May 19

I carried through with my plan, though it took serious dedication. I ended up having to wait longer than expected, almost two full months, before my casts were off, injuries cleared, and I was free to do physical work again. I trained in judo hard and got better at it than I likely had been before everything happened.

I rejoined the host club, and I began writing for them again. School became much more enjoyable with my friends as part of it, and it was even better to go into Language and take the seat next to Kyouya's every day. It was kind of bad, admittedly, but I got this giddy sense of satisfaction every time I saw Miyuki get angry that I grabbed 'her' spot. She would always send me threatening looks during class, but I just smiled at her in return. Getting to take her down in a fair fight setting would be payment tenfold, and more than enough to get her to shut her mouth.

I walked happily into the host club after school let out for the day, smiling as I walked freely for the first time in months. I'd been enjoying my freedom all day and Kyouya smiled at me, matching my smile with a small one of his own.

"Enjoying being off crutches?" He asked, smiling as I approached him. I nodded, adjusting my glasses at the same time he did.

"Of course. Not having to make people clear the hallways like it's the Red Sea is an amazing luxury. I don't think I'll ever take walking for granted again.." He laughed quietly, a sound I'd had the honor of hearing more often over these past few months.

"I'm sure it is." He was about to say more, but the entire rest of the club bounded over to us. Tamaki wrapped me up in a bone-crushing hug, and Mori ruffled my hair.

"Princess, you're finally off of crutches! This is just in time for the dance tomorrow!" My eyebrows furrowed of their own accord, and I squirmed out of Tamaki's choke-hold hug to look back at him.

"We're throwing another dance, did I forget to tell you? This one is going to be pretty much the same, but because everyone enjoyed it so much last time, we thought another one was in line," He explained. I turned to Kyouya, one of my eyebrows raised.

"Did you know about this?" I asked him. "Why didn't you tell me?" He shrugged.

"I just found out a few minutes ago, honestly." He held his phone up, which meant that Tamaki had probably just messaged him. "Everyone decided to make it a surprise; Tamaki's already planned everything, so all we have to do is show up and look good, as per usual." I nodded after a moment, another thought popping into my mind.

"This is all fine and dandy, but I don't have a dress to wear. I'm not going to be able to shop, either, because I have to take care of Kasoiya..." I trailed off, but Haruhi put a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. Just wear what you wore last time." My eyebrows furrowed once more.

"The same dress? But isn't that.. Am I not supposed to wear something different every time?" I asked, but Kaoru and Hikaru just waved it off.

"Just wear it," They said, and that was that.

"Okay, I guess this has all already been planned, so..."

"All you have to do is show up and look pretty! We've taken care of all the planning," Honey-senpai said, giggling as he spoke up. I nodded, reminding myself to ask Mom to do my makeup tomorrow.

"Alright. Then I guess it's settled!"

*

The next evening, I rolled up to the school, the same apricot lighting shining out of the building and the orchestral music rolling out with it. I smiled at the memories, getting out of my mother's car. Just behind us, Kyouya stepped out of his own limousine, which I was surprised to see was being driven by his own father. Yoshio Ootori himself had driven his son to the dance. I was shocked, so much so that I didn't even process that someone was calling my name until Kyouya was by my side.

"Kaiyoka?" I shook my head out of its fog, turning toward him.

"Yes? Sorry." Kyouya smiled at me, shaking his head slightly.

"Let's go. Time waits for no one." He offered me his arm, and just as I took it, Haruhi came sauntering over to us.

"Kaiyoka and Kyouya, are you ready to be escorted inside?" She asked. Confused, we both nodded, and she smiled and gestured toward the doors.

"Then right this way, please." Kyouya and I exchanged a look before following behind her. She led us up the stairs and into the building, and it all reminded me of the last dance except for one detail - all of the girls were missing. As Kyouya and I were looking around confusedly, the lights suddenly dimmed. A spotlight flashed on the stairs, where Tamaki, Mori, Honey, Haruhi, Hikaru, and Kaoru were standing, just like last time.

"I bid you a fond welcome to the Host Club ball!" Tamaki announced, making both Kyouya and me laugh. Kaoru continued, standing in place of where Kyouya had been.

"We invite you to enjoy yourselves to your heart's content. I hope you two will have a wonderful time dancing with one another." Kaoru smiled down at us, causing my own face to light up. "In addition, the best dancer will be crowned tonight's queen, and will receive an impassioned kiss on the cheek- or elsewhere- from our shadow king." At this point, all of them were smiling, and Kyouya and I were laughing. At some point, he'd dropped his arm and taken my hand instead, and he squeezed my hand gently. I looked toward him, and his eyes were twinkling.

"Good luck to you both! It's literally impossible to lose this," Tamaki stated, and we all erupted with laughter. The spotlight went away, and the lights came up gradually, bathing us in the soft lighting of chandeliers above our heads. The six of them disappeared, leaving Kyouya and I in the middle of the ballroom, hand in hand. He smiled at me as the orchestra began to play again, and he bowed after a moment of just looking at me.

"May I have this dance?" He asked, making me laugh.

