"No. Way. Never."

"But Haruuuuuuuuuuhiiiiiiii" the twins said in perfect unison.

"We had a deal," Hikaru informed her.

"And you lost," Kaoru added.

Somehow, Haruhi had been roped into playing a 'friendly' game of poker with the twins. Something about if she won then they'd not only leave her alone until the end of the year but also keep Tamaki from making surprise visits to her apartment. It didn't seem like that hard of a game. Only, the twins won. They're stakes said she had to complete a task, and until she completed the task, she wasn't allowed to have any alone time, at the school or at home. How they got her father to agree to let them keep her out until he got home was a mystery.

"It's not like it's REAL seduction. We just want you to get HIM to kiss YOU."

"Why?" Haruhi practically squeaked. No way was she playing into whatever trap they had set up for her.

"Think about it. He's cold as ice,"

"Unimaginably intelligent,"

"And yet the handsome man has never been kissed." The twins put their hands over their hearts, looking wounded.

"But why do you care? And why me?"

"Kyoya is our friend, and as frightening as he is, we don't want his first kiss to be with some rich witch he'll have to marry," Kaoru reasoned.

"He won't kiss anyone and he's not the kind of person to take well to not being in control. That's why you need to get him to kiss you!" Hikaru decided that dramatic wasn't going to work. So he tried logic instead.

"And," Kaoru added, "You're his friend. It's not like the kiss will mean anything to either of you, but at least the poor guy will get a kiss from someone who cares about him-"

"As a friend," Hikaru imputed.

"Instead of only having been kissed by a girl who's using him for his name and money." Kaoru smiled at her. Most of what he said was true. He wasn't going to tell her that he wanted to see the look on Tamaki's face when it happened.

"Besides," Hikaru smirked. "You can't get out of this. You already lost." Haruhi glared at the boys. They were currently standing in front of her desk, leaning close to her in their empty classroom she was supposed to be studying in for lunch.

"And Haruhi," Kaoru mimicked his brother's smirk. "Don't try to get out of this. Kyoya may have a personal army, but we've got plenty of resources too. Don't forget that."

And with that, they left. It was an utter surprise to her that they walked out without an answer. Then again, they knew she would agree. She didn't have any other option if she wanted to keep her grades up and stay at Ouran.

Putting her head on the desk, she banged against it a couple times. This was going to be so embarrassing.

XxXxXxX

That day during Host Club, Haruhi acted on autopilot, pouring tea and talking with guests, but all the while her mind was reeling. How does someone go about seducing someone else?

Everything had been cleaned up and all the hosts were sitting in different parts in the room, hanging out for a bit longer than usual.

Haruhi was lost in thought, sitting at a table and staring at her book. Maybe she should just tell him about everything. Certainly he would raise her debt, but it couldn't be that bad, could it?

"Don't you dare tell him, Haruhi." She jumped at the sound of Hikaru's whispered voice in her ear.

"Kyoya Ootori doesn't like to be played with," Kaoru said from the other side of her. "The repercussions are far more dangerous than you think."

Standing up, Haruhi turned to face them, hands on her hips. In a hushed whisper, she angrily responded. "Well then how am I supposed to do this? I'm not exactly good at seduction, much less know what I'm even supposed to do!"

The twins looked at each other like she'd just fallen into their trap. Grabbing both of her arms, they dragged her to the dressing room in Music room 3, locking the door behind them when they heard Tamaki begin to ask them what they were doing to his precious daughter. Eventually, he stopped banging on the door and resigned to go and pester his dark haired friend.

Not long after the Frenchman left the threshold of the door did it open. Standing in the doorway was Haruhi. In a dress. A very stunning red dress.

She was looking down at her hands shyly and not at any of the other hosts. Hikaru and Kaoru were standing behind her proudly.

The dress was a solid red one-shouldered dress that accented all of Haruhi's curves, the hem being slanted with the highest point just above her right knee and the lowest being at her left ankle. Her body was accented even more by the simple red heels she wore.

"MY DAUGHTER IS SO BEAUTIFUL!"

"Haru-chan! You look wonderful! But why are you all dressed up?"

"Ah."

