The Walk

Alright then, (alright then.)
I could keep your number for a rainy day.
That's where this end.
No mistakes no misbehaving.
I was doing so well.
Could we just be friends?
I feel a weakness coming on.

"Haruhi." The woman flinched when Kyouya's voice rang out sharp against the quiet that surrounded her. Everyone had left the Host Club, save for Haruhi, whom was straightening up rather slowly on this particular day, and Kyouya, whom was working diligently at his job, assumingly adding up the club's funds.

"Yes Kyouya-senpai?" She replied, glancing up from a long-gone-cold cup of tea that had been sitting on a table.

Kyouya stood with his laptop's carrier placed on one shoulder, one hand already raised to the bridge of his nose to push his glasses up. As always, they caught the light, leaving his eyes unreadable.

"It's late. Perhaps you would accept a ride home?" He offered, shifting his weight to his other foot.

Haruhi's immediate response was to shake her head. "No thank you senpai. I can walk home."

Kyouya glanced out the window before returning his gaze to her, seeming almost bored.

"It appears it will rain soon. If you catch a cold from walking in the rain, and then don't come to school, profits will go down with your absence, and you will be behind in school."

Haruhi furrowed her brow at the man as she continued to pick up the chaos of the music room.

"I'm a commoner, a little rain won't make me melt." Haruhi sarcastically replied. "Besides, I'm not going straight home. I have a…. side-stop I have to make." She said, deliberating.

"It's fine. I have no plans for the night." Kyouya replied, and without another word waltzed forward towards Haruhi. She was ordered to take the dirtied dishes to the kitchenette-like room, only to return with Kyouya offering her coat.

"Let's go. We don't want to worry Ranka by having you out too late." Kyouya said, one side of his mouth lifting as he gazed down at the woman as she placed the blue blazer over her shoulders.

"While that would normally be a cause to worry about, my father won't be home till late himself.." She said assuredly. Her eyes were downcast, her tone subdued.

"And why would that be?" Kyouya asked, fishing for information, his hands in his pockets as he led the way out of the school doors. Tachibana stood waiting, immediately opening the doors for the teenagers upon sight.

"No reason." Haruhi said, before offering a quick 'thank you' to Tachibana and sliding into the limo.

Kyouya spoke a few phrases that went missed by Haruhi before sliding himself into the limo.

He didn't start back in on his inquisition, so Haruhi shifted herself into a posture of comfort before allowing herself to gaze out the window. The view rolled by in a blur that was only enhanced by the rain that began to sprinkle and hit the limo in a drumming rhythm. Haruhi felt her eyelids lower as she noted the gloomy weather and her own gloomy mood. Before she realized it, a sigh was escaping her lips.

"You seem distracted today." Kyouya's voice interrupted her quiet contemplation.

Haruhi turned her head to see Kyouya watching her curiously from his peripherals. His laptop was already poised over his lap, the luminescent screen's light bouncing off his glasses, giving him a rather garish expression.

"I guess I am." She murmured quietly, turning her eyes to her hands in her lap. Her fingers were twined in her lap, flexing of their own accord.

Kyouya didn't push the matter, leaving Haruhi to return to her thoughts. It wasn't till the limo slowed that Haruhi realized she had never told Kyouya where it was she was going. She quickly peeked out the window to see a familiar, yet surprising sight.

"Senpai?" She asked quietly, still staring.

"Yes, Haruhi?" He replied in a muted tone.

"How did you know?" Her voice wavered slightly, as she finally turned her face back around to face the raven haired youth.

His laptop was closed and placed on the floorboard. Tachibana opened the door beside him, an umbrella already poised above the door. None of these things amounted to the rather tender expression on Kyouya's face.

"You can't keep secrets from me, Haruhi." He said gently. He slid out of the limo, beckoning only once for Haruhi to follow.

She scrambled out of the vehicle, huddling next to Kyouya underneath the umbrella. She still stared up the teen, surprise etched into her face, before turning her face to the entrance gates.

"Shall we go?" Kyouya gestured forward, taking the umbrella over for Tachibana, whom pulled out his own to follow the two.

