That Crazy Nut of A Teacher: Chapter 3- Enemies and bananas
At nine o'clock sharp, a black haired blur rushed through the door and collapsed on a top-of-the-line black Sicili Leather Sofa.
Harry James Potter-Black was utterly tired. Tired, drained, exhausted, no word was quite enough to describe how depleted his internal energy meter was at the moment. With a shaky hand, he unbuttoned his navy Ralph Lauren suit and loosened his red and gold striped tie. He sighed and snuggled into the comfortable back cushion.
'Those horrible little demons' He thought with a smidge of irritation. Today was a horrible day at the school; first some idiotic kid brought out the waterworks over a drop of splashed tea, then a certain blond coworker would not stop bothering the heck out of him, then that damnable Suoh (the older one) told him ten minutes before class started that he needed to cover for a sick teacher that very period on top of his usual class of hellions, and then the twins would not stop trying to prank him (all foiled by the lovely entity called Magic), and then he had to deal with the Suoh's spawn and his band of merry nitwits.
In short, today was an absolutely hellish day.
Somewhere past the veil of sleep that covered him like a favorite blanket, his mind registered a soft pop. He turned his face away from the sound and curled up. A small hand fell upon his shoulder and started shaking him: "Master Harry, wake up!" called a squeaky voice. It sounded hesitant; Harry's mind processed the command sluggishly. He didn't want to get up. He really, really didn't.
But he couldn't stay on the couch- not after what Dobby did the last time he wouldn't wake up. Granted, the little elf had apologized, and Harry did ask him to wake him up at six a.m. sharp, but that was a little extreme. Extreme, but effective- Harry never slept in after that.
With a groan, Harry sat up and readjusted his skewed glasses. He blinked a couple of times in an effort to shoo off the last of his drowsiness. In front of him, Dobby was wringing his ears and looking at Harry with teary eyes.
"Master said he needs to do busy work today" Dobby said regretfully.
'Ah yes. Today was Wednesday- the day for me to catch up on business.' He thought as he stood up. Sometime between entering his apartment and his impromptu nap, he had kicked off his shoes... dangerously close to the glass vase. Ah well, no harm done.
Harry stood up and stretched his stiff muscles. He thanked his dutiful house elf friend while assuring him that yes, he is alright, and no, he did a good job waking him up). On his way to the study, he grabbed two doses of pepper-up. It's been a while since he's caught up with either Light or the stock market- looks like he won't be getting any sleep tonight.
'And I still haven't graded the brats' essays yet.' Harry thought painfully as he dug out the offending stacks of paper. He really doesn't get paid enough for this. He mentally grumbled as he hauled the sheets of cellulose-and-glue to his office.
'Ah, the wonders of pepper-up' Harry mused happily as he sat in front of his desk. In the back of his mind, he knew that he shouldn't be relying on pepper-up so much. There was a reason why Poppy likes to tsk at the older students every year- especially at Hermione, who has no suffers from lack of sleep even with a time turner. In the back of his mind, he knew that pepper-up potions were very addictive and very bad for the body: you crash from pepper-up, and you crash hard. Still, that doesn't stop him from keeping a stash of it. It has been a while since he has had pepper-up though. He hasn't needed it in a while, at least not since he became top predator in the business food chain. Now that he's almost living two lives with two jobs, he needs twice the energy. In the teaching world, he was back to being plankton.
A little while after he sat down in his study, a worried Dobby popped in with a quick dinner. Since Dobby knew Harry so well, he knew that Harry would not have bothered to eat dinner at all if it was not brought to him. While inhaling his meal, Harry made use of his meager time and graded half of his students' essays. Setting down the stack of graded essays, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and hurried back to his desk. Now with a full stomach, he refocused on his work, but first, he grabbed his phone and looked at the clock. Neon green numbers blinked back at him: 10:00 PM.
'Nanao should still be up now' He mused and dialed her number. Luckily for him, he had a very dedicated secretary-PR manager who gets paid very well for overtime. Heck, she could do overtime every hour of her life, and he would still have enough to make sure that his five times great grand children will never work a day in their lives.
"Nanao Ise speaking" a serious-and very awake- voice answered.
"Nanao, I trust you have sorted my e-mail and letters already?" Harry asked. He propped up the phone using his shoulder and began searching for his agenda.
"Of course, sir." She sounded mildly offended at the implication.
"Great. What is my schedule for the week?" Harry asked while opening his agenda.
"Sir, Yagami Light requested a private dinner tomorrow at Aragawa, seven p.m. John and Jane Smith have requested a business dinner on Friday at Benoit, seven-thirty p.m. The monthly board meeting is on Saturday at eight a.m, meeting room number two at the company. Two talent and buyout agents from R.E and R.J.E. Agency have requested a business lunch at Sushi Kaji on Saturday, noon. Your Saturday evening and Sunday are free, sir." Nanao reported while rapidly typing.
Harry scribbled in the meetings hurriedly and continued, "Excellent. Are there any other immediate messages that I need to take care of?"
Nanao typed some more and replied "Times sent a message requesting a magazine interview next month on the fifth at their studio in downtown Tokyo. A number of unaffiliated people have requested... parent teacher conferences," Nanao paused, but then continued. "As usual, many business students have contacted you about internships, questions, and the like."
Harry chuckled tiredly. Even though he had informed his industrious secretary of his impromptu career change, said secretary still could not figure out why he would be willing to take on the thankless task. Some days, he didn't know either.
"Refer the parent teacher conferences to Yuzuru Suoh. He will deal with them. Keep the internship offers for now. I will look through them later. I'll answer the rest of the mail myself." Harry said while waking up his Mac Airbook. In the meantime, he still has get caught up with the rest of finance world.
"Nanao, can you e-mail me the week's reports of the stocks I have now and give me a brief overview of the stocks entering the market next week?" Harry logged onto his e-mail and quickly pulled up the attached reports. Judging by the sharp downward jagged edged on the reports, it's a bear market, still. Investors are still feeling uneasy over Europe's train wreck of an economy, especially since Spain's debt crisis is worsening.
"Sir. There are five stocks debuting next week in the market. The social networking site Facebook is going public on the stock market next Tuesday with the initial public offering price of $38 per share." Nanao read out.
Harry rejected that stock immediately. Not only did his instincts fail to act up, but Facebook itself is not worth investing in; in ten years, who would know where Facebook might end up? Facebook's predecessor, Myspace, faded into obscurity once Facebook came out. Someday, a newer version of Facebook will appear, and on that day, Facebook's stocks will not be worth the paper they're printed on. Not to mention that buying in at IPO price is not a good idea at all, especially if it's highly publicized and at the control of the seller.
"Pass." He replied sharply.
Nanao nodded, accustomed to her boss' personality. "A relatively unknown company by the name of Tonnere Acoustics, Inc. is going public next Thursday with the initial public offering price of $25 per share."
Harry opened his mouth to reply but then suddenly jerked back as if shocked. His fingers began tingling, and he suddenly knew that this company would succeed. Raw divination was annoying since he cannot control when it will act up, but it was awfully useful.
"Nanao, send me reports of this company; keep an eye on it." Harry replied slowly. For some inexplicable reason, he felt like really needed controlling shares of that company, and he had no idea why. It was going to succeed in the future, but that does not explain his hurry. Something was going to happen soon, and he needed to act- fast.
