-2-

Shiori reluctantly followed Sky, cursing the great writer in the sky for creating the creature known as Suoh Tamaki. The blond boy was caressing the face of one girl, leaning in like he wanted to kiss her, and was whispering something that was romantic enough to make the other five girls sitting with him scream, turn red and, for one girl, pass out.

Oh look. More hormones. Shiori's face showing her complete and utter lack of enthusiasm.

Sky only smirked before leaning against the back of the coach across from the self-proclaimed 'Prince'. The raven took her place beside her friend and watched with a bored expression as the 'Prince' continued to drown the girls in bursts of cheap poetic compliments.

His poetry is crap. The raven shook her head in what appeared to be disgust. Despite the corniness of his lines, the girls around him screamed once again, turning to piles of mushy fangirlness.

Not going to argue with you on that...But we should try to be nice to him...he is Haruhi's...friend?

More like a pet. But...yeah.

It was about then that the violet eyed male discovered that the two girls had arrived at his table, "Ah, Princesses. I'm so happy that you could finally join us."

Already, Shiori could feel her eye twitching under her deadpan expression. Sky smirked, but offered a smile towards the other people at the couch. Tamaki and the girls on either side of him move to the left, creating enough room for Shiori and Sky to sit.

He called us Princesses again. Shiori scowled, I still think he sees fairies.

Sky patted her friend's head, before wincing as more girls screamed, this time coming from the twins' couch. She turned to focus one the group around them.

"Oh Tamaki, you are such a gentleman." A girl sighed, fanning her face with her hand.

"Any man would become a gentleman if it meant they could stay by your side." He grasped her fanning hand in his and stared deeply into her eyes.

"You have such a way with words," Another girl sighed.

"I only speak the truth when it comes to you ladies."

Does that mean he lies the rest of the time? Shiori asked her blonde friend.

I think his life goal is to be so hot and cheesy that any female in a 100 mile radius will spontaneously combust. Sky shrugged, Of course, this goal is a fail, 'cause we're not going to fall for it...Poor Tamaki.

Shiori shuddered, rubbing her arms, I think I need a sweater.

Why a sweater? To protect you from Tamaki, or from the exploding hormones?

Because his goal may be to be hot, but I've never felt colder. At this rate I'm more likely to flash-freeze than spontaneously combust.

At that the pair shared a smile, before their attention was brought back to the blond boy when a guest asked him a rather interesting question.

"Tamaki...you're always so perfect...but I have to know...have you ever done something bad?"

Bad? Sky and Shiori shared a look before they both leaned in, along with the other girls.

"Bad?" Tamaki asked, before a far-away look dawned across his face. His eyes traveled up to the ceiling, "Yes...there was a time...when I was not the Prince of light like I am now...I once...forgot my homework at home, and claimed my dog ate it. But at the time...I did not even own one."

The girls made all kinds of noise of shock, disappointment and excitement, like he had done something cool and dangerous.

Shiori groaned and flopped back on the couch, For the love of god. These people-! Yes Tamaki! You are evil! The worst kind of person.

The pair shared a look, before Sky cracked a grin. From her spot beside Shiori, she struck a gangster pose, crossing her arms and angling her wrists back. She nodded her head a few times, with a sneer on her face. I didn't choose the thug life. The thug life chose me.

The quiet raven couldn't stop herself from giggling, even as her hands flew up to cover her face.

Like the possessed demon he was, Tamaki's head snapped towards her, along with his fangirls, all alerted by the laugh. Most of them hadn't heard her make a noise since meeting her.

Tamaki blinked, realizing he had yet to treat Haruhi's friends like the Princesses they were. In an instant, he was kneeling on one knee before Shiori, clasping her hands in his as he stared into her eyes.

"Shiori, your laughter is like audible gold to my ears, and I find myself willingly succumbing to its gold fever."

There was a long moment of silence, and Tamaki found himself desperately searching for some kind of reaction, but there was none. It was as though she wore a blank mask. She didn't blush, she didn't stammer, stutter or speak at all, she didn't even move. She didn't even blink her dead black eyes.

He searched those eyes, looking for even the faintest flicker of emotion, but the longer he looked, the worse it became. His hair stood on end and it felt like cold, bony hands were reaching out and dragging him deeper into her light-less black eyes, until it was as though he were about to tumble into a deep, deep, bottomless pit. And then, just as he managed to tear his eyes away, a part of him swore he saw something move in them, like some creature waiting deep below to swallow his very soul.

Shuddering, he moved to the next girl. He knew his charm would work on her!

The blond boy looked into Sky's blue eyes, and reached out a hand to caress her cheek, "My Princess, you are looking lovely today."

Skylar's expression didn't change, forcing it to remain straight to stop herself from smirking, "Oh, so I was ugly yesterday?"

