Hello! Update after so long... hehe I think I promised it before September but you've probably seen my previous note. I made this chapter extra long (for me anyway) to make up. I'm also going to start posting snippets of lyrics at the beginning of each chapter because I love music and they inspire me to write fics ^^ (this chapter also has some lyrics in the story but that's only for this last chapter... I think)

PS: POV wise, the twins are sharing a chapter. I may settle into third person with occasional first person for future chapters, is that ok?

PPS: Random info – the place Haruhi & Kyo works is set up in a refurbished old warehouse so it's pretty big.

Forewarning: I don't think the end makes sense at all... switching something from an image in my head to words is difficult sometimes ^^;

~.~.~.~.~

In a show of hands, who has said these words before?
In a show of hearts on the floor, who has ever meant them more?

Well, I'll swallow my pride if you'll stay for the years,
And watch me spin circles as I disappear,
And hearts, they don't lie, they just quiver in fear

Mayday Parade – Just Say You're Not Into It

~.~.~.~.~

I hate Kyo.

It's not like he's mean or anything but there's just something about him that ticks me off, it's like just by being there he's pushing all of the wrong buttons. Haruhi seems to like him though so I'll have to try; I don't want a replay of the whole Arai incident, Haruhi can hit hard.

I was walking silently next to Kaoru while we followed Haruhi and Kyo to the place we were last night. Everyone was talking around us, I was kind of happy discover there wasn't a wedding planned yet. They were waiting until they'd both finished law school.

Conversation continued, Haruhi told us more about the place she worked. It turned out it was owned by an old Ouran student who graduated the year Mori and Huni joined the high school. He started the night club as a project, it been successful so he's opening more across the city.

'I still don't think it is suitable for my innocent daughter to be working in a night club,'

'It's not really a proper night club though,' Haruhi countered, 'it's more of a social hangout for local college students. It's a cafe during the day so the profits are high, that's why it's so successful. Oh, and while I can get a word in edgeways,' she said while shooting Tamaki a look, 'be careful how much you drink tonight, I'm sure Takashi doesn't want you puking in his car,' Mori nodded in agreement.

'Don't tell us,' I smirked, finding the perfect opportunity to pick fun at our dear Shadow King, 'Kyouya was the drunk one.'

'No I wasn't,' he glared.

'But Kyo-chan,' Huni said in confusion, 'then why did you walk into that lamppost?' I heard Haruhi stifle a laugh.

'It was dark,' there was an evil aura quickly spreading but nobody could help it anymore so Kyouya had to shoot rays of evil at all of the people laughing at him.

'We're here so compose yourselves,' he interrupted with what was almost a snarl, pushing his glasses up to try and gain backs some dignity in vain.

Kyo pushed open the front door the 'night club' revealing two girls in maid outfits hauling tables across the room, 'they haven't finished cleaning up. Again,' Haruhi sighed in exasperation. Both girls turned to look in their direction, the dropped the table and came hurrying over. They both had their hair in pigtails, one had long dark hair and the other had stubby pigtails of dyed blond hair.

'Gomen, Fujioka-senpai and Ikeda-senpai!' the both bowed, 'the basketball players wouldn't leave until late again.'

'It's not me you should be apologising to, you know the boss is coming tonight, you know I've told you to at least call us by our first names and you also know I told you to just tell the basketball players to leave, they're nice people.'

'But they're so tall and loud and scary,' the girl with the blond hair wailed miserably.

Kyo sighed but smiled at them, 'how do two expect to be lawyers if you can't talk to people,' all that niceness has to be an act, stupid Kyo with his stupid friendly smile, 'once you've finished moving the tables we'll sort out the rest, you should go home.'

'Gomen,' the both muttered again, 'and thank you senpais.'

Tamaki, being the overly flirtatious idiot he was immediately offered them assistance leaving them stuttering and with enough blood in their cheeks they might have exploded, they both shook their heads furiously and spluttered incomprehensibly.

Even with their refusal we, meaning the entire host club, ended helping out. Kyo started to set up the bar area with a second bartender while Haruhi went to get changed, another girl had come running through the door with an armful of outfits, I didn't have to look at Haruhi's face to tell she was pulling a face, the same face she used in high school whenever we dressed her up, it was always a childish pout so unlike her personality it was hilarious. She went to follow the girl through the door at the back of the room.

