The lights flashing outside the window reminded her of lightning, but instead of the crash of thunder, the persistent chatter from the crowds of people at the gates of the Negida estate echoed around them. The reporters had been flocking to their home for weeks, now, waiting for the opportunity to catch a moment with the widower and child living behind the elaborate fence.

"Hanako, stay away from the windows," her father's tired voice instructed her. She stepped away from the heavy velvet curtains, obliging her father without question.

"Yes, Papa," his eleven year old daughter retreated to the library, leaving him alone in the sitting room with their guest. Yuudai Negida dropped onto one of the sofas and buried his face in his hands. Not a single light was on in the Negida household, a desperate attempt to discourage the paparazzi from bothering the family in mourning. Yoshio watched his friend wither before his eyes, and with no other comfort to give, the dark haired man said, "The paparazzi will relent over time. They can't keep this up forever."

Yuudai shook his head, and his unusually outgrown brown hair bobbed with the motion, "It's too late. We can't save the company's reputation. Without Akina, I'm screwed, Yoshio. I've never been as good at this as she was." Yuudai had always been a muscular man with broad shoulders and thick limbs, but in that moment he looked impossibly small. Rarely without a smile, Yuudai now sported a permanent tortured frown. Nothing about the man before Yoshio looked like the friend he had known for almost twenty years. Yuudai had lost considerable weight. His eyes sank into his skull, and his face appeared gaunt. Yoshio knew from a visit to Yuzuha earlier that week that Akina's best friend was no better, and he was certain that he would have to be the one who could be strong for them, offering what comfort he could in this dark time of their lives.

Yoshio sighed and put his hand on the other man's shoulder supportively, "Stop. Don't worry about that right now. Take the time to focus on your daughter and mourn your wife." Yuudai choked back a sob, still shaking his head as Yoshio gripped his shoulder.

They didn't notice that Hanako had opened the door connecting the library and the sitting room. The girl heard their whole conversation, and when her father began to cry again, she quietly closed the door. She padded across the carpeted floor of her family's library and looked at her father's desk. Ostentatious colors screamed at her from the pages strewn across the surface. The headline on one particularly garish cover page caught her eye, the bright red and yellow star taunting her with its playful shape and bright colors. Beside it, the words in bold read, Akina Negida Killed On Catwalk: Black Onion Negligent.

{OR}

Behind the ivory gates of Ouran Academy's eastern garden, the Host Club welcomed their lovely guests to an outdoor retreat inspired by the Heian period. The outdoors perfectly accommodated most of their historical Japanese themes, and the Host Club unanimously agreed that they had to make the most of the last notes of spring before the summer heat. Business had boomed ever since Renge took on the advertising project, and Hanako couldn't have been happier with the other girl's work. As always, Hanako's security team lurked behind the trees and prowled along the fences, keeping their eyes open for any signs of danger that could befall their precious students. However, this time, they followed her every command. Ever since the Cultural Exposition, the Ouran Security Team hung on to every word she said, and she no longer looked over her shoulder for hints of insubordination. So, confident in her guards, Hanako took a more active role as Kyoya's assistant, helping to accommodate the growing guest list.

Hydrangeas overran the eastern garden, blooming fully in periwinkle and lavender, and Tamaki took full advantage of the setting to engage in his forbidden rendezvous play for another growing line of young ladies seeking out a little jeopardy in their romance. Across the pond, Hanako caught sight of the twins playing match the shells with their guests, teasing their fans with the taboo. Even Kyoya accommodated his own guests by the stream while Hanako flitted from section to section, taking orders for the next batch of photo books and merchandise.

"Negida-chan, can you put my name down for the next photo book publication?"

"Oh! Me, too, please, Negida," another eager girl called out to her from one of the picnic tables. "Do you know who it's going to be a special on, yet?"

Hanako smiled gracefully at them, and some of the girls blushed at the beautiful body guard against a backdrop of hydrangeas, "I'm afraid not, ladies. However, I can promise you that you won't be disappointed." She took down their names and requests, smiling all the while. Hana glided to the line of young ladies waiting for their turn in Tamaki's embrace, and she moved the line along as the last guest finished her session.

"Is there anything I can get you, ladies?" Hanako offered, presenting them with their curated drink menu.

"Are you serving anything sweet today?" one of the girls in line asked with a small smile.

"As a matter of fact, all of our desserts today are inspired by Chinese sweets popular during the Heian period." Hana flipped the drink menu and revealed the snack menu on the other side. Without missing a single request, Hana recorded the girls' orders. She made her way past Mitsukuni and Takashi's silly soba noodle demonstration to the dessert station they set up in the back of the garden. Hanako plated some of the sweets and passed the plates to their guests, collecting more orders and continuing her routine as she circled through the garden.

"Haruhi, duck!" Hanako lookd up at the sudden cry, and she sighed as a cloud of dirt flew up. She made a note regarding the damage to the garden before approaching the chaos. Tamaki was back on his feet in no time, berating Hikaru for his poor aim, and Hanako gently shoved him out of the way so that she could help Haruhi. The model crouched down with a hand extended to the honor student.

"Are you alright?" she asked the younger girl. Haruhi grasped her hand, and Hanako pulled her back to her feet. Brushing off her costume, Haruhi cast a dry look at Tamaki's back.

"I'm fine, senpai. Man, I hope the costume isn't ruined. I can't afford to get this thing cleaned," she complained as she tried to find stains on the garments.

"I think you'll be okay," Hana assured her. Satisfied that Haruhi's costume wouldn't require any extensive cleaning, she rounded on the boys who were taunting Tamaki with his poor athletic skills.

"You wanna say that to my face?" Tamaki was roaring back at them.

"All three of you need to learn how to stop being so destructive!" Hanako berated them, joining the cacophony of voices as the twins challenged Tamaki further. They egged him on, and Hanako scolded them for the damage to the garden.

"You think so?" Tamaki said once Hanako and the twins paused in their back and forth to breathe. "Well, check this out! Starlight Kick!" Hana watched in dismay as Tamaki sent the ball flying towards the main building.

"What?" Hikaru gasped.

"So fast!" Kaoru exclaimed. Hanako swallowed thickly as she watched the ball disappear into the sky, and her godbrothers wished it well with handkerchiefs in their hands. Tamaki sighed. Glass shattered.

