A long, long time since I last updated. I know; I wrote this primarily to finish it, because I haven't been in a fluff mood lately at all. (Blame sleepiness and stress.) So, sorry if there's not much KyouHaru fluff.

The mystery that was Fujioka Haruhi prevented Kyouya from getting any good amount of sleep that night, and so he mentally added another five hundred yen to her debt.

He made another mental reminder to use a blindfold the next night. With summer coming in a matter of hours, the talk of the hallways had turned to vacationing spots, and with the wealth of its students, destinations ranged from "a quaint villa in Spain" to "a water-skiing resort in the Caribbean."

For his part, Kyouya was glad that he was not going to go anywhere for the next few weeks. Oversea trips were getting boring now, and they also could be tiring for his nerves.

Yes, staying at home was probably the best option.

When the last bell rang throughout the classrooms of Ouran Academy, the girls walked out carefully in various groups, and the boys ran out to meet their friends. The members of the Ouran Host Club met down in the courtyard where they once brought in the sakura trees.

Tamaki was squeamish, as if he was patiently waiting for the others to come, and they were not giving him the attention that was due. He tapped his foot on the ground with his arms crossed, a bad habit of his, Kyouya noted, and sighed long breaths that made him seem like an expectant father.

Then again, Haruhi wasn't here yet, and perhaps he viewed himself as such in her absence.

"Kyouya," he asked, "Haruhi is coming, right?"

He shrugged. "Who knows? Did you tell her about the meeting?"

"I thought you took care of it!"

His eyebrow twitched. "I thought the meaning of 'Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it,' meant that you were going to tell everyone about it."

"And I…forgot?"

"So then she's not coming." Kyouya took a breath, and checked his watch. "I suggest that we leave then. No point in waiting for someone who won't show up."

Again, he mentally added five hundred yen to her debt for wasting his and five others' time.

One of the twins, probably Kaoru, decided to speak up then. "She wasn't at school today."

"She might be sick," finished the other, which then, had to be Hikaru.

"So I know–"

"–why don't we just go to her house–"

"–and have the meeting there!"

Both twins smiled victoriously now, and this was directed at Tamaki, who, at the moment, was unable to find a suitable corner for himself to weep in.

"It works," Kyouya said simply.

"And it'd be nice to go to her house again, right?" Hunny asked. "What'd you think, Takashi?"

Mori gave his approval of the situation. "We should bring a gift," he offered.

"That's right! We'll need to bring cake!"

"So it's settled?" Hikaru said, looking around for any objections. "Milord?"

"Why, of course! For such a chance to visit my daughter's humble home is something that will not be passed upon by me. So everyone – we will convene at Haruhi's house in an hour's time!"

Thus the six passed their judgment, the decision having been made in a swift seven minutes, Kyouya thought.

Then he made a call. It would probably be better to warn her of the Armageddon.

--

Wrapped in a thick, but coarse, blanket, Haruhi wiped her nose. Of all days to get sick, she thought, and it was because she'd forgotten to close the window! Really, wasn't summer supposed to be the time of hot weather? So why had hot tea and bed warmers appeared instead?

Haruhi sniffled, but decided that the only good that came out of this was that she, at least, did not have to see the host club, and its overly gregarious members.

A low buzzing sound brought her senses up, but by the time she reached her phone, the ringing had stopped. Low battery, she noticed. She turned off the phone.

It was probably some wrong number anyway. The phone was forgotten for the moment as Haruhi stood up weakly to refill her thermos.

And then, just like that–

The doorbell rang.

Haruhi was an expert by now in such situations. What were the possibilities, she thought, of that person being her neighbor? Or her landlady?

Not very high, she concluded, as her neighbor had already left for vacation, and the next month's rent had already been paid.

That left for one other group of people. One group of people of which she was all too familiar with.

Haruhi decided to return to her futon and fall asleep then and pretend it was a bad dream. Perhaps they would give up and go away. Leave her alone. Go bother someone else…

And through this will of hers, Haruhi managed to bring herself to a light sleep.

--

"The door's locked!" Tamaki announced.

"No, really?" Hikaru said sarcastically. "Ring the doorbell again."

"I did! But no one's answering!"

"Ranka-san should be out," Kyouya noted, "but if Haruhi was indeed sick, there is a ninety-nine percent chance that she is inside, and she simply does not want us to come in."

"But why not?" It was the cute senior who asked this. "We have cake!" he added, as if cake was indeed the solution to every illness on this planet.

"Perhaps we should break down the door," Tamaki tried. "Yes, what if Haruhi was simply trapped inside by her incurable illness? Or, what if she was disabled by a broken leg, and she was unable to answer our calls for her?" Tears glazed his eyelids, and his imagination took hold of him.

"What if she was inside, right now, listening to us," he continued, "and she was secretly asking, no, begging, us to open the door because she was unable to?"

"Milord, I don't think–"

"Don't delude yourself, Haruhi, in the torment of your disabilities!" he cried out suddenly.

"No, Tama-chan!" Hunny joined in. "Don't do this to yourself! Takashi can open the door, right?

"Yes."

"Really? Mori-senpai, you'd do that for me?"

Hikaru leaned closer to Kaoru, and whispered, "Is it just me, or has Tamaki-senpai become more dramatic than ever in these past few days?"

"It's quite understandable," Kyouya cut in, "considering that he's not going to see Haruhi for a while."

Both twins nodded in agreement. By the time they had looked up, they heard a very loud noise.

And Mori had twisted the doorknob so tightly that it fell off, bouncing in front of Kaoru's foot.

"Whoa…"

From there, Mori easily opened the door, standing aside to let Hunny in.

"Yay, Takashi, you did it!"

"Mhm."

"Whoa…"

Tamaki had already followed in after Hunny. "Kyouya, let's rescue our daughter from this incurable disease!"

