Hello there, reader! I'm Yippiee (okay, that's my penname. And a legitimate way to spell yippiee. Yet, is there any wrong way..?) Anyway, this is my first fanfic, so thanks for reading it. I'm still new to the whole fanfic writing thing so please don't hurt me for wasting your time if it sucks. But hopefully you won't think that.

This is for Ouran High School Host Club, my favorite anime. I have a general plot in mind, but who knows? I'll probably tweak it and add ideas and change it as I go along. I haven't a clue how long this will be.

All characters ©Bisco Hatori

Invaluable Love

Chapter One: Remembering the Past

Fujioka Haruhi sat at her desk, fussing over her homework. She twirled a shoulder length strand of chocolate hued hair absentmindedly around her finger while contemplating the example case she was given to write a paper on. She studied law at the University of Tokyo and now resided in a rented flat nearby. She tapped impatiently at the paper with her pencil, hoping that it would act as a magic wand and suddenly poof a great essay upon the sheet. Her mind was anywhere but with the paper and had not been for the last hour or so.

Haruhi let her mind drift freely from one subject to another. She thought about her current job – she worked at a coffee bar and restaurant in a slightly upper-class neighborhood. As she thought of that, her mind went from the upper-class to her days at Ouran Academy, which was school of the rich and powerful. She couldn't say she disliked her days at Ouran – in fact, they were actually relatively good. She had come with her mind set on one goal, to be a lawyer, but then became indebted to the Host Club.

She smiled at the thought of those six idiots she spent many of her high school days with. She hadn't seen any of the hosts in almost… six years? It didn't seem that it had been that long since she'd seen them. The last of the boys she saw was Tamaki, after her graduation.

Tamaki had been a whole other story. After the Ouran Festival, it was obvious to everyone in the Host Club but Haruhi that he was head-over-heels in love with her. Haruhi, being the oblivious girl that she is, paid no heed to the subtle advances Tamaki was [attempting to make on her. That is, until the summer of her second year.

[Flashback

Haruhi walked down the beaten brick path of the local park near her apartment. She inhaled the sweet smell of summer air, sweeping with hints of blooming petunias. Without thinking, she kicked a stone across the walk and followed it until it came to a stop. However, it had stopped short, wedged between the worn bricks and an Italian made shoe. She closed her eyes, anticipating which rich bastard she would have to come to bother her during her relaxing stroll.

She opened her eyes and looked up, only to discover mesmerizing violet eyes behind sweeping blond locks looming over her. Her heart skipped a beat, half out of surprise and half out of the fact that the boy she liked was standing so close to her. Of course, it wasn't the first time he was near her, but the look in his eyes was so sensual that it alarmed her. Her brown orbs opened wide.

"T-Tamaki-senpai, you startled me," she said, taking a step back.

He realized that the distance between them had increased and bowed slightly toward her.

"Gomenasai, Haruhi. I hadn't a clue that my awesome presence and breathtaking looks affected you so," he said, his speech laden with self worth. However, the smile on his face told her that he wasn't selfish at all. Stupid sometimes, but never selfish. He had matured quite a bit in the last year, and the changed young man he became was whom Haruhi had started to fall for.

She gave Tamaki one of her sweet smiles, which made his stomach flutter. He brought down his royal façade and walked over to her, slipping an arm around her thin shoulders. In his left hand, he produced a bouquet of white roses and held them out in front of her.

"For you," he said kindly.

"Arigatou, Tamaki-senpai," she offered back with a small, appreciating smile.

He led her over to a nearby bench. "As you know, Haruhi, I don't usually take strolls around commoner neighborhoods, so there is a reason I came here today."

He took a dramatic pause, staring deeply into her eyes, in which lingered a small look of vague curiosity. "I have come to realize that I see you more than just a treasured friend in my heart, dear Haruhi. I am quite aware that you may not return these feelings, but there is something I must do."

The look of vague curiosity had turned into a look of utter surprise when Tamaki gently tilted her chin upwards toward him and placed his soft lips upon her own. Once the shock had relatively subsided, it was replaced with a feeling of utter joy. She felt as if fireworks were going off in her heart – she had been waiting for this moment for the last year.