Hanako fixed her glare on Tamaki, and Kyoya rose up behind them like a devil summoned by misfortune. "Now, that couldn't have been one of the school's windows breaking just now, could it, Tamaki?" all four of the other hosts cowered behind Hanako as Kyoya's ominous intent overshadowed them. "Well, come on, then. Let's go see what you did." Kyoya led them towards the school, and Hanako handed him the clipboard to log whatever costs of damages they incurred.

The entirety of the Host Club followed Kyoya and Tamaki into the school and up the stairs until they reached the classroom with the shattered window. It turned out that Tamaki's desire to show off not only broke the window but, also, resulted in a bump on the president of the Newspaper Club's head.

"Really. We're terribly sorry about that," Tamaki apologized to the other club while Hanako and Haruhi swept up the broken pieces of glass. Hanako's scowl stayed in place from the very moment they set foot in the other club's room. Hikaru and Kaoru perused a copy of the newspaper with distaste, their gazes bouncing to Hana every so often.

"Don't worry," Komatsuzawa assured them, but the forced sincerity could bare count as passable. "It's no big deal. Could've happened to anyone, right? Just a ball flying through a window and hitting me upside the head…"

Bastard.

"Please accept our apology!" Tamaki bowed again, and Hanako's scowl deepened as she swept the broken glass into Haruhi's dustpan. Beside the two girls, Mitsukuni and Takashi crouched next to the desk, mouths set in tight lines as they maintained careful eyes on Hanako. "Well, this works out perfectly. I was just thinking about approaching the Host Club about a cover story. I don't suppose you'd be interested." Hanako's grip tightened on the small broom. Her skin crawled at the sound of Komatsuzawa's voice. She had never met him in person before, but she wasn't even surprised to find that his smarmy voice matched everything she knew about him.

"I didn't know we had a Newspaper Club," Haruhi commented. She looked up questioningly, and Hanako bit her cheek to keep from speaking out.

"It's more gossip rag than newspaper," Hikaru supplied quickly. Her godbrothers didn't miss a beat in responding to Haruhi's curiosity.

"Yeah, like a trashy tabloid," Kaoru elaborated with another edition in hand. "It's filled with stories about scandalous love affairs, family power struggles, and junk like that."

"It's just a lame gossip rag that specializes in stirring up scandal," Hikaru concluded. Haruhi looked from the twins to the other club members behind the desk, not catching the look of unadultered disgust on Hanako's face.

"And everyone knows it's all lies," the twins side eyed the editors of the school paper, "so nobody reads it anymore." Not that they had ever read it themselves. They had been the ones who started boycotting th paper in the first place.

"You know, I guess we kind of have lost sight of the truth because we've been so worried about drawing in more readers. It's a shame we're just now realizing our error, now that the paper is at risk." Hanako's stomach churned furiously at the sob story pouring from Komatsuzawa's mouth. "We've finally realized what we should have been reporting to the students of Ouran. Help us, please."

Fucking liar.

Hanako's dominant arm tensed up so much that the broom trembled in her hand as she restrained herself from acting out in rage. Komatsuzawa had no right to ask them for help. He had no right manipulating Tamaki with his sob story. The hosts gathered around Kyoya and Tamaki, and Hanako finished bagging the last of the garbage. "For our last paper of this semester, we'd like to do an up-close special edition, revealing the charms of Ouran's Host Club members." Hanako bit her cheek harder, swallowing the protest rising in her throat. "I'm begging you, without your help, our club will close." Good.

"Heh," she heard Tamaki give in easily. "You can count on us. On behalf of the Host Club I accept…" his sentence devolved into a strangled cry as Kyoya pushed him aside. Hanako continued to frown from the sidelines, not bothering to help her idiotic club president catch his balance. Idiot.

Kyoya turned his empty smile on them, "We have to decline."

"But Kyoya! He got hurt because of me!" Tamaki flailed behind his best friend. Hana seethed from her place against the wall, just in front of a tower of unsold newspapers, watching this all take place as if it had no effect on her. "What's the big deal, huh?"

She gripped her arm tightly and squeezed. Hana reminded herself that she couldn't blame Tamaki for his soft heart and ignorance. After all, he hadn't even been in the country when everything happened. He couldn't have known why Kyoya was so quick to refuse the Newspaper Club's request.

"Sorry, we have a policy prohibiting us from sharing personal information with anyone other than our guests," Kyoya suavely justified his response over Tamaki's petulance. He had been clever to include that policy in their club's constitution. In the early days of the Host Club, Kyoya had thought of an answer to every fear in Hanako's ever anxious mind and created policy after policy to ensure that they would never have to worry about the dangers just outside their doors. "But we'd be more than happy to pay any medical expenses related to you injury."

"And another thing," Kaoru cut in skeptically, arms crossed and eyebrow raised, "what makes you think we'd want to help you spread more rumors and gossip? We've got a reputation to uphold, and you'd just ruin it."

"Besides, you guys cause a lot of trouble for other people, and who'd wanna get mixed up with that?" Hikaru added with his hands folded behind his head. Between the two, Haruhi's gaze slid from one brother to the other, unsure why the mischievous boys were suddenly so disinterested in the attention. Hanako just waited them out, itching to get out of the room at the first opportunity.

"I understand," Komatsuzawa fell into his chair. "Well, I guess you really can't erase the sins of the past, can you? People won't even give you the opportunity to try and redeem yourself." Hana's grip tightened on her arms, and she was sure that her nails were digging into her skin through the fabric. She didn't care. She didn't want to sit through their baldfaced lies. Scum. Scum. Scum. Scum. Komatsuzawa wailed and gripped his head, and Hanako sneered. "My head is killing me!" Their act wasn't anywhere near convincing, but Hana could see it working on Tamaki's fragile sensibilities. "I guess all we can do at this point is disband with grace." Scum. Scum. Scum. Scum. Scum.SCUM. SCUM.

"No, you don't have to!" Hanako felt a violent urge to throw every single one of those journalists out through the hole in the window for their manipulation of Tamaki's good heart. "You can always make a fresh start. We'll help. We will rally the power of our Host Club, and we can reestablish the Newspaper Club together!"

Mitsukuni's hand slipped into hers, and Hanako watched him tug her own fingers away from her arm. He had sensed her murderous rage and come to soothe her. Hanako relaxed and allowed the prodigy to hold her hand comfortingly.

"Well, count us out." Hikaru and Kaoru dissented immediately.

