Edited: April 25, 2020

Aki.

That was her name.

No surname, just Aki. Or, at least it was until a few years ago.

Now, she was a proud member of the Fujioka family – becoming known as Fujioka Aki through adoption. She was 18-years-old and will be attending Ouran Academy with her childhood friend and adopted sister, Fujioka Haruhi, this coming school year.

Before the adoption, they were simply childhood friends who hung out together under classified circumstances, but it was because of those circumstances that Aki has gotten the chance to become a part of their family.

Her and Haruhi were very close as children and that bond only grew as they have gotten older. Aki found Haruhi to be one of the kindest and sweetest girl she had ever met. The younger girl was the most precious light within Aki's darken existence. Haruhi and her father would always be there for Aki. They had accepted her and let her into their home as one of their own. How can she not grow to love them?

The world was cruel; filled with danger and those who wishes to force their dominance onto others. It can be filled with pain, deaths, and suffering; things that Aki was far too familiar with.

She had done a lot of things that she dearly regretted in her life and wished for solace from their constant reminders. It took a lot of time, along with support from Haruhi before she was able to continue forward in her life. She will never be free from the hooks of her past, but she was at least more accepting of it – gaining a more positive view of life than before.

One of this positive view was the view of her training. She was trained to fight all throughout her life and so, instead of using it for what it was intended for, she decided to put it to good use by using it to protect the Fujioka family, especially Haruhi. She grew to put little care into her own well-being, focusing more on Haruhi's and becoming the younger girl's protector – her guardian.

Aki knew everything there was about Haruhi and the same could be said with the reversal. Haruhi was Aki's only friend and family. The Fujioka family took Aki in despite knowing who she was and what she did. Aki bared her soul, her whole being to them and instead of despising her like how most people did, they took her in and accepted her, going as far to making her a part of their family.

They didn't treat her like a disease, an outcast – someone who needed to be isolated from the others. They treated her as a person and acknowledged her for who she was. Aki was forever grateful to them. They were special to her and she will do anything to protect them even if it was to be at the cost her very own life.

She will protect them.

-`ღ´-

Deep within the pink walls of Ouran Academy were two girls wondering the long corridors of the school. One of the girls was a head shorter than the other with short, messy brown hair and big, brown eyes hidden behind thick, oval glasses. The taller girl, on the other hand, had short, unkempt, black hair with long fringes of her hair covering her bloody red eyes from others' view.

What was also noticeable about these girls were that they were not wearing your typical Ouran Academy uniforms. Instead, what they were wearing was what high society would call 'commoner clothes'. The brown-haired girl wore a large, baggy, purple sweater and loose, black pants while the other wore a dark grey hoodie and saggy, brown pants. The unflattering clothing concealed the girls' questionable figures, making it difficult for others to distinguish their gender – not that the two girls really cared about what others think.

What really mattered to them at the moment was finding a room to study in as they searched the top floor of the South Wing. Closing the door to the fourth library that they have come across, the two girls continued making their way down to the end of the Northern hallway, in hopes of finding a quiet place for them to work on their studies together.

"The school has four libraries and they're all crowded. Why don't they just go home if they are not studying?" The brown-haired girl grumbled exasperatedly.

Her companion solemnly nodded her head in agreement as she followed the shorter girl with her arms folded behind her back, forcing her to maintain a straight posture – a product of extensive, unwanted 'etiquette' training. The training was a requirement that was forcefully taught to her in order to help with her previous activities – deeds that she was not proud of doing. Now, because of such rigorous training, it simply became a habit to relax back into that default stance.

As the two girls continued their stroll through the pink hallway, the taller girl suddenly noticed a sign reading 'Music Room #3' hanging over a pair of doors. There doesn't seem to be any sounds coming from it. Perhaps it was abandoned or empty? "Ne Haruhi," the taller girl drew her friend's attention toward the doors. "Why don't we try this room?"

Haruhi eyed the entrance before shrugging, "Why not? Let's go check it out, Aki-nee."

Thus, the two girls headed towards the doors; both grabbing hold one of the golden handles of the doors before they simultaneously pulled it open. The doors creaked as they opened before Haruhi and Aki were suddenly hit with a bright light and assaulted by small bits of something – they were too blinded by the light to see exactly what.

"Welcome," chorused a group of semi-familiar voices. Although, the girls barely payed much attention to them. Haruhi was frozen in shock by the abnormal display while Aki was too busy trying to not choke on the random flying rose petals that seems to magically appear from before.

"T-this is a H-Host club?" Haruhi's stuttering quickly caught Aki's attention. Finally stopping her coughs, Aki looked up at Haruhi who she noticed was backed against the doors that they had just entered through. The poor girl was shaking in discomfort, dread, and disbelief. This caused Aki to frown, dismayed with the situation that had produced such a reaction from Haruhi.

Experiencing the familiar protective feelings from within her, Aki slightly stepped in front of Haruhi and faced the group of men standing in the middle of the room, determined to protect her close friend from any danger.

Aki eyed the group while they in-turn shot curious glances towards the two girls. There were a total of six guys within the group. One of them was sitting in a chair as he was surrounded by the others. That male had pale-blond hair with vibrant, violet eyes. From the looks of things, it was possibly that he was the leader of the group.

One of the males standing behind the chair was black-haired with brownish-grey eyes hidden behind slim, rimless glasses. In his delicate hands was a simple, black notebook. To the left of him was a pair of twin boys with the same auburn-colored hair and amber-colored eyes.

The last two males were an odd pair yet one Aki was quite familiar with. The shorter of the two had honey-blond hair with brown eyes and he was currently holding a pink bunny plush. The last one, who was the tallest and the most imposing out of the whole group, had spiky, black hair and dark grey eyes with a slightly tanner skin tone than the others.

Each member was quite different from the each other, but overall the odd group displayed a bright and surprisingly sparkly appearance. Aki blinked once, then twice from the strange sight before slowly backing herself – and in turn, Haruhi – away from the group. She has a bad~ feeling about all of this and she just know that something was going to happen that will change the course of the two girls' lives forever.

"Oh wow, it's just some boys," the twins simultaneously spoke.

"Hikaru, Kaoru, I believe the young man in the purple sweater is in the same class as you and Honey-senpai, I think the other one is in yours, correct?" The one with the rimless glasses asked.

"Yeah, but he's shy. He doesn't act sociably so we don't know much about him." The twins shrugged.

"You're right Kyo-chan, but he likes to keep to himself," the little kid replied, hugging his stuffed bunny. "Right Takashi?" The tallest one nodded in agreement.