When we were finished Kaoru and I sat on a couple of barstools and sipped on a cocktail Kyo had given us, he had finished setting up the bar and was getting help unloading stuff from the two bags I had seen in Haruhi's apartment.

'Paint pots and black sheets?' I frowned, commoners have weird ideas.

'Yeah they do,' Kaoru replied without me having to say anything. He was being strangely quiet; I knew that meant he was either worried or thinking or maybe both. He turned to me, the thoughtful expression gone and he gave me his usual grin, 'shall we go bother Haruhi? I saw a girl pass by with a load of outfits; maybe we can play dress up like in high school.'

I liked the sound of that, I was getting bored watching the weirdness of commoners, they were putting paint pots along high shelves on the walls and the two maid girls from earlier were giggling and messing around with glow-sticks with another guy who was trying to hang up the black sheets to cover the walls. We slipped off of the bar stools and went to the back door; everyone was too busy working to care and stop us.

We closed the door behind us and squished into the tiny hallway, don't commoners get claustrophobic in such small places? We walked down the corridor without any idea what we were really looking for, after we hit the end of the corridor Kaoru suggested we look in the bathroom so we back tracked down the corridor back to the bathroom signs. I was about to knock on the door but Kaoru signalled for me to be quiet and tilted his head to listen, for a moment I thought he was just being perverted then I heard as well.

I could hear the sound of heels pacing from behind the door an Haruhi (we assumed) sighed and muttered quietly to herself then another heavy sigh and there was a thud on the doorframe as she leant against it. Kaoru and I exchanged glances before we cleared our throats and called her name.

'Haaaaruhi, are you in there?'

She squeaked and dropped something, making a loud clattering noise, 'yeah, hold on and I'll open the door.'

'You sounded pretty upset in there, is everything ok?' Kaoru asked, leaning against the wall opposite the bathroom door. There was a pause before Haruhi replied.

'Just what they're forcing me to wear, you'll see in a minute, plus my dad called,' there were scrabbling noises then the door clicked open and Haruhi's head peered around, 'what did you want anyway?'

'We were bored,' we shrugged, 'and wanted to play dress up with our favourite doll.'

Haruhi stepped out into the corridor carrying her bag and clothes, 'you do realise I'm working, don't you?'

I raised an eyebrow. She was standing uncomfortably in a plain black halter neck top and Daisy Dukes she had an unzipped hoodie over the top probably trying to hide what skin she could. Not that I was complaining, she wasn't as boyish anymore and looked...

*POV switch time*

Hikaru blushed almost as soon as Haruhi came through the door. She did look nice and had filled out to a modest level since we had last seen her but I was more curious about the expression on her face, I could see her getting annoyed at being force to wear what she had on but there was something else bothering her. I hope it's not us.

What did your dad call you for, is everything ok?'

She shrugged, 'I have to go over tomorrow and help him pack because he has to go to Kyoto where he grew up and visit my grandmother. I think she has lung disease of some form,' Haruhi sounded nonchalant. I exchanged a glance with Hikaru, unsure as to whether she was actually upset or not. Either way we took the opportunity to hug her, nuzzling out cheeks in her hair after so long.

'Our poor little sister,' we cooed, continuing Tono's family charade

'Is it serious?' I asked as Haruhi wiggled out of our arms.

'She's probably going to die,' Haruhi's voice didn't change much from her apathetic tone.

'What? Aren't you close, why don't you care?' I was just as confused as Hikaru.

'I know I should be sad but I haven't even met her, she didn't want anything to do with me because I'm her son's daughter,' Haruhi shrugged her small shoulders and smiled humourlessly with a 'what can I do?' look on her face, 'dad always said his father, my grandfather, would have like to meet me but he died when my dad was fifteen. Since then grandmother's been distant and because my dad looked exactly like my grandfather she couldn't even look at him so he moved to Tokyo.'

'That must have been lonely,' I muttered. Ranka always looked so cheerful though; I have a feeling that commoners are a lot stronger than us when it comes to looking after themselves. Hikaru took my hand; the feeling of loneliness was always hard for him.

Haruhi looked like she hadn't thought of it that was, 'maybe he was lonely, but you get used to it after a while,' she mused, 'but then he met my mom and fell in love,' Haruhi smiled more gently.

