Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Ouran High School Host Club.

Harry flipped the pancake, checked that it was done, set it on the growing stack, and poured in more batter.

Mitsukuni hadn't woken up yesterday. Masako checked him over, used medical diagnostic spells and everything, but apparently he was fine - just exhausted. After barely sleeping while Harry was knocked out for a week, then not sleeping at all once Harry woke up, it was no wonder Mitsukuni was this tired. But Harry still worried though, and stayed vigilant at his bedside with Aisaka and Hedwig. Just in case.

Well, he'd stayed until this morning when Mitsukuni was supposed to wake up - and according to Harry's wards he already had. It would have been way too embarrassing if Mitsukuni found out that all Harry had done for a whole day was watch him sleep.

So he was in the kitchen instead, making pancakes for breakfast. He hadn't made them in years, not since Aunt Petunia forced him to cook breakfast before Hogwarts, but they were still one of his favorite things to cook. His record number of flips was seven. He tossed the now half-cooked pancake high into the air, and it rotated three whole times before it started to fall-

"Good morning Harii!"

Harry jumped and the skillet slipped out of his hand, clattering onto the stove and before he could pick it up again the pancake in the air came back down and splattered on the burner. It angrily hissed and smoked, and Harry did nothing but stare for several long seconds before he vanished the mess away.

He turned to Mitsukuni, who had already backed away from hovering over his shoulder with a sheepish smile, and scowled. "Did you really have to surprise me then?"

"Umm… probably not?"

Harry held his glare a little longer just to make Mitsukuni squirm - which he did - then nonchalantly turned off the stove. It was hard to keep his lips from twitching up into a smile. "Whatever. That's one less pancake for you then."

He expected a pout or some whining, then Harry could keep up the charade and tease Mitsukuni more, but instead Mitsukuni's eyes lit up with joy and he squealed. "You mean you made all these for me?!"

"Not just for you," Harry said, turning off the stove and carrying the large stack pancakes he already made to the kitchen's table, which already had plates, forks, syrup, and tea ready. "They're for Masako, Mori-senpai, and me too."

He sat down and Mitsukuni sat down directly next to him - not across the table where Harry had already prepared a seat. Mitsukuni hungrily eyed the pancakes, and from his eyes Harry could tell he was calculating exactly how many of the stack he could eat. Harry let him do that for a few more seconds before he speared the topmost one with a fork and put him out of his misery.

"Those two already ate though. This is all for us."

Mitsukuni lunged forward and tightly hugged Harry, almost making him drop the pancake - again. "You're the best Harii! Thank you!"

"Yeah yeah, you're welcome," Harry pushed him away. It wasn't a big deal, this was the least he could do after keeping Mitsukuni in the dark about his birthday and making him worry so much.

Mitsukuni smiled at him one last time before digging into the pancakes with relish, pouring a healthy amount of syrup on each fresh batch he loaded onto his plate. Harry had sporadically added blueberries, chocolate chips, and bananas to the pancakes as he made them, and it was a joy to see Mitsukuni's face light up each time he encountered one as they ate. This was the part Harry loved most about cooking. For a long time he'd only had himself to make treats for, but seeing someone else enjoy them was ten times better.

Harry took a bite of his own and savored how sweetly the chocolate and syrup combined on his tongue. Then he admonishingly pointed his fork at Mitsukuni. "You have a bad habit of not sleeping when you're stressed about me."

Mitsukuni's chewing paused for a moment, then he shrugged as he swallowed. "Yeah, so what? You'd be just as bad if I was the one always getting injured."

It didn't take Harry very long to realize Mitsukuni was probably right. "Maybe. It's still not healthy though."

"Eh, I'm better now. Still terrified about your birthday, of course, but I've got new research teams working on solutions now. I'll be getting daily updates from them until your birthday comes."

Harry nodded his acknowledgement, and they finished their breakfast in a comfortable silence. Should he be more concerned about how nonchalant they both were about this? Maybe. But at least they weren't talking about the kiss that happened two nights ago. And if they didn't talk about the kiss, they didn't have to talk about Mitsukuni's feelings for him, how they didn't make sense, how Harry was supposed to react because they were soulmates, or how he was confused. He'd rather avoid that if he could, if he was being honest.

"So... are you looking forward to our date tonight?" Mitsukuni asked.

Harry's fork clanged on his plate as it slipped from his fingers. "Excuse me. Our what?"

