Haruhi turned out kind of cynical here; she's more of a mother to the boys than Kyouya is. She's tired from a week of Hosting I suppose.

enjoy ^_^ It was pretty fun to write

disclaimer: OHSHC belongs to Bisco Hatori. If it belonged to me Mori would surely become sleep-deprived (Know what I mean? *winkwink)


Haruhi's Haircut

It was a blessed time; one of Haruhi's favourite times of the day.

The school day was over.

All canary dressed princesses had filed out of the club room in a flurry of intoxicated sighs and murmurs of what they wanted to see tomorrow. What new cosplay would the Host Club delight them with? What new delicate pastry would grace their lips? Could Tamaki possibly act anymore "perfect"?

All questions Haruhi couldn't care any less about.

"Haru-chan!" Honey sang from atop Mori's broad shoulders. "You should come over today; my chef is trying out a new cake recipe."

She smiled politely, "I'm sorry senpai, but I have an appointment that I need to keep."

"Is it the dentist?" A look of horror flashed through the petit boy's chocolate brown eyes; a reminder of his own pained past with the doctor of teeth.

"No, not the dentist. I'm just getting a haircut."

She felt a sharp blast of air as Tamaki rushed to her side. "A commoner's hair salon sounds delightful. I suggest a field trip! Kyouya," he brandished a tapered finger at his spectacled classmate."Round up the children."

"You want to watch me get my hair cut?" Her mind wandered to relive the events of last time the host Club had appeared in her neighbourhood. The two old women in the apartment beside her still raved about the "gorgeous hunky Ouran fellows" and asked when they would be coming back every single time they spotted Haruhi exiting for school in the morning.

"No."

"No?" Tamaki's radiant face sputtered out like a wet match.

"Sorry Tamaki-senpai, you can't come," Haruhi put as much force into that statement as she could.

Tamaki's arms fluttered lifelessly to his sides, like a kicked puppy.

Haruhi Fujioka, master of taming Host Club Kings.

The twins snickered from the position by the door. "Face it boss, Haruhi just doesn't like you."

"Doesn't like me?" Tamaki repeated in a tiny voice, "Mother, why would they say that?"

Kyouya snapped his laptop shut with an irritated sigh; a long day of Tamaki's antics were grating on his last nerve. "Why don't you ask them?"

Tamaki turned to confront the mischievous twins, but they were already guffawing their way down the hall. Haruhi decided to follow their lead and head out as quickly as possible.

"Best Cut Hair Cutters," despite its boastful name, was a simple one chair hair salon down the street from Haruhi's apartment building. She didn't bother wasting time going home to drop off her backpack or changing out of her uniform.

The owner was an old friend of Ranka's and always delighted in seeing Haruhi. He was no longer a spring-chicken however, and he shuffled to the door as she entered.

"It's been so long Haruhi! Has your father been locking you in your room to hide you from the gentlemen callers?"

"No, not yet Mr. Seto" Although sometimes she wished he would.

Mr. Seto's young granddaughter, Kumi, peered over her picture books. "I thought you said Haruhi was a girl." Her curious eyes roved over Haruhi's features.

At least the disguise could fool people outside the Academy. Haruhi was starting to get the impression girls at Ouran weren't too smart.

"Manners Kumi," Mr. Seto chided, "if Haruhi chooses to dress as a boy that is entirely her business." He motioned to the chair and threw the cover of Haruhi's clothes.

"So what do you need?"

"Just shorten it up I guess," Haruhi shrugged. "I wasn't sure if I could make the style "boy-ish" enough by myself."

He nodded and narrowed his eyes in concentration as his hand approached with the scissors. Haruhi briefly wondered if he could see enough to distinguish hair from flesh.

Just as he was about to make the first cut Kumi piped up.

"Are those people your friends? They're wearing the same outfits."

