"Well, Tamaki, tonight is the last night of the bet. You've managed to fool everyone, but you still have yet to win a kiss," Kyoya said, straightening his tie in the reflection of a window in Ouran's large ballroom.

"Yes, I know," Tamaki sighed. He was perched on the windowsill facing Kyoya, swinging his legs and anxiously fluttering a white lace fan about. "I don't think I can bring myself to do it, though."

Satisfied with the placement of his neckwear, Kyoya folded his arms and looked back at Tamaki, taking in his long, pale purple ballgown and the curls piled high on his head. "Well, you look very pretty tonight, it shouldn't be hard."

Tamaki smacked Kyoya in the arm with his fan. "I'm serious! I'm not kissing a boy."

Kyoya rolled his eyes and changed tact. "Well, you've finally realized it, haven't you? How you feel about Haruhi?"

Tamaki blushed, his gaze flickering to the girl in question, who was across the room helping the twins set the last few tables. "Yes, but she doesn't know I exist."

"Tamaki, I'm pretty sure Haruhi knows you exist. I'm pretty sure everyone in the entire world knows you exist, you're hard to miss."

"I don't mean literally, it's just a phrase I picked up from the girls I hang around with. The point is, Haruhi doesn't think of me that way," Tamaki said fretfully.

Kyoya raised an eyebrow. Surely even Tamaki would have noticed the way Haruhi had been acting lately? "I wouldn't be so sure of that. And besides, if you don't try, how will you ever know for sure?" Glancing at the large clock on the wall, Kyoya stood the queen of the Host Club up and began shoving him towards the doors. "Now get out! The ball doesn't start for another thirty minutes, and no girl is permitted early entrance."

As Kyoya shut the large doors in Tamaki's face, the blond sighed. Kyoya was right. He had to let Haruhi know how he felt about her, and he was going to do it tonight.

…

As the ball was winding down, Tamaki still hadn't even approached Haruhi. He'd spent most of his time sitting at a table by himself, politely refusing the occasional boy who asked him to dance. A few times, he'd seen Haruhi pass by and tried to call out to her, but couldn't seem to get his voice to work. He was starting to worry that he'd never work up the courage, when Kaoru waltzed by, grinning at him over a girl's shoulder and mouthing "Three more dances!"

Tamaki stood straight up, clenching his fists and steeling his resolve. Kaoru had been referring to the bet, as the ball ended at midnight, but at this reminder of how little time there was before Haruhi left, Tamaki was determined not to let her out of the room without knowing how he felt about her. He was a man, despite all appearances, and it was time for him to act like one!

Dodging his way through the crowd, Tamaki finally found Haruhi leaning against a wall, having a snack and absent-mindedly watching the throng of dancers.

"Haruhi, there you are. Dance with me, will you?" He grabbed Haruhi's hand and dragged her onto the dance floor, causing her to drop the fancy tuna she'd been about to try for the first time. He placed his arm around her waist and began dancing in time with the slow song.

Haruhi blushed. "Um, Sempai, your hand goes here, remember? I hope you didn't try that with any guys while you were dancing." She moved Tamaki's hand to her shoulder and set her own on his waist, thinking how weird this was. Pretending to be a boy and dancing with a boy pretending to be a girl was somehow much stranger than pretending to be a boy and dancing with a real girl.

Tamaki laughed. "I didn't dance with any of them. I don't think I have much chance of winning this bet, honestly. I never had any intention of kissing another boy, and I must say, I'm glad this is almost over. It gave me an excuse to dance with you, though, so at least something good came of all this."

Haruhi smiled. "You look very nice tonight, Anne-Sophie."

"And you look beautiful as always, Haruhi," he replied, raising her hand to his lips.

Haruhi felt a swooping in her stomach that had nothing to do with a misstep while dancing. "I, um…"

"Haruhi, I –" But just then the music ended, Tamaki lost his nerve, and the moment was over. The odd couple finished their dance, and, laughing at a joke no one else got, the blond girl curtsied, and the brown-haired boy bowed. Tamaki dragged Haruhi to an empty table as the lights dimmed. He watched the dancers for a while, then finally turned to Haruhi and said, "What is it? You've been staring at me ever since we sat down."

Haruhi tilted her head to the side thoughtfully and replied, "Your hair…I haven't gotten a chance to check, but I've been wondering all week, is it a wig? It looks really real." And with that, curiosity got the best of her and she leaned over and laced her fingers into Tamaki's hair, feeling for the seam of a wig cap. Tamaki turned red.

"Well, that's because it is real. Sort of. I got extensions put in, the same shade of blond as my hair," he explained.

Haruhi's gaze shifted to Tamaki's eyes. "Hm. I see." Her fingers stopped their searching, but didn't leave Tamaki's hair, nor did her eyes leave his.

"Haruhi…" Tamaki started again, not sure exactly how to speak his feelings aloud. His hand moved up and rested on top of Haruhi's free one, his fingers intertwining with hers.

Haruhi studied her upperclassman's face with interest, then smiled, a smile that melted Tamaki's heart and washed away his anxiety. Returning the smile, Tamaki kissed Haruhi's hand again, still searching for the right words.

"Sempai, you missed," Haruhi stated casually.

"Hmm?"

With a "what-am-I-going-to-do-with-you" sigh, Haruhi pulled Tamaki towards her, kissing him full on the lips, sending the lurking fangirls into a jealous frenzy. Oh, if they only knew how crazy this situation really was.

From across the room, Kyoya, dancing with a pretty brunette, caught a glimpse of his plan finally coming to fruition. As the lovebirds broke apart, Haruhi bright pink but smiling, Tamaki looking like it was all he could do to keep himself from bouncing off the walls, Kyoya murmured to himself, "It's about time. I was beginning to think that moron would ruin everything."

"What was that?" asked his partner.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Kyoya spun the girl around a few times, reveling in the satisfaction of a job well done. It had been getting tiring, watching Tamaki and Haruhi both being so ignorant about their own feelings when they were so obvious to everyone else – and, though he'd be loathe to admit it, Kyoya wanted to see his best friend happy. So when the twins had proposed this game, Kyoya gave Tamaki the little nudge he needed to agree, and worked behind the scenes to get them to this point.

And now, finally, everything had fallen neatly into place. Tamaki had gotten the girl, as they say, and, well, so had Haruhi. Tamaki would get his stalker pictures (Kyoya had, after all, never specified that he get another guy to kiss him), but Haruhi would probably make him get rid of them, given that she was the one wearing the pants in this relationship. And with that, since the author ran out of cross-dressing jokes, the clock chimed midnight, and our story came to a perfect shojo ending.

~FIN~

A/N: *sniff* Another story, another ending…so sad. Thanks to everyone who read, favorited, subscribed, or reviewed! If you didn't lose faith in me and have actually been waiting for this story since May, when I finished Ghost Club, or didn't give up during RRT's hiatus…well, kudos to you! I'll try not to keep y'all waiting so long until my next big story, or at least write more one-shots in between to keep you happy. I promise, I've got a lot in the works right now, it's just a matter of picking one idea and bucking down and fine-tuning it to perfection. And with that, I bid you farewell, until we meet again!~