"You're way too trusting, boss. We can't just go along with everything you do forever." Hikaru had noticed Hanako's irate fidgeting the entire time they were in the other club room, and he wasn't going about to put her through more torture by cooperating with those snakes.

"Yeah, we've had enough," Kaoru agreed. The two of them carried Haruhi out by hooking their arms through hers, and all she could do was go with them despite not knowing what all the fuss was about.

"We're leaving too, Tamaki," Kyoya informed him. The three remaining hosts stood around Hanako protectively on their way to the door. Whether they were trying to protect her from the stressful environment or the Newspaper Club from her wrath, she didn't know. Still, she appreciated Mitsukuni's hand in hers as they made their way to the exit. "We're holding an evaluation meeting, mostly about you."

"Hold it!" Tamaki growled, and Hanako groaned audibly when they stopped. "How can you be so heartless? These men are about to lose their club. Don't you feel sorry for them?! Their family's breaking up!"

Mitsukuni's grip on Hana's hand tightened, and his honey-brown eyes narrowed, realizing how poor Tamaki's choice of words suited the situation. Heartless? Heartless, Hanako thought, was exploiting the lives of a mourning husband and a grieving eleven year old child for profit. Heartless was taking photographs of a dead woman's body before it had even gone cold and slandering her memory with lies and gossip. Heartless was driving a man to the brink of life and death barely two years after the death of his wife and leaving their child an orphan. The Newspaper Club was lucky that they were receiving this mercy from her, now.

"As your president, I demand you help them! And that is a direct order!" No way in hell.

"We're not going to do it!" Kyoya and the twins finally snapped. The resolute scowls on their faces promised that they wouldn't budge on the issue, and the Host Club finally left the Newspaper Club room.

They moved like a single entity down the hallway back towards the Music Room, every single one of them walking together and not letting much distance get between them as they did. Hanako accepted the small comfort of their presence, and she inhaled deeply, trying to stifle the feelings threatening to choke her. Haruhi looked from host to host, still not entirely sure what just happened.

"Hey, don't you guys think you were being a bit too harsh towards the Newspaper Club?" Haruhi asked them. By no means did she believe that their intentions were all good, but she didn't see the harm in helping them out a little bit.

Finally away from the Newspaper Club, the passive expressions the hosts sported finally gave way, revealing their truly unforgiving hatred that they had concealed throughout the meeting. "You don't know what the Komatsuzawas did," Kaoru said to her in a voice so spiteful that Haruhi was taken aback. Even during his fake fight with Hikaru, Haruhi hadn't seen such a tormented look on his face.

"We can't trust anything those guys say," Hikaru agreed in a tone just as dark as his brother's. Surprised, Haruhi looked to the other hosts, hoping for a better explanation. They weren't paying attention, though, and Haruhi soon realized that their main concern was Hanako. Haruhi noticed that Hana had been particularly quiet during that meeting, but she hadn't thought anything about it at the time. There were just times when the older girl would stay out of whatever the rest of them were talking about, and Haruhi thought that this was one of those moments. Yet, Mitsukuni held the taller girl's hand the entire way to the Host Club, and Kyoya's arm had snaked around her waist, the way it always seemed to when he worried about her. Realization set in as Haruhi took in the uncharacteristic glower contorting Hanako's face, a hatred burning so openly and fiercely in her caramel eyes that it made her godbrothers' spite look mild by comparison.

The Komatsuzawas could all rot in hell.

{OR}

Back in Music Room 3, the hosts and Hana watched Tamaki sulk over their refusal to cooperate with the Newspaper Club. Hanako stood behind Mitsukuni with a tray tucked under her arm while the others commented on their pouting club president.

"Well, he's obviously upset with us," Hikaru noted.

"Yeah, he hasn't even changed clothes."

"I hate it when he ignores us when we're right in front of him," Kyoya drawled. Hanako scoffed and thought that she hated it when they had to deal with paparazzi. "He's such a child."

"Nah," Mitsukuni said around a mouthful of cake, "Tama-chan's just a lonely guy, you know?" Hanako didn't care what Tamaki's reasons were, and even though she knew Mitsukuni was right, she wasn't going to partake in any niceties with Komatsuzawa scum.

"I hate to give in but would it really be that bad to help them with their newspaper?" Haruhi questioned.

"Yes," Hanako hissed under her breath, but nobody acknowledged it. Takashi only glanced at her briefly over his teacup.

"What?"

"Hey, since when are you taking his side?"

Haruhi frowned at the brothers' surprise, "Since never. Just listen, okay? I know any moment now he's gonna look over here with those puppy-dog eyes he uses when he wants something and none of us will be able to say no and so he'll win." The twins questioned her experience on the subject, and Haruhi didn't rise to their bait. "Besides, maybe I'm wrong, but isn't this the kinda thing you guys usually go for?"

"Well, no," the brothers shrugged, and Haruhi almost forgot about the smoldering hatred in their faces on the way to the club room earlier. "This seems like more trouble than its worth." Skeptically, she turned to the other members of the club.

"What about you, Honey-senpai?"

"Count me out," Mitsukuni replied immediately. "I have this cake to eat, and Takashi sticks with me, right?"

"Hana-senpai?" Haruhi tried meekly after Takashi grunted his approval to Mitsukuni's claim.

"I'd rather eat dirt," Hanako practically spat the words out, surprising Haruhi with the intensity behind them. The brunette looked around the room, wondering if anyone else was surprised by the uncharacteristic rudeness from the typically graceful young woman, but if anything they all seemed to settle into angry agreement.

Then, Haruhi made the mistake of looking back at Tamaki, and what they expected took place exactly as Haruhi said it would. Two rounds of puppy dog eyes was all it took to break Kyoya's resolve, and the black haired host pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose in annoyance, "There will be some conditions." Tamaki perked up, and Hanako wilted. "The outline for their article will be submitted by us. Interviews are strictly prohibited, and it is vital that our clients' identities be kept confidential. Do we agree?"

"Well," Hikaru drew out the word thoughtfully, "if you think it's cool, Kyoya-senpai."

"Then we do, too," Kaoru finished for his brother.

"I'll do it since Kyo-chan says it's okay," Mitsukuni said from his table. Takashi sounded his agreement, and Haruhi started to reflect on Kyoya's influence on the club when a clear and outraged voice broke the string of agreements.

