Shadow's Strength

Chapter VI - Reassurance

On my way. Be there soon.

Kyouya hit send as he slid into the back seat of his car, sighing with relief to have finally escaped from the Devil Twins. In order to get Haruhi's homework and notes for her to copy, he had to talk to Kaoru. Of course, that meant he would have to explain that he was going to see Haruhi, which led the twins to want to come along. Kyouya was only able to prevent the two from calling the rest of the club by negotiating for another beach outing for the entire club at one of the Ootori resorts over the next break instead. But the twins still wanted to tag along for the day, and that was when he had to resort to blackmailing them to keep them from joining. He had wanted to save those photos of them both being pummeled by Honey—with Mori looking on with serious concern for their well-being—for a special occasion, but given the circumstances he had no other option but to go ahead and put them to use. Luckily, the bespectacled boy had the foresight to keep the fact that he would be eating Haruhi's cooking to himself, otherwise no amount of blackmail would have been able to prevent the twins' unwanted company.

He relaxed into his seat and absently watched the buildings pass. It wasn't like he didn't understand why the twins wanted to see her. He was looking forward to being able to spend some time with her too, after all, but while she obviously didn't want to be alone, he doubted that she was ready to be surrounded by everyone just yet, so he was going to ensure that she had the space she wanted. After all, this was about her, not him or anyone else. Somehow, that started to feel like his own personal mantra.

Soon, the car stopped and he grabbed his bag and the present from the seat next to him as he slid out and headed up to her apartment. She answered quickly after he knocked, and gratefully took the package, a small cake that he had Tachibana pick up, and ushered him inside. From the moment she opened the door, he discreetly watched her every move, even as he slipped into the apartment and took off his shoes. She appeared to be slightly better-rested and her face had a better color than before, so he guessed that she had been able to catch up on her sleep and had eaten some. But while he was glad that she looked a little better, there was still plenty of room for improvement.

"What are you making?" he asked pleasantly, looking around. It had been a while since he'd been in her apartment, but it looked the same as before, aside from the packet that he'd put together being sprawled across the living room table. Something about the sight gave him a twinge in the pit of his stomach.

"Nothing particularly fancy. Just teriyaki salmon and vegetables with rice," she replied with a shrug.

"Can I assist you?" he asked, but she raised an eyebrow at him, skeptical.

"Do you even know how to cook?"

"I can handle chopping vegetables, at least," he replied smoothly, challenging her skepticism as he adjusted his glasses confidently. Really, he didn't have any experience cooking given his upbringing, but he was sure that he could handle something as basic as cutting up vegetables. So, Haruhi gave another shrug, and he followed her into the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later, the sizzle of salmon in a skillet was drowned out by Haruhi's muffled giggling after she inspected Kyouya's work, and he was frowning in a way that looked dangerously close to a pout. That, of course, just made it all the more difficult for Haruhi to stifle her laughter.

In spite of his self-confidence, Kyouya cut the vegetables at such irregular sizes and angles that there was no way they would cook evenly as they were, and while Kyouya was extremely satisfied to hear Haruhi's laughter—even if it was at his expense—he knew that they had to get on with cooking if they ever wanted to eat. So once his near-pout turned into a glare, Haruhi stuck up her hands and apologized half-heartedly as she wiped tears from her eyes. Going by her reaction, he guessed that he'd ruined the vegetables and offered to go buy some more from the supermarket, but she shook her head, not liking to waste food.

"Here, just cut them all up really small. Like about this size," she directed, showing him how to dice up the vegetables further as she continued smiling. "Just be careful not to cut yourself. We can just have fried rice instead." Then she set about grabbing some eggs from the fridge and heating up another pan as Kyouya concentrated on cutting the vegetables properly this time.

By the time they finished, they were both more than ready to eat, and while the vegetables in the fried rice were still not totally consistent in size, the meal tasted adequate even to his refined palate. But he was sure that it was due to not only Haruhi's cooking skills, but also the fact that the atmosphere surrounding her was brighter than it had been since everything began—a fact for which he was extremely grateful.

"How about some dessert then, senpai?" she asked once they had both finished off their plates, and Kyouya gave a nod as she stood to go grab the cake he'd brought from the kitchen. When she opened the box, she marveled over how impressive it looked, though Kyouya just shrugged.

