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 done our share of eavesdropping on phone conversations.

It seemed odd to Takashi that Ōtori Kyōya, celebrated chess champion, outstanding poker player, and accomplished puppet master, would turn out to be a romantic.

There was no disputing it: Kyōya had maneuvered people and events into place to make sure Haruhi ended up in his arms and in his heart.

She would have been a wonderful friend; the week they'd spent together before Kyōya's interference proved that. Maybe they would have gotten closer eventually, but maybe not. He was immensely grateful that, thanks to Kyōya, he'd never have to find out.

He stood in the Third Music Room, staring out the window. He was nervous. He'd be meeting Haruhi's father for the first time that night, and he wanted to make a good impression. Haruhi wasn't worried about it, but for Takashi, it was impossible to stop the scenes of horror that flashed through his mind. Variations of You're not good enough for my daughter! I forbid you from coming near her ever again! played over and over. If Fujioka-san didn't approve of him, all of Kyōya's plots would come to nothing.

He couldn't help thinking of the morning after he and Haruhi had shared their first kiss.

Tamaki had "summoned" him, demanding that he "report to the club room before school." Takashi had been curious enough to obey, but after five minutes of sitting on the couch watching the Host Club King pace back and forth, he rather wished he hadn't. The third year glanced at his watch, and hoped that the director's son would make it short so that they could both get to class on time. He glanced up when he noticed that Tamaki's nervous movement had stopped, saw the unusually serious look on his face, and hoped that Mitsukuni would take good notes for him.

Tamaki cleared his throat. "It has come to my attention, Mori-sempai," he began, "that your intentions toward my protegé are not brotherly, but... something more." He fixed Takashi with a gaze. "Do you deny it?!"

Takashi blinked. "No."

This seemed to throw Tamaki off. "No?" he echoed. "...you don't?" He flopped down onto the couch opposite and asked weakly, "well, then... what are they?"

There was a moment of quiet as Takashi considered the best way to explain. "I love her."

Tamaki jumped when the door clicked shut, and both men turned to see Haruhi standing there, her face glowing as she looked at Takashi. The King cleared his throat again to speak, but was interrupted.

"It's really none of your business anyway, Sempai," Haruhi said, as she walked across the room to join Takashi on the couch.

"Of course it is!" Tamaki argued. "What kind of reputation will this..." he gestured at them, "...pairing give the Club?"

There was a polite cough, and Kyōya intruded into the conversation. "If you'd like to see the statistics, I think you'll be quite pleased," he informed them. "Both Fujioka-kun and Mori-sempai's number of designators have gone up considerably since gossip began about them, not to mention the fact that the number of first-time guests has also risen, which has contributed to a rather large rise in everyone's customers, including your own, Tamaki."

Tamaki seemed lost in his own thoughts. Though Takashi didn't know it, he was remembering the words Hani-sempai had said to him the night before: You don't want to stand in the way of true love, do you?

""Hey, Haruhi-kun!"" the twins called as they appeared in the doorway. ""We're going to be late for class!""

"I'm coming now!" Haruhi called back. She stood, and Takashi stood with her, taking her hand in his.

"Can I walk you to class?" he asked. She nodded, and they started walking towards the door.

Behind them, Kyōya said, "You're always going on about how we need to generate more chatter to promote the Club. So, if you think about it, this whole thing was actually your idea."

"My-!" Tamaki squawked. "I... The... This has nothing to do with what you were doing in this room last night!" he cried, turning his attention to the departing group and pointing accusingly at Takashi. "How dare you deflower my daughter!"

They all turned back toward him, and the twins snickered while Haruhi raised her eyebrows. "I don't think you know what that means, Sempai."

Takashi couldn't help but smile at that memory. It was amusing, and it was... pleasant... to watch her go head to head with Tamaki and win. The twins had even brought out the popcorn. After a good five minutes of her scolding and ten more of Tamaki sulking, he rushed up to them both and engulfed them in a royal hug, babbling about how happy he was to see them "finally" together, and what a cute couple they were. Evidently, they had his blessing, but everyone had been late to class.

However, the scene, the argument between Haruhi and Tamaki in particular, was much less amusing when he replaced Tamaki with Fujioka-san. After all, he actually had influence over who Haruhi could and could not date.

Takashi tried to pull his mind off his worrying, and instead focused on the view. He began to relax. The tree would always remind him of Haruhi: of his feelings for her, and of how well they got along. The afternoons they'd spent there would be forever imprinted upon his memory. The tree might not have truly been their beginning, but it felt like it. Perhaps this room was where Fujioka-kun and Mori-sempai had become acquainted, but the tree was where Haruhi and Takashi became friends and began to fall in love.

A small hand touched his arm. "Are you worrying again?"

He smiled at her. "Not anymore."

She blushed. "Well, good. You shouldn't worry. My dad is going to love you. I've told him all about you, and he likes everything he's heard."

Takashi shrugged, but was unconvinced. He was dating the man's daughter; of course Fujioka-san wasn't going to like him right away.

"Trust me," she insisted, "If Suō-sempai can accept it, my father can. In fact, he'll probably accept it more easily than Suō-sempai did."

"Tamaki had Kyōya to persuade him. Fujioka-san has only you, and fathers do not trust their daughters' judgement when it comes to love."

She sighed, shaking her head. "Mine does, but..." she peered up at Takashi. "You won't believe me until you see it for yourself. I wish you would, for your sake, but I understand. I'll probably be the same when it comes time for me to meet your parents."

He laid his hand on her head briefly and smiled, now trying to reassure her, before stepping away. She smiled after him before returning to her couch. He walked into the cosplay storage room and was surprised to hear voices.

Well, at the moment there was only one voice, which had that odd loud-but-quiet quality indicative of someone yelling from the other end of a phone call. "Kyōya-kuuuun! When's she going to tell me that Morinozuka is her boyfriend? They got together weeks ago, and she still hasn't said anything!"

"Don't worry, Ranka-san," Kyōya replied. "I believe they're planning on telling you they're a couple this evening. Mori-sempai's been nervous about meeting you, and Haruhi wanted him to be there when she told you. They haven't been together that long; it's still new to them."

"Oh, I know!" the man on the on the phone whined, "But new couples are the cutest, and I haven't gotten to see them because she hasn't told me!"

"Well, you'll get to see them together tonight. You'll be nice to Mori-sempai, won't you? He really does love your daughter."

"Of course! How could I not like someone who's been such a good friend to her? And it's so romantic that they fell in love!"

Takashi was in shock. He wasn't sure if he should be grateful that Kyōya was putting a good word in for him or irritated that he'd spoiled the surprise for Haruhi's father.

Once the shock started to wear off, the predominant emotion was relief. Haruhi had been right. Her dad already knew, and he approved of their relationship.

Kyōya said his goodbyes to Haruhi's father and closed his phone. He hadn't given any indication that he knew Takashi was there, but he spoke, with his back still turned, as though he had known about his presence all along. "You and Haruhi would have been... unhappy... if the meeting didn't go well. It could've been bad for the Club."

Without waiting for a response, he walked out of the room. Takashi smiled. He'd have to thank Kyōya some other time, and probably not directly.

As he wandered back out into the Third Music Room, still lost in thought, he realized that for the first time in a long time, he was more than content. He was truly happy, and he owed it to one girl's need to find a quiet place to study, the seclusion and enjoyment provided by a well-climbed tree, and the almost constant interference of a surprisingly romantic Shadow King.

And if he had only known, he would have been amazed at the differences that were brought about because of an unbroken vase.

The End

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