"Hm," the glasses guy smirked. A light bulb suddenly appeared above his head and seemed to light itself up. Aki blinked in shocked and then glanced around her. Did anyone else saw that? It seems that no one else have taken notice of it, so it must have been her eyes playing tricks on her.

"Now that wasn't very polite," the one with the glasses continued before turning his gaze at Aki. For a second, his smirk faltered a bit, but he quickly recovered it. Aki could only stare back at him, puzzled by his reaction before her attention was caught by Haruhi who was struggling to open the doors and escape. Aki frowned and walked over to help her. "Welcome to Ouran Host Club, Honour Students."

"What!" The blond hair with purple eyes male jolted up from his seat, "You must be Fujioka Haruhi and Fujioka Aki. You're the two exceptional honour students that we've heard about!"

Both Haruhi and Aki stopped their struggle with the doorknobs and looked up at the group of males. "How do you know our names?" Haruhi questioned, frightened while Aki gave them suspicious glares.

"Well, you two are infamous. It's not every day some commoners gain entrance into our academy," the glasses guy answered.

Aki found his reasoning to be logical – a bit suspicious, but still logical. Ouran is a rich school and most of the students simply paid the school to get in, not many actually came to the school with a scholarship. "You must have an audacious nerve to work hard enough to fight your way into this school as honour students."

Aki couldn't tell whether he was insulting them or complimenting them. She hopped it was the latter, but his tone suggests otherwise – it sounded almost like he was mocking them.

"Who are you guys?" Aki finally spoke, wanting to get some names to label these guys and not just call them generic names like 'glasses guy' or 'blond guy with violet eye'.

"My name is Suou Tamaki."

"Ootori Kyoya, it's a pleasure."

"I'm Hikaru."

"And I'm Kaoru."

"We're the Hitachiin twins!"

"My name is Haninozuka Mitsukuni, but you can call me Honey," the little blonde guy chirped before pointing to the taller male, "This one here is Morinozuka Takashi, but you can call him Mori." The silent giant nodded in greeting.

"You guys are the hero of the poor people," Tamaki suddenly said, appearing out-of-nowhere behind the two sisters and wrapping an arm around their shoulders. "You have shown the world that even poor people can excel at an elite, private academy."

Feeling uncomfortable with the level of friendliness the man had exhibited, Aki quickly jerked out of Tamaki's hold and dragged Haruhi away from the weird man. Got to get away. Got to get away! Got to get away! GOT TO GET THE FRICK AWAY!

"It must be hard for you to constantly be looked down upon by others."

"I think you're taking this 'poor' thing a little too far," Haruhi interjected from within Aki's hold as the two continued to avoid Tamaki who was following them.

"Spurned! Neglected! That doesn't matter now! Long live the poor!" Tamaki rambled, showing no sign that he had heard Haruhi's comment and somehow catching up with the two, pulling them into his arms again. "We welcome you, poor men, to our world of beauty!" Aki swore she could see roses filling the background behind him. Am I sick? Am I going crazy?

"We're outta here," Haruhi stated as the two sisters headed towards the door. They didn't get too far when a pair of arms suddenly shot out and grabbed hold of the two, halting them and tugging them back.

"Hey! Come back here, Haru-chan and Aki-chan! You must be, like, a super hero or something! That's so cool!" Honey happily praised. Aki could only stare wide-eyes at the boy's cuteness. Was there a limit to how cute a boy can get?

"We're not super hero. We're honour students," Haruhi stated before yelling, "And WHO ARE YOU CALLING 'HARU-CHAN'!" This caused Honey to cry in fright.

Aki couldn't blame him for being frighten. Haruhi can be scary sometime, especially when she was angry. It also did not help that she was already irritated by the whole situation and that he was the one nearest to her when she exploded. It wasn't his fault really.

Feeling pity for the boy, Aki's eyes soften a bit as she patted his head as an apology for Haruhi's behaviour. A teary Honey looked up at Aki and smiled in thanks, a bit comforted by her action – he was an expert at non-verbal communication after all. Aki gave a small smile in return, unaware of Mori who was watching her the whole time and thus had seen the interaction between the two.

"Hmm, I never would've imagined the two famous scholars would be so openly gay," Tamaki mused from the side, grabbing the sisters' attention and nearly causing Aki to choke on her own spit.

"Openly gay?" Aki mumbled under her breath, a bit peeved with Tamaki while Haruhi lowly uttered, "Openly what?

"So, tell me what kind of guys you're into?" Tamaki proceeded with his bizarre line of thought as the others started to pose as though they were being auctioned off as merchandises. "Do you like the strong, silent type? The boy Lolita? How about the mischievous type? Or the cool type?"

"Uh… I, uh… It's not like that!" Haruhi tried to explain as she backed away from Tamaki. Aki followed suit, not wanting to leave Haruhi by herself. "We were just looking for a quiet place to study!"

"Or maybe," Tamaki came up to the sisters and held both their chins up until they were very close to his face and I mean very close to his face, "would you like a guy like me? What do you say?"

Haruhi was mortified while Aki was just plain irritated. Thus, Aki took charge and pulled the two of them out of his hold. Once they were out, they slowly started to back away from him; Aki was backing to the door and Haruhi was heading towards an expensive looking vase perched on top of a stand…

Aki did a double-take. WAIT! AN EXPENSIVE LOOKING VASE! Her eyes widen in horror at Haruhi.

"Uh… N-No need. We'll just be on our way. I-If you could please excuse us…"

"HARU-!" Aki tried to warn her, but it was too late. She had already bumped into the pedestal, unbalancing the priceless vase on top of it and causing it to topple over. Noticing her mistake, Haruhi tried to catch the vase, but it slipped right through her fingers – she wasn't quick enough. The vase smashed onto the floor and shattered into millions of pieces. Aki groaned softly and walked briskly to Haruhi's side so that she could give a supportive pat on the girl's arm, silently implying that she would help share the punishment for the broken vase.

The twins groaned in disappointment as they appeared behind Haruhi, glancing over her shoulders to look at the mess. "We were going to feature that Renaissance vase in an upcoming school auction," Hikaru stated.

"Oh, now you've done it, commoner," Kaoru complained. Aki growled at his comment, but kept her mouth shut. She did not want to make things worse for Haruhi. "The bidding on that vase was supposed to start at 8 million yen!"

"What? 8 million yen (A/N: Roughly 74,400 USD)?!" Haruhi yelped before groaning as she tried to deliriously calculate the amount. Her brain was too much in shock to really focus. "How many thousand yen is that? How many thousands are in a million?"