Tamaki's eyes widened and he struggled to recover. He hadn't meant it like that! He didn't want to insult her! "Well, no. I didn't know you yesterday, so how could I have possibly seen you?"

"Exactly. You don't know if this is me being ugly, so you should shut your mouth before you insult someone."

He quickly took a step and tried to keep a hold on his self-confidence. Kyoya would be mad if he went to his corner and couldn't see any guests...

With this in mind, he turned to the girls who he had been complimenting earlier and returned to doing just that, if only to keep him confidence present.

As Shiori and Sky got up and made their way to Haruhi's table, Tamaki couldn't help but watch them and over hear what was being said. Shiori was giggling again, sounding far too sweet and innocent for someone with such dead eyes, and Sky was speaking in between her own laughs.

"It was...so hard...to keep a straight face. Especially...when he had that...dejected looking expression!"

Shiori nodded, and he could just catch her reply as she actually began to speak, "It was sort of cute...Like a puppy."

"What's up with you and puppies today?"

"It just works when describing a guy? It would be awkward if I called them 'Kitten'."

"Yeah. That's true."

"Of course it is."

After this was said, they arrived at Haruhi's table and sat in the middle the couch directly across their brunette friend. Almost immediately, they were pounced on by Haruhi's fans.

His curiosity was getting the best of him, so he soon found himself leaning over the back of Haruhi's couch so he could hear what was being said. Behind him, at his couches, his clients shared confused, disappointed looks. They weren't alone, as within a few more moments, all the other hosts found themselves gathered around Haruhi's couches, all wanting to learn more about Haruhi, her friends, and what the brunette was like in middle school.

As there wasn't enough space to stand behind Haruhi's couch, two unhappy twins were stuck standing behind the raven and blonde across from their 'toy'.

"Hi! We heard you were Haruhi's close friends in middle school." One girl began. She had a bright smile as she leaned forward, like she was eager to hear all about it. Knowing fangirls, she probably was, "I'm Eri, by the way.

Sky smiled back, "Hi. I'm Sky and she's Shiori. Yeah, we've known Haruhi for about two years now."

Shiori nodded before sinking in her seat a little, to avoid the stares of the other four girls at the table.

"Akiko." A second girl said, before asking, "So, how'd you meet Haruhi?"

"Oh! Did he save you from bullies...or...or-" the third girl lurched forward in her chair in barely contained excitement.

A fourth girl reached out and pushed her friend back into her spot, "Calm down Misaki, you'll freak them out...not every moment in life is a romance novel."

"But Minori! It would be beautiful! They were separated after Middle school, only to be reunited here at Ouran! And entire summer gone by without seeing one another...they must be so happy!"

Akiko face palmed, and Shiori sunk further into her seat, casting a slightly scared look towards Sky.

Good god, I hope she isn't trying to pair one -or both- of us up with Haruhi...please tell me she isn't...

It's kind of amusing. But no. I don't roll that way.

Haruhi gave both girls a look, eyes moving to look from one to the other.

Sky smiled sheepishly, Oh, don't worry Haruhi! You're still very HANDSOME, I just have different taste.

Sorry. No offense Haruhi.

Haruhi rolled her eyes and decided it was time to answer the question, even though she knew it had been aimed at Sky. A fond smile came across the trio's faces as they thought back to when they first met.

FLASHBACK

A thirteen year old Shiori sighed, staring at her blonde friend, "I can't help you. You know we'll only end up doing something stupid instead."

"But Shiori! I'm going to fail!" Sky threw her arms up in distress. Shiori's dark eyes flickered around the street as they made their way towards their school, which was quite close to their homes, to make sure no one noticed them.

"Me helping you study, won't help!" She replied, growing frustrated. It wasn't that she didn't want to help. She really did, but she had enough trouble with math class, and she knew that if they tried helping each other, they'd only end up pranking someone or breaking the law or something. Seriously.

"What do I do then? I can't remember all this history! The dates are too confusing."

"Well, you could always ask someone else for help. Like...what about Haruhi Fujioka? She's got very good marks...it's kinda ridiculous."

"Fujioka? Huh. I've never really spoken to her."

"She's kinda quiet though." Shiori said.

Sky sent her a look, "Are you one really to talk?"

"No, but I'll do it anyways." Shiori said, with a hyper giggle.

The pair made their way into the school, weaving through the crowd of students to get to their classroom. There wasn't enough time before class to speak with their classmate, so the girls waited until class had ended and lunch was about to begin. As the students around them ran for the door, eager to go and eat, Shiori and Sky moved in towards their target.

Haruhi Fujioka was usually the last to leave the room, so it was easy for the pair to find her. They just waited by the door until she began to walk out.

