character. Read about his struggles to survive the day. A KyouyaxHaruhi story. Inspired by Procrastinator-starting2moro's Love is Blind.
Kyouya never ever lost things for as long as he could remember. As a child, he had the uncanny ability to properly put away all his toys in their respective drawers. Yes, even all the compounds from his chemical toy set would be safely alphabetized and locked away. Which was why today, marked a very unusual day for the Shadow King.
Kyouya groggily woke up to his 5th alarm clock ringing. His hand flew towards the nightstand where his faithful pair of glasses awaited him-only to find empty space. 'That's strange' he thought.His sleepy eyes flew open as he searched again. Nothing. Kyouya growled in frustration, it just had to be there, he was sure he put his glasses down by the nightstand. He struggled as he got out of his bed and fumbled towards his bathroom, which took quite some time.
Kyouya had bumped into a wall twice before he finally found the bathroom door. In the restroom, Kyouya had difficulty in making out what exactly he was holding half the time. He noticed a strange small white box next to his sink faucet. When he opened it, he squinted but he saw nothing in there and decided to put it back where he found it, promptly forgetting about it minutes later.
Half an hour late, Kyouya emerged from the restroom, an all time record for getting ready. On a normal day, he would be at school in 30 minutes, however he had struggled to do the most menial tasks. Seeing as he was already late, he decided to skip breakfast. It didn't matter, he was used to just drinking a cup of coffee anyways.
During the ride to school, Kyouya attempted to telephone for a pair of replacement glasses, only to realize that he left his cell phone in his room-being unable to find his glasses had distracted him to the point of absentmindedness.
Ouran High School
Kyouya held onto the side of the wall, carefully making sure he didn't trip over the stairs. He squinted as he tried to find his classroom. His annoyance grew at the thought of so many unnecessary stairs. A 'thumping' sound could be heard as it got closer and closer.
Crash! Kyouya tumbled down the last few steps as he was knocked into by another body.
"Ahh! Gomenasai Kyouya-sempai! Daijoubu?" Haruhi cried, pulling her upperclassman upright. She had woken up late and was rushing down the stairs too quickly to reign control as she collided into Kyouya.
"I'm fine." Kyouya grunted, dusting off what he believed to be dust on his pants. He tried to make out the form of who he had bumped into. The voice sounded slightly feminine, but his blurry vision gave him a light blue outfit-a male's uniform.
"Haruhi?" he asked tentatively. Haruhi was confused for a moment as to why Kyouya would not recognize her. Then she realized he wasn't wearing his glasses. 'Huh…that's weird…' she thought to herself.
"That would be 500 yen added to your debt for knocking over a host member, potentially damaging their health and resulting in losses." Kyouya stated, snapping Haruhi out of her train of thoughts. 'He just said he was fine 3 seconds ago! Rich bastard! He'd do anything to keep me in debt…' Haruhi scowled.
"Eh? Kyouya-sempai, what happened to your glasses?" Haruhi asked.
"Obviously they were misplaced…or possibly stolen." Kyouya commented with a hint of malice. Haruhi cringed. 'This is so not my day…' she thought frantically.
"Ano…do you need any help?" Haruhi asked.
"That would be somewhat appreciated, but you wouldn't be getting any benefits out of it." Kyouya replied evenly. Haruhi shrugged.
"I don't need to help you for the benefits, now come on, I'll lead you to your classroom." Haruhi said, taking his elbow and slightly dragging him towards said room.
Classroom 2-A
"Haruhi!! You never come up to Daddy's classroom!! How may I commemorate this momentous occasion?-Oh, and you brought Mommy too!" Tamaki said ecstatically, as he bounded over to where Haruhi and Kyouya stood at the doorway. Tamaki's arms were outstretched as he attempted to glomp Haruhi, and the latter fought off his octopus-like arms.
"Tamaki-sempai! Get your hands off me!" Haruhi cried, defending herself.
"Nyeh? Daughter doesn't want to hug Daddy anymore?" Tamaki cried, retreating to a nearby corner. Haruhi sweatdropped while Kyouya rolled his eyes.
"Ano, Tamaki-sempai, do you know where Kyouya-sempai's seat is?" Haruhi hastily asked.
