A/N: Weee!!!! Here's the end!!!!! (okay- getting towards sleep deprived giddiness- must sleep. I'm generally not a giddy person- I actually tend towards Kyouya in nature- especially when gotten up too early on a Monday and there's only DECAF in the house) Hope it hangs together in a harmonious whole and that there aren't too many jarring bits. I did trip over a few of the passages here and there but hopefully I polished out the pointy bits. Enjoy! And as always please r and r!

Disclaimer- I have not, nor have I ever, owned any part of Ouran High School (siiiiiggghhhh!)

Haruhi and Kyouya Strategize, Equivocate, Harmonize

Upon entering the dish room I put the Club's coffee cup onto the counter in front of Haruhi and began rummaging through the cupboards. As I played chess regularly I saw her obvious feint almost instantaneously. The cup had become a pawn designed to draw me out. Two could play at that game.

"Haruhi," I asked, "Beyond the obvious question of why you brought a coffee cup to a tea party I do have a question as to why we have an odd number of the Classico Ginori service? This is quite strange as I remember ordering a service for 50. Where do you suppose this one came from?"

He was being coy. I should have known that he would have seen through my stratagem. He was the Shadow King after all. Throwing all feints to the wind I countered his move with an inescapable checkmate—bluntness. For no matter if he spoke or stayed silent my questions regarding his actions would be answered.

"Well senpai, it has a chip in it, but it is still perfectly good for informal meetings. It would be such a waste to throw it away. And now that you mention it, I was wondering why you banged it in the first place and then put the blame on me?"

Blunt! Always so blunt! Her comments made me worry that I had misread her emotions, that she did not care for me in that way, that she was only concerned about the extra cost of the cup. I have always been a good study of character. After all, I was the first to see through her androgyny. However I truly worried that I had miscalculated in this instance. I decided to test the waters in the only way I knew--equate my feelings to tangible things of worth.

"Do you know, Haruhi, that my family has a set of Ginori just like this? We even have a coffee cup with a chip in its base. My Great Grandmother, who was born into a noble family, married a tea merchant despite her family's disapproval. The Ginori was their wedding china."

Damn it! Why did I always talk about things rather than emotions? She looked so bored. I would have to get to the point or lose her attention, perhaps forever.

"The thing is…."

While I had wanted to know about his family eventually this was not the time. He was standing quite close, and while the dish room was bigger than my entire apartment we may as well have been standing in a small coat closet for I felt his proximity as keenly as I had in Okinawa. He looked particularly attractive in the Club's latest costume- a dove gray mourning coat and trousers that brought out the light gray highlights in his obsidian eyes. I was happy that even though they resembled storm-tossed seas Kyou-senpai's eyes expressed true emotion. I had at least broken through the deadening façade of happiness that had resided in them during those last few months. His constant fixation on coffee cups made me wonder- could you melt porcelain? I decided to experiment by leaning into him.

My newfound emotional side overrode my analytical mind, stopped up my prepared speech, and unhinged the door locking away the what-ifs that had dwelled in the back of my mind since that trip to Okinawa. I could feel that undeniable warmth shoot through me as her body leaned into mine. Taking into account the discrepancies in our height I carefully lifted her onto the counter. Pulling slightly back before our lips touched she coyly asked, "I thought that there was no merit in connections between us Senpai?" Chuckling, I replied, "You warm me Haruhi. That's the merit." Bridging the gap that represented so much more than just an increment of space our first kiss was indeed a harmonious creation- a Ginori if you will.

As cold porcelain melted at our touch a slight scuffling noise drew my attention away from Kyou. Propping my head on his shoulder the unwelcome sight of identical red heads peering at us from behind the doorjamb came into view. Hoping that their entrance had gone otherwise unnoticed I attempted to shoo them away. But as if to spite me they began to clap. In unison they exclaimed, "Apparently this melodrama has a happy ending after all! We thought it would never end!" Despite my frantic gestures Hikaru continued,

"Did you ever tell her why you were staring at the cup Senpai? I bet you were comparing her to the warm, commoner Hescafé and yourself to that cold, elegant cup. Nice metaphors Senpai, but you've got it backwards! Haruhi's the cup because you're gonna fill…." Mercifully Kauru muffled his brother and dragged him out, leaving us to ourselves. Fearing that he would kill Kauru and Hikaru I turned Kyou's face towards mine and continued where we had left off.

Pushing aside my thoughts of killing the twins (who were boasting about how they had brought us together and that someone owed them big) I marveled at how Haruhi and I had been brought together by a small piece of history, a history that resonated with my own. I refused to think of Father's reaction to my choice in relationships. If all else failed I would bring up the Ginori.

Apparently Hescafé does not have prophetic powers for I am sure no one could have predicted that a cup would unite Kyou and me. However, I shouldn't have felt so surprised as we were not the first couple to be brought together by Ginori.

Fin! Well, for now- this might actually become part of a larger story arch called Hinge Factors. However, as I have other kettles of fish to fry I will return to it anon. TTFN! Acta.