Category: Friendship Fluff

Characters: Haruhi Fujioka, Hikaru Hitachiin, Kaoru Hitachiin

Requested By: mynameistakenhavethisinstead (Tumblr)

Haruhi sipped calmly at her cup of tea as she sat between Hikaru and Kaoru as they entertained the handful of young ladies seated on the sofa across them. Though Haruhi normally entertained her own customers, every so often the pair of mischievous twins would kidnap her to weigh in on their avid discussions. So here she was, crammed between the two redheads as they courted the girl students with their shameless "brotherly love" gimmick. At one point Hikaru brought up something about a "sleepover," which had the girls squealing and wriggling about as they probably imagined some sinful thoughts- and a possibility sparked in Haruhi's brain.

"Have you two ever actually been on a legitimate sleepover?" Haruhi could practically hear the record scratch as the twins each looked at her in a mixture of shock and humiliation- inadvertently answering her question without the need of vocalizing. With wide eyes mirrored the brown liquid sloshing around in the elegant teacup, Haruhi's head swiveled back and forth between them like a perplexed baby owl's. She hadn't thought in an odd question, but then again, she was the odd one out in almost anything that pertained to the host club and its rich entertainers and patrons… Hikaru's mouth was the first to curl into a languid smirk. She knew right then as he leaned his cheek into his fist with glinting eyes that a scheme was hatching in that nefarious mind of his.

"Why, no, Haruhi; as a matter of fact, we have not. Are you offering?" Jesus, these two will use any means necessary to get in my house. Are they really so fascinated by poor people?! she thought with a small sigh. Now that she thought about it, though, it had been a terribly long time since she had participated in a sleepover, too. Part of her considered announcing a host club sleepover, but that simply wouldn't do; her house was much too small and entertaining the club of boys was much too draining for a few hours, let alone an entire night. Additionally, she never really had the opportunity to socialize with just the twins by themselves; though they had crawled out of their shells considerably since her arrival, she had the feeling that there was a lot more to delve into when it came to them.

"As a matter of fact, I am. Why don't we have a sleepover?" she suggested with her normal deadpan, innocent demeanor. It apparently had not been the reaction Hikaru was expecting, because he let out a choking sound as he reared back with a wild blush. Her head pivoted to Kaoru to find an identical pink tint painting his cheeks as he stared at her owlishly. They then grinned devilishly to each other over her head in agreement, and as she shrank down hoping the couch cushions would swallow her up, she wondered if she had made a grievous mistake.

"Coming!" she called as she hurried down the hallway, her bare feet slapping against the wood to echo through the small house. She skipped over the landing to run right for the door before the twins, who were incessantly ringing her doorbell, got too impatient and started beating their fists on the door in addition. She swept open the door while she fought to catch her breath and swept disarrayed strands of her caramel-colored hair back into place. The two identical twins were wearing matching grins, as if Haruhi hadn't arrived like a bat out of hell to greet them.

"Hey, Haruhi~!" they chimed in unison.

As promised, Haruhi had arranged a sleepover to take place three days after her proposal. Though her father had been a bit unwitting to allow her to stay overnight with boys while he was at work at first, with enough gentle coaxing and reassurance, he had reluctantly agreed to allowing the house to themselves for the night. Haruhi really had no illegitimate plans in mind, but her father was so overprotective that it would just make the sleepover cumbersome and admittedly hard to enjoy. It was about seven o'clock in the evening and so Haruhi had already finished her bath routine early to prepare; she was freshly showered and her skin smelled faintly of vanilla lotion (because Tamaki insisted on a skincare routine for her; at first it had been an annoyance, but actually she had come to find it quite cathartic), and she was dressed in a pair of white cotton pajamas decorating with corgis in all manners of poses. Haruhi was actually an avid collector of ridiculous pajamas- they were often on sale at the supermarket, which was even better- and her corgis were definitely the pride and joy of her assortment.

"Nice jammies, Haruhi," Kaoru laughed as he patted her lightly on the head. "If Tamaki ever spied you in those, his heart would probably explode, yeah?"

"Without a doubt. They'd be shipping him to the hospital for cardiac arrest," Hikaru agreed with a snicker, hand raised to his mouth to curl his index finger at his lip as he chortled. Haruhi thanked them for praising her pajamas before she squeezed between them to all but push them into her house.

"No time to waste! Go get changed into your pajamas. That's step one!" she ordered. They fumbled at the doorway to kick off their shoes before taking off for the house's only bathroom with resounding "Yes, ma'am's." Haruhi's out-of-character insistence was mostly because she was actually excited, having not partaken in the childhood pleasure for such a long time, but also because she really didn't want her neighbors to spot the twins and badger her with questions next time they caught her alone. She shut the door behind her and walked down the hall just in time for the twins to jump out of the bathroom door in a grand flourish. They sported (naturally) matching baby-blue silk pajamas with dark blue buttons and needlework at the various hems. They were very tasteful and undoubtedly a product of their mother's creative mind.