"1000 of thousands are in a million and so 8000," Aki replied for the girl.

"Uh, we're going to have to pay you back," Haruhi tentatively said as she faced the twins.

"With what money?" The twins impudently asked. "You guys can't even afford your own school uniforms."

Haruhi flinched while Aki narrowed her eyes in warning. If they keep on insulting them, then she will not hesitate to punch the two. And what did they mean 'with what money'? Who said that they were that poor?

"What's with that grubby outfits you guys got on, anyway?" Kaoru asked.

Aki twitched. She understood the high-class society well enough to see that the sisters' clothing may not be within their standards, but this was just getting far too ridiculous. Do they really need to keep on insulting them at every moment?

"Well, what do you think we should do, Tamaki?" Kyoya inquired as he picks up a shard of the broken vase. Aki cringed, wanting to go over to him and smack the shard right out of his hand. Was he trying to cut himself? He shouldn't be picking up shards with his bare hands!

Tamaki sat back down in his chair and crossed his legs. "There's a famous saying you may have heard. 'When in Rome, you should do as the Romans do'. Since you guys have no money, you can pay with your body. That means starting today, you're the Host Club's dogs!"

Aki's eyes widened in surprise by Tamaki's sudden change of attitude before frowning at his dramatic declaration. She was expecting a lot worst, to tell you the truth, but it wasn't the best situation either way.

Aki turned to Haruhi to tell her that they should just deny the offer, but then saw how shocked the poor girl was – she was petrified. So much so that her whole body had turned white as a sheet.

Aki knew then that they couldn't refuse the offer. She was going to suggest an alternative solution to the whole mess, but seeing Haruhi like that reminded her what type of person her sister was and how she would never go for Aki's proposal.

Aki could only sigh, accepting their fate. Haruhi can unintentionally be too prideful sometime – not accepting Aki's help despite their close relationship. Now, all Aki need to be worried about was Haruhi. Unlike the older sister, who was experienced with these sorts of things – curtsy of her past – Haruhi has lived a much freer life. She never had to work as a lackey, especially with such arrogant people like the wealthy.

Smiling sadly, Aki patted Haruhi's shoulder as she whispered, "Don't worry. Your big sister is here for you." The pats were light and barely held any force behind it, but Haruhi toppled over anyway, too weak to stay standing.

Aki flinched as Haruhi's body crashed to the ground and the older girl couldn't help but sweat drop. She smiled nervously.

Maybe she shouldn't have done that….

-`ღ´-

The Host Club was Now Open for Business

Haruhi and Aki were walking in the school hallway, carrying some grocery bags. Aki was carrying the one with the heaviest load, leaving Haruhi with the lightest. They had just gotten back from shopping at the nearest grocery store for all the things that was on a list Tamaki gave them.

As the two strolled through the hallway, Aki suddenly spoke up. "I'm always here for you, Haruhi," she declared, feeling determination swelling up inside her. "I hope you know that."

Haruhi gave her a long look before saying, "I know, Aki, I know."

Haruhi was always aware of it. She knew how dependent Aki could be when it came to her. She knew that if she were to tell Aki to do something, the older girl would do it. That was how much Aki trusted her, depended on her – going as far to even sacrifice her life for her. If Haruhi tells Aki to kill herself, she would do it.

The two girls have a bond that was more than just sisters and was in no way a romantic one. It was more like a master-servant relationship, but then again Haruhi was kind of against that as well, so close to it? Haruhi may not like it, but that was how Aki saw their relationship as – beyond being sisters or family that is.

Sharing a smile, they continued onward towards the music room. The halls were quiet except for the clicking of their shoes. Eventually they arrived at the doors of the club and wondered in. Drifting towards Tamaki, the two sisters could hear him entertaining *cough* flirting *cough* withthe customers.

"Um, Tamaki, what's your favourite song?"

"What song? The one that reminds me of you, of course."

"I baked you a cake today. Would you like to taste it?"

"Only if you'll feed it to me, darling," Tamaki breathed, lifting the girl's chin.

"Oh, wow. You're so dreamy!"

Aki sighed and ignored the rest as she continued to follow Haruhi towards the table. "Thanks for doing the shopping, little piglets. Did you get everything on our list?" Tamaki asked once he saw them.

"What?... Piglets?" Haruhi muttered, sweat dropping while Aki twitched, forcing herself not to tilt her head in puzzlement. It was one of her recent habits; tilting her head. It was developed recently due to the many moments of confusion she had experienced while trying to assimilate back into society, but seeing how currently she was supposed to be a boy, she was trying to stop herself from doing it. Besides, she wanted to see the guys' reactions when they find out that their 'dogs' were actually girls. Aki mentally chuckled, eager for that moment.

"Hey, wait a minute, what is this?" Tamaki asked, holding up a container of instant coffee that they had just bought.

"Just what it looks like," Haruhi said.

"It's coffee," Aki finished, placing the bags of groceries onto the table and crossing her arms.

"I've never seen this brand before. Is this the kind that's already ground?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's instant coffee," Aki blandly stated, raising an eyebrow.

"It's instant?" The two female guests on the opposite couch asked, tilting their heads.

"Whoa. I've heard of this before. It's commoner's coffee. You just add hot water," Tamaki affirmed. There was suddenly a group of girls flocking around the couch – seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

Aki blinked. Either they were fast runners or she was not paying enough attention. It was probably a bit of both. She was not sure if that was a bad thing or not though. It rubbed her already cautious self the wrong way.

"I didn't know there was such a thing!"

"So, it's true then. Poor people don't even have enough free time to grind their own coffee beans!" The girls all nodded in agreement. Aki simply rolled her eyes. More like they didn't have the servants, time or the money to do so.

"Commoner are pretty smart," Kyoya said with a hand on his chin.

"100 grams for 300 yen," Hikaru read the label.

"That's a lot less than what we normally pay," his twin commented.

"Fine, I'll just go back and get something else!" Haruhi yelled, frustrated by the commentaries. The corners of Aki's lips twitched downward at the frown on Haruhi's face. The boys were complaining too much and it was upsetting Haruhi. If this keeps up, things will start to get violent. "Excuse me for not buying you guys expensive coffee."

"No, I'll keep it!" Tamaki declared before Haruhi could do anything.

"Huh?!" The others gasped, watching as Tamaki sprang up from his seat.

"I'm going to give it a try," everyone gasped, looking up at him like he was some sort of god, "I will drink this coffee!" Everyone was oohing and applauding him now.

