This story is the joint work of Stella Malodi and CatrinaSL. The excellent cover art was commissioned from SF (pm CatrinaSL for the link to his DeviantArt page). Special thanks to fringeperson and My Ashland for their beta work.
Disclaimer: We do not own Ouran High School Host Club, but we have taken a dance lesson or two.
It seemed odd to Mitsukuni that his cousin was enjoying giving dancing lessons. He'd never have expected it of him, but he seemed to be just as excited about those after-Club hours as he usually was about an important kendo match.
He pondered this for a couple of days until he happened to stumble upon a pre-Club dance lesson. Mitsukuni entered the room to find Haru-chan in his cousin's arms, beaming as the two of them stepped in time to Takashi's chanting: "Quick, quick, slow. Quick, quick, slow."
Mitsukuni hadn't really paid any attention to them during the lessons, even when he was in the club room, and he was pleased to see that Haru-chan was coming along quite nicely; even Kyō-chan, who surely had been paying attention, was probably impressed at how quickly she had picked up the steps. That wasn't the only thing he saw, though, and as soon as he noticed it, he wondered how he had missed it before.
"Hey, Takashi," he interrupted, striding across the room toward them. "Were you going to teach Haru-chan to lead, too?"
They sprang apart, blushing profusely. Haruhi was spared from trying to come up with a response by Suō-sempai's exuberant entrance.
"Ah, Fujioka-kun, I see you've been practicing diligently!" he exclaimed. Haruhi briefly wondered how he knew that was what they'd been doing, then realized that the waltz they'd been dancing to was still playing in the background. "It is important for a Host to work hard when learning a new skill!" He continued on, alternately praising her hard work, offering advice, and claiming that, as her mentor, he should have been her dance instructor. Haruhi wasn't sure how, exactly, Kyōya-sempai had persuaded his classmate to stop his attempts at taking over her lessons, but she probably owed him her firstborn for it.
""Hey, Your Majesty,"" two voices chimed when Suō-sempai's effusions seemed as though they would never end. "Do you have a crush on Haruhi-kun?" one asked.
"Yeah," the other continued, "you spend half your time at Club these days watching him. You're not jealous of Mori-sempai, are you?"
"I am merely trying to be of use to my protegé," Suō-sempai said with a flourish. "How can he hope to succeed without my guidance?"
"You want him to be as stupid as you?" one twin scoffed.
The Host Club King sputtered out a "how dare you!" and started toward the red haired duo. They laughed identical laughs and scampered away, drawing the angry blond after them.
"Could we leave that until later?" Kyōya-sempai asked the three adversaries as he entered the room. Then he turned to address the rest of the Club. "Since Fujioka-kun has clearly mastered the steps, it will presumably be easier for him to learn to lead, isn't that so, Mori-sempai?" Kyōya-sempai asked. Mori-sempai nodded, and Haruhi thought she could see a faint blush on his cheeks. "Perhaps we could let someone else teach him to lead, since you have worked so hard instructing him in the basic steps."
"I would be happy-" Suō-sempai began, pausing in his hunt for the traitors.
"Hani-sempai, would you mind staying late with Fujioka-kun? If you don't already have plans, that is," Kyōya-sempai interrupted. After a glance at Mori-sempai, he continued. "It would likely be beneficial for Mori-sempai to observe and correct Fujioka-kun's steps as he dances." He pushed up his glasses and smirked. "I'm not sure why that didn't come to me before."
"That sounds like fun!" Hani-sempai declared. "Right, Takashi?"
"Yeah," his cousin agreed.
"Then it's decided," the Shadow King said, noting it down. "Now then, our customers will be arriving shortly. Fujioka-kun, are you prepared to host today?"
"Eh? Oh... Yes, that's fine, Sempai," she answered, caught slightly off guard by the question. "We're not doing any cosplay today, right?"
"Correct. We'll be having a tropical theme tomorrow, though. If you could arrive early, to assist in setting up the room, it would be much appreciated." She nodded, and he turned to the twins. "Kaoru, Hikaru, would you be able to finish a costume for Fujioka-kun in time?"
"For tomorrow? It's kinda late notice, Boss. We can probably get something together, but it won't be as elaborate as the others, and we wouldn't have very much time for a fitting," Hikaru-kun said.
"Hmm..." Kyōya-sempai said, considering the problem. "We'd best leave it, then. The customers expect high-quality costumes, and if there isn't time to deliver that, it would be best that Fujioka-kun simply wear his uniform. In any case, there will be plenty of opportunities for him to cosplay with us." The Shadow King smirked, and Haruhi shivered.
She began readying the room for their guests; it was as good an excuse as any to move away from him, but her preparations were almost immediately interrupted.
"Haru-chan! Host Club's starting now!"
"Huh? Oh! I'm coming," she said, rushing over to stand with the other Hosts. Until Hani-sempai called her over, she'd forgotten that acting as a Host meant that she would now be expected to stand with them for the formal "Welcome!" as the club opened for business; that hadn't been the case when her duties were more menial. Her presence among the hosts was immediately noticed.