"Hm? Kyouya? You look different today!" Tamaki said cluelessly.
"Kyouya-sempai is missing his glasses today." Haruhi stated. Tamaki's adoring eyes roved from his 'daughter' to his 'wife' in curiosity.
"Eh? You're missing your glasses, Kyouya?" Tamaki echoed, surprised. Kyouya rolled his eyes at the blonde blob he was seeing.
"No, I wear invisible glasses-of course I'm missing them!" Kyouya replied sarcastically, putting his hand to his forehead.
"Invisible glasses! What an astounding invention!" Tamaki said cheerfully, missing the sarcasm altogether.
"Ano, I have to leave now." Haruhi said, her mission accomplished turning to leave.
"Wah! No!! Stay with Daddy!" Tamaki cried, latching himself onto one of Haruhi's legs.
"Nani!! Sempai! I have to get to class!" Haruhi exclaimed, prying Tamaki's hands off her.
Class was difficult as Kyouya had no idea what page they were on. He did manage to switch his textbook with Tamaki's in order to see the right page. But after struggling to read the fine black print, Kyouya resigned to his fate and tried to listen to the teacher's droning voice in order to keep up. It was the longest class Kyouya ever faced.
Lunch
Haruhi was making her way towards the cafeteria when she noticed an unusually large group gathering in the hallway. In a bout of curiosity she made her way through the crowd, and her eyes widened at the person at the center of the group. The Shadow King was on his knees, straining to pick up pieces of paper.
Kyouya had dropped his books when he was unable to juggle them properly in his arms. Haruhi glanced around at the group gathered around him. All of them seemed to be just watching the Demon Lord grapple with his disability rather than helping him. Sighing, Haruhi got down to her knees and helped her sempai pick up his papers. Kyouya, not noticing that someone else was beside him, turned so abruptly that Haruhi was knocked over sideways.
"Gomenasai." Kyouya said, not feeling that sorry, since he was still slightly irritated at his blurry vision.
"Iie, I'm fine." Haruhi replied cheerfully.
"Haruhi? Is that you again?" Kyouya asked, surprised.
"Hai, sempai." Haruhi replied.
"Where's Tamaki-sempai? He usually comes out of class with you." Haruhi continued, sifting the papers back in order. Kyouya grunted.
"That baka zoomed out of class the minute the bell rang." Kyouya muttered.
"Ah, so that's it." Haruhi said mildly, standing up with Kyouya.
"Never mind him, let's go to lunch. I'm starved!" Haruhi continued brightly, escorting the impaired Demon Lord towards the luncheon.
Haruhi made an effort to retrieve Kyouya's lunch for him and sat across from him instead of her usual seat next to Hikaru and Kaoru.
"Thanks." Kyouya said, and tried to grasp a piece of sashimi with his chopsticks but to no avail. He growled as the fish kept slipping out of his chopsticks. Suddenly, the fish wasn't there anymore. Kyouya blinked as he saw the piece held up towards his mouth and popping it in.
"Ano, I saw how hard you were struggling with your food…do you mind?" Haruhi asked softly, her chopsticks dangling in the air with a sushi roll now.
For a moment, Kyouya wasn't sure whether to accept the goodwill or not. On one side, it seemed like a blow to his male pride that he couldn't even eat his own food properly, but on the other side, he really had no other alternative. For once-just once, he decided to let his guard down.
"Arigatou." Kyouya said, taking the sushi roll in his mouth. For a moment, he felt strangely content, but that was quickly ruined.
"Nani?? Why is Daughter feeding Okaa-san?? Daughters are supposed to feed their daddies!!" Tamaki demanded, noticing the exchange and bounding over.
"Kyouya-sempai can't even see his food! I'm just helping him out here." Haruhi calmly explained.
"Ahh! Daughter is too nice! Sacrificing her lunch for Mommy!" Tamaki cried out dramatically.
"I never said that…" Haruhi muttered.
Suddenly Kyouya felt presences coming from both sides.
"Nyeh? We'll help feed you too, Kyouya-sempai." Hikaru-or Kaoru-(he couldn't tell which without his glasses) said slyly.
