Be Mine

Title: Be Mine
Pairing: Kyoya/Tamaki
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Tamaki overreacts to Kyoya’s suggestion for a Valentines Day event.
Warnings: Angst, an overabundance of Fluff
Author’s Note: This fic was written for my uke fadedlullabyes over on y!gallery. She requested Kyoya/Tamaki, with angst and tender moments rather than smut. It took some time to drag my muse out of the gutter long enough to actually write something that wasn’t smut, but I think it turned out well.

---

“And finally, Valentine’s Day is coming up soon. I’d like to do something a little different this year, if no one objects.”

Sunlight streaming in from the nearby windows glinted off Kyoya’s glasses as he surveyed his fellow club members in the third music room. Honey was fascinated, dissecting a strawberry covered in frosting; Mori was, of course, observing this silently. It was disconcerting sometimes to see how fond the tall boy was of his diminutive cousin. Kaoru yawned and leaned against his twin who was apparently already asleep.

Haruhi had a glazed look in her eyes, and Kyoya wondered whether she was mentally planning a grocery list for supper, thinking about homework, or wondering whether she should do laundry that night. Tamaki was staring at her curiously, looking as though he might poke her or wave a hand in front of her face just to see if she’d even notice. Kyoya cleared his throat. Tamaki turned to his best friend with a smile, waiting for an elaboration.

Kyoya sighed, frustrated that only Tamaki had responded. “My research suggests that our customers usually feel disappointed by our Valentine events. It seems they would rather compete for a chance to spend an evening with their chosen host, with the time devoted solely to them. I had considered an auction, but–”

Tamaki stood up abruptly, his chair falling from the force. “You want to auction off dates with us!? When did the host club become a brothel?” The twins blinked groggily, confused by Tamaki’s sudden outburst. Mori was frowning and even Honey had looked up from his confection.

“I would hardly associate our host duties with prostitution,” Kyoya countered calmly, adjusting his glasses. “We would follow the same rules in this that we do with all other events; the only difference would be that we would each have but a single customer.”

“And what about all the others? Your research suggests they’d rather compete for a chance at a real date, but I wonder how many would agree with that after losing?” Tamaki’s voice was still uncomfortably loud, and Haruhi reached out for him, hoping to calm him down.

“It is merely a suggestion. If you have a better idea, let’s hear it.” Kyoya still hadn’t lost his composure, his folded arms the only outward indication of his annoyance.

“Why can’t we just do what we always do for Valentine’s Day? Anything would be better than that. Nothing would be better than that! Just close up for the day and hope the girls understand.” Tamaki seemed to only be getting angrier, and the moment Haruhi’s fingers touched his wrist, he whirled around. His eyes were wide and wild. “Surely you don’t condone this!?”

“Well, I… it was just a suggestion, senpai.”

“You’ve all gone mad.” Tamaki looked betrayed, his eyes darting from Haruhi to the twins, Mori, and finally Honey. They all wore guarded expressions, unwilling to get involved. Tamaki let out a strangled sound of frustration, grabbing his bag from a nearby table. “Fine! Do whatever you want. I’m leaving!” Everyone watched him storm out.

Silence reigned for several moments. It was Hikaru that broke the spell, finally voicing what had crossed all their minds. “What got into him?” Unable to answer, the rest of the hosts simply shrugged.

Kyoya debated whether he should continue the meeting without Tamaki. “Would you all prefer that we reuse last year’s idea?” he asked carefully.

No one seemed to really have an opinion, so Haruhi piped up. “You know more about this stuff than we do, senpai. We trust you. And I think Tamaki-senpai does too; he just seems abnormally upset all of a sudden. It might not even have anything to do with our Valentine event.”

“She’s right,” Honey agreed. “It’s probably completely unrelated.” He took a bite of cake and chewed thoughtfully. “If we do dates, maybe we could have an hour for each of the top three winners or something. That way the girls can still have their special time with their chosen hosts, but we’d have more winners and less chance of alienating customers.”

There, that’s the sort of feedback I wanted, Kyoya thought. “That’s a good suggestion. I’ll take it into consideration.” No one else seemed to have anything to say, so with a sigh Kyoya returned his notebook to his bag. “I suppose that’ll be all for today. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He waited for the others to leave, turning off the lights and locking the door behind himself. He walked to his car with a frown. What could possibly be wrong with Tamaki? “I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” he muttered.