Time ticked by as Harry continued to work without a pause. At some point, he was vaguely aware of Dobby bringing him a plate of sandwiches and water, but his mind was too busy to pay much attention to them. By the time he finished his work for the week, his mind was cloudy with exhaustion. He clumsily made his way to bed and slipped gladly into Morpheus' gentle embrace.
The next morning, Harry woke up feeling like he got ran over by a herd of rampaging rhinos. And then some. He vaguely recalled shuffling to bed at four a.m. in the morning and collapsing on top of the sheets without even changing. Once his head hit the pillow, he blacked out. Harry sighed and rubbed his aching neck. He can't help but think that his lifestyle was going to kill him someday. Thankfully, his double life was for one year and one year only. After this one stressful year, he can go back to vacationing in the Bahamas or France.
He fumbled for his glasses and spared his magical alarm clock a glance. Six-thirty. Way too soon to get woken up by his damnable ticking timekeeper. He glared evilly at the offending piece of equipment and got out of his comfy bed. Shrewd businessman or not, he will not ask his house elves to wake him up before the sun does. Hell, his probably went to bed later than his elves and woke up earlier than they did. Granted, he could order them to get up earlier, but that was rather cruel, considering how much effort they put into keeping him healthy. There was another reason for his hesitance; Harry was very snappish and irritable when woken up early, and he'd rather not scare his tired house elves silly by accident. He did not have Light's morning temper by any means, but his magic was a lot harder to control in the mornings, especially if he slept for fewer than eight hours the night before.
With a groan, he opened his drawer, withdrew a towel, and tottered his way to the shower. Time for another day at that stupid school.
"Leadership begins with yourself," Harry lectured as he circled his classroom. He tossed his extendable pointer up and down as he walked. His dress shoes clacked up and down the aisles. To his sides, his second year students' pencils jotted down his every word.
"If you cannot lead yourself, then how can you lead others? If a king doesn't move, his subjects won't follow." Harry continued in a strict tone as he posed the metaphorical questions. Harry brought in the chess metaphor for a purpose; business, to a certain degree, was a game. A high stakes game, but none the less a game. Winners take all, and losers are pitied by none. This system was cruel, but effective. In a environment where one survival of the fittest is crucial, the most successful are often the most ruthless. He continued to walk, his long legs easily moving with grace.
"A good leader s has good self-discipline, an iron will, endless ambition, accuracy, diligence, sharp eyes, and above all: a vision. It is for this vision that he gathers together a team and shoulder endless responsibility. A good leader expects that his team members always do their personal best, all the while working harder than each and every single one of them. A leader cannot inspire loyalty if he shirks his duty; if anything, he has to work twice as hard to make sure that his team members are in their correct roles. "
"A goal accomplishable by one person will not need a team. That much is obvious. As you know, not many things can be accomplished by one person, especially not in the business world. That is precisely why a good leader is so valuable. A company headed by a bad CEO can collapse into ruins quite easily. On the other hand, a company headed by a good one can be saved from Death's clutches" Harry paused, his green eyes scanning the rows of desks.
"The first step to becoming a good leader is improving yourself. No matter how good you think you are, how disciplined or charismatic you are, there is always room for improvement. Never stop striving towards excellence. Everything else will fall into place, but you must begin the process. If you wish to succeed, you must be the focal point where everything leads to." Harry said with finality. Something caught the corner of his vision. With quick loping steps, he turned around a corner into the third row of desks.
"Wake up." Harry commanded coldly to the napping boy in front of him. If anything, he absolutely loathes sleeping students. He did not pull all nighters for nothing, and it was nothing short of insulting for a student to fall asleep in the middle of his class. The boy stirred, but did not wake, so he elongated his pointer and smacked it loudly on the boy's desk.
"Wake. Up." The boy leapt up in surprise, now fully awake. "Do not fall asleep again, understood?" The boy nodded rapidly and settled back in his seat.
Harry continued on with his lecture as if nothing had happened.
It has been almost a full semester since he started teaching at Ouran. Teaching has its gratifying moments, but more often than not, it was a tiresome task.
Oddly enough, he seems to have gained a reputation as a kind and cool teacher. Personally, he thought the twins had something to do with it. The whole school's information network was made of strings pulled by those two puppeteers. Unbeknown to him, the twins were actually innocent (this time); over the weeks, his students have grown to respect their teacher, not only for his fame, but also for his personality and teaching. Charismatic and kind. Cold and dark. Two sides of the same coin, two in one package deal.
He supposes he does care quite a bit for his students, even though some of them are quite a headache to deal with. Especially those two horrible little menaces. They haven't stopped pranking him- in fact, they seem to try harder after every failed attempt. Normally, he was all for determination to succeed, but it was a bit of a chore to remove all their efforts. Their pranks were interesting to look at the first couple of times, but by now, Harry just banished them all away without looking. Not that they've stopped trying though.
Speaking of nuisances, a certain Ms. Trepe ("Quistis", as she always insists) would not stop bothering him. She wasn't interested in him in that way, of course. She is already engaged, judging by the ring on her finger. She seems to be interested in him as a historian would an artifact or a scientist, a specimen. It was not a comforting kind of interest. In an even more unnerving way, she always looks at him in an amused, knowing way. As if she knew something, and he didn't. Most of the time, he ignored her, but like a moth attracted by fire, she just keeps coming back. That woman sends shivers down his spine- not in a good way. Having razor sharp intelligence focused directly and solely on you is not a pleasurable experience.
She even eats lunch with him. At one point, he almost went down to the canteen to eat lunch with his brat students. He was just that desperate. He honestly felt like a rabbit looking up at a hungry fox, but fear be damned, he's a man who stands his ground. Thus, he eats lunch with her every single day.
Harry supposes she doesn't mean it in a bad way- more like in an oddly friendly, but irritating way. It was just his luck that he was saddled with this crazy blond lady.
But it wasn't all bad. The amusement of his life currently comes from the younger Suoh and his band of bishounen buddies (and one cross dressing girl). It was rather pathetic, he supposed, how much he is entertained by watching teenage girls swoon from bad (cheesy or Tamaki) flirting. Even though he wasn't technically a host, the customers seem to like him as much as any host. They can't request him, and equally, he can't flirt with them (not that he is desperate enough to), but the girls tend to come up to him and chat fairly often- either before club activities begin, afterwards, or between hosts.
Instead of flirting, it was just normal chatting- usually about the business class that he teaches. In a way, their feedback is rather helpful. Having honest opinion from students allow him to re-explain hard concepts in an easy manner or introduce fun review games before tests. If anything, his colleagues seem rather envious of his good relationship with the students. Quistis, as usual, was just amused in her own way.
He's not deliberately trying to make the girls infatuated with him. He really wasn't. If he as much as smiles at the silly chits, they collapse into giggling or shrieking fits. And then he'd be bodily tackled by Tamaki, who is just as silly those girls and maybe twice as shrill.
Harry sighed and shooed the remnants of his class out the door after the bell rang. Finally, free time.
Harry opened the double doors to the third music room, bracing himself for whatever madness the brats have cooked up for the day.
"Oi Gramps! Come over here and get your costume!" Hikaru waved Harry over to a corner of the room.
Harry grimaced. "Gramps" indeed. In fact, the first time the twins called him "gramps" (he was only twenty nine, for Pete's sake), he assigned the menaces a ten page paper, each. Single spaced. When they complained about the unfairness, Harry had smiled at them and extended the assignment to the whole class, much to their consternation. Oddly enough, the whole class considered the assignment to be the twins' fault. In a way, Harry had suffered for grading the papers, but he gave completion grades to the students. He really didn't have time to read them all.
