This is my first Ouran fic and I'm kind of nervous about posting it. I hope things are kept in character but if they seem out of character then I apologize. This is mainly based on the anime, I'm still working on reading the manga but not quite there yet. So I hope you guys enjoy the story! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or any of the characters
"Oh Haruhi, a letter arrived in the mail for you. I wonder if it is from a secret admirer, hmmm?"
Haruhi could feel sweat drops forming on the side of her head as she watched her cross-dressing father rub the envelope that was addressed to her, against his cheek. She never knew anyone to get so excited over a letter, except her father, and probably Tamaki now that she thought about it. It took her a minute to pry the letter away from his grip and she quickly retreated back into her room so she could read it in privacy, or what little privacy she had.
Haruhi leapt on top of her tidy bed and ripped open the envelope, yanking out the several sheets of white paper. She curled up into a comfortable position and began to read the familiar handwriting that always managed to bring her comfort every month. Haruhi spent the next twenty minutes reading the letter and then re-reading it once again before uncurling herself from the comfort spot.
She stretched her arm out and began to blindly find the objects she wanted. She could have easily got up and found it, taking less time, but she was stubborn and wanted to do things her way. Haruhi's fingers closed around a pen and the edge of a notepad and she yanked both of them up onto the bed. She flipped a few pages in the notepad before uncapping the pen and scribbling in her sloppy handwriting.
"This won't do," she muttered to herself, ripping out the sheet of paper and crumbling it into the ball. She sent the paper flying across the room, making a mental note to pick it up later. Haruhi started again, this time writing slower and taking her time to make sure the handwriting was neat and most of all-legible.
Dear Takashi,
I am so glad to hear from you! I just received your letter, after having to pry it away from my Dad, and I am thrilled that everything is going so well at Ouran University. Speaking of which, we all miss you and wish you the best of luck, of course we cannot wait to see you as well, that's if the rest of us are accepted-but enough about that, let me tell you about all that has been going on. Yesterday-
Almost an hour later, Haruhi scribbled her signature at the end of her letter and tore the note pages out of the pad. She climbed off of her bed and looked inside her small dresser for some envelopes and stamps she had stashed inside. Finding one, she folded up the thick letter and shoved it inside the small envelope. She sealed it and made a gagging noise at the nasty taste of the sticky stuff on the back of the envelope that would seal it all together. Haruhi glanced at the clock and sighed, she would have to wait until tomorrow to mail the letter off, but it was fine, as long as he received it then that was all that mattered.
Haruhi tucked the sealed and stamped envelope into her dresser after she had placed the appropriate mailing address on it, and pulled out another envelope. She smiled brightly as the fancy writing and seal of the document came into view. She read through the lines that she had read a hundred times when she had first received the letter: Fujioka Haruhi, we are pleased to announce that you have been accepted to Ouran University-
Of course she had told Mori otherwise in her letter to him. She did not want to spoil the surprise; she wanted to see the shocked look on his face when she would pop out from behind him and tell him the good news. She pictured it in her mind and she felt jittery inside just thinking about it. He would be surprised, she would be happy to finally be in the same school with him again, and they would continue to be closer friends than ever before.
Haruhi sighed, she missed his silent company, and it was a vacation from the loud ruckus of the other Host Club members, mainly the Hitachiin twins. Tomorrow would be Monday and she would no doubt take on her Host Club duties as she had been ever since she was forced to join. In a few months she would be leaving Ouran Academy and heading off to Ouran University. It was quite exciting and scary at the same time.
Tamaki and Kyouya had graduated last year, leaving her alone with the twins. Hunny had graduated with Mori a couple of years back. Haruhi remembered when Tamaki threw a fit because two members were gone and it only signified that the Host Club was coming to an end. Then finally Tamaki and Kyouya left, President and Vice-President and there was no one else to run the club. Sure, she could have done it or the twins, but without their guidance, as bizarre as that sounded, the Host Club would not thrive.
"But Tamaki-senpai, won't you be sad when the Host Club is no more?"
Tamaki gave a genuine smile and contemplated the question for a minute, blinking away the oncoming tears, "yes and no."
"I don't understand…"
"I will be sad but then I won't be because the Host Club was successful and that was all I wanted, a successful club and I got that…and then-some."
"Senpai-"
"OH HARUHI! YOUR CONCERN FOR ME IS OVERWHELMING, NOW GIVE DADDY A HUG!"