"No. No way in hell," Hanako regarded the hosts with a pained agony on her face that Haruhi had never seen. It was unlike the disagreement she had expressed at the beginning of the term. This time, her caramel eyes burned through them with an unwavering outrage and her jaw worked furiously as she clenched and unclenched her hands. "It's too much of a risk."

The hosts shared guarded looks as they considered her protest. "Hey, sis," Hikaru started cautiously, "if Kyoya thinks it's okay, then I think we can trust his judgment on this."

"You've said it yourself, Hana," Kaoru reminded her, sympathetic but trusting in Kyoya's decision, "nothing Kyoya decides has ever hurt the club." Haruhi wondered when Hanako had said that, but she believed it. Of all the people to argue with Kyoya, Haruhi hadn't thought Hanako would be at the top of that list.

"This is different," Hana insisted, looking from host to host before her gaze settled on Kyoya. "Once something is in print, it can't be taken back." Her words landed heavily in the club, and Haruhi noticed that they all looked down at the floor with the exception of Kyoya who held Hanako's gaze coolly.

"Preventative measures will be taken," he tried to assure her, but Hana wouldn't have that. Reporters were sneaky, and paparazzi were even worse. If they tried hard enough, there weren't any preventions that could stop them from publishing something devastating and ugly.

"It is my responsibility to protect you," she said each word meaningfully, her hands balled into fists at her side and her composure slipped away little by little. He knew what this was to her. They all knew what this was. This wasn't heartbreak. This wasn't high school. This was something that made the start of the year party seem insignificant. "I will not watch the Host Club fall prey to the paparazzi!" her voice had risen to a shout, and Haruhi turned her worried eyes on the older girl coming undone in front of them. None of them spoke. Even Tamaki held his breath.

"H-" Haruhi started to say, wanting to calm down the frantic model after everything she had done for Haruhi this term, but Kaoru's hand wrapped around her elbow and pulled her back. She looked at him, confused by the action, and he just shook his head as a sign for her to stay out of it. He looked back at his sister, her eyes wild and her lips trembling from the emotions fighting to be let out, and he knew that there was nothing they could do to make her stand down. She had lost everything three times over, and they couldn't ask her to be quiet about that.

"I will not watch while everything I love falls apart again, Kyoya," she stated in a ragged voice before turning sharply on her heel and storming into the kitchen as she tended to do when she was upset. The white door slammed loudly behind her, and every host except for Kyoya flinched.

In the tense silence, Haruhi wondered why Hanako got so upset, but she couldn't decide if it was appropriate to ask the somber hosts after what they just witnessed. Luckily for her, she didn't have to. Mitsukuni, ever the perceptive one, caught on to the questions Haruhi and Tamaki had on their minds. They, as a club, had all gotten so close in the past two years that they often forgot their friends hadn't been there when everything they knew changed.

"Hana-chan's mother was killed during a fashion show," Mitsukuni revealed in a quiet, somber voice that contrasted with his usual perkiness. Haruhi's eyes widened in shock, and everyone else in the room saddened as they each relived their own memories of the time. "Publishing companies made millions selling stories about the Negidas. They blamed the Black Onion, ruined her family's reputation, and circulated gossip about Lady Akina after her death."

Kaoru grit his teeth and gripped onto Hikaru's shoulder for support as he thought about the long shadows on his uncle's face in the days, months, and year following that fateful day. "It's what ended up killing her father, too," he started but choked on the words, squeezing Hikaru and looking away in shame at his inability to speak about it.

His older brother wrapped his arm around Kaoru's shoulder, holding his head comfortingly, but although he continued for his twin, Haruhi could see the hesitation and self-doubt in his own eyes before he spoke. "Uncle Yuu couldn't handle the weight of the world watching them without Aunt Akina. He got really sick working to make everything right again…" he trailed off and looked away, clenching his jaw mournfully at the memory of his uncle hooked up to all those machines in the Ootori's hospital suite.

Haruhi didn't need them to keep going. She understood what happened next. Finally, she knew why Hanako was so hell-bent on protecting the Host Club. She always felt that there was something more personal driving her to keep them safe, but never in a million years could she have guessed the trauma that Hanako lived through. Looking at her club mates again, she corrected herself. The trauma that they all had lived through, because it was becoming clearer and clearer to Haruhi that there was a history tying every single one of them together.

Finally, Kyoya sighed heavily and followed after Hanako, closing the kitchen door behind him with a soft click.

Hanako stood at the counter, gripping the marble so tightly that Kyoya almost thought that she could break it with her bare hands. "Go away," she grit out with her eyes squeezed shut and teeth clenched. She didn't want to talk to any of them after that. She still couldn't believe that they could entertain the notion of cooperating with a Komatsuzawa, much less one who clearly took after his father.

"Hana, we need to talk about this," Kyoya insisted softly, approaching her like he expected her to run away at any moment.

"I don't want to hear it, Kyoya," she snapped. "Go back to the others and leave me alone!"

She turned to escape through the back door, but he anticipated it and swiftly trapped her with his hand on the fridge behind her, caging her in place with his body as she was torn between her instinct to flee and her determination not to hurt him. She couldn't understand why they would force this on her, and she wanted so badly to hurt him the way that he was hurting her with his callousness. Hot, angry tears burned in her eyes but she fought against them. As badly as the betrayal stung, she knew that she could never hurt him. It went against her nature, her duty to him, and the friendship they had forged during their time as partners. He watched her battle between the two conflicting desires until she settled on defiantly glaring at him with caramel eyes so troubled that he felt he could see every anguished soul on earth in their depths.

He hadn't seen that expression on her face in years. Not since she was a child and had just seen the newspapers profiting from her family's story. Not even when the bullying started had he seen that look of pure torment and hate. The tears had pooled in her eyes, furious and heartbroken, and he wanted nothing more than to hand her the world on a silver platter for her to either cherish or destroy as she saw fit. "Don't worry," he told her in a whisper, running his hand through her hair, comforting her as best as he knew how. His fingers started at her hairline and traced the curve of her face as he repeated the action. He wiped the tears from her eyes with the pad of his thumb.

"Everything is going to be alright. Trust me. I give you my word that nothing bad will happen." He didn't wait for her to answer him. His hand disentangled from her hair, and the arm trapping her in fell to his side. Then, he walked away, and she was alone in the kitchenette, contemplating whether or not she really had that much faith in him.