She closed her eyes slowly and snuck both hands around Tamaki's neck, pulling him delicately closer to her. Tamaki's heart rate quickened with excitement and took this advance as a cue to put both of his arms around her waist as her hands became tangled into his hair. She instinctively licked his lower lip to deepen their kiss. They both sat there as the sunset blazed behind them, casting an orange glow upon their moment of pure bliss

[End Flashback

Haruhi smiled as she thought of her second kiss, that fairytale moment (or at least as close as Haruhi got to that kind of thing) that seemed to last for ages.

She remembered the reactions of the other host club members when they officially announced that they were "together".

[Flashback again

Haruhi was glowing, and she could feel it. She tried to hide it to keep up her wall of bluntness and to try to shadow it from the semi-perceptive girls that enrolled at Ouran. However, she found it impossible to hide the wide grin that was plastered on her face as she walked hand-in-hand with Tamaki safely inside the Third Music Room to the table where the Host Club meeting was about to take place.

Everyone was already there by the time that they had arrived and had witnessed this romantic scene. Kyouya had a malicious gleam on his glasses, hiding any emotion he may have had at the time. The rest of his face was indifferent. Next to him, Kaoru's mouth was in a straight line but was twitching with a frown. He looked at their faces, their intertwined hands, their faces for a tad longer, then glanced at Hikaru. Hikaru was sitting straight up in his high-backed chair with his fists clenched underneath the table. He glared at the pair with an angry snarl, and his eyes looked as though they could produce rays of heat vision and burn Haruhi and Tamaki to ashes. Hunny sat wide-eyed with a piece of cake halfway stuffed into his mouth with the fork hanging out. However, his eyes seemed happier than unreadable or angry. Mori sat there quite emotionless, but did look a tad surprised as he watched the cheerful couple make their way to the table.

Tamaki, being the good boyfriend and romantic that he is, pulled out the chair that was nearest to his at the head of the table for Haruhi and bowed slightly, beckoning his princess. She smiled sweetly and sat down. He then took his place at the very end of the table, grasping Haruhi's hand as he sat down.

"Hello, Host Club. We have an announcement to make," he said proudly as he held up Haruhi's hand like a prize. "We're dating! Haruhi and I. Actually dating," he exclaimed while Haruhi just smiled and looked at the reactions of her fellow hosts. However, her smile faded ever so slightly as she observed each of the hosts' faces.

Kyouya actually noticeably frowned a bit, even though the emotionless gleam remained upon his spectacles. Kaoru's eyes unconsciously narrowed slightly, even though he tried to bring up his small frown into a small smile that looked extremely pained. Hikaru, if possible, strengthened his already blinding glare shot towards the two and sat on the edge of his seat. Hunny had eaten the piece of cake and set the fork down and continued to smile, while Mori still appeared slightly surprised but otherwise emotionless.

The extremely tense silence was broken was Hikaru slammed his fist onto the wooden table, making all present there jump a bit in their seats.

"Haruhi, how could you go for an idiot like Tono! We thought you would have more common sense than b that /b , to go out with a guy like him!" he said as he pointed an accusatory finger at Tamaki. At that, he stormed out of the room, with a concerned Kaoru following him.


However, before Kaoru left, he whispered something. "Hikaru is right, you know," was all he had said.

[End flashback again

Haruhi could still remember the feeling that stained the air that day. The tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. The only one who seemed relatively happy for them seemed to be Hunny, but he was always happy.

Haruhi rubbed her temples at the thought of going out with Tamaki. Sure, she was in love with him and he returned those feelings, but after a while, the true fire in their relationship had started to go out. Tamaki had soon graduated and started attending college, as it was decided he was to become the Suou heir. Haruhi worked harder than ever on her senior projects and papers, giving the two little time together. After a while, it began to seem as though they were just mutual friends. Acquaintances.

