Author's notes: Hello everyone!! So sorry that I'm updating so late! I've just been really busy with school and homework and the holidays...at least, that's all over now:) I hope this chapter will do you good ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ouran Host Club nor their members, I do however own the Aster Hostess Club and their members

Ouran Host Club vs. Aster Hostess Club

Ch.2: The First Round begins!

The next morning was pretty peaceful and quiet. The Host Club had booked several rooms in Aster's most expensive hotel the day before and some of them were awake when the unexpected hurricane arrived. . .

"RISE AND SHINE, BOYS!!!!" a loud voice was heard seconds before the door, that lead to Tamaki's room, was kicked open by Cassy.

Tamaki nearly choked on his toast, Mori (who sat beside him, reading the newspaper) flinched and the twins opened their door to check what the racket was all about. The yellow-eyed redhead had a huge grin on her face as she looked around the room, seeing the shocked faces.

"Glad to see that some of you rich guys manage wake up on time," she said, winking.

"Man, what are you doing here, redhead?" asked Hikaru as he and his brother entered the room, rubbing their eyes tiredly.

"Waking you up, of course," Cassy replied and started to count them with her finger. "Hmm...Only four of you are awake?" she mumbled.

"Haruhi is actually awake too," Tamaki muttered quietly, as though he thought that he wouldn't be heard. Before he knew it, the twins were in his face.

"Ehh, so you went in her room this morning, Tono?" they both asked in unison (that creepy twin-thing), glaring at the King, who sweatdropped.

"Just for a little while but she kicked me out," he whined in his defence, trying to avoid the twins' accusing gazes. "She was trying to study, apparently,"

"Well, that makes it five, then," said Cassy cheerfully, placing her hands on her hip. "Then all there's left is waking the other two," and with that, she turned on her heels and made her way towards Hunny's room. The boys gasped, thinking with horror what would happen. Cassy had her hand on the handle when the twins grabbed her shoulder, their faces concorted with fear.

"Don't do it, redhead," whispered Hikaru close to her face.

Cassy raised an eyebrow, confused. "Why not?"

"Because Hunny-senpai becomes very pissed-off when someone tries to wake him up early," said Kaoru, equally afraid as his brother.

Cassy snorted. "Like I'm afraid of some kid. I woke up at 6 am this morning and you don't hear me complaining," she replied. The twins sweatdropped, thinking Didn't she just complain now...? She slammed the door open and went inside. The boys awaited their doom as the little boy appeared in the bedroom, wearing pajamas with cute bunny patterns. Cassy grinned. "There you are, Hunny-was it?"

They couldn't see his eyes for they were covered by his honey-colored hair.

"I'm still sleepy, you know?" he said quietly, yet the boys clearly heard the ice-cold tone in his voice. They all hid behind the door as Cassy approached the loli-shota. "Don't go any further, redhead," Hikaru hissed warningly while Kaoru mumbled that it had been nice knowing her. They could literally see the death-aura around him. Hunny lifted his head up a little like he was ready to strike, only to have piece of cake shoved up his mouth. The boys gaped.

Everything went silent, until they heard little munch noises from the loli-shota. He looked up with his mouth full, chewing and then swallowed. "Oishi (1)!" he exclaimed, apparently back in his usual cheerful self. Cassy grinned. "I guess that means good or something in Japanese," she said as she bent her knees to be at level with the boy. "Here, Hunny, I brought the whole tray," It was really weird for her to call someone that.

Hunny's chocolate colored eyes widened with happiness as he stared at the huge chocolate cake. "Is it really okay?" he asked in a whisper.

Cassy shrugged. "Sure, as long as it wakes you up." she replied. She walked out of the room, leaving Hunny munching down the cake in several big bites. The twins and Tamaki were stunned.

"Oy, oy," said Tamaki, preventing her to go any further. "How did you do that?" he demanded. "The only person who's able to calm Hunny-senpai down is Mori-senpai."

Cassy glanced at the tall, older boy who had turned his attention to the paper since it was alright with his cousin.

"Easy, my mom used to do that to me whenever I was grumpy in the morning," she replied casually, like it was the most simple thing in the world. Tamaki's and the twins' mouths dropped. "Of course..." they mumbled tiredly in submission.

The girl rolled up her sleeves better, with a determined look on her face. "Now then," she said. "Time to wake up the last one," she stood in front of Kyouya's hotelroom-door. Tamaki's eyes widened in horror and he made to grab her but the twins stopped him, shaking their heads.

"Just leave it, Tono," said Kaoru sighing.

"Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how it turns out," said Hikaru, smirking.

Cassy opened the door (how she got the keys to all their rooms was a mystery to them) and marched inside, all the way to the bedroom where Kyouya was soundlessly sleeping in the bed.

"Oy, glasses-guy," she stated clearly, positioning herself in front of his bed. "Time to get up,"

Kyouya grunted in his sleep and rolled away in another direction. Cassy's eyes twitched a bit annoyingly and she cleared her throat.

"I said it's time to get up," she repeated a bit more loudly than earlier.

When the raven-haired boy still didn't stir from his sleep, Cassy went out for a while, then came back with a megaphone in her hand. The boys watched from a very long distance as the redhaired girl took a deep breath and bellowed in the megaphone:

"WAKE UP, BLOCKHEAD!!!"

