Somehow she made it through her hosting duties, not helped in any way by Tamaki-senpai's puppy dog eyes (and what right did anyone have to have eyes so incredible, she mused helplessly) nor by the flirtatious glances from the devilish duo as they tried to get her to join them.
"Haruhi," Kaoru whispered, sitting next to her and leaning close. "Why don't you come sit with us?" Around them were squeals and giggles that escalated to nosebleeds and rapture when Hikaru sat down on her other side and began toying with her hair.
"We're lonely sometimes, just the two of us," he stage whispered. Thoroughly annoyed, she was about to speak when Kaoru's head drooped, dejected.
"Are you saying I'm not enough for you, Hikaru?" he murmured sadly, causing his twin to lean across Haruhi's chest and grasp his chin, their faces inches apart.
"Never, Kaoru! You're everything I will ever need."
"Oh, Hikaru," Kaoru murmured, a faint blush staining his cheeks.
"But still, don't you think Haruhi might enjoy spending time with us as well?" the elder asked, and two sets of catlike eyes turned towards the girl they were currently draped over – a girl who was trying desperately to keep her expression blank.
"You're right Hikaru. I mean, I can't keep you to myself all the time..." Kaoru's hand came up to rest lightly on Haruhi's collarbone. On her other side Hikaru mirrored his twin's movement, the resulting collection of limbs leaving her quite pinned between them and causing a roomful of girls to squeal and collapse. Haruhi, holding onto her control – and her temper – with her fingertips, was completely unaware of the picture they painted, her dark haired, wide-eyed natural innocence hemmed in by two of the most decadently immortal beauties Ouran High had ever seen. Thankfully, she was saved from more embarrassment by the Host Club Vice President.
"We thank you all for attending, my ladies," the Shadow King's voice rang out through the room. "I know this will be disappointing, but there will be no Host Club meeting the day before break." A chorus of unhappy cries rang out, but Kyoya continued smoothly. "We're all taking a vacation over break, to recharge and come back better able to see to your every desire." Haruhi's eyes bugged out. Was that a sultry note she heard creep into the Shadow King's voice? She swallowed hard.
"You wouldn't begrudge us a chance to...relax...would you, our beautiful princesses?" Nope. She definitely wasn't imagining things. Kyoya-senpai sounded like lust and rebellion wrapped in velvet. She suppressed a shiver as his voice – normally so calm and cool – sent a frisson of sensation down her spine. Still, despite, or perhaps because of, his strangely sensual manner of speech, the dismissal went well and soon – well, soon by Club standards – the room was empty of all but hosts. With a satisfied sigh Haruhi squeezed herself from between the clinging duo and scooped up her backpack, heading to a table by the window to work on some assignments. She knew her father was working late so she figured she'd do as much of her schoolwork before she went home as possible. Maybe she'd be able to unwind a little tonight, perhaps read a book...her happy musings were interrupted by the Host King's violet eyes and ready smile.
"We're going to have so much fun, my precious daughter!" he squealed. "The entire beach is reserved, so no one that doesn't already know your secret will be there. You can be a girl the whole weekend!"
"Tamaki-senpai," Haruhi began, hoping to get her apology out of the way before he said anything stupid...er.
"And to keep you safe, you can share my room!" Yeah. Like that. She sighed. Before she could reply, though, her self-appointed guardian tormenters entered the conversation.
"Haruhi told us she's not going along." Blinking quickly, she nodded, thinking furiously of a decent excuse. She looked up at the Host King, plastering her best 'innocent apology' expression on her face as he stared down at her, scandalized.
"Not...coming? But Haruhi, Daddy picked out the best games and foods to make you happy-"
"I'm sorry, Senpai," she interrupted him, hoping she sounded it. "But I promised I'd help my...father's friend over break. She...recently had surgery and needs some help around the house." Hoping he hadn't noticed the tiny bits of hesitation – and when did she get so good at spinning stories on the spur of the moment, anyway? - she kept her gaze on Tamaki.
"But...but..." He seemed torn between admiration and disappointment. Admiration won out, his eyes sparkling like stars.
"You're so wonderful, Haruhi! Always thinking of others before yourself!" He grabbed her out of her chair and began to swing her around in a circle, the motion knocking over a vase of flowers and splashing water everywhere – including her painstakingly compiled notes from the day's classes. Tamaki – being Tamaki – never noticed, and interpreted her shriek of horror as a squeal of happiness. The others knew better, though, and in short order Haruhi had been plucked from the blonde boy's wild embrace by a stoic Mori, while Honey grabbed as many of the papers as he could save and the twins swept up the broken flower arrangement so that no one would get hurt. To no one's surprise Kyoya stood off to the side, silently observing the entire debacle.
"Thank you, Mori-senpai," Haruhi murmured as the tall host set her gently on her feet. Tamaki, having finally realized what had happened, was distraught over the disaster he had caused and the rest of the group was content to let him crouch in his corner for the moment. Honey came bouncing over to her, his hands full of carefully-gripped damp papers.
"I think we can dry most of these, Haru-chan! Or I can help you study, if you need it." She smiled at him – sometimes it could be so hard to remember that the eager little blond was one of the deadliest people in all of Japan – and gave him a one armed hug as she took the papers he handed her.
"Thank you, Honey-senpai," she said, letting him hug her a moment longer. "I might take you up on your offer."
"Hey!" the twins cried.
