At what price, love?

A/N: This story is a sequel to the anime, although it does reference many things that happen in the manga and so could be viewed as an alternate ending to the books. It begins about eight weeks before Tamaki and Kyoya graduate.

"I hate that woman." Honey's voice was low and soft, barely audible, but all the guys heard it clear as day.

"Well anyway," Tamaki shrugged, "it's over and done with now. I'd appreciate it if you don't tell Haruhi."

The blond boy didn't wait for an answer before leaving; he didn't have to. Haruhi was dear to all of them and none of them would hurt her by choice.

Silence followed.

"Could she really do it?" Hikaru asked Kyoya. "Could Madam Suoh destroy Haruhi's life if Tamaki doesn't end his relationship with her?"

"Well," Kyoya considered, "the Chairman is quite fond of Haruhi and is unlikely to withdraw her scholarship regardless of his mother's wishes. But she could cost Haruhi's father his job and make it difficult for him to find another here in Tokyo. And if they have to leave Tokyo, Haruhi will have to withdraw from Ouran, which will limit her law school choices and scholarship opportunities."

"Even if her dad had to leave Tokyo, that doesn't mean she'd have to leave Ouran. She could live with us," Hikaru volunteered.

"You really think she'd leave her dad for a school?" Kaoru answered back.

"Hmm."

"I'm surprised that bitter old woman didn't go after Haruhi without warning," Honey said.

"No," Mori replied. "Haruhi is not without friends and there is no reason to make enemies of the next head of the Haninozuka family or the owner of the Ootori Group." The others all turned to look at Mori in surprise. "What? All of us have money, but only Honey and Kyoya's families have enough social standing to challenge her."

Kyoya arched an eyebrow. "Interesting observation," he murmered to himself and filed away the comment for future reference.

~oOo~

It had been over a week and Haruhi's misery hadn't abated. Neither had Tamaki's, truth be told. At the Host Club meetings, Tamaki's charm was excessive, even for him. And for those who know him well, painfully forced. He stayed away from Haruhi and never met her eyes. For her part, Haruhi stayed on her side of the room, surreptitiously glancing over to try to figure out which of those well-moneyed beauties had taken Tamaki's heart.

Watching them from his vantage point midway between, it was hard to believe that only a month before, Tamaki had been dragging Kyoya around Tokyo's most exclusive jewelry stores looking at rings.

"What about this one?" Tamaki enthused holding up what looked like a piece of gilded lace.

"The filigree work is exquisite," Kyoya answered.

"Yes it is. Put it with the others please," he instructed the jeweler. The girl placed it on a velvet tray next to a half dozen other rings, variously carved, inlaid or set with colorful stones set in intricate patterns.

Kyoya glanced back at the case. "That one," he said.

The jeweler removed the ring from the case and handed it to him. Slightly over one carat, grade D white diamond solitaire set in white gold. "Flawless?" Kyoya inquired.

"Of course, sir," the jeweler replied.

"What have you found?" Tamaki bounced over. Kyoya showed him the ring. "Oh no! That's far too plain for my Haruhi!" Tamaki breezed back over to the other case.

Kyoya looked at the ring. Yes, he thought. Far too plain for your Haruhi. It would, however, have been perfect for my Haruhi. Simple. Elegant. Not so big it would encumber her tiny hands. Its true worth only apparent to those who knew what they were looking at. My Haruhi. He handed the ring back to the jeweler. He had to stop thinking this way. She was going to marry his best friend. Or at least, his best friend was going to ask her and she'd be a fool ten times over not to accept.

In hindsight, the choice of jewelers had been a mistake. When word got around that the Suoh heir had been shopping for engagement rings, Shizue intervened. Perhaps had they patronized a less prestigious store, the old woman would not have found out in time to react.

"Is something wrong?" asked one of Haruhi's regulars.

Haruhi smiled. "No. I just got some hard news. It's part of life. It will pass."

Before they could quiz her further, Kyoya intervened. "Haruhi? Would you mind staying after club tonight? I wanted to speak with you."

"Of course, Senpai."