Kyouya slowly rose up and opened one eye. If looks could kill, he would have definitely killed the girl by now.

"What the hell do you want, bitch?" he murmured with a threatening tone, glaring daggers at her who was, to his utmost irritation, grinning like a fool.

"About time you woke up," she replied cheerfully. "You're going to school with us, so get your clothes on."

"I couldn't care less what your intentions are, but would you just leave me out of it," he snarled, his head wobbling a little from tiredness.

"Sorry, no can do," the yellow-eyed girl said. "Someone specifically asked for you to come."

"Do as you like," said Kyouya tiredly before he slumped back in his sleep.

Cassy blinked for a second, then smirked. "You heard him, girls," she declared as three of the Hostess Club appeared by the door. "Let's get going!"

The girls charged at the sleeping boy and within minutes, 'The Low-Blood Pressure Demon Lord' was fully dressed and still snoring. Robin, the taller one of the girls, held him by holding one of his arms over her shoulder. The twins and Tamaki stared at them in disbelief. She was pretty bold, to have approached Kyouya in that kind of manner and still be alive to tell the tale! Cassy clapped her hands together approvingly, like she had finished cleaning and turned to the boys.

"Well, let's get going then," she said. "We can't be late for school,"

The boys, not even daring to object, quickly got dressed, struggled to get Haruhi out of her room, grabbed Hunny along the way and followed the girls outside.

xoxoxoxo

Kyouya slowly began to stir because his room had suddenly become so noisy. Were the guys yet again in his room, without his permission? God, they were so noisy. But then again, why was he hearing girls laughing as well? And things like cups were being placed on their saucers? He caught a whiff of a faint aroma of sweets, like cakes. This was getting too weird, and annoying, in his opinion. The ravenhaired boy decided to slowly open his eyes. At first he saw a blurred image in front him, but after several eye-rubbing, a girl with long brown hair and emerald green eyes which hid behind rectangular glasses came into view.

"Finally awake, Kyouya-san?" Sakura asked, who had her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her outstretched fingers.

Kyouya glared at her. "Let me guess, the girls carried me here?" he asked. Sakura nodded, smiling. He looked around. They were inside the classroom where the Aster Hostess Club did their after-school club activities.

Tamaki was conversing with Cassy, along with Haruhi. It was obvious that he was trying to charm her, as he held up a rose to her.
The twins were playing around Doremi, whose face was getting redder and redder by the minute.
Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai sat besides Athena and Robin. Hunny and Athena were cheerfully eating cakes while the other two stared into space in silence.

"What time is it?" Kyouya asked after he had scanned the surroundings.

"10 minutes past ten," the girl replied with a smile. "We all had free time early this morning, so we decided to invite you boys here to get better acquainted."

So that was the reason for the abduction, he thought annoyingly and sighed a little.

"Would you like some tea?" Sakura asked politely, and without waiting for his response, poured some in two cups and handed the other to Kyouya.

He took a small sip, savoring the taste a bit before he swallowed. "Oolong tea?" he asked, as if surprised. But then he smiled. "No doubt brought from either side of your family."

Sakura nodded. "From my father, actually," she replied. "He's Japanese and he gets sent these kind of packages from his family in Japan."

Kyouya grinned. "So you really are Half-Japanese, just like Tamaki here," he jerked his head towards the blonde. She nodded again as she sipped from her cup. "Tell me," Kyouya began as he had examined her thoroughly. "Why did you take our idea?"

Sakura looked up at him from her cup and gently placed it down. "Basically, there's this new craze that kids in high school should open up a club together, and since we, the girls, are always hanging out together, I thought it would be a nice idea if we formed a club," she casually replied. "At first, the girls weren't exactly excited about this idea until I mentioned the fact that we could make a profit out of it."

"So that's why you stole our idea,"

Sakura shrugged. "We all needed cash, unlike you people," she said glaring for a second at him. "It was an easy task to figure out what kind of club makes the most profit, I just surfed the net, took a look at some online Japanese Host Clubs and that's where I stumbled across your club-" she smirked. "-apparently you were auctioning some items that belonged to your fellow members on the website."

Kyouya showed no emotion outwardly, but inwardly he was cursing. He really should lock the website so that just people in the Ouran vicinity would be able to access it. "I admit, that was very clever of you," he mumbled.

"Thank you," she replied with a pleased smile.

"But tell me," Kyouya continued. "How is it that a girl as smart as you, ended up as Vice-president of the club?"

Sakura chuckled, her eyes trailing off to the redhead, who was arguing loudly with Hikaru about this year's fashion and how it suited Doremi.

"Because I could never be like her," she simply said. Kyouya blinked, confused but she only smiled at him.

xoxoxoxo

Guests were beginning to stream in as lunch had started in the high school. Boys sat with each hostess and were chatting with them in delight. There was, for example, a line of boys trying to sit with Mandy who smiled politely to each of them. Cassy had, however, told the boys that she would rather speak to Tamaki and Haruhi for the day.

"Geez, they're all over her like moths to a flame," she said, rolling her eyes at the sight of Mandy's herd of boys.