Hikaru guided Haruhi over to where all the hosts were standing while Kaoru kept Tamaki from attacking Haruhi in a hug.

"We thought we'd try to dress her up. What do you think, Kyoya-sempai?" Hikaru smiled and pushed Haruhi gently to stand before the Shadow King.

Kyoya stared at the girl for a moment, tilting his head while she stared straight up into his eyes. There was only about a foot of space between them and Haruhi felt almost uncomfortable in his gaze.

"You're mother did an excellent job with the gown. Unfortunately Haruhi cannot wear that as it is far to obvious of her gender, and she has a debt to pay off." Kyoya turned his back on her and walked back towards the table where his laptop sat, all the while writing on the clipboard.

Haruhi turned back to the twins and gave them a shrug before walking back into the dressing room to get changed again. Tamaki had been knocked out by Kaoru (On accident, the twin claimed), and the two seniors took note of Haruhi's vague interaction with the twins.

While Haruhi was changing, the twins huddled in a corner whispering fervently.

"He barely even looked at her."

"There was hardly any response whatsoever!"

"Is he gay?"

"Can't be."

"Then what do we try next?"

"I don't know, we'll figure it out later. Tamaki's waking up."

The rest of the afternoon was spent planning the next event, and no one spoke of Haruhi's dress.

XxXxXxX

"So it looks like the twins took the bait."

"Indeed. I am very impressed at their first attempt, though I'm interested to see what else they come up with."

"Haruhi did look lovely today, didn't she?"

"Yes, she did."

XxXxXxX

Haruhi sat at home, trying to study. Unfortunately, there was an incessant knocking at her door. She knew it was the twins trying to annoy her. She also knew it was working. They'd been at the door for 20 minutes now, and it finally annoyed her enough to open the door.

"Haruhi!" They yelled together.

"We found this magazine at the commoner's market!" Kaoru said excitedly.

"It's got an article on how to make a guy fall in love with you," Hikaru grinned, just as excited as his brother.

"Love?" Haruhi gasped. "You two said nothing about tricking someone into falling in love. Much less Kyoya Ootori!"

"Don't worry," Hikaru waved his hand, pushing past her into the apartment.

"We only have to do these until he kisses you," Kaoru explained, following his brother.

"And it won't be love by then. Just infatuation."

"In which case a simple kiss will satisfy his curiosity and you can both get on with your lives."

Haruhi eyed them both like they were nuts. She just knew this wasn't going to end well.

XxXxXxX

"Smile at him." Kaoru reminded her.

"Ask him for help. Guys like to feel needed. Also, thank him when he does." Hikaru whispered into her ear as they were walking down the hallway for lunch.

"Make sure to pay attention to him. Tease him, but not too much. Let him get the last word in. Let him win."

"Okay okay!" Haruhi turned back to glare at them. "I get it, now let me go sit and eat!" The three headed to the lunch table where Kyoya, Huni and Mori were already settled. Haruhi took the spot right across from Kyoya and next to Mori, who sat across from Huni. Kaoru was next to Haruhi and Hikaru next to him.

Silence reigned at the table until Kaoru jabbed Haruhi in the side with his elbow, motioning his head towards the shadow king, who had his head down, focusing on his laptop.

"So, Kyoya-sempai," Haruhi started slightly awkwardly. "How are your classes?"

Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other. Haruhi sucked at flirting.

"How my classes are is irrelevant to your immediate future. May I inquire as to your curiosity?"

"What," Haruhi said, smiling a little, "I can't start a conversation with you?" It took everything in her not to roll her eyes at her own words.

"I doubt your motives were purely for conversation. Otherwise, you would have asked Huni-sempai, who is always ready to talk."

"Yes, but I asked you. I wanted to know how YOUR classes were going."

Haruhi smiled again, more genuinely this time. The twins were slightly impressed, but not enough to show it quite yet. The conversation still hadn't gotten truly interesting yet.

"My classes are well. Are you having difficulty opening your bento? You've been failing for the last five minutes."

Before Haruhi could say no, Kaoru kicked her in the shin, reminding her of what they'd discussed just before lunch.

"Umm, yeah, could you help me?" She asked, handing him the box with a soft smile on her face.

He grabbed the bento and opened it with ease, handing it back to her.

