Snow by blackdragonflower

Summary: Glistening and beautiful the snow falls silently. A feeling warms the inner heart keeping away the cold. Watching the snowflakes fall he thinks about her, he worries, he cares. He might just love her. MorixHaruhi

Characters belong to Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori

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Takashi Morinozuka watched the flurries of snowflakes dance outside the windowpanes. They were fluttering down until the occasional wind swept beneath them and sent them spiraling. It was beautiful he thought to himself. His dark eyes slid from the window to his surroundings. The Host Club was in full operating order; young women were being catered on by the hosts of their choice, for a price of course. They say you can't put a price on love yet Kyoya was doing it quite well. Then again, what most of these girls didn't know was that their feelings were merely crushes or adoration. But Kyoya let them think what they would, and that's how this club was still running smoothly and well funded. Mori quickly took note of what his cousin Hunny was doing. Eating cake, he was smiling brilliantly, surrounded by ladies that "oohed" and "awed" over him and how cute he was. Mori was customerless for the moment and had taken the opportunity to take a seat by the window and watch the slow unhurried pace of the snowfall. Sure his adorable cousin was in no trouble or need of his assistance he let his gaze continue on to another.

She was dressed in the typical boy's school uniform. Her gaze was distant, and the wild type of the Host Club could tell she wasn't paying any attention to the ladies chatting right in front of her. 'Hm... Haruhi is mentally somewhere else today. She looks nice, though nothing has changed about her.' Mori-senpai would never admit vocally that he had acquired feelings for the young woman who was falsely called a male under so many occasions. He had a respect for the young woman and an admiration that had slowly become more as the time he spent with her increased. He knew that voicing his feelings would be a move most regrettable. He didn't want to loose out on her to Tamaki, or one of the Hitachiin twins, but he was being cautiously hesitant.

But her smile followed him everywhere, here in the club, during studies, at home, training, everywhere. For a while he'd tried to escape his feelings, to ignore them but soon found this impossible. The feelings would hide for a while then appear from nowhere a soft reminder. So after awhile he let them come as they wished and did not fight them. He wanted to tell her, he just didn't know how. It would be out of character for him to tell her that he liked her, no thinking he was certain, it could be the start of love. He'd questioned his mother politely when she'd had the time and she seconded his thoughts.

When Hunny sensed something was wrong (which didn't take long) he sought Mori out asking what was bothering his cousin. Takashi was hesitant but this was a person he trusted deeply, this was his cousin, whom was like a brother. When the hyper ball of energy found out he was ecstatic and quite happy, but he understood why Mori was upset without him even having to explain. It was all very bothersome. If other members of the host club had not expressed feelings it would have been easier. Haruhi had turned all three down, the twins and the foolish lord. One could see this as she was uninterested in dating, which was not too far from the truth.

Takashi knew she was doing her best to follow in the steps of the mother she'd lost in childhood. She threw herself into her studies, keeping her grades high so she could continue to attend pricey Ouran High and would not loose her scholarship. Then she was constantly being pulled this way and that by members of the Host Club, asked to do things, and dragged into spontaneous situations. Her life was constantly everywhere. Mori wondered if she'd ever gotten to just sit back and take a break. What could she be thinking? Obviously it was not about love or fancy things. Being a lawyer was that important to her, he could easily see that. There were moments when he silently watched her, like now, and he could see the fatigue from working so hard for what she wanted. You wouldn't see it if you didn't look exceptionally well.

Thinking so much about the young woman the stoic was quite surprised when she tapped him gently on the shoulder smiling, "Mori-senpai would you like some tea?"

Mori blinked then a small gentle smile brushed his lips. "Thank you." He removed the cup from her hand and sipped from the edge.

"You looked lonely over here, usually you are with Hunny."

Mori nodded in understanding. Him without Hunny was, for most it just wasn't comprehensible. He returned his gaze out the window to the powdery snow and the ice that glistened in its lovely silver. "I decided to watch the snow fall."

Haruhi sat beside him her legs tucked under her. When their eyes met Mori noticed they seemed interested in what he had to say. "It's nice isn't it?" He nodded and took another sip of tea. "I enjoy snowfall, it's relaxing. I watched it falling yesterday when I got home."

"..."

"It was nice just to take a break for once." The girl smiled cutely. "The report I had to finish last night was exhausting." Mori finished his tea.

"It's good you took a break Haruhi."

Haruhi stood. "I can take that if you're finished. I don't have any more customers today anyways."

"Haruhi, thank you." Mori handed her the cup then ruffled her hair affectionately. "Take care of yourself..." He said quietly. "Maybe sometime we could watch the snow together."

"That sounds like fun Mori-senpai. I'd love to."

She waved with a flick of her wrist and walked away. Mori's heart was light and warm and any coldness from outside was melted. Just because the ice and snow blanketed the world outside, didn't mean his heart was blanketed the same way.