The bustling city of Bunkyo, Tokyo was in the midst of an exceptionally harsh winter. Citizens fought back against the inclement weather, attempting to go about their daily lives despite the bitter winds and staggering snowfall. For commoners, shoveling oneself a path to a desired destination was an exhausting task - one not shared by those fortunate enough, and rich enough, to hire a full team of commoners to do the dirty work for them.

As she fit firmly into the first category, it was an exhausted and exceptionally grumpy Haruhi Fujioka who walked into Music Room #3. The snow that had accumulated on her parka had already begun to melt and soak through. Annoyed, she pulled off her extra layers and hung them on an elaborate coat rack next to the door.

"Haruhi! Haruhi! How do I look?"

Turning, she got an eyeful of her sempai wearing a full-body red and white skin suit, complete with finned silver helmet. Haruhi wasn't quite sure how to go about answering his question, so she simply stated, "Like a doofus." Even though she couldn't see Tamaki's face underneath his head wear, she was willing to bet a hundred yen that he was pouting.

"Ultraman is no doofus! He's a figurehead of Japanese pop culture - the Japanese superhero!" He retorted, characteristically dramatic. "Don't tell me you've never watched it? It's classic television!"

Haruhi sighed, picking up the bag carrying her host costume for the day. "You know I'm not much of a TV person. And I don't know how attractive that get-up will be to any of the guests."

"Ahh, my dear Haruhi " - she could practically hear the dreamy grin crawling across his face - "didn't you see the stupendous and heartrending final episode, 'Farewell Ultraman', in which he sacrifices his own life to save Hayata? The episode is a piece of art, I tell you - I watched it nearly twenty times when I still lived in France and it would always bring tears to my eyes, without fail. Channeling the tragic energy of Ultraman's final moments, I'll be sure to..."

Realizing Tamaki wasn't likely to stop until the club opened for the day and that she had no idea what he was talking about (not that she really cared), Haruhi decided to take her leave. She could hear him still rambling on even as she reached the dressing room.

Wonder what the damage is today, she thought, unzipping the laundry bag that contained her costume. She couldn't resist groaning when she pulled out a low-cut crimson leotard with matching tights, boots, gloves, cape, and pointy mask...thing. Haruhi had no idea what she was looking at, or even which superhero the outfit represented, but she wasn't putting the damn thing on. Shoving the costume back into the bag, she headed back into the main room.

She almost immediately encountered the twins, lounging on a loveseat. Hikaru and Kaoru - surprising exactly no one - were dressed as the Wonder Twins in order to fit the superhero theme-of-the-day, going as far as to dye their hair black to go with the purple spandex - and matching rings, of course.

"How's it goin', Haruhi?" They chorused.

"Why aren't you dressed yet?" Hikaru questioned. "The girls are gonna be here any minute now."

"Well, whoever came up with the theme for the day managed to forget the fact that everyone still thinks I'm a boy."

The twins both grinned cat-like grins. "Can we see?"

Haruhi shrugged, hanging over the bag. "Go hog wild. I can't use it."

Leaving the boys to their twisted fantasies, Haruhi moved on. She next spotted Hunny who was dressed as the God of Thunder himself, Thor. His mop of blonde hair stuck out under his winged helm and he held Usa-chan in one hand and a replica of the hammer Mjolnir in the other. When he caught her eye and smiled sloppily, Haruhi felt her heart lift a little.

"Haru-chan~" Honey sing-songed as he bounced over to her, hugging her in greeting. Haruhi found herself returning the embrace without even thinking.

Hunny stepped back and struck a pose. "So how do I look? Godly, huh?"

Haruhi was fairly certain he would look like a cherub no matter how fearsome his outfit, but she just never could bring herself to be quite as derisively blunt with Honey-sempai as some of the other hosts. So she simply replied, "definitely." The God of Thunder squealed happily.

It was only then that she remembered what she was doing. "Oh, do you know who came up with today's cosplay idea?"

Hunny blinked. "I think it was Kyouya."

The Shadow King came up with the idea for us to dress like superheroes? What's his motive? Haruhi sighed and thanked Honey before moving on.

It was only then that she caught sight of him, lounging in a bay window.

Mori stretched out his long legs as he lounged, quietly observing the pre-club activity of the hosts. Most of his attention was focused on Honey, who was eating a strawberry shortcake that Haruhi could have sworn wasn't there two seconds ago.

Haruhi's gaze must have rested on him for a moment too long, as Mori took notice and turned to her. She started, then offered a small smile and a wave. "You never struck me as the kind of guy to wear his underwear out in public."

The corners of his mouth twitched. "Only on the days I think I can get away with it."

Haruhi couldn't help but laugh. "Mori-sempai, I don't think I've ever heard you make a joke before!"

"Hn." He quickly reverted back to monosyllables, but Haruhi could've sworn he looked embarrassed.

"So Superman, huh?" Haruhi ran his silken red cape through her fingers. "It suits you."

"Hn." This time he looked rather pleased.

He's wearing a different cologne than usual, she thought before she could help herself. Standing in close proximity to him, Haruhi couldn't help but notice his unusually spicy scent. I wonder why he switched things up. A girl, maybe? At that, she released his cape. Her thoughts were heading in a direction she had attempted to train herself to avoid, in a direction that she wasn't entirely sure she understood.