"Isn't that nice?" asked the blonde boy serenely. "It appears like she doesn't mind,"

Cassy snorted. "She's not the type to be mean to others," she mumbled. "So, she doesn't say anything objective,"

"Mmmm," mused Tamaki, smiling.

"Besides-" Cassy suddenly broke off, her eyes narrowing at Mandy's direction. "Excuse me," she said as she stood up from the table and walked towards a certain guy who looked nervously around, like he was hiding something. Tamaki and Haruhi both raised their eyebrows.

Cassy went through her skirt-pocket, grabbed her cellphone, quickly snapped a picture of the guy with it and then held it tightly in her left hand. She poked the guy in the shoulder, who turned around, only to be punched in face by the readhead! The Host Club and the guests gaped.

Something fell on the ground, which turned out to be a cellphone with a camera built inside. The screen flashed open and on it, was a panty-shot of Mandy.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, bitch?!" the guy snarled angrily, holding the sore spot on his cheekbone. He made to grab the phone from the floor but Cassy crushed it by thrusting her foot down with great force. The guy yelled, distraught. "You bitch!" he yelled angrily, turning everone's attention to them. "Do you how much it cost?!"

"Not as much as a day or two in jail, asshole," she retorted, shoving her cellphone to his face, revealing a picture of him taking panty-shots of Mandy. "Now your ugly face is in my cell, jerk, so you better get outta my sight before I beat the crap outta you!"

The guy cringed and was going to leave when he realised that he was up against one measly girl. Sure, her punch had been painful but she was just a girl, after all. He smirked as he fully stood up to his actual size.

"How about you shut up about it," he said, and with one quick motion, grabbed her shirt's collar and easily lifted her up. "or you'll be beaten up so badly, that no boy would look at you, you little freak!"

Tamaki and the other hosts stood up abruptly, and they looked ready to join in the fight, when Sakura raised her hand against it. "Just leave it," she answered calmly as she took another sip of her tea. The Host boys and Haruhi stared at her incredulously.

Cassy snickered. She looked the guy in the eye and he saw, to his horror, that her eyes were dangerously narrow. "You're gonna pay dearly for that," and in a blink of an eye, she thrust her fist into the guy's stomach so hard that he gasped for air, letting her go, which turned out to be a bad idea; After she got released, she immediately sent him flying with high kick in the chin. He crashed to the floor, moaning in pain. Cassy stood over him, with hands on her hip. "Want some more, asshole?" she asked in a sweet voice. The guy hurriedly scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he could from the class, some of his friends even following suit.

Cassy burst out laughing as she returned to the blonde girl.

"Thanks, Cass," said Mandy, smiling in gratitude.

"No prob," the redhead replied with a grin. "I hate those kinda guys!"

The Host club gaped in utter surprise. They had no idea that the redhead was that tough! Mori and Hunny looked at her in a good light now, as well as the twins. Tamaki was still with his mouth open when she returned to their table. "That oughta keep those guys at bay," she said with a smile as she sat down.

"Wow, Cassy-san," exclaimed Haruhi, recovering from her shock. "That was amazing!"

Cassy waved her off lazily. "Not really," she replied as she relaxed more in the chair. "I do this almost everyday, and hey, don't say my name with the 'san'. It makes me seem like I'm old or something," she shuddered. "It's just Cassy, alright,"

Haruhi nodded, she understood what she meant. After that incident, everything went smoothly inside the classroom ( it's no wonder, actually! Nobody dared to try anything with the ladies with Cassy and Robin around ). The Host Club came to realise that it was a short school day in Aster High as most students began heading home around 2 c'clock. There were some guests, though, left in the classroom.

"Alright, my fellow guests," said Sakura as she stood up from her table. "But I'm afraid it's time for us to close for today," She smiled apologetically.

Some of the guests scowled before they rose up from the tables and made way for the exit. The Hostesses waved their good-byes to them and then turned to the Host boys.

"Now, we can begin," said Sakura smirking. She went to the only desk, which looked like the teacher's desk in the boys' opinion, pulled open the last, large drawer and grabbed from inside it two different hats; a tophat and a baseball cap. She handed Tamaki the baseball cap and Cassy the tophat. "Both hats contain pieces of paper with names of each member, you Tamaki-san, have our names in the baseball cap while Cassy's got yours. You each draw one piece of paper to see who competes."

Cassy and Tamaki faced each other, both with determined looks on their faces. They both put their hands into the hats simultaneously and drew one slip of paper. Cassy looked at hers, while Tamaki at his.

"Well, who's starting the first round?" asked Mandy curiously.

Cassy grinned. "The one who competes for the Ouran Host Club, is Hunny!" she declared, showing the slip to the boys.

Tamaki chuckled. "And the one for Aster Hostess Club: Athena-san!"

The little, dark girl and the loli-shota blinked and looked at each other. Athena smiled cheerfully which the little, blonde boy returned.

"It's a shame that we have to compete against each other, Hunny," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "We were having so much fun,"

The loli-shota nodded. "But we can maybe have more fun doing this challenge," he said.

The dark girl hesitated as she fiddled with strands of her hair. "Maybe..." her voice trailed off for a while but then she looked at him, grinning. "But I won't lose,"

Hunny caught the serious tone in her voice, although it was hidden within the glee. He returned the grin, his eyes serious. "Neither will I," he replied.

