The Host Club Is

Author's Disclaimer: No, I don't own OHSHC. All rights go to their respective owners. This is a belated birthday present for KC, an artist who continues to inspire me with her kind words and amazing fanart. She introduced me to many wonderful fandoms, including Miraculous Ladybug, which is shown here. Don't mind me while I throw in a lot of random superheroes here. I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 3: Cosplaying as Superheroes

"Haruhi, would you cosplay as Ladybug from Miraculous for my birthday? Please? It's my favorite show!"

Haruhi paused in her picking up of tea cups to consider the request. The brunette requester was a regular of Haruhi's, even after Haruhi had revealed herself as a girl, and Haruhi had always thought her sweet.

"Sure, I'll talk to the guys and see if they can't help me find an outfit," said Haruhi, much to the regular's surprise and delight.

Haruhi had never seen the show before, so she asked the twins about it. She learned quickly.

"It's about this awkward teenage girl named Marinette who saves the world by becoming a superhero dressed as a ladybug. It's pretty generic," said Hikaru.

"The girl is sweet, though, just like you," added Kaoru. "And she has a huge crush on the most popular boy in class, Adrien. He also turns into a superhero, Cat Noir. Neither know the other's secret identity, and they both crush on each other hard."

"Why do you want to know about that show?" asked Hikaru.

"I agreed to dress as Ladybug as a special request. For her birthday."

"We'll help!" said the twins in unison.

Haruhi did not realize until too late why they agreed to help. Suddenly, the day before the girl's birthday, she found herself being kidnapped and forced to try on red spandex. Then she finally saw a picture of the whole outfit, making her wish she had done the research instead of agreeing to it to satisfy the eager glasses-wearing girl. After the outfit was fitted, the twins began coaching her more about her outfit.

"Remember, Marinette is clumsy, so you're good there. But, Ladybug is very poised, has quick reflexes, and always has a retort for evil villains and Cat Noir. She's also known for using this," said Kaoru, handing Haruhi a red yo-yo with black dots, "to spin around and stop things from hitting her. She uses her lucky charm at the last minute to win the day, so don't be afraid to throw this into the air."

"What do I say when I throw it into the air? Lucky charm?"

"There you go! You're catching on. See, easy as can be. Just wait until you see our costumes tomorrow," said Kaoru.

This took Haruhi by surprise.

"Costumes? On you? But I thought-"

"What fun would that be? No, we'll all be super tomorrow. We even convinced the original members to come out and join us."

"Though that wasn't hard," snickered Hikaru. "April 16th is coming fast. See you tomorrow!"

At home, Haruhi finally watched a couple episodes of the show. It was cute in a shojo way, and Marinette had definite problems trying to talk to her crush. Haruhi felt for her, as she often was at a lack for words once Tamaki (still her boyfriend after two years) turned romantic.

As Haruhi watched Cat Noir enter, she reflected that the hero reminded her strongly of Tamaki, which led her down other avenues. Did that mean that Tamaki was coming as well? What hero would he be? He had not mentioned anything to her about it, which surprised her. He loved giving her advance notice so that she could keep the day open for him. She had no plans for the next day, so that was for the best, but she wished she had known sooner. It was unlike him.

When it came time for hosting, Haruhi opened the doors of Host Club to find herself awash in darkness. No roses waited here, only convincing breezes and the fake sounds of a busy city.

"Haru-chan!"

Haruhi looked for the pint-sized, cake-loving host, only to find a taller, masked man in a red suit approach her. After hugging her, Hunny asked, "I'm gonna be the best sidekick ever, and Takashi can be his normal, quiet self as Batman. It'll be so much fun!"

Hunny ran back to Mori, who looked quite dashing in black and a cape. He held a set of car keys in his hand and nodded at Haruhi.

Kyoya then stepped forward in a well-tailored tuxedo. "Welcome, Haruhi. You'd best get changed. The girls are on their way."

"Who are you supposed to be? James Bond? I thought he was a spy?" asked Haruhi, confused.

"I'll have to consider dressing as him next time. Right now, you can call me Tony Stark, the man with a plan," he said, picking up his high-tech suitcase.