Tamaki disappeared as soon as the session was over, not even staying for clean up. No one faulted him; he was dying inside and being in the same room with Haruhi was only making the pain worse. The lie that he had found another was holding for now, but it would crumble if he spent any appreciable time with her. The twins loitered a bit longer, hoping to find out what Kyoya was up to, but eventually gave up and left. And as Honey and Mori, now in college, only stopped by once or twice a week and this was not one of those days, the twins' departure left Kyoya and Haruhi alone.

"Senpai?"

Kyoya regarded her for a moment. "This is the night your father works late, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"My parents are out of the country, so I am on my own tonight as well. Would you care to join me for dinner?"

No, she thought. But it was hard to say no to Kyoya, especially when he seemed straightforward and sincere. "Sure. I guess." She reconsidered when they got to the car. "Actually, I'm probably not very good company tonight."

"Well, given that nobody besides Tamaki ever truly thinks I am good company, that makes us a pair." He opened the door and handed her in.

"That's not true. You can be quite nice when, you know, there's something to be gained."

Kyoya wasn't sure if he was amused or annoyed at her teasing. "'Among those who are his equals in consequence, he is a very different man from what he is to the less prosperous?' We had to read Pride and Prejudice in world literature. A waste of time. Mr. Darcy is the only character in the story who is sensible and therefor likable."

Haruhi stifled a giggle.

The waiting are of the restaurant was packed, even on a weeknight and for a brief moment Haruhi thought she might escape dinner after all. No such luck. The Maître d' bowed as soon as he saw them. "Welcome, Mr. Ootori. Your table is waiting."

The waiter placed menus before them and Kyoya politely picked his up although his eyes never moved. He probably has it memorized, she thought.

"See anything of interest?" he asked after a few minutes.

"Several things. I just couldn't help noticing there are no prices on this menu."

"I invited you to dinner. I'm paying."

"I'm sorry. I'm still expecting to be billed for every possible expense."

"Your debt to the Host Club was joke, Haruhi. Perhaps we let it go on too long, but it was easier than admitting how much we all wanted you to stay."

"Yeah, I realized early on it was a joke. You were never going to let me out of debt."

"And yet you went along with it."

"It was easier than admitting how much I wanted to stay."

Their eyes met and they each suppressed a slight smile, then Haruhi burst out laughing. She answered Kyoya's raised eyebrow, "I'm sorry, I just … do you remember when Kasanoda came to us to make him less scary and they gave him a 'lovely object' and that made it even worse?"

Kyoya shook his head. "Then they put him in that maid's outfit. It's a wonder he didn't have us all killed." That single reminiscence opened a floodgate of memories and for the first time in his life, Kyoya found himself laughing all the way through dinner. They carefully skirted certain memories, especially ones too close to Tamaki or anything to do with the beach on Okinawa. Even so, they had plenty of fodder. The school physical her first year. Her accidental first kiss. The Zuka Club's attempts to woo her from the Host Club. She even found humor in the memory of a sleep deprived, starving and irritated Shadow King being led around a commoner's mall. Her eyes sparkled with mirth and her comments were clever without malice. God, she was beautiful.

In the car on the way home, Kyoya stared out the window. "I want you to know I really am sorry about you and Tamaki. I truly thought you two made an exceptionally well matched couple."

Haruhi bit her lip. "It's ok. It wouldn't have worked long term anyway.… I'm from a different world than you guys…"

"Nonsense. You're highly intelligent. Anything we know, you could learn."

She shook her head. "I could never take money for granted the way you guys do."

"Haruhi, I haven't taken money for granted since I was eight years old and found out I was to be disinherited for the sin of being born a third son." She looked at him sharply, but he went on almost oblivious to her presence. "I remember, I had my driver take me around the poorer neighborhoods of Tokyo and I wondered how people lived like that. And I promised myself that was never going to happen to me. So while my peers spent their money on games and fancy trips, I saved mine. While they read adventure stories, I read financial journals. While they played sports, I learned to do research. By the time I was ten, I saved enough to open an investment account. I lost half of it in the first six months. But I learned something. I learned a lot of things. About money. And companies. And the people who run them. And by the time I was fourteen, I had made a hundred million yen. But until tonight, I never told anyone. Because what if the market turned and I lost it all? Then I'd be an even bigger failure than a penniless third son."

