Ouran High School Host Club/Zombieland Crossover
Her fingers traced a light pattern through the mist that had collected on the bathroom window. Brown eyes took in the landscape on the other side of the glass, the ever-present caution stirring deep within them. There hadn't been a trace of zombies since she'd snuck into the abandoned house last night. It was a nice little cookie-cutter home in the suburbs, and to top it all off, there was still running water moving through the pipes.
Haruhi glanced behind her before turning back to the window. It was dangerous to stay rooted to one spot for too long without checking. Even so, zombies usually made quite a bit of noise, as they were about as intelligent as a box of rocks. The girl merely watched a lazy breeze nudge the branches of a tree outside before turning from the foggy window for good. She didn't have very long before she'd be moving out; it was pointless to get attached.
Shrugging off her towel and slipping on the freshly-washed jeans and t-shirts she'd been wearing for the past week or so, Haruhi pulled the damp towel over her hair and shook it dry. It was so much easier to manage since she cut it short. Also, it decreased her worries about someone, or more likely, something, slipping up behind her and grabbing a hold of her by her long hair. The mere thought of it sent a shiver down her spine, and the teenager quickly pushed the idea out of her mind as she kicked the towel back into the bathroom and marched dutifully out of the bedroom.
She crept down the stairs, still hesitant about moving too fast lest she draw attention to herself if a zombie happened to be lurking in the shadows. There were two hallways that spouted off the foyer – one led to the kitchen and adjacent dining area while the other was still a mystery. The light bulb had burnt out, and not having any luck finding replacement batteries, Haruhi had decided it was more practical to save the life of her flashlight than to go exploring.
"Nobody better be in here."
Pressed against the wall, Haruhi glanced around the corner and into the kitchen with narrowed eyes. She wanted breakfast, not to become breakfast. She'd rather have her brains, and body in general, intact and all under her control, thank you very much.
Haruhi sucked in a deep breath and leapt into the middle of the doorway, her fingers pointed in the shape of a gun. It was nothing more than a scare tactic, obviously, as she currently had no weapon to her name unless you counted the flashlight in her back pocket.
Sighing in relief, the brunette shuffled across the kitchen and began pulling the cupboards opening, shooing the occasional mouse deeper into the shadowy corners. Swiping a box of granola bars, Haruhi messed with the cardboard before she finally tore a hole in the side, a satisfied smile lighting her face as she viewed the treasure within.
Breakfast.
Her stomach seemed to like the idea of that, and the girl could hardly be one to argue.
Peeling the wrapper off one and stuffing half of the bar into her mouth, Haruhi tiptoed over to the large bay window on the east side of the kitchen. The road was visible across a slightly unkempt yard. A few puddles lingered under the cover of the growing grass from last night's rain. This could prove to be a good thing or a bad thing – maybe even a mix of the two. While Haruhi's tracks would be obvious on the aging pavement, she wasn't sure if the zombies were actually capable of deciphering what that meant about her whereabouts. To her advantage, she could see where other things had been, assuming they were dumb enough (or just downright unfortunate) to leave muddy tracks in their wake. Haruhi could only hope for the latter.
Just as she was about to turn back to close the cupboard, her peripheral vision detected the blurs of movement outside the window. Haruhi's fight-or-flight instincts kicked in immediately, but she had to suppress them in order to observe her surroundings first before she made a decision.
Haruhi hugged the cardboard box containing her breakfast to her chest as she knelt down below the window sill. Slowly, the brunette raised her head in the hopes of catching a glimpse of what was transpiring on the other side of the glass. To the untrained eye, all looked fine. The sight simply resembled a normal spring day, but to Haruhi, there was something off. If I could just put a finger on it..
"Those look like new shoes, though.." Haruhi muttered to herself thoughtfully. There were shoes peeking out from the bottom of a car, but they weren't just sitting there without an owner – someone was definitely wearing them.
There was a muffled groan and the teenage girl watched as a zombie came into view. Though slow on a normal basis, Haruhi had been unlucky enough to come in contact with the few living dead that possessed the ability to run for a short period of time. And when they ran, they booked it.
The decaying man, or so she assumed it had been a man judging by his frayed clothing, seemed to have stopped, sniffing the air. With what? Haruhi thought to herself, a mirthless smile on her lips. He doesn't even have a nose. Rolling her eyes as well, the girl turned her attention back to the shoes beneath the car. The automobile itself provided little interest to her – four doors, red, black interior – but she yearned to know who the feet belonged to. It's got to be a human. It's got to be someone like me.
A gunshot rang through the air and Haruhi ducked, shrieking in surprise. When she mustered up the courage to look out the window once more, she saw that the zombie was lying in a puddle of black, its lifeless fingers twitching every few seconds.
"Kyouya-senpai, was that a girl?"
Holding her breath, Haruhi quickly slipped out of view, her back pressed against the wall. Her lungs were suddenly on fire and her throat burned as she continued to fight against having to breath, black dots swarming in front of her vision. The last time she'd witnessed two people meeting – as she conveniently hid up a tree – one of them had simply shot the other out of suspicion before glancing around the area and making a run for it. Haruhi would much rather asphyxiate than run the risk of being shot.
The side door leading into the kitchen creaked open slowly.