[Flashback …

Haruhi and Tamaki were walking through the same park they had first kissed in. He had just taken her out to a very exclusive restaurant near his mansion as celebration for her graduation from Ouran Academy. He had his arm around her still tiny shoulders. The mood, which should have been light and loving, was anything but. They sat down on a bench that overlooked the park's lake. Haruhi looked sadly into Tamaki's eyes.

"Tamaki…" she began, and then paused.

Tamaki was surprised; Haruhi wasn't one to be at a loss for words. Had he done something wrong?

"Haruhi, what's the matter? You know you can talk with me about anything." He pushed a stray bang away from her beautiful umber eyes. She caught his hand in hers and brought it down onto her lap.

Not taking her eyes away from his hand, she said, "Tamaki, I care for you deeply, but not the way I did when we began dating." She paused as she absently stroked his hand, obviously deep in thought, sighed, then continued. "I feel like the initial flame between us has extinguished and I no longer see you as more than a close friend. That is why I believe we should see other people."

As she finished her statement, Tamaki pulled his hand away from her, settling it onto his own knee. She daringly looked up into his eyes, and the storm she found brewing their pained her heart.

Tamaki was truly astonished. He had no idea that Haruhi was no longer attracted to him! She hadn't given any clues, and it hadn't seemed like anything had changed between them. He still loved her, but as much as it hurt him to admit, he would have to go with Haruhi's feelings. But he needed to hang on, just a little longer. He looked into her eyes to find tears welling up at the edges. He felt his own eyes sting with tears, and one made its way down his cheek, falling onto his leg. He reached out and wiped her tears away with his thumb.

"Tamaki…" she said quietly, her frown increasing and tears starting to flow freely.

"Just… a little… longer…" he whispered as he pulled her into a kiss.

The whole moment was both sweet and painful for Haruhi, but admittedly more the latter. She pushed him away, and he looked at her with a bit of surprise and a bit of defeat in his eyes.

"Gomenasai… Tamaki…" was all she said before she got up and walked back towards the road to catch a taxi.

She didn't look back once.

[End flashback …

Haruhi didn't think of that time very much, but on the rare occasion that she did, it pulled at her heartstrings less and less each time. She truly no longer had feelings for Tamaki. In fact, since she hadn't seen any of the hosts in years, she could actually say that she no longer held relationships with any of them. Should any of their paths cross again, they would have to start out practically as strangers and build relationships from there.

Haruhi looked at the clock – 8:00 PM. It had been about an hour since her mind had started to drift away from her homework. She looked down at the empty sheet of paper.

It's going to be a long night… she thought to herself.

Suddenly, Haruhi's doorbell rang, pulling her out of the cloud of thought she was in.

She grumbled. Who could possibly be coming this late? she thought to herself as she pushed out of her chair and made her way to the door.

Haruhi stood on her toes and peeked out the window to try and get a better glimpse of her mystery visitor. It was already dark, so all she could make out in the faint glow of the night moon was the outline of a tall man with smooth hair, carrying what appeared to be a bouquet of flowers. She advanced towards the door and pulled it open, not sure who to expect on the other side.

♥

Well? Well? What did you think of my first chapter of fanfiction EVER?! Hopefully it wasn't too bad… I really had a fun time writing it. I researched the University of Tokyo to see if they actually had a law program, hoping to find how long it lasted (if they did). They did, but I didn't find out how long, so I figured it could at least be six years for law… Anyway, please review! I have a vague plot that I'm hoping to follow through with this one. The next chapter will bring a whole other character into this story. Not an OOC, but someone you may not be expecting. And I had two ideas smashed into one, so I'll probably make a sequel. Who knows? This could be a tad long though, so please stick with it – I promise I will!

Now you can click the button below and shower me with praise for this wonderful story! Okay, no, you don't have to, just tell me what you thought, and be honest. Constructive criticism is welcome, but please don't bash my story too much. I might cry.

Ooh yeah, I threw in a few basic Japanese words that you probably recognize from the show. To refresh your memory…

Arigatou – Thank you.

Tono – Lord

Gomenasai – I'm sorry.