A rosy blush rapidly bloomed on Mitsukuni's cheeks and he shyly twiddled his fingers. "Our date!"

"When- umm," Harry took a sip of tea to wet his suddenly dry mouth. "When did I agree to go on a date with you?"

"Last night! Or, well, two nights ago. Remember, you said I could try to romance you. Did you think I was going to do that without taking you on a date?"

"I- I didn't think you'd even remember," Harry mumbled. "You were so sleepy everything must have been a blur."

"I would never forget that," Mitsukuni asserted, then bounced in his chair while hugging his arms. "I can't wait to take you out tonight! It's going to be amazing." For a moment Mitsukuni was lost to the world, eyes sparkling while he fantasized about them together.

Harry frantically waved his hands, hoping they would blow away the thoughts forming in Mitsukuni's head. "Ok, maybe I did agree to a date but you never said anything about that happening tonight!"

Mitsukuni blinked, then deflated back into his chair like a popped bubble. But that only lasted for a moment before his face turned serious and he snatched Harry's hands and clasped them between his own.

Harry gulped, his pulse thumping loudly in his ears, but didn't try to pull himself free.

"Sorry for the misunderstanding, I'll ask now then." Mitsukuni took a deep breath and looked directly into Harry's eyes. "Harii, can I take you out on a date tonight?"

Mitsukuni's hands were confident and steady around Harry's, and his magic brightly danced at the contact. A queasy fluttering began in his chest. He'd already agreed to this - he didn't understand why he was so nervous - but with Mitsukuni staring at him so hopefully he knew he couldn't refuse so he shakily forced a smile.

"Sure."

Mitsukuni beamed and let go of his hands. "Great! I'll text you the details later, I have to leave for a Host Club meeting at Kyo-chan's manor."

"Sounds good. I'm hanging out with Haruhi soon too."

Mitsukuni stood up, and as he did their dirty dishes rose up in the air and floated into the sink. Harry stood up too, and Mitsukuni driftily walked backwards toward the door. "I'll see you tonight then?"

"Um, sure," Harry said, and hesitantly raised his hand and gave a small wave.

Mitsukuni smiled. "I'll text you!" Then in the blink of an eye he was gone, causing the dust in the sunbeams to swirl in his wake.

Harry let out a deep breath and collapsed back into his chair. He couldn't believe this was happening, all he wanted to do this morning was share a nice breakfast with Mitsukuni. He guessed he did that, but still. What did people even do on dates? He pulled out his phone.

Harry: HELP

Haruhi: ?

Harry: I HAVE A DATE WITH MITSUKUNI

Harry: TONIGHT

Haruhi: -surprisedpikachu-

Harry sat with Haruhi in the corner of the main room of the pension she worked at, next to one of the tall windows. He had just finished telling her everything that had happened since they last saw each other at the Host club while they drank tea. Once he finished, Haruhi threw her head into her hands and groaned.

"I can't believe you manage to get in so much trouble while just sitting inside all day."

Harry finished his cup and hummed in agreement. "I know. My life sucks, doesn't it?"

Haruhi snorted. "Yes. It's so tragic, you're a teenager with a date tonight. How will you survive?" Then she wiggled her eyebrows at him, "By the way... how was that kiss?"

Harry's hand slipped as he poured the tea and spilled some on the table. He quickly wiped it away and tried to cover up the flush of embarrassment that rushed up his face by taking a long drink - of his hot tea. Based on how high Haruhi raised her eyebrows, he didn't do a good job. And he burned his tongue.

"It was fine, I guess," he mumbled. "It was… unexpected."

Haruhi giggled. "It was obvious that Honey-senpai liked you that way. Are you excited for tonight?"

"No," Harry grimaced. "I feel like I'm going to throw up."

"Don't worry too much, if you both share the same feelings it'll work out." She patted his hand, but then paused. "You do like Honey-senpai the same way, right?"

"I don't know, that's what the date is supposed to help me figure out. But I don't even know what I'm supposed to feel if I do. And what if I don't? Are we just supposed to stop being friends?"

"Honey-senpai's not like that. If that happened it might be messy for a while, but I'm sure it would work out eventually. And you're soulmates, right? That has to count for something."

"I guess," Harry sighed. "I don't like to think about how we're… destined to be together. Fate's controlled my life enough, but I guess I can't do anything about this either."

