A loud, vibrating buzz woke Haruhi early the next morning. She grumbled and gently pushed Shippō into his mother's lap to reach for her phone. Topaz eyes blinked a couple times before groaning and slowly untangling herself from the furry huddle of her new pack.

Haruhi walked out onto the balcony, flipped her phone open, and glared at the bright screen. It was Tamaki calling her; there was even a picture of him with a ridiculous smile on his face displayed on her screen. The young ookami sighed and pressed 'answer'. "Hello?"

"Haruhi! Where are you?! I've been calling you all morning!" He forgot about the sleepover. Then her sleepy mind realized something. Haruhi had only given the twins her phone number. Frowning, the brunette decided to worry about it later.

With a yawn, she answered, "Dad was working all night so he had me stay at a relative's house. I told you guys before I left yesterday."

"No, you di-"

"She mentioned it before Taisho-san left, Tamaki." Apparently, Kyoya was with him. The poor boy was usually dragged into Tamaki's shenanigans. Today was no different, it seemed.

It was deafeningly silent as they remembered her outburst from the day before. Haruhi has never raised her voice at them; even when she was upset, she'd just leave. The blond had been too focused on the fact that his precious daughter yelled at them to remember about her sleepover. "Oh."

The brunette huffed. "Did you need something, senpai?"

"Oh, that's right!" It sounded like the phone was shifted around before he dropped it. The blond yelped before picking his phone up to keep talking. She could practically feel his enthusiasm through the speaker when he said, "We wanted to visit you!"

Her eyebrow twitched. "Why?"

"So we can see where you live." That was the twins. Wait.

"Is everybody there with you?"

He hesitated for a moment. "Well, Hani-senpai is still asleep."

As she tried to quietly grumble and decline, Kagome woke up from the scent of her cousin's upset. She groggily sat up making Sōta stir a bit but he remained sleeping. Shippō curled tighter in her lap and she smiled, running a clawed hand through his tail. Drowsy sapphires glanced up at her irritated pack member and sighed. She set her kit next to his uncle and quickly padded over to her cousin.

Setting her chin on the girl's shoulder she asked, "Who is it, Haruhi?"

Hearing another groggy voice on the phone Tamaki started freaking out. "Haruhi who is that? Where are you? What were you do-" She just tuned him out in favor of leaning toward her cousin.

"It's Tamaki-senpai. He wants me to invite the Host Club to our apartment."

His boisterous energy made her want to give him a long lecture about calling her so early outside of school. All Haruhi wanted was a peaceful weekend to move in with her cousin's pack - her pack. Now she had to leave early or face the Host Club trying to find the palace. Not that it would work.

She sighed. "Guess I have to leave earlier than I expected."

"It's alright, Haru-chan," the miko yawned. "Sōta, Shippō, and I can go with you. We would've gone down there later anyway." She paused to stand up and stretch her arms above her head. "Go ahead and get dressed; I'll wake up the others and we can start heading over there."

The wolf nodded. "I'll send you guys my address in a little bit." Her phone clicked shut and she turned back inside.

~oOo~

"What is he doing here," the twins hissed at the sight of Kagome.

The raven-haired ookami smirked and waved from her place beside Haruhi. The brunette sighed. She didn't want her cousin to suffer their stupidity - especially after yesterday - but Kagome had insisted. They knew her and were less likely to be weird about strange people showing up.

The girls didn't gave them an answer as they trudged up the stairs to the brunette's apartment door. Haruhi dug into her purse and pulled out her keys. She was suddenly glad they'd sent Sōta and Shippō to the House of the Wind. The last thing she wanted was for the others to see the Host Club disrespect their Alpha Female. That would start an argument neither wolf wanted to sit through.

Irritated at being ignored, Hikaru repeated, "Haruhi, why is Taisho-san here!"

"I thought you would've figured it out by now," Kagome chuckled mischievously at them. While she was glad they were concerned about Haruhi, they should've been able to find the similarities in their scent now that he wasn't hiding it.

"Figured out what? Are you two dating," Tamaki nearly screeched. He grabbed Haruhi by the shoulders, shaking her as he continued, "You promised to stay away from him!"

Haruhi growled to herself and forcefully removed his hands from her shoulders and unlocked the apartment and marched inside. The miko merely laughed as her cousin's irritation grew. Finally deciding to save her, the ravenette peeled her from the blond's grip. Her arms wrapped around the smaller girl possessively as a wicked smile painted her lips.

"Senpai, Haruhi and I are cousins." Kagome chuckled when the idiot trio froze.