~*~

That chance never arose. Tamaki was not at school the next day. Kyoya asked one of their teachers for an extra copy of the homework assignment, and was informed that Tamaki had already sent a message to all his professors asking that they gather his homework for the remainder of the week. Apparently it would be picked up by a maid later that day.

They attempted to continue normal club activity without Tamaki, but the customers seemed disappointed - really, the entire club room seemed to have acquired a darker hue - and finally Kyoya conceded that they really couldn’t function properly without their “king”. He reluctantly canceled club activity Friday and instead drove to the Suou second estate.

“I need to speak with Tamaki.”

“I’m afraid Master Tamaki asked not to be disturbed. He specifically requested that we turn away all visitors.”

“Is he ill?”

The maid looked uncomfortable. “I’m really very sorry, Ootori-sama. I can’t say.” Kyoya frowned. What did she mean, she couldn’t say? Either he was ill or not. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

She was trying to get him to leave. Damn it, he hadn’t expected to be denied entrance. What the hell was going on? She tilted her head, probably to get his attention. “…No, I suppose not.”

As he was turning to leave, he heard the first few notes of slow, sorrowful music drifting from the music room. That had to be Tamaki. He spun around, his hand catching the door just before it could close and shoving it open. The maid jumped back in surprise, Kyoya rushing past her. “Ootori-sama!” He didn’t stop; he might be thrown out, but not before he got a chance to at least see Tamaki. He sprinted as fast as he could to the music room, his footfalls echoing loudly through the manor, even over the cadence of the music.

It seemed it was all for naught, however, when he reached the door and found it locked. The notes had managed to get even more somber, softer and almost painful. It wasn’t a piece Kyoya recognized, and he was almost certain Tamaki was letting his emotions play out in the music. What could possibly make the blonde so upset? He beat his fist against the door, sure the sound would carry over the music but uncertain whether Tamaki would notice or even care. “Tamaki!”

“Ootori-sama!” the maid who had opened the door called breathlessly. “Please, you must leave!” There was another servant coming down the hallway behind her. They would drag him out of here kicking and screaming if Tamaki truly didn’t want him here.

The music stopped. He hit the door again. “Damn it, Tamaki! Open up!” Kyoya could feel tears of anger and frustration stinging his eyes. “Please!”

The maid finally caught up to him, grabbing his arm. “I’m sorry, Ootori-sama.” With that she started tugging at his arm, trying to pull him away from the door.

“I just want to see him,” Kyoya ground out, trying to ignore the sobs building in his throat. “Why can’t I see him?” The tears fell from his eyes. “What did I do?”

The maid looked incredibly uncomfortable with the situation. The other servant stepped up to them, placing a hand on Kyoya’s shoulder. “You have to leave.” Kyoya hung his head, resigned to his fate.

There was a soft click behind them, light filtering into the hallway from the large windows in the music room. “It’s alright. Let him stay.” Tamaki’s voice sounded nearly as strained as Kyoya’s, and the brunet looked up at his best friend to see that he truly did look ill. His hair was a mess, he had dark circles under his eyes like he hadn’t slept much, and he was wearing what appeared to be pajamas.

Both servants bowed and left. Without a word Tamaki returned to his piano. Kyoya hesitated in the hallway, not quite certain how to deal with a quiet, somber Tamaki. Finally he went inside, closing and locking the door behind him. Tamaki was sitting at the piano, head bowed, fingers resting lightly on the keys. He seemed… defeated.

Kyoya started toward the piano but stopped. He didn’t want to sit on any of the divans or wing-back chairs lining the edge of the room, but he wasn’t certain Tamaki would want him standing too close. Sharing the seat at the piano was probably out of the question. So he stood there apprehensively, staring at his best friend and no closer to understanding what was wrong.

Tamaki laughed humorlessly. “All that and you don’t have anything to say?”

“…I…” Kyoya bit his lip. Why was it suddenly so hard to talk to his best friend? “Are you… alright?” The question sounded entirely inadequate, and Kyoya cringed.

“Do I look alright?” The response didn’t hold the defensive anger Kyoya thought it should, coming out soft and rough with emotion.

“What’s wrong?”

There was no answer.

Kyoya stepped closer. “Tamaki, please… talk to me.” No response. “It hurts to see you like this.”

Tamaki laughed again, that same creepy sort of sullen laugh. “I suppose there is some justice in the world then.”