{OR}

It turned out that Hanako did have enough faith in Kyoya to go through with their reckless plan, and she accompanied him to the Newspaper Club's club room, still seething about the decision. Just standing outside of their doors made her skin crawl. She hadn't spoken yet since their conversation in the kitchenette, but once Kyoya made it clear that he would pay a visit to the other club, Hanako dutifully followed.

"Wait here," Kyoya instructed her when they stopped in the hall, surprising her with the order.

She regarded him disbelievingly, "You can't be serious." She had come with him this far, and he wanted her to wait outside?

"Hanako," he fixed her with a meaningful look, reminding her that this was an order not a request. Frowning, she stood with her back to the doors, looking to all the world like a member of his security detail. When Kyoya stepped into their club room, he closed the door behind him, but Hanako could hear them conversing from the door.

Kyoya negotiated the terms of the Host Club's agreement with Komatsuzawa, and he sounded so convincingly pleasant that Hanako felt a small glimmer of pride in him. Of all the hosts, he was the most diplomatic. He could disguise his hate perfectly and put on a mask so well-made that it passed as his real face. Hanako was nowhere near as skilled as he was. For all of her modeling experience and the few small acting roles she had under her belt, she couldn't lie as well as he did. She could shove down her feelings as well as anyone else, sure, but Kyoya could become an entirely different person in the blink of an eye.

Their conversation moved on to pleasantries, and Hanako's blood boiled at the sound of Komatsuazawa's voice, stating that his injury wasn't quite so bad. She didn't trust a word that greasy bastard said, but she knew that behind his shaggy hair and shady appearance, Akira Komatsuzawa had the conversation aptitude of any veteran reporter. He knew how to lead a conversation, lull someone into a false sense of security, and play by all the rules of the upperclass. A dangerous set of skills in someone who sold scandal.

Hana frowned. She still had no idea why Kyoya thought this whole affair was necessary. He had asked her to trust him, and she did. Yet, everything about what was happening felt wrong to her. She didn't believe that the conditions he set were enough to deter the Newspaper Club from falsifying their report. She couldn't see what benefit would come from humoring the amateur reporters. Nonetheless, she stood guard over the door. A position like hers was powerless in this situation. Body guards and security could only control physical threats, and Kyoya had entered himself in a battle of wits.

She heard Kyoya gift the first-aid kit to the other club's president, and she smirked at his foresight. Nobody could refuse a gift from an Ootori, and it was exactly the kind of offering that reminded the recipient of that fact, even when it was their own club's fault for this whole mess. Kyoya politely excused himself, and Hanako thought that would be the end of it. The Ootori would have the last word, and he would walk out of the room dignified.

"Oh, it just dawned on me." Hanako's smirk faded as soon as Komatsuzawa spoke. It was a meaningful interjection disguised as a second thought. "Your family runs the Ootori Group, right? They manufacture medical equipment, don't they?" Kyoya answered the unwelcome question smoothly, correcting Komatsuzawa in the process. Komatsuzawa's voice dripped poisonous honey, and Hana wished for nothing more than to be in that room so she could slam his face into the desk. The school paper's editor in chief boasted his father's status and position needlessly, and Hanako scowled, thinking about the publications they had released. If there was ever a man as corrupt of morality as Komatsuzawa, he must have been the devil himself because Hanako couldn't find it in herself to believe that there were worse people alive on the face of the earth. What pride could be had in a man who sold stories about a dead woman and her mourning family?

Hanako's jaw clenched as she heard Komatsuzawa goad Kyoya by turning the conversation towards his inheritance. There were hoards of people who had it in for Kyoya, the arrogant third son of the Ootori family. There were those like Ken Shima who targeted him because of his family's business practices, and there were those who recognized that no matter their position in their own families, they still wouldn't amount to the worth of a third son of a greater family. Jealousy ran rampant in their school. Elitism, arrogance, and superiority reared their ugly heads in students like Komatsuzawa. She could hear Komatsuzawa's anger at his father for overlooking his birthright, and her body tensed, ready to burst through the doors if he were to project those feelings onto Kyoya.

She listened to Komatsuzawa recount the weight of a successful term for the Newspaper Club on his personal endeavors. He voiced his determination to maintain the club, and Hanako felt as though his final words to Kyoya were meant to serve as a warning to the youngest son of Yoshio Ootori. She knew that Komatsuzawa's personal anecdote had been a poor effort to appeal to Kyoya's ambition. Kyoya worked twice as hard as Akito and thrice as hard as Yuichi, and Hana knew that, if anything, Komatsuzawa's attempt to form a connection with Kyoya backfired. If their lives were parallel, Kyoya's position in his family would be more like the younger brother, but he had no intention to usurp his brothers' succession. Despite his cunning and ambition, Kyoya wanted to please everyone.

When he finally emerged from the room, Kyoya's fists were clenched at his sides and his posture seemed more stiff than usual. Hana could see the toll this brief encounter had on him, his mask just slightly out of place as he reigned in his emotions. Her eyes narrowed as she openly regarded his dark expression, noting silently that he looked so much like his father with that hard look in his eyes. Komatsuzawa knew what buttons to press, but maybe he just didn't know what the outcome of would be. He had underestimated Kyoya's loyalty, overestimated his ambition, and failed to make an ally of the young man.

"This is a bad idea," Hanako stated flatly. That much was fact. They weren't dealing with any idiot, and the newspaper alone, no matter how unreliable, would thrive as long as the words 'Host Club' were thrown across the front page.

"You're right," he agreed with some strain on his voice, pinching the bridge of his nose before righting his glasses and restoring the mask on his face.

Hannako's annoyance flared at the open admission, and her outrage simmered just under her self-control. "Then why are you doing this?" she demanded through gritted teeth. The Ootoris had been there throughout the ordeal of her childhood. He had to know first hand that he was playing with fire. "Why are you going along with this nonsense?"

Kyoya started walking down the hallway, a composed image of the perfect young man, and she followed him. "At the end of the day," he said in a smooth, confident voice, "Komatsuzawa needs to learn a lesson about knowing his place."

The ominous threat in his statement wasn't lost on her, but she didn't ask him about it. Instead, she focused on him. Three years ago, she never would have considered him a friend. Their interactions only ever went as far as his father's friendship with her parents, and he treated her the same as any other child of any other respected family. Her present familiarity with Kyoya only came to be because of Tamaki and the impact he had on her employer. She learned about him by watching his every move, but it wasn't until Tamaki came into their lives that they opened themselves to the possibility of anything outside of a professional relationship.