"Kyoya, I had no idea…"

"I'm not interested in your sympathy, Haruhi. I'm pointing out that you have no idea what our lives are like. You think you know, just as Tamaki thinks he knows what your life is like, and I suspect the two are equally accurate. I don't need my family's money anymore. They could cut me off tomorrow and I could still finish Ouran and put myself through any university in the world. However, despite that my family is a laboratory for social Darwinism, they are still my family. I have no desire to walk away from them. And despite that they are my family and I will maintain ties to them always, I want my brothers to know – down to the darkest recesses of their souls, that I am a better man than they. But they don't control me. I may hope for my father's blessing when I choose a wife; but I will choose her, not him.

"The Hitachiins are both self-made. They wouldn't care if their daughter-in-law came from nothing as long as she is a good person who makes their son happy. Of course which son…

"For that matter, I suspect that Mori still has a soft spot for you. And Kasanoda, though I really don't recommend…"

"Stop pushing your friends at me!" She interrupted. "I don't need a man to make me whole!"

"Not whole," Kyoya said reasonably. "But do you really want to go back to being lonely? Ah, we've arrived at your home." Kyoya got out and walked around the car to open her door and help her out.

"You really don't have to…" she started but he cut her off.

"Nonsense. A gentleman always sees a lady to her door, else what sort of Host would I be?" And he did, up the narrow stairwell to her door. As she fumbled for her keys, a thought occurred to her. Had this been a date? He'd asked her out, paid for dinner, walked her to her door. Well, there was one way to tell she thought as she slid the key into the lock.

"Kyoya," she said as she turned the key.

"Yes?"

She turned around and gave him a quick kiss. His eyes went wide and he tensed up in surprise. Nope, she thought, not a date. She started to turn back when she felt one arm slip around her waist while the other slid across her shoulders, cradling her head. He bent to give her a long, slow kiss. Time slipped away from her, only resuming with a sharp pain when their lips parted. They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment or forever while he fought the temptation to kiss her again. It wasn't fair to her, he told himself. She'd just broken up with Tamaki. She needed more time. He gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead and reluctantly released her. "Goodnight Haruhi."

She stood there in the open doorway until she heard the limo pull away. She turned and walked into the darkened apartment to find her father standing in the doorway to his bedroom. "It's late," he said. "I was starting to worry."

"I'm fine," she replied. Overwhelming, swirling, confused emotions still counted as fine, right? She already wanted to cry over Tamaki and rage at him for breaking up without really giving her a reason. She was angry at Kyoya for giving her a truly enjoyable evening, then offering to pass her down the table like it all meant nothing. She was angry at Kyoya because she wanted him. She wanted him because it would hurt Tamaki and she wanted him because … because she wanted him. She didn't understand it. She'd never thought of him in that light before. She still loved Tamaki. Surely it wasn't possible to love two men at once. She drew a deep breath before looking at her father again and answered his unspoken question with a nonchalant "I just went out to dinner with one of the guys." She disappeared into her room too quickly and closed the door.

Ranka looked after her and wondered. He could have sworn it was Tamaki his daughter had been dating, but that was Kyoya's voice outside the door. And judging from the shadows cast through the window, it hadn't been just dinner. He was saddened that Haruhi was keeping a secret from him, but then again, he wasn't being completely honest with her either he thought, as he reached for the medicine bottle.

A/N : The story is a little bit choppier than I wanted it to be, but I didn't want to take too long to get it started. If it helps, the first few chapters will probably get posted in rapid succession; I wrote a little ahead to make sure I had something to build a story on. Unfortunately, the characters have already started telling me "Yeah, we're not doing that. We're going to do this other thing instead." Hopefully it will all work out. Thank you for reading and please feel free to leave comment about what worked for you and what didn't.