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

A/N: My first story for this fandom, so any reviews are appreciated! Also, though majority of this will be canon, you may discover slight alternations given that this IS a KyouyaxHaruhi shipping…

~oOo~

To Make Every Girl Happy

~oOo~

'The real reason for a quest never involves the stated task. So, why do they [the characters] go and why do we care? They go because of the stated task, mistakenly believing that it is their real mission. We know, however, that their quest is educational. They don't know…'

Haruhi's caramel eyes began to glaze over. The words on the page jumped and scrambled into undecipherable hieroglyphics, becoming little more than black ink markings. As the author's tone droned on and on, her usually very tolerant attention span drifted to more important matters. She knew she would pass the English with ease, but it was the Greek portion that tried her nerves to a piercing point. Then, Haruhi realize how behind she was in studying. In a moment of truth she opened her textbook only to discover she hardly knew anything, suffered a nervous breakdown, and for the first time ever in her educational career actually skipped school in favor of the extra hours studying at home in the duration of the day. When Ranka question her alarmingly odd behavior, she merely said that she was feeling ill, which honestly was not all that far off from the actual truth. How could this have happened? How could so much time have passed at the Ouran Academy; yet, Haruhi could barely recall anything? And it was not just Greek, but also Calculus, European History, and Physics. Sweet Kami how could she call herself an honor student? Failing three of her seven examinations would disqualify her for that scholarship for certain. The sickening reality of it all made her stomach churn unpleasantly.

Shoving How to Read Literature like a Professor aside, Haruhi rubbed the fatigue from her eyes, trying desperately to remember where exactly she went wrong. Let's see… well, she ate three square meals a day, and occasionally a couple snacks, so hunger was definitely ruled out of the question. And until very recently she went to bed promptly at 9:30 each night, so sleep-deprivation was not the answer. She could hardly blame her teachers, who offer generous amounts of opportunities for their students in terms of assistance. It just did not add up. What could possibly have lured her away from something as important as studying? Sure, the twins might have convinced her to take a break and play a match of two of tennis with them. Honey would sometimes sucker her into tea parties with "Usa-chan". Of course, one could count on Tamaki to come up with yet another over the top cosplay for the club. Roughly nine out of ten times Haruhi would break something outrageously expensive in the process, and Kyouya never hesitated in tallying up the new total of her overall debt, slyly hiding behind the evil glare of his rimless spectacles. And Mori… well, he was just Mori, the only host who never demanded anything from her.

Only host…

The blaringly obvious evidence was staring her in the face the entire time, though Haruhi initially refused to admit it. How foolish. Really, she didn't even like the Host Club that much. It was right to think at the start nothing would come of joining but a bunch of distraction. Maybe selfish bastards with money could get away with blowing off their finals, but Haruhi was not granted that luxury. With exams now right around the corner, some sort of compromise had to be made. As much as she would like to drop the Host Club from her list of extra-curricular activities, a heavy debt was weighing on her shoulders like an anvil that simply could not be overlooked.

Today, Haruhi was missing a meeting. Without a doubt the boys were in hysterics (well, Tamaki at least) and if Haruhi cared to check her small cell phone she would find twenty unread texts and ten familiarly frantic voice messages. Honestly, sometimes it felt they thought she could not breathe correctly without them; that they had to hold her hand and make her take baby steps. Nagging suspicions in the back of her mind said it was all due to her gender, and the strong possessive male instinct embedded in their genes to protect the weaker, smaller female. No amount of lecturing on her part was ever going to change that.

Haruhi sighed, pushing back from the desk to walk all of three feet to her bed and promptly collapsed. All this worrying and anxiety was going to drive her insane. Something was going to have to be done, even if it meant she had to add to her debt. In the long run, exams were more important. Brace yourself, Haruhi, she thought glumly, drifting into an uneasy slumber. Come Monday you're offering the Shadow King a proposition.

~oOo~

The door to Music Room #3 laid innocently on the far end of the long corridor. One such as a freshman to the academy would probably believe it to be abandoned completely; however, any person who wore their hair in pigtails and owned a skirt certainly knew better. Many of the wealthy and bored females of the school experienced that solid, slow moment before opening the high-polished wooden doors, when a gust of wind rushed out to greet her, carrying with it the fragrance of sweet rose petals that warmed her right down to her toes. Wide, innocent eyes must adjust to the sudden, brilliantly shining light. Touches of masculine hands grasped her wrists, pulling her farther into that wondrous world where knights in shining armor exist and happily-ever-afters really do come true. Six sing-song voices chime "Welcome, my lady," and she knew that she was home.

But then the lights dim, the rose petals vanish, and wind died.

"It's just Haruhi," Kyouya sighed with unconcealed disappointment, moving from his place behind Tamaki's chair to situate himself on one of the plush sofas. His laptop materialized from thin air. The soft tapping of keys filled the now silent void.

~oOo~