"Well, Haruhi, how do we look?" they inquired as they struck dramatic model poses. Haruhi giggled and assured them that yes, they were very handsome, before escorting them to her bedroom. They lingered in the doorway with wide eyes for a moment, as they had never been in a girl's room before. Haruhi's bedroom was overwhelmingly plain, mirroring her easygoing, relaxed personality, but nonetheless still held its own simple charm; on her schooldesk was a little succulent that she had been tending to for the last several years which now sprawled out its wide, bulbous leaves in a big pot. A few stuffed teddy bears were gathered in a small basket at the foot of her bed. She had a carpet with soft, fluffy fibers that matched the color of her curtains, which were drawn back to display the starry night sky and neighborhood landscape like an exquisite oil painting. It was nothing grandiose, but it was definitely Haruhi, and the boys seemed to appreciate this sentiment as they stood holding their chins and nodding in approval. As Haruhi quipped for them to get inside already, they saluted her before skipping across the room to join her on the rug, on which she had sprawled a thick comforter and several accessory blankets.

"What now?" Hikaru asked, watching with interested as Haruhi cocooned herself in one of the blankets.

"Well, when I used to have sleepovers, we would always watch a scary movie first. We'd all scream and hold each other at the scary parts. Since we did it first, though, we'd spend the rest of the night on other things and so by the time we went to bed, we wouldn't have nightmares because we barely remember the movie," she explained as she picked up the remotes to her television and DVD player to flip them on. Of course, her TV was incredibly small and an older model before flat screens, but hey, she was grateful to even have one in her bedroom. She already had the disc in the DVD player; it was an older movie about a haunted videotape where a monster would crawl out of the television and murder whoever dared to play it. Haruhi had seen it many a time. Though scary movies terrified the bejeezus out of her during the experience, she kind of loved the rush of adrenaline they gave her, and when one was with friends, it was much less horrifying, anyway.

Regardless of that fact, she was still screaming in fright and burying her face into Hikaru's chest not twenty minutes later. Kaoru had a similar idea and had his arms wrapped around her waist as he pressed his face into her back, muffling his continued shouts of "ohGod-ohGod-ohGod-ohGod-OHGOD!" Hikaru wasn't screeching like the two of them but his bodily was noticeably tensed as he wrapped his arms around the back of her head to pull her close. He nervously laughed at the two of them, especially Haruhi, asking her why she would choose a scary movie in the first place when she couldn't even watch it; however, as an unearthly screech blasted out of the television's audio system, he jumped violently and yelped aloud. This made Haruhi laugh into his silk shirt despite the tears brimming in her eyes; it was so cute to see him try to be a tough guy when he was scared out of his wits, too. By the time the movie was over, Haruhi was pretty much in Hikaru's map quivering but laughing at Kaoru, who had shimmied under the bed with only his bare feet sticking out, and at Hikaru, who had been looking at the ceiling for the last thirty minutes as he tenderly held the scared girl and pretended like the entire thing hadn't been much of an ordeal.

"It wasn't that scary," he muttered for the tenth time as Haruhi finally pried herself off him.

"Yes it was!" Karou wailed from beneath her bed frame. "I dun wanna do sleepovers with Haruhi anymooooore!"

"Pity, I guess you'll miss the makeover," Haruhi said with a click of her tongue as she crossed the room to pull out her small make-up kit.

"Makeo-" There was a loud thump as Kaoru smacked his head against the wooden frame of her bed. "Owwwww… Makeover?" he cried as he wriggled backwards out from underneath the bed to sit up and grin at her breathlessly, with his orange hair all scrambled from his actions. Haruhi snickered and sat down on her knees in front of them while spreading out her make-up. Haruhi didn't use it for school anymore now that she was masquerading as a male for the host club, but she occasionally pampered herself on the weekends with some minimal applications of foundation and mascara and lip gloss. Honestly, her father had given her most of it and she felt guilty for not exploiting its range of options; given Hikaru and Kaoru's proclivities for creativity, she had reasoned that they would enjoy dolling her up. When she explained this to them, they were nearly beside themselves with excitement.

"We're gonna make you the prettiest girl ever, Haruhi!" Kaoru beamed as he plucked up a few of her powder brushes.

"Hey, she's already pretty," tutted his twin, which made Haruhi chuckle. Kaoru stuck out his tongue in annoyance at him.

