Chapter Text
Haruhi could have sworn they'd left their book bag near the cabinets on the far wall of the club room. That was where he always left it, so that's where it ought to be now. The others had all left, running off after Tamaki who had some brilliant idea about some game or another he wanted to play, and Haruhi had called that they'd be right along, they just needed to grab something.
But it was missing. Their bag was missing. Had it been stolen? No, that didn't make any sense. The kids at this school were all stupid rich, so unless they were playing some dumb trick or trying to be mean, there was no reason for anyone to steal Haruhi's bag. Maybe someone had taken it by mistake, but no, they'd put it well out of the way. It hadn't been in a place where it could easily get mixed up anyone else's.
"Are you looking for something?"
Haruhi turned at the sound of the voice and found Kyoya leaning in the doorway, Haruhi's bag hanging from one hand. Haruhi smiled, glad to have found it, and then their smile immediately faltered. The bag was open.
"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't tell the twins to go through it. I'm honestly not sure what they were up to, but I'd definitely check for any pranks or missing items before getting too comfortable," Kyoya told them, and no. That didn't make them feel any better.
Neither did the fact that their bag was wide open, contents within clear as day to anyone who gave the slightest glance inside. They'd stopped by the pharmacy that morning before school, having wanted to get it over and done with so they wouldn't have to do so after club hours were over. They'd been on testosterone for one month now, and they'd kept it a perfect secret. Until now. Haruhi halted in their tracks, tried to read Kyoya's face and see what he'd already figured out for himself.
No, it was too obvious, it was right there. Of course Kyoya had seen, and even if he hadn't, the twins had been going through Haruhi's bag. They'd definitely seen. It was only a matter of time.
Better bite the bullet, then, Haruhi figured. They'd been meaning to tell the others anyways. Unsure of where to start, Haruhi cleared their throat, and began, "You might be wondering about the--"
"I wasn't going to ask," Kyoya interrupted, and Haruhi wondered for the millionth time how someone bread for such impeccable manners could be so terribly rude. Haruhi opened their mouth, shut it again.
"Oh..."
"The way I see it, it's none of my business. It doesn't affect the club... much. But if it begins to, I'm sure we can find ways to cope."
That had Haruhi curious. They paced closer to the older student and took the bag out of his hands, hugging it protectively to their chest. "What do you mean by that?" they asked, and Kyoya shrugged. His face was vacant, like he found this conversation absolutely unstimulating.
"We'll want to think of a cover for if your voice begins cracking, though we could always spin a late-onset puberty story that I'm sure will go over wonderfully with the ladies." He flipped his notebook open and fanned through a few pages. "The acne won't be too troublesome, the Hitachiins have a rather successful line of skin care products and I'm sure the twins will be more than happy to oblige. Of course you'll have to stay clean shaven no matter what, though judging by those old photos I saw of your father, facial hair isn't really in your genetics one way or another."
He flipped his notebook back shut and shrugged again. "Really," he said again, "I'm not terribly concerned."
Haruhi felt a little dizzy from his speech, from how well thought out it was. It seemed like he was planning for this all better than they were, and they hadn't even come out to him yet. "Why do you know all of that?"
"It's beneficial to me to know things," Kyoya said. "I noticed there wasn't any insurance listed on the prescription paperwork..."
"You read my paperwork!?" Haruhi burst out, and when Kyoya gave no response of his own, they sighed heavily and felt their eye begin to twitch. "My father doesn't know yet, okay? So if we could keep this between the two of us, that would be for the best for now."
"Between the two of us and the twins," Kyoya corrected. "Funny. If anyone would understand, you'd think it would be Ranka-chan."
"There's no way the two of you are close enough for you to call him that," Haruhi grumbled, and Kyoya just grinned. "I'll talk to the twins," they sighed, glaring down at the contents of their school bag and flipping it shut with a bit of a huff. "Just don't tell Tamaki about it."
