A/N: I've never written for this fandom before and I've hardly read any fictions for it either. I do adore this series though. Both the anime, and the manga are incredible. This fic takes place before Hunny and Mori graduate from the academy.

Warnings: Possible ooc-ness. Mentions of homosexuality. Mentions of heterosexuality. Canon-verse. Language. Violence. Yada-yada…

Disclaimer: Do not own OHSHC. I'm just a regular ol' commoner.

Summary: "A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are."

One Million Red Vines

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"It doesn't matter what we do until we accept ourselves.

Once we accept ourselves, it doesn't matter what we do."

- Charly Heavenrich

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It started out as a normal day, well, as normal as a day could get when the Host Club was involved. Haruhi trudged behind the boys with a look of utter dismay. They were currently parading through the Osaka Mall, and making quite a scene.

Tamaki was weaving in and out of displays that littered the shopping area, and questioning Haruhi every step of the way. The girl didn't know how it just didn't click in her senpai's head that "Yes, it was possible to win a car." "No, I've never won one before, Senpai." "I'm sure someone, somewhere won the car, and yes, Tamaki-senpai, they were probably very happy." "Quit writing my name on all of the entry forms, dammit!"

That was how her day was going.

And now they were headed towards the pet shop that this mall had, and maybe just maybe they could find a playmate for Antoinette, Tamaki's dog. Or that's what Tamaki was raving about at the moment.

"Kyouya, maybe we can even find you a pet! You like kitties, right?"

The blonde had grabbed the club's vice president and proceeded in tugging him along to the other end of the mall with a peeved looking Kyouya in his wake. Haruhi didn't want to be in Tamaki's shoes when the two finally made it to their intended destination. Kyouya didn't look too happy about being pulled between crowds and into signs by the erratic and way-too-easily-distracted club president, after all.

Haruhi gave up in following them for a moment and stopped in front of a large fountain in the Mall's center. The twins stopped with her, probably just as overwhelmed with their senpai's antics as Haruhi was, and she figured that they could wait for Hunny and Mori to catch up. They had stopped at a candy shop or two along the way...

"Jeez, you'd think he'd get even a little bit tired eventually." Hikaru complained, leaning his back against a fake tree while Kaoru's gaze turned towards the large fountain they'd stopped in front of. He noticed a boy and girl tossing some coins into the water on the other side. "I mean, c'mon, how does he have so much energy?" Hikaru was still muttering.

Kaoru shook his head softly and dug through his pockets to produce three coins, before handing one coin to his brother and another to Haruhi.

"The boss never slows down. He's like a two year old." Kaoru laughed, turning a questioning gaze to Haruhi and fingering his own coin in his palm.

Haruhi caught his gaze and nodded, closing her eyes before tossing her coin into the flowing fountain in front of them. She watched Kaoru observing her carefully. "Tamaki-senpai is worse than a two year old." She laughed, "Even they slow down for at least a nap time."

"Yeah, well, at least he's got Kyouya-senpai to keep up with him. I don't think I could take it." Hikaru sighed, slumping down even further to sit on the fountain's rim.

"That's true. I don't think I could either." Kaoru laughed. Haruhi saw him closing the coin in his fist a few times.

Haruhi smiled, "Go ahead you guys, throw your coins in."

"What's the point of commoners tossing their money into fountains again, aren't they poor enough?"

Haruhi gave the older twin a flat look. "Hikaru, that's not really the point, you're supposed to make a wish and toss your coin in. They just do it for good luck."

"Good luck?"

"Yeah, it's sort of just a silly tradition." Haruhi smiled over at Kaoru. He still had a concentrated look on his face, twirling the coin between his fingers.

"Sounds like something the boss would really go for. Che." Hikaru snorted and tossed the coin over his shoulder anyways. "Come on, Haruhi, do you really believe that crap?"

"I, well, I don't really believe it. But it's still fun." Haruhi nudged Kaoru's arm a little, already knowing he didn't think the tradition was as silly as Hikaru thought, "Go on, Kaoru, make a wish and toss it in." She gestured.

Kaoru giggled softly, "Heh, alright." The younger Hitachiin twin eyed his brother a moment, expression soft, before closing his eyes and tossing the coin forward into the fountain. It made a small plop when it hit the water, and all three of them watched it make a short decent to the blue marble bottom.

"So, what'd you wish for, Kaoru?"

"Well, I wished for…"

"Hey! Hold on now, you can't tell anyone what you wished for or else it won't come true." Haruhi reprimanded.