Realization was slow to come to them. The easy flow of Kagome and Haruhi's conversations and little hugs, their sheer awareness of each other, was all platonic. Remembering their new friend's protective anger the day before made them cringe. No wonder she was so upset at them. They'd treated someone important to her terribly for no other reason than not knowing them.

Kyoya's glasses glinted in a flicker of shadow. Whoever guarded their information was thorough. Haruhi's biography listed no other family members besides her father and deceased mother. At least, that was what he'd found before the system forced out of the school archives. He'd tried several times to access it again, even earlier that morning before Tamaki dragged him out of the house. There was nothing but Haruhi's picture and her name left.

He regarded the raven-haired boy leading them into Haruhi's apartment with curiosity. While the Taisho's were more recluse, it was well-known that only the current head of the family was an only child, having lost his younger brother to illness as a teenager. But then this person shows up with the Taisho name and no one thinks to question it? There's something strange here.

Kyoya was pulled from his thoughts by a shout from the street. "Haru-nee! Everyone's here!"

The hosts raced to the front door and were surprised to see a large truck with several people getting out of it. One of which, the more observant boys noted, was the same man who'd dropped by earlier in the week.

A black-haired teen with turquoise eyes waved as he got out. He was quickly followed by another boy, this one with green eyes and scarlet hair. The older of the two was clearly related to Taisho-san. Another little brother, most likely.

"Hey guys!" The brunette leaned out of her front door. "Everything's pretty much packed, we just need to get it in the truck."

"Packed," Tamaki asked. He took a good look around his daughter's house and found everything in boxes. As one of the strange men picked one up and left for the truck, his mind slowly put together what was happening. Hauhi was moving away! "Why are you leaving Haruhi? I forbid it!"

"You wouldn't be trying to run away from your debt, are you," The Shadow King's glasses glinted. Haruhi paled for a moment before shaking her head.

"I'm not leaving, Kyoya-senpai." She shrugged the crying blond off of her and picked up a nearby box. Her cousin emerged from the back storage room with three boxes and the two left for the truck. "I'm just moving in with Kagome and my cousin."

"Wha- Why?" Tamaki sprang up and shook her shoulders. "Daddy would let you stay with him. You don't have to stay with this ruffian."

Irritated, the brunette scolded, "You're not my dad! And Kagome's not a ruffian!"

The miko shook her head and sighed. They seemed the type to turn everything upside down to find Haruhi. Turning to her cousin, she asked, "Should we tell them?"

Tamaki and the twins leaned forward at that question. Could Haruhi have hidden something else from them? But why would she want to do that? They were sweating gallons as they struggled to keep their imaginations from wandering. When they saw her sigh in defeat, the three boys wondered why she seemed reluctant. Her next words made them practically burst with ideas.

"Might as well. I don't want them turning things inside out just to find me." The wolf groaned. Even if they knew, it would be difficult to get in without one of her pack members letting them in. She really only worried that her kitsune nephew would let them in just to drive the palace staff and Sesshōmaru nuts. Haruhi sighed. "My dad and I are moving because it will be safer for us that way."

"'Safer' why? Is someone after my little girl?"

Neither girl dared mention it was for the family of two to remain stable. A demon without pack was a demon wild with unchecked rage, hanyou or not. The fact that Haruhi and Ranka had survived this long with little contact was an amazing feat. This way, the two would always have someone waiting for them at home.

"No Tamaki-senpai." Not yet at least. By entering the House of the Moon, she and her dad have become targets. Sesshōmaru was a powerful demon with enviable wealth and status, after all.

Pulling her cousin tighter, Kagome responded, "Our place is bigger and closer to the school. We also have better security."

Tamaki deflated a little. "I see."

"I'll still be on the scholarship since Sesshōmaru-sama respects the effort I put into it. He values hard work above anything else." Boy, was she thankful for that. The miko hugging her smiled as she realized Haruhi would be her new training partner. It would take a little bit to get the quarter human up to speed though. Hopefully, she wouldn't need those skills just yet.

"Anyway, you want to go to a market?"

Eyes brightening, the blond prince smiled wide. "Yes! We want to see where commoner's shop for food and clothes!"

Haruhi gave a long suffering sigh. The hand on her shoulder squeezed gently in comfort. The path ahead was a difficult one, full of challenges and new beginnings. Seeing Sōta and Shippō smile at her, Haruhi gave a grateful one in return. But they would take them on together.

Telling the two boys they were going with the Host Club, the two cousins curled their tails together and followed after the troublesome group.