"Of course she is! You know what I meant, meanie!" he grumbled before looking happily at her. "Okay! Now close your eyes so we can work our magic!" Haruhi did as instructed. With her eyes closed, she had to try her best not to wriggle at the alien sensation of the plush brushes feathering over her skin. Occasionally one of the twins would voice instructions, such as for her to purse her lips or open her eyes long enough to apply mascara. With no mirror in front of her, it was hard to really tell what they were doing, but to Haruhi the surprise was worth the anticipation. It really took them no time at all to paint the canvas that was her small face, and soon her eyes were open again watching as Kaoru bounced up and down with excitement while Hikaru held up a mirror. Haruhi's eyes went wide in shock; though she would've imagined that with as much make-up that she felt them smear on her skin she would've looked like an upscale prostitute at best, it actually blended well nicely. Haruhi's face was definitely her own, but with the brown-hued eyeshadow (the perfect tint to match her corgis) and lip gloss and blush, she also looked like some foreign model. When Hikaru lowered the mirror, she smiled sweetly.

"Wow, guys, thank you. It looks beautiful."

"Yes it does!" Hikaru quipped as he held up his fingers around her face like he was framing art. "Absolutely stunning, right, brother?"

"Yes indeed! We could send her down the catwalk, no problem!" he snickered. Haruhi smiled as she leaned back on her legs; she honestly wasn't sure what would come of this sleepover, but she could honestly say that she was having the most fun in ages. Not that the host club wasn't fun, but it was different… While the host club was chaotic and an adrenaline rush because she never knew what was going to happen, this was almost like a nostalgic fun, like she was someplace that she was comfortable and belonged. It was a bit strange, but nevertheless Haruhi savored it.

By the time the three of them finally settled down long enough to even consider sleeping, it was 2 a.m. Haruhi had abandoned her bed in favor of sprawling out between them on a collection of thick comforters and pillows on the floor. At first, they had tried to convince her to do otherwise, but she had insisted that this was how sleepovers worked and it was either this or trying to cram into her twin-sized bed… So there they were. Of course, they weren't even really trying to sleep; they were giggling in hushed voices as they relived many of the ridiculous things Tamaki had done, and the twins even filled her in on more comedic events that occurred before she had joined the host club. At present, Haruhi was snorting with laughter as she buried her face into her pillow, smearing tears of laughter across the fine cotton surface. Suddenly, she heard the twins sigh in unison, and looked up while wiping at her lashes.

"What is it?" she inquired as she looked between them. Hikaru was propped up on one elbow, while Kaoru was on his belly with his legs kicked up and crossed at the ankles.

"We were just thinking about how grateful we are to have a friend like you, Haruhi," Hikaru answered. A faint dusting of pink blush even more prominent than the make-up she had been wearing earlier appeared on her round cheeks.

"Yeah!" Kaoru agreed with a nod of his head and a serene smile.

"I don't get it," Haruhi said blankly. "I mean, you guys have Tamaki and everyone else, right?"

"Ah, that's different," they bleated in tandem. Haruhi scrunched up her face as she tried to riddle the strange twins' words out. She really wasn't anything that special to them, was she? She had thought maybe they had just accepted the sleepover because it was something they had never done before, but she was beginning to think that perhaps Haruhi herself had more to do with it than she initially thought. Hikaru leaned over to ruffle her silky brown hair, smiling softly.

"Thanks for inviting us, Haruhi." She blinked up at him, not quite sure how to react; then, he suddenly whirled around so his back was to her. "G'night!" Even more inquisitive now, Haruhi turned to look at Kaoru, who had done the same and was apparently asleep or at least pretending to be, snoring softly. Confused, Haruhi rolled onto her back to look up at the ceiling while the puzzle pieces shuffled around in her mind searching for their homes. A small smile gradually bloomed on her face like a night cactus flower. Maybe there wasn't an ulterior motive for themselves and they just really wanted to spend time with me, she reasoned. She snuggled into the blankets as a warm, fuzzy feeling began to tingle through her body. They certainly had seemed to enjoy themselves completely, and they hadn't made any sort of move that implied to Haruhi that they had any nefarious tricks in mind. A friend like me, huh? Haruhi's hands rooted through the blankets on either side to find their arms, pulling at them such that she could grasp their hands and lay them down against the blankets. It was kind of an uncomfortable position for them, but neither of them said a word.

"I'm glad I have friends like you, too. We should do this again," she said with a soft, happy sigh. Again, neither of them said anything at all, but she felt both their fingers curl around hers in silent affirmation.

Haruhi drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face, wedged between the two twins' whose hearts she had unwittingly laid bare, even if just a little…