Haruhi shook her head and made the memories vanish from her mind, she didn't want to dwell the rest of the day away with thoughts of the club. She glanced up at the clock once more and ran through her mental checklist of things she had accomplished that day and things that she still need to do. All the chores were done and it would not take her very long to whip together some dinner. The only thing left she had to do was finish up some homework, study over the history notes from Friday and lay out her uniform for tomorrow. She was just thankful that Mori's letter had broken up the monotony of her daily routine. How she wished that monotony could be broken up a little more, just like it had been before everyone had left.
Monday did not take long to make its appearance for the start of the week, Haruhi disliked the day a lot. Her bag slipped off her shoulder and she pulled the strap with a hard tug. Unfortunately for her, the strap ripped from the bag and her bag fell to the cement below her. Haruhi groaned and she began to calculate how much it would cost to buy a new bag and if it would even be worth it. She bent down to pick up the intact strap and carefully shouldered it. The other broken strap flapped downwards and to Haruhi, it looked very tacky.
"Hey, Haruhi!"
"Good morning Haru-chan!"
"Oooh…Haruhi, what happened to your bookbag, let me fix it for you!"
Haruhi brushed past the students that were greeting her good morning and offering their services to fix her bag. She didn't mean to be rude to them or appear to be rude, but she was not having such a great start to the morning. The only thing she wanted to do was to get to class, sit down, and collect her thoughts before the class began.
"Good morning…hi…no, it's okay, I can fix it-thanks!" Haruhi replied to them, throwing comments over her shoulder left and right as she pushed past the group. Ever since the four other members left, the students seemed to cling to her and the twins more than they had ever done in the past.
"Hey, Haruhi!"
"Over here, Haruhi!"
Haruhi had stepped inside the building and not even two seconds later, the two people aka the cause of all her nightmares, appeared. The Hitachiin twins were leaning up against each other while fangirls squealed behind them.
"It's too early and the coffee hasn't even kicked in yet," Haruhi groaned, rubbing her hand against her forehead.
"How was your weekend?" Kaoru asked.
"Did you miss us? Most importantly," Hikaru grabbed both of her hands, clasping them tightly within his own, "did you miss me?"
Haruhi began to sweat while Kaoru cried out in alarm and sadness, "Hikaru! How could you?!"
Hikaru dropped Haruhi's hands and looked over at his hurt twin, "Kaoru-"
Kaoru turned his back on his brother, his shoulders shaking as he began to cry.
"Kaoru," Hikaru called softly, reaching a hand out to touch the other on the shoulder. Kaoru flinched but Hikaru grabbed Kaoru suddenly and crushed his twin brother to his chest.
"Please, don't be mad at me, you know I love you and only you," he reassured him, his hand running through the familiar red hair.
Hikaru tilted Kaoru's chin up with his finger and lowered his head so their lips were barely brushing each others, "forgive me?"
"Oh Hikaru, I forgive you!" Kaoru cried, clutching to the front of Hikaru's school uniform.
The fangirls in the background squealed loudly and passed out in the school hallway. A custodian was walking by and pulled out his radio, "code orange, hormone overload in Sector C. Repeat-code orange, hormone overload in Sector C…over!"
The passed out fangirls were carried off on stretchers and brought down to the nurse's office while Haruhi pushed the brotherly-loving twins into the empty classroom. Yes, it was a FANTASTIC start to the week.
"So we're going have a study party later, want to join us?" Kaoru asked Haruhi at lunch.
Haruhi poked at her lunch with disinterest, "I don't know."
"It will be fun!" Hikaru exclaimed, taking a bite out of his apple.
"Fun for you guys because you goof around and I wind up doing all the work," Haruhi huffed, pushing her lunch aside. "I'm not hungry."
"We do our work," Kaoru protested.
"Indeed," Hikaru nodded.
Haruhi looked to her left where Kaoru sat and then the right where Hikaru was on the other side of her and she shrugged, "okay, fine. What time?"
"Five on the dot and don't be late!" they both chanted at the same time, wrapping their arms around her and squeezing the poor girl to death.
"Can't…breathe…"
School was pretty much uneventful except for the antics of the twins, the squealing of the fangirls, and shy, younger students coming up to Haruhi and asking if they could sit with her during tea-time. Haruhi gave one of her dashing smiles and allowed the girls to sit with her as she performed her Host Club duties. It was her job to keep these girls entertained, it had been since she started Ouran Academy, and she wouldn't stop doing it. Of course she didn't continue the antics outside of school or when it was time to be serious, unlike the twins and other people she knew.