Haruhi caught my gaze and put on a more solid smile and gesture for us to follow her, zipping her hoodie up as she went, 'enough of the sob stories. I've got to find Kazumi and practice before we open and I'm not leaving you two here to create havoc.'

'Who's Kazumi?' I recognised the name but couldn't remember from where. Haruhi told us she was a close friend who works here, it turned out she also wrote some of the songs that didn't come from international pop music. As we were speaking the girl who had served us last time we were here appeared from one of the doors and came towards us.

'Hi, Kazumi,' Haruhi greeted, so this was Kazumi, she smiled to Haruhi then glanced at us before tugging Haruhi back down the corridor. I looked at Hikaru and he looked back, we both shrugged and decided to follow them. Not like we had a choice, we had no idea where we were going otherwise.

'Are all of your friends here again today?' Kazumi asked, looking back at us again

'Yeah, these two are my old classmates Hikaru and Kaoru,' the pointed to each of us in turn, Kazumi nodded a greeting and turned back to Haruhi, she seemed almost as concerned as me.

'Is Kyo alright with this?'

Haruhi shrugged, 'probably not but he doesn't own me and I want to see my friends so he'll have to deal with it,' Hikaru and I shared another look, my worry just got worse. Hikaru always complained that I though too much about things but in my opinion he needed to think more, he always appeared arrogant because of how he spoke but inside he's really insecure and I hope that Kyo doesn't stop us from seeing Haruhi, it'd help Hikaru.

I didn't snap out of my thoughts until Hikaru told me he was going to join Tamaki and Huni. I nodded and looked around the room to find the others, Haruhi and Kazumi were looking over lyrics nearby, Mori was still helping set up, and Huni and Tamaki were messing around with glow sticks. I couldn't find Kyouya until I realised he was sitting right next to me; he had a coffee in one hand and was checking his phone with the other.

'Hey, Kyouya?' I asked, he hmmed in acknowledgement, not looking up from his phone, 'do you think we're annoying Kyo too much by being here? Maybe we should be more careful.'

He glanced at me, 'as he said himself, any man would feel threatened in this situation. Are you suggesting we keep our distance?'

I shrugged, shuffling on my seat, 'Possibly, I mean, I want to stay in touch with Haruhi too but maybe a visit every couple of weeks or even every month would be better for everyone,' I remembered earlier that day when Mori and Haruhi were shopping.

The front door slammed shut and we all sat in silence as Haruhi and Mori's footsteps grew faint. We stared at Kyo and he stared back.

Eventually Kyo broke the silence; he folded his arms loosely, 'so. What exactly are you guys doing here after all this time?'

'We wanted to visit our dear friend Haruhi, of course!' Tamaki declared, his king complex worse than ever.

'But why now, not earlier?' we fell silent again, 'I can see how some of you look at her, it's me isn't it?' there was more silence so Kyo continued.

'I can tell you don't like my presence and I understand, I'm kind of threatened by you being here. I can't really help it, I mean, you've all known her longer and I know you're important to her,' still none of us spoke, we didn't really know what to say.

'I'll get along with you for Haruhi's sake, I may even come to like you but I would appreciate it if you didn't stick so close to her all of the time,'

That comment promptly started a whole new argument that continued until the moment Haruhi opened the door.

'That may be a good idea,' Kyouya said eventually, 'but by no means am I staying away. Ranka himself asked me to make sure Kyo is good enough for her.'

'Ranka is concerned?' Mori was standing before us, it was impossible to tell when he was thinking. Even after knowing him for all these years I haven't worked him out, he should have been the mysterious type, not the wild type.

'I believe so,' Kyouya confirmed.

'Bruise on Haruhi's arm,' Mori said suddenly. What? I thought about it and understood Mori's implications, wasn't he jumping to conclusions a bit. That was exactly what I said, he replied, 'we just need to look out for her,' then it seemed his voice for the day was spent and he sat down silently on an empty chair.

Mori's silence seemed to be contagious, all three of use just sat there in our own thoughts, I remembered the conversation with Haruhi from earlier, 'hey Kyouya, did you know Haruhi's grandmother is-,'

'-Dying? Maybe,' he answered, I shuddered.

'How do you do that?' I gasped, even Mori turned to give him a slightly more that blank look.

'A magician never reveals his secret,' Kyouya smirked, sending unpleasant tingles through my flesh.

'Did you know before we decided to visit?'

