Chapter 10

A/N: Wow, I wrote this a bit more quickly than I expected. Well, it's always sad to end a fanfic, but… all good things have to come to an end. More notes at the end, so I'll shut up and let everyone get to reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club

It was another busy afternoon in the Host Club, and Haruhi took advantage of the required trip into the kitchen for more tea to rest her head against the cool counter. She glanced at the sink and reminded herself that she needed to check the vases around Honey's shrine before the week was over. Both the shrine inside the Host Club and the one in the courtyard below had become semi-permanent monuments to the beloved senior. They might vanish during the upcoming summer break, but Haruhi hoped not. It was nice to see them in place; it no longer hurt her heart as badly to see them. It had been a difficult four months since her fellow host had died, but he was not forgotten… and never would be, at least not by the Host Club. She mentally resolved to make sure that at least the shrine in the music room would remain untouched until she graduated.

Speaking of graduation… A sigh escaped her lips. Takashi was graduating in less than a month…

Their fledgling relationship had never gone public for a number of reasons… first, the entire school still thought she was a boy. Second, Takashi wasn't particularly big on public displays of affection... even less so after losing his cousin. It was as though he thought that if other people saw him happy… they might think he was forgetting or being disrespectful… even though nothing could be further from the truth.

Haruhi didn't particularly mind though. She wasn't really into public displays of affection either. They had their moments where they could be alone together in the library or at his home, and she enjoyed the closeness even if it had never gone past the occasional kiss. But she did wonder what would happen when he graduated… He'd given no sign one way or the other.

Well, worrying about it wouldn't help anything, Haruhi decided. She picked up the tray with the tea cups and the extra bowl of sugar, balancing it carefully and stepping out into the bustling music room.

Nothing had really changed… not exactly. The twins were entertaining their guests with the much-adored brotherly love act. Tamaki was practically surrounded by a cloud of rose petals as he spun lines for the beauties around him. Takashi still had guests, but he acted mostly as a quiet listener as the girls chattered about anything that came to mind. He sat at a comfortable corner table where he could keep half an eye on the shrine to Honey… like he thought someone might damage it if he didn't keep an eye on it… as though anyone would dare to vandalize it, especially with him right there. She caught his eye and gave him a small smile, and he nodded slightly. Haruhi almost missed seeing Kyouya, who was saying goodbye to his guests and returning to his laptop.

Haruhi was relieved that her own guests had also left for the day. Maybe she'd have time to get some homework done in between running menial errands for the busier hosts. She threaded her way across the room, expertly dodging every yellow skirt without spilling even a drop of tea. That is, until she felt two pairs of amber eyes latch onto her, and a cold shiver ran down her spine.

"Haruhiiiiii," two voices chorused. She could almost see the devilish grins on their faces before she even turned around. She managed to resist rolling her eyes, though it took some serious willpower.

"What do you want, guys?" she asked, turning her head to look at them. And she nearly cursed out loud as they appeared right behind her, and their expressions were exactly as devilish as she had feared. "Hey, you're gonna make me drop this!" she exclaimed as the tray swayed alarmingly.

Deft hands quickly deposited her burden on the nearest table, and they were hauling her protesting form towards the eager girls they'd been entertaining.

"Haruhi, we need you," Hikaru said.

"Yeah, the girls want to watch us play with one of our toys," Kaoru continued.

"What are you talking about?" Haruhi demanded, squirming in their grip. "I'm not one of your toys."

"That's what you say NOW," Hikaru said with a smirk.

"Trust us, you'll be singing a different tune in a minute," Kaoru added with an identical smirk.

"No I won't," Haruhi protested. "Why can't you just use one of them?" she added, gesturing at the giggling girls.

"Now Haruhi, what are you thinking?" Hikaru asked, shaking his finger at her.

"You know we can't play favorites," Kaoru put in, also shaking his finger.

"That doesn't mean you can just use me!" Haruhi exclaimed, trying again to get free, but she might as well have not bothered. They barely seemed to be trying to hold her, and she couldn't even move.

And then the situation got worse. Tamaki saw them.

"What do you devils think you're doing?!" Tamaki shouted, the rose petals and sparkling prince aura vanishing faster than anyone could blink. "You let Haruhi go right now!"

"But Boss, we need a prop!" the twins chorused together.

"Haruhi is not a PROP!" Tamaki yelled at them. "How dare you use our poor commoner so shamefully? It's a disgrace! A DISGRACE, I tell you!" he exclaimed, actually stamping his foot in frustration.

Haruhi couldn't stop herself from groaning. The resident prince going into hysterics wasn't going to help the situation at all. If anything, it was going to make the twins even more determined. And she definitely didn't miss the evil grin that passed between the two boys.

"The boss is mad," Hikaru said.

"Yep, definitely mad," Kaoru agreed.

"You think we should do something?"

"Oh, absolutely."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Exactly what we were planning on doing."

The evil grin that passed between the two boys was the most devilish yet, and Haruhi just sighed.

And then Tamaki was there, and as the twins pulled on her arms to haul her back to their guests, Tamaki managed to grab her ankles and tried to pry her loose from the twins' grasps. And Haruhi couldn't help but mentally compare her situation to being stretched on a rack as the trio shouted insults at each other. Which was a perfectly normal occurrence, of course, but she would have preferred to be watching from the sidelines, not literally caught in the middle of a tug-of-war.