Kyouya went in next. "There's a eighty-seven percent that she only has the common cold…" he was commenting.

The twins were still staring at the doorknob at their feet. Mori had just broken down a door.

Hikaru picked it up. "That was…"

"Cool."

"Mhm," Hikaru agreed, and the twins went in last with the doorknob in their hot little hands.

The door now, unfortunately, could not close.

--

Haruhi vaguely realized that something was wrong when she heard a loud slam outside. Thinking (or hoping) that is was a tree or some very loud wind, Haruhi shut her eyes and dreamed of a land far, far away.

Turning over to the side, she tried to think of a peaceful area, such as a library. The image was conjured in her mind until–

"Haruhi!"

A near wail shook her from her thoughts, which also signified the end of all that was quiet in the world. In her apartment, at least.

For a moment, she contemplated hiding in the closet, but in the end decided not to. With his inner-mind theater, Tamaki might have mistook the unmade and messy futon to be the scene of a Haruhi-kidnapping.

Or something like that.

She dragged herself out, coughs and sniffles and all, and called out, "Yes?"

Tamaki was on her in a second's time, his sensors evidently Haruhi-based. A bear-like hug swamped her off her feet, but she managed out, "Senpai…I'm sick."

"Oh, sorry." Tamaki, with a considerable deal of restraint, brought himself off, but not before adding, "Never fear, Haruhi! A father will never catch cold from a daughter, not if the bond between them is filled with tender love and care."

"So by that logic," Hikaru began.

"Milord should already be coughing!" Kaoru finished for him.

With that, Tamaki turned on the two twins with a various array of Shakespearian-ish insults.

"Devil incarnates! Why, you..."

The twins laughed and ran away from his grasp.

And Haruhi marveled at how ten minutes ago, a mere ten minutes ago, she had been sleeping in an atmosphere that one could best describe as tranquil.

Now Hunny turned towards her. "Haruhi, are you really sick?"

"Not that much," she said, "just a cold."

"I see," he said, nodding his head. "So cake will make you better, right?"

"Huh?"

An expensive looking box was whipped out from behind his back. "Here, Haru-chan! We brought you some cake!"

"Er, thanks, but I don't think–"

"I know it's not a lot, so Takashi ordered a few more boxes for you, and–"

"–that's necessary–"

"–they should be here in an hour," Hunny finished, a bright smile lining his face.

Haruhi looked at Hunny, then at Mori. Then she sighed in obvious defeat. "Okay, fine."

Hunny's smile beamed at her once again. He dragged onto Mori's sleeve towards the kitchen. "C'mon, Takashi, let's set up the cake for everyone…"

She turned to watch them go, and she saw Tamaki and the twins convene around the seniors at her kitchen table.

Then that meant there was only one other person–

"I hope this wasn't a bother for you," Kyouya said.

"Oh, no, I was just sleeping when all six of you decided to crash at my apartment on a whim."

"I tried calling you," he said, ignoring her sarcasm, "but you didn't pick up."

"Really?" Then she realized that perhaps Kyouya had been the one who was calling her. Her phone was now somewhere lost in her bed covers.

His thoughtfulness at once made her reassured and suspicious of his actions and motives. She decided to concentrate on the former.

"So, er," she tried, "maybe we should go to the kitchen now."

Kyouya didn't seem too eager to do so. He remained rooted to the spot where he stood, taking notice of the bookshelf to Haruhi's right.

"You know," he began, "for a commoner, your bookshelf is quite well-stocked."

She wasn't sure if it was a compliment or an insult. It probably didn't matter. "Er, thanks."

"Last time we were here," he continued, "I saw that you had the Tale of Genji."

"Oh, that book. Yeah, Dad got for free once from a customer."

"I take it that you've read it?" He walked past her towards the bookcase, taking out a hardcover and flipping it open as if he knew every book on that case, and as if he was more familiar with it than her.

"Yes. The prince kind of reminds me of Tamaki-senpai."

Kyouya suppressed a chuckle. "I suppose so." He returned the book to the shelf.

The chatter from the kitchen continued, the rest of the boys having forgotten about Haruhi and Kyouya.

"By the way, Haruhi," Kyouya asked, "did you write anything?"

"In what?"

"My yearbook," he said, but to Haruhi, it seemed as if he'd just gone against his entire family and done something unthinkable.

"Not yet," she replied truthfully. "I was going to, but then I fell asleep. And then I got sick."

This time, Kyouya's lips turned somewhat up. There was amusement to his face. Unconsciously, she flushed.

"Well, if you ever do write something," he added, "just return it to me."

"Okay," she said. Her head turned towards the kitchen again. "Maybe we should go now. Or else they'll burn down the kitchen and Dad will get mad at me."

"A kitchen is easily replaceable," he said, which earned him a look from her. "I could always find you a good deal."

"I'm sure you will, Kyouya-senpai," but it wasn't said of sarcasm, for then, she smiled. It was a nice smile, he decided.

She beckoned her head towards the others. "Let's go," she said.

He shrugged, and adjusted his glasses. With summer just starting, there would plenty of time to see Haruhi, her thought. There would be plenty of time to analyze what she would write in his yearbook, and it was with this thought in mind that he and Haruhi went to the kitchen where Tamaki, the twins, Hunny, and Mori were already gathered, eating the cake almost gone, perhaps representing the time that they would have left in the Host Club.

But Kyouya tried not to think of that. Instead he concentrated on sticky fingers and plates, a loud blonde and two mischievious twins, and the possibility that perhaps, no matter what he said or thought, he actually kind of liked Haruhi.

Yes, it was open-ended. No idea so far about sequels, but if there is, it won't be coming in the near future. Sorry.

Reviews would be loved.