"Hey guys! Sorry we're late. We stopped by the store on the way here..." Gou walks into the entry room of Haru's house with her brother, Rin. In hand, there's a shopping bag with a glass bottle and in the arms of the older Matsuoka sibling, is a box of beer. "What kind of a boring party would this be without some alcohol to celebrate with." She winks in a flirty manor to the boys in the room.

While Gou begins chatting away with the others, her brother awkwardly stands there for a minute. He finally became friends with everyone again but he still isn't as comfortable yet as he had hoped. Maybe tonight, he could catch up with everyone. He decided he would do his best to return to the way things were long ago. "Yo, Haru, where should I put this?" Rin nods his head towards the beer he carries.

"Uh..." Haru gets up and to show the rusty haired boy to the kitchen. "Just put it in the fridge or something."

When Rin opens the door, he sees the only thing in the shorter boy's refrigerator is mackerel, butter and milk. He stares blankly for a few seconds then blinks. What. The. Hell? "Haru, why don't you have anything edible?!"

The blackette snaps back, "Mackerel is edible."

"Why do you ONLY have mackerel though. Don't you eat anything else?!"

"Of course I do. I have bread for toast." Haru looks a little confused as to why Rin is expecting him to eat anything else.

The taller sighs. "Nevermind... I don't know why I even bother." He shakes his head and drops the subject. "I'll just put these in here for now." He turns away from the bare contents known as Haru's fridge and returns to the living room with the other following behind.

"Rin-chan! Haru-chan!" The hyper blond bounds like a rabbit to glomp the two. "I'm sooo happy we can finally be together again!" He flashes a cheery smile that never seems to fade. "Even though we were disqualified, that relay was amazing!"

"Indeed, it was very beautiful." Rei closes his eyes as he pushes up his glasses in an intelligent way. "But next time, I will be the one showing off the butterfly stroke. By then, I will have perfected my form. The next relay will be even better than this one. " His eyes flash at Rin. The red-headed boy forms a smirk to expose his pointed teeth.

"Those are some pretty big words coming from you. We will see, Speedo Glasses." He chuckles darkly.

Rei's eye visibly twitches at the mention of the name. "Don't call me that, Rin-chan-san!" Both Rei and Rin stand up and each put a foot on the middle table like they're about to fight it out.

"Hey! What did I tell you about putting both 'chan' and 'san' onto my name! I'll beat you!"

"N-now hold on! Calm down you two!" Gou frantically grabs on to Rin's arm in an attempt to pull him off the table.

Nagisa holds a nervous smile as he hugs Rei's waist, making the larger of the two become suddenly aware of everyone in the room. "M-my apologies. I didn't mean to get so riled up..." A slight blush on one cheek slowly fades.

They all go back to sitting around the table. Rei sits closer to Nagisa than he might be able to handle. Rin plopped down between Haru and Makoto. It kind of bothered him how close those two had gotten since he had left. The red headed boy hoped to be Haru's best friend again. He loved swimming with Haru. Although that was something too embarrassing to say out loud.

"Heheh... It's okay." Makoto speaks up for the first time tonight. "Maybe we should do something to lighten the mood. It's been a while since we last were all together like this." Makoto had always been the motherly hen type. Always being the adult his friends needed. "Kou-san, do you have any ideas?" He smiles warmly to the only girl present.

Blushing brightly, she turns her head to break eye contact. 'He called me Kou,' "Hmmm..." She thinks to herself. "Um..um...ummmm..." Now everyone in the room was looking at her for an answer. The longer she thought, the more aware she became of it. Gou was now more nervous than ever.

"Kou-san?"

"Okay! I got it!" She exclaims after thinking as rapidly as she could. "How about King's Game?!"

"Oooo! Isn't that a game usually you play at mixers though?" Nagisa tilts his head to the side like a confused puppy.

"Uh... Well, I mean I guess it is but I think it could still be fun! Do you have any better ideas?" She pouts.

"I think it sounds fun." Makoto supports Gou with another warm smile. Her heart beat skips a little.

She looks around to the others in the room who didn't refuse the idea or seem unhappy. "Well then. King's Game it is." She says cheerily.

"What is King's Game?" Haru asks innocently.

Everyone in the room was now focused on him, staring at him like he had been living under a rock. Or maybe like he had grown two heads.

