Haruhi paused as a girl blew right by in front of her, black hair flying behind her.

"Beg your pardon!" The girl cried out, still racing to make an unseen deadline. Her pretty face was scrunched up and red, and her eyes had a suspicious sheen to them. Haruhi could only blink in contemplation, then curiosity as she noticed a cute wallet laying on the floor nearby.

With no idea where the other girl went and being already late herself, Haruhi stuck the wallet in her pocket and made her way to the Host Club.

When she arrived, everyone was present besides Honey and Mori. This made sense, as thrice a week the captain would stay longer to communicate with the club members. Reporting her arrival to Kyoya gave Haruhi a segway into bringing up the girl.

"Black hair, long, you say?" He made a pondering, leaning back. He looked to already know the answer and was thinking heavily. After all, finding a wallet at Ouran Academy was a Very Big Deal. A wallet was Very Personal, which, to Kyoya meant Very Profitable. It held secrets and habits and vices.

Maybe, it occurred to her, she shouldn't hand it over...

But Haruhi at least fished out the I.D., studied it for a moment before handing it over to Kyoya. He tried to not look disappointed, and Haruhi laughed.

Mystery girl was apparently named Higurashi, Kagome.

And she was kind of cute.

The universe was working in her favor today- as it turns out, Higurashi was the newest and smallest member in Mori's kendo club. Haruhi smiled and briefly entertained the though of her in the uniform, such a petite girl in the same gear as a giant like Mori.

Upon arrival at the athletics wing, Haruhi followed the same path she had been shown the first time. There was no need to deviate and get lost in, say, the tennis club.

Honey was the first one to notice her.

"Oh! Haru!" He hurried over to her, beaming. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if I could speak to-" Haruhi's brain fizzled out, and her hand briefly came up as though objecting to the court. She turned to Honey. "Did you just say 'what's up'?"

Had it been possible, he looked even more ecstatic than before at the acknowledgement. "Gome's been teaching me commoner slang!"

The nickname- hopefully it was the same girl- snapped her back into focus. "Right, have you seen Miss Higurashi around? I have something of hers to return."

At that moment, Mori briskly made his way over, patting his face dry. He seemed to perk up at the mention of the freshman, and he and Honey exchanged a glance.

"She's just down that way, the gear room." Mori pointed down the hall, but stopped her pursuit with a gentle hand. "Can you do me a favor?"

Completely surprised, Haruhi did nothing more than nod, eyes rapt on her elder.

"Gome has been really sad today," Honey said, looking disheartened. He was receptive to people's moods and could be downright miserable if someone was melancholic. "Takashi and I were wondering if visiting the Host Club might help!"

Haruhi smiled and nodded and said some reassuring niceties, completely giddy. This was working out surprisingly easy, for she had been planning on working up the courage to ask Higurashi to hang out. Now the perfect excuse had fallen- neatly wrapped and with a bow- into her lap.

Making her way through the door Mori had pointed to, Haruhi nearly stumbled over something in the dark room. She pinwheeled, hands releasing the door to steady herself.

As the door clicked shut, a sniffle broke the short silence that had fallen. There, sat on the floor- completely swamped in the uniform, just like she'd thought- was a miserable looking Higurashi Kagome.

"Oh," Higurashi warbled. "You're one of the boys' friends." She began to dab at her nose self conciously, and Haruhi nearly tripped over herself again to offer up her handkerchief.

Never miss an opportunity! She thought in a voice sounding particularly like a certain blonde. Geez, this hosting business was messing with her head...

"Do you want to talk about it?" Haruhi asked, immediately cringing at how loud her voice sounded in the room. Higurashi looked surprised, then touched. Her hand coming halfway up to her heart before falling back down, never getting higher than the side of her stomach.

"No, I…" The words, whatever they were, never arrived. Higurashi gestured uselessly. Her nose was stuffed, and Kagome pitifully sniffled a few times. "I'm good. Today's just been bad- a bad day. I'm fine. I'm okay. "

Huh. Haruhi hadn't asked if the other girl was okay once, but she still received the same bullshit answer three different times.

"A pretty girl like you shouldn't be crying," Haruhi told her, watching as Higurashi took a few deep breaths.

"A pretty girl like me?" Kagome smiled despite herself, cheeks blotchy and black hair mussed. She had a dimple when she grinned, but only in one cheek. There was, surprisingly, a few faded scars around her face, the most interesting one splitting though her right brow, as though it had been busted open over and over again…

Sharp brown eyes caught onto Haruhi's study, and as Higurashi lifted a hand to cover her face the other girl continued to stare.

"… definitely a scratched up commoner," Higurashi said, joking with words she clearly had heard before. Her pretty mouth stretched into a sad smile. "Sorry about," a few weak hand motions, "all of this. I'm Kagome."

Haruhi warmed at the familiarity. "Don't worry about it, Kagome. I'm Haruhi. Say, Mori and Honey gave me permission to show you around the Host Club, would you mind?"

Higurashi smiled hesitantly at the idea. "Oh, but… I shouldn't. I should stay in club and tough it out."

Haruhi made a quiet buzzer noise, helping her stand. "Mori and Honey say that's a no-go, so I'm stealing away the kendo princess for the rest of the day. We should go to cheer you up at least, you can sit in a comfy couch and eat as much cake and drink tea for a bit until you're feeling better."

Kagome seemed to sag for a moment before she picked herself back up. She looked up through sooty lashes and gave Haruhi a resolute little smile, and quickly tried to draw the other girl into a friendly conversation.

Atta girl, Haruhi thought with quiet delight. They made their way back down the hall.

Author's note:

a one shot until i feel like picking it up again. thanks for reading this dinky lil thing :)