"See you later, Haruhi!" the twins waved goodbye to her as they climbed into their black limousine.
"Yeah…later," Haruhi waved back as she headed back home on foot. She would have just enough time to change into something comfortable, check up on her dad, and then head over to the twins place. More than likely they would have one of their drivers come and pick her up. Haruhi smiled, they were always thoughtful like that. Plus it was fun to see the reaction on her neighbor's faces, but it wasn't always fun to hear their gossiping words.
"I wonder what Takashi is doing," Haruhi wondered aloud, a blush creeping along her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Every time she said his name or even wrote his name, she would blush. She was so used to calling him Mori-senpai that dropping Mori and even senpai seemed strange.
"Hey…Mori-senpai, I was wondering if-"
"Takashi."
"I'm sorry?"
"Just…Takashi."
"Oh, o-okay then…Ta-ka-shi."
The first time she said his real name, it felt so strange and foreign. But the syllables flowed off her tongue and she grew to like saying his name, even though it caused her face to turn red. Haruhi's thoughts went from wondering what he was doing to his name and finally his appearance. She imagined his strong jaw bones, his dark colored eyes and equally dark, short hair, his tall and well-built body and-
Haruhi felt her whole body began to flush and heat up and she made a noise of distress. She flailed her arms about as she shooed the thought cloud away from her. Some people who were walking by gave her funny looks, but Haruhi took off running and made it to her home in no time. She flew up the stairs and into the apartment.
"I'm home!" she called, all thoughts of Mori vanished from her mind for the time being. Haruhi kicked off her shoes and walked further inside. From what she could tell, the place was empty.
"Dad? Are you here?"
No answer.
"Oh well," she shrugged, heading to her room to dump her bag inside. She walked into the kitchen, after dumping her bag off, and headed towards the fridge. There was a notepad that had a magnet on the back so it would stay on the fridge. She grabbed a pen that was dangling from the notepad by a string and wrote out a quick note.
Went to Hikaru and Kaoru's place to study for a while, will be back home later. Leftovers are in the fridge if you are hungry.
Love,
Haruhi
P.S. Stay out of my room please!
Satisfied with the note, Haruhi fiddled around the place straightening things up until it was time to leave. She went to her room to change into a pair of gray shorts and a white t-shirt that was two sizes too big for her, but she didn't care because the t-shirt had once belonged to Mori and in an odd way, she treasured it. Plus it only seemed fitting because she had been thinking a lot about him lately and it was the first thing she pulled out of the closet. She remembered when he gave it to her, it had been raining outside and-
"You're wet."
Haruhi looked down at herself, she was saturated from head to toe and she began to shiver now that she was aware of her current state.
"You should dry off."
Haruhi looked up at him and blinked a few times, since when was he so concerned about her well-being?
"You'll catch a cold."
Haruhi frowned, "I don't have anything to change into."
Mori left the Music Room for a few minutes and soon returned with a large, fluffy white towel. He handed her the towel along with an over-sized t-shirt.
"Oh, thank you," Haruhi accepted the items and Mori left the room so she could dry off and change in privacy.
When she was finished she opened the door and motioned to Mori that she was done. Mori walked inside the room and went to sit down on one of the chairs. Haruhi stood there with the huge t-shirt hanging down to her knees, unsure of what to say.
"Thank you again Mori-senpai, but it's really big on me," Haruhi played with the hem of the shirt.
"It's my gym clothes."
Haruhi made a face and then looked a bit shocked when Mori appeared to be smiling and…was he laughing at her?
"They are clean."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to think that-"
"It's okay."
Haruhi sat down in one of the chairs not too far away from him. The heavy rain pelted against the windows and it almost lured her to sleep. Haruhi's head drooped to the side and she snapped herself back awake with a loud yawn.
"I hardly got any sleep last night," she stretched and yawned again.
Mori stood up and walked a couple of inches towards her. He towered over her and Haruhi had to crane her head upwards just to meet his eyes. Mori reached down and ran his thumb underneath her right eye gently.
He frowned as his thumb moved underneath her left eye, "you should take better care of yourself."
Haruhi sat frozen, her mouth gaping open as Mori moved away from her, gathering up her wet clothes and leaving the room. The door clicked behind him and left her alone to her thoughts.
'What just happened?'