Haruhi grimaced. She hadn't been keen on Fate being a real force in the world when Harry told her about the prophecy he completed. She'd always been determined to make her own place in the world as one of the best lawyers, but if Fate was real did it even matter? Did any of them have a choice, free will, or were they just playing out a script? Harry didn't want to go down that rabbit hole again, so he cleared his throat and changed the subject.

"Any advice for the date?"

Haruhi hummed in contemplation. "Yeah… I thought so. I haven't been on a date before, but I'll do what I can to help. What do you know about dating?"

"Absolutely nothing," Harry answered. When he was little he'd caught glimpses of what dates might be like in the shows Aunt Petunia watched - candlelit dinners, ice-skating in Times Square, snuggling by the campfire - but that was it. He'd never thought it was something he'd be able to do himself.

"Ok. Well, a date is just people spending time together to see if they're romantically compatible," Haruhi said.

"So it doesn't matter what we do, anything could be a date?"

"As long as you both know it's a date, yes."

Harry, perhaps a little dramatically, threw his hands up in the air. "How am I supposed to prepare for this if it could be anything?"

"Hasn't Honey-senpai told you what you're doing yet?"

"No," Harry glared at his phone. "He said he wants it to be a surprise."

"Surprise dates could be fun, but yeah that's not very helpful." Haruhi sat in thought with him for a long moment, fist pressed under her chin, before she smacked it into her open palm. "I know! I brought some of my Dad's romance novels here for some fun reading, but I haven't gotten to them yet. Maybe they'll give us some ideas."

"That's perfect!" Harry should have thought of this before. He was about to suggest they go get them from her room right now, he couldn't wait to finally get some answers on what dating was supposed to be like, but then his magic dinged as something tripped his apartment's wards.

Harry let out a long groan. "Crap, I'm sorry, I need to go to Tokyo. Someone just tried to break into my apartment."

"Seriously? Why would anyone want to get into there?"

"I've made plenty of enemies back in England, or maybe someone in Japan got curious once it got leaked that Mitsukuni and I are soulmates. Either way I have to go deal with it."

"It's safe for you to go, right? You're not still hurt?"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." He wasn't completely recovered from apparating across the world yet, but whoever the intruder was they weren't able to get past his wards. He doubted they were that big of a thread. "I'll text you how it goes."

He couldn't apparate straight out of the inn with the other customers around, so he headed outside to find a nice secluded spot behind the inn. As he walked to the exit, he pulled out his phone and texted Mitsukuni that he was going back to Tokyo. That way he'd know to pick him up at his apartment later instead of the manor. Mitsukuni could apparate there too, or take a helicopter. It should be fine.

"Wait!" Haruhi caught up to him and shoved a small, heavy satchel in his hands. "Take the books first, read them if you can before tonight."

Harry smiled at her. "Thanks!"

He was determined to catch whoever tried to get in as fast as he could now. He couldn't wait to start reading!

Mitsukuni sat in an oversized bean bag chair in the Ootori manor, ignoring the conversation of the Hosts around him as he stared at his phone.

He had a date. Tonight. With Harii.

He was having trouble narrowing down what they would do - there were so many fun possibilities! But he was having trouble focusing on figuring it out because Harii was also texting him. Every time a new message came in, telling him what snacks he was eating with Haruhi, asking what Mitsukuni was doing with the hosts, or wondering about what they were doing tonight. Mitsukuni had to close his eyes and take three deep breaths before responding. Harii was so cute when he was curious!

"Hey senpai, what are you smiling about over there?" Hikaru asked. "You've been ignoring us all morning."

"Yeah, you've been glued to your phone," Kaoru said. "Come help us plan our next cosplay."

Mitsukuni peeked up from his phone and found all the hosts staring at him, even Kyoya had looked up from his clipboard. They were planning cosplays? He thought that their schedule was already planned out until November. Mitsukuni cringed - he really had been ignoring them all morning, hadn't he? He apologetically smiled at them all and bowed. "Sorry everyone, I'll start paying attention!"

Tamaki stood and clapped his hands once. "No, we can't continue planning until this is solved - obviously he's distracted by something important. Tell us Honey-senpai, how can we help?"

Mitsukuni let out an embarrassed laugh and tried to change the subject. "It's nothing, really. Come on, let's get back to work!"