Haruhi would have asked more questions, but the twins decided at that moment to appear, in matching green and yellow outfits, complete with spiky helmet and a staff. One twin pointed a staff at Kyoya, while the other smiled threateningly at Haruhi.

"Put down your glowstick of destiny. I have no time to deal with your shenanigans," grumbled Kyoya. "Save it for he who is late."

"So Tamaki is coming?" asked Haruhi as she was whisked into a changing room.

After that, the day went by in a blur for Haruhi. The outfit of red spandex and black spots certainly made her feel self-conscious, but the moment she was able to fulfill the girl's birthday wish, she was glad to do so. The birthday girl smiled and loved the birthday cake that Haruhi had made for her. The girl proceeded to give her a giant hug and thank her before other girls joined, wanting Haruhi to show off.

The problem with showing off was that she never had used a yo-yo before, so it took a couple tries to make it work. Then, she had to use her still lacking hand-eye coordination to swing it in a circle, almost hitting two girls and knocking over one teacup.

At least three different times, she was in the middle of twirling the yo-yo when the string slipped from her hands. The first time, the yo-yo did not go far. The second time, Hunny and Mori happened to be back from giving rides in the Batmobile, so they retrieved it. The third time, the twins got a hold of it.

"Guys, give it back. I need it."

"Let's play the 'Which Loki Has It' game!" said one twin, swirling around to face the adoring fangirls of the tricksters. "Which one of us has it?"

Haruhi picked out the right Loki, but they refused to give it up. Instead, they ran around Haruhi, telling her to catch them first. Haruhi was about fed up with them when the main door suddenly burst open.

"Give the lady back her yo-yo, you shady twin Lokis! You shouldn't mess with Ladybug. If you do, you also have to report to me, Cat Noir."

Tamaki rushed over to Haruhi, taking her hands. He whispered, "Are you alright? Sorry I'm late. I wasn't sure I could come with classes, but it worked out."

Haruhi nodded stiffly, casting an evil eye on the twins.

Once Tamaki was satisfied, he said aloud, "Never fear, milady, I'm here to save the day. I'm purrfectly in time to help you stop these evil villains. Let's go."

As the twins ran about the room, Tamaki used his staff to try and stop/trip the twins, while Haruhi tried to corner the twins. Twice she almost had them, and then they snuck by and pushed over something in the process. All the girls watched in frightened anticipation. Tamaki managed to trip Haruhi by accident, and the couple worked together to create a blockade to protect the girls and lessen the running area.

Just as the twins were about to escape yet again, their plans for destruction were foiled, by none other than Iron Man.

"This will stop now," said Kyoya in a red, metal suit. "You're making a mess."

Kyoya put up his arms, hands in position to blast something at the twins. As fire started to dart out of his palms, the twins got down on their knees and begged for mercy.

"Please don't hurt us! It's not like we destroyed New York City or something."

"If you had, I would've had to have asked Hunny to put on his secondary costume and take care of you personally. Believe me, you don't want to mess with his green alter ego. He'll show you no mercy. Now, give back the yo-yo."

With the yo-yo restored to its proper owner, the club room returned to normalcy as the hosts chatted with the girls. Haruhi never got the hang of swinging the yo-yo, which was shown clearly at the end when she managed to hit Tamaki in the back of the head. The "lucky charm" was only thrown once, as she managed to throw it to Tamaki instead of herself, and he came on bended knee to present it back.

On the plus side, Haruhi did get to spend some quality time hosting with Tamaki. Tamaki was perfect as Cat Noir, just oozing with charm and cat puns, and he took every opportunity to offer his services or suggest smoothly that they hang out later. The girls all squealed whenever he did something romantic, and Haruhi did her best to keep him at bay in the club room.

As the girls started to leave, the birthday girl gave Haruhi one last hug and thank you.

"You were amazing as Ladybug! Would you ever consider cosplaying as Princess Tutu? Tamaki could be Fakir."

All Haruhi could remember about the anime was that it involved ballet dancing, and the thought of dancing did not sit well with her.

"I might consider it, but I'd have to learn a lot of ballet first."

