Relatively normal; normally super
Tamaki often has flights of fancy that cause him to lament, loudly, grandly, and above all dramatically that his talents not be something more exciting, more spectacular, more fitting to the grandeur of his latest plan. Why can't he fly? Why can't he shoot fire, why can't he change shape like the twins, why can't he read minds like Kyouya? The ability that Tamaki craves is as mercurial as his imagination.
"Haruhi," he says insistently, "Haruhi, do you think there is a special ability for understanding normal people?"
"Yes," she answers flatly, not looking up from her work. "It's called 'common sense', or possibly 'a brain'."
The words are sharp, but the ebb of her emotions is merely amused, indulgant, a little exasperated; despite herself she is fond of him.
He opens his mouth to say something else that to her will no doubt be just as silly, if not more so, for Tamaki does not mind being ridiculous as long as people can be happy, but that is the moment that Kyouya returns, his impatience a thin veneer over the deep well of affection and devotion directed towards Tamaki himself. 'I hope you are not distracting Haruhi from the accounts,' his voice scolds in Tamaki's mind, strict and uncompromising, but Tamaki smiles; he is safe and secure in the feeling of Kyouya's emotions, always softer than his tone.
"I'm not bothering anybody," he says out loud, knowing it to be true, and in the moment is utterly content with his abilities.
Haruhi knows that Kyouya is a very frightening individual, not merely because of what he is capable of in the abstract, but because of what he himself is capable of as a person. She has seen him overwrite people's minds with complete ease, not only of ability but also of conscience. He has a reasonably strong moral code and will not violate another's mind without what he considers just cause, but he has a very strict view on ends versus means. If he believes something is necessary to protect that which belongs to him - his friends, his independence - and it is within his power, he will do it.
Very little is not within his power, one way or another. And by "reasonably strong moral code", Haruhi suspects Kyouya may actually be relying on a checklist of whether something will disappoint Tamaki, which is a slightly disturbing thought.
Kyouya is a frightening individual, but Haruhi is not frightened of him, not really; she does not think he will hurt her, not least because Tamaki would be upset. Of course, Kyouya could make her feel that way. Kyouya could have overwritten her mind and she would never even know it.
There is one thing she is certain of, though, and that is that Kyouya has never, would never do that to Tamaki.
"Why?" she asks once, knowing she does not need to clarify, and Kyouya studies her thoughtfully for a moment before he adjusts his glasses and turns to face her fully.
"Because it has never even occurred to him that I could," he says calmly. "Not once. He lets me into every corner of his mind without hiding a thing, without a shred of fear, and it never even occurs to him that I could hurt him. He thinks my telepathy is amazing, not a weapon. He trusts me absolutely. And that is why I will never, ever use it against him. I haven't told him this, because I don't need to. Do you understand?"
And Haruhi is not afraid of Kyouya, but even she knows the value of wariness; that blind naivete, that absolute trust, that is something that is Tamaki's and Tamaki's alone to give.
"Yes," she says, "I do."
Haruhi is one hundred percent okay with being normal.
A lot of people in her position may envy all the special abilities around them, empaths like Tamaki, telepaths like Kyouya, Mori with his super strength and the twins with their shapeshifting and Hunny with his speed, but not Haruhi. The abilities do have their uses, it's true, but she can generally rely on her friends to use their abilities for her; and they may be cool, but Haruhi presumes the coolness factor is much less of an issue when these powers are just a part of who you are. If you listen to Tamaki, everyone else's abilities are cool - your own are simply a fact of life.
Besides, judging by the people she hangs around with every day, she thinks that there is a trade off involved between having abilities and being an ordinary human being, and that trade off appears to be common sense. Some of the club members manage to seem almost sensible most of the time, like Mori and Kyouya, but then they do something that reminds her just how insane her friends really are. Especially Kyouya. He does things with his powers and his position in life both that seem perfectly reasonable until you stop and think about the utter extremity of what he is doing, and that's the most terrifying thing of all.
So Haruhi is just fine without powers, thanks. She'd rather have common sense, and someone in the club needs to exert a little sanity every now and then, because she shudders to think where they'd be otherwise.
Besides, it's not like she needs it to protect herself.
"Haruhi," Tamaki says, awed even while flinching from the pain vicarious and imaginery alike, "Haruhi, how can you be so amazing without powers? Are you sure you don't have super strength like Mori?"
"Yes, I'm sure," she says, rolling her eyes. "And it's not that amazing, I just kicked him in the balls. How did you even live to be this age, anyway?"
And that - that is why they need her for common sense, because a swift kick to the groin might be harsh, but it's a far more reasonable response than the mindfuck Kyouya was about to go for.
Honestly, these people.