Sorry it took me like six months to get the next chapter out. I had a lot of school. A LOT. Thanks again to Leafygirl, who beta'd for me again even when she, too, thought I'd abandoned it! (I'll try to do better next time.)
Haruhi had tried her best on the ride to the party not to expect anything, so that she wouldn't be so surprised when her expectations weren't met. Despite her efforts, though, she couldn't help but to imagine the Nekozawa estate as a dark, forbidding mansion on a hilltop, with bats circling the looming black-windowed towers and a weed-grown cemetery in the back, surrounded by a creaky wrought-iron fence. It was a ridiculously clichéd example of a Halloween haunted house and she tried to push it out of her mind, because while she knew it was probably Umehito Nekozawa's dream house, Kirimi Nekozawa and the rest if the family likely wouldn't stand for it. After all, while generations of the Nekozawas may have worshipped cats, Umehito was the only one to her knowledge that also worshipped darkness in the last one thousand years. The house was probably not much different than any of the other mansions she'd seen.
Then again, she'd seen the basement of the Nekozawa beach house… but she couldn't be sure their host hadn't planted the skeletons and guillotines there for atmosphere, like he'd done around the cave on the beach.
But then, in that case, why plant them in the basement...?
With these thoughts troubling her, Haruhi barely registered the excited rambling of Tamaki beside her. He must have had the same expectations as her, because he was behaving somewhat like a kid about to go trick-or-treating- that being, with a nervous mixture of excitement and fear.
It's going to be perfectly normal, she was forced to remind herself. It's going to be like Tamaki's house, or the twins'. Excessively large, but normal.
But she was having such a hard time convincing herself, that when Tamaki announced that they were pulling up the driveway, Haruhi actually closed her eyes, and didn't open them until the vehicle pulled to a stop. After a moment, she slowly opened them and turned to Tamaki first, to see the reaction on his face.
His eyes were wide with shock, and his mouth had fallen open. Haruhi cringed, and turned her head towards the estate. What she saw made her gasp.
Haruhi somehow hadn't anticipated a strange mixture of what she had hoped for, and what she had tried not to expect. The house was a dark, Romanesque Victorian style, complete with turrets and towers, parapets and arches. It almost looked like it had been designed to be creepy, but to its credit, there was no overgrown cemetery in the back, and the fences were made of stone. It had a garden and looked moderately well kept and neat.
Well kept and neat, but spooky.
Tamaki was still staring at it, as if he had yet to make a decision as to whether he was frightened or not. Finally, he turned to Haruhi with teary eyes.
"…I'm not certain I want to go in there!" he confessed. "It looks haunted!"
"I have no idea what I was expecting," she sighed in response, "but I'm sure it's not haunted. We may as well go in."
With some apprehension on both their parts, the two exited the car and made their way- admittedly rather slowly- up the stairs to the main entrance, carrying the gifts they'd brought for Kirimi. Tamaki, in a sudden surge of panic, turned back to the car but the driver had already pulled away, abandoning them. He swallowed his breath and put on a brave face.
"Senpai," Haruhi frowned, "At least try not to look like you're going to throw up."
"T-that won't happen!" he insisted as the front door opened. The two turned towards it, a little surprised, as Kadomatsu, one of the Nekozawa's family servants, appeared, looking down at that with no discernable expression.
"Welcome. The Young Miss is expecting you," he greeted them in a low voice, and gestured for them to step inside. Haruhi entered first, and Tamaki followed, shivering.
When they entered the ballroom, Haruhi was relieved to discover that she wasn't as overdressed as she'd feared. The other ladies in attendance were dressed just as finely, and the gentlemen were in suits. In the back of the room, a table laden with gifts was set up, and on a buffet table sat a very large, atrociously pink cake. Just the same, Haruhi felt supremely out of place.
A squeal of joy announced that Kirimi had noticed their arrival, and she raced across the room in her adorable yellow party dress to greet Tamaki, who immediately put down her gift in favor of lifting her up and giving her a hug.
"Kirimi-Chan!" he announced affectionately with a warm smile.
"You came, you came!" she exclaimed in delight. "And the nerd came, too!"
"Um… Happy birthday, Kirimi," Haruhi attempted to smile, though she was beginning to dislike her nickname. She stopped when she noticed Kirimi staring at her through her large, curious blue eyes.