Hikaru sighed in exasperation, crossing his arms above his head and leaning back until he could feel little splashes of mist that the giant Koi fish statue was spraying out of its' stone mouth in the fountain's center, "More silly commoner's rules?"

Haruhi just shrugged.

Kaoru tilted his head and poked at his brother's shoulder, making him tilt back a little farther towards the water than he'd hoped. "Sorry Hikaru, guess I can't tell." Kaoru poked his again, "Don't fall in!" He joked.

Hikaru fake pouted, almost losing his balance. He let his hands fall to his sides, one landing in the water behind him before quickly scooping up some of the cool liquid and splashing it towards Kaoru. The younger Hitachiin stepped aside just in time for the water to miss hitting him. Instead, the splash hit the floor a few feet away and ended up mostly on the bottom of Mori's jeans.

Hikaru was owl-eyed by the time he glanced up. "Uh, sorry about that Mori-senpai."

The taller teen just shrugged softly, looking a bit put out. He drooped a little as Hunny shimmied further up on his back, but no one missed the soft smile that was tugging gently at Mori's lips when the smaller blonde offered his cousin a lick of his ice cream.

"Where did you two run off to?" Haruhi asked. She glanced up at the pair curiously.

"Takashi and I saw this really yummy snack stand! They had ice cream and chocolates and desserts and cookies bigger than Usa-chan! Right, Takashi?"

"Yeah." Mori agreed.

"That's one big cookie, Hunny-senpai. Did you save any for us?" The twins echoed in unison, giving Hunny a deadpanned look, as if they already knew the answer.

The blonde sunk his head into Mori's shoulder, a blissful smile across his face. "It was huuuge." He murmured. And an idea struck him. "We can go get another!"

Takashi shifted his weight and stole the dripping ice cream cone from Hunny's hand. "Maybe later." Mori replied. His tone was light, but serious, and Hunny hopped off his back. "Mitsukuni, it's melting."

"Uh oh, Takashi, can you help me finish it, pretty please, I don't think I can eat that much while it's melting." Hunny begged, his small voice sounded teary and childlike.

Mori knelt in front him with a slight tilt to his head. His eyes were clear and gentle. Suddenly the melting cone was thrust between them, dribbles of chocolate ice cream trickled across Mori's knuckles. "Sure Mitsukuni, we can share it if you like."

Haruhi slapped a palm to her face in disbelief. Everything with these guys was so dramatic. "You guys, we aren't hosting right now, you don't have to…"

"Aww, look they're so sweet to each other!" Girls squealed as they passed.

Haruhi slouched further, "… attract…"

"Oh, lookie, are they brothers? It's such a pain to eat melting ice cream. How sweet."

"attention…" Haruhi sweat dropped. She looked towards Hikaru and Kaoru, and then regretted it. The twins gave proud smirks to their fellow hosts which just made everything seem even more melodramatic. Honestly, why couldn't people just be normal?

"Oh Haruhi-darling, we're back!"

Speaking of abnormalities…

"…great." The only girl host wanted to curl up and forget everything around her existed. Was that too much to ask? She put on a bored looking smile and turned to face the sound of Tamaki-senpai's carrying voice. She saw him and Kyouya skipping steadily towards them, well, Tamaki was skipping. Kyouya was more or less trying to keep some composure while still accepting his fate of being Tamaki's security blanket.

"Everyone, you'll never believe what mommy and I found!" Tamaki raved as he halted in front of the rest of his club. Everyone gathered around their ecstatic boss, eyes reflecting hopelessness for their blonde club president, but humor all the same. Tamaki went on without a hitch, squeezing Kyouya's hand tighter as he swung their adjoined fingers up in the air in excitement. "There were these baby sugar daddies—"

"They're sugar gliders." Kyouya corrected calmly.

"Right! Sugar babies!" Tamaki rejoiced. Kyouya sighed.

"They're a type of baby flying squirrel." The more realistic "parent" exclaimed to the clueless looking batch of hosts.

"Doesn't that sound amazing?" Tamaki gushed. "They can fly!"

"Uh, senpai… what are you talking about?"

"Club mascots, my sweet daughter! That's right, these are so cute, and they looked slightly tame. Kyouya said they're even affordable!"

"Those weren't my exact words, Tamaki…"

"And I know it's time that daddy got you a pet, and I think you're responsible enough. You're growing up so fast and—"

"Jeez, I'm sorry I aske—"

"Eww, look they're holding hands!"

