Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Streets sped by as he rode.

It wasn’t a long ride, tall buildings faded away to fields and back to buildings again. He only lived a couple towns over, and could easily have taken a train or gotten their driver to take them, but where was the fun in that? 

It was much more exciting to race the train to school, see if they would get stuck behind it or beat it that day. It was even more exciting now that a uniform he recognized could be spotted on said train. Periwinkle blue, Ouran Academy. His own lemon yellow jumper stood out against the road, thankfully covered by a leather jacket. Even though he hated the uniform, he still had their old dress from their first year at Ouran, and they had been tempted to wear it once again, even if just to ride with it on his motorcycle. Badass.

But no one could force him back into that awful, scratchy, monstrosity of a uniform. 

Aoi had been the first one to bring up the possibility of an in-between uniform, not comfortable fully switching to the boys but despising the girls. If only the compromise became an official choice, and not just something thrown together. They looked back to the train, slowly falling further and further behind him, and he smiled. ‘Guess I’m beating it today.’

The pink school came into view a few moments later, as he reached the peak of a small hill. It was massive, why anyone needed that much space Aoi wouldn’t know, and that was coming from someone who lived in a massive house already. 

They pulled up in front of the gate, parking their motorbike in the same spot they did every day and smiled at the small ID attached so the school didn’t attempt to take the bike away again. That was an interesting start to their second year, he remembered. Aoi lifted the helmet from their head and let their long hair, tied back in a ponytail, fall from where it was sitting in the helmet. Dark blue hair framed their face, bangs falling gently in their face and the long pieces  covered some of the ear piercings. He felt a pair of eyes trained on their back, string at the hollyhock flowers embroidered on the leather jacket. 

Refusing to look at their audience just yet, he took off the jacket and placed it in the storage on the bike, before pulling out their messenger bag. When they finally turned around, they vaguely recognized the face of the boy who was getting popular around the school. 

“Good morning!” 

Aoi’s voice snapped the kid from their trance, confusing them for a second. Aoi had started testosterone the year before, but his voice was still fairly high and feminine for the other boys his age. Didn’t exactly match his face, or the general “Bad-boy” vibe associated with him.

“Ah! Yes, uh sorry! Good morning. Sorry. I was just…”

“Staring?”

“Y-yeah… yeah I was staring.”

Aoi had to give it to the kid, they were honest. Which was a relief coming from this school, where everyone seemed to want something. The students voice surprised him as well, not quite matching their face. Or more, not matching their uniform. It made him smile a bit.

“Nothing to worry about, it’s not really the most common form of transportation here at Ouran. Actually I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who takes a motorcycle to school…” They mused, before quickly reaching out their hand. “Im Aoi Chiharu, third year. My dad owns Chiharu Motorcycles, and my moms a professional racer. Sorry if I made you self-conscious about staring, I really don’t mind.” He introduced himself, smiling. 

“Haruhi Fujioka, first year. Thanks for… not being offended?”

“Oh, Fujioka! You’re the scholarship student I keep hearing so much about, how is it here? And Like I said, all good.”

“Well, other than the fact that everyone keeps calling me a commoner, it's not too bad. You seem like the most normal person here so far.”

“Mhm, rich people are jerks. And that's coming from a rich person, so you can tell its bad. And if I’m the most normal person, I am so sorry. Which reminds me, what are your pronouns? I use They/them and He/him.”

The shorter brunet blinked for a second, before smiling.

“I use she/her, but everyone thinks I’m a boy. Well, except for the people I’m in a club with, they found out the hard way. You’re the first person to ask that, thank you. But I guess it makes sense… I remember reading about you in the news last year.”

Aoi laughed loudly, almost toppling over with how hard they were laughing. “Oh my gods, of course they do! This school is mental. Makes sense you heard about my ‘coming out’, I guess it was pretty big news. For like a week.” they wiped away a tear, checking his hand to make sure his eyeliner didn’t smudge. And then a thought came to mind, which made him pause briefly. “Wait, if everyone thinks you’re a boy, d’you want me to use masculine pronouns around the other students?”

Haruhi nodded once. “That would make life a lot easier, please do.”

Aoi smiled, before they wrapped an arm around the shorter student. “Got it! Let’s head inside, yeah? Gotta get to our respective classes. Oh, would you want to eat lunch with me? Since I’m apparently the most normal person here.” He laughed softly at that thought. Dark blue dyed hair, piercings, a motorcycle? Far from normal at this school.

“I’d love that. My friends have been a bit exhausting recently.”

Aoi pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen from their bag, and quickly scribbled his number on it before handing it to the girl. “Text me when you get out of class, I’ll find somewhere for us to sit.” They then gave the brunet a small salute before running off towards their classroom. 

Haruhi looked at the paper, smiling at the idea of making a friend outside of the host club.

****

“Aoi-Senpai?”

“Who’s Aoi-Senpai?”

The twins swarmed Haruhi as soon as the lunch bell rang. Much to Haruhi’s distaste. She swatted the pair away, waiting for a response from said upperclassmen. 

“Just someone I met this morning. Go away.”

“Do they go to school with us?” Hikaru asked, standing on her right.

“Did you meet them on the bus?” Kaoru quickly followed, on her left.

“What’s their last name?” Kaoru asked again, but switched positions with his brother.

“Why are you texting them now?” Hikaru tried to grab her phone, but she quickly dodged out of his way, seeing the ‘typing’ bubble pop up.

“Eat lunch with us and tell us more about this mystery person!” They said together. 

The girl completely ignored them, reading the response from her new friend. She grabbed her lunch and ran out of the room, leaving the boys in the dust so they couldn't follow, yelling behind her. 

“I’ll see you two after lunch! Bye!”

****

Aoi was chewing gum, sitting at a bench, waiting. It was a surprise that no other students were up on the roof, it was easy to access and quiet. Two things the student loved. They blew a bubble, and let it pop, before checking his phone again. Haruhi hadn’t responded, but she had seen it. Maybe he scared her away, he tended to do that. 

They sighed, and started pulling out their bento while blowing another bubble. ‘Eating alone again, I guess.’

They were startled by the sound of the door slamming, making their bubble pop again. When he turned. Aoi saw a panting Haruhi leaning on her knees.

“Hey! You made it! I wasn’t sure if you were coming, why are you so out of breath?” Haruhi took a deep breath in, about to respond, but then she leaned over once again and continued with the deep breaths in and out. It made Aoi think of the worst. “You didn’t get chased, did you? Are you okay? Are you being bullied? I know we just met but you seem quite cool and I will absolutely beat up whatever students, male or female or whoever, if they are a dick to you.” A flash of rage crossed the older students' eyes.

Haruhi shook her hands quickly, finally able to speak again. “No no no it’s nothing like that! I’m okay. I promise! A couple of my friends saw me texting you and started asking a whole bunch of questions about who you were since you didn’t put your last name with your number and I wasn’t sure how to spell it so I just have your name as Aoi-senpai in my phone-” She took a breath. “Anyways they thought you were like… a partner or something so when you said to meet you up here I sprinted so they couldn’t follow and pester you! I’d like to keep you separate, for a little bit at least, cause knowing the club I’m in they’ll drag you into it as well.”

Aoi blinked, and then started laughing.

“Oh Haruhi! That’s adorable oh my gods. Yeah, no, you’re lovely but I’m not interested in students two years my junior. Who are your friends anyways? You said you were part of a club and as much as I’ve heard about you around the school, I don’t pay too close attention.”

The girl sighed and covered her face with her hand before muttering something inaudible to Aoi.

“I’m……… of………. club.”

“What was that? I didn’t hear you.”

“I said I’m part of the host club!”

Aoi tilted their head, attempting to rationalize it in their head.

