Chapter 7: Shelter Amongst Friends

There were debutantes fainting all over the ballroom, in a wave that was, eerily enough, making its way towards her.

Haruhi wouldn't have noticed, except for the fact that Lord Suou kept whining about 'those bloody twins' to Lord Ootori.

From Haruhi's point of view, there was little to nothing anyone could do to stop the Hitachiin twins from overwhelming every girl in the room with their overdone compliments, but Lord Suou seemed to think the sun rose and set on Lord Ootori's commands.

It might pause should the man ever take offense at the sun's motion, she thought with rare irony, but that seemed unlikely, so with a sigh she largely ignored the young lord's complaints.

A few seconds later, she was regretting that decision, as she might have had better warning for the next attack of false gentility.

The twins posed in front of her, dazzling the crowd with their mirrored beauty, and she could see pure devilry lurking in their eyes. Ever since they had first been introduced (by Suou, of course) she'd been treated to their special brand of courtesy, which was possibly even less polite than Lord Ootori's.

Of course, she knew that the twins were only out for fun, whereas with Lord Ootori... it was impossible to discern his true motives for any action.

Had Arai been present, she might have turned to him for help, but Lord Suou was likely the cause of her being targeted by the twins, and the silent but somehow deadly Ootori would only ever help her should there be some (large) reward in it for him.

So she faced the twins off on her own, unconsciously showing some of her chagrin and long-suffering on her face.

Had she but known it, the twins delighted in putting just such a look on her. It was the reason they had taken to her with such alacrity. That, and the fact that when among friends, she referred to them as Lord Hitachiin and Mr. Hitachiin. They pretended that it was pure happenstance that she guessed right every time, but didn't investigate her luck.

Since she expected the worst every time they showed up, they felt quite free to be absolutely shameless - in other words, utterly themselves. It was oddly comforting to do so.

And her expressions never grew old - between themselves, they called Haruhi, 'the most fun since Oxford ale slides.'

She undoubtedly would not have found the compliment as endearing as they did.

When Mori and Honey strolled by a few minutes later, she latched on with bare civility.

"Lord Honey," she began, even as he blinked in wide-eyed innocence. "Would you care to dance?"

The small lord seemed to shine with happiness at the offer, and Haruhi was so desperate that she didn't even mind hearing him report her words to Mori, who undoubtedly had heard her perfectly well the first time.

As the blond swept her off determinedly, she was surprised by the forcefulness of his lead. Surprised, but not displeased. At this rate, the twins wouldn't be able to cut in.

Five young men were left behind, three looking decidedly put out.

"Who was the genius who introduced them?" Lord Hikaru asked, annoyed.

Kaoru was too refined to do anything but glare, and Tamaki merely hung his head in despair.

He was never going to win her at this rate.

Kyouya glanced at the tallest man, and then back to the couple on the floor, all thoughts carefully concealed.

Morinozuka shifted his weight surreptitiously, and kept his eyes on the two dancers, who had started out with determined, concentrated faces and were now laughing and attracting curious attention from all over the ballroom.

He liked Haruhi Fujioka, Mori thought, and managed not to regret the introduction as Honey chatted with more animation and honesty than he had seen in months.


A/N: So now you know why Honey was in the dumps before, and why Haruhi is held in high esteem by the duo. :)