"Your brohers aren't like him." Her voice sounded impossibly soft to him, but the way she said it was so firm and sure that he knew she genuinely believed that. Hana's faith in Kyoya ran deeper than he knew. She knew the Ootori family well enough to know that Kyoya was the only son of Yoshio's who was balanced and driven enough to succeed him if he wanted. She knew better than anyone that Kyoya was capable of great things, and he could very well surpass his own father if he wanted. Yet, he held himself back, and nobody saw it. Out of respect for his older brothers, he restrained his own potential, and for that, she only respected Kyoya all the more.

Kyoya frowned, "Don't insult my brothers by comparing them to Komatsuzawa filth."

{OR}

The next day, Tamaki decided they would go to the courtyard with the Newspaper Club and engage the reporters in commoner games. Hanako and Kyoya watched from aside while the others played. When Tamaki first came to Japan, he had been a bright, enthusiastic whirlwind. It wasn't until later in their friendship that Hanako realized what he had experienced. Growing up in a European family, Tamaki had been the only one he knew who looked like him. His closest companions were much older than he was, and when he was in middle school, he had been completely uprooted. He was forced to live with a family that didn't fully acknowledge him, in a country with a language that he hadn't grown up with, and without any friends waiting for him when he arrived. Yet, none of that dimmed his light or corrupted his kind nature.

There were very few people in the world who were as genuinely, wholly good as Tamaki. Early in their friendship, Tamaki had called her a 'chevalier disguised as a beautiful girl'. She didn't learn until later what he meant by that, but she always felt that his admiration for her felt misplaced. He was the one with the warmth to melt Kyoya's cold exterior, the hands outstretched to draw Hikaru and Kaoru out from their guarded world, the silliness to unpack Mitsukuni's forced machismo, and the words to fill Takashi's silence. Casting a sidelong glance at the reporters huddled in the shade, Hanako committed herself doubly to shielding him from the harm that befell her family.

"They seem underwhelmed," Hanako remarked to Kyoya in regards to their audience while her brothers froze in place, holding onto each other playfully for balance.

"Wouldn't you be if you didn't know him?" Kyoya retorted with mild amusement at Tamaki's behavior. She smiled a little bit, just enjoying the time spent with her chosen family for a moment and trying to forget about the threat lingering so close to them. Despite his reserved attitude, even Kyoya seemed to be enjoying the silly game Tamaki chose for them. She and her employer froze at the back of their group while Tamaki berated the twins for movng. Tamaki suddenly floated to the reporters with his charm practically glittering around him, and Hana knew instinctively that he was sharing his love of commoner culture.

"There should be more people in the world like him," Hana mused, maintaining a watchful eye on their president as he carelessly spoke with the other club.

"Xenophiles?" Kyoya questioned, a touch of exasperation in his voice.

"You need to learn friendliness!" Tamaki shouted, and the Host Club members looked up, each of them managing their concern for the boy differently as they watched.

"Humanitarians," she corrected.

"… You must try to be more down to earth!" they could hear Tamaki declare. He fantasized about the headlines he expected to see from this collaboration between the clubs, and Hanako counted the small openings his statement left for the reporters to worm their way through to find a story. Although, they looked quite blue at his rambling, and she thought they were too distracted by the extraneous oddity of the Suoh heir to notice.

"Tamaki," Hanako broke rank with her friends and tugged the president off to the side, quietly chastising him for his lack of tact, "don't be so loose lipped about the club." Her voice held no resentment or anger towards him and only served as a cautious reminder.

Although the dream-like expression never fully left him, he regarded Hanako with a serious kind of understanding that told her how much he understood her concerns. This wasn't like the time at the beginning of the term when he hadn't recognized her cause for distress. Komatsuzawa Publishing hurt her and her family deeply, and he saw her pain reflected in the other club members. Still, he couldn't not see the good in other people until they themselves proved to him that there was nothing he could do for them, and as frustrating as it was for his sensible friends, they accepted his sympathetic nature because they loved him all the more for it.

"Don't worry, Hana. This is going to be good for both of our clubs." He said it in a way that reminded her so much of the promise he made to her when they formed the Host Club. He had such a humble confidence in what he said, that she almost believed him, but she knew better. This time, he would be wrong, but she'd be damned if she ever let the shards of that realization pierce through the bubble keeping him in his own world of positivity. Tamaki gradually dwindled back into his fantasy and drifted away from her in his stupor.

She glared at Komatsuzawa, and his seedy eyes turned to her, noticing the woman garbed in black briefly before setting his sights on Haruhi, undeterred by the murderous intent rolling off the body guard in waves. He stopped beside Haruhi, and Hanako didn't look away, even as two familiar forms fell in beside her.

"I don't trust him," Hana voiced to her godbrothers in the midst of the next game. The trio glared identically at him, watching him like three wild cats waiting for the moment to pounce and tear him apart.

"Neither do we," Hikaru and Kaoru said in unison, their arms crossed over their chests.

"He would talk to Haruhi first," Hikaru scowled. "She's never been in the lime light."

"So she doesn't know how to answer his questions like we would," Kaoru finished the observation for his brother, and his nose scrunched up distastefully.

Hana nodded in agreement. Of all the club members, Haruhi was the most vulnerable in this situation. If she said anything, she wouldn't be protected by a revered family name. She could let something slip, and then he would press her for more details until she said something that could be taken completely out of context and twisted beyond recognition. "Go help her out," Hana instructed them, and the brothers turned right around from the current game to whisk Haruhi away from Komatsuzawa.

"Wait! That's not where you're supposed to cut, you know!" Tamaki scolded them. Hanako contained her satisfaction as well as she could, but soon Komatsuzawa turned to her. He took his first steps in her direction, and Hanako glared at him with such ferocity that he hesitated.

She was as beautiful as everyone always said. Despite his fear of her, he continued in his approach. Her almost golden hued eyes never left him. Muscles coiled and dark hair shining in the sun, she was like a great black panther regarding a pathetic excuse for a hunter, ready to fight or flee at a moment's notice. The thought of the hazard terrified him, but her beauty thrilled him.

"I'm afraid we haven't formally been introduced," he said to her in his too-friendly, too-practiced tone. "I'm Akira Komatsuzawa. I've heard of you, of course, and I always thought you were a fascinating and mysterious beauty." Not even a trace of recognition or interest sparked in her blank regard of him, but he smiled at her with polite falseness. "You must have inherited your looks from your mother, the late Akina Negida."

