At what price,love?

Chapter 17

Back in the car, the twins high-fived each other. "That was awesome!"

"That was impressive," Honey agreed.

"That was disturbing," Tamaki said. "Would you really ruin that family to keep Haruhi with us?"

"Are you saying you wouldn't?" Kyoya responded.

"Uh, yeah Boss. You were all for Operation: Get Haruhi kicked out."

"That's different," Tamaki said. "That was her family choosing to walk away from her..."

"With a lot of encouragement," Kauro muttered.

"...not being forced to, threatened into it."

"All I have done so far is require them to treat Haruhi better. I will not sit by while she gets punished for something she did not do."

Tamaki choked on the frustration of trying to express something he instinctively knew was wrong but could not put into words until the Hitachiin limousine pulled up in front of the Suoh owned hotel. "Has it occurred to you that maybe they think they are doing what is best for Haruhi? That you are using our power and position to force them into doing something they believe is wrong? How does that make us any different from my grandmother? Would you really destroy those people to get what you want?"

"I'd destroy a hundred people to protect someone I cared about."

"Then maybe I should count myself lucky I'm not one of the people you care about."

Kyoya gave him a very cold look but said nothing as he got out of the car and went into the hotel.

Tamaki look led at the other hosts, who looked back at him with equanimity. "Tama-chan," Honey said carefully, "when you're not so angry, remind us to give you a list of the people Kyo-chan has fended off for you."

"What are you talking about?" Tamaki said.

"Um... Ouran Academy is one of the most elite, exclusive, and let's face it, snobbish schools in the country," Kaoru said. "And when you first came here, you were..." He looked at his brother for help.

"A bastard hafu with a head full of really annoying stereotypes about what it meant to be Japanese," Hikaru supplied.

"Yeah, that. You're popular now, but nobody would ever have given you the time of day if Kyoya hadn't made it clear that anybody that came after you would answer to him," Kaoru finished.

"Did you ever wonder why Princess Ayanokoji never came after Haruhi or the Host Club after you publicly threw her out?" Mori asked.

"The Club had considerable social clout by then," Honey said. "But she still could have caused a lot of trouble for us."

"He shut down Renge's film when it started to make you look bad, he stopped that school newspaper article when they were targeting you, the list goes on and on. But you get the idea," Kaoru said.

"Personally," Mori said, "I suspect the reason Yoshio Ootori approves of Haruhi is because for all the years Kyoya has spent defending his friends, she is the first one of his friends to stand up and defend him."

~oOo~

Kyoya laid back on his bed. He loved his friend's idealism, but sometimes he wished Tamaki would have a face-to-face with reality. Kyoya hadtried less drastic tactics. The day after Haruhi had left, he had called Rei Inoue.

"Mrs. Inoue? I am Kyoya Ootori. I am Miss Fujioka's fiancé. I wish to speak to you about her circumstances."

"Fiancé? Since when? My brother never mentioned it to me. You did not present yourself to me at the funeral. Surely my niece was not disrespectful enough to become engaged during her period of mourning?"