Fighting a Blush
Words: 2,057
Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club. It belongs to Bisco Hatori.
Warnings: fluff, one "curse word"
X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X
Kasanoda Ritsu had always had a... special relationship with others. They looked at him. He looked at them. They freaked out.
He could have blamed his father; he probably should have blamed his father, actually. It was from his father's loins that he was created. His father was the one who saw him as a baby and decided that, since he was a scary-faced baby, he would grow to be a scary-faced man and raised him accordingly. His father taught him to glare, grunt, scowl... anything that would make him even scarier and more intimidating to those who crossed him. Perhaps this was all fine and good for a Yakuza heir.
But Ritsu wanted more than to just be heir to the Kasanoda-gumi. As a child, he followed his father's teachings religiously, putting up a front to everyone that said "I'm scary, so fuck off." Now that he was in high school, things were a bit different. He wanted people to like him. He wanted people to smile at him in the halls, talk to him before class, maybe even have a friend come home with him after school to study.
Mostly, he wanted to play Kick The Can with his subordinates back home.
These were the reasons that he had gone to the Host Club and, more importantly, their "Wild Type" member Morinozuka Takashi for aid. The results over the next week were both embarrassing and very much not helpful. Only four of the seven Hosts seemed genuinely interested in helping him in any capacity. Well, he liked to think that his chosen mentor (who really didn't do any mentoring) and his chibified companion were interested, but one could never tell with them. The only two with notable positive interest had been Suou Tamaki – who probably was only interested because the man was insane – and Fujioka Haruhi.
Who just so happened to be a girl.
Who just so happened to be masquerading as a guy.
Who Ritsu was very much convinced he was in love with.
Perhaps that was why he had accepted this offer from the club's Shadow King. He had no reason otherwise. People in school were now giving him positive mention (it was his own fault for designating Haruhi instead of just talking to her outside of the club one day), and he had indeed managed to play Kick The Can with the men back home. He really had no reason to accept.
But he had.
He cast a furtive glance to the right, looking at her profile. She was a very petite girl. Her hair was cut short, yet ambiguously, and the uniform suit she wore was tailored to make her feminine assets invisible. Her face was pretty, but other than that, it was impossible to tell that Haruhi was a girl.
"I know it's kind of weird, Casanova-kun," she told him with a warm smile as she poured tea, "but you get used to it. Being a Host is kind of fun after a while. It just takes some time, is all."
A Host. For some inane reason, Ootori Kyouya had gotten it into his head that girls would like to request Ritsu as a Host. He'd quickly gotten Tamaki and the Demon Twins (as Ritsu called them in his head) to cotton on to the idea, and then Hunny-senpai had started begging him too. With the subtle threats of the Ootori heir, the constant needling of the Twins, Tamaki spouting off flowery prose, and Hunny begging him with those big brown eyes, he had given in after three days of refusing.
The worst part was that he was right. Having been immediately paired up with Haruhi – Ritsu couldn't decide whether to be enthused, abashed, or to revert to scary-face mode, and settled with embarrassed – he had just finished his first day as a Host. The Haruhi-Casanova pairing (Tamaki had written up the roster that morning it seemed, and purposefully written his name with the nickname many of the Hosts called him by) had proven very popular, and those who hadn't designated them in time would spy in on them from where they sat with another Host.
"It's exhausting, Fujioka," Ritsu sighed, turning away. A cup of hot tea was pressed into his hands and a warm smile – the kind only Haruhi could give – was sent his way. Ritsu hid his flush behind the cup. Why did he agree to do this? He just wanted to have people like him, play games with the members of the Kasanoda-gumi, and maybe join the gardening club or something!
Because she asked, too, he thought with a sigh, draining the tea in one gulp. He made a face as the hot liquid burned a trail to his gut, but made no other indication of his discomfort. He really was a sucker for her.
"You get used to it," she repeated calmly, oblivious to anything wrong with her new partner.
The rest of the club made their way over. Hunny and Mori both congratulated Ritsu for the day their own way (Hunny offered cake, Mori nodded and smiled very slightly to his ex-disciple) while the others – not counting Kyouya – glomped Haruhi and dragged her away from the crimson-haired boy.
Ritsu sighed. Surely... surely not every day would be so chaotic?
He was proven wrong. Again and again, as days passed more chaotic than that one. There was the princess visiting, Tamaki getting sick when he never had before, the girl from his class who had a crush on Hunny, and then summer came with Haruhi's strange friend and him getting talked into playing the bad guy in an encounter, even though she had scared him from the first time he ever even saw her.
