Chapter Thirteen: The New Year

Kiiro unlocked the door to her apartment, and Kyouya followed her in. The two were still bleary-eyed from their flight back to Boston.

"I think I could happily spend the rest of our vacation in bed." Kiiro said as she threw her luggage on her couch.

Kyouya's low laugh greeted her ears, "Just sleeping?"

She smiled, "Yeah. Just sleeping."

"Go ahead, then. I'll get my pajamas."

She looked over her shoulder at him, "Do you need them?" she asked at the doorway to her bedroom.

He raised an eyebrow at her, but he was smirking all the same, "I suppose not." he decided as he followed her to her bed.

They came together like waves and the shore, the magnetic pull between them irresistible. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he met her, one hand on her hip and the other threading through her hair. She bit her lip, her fingers tracing up his spine as he bent forward to press his lips to her neck. She hadn't known being with him like this could feel so good, like sparks and being made whole. Cradled in each other's arms and moving together was like knowing, really knowing that this was it for her. He was it for her. She gasped, nuzzling his neck in an attempt to smother the sound, fingers snaking up into his hair. His kiss found her temple, hand sliding down her hip caressing her thigh, he murmured her name. When it was over they were still pressed skin to skin and the world was hushed around them, silent enough to hear a heartbeat.

On New Year's Eve they gathered in Tamaki's apartment.

"Wow, it looks…" Kiiro trailed off as she took in the many colorful banners on the walls and the overabundance of shiny plastic stars that hung from the ceiling. "...like someone had too much fun at the party supply store."

Haruhi smiled, "There was a sale."

"Oh, so it was a team effort?" Kyouya raised an eyebrow as they followed their junior in.

"Ne~! Kir-chan and Kyo-chan are here~!" Hani waved at them enthusiastically.

Mori nodded in greeting.

Kiiro realized what they were sitting around, "You're kidding me."

Tamaki chose that moment to make his entrance, with a flourish he gestured to the kotatsu at the center of the room, "In France we celebrate the coming of the new year with a feast shared by friends and family! Incidentally, there is nothing that brings people together better than a kotatsu!" he declared with a multitude of flamboyant poses.

'Someone's in fine form today.' Kiiro thought. Still she couldn't help but smile, his excitement was often infectious. She took a seat at the kotatsu, which already had a hot pot cooking stew in the center.

"And nabe as well?" Kyouya sat beside her, "You've outdone yourself, Tamaki."

"You think so?" Tamaki whirled, grinning, basking in the praise. "We're celebrating the new year so far from home I'd thought we could bring some of home to us."

Haruhi sat beside Kiiro, whispering in her ear, "He just needed an excuse to bring the thing out."

Kiiro hid her laughter behind her hand, unsurprised.

"Hika-kun and Kao-kun are running late~!" Hani announced, hugging Usa-chan to him.

"That's never a good sign." Kiiro muttered.

"How rude!" Tamaki huffed. "After all the planning we did." he knelt beside Haruhi, wrapping his arms around her, "And they know how grouchy Haruhi gets if she doesn't get her dinner on time!" he teased.

Her cheeks bloomed red, "Senpai! I'm not that much of a glutton!"

Kiiro rolled her eyes, those two got cheesier by the day.

Finally, there was a knock at the door, before the aforementioned brothers let themselves in. Tamaki stood, puffed up and prepared to lecture them but they pushed passed him, "Wow, he really went all out this time! Look how garish it is!"

Kyouya scolded them, "Come now, you've already been ill-mannered enough by making the lot of us wait."

The two sat to his left, "Sorry, Mom." they said with matching grins.

"The nerve of you two!" Tamaki groused as he took his seat beside his girlfriend.

As they all settled down to eat they discussed the upcoming school term and New Year's traditions.

"In France we also prepare la galette de rois," Tamaki was explaining. "It has a small porcelain doll in it and whoever finds it in their slice is given a paper crown and is named the King or Queen for the day. It was my favorite part of the holiday at home." he concluded with a wistful smile.

"I forgot about the crown." Haruhi murmured.

Kiiro quirked an eyebrow at her.

"You forgot what?" Tamaki asked, as Haruhi's cheeks colored once more.

"Ano, who wants dessert?" Haruhi asked the group as she stood up, leaving everyone in the party confused as she retreated to the kitchen.

She returned carrying the aforementioned French pastry, Tamaki went wide eyed.

"Well, um, it's the first time I've made something like this so it probably doesn't look right…" she said as she set it down on the kotatsu.

Tamaki bear-hugged her, "Haruhi! It's perfect!" he squealed.