"Hey Nerd," the girl inquired, "Are you a crossdresser?"
Tamaki and Haruhi froze at the question, aghast. Somehow, it hadn't occurred to any of them that Kirimi would be the first to notice that- as well as the last to know why- Haruhi, who wore a boy's uniform at the school, arrived at her party in a dress. As Haruhi looked around the room, she noticed that Kirimi's maid, Kuretake, was giving her a strange look as well. Tamaki began to stammer, and Haruhi to seethe.
"Senpai," she said in a voice so cold his blood froze to hear it, "Since you were so determined that I should wear a dress, why don't you go ahead and explain why I'm wearing it."
"Uh…" Tamaki sputtered, at a loss. They'd been so apprehensive that Nekozawa had found out Haruhi's secret, but it never worried them that his sister might know it! "You see…. That is…."
Kirimi laughed, interrupting his sputtering. "Nerd wears boy clothes, and girl clothes! You're a crossdresser! Crossdresser! Crossdresser!"
"Hey, lets not go announcing that so loudly," Tamaki pleaded a little pathetically as Haruhi's face fell into her hands.
"You're on your own, Senpai. I'm calling a cab." Haruhi mumbled.
"Please don't leave me!" he whimpered back.
"Ah, Young Miss, your mother is looking for you," Kuretake called to Kirimi as she approached. "Shall I put your gifts on the table?"
"Presents!" Kirimi giggled, quickly forgetting Haruhi's dress. Her eyes sparkled with interest as Haruhi handed her the gift she'd forgotten she was holding.
"It's a manga!" the young girl gasped in excitement, even though she hadn't torn the paper off yet, recognizing it by its shape and weight alone. "Thank you, Nerd!"
"Uh… you're welcome", Haruhi awkwardly replied. Kuretake took Tamaki's gift and smiled at them both.
"Thank you both for coming. The Young Miss was very excited to invite you." She smiled congenially at them. Then, leaning forward, she added in a whisper "and I won't tell anyone your secret!"
She winked conspiratorially at them as Haruhi's face went flat and Tamaki uncomfortably thanked her, and the maid turned to follow the birthday girl.
"I… I wonder…" Tamaki stammered, baffled, "…what gender she thinks you actually are?"
Haruhi groaned. Suddenly, both of their attentions were called to the other side of the room when a high-pitched voice cried out in glee, "Oniichama!"
"Kirimi-Chan!" a familiar voice replied with an unfamiliar amount of honest joy, and Kirimi was picked up again, her small body and a gathering crowd obscuring the face of her brother.
"…She's not afraid of him," Tamaki observed with puzzled interest. "That means…"
"…He must not be wearing the wig," Haruhi finished in astonished agreement, craning her neck over the crowd to catch a glimpse. A moment later, Umehito Nekozawa broke through and set his sister down, revealing himself entirely.
They'd been right- he wasn't wearing his wig or cape. In fact, in his perfectly clean, perfectly white suit, his platinum blond hair falling neatly around his face, and his cordial smile, he was almost entirely unrecognizable. For a moment, Haruhi and Tamaki stared at him, trying to find a trace of something familiar, wondering if maybe Kirimi had an unmentioned brother because this couldn't possibly be the Nekozawa they knew. Even though they'd both seen him without his disguise before, and even with the people around him saying "It's good to see you again, Umehito! You've gotten so tall, Umehito!", his schoolmates had never before seen him without even a hint of the darkness they associated him with. In a way, it was strangely unsettling.
But as the two of them were wondering if maybe they'd stepped through some sort of dimensional gate, Nekozawa caught sight of Tamaki, and gave himself away. A shadow seemed to fall over his eyes, and his lips curled into s sinister smile as he approached the underclassman, who, with a shiver of fear, was no longer doubting Nekozawa's identity.
"Suoh-Kun!" Nekozawa almost seemed to purr, smirking wickedly as he draped an arm amicably across Tamaki's shoulders. Tamaki immediately stiffened, choking on his own fear.
"So I've finally got you at my house, have I?" Nekozawa began with an ominous grin. "I'll have to show you around later! We'll start the tour at the attic, and end in the basement!"
