Shards

She isn't sure why, but Haruhi finds herself watching Mori. It was a gradual thing, slowly progressing to the point where she became aware the moment he entered a room. It was possible she felt some sort of kinship to him due to the nature of their breeds, both being historically oppressed (hers to the point of practical extinction). The thing is, out of all the hosts, he sets her on edge.

Really, it was her knowing that out of all of the hosts, he was the most dangerous one to her. Mori was strong, disciplined, he rarely fell prey to desires, and by that she, as a mermaid, was deeply disturbed.

She has been the host club dog for a full week before the first whispers rise up

'What IS he?'

'It's some sort of big secret.'

'Does he really think he's worthy of being with my Tamaki that much?'

Haruhi wants to scream

'He doesn't deserve it'

Yell that she doesn't want this.

'It isn't fair.'

that they're right about only one thing,

'He shouldn't be here'

it isn't fair.

'He doesn't belong.'

She is in the back making tea before business hours start when it happens. The twins take her glasses, and decide to play a game of keep away. At first they're shocked by the sheer size of her eyes, but then they quickly proceed with holding them up, far above her extremely limited reach. Haruhi, unable to see more than the odd blur, lost her balance quickly and fell, knocking over the (very hot) pot of water on herself.

She hardly felt the pain, she was too concerned about how she knew she would react to the water itself. What remained of the flesh on her arm was red and irritated, but her entire fore arm was no longer flesh. Light blue scales stared back at her. 'At the very least,' she thought 'I can still breath.'

Hikaru had taken a step back with widened eyes while Kaoru rushed forward with concern. Her glasses lay forgotten on the table.

"Do you do that everytime you touch water?" Hikaru's fists grew tighter

"Yeah, pretty much." Haruhi shrugged

"What would've happened if there had been more?"

"I wouldn't have been able to breathe the air."

He left without a word

"Haruhi? It's Kaoru."

"What do you need?"

"We're sorry about the water."

"It's fine, it was an accident. I hardly felt a thing." The sensitive red skin on her arm said otherwise

"Alright, sorry again."

"Bye Kaoru"

"Bye."

Haruhi always seemed to go unnoticed, one would look down and suddenly realize that the nearly empty tea pot had been refilled.

Haruhi always seemed to go unnoticed, that is, until Tamaki decided that it didn't matter if no one ever saw her, she had a duty to the reputation of the host club to look her absolute best. As he reached forward to take off her glasses, Hikaru stopped him ("Hey boss, wait just a minute. Glasses aren't gonna change that much, let's fix his sheep dog hair cut first."), which she knew to be his way of apologizing (or shedding any semblance of guilt he might have retained).

So instead they gave her a proper haircut and arranged for a uniform, which had resulted in her pushing the twins out of the changing area (and consequently them realizing just how feminine Haruhi really was).

When she came out, she looked significantly better.

"It'll have to do." Tamaki had decided upon seeing her

The tops of her cheeks felt as if they still had a little hair on them so she took off her glasses to wipe them.

"MORI SENPAI!" Haruhi jumped up at hearing the host king yell the seniors name "Go and get Haruhi contacts, quickly! Ask Kyoya for his prescription if you must!" As it turned out, his 'It'll have to do' was nullified once he saw the untapped potential that was Haruhi's eyes. Lovely.

After this, the girls notice her more. The whispers had calmed for a while (though things like these never really die out all the way), but came back with a vengeance. The second bout of whispers began.

'I suppose he's a groomed dog now.'

'Does he think that cleaning himself up can make him good enough to be here?'

'He's still just a commoner'

'Haruhi Kun is very handsome'

'Do you think he'll be a host?'

'I hope so!'

'Does that creature genuinely believe that he can keep face around men as handsome as that with a measly haircut?'

This second round of whispers brought forth her first real enemy, and quite the formidable one at that. This second fit brought forth one Seika Ayanokoji, and she was not happy.

A/N: Guess

Who

Updated.

Well, as long as you're not looking at my Harry Potter multi chapter, IT WAS ME! :P

Quick hint about next chapter: Ya'll remember how the twins handled her for Haruhi with the water? Yeah, well that can't exactly be a thing now because mermaid. I didn't really think ahead on that part, so I suppose you could say we're figuring this out together. It can be a surprise for both of us!

-Lucas_Gilbert