The gang felt the tension arise as they stood against each other. Athena clenched her fists and Hunny got ready if she was the first one to attack.

"Hunny..." she said quietly, her bangs covering her shiny green eyes.

The boys and girls gulped in anticipation.

"I challenge you to a cake-eating contest!" Athena declared with her hand in the air.

Everyone almost tumbled down on the floor (except for Sakura and Kyouya – they kept their cool). Hunny blinked and gratefully (and hungrily) accepted.

Cassy groaned, ruffling her hair. "Only they would do a challenge like that," she mumbled.

"Man, that's boring," Hikaru mumbled. "I was hoping that it would be a battle," Kaoru nodded. Even Haruhi had half-expected it to be.

"But in a way, it is a battle," said Tamaki softly, standing up with a smile. "Just their kind of battle, right Mori-senpai?" He looked over at Mori, who nodded.

Athena and Hunny sat down opposite each other and waited with a spoon or a fork in hand. They looked at the others with a 'Aren't-you-gonna-serve-us-cake?' look. They all sweatdropped.

"I guess it can't be helped," said Cassy and walked outside the classroom, dragging both the twins and Doremi with her.

Tamaki blinked. "Where are they going?" he asked.

"To the cafeteria," replied Sakura, settling down back in her seat with a book. "It's closed for now but Cassy's got a way to get in,"

The King raised an eyebrow confused, while Kyouya remembered her school record. He sighed a little. She just had to drag the twins into it...

After 20 minutes or so, the gang returned with their arms full of cupcakes. "Sorry, guys, but they only had cupcakes for today," said Cassy, walking inside, only to find Hunny and Athena already commenced in their cake-eating challenge. There were several trays filled with delicious cakes, both small and huge, and they were being swallowed fast by the duo. Cassy gaped. "What the hell's going on?!" she demanded. "How did they get all those cakes?"

Sakura sighed, pointing at the ravenhaired boy. "While you guys were at the cafeteria, those two – " she jerked her at the cake-eating duo, "- were beginning to feel a bit hungry and you know how Athena is when she's hungry,"

Cassy nodded, remembering not such a happy incident, which involved Athena almost going on a rampage because her order wasn't ready yet at their favorite pizza-place...Let's just say that they were not welcome there anymore because of her...

"So, Kyouya-san was so kind to call the local bakery and have them sent out couple of cakes to us," Sakura concluded with a shrug.

Cassy groaned. "Making us go there for nothing," she mumbled annoyingly, only to have the twins wrap their arms around her neck.

"That doesn't matter, redhead," said Hikaru grinning. "What matters is that you HAVE to teach us that trick with the door!"

Cassy blinked. "Huh?" she asked dumbfounded.

"You know, what you did to open up the door in the cafeteria!" urged Hikaru enthusiastically.

The redhead raised an eyebrow, grinning. So those two were troublemakers. Her grin broadened. She could have fun with those two later. But now she was interested to see how the two gluttons were doing. She sweatdropped at the sight, as well as the others when they took a look:
Hunny and Athena were definitely serious about not wanting to lose to each other! They were literally shoving the cakes into their mouths, chewing for a second, swallowing and then starting at the next dish.

Mandy turned sickish green by looking at them. "I don't think I'll be eating cakes any time soon..." she mumbled, the others silently agreeing with her.

"Tomorrow when the guests arrive, we'll just serve tea and sandwiches, okay Sakura?" said Cassy and the brownhaired girl quickly made a note in her notepad.

"How long do you think they'll keep this up?" asked Doremi timidly.

"I'm afraid we will be the winners for this round," replied Tamaki softly, which made Doremi's cheeks grow even redder of shyness.

Cassy snorted. "What makes you so confident to say that?" she demanded.

Tamaki smiled charmingly which would have swooned any girl around, except those around him now. "Because Hunny-senpai has been eating sweets probably since the day he was born, and we happen to know one person who has seen Hunny eat at least 3 cakes or more each night," he replied, referring to Hunny's little brother Yasuchika.

The girls looked at each other with awed expressions on their faces, it was a mystery that the little guy didn't gain weight! After hearing that, they weren't so sure if their little dark friend could win him...

"How can a little guy like him eat that much...?" mumbled Mandy in astonishment.

"Don't let his looks fool you," said Haruhi sheepishly. "He's actually 18 years old..."

"EHHHH?!?!" The girls' eyes widened in shock, staring at the sugar-high smiling boy at the table.

Sakura chuckled. "Well, he certainly lives up to his reputation as the loli-shota..."

After an hour, Athena was already at her limit. She was eating at a slow pace while Hunny still shoveled the cakes into his mouth at full speed! Her hand, holding the fork, trembled as she stuck a small piece into her mouth. "I won't give up..." she mumbled through gritted teeth as Hunny cast her a smirk and stuffed a spongecake into his mouth.

Cassy sighed. "She's not gonna hold out, is she?" she asked and as a response, everyone nodded their agreement.

"I think she's already spent," said Kaoru, pointing at the dark girl. They turned their attention back to the duo, seeing that Athena was only swallowing air; she was moving her fork up and down the plate but there was nothing on it. The girls sweatdropped.