The room itself was a mess; workers were shuffling about with various boxes, plants, and... toucans. Kyoya, already in what looked to be a tropical island costume, was scribbling numbers in his notebook. The rest of the club was rifling through various costumes, flinging the pieces this way and that. Between the shouts, orders, and various animal noises, the room was in absolute chaos. Harry took a surprised step back, ready to turn tails and run.
Honey suddenly grasped Harry's hand and began bodily dragging the older man over towards the rest of the club.
"Kuro-sensei! Kuro-sensei! Kyo-kun ordered a costume for you too!" Honey looked up at the reluctant teacher with large brown eyes.
Harry let the surprisingly strong boy drag him. There goes his plan, he mentally sighed. He raised an eyebrow at Kyoya since he was ninety-nine percent sure that he was behind his whole mess.
The dark haired teen looked up from his notebook and raised his own eyebrow in reply. Harry rolled his eyes. Of course. Another marketing ploy. Go figure.
Honey stopped dragging him, and Harry looked up just in time to reflexively catch the package that Kaoru tossed at him. Ten years without Quidditch, and the reflexes are still there. He took one glance at it, and all the blood drained out of his face as if someone had pulled the metaphorical plug. What. The. Heck.
He broke open the thin plastic wrapping and held the offending pieces of clothing far, far away from his body. Seriously? They cannot seriously expect him to wear this, he thought. Some part of him fought the urge to shriek bloody murder. He looked at the oddly patterned skirt in his hands and promptly tossed everything over his shoulder, much to Tamaki's distress.
If Fluer was here, she would burn the costumes. All of them. And then burn the ashes. And then go on rants about males lacking proper fashion senses, Harry thought while ignoring Tamaki's river of tears.
And really, he was a little more than annoyed that Kyoya had managed to get his clothing size. He probably had someone guess his size based on the surveillance footage around the school, but that makes the deed no less annoying.
"Moooom! Grandpa's not listening!" Tamaki whined to Kyoya, now apparently aware that Harry wasn't listening to whatever nonsense he was spouting.
What is it with this Grandpa thing? Harry thought with a twitch. I'm only twenty-nine!
Kyoya adjusted his glasses and ignored the blonde. The twins, who have finished changing into identical costumes, were busy adjusting each others' headband. Clearly, they were not listening either.
Harry sighed at the children's behavior. "First of all, you all are violating the dress code. All of you. Secondly, as a teacher, I'm not allowed to go without a shirt. Thirdly, no pictures will be allowed at this meeting; outlandish costumes aside, no partial nudity on any published material, Headmaster's son or not."
The twins slid over from goodness knows where and each laid a hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Aww come on, Gramps! Don't be such a prude." Kaoru held out the skirt and odd hair accessory that Harry had tossed aside.
"Yeah, have some fun!" Hikaru tried to slip a flower wreathe around his neck.
"Don't call me Gramps, and no." Hell no. Harry easily swatted away their hands and walked over to Kyoya.
"The Headmaster has approved of all of this, I assumed?" Harry crossed his arms. He was not above making these kids change back into their uniforms. He has had a long day, and it doesn't need to be any longer than necessary.
Kyoya opened his notebook and flipped through the pages. "The Headmaster has granted the Host Club special permission to dress out of school rules for club activities." He reported.
"Spoilsport." The twins called out to Harry and booed.
Harry promptly walked over to them and bopped them both on the head. "It's called being a responsible adult, you brats. It's my job." Though he really wasn't getting paid enough for it. The twins rubbed their heads, stuck their tongues out, and began readjusting each others' headbands again.
"Black-sensei, why aren't you in costume?" A brunette girl asked, slightly disappointed.
Harry laughed, which caused a blush to fly to the girl's face. "It'll cost me more than my job to dress up like that." He pointed behind him to the twins, who were acting like teenagers in love.
"Awww..." the girl said, disappointed, and sulked to one of the tables for tea.
While the girl was away, Harry escaped to where Kyoya was situated, on the other side of the room.
"Haruhi's late." Harry said nonchalantly. Indeed, she was about ten minutes late, according to his Rolex watch.
Kyoya looked up from his notebook and replied "Indeed she is."
For a while, the two observed the other hosts in silence. The silence was broken when Harry turned and walked towards a toucan sitting in one of the trees.
With a couple of tree nuts that he got from the workers before they left, he easily enticed the toucan onto his arm. There he petted the tame bird much like he would have Hedwig, whom he dearly missed.
Kyoya's scribbles stopped, and he stared in surprise as the business mogul petted the bird gently and cooed praises into its ear. Unknowingly, the girl whom he had left earlier had returned and was also starring in wonder with a deep blush on her face.
The man caught the looks and said as an explanation, "I have a way with birds", and continued petting the content toucan.
To his surprise, more blushing girls swarmed him, and the whole thing turned into an impromptu biology lesson.
When Haruhi walked in, club activities had already begun; thus, she got to see the Bali getup in its entire splendor.
Like Harry, she did not seem to appreciate the beauty of Bali, as she fell in shock and took out a calendar. It is still the middle of December.
Harry smirked in amusement (for once glad to have a sane student) and helped her up as Tamaki announced the annual Christmas party.
Christmas Party, huh? Harry thought with a wicked grin. That should be fun. Kyoya, thinking on the same tangent as Harry, gave a miniscule smirk.
After getting a lesson in the power of subtlety in the hands of the local Shadow King, Haruhi walked over to where Harry was, still with the toucan on his arm. Really, he was thinking of buying the toucan, as he has grown rather fond of it.
"Ah. Sensei, you're not in a costume. And why do you have that toucan on your arm?" Haruhi asked incredulously.
"Indeed I'm not." He smiled. "I have more sense than that. And isn't she cute?" He reached into a pocket and pulled out more tree nuts, which the bird ate hungrily.
She stared at him like he grew a second head. "I suppose..." Oh you ignorant muggles...
"Shouldn't you get back to your customers?" Harry asked benevolently, gesturing to the three girls who sat waiting for Haruhi. Immediately, she dutifully returned to her table. Harry watched as she smiled genuinely at the girls, who all blushed. Oddly enough, the twins and Tamaki blushed as well.
Harry laughed quietly to himself. A natural indeed.
"I think I'll call you Sam. How do you like that, girl?" He asked the toucan. She bobbed her head.
"Illness?" Haruhi asked in confusion.
"So-called guy-switching illness." The twins explained in unison and shrugged.
"Everybody's probably had her twice. It was Tama-chan's turn until a while ago." Honey explained.
"Kasugasaki Kanako, huh?" Harry mused to himself. She's in his third year business course. The only reason why he found her interesting at all was that she didn't swoon at him, unlike all of the other girls. She also happens to be constantly distracted for some reason. Staring out into windows and whatnot. He had found it strange but decided that it wasn't his place to pry, and thus, left the issue alone.
Harry watched with amusement as Tamaki went from gloomy to angry to sad all in the span of a minute. Tamaki had blown up Haruhi's ninth grade picture, much to her annoyance and anger. Inwardly, Harry agreed that there was a pretty big difference. Not that he'd say it out loud, of course. Even though Haruhi's surprisingly gender neutral for a girl, there were some things that you just didn't say around the members of the fairer race. Well, unless you wish to be slapped into tomorrow.
