CHAPTER ONE
Haruhi was a reasonable person.
She liked to think she was one of the most reasonable people in the Host Club. Perhaps even in the entire school of ridiculously rich people.
She thought rationally.
But there seemed to be no rhyme or reason as to why she was standing outside this particular door, constantly checking over her shoulder to make sure she had not be followed, or that no one recognized her . . . even though in all honesty there was probably no way anyone else would be in the school's basement at this hour. Holding her breath, Haruhi winced and finally knocked on the door. "A-ano . . ." she whispered, barely daring to knock any louder.
But someone must have heard her tiny voice, for the doors cracked open and something grabbed Haruhi, dragging her into the dark room. She squeaked, and a match was lit right in front of her eyes. Candles emerged, and she could finally see enough in the darkness to see Nekozawa's looming figure.
"Ho ho ho, it's strange to see you outside the host club Fujioka," he laughed creepily. "Don't tell me . . . do you require my services? Do you wish to buy your first voodoo doll kit or tarot card pack?"
Haruhi was not moved. "I'm not here to see you, Senpai," she deadpanned, and Nekozawa nearly fell back in shock and disappointment.
He coughed twice and then, in a much more normal tone, asked, "Then why are you here, Haruhi?"
"I'm . . . !" Haruhi trailed off, stared down at her feet, and then stately meekly, "I'm . . . I'm here to see Reiko-san."
"Reiko-san?" Nekozawa echoed, confused.
And then Haruhi was sweeped away to an adjoining room, styled in a dark, somber Victorian decorations. Reiko shut the door and calmly sat in a chair across from Haruhi.
"What is it you wished to speak to me about?" she asked.
Haruhi fidgeted for a moment, sorting out her thoughts, before asking, "Well, that is . . . Reiko-san?"
Reiko simply cocked her head.
"Remember when you had a crush on Hunny-sempai?"
"You wish for me to put a curse on someone?" she asked, blinking.
"Ah, n-n-no!" Haruhi stammered, waving her hands wildly. "Not a curse, but . . . um, a spell. To uh . . . steal someone's soul?"
"I see," Reiko replied, nodding in understanding. "Who might I ask is the lucky recipient of the curse?"
Haruhi grimaced, wishing she wouldn't refer to it as a curse. It made it sound like Haruhi was doing something wrong, something guilty . . . although that might not be too far off the mark. "Well . . ."
"You have to tell me the name. Most curses require a person's full name in order to work."
Haruhi blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. She couldn't look Reiko in the eyes. "It's Tamaki . . . sempai."
"Tamaki-sempai? You mean the blond idiot?"
Haruhi just continued to rub the back of her neck vigorously, feeling mortified.
"Mmmm." Reiko thought hard. Distractedly, she got up and started rummaging through some drawers. "That is a bit of a challenge. Even if he were to like you, he'd probably be too much of an idiot to realize those feelings as real."
"A-ahh," Haruhi sighed, slumping over.
"This might take something a little more elaborate. Oh!" she gasped, remembering something. "Oh dear, I promised Hunny-sempai I wouldn't do any really serious curses that permanently change the recipient's feelings. Said something about how it wasn't humane."
"It's not humane!" Haruhi exclaimed in a fright. She jumped to her feet, her hands shaking. "Look. This was a mistake. I'm changing my mind. It's not right to put a spell on Sempai—"
But at that moment, Reiko found what she had been looking for and displayed an ornate, glass container with a fizzing, pink liquid inside. When she shook it a little and opened the stopper, sparks came out. "Yep, still good."
"What's that?" Haruhi asked, despite herself.
Reiko smirked dangerously and pressed the vial in Haruhi's palm. "Only the most classic of Black Magic practices." She folded Haruhi's fingers around the prize, still smiling widely.
"Eh? Classic? Then . . . you don't mean?"
"A love potion, designed to make the drinker fall hopelessly infatuated with the first person they see," Reiko clarified, and abruptly her face went blank again. "But the effects are only temporary. I have to keep my promise to Hunny-sempai, after all."
"Really?" Curiously, Haruhi rolled the bottle in her hands, watching it fizz and sparkle. "How long does it last?"
"That depends on how much you get the person to drink it." Reiko thought about it for a while. "Even just a few drops would be potent enough to last around a week or so. But if you get them to drink the whole thing, the effects wouldn't wear off for about a month. Although, I have to advise you, it doesn't taste the greatest. If you want to make the person drink enough, you might want to mix the potion in a strong beverage of some sort. Maybe . . . coffee?"
