Part Two – Red Velvet Surprise

March 25

It had been ten days since the Black Magic Club had visited the Third Music Room with their newest members. Although little had changed in the day to day routine for the Host Club, the mood had definitely shifted. Without the "devilish twins" present, business had seen a decline. The decreasing numbers in his ledger certainly made Kyoya less than pleased, and he pressed the others to do what they could to make up for the drop.

Tamaki tried to remain charming and carefree, but Kyoya noted more and more that customers were concerned over the king's tendency to turn the conversation toward their belief or disbelief in evil and curses. Hunny stayed upbeat for the first couple days, but when Kyoya ruled that club sweets and cakes must be reserved for guests only, his enthusiasm began to wane. By the fifth day, Hunny had become miserable and lethargic, and had a very hard time staying cheerful for his guests, more often than not ending up with his head in their laps in sadness. While this was cute to some, many of his regular customers missed his happiness. Mori continued on in silence, but was often distracted by his worry for Hunny.

Renge shared Kyoya's distress as always, and did all she could to drum up more business amongst the girls of the school, but she noted the decline with despair as well. Of the Host Club, only Haruhi could remain focused enough to entertain her customers thoroughly, despite the fact that she was not even the boy they thought her to be.

And of course, each day Haruhi herself was besieged with questions as to what the twins were like in class. Each day her report was the same. The twins had taken to wearing their cloaks to class, as Nekozawa himself did. While they had not stopped their usual classroom hijinks, Haruhi had noted that their notes to each other now seemed to revolve around curses, darkness, and Beelzeneff dolls. Their voices, while in unison as always, had also taken on a constant monotone, and they had taken to scurrying away to the Black Magic Club room each day immediately after class. Despite the daily questioning from hosts and classmates alike, Haruhi was unable to provide more insight than that. No further attempts to visit the Black Magic Club room had been made, partially due to Tamaki's fear but mostly due to the Host Club's own business.

Now another club period had ended, and Kyoya was pacing worriedly as he tabulated the latest figures in his ledger. Hunny lay sprawled out on the couch, moaning "So hungry…"

Mori looked at him with concern, and Haruhi turned to Kyoya. "Kyoya-Sempai, Hunny is falling apart! Can't we give him just a little cake?"

Kyoya looked over the top of his ledger at Haruhi. "I'm afraid not. We're barely clearing a profit right now."

"God hates me…" Hunny moaned in self-pity.

"My beautiful Host Club is coming apart…" Tamaki moaned in a similar state of self-pity.

Renge was about to say something when there was a knock at the Music Room door and the sound of scurrying feet. Mori opened the door and found a pink box with a card. He brought the box inside, and Renge took the card. She recognized the logo on the envelope immediately as being from one of the prefecture's most expensive and exclusive bakeries. Renge opened the envelope and read from the card as Hunny's ears perked up. "To our beloved Hunny-Sempai. We miss your sweetness! Enjoy! Hugs, Your loving friends." Hunny's eyes lit up with joy at the sight of a huge red velvet cake with rich cream cheese frosting, and his mouth broke into a huge smile.

"Well, this is most fortunate." Kyoya said. "This will be perfect for tomorrow's guests, and it didn't cost us a single…" Of course, he had spoken too soon.

"No! It's for me! The card said so!" Hunny stated, his speech somewhat muffled by the gigantic piece of cake in his mouth.

Haruhi shook her head. "He does have a point, Sempai…" Kyoya only buried his face in his hands and groaned.

Tamaki stepped forward. "It does look delicious, Hunny-Sempai. May I…" He stopped short when he saw the fierce look on Hunny's face. "Uhmmm… Never mind. Enjoy." Tamaki would never have believed something could scare him more than Nekozawa's curses… until he saw Hunny in sugar withdrawal for so long.

The rest of the club stood back as their smallest member devoured the large cake. Nobody, not even Kyoya, dared to interrupt him for fear of having a hand bitten off. Only Mori was bold enough to approach him at last. "Slow down, Mitsukunni. You'll get sick."

Hunny scoffed. "I'll be fine, Taka…" he began, then stopped suddenly, his breathing suddenly becoming fast and shallow. The other hosts leaned in with concern, and watched with horror as Hunny's pupils suddenly enlarged to a size almost as big as his eyes. His cake forgotten, Hunny's arms flew up to cover his eyes. "It- It's so bright in here…" he began in a quiet voice.

Renge leaned closer. "Hunny-Sempai? Are you…"

"Hunny suddenly shrieked and ran past Renge. "Too bright!" he screamed as he drew the curtains as fast as he could in the club room. The heavy curtains slid closed, blocking out a lot of the midday sun, but even the narrow shafts of light seemed threatening to him.