The twins narrowed their eyes suspiciously and Kyoya raised an eyebrow. Takashi crossed his arms, then kicked Mitsukuni's bean-bag chair twice from his own seat. Mitsukuni huffed at him, he'd already told Takashi all the details, but he supposed now was as good a time to tell the Hosts as any.

"Well," he drawled, withholding a smirk as the anticipation on their faces grew, tapping his finger against his cheek to make them wait a little longer. "I have a date tonight!"

"WHAT!" Tamaki shrieked, falling to the floor, and the twins rushed forward and crowded Mitsukuni.

"Really? Wow senpai, you're so lucky!" Kaoru said.

"Ne ne, who is it senpai? Is it one of the girls from the club?" Hikaru said.

Kyoya scoffed at them. "Of course it's not, I would know if it was. Besides, the answer should be obvious." Takashi nodded in agreement.

The twins sighed. "Of course the shadow king would know… and Mori-senpai too."

"Come on, tell us!"

Tamaki, now recovered and standing again, fixed his hair and regally extended his hand toward Mitsukuni. "Yes, you should have let all the family know about this as soon as the meeting started! How are we supposed to help you woo this beautiful maiden if we don't know who it is?"

Mitsukuni almost danced in his chair. It was so nice that his friends wanted to help, even if he didn't need it. "It's Harii!" he gushed. "I'm going on a date with Harii-chan tonight!"

"WHAT!" Tamaki fell again in a tangle of limbs, meanwhile the Twins' eyes widened in realization.

"Oh, that makes sense," Hikaru said.

Kaoru nodded. "Yeah, you were all over him when he came to the club, weren't you?"

A wave of hot embarrassment rushed to Mitsukuni's cheeks, he'd been so focused on keeping Harii's attention on him that day that he hadn't really noticed the other Host's reactions. "Was I that obvious?"

The twins, Kyoya, and Takashi all nodded.

Tamaki leapt off the floor and started shouting. "No! Y- You can't date Hari-kun, he's my son! And you're my Uncle! That's incest and I forbid it!"

Kyoya facepalmed, the twins gagged, and Mitsukuni rolled his eyes. As much as he considered the Host Club family, Harii was definitely not Tamaki's son. He wished he could make a comment about Tamaki's own feelings toward Haruhi, his so-called daughter, but the idiot hadn't even realized them himself yet.

"How'd you even get a date with Hari? Isn't he in Tokyo?" Kaoru asked.

"Actually," Mitsukuni said. "He's staying at my manor right now."

Hikaru loudly gasped, then shared a long glance with Kaoru. They smirked, then turned back to him and lecherously grinned. "Honey-senpai..." they chorused. "You dog."

Mitsukuni tilted his head, unsure of exactly what they were implying, then the meaning of their words crashed into him like a train.

"Oh my god no! We're not like that!" he shrieked. The twins leered at him and backed away like he was a deviant, huddled together whispering who knows what to each other. So much heat rushed to his cheeks that he thought he might explode.

"Takashi! You're staying with me too, tell them we're not like that! Our bedrooms aren't even in the same wing!"

Takashi scratched his arm and looked away with a faint blush on his cheeks. The twins gasped again and brought him into their huddle.

Mitsukuni groaned and turned over in the beanbag chair to hide, letting his phone drop to the floor. Even Takashi, his own cousin, had betrayed him. "You all suck." The twins broke out in laughter, and Takashi let out a rare, quiet chuckle which brought a hidden smile to Mitsukuni's lips. It always made him happy when Takashi laughed.

He was content with hiding in the beanbag chair until his embarrassment went away or Tamaki finally recovered and pulled him out, but then his phone let out a sharp ding that made his ears perk up. All his friends but Haruhi were already in this room, and she would probably be over soon, and he wasn't expecting any messages from his family or work. That meant the text was probably from Harii!

But before he could roll over and check, someone else had already swiped his phone from the ground. "Oh look," Hikaru said. "It's from Hari."

"Hmm, that's interesting."

"Yeah. Senpai, did you piss him off? He said he's going back to Tokyo."

Mitsukuni leapt up and snatched his phone back to see for himself. They were telling the truth. "Harii's back in Tokyo? What is he doing there!"

Kyoya readjusted his glasses, and the sunlight reflected dangerously off his lenses. "That widens the options for your date, at least."