Just because the crazy "king" of the host club made a good point doesn't mean that Harry particularly likes him. If that stupid king tried anything with Haruhi, Harry won't hesitate to dethrone that incestuous "father". Judging by the twins' behavior, they were on his side. With the three of them against Tamaki, the poor fool might just lose a limb or two- if he was lucky. Nothing short of an apocalypse can stop a former marauder and two ginger twins when they're united over a common enemy. Nope, none at all.
Haruhi must have forgotten his offer to pay off her debt. Harry thought as he watched Haruhi agree to Tamaki's deal.
"Tamaki doesn't realize that he's not going to be her dance partner." Harry murmured to Kyoya, who smirked.
"No, he doesn't."
"How interesting." Beside them, the twins inched away as business duo gave identical evil smirks and exuded dark auras.
"Quick right, quick left, slow right." Harry observed in apathy as Kasugasaki taught Haruhi how to dance. Tamaki sulked in a corner while slurping ramen. Harry ignored him. Once Harry started actually paying attention to Kasugasaki's behavior (for once), he realized that her behavior was faked. And quite badly faked at that. Which brings on the question why, but alas, Harry wasn't a nosy person. Curious, but not nosy. And so, he left it alone.
His gaze sharpened when he heard the sound of tableware clattering. Hot tea spilled all over Haruhi and Kasugasaki.
"You two are injured. Let's go to the nurse's office." Harry sighed, gripped them each by the arm, and escorted (dragged) the two of them despite their protests. "You two got scalded by hot tea, and it's my job to look after you crazy bunch of kids." Harry ran his hand through his hair and mumbled something about stupid careless brats and psycho parents. The two then fell silent.
Harry pushed open the door to the nurse's office and held open the door for the two injured.
Unfortunately, the nurse was not there. Who was there was another student of Harry's- Suzushima Toru... whom Haruhi mistook as a nurse's assistant.
If his information was correct (which he was sure it was, since it came from Kyoya), Suzushima and Kasugasaki are engaged. Interesting. They sure don't act like it though, he thought as he watched the scene unfold before him.
Harry sighed once more and rubbed his head. He glanced at Kasugasaki's forlorn face and knew at once that he will probably be dragged into the situation at some point, either by the kiddies that he's tasked with babysitting, or by his damnable conscience. He does tend to take his job quite seriously, for better or for worse.
In her embarrassment, Kasugasaki ran for the door... which opened at the same time, resulting in three different injuries. The girl, the door, and Honey. Harry's eye twitched. Where is that stupid nurse?
The silly girl tried to totter away, but Harry dragged her back inside.
"You're going to sit here until you get that burn treated." Harry said sternly. "Since the nurse isn't here, I'll bandage those wounds. I know some basic first aid anyways." More like he learned first aid due to necessity during the war. The kiddies didn't need to know that though.
Harry rummaged through the cabinets until he found the some cotton, water, Neosporin, burn cream, and bandages of various sizes. He took the materials back to the children and addressed Kasugasaki first.
"Here, let me see your hand." She obediently let Harry examine her hand. The burn's not too bad; a bit red, but no blisters. He washed the burn with a bit of cold water, and uncapped the bottle of burn cream and put some on her hand gently. Then he took a large gauze band aid and stuck it to the burn.
"There. It should be fine in a couple of days." He then looked at her face wound; she had a scratch on her forehead where the door hit her. He took some water and cleaned the wound then applied some Neosporin to it.
Harry smiled at her, "You're good to go", and shooed her off. She thanked him and promptly rushed out the door.
Now he turned his attention to Honey. Off to the side, Mori was repairing the damaged door. The injury wasn't too serious, and Harry treated it easily.
"It's just a scratch. Don't worry." Harry said casually. Compared to the injuries that he has sustained throughout the years, Honey's wound would be on the same level as a bug bite.
To both Haruhi's and Harry's surprise, Mori smiled.
While Tamaki was busy discussing the "mission", aka bring Kasugasaki and Suzushima back together, Harry tapped Haruhi on the shoulder.
"Haruhi-kun, you didn't get your dance lesson today", Harry smiled and reached out a hand in an inviting gesture. In the background, the twins were thoroughly trashing Suzushima and tearing his reputation to ribbons.
"Huh." She said in confusion. "Sensei, you're taller than I am."
Harry laughed. "Then I suppose it's a good thing I don't intend on teaching you the guy's part of the waltz."
Poor Haruhi only seemed more confused.
Harry winked at her and explained. "Cross dressing or not, you're a girl, Haruhi. If you're going to stay at this school, then you need to know the waltz. Both the guy and the girl version. Plus, you're not going to cross dress forever; out in the real world, depending on your profession, you may have to attend socials, dances, and the like. Know the waltz is a good skill to have. You've been doing pretty well so far with the leading part, so I think I'll teach you the non-leading part."
"I guess." Haruhi cocked her head to the side. "They're rather harsh, aren't they?" she said, pointing to boys.
"Indeed, I trained them well, didn't I?" Harry smiled semi-evilly at her. She sweatdropped and placed her hand in his.
This school does good work, Harry thought as he took in the sight of white silk curtains, pristine Roman arches, and glittering chandeliers. But then again, that's to be expected from a school headed by the Suoh family... Harry grimaced and absentmindedly shook off any sparkles.
As the 'supervisor' of the club, he arrived on scene a full hour before the Christmas Ball actually began and helped oversee the preparations. To his surprise, the club members (minus Haruhi) were already there. Halfway through set up, Haruhi arrived and was promptly shoved into the dressing room with a suit. Thankfully, Kyoya ordered one since it was unlikely that Haruhi would have one on hand. The keen Ootori was about to add that to Haruhi's debt, but Harry stopped him by pulling out his personal checkbook.
"How much is it?" He asked once Haruhi was out of earshot.
Kyoya did not even look surprised. "Thirty-nine thousand yen."
Harry speedily filled out the check and ripped it out. "Done. What? Don't give me that look. It's Christmas. I assure you, my income as a teacher, while not what I'm used to getting, can more than cover the cost. I can afford to buy presents for kids." Harry grinned. "I'll cover the catering tonight. Presents for you lot, I suppose."
Kyoya merely gave his teacher a tiny smile and adjusted his glasses.
With merely minutes to go, the seven kids (and one half-adult) lined up in an orderly manner below the largest chandelier. Over in the corner, a roulette table caught Harry's eye.
"I can't believe you actually got permission from the headmaster to set up a gambling corner." Harry muttered to the twins. Seriously- what kind of a school IS this? Obviously a crazy one...
The twins grinned at him in unison, high fived each other quietly, and replied cheekily, "Of course, back in your day, gambling wasn't invented yet!"
"Why you...!" Harry mock snarled at the two redhead menaces. Just then, the great doors opened, and in flooded the ladies.
"Gorgeous parties don't mean anything to you, do they, Haruhi?" The twins muttered. Apparently, they were a bit bummed that their interior designing efforts were wasted on the only non-wealthy student at Ouran High School. Haruhi only sent them a deadpan look.
"Why don't you eat something then?" Kyoya suggested.
"You should try some, Haruhi. I'm paying for the food tonight, so eat up! I don't skimp on food, so you can expect only the best high class foods." Harry smiled. That particular bill wasn't so bad. At least not compared to his neighbors' grocery bills. He recalled his neighbor, Minato, going on rants about his son has a pocket dimension for a stomach. How scary.
"High class foods... like fatty tuna?" Haruhi asked curiously.
'Fatty... tuna.' Everyone thought in unison and gave Haruhi a rather forlorn look. Weren't the windows closed? A rather chilly wind suddenly invaded the area.