“Yeah I’m not really their type. But neither are you, so how did that happen?”

Haruhi sighed again, and regaled to her upperclassman the story of the 8,000,000 yen vase, the dance, and most recently, the physical exam. She told them about Tamaki’s weird daddy-daughter thing, which Aoi thought was some kink, about the twins and their chaos, about Kyouya and his private detective-esque information gathering, and finally Hani and Mori’s relative, but not quite, normalcy. 

“It still surprises me every time that those two are part of… that. But they’ve got pretty-privilege, so I guess it makes sense.” Aoi shrugged.

Just when Haruhi was about to ask Aoi about his classes and clubs, the door to the roof slammed open and there stood his fellow third-year classmates.

“Aoi! We thought you might be up here! And you’re with Haru-chan as well? Yay!”

Speak of the devil (Or in this case, devils), and he (they, in this particular situation) shall appear.

Chapter Text

“Who are you and why were you on the roof with my precious Haruhi???”

The loud blond jabbed a finger at them, leaning into Aoi’s personal space as they sat on one of the plush couches in the music room. When Haruhi told them they were going to be dragged into this, they were skeptical. But now that they were here, restrained, he wasn’t sure he would be able to escape so easily.

****

“So, what were you doing with Haru-chan at lunch?”

Aoi looked up at the short boy standing at their desk, his head cocked to the side in curiosity. Mori stood behind him as well, a similar curious look on his face, though slightly more hidden. The cyclist popped the gum in their mouth, rolling his eyes a little bit, a soft laugh coming from their mouth.

“Curiosity killed the cat, Haninozuka-Senpai, b-”

“Whaaaa!? No, that's so awful!”

“Buuuuut satisfaction brought it back. Let me finish! Jeez man.”

He looked at them with tears in his eyes, pouting, while his taller cousin shook his head with a slight laugh. “You’re so mean Aoi! And call me Hani! I'm not your senior!”

Aoi laughed again, looking up at the clock. “Yeah we got some time. Hop up.” They shifted away from their desk slightly, letting Hani sit on top of it. This was something he tended to do often, Aoi would tell stories to the boys, Hani sitting on their desk with Mori leaning against the wall next to it. Most people didn’t talk to him, on the fact of him being ‘intimidating’ and ‘probably part of a biker gang’, but not the cousins. They had no reason to be afraid of him. “Haruhi talked to me this morning, he was interested in my bike, and seemed really sweet. You two are the only ones who talk to me so… I wanted to talk more. And from what I heard-” They leaned in a little bit, lowering their voice to a whisper that only the two hosts could hear. “ She needed a break from all of you hosts.”

Both Hani and Mori’s eyes widened, and they looked at each other in awe. Hani slid off the desk quietly, took his cousin's hand, and walked across the classroom to their desks. Aoi giggled, leaning back on his chair and popping the gum once more.

****

And now they were here, surrounded. He never expected to get dragged to the host club, but it made sense if they were trying to hide Haruhi’s gender, for some reason. 

“Did you two really have to tell on me? I was just teasing, jeez. I wasn’t going to say anything, you know me! And that would be such a dick move. It's so bullshit to out people.” Aoi ignored the blond, Tamaki, who seemed to be screaming nonsense at them.

“YOU CAN’T JUST IGNORE ME!!!”

“Had to be safe.” Mori said, leaning in with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“Back up big guy, give me some space.” They scowled at him, far closer than either of them expected, and he leaned back.

“How’d you figure it out?” One of the twins spoke, standing behind the biker.

“Did you threaten them?” The other asked, next to his brother.

“Blackmail?” They said in sync. 

“BLACKMAIL!??? IS THIS TRUE KYOUYA!?”

“I sure hope not or this is going to make things difficult.” Aoi looked to the newest voice, a boy with glasses. An Ootori, they recognized. “And with someone from their family, I don’t believe it was blackmail.”

“No shit sherlock.” They said, rolling their eyes. “Hey, where is Haruhi anyways?”

“She’s not here! Not yet at least, but she’s always late. But that’s okay ‘cause we canceled today!” Hani jumped up, holding his rabbit in front of him. They realized, as much as they saw him in class, Aoi never saw the extreme of Hani’s naive act, but it seemed to be turned up to eleven as soon as he entered the music room.

“STOP IGNORING ME!” Tamaki yelled, waving his arms frantically. Aoi turned his head to the boy, finally, and blew another bubble. It popped in the blonds face.

“Oh. My. Gods. WHAT.”

He quickly fixed his hair, put on a smile, and sat next to them.

“How did you discover the truth about our dear Haruhi? There’s no way she just told you, so if you tell us how you found out, we might let you off easily.” He smiled, somehow genuine, somehow fake as well.

Aoi laughed, his hand clutching his stomach. “You’re - hahaha! - even more of a dumbass - haahahaha! - then she said!” Tamaki looked like they had just insulted his mother, but he still answered the question. “I just asked her! We were talking this morning, Haruhi seemed really nice, and I asked what pronouns she used. Y’know, cause I care about respecting who someone is. She also told me about the whole ‘Everyone thinks I’m a boy’ thing, so I’m not gonna go gossiping to the whole school." They shook their head and blew another bubble, before muttering something they thought no one would hear.

“Like they’d believe me anyways…”

This caught the attention of not one but two people who heard, who paid attention. Kyouya, who heard everything, and Mori. 

“What are you doing?”

The hosts turned towards the door, and Aoi waved at the figure standing there in disbelief.

“Hi Haruhi! Turns out you were right, and your weird cult - I mean club - friends have gotten to me! They’re like… obsessed with you.”

****

“They thought you blackmailed me?”

Haruhi sat next to Aoi on the couch, a cup of tea in hand. The other hosts watched from a distance, kept away by a glare from the brunet. The biker nodded, popping another bubble. 

“Yep. Blackmail, threats, they accused me of a lotta things because apparently there's no way you ‘would have just told me’. Guessing they’re still learning about you?” They emphasized it with air quotes, rolling their eyes as they did so. “I still don't understand why they are keeping you as a guy. There is definitely a market for the bi’s or the lesbians… y’know?” They laughed. “Even I wouldn’t mind putting on a dress every once and a while to impress the ladies.”

“I agree, I don’t think Kyouya realizes just how much he’s missing out on. I still can’t believe they thought you blackmailed me. You of all people!” The pair laughed, sensing someone coming up behind them.

“If I may interject, I would like to offer something to your guest.”

“Friend.”

“Excuse me?” 

Haruhi looked at Kyouya with a scowl. “Aoi is not a guest of mine, he is a friend. I'm not hosting them. We aren’t even hosting today, because you all overreacted and canceled club activities today.”

“Fine,” the glasses-clad student rolled his eyes. “I would like to propose something to your friend .”

“If you’re offering what I think you are-”

“I am.”

Haruhi’s eye twitched, and she looked back at Aoi. 

“I think you know what he’s offering as well.”

“Think I might.” 

“Well?” Kyouya asked.

Aoi thought for a second, before he shrugged.

“Couldn’t hurt, right? And anyways, it means there’s a bit of normalcy in your club, right?”

Chapter Text

“So… what do you want me to do? Wash dishes? Be a bouncer? Cause you sure don’t want me to host.” Aoi was helping Haruhi with her Kimono before the club opened. 

“Oh yeah, what do you want them here for?”

“Rude.” 

“That’s not what I meant, Aoi.”

Kyouya walked towards the pair, looking at his notebook. “It hasn’t been decided yet. We mostly offered you the position so we could keep an eye on you until we were sure you wouldn’t spread the… information. But the idea of a bouncer isn’t too bad, we did recently have a problem with a student. You could also point our guests in the direction of empty chairs, or towards what host they would like to visit.”

“You got it boss.” They replied.