That seemed to pull Kyoya up short, as he blinked at then frowned. He asked, "Why not?"
Haruhi couldn't help but rolling their eyes. "Oh please, the last thing I want to hear is a pseudo-heartfelt lecture about how I'm throwing away and trampling on my femininity. Not that it's any of your guys's business, but I haven't given a damn about my femininity one way or another for a while now. I just didn't realize how much more comfortable I was in masculinity until everyone was referring to me as a boy in the host club all the time."
Kyoya considered this. He opened his notebook again and flipped seemingly idly, though probably very purposefully, knowing him, through the pages. "If you don't mind my asking," he said, "Are you a boy?"
Haruhi was surprised by the directness of that question, and it made them wish they had a more direct answer. "I'm not sure yet. I think so, but I'm sort of easing into it right now. Might be somewhere more in the middle..."
"Non-binary," he supplied.
"Why do you know all of these things?" they asked, growing exacerbated. "Yeah," they sighed. "Probably something like that."
"Alright," Kyoya accepted. He pushed off the wall he'd been leaning on and headed on out of the room. Haruhi tossed their bag over their shoulder and scrambled after him. "You know, I could break the news to him if you'd prefer. Let the blonde fool get all the dramatics out of his system so you don't have to deal with them."
"Would it make a difference?"
"His behavior has improved since first meeting you," Kyoya said, then frowned. "At least, a bit. If he knows it's important to you, and not just some game, I'm sure he'll put his full effort into it."
Haruhi doubted it, but if there was anyone qualified to handle Tamaki, it had to be Kyoya.
"Fine," they agreed.
"That's if the twins haven't told him by now."
"Oh."
"I do have one more question," Kyoya said, face still impassive and voice even. He was giving off a rather convincing air of being uninterested, for someone who was being uncharacteristically inquisitive. Haruhi decided not to call him on it. "You already pass as male rather well," he said. "It just seems like a lot of extra effort, is all."
That was actually fair. Haruhi stuffed their hands into their jacket pockets as they walked, and they realized they weren't really paying attention to their destination, just following Kyoya down the hall. They said, "Well, I pass well-enough now, but even for a first year student I look young. I won't continue to be convincing as we older, and I'm not really out to steal Huni-senpai's boy lolita schtick."
"So you'd like to remain convincing?"
"I want people to see a boy when they look at me," Haruhi specified.
Kyoya didn't have anymore questions. He did, rather suddenly, have an armful of over-excited teenager as Tamaki came barreling around the corner and slammed into the both of them, narrowing avoiding sending them all sprawling because of Kyoya grabbing the front of his jacket and spinning them around to overbalance. Tamaki laughed, delighted, and asked, "Where have you guys been? You're late! We've already started without you."
He pulled away from Kyoya, dusted the front of his uniform off, then reached out and tapped Kyoya lightly on the top of the head. "You're it," he said, smirking, then, "Run, Haruhi!" as he grasped Haruhi's wrist and took off running in the direction he came from.
Haruhi yelped and stumbled after him, not having much of a choice. "Don't worry!" Tamaki cried happily. "I know the perfect hiding place! Daddy's going to keep his little man safe."
If they hadn't been welded to Tamaki, and thus forced to sprint wildly in order to keep up with him and avoid getting dragged, those words would have stopped them in their tracks. As it was, Haruhi's jaw dropped as they studied the club president next to them. Tamaki noticed the staring, and he shot them a giant, beaming smile, and then a wink.
And well, Haruhi could have sworn the adjustment would be harder.
---
One month later, when Haruhi went to the pharmacy to pick up the next month's tiny bottle, the pharmacist gave them a pleasant surprise.
"No charge this time, Mr. Fujioka," the pharmacist said, smiling. "It seems like the insurance you filed has gone through. SIgn here please."
Haruhi signed the papers handed them, and as they walked out of the pharmacy they let themself pour over the prescription details for any sort of an answer. The health insurance was listed under a name they recognized, but wasn't their own.
Ootori