"Oi, Makoto. You're Haru's best friend and he doesn't even know what King's Game is?" Rin calls to the olive haired boy.

"Eh? Since when is it my job?" Makoto scrunches his eyebrows.

"Since you're his best friend, isn't it your job to make sure he knows these things?"

"Don't be such a bully Rin-chan!" Nagisa sticks his tongue out at the shark toothed boy.

Rin moves as if he's getting up. "Why you...!"

"Eek!" The blond shorter hides behind Rei. "Save me Rei-chan!"

The purple eyed boy holds his arms out like he's guarding a team mate in basketball. "Hey now!"

The bickering continues until Makoto sighs and speaks up again "Don't make me have to separate you guys." He gives a playful wink. By this time everyone had joined in. Nagisa still hiding behind Rei. Rin hovering over trying to get to the small blond. Gou trying to pull her brother away and even Haru had somehow joined in and was holding out his hands like claws in a silly manor. They all looked at each other wide eyed then laughed together.

"What is Haru-chan doing?!" Nagisa giggled which in turn, made everyone laugh even harder.

"Okay okay! Let's get this started before we get sidetracked again." Gou takes charge when things calmed a bit. "Don't worry Haruka-senpai, the game is really simple. We will explain as we get it ready. Do you have popsicle sticks or straws by chance? And a marker too."

Haru leaves the rooms for a moment to return with a small box of sticks and pen. "Like this?" He hands Gou the things that were requested. The boys scoot towards the table to watch as she writes a number on each stick. "Nagisa, can you explain to Haruka-senpai how King's Game works?"

"Sure!" The blond replies happily. "Haru-chan, look. There's one stick for each person. They all have a number, one through five, except the one with a little crown." He holds up the stick Gou had just finished making. A cute crown on the edge of it. "This is the King's stick. Whoever gets the King's stick is the King. And the King gets to tell the others what to do!"

Haru nods his head once with a resolved look. "I understand."

"Wahahaha! Haru-chan looks so determined!" Nagisa laughs obnoxiously.

"Pfft" Rin tries to hold back a small laugh. The room of people watch and smile. "What?" The rusty haired boy suddenly becomes a little more self conscious. "Don't stare and smile at like that! It's making me feel weird..." Rin crosses his arms.

"But Rin laughed." Haru states.

Rin becomes even more self conscious when Haru points it out like that. "Ah so? Laughing is fine." The taller looks away a bit.

"Ehhh but Rin-chan hasn't laughed in such a long time!" The blond says what everyone else had been thinking.

Now the red head was becoming embarrassed. He needed to take the heat off himself. "Well what about Haru? I've never seen him laugh!" Hopefully he had covered himself well. But it was also true he had never seen the blackette laugh. It made him wonder if he had EVER laughed. If so, he was jealous of the person who was able to witness that... Again, this was something he would never say aloud. Much too embarrassing.

"Ya that's true, I haven't seen him laugh ever..." Nagisa ponders to himself.

"I haven't known Haruka-senpai long enough to see him laugh." Rei taps his glasses in thought.

Gou thinks quietly. "Nope. I haven't either..."

"Well actually... I think I saw Haru laugh once a long time ago..." Makoto says in a confusingly sad tone.

Rin huffs. Of course Makoto had seen it. Him of all people, it only makes sense. It still didn't make him feel better. "Spit it out Makoto! When did he laugh?"

The olive haired boy closes his eyes as his mind goes back to the day he saw it. "A long time ago, we were on a school trip in elementary school. That's when I heard it. A chuckle coming from the mat next to mine that night. Haru was darkly laughing in his sleep. It was a little scary to be honest."

"That doesn't count Mako-chan! Haru-chan was probably just dreaming!"

Makoto shrugs and laughs.

"Well guys, you know what to do." Rin flashes a sneaky smile as he loops his arms under Haru's, leaving the smaller boy unable to get away and entirely vulnerable to the others.

Poor Haru looks from side to side. He's confused why all his friends are closing in on him with their hands out, wriggling the fingers. Each with a smirk on their face. "Um... What's going on?" And then the hands make contact, tickling him vigorously! "Ah! Stop!" He tries to hold in the butterflies and the bubble of something in his stomach. What is this feeling?