"Thank you!"

"You should be more careful not to put the lid too tightly on the bento. It causes unnecessary trouble and an inconvenience for those around you," He said, pushing up his glasses.

"Your charm is unrivaled, Mr. Ootori. Perhaps a simple you're welcome would have been sufficient?" She said, rolling her eyes.

"Charm is a false security. I have no desire to manipulate you in such a way. It holds no benefit for myself." Kyoya smirked at her, but it was quickly wiped of his face when he saw the grin present on hers.

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, sempai. See, I knew you were secretly nice. You just try to hide it," Haruhi said proudly before diving into the almost forgotten lunch she had in front of her.

The others around the table were shocked. Haruhi had one-upped the only guy who always won. Huni was snickering and even Mori cracked a smile. The twins were fighting smiles at the girl's victory, mostly because they realized one thing: she didn't let him win.

XxXxXxX

"How long are you going to keep this up?"

"I don't know, until it stops being funny. She's trying too hard."

"Do you really think she'll admit it?"

"All in due time."

XxXxXxX

During Host club that day, everything went on as normal. Nobody mention the incident at lunch, even though the Hitachiin brothers seemed more focused on Haruhi than normal.

After all of the guests had left, Haruhi grabbed her stuff to leave. She was planning on rushing home to study a bit before the twins inevitably showed up to try and talk her into more plans to get the Shadow King to kiss her. She was almost surprised they hadn't tried mistletoe yet (thought she wasn't going to tell them that).

Unfortunately for her, the twins had other ideas.

"Haruhi! Look outside! It looks like it's about to start raining! Someone should give you a ride home or else you'll catch a cold and have to miss school and you'll never pay back you're debt to the host club!" Kaoru was beginning to really get on her nerves. She always thought he was the gentler of the twins, but his mind was much sharper and it was going to be her down fall. How dare he bring up her debt around the guy who would raise it just because she breathed wrong?

Hikaru quickly joined his brother. "And we can't do it because Mom wants us home ASAP to help with some fashion stuff." Tamaki began racing over to 'save' his precious daughter from the storm when he suddenly had two hands covering his mouth and two more holding him 20 feet away from Haruhi.

"Tono…"

"Don't you remember?" Hikaru glared at blond, emphasizing that there was no arguing. "Mom wanted you to look at her new line of French fashion to see if you had any tips. You can't let her down!"

Without another word, the twins said their good-byes and dragged Tamaki out of the room.

"Haru-chan, I don't want you to get sick, but Takashi and I have Kendo practice. Bye!" Huni smiled sadly at her and skipped out of the room, Mori following after patting Haruhi on the head to say good-bye.

Kyoya was the only other person left in the room and he was typing away on his laptop. Haruhi knew she should take this opportunity to try and get the twins off her back, but she suddenly felt very much like running away.

"Well, I'm going to go home. I'm sure the rain will hold off. I'll see you tomorrow Kyoya-sempai!"

"The twins are correct. If you miss a day of Host club it will significantly add to your debt, while allowing me to escort you home will only add minimally to your debt." Kyoya hadn't looked at her the whole time he spoke. Haruhi resisted the urge to groan, instead deciding that she was determined enough to beat the twins at their own game.

"Thank you, sempai. You try to hide behind my debt, but I know that you care about my health and that means a lot to me," Haruhi smiled a big, genuine smile.

Kyoya smirked, packing up his own bags. "I only care that without your health we will lose precious money for the club. You've become quite popular and you provide merit for the club."

Haruhi rolled her eyes behind him as they walked out to the waiting limo. When they reached the car, Kyoya let Haruhi get in first, eliciting another eye roll from the girl.

"Such a gentleman," she mumbled sarcastically.

"Are you surprised? Only the best breeding and training are available to the rich."

Haruhi put her finger to her chin in thought as the limo started to roll forward. "You know what? I'm not. Tamaki told me one time about some things you'd done for him, and he mentioned how much you cared about your sister. So no, I'm not surprised you can be a gentleman, I just think you should try to do it more often."

"There is no merit in it."

"Unless you're wooing girls in the host club," she countered.

Kyoya sighed, pushing his glasses up on his face. "That contains the merit of money, the best motivator."