"The winner for this round is Hunny-senpai," declared Kyouya with a pleased smirk.

Hunny patted his stomach, exhaling happily. "Uwahh...I could have continued, ne?" he said, smiling brightly.

"I'm not gonna hold responsible if you get a cavity again, Hunny-senpai," mumbled Haruhi in silent disgust.

He giggled cheerfully, hugging his Bun-Bun.

"Man, what a drag," mumbled Cassy as she crossed her arms over her chest, watching Robin and Mandy help Athena to stand up. She turned to the King. "You guys won't be so lucky in the next round," she said with a confident grin.

"It all depends who will be competing against each other in the next round, my dear Cassy," Tamaki replied and smiled.

Cassy pouted and spun around on her heels. "Whatever," she said, picked up her bag and Sakura and Doremi did the same. The three of them went to the door. "Well, see ya tomorrow," the redhead said and they walked outside.

"How the hell did it turn out like this?" grumbled Cassy.

"It's probably not that bad," said Doremi timidly.

"Not that bad?! How is this not bad?!" Cassy yelled annoyingly, turning around and pointing at the group of boys following them.

"Wow, look at those houses, Takashi!" Hunny squealed excitedly, swinging his feet with glee as he sat on Mori's shoulders.

"Ah, so this is what American commoner houses look like," said Hikaru uninterestedly with his arms over his head while his brother Kaoru took photos of them. "How dull,"

A vein was pulsing through Cassy's temple. They're really getting on my nerves! She thought annoyingly. Why did they have to follow us?!

20 minutes ago:

Tamaki had pulled his fellow subjects in a circle, because he had had an idea.

"What's the meaning of this, Tamaki-senpai?" asked Haruhi tiredly. She already wanted to get this over with so she could go back to the hotel, where she could continue studying.

Tamaki flinched. He had forgotten that he had dragged Haruhi as well in his circle. "Ah, Haruhi, why don't you wait with the girls?"

When he received a raised eyebrow from her, he sweatdropped. "Ah, you see, your daddy has to talk some serious guy-talk with the boys,"

Still with a suspicious look on her face, she stood up and went to the girls. Tamaki waved to her with a smile until she stopped eyeing them suspiciously, then he turned to the others.

"Now would you tell us what's on your mind, Tamaki?" asked Kyouya.

"Don't you guys see? This is a golden opportunity for us to know the commoners better and Haruhi's culture!"

"Didn't we already try that, Tono, when we went to the supermarket?" asked Kaoru in a whisper, raising an eyebrow.

Kyouya's eye twitched a bit when he remembered that day. He still had to repay Tamaki the kind gesture and he would someday, when the right moment was at hand.

"Yeah but now we can try it in America!" whispered Tamaki excitedly, rubbing his hands together. "And we can start with Cassy!"

And they all looked at Cassy with a smirk and a weird gleam in their eyes.

"I'm sorry, Cassy," said Haruhi, sweatdropping as she walked beside the three girls. "I didn't know they were planning this..."

"It's okay," sighed the redhead. "It's not your fault,"

The girls came to a halt, as Cassy said goodbye to Sakura and Doremi since they were going in another direction.

"Can't you guys stay with me?" begged Cassy, refusing to let go of Sakura's sleeve.

"Sorry, Cass," said Sakura, swiftly yanking her arm back. "But I've got to study,"

"I'd really love to, but I've got music lessons," Doremi said awkwardly.

And with that, they both walked away, leaving Cassy to deal with the Host Club. Cassy almost buckled down on her knees, her eyes teary.

"Typical, it always has to be me..." she mumbled in submission. "Trouble seems to know where I live..."

"Cassy-chan, is your house close by?" asked Hunny curiously, cocking his head to the side.

Cassy grumbled something incoherent, getting up on her feet. She continued walking with the Host Club behind her, until they reached a two-storey, blue-colored house with a white roof. Brown fence was around it and trees, both small and big, grew nearly all over the place. There was even an old treehouse in one of them.

"Ehh, so redhead lives in this house?" said Hikaru as they stopped in front of the fence. "Pretty big for a commoner," he added with a sneer.

Cassy glared at him as she opened the fence-gate and headed for the front door. Hikaru was really starting to annoy her, as she had thought that they could have really gotten along together. His brother, however, was not so bad since he kept his mouth shut.

"Look, you guys can be here for a little while before my parents come home," said Cassy as she placed her key into her keyhole, turning it and opening the door.

They all nodded with excited smiles on their faces. Cassy sweatdropped, already regretting this. She went inside, took her shoes off and flung her bag on a nearby chair.

"Look, look, Takashi," exclaimed Hunny, pointing at her shoes on the floor. "She doesn't wear her shoes inside, just like we do in a dojo!"

Mori nodded as he helped his cousin with untiying his shoelaces. The rest quickly followed suit and began examining the interior of the house. Kyouya quickly went to the book shelves and took a look at what kind of books her family was interested in. The twins had disappeared somewhere in the house. Mori and Hunny were in the kitchen, opening every shelves and drawers out of curiosity. Cassy's vein pulsed a little more through her temple.

