Write Me a Love Story (OHSHC)

XIV: The Ride Back

December 4

"Bye, Kaiyo-chan!" Honey-senpai bid me goodbye one last time, still waving as if he'd never see myself or anyone in my car again. I waved goodbye as I stepped in, still giggling about Honey-senpai's dramatic exit.

Though he made it seem like we were all leaving each other forever, in reality, the hosts were simply splitting up into two cars to drive home- Haruhi, Tamaki-senpai, Honey-senpai, and Mori-senpai in one car and Kyouya, myself, Hikaru, and Kaoru in another. There was no reason for us to take two cars other than the hosts' affinity for flashiness, because one car was more than spacious enough to hold all of us. By this time, though, I'd learned that practicality was the least of their concerns.

I sighed at the twins' unwillingness to get in the car; they were upset because they didn't get to be with Haruhi (and in saying 'they' were upset, Hikaru was mad and Kaoru was along for the ride). I reached out and grabbed them both by the back of their shirts, tugging them into the car.

"We don't have all day," I chided them lightly, "You'll see her again in a few hours." That earned an eye-roll from Hikaru as he turned to his brother, effectively ignoring me. I returned the eye-roll as I faced forward and let Hikaru be mad behind me. Kyouya-senpai slid into the car a moment after I turned around, adjusting his glasses as he did so. He shut the door purposefully, straightening his posture as he got comfortable in his seat next to mine.

"Drive on," He said, clearly addressing the driver. I turned to him and gave him a hard look, and he sighed and added,

"Please." I smiled, and I noticed the driver do the same as we pulled away from the beach house. Hikaru spoke up from behind us.

"Why'd you say please?" He asked, which actually made me stop. I narrowed my eyes in disbelief, stopping myself from turning around and going off on Hikaru. I remembered quickly that 'please and thank you' wasn't a phrase that everyone was brought up on. Kyouya smirked, seeing the look on my face.

"According to Miss Sahni, it's the polite thing to do," He replied, and I turned my look of disbelief onto him.

"It is the polite thing to do, and you know you didn't need me to tell you that." I tried to keep a straight face, but I couldn't help the smile slipping onto my face as I saw the look in his eye. He had just been trying to spite me.

"Excuse me, since when did the infamous Shadow King care about manners?" Hikaru pressed. I turned around to speak, but Kyouya beat me to the punch once more

"Since Miss Sahni gave me a piece of her mind after school about it one day" He responded. Kaoru looked between the three of us with an amused look on his face and a raised eyebrow. He glanced at me for a little too long, and then I saw a mischievous look appear on his face. He tapped on his brother's shoulder as I turned around. I heard them whispering, a little too quietly, and then they fell silent after about ten minutes. Confused (because I wanted to know what they were up to), I looked behind me to see Hikaru and Kaoru asleep, heads resting against one another. I shook my head, smiling as I turned back around.

Kyouya, I noticed, had taken his black book out of nowhere, but wasn't writing in it. He was tapping his right thumb on the cover in a beat I couldn't place. His eyes were unusually placid, not holding their usual scrutinizing gaze. He looked deep in thought, but looked toward me as soon as I glanced a little too closely.

"Something you want to say, Miss Sahni?" He asked, glancing at me sideways from behind his glasses. I returned the look in the same way he did, looking out the side of my glasses as opposed to through them.

"Not at all. Although I don't believe the same could be said about you," I responded. Kyouya's eyes widened a fraction, and he sighed lightly as he took his glasses and shut his eyes. Suddenly, Kyouya looked more like... Himself? A high schooler? More vulnerable, maybe.