Metamorphosis

Chapter 1

The school bell rang and Haruhi quickly packed her things together. She rushed to the abandoned Third Music Room, where she was expecting to entertain more customers. Spring vacation had been a nice break from the Host Club activities while she prepared herself for another year at Ouran Academy, but she did miss the slight insanity of her fellow members. Last year the club had decided that they'd dress as females less often, but that was about the only change to its operations. Tamaki disapproved, but when at the cultural fair it had almost slipped that Haruhi was in fact, a girl, he gave in. Kyoya managed to mask the rumor by ordering the Hitachiin twins to do some more photoshopping for the club's merchandise selection. The new calendars they had created were a huge hit and sold out by the end of the first few days. Haruhi smiled while remembering the argument she had with the club after she discovered the calendar. She lost, of course, but she had made her point.

Near the end of the empty hallway her pace slowed. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and asked herself once again, why was she doing this? Her debt to the club had been paid off and she was free to leave. Kyoya had said so himself. There were plenty of other useful clubs to join at such a prestigious school. English, for example. Being fluent in English would actually help her realize her career goals. So why didn't she join that club instead? Haruhi laughed at herself. She knew the answer already. She didn't understand why she still bothered wondering. It was because her friends, the Host Club, they were her family too. She could never leave them, not even if she tried.

Haruhi reached out to grab the cool brass handles of the large doors in front of her. Pushing against their heavy weight, she opened them. A heavenly light and a stream of rose petals flew at her once again, but by now she had grown used to such a greeting. She simply rolled her eyes and walked inside. Six boys had arranged themselves in the center of the room, no doubt expecting some lost girl to come stumbling in, but disbanded quickly after realizing that was not the case.

"Awww. It's just Haruhi," Hikaru complained. Kaoru stood next to him, nodding in agreement.

"What do you mean it's just Haruhi?" she asked bluntly. Kaoru was about to answer, but was cut off by a sudden shout.

"Haru-chan!"

A little blond boy holding a stuffed rabbit was sweetly staring up at Haruhi. One may not have guessed so at first glance, but this seemingly young child actually graduated from Ouran Academy last year.

"Honey-senpai? What are you doing here?" It was obvious Haruhi was thoroughly confused. "Aren't you supposed to be at university right now?"

Honey nodded and began dragging another figure towards Haruhi as he explained. "Takashi and I had our families arrange for us to be excused today so we could come see you!"

"Rich bastards," she couldn't help but mutter.

Of course their family statuses were high enough to be able to arrange for the day off. They probably knew the president personally. Haruhi always thought life must be so easy when you had that kind of influence. Still, she couldn't help but smile. It was great to see Honey and Mori here in the club room, as if nothing had changed.

"Oh!" Haruhi exclaimed. Everyone looked at her in confusion while she sifted through her bag, obviously trying to find something. "Honey-senpai, I just remembered, I bought a new type of cake at the supermarket yesterday. Maybe you'd like to try it?" Haruhi offered as she pulled out a pastry with strawberries.

"Hmm... Is commoner cake good?" Honey asked her innocently.

At this remark Hikaru, Tamaki and Kaoru gasped. They swiftly grabbed Honey and dragged him to the far corner of the room where they huddled in a group and began to whisper. Haruhi sighed. Some things would never change.

"Mori-senpai, would you hold onto this for Honey-senpai?" she asked him, looking up due to how tall he was.

"Yeah."

He reached out and took the cake from her, shifting his weight and ever so slightly flexing his muscles. Haruhi blushed momentarily, but not before Kyoya noticed. The boy pushed his glasses up onto his nose, the glare of the light on the lenses henceforth covering his eyes.

"You're late," he informed Haruhi coldly.

"Sorry, Kyoya."

"Guests will be arriving soon. Could somebody get Haruhi her outfit?" he cried.

"I will!" Tamaki offered. He was quickly pushed aside as the Hitachiin twins wheeled a mannequin into the room. Haruhi died a little inside when she saw the costume.

"Why... do I have to be a mermaid?" she asked, trying to keep her cool. Tamaki stepped in this time, sensing a chance to regain his favour.

"What kind of merking would I be if I didn't have a merqueen at my side?" he cried as he posed dramatically. Haruhi slit her eyes. Slowly, she turned her head until she faced him. Tamaki froze, went pale, and shrank back behind Kyoya. The dark haired boy adjusted his glasses and sighed.