"Hey! Haruhi..." Sky said, trailing off awkwardly. She really didn't know what to say. How did someone ask this kind of thing? It was way easier with Shiori, but Shiori was right about them goofing off.

Haruhi paused and stared at the pair of girls. She recognized them as her classmates, but like most of them, they'd never spoken to each other. Still, Shiori and Skylar had a bit of a reputation...one up held by the daily pranks they pulled during class.

Shiori shoved Sky towards Haruhi, and the blonde sent the raven an annoyed look before she turned to Haruhi and finally got on with things.

"I've been having a lot of trouble with history, and there's a big test coming up, so I was wondering if you could help me study? Shiori would normally, but we end up goofing off more than we actually study, and I really need a good mark on this test...Please? I really, really need the help."

"It's really not that hard. And I'm busy after school every day. I have to go grocery shopping, go home and clean the house, and cook dinner for myself and my dad before he gets home. And then I need to study my own things. I'm a bit ahead of the class and I need to spend as much time as I can on studying this subject to become an attorney. So I can't help. I'm sorry."

At that, Sky let out a disappointed sigh. She was going to fail. She really was. She just couldn't remember which battle was when, or who did what. It all was just a jumbled mess of names and dates in her head that she couldn't put straight.

Shiori, on the other hand, was frustrated. She knew Haruhi had her own life, and it was rude of them to just expect her to clear her scheduled, but she was really worried about Sky's marks. She sighed.

"Sky...we'll just have to find someone else then..."

Haruhi blinked, surprised to hear the raven's voice. Not many people did. She'd even heard people putting down bets on what she'd sound like. Some people thought she sounded like a man, and that was why she never talked. Shiori just sounded...really young.

"Right...sorry for keeping you." Sky said, before the pair wondered off down the hall to find somewhere to eat lunch.

The next day, Haruhi found herself walking home from school. In her head, she was repeating the list of things she had to do in her head.

'Go to the supermarket, do my homework, make dinner for me and Dad (since he's home tonight), do the laundry, clean the house a little, start reading those books on law I found at the library-'

"HEY! FUJIOKA!"

Haruhi's head snapped in the direction of the shout. She noticed four boys walking over to her. Two were laughing and they all had arrogant smirks.

"We met your Dad yesterday." One boy said, and Haruhi inwardly flinched. It wasn't because of her father, it was just that people were so closed minded. She could tell already, they were here to make fun of him, and try to make fun of her as well.

"Or should we say, your Mommy?" The second boy asked, looking thoughtful.

"Her Dammy?" The third offered, but the grin on his face told her he already thought it up. They probably scripted this.

"Her Tranny!" The fourth shouted, and they all cracked up.

Haruhi really was not amused. She spun on her heel and started walking away, ignoring the boys who followed her, jeering the entire time.

"Hey, Fujioka, are you a tranny too?"

"Yeah...I bet it's some boy trying to be a pretty girl."

'Yet they still think I'm pretty.' Haruhi thought, mentally chuckling in away that completely lacked any mirth.

As the boys continued to bother her, Haruhi found herself slowly speeding up and going down as many streets as she could, trying to throw them off, or at least bore them into leaving her alone. Still, before Haruhi knew it, she was in an unfamiliar residential area and she was becoming out of breath as she jogged, mindful that she was still in her school uniform.

The thirteen year old let out a started gasp as she tripped over a slab of uneven sidewalk and found herself tumbling to the ground, her things clattering as they fell with her. The four boys all laughed down at her as they caught up.

Shiori and Sky walked beside each other as they headed down their street.

"Did you try asking that one girl...Hikari? She might be able to help..." Shiori offered. She had tried to help Sky study the night before, but it had ended with them painting someone's fence bright pink while they were on vacation. Don't ask.

"I tried her, Suzumi, Kokoro, Sakura and Ichigo. None of them had time."

"Crap."

"Yeah."

They walked on in silence, only to stop when they both spotted someone running around and corner and down the sidewalk across the street. The runner, a girl in their school's uniform, didn't make it for long before she tripped. Sky and Shiori then noticed the four boys following her.

"Hey...is that...Haruhi?" Sky asked, even as they made their way across the street and started making a run for the group ahead of them.

Shiori nodded as they moved.

The two girls stood in front of Haruhi and stared angrily at the four boys.

"HEY! " Sky shouted at the four boys, who all stared at them, looking annoyed and amused at the same time.

Shiori could practically hear the sexist thoughts in their minds. The little bast-

"Pick on someone your own size! Or gender." Sky continued, before she smirked and cocked her head slightly. She raised a hand and pointed a thumb to her chest, "Or at least a yanki like me, if that floats your boat."

Beside her, Shiori let out a little giggle, but the noise was not a happy one. It sounded a little deranged, actually. A smirk crawled across her face.