“Hey, I’m the boss!” Tamaki yelled.

“Yeah, I’m not gonna listen to you, kid.”

****

“Oh Tamaki!” 

Aoi could hear the guests screaming from across the room, and they rolled their eyes. “Can’t catch a break from the yelling, can I.” He caught sight of a girl standing at the door, scanning the room for someone. “Hey, can I help you, miss?” 

The girl jumped slightly, her breath catching in her throat. “U-uh… I’m l-looking for-'' She stopped when they stood up from where they were leaning against a pillar to walk towards her. 

“Sorry, don’t mean to scare ya. I’ll point you in the direction of whoever you want to see.”

He stood at his full height, towering over her. She didn’t match the picture of the girl who wasn’t supposed to be in there, so they smiled sweetly at the girl. 

“Th-the twins, please.”

Aoi looked over towards where he saw them last, the piercings in their ears jingling slightly. They saw the teary eyed blush from Kaoru, being held in Hikaru’s arms. He pointed towards a set of tables, the twins ‘waiting area’. The girl thanked him and quickly walked towards one with an open seat, covering her face from a bright red blush. 

“What a tender embrace!” One of the pairs guests said. 

He rolled his eyes and directed his attention towards Haruhi, who seemed to be thriving in the environment, the girls around her batting their eyes and covering their blushes. He pointed another girl who asked for Kyouya towards the megane, who was currently talking to Haruhi. 

“Hey, Aoi!” There was pressure on their legs, and when they looked, the short blond host was clinging to them like he was climbing a tree. “How’s being a bouncer?”

“It’s a good gig, I guess. I get to watch everything, so that's nice.” 

“Well that's good!”

“Mitsukuni… let him do his job.” Mori walked up, standing next to Aoi. 

They smiled at the tall host, and though he wasn’t much taller, he had to look up at Mori. He put a new piece of gum in his mouth, chewing it while ruffling Hani’s head. 

“S’all good, Mori. I really don’t mind. There isn’t anyone here to direct just yet anyways.” 

“If you say so.”

The third year trio looked over to see the twins, now bothering Haruhi as well. She looked annoyed, and Aoi wanted to get her out of there. Their eye twitched at the boys invading her space. He ruffled Hani’s hair, a calming motion, the strands falling through his finger rhythmically. The boy looked up at them, cocking his head, and then looked back to where the biker was watching. 

And then he ran over to the group. 

But left a sandal behind. 

“Well… that's one way to deal with it. He’s really going for a ‘Cinderella’ tactic, isn’t he?” Aoi picked up the sandal, and held it out to Mori. “I’d go hand it to him but uh… think I’d spook the guests.” He popped the gum once again, as if to solidify the point.

Mori sighed, before taking the sandal from them. His fingers brushed theirs as he held it, and spoke a quick, “Thank you.” before he sped off after Hani, suddenly moving much faster than before they touched.

Aoi watched the host go, wondering what his reaction was about. 

They decided to ignore it, and sat down at an empty table. Club activities were about to end, and guests didn’t normally show up that late. He watched the hosts and guests interacting with each other, with the ways they smiled when giving Haruhi sweets for her mother, and the way she brushed them off so easily. He heard them mentioning tears and crying, and they saw one of the twins fiddling with a small bottle of something. Probably eye drops. It was nice to see, even if they weren’t able to join in. Too intimidating, apparently. 

It’s not like Aoi tried to be intimidating, quite the opposite, actually. He just had a specific style, the one that made everyone assume they were a thug. A “Bad Boy”. He sighed, drawing small patterns with his finger on the table. They hoped that joining the club would make himself more approachable, less terrifying, but apparently not. But he remembered his mother having the same issues. Just because she was a racer, just because she was physically stronger than their father, people were intimidated by her. They didn’t want to approach her, and wouldn't interview her. But she worked through it, she proved them wrong, so why couldn’t he?

“Uhm… Hello?”

The soft voice startled Aoi from their thoughts, and he looked to the door to see a girl standing half in the doorway, hiding behind the door. She looked anxious, her eyes darting around the loud room. 

“Hi, sorry I didn’t hear you come in. We don't normally get guests this late into the day.” He stood up from the table, holding out his hand to the girl as they pulled out the chair across. “I don’t think I have ever seen you here before, would you care to talk to me a bit before one of the hosts comes to see you? They are a bit…” they looked at the group, still completely oblivious of the door. “Distracted at the moment.”

She looked thoughtful for a minute before nodding and sitting down at the table.

“Again, I am sorry. I’m not technically a host, and the boys are doing their own thing like they always do. It’s a surprise they get any guests at all. But anyways, what's your name?”

“My name is Renge Houshakuji.”

“I’m Aoi, pleasure to meet ya! Is there someone in particular you came here to see?”

The girl, Renge, nodded. “Yes! I’d like to see Ich- Kyouya Ootori! I’d love to speak to Kyouya.”

“We can do that, he should be free soon…” They were slightly confused at the slip of her words but ignored it. “Let me go talk to him!” They stood up and gave the girl a smile. “Just stay here, I’ll be right back, hopefully with Kyouya in tow!”

They walked away, towards the group of hosts in which the twins and Tamaki had mysteriously disappeared from. It confused them, but again, he just ignored it. Everything about this day was confusing. When they reached the group, Kyouya turned towards him with a frown.

“Shouldn’t you be by the door, Aoi-senpai?” His eye twitched, assuming the worst.

“Yeah well you guys aren’t doing your job properly. I actually came over here because a new guest would like to see you, I think she might’ve just transferred here.”

“Oh, and who might that be?” The scowl was gone from his face, now an expression of mild interest took its place.

“Some girl name Renge Housha-”

“No! Don’t touch me! You’re a phony!”

They all looked over to the screaming and there Renge was, surrounded by Hikaru, Kaoru, and the one she was calling phony - Tamaki.

“Her?”

Aoi sighed, and started preparing to round up the guests since they were sure the club was ending early that day. “Yeah. That’s her. I’ll start getting the other guests out, Haruhi do you mind helping me?”

The girl looked at her senior with confusion, ignoring the barrage of insults being thrown at their club president. “Why?”

That was, Haruhi looked confused until the girl causing all of this chaos and drama threw herself at Kyouya, nearly tackling him to the ground. “Oh, how I’ve longed to meet you, my one and only Prince Charming!”

“Nevermind. I understand now.”

****

Aoi stepped off their Motorcycle, the chill of underground parking making him shiver slightly. He pulled his messenger bag from the storage compartment and made their way to the elevators. Their keys had something to scan in them, allowing them to press the button to the top floor - the penthouse. 

“You’re home early! What’s the occasion?” Their mother yelled from the kitchen when he entered the apartment, and when he walked into the kitchen he saw her sitting down with a cup of coffee in hand. She smiled at them sweetly, like he was the center of her world. It made Aoi smile too. 

“Ah, yeah. They sent me home early, and didn't need me there for the meeting they were having. Some new student showed up and she caused some… chaos today.” they sighed, sliding their bag off his shoulder and letting it fall to the floor with a thud. It hurt to remember, no matter how much Haruhi and Hani begged Kyouya to not kick them out, Aoi was apparently ‘too new and could scare Renge’ to be allowed in the meeting. 

“Aw, I’m sorry hun that’s really shitty. Didn’t you just join the club?”

“Yep.” He popped the p. Their mothers vulgar language was not out of the ordinary. “They just… don't trust me yet. I think I'm too intimidating. Too scary.”

Hideku Chiharu stood up and walked to her kid, reaching out her arms, a silent ask if he needed a hug. The leather of the protective suit she was wearing squeaked slightly, and It made Aoi laugh before he was enveloped in the hug. 

“Getting ready for a race tonight?”

