At what price,love?

Chapter 28

Oh look a double update

~oOo~

The chirping alarm clock rudely pulled Kyoya from the first truly restful sleep he'd had since he was eight. He cracked open one malevolent eye contemplating the fastest way to destroy the clock. Before he could act, a soft, slender arm reached across him and silenced the infernal device. A surge of contentment washed through him. This was an unexpected benefit of a lover. He gave her a kiss in gratitude before his brain began racing ahead. He'd allotted 40 minutes to beating up the clock before finally succumbing to its dictates, 10 minutes to shower, 10 to shave and get dressed, 20 minutes to inhale coffee, 40 minutes to review his plans one last time. Kaoru said it would only take 5 minutes to add Kyoya's computer onto the network he set up, but Kyoya set aside 20 in case Kaoru was wrong. And another 20 minutes to explain everyones' roles to them before the market opened. How much of that could he blow off? Haruhi snuggled a little closer. All of it, he decided. Except the computers and the clothes, and the latter was only so she didn't have to be embarrassed.

"Do we need to get up?" she asked sleepily.

"Not yet," he answered, and the next 40 minutes slotted to hating the rising sun were instead spent drifting in and out of sleep, only waking every few minutes to run his hands over the beautiful creature next to him, assuring himself she was still there. Why did he have to pick this morning to take over that damned company? His burst of irritation must have registered because she began to nervously run her fingers in little circles on his chest. He pressed a kiss into her hair and squeezed her shoulder to reassure her.

"What happens next?" she asked in a small voice.

"It depends what you mean by next," he said gently stroking her hair. He rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow so he could watch her face in case he answered wrong. "In the short run, we should get you bathed and dressed before those morons come looking for you." He paused, not wanting to end this moment but unwilling to share it. It was theirs, the two of them. The others didn't need to know. He took a breath. "In the medium term, we should get you to a doctor and get you on a reliable form of birth control. We'd be fools to think this can't happen again. And we need to decide where you are going to live once we get back to Japan."

Haruhi blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you could go to live with your aunt, but there's not a single living person - including you and your aunt - who really likes that option. We can renew the lease on your old apartment, but as my team has repeatedly reminded me, it is not an easy building to secure. We'd have to lease out one of the neighboring apartments on either side and set up a station there, or at the very least have a member of the Black Onion Squad move in. We could find you an apartment in a security complex, but that will be more expensive. I'd pay the difference of course, since it's my fault you'll need it. You could move in with my parents and get to know them better, but frankly, I don't recommend it. My sister would love to have you, but Shido is very conservative. He'll want you to live under the same rules you did when you stayed with them last time and he won't approve of this." Kyoya ran his hand over Haruhi'a naked body and pulled her into a long, slow kiss. He gently stroked her hair then gave her a light kiss on the forehead before settling back onto his side. "You could take the Hitachiins up on their offer, but the twins have no concept of privacy and you are a private person. And lastly, I was planning on getting an apartment. You could live with me but that will raise more than a few eyebrows at Ouran."

"It's also kind of a long commute from America."

"I'm not going to America. At least not this year. I promised your father I would take care of you and I can't do that from another continent. Which brings us to the long run: we have to decide where we are going to college. I still l am leaning towards Harvard or Stanford. Stanford is not far from San Francisco, we can tour it while we're there. Berkeley is there as well - it's not as good for business connections, but their law school is first rate and their science and engineering are excellent so I could use it to look for future ventures to capitalize. Harvard is on the other coast and will have to wait for another trip."