Haruhi sighed as she shouldered her satchel, completely drained from both schoolwork and the club she'd been strong-armed into joining. People were just tiring in general, honestly, and while the girls were cute they were also a handful. The squealing hurt her ears, also.

Still, it was a reasonable request she supposed, considering that she did cost them eight million yen. Even for rich bastards, that was a lot of money, and she wouldn't feel right if she just left them to deal with it by themselves.

She wrapped her scarf around her neck a little tighter, feeling the autumn chill settle beneath her skin. The grounds were rather beautiful in the autumn; not that they weren't always, but the golden-brown leaves laying on the paths and grass... It was just so peaceful. It was almost a shame that Kyoya - as far as she knew - had no plans to utilise the lovely scenery, although she supposed it had to do with how cold it had been lately.

Just as she was about to leave, a small cat caught her eye as it darted out from behind a tree, running towards the back of the school. That was odd. Maybe it was a stray? Still, it wasn't like she saw a lot of cats roaming around. Maybe it was someone's pet?

Curious, she followed the black cat around to the back, behind the (totally unnecessary) clock tower. It was rather fast and looked as if it knew exactly where it was going. It certainly wasn't injured, not if it could move at that speed.

"Is it you, or are you just a friend of his?"

Haruhi's brow furrowed when she saw Tamaki kneel down to the cat, offering it his hand to sniff, which it nuzzled its head against without hesitation. Tamaki had always seemed more like a dog person to her, although she supposed that wasn't really an out of character way for him to behave. Still, the look on his face - that scrutiny - seemed misplaced.

"Turn back, we've got to go home and I'm not giving you a ride if you're going to shed all over the back seat," Tamaki chuckled, giving the cat one more scratch behind the ears before standing once more, "I wish you were this affectionate in human form."

Before Haruhi could even begin to think what that could possibly mean, or call the nearest hospital saying that her senpai had gone insane, something happened that… simply wasn't explainable. The cat… The only way she could even think how to describe it was a glowing light, morphing from cat-shaped to human, and when it finally died down – there sat Kyoya, of all people.

"I'm not shedding," Kyoya hissed at Tamaki, obviously not at all pleased. His hair was ruffled, his uniform creased and even torn slightly in places, and his glasses were crooked. In short, far less put together than the older boy usually was, "If you want to see the one who sheds, look in a mirror."

It was fair to say that Haruhi had no idea what to think about what she'd seen, what she'd heard, and had no clue how to react. After all, her senpai... had turned into a cat, apparently, and then back again, and Tamaki obviously knew about the whole thing. After all, if Tamaki hadn't known, there would've been much more confusion, whining and howling.

But then there was what Kyoya had said about Tamaki shedding, just... What the hell was going on?

Maybe, just maybe, this was some sort of weird dream. A very, very weird dream. It wasn't like the scene she'd just happened on could ever take place in reality. People don't shift into some sort of cat form, that was impossible.

... Right?

There had always been something weird about the other hosts; something off. Like there was something they wouldn't say, some sort of wall between her and them; she'd kind of assumed it was the difference between their socio-economic status and hers, in all honesty. After all, that seemed to matter in Ouran, to the point that it even affected the classes they were in. They were the top dogs, and she wasn't even on the same page they were.

She hadn't cared about that, beyond how awkward it could be at times. It wasn't like she minded not knowing every intimate detail of their personal lives - those were private, and it meant there was no pressure to repay the favour. Still... After that... It was very different. After all, how could someone see something like that and just stay silent? It was just too out of the ordinary.

She wasn't much of a curious person at the best of times, but this was different. She decided to say something tomorrow, rather than corner her senpais now. Maybe then she'd actually have a clue what to say?

Kyoya stretched across the back seat of the limo, yawning. He didn't bring his hand up to cover his mouth, not too bothered with being polite in front of Tamaki. After all, once your best friend drools on you and licks your face over and over with no sign of stopping, boundaries and manners aren't really much of a priority. Besides, the limo was warm, and the setting sun cast some lovely beams of light across the dark leather interior; he could almost feel himself purring.

"I thought you were going to research some more spells on the ride home?" Tamaki inquired, sounding rather amused at Kyoya's behaviour, "Or are you just going to take a little cat-nap?"

"Fuck off," Kyoya grunted, though he wasn't annoyed enough to hiss or bare his teeth, the comfortable laziness he felt casting a haze over his annoyance. Why bother being dramatic when he could just curl up and sleep? It didn't help that he was near-exhausted from the days classes, as well as fighting the urge to shift into his cat form. It took more energy than just allowing his magick to do what it wanted. He wouldn't mind just being a cat, honestly; they only had to worry about food and where the next beam of sunlight they could fall asleep in was.

He'd be quite happy with that, but his father wouldn't be. He kept being reminded that he had to study his charms, had to stay in human form, had to control the magick. Still, there were worse lives for a young witch; he admitted that he'd grown up somewhat spoiled.

"It's a full moon tonight," He began, sitting up and tucking a few locks of black hair behind his ear, "How are you coping?"

"I'm just feeling a bit achy, you know how it is..." Tamaki sighed, shifting over to sit next to the witch, "Got anything with you to help, or am I waiting until I'm home."

"I think I do…" Kyoya murmured, opening his satchel and removing a small bag of willow bark, "You could just bring some aspirin to school, though; it's basically the same thing. No magick here, just chemistry."

"Ah, but it's administered by a witch, so it has to be twice as powerful," Tamaki grinned, and Kyoya huffed, tossing the bag at him.

"Just chew your bark, idiot."