“You remembered! Yes, so there's leftovers in the fridge from last night.”

“Oh right. Dad’s working late too, isn't he.”

“Yeah… he’s meeting with a client, they want him to sponsor some car show.”

“Lame.”

“You got that right.” The tall woman let go, smiling at patting his shoulder. “You should get your homework started.”

Aoi nodded and picked their bag up again, before disappearing to their room. 

He closed the door, slumping against it and sighing again, tears welling up in their eyes. They stayed there for a while, hearing their mother leave for some race. They stayed sitting there long enough, streaks of eyeliner ran down their face, the salty, stinging tears flowing. They heard Eiko, his little sister, arrive home. Aoi didn’t go to say hello, though, they didn't want her to see him in this state. 

Their phone buzzed, and they looked down at who had messaged them. 

--

Unknown number: I apologize for not asking you, but this is Takashi Morinozuka. I first asked Haruhi for your number, but she said I should ask you myself. So instead I asked your sister after Karate club today. Again, I am sorry.

--

Aoi smiled at his formality, shaking their head slightly. He saved their classmates' number and texted back. 

-- Mori --

Aoi: It’s all good, not like you had much of a chance today. It’s nice to hear from you, Mori.

Mori: Thank you. I also wanted to apologize for what happened today.

Aoi: Again, it’s fine. I get it.

Mori: I wanted to fight Kyouya with Haruhi and Mitsukuni but I didn’t have the words. You deserved to be there just as much as the rest of us. 

Mori: And, for the record, I do not believe you are intimidating.

Aoi: Thanks Mori, but I don’t think you or Hani are a good judge of how intimidating someone is. And thank you for the kind thoughts, but I honestly don’t think it was going to change anything. Once Kyouya has his mind set in a direction, that’s what's happening.

Mori: I guess you are correct on both accounts. 

Aoi: I’m okay with it, I promise. I’m used to it. Thank you for the support, though. I’ve gotta eat, have a good evening. I’ll see you tomorrow?

Mori: See you tomorrow. Have a good evening.

--

Even if he didn’t say it, Mori being in their corner as well made Aoi smile. Maybe he could get through it, with his support.

Chapter Text

Streets sped by as he rode.

Once again, Aoi rode their bike to school. They saw the familiar blue uniform of Haruhi on the train next to him, and he smiled and sped up. It was both of their game now, seeing who would get there first. It was almost always the biker, since he had actual control of his speed, but every day he witnessed haruhi sprinting to the school, attempting to catch up or make some sort of difference.

They parked the motorcycle in the same spot they did every day, and continued the same routine. Check the ID, helmet off, ponytail fix, jacket off, messenger bag out. But this time, again, Haruhi stared at their back. 

“What, do I have something on my uniform?” 

They looked at the girl, who just kept scanning his outfit up and down, over and over again. 

“Haruhi?” He snapped at her, trying to get her attention. The snapping seemed to work, drawing her from the trance. 

“Yeah I- sorry. Why are you…”

“Wearing a skirt?”

“Yeah.”

If Aoi was being perfectly honest, he wasn’t sure. It was out of the ordinary, more so than their previous makeshift uniform, this time just a long, lemon yellow skirt (different from the one on the female uniform, nah, that shit’s itchy.) and a white dress shirt, tucked into the skirt. It was surprisingly comfortable to wear on their motorcycle, but the way that Haruhi kept staring at him made them wonder if he should regret wearing it.

“Does… does it look bad?”

“No!” She shook her hands frantically. “No, not at all! You look great I just… I’m confused. I mean, the types of clothes people wear doesn’t matter, it just doesn’t seem like… something you’d wear? Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, this isn’t going to become a common thing or whatever. I thought, maybe, it’ll make me less intimidating, I guess.”

“Intimidating? What do you mean?” 

The pair started walking towards the school, with everyone still gawking at the fact that Aoi was walking with a host, and the fact that he was in a skirt.

“Well… all of yesterday. I’m not an actual host because I’m too scary. I’m Intimidating. Everyone assumes I’m dangerous, or a thug, or have bad intentions cause I have lots of piercings and coloured hair and chew lots of gum. Doesn’t matter how nice I am to people, they assume the worst. Or that’s how it feels. Before you, Mori and Hani were the only people to talk to me anymore, and I was pretty sure that was just because my sister is in the Karate club. I don’t think that's the case anymore, but for a while I would have sworn it was the truth.”

Haruhi thought for a minute. It was impossible to read her while she was thinking, silence only broken by the sounds of their dress shoes clicking against the brick path to the school. 

“I don’t think you’re intimidating.”

“Thank you, Haruhi.”

***

“SEXUAL HARASSMENT?! If that counts as sexual harassment then they’re twice as guilty! Someone call the police!”

As soon as Aoi entered Music Room #3, they immediately wanted to leave.

Mori and Hani were running around the room, being chased by the girl from yesterday; Haruhi had a slight blush on her face as she looked down at the floor and mumbled; the Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki were yelling at each other (Tamaki yelling about calling the police and sexual harassment); and Kyouya stood away from it all, writing in his book.

“What the fuck?”

The aforementioned host looked up from what he was doing for a split second before he went back to writing. 

“Apologies, Miss, but the club is closed today.”

“I know Kyouya, that’s why I’m here.”

He looked up again, doing a double take when he saw their outfit. “Oh, Aoi-Senpai. I didn’t recognize you. Come in, you remember Renge?”

“I do,” They said, setting his messenger bag down and pulling out a piece of gum. “I don’t wanna be rude, but why is she here if the club is closed?”

The girl stopped running, ending up in front of Aoi. “I’m the manager! Did you forget already?! Also why are you wearing a skirt today? Are you a crossdresser?”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “No, I didn’t forget. Do you not remember how I was kicked out early yesterday, forced out of the meeting that would have told me everything I needed to know about this?” He said, ignoring the cross-dresser comment. She wasn’t technically wrong, but it was kinda rude to say it like that.

“O-oh I’m”

“Not to mention the fact that no one thought it would be important to… I don’t know… update me afterwards? Like, I understand that it was my first day and all that, but I didn’t think that I was that forgettable, y’know?” They popped a gum bubble, the hosts who were paying attention - Kyouya, Mori, Haruhi, and now Renge - looking incredibly guilty. “But that’s in the past now. Great to hear you’re working with us Renge. Anything else I missed?”

Tamaki looked up from his argument finally, and upon seeing the beautiful blue-haired guest sitting at the table, he just had to use his princely charm on them, even if just to prove a point to his new manager. “Ah mademoiselle! Who might you be? Our club is closed today but I think we can make an exception for a beautiful guest like you~” He held their hand to kiss it.

Aoi’s eye twitched.

“I thought she was being harsh yesterday, but I think Renge might be right, you are phony, Tamaki! Don’t fucking touch me.”

Violet eyes widened.

“A-A-A-Aoi-Senpai????”

“You’re right Tama-Chan! He looks really pretty today!!! Isn’t that right, Takashi?”

Mori just looked away and nodded. He didn’t even say the usual ‘yeah’ response, just nodded.

‘So when I’m trying to be myself, I’m intimidating and unapproachable. But when I’m trying to be approachable, everything goes wrong so now I’m being a total asshole, but at the same time I’m too approachable and they completely forget who I am??? What is my life?’

“Renge-Chan, Renge-Chan! Want some? It’s milk.” Hani left Mori’s side, bounding up to the girl with a bunny-cup full of milk in hand.

“Lukewarm.”

“Huh?”

"Every single one of you! Except for Kyoya and Aoi-Senpai, all of your characters are lukewarm! Each of you needs to have some sort of dark side, you understand?” She stood up on a table before continuing her monologue. “Girls are vulnerable to handsome young men who are troubled! If you keep carrying on like this it's only a matter of time before the girls get tired of you and stop coming altogether! Are you trying to ruin my precious Kyoya's business?! As your manager it's my duty to change your character backgrounds! Let's start with you!" She pointed at Hani.