After the richer men of the club snapped out of their shock, there was a mad scramble to order fatty tuna, much to Haruhi's eternal embarrassment.
"Twenty servings of extra super sushi and eleven platters of your best fatty tuna. Be quick about it." Harry snapped into his phone. He hung up with a sharp click. Thankfully, there was a high-end sushi near the school; this one in particular specialized in sashimi. During the day, he frequently ordered from that store, so the waiter knew his phone number by heart. Harry turned his attention back to the kids only to find chaos as the twins, Honey, and Tamaki each attempted to smother Haruhi with attention.
"Tuna will be here in ten minutes." Harry smiled. His announcement served as the distraction that Haruhi desperately needed. Without further ado, she slipped away into a nearby crowd of ladies.
For the boys, now that their target has slipped away, they all rushed towards the buffet table, scrambling for this and that. Shouts of "Caviar!", "Roast beef!", and "Saffron jellies!" filled the air, much to the ladies' confusion.
"My, my! What a lively bunch of teenagers!" Harry noted, suddenly feeling his age. Kyoya and Mori, the only two who chose not to partake in the hunt for food, and perhaps the only two close to acting like adults, nodded.
Haruhi was rather hard to spot, Harry thought as he skillfully wove between silk and chiffon clad bodies. Ah, there she is, he thought. Haruhi seemed to be having a heart to heart talk with Kasugasaki Kanako, the girl from before. Well, it's rude to interrupt, Harry mused and started listening in. It's no better to eavesdrop, but surely that's the lesser of the two evils. Maybe.
If law doesn't work out, maybe Haruhi should be a social worker, Harry thought. She does have a rather rare talent with words.
Suddenly, Honey and Mori came out of nowhere. "Found you, Haru-chan!" Honey shouted as Mori easily tossed Haruhi over his shoulder. Like two pirates on the high seas, the duo quickly made off with their prize and left Kasugasaki in the dust.
"A... a kidnapping?" the confused girl wondered in shock.
"Not quite." Harry appeared from behind a pillar. "Forgive them; they are really too excited to show Haruhi some of the more exquisite cuisine that we have available for tonight."
"Sensei!" She exclaimed and spun around to face the taller man. She had a rather worried look on her face, as though she was afraid that Harry had heard her conversation with Haruhi.
"Good evening to you too, Kasugasaki-san. An excellent night for a dance, no?" Harry smiled as she spluttered and turned red with embarrassment. "Since your dance partner was stolen from you, would you like to dance with me instead?" Harry gave a winsome grin and held out his hand. She put her hand in his.
"You know, Haruhi has a point." Harry noted as the two danced. As expected, the girl tripped, but Harry caught her and turned her misplaced step into an impromptu twirl.
"You... you heard?" She was still bright red.
"Of course!" Harry smiled evilly while Kanako's heart dropped. Turning serious, Harry continued, "Have you ever asked Susushima-san why he chose to study abroad?"
"Ah, no." She murmured, her eyes downcast. Harry gave her a smile, this time a kinder one.
"Many people will sacrifice a great deal- even their own happiness- for the people they love the most." Harry said kindly. She looked up in surprise when he said love. "Make sure you ask him why before you jump to conclusions, okay?" He smiled. She looked down again in silence and allowed him to lead in the dance. At this point, the song was nearly over. Harry gave her a parting piece of advice as the song ended. "Many people don't realize this, but love is everywhere. You just have to learn how to see it." He let her hand go and thanked her for the dance.
"Ah, young love nowadays..." He ran a hand through his hair as he made his way towards the host-less crowd of girls. Really, it was one thing to play matchmaker and another to neglect your jobs.
Harry approached one of the girls in the crowd, who immediately went pink. "The hosts are currently taking a little break right now. May I have this dance instead?" Sparkles swarmed around his hair and face as the girl in question swooned. Those brats owed him one. He thought as he twirled the girl around.
"Oi, oi! Put me down, you oafs!" Haruhi struggled as Mori carried her to an empty classroom. Once there, the twins shoved a package into her flailing hands.
"Here, change into this quickly! No complaints; we don't have much time." The twins explained.
"What are you-" Haruhi began, but the twins interrupted her by shoving her backwards into the dressing room.
Once she was out, the twins started putting on makeup on her, starting with the foundation. Meanwhile, Kyoya explained her mission.
"The time limit is twenty minutes until the climax of the party. We already sent Suzushima-san to the 11-C classroom." He debriefed her while Haruhi was trying her hardest not to squirm at the feel of the makeup brush.
"Find out his true feelings, okay?" Honey added in. Hikaru was busy putting on the makeup while Kaoru fetched a blond curly wig and a pair of heels.
"How troublesome. Tono suddenly started planning this yesterday." The twins grumbled. "Black-sensei was there too. Tono wanted a wig in your exact hair color and cut from middle school, but Black-sensei objected. He said we shouldn't get you a brown wig since you would be more recognizable that way."
"Guys, you shouldn't come to this room all together! You need to attend to the guests-" Tamaki burst into the room, only to pause at the sight of Haruhi in a pink floral gown (also paid for by Harry).
While Tamaki was sitting in a corner trying to cover his red face, Harry arrived.
"I'll say. You guys left me all alone to deal with the hoard of girls." Harry habitually carded his hand through his hair and unbuttoned his suit jacket. He was rather sweaty from having to dance without a pause, especially since the girls were practically lined up to dance with him. Harry huffed and glared at the group of children.
"I sent the guests off to a break. The orchestra would have appreciated one as well, so I sent them off to a break as well." Harry tugged as his tie uncomfortably.
Haruhi grumbled about heavy wigs, annoying makeup, and awkward shoes.
"Well then," Harry said while wheeling the girl around towards the door. "Off you go! Have fun!" He guided the girl out the doors. If she wasn't on heels, he supposed he would have shoved her lightly. As it was, he doubted she's ever been in high heels more than five times in her life. Thus, he refrained.
"Now. Don't you lot have things to get to?" He raised an eyebrow towards the still blushing Tamaki. Sighing, he walked up to the boy and grabbed him by the back collar of his suit.
"Wake up, Tamaki. Don't you have a job to do?" He hinted at the "plan" outlined by said Suoh just the day before. "Kasugasaki should be by the buffet table. Off you go then!" This time Harry did shove him out the doors. The twins snickered at Tamaki's ungraceful exit.
"Ouch!" In her rush to catch Kusagasaki, Haruhi tripped on the slippery floor. High heels really didn't suit her.
"Are you okay?" Tamaki caught her gracefully as the countdown began. "Ah, Senpai, what are you doing here?" She asked as he shushed her.
"10! 9! 8!"
Kyoya watched the second hand on his watch tick as he watched over the guests in the ballroom. A devious plan began to hatch in his mind. Harry caught the sliver of a look and blinked. Looks like Kyoya's about to mix things up... how interesting. Well, good thing the fruit platter has arrived, he thought. He picked out three bananas from the bunch and began walking to the lights control room.
"7! 6! 5!"
Mori hoisted Honey up as the shorter boy pointed at the running couple. "Look, Takeshi! Suzushima-kun's going to catch Kasugasaki-chan!" He shouted excitedly.
"Ah." The stoic boy smiled slightly, a smile reserved only for his cousin.
"4! 3! 2!"
The twins watched the computer screen with devilish grins. Lights, Camera, Action, ready to go! Just as they were about to push the metaphorical red button, their master prankster teacher waltzed in.