Despite her intentions, Haruhi let out a silent gasp and sucked in another breath, now pressing her hands against her face in an attempt to speed up the process. She dug the heel of her hand against her closed lips until she could feel the edges of her teeth tearing at them from the inside. Mentally, she reprimanded herself for not making a run for it. Now she was stuck.
All was quiet. Then a blond head popped in through the door, scanning the far wall and around the cabinets. The boy slowly stepped foot inside, his head finally swinging her direction.
They stared at each other for a long while as Haruhi's face slowly turned the same shade as the boy's eyes. He seemed not to notice at first, though slowly she could see the gears turning in his mind.
"Breathe!" he screeched, flying across the room toward her and tugging at her arms.
Behind them, another boy had entered the kitchen, glasses hiding his eyes from Haruhi. She finally relented and took a breath, though, gazing up into violet eyes full of concern. Concern for a total stranger, she mused idly, her eyes never moving.
After a few more moments of silent deliberation, the blond one extended a hand to her, a broad smile nearly blinding her. "I'm Tamaki."
Haruhi blinked up at him, indifference masking her confusion. Momentarily, her gaze slid to the brunette who was lounging against the kitchen counter. He hadn't said a single word yet.
"What about you?" she questioned. There was an edge to her voice that suggested concealed annoyance she didn't wish to convey with her face. It was a lot more than the boy was giving her. "Are you two here to kill me? I'd rather you just got it over with."
Tamaki looked hurt at her accusation, his lips around moving as he attempted to conjure the right words to sooth her obvious reluctance to accept their politeness, or rather, his politeness. However, Kyouya beat him to it.
"You haven't presented yourself as a threat just yet. So, no. We're not here to kill you."
Shooting Kyouya a glare, the blond turned back to Haruhi, one of his hands closing around hers. "Forgive him. This is probably frightening, I know, but we aren't here to do you any harm. A beautiful girl like you shouldn't be wandering about on her own, now should she?"
Letting the compliment to her appearance float in one ear and right out the other, Haruhi only shrugged her shoulders. "I've made it this far without help." And then, in a bit fiercer tone, "I don't need help either, if that's what you're implying."
"I'm not.. that's not.." Tamaki stuttered, looking at Haruhi as though he'd just witnessed a puppy being kicked, his eyes forlorn and his mouth drooping at the corners.
"Usually Tamaki here is better with words," Kyouya supplied in the same even voice, betraying none of his emotions, much to Haruhi's irritation, "but you'll have to realize we were almost attacked a few minutes ago."
Was he asking her to give Tamaki a few minutes to recover? What would he do then? Convince her with his words? Doubtful.
Haruhi tried to resist as Tamaki's fingers wrapped more tightly around hers as he pulled both of them into a standing position. Still holding the granola bars to her chest with one arm, she absently worked to burn a hole through the nearest wall with her eyes. She probably would have succeeded if the idiot didn't tap her on the chin and ruin her concentration.
Sighing loudly through clamped teeth, the brunette proceeded to turn her narrowed eyes on him instead. Maybe I can glare a hole straight through his skull.
"Where are you headed?"
"How'd you.." Haruhi trailed off and shook her head lightly, realizing that fighting with them was going to get her nowhere fast. "The next town over. It's about ten miles west from here."
Tamaki seemed excited at this, his wide smile returning to its rightful place. "We're headed there, too! Aren't we, Kyouya?" He tossed Kyouya a smile over his shoulder before looking back at Haruhi.
"That would be correct."
Kyouya's response was lost in the wave of Tamaki's rambling, though. "I told Kyouya you looked like you might be headed in the same direction! It was lucky that zombie didn't get us, but even luckier that we were here to ward it off before it got to you. Would be a sad day if your pretty little head was hurt by one of those monsters," he nearly cried, every emotion that crossed his face only more dramatic than the last.
"Real shame," Haruhi muttered.
"We should probably be on our way. The day is young and we don't want to waste any daylight." Kyouya tapped his watch as he continued to watch the exchange between Haruhi and Tamaki. He was, not surprisingly, the first to make his exit from the house.
Without so much as a warning, the blond tugged at Haruhi's hand, pulling her behind him with little effort. It startled her a bit, though, and a granola bar fell to the ground. Brown eyes watching it hopelessly, she knew the noise of its crash landing had been drowned out by Tamaki's incessant mouth and it would be futile to attempt a rescue mission.
"This is going to be so much fun! What was your name again?"
"Haruhi," she replied, coming back to reality. It felt odd to leave off her last name, but that held little importance in this world. People only needed something to call you by, whether it was authentic or not, because who knew how much time any given person really had left.
"Well, Haruhi, are you ready for a real adventure?"
She frowned, choosing not to reply. This was certainly going to be an adventure.
"Would you let go of my hand?!"
A/N: Disclaimer that applies to the entire story - I obviously do not own Ouran High School Host Club nor do I own Zombieland. Other than that, this was just a random idea that popped into my head and I hope you guys enjoy it. I haven't settled on a title yet, and I'm open to suggestions, especially if I haven't figured out a fitting one as the story progresses. This is my first Ouran fanfic, so I hope you guys are a little gentle. Definitely going to be some Haruhi shipping, though not revealing who she might ultimately pick if it comes down to it. ;D Happy reading and leave a review if you feel so kind.