Because, well... Haruhi was pretty sure she was crushing hard on her quiet, kind sempai. Not that she knew much about such matters of the heart, but she had spent a lot of time pondering and eliminating other possibilities for her strange behavior when she was around Mori. Deflecting Tamaki's affections was a cinch - the whole father-daughter dynamic he tried so hard to foster was a total turn-off. The twins often flirted with her, and could even be protective of her when the situation called for it. However, she was fairly sure that their feelings towards her were more that of an amusing play thing than they were that of men for a woman.

She hoped.

Honey had essentially filled the role of the younger (older?) brother that she had never had. Kyouya was... well, Kyouya.

Mori, on the other hand, brought her comfort with his very presence. She counted on his solidity and predictability to help ground her when the oftentimes baffling world of Ouran High threatened to overwhelm. She had at first thought that her attraction to him was simply that.

She soon came to realize that a rock wouldn't make her heart flutter with a small smile, however. Even now, following her crappy morning and increasingly exasperating afternoon, merely standing near him was helping her feel better.

"Haruhi."

She jumped a bit, broken out of her reverie by his deep voice saying her name. "Er, sorry."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm just a bit tired from shoveling myself out of my apartment this morning. Our apartment complex doesn't really bother to hire people to clean it away so we're left to do it on our own."

Mori furrowed his brow, ever so slightly. "Don't strain yourself."

Haruhi felt a blush creeping up her neck, so she quickly changed the subject. "Do you know where Kyouya-sempai is? He gave me the wrong costume."

Silently, Mori pointed to the main doors just as Kyouya walked in, calculator in hand. He seemed to be hardly paying attention to where he was walking, but he still managed to deftly avoid any obstacles in his way as he beelined for his laptop bag.

"Thanks, Mori-sempai," she said before hustling towards the Shadow King.

Mori's eyes dwelled on Haruhi's retreating back for a moment or two before he went back to watching Hunny, who still sat with his strawberry shortcake. With concern, he realized that only a small sliver of the cake was missing.

Within an hour, the host club was in full swing. Tamaki had actually been right on the money with his insistence that Ultraman's tragic story would woo the ladies, though he found that taking the helmet off to let the guests see the tears welling in his eyes allowed for maximum effect. Hikaru was declaring his incestuous love for his twin, reassuring him that he would love him no matter what physical form he took.

Kyouya made his rounds around the room, dressed as Batman. The Dark Knight was a good fit for the Shadow King, judging by the way the ladies swooned as he walked by, peering at them mysteriously from behind his mask. When Haruhi had cornered him to figure out why he went with the unusual theme, his response was that polled guests found superheroes - masked vigilantes and helmed extraterrestrials alike - to be, as he so candidly put it, arousing.

Not for the first time, Haruhi was left perplexed by her fellow females.

Shaking her head, she shifted the red helmet she cradled under her arm. Kyouya had given her a back-up costume, a rather tight-fitting Goranger costume. His only explanation for the other one she'd been given was that the twins had probably done the old switcheroo.

She supposed wearing this was better, but she had had to bind her breasts much more tightly than usual to appear as flat as possible. She felt miserable and breathing normally was a chore. However, she was mindful of her debt so she kept a small smile plastered on her face as she sipped tea with her appointed guests.

"You really look great, Haruhi-kun," one of her regulars, Yuko, gushed. "I used to watch Goranger reruns when I was little! What made you pick this cosplay?"

Haruhi took a long drink, pondering her response. "I guess... I guess the whole team aspect of the Gorangers appealed to me. Having lost my mother while so young, and because my father is always away working, I was so often alone. I always wished I had the camaraderie and companionship of the Gorangers."

Yuko and the other girls 'aww'd'. Haruhi couldn't believe how easily she'd concocted that bullshit story.

I've been doing this for way too long.

"If you'll excuse me, ladies," she said politely, wanting to give her poor breasts a few moments of relief somewhere private.

As she started sneaking towards the restroom, she glanced over to Mori. He was still perched at the bay window, but she couldn't help but notice that he looked troubled. The change in his expression was minute, but Haruhi had done enough observation of her sempai lately to spot it.

Making her way over to him, she gently laid a hand on his broad shoulder. "Are you okay?"

He didn't respond right away. His gray eyes were trained on Hunny, who was entertaining four girls.

"Haninozuka is sick," he murmured.

"What? Are you sure?"

"He barely ate his cake."

Haruhi's mouth popped open at that. If Hunny wasn't craving sweets, something was certainly wrong. She followed Mori's line of sight, watching the small host. She could tell that something was off. He seemed to lack some of his usual bubbly energy, and from what she could tell from a distance, his facial color seemed to be pinker than normal.

For the rest of the afternoon, both Haruhi and Mori kept close watch on Hunny. He was entertaining a few regulars who had also noticed that something was wrong with their favorite host. He made such an effort to seem normal, though, that the girls didn't mention anything.

The sun was setting when the last of the host club's patrons were making their exit. Hunny unsteadily rose to his feet, fixing his slightly skewed helm with one hand while bracing himself against the couch's armrest with the other. Without a moment's delay, Mori scooped him up and felt his forehead.

"You have a fever," Mori murmured, concern plain on his face.

"I'm fine, Takashi!" Hunny protested.

Mori made a noncommittal noise. "I'm going to take you home."

Before he could take a step towards the door, Haruhi appeared next to him, shouldering both his and Hunny's bags. "Don't forget these! I'll walk with you guys."

Mori opened his mouth to protest, to say that it was too far for her to carry so much, but he caught the determined look in Haruhi's eye and realized that resistance was futile. "Okay." And with that the trio swept out of Music Room #3, only alerting the rest of host club to their exit when the doors slammed shut behind them.

A/N: Please read and review!