"Aren't you two hungry?" He said while holding up three bananas.
Hikaru and Kaoru both turned to face their teacher with a slack expression and paused for several seconds. Luckily, Hikaru remembered to smack the button when the countdown hit zero.
Then the three grinned at once. "We'll take it." They said in a synchronized manner and each snatched a banana from Harry's hands.
Great minds think alike, no? Well, at least, great pranking minds think alike, Harry thought as he peeled his banana.
"1!"
As a result of Hikaru's absentminded smack, the lights lit brightly in the shape of a Christmas tree.
"Merry Christmas!" Tamaki shouted while pulling Haruhi close. "May there be blessings over the clumsy couple!"
From his vantage point in the control room, Harry frowned. He had noticed Tamaki's affection towards Haruhi, but he wasn't sure if he approved. Tamaki does appreciate the female form a lot, no matter what shape or appearance it comes in. He supposed if Haruhi wanted it, he grudgingly let him court her, but that doesn't mean he won't give the boy hell over it. Looking to his sides, he saw that the twins had the same expression on their faces. Clearly, they did not approve either.
It was odd how close he had become with Haruhi in the span of these few months. At first his pitied her, but soon, she caught his attention in her own special way. Her studious character, her blunt speech, her pragmatic actions... they were all refreshing to him, who had breathed and lived in deceit, flattery, and wealth for the past decade. In his own way, he has come to see Haruhi almost as a daughter even though getting him to admit it was harder than pulling teeth.
While the host club brats were, well, as bratty as ever, they too, grew on him with time. The twins were almost carbon copies of Fred and George, or rather, Gred and Forge. One time, he almost called them by Fred and George instead of by Kaoru and Hikaru. He was sure they had caught on to his mistake, but they were unable to extract the information from Harry, who did a splendid clam impression. They are the essence of fun if they liked you, but the reincarnations of the devil if they despised you. Harry supposed he was a mixture of both. Harry would never admit it, but he has a grown to respect the two's tenacious character; they have tried to prank him every single day he was a teacher. He liked them, even if they called him gramps.
Honey and Mori are so incredibly different; the two were like night and day, tall and short, sweet and bland, noise and silence. Harry soon learned that the two were like magnets; no matter how hard you pull them apart, they will find their way back together again, one way or another. In Harry's convoluted way to thinking, Honey was like an onion. Sweet and spicy, with many, many layers. On the outside, Honey is sweet and fun. On the inside, he is extremely smart, somewhat shrewd, and very, very powerful. It was hard to believe that such a small body could do so much damage. On the flip side, Mori was a tree. Towering and formidable at first, unbendable and dependable. Once you get to know him though, he is rather nice and does, indeed, smile- much like how the shade and calming sounds that the tree brings soon makes you forget about its' size and appearance.
Kyoya... Kyoya was so much like him that it hurts. He was so much like his old self that it was like looking into a mirror. The same black hair, the glasses, the ambition, the diligence, the intelligence. It was all the same. He wanted to nurture the boy - help him grow into his potential. Help him avoid the same mistakes that have once plagued him. He wanted to help Kyoya badly; he knew that Kyoya was fully capable of helping himself, but he had some of the Ootori's stocks. He knew the finances of the company, and that mess was not one that a teenager should have to deal with, no matter how bright the teenager in question may be. . That mess was not one that a teenager should have to deal with. In some way, Kyoya was like a genius child of his, with him as an unsure, but hopeful, parent.
Lastly, the Suoh. In all honesty, he was not like Harry at all. He is frivolous, flirtatious, and dramatic- a far cry from the quiet, sporty boy that Harry once was. Many people do not realize this, but there was a certain depth to Tamaki that makes him respectable (tolerable) in Harry's eyes. The boy was simply a born leader. The way he communicates with people, understands their emotions, notice their most vulnerable moments... his EQ must be off the charts. Besides noticing other peoples' problems, Tamaki also goes out of his way to solve them. No matter how hard or how out of place, he tries his best to bring happiness to other people; that boy has a heart of gold. The younger Suoh boy will go far one day, and despite Harry's occasional exasperation, he would like to help him on his way.
Harry liked to think of himself as a parent to all these kids. An umbrella of sorts, sheltering them from the winds and rains of the real world. Undoubtedly, they would grow up one day, but the world outside is a harrowing one. He would never want to see them bent and broken in the real world, so he will do his best to shelter and protect them, to teach and nurture them so that they may one day touch the skies.
Loud cheers scooped him out from his thoughts. That's right- it's Christmas. Down below at the dance floor, the children's shouts of happiness reached his ears all the way in the control room. The twins too, were cheering as they prepared to return to the dance floor. For the first time in a long time, Harry felt his heart lighten, and he smiled. The twins glanced at him and paused in wonder. This was an unusual way to spend Christmas, Harry thought. It was the first time in ages that he honestly felt like he was celebrating Christmas. Usually, he would spend Christmas cooped up in his office doing unpaid overtime, or he would take whoever his date was at the time out to dinner and maybe home a bit after that. His mansion was dark, cold, silent, and deprived of cheer. Whatever warm brought on by a one night stand would quickly vanish the next morning, leaving him with the same icy silence that always accompanied him. Now was different. Lights and joyous laughter surrounded him. It was like Hogwarts all over again- the cheer, the lights, the warmth. He didn't realize how much had been missing from his life until he was given it again.
Harry blinked. While he was absorbed in his own musings, his body had been on autopilot; he walked down the stairs, engaged in minimal conversation with the twins, and stood next to the club members, all without his conscious thought. Autopilot was quite useful sometimes.
"Now we'll have the last event!" Kaoru said. "A very special girl tonight will receive a blessing from our king... modified to Fujioka Haruhi! Please come to receive your blessing, Kasugasaki Kanako!" He announced.
"Eh?" Tamaki was slack-jawed at the news while Kyoya smirked and whispered something in Haruhi's ear. She got up and walked over to the hesitant girl. Harry looked at the banana peel in his hands. He tapped the twins on the shoulder. "Watch and learn, kids." he whispered to them. Forgive me, Haruhi, Harry thought unapologetically. Harry meticulously dropped the banana peel in the path from point A (Tamaki) to point B (Haruhi) just as Haruhi was turning her cheek and Tamaki was getting ready to sprint. The banana peel landed on the floor silently. The twins looked at each other and nodded, dropping their banana peels in line with Harry's moments after.
"Hold that kiss!" Tamaki shouted and sprinted at full speed. Unfortunately, he failed to notice the three banana peels in front of him... and slipped, quite dramatically. His arms spun around as he flailed and tried to regain his balance. His left arm spun... and pushed directly into Haruhi, who was about to kiss Kasugasaki on the cheek. The kiss? It wasn't on the cheek. Oh no, it was on the lips, much to everyone's shock and displeasure.
"And that, kids, is how you spend a Christmas." Harry grinned and subtly high-fived the twins, as Tamaki started generating enough tears to turn a water turbine. Just for Christmas, they'll put a pause on their pranking war. An enemy of my enemy is a friend, non?
Omake 1: Dancing
"-And that's why we must help the two tragically confused lovers!" Tamaki explained emphatically to his bored audience. "Right, Haruhi?" Seeing how no one paid attention to him, Tamaki tried to find support in Haruhi... who was missing. ''Haruhi?" Tamaki blinked and looked around for their most pragmatic member. Soft dance music played in the background, causing Tamaki to look behind him.