"Iie, I'm not that hungry." Kyouya said, losing his appetite and getting up to leave. He didn't want to expose his vulnerability any further. Kyouya stood up straight and walked towards the exit.
Smack!
Kyouya's dramatic efforts were pitifully reduced to humiliation as he bumped into a wall for the umpteenth time this day. The twins burst out laughing at their vice president.
"Ah! Are you alright, Kyouya-sempai?" Haruhi asked, hurrying over.
"I'm fine." Kyouya said curtly, trying to salvage his dignity but his cheeks tinted as he groped for the right handle and left, leaving a slightly confused Haruhi.
Club Hours
Kyouya had purposes. He knew what to do and when to do them. But at the moment, Kyouya was at a loss of what to do. Due to his temporary 'blindness' he could not work on his laptop, and now, he was faced with blurry blobs of what seemed to be designators.
When Kyouya wore his glasses, they would tint so that people can't truly see what goes on behind them. But now, he felt insecure as his eyes were exposed for the world to see. However, this was not without his merits. Apparently, females liked a bit of vulnerability in men sometimes, as it gave the girls the ability to fawn over them. Kyouya mentally stored this tidbit of information in his head to be recorded later.
"Ahh, Kyouya-sempai! Should we bring you some eye cream?" one girl fussed. 'I don't see how that would help me see any better…' Kyouya silently thought.
"No! Kyouya-sempai needs a pair of sunglasses!" another girl cried. 'I'm not blind either..' Kyouya thought, bored. Not that he wasn't used to all this attention, but he never really found himself with constant designators. Aside from Mori, he was the most reticent host, and he didn't have to do anything much either.
So focused in his thoughts, Kyouya didn't notice that the fan girls weren't around him anymore and it had become strangely silent. He heard the voices of his designators squealing over another host…whom, by the sound of the voice appeared to be Haruhi.
"Ah! Kyouya-sempai is really put out today because he lost his glasses. So why don't you all try to help him look for it?" Haruhi kindly asked.
"Haruhi-kun is so noble! Looking out for his sempai at his time of need! Don't worry, we'll do anything we can to help Kyouya-sempai recover his glasses!" one fan girl sniffed as all the other designators followed her lead outside.
"You just lost about a dozen designators." Kyouya stated as he heard the soft 'tap tap' of Haruhi's shoes making her way over.
"Eh? Kyouya-sempai, you knew it was me?" Haruhi asked surprised.
"It's not hard, your voice and footsteps are easy to recognize." Kyouya replied matter of factly.
"Ah! I didn't realize I was that obvious?" Haruhi commented.
"Well, when you've been blind for a period of time, your other senses tend to heighten themselves." Kyouya noted.
"That's helpful to know." Haruhi said, smiling.
"Anyways, at least they gave you some peace and quiet right?" Haruhi continued softly.
"While that may be true, having them go on a wild goose chase for my glasses isn't that helpful either. I'm sure my glasses were stolen last night at home." Kyouya theorized.
"Ah, well, then they would be bound to be there when you return." Haruhi said simply.
"Haruhi, would you mind doing me a favor?" Kyouya began. He heard the rustle of her neck turn to face him.
"Sure, what is it?" Haruhi asked.
"I need to record today's accounts in my notebook, but obviously I can't do that, so can you write what I'm going to dictate?" Kyouya replied.
"Eh? O-Ok, I think I can manage that…" Haruhi answered.
"Good. Be prepared to write quickly, and I don't repeat myself…" Kyouya started rattling off stats, percentages, and sums. Haruhi furiously scribbled the figures down Kyouya's meticulously written notebook while marveling at how he managed to retain all this information.
"Oh, and for your information, I have a photographic memory." Kyouya stated, practically reading Haruhi's mind.
"Wow, that must be an useful thing to have." Haruhi commented, impressed. Kyouya shrugged, and his heightened sixth sense told him that Haruhi wanted to say something further.
"Yes?" he asked, prompting her hesitation.
"Iie, it's just, I kind of wish that you lost your glasses more often." Haruhi replied honestly. Kyouya's mouth quirked, amused.
"Really now. What makes you say that?" he asked, smirking.