Aki twitched and raised an eyebrow at their behaviour. She couldn't decide whether to find their behavior to be very amusing or just plain stupid. The conflicting emotions were getting on her nerves.

"All right, Haruhi, Aki! Get over here and make some of this commoner's coffee!" Aki nodded like the obedient little servant she was and went ahead so that Haruhi wouldn't have to do much of the work. When she turned around to see where Haruhi was, she saw that her sister was talking to a red-haired girl.

Aki paused, not liking what she was seeing. The girl seemed haughty and those were never the good types to be associating with. Not only that, there was a bad vibe about her. She may look innocent, but those types of people could easily be two-faced. She was someone Aki needed to look out for. Aki narrowed her eyes at the redhead. I better keep an eye on her.

With one final glance at the girl, Aki went back to her task and started the preparation for the coffee. She waited for Haruhi to arrive before they began making the drinks. Once they were done, Aki helped with distributing the cups of coffee to the three girls.

"Let the tasting begin," Tamaki extravagantly announced.

"I'm a little scared to drink this stuff."

"I'm afraid that if I drink this, my father will yell at me."

"What if I let you drink it from my mouth?" Tamaki dipped the girl, bringing his face close to hers.

Does this guy not know anything about personal space? And did he just implicitly proposed that he would kiss every girl who was reluctant to drink the coffee? How much of a playboy was he? It was a bit tasteless to see such behaviour.

"Well, then I would drink it," the girl swooned while the rest squealed.

"Kyaa~!"

"Rich bastard," Haruhi muttered under her breath. Aki smirked and silently chuckled, having heard her little sister's comment.

-`ღ´-

"Hahaha, so he had this nightmare that made him bolt up, right out of bed."

"Hikaru! Don't!"

"He panicked and cried, telling me to help him."

"Hikaru! How could you, in front of everyone." Kaoru teared up, looking bashfully at the floor.

"Kaoru, I couldn't help myself. You just look so cute at that time," Hikaru apologized, lovingly bringing Kaoru's face close to his.

"Hikaru…"

"Kyaa~! I've never seen brotherly love quite like that!" The girls at the twins' table squealed.

"What are they excited about? I just don't get it," Haruhi sweat-dropped as the two sisters strolled passed them.

"Me too," Aki admitted, feeling a bit creep out by it. Haruhi and her were sisters and they don't act that way. They weren't even blood-related and they still don't act like that. Unless Haruhi tells Aki to, of course, but that was highly unlikely and Aki was glad that it was. Despite her reserve nature, great level of distrust, and current lack of interest toward the opposite sex or love, she was fully heterosexual, thank you very much.

Don't take it the wrong way, she has nothing against those who wished to pursue same-sex relationships. She just draw the line at incestual ones.

Having dropped off some used trays, the two sisters sauntered over to Honey's table where two guests sat, waiting for their host to arrive. Luckily, they didn't have to wait for too long.

"Sorry, we're running late," Honey yawned from Mori's shoulders as he sleepily rubbed his eyes.

"Hello Honey! Hey, Mori!" One of the girls greeted.

"We've been waiting here for you guys. Hi!"

"I'm sorry," Honey mumbled, as Mori placed him down. "I was waiting for Takashi to finish his kendo meeting and I fell asleep. And I'm still not completely awake." Aki smiled at the cute display, but she knew he was keeping some secrets. She has a gut feeling that he was.

Out of all the guys, she was the most comfortable with them. Perhaps it was because they were classmates? Or maybe they were easier to handle or be around?

"SO CUTE~!" The girls at Honey's table squealed.

"Hey, Honey," Aki greeted, tilting her head down to look at Honey who was sitting on the coach. "It's nice to see that you have finally joined us."

"Hey, Aki-chan," Honey greeted back, "I was waiting for Takashi at Kendo."

"I know. I heard you," Aki replied, silently chuckling.

"Is that really a third-year student?" Haruhi questioned, watching as the pair commenced their hosting. Aki also didn't believe it at first, but she quickly grew to not care.

"He's also in my class." Aki chirped, feeling her mood becoming more joyous after seeing Honey. She just loves children. They all have this sense of innocence that needs to be protected – an innocence that was stolen from Aki long ago.

Haruhi glanced between the two, doubting her sister's statement. He couldn't be a 3rd year…. Could he?

Kyoya later came up and started to converse with Haruhi. Aki kept a close eye on them, but let the two have their privacy. She knew that Haruhi would not be in any sort of danger and besides, it was only for a few moments. The guys may be weird, but they were not dangerous. They seem to hold no evil intention towards the two of them – aside from their debt that is.

"AKI-CHAN~! HARU-CHAN~!" A familiar voice shouted. Suddenly a blur whizzed by and spun the two sisters around by their arms. "Do you want to have some cake with me?" Honey asked once they stopped spinning.

"Thanks, but I… don't like cake," Haruhi dizzily said, while Aki unsteadily shook her head. She immediately regretted it. The head shaking just caused her to become even more nauseous.

"Then how would you like to hold my bunny Usa-chan?"

"I'm not into bunnies," Haruhi swayed.

"Are you saying you don't like Usa-chan?" Honey dejectedly asked, showing Haruhi his pink bunny. Aki had to admit that the bunny does look cute. Just look at it, who wouldn't like such an adorable bunny (A/N: Jerks).

Both sisters stared at it and Aki swore she saw it blushed. With a little blush on her face, Haruhi said, "I guess it's pretty cute."

Honey gazed up at Haruhi in wonder and another light bulb suddenly flashed above his head. Again, with the light bulbs, am I going nuts? Aki thought to herself. She was a bit scared that she may be going crazy – she was already a bit unstable, she did not need to be spiraling down any further – but she was also a bit curious. You don't get to see those sorts of things every day.

Honey placed Usa-chan into Haruhi's arms and speeded off while Aki smiled at her or more specifically, the rabbit in her arms. Haruhi glanced at the older girl with a knowing yet sad look on her face. Still staring at Aki, Haruhi asked her, "Do you want to hold him?"

Aki started, looking at Haruhi then at Usa-chan. Haruhi knew what sort of experience Aki had been through and knew the lack of childhood she had. Therefore, certain experiences like playing with toys – which could be taken for granted by others – were rare moments for Aki.

Aki slowly nodded which made Haruhi smile. The younger girl placed Usa-chan in Aki's arms and this caused a smile to blossom on the older sister's face. She was too distracted by the bunny to try and suppress it. Aki gently hugged the pink bunny to her chest, partly afraid that it might break under her grip.