Mitsukuni's thumbs flew on his phone's keypad as he typed out a response. What was Harii thinking? The only way he could have gotten there on his own was apparating and his magical core was not recovered enough for that kind of strain and what if he splinched-

"Stop!" Tamaki shouted, and the phone was promptly plucked from his hands by Hikaru. "What do you think you're doing? You can't just message him back right away!"

The twins nodded in sync. "Father's right," Kaoru said. "You don't want to appear too eager. You'll scare Hari off."

"Poor senpai," Hikaru mused. "So innocent and naive to the ways of love." Tamaki sighed, then all three of them bowed their heads as if mourning Mitsukuni's relationship with Harii before it even began.

He glared at them, careful not to flare his magic. This was ridiculous, he and Harii were soulmates and he was not going to mess up their first date. "That doesn't make any sense, if I don't message back he'll think I don't care. Now give me back my phone!" Mitsukuni tried to swipe his phone back, but Hikaru raised it high above his head and unfortunately, despite how much he'd grown, it was still out of his reach. "Harii and I have always responded right away to each other, why would I change that now?"

"But you weren't dating before, were you?" Tamaki asked. "Well, you still aren't - not officially - this is just the first date. Like an alluring flower, you must keep Hari-kun interested with your scent or he'll buzz away to a better field! You can't make it easy for him to reach you, that is why you must wait and be the most enticing flower you can be!"

The twins nodded sagely behind him.

"Probably a chrysanthemum," Kyoya muttered under his breath - so low that only Mitsukuni and Takashi heard. For some reason Takashi blushed and Kyoya stared at him, aghast, before forcefully clearing his throat and speaking again. "The average response time to a text message for a fifteen year old British male is three minutes and forty-two seconds. From my understanding, an instant reply is considered rather… gauche."

Mitsukuni crossed his arms and stared them down, this was getting ridiculous. "I don't care. Give me back my phone, now. Or I'll take it back."

Hikaru and Kaoru challengingly stared down at him, as if daring him to come get it back. Tamaki moved in front of them, as if he'd be any help, but then Takashi joined - his feet planted and ready for battle.

Mitsukuni cracked his knuckles. Fine, if it was a fight they wanted, a fight they would get. He wasn't going to let anyone keep him from Harii.

He dived forward amid screams, but before he could reach the twins Takashi tackled him to the ground. Before he could get free, more weight was added as a dog-pile formed on top of him to try and keep him down.

It wasn't going to succeed.

Kyoya sighed, then pulled out his laptop. Once again he was getting left with all the work.

Harry stared at his apartment's door with his hands behind his head. His wards were still intact - but considering there wasn't currently anyone fused into the wall, the intruder must not have been completely incompetent.

He sighed and went inside. Even though he hadn't been gone too long, the familiar, comforting air had an edge of staleness. He set Ranka's books on the table then opened the windows, and also cast a few cleaning charms. Once he was done, he laid down on the couch with a groan, only now feeling the drain on his magic. He'd thought he'd recovered enough from before that he wouldn't notice smaller spells by now.

It was nice being back, but he couldn't stop checking the door every few minutes. He wasn't sure how safe this place really was now that reporters knew where he lived, along with whoever else they had told.

A sharp ding came from Harry's phone, and instead of summoning it over like he wished he reluctantly walked to the table and picked it up. The message was from Mitsukuni, but the contents made Harry furrow his brow before replying.

Mitsukuni: as;ldkfj;lsakdjfadsf

Harry: ?

Harry: Are you okay?

No reply came back within the next few minutes, or the minutes that followed. It was odd. Mitsukuni always messaged back right away. That he didn't this time caused a tingle of worry to settle in Harry's gut that he did his best to ignore. Mitsukuni was with the Host's today, he wasn't in trouble, he'd probably just gotten caught up in one of Tamaki's antics and was distracted.

Hopefully.

He shook his head. There was still hours to go before the date so he might as well try to research what it would be like with the time he had left.

Harry picked a book at random and took it back to the couch to read. Its cover had two men on it - both wearing loose, traditional robes that showed off their abs. From the left man's fangs, delicately hovering over the other man's neck, Harry figured this story would feature muggle's impression of vampires.

He hoped it was informative... and not too inaccurate.

Mitsukuni squirmed at the bottom of the pile of Hosts. Takashi was pinning his arms, the Twins each had a leg, and Tamaki was sprawled on his back. Someone's elbow painfully dug into his side, and it was kind of smelly.