She shrugged out of his crushing embrace, "Well, I figured since you wanted to incorporate some of our traditions we might as well bring in some of yours."

Tamaki had tears in his eyes but his gushing was cut off when she said, "So, who wants the first slice?"

"Me~! Me~!" cheered Hani. "Do you get the poor man's share, Haru-chan~?" he added with a giggle at his own joke.

The pastry was doled out and no one was very surprised when fate decided to bestow upon Tamaki the porcelain Tanuki figurine Haruhi had used in place of a nativity doll. Kiiro cut a crown out of old math homework of Haruhi's and the "newly-crowned" King made sure to gloat over the Twins.

"My next decree," he declared after much horsing around. "Is that we all watch the ball drop to celebrate a la America!"

"We've enjoyed a real medley of traditions today." Kiiro hummed as she settled on Haruhi's coach.

"It's definitely been the most chaotic New Year's I've enjoyed so far." Kyouya shrugged in agreement.

"That emphasis on so far didn't go unnoticed." she quipped.

"When aren't things chaotic around here?"

"I think I've grown used to it." she said with a sly grin up at him.

"Perish the thought." he smirked, sitting beside her.

"Quiet! The countdown's starting!" Tamaki squealed.

The Twins rolled their eyes at the bossy monarch as everyone else counted down.

"3…"

"2…"

"1! Happy New Year!" they all cheered along with the televised crowd.

Kiiro greeted the New Year by pecking Kyouya on the lips, and then she was… doused in water?

She brought her wide eyes up to glare at the Twins, who now brandished cartoonishly bright water guns. They'd also sprayed Kyouya, Tamaki and Haruhi.

"New Year's traditions are too mushy to suffer through!" Hikaru protested.

"So we thought we'd bring these to have some fun with!" Kaoru grinned.

"I'm giving you a five-second head start." Kiiro stood, glowering.

Their grins stretched wider as Tamaki called, "Fivefourthreetwooneover!"

They squealed with laughter and peeled out of the apartment, followed closely behind by Kiiro and Tamaki who chased them down the stairs all the way out of the building and into the snowy courtyard. The brothers split up and so did their pursuers. Tamaki began to pelt Hikaru with snowballs as Kiiro tackled Kaoru and began to bury him in snow.

"We're going to have to thaw you out in the spring!" she threatened, smiling nonetheless.

"Kiiro-senpai! Stop, please!" Kaoru pleaded between shrieks of laughter.

When he was only a head left in a pile of snow which she stood atop triumphantly, and when Tamaki and Hikaru had both forfeited their snowball fight, the rest of the group caught up to them.

Kyouya had brought her coat, "Thanks, I'm freezing."

His pressed a kiss to her forehead, "That's what you get for running out into the cold covered in water."

"I had to exact my revenge."

"I can see that." she nodded to where Mori and Hani were digging Kaoru out of the snow.

"We should go inside before you catch a cold."

She smiled devilishly at him, "I know how we can warm up…"

He lifted his eyebrows, "Well, we shouldn't waste time." he said with a grin as he led her inside.

He had been careless. For the first time in a long time Kyouya Ootori had been careless. Why had he left that letter out? Of course Kiiro had seen it. The better question however, was why hadn't she addressed the matter?

He glanced over at her for what must have been the thousandth time that morning, as she sat chatting amiably with the rest of the group about Tamaki's harebrained suggestion that they all live in the same house upon their return to Japan.

"Even with our busy schedules, if we all lived in the same place, we'd still be able to see each other all the time." Tamaki gestured energetically, beaming like a child in a toy store.

"Earth to Tono." the Twins cut in.

"We'll still be in high school for another year, why would we need to move out?" Kaoru pointed to himself and his brother.

"With or without our parents approval, wouldn't that be a weird living situation?" Hikaru raised an indignant eyebrow.

"Speaking of parental approval." Kiiro nodded toward Haruhi as she prepared lunch with Hani and Mori's "help" in the kitchen. "Don't you recall the fit Ranka-san threw when he discovered you were accompanying his precious daughter here? What makes you think he'll allow you and Haruhi to move in together? Especially when she's still a minor?" Kiiro sipped her tea coolly.

Tamaki sank to the ground in anguish.

"Wow, Kiiro-senpai's cold today!" the Twins cheered. "She took him out with one punch!"

"F-fine." Tamaki whimpered. "We'll have to wait for Haruhi to graduate then."

"You're not even including us!" the brothers fumed.

Hikaru made a show of whispering to Kaoru, "It's probably just a scheme to share a bedroom with Haruhi anyway."