…What?

So I’m the cause of this? Kyoya took another step, just a few feet from the blonde now. “What can I do to fix this?”

There was that laugh again. “I wish I knew.” Tamaki sounded like he was on the verge of tears. Kyoya had nearly forgotten his own, but the pain in the other boy’s voice made him acutely aware of the stinging in his eyes.

“Please, I’ll do anything. I just… I want things to go back to the way they were.”

“And if I don’t?”

Kyoya paused, considering that. He stepped up behind his friend, hating that the blonde was still turned away from him. He laid his hands gently on Tamaki’s shoulders, thankful the boy didn’t flinch away from his touch. “So what do you want then?”

The silence dragged on, each second more painful than the last. “…Why are you here, Kyoya?”

Hadn’t they been through this already?

What was he supposed to say?

“Honestly?” Tamaki nodded slightly. “The truth is… you’re such a huge part of my life that your absence throws my entire world off its axis.”

The laugh sounded different now, less self-deprecating. “Are you saying you can’t live without me?”

Kyoya couldn’t help but smile. “Something like that.” He took a breath, hoping he wouldn’t be pushed away, and slid his arms around Tamaki’s shoulders, pressing against him and laying his cheek on that soft blond hair. Tamaki’s hands came up, taking hold of Kyoya’s forearms. The brunet tensed, expecting to be shoved away, but the rebuke never came, and he relaxed back into the embrace.

Still turned away, the blonde took a fortifying breath and said, “I love you, Kyoya.”

It didn’t even register at first. It just seemed to fit, after all the emotion they'd trudged through to reach this point. “…You… love me?”

“You were there talking about taking girls out on dates, and I just had this mental image of you wining and dining and taking some girl home, kissing her on her doorstep. And I just snapped. The thought of you dating, it just… I couldn’t handle it. And I know it wouldn’t even be that different from what we already do in the host club, but I just can’t help it. I’ve had this awful crush on you for so long, and I know I can’t have you. You have familial obligations; you can’t be with another man. I know that. And I’ve accepted it. It just… doesn’t hurt any less, you know?”

“Tamaki…” Kyoya’s mind was reeling with the implications. Tamaki loved him? Had a crush on him? For how long? He lifted his cheek from his friend’s hair. Tamaki tensed, probably expecting Kyoya to pull away. Instead the brunet grasped his chin, turning his face so they could look each other in the eye. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

Tamaki closed his eyes; he couldn’t do this if he had to see the other boy. “I couldn’t take your rejection.”

Several verbal retorts spun through Kyoya’s mind, but he knew one response couldn’t be misunderstood. He leaned forward a bit and pressed his lips to the blonde’s. Tamaki gasped, his hands clenching around Kyoya’s arm, still wrapped around his shoulders. He melted into the kiss, a strangled sob falling from his lips to be swallowed by the brunet.

When the kiss broke, Kyoya pressed their foreheads together, staring deeply into violet orbs. He stroked the other boy’s cheek gently. “Tamaki,” he began fondly, “you’re an idiot.” They both laughed.

~*~

The lights came up slowly, revealing the extravagant ballroom. The club had opted for a dance rather than dates for Valentine’s Day, and the event had been spectacular. Now the guests were gone and only the club members and some various hired help remained. Kyoya plucked a rose from a nearby arrangement and strode to Tamaki, who stood in the center of the dance floor. “May I have this dance?” the brunet asked with a smile, handing the rose to the blond.

Tamaki glanced around, seeing how few people remained in the room. He hesitated, his eyes clearly asking, “Are you sure?”

Kyoya drew the blonde into his arms. The cellist from their hired string quartet paused when putting away her instrument. Seeing the boys about to dance, she took her seat and resumed playing. The other hosts paused as well, some more surprised than others to see the club founders dancing together. Haruhi was close enough to the pair for them to hear her mutter, “So that’s why senpai was so upset!”

They held each other close, swaying with the gentle rhythm of the cello. The rest of the room faded around them, each lost in the other’s eyes. The music rose in a crescendo, and as the piece reached its climax, Kyoya drew Tamaki into a kiss. They continued kissing as the music came to a close, the notes fading into the ether. When the kiss ended, they continued holding each other close. “Tamaki,” Kyoya whispered, “I love you. Will you be my Valentine?”

The blond smiled, pressing their lips together for just a moment more before answering. “I’ll be your anything.”

~*~