Haruhi stared at the potion longer, almost in a trance. But then she shook her head to snap herself out of it and handed it back over to Reiko. "No thanks. It's only temporary after all. Why waste my time on a cheap trick?"
"Oh, but it's not a waste at all," Reiko insisted. "After a month, he won't be infatuated with you anymore. That's why you use that month, when he's not going to want to let you out of his sight, to get closer to him and make him realize that he actually likes you for real. It's just a tactic to get through that thick head of his."
Just a tactic, Haruhi thought to herself. Just a rational alternative. After all, there's no way he would fall in love with you normally.
"How much for the bottle?" Haruhi began to ask, but Reiko held up her hand.
"No, not between us. We both are suffering the loss of our soul. I would feel wrong if I asked you to pay me. Take it, and make sure not to screw it up," Reiko warned.
For the first time, Haruhi actually smiled and sighed out in relief. "Thank you, Reiko-san," she said with a quick bow.
Reiko also bowed. "It is my pleasure. As a friend of Hunny-sempai, feel free to always stop by to inquire of my services. Although . . ." Though her face remained blank, Reiko blushed a little and covered her mouth with her hand, looking away. "This will be the first time I've ever seen real yaoi in action. For some reason, my heart is beating rapidly in my chest."
"O-oh," Haruhi said sheepishly. Despite the embarrassment, the girl in disguise figured it was better than Reiko finding out her true gender.
Thanking Reiko once again, Haruhi quickly hurried out of the Black Magic Club. Once she was back in the basement, she breathed in slowly to calm her heart. She peeked at the secret bottle cradled in her hands before tucking it away in her front pocket.
It was mission time.
The potion seemed to burn a hole through her chest all during club activities that afternoon. She had decided to wait to give Tamaki the potion after hosting. She didn't know how effective it was, and it would be easier to convince people it was just Tamaki being his dramatic self if only the host club saw his sudden attachment to Haruhi.
But it was hard to wait. Unable to help it, Haruhi occasionally twitched and acted jumpy around the customers. She constantly found herself putting a hand over her pocket, checking to make sure the potion was safe, before she even realized what she was doing. Her odd behavior was not lost on Kyouya . . . or the twins for that matter.
"Ha . . . ru . . . hiiii!" Hikaru cooed into her left ear. "Why are you acting so strange? Do you have a secret?"
Kaoru was immediately at her left ear, whispering behind his hand, but loud enough for the girls to hear, "We wanna know the secret too. We're your best friends after all. Didn't we promise not to hide secrets from each other on that night?"
"Hikaru! Kaoru!" Haruhi exclaimed angrily, shoving their faces away, but the damage had already been done.
"KYAAAA! 'THAT NIGHT'? WHAT DOES 'THAT NIGHT' MEAN?" one of the customers squealed.
"UWAHHH! IT'S SO ADORABLE THAT YOU THREE ARE SO CLOSE TO EACH OTHER! MOE!" exclaimed another.
A few brotherly love clients overhead the commotion, and they joined the table so that they could tell Haruhi's customers, "We may have to join forces, if you know what I mean."
"HikaxHaruxKao fanfiction? On it!" another declared.
Struggling to control her temper, Haruhi stood up and faced the wildly snickering twins. "If you don't mind, would you two leave me alone? You're disturbing my clients."
"Disturbing?" Hikaru snorted.
"It looks to me like they're having a grand old time," Kaoru commented, glancing over at the bustling table of girls, who were already making plans for their shipping fansite.
"Besides—" Haruhi squeaked as Hikaru suddenly pulled her closer and put his arm around her shoulders. He grinned down at her. "We were thinking that we should spice things up and include you in the act every now and then."
"Who doesn't like a romantically forbidden threesome?" Kaoru agreed with a nod. He put a hand on the side of Haruhi's face, gently lifting her face towards his.
"That's stupid," Haruhi deadpanned, but the fangirls were squealing behind her. Renge had come over by now, demanding if someone had a camera, because the pose of the three of them was just "perfect" for the magazine cover. Haruhi even spotted Kyouya in the corner, taking down notes with interest. The girl sighed. This was obviously a battle she would not win.
By the time the last of the customers had left, Haruhi was exhausted. But she diligently snuck off to the kitchen before anyone could notice her. Almost mechanically, Haruhi made a quick cup of commoner's coffee and pulled out the vial from her pocket, but she hesitated. Suddenly, she felt very ashamed of herself. Was she really going to let herself go to this extreme? Was she really going to act so ridiculously over something a stupid magazine quiz told her?
