DISCLAIMER: I swear, I do not own Ouran.

--

"Ugh! Shit!"

She wasn't the type of woman who would curse. No, actually, cursing wasn't a habit that would suit her at all. She looked very angelic; her eyes soft, her face so peaceful. But hell, who wouldn't curse when your car practically broke at the middle of a busy street, on your way to work, in an early Monday morning? Not good at all.

Haruhi Fujioka closed her eyes, trying to contain her anger and frustration after she saw a black smoke slowly covering the windshield of her 1996 blue Honda car. 'Why now?!' was the first question to hit her mind when she felt her car stop and heard loud BeEEeePP.. BeeeEePp's from the cars behind her. The fact that she was 10 minutes away from being late in an important meeting was already bad enough. Her tired body, due to less than 2 hours of sleep and almost 22 hours of straight work, made things even worse. And now this. Who wouldn't be pissed? Who wouldn't curse? Not even the 26-year-old lawyer, who was known for her never-ending-patience, had the ability to tolerate this series of unfortunate events... too much. Just too much.

'Mother in heaven...'

--

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Come in."

"Ootori-sama, Fujioka-san-"

"Let her in immediately." He quickly said without lifting his gaze from his laptop, cutting whatever his secretary was about to say.

He paused typing, obviously waiting for his secretary to move. The poor girl, who was now as pale as the ivory vase displayed in the middle of the dark lord's office, tried her best to tell her boss about a certain news. A news that, well, he SURELY wouldn't like. Oh yes. She can see it coming. And she was afraid! Who wouldn't be? Under the gaze and the dark aura of the infamous shadow king?

"Well?" he said, still waiting for her to answer.

"Ootori-sama, I am really sorry... uhmm.. Fujioka-san.. She's uhm. Well, you know, things like these happen.. And uhm-"

"Just get to the point.", he calmly said, although his tone was so darn dangerous.

"Fujioka-san called.. She said that her car had broken down, and that she... might arrive late.."

'LATE..'

Definitely NOT a good word to say anywhere near Kyouya Ootori. For him, lateness means incompetence; incompetence means less work done; less work done means less money for his pocket.

"What do you mean she MIGHT be late?" His secretary literally shivered when he lifted his head up and glared at her.

"She was ALREADY twenty minutes late..."

Pity on the girl. She was perfectly doing her job earlier this morning, careful with her every move. Not wanting to make any mistakes. Until she received a call from the company's junior lawyer, saying "Please tell Kyouya-senpai that..."

-

So now, here she was, standing inside the "devil's den", about to take in his anger..

She was scared.

No, that was an understatement. SHE WAS SCARED TO DEATH. Hell, Everyone working in that building knew how scary Kyouya Ootori can be. He would socialize at times, yes, during the company's outings, parties, and all that. BUT, whenever he was inside his "castle", usually sitting on his "throne", the sophistically decorated office literally turns into a hell.

He was about to speak again when someone knocked on the door. He glared at the door while the poor secretary remained frozen in her spot. Whispering her last prayers. Preparing for her death.... Oh no.

The young secretary's thoughts were interrupted by the annoyed tone her boss.

"The door.", he said.

She realized what was happening. Realized that this was the perfect opportunity for her to save her life from the wraths of the shadow king. She rushed to the door, only to be greeted by the junior lawyer who almost caused the end of her life.

Haruhi looked at the secretary with amusement. The lawyer took note of the apparent horror in the girl's face. She eyed the secretary before turning her gaze to Kyouya. His dark aura radiating around the room. Haruhi sighed; knowing perfectly what might have happened. This scenario wasn't new anyway. 'I would have guessed', she told herself as her eyes rolled. During the last 3 years of her employment under the Ootori's, she had seen countless people who had cried, ran, panicked, fainted, etc., after dealing with Kyouya's bad mood. She felt bad for those people. Is their boss really that "heartless"?

"Yanama-san, let me take things from here.", she said, trying to provide even a little comfort for the trembling girl. The girl, looked up at Haruhi, as if she just saw an angel. She bowed her head down to Kyouya, and then to Haruhi, before taking her leave. Haruhi didn't know how grateful the girl was. VERY MUCH grateful.

--

Haruhi closed the door behind her and took a deep breath before speaking. "Kyouya-senpai."

"You're late." He said, stating the obvious, which made Haruhi's eyes twitch a little.

"I suppose I am." She said, with no hint of sarcasm or mockery. Just a simple statement.

"No. You ARE late.", he insisted.

"Okay. I AM late.", she corrected herself, for the satisfaction of the Shadow king. "I'm sorry senpai. My car-"

"I do not wish to hear the parts that I already heard. What I want to know is why are you still keeping that OLD car, when you perfectly know that it could break down anytime?"

"Well, I can still use it. I didn't see any REASON to buy a new one."

"Oh, like the REASON that your OLD commoner car chose this day to make you late for work, making my company loose profit?", he mercilessly said.

"It was an accident Kyouya-senpai. This is the 1st time that I didn't arrive on time. I didn't wish for this to happen in the 1st place. You know how punctual I am."

"Yes, you are."

"Please cut the sarcasm Kyouya-senpai. I really am not in the mood right now." Haruhi tried to negotiate. She certainly didn't want to argue. Actually, she didn't have the strength to argue. It was merely past 10 o'clock am; yet, she felt totally exhausted. Her mind was in chaos right now. Having to deal with sleepy eyes, car problems, and now Kyouya Ootori. Really, what's the worst that could happen?

"I perfectly believe that having a VERY OLD, second hand car is not an accident. I guess that it's more like a CHOICE.", he stated darkly before adding, "Don't you think so, Haruhi-chan?" Seriously, wasn't he done yet with his mockery?

Right there and then, Haruhi felt like she wanted to hit the saddistically smiling businessman. Haruhi knew that Kyouya noticed that she was about to snap. Yet, the demon lord still continued to drain all her patience. He loved torturing people that much?

"Well, I am SORRY senpai, I am not RICH like you to buy all the cars in the world.", she retorted.

"Indeed. I feel sorry for you as well.", he backfired. Haruhi gritted her teeth. She was about to respond; yet, she knew that that would only feed more pleasure to Kyouya. The more he sees people suffer, the more satisfied he becomes. Haruhi always believed in that. sigh.

She walked towards his "throne" and placed an envelope in front of him. "Here is the draft... Please take a look at it, and I will be back as soon as you're ready to discuss it."

He opened the envelope soon after she put it down. He started to eye documents, completely ignoring Haruhi.

"I think that's it. I will see you later senpai."

"You have a tiny dirt in your suit.", he said without looking up.

She didn't miss the sarcasm; yet, she felt that she argued enough for the day. She didn't want more. No, thank you. Really, TINY dirt? She looked like someone who just got out of a war. Honestly, she felt that she had just got out of a war. She wanted nothing more right now but to take a refreshing shower and peaceful sleep. However, that was just a wishful thinking. Of course she cannot do that. If she can, she already did long before.

Thinking to herself that she would need to meet Kyouya later, Haruhi has a feeling that her UNLUCKY day is not over yet.

---

What do you think? Reviews would be deeply appreciated. :)