'I may have know she was ill, yes,'

I smiled triumphantly, 'see? There is a nice Kyouya hiding somewhere, you were worried,'

Kyouya sipped a drink his normal expression similar to Haruhi's, 'if that's what you want to think, Kaoru.' (A/N: he can probably guess it's Kaoru by his speech and actions by now)

'We all worry,' Mori rumbled all knowingly. I nodded and looked over at Haruhi automatically; she was still reading lyrics with Kazumi but it looked like they were disagreeing over something.

'What? You won't sing it? Even after I spent so much time writing it, that's mean!' I heard Kazumi complaining loudly, I leant on the bar counter to lean closer, trying to catch Haruhi's more indoor-like voice.

'I don't mind singing them but stop using lyrics like that. I can take care of myself, stop implying things,'

'Who said I was implying anything? The fact you know that means you know there is something wrong,' Haruhi glared at Kazumi.

Fine, I'll sing it,' Haruhi snatched the piece of paper from the tabletop and went towards the stage, 'we better hurry, we have less than half an hour before the boss comes and we open.'

'Finally!' Kazumi clapped her hands then saw me watching, it turned away but I could feel her eyes boring into the back of my skull, she turned away after a few moments and went to follow Haruhi. There was a drummer and a guitarist already practicing on the stage, she passed the sheet music to them and grabbed the microphone; she shot one more glare at Kazumi before starting. While the guitar started the song Huni, Tamaki and Hikaru who had been goofing around came and joined us.

*Oh, sweetheart, put the bottle down

You've got too much talent

I see you through those bloodshot eyes

There's a cure, you've found it

Slow motion, sparks

You've caught that chill

Now don't deny it

But boys will be boys

Oh, yes, they will

They don't wanna define it

Just give up the game and get into me

If you're looking for thrills then get cold feet

Haruhi was looking in our direction, I followed her gaze. She was watching Kyo who seemed to be much more interested in neatening the alcohol bottles.

Oh, no I do not hook up, up I go slow

So if you want me, I don't come cheap

Keep your hand in my hand,

Your heart on your sleeve

Oh, no I do not hook up, up I fall deep

Cause the more that you try, the harder I'll fight

To say goodnight

I didn't really listen to the rest of the song. I drifted off to think about the first verses but then I realised Kazumi was watching me again, I was used to girls staring but this was a little unsettling. It was an I-know-you-know look. It didn't help that I didn't know what I was suppose to know.

Oh, sweetheart, put the bottle down

Cause you don't wanna miss out

The song ended and there were a few claps from the employees and a man stepped forward, 'I like that... Fujioka, isn't it? A few more practices and you can perform that next month.'

Haruhi hopped off of the stage and bowed, 'Hello, Oonishi-san, thank you.'

'The boss is happy so far, thank god,' Kyo leant on the bar counter.

'Oonishi Takemo,' Kyouya, the walking encyclopaedia stated, 'next heir to Oonishi Co, a food and beverage importer and distributor. His family is known for their unpredictable nature.'

'All I know is when he's unhappy he's terrifying,' Kyo shuddered, when Oonishi looked in their direction he stood upright and cleaned some glasses, setting them up in neat rows, 'we're opening any minute now, you lot can't be crowding the bar otherwise Oonishi-san will get mad.'

'On the contrary, he seems quite please to see us,' Kyouya turned to face Oonishi who was coming towards them with a smile on his face.

'Kyouya Otori?' he asked, Kyouya nodded and shook his hand, 'Ichiro's baby brother,' Kyouya's eye twitched almost unnoticeably. I wasn't too surprised that Kyouya knew him, it seemed like he knew everybody. Well, anyone that he deemed important enough to know.

'Yes, are you still friends?' he put on a smile that looked a little too much like he was baring his teeth.

'We speak occasionally but as you can see I'm very busy and I'm sure your brother is too. It's a surprise to see you here,'

'Visiting Haruhi Fujioka, she's a friend from High School, an honour student,' they exchanged a few pleasantries then Oonishi went to 'survey his kingdom' as he put it. I could have sworn Kyouya threw a dark look at his back, I guess he doesn't like being a baby brother, I don't mind.

'Whatever you just did Kyouya thanks for doing it, Oonishi-san's going to be in a good mood tonight,' Haruhi came up to us.