Haruhi turned to see Tamaki's face squished against the window pane, his nose pressed flat and his hands cupped around his eyes in an attempt to see past the tinted windows. Once he spotted her he waved his arms wildly, gesturing to no doubt the rest of the Host Club.

She resisted the urge to groan and bury her head in exasperation; wondering, not for the first time, if Kyouya had somehow managed to attach her to a GPS chip and track her every movement with the touch of a button on his ever present laptop.

The little bell chimed ominously as the six boys entered and Kumi wasted no time abandoning her books for human entertainment.

"Are you all actually girls too?"

Tamaki bent at the knee to peer into her eyes. "Well aren't you sweet. Why would you think that, little princess?"

"Haruhi is a cross-dresser," she stated gravely, "and you are her cross-dressing friends"

Hikaru and Kaoru snickered.

"How did you guys find me?"

"We went and asked your Dad," Honey beamed. "He said to tell you he said "hi" and that he's working late tonight."

Well, that scenario was decidedly less creepy than a computer chip secretly installed in her brain (Kyouya did have ties with the best neurosurgeons in the country.)

"You guys need to leave. I can't baby-sit you right now."

"We just want to watch you get your hair cut," Honey chimed sweetly, his eyes pleading. "We'll behave, promise."

Mr. Seto seemed caught between doing what Haruhi wanted and being courteous to the obviously wealthy and influential young men.

He chose the latter.

Gesturing to the cracked plastic chairs against the wall surrounded by twenty year old gossip magazines, the boys sat with a flourish of grace and sparkles. Kumi grabbed as many books as her tiny hands could hold and settled beside Mori; wasting no time feigning shyness as she launched into explaining each character, their subsequent development, plot, and ending moral. Mori politely nodded and pretended to look interested as the rest of the Host Club focused their utmost attention on Haruhi.

Mr. Seto worked slowly and methodically; seemingly brushing out every separate strand before making a cut. When he was finally done Haruhi jumped off the chair, massaging her cramped legs. Gazing in the mirror, her hair didn't look my different; shorter around the ears possibly more masculine.

Tamaki was on his feet in an instant.

"Me next!"

"Really Tamaki-senpai?" Haruhi surprised herself in thinking that cutting his glistening lock seemed almost blasphemous; like cutting Samson's… or maybe Rapunzel's.

"What could you possibly want done with your hair, Tamaki," Kyouya rationalized, "at a commoner's shop, even."

Mr. Seto seemed to have no qualms about being called a commoner, even though it still sometimes made Haruhi's left eye twitch uncomfortably.

Tamaki seated himself in the chair. "Kyouya, where's your sense of adventure? This will be the perfect thing to add to my Commoners Experiences Book."

Haruhi didn't even bother to ask.

Mr. Seto flung the bright orange cover over Tamaki's shoulders and studied his next piece of work.

At this time Kumi, discovering she had exhausted her current stack of literary works, jumped up to grab more. In her haste she bumped into her grandfather who was just closing the scissors on Tamaki's hair. His elbow jolted up and with the incurring "snip," a rather large piece of hair wafted to down to the floor like a golden feather.

"I simply adore you hair, Haruhi."

"A gorgeous cut."

"It really frames your face."

The girls twittered around the table the next day as Haruhi refilled their cups with tea and plates with lemon tarts.

"I also like Tamaki's hat," one girl spoke up. "He looks so handsome in a beret."

"I didn't know Tamaki liked hats," mused another.

Haruhi ducked her head to hide her grin. Oh, Tamaki would probably be wearing that "stylish black beret" for at least a few days, weeks maybe.

It definitely was a memory for his Commoners Experiences Book.

-FIN


~Have you ever had a little kid start a random conversation with you like Kumi? My sister and I went to see a play and before the curtain rose this boy beside us had a ten minute long chat with us about his new "Spongbob Squarepants" book. And then his mother got back from backstage and made him be quiet.

Excited for summer? I know I am. Exams... not so much.

:3 reviews would be lovely