"Hey Hikaru, I figured out senpai's password. It was the date we first visited Haruhi's apartment," Kaoru shouted.

"Honey-senpai, wasn't that the day you first met Hari? Is it alright if I ask him about that?"

"Maybe we should throw senpai a bone and ask him his preferences?"

Mitsukuni's face warmed with a mix of embarrassment and anger, and Takashi's arms tightened around him. "Don't you dare!" he shouted, and in a burst of strength he tossed them all off.

His phone landed on the floor halfway across the room. Mitsukuni exchanged glares with Takashi, Tamaki, and the twins.

At once, all together, they dived forward.

Harry turned the page with a confused frown.

It wasn't the vampires that were giving him trouble. Sure, all the information about them was wrong, but in the story their abilities were very well defined, and within those constraints everything they did made sense. And the setting of the Heian era Japan was interesting. He was definitely going to read more about that later, but he didn't have time right now.

The way the two lead characters felt about each other… he couldn't relate to them at all. It had only taken the story a few chapters before there was a sex scene, and in all the pages before that they both had this burning desire for one another. If this was what attraction was, if this was necessary to have a relationship, then Harry might as well cancel the date now. He'd never felt like that toward anyone, not even Mitsukuni.

Was this the way soulmates were supposed to feel about each other? Was this how Mitsukuni felt about him?

He set this book aside and picked up the next. There wasn't anything left to do but keep reading.

Haruhi walked into the lounge of Kyoya's mansion for the host club meeting, saw most of them wrestling in a pile on the floor, screaming, and decided to ignore them all. Instead, she sat next to Kyoya at the table.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Kyoya glanced up from his laptop and pointedly did not glance at the others. "One of them has Honey-senpai's phone. He's trying to get it back."

"Ah." Haruhi poured herself a cup of the tea. "How long have they been fighting?"

He glanced at his watch. "One hour and four minutes."

Haruhi sighed. This would have been a good time to read one of her dad's books, but hopefully Harry was enjoying them. It looked like she'd be here for a while.

None of the books had helped.

Harry returned them to the tote bag. Maybe there was something wrong with him, why else would it have been so hard for him to relate? Why else hadn't he ever felt the same attraction any of the characters had? Ranka had good taste, so it couldn't be the books that were the problem. It had to be him. With all the weird rituals he'd done to get the power boost he'd needed to defeat Voldemort… he wouldn't be surprised if this was a side-effect.

Or maybe he'd always been like this. Maybe Aunt Petunia was right and he was a freak after all.

He knew Ranka was home in his apartment next door, when Harry had first arrived he'd shown up in the scans he'd cast to try and find anyone suspicious. He might as well return the books now. He picked up the heavy bag and then went outside in the hot summer air, walked the short distance to his door, and knocked three times.

Ranka answered the door with a relaxed smile wearing sweats, a baggy t-shirt, and with his hair tied up with a bandana. He was also unshaven, so today must be his day off. "Hey Hari. Whatcha need?"

Harry held up the sack of books and forced them into Ranka's unprepared hands. "I was borrowing these books from Haruhi for research, and she got them from you, but they weren't as helpful as I'd hoped, so here."

Ranka picked one of the books out of the bag, took a long look at the cover, and blanched. "Oh god… I can't believe I left these sitting out. Why would you want books like these for research?"

"Well, they're romance books right? I have my first date tonight and was trying to figure out what it would be like." Harry sighed, none of them had even included dates, but they did help him figure something else out. "I think I should just call it off, though. I'm not attracted to anyone like the characters in the books are to each other, and if that's what liking someone is, I guess I don't feel the same way."

"Stop!" Ranka declared, and narrowed his eyes down at Harry. "Sexual attraction has nothing to do with romance. What gave you that idea?"

"The books?"

Ranka let out a long sigh. "Your date is tonight, right? With one of the host club boys?" Harry nodded, then Ranka continued. "Ok, go get your wallet and meet me back here in five minutes. I've seen your wardrobe, there's nothing in there good enough for a date. We're going shopping. I'll explain everything while we're out."

"Oh umm, ok. Thank you." Were his clothes really that bad?

"You're welcome, now get moving."

A shout of victory made Haruhi look up from the book Kyoya helpfully supplied her and turn to the other hosts. Tamaki, the twins, and Mori were in a wretched pile of limbs on the floor, and Honey proudly sat cross-legged on top of them. His phone was clutched in his hand and proudly raised in the air.

