Manfred Becomes a Host!

"A what?"

"A Host. Why, with your endowment, you'd be a perfect addition to our Host Club!" Tamaki cooed at the black-haired boy who was currently glaring at him. Haruhi refused to look at her friend, embarrassed that he'd told anyone about the Host Club, let alone the headmaster's son!

"Come on, Manfred. Let's just go, before he gets his hooks into you." The black-haired boy turned to Haruhi with a sense of relief that he hardly dared to show.

"Gladly," he scoffed, and practically dragged her to their first class together. Once they were a safe distance away from the pushy blonde, who was still yelling something about Haruhi disrespecting her "Daddy," Manfred stopped and turned to thank her.

"Yeah, sorry about Tamaki. He has no idea what personal boundaries are..."

"I could tell." Haruhi looked up, surprised to hear the slight chuckle in his voice. When she had first met him, Manfred Bloor had seemed like a dark, brooding, manipulative boy. She never figured that he'd have a sense of humor. She smiled as he opened the classroom door for her. "We have English, first. If you find anything to be confusing, I am available to help you out."

"Ariga-" Haruhi blushed lightly, "I-I mean, thank you, Manfred-san."

"My pleasure."

When they entered the classroom, Manfred motioned for Haruhi to take a seat beside him. A gangly, red-haired boy with yellow eyes smirked at them. "Found a new toy, eh, Manfred?" Haruhi turned about twenty different shades of red, making the beastly boy laugh. "Oh, don't worry. He won't break you if you're a good girl!"

"Shut it, Pike," Manfred snapped, coming to Haruhi's defense. "Haruhi is one of our transfer students from Japan, and I expect you to treat her with the utmost respect!"

"Aw, come on, I was just teasing the newbie. Look how red she got!" The boy giggled, earning another glare from Manfred. At this, the boy seemed to shrink slightly in fear. "Okay, fine. I'm Asa Pike, by the way."

"Haruhi Fujioka," she replied, bowing politely.

"Pleasure to meet you, Haruhi."

"Alright, let's take our seats. Class is starting." Manfred seemed irritated that Asa had stolen Haruhi's attention, but quickly calmed down when she sat next to him. Mori and Hunny made it to class just before the bell, and sat behind them.

The rest of the day went by rather quickly. Haruhi had almost all of her classes with either Manfred or Asa. She excelled in everything but math, even though the head boy had tried his best to help her understand. Drama class was better. She'd auditioned and won the part of the female lead in the school's next play, "The Princess Bride." Mori had also auditioned, and gotten the part of Inigo Montoya, the kindhearted master swordsman. Later, she found out that Kyoya would play Prince Humperdink, and Manfred himself would play Wesley.

"Imagine that. You'll have two hypnotists fighting for you."

"K-Kyoya-senpai...! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Haruhi yelped.

"You realize you're whining in Japanese, right?" Kyoya asked in perfect English. "Also, if Manfred doesn't join the Host Club, I'm adding a thousand yen to your debt."

"What?! That's not fair!" Haruhi scowled at him. "That's extortion, and I won't give in to it! Find someone else to suck money out of, you pompous leech!" With that, Haruhi stormed off to find Manfred. She completely missed the victorious smirk on Kyoya's face.

"Is something wrong, Haruhi..?" the head boy asked when she finally did find him, a scowl still marring her face.

"It's nothing. Can you show me the King's Room, please?" she mumbled. Manfred nodded, and led her to the room in question.

"Usually, I don't allow talking in there, but I can make an exception for you."

"Yeah, because she's cute!" Manfred spun around to glare at Asa.

"I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut, Pike!"

"Yeah, but you're not denying it. And since You're here, and not harassing Kyoya Ootori, I'm assuming she didn't tell you about what he did~"

"What...?" Manfred's dark eyes widened. "Haruhi, did he hurt you?"

"No, it's nothi-" she was cut off by Asa.

"He tried to extort money from her. Threatened to increase her debt if you didn't join their little club."

"What?! Haruhi, why didn't you tell me? I would've taken care of it for you!"

"I didn't tell you because I already took care of it! I'm not paying him another dime, and neither are you!" At this moment, a small fireball started dancing around Haruhi's fingertips. "I'm a big girl, and I can look after my...self..." Her eyes widened with fear as the flame grew bigger, enveloping her hand. "H-how do I turn it off?!"

Manfred chuckled as Asa hid behind him. "I was wondering when you would show off your endowment. Just calm yourself, and it should dissipate. I guess I'll have to teach you control, as well." He was right. As Haruhi calmed down, the flames disappeared, and she hugged Manfred in gratitude. A bit surprised, he hugged her back, to Asa's delight.

"Ah, so you two are already close." Kyoya seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"So?" Haruhi challenged. "Am I not allowed to have anymore close guy friends? Since when do you get to run my life, Kyoya?" She proved her point by clinging to Manfred even tighter. His cheeks turned a bit pink for a split second , then he smirked at Kyoya while gently stroking Haruhi's hair.

"She's right, Ootori. You may be a hypnotist, like me, but you cannot control her. With that taken into consideration, I will only join your club if you forget Haruhi's debt."

Kyoya, who was normally calm and collected, had steam coming out of his ears, and Haruhi was trying not to laugh. Asa, however, couldn't help himself. "Fine," Kyoya said with a scowl. "Miss Fujioka, you are hereby relieved of your debt, and any duties to the Host Club."

"What's going on, Manfred? Did you finally find a girl who could make an honest man out of you?" Charlie Bone asked with a slight smirk as he approached them. Instead of losing his temper like he normally would, Manfred looked down at beautiful, brown-eyed Haruhi and smiled.

"Maybe I have."