"Tono's being a pervert again as usual." Kaoru concluded.

Tamaki sprung up, "N-no, it's not like that at all! Sharing a bedroom should come only after marriage!" He defended himself.

"Hold on, didn't you attempt to share a hotel room with Haruhi in Spain?" Kiiro said with her finger tapped to her chin.

Tamaki's face turned beet red as he fell to the floor violently.

"Will the three of you take it easy on him?" Haruhi called from the kitchenette.

The trio of agitators looked back at her sheepishly like scolded children.

Kyouya realized he hadn't absorbed any of what he had read from his book. Was Kiiro waiting until that night to say something?

When he had woken up, Kiiro was already out of bed. They promised to meet up with the group around noon a few hours before the dance the school was holding to celebrate the new year, she must have already been getting ready. She'd been waking earlier recently, almost always before him.

"I've been sleeping better." she told him whenever he teased her about her old habit of sleeping well into the day. He didn't need to ask her why. He'd been sleeping better, too. Though he still needed the three piercing tones of his alarm to persuade him to get out of bed in the morning. He dressed in the black-patterned button up and gray slacks and tie he'd set out the night before, hearing Kiiro return through the door that joined their apartments. She stood beside the hardly-used dining table. As much as he cared for her even he had to admit she had little knack for cooking and he didn't see a point in all the hassle meal-making caused if the two of them had the affluence to dine out whenever they wished.

Joining her in the living area, he spied the engagement ring on her finger as it caught in the light that streamed through the windows of the kitchen. He would never admit that he had agonized over commissioning the thing. He never suspected he would spend so many hours picking through options and weighing different designs with a team of jewelers. The ring had had much to live up to, it had to be indicative of Kiiro's future Ootori status, it had to display wealth as well as prestige but not in an overt way. But perhaps even more difficult, it had to convey how important Kiiro was to Kyouya, he wasn't quite sure if a ring could accomplish that task.

He spent long nights trying to think of some verse he might have engraved along the inside of the band, but in the end he couldn't find anything he deemed suitable enough. He planned to take the memory of this discontinued and perhaps overly-sentimental endeavor to the grave. Still, the emotion he found in her eyes when he caught her looking over the ring was enough.

He took in the paper she held in that hand second. And felt dread settle in his stomach. She set the document down, and turned to him with a grin, her floral skirt swishing around her hips, "How sharp you look." she said with a playful waggle of eyebrow. "Ready to go?"

He nodded, accepting her outstretched hand. She led him to Haruhi's apartment on the floor above theirs. Leaving Harvard's acceptance letter on the table.

Why hadn't he said anything then? Explained himself. She must be upset, he decided, she'd been avoiding his eyes. Of course she was upset. He was the one nearly two years ago now that had asked her to promise that they would never be separated. When she had been merely a night away from returning to California and leaving him in Tokyo he had been the one to make her promise. And now she had seen that letter. Now he was the one leaving, or at least it must seem that way. He would accept it but accepting would mean hurting her. Kiiro had already set herself up for Ouran University, he knew that she planned on training for the branch of her father's company in Tokyo in the upcoming years. And now she must believe he was intending to break their promise.

He loved her, but he was who he was. He would climb higher than any man in his family, but if doing that meant hurting her… Six years apart, who would they be when he returned home afterward? He was selfish, would she hate him for it?

Why hadn't he said anything when he found her reading it? Why hadn't she? He was not a man who worried often, but Kiiro had quite the knack for getting him anxious even without meaning to. He just couldn't seem to read her sometimes.

"Are you feeling alright, Kyouya-senpai?" Haruhi asked discreetly, placing a plate on the table in front of him.

"Hm? Yes, I'm fine, Haruhi." Kyouya slid his glasses up the bridge of his nose, exuding his usual demeanor of calm and collection. "Why do you ask?" he added. Any other day implying Kyouya was not alright was a silly notion, but Haruhi had the uncanny ability of reading right through everyone she came to encounter.

"You just seem more quiet than usual." Haruhi shrugged.

"Ah, the first week back at school has left me tired, too, Kyouya." Kiiro perked up from her seat adjacent to him. She turned to Haruhi, "I'm surprised you have enough energy to get through today, Haruhi. I had heard that you had the second highest grade point average overall!"

Haruhi sheepishly avoided the compliment.

Kyouya watched the exchange silently, could she tell his thoughts were elsewhere?

