One shot or more? Please review with what you think:)
Their friendship is tentative, on a good day. Just like all friendships are for him. Friendships aren't his top priority like the others.
And it's not like it matters; his job as Shadow King of the Host Club keeps him busy anyway. And constantly trying to one-up his older brothers to be the family heir? It's exhausting.
Not that it matters to the others. They don't seem to understand why he's always working so hard to be the best. To be as good, if not better, as his father expects him to be.
Actually, they don't seem to understand him. They find him cold and only thinking about himself. It's not like he expects differently; afterall, thats what he tells them. Friendships are for merit only. Nothing more, nothing less.
So why did he befriend a commoner?
In the beginning, he saw it merely as a business association, so to speak. She's indebted to them and pays them by bringing even more costumers in.
How does he look at it? As merit.
He was the first to recognize her as a girl; he has daily talks with her dad, and he has a file on her like he does with all the people he comes in contact with. He thought he knew all there was to know about her, the important things. Age, birthday, height, weight, etc. The basic stuff.
But then, he realized there was more to her then those.
Throughtout her job as a host, he learned some things about her. Her phobia of thunderstorms, her fascination with fancy tuna, and other little things that made her Haruhi. But one day, he found something that wasn't recorded in her file at all.
"-but i came to this school with a plan and goal for my future." That was the day she turned down the Zuka Club's offer to go to their school.
That was also the day he stopped to think her over.
He's used to the club's confusion over his obsession with becoming the heir. They all don't even have to try to succeed. Well except for Tamaki, but he's so drunk on life it doesn't even matter.
They don't understand his need to overcome his father's expectations; he thought Haruhi would be the same, but after hearing her response that day, it got him thinking.
She's a commoner in an elite private school. With only her crazy hairbrained father to take over her, she learned to fend for herself at a very young age. People's expectations for her at the school aren't very high; sure she intelligent, but being a commoner? She won't get very far in life.
But that never seems to bring her down. If anything, she seems to strive even harder when hearing people's thoughts on the scholarship commoner.
After a while, he (grudgingly) admitted to himself that he considered her as a friend. But just the same as his other 'friends', as people that brought merit.
But then there was that fateful day at the beach house.
Towering over her on the bed he expected to see fear in her eyes. Fear, anxiety, anger, hell even lust. But never did he expect to see understanding in those big brown eyes. Then hearing her talk about what a good guy he is, it was just too much to take. He felt vulnerable without his glasses to obscure his face and those cursed emotions.
Their friendship? Tentative. Their understanding of eachother? As strong as their will to achieve their dreams.