He laughed, and Tamaki scrambled out of his senior's deceptively dangerous hold. "N-no thank you," Tamaki stammered, "I'll just stay here with the party…"
"A pity! Well, I'll just have to try and catch you alone later," Nekozawa replied, seeming to take great joy in their exchange. As if for protection, Tamaki moved to hide behind Haruhi with a whimper, and it was then that Nekozawa noticed her.
Haruhi noticed that when Nekozawa first glanced at her, his eyes didn't register a hint of recognition. She might have been annoyed if it weren't for the double take he did immediately afterward, looking supremely astonished.
"…Haruhi?" Nekozawa asked, the surprise clear in his voice.
"Hello, Senpai," Haruhi replied detachedly, with just a hint of a smile. "You look good. I like your suit."
Nekozawa couldn't seem to form any words in reply. He covered his face with one of his hands, as if to hide the fact that he was turning bright red.
Haruhi was in his house, and in a dress. A white dress. He'd never realized until that very moment how badly he'd wanted to see her in a white dress. And though he'd entertained the thought, he never imagined he would actually see her in his house.
She was beautiful. She was glowing. Nekozawa's heart was beating so fast it should have been audible.
"I heard you were coming." He blushed awkwardly, "but I didn't know… uh…"
"-I'd be in a dress?" she offered, and pointed her thumb at Tamaki behind her. "It was his idea. I'd have been fine in pants."
Nekozawa wanted secretly to thank Tamaki, but decided against it.
Tamaki, in a rare moment, was not smiling. "You don't seem to have any questions," he noted with some suspicion, staring almost challengingly at the upperclassman.
Nekozawa found his kohai's newfound fearlessness amusing. "Indeed I do not," he smirked. "That is, no questions on her gender. In fact, I've known for as long as you've all known about this." He held up a lock of his blond hair. "And it was for this reason that I haven't told anyone, since I know that is your next question. I thought it would be best if we all kept our personal business personal."
"Well…" Tamaki sounded as though he wanted to object, but didn't have any grounds to do so. He was nervous about another Kasanoda situation, but instead of Haruhi as a Yakuza wife, she'd be a black magic priestess. Lovely as though she may look in all black, Tamaki frowned at the thought. He tried to convince himself that Nekozawa probably didn't care if she was a girl or not, but the Host Club King was also thoroughly convinced that Haruhi was so cute, anyone who knew wouldn't be able to stop themselves from falling in love with her.
"No need to be nervous," Nekozawa hummed a little wickedly. "Haruhi trusts me, don't you, Haruhi?"
At this, and the questioning look on her club president's face, Haruhi decided it was her cue to figure out how to broach the subject to Tamaki that her relationship with Nekozawa was more than just a casual familiarity. Finally, unable to think of a way to bring up the subject delicately, and unwilling to procrastinate any longer, she decided to just say it bluntly.
"I'm not worried about it. Actually, Nekozawa-Senpai and I have been hanging out for a few weeks now. I went on a field trip with his club once, and he's helped me with my literature homework."
Following this, Haruhi was flanked by two powerfully contrasting emotions. Tamaki looked shocked, horrified, and a little betrayed. For his part, Nekozawa, with his broad, entirely too pleased grin, looked like the cat that had just swallowed the canary.
"That's-!" Tamaki sputtered, unable to form a complete sentence. "Haruhi, that's…!"
"-That's true!" Nekozawa finished for him with an eager smile, and watching Tamaki carefully, he pulled Haruhi against him, wrapping his arms around her and smirking devilishly at his rival. "Haruhi and I have become great friends!"
Haruhi made a show of rolling her eyes at Nekozawa's unnecessary display of machismo, but blushed a little despite herself.
"Stop that!" Tamaki insisted, as if Nekozawa was getting her dirty. "Haruhi wouldn't be friends with you!"
"And why not?" Haruhi asked icily as Nekozawa behind her grinned into her hair.
"Because-!" he choked, "…Because you're friends with me!"
"Are you saying I can't have lots of friends?"
"No, of course not! Just- …why HIM?" Tamaki cried in exasperation.
"Because I like him," she answered plainly, frowning. "I don't think I should have to explain myself."
A very thick and awkward moment of silence passed between the three of them as Tamaki wracked his brain for a reply to her statement that wouldn't offend her. Haruhi scowled, and Nekozawa leered contemptuously at Tamaki from behind her, his arms still comfortably wrapped around her shoulders, her back pulled against his chest, sharing her warmth. Finally, Tamaki looked like he was going to cry.