Something snapped in her at his gall, and something dangerous flashed across her face. How dare he say her mother's name after what Komatsuzawa Publishing did to her family? Her eyes sharpened, and the primal desire to destroy overcame her senses. Spots clouded her vision, and the muscles of her right arm contracted. If not for the quick hand that discreetly caught her elbow, and the arm that came around her back, pinning her limbs to her body, she would have broken his jaw.

"I'm afraid Hanako is bound by a non-disclosure agreement as an employee of the Ootori Group," Kyoya's steely intervention sounded. Komatsuzawa looked between the pair with a frown. He wondered, briefly, if the rumors about them were true. However, he couldn't linger on the thought for long if he wanted to make it out of this interaction in one piece. Negida looked ready to tear him to shreds, but it was Ootori's cold, unrelenting gaze that intimidated him most. A girl alone in the world couldn't do anything to him, but Ootori had resources that could ruin all of Akira's plans.

"Of course," he plastered a smile on his face and returned to Sakyo and Ukyo.

Kyoya felt the slow rise and fall of Hana's breathing against his arm, but he didn't chance a look at her. He already knew that she was coming down from her blind rage and that the other hosts were watching from afar, ready to intervene if they were needed. He wasn't sure if they had heard what Komatsuzawa said to her, but he ascertained that if they had, Hikaru and Kaoru would have torn the editor apart themselves. His own heart beat wildly in his chest and adrenaline flooded his veins. In all honesty, his physical strength was no match for Hana's, and if she wanted to, she could have wrenched herself out of his grasp with ease. He didn't have Mori or Honey's physical strength, and he was relieved to find that he didn't need it to stop her from making a terrible mistake. A small twinge of pride flickered in his chest as he recognized she restrained herself out of respect for him.

He steered her back into the flock, and she relaxed in the comfort of their presences. Following the previous failed game, Tamaki moved on to the next one, placing an empty aluminum can on the grass. "Next, we're playing kankeri! And you're 'it', okay Kyoya?" he said childishly to the unamused young man standing beside Hana.

"If I must," he allowed. Tamaki kicked the can with another announcement of his starlight kick, and the hosts dispersed in search of hiding places in the wooded courtyard. Hanako lamely concealed herself behind one of the large ornamental vases between the twins while the pair of cousins hid behind the last one in the row.

"One. Two. Three…" they heard Kyoya counting slowly. "Four. Five. Six…" the counting stopped, and he turned to face the other hosts who had come out of their unimpressive hiding places. He smirked triumphantly at Hanako, and she just raised her brow at him as the hosts gathered around him. "Let's go."

{OR}

With Hanako's staff key, the hosts were able to take shortcuts through the school via the employee stairwell. When they got to their destination, the group of hosts scattered throughout the room, making themselves comfortable wherever they pleased as if everything was theirs.

"I'm going to expose Tamaki for the twit he is!" Hanako heard the declaration just before the chocolate colored french doors flew open. Half-concealed by the now open doors, Hanako watched Hikaru and Kaoru languidly regard Komatsuzawa from the center of the room, mirror images of each other, their eyes glittering with hate and mischief.

"Hmm," Hikaru hummed loudly in recognition of Komatsuzawa's claim.

"So, we were right all along," Kaoru drawled.

"You two," Komatsuzawa growled.

"Well, I guess it was pretty obvious," Hikaru smiled like a tiger that had just caught the calf.

"The boss is the only one who hasn't caught on yet," Kaoru informed him. The younger boy's eyes narrowed on Komatsuzawa maliciously, a leopard playing with its prey before it went in for the kill. "He can be really dense when it pertains to anything about himself."

"I should warn you, if you threaten him, there will be consequences,"

"Are you ready to have the Hitachiins and every other club members' family as your enemy?" Kaoru questioned, the smirk on his face telling Komatsuzawa that they already knew the answer to that.

Komatsuzawa exhaled sharply, "I knew it! You're nothing but his lackies! Tamaki's holding his parents' power over all of you." Hana frowned deeply at the assumption, but she didn't speak.

"That's not true," Mitsukuni cut in calmly, and the cousins stepped out from behind the other door. "We don't hang out with Tama-chan because of his parents. We love him. We all like being around him, and that's why we choose to be here."

"He may be a hopeless idiot, but even so," Kyoya agreed, sitting atop a stack of newspapers with his finger pressed against the bridge of his nose.

Wordlessly, Hanako nodded in agreement. They wouldn't be half the people they had become without Tamaki. Two years ago, Tamaki Suoh had taken her by the hand, holding hers in both of his between them with the biggest smile on his face as he promised her that everything would change. Now you don't have to choose between your work and your family, Hana. From now on, everything's gonna be better, you'll see!

She had watched him extend his open hand out to every young man in their club. He had cleared garbage from her desk, and built a bridge for her so that she could stand beside the people she loved after digging a cavern between them so wide and deep that she thought they were lost to her forever. Every host in that room smiled with an internal warmth, love, and gratitude for their club president. The moment went quickly, and they all questioned Komatsuzawa's next move.

"Well?" Hikaru prompted.

"What will you do?"

"Please leave Tama-chan alone, okay?"

Komatsuzawa's back tensed, and he rasped, "I'll get you all! It's not just about him anymore. I'll write an article that'll ruin all of you!" With a kick, Hanako sent the door closest to her shut, and it closed with a satisfying slam. Komatsuzawa whirled around and found her leaning against the wall in the shadows with her arms crossed and her regarding him with spiteful eyes, disgusted by his very existence.

"Is that so?" her voice cut through him dangerously. She took a menacing step off the wall, standing at her full height with her shoulders drawn back, but the way she moved promised that she could have any one of them begging for mercy within seconds. Akira had never known that a woman could be so terrifying until that moment. "You pathetic, revolting thing. I won't have you threatening my friends. Give me one reason to squash you like the parasite you are, please. There isn't anywhere in the world that I won't be able to find you once you do."

He had never felt hatred like hers before in his life. His own resentment of the Host Club couldn't compare to her urge to do harm, and he was the object of that disdain. He knew a story when he saw one, and the fierce, sharp-tongued woman was a story waiting to be revealed in his hands. Her beauty added to the intrigue. She was beautiful and powerful, and that didn't suit him. He had never known desire like this before pooling low in his stomach, the unfulfilled need for her raged like it was something forbidden. He wanted to know her, own her, feel that razor sharp tongue on him, and expose her. His investigative instincts urged him to get closer and pick her apart for the scoop, but his desire to live paralyzed him.

