At what price,love?

Chapter 13

"Not sitting the vigil with your young lady?" Yoshio asked his son in a patronizing tone.

"No, her aunt seem to think it unnecessary. And Haruhi did not wish to offend her aunt." Kyoya adjusted his glasses in irritation. Despite treating Haruhi and the old bat with all the deference due the Empress and despite repeated attempts at polite conversation, he had gotten nowhere with her. Even Tamaki had failed. Kyoya wasn't sure Tamaki had failed with a woman since he was five. Whereas his father had walked in and in five minutes had all the concessions he wanted out of her. A lesson, Kyoya supposed, in relative influence. "I've told her security detail to notify me if Inoue-san leaves." There was a glint in his father's eyes. Evidently Yoshio enjoyed seeing his son thwarted. He probably thought it was character building or something. Kyoya would live with the extra character as long as it meant Haruhi got to finish the school year at Ouran and go on the trip with them. "And how much do I owe you for that present?"

"You need to pardon your brothers and allow them to remain in Tokyo."

"No."

"You need them Kyoya, we need them. Healthcare companies run solely by businessmen tend to provide very poor levels of healthcare."

"You're a doctor. Does this mean you're planning on retiring?"

"They didn't know, Kyoya."

"Didn't know what? That I'd never brought a girl home to meet the family before? Or didn't know that when their brother and their father introduce them to someone they should show basic courtesy to that person? How would you have responded had someone accused mother of being a social climbing whore?"

"Your mother is from a very old and established family."

"That wouldn't necessarily make the charge false against mother and it doesn't make the charge true against Haruhi."

"Hm." Yoshio regarded his son for a moment. "I told Fuyumi and her husband they needed to go to the funeral tomorrow to introduce themselves to Inoue-san so she will know her niece will be staying with a respectable family." He didn't have to complete the thought. He could just as easily tell them to never mind.

"There will come a day when you can't outmaneuver me old man."

"No doubt. But this is not that day."

"I will rescind the order for them to leave if Haruhi can get past it. But the insult was against her; she must be the one to forgive them."

"Fair enough."

~oOo~

Kyoya received the text at three in the morning that Inoue-san had left but that another man had gone in. Kyoya's security had taken him to be part of the temple staff because he simply sat outside quietly and respectfully and made no attempt to interact with the family until now.

Kyoya got up immediately and threw on clothes and his coat then made his way to the garage. Aijima was sitting by his car, reading a book. "Tachibana said you might go out tonight," he said, barely looking up.

"Don't try to stop me."

"My job is not to stop you, it's merely to accompany you. Given the hour, may I suggest that I drive?"

At the temple, he found Haruhi kneeling on the floor, a piece of paper clutched in her hands. The strange man had his arm around her shoulders. An initial surge of jealousy was tamped down when Kyoya realized the man was in his 40s or 50s. If this was her uncle, he'd already shown more compassion than his wife had. The man noticed Kyoya before Haruhi did. He whispered something to her, squeezed her once tightly then rose and bowed. He gave Kyoya an evaluating look on his way out.

"Who was that?"

She took a deep breath before formulating an answer. "That was my dad's lover. I guess they used to meet during the daytime while I was at school... he knew my aunt wouldn't approve so he waited until she was gone before he came to pay his respects.

"He also said... If my aunt took me away from Tokyo ... That he would take care of the incense and prayers for my father. So I didn't need to worry about it."

Kyoya's arms slipped around her. She looked down at the paper in her hands. "And my dad gave this to him to give to me when the time was right." Kyoya looked down.

My dearest Haruhi,

Life doesn't go the way you want it. And they say that for every good thing in your life you have to pay somewhere else. But if this less than ideal death is the price I pay for having you and your mother, then I still think I got the better end of the deal.

I'm not going to say something stupid like don't grieve for me. I know you will. But don't let it consume you. When I lost your mother, I shut down. I thought I couldn't go on without her. And indeed, the only way I could go on is to change who I was. But you have become the most amazing, talented and brilliant daughter any father could ever ask for. Don't change because of this. Don't close yourself off. Go. Live life. Have adventures. Tonight. Tomorrow. Don't wait. It will make it easier for me to move on if I know that you have. Whether it's on day 49 or year 49, I will hear your prayers just as clearly and I will watch over you just as closely no matter where you are and what you are doing. And I will always be

Your loving father,

Ryoji

~oOo~