The dance was as extravagant an affair as could be expected. Oddly, though the hall was foreign and the attendees were all people he had known for merely five months or so, the event seemed to blur itself with the great many he'd been to before. When he saw Tamaki dance with Haruhi it brought forth images of the first time he'd seen them dance when the Host Club had revealed her gender to their guests before her departure for Boston. When he saw Kaoru whispering something into his brother's ear- and when he saw Hikaru snickering in response- he was reminded of every time he'd caught the pair unfairly critiquing the ball gowns of their fellow guests before. The sensation was jarring but not quite so jarring as the one thing that was glaringly different than all of the previous dances he'd attended in recent years.

Kiiro stood a ways off, chatting with a group of her classmates beside the refreshment table. She'd danced with him less than a handful of times, and when she had their conversation was alien- polite and meaningless. She otherwise busied herself by networking, and dancing with the only other people she felt truly comfortable with despite the fact that Hikaru was far too impatient a dancer, Haruhi was likely to step on her feet, Kaoru was much better at following than leading and Tamaki prattled far too much. It actually made him a little jealous. Not so much that she was dancing with other partners, he couldn't recall how many women he'd danced with at any given Host Club event, he was jealous that she was talking so much with everyone else and nearly ignoring him.

In his brooding more than half the dance passed, and suddenly Kiiro was nowhere to be found. He went in search of her.

The courtyard of the school was almost as lavish as Ouran Academy's almost. Kiiro stood beside the massive fountain in it's center. Absentmindedly studying the tidy rows of flowers that edged the paths and sprung up in well shaped clusters throughout. The night air made her feel better, and the stars shone down clearly from on high.

He thought he might find her here, in a garden as he'd first found her all those years ago.

"I've been neglectful today." Kyouya began from behind her. She had heard him approach, but still she turned away from him. He ventured on, "I regret leaving that letter out for you to find."

"You make it sound like you were planning on hiding it from me." she laughed weakly. "Were you going to surprise me the day before orientation?"

"No. That's not-"

"I know, I know. Sorry. I was trying to be funny, I guess." Kiiro looked over her shoulder at him.

Eyes like amber and chocolate glittering with the reflection of stars, reminding him of the first time he told her he loved her high in the air over a festival of lights.

"I've already been away from home for almost a year, another six would be unbearable." he shrugged. "There are plenty of other options for me, places closer to home. It doesn't have to be Harvard."

Kiiro looked away again, running her fingers through her styled hair without regard for messing up what the Twins had done to it, "Kyouya, please don't lie to me." she sounded so much more pitiful than she had accounted for. His eyes widened and he stepped toward her. "I can't tolerate it, and I won't fall for it either."

He reached out to collect her in his arms to comfort her. "I'm not-"

She smacked at his hand, "Kyouya!" facing him she frowned, "You have to go."

"You want me to go?" his eyebrows raised. "I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"I promised."

Kiiro felt like she'd been punched in the chest, "I promised too." she said in a small voice. "But that was two years ago now. We were just kids."

"Has so much changed since then?" he grabbed her hand only for her to pull away.

"Yes." there was a stern edge to her voice. "You don't think so? It was an immature thing to-"

His heart was somewhere in his stomach, "Promising to stay with me was immature?" he pressed, sounding cold when he felt weak."Why did you agree to marry me then?"

"Don't you dare." Kiiro gritted out. "For someone at the top of his class you really are pigheaded sometimes, Kyouya." she sighed, the hardness left her voice and her eyes. "Okay, I'm upset that you didn't tell me about Harvard. But I know you didn't bring it up because you were afraid to. You know I'm going back to Ouran and if you attend school here... Six years, you'll be..."

"We can't do six years apart." he murmured.

"We can't? Or you won't?" Kiiro placed a hand over his chest. "I know it'll be hard but-"

"It'll be more than hard."

"We can do it." Kiiro affirmed. "I know you've been planning on getting your MBA in America for a while now. You're an ambitious man, Kyouya. If you weren't I wouldn't love you. If you want to outshine your brothers, Harvard will be the best place to do so. So what if it's hard, it's not impossible. When I first met you I lived in Los Angeles and now we're here, together. Time and distance are just small obstacles in the grand scheme of things. Why not try?"

Kyouya had been unimaginably foolish today indeed.

"You stay here. Earn your MBA. And come back to me as the man you've always aspired to become."

"You're not angry with me for breaking our promise?"

"No!" Kiiro held out her left hand. Her ring glinted in the starlight. "We've already replaced that promise. When I became your fiancée. Even if it's not in the literal sense, I'll always be with you."

He embraced her, but she teetered backward over the basin of the shallow fountain and taking him with her.