But as Renge started listing off everything they had to change, Aoi just thought.

‘I’m not even a host, how am I suddenly the only other “character” that she tolerates? Is it because I scared her? Not to mention even Mori won't look at me. So much for not believing I’m intimidating. Fucking hell. I’m so confused.’ 

Aoi put their head in his hands, everything suddenly becoming too overwhelming. 

‘Even if neither of them are scared of me, what does THAT mean? How do they actually see me? Now that I’m all feminine, I’m a completely different person. Either I’m a girl and they don’t recognize me or I’m a crossdresser. Can’t I just be Aoi?’

The voices of Tamaki finally impressing Renge swirled with Hikaru and Kaoru trying to negotiate with Kyouya, and those mixed with Hani and Mori mumbling in the distance about something. So far away and yet so close. 

“Aoi, are you okay?”

Haruhi’s soft voice cut through it all, a beacon, a lighthouse. A hand landed on his shoulder, much larger than Haruhi’s would be, so he assumed it was Mori.

“Yeah. Just confused and overwhelmed is all.”

“Sorry I didn’t text you last night. I completely fell asleep when I got home.” She said.

“S’okay.”

“Me too, I was going to tell you today.” Mori’s baritone voice said, solidifying the fact that it was his hand on their shoulder.

“Why didn’t you?”

“...”

“Mori?”

“Got distracted and forgot.”

Aoi sighed, lifting their head from the table, squinting his eyes from the light. The other hosts were gone, the room only full of Haruhi, Mori, and Aoi. The quietest of the bunch, and most ‘normal’ according to Haruhi. The rest must’ve forgotten about them.

“Why does she like my character? I don’t even HAVE a character. I’m not even a host.”

“That might change now,” The shortest said, bringing her hand up in a thinking motion. “I asked Renge about it, she said that being so comfortable in your masculinity to wear a skirt was incredibly admirable to girls, apparently. You’re the ‘Progressive Bad Boy’, or something, completely defying all labels and boxes they have tried to push you in. I don’t know, it was kinda confusing.”

Mori nodded along, rubbing Aoi’s back. 

“Huh, guess this will be… exciting?”

***

They had to admit, getting to wear their Hollyhock embroidered leather jacket for the movie was a plus. It was probably the only plus, though. Instead of doing host club things like normal, Aoi spent the first half hour reading through a script Renge had brought in, the next half hour watching the twins film some of their scenes (which still had the twinscest thing going on) while Tamaki because a 13 year old edgelord, and now he was driving through trees in the “rain” for Mori, Hani, Haruhi, and his scene. Renge’s voiceover ran through their minds.

“One lonely heart meets another. They pass each other, wounding one another. What are the hearts of these young men made of?”

Haruhi hid behind a tree, sliding down it to catch her breath. 

“You can’t run away forever. I’m gonna show you what happens to people who cross me.” Hani spoke, his voice feigning malice. 

“Don’t do it Mitsukuni, you should've realized by now whenever you hurt others, you’re really just hurting yourself.” Mori’s speech was calm and collected, like normal.

“I didn’t ask you for any advice, you want me to put you over my knee again?” The shorter boy snapped back. 

His Motorcycle revved, Coming to a sliding stop in the group through the mud. It sprayed haruhi slightly, who was still trying to make herself smaller by the tree, having been found by Hani.

“Will it be the light of salvation that ultimately awaits these boys? Or will it be something else?”

Aoi threw his leg over the bike, standing tall above Hani. Their leather jacket had droplets of water sliding off it, and eyeliner ran down their face. For once, his blue hair was out of its ponytail, instead just hanging loose in the rain. 

“You touch a hair on either of their heads, and you gotta deal with me.” They fished a cigarette from their pocket, putting the unlit cancer-stick in their mouth. “And you don’t wanna deal with me, Haninozuka.”

“As if someone like you could fight me. Run off, lady, your makeup’s running.”

Even if they were just acting, Hearing Hani say something like that made Aoi wince.

“Y’know, it really pisses me off when people don’t know their place.” He paused. Hani was supposed to say another line, but he just couldn’t. Tears started falling from his eyes again, and he ran over and pulled both Aoi and Haruhi into a hug, pulling Mori with him. “I’m so sorry Haru-chan! Aoi! Takashi! I can’t do this anymore!!!” 

The blue-haired biker rubbed his back, whispering that it was okay, he didn’t have to.

“CUT! Cut cut cut!” The fake rain stopped, leaving the four in the mud, shivering. Renge stomped over, waving the script in the air wildly. “What’s wrong with you, you gotta stick to the script!”

“But I can’t!”

The blonde girl motioned to the crew around them, all manning cameras, mics, lights, the rain, and countless other things the club didn’t understand. “Stop rolling cameraman!

Some guy said “Yes boss” and they assumed it was over. Until Renge started talking again about the ‘rain making things seem tragic.’

Haruhi left the group to go talk to Hikaru and Kaoru who were sitting and watching, allowed to take a break finally. Aoi stuck with Hani and Mori after Renge had left. 

“This sucks.”

The cousins looked at them, and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah… she’s really mean.” Hani added.

“Very.” Mori agreed.

The trio sighed, still standing in the mud. Aoi took off his Leather jacket, revealing the borrowed male student uniform underneath to ‘Match the others.’ It was more comfortable than the female uniform, but still not great. They shrugged that jacket off as well. They ran their hand on their motorcycle, covered in mud and tiny marks on the paint from driving through the trees. Supposedly, it was supposed to make it look more rugged and fit the ‘Bad Boy’ vibe more. 

“I’m going to be cleaning this for days… I can’t believe she didn’t tell me about the mud first.”

Mori set his hand on their shoulder, shaking his head in an attempt to comfort them. “She’s annoying.”

“Watch out!”

Hani ran towards the voice immediately, recognizing it as Haruhi’s. What she was yelling was not in the script. Aoi got on his bike, motioning for the taller host to get on behind him. He wrapped his arms around their waist, holding on tights as they revved the bike once again, speeding off after Hani. 

It was comforting, having Mori’s arms wound tightly around them, and it felt trusting. Even though Aoi was the one driving, they felt like he would protect them. But not just that it felt like - in a weird, convoluted way - Mori knew they would protect him too.

It was nice.

When they reached the yelling, It seemed like the problem had been solved. Tamaki had his arm on Haruhi’s shoulder, while she talked to Renge. Kyouya held a rock in his hand which smashed the camera's lens, Hani had his arms crossed and was scanning the area for anyone suspicious, and the twins were terrorizing crew members. Mori and Aoi were late to the party.

But neither particularly minded, it seemed too chaotic anyways.

***

“I bought the film you made!”

“I bought it too!”

“And so did I!”

The next day was back to their regularly scheduled hosting. Or, an attempt at it. 

“Huh?” the hosts (And Aoi) questioned together.

“You did?” Tamaki asked.

“That scene in the rain was just phenomenal!”

“I love the lonely prince!”

“And the loving relationship between Hikaru and Kaoru is so sweet!”

“I wanna see Hani act like a thug again! He was so cute!”

“I couldn’t get enough of Haruhi’s poignant expressions!”

“And Mori’s selflessness was to die for!”

“Not to mention, Aoi being so defensive and protective, while trying to keep up the intimidation!”

Kyouya stood away from them all, smiling as he wrote in his notebook.

“Kyouya?” The hosts asked.

“I may have broken the camera’s lens, but the footage that we had already shot wasn’t damaged. Naturally I cut out that one violence scene. Our sales have been pretty good so far, the Hollywood film crew did a fantastic job. But I guess that’s to be expected.” He said, closing the book.

