A/N: Welcome to the absolute end, everybody. Or at least until I write some sequel (maybe). It's the 6th of March; exactly one year ago on this day I posted the prologue to NaF, so it seemed only fitting that I get this up today. It's also my birthday month, and one of the most hectic months of the year for me in terms of schoolwork.

This is for my lovely reviewers from the last chapter: Full-Empty-Spirit, I. AM .NOT. A. DOG, chobncheese, Stupid Cow, Always A Bookworm, pi-or-pie, Jillkun-ness, Angel015, porcelainanimals, Skylark555, Rouge, xRosePetalx, and Flacks. You are all unique and beautiful snowflakes.

This is also for all the guys out there who are into guys, because they so often have to deal with so much crap.

And for my wonderful panda. :) You are stars and moon and sunshine.

Again, quite rushed, but I hope it was still okay.

Edit 07 Mar 2010 7:09 pm: Thanks for pointing out my twin mistake, Skylark555! Those dang Hitachiin twins are so easy to mix up. :)

Epilogue: Tomorrow and Forever

"I'll see you later at lunch, okay?" Tamaki said as he and Hikaru stopped at the corner right before the freshman's classroom. Kaoru and Kyouya had already gone ahead, leaving them to have a last-minute conversation. It was their first day as an 'official couple' (for the second time), and neither could stop smiling. Well, Hikaru tried, but the scowl always seemed to melt into a silly grin.

The rest of the Host Club had teased them mercilessly during breakfast and on the ride to school—except for Kyouya; he was too busy walking around in a zombie-like, sleep-deprived state. No one except Kaoru had dared to talk to him. Even Fuyumi had stayed quiet and refrained from forcing him to eat something doused in syrup for breakfast.

"Okay. Don't you dare cheat on me while I'm gone," the redhead teased.

"Hmm. What would happen if I do?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure I can get my chainsaw back from that old bat of an English teacher. Huh… now that I think about it, maybe I should hook her up with the Shadow King. They seem like they'd get along," he snorted. "Come on, we've got ten minutes before class time and I want to get in my seat. Remember, we're supposed to be staying low-key this time—"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA! IT'S THEM! IT'S THEM!"

The two hosts turned around to see a fangirl tsunami coming their way at top speed. Tamaki quickly yanked Hikaru behind him as they were surrounded by a mass of squealing customers. Passing students who weren't patrons of the Host Club continued going about their daily activities, having long since learned that it never paid to get sucked into whatever insanity their rabid fangirls were screaming about.

"We're so happy that you two are together again!" one of them squealed. "Tamaki-sama, Hikaru-kun, congratulations!"

"And the circumstances were so romantic," sighed another. "A duel to the death with parents opposed to the match… it's just like Romeo and Juliet!"

Hikaru twitched. "Now, who exactly are you referring to as 'Juliet'? It better not be me." But of course, they all ignored him.

Tamaki frowned. "How did you all find out? We only got back together last night. And I wouldn't call it a duel to the death…"

"OHOHOHOHO!"

"Oh no," Hikaru mumbled at the sound of the evil laugh piercing the air. "Not this. Anything but this."

"And hello to you too, Hikaru-kun," Renge said, as she appeared atop a platform spiraling out of the floor.

"Why the hell does your dad allow her to do that?" the Hitachiin asked Tamaki.

"He probably thinks it's funny," the Host King replied, shaking his head.

"Shut up, both of you," she said, crossing her arms across her chest. "I may like you two together, but you still get on my nerves." At the click of a button on a remote control she was holding, a small television spiraled out of the ground on another platform.

"What, we don't get the giant one that you used for Kaoru and the piranha?"

"You said you wanted to keep it low-key," she answered tartly. "Be thankful."

"How did she hear that?" Tamaki wondered. Suddenly he realized that his father would also probably find it funny to allow her to put bugs everywhere. But surely even he wouldn't go that far to indulge the crazy otaku…

Then the television flickered to life and he was snapped out of his thoughts as his onscreen self leaned in and kissed the onscreen Hikaru. "Was that real?"

"Oh dear God, he didn't," Tamaki whimpered, suddenly fearing the potential fangirl explosion.

"Nn… maybe," whispered the onscreen Hikaru, cheeks aflame. The real-life Hikaru was flushed too… but with anger or embarrassment, he wasn't sure.