"Wah, Kyouya!" Kiiro squeaked, cold water soaking her shoes and the skirt of her dress as she landed on her bottom.

"I love you." he declared after the initial shock of falling in had passed.

She wrapped an arm around his neck, "I love you too but this water is really cold." she said with a huff of laughter, goosebumps already crawling up her arms.

He helped her up and she frowned at her skirt, and then frowned at him, "Do you think anyone will notice if we leave early?"

"They will, but rumors are better than staying in wet clothes."

"Right." she sighed. "Well, if there's going to be rumors anyway…"

They returned to her apartment, changed into dry clothes and lounged on her sofa.

"I propose another promise." Kiiro tangled her legs with his, pillowing her head on his arm.

"Mm?"

"Whenever we're able, we'll visit each other."

"I thought that was given?"

"Maybe, but I want to be sure. I want to say every break you have to return to me, but I know that's a little much."

"Is this your way of saying you're sick of me?" he grinned, a teasing glint to his eyes.

"Absolutely." she grinned back. "I am thoroughly and truly sick of you, Kyouya Ootori." she sat up and straddled his hips.

"Is that so?" one of his hands found its way to hers, a finger tracing over the engagement ring on her finger. "Well, we'll have to pretend to like each other in public at least."

"Of course, and it's not like we can divorce, the scandal it would cause!" she giggled.

"Unthinkable." he played along. "We'll just sleep in separate manors."

"Right. But I draw the line at affairs, what would the children think if they saw you with some other woman?"

"That's too bad, because I had someone in mind." he sat up with her still on her lap, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

She suddenly grew serious, "Kyouya, when we marry will I be able to utilize your family's private police force?"

He laughed, "Of course, and I'd welcome their interference if I ever found myself with another woman."

Her smirk was mischievous, "They'd be the least of your worries." she leaned down to kiss him.

Another laugh rumbled in his chest.

She grinned, "I love you. I really, really, love you." she rested her forehead against his shoulder.

"Well, that's fortunate. We are engaged to be married, after all." Kyouya returned, lips brushing her temple.

Rumors hadn't cropped up with their early exit from the dance. Tamaki had taken care of that. Still he was a ball of worry when he came to check on them when the rest of the group returned and they had gathered in her apartment.

"Ne, I tripped into the fountain, should I have stayed on in my drenched dress?" Kiiro explained with a smile playing on her lips.

"In that case, it's best you went home~!" Hani nodded.

"You don't want to catch a cold." Mori said, more to remind Tamaki than Kiiro.

"Wet dresses are so last season, Kiiro-senpai." Hikaru shook his head at her.

"But how did you fall in, anyway?" Kaoru cocked his head at her.

She rolled her eyes at the brothers.

"By the way, is it true you received an acceptance letter from Harvard, Kyo-chan~?"

Kyouya nodded.

"Congratulations, senpai." Haruhi said first.

Tamaki, who seemed to be the only one surprised, wailed, "What?! Why didn't you tell me you were attending university in America?! You're going to be away for so long!"

Kyouya waved him off, "I'll visit when I'm able."

"Visit?!" the blonde cried. "But we were supposed to all live in one house together! Our family is breaking apart!"

"I thought your family delusion faded long ago." Hikaru said pointedly.

"And I'd thought we'd shot down your house idea?" Kaoru rested his head in his hand.

Kiiro sat back, smiling as the Twins needled Tamaki, who was almost too busy whining at Kyouya- who was doing his best to ignore him- to hear them, Hani was giggling over the display atop Mori's shoulders, while Haruhi was doing her best to tune out the fuss around her.

She was happy, really truly happy that she had these people in her life.

Kyouya caught her eye, and smirked, and she was smiling back.

No matter what came their way in the coming months, years, decades, she knew it would all work out in the end.

A/N: Alright, I know this isn't the best ending I could have given this story, and I never planned to end it here. But after my computer went to the big motherboard in the sky I really fell out of writing this particular fanfiction. I sincerely apologize for the long absence and the impromptu and extra cheesy conclusion to this story. But I don't think this will be the last time I write about these two. In the meantime, Shoujo-chan and the Beautiful World is set after this story in the same universe as this one, and I will be resuming updates to that story soon. As and extra aside, ending this- though it seems necessary now- really fills me with sadness, I've been writing/rewriting this story since I was sixteen. And though Ouran is no longer my favorite thing, it remains my favorite thing to write about. Look forward to one shots and maybe a few mini-series about Kiiro and Kyouya in the future! Thank you for reading and reviewing, as always!