A/N: This is actually the shortest chapter I've ever posted on this site. But don't worry, there's more coming very soon. I just really wanted this chapter to end where it does. Relax and enjoy.

"Wait, Mitsuru Yamasaki?" Hikaru frowned, "She's our culprit?"

Haruhi nodded, "I could make her out, even with all her hair tucked away. I think… I saw her at the grocery store, too."

"You were right, senpai," she said, turning to Kyoya, "It seems like she was buying basic necessities… I think she recognized me too, but didn't realize who I was exactly."

"So, our aristocrat isn't who she says she is… No wonder I wasn't familiar with her name," the Shadow King murmured.

Hikaru crossed his arms, leaning up against his brother, and inquired, "Well, what do we do now? She isn't dumb enough to show up to school tomorrow. If she's as smart as she's leading us to believe, she might even be trying to figure out another escape plan."

"We could always try and trace her to her house, but… if she's faking her status, she could be faking the address in the directory, too," Haruhi sighed, and turned to the uncharacteristically silent Tamaki, "Senpai? What should we do?"

"I'll ask my father for the home address that her tuition payments come from," he replied in soft voice, "but before you do anything, Kyoya, let me speak with her."

The King of Shadows sent his closest friend a questioning glare, but complied, "Alright. Just know this, Tamaki; she's not escaping any punishment."

"Of course not… Anyways, everyone, we'll track her down soon, but… for now…. Go home and get some rest."

-:-

When she realized that the hosts had not followed her out of the Academy, Mitsuru stopped at a gas station and brought a cheap, unhealthy energy drink to the large man manning the cash register. As she shuffled around in her knapsack for her wallet, she noted that she still had a few rattling dishes, knifes, spoons and such. At least she got something out of the heist.

"Thanks," she mumbled to the cashier before snatching her bitter drink.

The teen tore off her beanie as she limped down the darkened street to her apartment, letting her matted, sweaty chestnut hair collapse from its peak. The chill of night froze her perspiration, causing her to rub her bruised arms.

Her apartment complex wasn't the sketchiest place to exist, but it had its fair share of questionable activities take place there along with a handful of odd graffiti signs. It housed a thief, a stripper, and a strange old woman who was too kind for her own good.

Mitsuru was the thief, living on the bottom floor only because it had a window she could escape through if need be. She was especially grateful for it tonight because she was going to need to make a hasty escape in a few hours.

It was nearly two in the morning when she tumbled into her room. She felt heavy with sleep, but she couldn't rest at that very moment. Mitsuru went to her refrigerator and exchanged her energy drink (for tomorrow, she told herself) for some ice that she scooped into a bag and tied around her swollen ankle. Then, she scooted into the closet-sized room that served as her bedroom and collapsed onto her futon.

"Tonight was a disaster!" She yelled, her voice muffled by her pillow.

She needed to pack up her things and run, but she wouldn't get very far with her ankle in the condition that it was in. Two days was too long to wait, but she could get away with leaving tomorrow while the Hosts were in class. That way, by the time they finally got around to investigating, she would be home free.

The only problem was all her loot… It would be a pity and a shame to abandon all of her things in the back dumpster.

"I could always give it to Aya-san."

The little old lady who lived a few doors down would probably just keep the loot in the dumpster for the next loser who took over Mitsuru's room, but the teen couldn't just leave it like that! It was worth money, and everyone knew that money was what she needed most.

She'd have to find a way to sell it all tomorrow before she left. There was so much to do and so little time! She guessed that's just how the life of a criminal works… but first things first…

Mitsuru fell asleep, right after setting her alarm for the modest time of six in the morning (only four hours of sleep! Ugh! At least she bought the energy drink in advance, right?), but the drowsy girl had no idea why or how her life was going to change tomorrow, for better or worse.