And then she spoke, making the four boys, all members of their class, flinch, like they were expecting Satan or something. Close, but not quite. "Ah. I don't make it a habit of speaking, particularly when I'm speaking to moronic asses, but I'd like to include myself in that as well. Is that alright Sky...or would you rather...?"

"Of course you can join, Shi-chan." Sky said, grinning.

"Good." Shiori let her school bag slide off her shoulder, and it landed with a thud beside Haruhi.

"What are you talking about!?" One of the boys snapped, looking between the pair of girls. What were they even doing here anyways? Who did they think they were to interfere?! They didn't get involved in anything the girls did. Couldn't they just do the same?

"We're here, to kick your asses!" Sky exclaimed, looking very excited at the idea.

"Yeah right." One boy, Ren, Shiori thought, said as he reached out and shoved Sky back a step.

In an instant, Sky had reclaimed the step and sent a punch directly into the boy's face. Like someone had thrown a switch, the three other boys, Rikuto, Ryo and Seiichi, all moved in to join the fight. Not wanting to be left out, Shiori joined the fray.

Haruhi, still on the ground, watched the fight.

Ryo and Seiichi went after Shiori, both trying to hit her. On her part, Shiori did a good job dodging the hits. Then, Ryo over extended himself as he moved to throw another punch. Shiori saw her chance and slammed her own fist into his stomach as hard as she could. The boy doubled over and started coughing, the wing knocked out of him. Shiori paused for a moment, and it was enough time for Seiichi to smash his own hand into the quiet girl's face. She was knocked down from the force of the blow. As she fell, Seiichi moved to follow, probably so he could continue hitting her, but Shiori rolled as soon as she landed and got to her feet. One hand rested on her cheek, which was already bruising, and the other reached out to grab the boy by his hair, so she could push him down. He toppled into Ryo, who had just begun to get up.

Only a few steps away, Sky's fight was going along the same lines. Ren and Rikuto were both trying to hit her, sometimes getting in the other's way. Sky ducked a swing from Ren, making him hit Rikuto in the chest. Sky swung her backpack off one shoulder and let it slide down to the awaiting hand. She then slammed the backpack (full of history textbooks) into Ren's back. A second later, Rikuto tackled her, sending both kids to the ground. As he reared back to punch her, her leg flew up and her foot was planted squarely into his stomach, and she heaved him off of her.

Over the fighting, Haruhi could hear people yelling and she turned to see adults running down the street, probably to tear the kids apart. To Haruhi's shock, two of the adults coming their way were dressed in police uniforms. Had someone called the cops that quickly?

The two officers arrived and pulled the kids apart, placing Shiori and Sky behind them.

"What is going on here!?" One of the policemen shouted, his voice rising above the shouting kids.

"Nothing to be alarmed about...we just had an argument." Sky said, crossing her arms.

"It got a little out of hand." Shiori added, smiling pleasantly.

The second cop spun around when he heard their voices and gave an aggravated sigh, "Takeuchi-chan, Hirano-chan."

"Officer-san. It's nice to see you again." Shiori greeted in return.

The man gave her a withered look, "Is it?"

The first officer sighed, "Alright, who started this?!"

"THEY DID!" The two girls and the boys shouted, pointing at each other.

"He pushed me." Sky said, pointing at Ren, "I felt like I was in danger, I defended myself. Then, his friends attacked, and Shiori started defending herself as well. Then you showed up and separated us."

"And what about you?" The officer questioned, looming over Haruhi who had yet to get up.

The brunette stared up at him in shock. What did she say? She wasn't involved in the fight, but it washer fault the fight had broke out...kinda. Sky and Shiori were here because they saw he boys bothering her. Still, she couldn't say it washer fault...she had to though...but if she did, wouldn't it show up on her record that she was a delinquent or something? She wouldn't be able to get into that high school she wanted to go to if she had a bad record...Ouran wouldn't accept her as a scholarship student if she did...

"She wasn't involved. In fact, she was just about to call the police." Skylar said, pointing towards Haruhi's phone, which was open on the ground beside her hand. It was an old flip-phone, one she never used anyways. Her dad just wanted her to have it so he could call her and pester her more often.

"Is this true?" The officer asked her.

Haruhi stared up at him for a moment before she nodded.

"W-What? No it's not!" Ren shouted angrily, "She's the rea-"

He stopped when he noticed a pair of dark eyes focused on him. The girl tilted her head and smiled in a overly-sweet way. Ren seemed to gulp. The look in her eyes promised agony if he continued talking.

"Never mind. She wasn't involved."

The policemen sighed, casting annoyed looks towards Shiori and Sky before looking towards the group as a whole and the first policeman spoke, "We'll let you all go this time, but the next time we here anything about any of you, we will not be so lenient. Are we understood?"

