One-shot Nekozawa/Haruhi friendship fic, with maybe a little more at the end! This is the prequel to my multi-chapter fic that's forthcoming...Enjoy!
"Ah, senpai, I have a question," scholarship student Fujioka Haruhi asked the cloaked president of Ouran High School's Black Magic Club on one of the older boy's many visits to the Third Music Room.
"Hmm?" Nekozawa Umehito grinned in what he hoped was a menacing way. "And what would that be, Fujioka-kun?" He replied, narrowing his eyes into his patented eerie stare.
Unfazed by Nekozawa's attempt to unnerve and scare her, Haruhi pointed to the yellow cat puppet that was seemingly super glued to her upperclassman's hand.
"What kind of name is Beelzeneff?"
"Ahh," the undercover blonde stroked his chin. "It's a Russian name, with its roots in the ancient name for the devil, Beelzebub." He chuckled at his terrifying cleverness.
"A rather strange name for such a cute puppet," the brown-eyed girl remarked wryly.
"Hm, but a 'rose by any other name would smell as sweet'." Umehito quoted, making the cursed doll nod in the indebted Host's face.
Haruhi chuckled and silently agreed, thinking that the cat puppet smelled nice, like incense, herbs and candle wax.
"I made one for Kirimi, you know, a light blue one." Nekozawa commented. "I thought that she might warm to something cute that was associated with the Dark Arts."
"Oh?" Haruhi raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, yes. Do you know what she named it? She named Beelzeneff's little sister Nozomi! Hope!"
Haruhi giggled as the Black Magic Club leader ranted. "Could she have picked a name that's less horrifying and dark?"
"Hm, but senpai..." the wide-eyed girl said softly. "Don't you think it fits her? Kirimi, I mean?"
Umehito looked down at his kouhai, looking a bit surprised. "What do you mean?"
"Well, she is pretty much the opposite of you, right? Of course she'd pick a name like that, you two are like yin and yang."
"I see. Yes, yes Fujioka-kun, I think you're right."
"And the Nozomi doll...it's supposed to have magical properties, right?" continued Haruhi thoughtfully.
The cloaked high schooler nodded his assent as he listened.
"Well then, maybe the name is sort of like an enchantment...Maybe it's a spell that will bring you two together despite your differences. She could be using her Nozomi doll as a reminder to not give up hope."
Fully taken aback, Umehito gasped. "I've been so foolish!"
"Mm," Haruhi agreed wordlessly. "Rather unfair, too, to think that she has to like the darkness, or that you have to like the light for the two of you to be together. Love is being together despite your differences, right?"
Nekozawa gasped again, not in realization, but rather with the fact that he had been hit full-force with one of Haruhi's brightest smiles and was unprepared for the effect. Unwittingly, his face grew pink.
"Y-yes, you're right," he replied, feeling flustered.
"Ah, ah! Tono, Tono! Nekozawa is blushing at Haruhiiii!" The sudden cry of two Hitachiin voices broke into the conversation, and Haruhi immediately deadpanned.
"Um, Nekozawa-senpai..." But before she could finish her thought, a loud, screeching wail echoed across the room. And just as she predicted, she was in the arms of the Host Club's King before the sound even died away.
"No, Haruhi, don't get too close, you'll be cursed! You'll be put under a spell! Daddy will protect his poor, poor daughter!"
"T-Tamaki-senpai...Tamaki-senpai..." but it was no use. The blonde boy was far too deep in his rants to hear her.
With a sigh, the trapped female Host tossed Nekozawa a wry grin. "Perhaps you should go, senpai, before they bring out the flashlights..."
Quickly regaining his footing, Umehito nodded as he saw the two redheaded twins rummaging through drawers and rustling around in the couches. "Fare thee well, Fujioka-kun!" He exclaimed as he hurriedly turned towards the door. With his hand on the knob, he hesitated, looking back to the girl still trapped in the raving Tamaki's grasp. "And...Thank you."
Staring for a moment, Haruhi broke into a wide, sparkling smile, which sent a flush shooting from his neck straight into his wig-covered hairline.
"Ah...um...yes. Bye!" And with that, the Black Magic Club president whisked himself out of the Third Music Room. Just outside the door, he clutched his chest and found his heart rapidly beating. Slumping against the wall, Umehito tried to catch his breath and cool his heated face.
If anyone has been put under a spell, Beelzeneff, it's me...