Haruhi was startled out of her daydream as a car horn honked from outside. She recognized the sound of the horn and knew it was her ride. She made her way over to the front of the door and slid her feet into a pair of worn sneakers. She decided to leave her books behind, she knew the twins had theirs and there was a good chance they wouldn't study at all. The study sessions were either for getting homework done or for goofing off, mainly for goofing off. The Hitachiin brothers had very high scores and completed all their work on time, even Haruhi was impressed and unsure how they managed to do that with their shenanigans.
The horn beeped again and Haruhi opened the door, closing it behind her. She wished Monday would hurry up and end already.
"Good evening, Fujioka-san," the butler bowed to her and Haruhi gave a small bow of her own.
"Hello, Miles," she greeted the kind butler. He was a patient and kind old man that moved from Britain all the way to Japan. She wondered how the Hitachiin family met him and how he came into their services. She also wondered if all those wrinkles were stress caused by the twins.
"Hikaru-san and Kaoru-san are upstairs in their room," he indicated towards the flight of stairs leading to the second floor.
"Okay, thank you," she smiled at him before taking off towards the stairs.
Haruhi huffed as she made her way up the stairs and finally to the twins room. She wondered why they had so many stairs and if they would ever install an elevator inside their huge home. Then again, she didn't doubt it if they did have an elevator.
"HARUHI!" they cried, flinging the door open.
"You've made it!" Hikaru exclaimed, pulling her inside.
"Right on time!" Kaoru closed the door behind them and began to push her, while Hikaru pulled, towards the couch.
"Sit down, have some tea," they chorused together, offering her a cup of warm tea.
"Oh, thanks," Haruhi accepted the tea and blew on the steaming liquid. She glanced up at the twins from her bangs and gave them a serious look.
"Okay, what's going on here?"
"Nothing," they grinned.
"Mmhmm," she hummed, taking a small sip of the tea.
The twins room was incredibly huge. They had their own sitting area with a couch, chairs, tables, t.v. and other entertainment systems for gaming and music, and in the next room was their actual bedroom with a bathroom attached to that. It was quite impressive.
"Is the tea good?" Kaoru asked, his eyes not leaving her.
"Yes," Haruhi responded, sitting up so she could place the cup onto the coffee table. "Should it not be?"
"Oh, no, we were just wanting to make sure you are comfortable," Hikaru continued to grin.
Haruhi could feel a headache building, "okay, seriously, what is going on here?"
"Nothing!"
"Honest!"
Haruhi stared at them for another few minutes before both twins were shoving papers in front of her face, waving them around to where she couldn't read them.
"GUESS WHO THE FUTURE STUDENTS OF OURAN UNIVERSITY ARE?!"
Haruhi fell backwards against the couch and laughed, "congrats! Why are you guys acting so mischievous about it though?"
They shrugged, "no reason, just wanted to mess with you."
"Right," Haruhi rolled her eyes at them but a smile was on her face.
"Where is your acceptance letter?" Hikaru asked, sitting next to her.
"I-I don't-"
Kaoru plopped next to her on the other side, "come on, we know you got in. Your grades are as good as ours and you have connections now."
At the word 'connections' both of the twins flashed her a big grin and Haruhi couldn't help but laugh. She folded her arms across her chest and continued to play dumb. She wanted it to be kept a secret but apparently they found out somehow.
"Yeah, so we know you are in so don't lie to us," Hikaru poked the side of her arm.
"Like I said, if you didn't get in, you would still get in because there are us-"
"Of course," Hikaru cut in.
"-and there is also Tamaki, Kyouya-senpai, Mori-senpai and Hunny-senpai! They would do anything to make sure you wound up in the best college around."
"That's what friends are for after all!"
Haruhi smiled and shook her head, "you guys-"
"So when did you get your acceptance letter?" they asked together.
"Not too long ago," Haruhi finally confessed. Both of boys cheered and high-fived each other, rambling away at how they could bring back the Host Club and cause a whole lot of havoc in their new school.
"Now wait a minute!" she shouted above them. "You guys can't tell anyone about it okay?"
They pouted, "why not?"
"I want it to be a surprise," she said softly.
The twins leaned in closer, their faces alight with curiosity, "oooh…for who?"
"There is no who!" Haruhi began to panic and push them back, but they were persistent.
"Of course there is if you aren't telling anyone and want it to be a surprise," Hikaru scoffed.
"Tell us!" Kaoru demanded but then gave her sad eyes, "please?"
"No."
"Fine!"
They crossed their arms over their chest and huffed angrily. Haruhi shook her head but then began to squeal and laugh as the twins decided to start tickling her.