"Hai!" The seven children said.

The boys scuttled off like a bunch of cockroaches, and the policemen left, leaving the trio of girls standing on the street.

"Thanks for helping me." Haruhi said as she bent down to gather her belongings, which were still scattered on the sidewalk. She looked at her phone for a moment, taking in the black screen. She pressed a couple buttons, and opened and closed it, but the device seemed unresponsive.

"No problem." Sky said, smiling brightly. She started helping Haruhi, gathering up her books.

Shiori joined them, "Besides, it wouldn't be right for us to let them get away with that."

Haruhi and Sky both turned to stare at the shy girl. Haruhi was staring because she still wasn't used to hearing Shiori speak. She had thought it was just the situation that made her talk, what with the fighting and the police (and how did those two know that police officer? He looked kinda annoyed with them...). Sky was staring because she hadn't been expecting Shiori to speak at all in front of Haruhi. It had taken Sky nearly a month to get Shiori to speak to her.

"Still...thanks. Although, I'm sort of curious...how do you two know that police officer?"

Shiori and Sky shared a look as the stood, all of Haruhi's things in their hands. Shiori let out a little giggle, and as Sky's laughter came out, the giggled morphed into full-blown laughs as well.

Haruhi stared for a moment before decided it was probably best if she didn't know.

Sky noticed the phone still gripped in Haruhi's hand, "Is it alright?"

"No...I think it broke when I fell."

"Oh no, can you get a new one or...?"

"It doesn't really matter. I don't use it a lot. My dad just likes to call from time to time to bother me."

"Oh..."

"It's fine."

"Alright, if you say so."

"It is, trust me."

Once all of the brunette's things were gathered, Shiori and Sky gave her directions back to her street. They waved to the brunette as she left before both turned towards the houses beside them and blinked.

To the left stood Shiori's house, and to the right, Sky's.

"I REALLY hope my little brother isn't home yet." Shiori said, still staring up at the house.

Sky only laughed before the pair made their way into their individual houses.

Thirteen year old Haruhi Fujioka let out a depressed sigh as she gathered up her books. The sun was already low on the horizon, and she knew she'd have to hurry if she wanted to get back from the supermarket before it got dark. The last thing she needed was more trouble.

Her thoughts flashed back to the previous day, when Skylar Takeuchi and Shiori Hirano had come to stand up for her like characters from an action anime. They had been really...cool. And nice. For a while, Haruhi wondered what it would be like to have friends like them. They'd probably get her into way too much trouble. Then again, they probably didn't want to be friends. they seemed really close, and having another person in the mix would just ruin things.

Haruhi walked out of the classroom deep in though. She was so deep in thought she didn't even notice when two people began walking on either side of her the moment she left the room.

Shiori and Sky walked before the brunette, quite aware that she hadn't noticed them. As they walked, the pair spotted the cockroaches from the previous day. The boys noticed them as well and stopped walking to stare at them, looking quite alarmed.

'Good. They'll remember who's in charge.' Shiori thought to herself.

Sky beamed happily at the quartet and blew them a kiss as the trio walked by. The four boys exchanged confused and worried looks before staring after the girls again. The blood ran cold when they saw Shiori motion that she was watching them, wearing the same overly-innocent smile from the day before. With that, the cockroaches ran away. Again.

Haruhi walked a few more steps before she stopped and looked at the girl on each side of her. A frown tugged at her lips and she let out a sigh, "I get it, you guys."

Shiori and Sky exchanged confused looks. What?

"You helped me to get me in your debt. Okay, I'll help you."

The girls shared a look, before talking completely in sync, "We helped you because what they did was wrong." They both grinned, "Plus fighting is kinda fun."

They both slung an arm around Haruhi's shoulder and Sky continued speaking, "Listen, Haruhi, I'm sorry to say it, but you're our friend now."

"It's a sad truth," Shiori said with a sigh, "But you're stuck with us, so you might as well get used to us."

Haruhi looked from one girl to another, surprised to hear them so easily say she was their friend. It was nice though, that they let her in so quickly. And even if they caused trouble all the time, they were nice.

"But I will take you up on that offer to help me study."

"Oh, and maybe you could help me with math." Shiori added a moment later.

The brunette nearly groaned. Something told her she was going to spend a lot of time helping these two.

END OF FLASHBACK

Shiori and Sky laughed quietly, leaving the answering up to the brunette, just as she had known it would. Still, part of Haruhi had wanted to join in.

"Well, it all started about two years ago. Shiori, Sky and I were all in the same class." Haruhi began.

Behind her, Tamaki instantly tried to imagine what a thirteen year old Haruhi had looked like. She would have been so cuuuuute!