"Do I need to give a repeat performance to get you to make up your mind?"

"I'm going to kill him," the freshman declared, eyes narrowing. He made a small noise in the back of his throat as his video-self grabbed Tamaki and kissed him hard. "I just wanted to be sure, because if I found out that it was nothing but a joke… I'd go insane. I'm not losing you again!"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The customers squealed and applauded as the screen mercifully went black. Soon they were surrounded by crazy girls rushing to 'hug them in congratulations' (or tear off bits of their clothing, apparently).

"LADIES!" Tamaki shouted, pulling Hikaru away from some of the more enthusiastic, grabby girls. His lover had come out much the worse for the wear, with only a single sleeve of his jacket remaining. Great. "Please, enough. We have class."

Hikaru was spitting out swear words that would have made a sailor cringe."When I get my hands on that voyeuristic, perverted bat out of hell, I'm going to behead him. That's the way to kill a vampire, right? Or a stake through the heart?"

"That would kill anybody, Hikaru-kun, not just vampires," Renge said, rolling her eyes. "But you seem to be under the illusion that Kyouya-sama sent me this footage. You're wrong."

"Oh? That was his room, and probably his security cameras," he hissed. "How the hell can you stand there telling me I'm wrong?"

"Because you are, not that that's such a surprise. You almost always are," she replied calmly. "He may have supplied them with the footage, but I don't think he sent it himself. Unless he's been cheating on Kaoru-kun with someone other than the idiot lord."

"Milord's not hooking up with the bat, not now, not ever," he retorted. He's mine.

"Here," she said, handing the two of them a picture. "It came attached to the footage. I think you should understand who sent the video to me if you read the message."

It was a photo of Tamaki and Hikaru, their faces comically surprised. The expressions were absolutely priceless. Scribbled on the back of the photo were two messages in two different styles of handwriting. Once he read them he knew exactly who'd sent it… and knew that he'd be the one apologizing, not them. They'd probably gotten all their annoyance out their systems with this one, but he really didn't want to risk otherwise.

Having a stuffed bunny doesn't mean I just wandered out of the playpen, Hika-chan! But if you really want to know how grown-up someone with an Usa-chan can be, let me know and we can talk it over… in the dojo.

Haruhi looks good in every color. And no, she doesn't want it that bad.

"Right, so the idiot lord and evil doppelganger number one have been sent off on a wild goose chase by some of our heroic volunteers," Renge said, rapping her knuckles on a temporary lectern that had been set up in the club room. The customers and the rest of the Host Club were all sitting in their usual places. "That gives us about twenty minutes to get the betting pool in order. Any new bets?"

"Fifty thousand yen on Hikaru-kun hitting Tamaki-sama at least five times today."

"Twenty thousand yen on Tamaki-san declaring today to be an anniversary of some sort," called out one girl, much to the laughter of the others. Tamaki had taken to calling everything an anniversary: an anniversary of the day they'd first met, the five-month anniversary of their first kiss, the two-week anniversary of the first time Hikaru had let him spoon-feed him…

Actually, Haruhi had managed to get quite a profit for that spoon-feeding incident. She'd had a couple of extra yen in her pocket and, on a whim, placed it on what almost everyone had called a fool's bet, only to get more than ten times her initial wager when the redhead had, mysteriously, allowed Tamaki to feed him a bite of cake in the cafeteria.

"Thirty thousand yen on them being caught kissing in the infirmary."

Renge consulted her calendar. "It's the second Friday of the month. That's a given." She rolled her eyes. "All your bets are too safe! The returns on those will be tiny; maybe one or two yen, five at most. They're hardly even bets anymore, since you all know that they're going to come true."

Kaoru looked up from where he was playing poker with Kyouya. The girls loved to watch them play, since the two of them staked kisses instead of chips. No one really lost in their card games. "I'll bet five hundred thousand yen on my twin revisiting the bar he used to frequent, and milord will try to talk him out of it. There, my idiot brother will probably be accosted by that guy he used to dance with, and milord will have a fit of jealousy. I'd say this'll all happen… oh, this Saturday."

Kyouya laid down his hand—a royal flush. "Pay up, Kaoru," he murmured, and the redhead gladly supplied him with his winnings. "Put me down for a bet of one million yen on Tamaki coming back on Sunday to the bar to meet with Hikaru's old friend and apologize to him. Said friend will try to hit on Tamaki… and of course Hikaru will arrive just in time to see them. Hmm. I think I'll add in the two of them 'making up' in their parking lot outside the bar."