"One, two. One, two. Let me lead and follow my steps. This part is a bit different, so pay close attention here." Harry instructed Haruhi, who was finding the lady's part of the waltz a bit different than the leading part.
"You!" Tamaki pointed at Harry. "What are you doing?" The twins looked at each other and stuck their tongues out.
Harry seemed to ignore the blonde at first while teaching Haruhi how to follow through with a turn. "What does it look like I'm doing? And that's no way to speak to your teacher, Tamaki." Harry said, his voice dripping with boredom.
"Get your hands off of my daughter this instant!" Tamaki started throwing a fit, which didn't surprise Harry in the slightest.
"She's as much a daughter to you as she is a "granddaughter" to me." Harry said with a twitch. He really wasn't that old... right? "This was all your idea anyways. Didn't you want Haruhi to act more feminine? The leading part of the waltz is not feminine. She needs to know the right part of the dance anyways if she is to follow you hooligans." Harry absentmindedly told the boy.
"Hooligan? Hooligan?" Tamaki shouted. "Kaa-san!" He whined to a tired Kyoya.
"Tama-chan, I think he means you." Honey said while hugging Usa-chan close to his chest. The twins nodded in unison.
Distracted by the noise behind her, Haruhi accidentally stepped on Harry's foot. She tripped, but Harry caught her easily.
"Ah, sorry, sensei!" She apologized.
"No problem," he smiled at her. "Times like these, try to focus only on the music and ignore the noise around you." Harry advised and started dancing again, much to Tamaki's ire.
'He really is annoying,' Harry thought. "Tamaki, let me ask you this. What does a teacher do?" He asked sarcastically.
"Eh?" Tamaki paused the waterworks. "...Teach?"
"Exactly. So let me teach." Harry said in a scary tone. He was smiling, but his face was shadowed in such a way that Tamaki cringed. Haruhi sweatdropped at the scene.
"Besides, we wouldn't trust you to teach Haruhi how to dance." Hikaru said.
"We would teach Haruhi how to dance ourselves." Kaoru continued.
"But Black-sensei got to her first." The two said in unison.
"Tama-chan, you're drowning out the music." Honey noted as Tamaki's sobs got louder. Instead of crying even louder, Tamaki turned to stone and started weathering away.
'Focus and ignore the distractions. Focus and ignore the distractions.' Haruhi thought in repetition as she fought the urge to strangle someone.
Omake 2: Cleanup
Overall, the Christmas dance was a great success; everyone was pleased with how everything turned out. Well, almost everyone.
Tamaki was still wailing to an apathetic Haruhi about how sorry he was; the youngest Suoh was trailing the girl like a puppy would and owner. Meanwhile, Haruhi limping along with a sprained ankle. Sadly, with all the excitement, she missed out on the fatty tuna that she wanted to eat.
When the party was over, the host members all escorted their guests to chauffeured limos; however, they could not leave just yet. As club members and organizers of the dance, they had to help clean up. In fact, Harry was the one who insisted. It was only fair that they take responsibility for what they cook up, and leaders are often the ones who do the most behind the scenes work.
"Sensei... Can we go now?" Hikaru whined and set down the armful of tablecloths that he was carrying.
"Nope." Harry said while popping the 'p'. The clatter of silverware accompanied his words as he cleaned up after the guests. To his side, Mori was tying up a large garbage bag.
"You still have to help Kaoru take down the lights. After that, we need to check the curtains for stains and tell the cleanup crew at the school." Harry ordered strictly as he dumped his handful of forks into a tray.
Hikaru pouted and sulked off to find Kaoru. While everyone was moving materials this way and that, Honey was in charge of the food clean up: he was packing everything he didn't want to eat into tupperware containers and inhaling everything that has over a cup of sugar. Mori was kept close to him with garbage duty, a role that the stoic boy accepted with grace.
Kyoya was doing what he does best: he was tasked with money keeping. The bespectacled boy seemed happy in his quiet way while flipping through and counting cash like a professional banker. The casino idea was a great hit, as it had generated a large amount of revenue for the club. Well, not that the club needed any additional revenue.
Tamaki was being his usual whining self while still following Haruhi, who was busy collecting plates and cups. Supposedly, Tamaki was going to sweep the floors, but that never happened. Harry hadn't particularly expected Tamaki to do his task anyways, and thus the teacher had assigned him the easiest one with the least amount of breakable items involved.
With eight pairs of hands, it did not take very long to clean up everything.
Harry gave a slight grunt as he hoisted the boxes of tupper ware up and out the back door. Since he was the one who bought the food, he might as well take the leftovers home. He planned to freeze what he can and ask Dobby to put preserving charms on the rest. Since he lived alone, he doubted he would be able to finish everything, but maybe he could invite Light over for dinner. The young man had been having several public relations issues anyways.
On his way back inside, his sharp eyes saw the small ice box he had set by the back door. Harry gave a small sigh and opened the box. On it sat a platter of fresh and uneaten fatty tuna. There was a reason why he ordered eleven platters instead of an even ten. He knew that there was a possibility that Haruhi would be too busy to eat the tuna that he had ordered, so as a precaution, he ordered an extra platter and had set it aside. Harry ran a hand through his hair. Maybe he should just take it back home... but then he already had a mountain of food to take home. Ah well, here goes nothing, he thought. He found the plastic bag that the deliveryman had put around the food and careful laid the platter down inside the bag. Harry hesitated for a bit and shoved a large number of tupper ware containers into the bag as well. Then he swiftly carried it indoors.
"Haruhi," he called and motioned for her to come over. Haruhi looked up and set her third to last stack of plates down.
"Ah, Black-sensei," she noted. Her eyes drifted downwards towards the plastic bag that the man was carrying.
Harry gave yet another sigh and half-shoved the bag into her hands. Haruhi realized that whatever the bag held was flat and cold. She looked inside.
"Sensei! I can't accept this!" She whispered fiercely and tried to shove the bag back to her teacher. "You already paid for my suit and dress!" Harry stopped her with a hand.
Somehow, he wasn't all that surprised that she knew about her "presents" despite his efforts. If anything, the lack of an increase in her debt probably cued her into the fact that someone, somewhere, had paid for her clothes. And no one else really would have except for him.
That child really was too observant for her own good, Harry thought wryly.
"It's a Christmas present," Harry tried to placate her with a somewhat lame excuse.
"The clothes already were the presents! This is too much!" She said while trying to keep her voice down.
Harry rubbed his neck tiredly. "Look, I ordered the tuna so that you could taste it; it would be meaningless if you never got to have any. Just take it as another Christmas present. Surely I'm allowed to spoil you guys once in a while. It's Christmas anyways, and I've got plenty to give. Plus, your father should be getting home soon, right? It's late, and I don't want either one of you to labor over a hot stove at this hour. I already have a trunk full of food to take home, and I can't finish it all by myself." He looked away awkwardly.
Haruhi was staring at Harry with a odd look on her face. "Sensei is a really kind person on the inside." She noted to Harry's embarrassment. She chewed over what he said and paused. "Wait a minute... How do you know my father?" She asked curiously.
Ah, that was a funny story in its own right... He was expecting the man to call in for a parent teacher conference at some point, but that never happened. Instead, what had happened was rather unexpected; he met Ranka on one of the online forums that he sometimes visited. It was nothing short of a miracle that the chance event had happened. Once Ranka knew that the person he was talking to is Haruhi's teacher, he maintained continual, if enthusiastic, contact. As such, Haruhi was a constant topic of conversation between them.