"Of course," I agreed, curtsying. He took my hands, pulling me close to him as we began to dance around the room. It was strange at first, because I knew we were being watched from somewhere by our friends, but the feeling of Kyouya's hands in mine and the scent of him flooded my body and made me forget about them.

We danced along to the typical songs that you'd find at a ball, songs that made the skirt of my dress flare out fully and the soles of Kyouya's shoes click merrily against the floor. It made me so inexplicably happy to be where I was, dancing with Kyouya and not having to worry about him being taken from me. It gave me a sense of relief and joy that I couldn't explain.

"What?" Kyouya asked, pulling me a little closer to him as the music slowed. I smiled as we both found the places where our arms needed to be.

"You." I answered, and he raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Me?" He asked.

"You. You're not going anywhere this time." He nodded, swaying perfectly in time with the music and with me.

"Not this time, and not anywhere else, ever again." We swayed in silence until the last strains of that song were whisked away by silence, and Kyouya pulled away from me a bit and took my hand. He pulled me to the balcony, the same one from before, as the orchestra began playing another song. We both stood in the ever-receding sunlight, the evening air still warm and inviting. As we stared out at the sunset together, Kyouya spoke.

"Kaiyoka, if I were to say that you make me feel a way I didn't know I could feel, would that be cliche?" He squeezed my hand, which he hasn't let go of, and waited for my answer. I smiled as I responded,

"Of course it would be. But if it's the truth, then that's that," I responded. He turned to me, already smiling a real smile. I didn't notice how close together we were until he was already in front of me.

"Kaiyoka," He spoke lowly, his face inches away from mine. "If I kissed you, right now, would that be cliche?" I laughed softly.

"It would be appropriate," I answered. After a moment of him looking at my face and me doing the same, his lips met mine, delicately. It was a fleeting, feathery touch, but it left my lips blazing when he pulled away.

He left my mind racing in one million directions, but he grounded all of them by squeezing my hand. I looked at him, and he smiled at me in a way that he never had. He looked happier than I'd ever seen him look before.

Without speaking, he pulled me gently back toward the doors and back inside, where our friends were standing off to the side, huge smiles on their faces. I expected Tamaki to be the first to speak, but someone beat him to it.

"It's about time," Mori-senpai said, surprising all of us. We all gawked at him, and then burst into laughter. The club surrounded Kyouya and I in a huge hug, congratulating us both and teasing us to no end. Throughout it all, Kyouya and I never let go of the other's hand. We exchanged looks, and we laughed and talked with our friends, creating what could possibly be the best night of my entire life.

*

Kyouya and I walked down the steps, hand in hand, toward our parents, who were standing together in front of their cars. The rest of the club had gone home once our parents arrived, giving us some time to talk about everything and leaving us with hugs and cheers. Now, we were faced with our last chore; telling our parents. But somehow, they beat us to it.

"So, Kaiyoka, what did I tell you?" Was the first thing my mother said. She was smiling brightly at us, and Kyouya let go of my hand so I could go and hug her. She laughed, returning the embrace, and I saw my baby sister giggling and waving in the backseat of the car. Once I let go of her, I turned to look at Kyouya and his father, who looked ready to say something.

"Kyouya," He began. We all paused, unsure what to expect. But he surprised us by smiling, patting his son on the back. "You made the right choice." Kyouya looked taken aback, and I was as well. I thought he'd be angry.

"I know that I haven't been the best father. I haven't shown you, in the right way, the support I had for your endeavors with school and otherwise. But you've made the right decisions, and I'm proud of you. This is what I wanted to see in you, this is what a future leader of the Ootori group looks like." Kyouya looked at his father, utterly shocked.

"Father...?" Kyouya was still shell-shocked, but his father wasn't done. He turned to me.

"And you, Miss Kaiyoka. Thank you, for allowing my son to realize the joy of finding someone you can have by your side forever. You put into perspective how much you mean to Kyouya, and therefore how much you mean to the Ootoris. You are a strong young lady- clearly unafraid to speak her mind- and I'd be more than happy to have you as a part of this family. If you mean as much to Kyouya as he said you do, then I'm taking his word for it. I truly hope you will continue to make one another happy." It was my turn to be shell-shocked. I did not expect this at all.

"Thank you, Ootori-sama," I said, still barely able to keep it together. Everything was going so right tonight. I felt my face was about to burst from the amount of smiling I'd done. After the exchange of a few more words, we all bid one another goodbye and drove him in our respective cars.

It wasn't until we had gotten home and I had tucked Kasoiya into bed that I got to ask my mother something.

"So, you knew about all of this?" I asked. "The whole dance, and everything?"She nodded.

"Both Kyouya's father and I were in on it, along with the entire host club, of course. I didn't think that, with the reputation that followed that man around, he would even consider anything, but he was unusually cooperative. I suppose it was all orchestrated by your friends, but it was one friend that went above and beyond to call me and ask for my permission- Tamaki Suoh." I smiled at that, tucking a stray hair behind my ear as I took a sip of tea. It was just like Tamaki to go and do something like this, and I loved him for it.

This was, without question, the best night of my entire life.