Was she really that in love with Tamaki to manipulate his emotions?
Holding her heavy chest, Haruhi peeked around the corner of the kitchen door. Tamaki was stretched out tiredly on the couch, talking to Kyouya. He started laughing at something his friend said, and the laughter was so full and pleasant that Haruhi's heart melted against her will. The good feeling didn't last long though before Haruhi blushed vividly in horror and her heart raced out of control. "Arghh! Why do I have to like an idiot like that?" she whispered under her breath.
The cup of coffee was still sitting there.
Waiting.
Haruhi bit her lip hard, but she was already giving in. "If I don't make my move now, the coffee will get cold," she told herself softly. She reached for the potion and removed the stopper. "And if I give up now, I'll never have the courage to do it again." Half-shutting her eyes, she dumped the entirety of the bottle's contents into the coffee. She stirred in some extra sugar, hoping the taste wasn't really that bad. Then, wearing her toughest game face, she armed herself with the coffee mug and marched out of the kitchen.
But she hesitated again when she saw Tamaki's smile. He looked so handsome, sitting so far away on the other side of the room. The way her heart swelled was almost too much to bear. Would she really be able to make it all the way to Tamaki? Should she just call him over instead?
"Oi, Haruhi," she heard Hikaru call.
Haruhi's whole body seized up in horror. Not another distraction! She would never be able to make it at this point.
"Not now, Hikaru!" she snapped, forcing herself to keep her eye on the prize, her eye on her smiling Senpai, even when she heard Hikaru walk right up to her.
"But I'm thirsty," he complained. "You wouldn't happen to have—oh, hey!"
The mug disappeared from Haruhi's hands. She stared at her hands in disbelief before crying out in despair.
"I didn't know we still had some commoner's coffee leftover," Hikaru mused.
"No, Hikaru!" Haruhi gasped, trying to snatch it away, hit it out of his grasp, anything to get it away from him. "Don't drink that! You can't!"
Hikaru smiled at her, holding the mug above her reach. "Aww, come on, Haruhi. Don't be stingy."
"Hikaru!" she pleaded, practically trying to climb up him now to reach for the mug. He wouldn't. He couldn't! Tamaki and Kyouya stopped talking to stare at the commotion.
"I'll make you another batch. Just chill out!" Hikaru said, and with that he downed half of the coffee in a single swallow. He blinked and swirled around the drink for a moment, remarking, "Although, you have a funny taste in coffee. What'd you put in this, Haruhi?"
Haruhi watched him finish the rest of the coffee in dismay. He wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand and handed Haruhi back the mug with a wink. "Thanks for the coffee, Haruhi."
And then . . . it happened.
You could tell the minute when the spell took effect. Hikaru suddenly froze, looking at Haruhi as if for the first time. Hikaru leaned down to study Haruhi's face a little closer.
"Haruhi . . . I love you!" Hikaru suddenly gushed out, as if he was also shocked at his newfound feelings.
"WHAT?" Haruhi exclaimed.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" Tamaki bellowed, zooming over to Hikaru and Haruhi in zero point two seconds. His eyes flashed dangerously as he towered over the twin and demanded like the overprotective father he was, "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?"
Hikaru, tugging on Haruhi's sleeve to bring her a little closer to him, stated evenly, "I love Haruhi, Tono. Haruhi . . ." Hikaru met her eyes, completely serious. "Will you go out with me?"
A/N: For the avid Ouran manga readers out there, you probably sort of recognize this scenerio as similar to the first story in Hatori's "Love Egoist" series. That's because it is. (laughs) Well, it's inspired by it anyway. I personally loved Romantic Egoist that I wish Hatori would actually make a series out of it. It's a brilliant story idea. But that won't happen, so naturally I have to do it myself. But I thought it would be more fun if I did it Ouran-style, and I've been wanting to write a Hika-Haru multi fic for a while now, so TADA!
For those curious, this takes place a little bit after Mei gave Haruhi the magazine which made Haruhi realize her feelings for Tamaki (in the manga plot, not the anime). That's why Haruhi's still a little jumpy. It's taking her a while to get used to her new emotions. ^^; And do I really think Haruhi would stoop so low as to drug Tamaki with a love potion? Not really no, but THE PLOT BUNNIES DEMAND SO!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran Host Club OR Love Egoist. I know. What a sad, sad life I live.
Disclaimer 2: I'm sort of hyper. Is it noticeable? :P