Title: Haute Couture

Character(s): Kaoru, Haruhi

Pairing(s): Tamaki/Haruhi

Rating: G.

Disclaimer: Ouran High School Host Club belongs to Hatori Bisco and related companies.

Spoilers: Entire manga

Word count: 901

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HAUTE COUTURE

The first time Fujioka Haruhi wears anything that costs more than a house is on the last day she will be known as Fujioka Haruhi.

Her best friend in the world smiles at her – sweet, indulgent, comforting and slightly exasperated. "Haruhi, come here, don't be shy. I've seen a lot of women's bodies, okay? I have to make sure that the dress hangs properly."

She submits to the designer's will, her heart pounding crazily in her chest as she gingerly bundles the hem of the gown into her arms and walks to him.

Kaoru gasps. "You look a vision."

In the full-length mirror, there is a beautiful young woman staring back at her. She recognises herself only by the terrified chocolate eyes.

A laugh rings out behind her. "Oh man. You know Kyouya-senpai has been spending the whole day trying to keep Tono conscious, right? I think Tono's gonna faint at the altar anyway."

Someone giggles nervously – it can't be her, can it? She never laughs like that.

Kaoru zips her up and sews her into the dress ("To ensure it stays up, of course - the bodice is meant to be body-skimming, and the only way to make that perfect is to actually make the dress a part of you").

She keeps her gaze fixed on his reflection in the glass – Kaoru is kneeling at her feet, thread pressed between his lips and needle in his deft fingers. His skill has surpassed what any of them had expected of him, and they had expected a lot indeed.

"Done," he announces, putting his materials away and extending a hand, palm up.

Haruhi looks at it blankly but takes it by instinct.

Kaoru draws her close to himself and begins leading her into a waltz. She follows, too buzzed in her mind to do much else. After a good minute, Kaoru twirls her to a position in front of the mirror again and nods, satisfied.

"I wanted to check the movement of the gown. Of course you're not dancing in this dress, but it's the easiest way to know. How does it feel on you?"

Amazing.

Haruhi smooths a trembling hand down the gown, feeling like crying. She seeks out Kaoru with her eyes, incapable of speech.

"This, Haruhi, is haute couture," Kaoru says smugly. "It's like nothing else on earth, isn't it? One-of-a-kind, like second skin, made exactly to the contours of your body, compensating for all your flaws and enhancing all your strong points."

She shakes her head. The gown is sublime but it is its designer that is causing the lump in her throat.

"Shh, don't." Kaoru hugs her. "I know; you're welcome. I'm glad you like my present – that is all that matters."

"You and Hikaru didn't have to go to such expense," she mumbles.

She will have to change into two more gowns before the day is out – one light and breezy dress for the afternoon reception in the garden, and a dramatic formal gown for the dinner at night. The twins had decided that their wedding gifts to the happy couple would come in the form of clothing, and had divided their responsibilities as such: for the ceremony, gown by Kaoru and tuxedo by Hikaru; for the dinner, gown by Hikaru and tuxedo by Kaoru, with Mei-chan in charge of the afternoon reception.

Both the twins' gowns for her are haute couture, painstakingly designed and made, and Mei-chan had informed her that haute couture is priced at five digits for the simple, casual items like a blouse and upwards of six digits for anything more complex – in Euro and not Yen, of course. In Japanese Yen, it would be well above eight digits. A wedding gown such as this, an original of Hitachiin Haute Couture, would definitely be worth at least €1 million, though Kaoru has persistently kept mum about its actual valuation.

"Don't be a cheapskate, Suou-sama!" Kaoru reprimands, signaling to his makeup team to finish their work. "It's unbefitting of your station!"

Before the lipstick, Kaoru offers several onigiri to her, thoughtful as always. She has to eat, he says, because it will be a long time before either she or Tamaki-senpai will get any proper food and it would be the worst thing to have to go through the wedding ceremony on an empty, grumbling stomach.

As she settles down on the plush sofa, Kaoru goes to let her father and Anne-Sophie-sama into the room. They gush over her excessively and weep even before she has yet to take a step down the aisle.

Haruhi calms them down as best she can, and in the process she feels her breathing even out too. Without doubt, Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai will have gone ahead to sort out any foreseen and unforeseen problems and by now they are probably waiting with the rest of the guests for them to arrive. The best man being who he is, no glitches can possibly occur where the groom's party is concerned. Kaoru is the other highly organised and reliable individual – Haruhi knows he will make everything run smoothly on her side.

When Kaoru's phone rings, she knows what it means: Hikaru is telling them that he is done dressing Tamaki-senpai and the groom's party is on the move.

"All right, Haruhi!" Kaoru laughs, picking up the lipstick, veil and a box of pins, "let's get this show on the road!"

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10/04/2012