"There's no need for that, Hanako," Kyoya said smoothly as he slid down from his throne on the unsold papers. He approached the desk and picked up the little kit he had given Komatsuzawa earlier, addressing the editor, "Go ahead, be my guest. Although, what do you think we should do about this little disk? You see, it's been here since yesterday, and it recorded everything."

"President!" Komatsuzawa's underling cowered behing him.

"Just give up already!"

Hana watched the snake stagger and fall to his knees in defeat as Kyoya flaunted the disk between his elegant fingers.

"Let me explain it to you in terms you can understand," Kyoya turned and stepped across the room at an even pace, and Hanako thought that he had never looked so powerful before. He only stopped when he stood before Komatsuzawa."You would do well to remember that the Ootori Group and Hitachiin family alone own enough stock to remove your father from his position as president of the Komatsuzawa Publishing Firm. However, we would never do something like that. We are not like you. What we strive for is fundamentally different. That being said, I have no qualms with allowing Hanako to retaliate however she sees fit should you ever forget this conversation."

He strode out of the room confidently, and Hanako smiled as she followed him. Her admiration and respect for her employer radiated from her as brightly as light from the sun. Behind her, Hikaru and Kaoru, and behind them, Takashi and Mitsukuni closed the second door on the Newspaper Club. None of them said anything as they returned to the courtyard, but the six of them moved together with an air of fulfillment trailing behind them.

"I found you!" Kyoya declared musically when they came across Tamaki and Haruhi in the rose hedge maze. Hanako giggled beside him when the two hosts shot up from the concrete table eagerly.

"Where's the Newspaper Club?" Tamaki asked obliviously.

"They had to cancel," Hikaru and Kaoru said, draped over Hana's shoulders beside Kyoya. "Something came up."

"They said they're going to focus on writing respectable articles," Hikaru filled in, taking liberties with the truth as he and Kaoru led the way out of the maze.

"So maybe they'll get by without having to shut down," Kaoru suggested.

"Let's hurry back to the club room and eat some cake!" Mitsukuni chirped from on top of Takashi's shoulders.

"Yeah."

"That does sound good! Cake! Cake!" Tamaki cheered, soaking up Mitsukuni's enthusiasm.

"Kyoya-senpai," Haruhi started, walking between Kyoya and Hanako as they came up at the rear of the group, "I was wondering. Is the Suoh family really that big a deal around here?"

"Well, the foundation of their business lies in corporate finance, but they do have some extensive real estate as well. You've heard of The Roy Grand Hotel and the Outo Theatre. They also have a hand in other things, like school management, for example."

"I didn't know that," Haruhi replied. "Which school?" Kyoya stopped walking on the soft grass, and Hanako halted beside him. Realizing that the two of them fell behind, Haruhi paused and turned.

"Why, Ouran Academy," Kyoya informed her before the two of them continued walking past Haruhi together. "You've been here long enough that you should at least know what the chairman of the school board's name is. You know, if you think about it. You're able to attend school here because of the financial aid you receive from Tamaki's family. You should be grateful to them."

As they drew closer to the school, Hanako and Kyoya followed at a small distance from the rest of the club, and she considered how much he had changed since the day he and Tamaki first met. He had found something in himself because of Tamaki, and he was a better person for it. If the disk in his trouser pocket was any indication, he was going to be a force to be reckoned with one day.

"So," she started suspiciously, "why didn't you just tell me about the recording device that you planted in the Newspaper Club room?" It seemed as if he hadn't told any of the others about it, but they had all known about the confrontation that Kyoya had in store for Komatsuzawa. She had only found out about it moments before.

"I didn't want to worry you." He said it simply, as if it was obvious, but it didn't seem like a real reason. Wasn't it that she had failed them before in her ability to keep them safe? It made more sense for them to go over her head because of her own incompetence. Maybe that was what he meant when he said he didn't want to make it a concern of hers. As her doubts weighed on her mind, Kyoya spoke again, "Stop it. I know what you're thinking."

She looked up from the ground sharply and met his mauve-gray eyes. Everything about him was serious as he dispelled her insecurity. "You'd take a bullet for any one of us, Hana, and what happened today has nothing to do with that." He had said it so plainly that it couldn't be taken as anything other than the complete truth.

Despite the setbacks and the incidents, there wasn't a single doubt amongst the Host Club when it came to her. Hanako would protect them from every threat that ever crossed them, but they would have to live with the knowledge that they couldn't stop her if they ever became the reason why she drew her last breath. Yet, despite all her love for them, she still didn't know what Tamaki had said to each of them that convinced them to join the club.

"Don't forget, Hana, you're a member of the Host Club, too, despite whatever you consider your position to be. The least that we could do is keep each other safe." He said it with a smile, a rare, genuine demonstration of his pride in the club he had helped to create. Hanako understood, then, that they did it for her, to keep her out of it as much as possible. Appreciation warmed her thoroughly, and she smiled back at him, as small and genuine as his own, and they continued on their way to the club room.

{OR}

"You must really miss her. She's all alone, isn't she? I know that I don't know her as well as all of you do, but she needs you right now, even if she doesn't show it. Maybe, if we work together like this, we can make her happy again. So, what do you say?"

{OR}

A/N... The episode that this chapter covers inspired this whole story, and I'm so happy that I finally got to write it! Please, please, please review :) Special thanks to xmichikox, KuroBad, EddaValkyrie, Momochan 77, and Einklley for reviewing the last chapter 3

This is officially the last chapter I have written for this story, so I'm definitely going to have to postpone updates until I get the next few parts done. I promise that I will finish this story. This chapter and the next two will be very important to the plot later on. This is going to be a multi-part story, and the rating for the next two parts will be rated M. I really want to make sure that I write the next chapters well, and it may take a bit of time to get it right. Please be patient with me :)

That being said, do you guys have any feedback about anything you'd like to see more of in future chapters? Is there enough dialogue? Too much? Too little? More tension? More setting establishment? More character interactions? I really want to grow as a storyteller, please let me know what you think (I just ask that you do so respectfully), thanks! :)

What character do you think Hanako would have been in Haruhi's Wonderland?

Next time... An estrangement. What dangers await Hana in Karuizawa?