"As you can see, the host club uses each characteristic to answer the needs of our guest." Kyoya explained, cutting short their little moment. "By the way, Tamaki is our best and the king. His request rate is 70%."

"What is this world coming to?" Haruhi mumbled. Aki chuckled soundlessly beside her, still slightly distracted by the stuffed bunny.

"In order for you guys to pay off your 8-million-yen debt with us, you will act as the Ouran Host Club's dogs until you graduate. I'm sorry, I mean our errand boys. You can try to run away if you want to, but just so you to know, my family employs a private police force of 100 officers. By the way, do you have a passport?" Kyoya smiled wickedly.

"…Huh?" Haruhi uttered, looking at him like he was the devil. Aki simply raised an eyebrow. He is not someone you should be messing around with. It is probably better for me to put up my guard around him. Then an idea popped into her head. Aki inwardly smirked.

"Kyoya?" Aki sweetly called for his attention, keeping her gaze onto Usa-chan as she stroked the bunny in her arms.

"What is it?"

"You have info about everyone, correct?"

"Yes," he stressed, eyeing the girl beside him and silently telling her to get to the point.

"You claim that, but you have little information about me, right?" His eyes slightly widen in shock, puzzled on how she knew this. Aki gave her own evil smile in return.

It was a simply warning. Now he knows not to mess with her or at least he knows now that she was more than a simple commoner. Turning her head, she saw Haruhi talking with Tamaki. Saying goodbye to Kyoya, Aki walked toward the two while handing Usa-chan back to Honey along the way.

"You need a makeover or no girl will look twice at you," Aki heard Tamaki said.

"Yeah, well, I'm not trying to get girls to look at me."

"Are you kidding me? That's the most important thing," Tamaki declared holding a red rose. "You have to learn to be a gentleman and please the ladies, like me."

"Well, it's not that important to us," Aki interjected, announcing her appearance.

"Yeah, why should we care about our appearances and labels anyway?"

"She's right. I mean all that really matters is what's on the inside that counts, right?" One of the many lessons Haruhi had taught her.

"I don't understand why you even have a host club like this."

"It's a cruel reality, isn't it?" Tamaki said while the sisters looked at him like he was nuts. He has completely ignored what they had just said. Now that was just plain rude. "It's not often that God creates a perfect person like moi, beautiful both inside and out."

"Say what?" Haruhi said, a bit confuse while Aki twitched. He's being weird yet surprisingly interesting. Tamaki then started to ramble about something, but Aki was too busy trying to think of a word for people like him.

"There is a word for people like him… What is it?" Haruhi mused out loud. Aki nodded in agreement and continued to ponder. What was it?

"A pain in the neck?" She suggested.

"No, there's something that fit's him perfectly and beside that's not a word." Aki nodded and went back to musing.

"Oh, I got it!" The sisters exclaimed, both hitting a fist to the palm of their hands. They can be so in-tune with each other sometimes. It makes you wonder if they were really twins.

"Oh," Tamaki said, looking at the two 'boys', "did I strike a chord-?"

"Obnoxious!"

Tamaki froze, turning pale white and within seconds began sulking beside a pedestal with a vase of roses in front of the sisters. Rose petals were falling from the vase and onto Tamaki for dramatic effect.

"Hahahaha~!" The girls heard the twin hollered and then Aki felt one of their hands on her head. She didn't know whose though. She was still unfamiliar with the twins to start distinguishing them. "You two are heroes alright."

"I'm sorry, Tamaki," Aki apologized.

"Your lesson did stick a small cord with me," Haruhi added.

Tamaki slowly got up as he returned to normal. "Really? It did? Then let me teach you more, my friends."

Aki blinked at him. "Dramatic mood swings," she uttered, interested. She had never seen this big of a mood swing before. Was he faking it? She was actually curious about him. She has never seen a specimen quite like him before.

Yes, she said specimen.

"Well, he got over that quickly." Haruhi said while Aki nodded in agreement. Suou Tamaki, a fine specimen to examine. A small, amused smirk appeared on Aki's lips while inwardly she was cackling like a madman. Her smirk froze as she realized what she just did.

Am I going crazy? Please tell me I'm not going crazy! Aki internally wept as she tried to not physically sulk. The Host Club was starting to really get to her.

"Boss-?" Kaoru tried to say, but was cut off by Tamaki, "Call me king!"

"You can teach them all the basic of hosting,"

Hikaru then took over, "But they're not going to get that far with the ladies if they don't look the part, you know. They're not exactly Host Club material, but maybe if we take off their glasses and the bangs, it might help." The twins came in front of the two sisters. Hikaru took off Haruhi's glasses while Kaoru moved Aki's bangs from her face. They froze and their eyes widened once they saw the girls' faces.

"Hey, I need those!" Haruhi shouted, "I used to have contacts, but I lost them on the first day of school."

"Leave Haruhi alone," Aki growled, her annoyance rising and causing her unique eyes to grow fiercer than they were before. She had left her bangs alone and done nothing to fixed them because people tend to get uncomfortable with the coloration of her eyes.

Tamaki rushed to the group and pushed the twins aside to look. He gasped from what he saw before immediately snapping his finger, "Hikaru, Kaoru"

"Got it." The twins saluted before they grabbed hold of the sisters and dragged them forcefully into a large change room with curtains as doors.

"Here! Change into these uniforms." The twins held up two male uniforms.

"What?!"

"Why?!" Aki demanded, growing agitated. She felt a bit cornered.

"Don't ask questions!" The twins pounced.

"Get off of me!" Haruhi yelled, struggling. She had wanted them to stop since she was afraid of what their forceful nature may do to Aki. She got to quickly get them to leave before Aki does something she may regret later.

"Change."

Aki snarled, smacking away any limbs that got too close to her. She was really restraining herself from punching the twins in the faces.

"We'll get change!" Haruhi shouted. Finally having enough and feeling extra protective, Aki roughly grabbed the twins and booted them out of the change room – quite literally.

-`ღ´-

Few Minutes Later…

"Um, senpai/Tamaki?" Both Haruhi and Aki spoke.

"Aren't you done changing yet?" Tamaki questioned impatiently. Opening the curtains, the sisters stepped out.

"You sure it's really okay for us to keep these uniforms?" Haruhi asked. Haruhi and Aki had gone through a complete makeover. Haruhi's hair was neatly styles and she was wearing her contacts along with the school's male uniform.

The same thing happened to Aki, but her blazer was unbuttoned and her hair was in a different style than Haruhi's. Hers was longer, going a bit past her neck and her bangs were parted from the left side of the head to the right, leaving some of the long strands covering a bit of her exotic eyes.