-:-

The first thing to throw her off was the knock. It was loud and repeated, meaning that Teruko, the stripper on the third floor, wanted to borrow something. Mitsuru sat up, wiped the drool off of her chin and stumbled out of her room, kicking her blanket off, as it had wrapped itself snuggly around her ankles. She wasn't especially concerned because her clock was flashing a bright red calculation of '5:56.'

"Eh?" was the greeting she sent Teruko, who was looking especially blonde this morning.

The second thing to throw her off was the fact that the street lamps were on outside. Street lamp, actually. There was only one in an inconvenient place right in one of the parking spaces, just dead in the center of it. Fortunately, Mitsuru only owned a bike that she used on the weekends to visit family.

"Yama-chan," Teruko whined, twirling her platinum strands, "Why didn't you tell me you had rich friends, yeah?"

It didn't take anything else. Mitsuru grabbed the lady's shoulders and shook her.

"What time is it?" She asked, in the lowest tone she could manage.

The working woman fluffed her hair, ignorant of the girl's urgency, "It's like… six thirty-ish, I guess? I got off early and saw, like, four limousines heading here and when I asked Aya-chan she was like, 'What, I don't know them!' and then I came up here- Hey, wait, what's wrong, hun?"

Teruko didn't even looked offended, simply worried, when Mitsuru slammed the door and locked it, running her hands through her messy and tangled hair erratically. They were on the way here, right now. She needed to pack up. Quickly.

Ignoring all else, the Yamasaki girl yanked a few weird gas station snacks (they would be good on the go rather than all of the vegetables she bought a few days ago) out of her fridge and also the energy drink from last night. She took a few seconds to down the beverage, hoping it would be enough to get her going faster.

The desperate girl then went to her bedroom and emptied her knapsack. A handful of dishes fell out, shattering instantaneously, one shard slicing into her foot that was actually usable. She ignored the bleeding cut and grabbed some clothes thrown over her bed and realized that the ice pack had broken open and spilt all over her alarm clock, causing it to freeze at the time of the incident.

Mitsuru kicked it angrily, only to curse herself for harming her foot further. Honestly, her luck used to be so much better than this. Ugh, she was running out of time! The teen stuffed some other useless things into her bag, tying it shut after placing gently a picture of someone on the top, wrapping it carefully in a T-shirt she would just have to bring along.

"Excuse me, madam."

Her coffee eyes widened in fear. That was Tamaki Suoh! They were here!

"O-oh, hi, sugar! Aren't you the cutest thing? You must be looking for Yama-chan. She's in there; just woke up, silly! Hey," Teruko knocked again on the door, "Your friends are here, hun!"

There was no response, though, because Mitsuru was putting all of her strength into yanking the wide window open, throwing herself out of it with an obvious sense of exigency. She landed on the prickly grass of the "backyard" as Aya-san called it, scrambling to her feet. The Yamasaki girl was going to have to find her way to her uncle's place without being traced, but the Ootori police force wasn't one to be meddled with… They would figure out she had family nearby.

So, she would just have to disappear. Mitsuru had enough money to do that for a decent amount of time. She would have to pull out her secret talent of negotiating, which was actually just her begging someone to erase her from the map. Maybe she could make her way back here and ask for Teruko's help? Surely, she knew some people.

At the moment, though, she was a fugitive, and she needed to climb over that fence that was placed for the convenience of making the poorer people feel like animals. Mitsuru had barely gotten her torso over when she felt someone grab her by the waist.

"Ag-ugh!"

She kicked and fussed, but to Mori's surprise, she didn't scream. Mitsuru was trapped and she knew it, but she tried everything to escape, eventually squirming out of Takashi's grip and falling on her cut foot. She buckled and tried to balance herself on her other foot, only to remember it, too, was screwed. The girl who had once held her chin high fell to the ground at the feet of Tamaki Suoh, who knelt down in a similar fashion to the idiotic kid, Haruhi, just last night.

The Yamasaki girl was surrounded by the hosts with no way of escaping. She didn't quit trying to scramble away from those sympathetic blue eyes, though.