It's like looking after kindergarteners, she thought, ruffling her hair annoyingly.

Surprisingly, Tamaki wasn't rummaging through her family's belongings, like he usually would. He was just examining a sheet of paper which had been lying on a desk in the living room.

"Cassy, what do your parents do for a living?" he asked curiously.

Noticing the sheet he had in his hand, she walked over to him. "My dad's a lawyer and my mom works as a translator. Mostly in books."

"In what languages?" he asked with an interest.

Cassy eyed him suspiciously. "Well, mostly in French. It was her major in college, I think. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing in particular," Tamaki replied, and turned away so they wouldn't see the excited gleam in his cerulean eyes.

"Is it just you and your parents?" asked Haruhi, "you know, living in this house?"

Cassy nodded. "Yeah, I'm an only-child," she replied with a hint of pathos in her voice. But suddenly her eyes widened in realization. She heard noises in her bedroom. Oh crap!

She ran up the stairs, turned right and slammed the door open. Hikaru and Kaoru were playing with some of her stuff: like her Playstation 2 and an acoustic guitar.

"Give me that!" she snarled as she snatched the guitar from Hikaru's hands and placed it inside her closet. She didn't really mind the Playstation 2, as long as they weren't playing with her underwear!

"Ah, you're mean, redhead!" whined Hikaru, like a spoiled kid. "I was only playing with it,"

Her irritation almost reaching boiling point, she pushed them out of her room and closed the door. "I never said that you could enter my room!" she hissed angrily while still pushing them. "Now stay down here, like good little dogs!"

The twins pouted, but remembering the showdown against the pervert, they decided it would be best not to anger her more.

"What's with all the noise here?" asked an unfamiliar voice that came from the stairs.

Cassy flinched, stiffening. Oh crap! So he was awake! She thought frightfully. The Host Club walked over to the stairs to see whose voice it belonged to. Cassy was too afraid to look, it would be kinda hard to explain if he was in his real form. Please, let him have a cold she prayed silently in her mind. She heard a gasp. Crap! It's all over now!

"Who's this little guy?" asked Kaoru curiously.

Cassy slowly turned around, and let out a sigh of relief. Standing on the highest step of the stair, was a young boy, probably around the age of 10. He had short, white hair and big, brown eyes which stared at the group in front of him. He was wearing a blue T-shirt with a crescent moon pattern on it and tanned, khaki-shorts which reached to his knees.

"Who are they, Cassy?" asked the boy, staring at the group of boys suspiciously.

"It's a long story," groaned Cassy, shaking her head. "I'll tell you later, but it's enough to let you know that they are known as the Ouran Host Club. They're from Japan."

The boy didn't take his stare off of them. "Konnichiwa (2)," he suddenly said with a mischevious smile. "Hajimemashite, ore wa Ralph desu (3),"

Cassy gaped and the boys were taken aback.

"You can speak Japanese?" asked Tamaki incredulously.

The boy known as Ralph nodded. "Just a little," he said modestly.

Cassy glared at him. "I didn't know you knew Japanese, Ralph,"

He looked down at her, with the same mischevious smile. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Cass," he responded.

"How do you know each other? I thought you were an only-child?" asked Haruhi.

Cassy sweatdropped. Turning to her, she had an awkward smile. "He's my cousin, from my dad's side," she explained. "He's been staying with us for a while,"

"Ehh, well, nice to meet you, Ralph-kun," said Haruhi smiling as she bowed. The others had almost forgotten their manners and quickly followed suit. Then they began asking questions about their lives and such, which Ralph answered with ease, sometimes slipping in embarrassing moments that happened to Cassy, like the time when she accidentically blew up the school's laboratory by mixing the wrong ingredients or the time when she tripped on the new carpet while holding a set of dirty dishes. The twins had a good-hearted laugh out of it,

and Hunny squealed 'How cute!' while Haruhi felt sorry for the poor girl.

Cassy was almost on the verge of tears, dying of embarrassment. Could it get any worse?!

The front door opened. "Hello? I'm back, Cassy dear!" said a soft, feminive voice.

Cassy nearly toppled over. The gods hate me! She cried in her mind. Upon hearing a new voice, the Host Club turned their heads towards the hallway. They instantly knew that it was Cassy's mother. Except for the long hair, Cassy was the spitting image of her mother! The same red hair, the same yellow eyes and the same slender built, although her mom showed a little more curves. She was holding a large grocery bag in her arms and had a surprised look on her pretty face.

"My, what a lovely bunch of handsome boys!" she exclaimed, giggling.

Before she had finished her sentence, Tamaki had appeared in front of her, handing her a red rose. "Bonjour, Madame (4)," he spoke in French, giving her one of his infamous princely smiles. "Qué te t'appelles? (5)"

Cassy's mother blinked in surprise. "You speak French?" she asked the blonde, who nodded. "Oh, je m'appelle Katrina mais tu m'apelle Katie, (6)"

Tamaki tossed his bangs away, exclaiming happily. "Ah, Madame Katie, tu parles francais tres bien! (7)"

Katie giggled, clearly smitten by his charms.

"Feh, there he goes again," mumbled Hikaru and he and his brother went to the living room and sat down on the couch.