"You… you aren't going to leave the Host Club, are you?" he sniffed. Haruhi sighed and rolled her eyes, his 'sad puppy' expression going right to her heart.
"No, of course not," she replied, sounding resigned. "Nothing is going to change. I was only telling you because it's true. I haven't missed a single meeting so far, right?"
Having no argument against this, Tamaki instead turned a suspicious eye to Nekozawa, but said nothing.
"Such a look you give me, Suoh-Kun," the Black Magic president smirked wryly. "I'm not going to eat her."
"The way you say that doesn't bring comfort at all!" Tamaki shouted, and threw his senior's arms off of Haruhi, pulling her away from him by protectively. "And stop touching her!"
"I've done no more than I've seen you and your club mates do," Nekozawa defended himself, secretly adding- 'that you know of'
"That's different!" Tamaki argued a bit pathetically.
"How is it different?" Nekozawa demanded.
"Because you'll get evil all over her! Don't corrupt Haruhi's pure and innocent charm with your spells and witchcraft!"
About that time, Haruhi decided she'd had enough of their bravado.
"Well, this conversation doesn't interest me, so I'm going over to the buffet table," she announced detachedly, pulling away from the both of them. "You two can continue talking over here."
The two blonds watched helplessly as she walked away, feeling a little foolish. Tamaki then turned furiously on Nekozawa.
"Now look! You've made her mad!"
"I did?! That was your doing!"
Tamaki huffed and went to go after her, but he was stopped by Nekozawa calling out very curtly, "Suoh."
It didn't escape Tamaki's notice that he'd dropped the honorific, and he turned to see his upperclassman regarding him very seriously. Slowly, a dark smile spread across Nekozawa's face.
"I've decided I rather like Haruhi," he announced. "You'd better watch out."
Tamaki's brows furrowed, but before he could respond, Nekozawa had swept out of the room.
Throughout the party, it was noticed that Nekozawa would disappear and reappear periodically. Haruhi was able to surmise that being in a well lit room was taking its toll on him, and during his frequent absences he was recovering in a dark room. As the day wore on, she and Tamaki both noted that he would stay gone for longer, and when he would return, he would stay in a dark corner looking a little ill. Bereznoff, who appeared early on after one of Nekozawa's vanishing acts, kept him company.
Tamaki never seemed to mind when Nekozawa was out of the room. In fact, it was only in the rival club president's occasional disappearances that Tamaki ever seemed really comfortable, chatting with the other guests and entertaining Kirimi and her friends. When Nekozawa returned, Tamaki's spirit seemed to dampen, and he appeared stiff and a little irritated. Haruhi knew that her club president had never really gotten along with his fearsome counterpart, but it seemed exceptionally troublesome this time. It was a cause for some worry to her and she wondered if they'd had a fight after she'd abandoned them in favor of the buffet table earlier. She had attempted to inquire about it, but Tamaki just smiled, pleased that she was showing concern for him, and told her that everything was fine.
Nekozawa, meanwhile, seemed to be in a fantastic mood for a person under constant exposure to the one thing he hated most. When he would return to the party, lurking in a dark corner and attempting not to look as ill as he felt, he would be smiling broadly. More than once Haruhi glanced over and caught him gazing at her from across the room, or smirking contemptuously at Tamaki, who intermittently either noticed or didn't. This made Haruhi a little uncomfortable. She usually didn't care about the personal conflicts of others as it wasn't her place to meddle in someone else's affairs, but somehow she felt like she was really missing something important, and she couldn't figure out what.
And then Nekozawa, exhausted, would excuse himself to the darkness again and Tamaki would notably inflate. This continued with increasing frequency until the sun began to set, and Nekozawa seemed to revitalize. Slowly he would emerge from the dark corners and venture past windows, and at the same speed, Tamaki's mood seemed to sour. As night fell and Nekozawa was able to fully immerse himself in the party, Tamaki would find an excuse to drag Haruhi into another room any room that his senior wasn't in, under any pretense. When Nekozawa was in the parlor, Tamaki lead her into the sitting room. When Nekozawa met them in the sitting room, Tamaki excused them into the game room. At some point she was pretty sure they ended up in the laundry room. Finally, Haruhi had enough.