The car ride became quiet after that, but it was comfortable and Haruhi stared at the scenery passing by the window smiling, unbeknownst to her that the other occupant of the car was observing her.

When they were almost to her apartment, the drizzle that had just begun when they left school turned into a heavy rain.

When they arrived, Kyoya stepped out first, offering his hand to help the woman out of the limo. Haruhi accepted the hand, and immediately realized that it was raining really hard, and she was also really close to Kyoya. The two stood there for a second staring at each other before Haruhi grabbed her backpack and started to race up the stairs for shelter.

"Haruhi," Kyoya called after her. She stopped and stared at the man who was still standing in the rain looking up at her. "Don't be late tomorrow." And with that, he stepped gracefully into the car and drove off.

She shook her head with a small smile on her face. Something about him intrigued her, and she knew that this whole mess was going to get SOMEONE in trouble. Hopefully it wouldn't be her.

XxXxXxX

"So tell me about your sister. What's she like?"

The twins had made up another lame excuse as to why Kyoya needed to take her home again this afternoon. It was Thursday, two days later from the last ride home together.

"What merit does she have for you?" He said sharply.

Haruhi shrugged. "I guess I realized that I've net your father and I know what kind of man he is and I know that you're not particularly fond of him, but your sister must be different for you to care about her so much."

"She practically raised me. She likes to think she can be a house wife; cooking, cleaning, folding clothes," he grimaced as he was reminded of his room she happened to be in last night. She always felt the need to try and refold his clothes. "She is rather troublesome."

"But she cares about you," Haruhi smiled. "Even as you're sitting there talking down about her, I can see you're trying not to smile. She kind of sounds like Tamaki in a way. Have those two met?"

"Yes, and it was like they were the same person," Kyoya frowned again. "You have yet to answer why to wanted to know."

Again, the girl shrugged. "I guess I'm just trying to peel back the layers of ice surrounding you. I know that you had to practically punch Tamaki to let him in. I'm just curious, I guess."

The boy grunted, and turned away before quickly turning back to the girl next to him. She was trying to hide giggles behind her hand.

"What is so funny, if I may ask?" A layer of annoyance in his tone.

"I didn't know Ootori's were allowed to grunt. Seems slightly unsophisticated."

Before he could say anything in response, the limo arrived at the apartment complex and the two parted ways without another word.

XxXxXxX

It was Friday, and Haruhi was looking forward to the weekend, ready to sleep, relax, and avoid all of the drama for a few days. Her dad wasn't working Saturday, so she knew that she could avoid the twins. They'd been at her apartment every night trying to help her 'seduce' the Shadow King. She was rather annoyed with it all, she kind of wished she could just tell Kyoya and let the twins face the consequences. Unfortunately, she knew the twins wouldn't be able to survive the punishments.

"Haruhi, what are the other Hosts like?" asked one of her patrons. The other two girls readily agreed and desired t hear about the other gentlemen.

"Well, Tamaki is exactly how he seems. He likes to woo people, except he's much more perceptive than people give him credit for. He cares almost too much for people."

"What about Mori-san?" one of the other girls asked.

Haruhi laughed a bit. "Mori-sempai is like my big brother. Even though he sticks pretty close to Huni-sempai, he is just as protective of all of his friends. He only speaks when necessary, but when he does speak it's always pretty important, so everybody listens to him. And before you ask, Huni-sempai is exactly the same no matter what, unless you give him a reason to be angry. Then he's kind of scary," Haruhi leaned over the table and whispered this last part to the girls as though she was telling a ghost story.

"The twins?"

"Well, they are really close, and I think they're kind of scared that someday they will have to go their separate ways. They're WAY more mischievous and troublesome after you ladies all go home. They always have another plot up their sleeve and when they get bored they start a new one." The three ladies awed and giggled at the appropriate times.

"So that just leaves Kyoya-san, Haruhi-kun. What's he like?"

Haruhi put her finger up to her chin to think for a moment. "Kyoya-sempai is kind of mysterious. He likes to keep people at a distance, but it's true that he and Tamaki are good friends. He's really intelligent, far more intelligent than anyone else I know. The glasses fit him well. Whenever he pushes up his glasses it means that he's got something planned, or he's nervous, but it's usually the first one."