"Sky was having some trouble with History, and we had a big test coming up, so she needed help. Shiori would have helped her, but when the two of them are alone together, they usually end up completely sidetracked and they cause a lot of trouble..." The brunette sent a look towards the pair.

It was obviously something she had spoken to them about very often. In response to her look, Shiori and Sky nervously scratched the back of their heads, but shared sly smiles, like they weren't really sorry about it at all. Behind them, the twins unconsciously followed the movement of the girls' hands, and watched as they messed up their hair even more that it had been after the day of school. One swore he felt his eye twitch as they stared at the messy heads of hair. Could they not even try to look neat? They were even worse than Haruhi!

"So Shiori suggested that they ask me to help them. I said I couldn't help them, because I was really busy at home. I had to get groceries, clean the house, do my homework, cook dinner, and study some law books I got at the library. The next day, they asked a lot of our other classmates for help, but no one could help them."

"And then you felt sorry for them and agreed, and you bonded over studying!" Misaki said, smiling proudly like she had figured it all out.

"No..." Haruhi said slowly, shaking her head, "Um...After school the day after they asked me, I was on my way home to drop off my things and change when some of the guys from my class showed up. They started saying some things about my dad, and some stuff about me too."

The girls looked upset, and the Hosts all had varying expressions, mostly of annoyance and anger. Haruhi had been bullied in Middle School? Who messed with their friend?

"I walked away from them, but they kept following me, so I started going down random streets and alleyways to get rid of them. Eventually I got myself lost and they were still following me. I tripped over something and the guys caught up with me. Then, before any of them could start up again, Shiori ad Sky came out of nowhere and stood up for me like they were characters from an anime or something."

At this everyone turned to look towards the pair of girls, and flinched when they noticed the slightly sadistic grins on their faces, all but Haruhi, that is.

"That was a fun day." Sky said and Shiori nodded enthusiastically.

Everyone stared for a moment, but turned to Haruhi so she would continue the story.

"So, Skylar said they should pick on someone their own size, or gender, or someone like her at the very least, and then Shiori started talking and she said she tried not to speak with morons like them, but she wanted to add herself into the fight, if it was alright with Sky. Then one boy pushed Sky, and she punched him right in the face. The next thing I know, two are trying to fight Shiori and the other two are after Sky. Shiori's sending them to the ground and Sky's beating them up with a backpack..."

The Hosts all shared a look. Neither girl looked incredibly strong, but their own Honey was enough to make them pause in their judgment.

"And then the police arrived."

At that everyone froze. After all, it never sounded good when one mentioned the police getting involved in a scuffle.

"It seemed like they knew Shiori and Sky, but they still asked what was going on, and Sky said they were defending themselves, which was true, but it was all just a fight and nothing to really worry about. Then they asked me how I was involved, and Sky and Shiori told them I was just trying to call the police, but I must have gotten to close to the fight and got knocked over at some point."

"They lied to the police?" One girl cried.

The girls in questioned stiffened, each feeling a pair of hands resting on their heads, slowly working their hair out of the styles the girls had chosen for the day. Sky's hair was unbraided and fingers ran through it, working out knots and the white ribbons holding Shiori's hair in pigtails were pulled out. No one else seemed to notice the boys fixing their hair. In fact, as the girls sent looks behind them from the corner of their eyes, not even the twins seemed to notice what they were doing.

"No." Shiori said, her voice cutting into the panic, although it trembled slightly, "Haruhi was not involved in the fight. He had his phone out and had had fallen during the fight, just very early on, before the fight could become full blown. There was no real lie. For all we know, Haruhi could have been calling the police."

Sky nodded, "Yup. I'm sure Haruhi was going to phone the cops, right Haruhi?"

The brunette nodded.

"See?" Sky asked. Everyone calmed down, but they kept sending odd looks towards the new girls. They were trouble.

Behind them the hosts shared more looks. Although it was terribly improper (and scary) for two girls to get in a fight with four boys (Or get in a fight at all), the Hosts were all glad that the girls had stood up for Haruhi.

Honey and his towering cousin thought it was cool that the girls could fight, although it sounded like they weren't formally trained and were more street-brawlers than artists. "Wooow! Sky-chan and Shi-chan are so cool!" Honey said excitedly. Mori nodded.

The twins shared their own look. They were willing to admit that it was impressive that the girls could handle getting into fights. They were a little impressed. But that didn't mean they liked them. They were still trying to steal their toy, and they couldn't let that happen. Haruhi was their friend now.

At that thought they both realized what they were doing and quickly removed their hands from the girls' heads, like they'd been burnt. It had been purely out of habit after all. They'd just spent so much time working with their mother's models that it was natural to fix messy hair when it was in front of them.

Of course, the damage was already done. Sky's hair had small braids running along her temples that lead into a high ponytail, and Shiori's hair was pulled into a mermaid tail side braid, tied off with the white ribbons.