They stepped through the gates of the cemetery at a leisurely pace, Kyouya needing no guidance as he led the young woman towards her mother's grave.

Haruhi's eyes glazed over as she stared at the headstone that had 'Fujioka Kotoko' etched into its surface. No matter that it had now been 11 years since her death, Haruhi found this was always the hardest day of the year.

Her lips trembled almost imperceptibly, and Haruhi forced down the emotional tears. 'It would not do to suddenly break down with Kyouya-senpai.' she tried to tell herself.

She was surprised when a hand landed on her shoulder, the warmth from his arm draped over her back. She lifted her head to see into the black eyes of Kyouya as he watched her with a calm expression.

"All my life, I was taught tears were a weakness." He squeezed her shoulder once here, "But sometimes it's all you can do."

Haruhi didn't try to comprehend the words, because immediately a warmth rolled down her cheeks, and suddenly she was crying. Her hands flew to her face as she wept softly, Kyouya letting his own hand come up to her head, pulling her forward.

It was a strange thing to be comforted by the 'cool type' host member. He was hardly what Haruhi called friendly, though she knew from multiple experiences that he wasn't what he appeared to be. While he was confident in pulling her closer underneath the umbrella, his hand could only awkwardly pat her back as she cried quietly. When she felt the sniffles begin to subside, she lifted her head to wipe at her eyes with her sleeve when a handkerchief was pushed in front of her nose.

"Take it." He pushed the cloth closer towards Haruhi's face until she took it in her hands. She dabbed at her eyes, smiling gently as she glanced back up at Kyouya.

"Thank you Kyouya-senpai." She murmured, turning back to the grave, the tissue clenched in her fingers. She pursed her lips a second, and muttered something about flowers.

She stared at Kyouya incredulously when a single rose was pushed under her nose.

"You bought flowers? We didn't even make any stops on the way here though!" She exclaimed, taking the flower gently in her fingers. Kyouya twirled his own rose in his fingers, staring at the silky red petals.

"I knew what today was." He said simply, before passing the umbrella off to Haruhi. He kneeled forward, and laid the rose over the grave, before taking the umbrella back in his hands. (Haruhi was just too short to carry it for them.)

Haruhi laid her own rose across Kyouya's, touching the stone with her fingertips briefly, before standing again.

"Why are you doing this?" Haruhi asked simply, her eyes downcast.

"No one should have to be alone on these sort of occasions." He replied. He smirked as he turned to face her. "I'm the only one in the Host Club who knew what today was, and if you weren't going to tell anyone else, than it's not my business to tell them either."

"Thank you." Haruhi said for the second time that day, her voice fervent with gratitude.

They stood there watching each other, until they awkwardly realized the silence between them.

"I-I should probably be heading home now." Haruhi fumbled, using the handkerchief to wipe at her face for the last time.

Kyouya only nodded and allowed Haruhi to lead the way away from the grave.

They piled into the limo silently, rushing to reach the interior of the vehicle as the rain began to fall in heavy sheets around them. The drive to Haruhi's was a tedious one as Tachibana expertly drove through the wet streets.

Haruhi felt herself occasionally glancing over to her senior, absorbing the way he sat calmly gazing out of the window. His hands were placed in his lap, his pale skin luminated by the gray light shimmering through the windows. His expression was calm, though his eyes were narrowed in consternation. Haruhi briefly wondered what was going on behind the mask, what the man was thinking about.

That thought was quickly chased by the rational side of Haruhi's brain reporting that Kyouya's mind was probably a dark, scary abyss that should never be exposed lest it draw in and suck the life away from its victims.

'Of course,' Haruhi chastised herself, 'that's not true either. He may have nothing but business on the brain, but he still cares about others.' Wasn't today proof enough of that? Haruhi mulled over this, not noticing when the limo slowed once again before stopping.

The tug on her jacket sleeve caused Haruhi to jump in her seat. She turned her head to see Kyouya with his brow raised in amusement. Haruhi gave way to mild embarrassment before following him out of the limo.