It was like a cloud of random happenings followed the Host Club and its members.
One day, though, just a few days after the announcement of the sports festival, Ritsu decided that he didn't mind being in the Host Club. He hadn't minded too much before, since it gave him an opportunity to get to know Haruhi better, but this was different.
He had gone to Haruhi, to ask her about the "rope pulling" contest, since it hadn't actually been explained yet. She had mentioned participating, and since they were on the same team, he was hoping to find out what it was, and if he could do the event too.
"Fujioka!" He called, jogging to catch up with her during lunch.
"Casanova-kun," she had acknowledged with that special smile of hers, "what brings you over here?"
"Fujioka, I was –" but she cut him off.
"Haruhi," she corrected him. "We work together, and you're my friend, Casanova-kun. You can call me Haruhi."
Ritsu had stared at her a moment before smiling back, fighting away the blush that was slowly trying to peek through his cheeks. "S-sure, Haruhi-san," he affirmed, liking the taste of her name. He could always call her Haruhi when it was just him, but at school, or on the rare occasion that one of his men asked after her – they believed him – it was always Fujioka. "I was wondering what a rope-pulling contest was."
Weeks later, after the second years had finished their trip to France, Haruhi was again pouring tea. "Ritsu-kun," he liked how his name sounded when she said it, "could you help me with some English work? I have a test next week, and I'm having trouble with some verb forms."
"Aa... sure, Haruhi-san," he replied. Ritsu was the top English student in the first year, mostly because he liked foreign languages. He always had, and they came naturally to him. It made sense that Haruhi would want to ply his brain so that she could remain top overall in their year. He wilted slightly. "I have to go now; my father wanted to see me by six. When would you like to study?"
"I'm busy the rest of the week... is Saturday alright with you?" There was no school on Saturday. She wanted to see him outside of the school week? He squashed his spirit down before he could blush. It had been months now. He was used to her oblivious and innocent nature. Haruhi didn't see him that way.
"Yes," he nodded, keeping his eyes trained on his teacup. Don't look at her smile. Don't look at her smile. He took a chance. "My house, then? I can have someone pick you up." Ritsu glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. She was smiling. His stomach flipped.
"Sounds good," she replied. She smiled at him some more before pulling out a mathematics textbook and started working. Ritsu looked away, downed his tea, and left.
X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X
He didn't think he could have ever seen a person more beautiful. Sure, he had seen Haruhi wearing girls' clothes a few times, not often, but sometimes he would. Somehow, those times paled, as he stood at her door looking in awe at the beauty before him. The pale blue dress that ended just above her knees, even though her legs were concealed by thin-legged jeans, and a white hoody covered her arms and shoulders, he felt terribly underdressed. It wasn't something Ritsu was used to, but standing there in jeans and a t-shirt (admittedly designer jeans and t-shirt) he felt very much underdressed.
"Ready to go?" He asked, again fighting the usual blush. She nodded, still smiling, and adjusted her school bag as he stepped back to allow her to pass. The usual limo was waiting at street level, and while the neighbors did seem suitably impressed, he knew the reaction was muted from previous ones since the Host Club dropped by to bother Haruhi so often.
It was an awkward ride as Ritsu tried hard not to stare, and Haruhi seemed satisfied to just stare out the window during the drive. He usually did that too; he enjoyed the scenery and would often play a mental game where he would pick out how many people were wearing a certain style of clothing or how many kinds of tree were at the roadside. But he couldn't take his eyes from her.
The boys had been surprised. He had told them before leaving that he was picking Haruhi up so they could study together, and they had seemed excited. They hadn't know that Haruhi was a girl, so seeing her exit the car in her dress and looking very much her gender for once, they had all worn shocked expressions before grinning. After a moment, Ritsu realized that, at some point, they must have realized his crush on her and, much like his schoolmates, believed him to be gay. Considering he was used to it, it didn't affect him anymore, but it was still annoying.
Ritsu introduced her to each of the men in the courtyard in turn, and they all greeted her kindly. One offered to get them refreshments; he suspected that, had he not purposefully already taken her bag, that such an offer would have taken its place.
As it turned out, Haruhi didn't need any help with her English homework, nor did she have a test the next week.
When Tetsuya peeked in on the pair, Ritsu was practically glowing.
X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X
A/n: Yeah... don't exactly know where this came from... premise mildly based on Like Vines We Intertwine by Panic Dinosaurs on the Loose - the Kasanoda being in the Host Club bit, I mean. Anyway, hope it wasn't too bad... but if it is, I'll live. I just wrote it spur of the moment, so it hardly matters anyway.