"It's just a normal cake, isn't it?" he asked, not understanding what was so spectacular about it, but she rolled her eyes.

"Well it certainly is a higher class than the cakes that are at the supermarket," she replied in good humor, and Kyouya simply hummed in response as he recalled the cakes he saw during the club's last expedition to the supermarket.

Haruhi cut the cake up, they both took a slice and she hummed in delight at the flavor where he enjoyed her reaction more than he enjoyed the cake itself. As such, he picked the strawberries off of his slice and moved them to her plate. She blinked at the red fruit that appeared on her plate before looking up at him a mix of confusion and surprise showing on her expression. He couldn't help finding the expression endearing, but quickly adjusted his glasses once again as he shook off the thought.

"You like them more than I do," he explained simply before going back to eating. She flashed him a wide smile and thanked him before returning to eating as well. Really, Kyouya had an affinity for strawberries himself, but her smile gave him more satisfaction than the fruit could have, so he was pleased with his decision to give them up.

Once they'd finished their meal, Kyouya offered to help her wash the dishes, and she eyed him with skepticism again—which irked him more than he wanted to admit—but figured there were only so many ways that a person could mess up washing dishes, so she went ahead and let him help. This time the work passed without incident, though she had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing at his serious expression as he concentrated on washing and drying each dish perfectly.

But once the chore was complete, Haruhi stood around a little awkwardly, and Kyouya watched for a moment before heading back into the main room and grabbing his books, situating himself at the table once again. She just stared at him, surprised and confused yet again, but she also couldn't help feeling slightly relieved.

Despite paying more attention to her reaction in his peripheral vision than the words in the textbook in front of him, he didn't say anything else, and after another moment or two, Haruhi followed behind, picking up her own materials and Kaoru's notes. He didn't particularly want to leave her company yet since he was so relieved to see her doing better than she had in a while, and he could tell that she definitely wasn't keen on being alone just yet either. Plus, he figured that if she had any questions about the materials she missed, he could help—not that he expected she would need it, given her intellect and position at the top of her class.

While she would probably be annoyed if it were anyone else trying to extend their stay beyond the invitation she had given, but since it was Kyouya, she didn't really mind. Plus, it was hard for her to be on her own since her thoughts would quickly turn dark if she spent too much time in her own head. She didn't want to spend time around too many people just yet since it was even more tiring to try to keep everyone from worrying—of course, she knew logically that they wanted her to rely on them, but she could only fight her nature so much—so spending time with Kyouya, doing simple chores and homework together, made her feel even better than she had anticipated. She could feel him watching her sometimes, probably worrying in his own way, but somehow his quiet concern didn't make her feel like she had to keep up a brave front. Of course, she knew that her ease around him was likely the result—at least in part—of crying in front of him so much already that there would be no point in trying to maintain a pretense of everything being fine. But in any case, she simply enjoyed his reassuring presence as they each quietly worked on their own tasks.

Kyouya finished his homework as Haruhi only just started on hers since she had to copy Kaoru's notes, but Kyouya made no move to leave and simply pulled out his laptop to work on his own pet projects, waiting for her to finish. But after another hour or two, they heard the door click open as Ranka returned. They exchanged greetings and he and Kyouya talked pleasantly for a while, but after a few minutes Kyouya decided to return home, not wanting to be in the way of the two since he could tell that Ranka wanted to spend time with Haruhi himself, especially with her significantly improved mood.

So once he said his goodbyes to the two, he called for a car and soon arrived back home, feeling much more relaxed than he had for the last few days. Of course, he knew that there were still several problems to be handled, but as long as Haruhi was able to laugh like she did earlier, he felt that somehow everything really could work out, and he hoped that his visit had helped her as much as it had helped him.

And by the time he returned home, his hopes were more or less confirmed with a quick message from Ranka.

She just fell asleep. Thank you.

He knew that Ranka's gratitude was loaded with more than a simple thanks for keeping his daughter company.

I'm pleased to help. Let me know if there is anything else that I can do.

He replied before sliding into his own bed, overcome by the exhaustion and relief that had settled over him.

There we go. Sorry that I was so slow with these chapters. I've had a busy few weeks, but I'll have chapter 7 up on Friday.

Hope you liked the chapter! (This was one of my absolute favorites to write so far.) Have a wonderful day!