"Will you guys knock it off and let go of me?!" she yelled at them. She was, of course, ignored. She twisted her head, catching Takashi's eye and mouthing the word 'help' in his direction.

And like lightning, he was there. She wasn't quite sure how it happened, but somehow the hands gripping her arms and wrists and ankles were all removed and she was being held bridal-style in Takashi's arms. The twins and Tamaki looked nearly as shocked as she was. Takashi, as per usual, didn't say a word as he crossed the room and gently deposited her in her usual chair next to Kyouya, and she could have sworn she felt his lips brush against her temple, though it was so quick that no one else could have possibly seen anything. Her cheeks felt a bit warmer than usual, and she glanced up to see a knowing smirk on Kyouya's face.

"Stop that," she whispered, nudging his ankle with her foot (she would never dare to actually kick him like she might with the twins or Tamaki).

Kyouya just adjusted his glasses, the smile vanishing from his mouth… but strangely not from his eyes. "You're worried about how things will be after graduation."

Her mouth dropped open and she stared at him. "How…?" she asked before chancing a quick glance at the tall senior as he sat back down at his table with a murmured apology to his guests.

"It's a perfectly natural response, especially given the newness of the relationship, and the way you have both kept it so quiet."

"You know about it," she pointed out.

He gave her a pointed look. "Of course I know." And he left it at that.

Haruhi sighed, opening a book and grabbing a pen, deciding she might as well get on with her homework. "Of course you do," she agreed.

They worked in companionable silence for several minutes before Kyouya broke it. "You were right about one thing though."

"What's that?" Haruhi asked, not looking up at him, though she was sorely tempted to see the expression on his face as he admitted that she was right about something.

"He does trust me more than I gave him credit for," Kyouya said.

"Is that so? How did that come up?" Haruhi asked, finally looking up. She was surprised by the rather pensive expression on Kyouya's face.

Kyouya started to shrug, looked ready to brush her off… then he stopped himself. "He asked me to look out for you… around school… after graduation."

Haruhi gaped at him. That sounded like… like Takashi was anticipating that their relationship would last… "Well it makes sense," she managed to say. "After all, any idiot can see that we're friends…"

"It's more than that though," Kyouya interrupted her. "He apparently trusts me to make sure nothing happens to you… and that I won't go behind his back and try to steal you away." The look in those slate-gray eyes was only slightly predatory.

Haruhi grinned. "Maybe he just knows that I won't be tempted away from him by the likes of you," she teased.

"There may be something to that," Kyouya agreed with a smirk. He glanced over her shoulder, and she turned, following his gaze to Takashi as he escorted his guests to the door. "It looks like he's done for the day. You may go as well, if you like."

She turned to look at Kyouya, but his expression was impossible to read. "Thanks," she said with a smile, putting her books away and standing. She fell into step with Takashi as he approached the doors, and he held them open for her, like the proper gentleman that he was. And she felt Kyouya's eyes boring into her back, but she said nothing about it.

She and Takashi didn't say anything at all to each other, didn't even touch as they walked through the nearly deserted grounds of Ouran Academy. This was normal for them though, and she didn't try to change it. It wasn't until they were only a few yards from the front entrance that Takashi broke the silence.

"You spoke to Kyouya earlier."

Haruhi nodded. "I speak to him every day, you know that," she said with a smile.

Takashi gave her a look, pleading with her not to be coy. "I suppose he told you about our conversation."

"He mentioned it," Haruhi agreed.

"I hope I wasn't out of line," Takashi said at last, and he actually looked unsure for a moment, clearly wondering how she would take such a blatant attempt to keep watch over her when he couldn't do it himself.

Haruhi smiled and shook her head. "Not at all. I thought… I thought it was sweet." And she was definitely blushing, but she could do nothing to stop it.

"I had thought…" Takashi began, but he stopped and shook his head.

"Maybe a few months ago, I would have been upset," Haruhi conceded. "But… I understand. I know why you want to make sure I'm okay. Why you need to do that." And she couldn't stop the smile that crossed her face at the thought. "It shows you care."

Takashi's hand rested on her shoulder, and she thought that would be it, but then he bent down and pressed his lips to hers. It was over too quickly, she didn't even have time to properly orient herself. But it was still a kiss, and a quick peck was what he nearly always gave her. She didn't really mind. He was trying. She wouldn't push him. He obviously wanted to keep her by his side…

Takashi's head tilted slightly to one side. "Something wrong?"

Haruhi shook her head. "Not a thing," she whispered, and she surprised herself a little by reaching up and grabbing his tie, pulling him down to her level so that she could steal another quick kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow." And for many days after that, she hoped. And she hurried out of the school, not turning back… so she missed the smile that crossed Takashi's face as he shaded his eyes, watching her as she walked away.

A/N: *gets massive nosebleed thinking about being a toy for the twins* Ahem… This chapter ended up being a bit longer than I'd planned, but I got a little wrapped up in some of the fluffier moments. After all the angst, I thought we all deserved a bit of a treat.

I hoped that wrapped things up well! And now it's over, and I can't really say I'm upset about it. It was a really neat character exercise, and I did have some fun working my way through everyone's reactions to a tragedy, but damnit, it tore me up having to write this stuff… Don't know that I'll do something quite like this ever again, but it was kinda fun and I'm pretty pleased with the result. I truly hope everyone enjoyed this piece, and thank you all once again for all the support and encouragement!