"Thank you, now I know where my camera and I will be this weekend," Renge said, recording to their fresh wagers. "You two sure love to take risks, don't you? How can you be sure those things will happen?"

"Please, you're talking to the Shadow King here," Kaoru snorted as he dealt out fresh hands. "And come on, Renge. We've never been wrong yet."

"Kyou-chan and Kao-chan should be banned from betting," Hunny said with a grin, not really serious. "The pool will run dry if they keep on getting it right."

"Not like it's that much of a problem," Kaoru said with a shrug. "We've got an almost never-ending supply of money from the greatest bet of them all."

They all laughed. "Yes, which brings us to the usual… the big question of 'When will Hikaru-kun tell the idiot lord that he loves him?'. All the previous bets, except Kaoru-kun's outstanding one, have failed."

The girls groaned. "Hikaru-kun is so stubborn!" wailed one of them. "I must have lost about two million yen the last few months." Of course, that was all pocket change to them, but still. They were all dying to see the redhead cave.

"I think I'll put a wager down for… on their anniversary, which Tamaki-kun will probably make a huge production of," proposed a junior. "Fifty thousand yen."

"Three weeks from now," said another girl. "I think Hikaru-kun's starting to cave, if the spoon-feeding incident indicates anything. Um… twenty-five thousand yen."

"A hundred thousand yen on him saying it while they're making up in the parking lot this weekend," proposed one more.

Mori shook his head. "You're going to lose your money, Chiyo-san."

She frowned. Damn. If Mori said so, it was probably true. The senior had never posted any bets himself, but his predictions—when he deigned to make them, which wasn't often—were infallible. "Why not?"

Hunny grinned. "Their mouths will be otherwise occupied, Chi-chan! They won't have time to say 'I love you'."

"Sorry, all bets, once made, can't be taken back," Renge said with a shrug. "Better luck next time. But now I know that I'd better recharge my camera's batteries… and maybe bring spares. How about anything closer to the present? Say… today? Tomorrow?"

They all burst out laughing. "We all know better than that," Haruhi said, shaking her head. "Honestly."

Kyouya smirked. "If you like, I could make Hikaru say it today…."

They all shivered. They had no doubt that the Shadow King could easily manipulate the Hitachiin into it somehow.

"No!" Kaoru complained, smacking his boyfriend lightly on the arm. "You want me to lose my bet? It's still standing, remember?"

"Oh yes," the sophomore said, smiling. "I'll hold off for now, then. But if you change your mind I can speed up the process."

"Kao-chan, you said Hika-chan would admit it when he's seventy," Hunny pointed out.

The younger boy smirked. "Like I said, sempai, we haven't been wrong yet…"

The girls watched Tamaki and Hikaru horsing around; the redhead was making the other boy carry him piggyback style around the club room as a punishment for losing to him in poker (unlike Kyouya and Kaoru, they didn't play for kisses; after the incident with the pink feather boa, hadn't Tamaki learned his lesson about gambling with Hikaru yet?). "You know, there's something bothering me," one of the girls began, setting down her cup of tea.

"What is it, Ayako-san?" asked Kaoru. He particularly liked this customer, mostly because she had a good sense of style. The two of them actually compared fashion notes sometimes. She'd been one of the first who'd congratulated him on his relationship with Kyouya.

"Well… between Hikaru-kun and Tamaki-san, who's the seme?"

Hikaru looked up from his comfortable perch. "Me, of course."

Everybody paused.

"Tamaki," answered Kaoru.

"Tamaki," said Kyouya.

"Tama-chan, definitely," agreed Hunny.

Haruhi tapped on her chin. "Tamaki-sempai."

Mori nodded.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Ayako-san said. "Even if Hikaru-kun is always so adamant about being the seme."

"WHAT?" Hikaru exploded. "What the heck are you guys on?"

"Sorry, brother," Kaoru said with a shrug. "But it's kind of a given. I thought everyone realized it. You're… well, you're a tsundere type, I guess."

The older Hitachiin stared at him, nonplussed. "No. No. This… this is messing up my entire world. Not happening. This is Renge wearing Kaoru's skin, isn't it?"