He stood patiently at her side as she dug for her keys then finally reached forward to unlock the door.

"Would you like to come in for some tea Kyouya-senpai?" Haruhi asked without thinking. She paused with her hand on the door handle, peering up at the youth.

Kyouya shook his head gently.

"I've taken up enough of your time today." He paused once before continuing. "I've got some work to do anyways."

Haruhi nodded. "I understand." Her natural smile lit up her face, an immediate reaction. "Thank you for, well, everything Kyouya-senpai."

Kyouya stiffened slightly, not used to the appreciation. It wasn't like he'd really done anything anyways. Just bought some flowers for a dead woman.

"It was nothing." He replied truthfully before turning to return to the limo. He waved once over his shoulder as Haruhi called out her goodbye, before jogging to escape the rain.

He settled into the limo, shaking his hair slightly as he worked to relieve it of the raindrops. Once he realized that was a vain effort, he picked up his laptop and turned it on. The desktop finally pulled up as they pulled away from Haruhi's apartment.

Fifteen minutes down the road, and Kyouya was immersed in his work. He began waving numbers around, marking a point here and there until a loud clap drew his attention away.

The rain had picked up during his submersion, and was hammering on the roof of the car now. The thunder that had drawn his attention had been powerful enough to be felt in his chest.

Kyouya would've have given it a second thought on a normal day, but unfortunately the young woman had been quite prominent on his mind for the past few hours. Kyouya found himself pulling his cell phone out, typing the number by heart. He muttered instructions to Tachibana, until the woman answered.

"Hello?" Haruhi answered uneasily.

"Haruhi." Kyouya spoke, surprised Haruhi had answered at all.

"Oh, Kyouya-senpai. Did you forget to tell me something..?" She asked with surprise.

"I simply decided that I might take you up on your offer for tea. If that is okay, of course." No need to worry the girl about the approaching storm.

"…yeah, I guess." Haruhi said with curiosity. She was sure to be wondering about his change of mind, especially since it would be taking him away from his already stated work.

"Great." Kyouya chirped with fake cheerfulness. "I'll see you in a few minutes then."

He hung up promptly, sliding the phone away as he returned back to his laptop. No need to waste the time back to her apartment so long as he could get a little bit of work done.

When he felt the exaggerated slowness of a vehicle stopping, he began to load the computer into a bag, tossing it over his shoulder. By now, Haruhi would have noticed the storm and be hiding away from the noise.

Kyouya opened his door without waiting for Tachibana, hopping up the apartment's stairs quickly.

Haruhi's door was locked, but Kyouya didn't hesitate to pull out his own copy of the key (Ranka had supplied it with him long ago to keep an eye on Haruhi, if for some reason Ranka was out of town.) and enter the home.

The lights were off (Kyouya wondered briefly if this really made things any better when you were terrified), but Kyouya knew the layout of the house by heart, despite only having visited the dwelling a few times.

A muffled cry when another clap of thunder sounded alerted Kyouya to Haruhi's hideaway.

He kneeled down, one arm on his knee, as he peered above his glasses to stare at Haruhi underneath the table. A blanket was wrapped around her, leaving only her nose and screwed-shut eyes visible. He admitted to himself that she would've been quite adorable had she not been terrified out of her mind.

Kyouya slid a hand underneath the table and brushed a few strands of hair away. Her eyes jumped open, her small gasp barely heard through the blanket and pounding rain.

"Kyouya..?" She breathed, too scared to add the formality.

"Don't look so surprised. I told you I was coming back." He reminded her. Gently, he tugged the blanket, gesturing for Haruhi to move forward.

She awkwardly crawled out from underneath the table, cowering as the next thunderclap sounded, though quiet compared to the prior cracks.

"Did you come back because of the storm?" She asked, her voice wavering.

Kyouya didn't answer, but placed his arms around her for the second time that day. He pulled her forward till she was practically sitting in his lap, not quite sure where to go from there. She squirmed as well, uncomfortable to be so intimately close, but immediately jumped closer to him when a particularly loud 'boom' erupted over their heads.