"We could help, too," claimed Kaoru, with Hikaru piping up a moment later.
"We do take the same classes as you!" She looked over at the indignant two, smiling wryly at them before turning to place her papers on the table.
"I see how much you two pay attention in class. No thank you." She should have known not to turn her back on them because in the next instant they had her pinned between them, Hikaru's strong arms circling her from behind while Kaoru pressed close to her chest.
"With you in class, who can blame us for not paying attention to the teacher?" he purred, his face so close to hers that she could clearly see the flecks of darker amber in his eyes, fingers tracing through her hair while his brother nuzzled the back of her neck. She was hit by the stray thought that she should see if his lips really were as soft as they looked. The sudden twinge of excitement at that thought was enough to break her out of her Hitachiin-induced stupor and she shoved away from them, stalking angrily to grab her bag.
"You two are just – AAARGH! Stop pawing at me!" For the second day in a row, Haruhi exited the music room like a ship under full sail, a complement of co-hosts staring blankly after her.
"Haru seems touchy lately," Kaoru mused.
"Wonder if it's the wrong time of the month?" Hikaru asked no one in particular.
"No, that would have been last week," interjected Kyoya absently, pressing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. Everyone turned to gape at him.
"Kyoya-senpai, how – you know what? We don't even want to know how you know that."
Back at her house, Haruhi dropped her bag unceremoniously on the floor and headed into her bedroom where she promptly flopped down on her futon. Staring up at the ceiling, she let her thoughts wander.
They all thought she was aloof. That she didn't notice the interest, the appraising glances. That she was oblivious to sexual tension, that she was uninterested or unaware. How wrong they were. Laying there alone, she wondered what they would all say if they knew just how aware she was. What they would think if they knew she noticed...everything.
She'd never hear the end of it if any one of them knew that one of her favorite sights in the world was the way that the late afternoon sunlight would come in through the large windows of the music room and gleam in Tamaki's golden hair. It made him look even more ethereal, an angel fallen to earth, so beautiful it made her breath catch. And then he'd turn those violet eyes her way and she'd have to admit again that she could happily drown in them forever.
Then there was Kyoya. Dark to the Host King's light, and heaven forbid anyone ever noticed how much his very distance and professional demeanor made her quiver. Always an answer for everything, hiding a genuinely caring heart beneath an equally genuine preoccupation with turning a profit – solid, responsible Kyoya, who had already charmed her father, who only had to smirk to bring her to her knees. Whose voice, as she found out today, could become surprisingly smokey and smooth, like finest silk over bare skin.
And speaking of distant and aloof, Mori-senpai was a weakness in himself. Being a quiet person in her own right, Haruhi felt very drawn to the tall, strong, silent one. With him she always felt safe, secure in the knowledge that he would never harm her, nor let anyone else do so. She felt his dark eyes on her sometimes, but instead of making her feel uncomfortable, she felt important, cherished. His connection to Honey-senpai, his obvious devotion to his cousin, made him that much more appealing. If the big man could be so thoughtful with his smaller relative, how gentle and considerate a lover would he be with a woman he cared for?
Honey-senpai was a hard one for her to wrap her mind around. Intellectually, Haruhi knew he was the eldest of their group. It was hard to keep that in mind sometimes, though, while watching him play with Usa-chan or devouring cake like it was going to disappear. But then she'd catch sight of him sparring with Mori or performing solo katas, and her mouth would go dry, her palms sweaty. He was so beautiful, so graceful she could cry, every motion deliberate, no movements wasted. In those moments he wasn't the boy Lolita. He was a Haninozuka, one of the most powerfully dangerous fighters in the entire world. He was...a badass. And it sometimes made her so hot she felt she'd melt into a puddle of Haru-goo. And then he'd look up and see her there and for an instant in time he'd be neither fighter nor toy, but just an attractive young man with a smile made of sunshine and a heart of purest gold. Haruhi knew herself well enough to know it would be very easy for her to fall for him...if she wasn't already afraid that her heart may already have been given away.
She sighed ruefully. She supposed sometime she was going to have to face herself where the twins were concerned, but she was almost frightened of what she might discover. Still, she couldn't keep running forever. With a sense of doomed resignation she opened the Pandora's Box in her mind where her innermost thoughts of Hikaru and Kaoru were hidden.
They were a world unto themselves. Beautiful, yes, but with an underlying insecurity to each that pulled at Haruhi like a tow chain around her soul. The impossible couple. The taboo attraction. The impenetrable walls they'd built around themselves. And then one day she realized that, amidst the flirting and the teasing, they'd opened those doors and pulled her inside. She knew she was weak – so very weak – where they were concerned. Sometimes she felt like she'd burst into flames with the heat of their hands grasping hers as they walked the hallways. And those flames could become a white-hot inferno at the smallest provocation. She'd been so aroused today in the music room, feeling Hikaru's arms pin her own to her sides, holding her still and helpless for his brother's pleasure, she'd nearly moaned aloud. And wouldn't that have been a pretty pickle, she though. Alone in a room with six of the most insanely gorgeous temptations to ever cross her path...who knows what would have happened had she dared to let her guard down?
Immediately her disobedient thoughts tried to leap into Mind Theater (a'la Tamaki), but before she could get too carried away – though what she had imagined was enough to set her pulse racing – there was a knock at the door. Startled, she slammed a lid on her unruly thoughts and got up to answer it.