"Mitsuru-san, why?" He asked.

Mitsuru crossed her arms and put a finger to her chin, in mock-thought, "That's an awfully broad question. Why do I steal? Why did I steal from you? I would think all of their answers would be quite obvious, no?"

Since she was backed into a corner (literally, at this point, with all these cursed hosts just standing around her like vultures), she felt no need to try and beg her way out. Why not attempt to enjoy her last moments of freedom? Tamaki said nothing in response, simply gazed into her eyes with a stern, concerned look. It was unnerving, so she kept talking.

"I steal because I need. I need money, I need food, etcetera, etcetera. I stole from you," Mitsuru said 'you' accusingly, "because, well, who else? You are the only group in the entire Academy to put all of your wealth on display for everyone to see… Why not take a few things?"

"So, why did you try to take more?" Haruhi asked.

His voice was so girly, ugh. Mitsuru felt attacked by his gentle tone.

She turned her head to look up at those honey eyes and smirked sadly, "Because I've never been caught before."

"So, you've done this in the past?"

The Yamasaki teen snickered, "Duh. I couldn't just be an amateur and rob someone from the Ouran High School Host Club."

The way she said the last part was in a condescending accent, causing the aura that was Kyoya's wrath to spill over. The thief shivered and backed into Mori's knees, staring at the approaching figure with something akin to fear.

"You've made a terrible mistake, Yamasaki-san," The Shadow King gritted out, "stealing from an investment of mine."

"So?" Mitsuru bluffed, "Arrest me, then. I'm a criminal and that's what I deserve so lock me up for life!"

"I'm afraid I won't be giving you the pleasure of escaping more… severe punishment."

Something like black tendrils of hatred and wrath were overflowing from his presence and Mitsuru had nothing to say, for the first time in a long, long time. She was genuinely scared of whatever this monster who disguised himself as an Ootori, her voice wavered.

[Soundtrack Suggestion: Alla Marcia for orchestra (OHSHC)]

"I-!" She faltered, "I'm sorry!"

Now, that was unexpected.

"I'm sorry for stealing from you, truly! Please, don't send me to prison! I mean, I'll, uh, pay you back, I swear!"

"Will you, now?" Kyoya taunted, his glasses gleaming.

"Y-yes! I'll double the amount of what I stole! I promise!"

"Kyoya-senpai," Haruhi sighed, a bit annoyed, "Honestly… you rich people and debts."

Mitsuru bowed her head, "So, please! Don't arrest me!"

"We won't send you to prison, Yamasaki-san," Tamaki said, his regal mercy bringing comical tears to Mitsuru's eyes, "But you must promise us two things."

"A-anything!"

"First, you must allow the Host Club to get you a legal job. No more stealing. Haruhi will help you since he knows the commoners' trades."

The brunette princess of the Host Club seemed to duck her head. Why was she being brought into this? Then again, it would be smart to help Mitsuru get back onto her feet in a less law-breaking way.

"Secondly, you must swear you will work for the Host Club as an assistant to whoever we deem fit!"

"O-okay, I will! W-… Wait, what?!"

She was echoed by every Host, including Kyoya, who looked like the flames of Hell could burst out from behind his glasses at any moment.

"Mitsuru Yamasaki, from this point forward, you are now a part of the Host Club!"

Thanks to all of you who followed this story: (Keiko Taniyama, bored411, naes151, and Midnight Rosedrop)

Those who made this story a favorite of theirs: (bored411)

And last, but not least, those who reviewed.

(bored411) : I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far - I hope that you continue to like it. Thanks for reviewing! :)

(naes151) : Thank you. There will be two pairings, with two different original characters, and since it is cannon, I will be mentioning (Haruhi x Tamaki). Thank you for reviewing, and I hope you continue to enjoy my story!

I hope you all enjoyed it; leave some reviews if you'd like to tell me anything, or point out something that could use improving. I'm always open to constructive criticism.