“So this is what you meant by interesting?” The ‘lonely prince’ asked.

“It’s best to have as much money as we can in the club's budget. Oh, and many of our guests have been asking if this means Aoi will officially be joining the hosting roster, like an introduction piece, since they were the only one who didn’t have to change anything.”

The person in question looked flabbergasted, surrounded by swooning guests and blushing faces. “Uh…”

“Good day everyone!” 

The hosts looked towards the new arrival, seeing their manager.

“Renge? But I thought you had gone back to France already.” Tamaki asked, just full of questions that day.

The dark-blond girl ignored him, going straight to Haruhi to monologue about something.

Aoi was still confused. Of course they were, they had gone from ignored by everyone, to having a couple friends, to being completely adored by many many girls in the span of a week. It was a lot to take in. 

“So.. Kyouya does this mean-”

“Yes, Aoi-Senpai. It would be quite useful to have you as an actual Host now. There were some requests beforehand, but few of the ladies who are now fawning all over you had the courage to ask me about it earlier.”

“Huh.”

“They seem to like your bravery and chivalry, the common choice between a hero and a villain as the love interest. One would sacrifice them for the world, and the other-” He pointed at the blue-haired host. “Would sacrifice the world for them. Almond some of our guests, really like that.”

“Huh.”

“And they seem to like your style. They like the skirts, so keep that up.”

The new host thought, quietly. And then they popped a bubblegum bubble once again.

Chapter Text

“So, Aoi, what brought you to the host club?”

A group of guests sat at a table by the windows, while the host they had come to see leaned against the windowsill. He had a lollipop - a suggestion by Hani - in his mouth, taking the place of a cigarette. It still kept the same aesthetic, but without the smoke, bad rep, and lung problems. He smiled, pulling the lollipop out of his mouth. 

“Well, I became friends with Haruhi. Things just seemed to snowball from there. All of the hosts are really protective of him, so when they heard that I was hanging out with him, they brought me in. I guess to keep an eye on me or something.”

“That's so mean!”

“Eh, I don’t blame them. Besides,” They stood up to their full 182 cm height, towering over the girls sitting down. He walked over to them with his hands in his pockets, a sly smile on their face. His lip piercing and nose ring shone in the sunlight, making their demeanor even more intimidating. He leaned in close to one of the girls, bringing his voice to a low growl, loud enough for the rest at the table to hear. “Wouldn’t you be worried if someone like me started hanging around one of your friends? Someone scary and intimidating, stealing your friend away until who knows when, doing who knows what?” 

The girls giggled and blushed at the implications, fanning their faces. 

“Anyways, it turned out to be kinda fun. And I get to talk to sweet ladies like you. Give the other hosts some real competition, y’know? They’re nice and all, but I’d sweep you off your feet, and take you with me.” 

One or two swooned, all blushing and squealing. They loved the cocky-possessiveness of Aoi’s hosting, something they didn’t really get with the other hosts. He played it up well. But he also reminded them how sweet he could be, by caressing one of the guests cheeks. 

“I wouldn’t be angry if you did go to a different host, I can’t provide everything you want and all that… but I’ll be sad to see you talking to someone else. I’ll have to keep myself from picking you up and carrying you back to me.”

This really got them going, the guests couldn’t speak, they were so flustered. It made him suppress a laugh of his own, surprised at how naturally it came to him. 

“Let's play the ‘Which one is Hikaru’ game!”

Aoi rolled their eyes, pulled from hosting by the devil twins. “Dammit you two, can’t you tell I'm busy with these darling ladies?”

Hikaru and Kaoru danced around the group in a hypnotizing way, switching and swerving around so you could never get a good look at one of them. Green caps adorned their heads, covering their hair so you couldn’t tell who was who. The red-heads smiled, in a way that sent a shiver down Aoi’s spine, and it wasn’t in a good way. 

“C’mon, take a break! I'm sure your ‘darling ladies’ wouldn’t mind.” The twins spoke in a creepy unison, sounding like something from a horror movie. No one else seemed to take note of it though, so It must’ve been a common occurrence. 

“We don’t mind!” 

“Fine. How do you play?”

“Well, you just point at which one you think is Hikaru!”

Finally, they stopped their switching and stood still. They continued with the creepy double-speak, but he guessed that was so someone wouldn’t tell the difference with their voices. He looked between them, back and forth, until he came to a decision. 

“You’re Hikaru, and you’re Kaoru.” 

“Wrong!”

Aoi shrugged, playing with the lollipop. “Yeah I’m not surprised. I can’t tell the difference yet, but hopefully at some point I’ll be able to. I know you guys are different, your own people, but I don’t know you well enough yet. Maybe someday, though.”

The pair blinked, and without saying anything walked off, instead going to Haruhi. They couldn’t tell if they were mad at him, he hoped not. 

“That was really sweet, Aoi-Senpai!” One of their guests said, sipping her tea. 

“Eh, it’s just the truth. I speak what I feel.” He shrugged again, and the Guests blushed some more.

****

It wasn’t long before the twins' game went sideways. 

Aoi watched the whole thing from a distance, from Nekozawa’s introduction to when they asked to go over to Haruhi’s house, to Haruhi winning their game, the first person to do so. It was interesting to see, with the girl explaining exactly how they could tell the difference. Which was apparently, the wrong answer. 

It was the right answer, and they made sure to store that information for later. The reason that it was ‘wrong’, was it started a huge fight. 

“Who are you calling an idiot!? You’re the one who sucks at math!” Hikaru yelled.

“Oh Yeah? Well you’re failing your foreign language class you big dummy!” Kaoru yelled back.

“The way you grind your teeth is deafening!”

“At least I don’t toss and turn so much that I fall out of bed!”

Everyone watched the ping pong of insults, guests who were visiting other hosts started joining the crowd around the twins, as if it was a special event.

“Sex Pixie!

“Sicko!”

“Your mama wears too much makeup! That's it! We're over!” They yelled in sync.

All of the hosts (other than the fuming pair who now refused to look at each other) started ushering out the guests. 

“I hope Kao-Chan and Hika-Chan sort things out soon, I don't like how much they’re yelling at each other.” Hani said sadly, from his perch on Mori’s shoulders.

“Mhm.” the tall host nodded.

“I agree, the yelling isn’t great.” They flicked the lollipop stick into a garbage can as the group of hosts walked towards the gates, having left the arguing pair in the music room.

“Such loving brothers shouldn’t fight like that! Sometimes, a sibling is the only person you can rely on!”

“How would you know, Tamaki? You and I are the only hosts who don’t have siblings, you can’t say anything about that.” Haruhi deadpanned. 

“She is correct, how would you know? Though, I too hope they stop fighting. It could have problems with our sales…” Kyouya looked in his notebook.

When the group reached the gate, they waited together for each other's limos to show up. First was Tamaki, then Kyouya, followed by Hani and Mori.

“Haru-chan, Aoi, would you like a ride home?” Hani asked, leaning out of the vehicle.

“Well, I’ll be riding home myself, but maybe Haruhi will.” Aoi responded, pointing towards where they parked their motorcycle. 

“Uh, well, not home, but maybe just to the train station?”

Hani and Mori seemed happy with that response, and they pulled her into the limo, leaving with a wave. Once he no longer saw them, Aoi walked back into the campus and back to their ride. As they walked towards where he parked, a pair of footsteps seemed to follow him.

They pulled their leather jacket from the storage in their motorbike, and when they turned around, there stood the twins sheepishly. Not fighting.

“Sooo… did you guys make up already or was it an act?”

Hikaru and Kaoru stared at them, their mouths agape, until Kaoru shook his head to snap out of it. 