"Cute! You two are as pretty as a girl! Adorable!" Tamaki cried tears of joy. You don't know the half of it, Tamaki, Aki thought.

"Haru-chan, Aki-chan, you two looks so cute," Honey proclaimed.

"If we had known that's how you two really look," Hikaru said.

"Then we would have helped you out sooner," Kaoru finished.

"Who knows," Kyoya said, "They might draw in some costumers."

"You know, that's just what I was thinking," Tamaki claimed. Aki scoffed, I doubt it. "Our errand boys are moving up the ranks! Starting today, you two are official members of the Host Club. I will personally train you two to be first-rate hosts. If you two were to be able to get 100 costumers to request your services, we will completely forget about the 8-million-yen debt."

"A host?" The sisters chorused, exchanging glances. Aki's voice was more out of curiosity, while Haruhi's was out of disbelief.

This was going to be a long day for the sisters.

-`ღ´-

Haruhi and Aki Are Now Available for Appointments

"So, tell me, Haruhi. Do you have any hobbies? What do you like to do?"

"I'm curious, Aki. What kind of products do you use on your skin?"

"Yes, it's so pretty."

Aki looked over at Haruhi and saw that her eyes were twitching. The younger girl gave a nervous, strained smile towards their customers, while Aki frowned at her. She must be having a hard time.

"So why did you join the host club, Haruhi? Aki?" They all asked. Come on Haruhi! Just get 100 customers, and then we're free. Aki saw Haruhi's eyes flash with an idea which caused Aki to silently cheer for her.

Haruhi began telling their guests about her mother's death. From the corners of her eyes, Aki could see the other hosts listening in on the story as well.

"What about you, Aki?" The girls asked when Haruhi was done with telling her story.

Aki jolted for a second, but then she smiled, already knowing what she needed to do. She even had a persona in mind to use. Aki elegantly picked up her teacup and calmly took a sip of the tea. Gently placing the cup down, Aki turned her head to gaze far off into the distance and the look in her eyes grew hazy as though she was reminiscing on the past.

"I grew up relatively alone with no one I could call as my parents. My childhood was harsh as I was forced to survive the real world at a very young age. I suffered painfully without any hope and my world was constantly filled with darkness," there was a pause as those listening in on the story grew a bit sad and teary.

"But," Aki spoke again, her tone a bit more uplifting as she grabbed the audience's attention. "Along the way, Haruhi appeared, becoming that single ray of light within my dark world. She taught me how to live, how to love myself and the world again. She saved me, adopted me into her family and so now I am in great debt with them and I will do whatever it takes to protect them – no matter what the cost."

The girls swooned from the two heartwarming stories and Aki's noble declaration. Aki could see the hearts floating around them as their customers asked if they could see the sisters again tomorrow. Of course, the sisters agreed. They then heard a snap and looked up.

"Haruhi, Aki, come over here for a minute," Tamaki called, motioning the girls over. Haruhi got up and tripped over her feet, but Aki easily caught her by the arm.

"Are you okay?" Aki asked in worry.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Aki helped steady Haruhi before the two walked away. The two could hear loud squeals in the background as they headed towards Tamaki's table. "What's up?"

"I'd like you to meet someone. This is my regular guest, Princess Ayanokoji." He gestured to the lady beside him. Aki narrowed her eyes. It was the redhead from before. The older sister silently growled, but then kept her tense posture and hostility hidden from public view.

"Miss, it's a pleasure to meet you," the two greeted with a bashful smile and a tilted head. The smile was obviously fake for Aki, but she needed to put up an act so that the red-head wouldn't catch onto the fact that Aki was suspicious of her. Unfortunately, it seemed that their smiles were just too good. Without warning, Tamaki pulled the girls into a bone-crushing bear hug as the three spun around.

"That was so cute! That air of bashfulness was very good!" Haruhi's muffled screams could be heard as the two sisters struggled to escape Tamaki's grip. Tamaki could be surprising strong when he needs to. "Super good! Amazingly good!"

"Um, Tamaki?" Ayanokoji tried to call out and talk some sense into Tamaki, but it was unsuccessful. Aki took notice of the redhead's possible attempt to help them – and if red-head was truly being sincere about it then Aki was a bit grateful for her attempt – but no matter what, Aki still doesn't trust her.

The three spun and the only thing Aki managed to see clearly was Mori. "Mori, please help us." Aki cried out, partly puzzled on why it felt natural for her to seek him out. In less than a second, the sisters found themselves out of Tamaki's clutches and within Mori's hold. They were being held by silent giant as though they were sacks of potatoes; Aki was thrown over his shoulder and Haruhi was held under his other arm.

Since Aki was facing away from Mori, she did not see the imaginary light bulb appearing above his head. It was a good thing too because as she mentioned before, she did not want to be losing her mind.

"Mori-senpai, you really didn't have to go that far," Tamaki blankly said, surprised by his upperclassman's action. "Come on, little ones, let Daddy give you a big hug!"

"We've already got a dad. We don't need another one," Haruhi twitched, annoyed as Mori placed her down.

"Thank you, Mori-san," Aki thanked as he placed down his fellow classmate. Mori gave a nod back in reply. Once Aki's feet touched the ground, she immediately drew Haruhi into a protective hug and dragged her away from Tamaki – giving the boy no chance of pulling off that trick again.

-`ღ´-

Few Minutes Later…

"Hey Aki," Haruhi wandered around the room, seeming to be searching for something. "Have you seen my bag?"

"No," Aki replied walking over to Haruhi who stopped by the window, "did something happen?" Where could her things be? Something caught Aki's attention, causing her to glance out the window. Seeing her sister's diverted gaze, Haruhi follow suit. Once Aki registered what she saw, she paled in shock.

What the two sisters saw were Haruhi's things floating in the school's courtyard pond. Aki was frozen for a second before slowly, tremors rippled through Aki's body as her blood started to boil in anger. Emotions collided with each other as her hands clutched themselves into fists.

Haruhi took one glance at Aki's face and immediately said, "Don't worry, Aki. Please don't do anything rash."

Aki twitched. Oh, how she wished to disobey Haruhi's plead, but Aki knew Haruhi would be unhappy with her if she did. Aki watched almost helplessly as Haruhi left the room to retrieve her things. Aki's swirling thoughts was then brought back to the red head. She was the only 'enemy' the two sisters had at the moment, and so Aki wouldn't be surprise if this was all her doing.

Aki inwardly growled in frustration, unsure on how to proceed. She had many ways to solve this problem, but most of them were not civil enough and will only cause problems to her loved ones.