"There! Next time don't even think about taking my phone!"

Honey smugly hopped off the hosts and sat down by Haruhi and Kyoya, eyes glued to his phone's screen and scrolling through his messages. The others picked themselves off the floor with groans a few moments later and joined them.

"Hey, Honey-senpai," Haruhi started, and he looked up from his phone to her. "What are you doing for the date? Hari was asking me about it earlier."

Mitsukuni grimaced. "Hehe, I don't know yet? I haven't thought of anything amazing, so I was thinking we could have a romantic candlelit dinner."

"NO!" All the other hosts shouted, making Haruhi flinch and cover her ears. What was their problem? That sounded nice, especially if the restaurant had fancy tuna.

"Come on senpai, you can do better than that!" Hikaru said. "This is your first date you have to make it special!"

"Yeah!" Kaoru agreed. "Take Hari on a hot-air balloon ride, kiss him above the clouds!"

"Or have a picnic on top of Tokyo Tower!"

"Take a helicopter to Kyoto!"

Kyoya adjusted his glasses. "Have a little bit of class. At the very least you need to hire a classically trained pianist for dinner."

Mori nodded.

Haruhi grimaced, Honey was starting to seem a little too interested in these ideas. "Are you sure you want to do something so extravagant? What about something low-key, like a walk in the park?"

"What are you, crazy?"

"What's special about a walk in the park? You can do that anytime."

"Haruhi," Tamaki brandished his arms out and looked at her with a spark of pity, just like he always did when he was about to gush about rich-person nonsense. "I know that with your background you grew up with the romantic notation that simplicity was better for dates, but I'm afraid I have to inform you that it simply isn't true. If Honey wants to date Hari-chan, his date has to equal the power of the feelings he has in his heart!"

Haruhi sighed and looked at Mitsukuni, hoping he was seeing reason and not actually considering any of this, but he had instead produced a pen and notebook from somewhere and was taking notes.

"This is going to be so amazing!" Honey started bouncing in his chair so hard Haruhi thought he might hit the ceiling any second. "Keep saying your ideas, this date is going to be so perfect that Harii will definitely love it and then he'll love me and then we'll get married and-"

The twins each grabbed one of his arms and shoved him back down into his seat. "Down boy," they scolded. "Don't get too excited yet, this is only the first date."

Honey complied and stayed put, smiling, but the light in his eyes only grew brighter as all the hosts helped him plan the date in more and more detail.

Haruhi shook her head and turned back to her book, doing her best to tune out the hosts and the absurd amount of money they were convincing Honey to spend. One thing was clear now: if she ever got a date, she was never going to tell the hosts. Whatever they planned for her would just be a waste of money.

Haruhi: Sorry. I tried.

Harry frowned at Haruhi's message, then put away his phone to continue sifting through the rack of shirts. That was… ominous. He hoped she was okay.

This was the third clothing store he and Ranka had been to. Harry wasn't sure why nothing in the other two had met Ranka's approval, but he wasn't about to turn away the help he apparently desperately needed. Not just with his outfit for tonight, but everything else too. Ranka had been able to answer all of his questions about dating so far without breaking a sweat.

But all they'd settled on so far was a nice pair of jeans.

"So it really doesn't matter that I'm not sexually attracted to him?"

"Not necessarily," Ranka replied while rapidly assessing each shirt in the rack in front of him. "Sexual attraction is only one facet of a relationship, and if you knew you were attracted to girls instead of boys I'd recommend you stick to your preferences, but that's not the case for you, is it?"

"Right. I'm not attracted to anyone that way. I tried to force it after reading those books, I even tried to think about Mitsukuni like that… but it's just not there."

"And that's perfectly fine. It sounds like you're on the asexuality spectrum - you can look that up more later - but take some time to think about it. Now you just have to determine if you're romantically attracted to him, and that's what the date's for."

Harry nodded, then wandered deeper into the store. From everything Ranka had told him so far, he related too much to what he said about asexuality for it to not be a coincidence. Hopefully he would have enough time to research more than the basics before the date started. He just hoped it would help, but he doubted there was any information online about how it all related to soulmates. It almost made him regret skipping the sex-ed class at Hogwarts.