"Tamaki," she finally snapped as he pulled her into the kitchen under the excuse of meeting the servants. "I don't know if you realize how transparent you're being but it's clear you're angry with Nekozawa-Senpai."
Tamaki hesitated, frowning, before forcing a fake smile. "Why would you say that, Haruhi? I just wanted to explore a little! The twins would be upset if we didn't," he argued a little pathetically. Haruhi was unimpressed.
"Is it because I've been hanging out with him, or because I didn't tell you I was hanging out with him?" She demanded, crossing her arms. Tamaki shuffled, looking abashed, and didn't say anything.
"Well?" Haruhi insisted crossly, scowling. "If you don't talk to me about this, I'm going to become angry with you."
At this threat Tamaki paled, and his eyes watered as if he was about to cry. "Would you really?" he whimpered. Haruhi nodded, and he sighed in defeat. Haruhi repeated her question.
"Is it because I've been hanging out with him, or because I didn't tell you I was hanging out with him?"
"It's… BOTH!" Tamaki finally admitted, and gave her a desperate look. "Why wouldn't you tell us you were friends with him? We wouldn't have kicked him out if he was your guest! We didn't kick out Kasanoda, did we?"
"It's not about that," she replied coolly. "I admit I could have told you sooner but I was afraid you would overreact. Like you are," she added sharply, causing Tamaki to wince.
"B-but I just don't understand! Why HIM?" Tamaki implored, succeeding in looking as confused as he felt. "I don't see the appeal!"
"You don't have to." She pursed her lips, trying to keep her irritation down. "I see it. That's why he and I friends."
Tamaki drew himself up, his brows furrowed. "Well I don't approve! Haruhi, as your father, I forbid you to see him in private!"
"You aren't my father and you don't have the authority to do that!" Haruhi raged furiously, and her president's composure seemed to wilt.
"You can still see him in a public setting, though!" he attempted. "We'll invite him to club functions if you like!"
"You can't limit what I do or do not do!" she fumed. "It's no business of yours! What do you have against him, anyway? You were perfectly willing to help him before with Kirimi, and you were happy to stay at his beach house for a weekend!"
"-Well I wasn't 'happy' to stay there-"
"-And you came to this party knowing full well he'd be here! Why should my friendship with him alter your opinion at all? It has nothing to do with you!"
"Because I don't trust his intentions for you!" Tamaki finally admitted in a loud voice, boiling down to his ultimate point. Immediately he regretted his outburst. For a moment, Haruhi was quiet.
"Nekozawa doesn't… have any intentions for me," she explained, but truth be told, she didn't entirely believe that. He'd in fact made his intentions clear at the end of their study session. But since she'd turned him down, there shouldn't have been any more to it.
Tamaki didn't respond. He couldn't tell her what Nekozawa had told him earlier. She might accuse him of lying, or worse… she might consider her return feeling towards him! Tamaki couldn't bear the thought of Haruhi falling for Ouran's Prince of Darkness. But then again, so far Haruhi had managed to gracefully reject the advances of any potential suitor, why should this time be any different? In the end, surely Nekozawa would make his move, and Haruhi would turn him down as she always did, and Tamaki would have nothing to fear. And he couldn't stand fighting anymore. In a sudden move, the Host Club King pulled Haruhi into a crushing embrace. She gasped as the air went out of her lungs.
"I'm sorry, Haruhi!" he wailed, hugging her tightly. "You're right! I shouldn't have doubted your judgment! If you want to be friends with other clubs, even if those clubs are full of creepy weirdoes, I will support you!"
"Uh," Haruhi wheezed, struggling in his grip for a moment before relaxing in defeat. "T-that's okay. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have kept it from you for so long. It made me look suspicious."
"I'm so glad we had this talk!" Tamaki exclaimed joyfully, spinning Haruhi in his arms as she attempted not to choke and finally pulled herself out of his grip.
"Let's re-join the party," Tamaki suggested. "I want some more of that pink cake!" Without waiting for a reply he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into the drawing room.
Nekozawa watched as his two schoolmates returned, hand in hand from another room, looking supremely relieved. Tamaki even smiled at him when their eyes met before immersing himself in Kirimi's horrible cake. Haruhi decided she needed a breath of fresh air and headed out to the balcony to be alone for a moment.
Nekozawa waited a few breaths, and then followed her.