"You just seem so much more human instead of the Shadow King persona." Haruhi noted.
"And…I liked talking to you today because you didn't hide yourself from the rest of the world, as if we were inferior in your eyes." Haruhi added solemnly.
"Shame, I kind of liked the studiously nerdy look on myself." Kyouya said smiling.
"Well, you aren't the "Cool" type without them." Haruhi replied, laughing.
"Touché." Kyouya commented.
The pair continued working for about an hour more, but it wasn't as if they had any major things to wrap up. Kyouya merely wanted to spend some more time with the female host. 'What an interesting view…' he mused to himself.
"Well, I guess I'm off." Haruhi said, stretching her limbs.
"Indeed, it is pretty late." Kyouya agreed.
"Alright, well if you don't need anything else, I'll leave." Haruhi announced. Kyouya nodded.
"You can go now." Kyouya dismissed. Haruhi turned towards the other direction.
"Haruhi." Kyouya stated as an afterthought.
"Yes?" Haruhi asked, turning around again.
"Thank you, for helping me today." Kyouya said simply. Haruhi's slight smile became a fully fledged grin.
"You're welcome." she replied, and they parted ways.
'What an interesting view…' Kyouya mused.
'I guess he's human after all…' Haruhi thought to herself.
At the Ootori Mansion
"Welcome home, Kyouya-sama." Tachibana, his faithful servant/bodyguard greeted.
"Ohayo." Kyouya said simply.
"Your glasses are on the table." Tachibana added. Kyouya turned around, sure enough, his glasses were neatly placed on the dining table. Kyouya put them on, glad for the 20/20 vision again.
"Hm? How was it found?" Kyouya asked, eyes narrowing as he absorbed this new bit of information.
"The new maid assigned to your room accidentally dropped them while she was trying to retrieve her mp3 player, and they broke. We sent the broken glasses to the optometrist to be fixed, and placed a pair of contacts next to your sink. The maid, Yukana was also dismissed." Tachibana reported.
"Oh? Is that all?" Kyouya replied lightly, turning to leave.
"Yes. I trust that the contacts fit to your needs?" Tachibana asked. Kyouya paused and blinked once.
"Hai, they fitted perfectly." Kyouya said briefly, turning to return to his room.
The Next Day
It was strange how yesterday, it seemed as if Haruhi was everywhere, but today, she was nowhere to be found. Even when they were in the Host Club, they didn't cross paths, until finally after club hours, Haruhi was found in front of Kyouya's usual table, waiting instructions.
"I see you've found your glasses." Haruhi said smiling.
"Yes, they were broken and sent to be repaired without my knowing." Kyouya remarked.
"Nani? The Shadow King failed to know what happened for once? I must be dreaming." Haruhi said in a slightly teasing tone.
"Ah, well, I believe that I will happen lose my glasses again on Saturday. Would you do the honors of helping me through lunch again?" Kyouya replied slyly.
"Well, that depends. Is there ootoro?" Haruhi replied, equally as light, the pair of them trying oh so hard not to break into Cheshire cat-like grins.
"When is there no ootoro?" Kyouya said smirking.
"Well, in that case, I believe I will accompany you to lunch on Saturday." Haruhi decided, grinning.
"I look forward to it." Kyouya answered, his eyes full of mirth.
A/N: I know I gave Haruhi a bit more insight instead of sticking to her romantically clueless nature, but it's just to fit with the story. As for Kyouya, I hope I didn't make him too out of character. There were rumors floating around about how Kyouya doesn't really need glasses but for the sake of this plot, he's pretty much blind without them. This may or may not be a prequel to my previous fanfic 'Jealous.' but it does work as one. fI hope you've enjoyed reading this, and please take the time to review! Thanks again for reading!
And…for those of you wondering what happened to Yukana, the fired maid:
On his way home, Kyouya dialed a number.
"Moshi moshi." Kyouya greeted.
"Hai…the maid, Yukana-san-tell her she will be reinstated to working at the Ootori mansion-just not in my room." he ordered quite simply.
That night, Yukana received a dozen yellow roses with a card simply stating 'Thank You', and a gift certificate of 10100 Yen. She resumed working for the Ootori mansion the following morning.