Cassy gaped. He's into older women?! She shook off her shock, grabbed her mother and dragged her to the kitchen, her mom still giggling and waving to Tamaki.

"Get a grip, will you?!" she hissed. "You're happily married!"

"Sorry, honey," her mother replied as she put down the grocery bag. "It's just so fun when someone can speak French to you! And he's such a handsome gentleman! Who is he??"

Cassy sighed. "His name's Tamaki and the others are his members who are known as the Ouran Host Club."

"Another Host Club, huh?" said Katie, grinning. "Looks like you girls've got some competition,"

"They were the ones who barged into our lives, and unfortunately, into mine!" her daughter mumbled as she helped her mother put away the groceries.

"Mmm," mused Katie, walked out of the kitchen, into the living room where the boys were. She leaned over for a bit, while she put on her apron. "Would you boys like to stay for dinner?" she asked politely. In the kitchen, they heard a loud crash.

They all smiled and bowed. "We would love to!"

Katie returned to the kitchen with a happy smile, meeting her daughter's glaring eyes. "Don't give me that face," she said grinning. She thrust a spaghetti pack into her arms. "Instead, help me with the dinner,"

Cassy pouted but did what her mother told her and put the spaghetti into a pot with water.

Meanwhile Tamaki was looking at some family photos which hung up on the wall. There were some photos of Cassy when she was young, even ones when she was wearing a dress. Tamaki smiled. She looked quite cute when she was little, always with a happy smile plastered across her face. As he continued, he stopped at a certain photo. In it, was a family of four; a young man, young woman and two kids. A boy and a girl. The woman had red, wavy hair and green eyes while the man had black hair and blue eyes. The kids had inherited their mother's haircolor but their eyes were different. The boy had his father's blue ones while the girl had, surprisingly, yellow.

Weird, thought Tamaki as he took the picture and held it in front of him. I thought Cassy was an only-child...

"The girl with the yellow eyes is Katie when she was little," said Ralph who had appeared out of nowhere beside him, making the King jump.

"Oh, so these are Cassy's grandparents!" said Tamaki, referring to the young couple in the picture. "Do they live here nearby?"

Ralph was silent for a while before he decided to answer. "They're all dead," he replied, looking down on the floor.

"Eh?"

"They all died when Katie was 8 years old," said Ralph quietly. "Their house burnt and everyone was inside, except for Katie. Fortunately, she was visiting a friend when it happened."

Everyone was silent, they were too shocked to say anything. Tamaki and Haruhi were the ones who were most taken aback by it, because they were the only ones among the group who had lost a parent (A/N: not so sure about Tamaki though, but he probably feels the same since he hasn't seen his mother for a long a time...)

"You mean, Miss Katie is an orphan?" asked Tamaki, immediately turning his head towards the kitchen where he heard cheerful noises coming from her and Cassy.

Ralph nodded. "She had been living in a orphanage till the age of 16, that was when Mandy's mother, Tanya, decided to take care of her."

She has lived such a harsh childhood, thought Haruhi sadly.

"Alright, guys, " called Katie from the kitchen, holding a bowl in her hands. "Dinner's ready, come join us in the dining room!"

Ralph looked at Tamaki sternly. "Don't mention it to her or Cassy," he said before he walked inside the dining room.

They all sat down, the air filled with sweet aroma of Italian food. But as they looked down at the food in front of them, they weren't so sure...It looked like a complete mess! It didn't look like spaghetti bolognese at all!

Katie rubbed the back of her neck, awkwardly. "I'm sorry that it doesn't look good," she said nervously.

The boys flinched. "What are you talking about, Miss Katie!" exclaimed Tamaki nervously, quickly grabbed the fork and shoved some into his mouth. His eyes widened. Looking up at Katie, his eyes glistened with happiness. "It's delicious!" he said, every word filled with honesty. It was good, he didn't believe that such a food that looked so awful, tasted so good!

Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" he asked, prodding the food with his fork.

When Haruhi saw that the King was really enjoying the dinner made by Katie, she decided to give a try too. She took a small bite, gasped and began eating with delight. The twins eyed the two suspiciously. Cassy and Ralph were already eating in silence but Cassy sometimes cast glances at Tamaki who sat opposite her. Soon, everyone was happily eating, all doubt washed away the minute they put a small portion of it into their mouths.

Katie smiled happily as she sat down at the end of the table, with her daughter and Tamaki next to her. "I'm so glad you like my cooking!" she exclaimed.

"I didn't know American commoner food tastes this good!" said Hikaru, while he didn't mean it the bad way.

Haruhi cast a sideways glance at Cassy's mother. She was smiling happily as she watched the group. It didn't look like her past had affected her at all, maybe something happened which made her feel better. She noticed the loving look Katie was giving her daughter while she was completely oblivious to it. It made Haruhi smile fondly. Maybe she feels better because she's got a family of her own now...

After dinner, they settled down in the living room where Tamaki had taken the job of entertaining Katie, complimenting her in French while she giggled like a fool. The twins got permission to play with Cassy's Playstation 2 but quickly got bored of it since she only had games that they had won thousand of times. Hunny was trying to let Ralph play with his Bun-Bun, who obviously did not want to come near it as they were running around the house, Hunny saying "He won't hurt you!". Kyouya had his face glued to a book written by some Nobel-prize winner, which he had found in the Takenas' book shelves.