Gou, unable to bring herself to join in, watches shamelessly. How could she casually touch such great bodies. No, instead she would observe. The girl sees part of Haruka-senpai's shirt lift on the bottom edge from the movements of him trying to escape. 'Those muscles' Her eyes flash. The boy looks like his face was gonna burst from how red it has become!

"Pfft... Ah..Ahahaha! Hahahaha..ahaa! W-what was th-that...ahah..for...hah?" While he had bust out in laughter, his friends had backed away to watch in awe. He needed to catch his breath after that. What was that feeling? It was great but at the same time, exhausting. Maybe he should laugh more often...

"Waaah! Haru-chan laughed!" Nagisa exclaims.

Even Rin was smiling brightly at the sight. He couldn't help but hug the blackette in excitement. Along followed the rest of the guys, laughing and hugging. 'My Haru is so cute! Wait. My Haru?' He pushed the stray thought away.

Gou still watched from one side of the room. 'All that skinship.' She had to fight a nose bleed. As soon as she got herself under control, she regretfully interrupted the hug-fest. "Guys, maybe you forgot, but we still have to play King's Game! I swear you all have the attention span of a chicken."

"Gou-kun, that's not very nice..." Pouts Nagisa.

"Nagisa... What did I tell you about calling me Gou-kun! Call me Kou! Kou! Kou! Kou!" Now the blond had picked a fight with yet another Matsuoka sibling. You would think he'd learn to steer clear of their short tempers.

"But your name is Gou!"

"I don't care! Kou is so much cuter!"

Makoto sighs and gets up to get a beer. "Anyone else want something to drink while I'm up?" Gou's ears perk up at this.

"Oh! Makoto-senpai! I brought sake too! Let me help you." Gou offers cheerfully.

"Oi, I'll take a beer." Rin requests cooly.

"Umm... I'll have some sake I guess." Nagisa states uncertainly.

"A beer, please." Rei keeps a straight face.

"Water." Haru blankly says.

"Ehhh? Haru-chan! You can't just have water. Get him sake! Then we can drink together." Nagisa decides for the blackette, glad to have someone to join him.

Haru only nods in response.

Gou and Makoto leave to the other room to get the drinks. "Hey Haru, what do you think Makoto is up to? Maybe Gou will steal him from you." Rin suggests mischievously.

Haru only looks up at him, knits his eyebrows together, and makes a slight pout.

'Too cute... Gah! What am I thinking?'

"Rin-chan! Shouldn't you be more worried about Makoto taking your sister?!" Nagisa's comment interrupts Rin's thoughts.

"I think Makoto is fine enough for her. And anyways. Gou can choose for herself."

"What are you guys talking about?" Gou had returned at the end of the conversation. Her eye twitched causing even her brother to become wary.

Makoto walks up behind her and smiles sweetly at everyone. But instead of a nice vibe it usually gives out, it felt more like he was ready to beat anyone who said more.

The two hand out drinks and settle around the table closely. Gou finishes up the set up of the game. "Okay! Now we can finally play! Let's draw to see who goes first." The sticks are dropped into a cup with the written side hidden. They each take a turn choosing a stick.

"Eh? Looks like I'm King first." Nagisa says in a cheery way. But somehow, his intentions seemed darker.

"Oh... I'm f..." Haru was about to say the number he had gotten but a hand over his mouth had cut him off.

"Oi Haru. Don't say which number you are or the King might pick on you. Nagisa, you forgot to mention that when you explained earlier." Rin glares at the blond.

"Hehe... Oops." Nagisa scratches the back of his head.

Rin looks down at the number he had gotten. '2' it read. He glances over to see what Haru got, leaning a little to see. '4' his read.

"Rin... you tell me not to say my number out loud but you're looking at it right now." He pouts again.

'Uh oh. Busted.' "Don't worry Haru, you only don't want the King to see. It's okay if I know, though." Hopefully he would drop it there.

The blackette shrugs and turns back to see what Nagisa is about to say.

The short blond is deep in thought, concentrating on what he should command the others to do. 'What if it's too much? No, no. I might as well get this started somehow.' "Alright! I've decided." His eyes sparkle. 'I just hope I picked the right numbers or it might fail...' "Numbers 2 and 4, link arms while finishing your drinks."

"Ah dammit! Figures you pick me anyways." It seems suspicious how he had gotten these two on the first try. "Well Haru, bottoms up." Rin loops an arm through Haru's as the blackette picks up his small cup of sake.