Seven pairs of dubious eyes turned to stare at the speaker whose voice had cut into Tamaki's exotic gibbering. A girl around their age was standing just a few feet behind them, hanging off of a man's arm that was probably her boyfriend. Her clothes were tight, and while she was sneering at their group, the guy she was with looked a little lost, or maybe a little confused, and the entire club thought of one word: whipped.

"Um, excuse me, did you need something?" Haruhi asked, obliviously. The girl was just standing there, gawking at them. Well, not all of them. Her eyes were focused on… Haruhi turned her head to follow the girl's piercing gaze, where it stopped on Tamaki and Kyouya's hands. Which were currently interlocked, fingers laced together, courtesy of a clingy Tamaki. Plus, those little rainbow-colored mood rings that they were both sporting now, also courtesy of Tamaki's capricious spending, didn't really seem to help their situation.

Kyouya registered the situation quickly and shook their hands apart, but they were still standing shoulder to shoulder, and the damage was already done. Haruhi would have laughed out loud, except something about the situation seemed tense and very unfunny.

"Filthy boys. Gay people make me sick!" This was spat from the girl's glossy lips, and Haruhi's eyes immediately narrowed. She fisted her hand, ready to give this girl a piece of her mind, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Haruhi looked up to see Tamaki's hand leave her, and venture forward in one of his familiar hosting gestures, reaching his palm out in an offer of peace and acceptance.

But this girl, Haruhi could tell, wasn't going to buy it.

"Hello, sweet lady, it's a pleasure."

"Despicable."

The woman ignored Tamaki's hand with a sneer and just snuggled up closer to her wide eyed boyfriend.

Tamaki cocked his head. He looked a little put out by the girl's attitude, but true to the prince's character, he wanted this young, beautiful, girl to be happy. He pranced closer, refusing to give up, and took her hand lightly in his own, batting his eyelashes flirtatiously in a way he was sure that no woman could resist.

"Oh, my dear princess, you really shouldn't assume-"

The girl wrenched her hand away, causing the Host Club's President to stumble. "Don't touch me! You're filthy, you and your man-bitch, just get out of here. Your kind isn't welcome here!" A resounding slap sounded and the girl lowered her hand roughly back to her side, obviously pleased at her assault.

Tamaki stared, caught off guard and blinking stupidly. His hand rose slowly to touch his stinging cheek.

"Senpai!" Haruhi gasped, the rest of the club was stunned into silence, unsure of what just happened. Around them, nameless faces started to gather, peering over to watch the little glimpses of action that they understood even less of than the people that were involved.

"This is a public place, isn't it?"

Kyouya's voice rang above them, causing the seething woman's glare to turn towards the vice president. Tamaki yelped as he was immediately shoved aside.

"Shut up!" The woman huffed, stomping over to Kyouya and fisting her hands at her sides. "You're disgusting!" She spat the words in his face, breathing heavily down his neck.

Kyouya didn't react, simply raising a hand to adjust his glasses. "And you are very quick to judge." He said simply. The girl growled at him, and turned in a huff. Her high heels were clacking dangerously against the floor as she grabbed her startled boyfriend's hand, probably for show, and stormed off, leaving the stunned group behind.

The crowd's attention that they'd attracted slowly went about their business, returning to their eating, shopping, and gossiping as they were. Haruhi was the one who broke the silence, unsurprisingly. "I hate people like that. Are you okay, Tamaki-senpai?" She turned towards the blonde, expecting him to either brush it off or go into sulky puppy mode and question every action that'd just taken place like he normally would. Except, when she turned to him his eyes weren't staring curiously after the girl, like she imagined they would be, and instead were fixed on Kyoya. His hand wasn't even nursing his cheek anymore, leaving the angry red print forgotten. "Uh, senpai…?"

"You alright, Kyouya?"

Haruhi turned around confused. Tamaki's stare was apologetic and frightened, and if Haruhi wasn't mistaken she could actually describe her senpai's look as even a little bit angry, or maybe she was looking at that wrong, maybe it was protective. Like a good husband who was worried about their abused wife. Haruhi nearly rolled her eyes at the irony, but then stopped as she caught sight of the shadow king. Kyoya-senpai looked almost… offended? Hurt? The word wasn't coming…

"Kyouya…" Tamaki tried again, and there was a gentle nod of his lowered head, glasses reflecting the lights around them and making it impossible to see his eyes.

