a/n: Hi there! This is chapter two of The Essence of Magic. I'd like to thank everybody who reviewed, you guys are awesome. Ouran High School Host Club is the property of Hatori Bisco, who I am not. I hope you enjoy reading.


Chapter Two

The next few days were despair, by and large. His normal state----oblivious bliss---was thoroughly and irreversibly shattered.

The great water wheel, previously spinning out of control, had come to a complete halt. Droplets ran slowly down its sides as if in proof of his misery.

He had, of course, wanted to talk to her----to ask her if it was all a mistake, if perhaps she was thinking of Kaoru, if she had meant to say, "of course you're not gay."

Yes. Yes, that had to be the answer---it was a mistake. He was Tamaki Suoh. He was as straight as an arrow. Of that, he was positive.

Had he not spent hours doodling her name over every scrap of paper he could get his hands on? Had he not envisioned her in the loveliest shades of sheer gowns? Was he not constantly dreaming of her eyelashes, of the graceful lines of her ankles, of the sweet sound of her laughter as it echoed through the walls of his grand club?

Of course.

And more, much more, to the point that he was sure there was no such level of infatuation higher than his own.

And thus, the mere idea----

Him? Gay?

Laughable.

The pair of ginger haired twins watched as their Lord laughed to himself in his dark corner, exchanging a worried glance. They looked in unison over to where Haruhi was entertaining a group of yellow clad girls. Every once in a while, she would look over to the corner, and a flash of a foreign emotion would fall upon her face.

"Hikaru. Thoughts?"

"Annoyance."

"No, we know what that looks like."

"She looks wary."

"As if something happened."

"But not something big."

"It looks like it was big to him."

"So, they were talking---"

"---and she said something---"

"Something that was common sense--"

"---which must have hurt his feelings."

"Hence,"

"Guilt." They said at the same time.

"Kaoru?"

"Yeah. I know."

"This could be fun."

Tamaki looked up from his laughing only when he felt a shadow upon his head.

"Haruhi?" He looked up hopefully, prepared to spring to his feet and smooth the whole incident over.

"Wrong," One of the twins said.

Tamaki blinked.

"My lord, it hasn't escaped our notice that you seem--"

"---distraught. If you tell us what happened between you and Haruhi, maybe we could help."

Tamaki's eyes filled with tears of gratitude.

"Hikaru! Kaoru! You would really do that for me?"

The twins looked at each other.

"Why not? We're bored."

"I see….well actually, I had just come to the conclusion of my problem."

"What problem?"

"The problem that Haruhi is under the impression that I'm---like you."

"A twin?"

"No, not that." A twin? Wasn't their condition more obvious? Of course, Tamaki supposed it was possible he did have a twin, maybe back in France…..she would be absolutely adorable, Tamaki decided.

"Hey, pay attention! What is it that Haruhi thinks you are?"

"She thinks I'm…." His voice dropped. His knees threatened to give out.

"My lord, we can't help you if you don't speak up."

"She thinks that I'm….."

"Spit it out!"

"Haruhi is convinced that I'm gay!" Tamaki cried dramatically, flinging one wrist against his forehead.

Half of the host club looked up from its doings.

Tamaki paused, waiting for panic, for the screams of protest, for the flock of girls to admonish Haruhi that of course he wasn't gay.

All that came was the snort of the twin's derisive laughter. They started howling, pointing at Tamaki, clutching the other's sides.

"I….I don't understand," Tamaki said brokenly.

"Think about it, my lord!" Hikaru---Kaoru---he didn't know---choked out.

"Your looks---"

"The way you talk---"

"The way you move---" Both flung their hands around flamboyantly, crumpling into psuedo graceful poses on the floor.

"Anybody would come to the same conclusion."

"Ky—KYOYA!!" Tamaki shouted. "You two---stop that at once! How dare you insinuate….I'm not….I'm not gay!"

By the time Kyoya arrived at the scene, Tamaki was lying in a heap, sobbing. He glared at the twins, who twiddled their thumbs and began whistling.

"Tell them, Kyoya!"

Kyoya checked a frustrated sigh. He had better things to be doing than comforting his melodramatic fool of a friend.

"Tell them what?" He asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"Tell them I'm not gay!"

"He's not gay. Tamaki is what we call 'bi sexual.'"

The twins roared with laughter, and Tamaki's soul threatened to swoop away from the pain it was being caused.

"I'm kidding. You two---leave him alone. For your information, Haruhi rejected him a couple days ago. If you think about it, with Tamaki's penchant for amazing persistence, she probably said that to keep him from bothering her about it."

"S—she said it….because she doesn't want me speaking to her? But Haruhi loves talking to me…..I love talking to her…..it was a mistake. She didn't mean to say it…she's my true love!" Tamaki sniffled.

The twins looked down at him, appalled at how far their lord was taking the joke.

Of course, it was possible that he didn't know it was a joke.

Whoops, they looked at each other.

"My lord….did you just say true love?"

"Of course that's what I said, what's wrong with you? How could my love not be true? I love Haruhi more than the sky, more than the ocean, more than--"

"I see….and you told her all that, but she still rejected you?"

Tamaki didn't answer. He was tracing swirls on the floor dejectedly.

Hikaru nudged Kaoru.

"Our lord must not know."

"How could he?"

"Otherwise, he'd be perfectly happy."

Tamaki looked up at the pair suspiciously.

"What are you talking about?"

"We're talking about how to get one's true love. Don't you listen? All you have to do…"

"….is get a love potion. Of course, it only works if your love is true."

"There's no such thing," Tamaki frowned.

"Tell that to the black magic club," the twins shrugged, and walked away in step.

A potion? But he shouldn't need one! Surely, deep down, Haruhi recognized that she was his goddess, she was his white rose, that she was his destiny. Surely given the right amount of time she would come to him on her own, throw her slender arms around him, and declare in a sweet tremulous voice that she would settle for no one but him, and how could she have ever said such a terrible thing to him?

Tamaki looked over to where Haruhi was smiling at another girl.

Just like every other time he looked at her, his breath caught in his throat. She was a vision----no, she was a fantasy.

She was his fantasy.

"Look at him, staring at her." Kaoru muttered to Hikaru.

"Knowing my lord, he'll consider a love potion beneath him."

"Give it a few days. Let him try again, you'll see what happens."

"Such a thing doesn't even exist!"

"He doesn't know that."

The twins smiled smugly to themselves. It looked like things were going to get interesting.


a/n: thanks for reading! If you have any comments, questions, or words for me, please leave a review.