Tamaki looked at Hunny, terrified. "Hunny was the next target!" He spun to face Kyoya accusingly. "And you're the one who said there are no curses at work!"

Kyoya glared at Tamaki. "There aren't. Hunny-Sempai must be allergic to something in the cake."

Renge looked from Kyoya to Tamaki to Hunny. "Hunny-Sempai, allergic to cake? Not likely…"

Haruhi tired of their arguing and ran to Hunny's side with Mori. Hunny was burying his face into Mori's chest trying in vain to block out the light. She tried to stroke his hair to calm him down when suddenly light streamed into the Music Room from the open door. The three members of the Black Magic Club stood in the doorway.

The twins moved forward together, each one with a robe over their arm. Tamaki drew back behind Kyoya, but fought through his fear to yell accusingly at his enemy. "Nekozawa-Sempai! How could you poison Mitsukunni!"

Nekozawa turned to face him as the twins continued to advance on Hunny. "I have done nothing of the sort, Tamaki. Mitsukuni's passion for the darkness has merely been awakened."

Tamaki grew pale with horror and suddenly felt the need to hide behind his chair. Now Renge stepped forward. "What have you done!" she demanded.

Nekozawa merely smiled. "Mitsukunni-San will be quite at home with us, rest assured."

Kyoya stepped forward now. "I can't let you take him, Nekozawa-Sempai. We are his friends. We will care for him until this… reaction… passes."

Nekozawa looked at him quizzically, and snapped his fingers. Hikaru and Karou stopped in their tracks and turned to their leader. "I wouldn't recommend that, Kyoya." He said gravely. "Only the power of the darkness can help Mitsukunni now. Without our protection, he will surely never be the same."

Haruhi stomped to Nekozawa next, pushing her way between the silent twins. "This has gone too far, Sempai! Whatever you have done, we will take care of here, with Hunny-Sempai among his friends!" Nekozawa took a step back, surprised by the first year student's boldness, but his demeanor never changed. Haruhi looked at him determinedly, never wavering until she heard Mori's voice behind her.

"No."

Haruhi turned, wide eyed with surprise. "No?"

"We may be Mitsukiunni's best friends, but he needs the expertise of one who is acquainted with these matters." Mori replied.

Nekozawa grinned. "A wise choice, Takashi-San." He nodded to the twins, who held out a cloak sized for Hunny. Carefully, they helped their senior into the cloak and raised the hood as they did on theirs. Hunny stood, his size an amusing counterpoint to the robe.

"But I am coming as well to look after him." Mori added.

"I'm afraid only club members are allowed in the darkness of our club room, Sempai." Hikaru and Karou said in unison.

Mori looked at Nekozawa determinedly. "Then I am a member now."

Nekozawa smiled. "You pledge your loyalty to the darkness?"

Mori looked to his cousin, so small and lost in the large cloak. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Yeah." Nekozawa motioned to Karou, who walked to Mori with the second cloak. Mori looked at it for a moment, and considered refusing it, but then saw Mitsukunni's state and slipped it on without a word. The five robed figures turned to leave the room, Hunny grabbing Bun-Bun from a table as he walked.

Haruhi and Renge were speechless as the group walked out. Kyoya seemed frozen in his spot. Tamaki stood behind the safety of the couch, glaring at his enemy's back. "If you hurt them, Nekozawa…" he started to growl.

Nekozawa turned and smiled at him. "Ah, Tamaki, Such an amusing toy you are!" With that he turned and closed the music room door behind him.

Renge looked to Kyoya, Kyoya looked to Tamaki, and Tamaki looked to Haruhi. None knew exactly what to do. It was finally Kyoya who broke the silence. "You had better get plenty of sleep tonight, Tamaki, Haruhi."

"Sleep? Whatever for?" Haruhi asked.

"We will have to work very hard indeed to make up for Hunny and Mori leaving over the coming days, of course."

Haruhi groaned. Tamaki looked to his friend. "You can't be serious…"

"Would you prefer to fold? To just disband in response to this nonsense?" Kyoya asked accusingly.

"It's a curse! We are powerless against it! You saw how it claimed Hunny-Sempai and Mori!" Tamaki sputtered.

"There is no curse!" Kyoya insisted. "This is just a strange turn of events, and we will overcome it!"

Renge followed Kyoya's lead, as usual. "Yes, we will. I'll do all I can to let everyone know that Tamaki and Haruhi are taking on double – no, no, triple! Their usual engagements!"

Haruhi couldn't help but notice Renge's voice did not hold the confidence it had when she announced overcoming the loss of the twins. "Triple?" she said weakly. "Well, at least it'll help my debt…"

"Sorry, Harhui, but under the circumstances your income can't count toward your debt, but the survival of the club itself." Kyoya replied. Haruhi and Tamaki both collapsed in plush chairs, neither one of them able to believe this…

And then there were four…