Kaoru grinned sheepishly. "Well, okay, so she did lend me some of her manga. She said it would make for good references for…" He trailed off. The girls burst into floods of giggles, knowing exactly what Kaoru had read them for.

"And you actually read them?"

"Well, it's kind of obvious that sempai would end up being the seme," said Haruhi. "I mean, Hikaru is so far in denial about his feelings that it's kind of sad."

"And you need far too much rescuing to ever be considered a seme, Hikaru," added Kyouya. 'Your little scene at the bar? Very immature."

Renge giggled. "Manly brooding is acceptable, Hikaru-kun, as what Tamaki-sempai did… but going off to get drunk so you can forget him? It's so obvious that you were only looking for his attention!"

"I was not!" he protested. He glared down at Tamaki, who was still carrying him. "You! You don't think I'm the uke, do you?"

Kaoru grinned. "Oh, this is going to be good."

"W-well…" Tamaki hesitated. Actually, after everything, he could say that it still didn't matter to him either way. As long as Hikaru was with him, he was happy. But the truth was that he'd much rather push Hikaru down and watch the boy's gorgeous reactions…

"What's with that long pause?" Hikaru pulled on his ears. "I'm not the uke! I mean, look at you! You're a crybaby!"

"Said the guy who burst into tears in front of everyone here," muttered another girl.

Renge shook her head. "You're missing the point, Hikaru. There's a pyramid of ukeness."

"…what?"

"Normally Tamaki-sempai would be an uke, but you just happen to be more uke than he is."

"Excuse me?"

She shrugged. "Kyouya-sama is probably at the very top, along with Mori-sempai. If the two of them ever got together, now that would be a fight for domination." Her eyes sparkled as she turned to the two dark-haired club members. "I don't suppose you two…"

"No thanks," they answered simultaneously.

"No offense, sempai," Kyouya added.

"None taken," Mori agreed. "No offense meant either."

"Then come Kaoru-kun and Haruhi-kun… I find Hunny-sempai unclassifiable," she murmured, tapping her chin. "Hunny-sempai's a bit of a wild card. I get the feeling that he'd actually come before Kaoru-kun and Haruhi-kun, if we give him a chance to unleash a darker side."

"Wait, why are Kaoru and Haruhi next on the list? I mean, Kaoru… Kaoru shines his shoes regularly!"

Kaoru snorted. "…and that has to do with my ukeness how?"

"Kaoru-kun is quite a trickster, of sorts… he could manipulate almost anyone. Except perhaps Kyouya-sama and the seniors. And Haruhi-kun is so…"

"...thick-skinned?" supplied one girl, giggling.

"Something like that. He has good defenses and ignores most things." Renge grinned. "Then it's Tamaki-sempai, then you. You're on the very bottom."

Hikaru was turning pink. "I—I am not—"

"So no matter who you hooked up with in the club, you'd be the subservient one. Unless of course they decided to take pity on you and allow you to top just to keep you from whining."

The Hitachiin was quiet for a second before he disengaged his arms from around his boyfriend's neck and jumped to his feet. "Hi-Hikaru?" ventured Tamaki.

"THAT IS IT! WE'RE BREAKING UP!" And with that, Hikaru stomped off.

"Typical uke reaction," giggled Renge, sending the other girls into twitters of delight.

"He doesn't really mean it, milord," Kaoru said quickly. "But just to be sure, you ought to go and run after the stupid—"

"He already left," Mori interjected, as the younger boy realized that he'd been speaking to empty air for the last few seconds.

"HIKARU! WAIT FOR ME! I DIDN'T MEAN IT, I SWEAR!" They heard Tamaki's voice echo down the halls, causing a few to wince and cover their ears.

"SHUT UP! HALF OF TOKYO CAN HEAR YOU, IDIOT!" The twin roared back—not that his decibel level was any lower.

"BUT I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOU!"

"Match made in heaven," Kaoru snorted, as he settled himself back against Kyouya's arm. And once again, all was well.

A/N: And there we go. This fic was both very fun and frustrating to write. My head's bursting with ideas for future multichapters and oneshots already (aside from fulfilling quite a few of the fanfic requests I have on my profile page, what do you guys say to a MorixKyouya?), but I'm loath to leave NaF behind so readily. Have a beautiful March, everyone!