"Okay! Thanks for the best birthday ever!"

When the last girl had left, Tamaki immediately ran over to Haruhi and kissed her.

"Haruhi! I've missed you so much!"

When he finally released her from the long embrace, Haruhi smiled slightly. "I missed you, too."

That comment earned her a side hug from Tamaki, who was still in his cat costume. He nuzzled the top of her head, purring in contentment at being missed.

"Tamaki, is it really necessary to purr like that?" asked Haruhi.

"Oh, right! I guess not," said Tamaki, coming back from his inner mind theater. In it, he and Haruhi were still dressed as their superheroes and fighting crime together in Paris. The only difference was that Haruhi let herself be held and saved by him, often.

"Haruhi, do you have time today to get dinner together? I'm sorry I've been so distant. There's so much going on in class right now; it's fascinating! I can't wait to tell you all about it."

"Sure, Tamaki. I'd like that. What did you have in mind?"

"How about fancy tuna? Cats love tuna," he said, winking at her.

Haruhi rolled her eyes at his attempt at a joke.

Tamaki started to pull Haruhi to the door when Kyoya asked him with as straight a face as he could maintain, "So you're letting Haruhi out of the club room dressed like that?"

"Of course he is! He's still a pervert," said the twins in stereo.

Tamaki squeaked when he realized that they were both still dressed in spandex, so they changed first and gave good-bye hugs to all. After that, the couple left for dinner, as everyone else had plans already.

At dinner, Tamaki was his bubbly self, and Haruhi listened as he described what he was learning in college. After that, Tamaki wanted to know how the club was doing, and how her final classes were as she prepared to graduate at the end of the year.

"I'm so glad we'll be at the same school again soon. I don't like all this separation," said Tamaki.

"It won't be for much longer," said Haruhi. "We'll make up for it then."

It was in moments like that that Haruhi wondered how things would change when she went off to college. She would still study, but much more, and she would still have Tamaki and her friends from the Host Club. Would things work out?

"Earth to Haruhi. Are you still there? Thinking about your grocery shopping list again?" asked Tamaki good-naturedly, waving a hand in front of Haruhi.

"I'm just thinking about what's going to happen in college with us," said Haruhi, looking at the table.

"I'm sure it'll work out like it did today," said Tamaki with a smile. "You'll try hard and won't ask for help. I'll be there for you, though, and we'll work it all out somehow. And when I'm caught up in my dream world, you'll come along and say something to make sure I don't stay there much longer."

"And you'll be okay with it, even when I never become as romantic as you dream about?" asked Haruhi, truly curious.

"I wouldn't have you any other way. You'll always be my blunt Haruhi. I wouldn't care if you were awkward like Marinette or silent like Mori. As long as you're with me, we can take on anything."

"Except if the twins come after us," said Haruhi, cringing in remembrance of their failed attempts.

"That's why we have other friends," said Tamaki, coming over to hug Haruhi. "We'll always have each other."

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Author's Notes: There's your daily amount of fluff for the day. Happy Belated Birthday to KC! I hope you had an amazing day! Here's some TamaHaru and Marinette/Adrien fluff to celebrate.

Thank you so much to everyone who's still been reading! I have disappeared of late, so here's a brief explanation: I started working 50+ hours at work, so I haven't had a lot of time, nor the energy. Second, my father recently passed away, so I've been going through a lot with that. It hit everyone in my family hard when he passed suddenly, and a lot of responsibility has fallen on me since. If I'm not the most active person in the upcoming months, you know why.

Once again, thanks to everyone for all your support of my stories! I really appreciate it! I hope this story finds you well, and that you enjoyed this little story.

Mutemuia: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed both chapters. The kitchen will need to be replaced, but they can afford it. I'm glad you liked all the choices for Princesses! It brought me so much amusement to think of those. As for Pride and Prejudice with Ouran, yes! It will happen soon. I'm stealing your ideas for casting. Thanks for the awesome review and ideas!

Zeldageek726: Thank you ! I'm glad you loved it. Slowly I'll put more of these out; I promise. Thanks for reading and reviewing!