Cassy sat on the chair by the desk, watching them. "It's like they have already moved in here..." she mumbled and sighed.

Haruhi approached her and stood beside her. "Your mother is a lovely person," she said suddenly and smiled at the redhead.

Cassy blinked, then returned the smile. "Yeah, I know," she answered, looking over at her mom who was blushing like mad at Tamaki's gestures. "Although she's a complete spaz..." she added, sweatdropping.

Finally, the moment for the Host Club to leave had arrived. Cassy was nearly jumping with joy in her mind as she stood in the hallway, watching them put their shoes on.

"We had a great time," said Tamaki, standing up. "Thank you for dinner and allowing us to visit,"

I didn't exactly allow you guys to come, thought Cassy annoyed. You guys followed me in the first place!

They heard a distant honk from outside the house. "That's our chauffeurs," said Kyouya. He bowed politely to Katie and opened the door. They all went outside and were going inside the cars, when Tamaki noticed that a certain brownhaired person wasn't with them.

"Are? Where's Haruhi?"

The boys looked back at the house. She stood at the threshold with a determined look on her face.

"Haruhi, aren't you coming with us?" asked Tamaki.

Haruhi shook her head. "No, senpai," she replied. "I wish to stay here at Cassy's house."

Cassy stared at her incredulously. Tamaki's jaw dropped. Haruhi turned to Cassy and her mom.

"If that's not too much trouble, I wish to stay here while we're still in this challenge," she said and bowed.

Katie was taken aback by this sudden request but she smiled warmly. "Of course, it's alright!" she exclaimed.

Tears were flowing down Tamaki's cheeks in a comical way. He always had to take everything so seriously. "Why...?" he sobbed. "Are we that annoying?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," said Haruhi bluntly, letting Tamaki receive of jolt of electricity at her comment. "At the hotel, you're too noisy but here's quiet. I can study peacefully here."

"But we'll be quiet, I promise!" blurted out the King, desperately trying to change Haruhi's mind but was thrown into the van by Kyouya whose patience was growing thin.

"Alright, Haruhi," said Kyouya. "If that's what you want, then we have no right to stop you," and with that he got in the van. "We'll see the both of you then tomorrow,"

The cars began driving away with Tamaki at the back window, yelling "HAAARUHIII!!!" until they disappeared from the horizon. Haruhi sighed tiredly.

Cassy was stressed, though. It was the first time a guy was actually staying in her house for the night (A/N: Yeah, she's sometimes slow...). She didn't mind because Haruhi seemed to be the most normal of the bunch but it was really weird. Her mother turned to the brownhaired host. "You can have the guestroom, Rab- I mean, Ralph is using that room at the moment but he can stay in Cassy's room."

Haruhi bowed again in gratitude. "Thank you so much and I apologize for the trouble,"

Katie giggled. "The Japanese are always so polite and formal," she said as she went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. "Cassy, why don't you show Haruhi where the guestroom is," she suggested.

Cassy nodded and beckoned Haruhi to follow her. They went upstairs and the redhead opened a door which was in the middle side of the house – right next to Cassy's room, closer to the staircase. Inside the room was a bed, a nightstand, a desk and a small closet. A plain window was above the desk and the walls were painted soft green.

"I hope this room is alright with you," said Cassy, allowing Haruhi to walk inside.

"It's fine, thank you," said Haruhi with a smile. She hesitated for a while before she asked: "Is it possible for me to take a shower?"

Cassy grinned. "Sure, the bathroom is beside this room, on your left,"

Haruhi excused herself and went to the bathroom while Cassy began moving some of Ralph's things to her room. When she came inside for the third time, she noticed a large candle on the nightstand. She sat down on the bed, staring at the candle. It didn't mean nothing to her, and it was just an ordinary candle but Cassy suddenly got the urge to do something that she had neglected for a while...

She closed her eyes for a second and when she opened them again, the candle had been lit. She grinned, pleased with herself. But that's just a beginner's trick, she thought, sticking out her tongue. This is much more fun! And with that, she opened up her right hand and within seconds, fire burst out and flickered calmly in her open palm.

All of a sudden, the door opened and Haruhi walked inside, a towel on her head and wearing nothing but her school-trousers and a bra. She stopped dead in her tracks, staring wide-eyed at Cassy who still had a fire ball floating calmly in her hand.

Cassy's eyes widened in shock. She was caught!

Oh crap!

End of chapter 2.

(1) Oishi delicious

(2) Konnichiwa Hello or Hi

(3) Hajimemashite, ore wa Ralph desu Nice to meet you, my name is Ralph

(4) Bonjour Madame Good afternoon or Good day, madam

(5) Qué te t'appelles? What is your name?

(6) Je m'appelle Katrina mais tu m'appelle Katie My name is Katrina but you can call me Katie

(7) Madame Katie, tu parles francais tres bien Mrs. Katie, you speak French very well

Author's notes: Ooooh, a cliffhanger! I'm so evil, muhahahah!! What's gonna happen in the next chapter, how will Haruhi react to this? That's for me to know and you guys to find out ;)