"Um, Nagisa, isn't it a bit much to have them finish their drinks as soon as they get them?" There goes Makoto again, being all motherly.

"Shut up! This is nothing, so stop worrying, Makoto." The rusty haired boy smirks.

"I was more worried about Haru..."

"He's a man! He can handle this much. Right Haru?" He looks over to his drinking partner, who had already finished his drink while Rin had been talking. "What the hell? We were supposed to drink at the same time!"

"You took too long." A bit of redness was already beginning to show on Haru's cheek.

"Tch. Rin-chan is too slow." Nagisa chimes in.

'Sigh' "Oi, at least let me finish mine now." Rin tilts his head back to chug the can of beer. He opens an eye to peek over at his partner whose arm is still connected to his own. Haru lazily eyed his throat. Watching each time he gulped the bitter liquid. The rusty haired boy suddenly became aware at how close they were. The can was almost empty. He just needed to finish the last bit off before he became any more conscious of the other.

He gasped for air the moment it was gone. "There! Not so tough." The shark toothed boy spat. Nagisa and Rei clap in faux amazement. "Hey, I'd like to see you two try that!"

"Uh... Moving on." Gou pushes for the next round. She wants to have a go at being king. Or in her case, 'queen' is more suitable. There was something about the vibe of the room that made it feel like she was surrounded by couples. It made her a little anxious to get a turn.

They pass the cup around once more.

'Dangit! Not king this time either.' She disappointedly passes the cup along.

"Looks like I'm the King this time." Rei does a show of pushing up his glasses. "I will beautifully rule my kindgom! You all as my servants, shall do as I say!"

"Oooh, Rei-chan is really getting into this!" Nagisa giggles.

"Speedo glasses! Who you calling a servant?!" Rin snapped at the purple eyed boy who was getting way into the act.

Gou shook her head. "I think Rei has drinken too much already..." Oddly enough, Rei had indeed already finished his can of beer.

"Ehehe... Who would've thought
That Rei was such a lightweight." Makoto leans back, letting his weight fall onto his arms.

Haru stands up suddenly. "Rei. Let me get you another beer." He leaves and returns with a can in hand and his own sake glass filled to the top.

"Oooh! These guys are really getting into it!" Nagisa says, wide eyed.

"Haru... Don't over do it." Rin looks over to the other. Haru sits down snuggly close to the rusty haired boy.

"Now look who's being worrisome." Makoto states smugly.

"Shut up!"

"Pft look at those two being all close and friendly." Nagisa teases.

"Argh! Just go already! Rei, what's your command?" He was ready to move the unwanted attention away.

"Tch. So impatient. Looks like Rin is already willing to submit to my rule! Wahahaha!"

At this point, the entire room just looked at him like a screw had come loose.

"Is it me or is Rei too silly when he drinks?" Nagisa whispers loudly, hiding his mouth from the purple eyed boys view.

"I can hear you Nagi-chan! Don't think you can escape me! Now I will let you minions hear my beautiful words of order! Numbers 3 and 1! Dance! Dance like you've never danced before! Make it beautiful! To the point where I can no longer fathom the sheer beauty of it!"

"What the hell is wrong with this guy..." Rin shook his head, glad that neither him or Haru were one or three.

"Ehhhh I'm 1." The blond stands up. "Who is 3?"

They all looked around to see who was the unlucky person to join in on this. All eyes locked on to the sole girl in the room. She kept her head down as if to hide from the oncoming embarrassment she would be experiencing momentarily. "I'm 3."

"Aw Gou-kun, don't be so down! This will be a lot of fun!" Nagisa tugs on her arm to get her to rise. He leans over to whisper. "Rei is borderline drunk anyways, not like there's anyone to impress." He giggled.

"Don't call me Gou!" She became heated up, not by the pep talk, but because she hated being called Gou.

"That's so like you, Gou." Her brother rolls his eyes.

"Shut up Rin!" She snaps back. Her and the blond exchange a few sentences for a 'game plan.' Then she runs over to Makoto to request the song. "Nagisa! Let's do this."

Makoto plugs in his phone into the sound system. He gives a thumbs up. Gou and Nagisa stand side by side and nod to show they're ready. The olive haired boy plays a song that starts abruptly. Everyone has heard it at least once. It's the song that plays in "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya."

"Oh. My. God."