“Are we really that predictable?” He asked, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. 

“Yep.” They said, popping the p. 

The twins laughed, swinging their arms around each other in a half-hug. “Well, You caught us!” they said in unison. “It was an act!”

“And we had something to ask you.” Hikaru said.

Aoi motioned for them to ask away as they continued getting their stuff ready to go.

“Well, our parents are on a trip somewhere…” Hikaru started.

“So we wanted to ask if we could stay the night at yours?” Kaoru added.

“You seem the most reasonable, and the most fun-”

“To not reveal our plan!”

“And you can get to know us better, too! You said you wanted to learn about us, right?” They finished, like they were promoting some product. Aoi thought for a moment, and he pulled out his phone. 

“Let me ask my family if they’d be comfortable with that.”

The twins cheered as he texted the group chat.

-- Chiharu Pit Crew --

Lead Mechanic Aoi: Hey, would it be alright if a couple of my friends stayed the night? Their parents are out of town.

Racer Mom: I’d be okay with it! I’ll be at a race, but I trust you won't let them burn the house down.

Strategist Eiko: As long as they stay out of my room, fine.

Lead Mechanic Aoi: They won’t go in your room, Ko. I’ll make sure of it.

Team Manager Dad: Which friends? I’m comfortable with them coming over, I’m just curious on who?

Lead Mechanic Aoi: Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin. They’re in the host club with me.

Team Manager Dad: The Hitachiin twins, really? Interesting. I’ll be sure to cook extra today. 

Lead Mechanic Aoi: Thanks! I’ll tell them to be here at like… 8 or 9. Y’know, since I can’t really take them back on my bike.

Strategist Eiko: You could, you’d just need two trips. Or you could squish one in storage. 

Lead Mechanic Aoi: Lol, sure. When the cops come to the door cause I stuffed one in storage and he died, you can answer. I’ll be home soon.

---

“You guys can stay the night, I’ll text you my address.”

They cheered again, swapping numbers before running off to get to their limo. 

“We’ll tell you everything tonight!”

“Thank you, Aoi-Senpai!”

****

“So, let me get this straight. You plan to keep this fight going until Haruhi lets you see her house?”

Aoi, their sister Eiko, their father Kōsuke, and the twins sat around the dinner table in the Chiharu apartment.

“Yeah, basically.” They said in unison. 

“Why?” Eiko asked, the Junior High student incredibly interested in the High-school drama.

“Well, it’s more fun this way!”

The older student and his father shook their heads disapprovingly. “It’s silly is what it is.” The blue haired one said. “But I know I can’t stop you.” 

They soon finished up with food, and Aoi started collecting plates to put them in the dishwasher. 

“Thanks for dinner, dad!” The youngest said, also picking things up. 

“Yeah, thank you Mr. Chiharu!” Kaoru echoed, looking around for what to help with since Aoi had already taken his plate.

“It was delicious! You really made it yourself?” Hikaru asked, mirroring his brother's motions. 

“No duh, You watched him make it! It was very good, thanks dad.” Aoi said after finishing putting the dishes away.

“Yes, I did. Why, do your parents not often cook for you?”

“Nah, One of the maids normally does it.” Hikaru replied.

“And they don’t let us in the kitchen to watch.” Karou said.

“They think we’d break something.” They spoke in unison. 

The Chiharu trio just looked at them, not saying anything, not moving. It was just so… bizarre to them, sounded so sad. The twins still sat and looked at each other like it was nothing, because to them it was nothing. It was normal. 

“Well… you boys can stay the night whenever you need to. Maybe at some point Hideku will be home, their mother.” Kōsuke pointed at his kid and his daughter. “Anyways, I assume you will be alright in Aoi’s room? I don’t care how late you stay up, just get some sleep and don't keep the rest of us awake, got it?”

Kaoru, Hikaru, and Aoi jokingly saluted. “Got it!”

They led the twins to their room, pointing out things like a bathroom, linen closet, kitchen, and the rest of his family's rooms before the trio made it to theirs. 

It was fairly organized, lived in but not an absolute mess. Embroidery materials sat on a table, a pair of jeans with various flowers stitched on was the current project, and the Hitachiin duo gushed over the needlework. Posters of racers, musicians, and some art prints littered the walls, with printed pictures and polaroids of bikes, plants, and people mixed among them. The bed was big, not massive but big enough the three of them could probably fit snugly on it, near the center of the room. A door to the side led to a bathroom, with a shower and quite a lot of hair-dye supplies. 

“So, you told me your plan, we're here in my room, now what?”

The twins smiled slyly at each other and set down their overnight bags, pulling out a few boxes of hair bleach, and blue and pink hair dye.

It was going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

The roof was quiet, once again. Aoi liked the quiet up there, uninterrupted by loud classmates and people assuming the worst. But they just looked at the staircase up, craving to sit and watch the clouds pass by while eating last night's leftovers. This day wasn’t going to be a chill and quiet day, though, that much he knew. They hadn’t seen or heard the… excitement, from what he helped the twins with the night before. He was just a bit curious to see how their plan was going.

The cafeteria was chaotic. It seemed like the entire student body had surrounded a table, all gasping and watching with awe. As soon as Aoi walked up to the group, they parted as if he was edgy moses, parting the sea. It made them roll their eyes. The action did cause them to have a wonderful view of the scene being caused. 

Hikaru and Kaoru - Kaoru with bright blue hair and Hikaru with an equally bright pink - stood on opposite ends of an unreasonably long table, tossing anything and everything they could get their hands on at each other. Food, chairs, Usa-chan, Hani, plates-

“Hani???” The blue-haired host didn't even notice they said anything until they saw students flinch around him.

It had barely been 10 minutes since they had last seen their classmate, and here he was, tossed between a couple of spiteful twins. Aoi made their way over to the hosts, hoping to ask Haruhi how it had happened (removing any suspicion from them at the same time). As soon as he made it to the group, Mori lunged to try and catch his smaller cousin. 

Aoi watched the tall host make it into the line of fire where a mountain of random stuff piled up, and they watched him reach up to catch Hani. They watched as his hands held the shorter boy, rescuing him from the awful fate the Hitachiins had bestowed upon him. They saw the sigh of relief Mori released, immediately replaced by slight surprise when he was picked up instead. Takashi Morinozuka, 192 cm, feared and loved by many, flying across the cafeteria, between cotton-candy brothers. 

He made eye contact with Aoi, shooting them a barely visible glance of confused concern, before he seemed to accept his and Hani’s fate. The shorter boy sat in the taller’s lap as they bounced back and forth like an idiotic game of ping-pong.

The only third year not currently on the Hitachiin thrill ride leaned towards Haruhi who had an expression of absolute exhaustion on her face. 

“Sooo… what caused it this time?”

She took a deep breath in, ready to explain, until they saw Tamaki get tossed as well, causing her to release the breath with a sigh. 

“Long story. Let's go eat on the roof. See you later Kyouya.” The host who hadn’t said anything since Aoi arrived just nodded at them as Haruhi pulled them towards the exit. Kyouya looked like he had wanted to ask something, but shook his head, deciding against it. It made Aoi tilt their head in confusion, before their vision was obscured by the crowd of students closing once more.

****

“So after they were done all being weird about my food, Kaoru threw soup at Hikaru cause Hikaru ate the food off of Kaoru’s spoon that was meant for me - I didn’t care, I just wanted to eat my leftovers from last night - but it didn't hit Hikaru cause Hikaru pulled Tamaki down with his tie as a human shield, which caused the whole thing! God they just all annoy me so much! Some days I swear you are the only sanity in that stupid club.” Haruhi was waving her arms around exasperatedly, barely touching her lunch. It made them chuckle, their friend becoming more energetic than he had seen. It made Aoi feel a little bit bad, remembering that he was in on Hikaru and Kaoru’s plan. Remembering how it was supposed to end…

“Well, thanks, but I’m not so sure about that, Haruhi. Maybe I'm hiding something so awful I can’t speak of it, cause if I told you I’d have to kill you.” He wiggled his fingers at her, like he was casting a spell of some kind.