"What happened afterwards, Haruhi-kun?" One of the girls, Eri, asked.

"Well...they gave me directions home and I left to do all my chores and things. The next day, I was about to leave the school when I realized they were walking beside me. I had kinda thought the only reason they helped me was so I would end up in their debt, so when I told them I'd help them to pay it off, they wrapped their arms around my shoulders and told me that I was their friend, and I was stuck with them whether I liked it or not." Haruhi said with a shrug, "And I have been stuck with them ever since."

"We love you, Haruhi!" Sky said, grinning as Haruhi gave her a flat look.

The moment hosting hours were over, the clients left in a dejected flood of yellow creampuffs, leaving the Host club and the two girls.

"So, Shi-chan, Sky-chan, where did you learn to fight?" Honey asked the girls as they finished off a leftover cake. The pair were waiting for Haruhi to finish cleaning up and escape Tamaki's grasp as he hugged her tightly, crying something about 'long term exposure to She-Demons', what ever that meant.

"We just learned from getting in fights with other kids. People like to pick on Shiori 'cause she's so quite, and sometimes we lose our temper with them." Sky said with a shrug, "We've been fighting people for years, even before we really became friends."

"When you were fighting those bullies when you became friends with Haru-chan, did you get hurt?"

"Well...Shiori got a black eye and a pretty bad bruise on her stomach...and I got pretty scratched up after one of them tackled me." Sky said, trying to remember, "Nothing too bad."

"You've had worse?"

"Yup. Shiori once got a broken wrist, and I've gotten hurt pretty bad once or twice. That was back when we first started fighting though."

"And of course after being so badly injured you would foolishly get into more fights afterwards." Kyoya said as he walked past.

Sky's eyes narrowed and she got up, stomping after him. Before she could get too far, she was picked up by Mori for the second time that day. He held her up until she stopped trying to get away and then gently set her down beside Shiori. The raven giggled at her friend.

"Sky, Shiori, I've finished cleaning things up..."

At Haruhi's words, the angry blonde shot a look towards Kyoya, muttering something along the lines of 'Alright, you win. this time.'

As they made their way to Haruhi, Shiori couldn't help but giggle again, before she waved good bye to Mori and Honey, offering a genuine, sweet smile. Her gaze shifted to Tamaki and the smile morphed into something ominous as she gestured that she was watching him.

The trio left the room and were walking down the hall when two other people joined them. The three paused to look at the twins.

"Where are you going?" They asked.

"To Haruhi's." Sky replied.

Shiori nodded and Haruhi sighed. They didn't even ask her if they could come over. Of course, they had always been like that. After a few months hanging out with them even she had ended up like that. Any of them could just walk into the others house. It could be 1:30 in the morning and no one would question why they were there. They all knew that was true. Shiori had done it before. Of course, it had been stormy that night, so that might have made it not count...

"Why?" The twins asked, like they couldn't understand why they were visiting Haruhi's. The Hosts had to show up uninvited to even get in her apartment, how come they could just...go to her place?

Sky smirked, "Because Ranka wants to make Shiori cute."

The raven sent an angry look towards Sky. She liked Ranka, she really did, but the one thing she couldn't stand was when Ranka decided it was time to play Dress Up. Usually Shiori was the doll.

The twins shared a look before wrapping their arms around Shiori, "Why, don't you think she's cute enough?"

The raven haired girl froze and stared at her friends desperately.

GETTHEMOFFGETTHEMOFFGETTHEMOFF!

"I think she's plenty cute, but the look on her face when she's in a pink dress is..." Sky grinned evilly at her friend, "Priceless."

Shiori glared at her friend as she struggled to get free. Finally she managed to turn herself around so she was facing the pair and get her hands free. She planted a hand in each twin's face and managed to push them apart enough to free herself completely. She then attached herself to Haruhi's side, casting annoyed glances at Sky and the twins, who only grinned mischievously.

The five teens continued walking towards the exit, the girls realizing the twins wouldn't be leaving them alone.

Hikaru and Kaoru walked along, relatively quiet as Sky and Haruhi talked to each other, and Shiori silently adding in to the conversation. They took a moment to observe the friend-snatchers.

Kaoru thought his brother had gone a little overboard with Shiori's hair. It was more complex than what he'd done for Sky's, although he could admit his brother had done a good job. Shiori was fidgeting and her eyes kept moving towards them as she walked. It wasn't the usual fidgeting girls did when they saw them, and she wasn't sneaking peaks because she thought they were attractive. It was more like she was waiting for them to say or do something cruel, like say what they really thought of them. When she looked at them, it was more like she was looking over individual details, and not them as a whole, like everyone else did. She didn't even look at both of them at the same time. She looked at one twin, took in something, looked towards her friends, silently said something and then looked at something else. It was somewhat discomforting, like she was cataloging them.