But she still MUST PAY FOR WHAT SHE DID! Aki felt her protective mode switched itself on and began to feel murderous intent toward the redhead. How DARE she! Why did she do it?! Just because she's jealous does not mean that she can destroys other people's things. Haruhi and I had work hard in earning our happiness and I will not let her destroy it.

A slight touch on her closed fists snapped Aki out from her murderous train of thoughts. She glanced over to see that Honey and Mori were there beside her, giving her worried looks.

"Is something that matter, Aki-chan?"

"Nothing's wrong," Aki grumbled, slapping away Honey's hand and stomping off. Aki's mind was too clouded by the thoughts of the redhead that she was unaware of how much her actions had hurt the two cousins. They weren't mad though; they were more worried than anything. They hoped that their classmate was okay.

Walking toward Kyoya, Aki pulled on his sleeve to get his attention. Looking at Aki, he raised a curious eyebrow.

"I want to show you something." Aki persistently tugged an annoyed Kyoya into the change room and toward one of the walls. Placing her hands on the wall, Aki started to feel around, looking for something. Feeling a familiar crack, Aki tugged at the wallpaper that had been placed there. Behind it was a brown door.

Aki looked back behind her and found that Kyoya was frozen, a bit dumbfounded by the hidden passage. Raising an amused eyebrow, Aki turned the knob of the door and walked in. After shaking off the shock, Kyoya followed suit and the two found themselves inside a room with screens littering the opposite wall. "This room controls the security cameras," Aki explained to Kyoya.

"When did the club have a security room?"

Aki smirked, "I had it built after our forceful integration and when I found out that a prestigious school like this did not have any security measure like security cameras."

"You build this?" He was a bit astonished and interested by Aki's proficiency.

"Not really. I just order this to be built here – I even got permission from the principal."

"Hm…" He hummed in thought, writing something down in that annoying, little, black notebook of his. Walking towards the screen-filled wall, Aki sat down on one of the revolving chairs and started typing away. After a few clicks on the keyboard, Aki brought up a video that had been recorded a few minutes ago. "What are you doing?"

"Just watch." In the video Aki had pulled up, it showed Ayanokoji carrying Haruhi's bag and dumping it into the pond. Seeing it made Aki audibly growled. Now they had proof of the girl's misdeeds.

"My, what do we have here?"

"I knew she was bad news." Aki glared at the screen.

"Having such behaviour preside in the club will only cause problems and negatively affect our reputation. This behaviour must be swiftly taken care of," Kyoya pushed up his glasses. Aki nodded her head in agreement and head out the door, leaving Kyoya behind to do whatever he wants with the security room.

-`ღ´-

Aki paced around the clubroom, waiting rather impatiently for Haruhi to come back. Eventually she did with Tamaki following close behind her. Unfortunately, before Aki was able to fuss over her, club activity had started and Haruhi was whisked away because she had been exclusively requested by Ayanokoji.

Aki had found it strange that Haruhi was requested by her and suspected that the redhead had an ulterior motive for it. She was surprised how quick the whole situation processed though. Usually it would take a bit more time before an enemy would take any sort of action, but it seemed Aki had underestimated how vicious the redhead was. The girl may not be aggressive, but she was vicious and felt threatened enough by the sisters to be upfront like this.

Aki glared at the girl from a distance. She was upset that she was forced to do her own hosting separated from Haruhi and at such a wide distance as well. She can't protect Haruhi if she was so far away.

"U-umm, Aki-kun?" A timid voice stuttered, snapping Aki back to the current situation. Three other girls watched nervously as Aki brought her eyes back toward them. The eyes were currently cold-looking yet glowed fiercely like icy flames.

Sensing how her behaviour may be scaring the girls, Aki closed her eyes, took a deep breath and forced her feelings aside for now. She need to focus on hosting or it will cause problems with the club and in-turn will cause problems for Haruhi.

When Aki reopened her eyes, her clients could see that they had went back to their warm-colored, wine-like state. "I apologized for my behaviour," Aki slightly bowed, "It was inappropriate for me to show such a barbaric behaviour in front of lovely ladies like you."

"No, no, no!" The one who spoke before frantically shook her head along with her friends. "It's quite fine. We could see how protective you are with Haruhi."

"Yes," Aki straightened and closed her eyes in dismay, "Haruhi is my prince and I am his knight. It pains me to not be by his side. I won't be able to protect if I am so far away."

The three ladies dreamily sighed as they silently gushed. Aki almost looked like a dejected guard dog. "Haruhi is so lucky to have you by his side," Lady #2 commented.

Aki looked back up and smiled charmingly as she took a sip of tea. "I'm glad that I'm only Haruhi's knight and nobody else's."

"What do you mean?" Lady #3 asked and they all exchanged confused looks.

Aki sent an enchanted smile at the girls. "If I was to be a knight of one of you ladies, then I fear I may have to break my code of honor to be with you." Aki started to lean in with each sentence. "I may have to go against my oaths as a knight to spend my every waking moment with you. Being by your side, I will become overwhelmed by my love for you and the thought of filthy vermin coming in close contact with you will fill me with immense rage. No person would come between us. I will protect you as you will become only mine to protect. Even if it meant going against the world, I will do everything I can to protect that sweet smile of yours."

By the end of her sentence, Aki was practically on top of the table with her face inches from Lady #1 who was sitting right across from her. All the girls were sporting deep blushes. Flashing a smirk, Aki stood up and walked away, leaving the girls behind to melt into their own pile of goo from swooning so hard.

This was the sort of persona Aki was trying for; a protector or more within the theme of a knight. It already goes in-line with her protective nature and this way Aki wouldn't have to hide her duties of protecting Haruhi. Besides, don't girls enjoy having a knight there to protect them? Aki wasn't completely sure. Her knowledge of female fantasies was still limited which was ironic since she was one.

Now that Aki was away from her guests, she let her dark emotions resurface as she marched towards her intended target. Along the way, Aki suddenly saw a girl trip in front of her. A more rational part of Aki knew that she couldn't ignore the girl and so she sprinted forward and caught the girl by the waist, pulling her up until they were chest to chest.

It was a good thing that Aki's chest was binded to help with her appearance as a male or this would have become an awkward moment. "Are you injured, princess?" Aki sweetly asked, trying to hide her previous anger.

"N-No, I am a-alright," the girl stuttered.

Aki's eyes flickered up to see that Haruhi was still in no danger with the redhead. Making a quick decision, she picked up the girl into a bridal hold, causing both the girl in Aki's arms and those around them to blush from the action. This will hopefully bring up Aki's population and help with their debt.