"I met him online." He answered easily.
"Of course..." Haruhi seemed a bit tired as well. She looked at the bundle of food and then suddenly bowed low.
"Thank you, Black-Sensei." She said quietly. Harry looked away and felt his ears go pink at her thanks. How awkward... During his time at the school, he realized that Haruhi was a very independent child; getting her to admit that she needed help was next to impossible, which made his task all the more difficult.
"Just don't let the tuna go bad." He muttered. Haruhi smiled at him and set the food down. She resumed her plate gathering task with renewed fervor; the tuna really would spoil if not kept on ice. She probably had enough time. Nearly everyone had volunteered to take her home since none of them wanted Haruhi to walk home alone into the dark. Her flat was quite close to the school, but Harry was sure that the club members would insist on giving her a ride even if she lived on the other side of Japan. In the end, Haruhi picked Mori and Honey (who were heading home together) while the twins and Tamaki were busy bickering over the issue. Kyoya would not have refused, but he would have charged her for gas money.
Now that the matter was over and his job was done, Harry sat down on one of the cushioned chairs by the wall. He was going to stay until every one of the brats were done, but he had nothing to do himself.
Well, I'll just sit here and rest for a while, Harry thought and settled comfortably in the armchair.
Haruhi wiped the sweat from her brows as she set the last set of plates down. She was glad that Black-senei was forcing those rich kids to do some work for once; she had not complained even once, as she was used to housework. Besides, the plates were not as heavy as the textbooks that she lugged around on a daily basis.
Speaking of her teacher... Haruhi was as annoyed with him as she was with the other hosts, but for a different reason. That man seems to be dead set on spoiling her. Really, he was just too much sometimes. She knew that a full suit was expensive, let alone the dress, the shoes, the wig... everything would have cost a fortune! It was not that hard to piece out the truth once she actually did some digging.
During the party, she had asked Kyoya about the cost of her clothes. What she got as a reply was not what she had expected; the boy merely gave her an odd sort of a smile and said that everything was already paid for and that her debt had not increased.
Once he said that, the truth was pretty obvious. Haruhi had actually not forgotten about what the man told her during her first weeks at the school. It was a bit hard to forget such a memorable experience. It wasn't every day that a rich business mogul offered to pay off a huge debt for no apparent reason or goal.
If he was willing to pay off such a huge sum, then it was likely that he would be equally willing to pay for her club expenses. Of course, trying to hide it is just the thing he would do.
Really, in spite of his appearance and reputation, he was just a big softie on the inside.
Haruhi reached over the table to her bag of food and took it with her as she searched for her friends. Hikaru and Kaoru were looking out of the large windows; they must be done inspecting the curtains. Kyoya was scribbling in his notebook again; he had a large black bag with him. Sometime during the clean up process, Tamaki had sulked away from Haruhi and started cultivating mushrooms in a corner. Honey was riding happily on Mori's shoulders as he played with his bunny.
So it looks like everyone is done then...
"Ah, Haruhi, you are done too?" Kaoru asked. In response, Haruhi nodded.
"What's in that bag?" Hikaru pointed at it curiously.
"Black-sensei gave me some leftovers from the dance. He said I shouldn't have to cook dinner this late on Christmas." She said. Hikaru nodded in agreement.
As for the actual teacher... he seems to have gone missing. A quick search of the empty ballroom revealed that he was sitting on one of the armchairs... fast asleep.
The teens seemingly tiptoed over their teacher quietly, whispering in barely audible tones.
"Kuro-sensei's asleep." Honey cocked his head and pointed out the obvious. The club members seemed to be in awe; when awake, the man was both stressed and strict. Now that he was asleep, the stress lines around his eyes and mouth faded away completely. In fact, the man looked several years younger. His head was tilted sideways and both his arms were leaning against the armrests. He seemed to be in no discomfort from the tight collar of his shirt.
The twins smirked quietly and took out two permanent markers from their pockets.
"Hikaru! Kaoru!" Haruhi scolded. Why did they have those markers anyways?
"My daughter is right!" Tamaki declared. "Put those markers away, you devils."
"Fine, fine." They pouted and reluctantly capped the markers.
Kyoya was rather surprised to see the man asleep with his guard down. He supposes the teacher did seem to be rather tired lately... Last week he had seen the mean hide a yawn. But to be so relaxed like that... either he was honestly exhausted, or he trusted them. It was flattering on some level, being trusted by such an important figure in the business world.
Haruhi sighed and walked over to gently shake the man by his shoulder. As much as she knew that he needed his sleep, now was neither the time nor the place for it.
"Sensei, wake up." She said softly.
Harry groaned, and swatted her hand with his own floppy ones. He proceeded to turn and curl into a ball, which earned him twin snickers.
Haruhi resisted the urge to roll her eyes. They were such children... she thought. All of them.
VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTES! PLEASE READ!
Mandy: Well! As promised here is the next chapter, and I have met my deadline (before the end of July). Now, I have several very important things that I need to tell you guys, my dear readers.
One: Is anyone familiar with the British college system? I seem to have made an error about Harry's background that I need to fix, but I'm a bit too lazy to do the research. I mean, there were maybe three lines worth of information, and I am not going to mention Harry's college ever again in the story. If anyone would like to help me out, please PM me.
Two: I originally had a surprise for you guys, but life kept me busy. You see, I can draw, and I drew some fanart for this story. I have the pencil sketches, but I have not inked or scanned them up yet, so they will have to wait. I know I told some of you guys that I would have a surprise, and I'm sorry that I didn't get the images uploaded in time.
Three: I have good news and bad news (this is really important). The good news is that I got into my first choice college. I will be in a six year medical program at one of the local college here. Once my six years are over, I will be a doctor working in a hospital. There is no such thing as "pre-med" here- just straight up med. Now, that's good news for me but bad news for you lot. I will not be able to give you my next update time. That's because I don't know when I will have time to write anything. I anticipate the next six years of my life to go something like this: wake up before the sun rises, eat, go to school, eat lunch (maybe), go home, eat dinner, take a shower, do homework/study until two in the morning, pass out on my bed. Rinse and repeat for about six years, and that's what I'm expecting. So seeing how I might have to skip my own lunch, anything that's not academically related will have to take a back seat. I have approximately one month of my summer vacation left, and I intend to make use of it (mostly to study/cram Chemistry and whatever Anatomy I can fit in). I might get the next chapter up (I have it written in my head), but I will probably not. It's a shame since I was planning a plot twist next chapter. Please understand that writing is a very time consuming process. It probably took me twelve hours just to write this, and I already had to power through a writer's block. If I have twelve hours of free time, I will be sleeping and not writing. Writing is a hobby for me- not my job. Plus, I think learning how to save people's lives properly is a great deal more important than writing fanfiction. I think the most I would be able to do is write during the breaks, and maybe not even that if my professors assign me work. My life has always been school first, everything else later, so please understand.
Four: I know there are grammar/spelling mistakes in this chapter. I am far too tired to go back a third time to correct the mistakes. It's rather late here, and I have not been able to sleep well lately.
Five: I am not giving up on this fic.Not if I can help it. I've already given up on two fics, and I'm not about to do so again. From now on, to mix things up, I will be using both the manga and anime versions of Ouran High School Host Club. I will try my best to avoid too much cannon dialogue/scenes, as they are rather boring to write (and read).
Estimated Next Update: Unknown. Read above notes for explanation.
Word count: 12,441
Last edit: 7/29/12