I don't own OHSHC. This is a sort of, well I don't really know what this is, but it is, at any rate. Haruhi-x-Renge pairing. Don't really know what's in store with this idea, but please read and review.
Chapter 1: What Friends Can Do.
"Renge please, I've got to get this done." Haruhi begged for not the first time within the walls of the club room. "Kyoya will be really mad if I don't finish up cleaning this mess." It was always somebody bugging her. Mostly, it was their beloved host king, Tamaki. His often insane ideas the brunt of the trouble. The other boys were also responsible for stealing away her attention in unwanted ways. The twins used her as a doll, Kyoya forced Haruhi into attending formal affairs, and lastly, both Honey and Mori needed the stability. "I can't believe I'm doing this." Haruhi lamented as she picked up one of the trash bins. "Must think I'm the janitor."
"Well, you're not. So ditch this place and we can go have fun." Every so often however, the female manager, Renge, would become needy and strive for attention. "I've got eight new box sets, and I'd like to finish them before the end of the week. We can be lazy on the sofa all day if that's what you wanted." It began simply, a few afternoons of free time, a few little talks...and few sweet days of womanly bonding. Well, about as womanly as playing video games and reading manga got. Then, they started going places, and in all honesty, Haruhi was happy for someone she could confide in. Someone who wasn't part of the mostly male group. "You'll get sick if you inhale any more dust. That's the last thing any of us need anyway."
"Contrary to popular belief in this school, dust can't kill a person by touching it." Still, even if Haruhi was the secret princess, it befuddled her. "And a trash can, while nasty, isn't going to become toxic waste hell bent on destroying the earth." The entire school hadn't caught on. "I do this stuff and more all the time. In my own home I don't have servants doing this kinda stuff, so dad and I have to do it." Even while dressed as a woman, no one believed her. Haruhi, in the eyes of many, would always be the commoner boy who just happened to be natural with the ladies. "doesn't mean I want to be the one to do it here though."
"We don't have activities today. Personally, I think he's just being a pain." If that, in and of itself was simply it, Haruhi would have agreed, but it wasn't only that. It was the fact that important people were visiting the school, and Kyoya expected immaculate perfection within the walls of the club particularly. "You know, I'm kind of glad that he isn't from that game of mine. Reality really bites. Life would be so much more interesting if the stuff in those games happened in real life. Isn't there something you'd rather be doing? A dream you have yet to accomplish?"
"All I want is to be like my mother. Become a great lawyer, have a small family, that's really all I want. Most of us commoners don't really have the dreams you guys do. Even if we did, most of us know they probably would never become real." after the trash was shoved into the compactor, and the floors were swept, vacuumed, mopped, and shined, the room was really starting to take shape again. "At least I'm not playing host today. I can't take those stuck up snobs anymore." Daughters, those of political importance, drove Haruhi crazy. She'd much rather deal with her classmates, or even the mothers and aunts of the students that attended school. Those women had both grace and class, most of them logical enough to think before saying something uncouth. "Just give me about an hour. Then I promise, we'll go hang out at the arcade or something."
"Oh, but Haruhi, you are playing host." Their acquaintance started so simply, so casually, that it didn't phase anyone. "I'm a girl too you know. At least I'm someone worth your time. You should be sweeping me off my feet, not cleaning." However, recently, their friendship started becoming something much more obscure. "I'm not like those floozies the boys are with, I've got more class than that." And, for what it was worth, Renge did. She was endearing and sweet when she wanted to be. Sure, the girl had her moments of being totally hyper and flighty, but so did Tamaki, so for Haruhi, it didn't really bother her. "Should we get dinner after?" The girl in a yellow dress asked.
"I don't really have any money for an expensive meal." Haruhi replied, watching as the girl before her frowned a bit. "I'll make us something at my apartment if you want." Finally, she was done placing the last of the chairs back where they belonged. "Great." She sighed in earnest. "Now all that's left are the dishes, and the table settings. Once I get that done, we can head out."
"Not soon enough." Renge shook her head. "Haruhi, you're such a nice boy. You're so soft and gentle, you're kind. You always take care of the others. For a commoner, you work hard, and sometime I wonder if..." Renge stopped, she didn't want to offend her companion. "No, forget about it, not my place to say things like that."
"Go ahead." Haruhi continued walking into the kitchen and turning on the water. It was hard having friends when most of them couldn't see past the deceptions. Haruhi really wasn't good at lying. It wasn't that she was still trying to hide her gender, it was just that Renge was happy in her own little world. "You can say it. All the guys already do, most of all Tamaki. I work hard, and I've always done so. It's just my way of life." The girl was an Otaku at the worst of times, grasping at straws, hoping she could live a life much like the fantasies that she often surrounded herself by. "I don't have the luxury the rest of you do."