"W-What are you doing?" the girl cried out in embarrassment. Instead of answering, Aki carried her to a nearby couch and placed the girl down. Next, she kneeled down to the ground and gently grabbed one of girl's ankles, lifting it up to her face to examine it.

"Good, you have not injured your delicate leg," Aki said, smiling softly before placing a light kiss on the girl's foot. Assured that the girl was not injured and that her popularity had increased, Aki got up and went back to what she was doing before all while hearing the squeals of customers in the background.

When Aki got near to Haruhi's table, she heard the word 'jealous' and then saw the redhead pull Haruhi from the other side of the table making the table and Haruhi fall on top of her. With her quick reflexes, Aki dove underneath the redhead to cushion the fall. Aki grunted from getting the air knocked right out of her and automatically wrapped her arms protectively around the two younger girls. Aki did not want to save the redhead, but if the redhead were to become injured then she feared what consequences may come out of it.

While she was trying to catch her breath, Aki could hear the redhead screaming on top of her lungs. "No, Haruhi! Leave me alone! Tell your little guard dog to stop! Someone help! These two commoners just attacked me!"

"Huh?" The two sisters were surprised and confused. Flabbergasted, Aki felt her arms grew weak as she let go of the two girls. What is she talking about? Attack? How were they attacking her?

"Someone do something! Teach these commoners a lesson!"

Suddenly, water was dumped over the three, soaking all of them to the bones and ending the screaming fest. Aki glanced up from her place on the floor and saw the twins holding empty water jugs. Haruhi leaned back on her knees as she too looked up at the twins.

"Why did you do that?" Aki heard Ayanokoji muttered before hearing footsteps heading towards them. Tilting her head back, Aki saw that it was Tamaki. She watched as Tamaki helped Ayanokoji up and off her aching body. Her body will definitely be sore after this.

"Do something Tamaki!" Ayanokoji pleaded, "Haruhi and Aki just assaulted me!"

"I'm disappointed in you," Tamaki replied instead. "You threw Haruhi's bag into the pond, didn't you?"

"You don't know that! Do you have any proof that I did?" The redhead looked frantic from Tamaki's remarks.

"Oh, but we do. We recorded the whole thing on video," Kyoya interjected.

"You know, you're a beautiful girl. But you aren't classy enough to be our guest, dear. If there's one thing I know, Haruhi and Aki are not that kind of men."

To tell you the truth, Aki was astonished by the level of trust Tamaki seemed to have for the two sisters. He didn't need to say that about them, they already have the proof to show that the culprit was Ayanokoji, but for some reason he did.

"But why, Tamaki? You idiot!" The girl sobbed anime tears as she ran out of the room. Aki sighed in relief. She's finally gone. Now Haruhi is safe.

"Hmm… Now how am I going to punish you two? Because it is your fault, after all," Tamaki mused. Aki sat up, rubbing her throbbing head. She then saw a hand enter her vision. Looking up, she saw Mori looking down at her. Accepting his offer, she grabbed his hand and allowed him to help her up. Punishment? "Your quota is now 1000!"

"One thousand?" Haruhi twitched in disbelief, while Aki shrugged. She didn't mind as long as Haruhi was there doing it with her.

"Come on," Tamaki encouraged, lending Haruhi a hand. As Tamaki pulled Haruhi up, Aki went over to the two to silently fuss over Haruhi. She wanted to be completely sure that Haruhi was uninjured. "I've got high expectations for you two, my little rookies." Tamaki winked.

"Huh?" Haruhi uttered, still a bit confused by everything.

"These are the only spare uniforms we have," Kyoya said, handing Haruhi a bag. "Sorry, but it's better than a wet one, right?" He looked at Aki with a smirk and she knew then that he knew about her little gender secret. It wasn't like Aki was really hiding it though. It just that everyone was far too focused on the discovery of Haruhi's gender to notice hers.

"Thanks a lot, you guys," Haruhi said, looking inside the bag. "We're going to go change now." Haruhi started heading toward the change rooms while Aki shrugged in reply to Kyoya's look before following her. The two walked into separate change rooms and began changing.

-`ღ´-

Host Club Is Now Closed

"Haruhi," Aki heard Tamaki called out as he headed towards Haruhi's change room. She could have stopped him, but she wanted him to know that Haruhi was a girl and not a boy. While she was changing, Aki had come to a decision to let the host club help her protect Haruhi.

Thus, if the guys did not find out about Haruhi's true gender sooner, then they won't be able to protect her properly. It was not that Aki couldn't do it herself, but with Haruhi being in different classes as her, it would be difficult to do so. Aki wanted to make sure that Haruhi was safe and protected. To do that, she must let the guys help her by letting them know that Haruhi was a girl.

Aki listened in as Tamaki asked Haruhi if she was a girl. She replied to him with a simple 'yes' of course. With a smirk, Aki slid the curtain open at the same time with Haruhi to reveal the two of them in the school's girl uniforms. The Host club looked at Aki and started freaking out.

"A-Aki, you're a girl too?" Tamaki asked.

"Yup," Aki replied before frowning. She tugged at the poofy, yellow dress she wore. "But I'm not a big fan of dresses, especially this one." Tamaki was stunned. Who wouldn't be?

"Listen, senpai," Haruhi said while fixing her red ribbon, "I don't really care whether you guys recognize me as a boy or a girl. In my opinion, it's more important for a person to be recognized for who they are rather than for what sex they are. I believe Aki is the same?" Haruhi glanced over at Aki who nodded in agreement.

"Well, isn't this an interesting development?" Kyoya commented, sounding a bit smug.

"Oh, yeah!"

"Uh, you know, I have to say, Senpai, I thought you were pretty cool earlier," Haruhi added. That made Tamaki grow as red as a tomato.

Haruhi truly was a natural at this whole flirting thing – much to Aki's chagrin. Haruhi was like honey, drawing in useless flies that Aki must work to bat away.

"The beginning of love is now blooming," Aki flatly said, unpleased by the development. She wanted them to protect Haruhi, not fall in love with her!

"You're right," Kyoya agreed.

"Being a host and getting fussed over by a bunch of girls might not be that bad." Haruhi said, shocking Tamaki out of his embarrassment, "I wonder how I could pull it off?" She was in deep thought.

"How about from now on, you and I could start call everyone 'dude' or 'bro'?!" Aki proposed. A moment later Haruhi and Aki burst into giggles, leaving Tamaki shocked in horror by the suggestion.