A stack of folded sweaters caught his eye. They had a wide neck and came in a variety of pastel colors, and were made of the softest fabric Harry had ever touched. Even if Ranka didn't like them he was thinking of buying some just for Hedwig to sleep on.

"Hey Ranka," he called out to the other side of the store. "What do you think about these?"

Ranka walked over and immediately picked up the green one. "This would go beautifully with your eyes, and the material is light enough that it won't be too warm in the summer heat. Why don't you go try it on?"

"Sure."

In the changing room, Harry changed into the sweater and stared at himself in the mirror. Ranka had been right, it really did go well with his eyes. And it was just as soft as he'd hoped, it was like wearing a light, fluffy cloud - but it was also very different from t-shirts or dress shirts he normally wore. He liked it, but he wondered if Mitsukuni would too.

"So how will I know that I'm romantically attracted to him?" Harry asked through the small room's thick curtain. This was the hardest thing for Harry to figure out. How was he supposed to know what it was like if he'd never felt it before?

"Well, it's a little different for everyone. Haruhi was right when she said you'll just know. For me, with Haruhi's mother, my heart fluttered whenever I was with her. In a good way. I was always happiest when we were together, and I always wanted to hold her hand, and kiss her, and be with her."

He heard Ranka sigh. "Never regret love, Hari, no matter what form it comes in. But also, some people are aromantic and don't feel that way about others either, and that's ok. If it turns out that you are, your boy will just have to be content being friends with you. And if he's not, he's not worth your time. Now come out of there and show me how you look!"

Harry pulled back the curtain and stepped back out into the store. He briefly twirled around, Ranka had him well trained by now and the man liked to see the clothes at all angles. When he was done, he saw sparkles in Ranka's eyes.

"I think we have a winner! Your boy isn't going to know what hit him when he sees you in this."

An awkward smile slipped onto Harry's lips. He just hoped he was presentable for whatever Mitsukuni had planned.

Harry changed back, then bought the green sweater as well as a pink one for Hedwig. He was glad they were finally done, he had no idea that clothes shopping could be this intensive. He was never going to do it on the same day as a date again... assuming he ever went on another date.

"Thanks for helping me with all of this today, Ranka."

Ranka smiled at him and ruffled his hair. Harry almost flinched at the contact, but was glad he didn't. He probably would have months ago.

"You're welcome kid. You don't have to figure out your feelings tonight. You're young, you have plenty of time."

Harry smiled back up at him. "You're right. Is there anything else I should know about going on a date?"

Ranka tapped his chin in contemplation as they walked. "Well, it's a great opportunity to ask the other person questions that'd be hard to bring up casually."

"Like what?"

"If it's a casual, fun date to try to get to know a new person maybe don't do this, but since you're serious about this boy and already know him well you can ask him things to know if you'd be compatible life partners. Stuff like religion, finance, life goals, career aspiration, if they want children. Lots of things."

"Got it." That seemed like a lot to cover on just the first date, but at least they wouldn't run out of things to talk about.

"And, more than anything else, remember this…"

Ranka stopped them in the middle of the sidewalk, crouched down, and looked Harry in the eyes. "All boys are dogs."

Did that make Harry a dog too? Was anyone saying the same thing to Mitsukuni about him?

Harry and Ranka went to a few other stores together while they were downtown, but Harry didn't buy much. So much had happened today already, all Harry wanted to do was go home and read or sleep, just be by himself and do nothing until tomorrow, but there was still the date later and despite everything he was actually a little excited for it.

Two new messages came to his phone as they walked. They were from Mitsukuni, and despite the small ball of anxiety that was now ever-present in his stomach because of him, Harry smiled and stopped to read them.

Mitsukuni: Sorry about earlier! The Hosts were being dumb :(

Mitsukuni: I'll pick you up from your apartment at 7!

Mitsukuni: I can't wait!

His hands fumbled his phone as he slowly replied...

Harry: Me too.

A/N:

Checkmate, aphobes. Ranka said aro/aces are valid!

Seriously though, I hope you appreciate mini asexuality lesson. I didn't realize I was ace until last year, and I think it took me so long because it's always treated as a joke in media and the lack of education about it. Looking back, I probably really liked the idea of non-sexual, non-instant-love Soulmate AU for a reason xD.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! And big thanks again to LScore for beta'ing. I was originally going to fit the date in this chapter too, but then the Host Club kind of took over. As they do. Also, nothing crazy or bad happened to the boys this chapter? Suspicious…