"I just wonder if you sometimes work more than you should." Renge began. "Besides doing everything Kyoya tells you, you study way too much. I know you owe them some money, but really, for most of us, it's just a dip in the pocket. I understand that you don't want help, and it's really admirable that you're such a strong person, but, don't you think it's time that you find something more important in your life?" That wasn't the first time Renge posed that question. "The rest of us have to live in worlds that aren't real. It's the only way we can breath, let alone be the kids we're supposed to be." It was the only truth Renge clung onto. She did it with every fiber of her being, trying so very hard to keep her real world from striking her down.
"What could be more important than pursuing my wishes in life?" Haruhi asked, nearly confused, but knowing she was missing something.
"Family, friends...there's a lot you're missing." Renge told her. "Not that you don't have the club, and they're great friends for you, but don't you think you should settle down, find yourself a nice girl, and start romancing her? You're in high school Haruhi, it's high time you found yourself a girlfriend. Someone who you'll get married with later in your life. Men can't be successful in our world without having a wife and children by their sides." Renge wasn't as simple minded as she made herself out to be. A bubble head at times, yes. However, even she knew the pains of wealth, and the high prices of money. "At least you have a choice, you can pick. I can't Haruhi. I can never pick who I want. My father, he gives me everything, but my hand in marriage comes at a high price, one many can't afford. Networking is important, and my father only networks with the best of people. I came to find out that's why he let me come here."
"Kyoya's family." Haruhi got the implication and found an air of sadness within it. "So he had a motive behind it." The other unknown truth also hit Haruhi. Renge thought she was a man, and could pick any suitor she wanted as a result. There were enough women in Ouran high, that picking just one would be hard for any boy. Even as a girl, Haruhi was free, her father wasn't going to force her into anything. "Makes sense though, I mean most of what I've seen here, not many people care about their kids and what they want. In households with statuses like mine, the importance of being happy comes before family name, or what that names holds. If we're not happy we don't have anything. We don't have large homes, we don't have maids, or anything. We just work long hours for small pay, if we're not enjoying life, we really don't have much of it we can live."
"I can see that." Renge nodded as she watched Haruhi wash the last of the dishes. "It doesn't have to be Kyoya though. Any of the boys here would do. Even those of the lower classes make their way into this academy because they have worth. Anyone who graduates the collage here ends up with enough backing to get their foot into almost any door. Even you, although a commoner, wouldn't find it hard dating most of the girls here. Your close ties with the host club alone is like a gold mine in and of itself. Even if you were a lowly person on the street, knowing just one of them by name gives you enough pull to sway any concerned father. Then, factoring in your personality, you're just as available as any of the others, and perhaps more desirable for the fact that you are looking for love, and not merely networking."
"I have downsides too, Renge." Haruhi stated more than anything. Haruhi was monotone when contented, and now was one of those times. "You've seen where I live, it's not even a house. It's a shoebox sized apartment. No girl would ever dream of living in that. It's just all that my dad can afford comfortably." It wasn't that Haruhi wanted to be rich. She still hated those who valued money without knowing true hardship. Still, even she knew how nice it would be to have a stable job, one with high end pay. It wasn't that she wanted the lap of perfection, the finest dinning, the largest, more elaborate house. She wanted a home, just a cozy one. A future, a family, and the knowledge that her father would be well taken care of when it was time for him to retire. "What I want is miniscule compared with everyone in this school."
"And what about those who are like you?" Renge asked, rushed away by her own little whims. "Any girl with half a brain, even one single little brain cell would know better than deny you. You'd be like a knight in shining armor, coming off to wish them away from their dreary life. You could save them from their sadness and loneliness, take them with you, where they'll be loved. You could run away with them and have a family." As if the stars began to fade from her eyes, logic beginning to return, she smiled. "Most any girl wouldn't deny that. We all secretly wish that someone will do that. The rich or the poor, they always do."
"I never did." Haruhi slipped under her breath.
"What was that?" Renge her interest now renewed.
"Nothing. I was just mumbling at myself again." Haruhi denied the importance of the statement quickly, almost a little too fast. "Lets go, I've decided I'm free for the rest of the afternoon. I'll take care of the rest tomorrow." With that, Haruhi knew she would be swept away again, Renge just like her king in that way. With her arm being pulled out the door Haruhi knew she'd be shoved into a limo. From there, it was anyone guess what Renge would have them do. It was all in a day for any host, and Haruhi, although secretly female, wasn't exempt from that fact.
More later...
Again, I've no Idea where I'm going with this yet. All I know, is there aren't nearly enough Haruhi-X-Renge fictions out there.