"Kyou-chan, you don't need to listen to her, 'kay?"

Mori nodded in agreement as Hunny climbed his shoulders, finding a perch there.

"Yeah. She doesn't know anything." Kaoru frowned, taking a step forward to stand next to his twin. His eyes were shifting from Kyouya to the floor.

"She's the one that makes me sick." Hikaru agreed, wrinkling his nose in the direction the girl had stormed off.

Kyouya finally let out a sigh, "That's enough, she's entitled to her own opinion, after all." Haruhi thought that the mysterious quietness in his voice was a little weird. He sounded really tired; of course, Tamaki-senpai had been dragging him around all day. "If you'll all excuse me a minute, I'm going to use the restroom."

He turned to walk off without another word, still not looking at any of them.

"Kyouya! Wait!" Tamaki was quick to panic, and he raced after his best friend without hesitation.

"Uh, Senpai, wait for us!" Haruhi was about to follow, still curious about Kyouya-senpai's odd behavior, when she felt a quick tug at her arm.

She turned around, stunned to find Mori-senpai holding her back. His larger hand was surprisingly gentle, but strong all the same. When she looked up to meet his face, it was impassive, as always, and Hunny-senpai was beaming shyly from his place on Mori's shoulders. She narrowed her eyes at them and the other club members. "Hey, guys, what's going on?"

"You probably don't know… right?" Hikaru started, he hadn't lost the sneer from before, and Haruhi started to think that the only reason Kaoru was gripping his brother's shirt now was to stop him from going after that girl and throttling her.

"Don't know what?" Haruhi asked, hesitating only a moment.

"Kyouya-senpai. Well, he…"

"He really does like boys." Hunny finally said, "But he isn't disgusting."

Hikaru ran a hand through his hair, "Sometimes, Kyouya-senpai feels like he is though."

"It's been hard for him, to accept that part of himself recently and…" Kaoru swallowed.

"No one knows, except us." Mori spoke softly.

"It must be hard to keep a secret so big…" Hunny murmured, eyes brimming with tears.

Haruhi deadpanned at the drama, "Are you guys pulling my leg?"

It was the serious headshake from Mori, followed by everyone else that finally allowed their words to really sink in. "Wow, I had no idea."

Hunny nodded, and gripped Mori's shoulders a little tighter. "Kyou-chan doesn't want anyone to know."

Haruhi froze. If Kyouya didn't want anyone to know then… "Is it okay that you told me?"

The host club's group shrug was imminent. Haruhi sweat dropped, laughing nervously. "I won't say anything." She mumbled, feeling exposed.

"You don't mind, do you Haru-chan?" Hunny caused Haruhi's blush to fade and she blinked. The twins were gaping at her expectantly, and Mori's eyes were suddenly focused on something in a store's display window that Haruhi guessed probably didn't really interest him in the first place.

She rose her hands, waving them awkwardly in front of her chest as if to ward off their imploring ideas and judgments. "Well, no way, I… It doesn't matter if Kyouya-senpai likes boys or girls, it doesn't change who he is."

The group's tense features relaxed instantly. Hikaru and Kaoru both sinking back out of her personal space, apparently content with her answer, which was good or else Haruhi couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of goading they'd put her through. Hunny sagged against Mori's head, obviously relieved, and even Mori switched his gaze back on Haruhi – conveniently finding the store display to be a bore – God forbid he ever let on what he really thought. She was a little disappointed that they wouldn't believe she'd accept something like that in the first place. She'd never judged them for something so personal before.

"I wish he believed that too." Kaoru whispered, his voice was shaky and he had tears in his eyes when Haruhi looked back at him.

Hikaru glanced over at his brother, "Hey, Kaoru." He said softly, fixing a worried gaze on his twin, and Haruhi didn't miss how his feet were instantly angled a good inch or two closer to the other's.

Kaoru nodded, biting his lip. "I'm sorry, I can't help it. It's just not fair for Kyouya-senpai to think that."

"What does Kyouya-senpai think?" Haruhi asked, fidgeting a little with the shopping bag that she'd adopted when Tamaki left it behind.

Everyone's features darkened a little, which was a bit surprising, and it just made Haruhi's stomach turn anxiously. It was hard to even imagine someone like Kyouya-senpai getting worked up over other people's opinions about him. But, the more Haruhi thought about it, the more she began to realize that that was who Kyouya-senpai was. He always cared about what other people thought about him. He didn't do anything that wouldn't benefit himself from getting noted or praised in some way. The pieces began clicking together quicker than she thought they would. She suddenly felt like she should be afraid of the answer.