“Oh please. I already know you’re gay.”

Her immediate response made Aoi pause, the shock stunning them into silence. Wind filled the silence between them, reminding both of just how empty the school could feel at some points. In a world where the way people perceived you dictated so much, the ‘commoner’ - a girl dressing up as a boy to try and fit in, follow everyone's expectations - and the ‘bad boy’ - a gay, transgender motorcyclist that everyone thought was part of a gang - were isolated. It was lonely, but they had each other. The pair still was unsure of how much they could trust the club, but they hoped that would change. 

The moment of somber silence was broken as Aoi attempted to stifle a laugh, causing Haruhi to try not to laugh in return, but they both failed. Giggling without remorse on the roof of the school like they had known each other their whole lives, Haruhi and Aoi didn’t need to say anything to agree. ‘You are my best friend.’

“No duh!” Aoi laughed.

***

It was quiet in the club. Well, as quiet as it could be with the two previous red-heads constantly arguing. It had sullied the mood in the Music room, with the hosts agitatedly sitting at a couple tables as the twins continued to make another mountain of stuff. Tamaki kept sighing, Kyouya jabbed at numbers on a calculator, and Hani kept worriedly looking back at the twins. Mori seemed to be the only one unaffected by it. Aoi knew better than that, they saw the way his eyes kept darting around, ready to jump in and stop the fight if need be.

Aoi clenched the seat of the chair they were sitting on in trepidation, guilt of what they had helped with fully catching up to them. They felt awful. So horribly awful. 

"Looking at the numbers, if this situation isn't resolved, I'm afraid we're going to have to stop offering our brotherly love package. We're down one pair of loving brothers.” Kyouya said, his eye twitching in annoyance. He looked up from his calculations, making eye contact with Haruhi. His glasses reflected the light, obscuring what they could see partially, only understanding he was pissed. “Oh, Haruhi, I just want you to know there's no reason for you to feel responsible. Even though it was your tactless comment that started this whole feud between the twins in the first place, right?" The host in question sighed, and Aoi could tell what they were thinking, since he was thinking the same thing. ‘Clearly he blames her for this.’

“It's weird for Hika-chan and Kao-chan to be fighting like this… it's never happened before.” Hani muttered, playing with Usa-chan as a distraction.

“Mm.” 

“They’ve never fought before?” Haruhi asked.

The Biker thought, looking back to every time he’d interacted with the twins in the past, scanning memories, trying to think of any time they saw the pair argue or fight. Again and again they came back with nothing, and he wondered if they twins could actually fight.

“I’ve known Hika-chan and Kao-chan since we were in preschool. We weren't in the same years so I never really got to talk to them, but I remember that the two of them always played together.” Mori nodded at Hani’s statement.

“Huh, I guess you’re right. I never really noticed before, but yeah, I’ve never seen them fight. Never even seen them argue.” Aoi added, fidgeting a little bit.

"Yeah that's true, I mean I've only known the twins since they were in middle school. But they definitely stood out. It seemed like they kept everyone at a distance except each other. Believe it or not they were even more warped back then. When you stop and think about it, maybe this fight is a good thing for them. Maybe it means that the twins are expanding their horizons a bit! We should just leave them alone and let them work it out." Tamaki spoke in a hopeful tone, though all of the hosts grimaced slightly, knowing it wouldn't be that simple.

It was bad enough they had to cancel club activities that day, postponing a theme day until later, but something big like the twins first fight wouldn’t be over in a day or two. If it was a real fight, of course. 

Their fighting continued for hours. 

“Ugh, don't you guys think that maybe it's time to give up all this fighting? It’s driving me insane!” The host king complained. Hani, who had somehow made his way to the top of the mountain again, nodded.

“Driving you insane?! Ugh you've gotta be kidding me! How do you think I feel right now?! Every time I look in the mirror  I see his face! I'm sick and tired of constantly being mistaken for you Kaoru! The truth is, I hate your guts!" The hosts gasped at Hikaru’s comment, even Aoi, who believed that was taking it a little too far.

"You took the words right outta my mouth. In fact I hate you so much I bought this." Kaoru pulled out a cat-shaped doll, the reason Aoi was late to lunch. "Beelzenef the cursed doll!"

It caused him great distress to see what he had picked up from Nekozawa since the twins were too busy with their scheme. They let out a disappointed groan, not at the twins but at themself. How did he let them wrap him up in this? Friendship, that's how. The promise of making friends, of getting to know them. Aoi should have at least extorted them a little bit, had he learned nothing from Kyouya?

Tamaki’s scream brought them out of their spiraling thoughts in time to see Kaoru start writing on the doll.

"Will you guys knock it off?! What do you think you're doing?!” Haruhi ran over and hit both of them over their heads. “You don't bring something like this into a petty fight! Both of you are at fault here, but what's really sad is that you've brought everyone else around you into your big mess! Now apologize to each other, if you don't make up right now I'm never gonna let you come over to my house! Have I made myself clear?!"

Aoi groaned again, knowing the twins' plan had succeeded.

At first the twins' eyes went wide at her yelling, something none of the hosts had ever experienced before. They looked at each other with the slightest hint of fear on their faces, which quickly dissolved into sly smiles. "So then what you're saying Haruhi is that if we make up we can come over to your place?" they wrapped their arms around her shoulders as she turned the doll over, looking at the word written in horror. ‘Blank.’

Haruhi screamed.

***

-- Haruhi --

Aoi-Senpai: I wanted to apologize for the twins. I know that I shouldn’t be apologizing for them, but I was still part of their stupid plan.

Aoi-Senpai: They convinced me to help them dye their hair and to pick up that stupid cat doll for them since I’m in class with Nekozawa. 

Aoi-Senpai: I should have warned you or told you, I'm so sorry. It was a shitty thing for me to keep from you since it involved your house and family. I still feel stupid that they convinced me with such a small thing

Aoi-Senpai: If you don’t trust me anymore or don't want to be friends I totally get that and wouldn’t blame you. I’m so sorry.

--

Aoi put their phone on their bedside table, not expecting a response as they dragged their hands down his face. The twins once again were at the Chiharu household, Aoi having helped them swap their hair colours to mess with everyone, keeping their identities muddled. Currently they were asleep, cuddled together like they hadn’t spent the past two days pretending to despise each other. To his surprise, his phone buzzed, receiving a response so quickly.

-- Haruhi --

Haru-Chan: It's okay, I forgive you. I’m a bit pissed that you were in on it, but I know how the twins can be. What did they offer you, money? Clothes? 

Aoi-Senpai: Thank you thank you thank you a million times thank you. And no, stupidly. I should have tried to get some money from it though… or a favor. No, they offered me friendship.

Haru-Chan: Friendship?

Aoi-Senpai: The chance to get to know them, Hikaru and Kaoru, not just the twins.

Haru-Chan: Ah. I understand. Well, I think you made a good choice.

Aoi-Senpai: Thanks, Haruhi. 

Aoi-Senpai: Oh, by the way, they’ve swapped colours to keep people confused and I think it's also like… a test? To see who really cares about getting to know them. Don't tell the teachers. 

Haru-Chan: I won't, thank you. You’re a good friend.

--

***

He watched as Haruhi called their bluff, and saw the look of amazement on the twins' faces. It made Aoi smile, seeing how they looked at her with utter adoration for their friend. Someone had broken through their barrier, and that someone was his best friend.