He was surprised when her face pressed itself so close to his chest, and when her arms clung to his own. He had to admit that he'd never been in this particular situation before, though it seemed fate was allowing him a crash course in comforting a woman.

"Do you need anything?" Kyouya asked, hoping Haruhi would allude to what he should do next.

"Unless you can make me go deaf, there's not a whole lot." She said bitterly, loosening her hands only slightly.

Kyouya slid his hand up her back, unconsciously eliciting a shiver from the female that had nothing to do with the storm.

"Well, I can't make you deaf, but maybe I could drown out the noise?" He offered. Without elaborating, he reached around Haruhi to grab his bag. He slid the laptop out, also sifting around for a pair of headphones.

He pulled the pieces of technology together before sticking the earbuds into Haruhi's ear. She watched with mild curiosity, still too scared to truly care what was going on around her.

Her ears filled with music within moments, a peppy beat that made her foot begin to tap where it hung limply over Kyouya's leg. She stared straight forward, willing her ears to hear the thunder as a drum beat in the background of the music.

Though she still flinched, her cries ceased. She furrowed her brows as she concentrated to make out the words to the music. Kyouya took advantage of her stillness to drag the laptop over to the right, one eye keeping watch to make sure the headphones stayed in place.

With one hand, he began opening files, typing efficiently albeit slower than usual, as he continued his work.

An hour later, Haruhi shifted, reminding Kyouya of her very present presence on his lap. She handed him his earphones back, smiling softly.

"The storm is over." She murmured, "Thank you senpai for coming for me." She shifted till she was able to push herself up and off his lap. Kyouya wiggled his toes, willing his blood to return to its normal flow.

"It was nothing." He said, pulling his laptop into his lap. "Just a little music." He added, glancing up at Haruhi briefly with a smirk on his face.

"Though I could always take the time I had not previously anticipated in wasting here with you, convert it into the currency I could be making by having finished my work earlier, and add it to your debt."

Haruhi's eyebrow twitched.

"I'll go make you some tea, which you came over for." She grumbled, sulking off towards the kitchen.

Kyouya managed a chuckle before pushing his glasses up his nose, and returned to his work.

Minutes later, a warm cup of tea was pushed in front of his nose. Kyouya gave a polite 'thank you', taking one sip, before returning to his work. He was mildly surprised when Haruhi plopped next to him, studying what he worked on from over his shoulder.

"Trying to figure out what I'm doing?" Kyouya asked teasingly, knowing that the page of numbers would look foreign to her.

"No." Haruhi said. "I'm trying to figure you out actually."

Kyouya's typing stumbled once before resuming normal speed.

"And how's that going for you?" He asked calmly.

Haruhi merely 'hm'd in response.

Kyouya smirked, pausing to take another sip of his tea.

"Do you actually like this?" Haruhi asked, her voice marred with disbelief. Her hand gestured to the computer screen, though her head was tilted in his direction.

This time Kyouya paused and turned his face to stare down at the woman. She was unfazed by his sudden gaze, staring back unflinchingly.

They stared in silence for a long time before Kyouya cleared his throat.

"I do." He replied calmly, opting to not elaborate.

Haruhi shook her head, disengaging.

"Whatever you say senpai."

Kyouya checked his watch before promptly shutting his laptop.

"I should be going." He said, placing the computer into its respective bag.

He stood up, shaking his arms and legs slightly after sitting for so long curled up on the floor.

Haruhi walked him over to the door, bowing once as he stepped through the doorway. The smell of rain hit them both, and Kyouya found himself pausing and turning back around towards Haruhi.

"Thank you for the tea Haruhi." His mouth immediately shifted into Host mode, flashing her a perfect smile.

Haruhi didn't seem fazed, giving her own small smile.

"See you on Monday senpai."

A/N;; This is simply a short, chaptered story built along the song 'The Walk' by Imogen Heap.
The completed story is 17,269 words long, and is already saved on my desktop, ready to be updated once a week.

I do not own Ouran High School Host Club, or Imogen Heap's music.

Review.

;)