Haruhi was surprised when Mori was the one who responded first. "He hates himself for it." The dark haired teen captured her wide eyes with his stoic ones.

He hates himself…?

Hunny patted Mori's hair softly and nodded, as if confirming his cousin's statement and Haruhi's own silent question, "He denies it as much as he can."

Hikaru scrubbed the toe of his shoe against the tiled floor, "But he can't change who he is, or what he feels."

Haruhi blinked, threading her fingers into the cloth handles of her bags. "Well of course not, why should anyone expect him to?" The situation was starting to make more sense and no sense all at the same time, and she wasn't sure if she could keep up.

"That's the same thing Boss asks," Kaoru let out a soft chuckle, but it turned wet. "It's a good question, Haruhi."

The girl host's eyes softened at Kaoru's prone form. His arms were folded tightly against his chest and he'd somehow migrated his way to Hikaru's side so they were pressed together at the hip without her noticing that they'd moved at all. His eyes were shadowed mostly by his hair, but the slight trembling of his shoulders gave away how much the situation must've been affecting him. "Hey, Kaoru, are you gonna be okay?"

The younger twin shook his head, unable to speak, and Hikaru wrapped an arm around his waist. "You're so sensitive." He whispered gently, rubbing soothing circles into Kaoru's hip. Haruhi would've liked to see the look on that homophobic girl's face if she could see these two. Especially in the Host Club. Apparently not all girls went through the Moe or Brotherly Love or Yaoi phase, well, at least not those girls outside of the Academy. Haruhi would hate to see Renge's reaction to that little piece of news.

She shook the thought off and looked away from the twins for a moment to find Hunny and Mori staring at her. She immediately felt self-conscious. "What are you staring at?"

"We just like the way you think, Haru-chan!" Hunny answered for the both of them, since Mori decided not to grace that question with a response, he gave her a silent smile instead. Haruhi rubbed the back of her neck, sheepish. Hunny laughed, "So, Takashi, Haru-chan, Hika-chan, Kao-chan, who's hungry?"

They found a white wicker table in the center of the food court. Surprisingly it was a little more secluded and situated near a rather run-down looking photo booth. It felt a little more private than some of the other crowded areas where other mall goers were slumming. Hunny unsurprisingly suggested that they get something sweet to cheer everyone up, and no one had argued.

With comforting smoothies to fill in the silence of the quieted club, they each let their eyes wander around, searching for two more familiar faces that were causes of concern. Finally the boss's blonde hair, designer outfit, and familiar floating gait came into view.

"Hey Boss!" Hikaru shouted, waving his arm above his head.

Kaoru was quick to reflect the greeting, "Over here!"

Tamaki turned from his place in the middle of the mall, and smiled when he'd spotted his friends.

Haruhi probably wasn't the only one to notice, but she was the first to bring it up. "Hey, where's Kyouya-senpai, is he alright?"

Tamaki's plastic smile slipped. "Listen everyone, I'm sorry for dragging you all out here today."

No one said anything when Tamaki bypassed the question, even though they must have noticed. Haruhi opened her mouth to object. "Senp-"

"It's no trouble Tama-chan, really!" Hunny cheered, cutting her off. Haruhi's protest died on her tongue.

"We like being here." Mori finished with a rare smile on his lips as well.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Tamaki found his grin again at this, although it wasn't as bright as usual. "Thank you," he sighed, "but I'm afraid we have to cut the day short. Kyouya's not feeling well, so I'm going to take him home."

"Is he okay, Boss?" The twins echoed in unison.

Their question went ignored too. "We can talk about what happened later, at the club. I'll call a meeting. Thank you all for coming today." Tamaki finished, speech sounding awfully out of character. "Haruhi, darling, can you get home okay?"

"We can take Haru-chan home."

"Yeah, it's no problem, Boss."

"Just leave it to us."

"Yeah."

"Perfect." He met each of their eyes gratefully, letting his eyes linger on Haruhi's for just a bit longer before turning away.

"See you guys on Monday!" Tamaki shouted over his shoulder before setting a quick pace into the crowed mall.

As Tamaki's pale head disappeared from sight, the word came to her. She tapped a fist to her palm, eyes sad.

The word was…

Dejected.

TBC~

a/n: If you've never seen a Sugar Glider, type that into google images. They are charming little critters. But be careful, they might steal your heart. X3