"Oh! Is Haruhi-kun going to be a Host today?"
"I am! I'll be sitting with one of the other hosts to begin with, just until I learn the basics."
"I want to sit with you!" chimed one girl.
"Me too!" echoed another.
"Thank you!" the female host said, then looked over her shoulder. "That will be all right, won't it, Kyōya-sempai?"
"It will. Hm... I believe I will be your first tutor, so if you'll all follow me...?" the bespectacled boy replied, gesturing towards his couch.
Suō-sempai, who surely would have protested this, was luckily distracted by the twins, who had been up to some mischief. By the time he noticed, Kyōya-sempai, Haruhi, and their collective guests were already seated. Haruhi saw Suō-sempai blanch when he realized this, but there were ladies nearby, so he was forced to swallow his objections. He quickly rallied himself and turned his attention to his guests.
Haruhi rather hoped this wasn't how Kyōya tutored people in other subjects. They were sitting on the same couch, but he rarely even looked at her. He would look at her customers every now and then, to see how they were doing, but he didn't look at her, didn't speak to her, didn't really acknowledge her presence. If things got too quiet on her side of the couch, he would make a note of it; if the girls were particularly happy, he made a note of it, but other than that, he completely ignored her existence. She was left on her own to figure out how to be a Host.
Then again, perhaps he was just assessing her current skill level; that wasn't unreasonable, and it would explain why he was keeping track of her guests' reactions. She just wasn't very comfortable, especially since she wasn't sure she could be a Host; she didn't have an act to sell the way the other hosts did, or any unusual characteristics. She wasn't adorable like Hani-sempai, or strong and comforting like Mori-sempai; she didn't have the 'brotherly love' angle the twins had, or even the 'devilish prankster' attitude that was closer to their true personalities. She wasn't 'cool' like Kyōya-sempai, and besides, she'd gotten contacts, not glasses, and she doubted that Suō-sempai would be losing any customers to her. She wasn't exactly the 'Prince Charming' type, and that was what his princesses sought when they went to him.
"What do you like to do, Haruhi-kun?"
She blinked. That was an easy enough question to answer. To her surprise, the girls seemed intrigued by her story, by her life. When she told them about the recipes her mother had left her, they reacted similarly to Hani-sempai's customers when he ate a piece of cake. Was that how she could make these girls happy? Just chat with them, and try to put them at ease?
"Why did you join the Host Club, Haruhi-kun?"
"Ah-" she glanced from Mori-sempai to Kyōya-sempai, who shook his head slightly. "Well, Kyōya-sempai offered to pay for my uniform if I helped out the club. He thought that you ladies might like the chance to get to know the Scholarship Student. I'm not sure why that's so interesting-"
"Oh, but it is! There hasn't been a Scholarship Student in a long time. Kyōya-kun is so smart!"
Some time later, just after Hani-sempai had started his daily nap, Kyōya-sempai spoke to her for the first time since club hours had started. "Fujioka-kun," he said, getting her attention. He continued, a thoughtful and considerate quality audible in his voice. The girls really seemed to enjoy that, but Haruhi fought the urge to shudder. "Why don't you join Mori-sempai while Hani-sempai is sleeping? I'm sure Mori-sempai's guests would enjoy it if you were there to fill in."
Haruhi did as he instructed, rather pleased to be sitting near her friend, especially since it meant that she would be moving away from the Shadow King. As always, she felt more relaxed the instant she was sitting next to him. They smiled at each other in greeting, then returned their attention to their guests. Gradually, the two groups blended into one. Haruhi talked to the Wild Type's guests almost as much as her own, and Mori-sempai was as likely to serve tea to her designators as to his. Of course, this shouldn't have been terribly surprising; Haruhi was generally friendly, and Mori-sempai was used to sharing hosting responsibilities with his cousin.
Still, his customers were delighted with the situation; with Haruhi-kun there, Mori-sempai was much more involved in the conversation, and Haruhi-kun concentrated more on talking to them than on being adorable. That the scholarship student managed to be cute while doing so made them even happier. Their absolute favorite thing about the Natural and Wild Types hosting together was that Mori-sempai actually smiled! More than one girl fainted, much to Haruhi-kun's confusion (and concern), but they were quick to assure the newest Host that this was a good kind of fainting. The other girls in the room knew it, and came to investigate. If there was moe to be witnessed, they wanted a front-row seat!
Kyōya smiled happily. He'd thought the sparks between Mori-sempai and Fujioka-kun would attract customers. It was so satisfying when these sorts of gambles paid off.
Mitsukuni's naps were generally short, and there were usually only a few customers at his cousin's couch when he woke up. He was, therefore, rather surprised to see the crowd surrounding his cousin and Haru-chan.
Then he noticed the glances and, more importantly, the smiles the two were exchanging. Ah, moe. That would explain it. He watched the oblivious "friends" for a moment. I really can't blame the girls, though. Those two are adorable together!
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