"All of our costumes are merpeople. Yours just happens to be a dress. I can assure you, adhering to what we decided at the cultural festival it won't happen too often. If you wish not to wear this today you can talk to Hikaru and Kaoru's mother... She is the one that designed all of these costumes and was gracious enough to loan them to the club. And she is, of course, a very important figure in today's world of fashion," he concluded. Haruhi gave up. Again. She didn't exactly have a choice to begin with.

"Fine."

Tamaki's eyes grew big and began to sparkle. In one smooth movement he came out from behind Kyoya, grabbed the dress, threw it in Haruhi's arms, and pushed her into the closet to change. He finally turned around to face the club in a dignified manner. But that image only lasted a second before he lost it and began fantasizing about what she'd look like in the outfit. The other members all looked at one another.

"Uh... my lord?" Kaoru commented.

"Oh I can't help it! Haruhi's going to be so cute in that dress, I can picture it perfectly!"

"You're sick," Hikaru stated.

"Repulsive," Kaoru chimed in.

"What do you mean? A father has the right to take pride in his daughter's image!" Tamaki fumed.

The bickering between the three of them continued for long minutes as Haruhi changed. Meanwhile Kyoya went to seat himself at one of the couches to review the club's profit from last year and brainstorm ideas about what they could add and improve on this year. Honey decided to eat Haruhi's cake (which he highly enjoyed, especially the strawberries) with Mori right beside him the entire time.

When Haruhi at last stepped out of the closet the entire room went silent. Honey stopped eating momentarily and complimented Haruhi before continuing, while Mori remained indifferent. Tamaki suddenly burst into tears and babbled about how adorable she looked, and Kyoya noted how he would have to praise Yuzuha Hitachiin's excellent design. Hikaru, however, found himself speechless. Kaoru cocked his head and saw, out of the corner of his eye, a hint of rose brush his brother's cheek as he averted his gaze. Kaoru sighed.

'Hikaru's going to need a bit more of a push than just my approval...'

Haruhi herself blushed. When she stepped out of the changing room, everyone had been staring at her like a fish out of water. She felt like a fish out of water. Haruhi didn't particularly like wearing dresses, and this one was a full length gown. She just hoped she managed not to trip on it; the last thing she wanted to do was ruin such a beautiful work of art. Besides, she was sure that with her debt paid off, Kyoya would take every opportunity he could to blackmail her into something new.

"So I look alright?" she asked nervously.

"You look lovely, Haruhi," Kaoru assured her.

He walked over to her and took her hand in his, leading her forward a few steps to make sure she wouldn't fall. Instead of letting her go right away though, he spun her around as if he were showing off the way the tail fins flared out at the bottom. The display received a few oohs and aahs from Honey and Tamaki. Kaoru though, glanced at Hikaru. Noticing no reaction from his twin, he spun Haruhi back towards him and fluidly transitioned her into a waltz.

"Eh? Kaoru?"

Kaoru just smiled. "You know, Haruhi, you really should dress up more often."

The girl laughed. "I do more than enough dressing up while I'm here!"

"Hey, no fair!" Tamaki cried as he tried to cut in. "I want to dance with Haru-chan too!"

"So do we! Right, Takashi?"

"Yeah."

The hosts began to strike, hoping to steal Haruhi away, but Kaoru nimbly navigated her through the music room while avoiding them, and had Haruhi laughing all the while. However, their fun was abruptly terminated by the loud clap of a familiar laptop being shut.

"Quit fooling around, Kaoru," Kyoya snapped. "Our ladies are approaching."

Kaoru sighed wistfully, noting the dark aura that had begun to fill the room. He removed one hand from Haruhi's waist and with the other lifted Haruhi's fingers to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles before bowing gracefully and leaving her.

He walked over to his twin, who shoved past him without so much as a glance. Kaoru turned, watching Hikaru's retreating figure. Although the sight was painful, he couldn't help but smile; it was progress. Kaoru wanted Hikaru to have Haruhi, he really did, but that wasn't going to happen unless Hikaru came to terms with his affections. In the meantime, Kaoru certainly wasn't about to give her up to any of the other hosts. He was glad to know that Hikaru was finally starting to understand his silent promise.

If he didn't claim Haruhi soon, Kaoru would.

A/N: Fish out of water, ha! I laughed after I wrote this when I realized that description kind of actually reflects Haruhi's predicament since she's dressed as a mermaid, which is normally found in water. Woww that is such a terrible pun, sorryyy. I'll go now.