"Stop it! Don't…not there…I can't take it!" she cried as she tried to squirm away from them, but they were pretty relentless.
"Tell us!" they tickled her even more, their fingers pushing into her sides.
"N-nooo!" Haruhi laughed and then began to cry. "Stop! S-stop!"
"Who is the surprise for?!"
"Okay! Okay I will tell you if you stop!" she gasped out and the twins let go of her and waited for her to catch her breath.
Haruhi sat up and pushed her hair out of her face, "that was not…funny."
"Stalling," they droned.
"Okay," she breathed, regaining her composure.
They sat on the edge of their seat waiting.
"I wanted to surprise-" Haruhi began to blush at that moment. "Takashi."
"Takashi, eh?" they wiggled their eyebrows.
"Whatever happened to," Kaoru fluttered his eyelashes and clasped his hands against his chest, "Mori-senpai?"
Haruhi's face turned red from embarrassment and anger.
"Oh Mori-senpai, I just LOVE your rippling muscles and tall, physic body," Hikaru cooed over at Kaoru.
Kaoru took the bait and played along, "I also love having one-worded conversations with you, it is SO stimulating!"
Hikaru and Kaoru threw adjectives back and forth to one another, which wasn't far from the truth when it came to Mori, but Haruhi was caught in the middle of it all.
"WILL YOU TWO KNOCK IT OFF?!" she yelled at them, standing up from the couch.
Hikaru fell against the empty spot in which Haruhi had once occupied; he was leaning against Haruhi until she had moved. Kaoru snickered and reached down to pat his brother on the head.
"You are not to tell ANYONE! Do I make myself clear?" Haruhi was dead serious and they both could tell that she was far from playing around anymore.
"Crystal."
Hikaru sat up, "it's not like we didn't know."
"Yeah, especially the last few months before he graduated."
"Always sneaking off-"
"Study sessions over at his place-"
"Smiles and glances shot to one another when you thought no one was looking-"
"But we were always looking-"
"Indeed."
"I-it's not like that it's just…" Haruhi fumbled over her words, the twins always had a way of making her lose her composure at times. It was probably fair considering she could tell them apart in a heartbeat, so they should be able to make her feel flustered in return, right?
"You want to have a secret relationship with Mori-senpai and let no one know about it!" Hikaru leapt from the couch, his eyes blazing with anger.
"Hikaru!" Kaoru exclaimed, looking up at his brother as if he lost his mind.
Hikaru then smiled, "it's okay, you can do whatever you want."
Haruhi stood there and wish she could keel over dead at that moment.
"I'm not jealous or anything," Hikaru sniffed and turned his nose up in the air, staring down at Haruhi. "Besides-"
Hikaru fell back onto the couch and gathered Kaoru into his arms, "that's what I have Kaoru for."
"Hikaru…you're making me blush," Kaoru whimpered and hid his face in his brothers shoulder.
"Oh come on, you guys can drop the act," Haruhi rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
The twins looked up at her, their loving-brotherly moment ruined. They blinked owlishly a few times and tilted their head, speaking simultaneously, "what act?"
Haruhi groaned and felt a huge sweat drop weigh her down until she collapsed onto the floor; her head spinning in circles as she listened to the twins give each other loving compliments.
"Bye Haruhi!" Kaoru waved from the front door.
Hikaru stood beside him, his right arm wrapped around his brother's waist, "see you tomorrow in school."
"Bye!" Haruhi waved goodbye to them from the limousine.
"Don't worry, we won't tell anyone your secret!"
"We promise!"
"Thanks!" Haruhi gave a nervous laugh and another short wave before rolling up the window. In most cases the twins couldn't keep a secret, but since it was Haruhi, they were willing to keep their lips tightened for the time being. They liked Haruhi and her friendship was important to them, the last thing they wanted was to lose such an important person that was able to flip their world upside-down.
"So how long do we give her before we say something?"
Hikaru looked at Kaoru and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, "if she hasn't said anything to him by the end of her first year at Ouran University…then we tell him."
Kaoru looked at the ground and rubbed his toe against the bottom of the door frame.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Hikaru bumped Kaoru with his hip, "tell me."
"I was just wondering how Tamaki might take it if he found out that Haruhi and Mori-senpai have a thing for each other."
"Hmm…"
Hikaru led Kaoru back inside and up to their room, "guess he will have to get over it."
"You're suggesting something very impossible for Tamaki to do."
Hikaru laughed and hugged his brother, "Kaoru, I love your humor."
Kaoru beamed in delight.