Kyouya dismissed her thanks in his usual style while Tamaki gawked at her clothes, more feminine than the poor guy was used to, 'where did you get that bruise Haruhi?' Kyouya indicated to her arm, she had taken the hoodie off and discarded it at the back of the stage. Haruhi glanced down at the mark and shrugged, dismissing it. I could see why Mori mentioned it, it was huge or maybe it was just my overactive imagination exaggerating things. We were all a bit protective of Haruhi.

'Does it hurt Haru-chan?' Huni asked, tugging at her hand. Haruhi shrugged, giving a small shake of her head.

'You've got a bruise? Show me,' Kyo asked in a concerned voice, Haruhi hesitated but turned around so he could see her arm. Kyo held her arm gently while Mori, Kyouya and I analysed his performance. Real or fake? I couldn't tell.

'I just bumped it on something,' she mumbled, pulling her arm from his grasp, 'honestly I don't understand what all the concern is about,'

After a few objections and an increasingly frustrated Haruhi she swiftly and conspicuously changed the subject, 'moving on to more important matters,' she turned to face Kyo directly, 'my dad's mother is sick so I'm going to help him pack tomorrow to be with her in Kyoto.'

'I thought she hated him,' Kyo's brow furrowed, I guess he knows the story too.

'He's still her son; all of the siblings are visiting before she dies,'

'Aren't you going too?'

'No,' she gave us a host smile, 'I'm going to go work now,'

Kyo's eyes followed Haruhi as she went through the door, 'I'll ask her about it later.'

I didn't know whether he was talking about her weird behaviour or the bruise. Kyo went back to working and the rest of us drifted apart again, I think we were waiting for Haruhi but she didn't emerge until she was back on stage again. She was with the two other girls who were in the dressing room and they sang California Gurls**, then when they were finished another beat started up and there were only Sho and Haruhi left to sing and the lights slowly started to dim.

**I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good good night (x3)

The Beat picked up and lights started flashing, I was disorientated and I felt Hikaru grab my arm then I heard excited shrieks the staff we're pulling the paint pots that they had set earlier with rope and glowing paint flowed down the walls, it wasn't long before people found the paint and were waving their glowing hands in the air. Tamaki came up to us, two streaks of paint on his face.

'What are you doing over here, isn't this amazing!' he exclaimed, jumping up and down like an excited puppy.

'I think the lights are making me go blind,' Hikaru complained. Tamaki ignored him and pulled up both towards the flow of paint, glowing residue coming off his hands and smearing on our arms.

Tonight's the night night
Let's live it up
I got my money
Let's spend it up
Go out and smash it
Like Oh My God
Jump off that sofa
Let's get get OFF
I know that we'll have a ball
If we get down
And go out
And just loose it all... (You know the drill, including all the lyrics would be a waste of space)

Time started to pass as a blur, my brain was confused by the flickering lights and even after the music stopped people kept on moving in one mass, to sound of shouting and laughing merged with the music, different people were singing and I caught a quick glance of Haruhi moving through the crowds, her hair glowing a faint blue in the darkness. I tried to follow her with my eyes as people moved and the lights flashed but it was difficult and I kept getting caught up in the madness.

Tamaki and Hikaru were nearby, one of them almost screaming in my ear and I laughed as sheer adrenaline pumped through my system. I saw Haruhi laughing as Kyo linked hands with her and smiled more softly. I felt a pang in my chest as they started to slow dance in the middle of the mass of people.

It hurt I guess but I wanted her to be happy, one day Hikaru would be happy just to see her laugh too.

I saw her face smile sadly in the lights before Kyo moved and she disappeared from my view.

*Kelly Clarkson – I Do Not Hook Up

**Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling

I rewrote the beginning (and the rest) of the chapter over and over and couldn't get it right, I can't get my head around twins POV's D: Gomen! I like Japanese words, hehe.

Just to make sure it's clear, none of the hosts call each other senpai because they've graduated so they're not really senpais and kohais, apart from Haruhi because she's just like that. I was supposed to fit this in somewhere but didn't – Kazumi is a middle school friend of Haruhi's, it is mentioned in one of the episodes (the Arai one) I also wasn't sure whether to post all of the lyrics as they might just be taking up space, so I just posted the start, because the first verses of the first song are important and for the second it just sets the scene.

...The end of that chapter made no sense at all. Whatever -.- they were all crazy in the flashy lighties so go along with it or tell me it was rubbish and I'll rewrite it :D

5000 words WOO! Record!