"What does he look like without the glasses? I bet he looks much more handsome with out them," the girl sighed. Haruhi wasn't paying much attention to the girls' now blushing faces when she continued.

"Actually, I think he looks better with the glasses. They're a part of who he is and I'm not sure it's fair to judge him without glasses. His eyes surprisingly reveal a lot about him."

A voice behind her startled her and caused 'the natural' to blush, a quite rare occurrence.

"While I am flattered that you think so highly of me, I must admonish you for neglecting the beautiful ladies in front of you. I'm sure they are much more fascinating than I am." Kyoya smiled his host smile before turning his back to the group and smirking as he walked away.

The rest of the time went on quickly and eventually the host club was closed for the weekend.

XxXxXxX

Monday morning and everyone was particularly out of it that Monday. The twins had given up after two weeks on their bet with Haruhi. They hadn't told her that, but she seemed to be getting nowhere with Kyoya.

They dressed her up almost everyday that week in quite attractive numbers, but he barely looked at her. They forced them to ride in the car together, but that didn't do anything either. The two acted as if nothing was going on. Hikaru and Kaoru were convinced even if Haruhi wanted to, she couldn't seduce anyone to save her life.

The twins even placed banana peels strategically around the third music room so that Haruhi would fall into his arms. Most of the time, though, he just smirked and raised her debt for inability to act with the grace and elegance that was expected of a host.

Surprisingly, even Mori and Huni had gotten in on the antics, locking the two in a closet, making them share a cake, and Huni always asking Kyoya what he thought of their female host. Unfortunately, none of that worked either.

After the regularly scheduled Host club, everyone stayed behind, hanging out for a few minutes, none quite wanting the day to end on such a dreary note. Haruhi was cleaning up the left over dishes when she was startled by a voice directly behind her.

"You should be more gentle with those, they're worth more than your apartment complex." Haruhi was so surprised that Kyoya was right behind her she dropped the teacup in her hand on the cart with a clatter. Fortunately, nothing broke.

She whipped around, angrily facing the Shadow King.

"Excuse me, I don't need you to tell me that! What's the big idea, startling me? Are you TRYING to add to my debt?"

Kyoya smirked. "No need to get worked up. It is not my fault you were unaware of my presence. You could learn a few things by being more perceptive."

"That's it!" Haruhi yelled. "You are so arrogant and I'm sick of it! Ever since I got here you've been lording EVERYTHING over my head! I'm starting to think that there really is no hope for you! I thought you had a heart but I think you're so screwed up emotionally the only way you can show your friends any kind of caring is through sarcasm and insults! I pity the woman who had to deal with you, EVER!"

Just as Haruhi was about to stomp away, Kyoya grabbed her arm and yanked her. He quickly had one hand behind her head and the other around her waist, kissing her with a mix of glee and passion.

While Haruhi's mind was catching up, her body had already submitted to him, responding to the kiss.

When Kyoya pulled away, he whispered "You would have won the bet a lot sooner if you just acted like yourself."

"What?" Haruhi and the twins all said at the same time.

"Kyoya, you won!" Tamaki squealed. The king turned to the twins, taunting them. "I tricked you! I won! It was all a part of our plan to get Haruhi to admit she likes Kyoya! HA! YOU LOSE! FOR ONCE YOU FINALLY LOSE!"

"Wait, so Tamaki tricked the twins into tricking me into getting Kyoya-sempai to kiss me? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU?"

Everyone was silently staring at an obviously flustered girl.

"But Haru-chan," Huni said, coming to stand in front of the girl. "Now you and Kyo-chan can be happy! We knew you liked him and he liked you, but both of you were too dense to do anything about it!"

"Actually," Kyoya informed, pushing his glasses up with a smirk. "I had this all planned out from the beginning. There was no logic behind pursuing Haruhi before she herself found interest in me."

"So you were in on it?" Haruhi questioned, still a little flustered.

"Why of course! Nothing goes on in this club without me knowing about it. Now, I believe I have dinner reservations for 5, and you can admonish me there. I believe we have some things to discuss, Haruhi. I'll pick you up at 4:30. See you then."