Sky was the opposite. She was completely relaxed as she walked, although she kept sneaking peaks of them as well. They weren't sure if she thought they were attractive, because she wasn't obvious like most girls, but then there were these moments when it looked like she was...appreciating what she saw? Still, as they watched her...watch them...there were moments where she'd get this look in her eye like she wanted something.

There was a lull in the conversation until Sky took it upon herself to fill the silence, "So...Tamaki. Is he serious about acting like a prince?"

Beside her Shiori nodded slowly, I really think so.

"Well he's pretty much already there."

Haruhi looked confused, "Why do you say that?"

Shiori sighed, but before she spoke she let her eyes dart to the twins, like she wasn't sure she should say this in front of them, "W-we mean he's dumb."

"That doesn't really make sense." The brunette said, still looking confused. Shiori looked towards Sky for the explanation. She already felt awkward enough saying little things around the twins, or any of the Hosts for that matter, and there was no way she was going to to say all that she and Sky wanted to say.

"A Prince kissed Snow White in her sleep. He sexually harassed her without permission. The same goes for Sleeping Beauty. Cinderella's Prince couldn't remember her face and used a shoe to find her. No logic. Any one could have fit the shoe. And her face never changes, so you have to wonder: how did he not recognize her in rags. And there's the Prince who 'fell in love' with the little mermaid and decided to marry a girl who saved his life after knowing her for three days and only really remembering her voice. She could have been a psycho killer for all he knew. And then there's the Prince who saved Rapunzel. He walks up to a tower, and rather than wonder how they got her in there in the first place and look for a door or have his men knock a hole in the wall, he painfully climbs up using her hair. Princes are all idiots."

The twins stared at the girls with narrowed eyes. Now, they knew Tamaki was an idiot. Who didn't? But it wasn't right that they were talking about him behind his back, and to make matter's worse, Haruhi was participating! Did she do this all the time? Where they going to talk about them as soon as they left the twins' hearing range?

"I see your point..."Haruhi said thoughtfully.

Hikaru forced out a laugh, "You're totally right, Skylar!"

"Yeah, Princes really are stupid." Kaoru said with his own fake laugh.

Black eyes narrowed as they stared at them. It was obvious they were being sarcastic. Hell, a lot about the twins was obvious, especially the fact that thy didn't like Shiori and Sky at all.

Sky sighed before speaking honestly, "You two are much better. You're not trying to be a prince. At least not completely. I don't really like your twincest act but you're still better to be around than a fake prince."

Shiori found herself unable to stop herself from speaking, even though she really didn't want to. It was just bothering her the way the twins were acting towards them, so she spoke quietly, "Y-You don't s-sugarcoat things, you v-voice your dislike."

As she spoke, the raven's eyes kept flickering away from them, and she fidgeted, her left hand twitching oddly at her side.

"You two don't lie, you use sarcasm. Like us." Sky finished, crossing her arms with a proud grin.

The girls only got narrowed eyes in response.

The three girls walked down the street, silently talking back and forth. they were only a few blocks from Haruhi's house by this point.

Ouran's weird. Shiori said, looking troubled.

The people are weirder. Sky disagreed.

They're rich people, what do you expect? Haruhi asked them, looking annoyed. It had been kinda alarming how some members (Tamaki) had reacted to her old friends. If he was so scared of Shiori, Haruhi didn't understand why he kept being so...touchy with her. Even the twins. She knew they weren't the nicest to some people, but it was a little hostile between the prankster pair from her childhood and the new pair she'd met at Ouran.

Shiori and I are rich...and even we aren't that weird, are we?

Well, you two became rich. They were born into it. Haruhi said with a shrug.

Shiori looked thoughtful, I see...so maybe...long term exposure to the components in money makes people go mad?

The future looks bleak for us then. Sky said, shaking her head sadly.

Haruhi looked at the pair and smiled slyly, an expression she never used with the host club, It always has.

"Haruhi!" Her friends shouted. In an instant Shiori and Sky were chasing Haruhi down the street, the three acting like little kids. Eventually the three stopped running, only a short distance from Haruhi's apartment.

"Haru-chan's become so cruel, ne, Sky-chan?" Shiori said in a childish voice, reminding all of them of the small blond host. All she needed was a stuffed animal. Although for Shiori, it would have to be a creepy one. otherwise it would ruin her image.

"She is." Sky said, nodding to her friend.

Still, the three laughed together as Haruhi opened her apartment door.

And then the moment Shiori had feared, and Sky had anticipated purely for Shiori's reactions, arrived. It was finally time for Dress Up with Ranka.

Authors' Notes

MrsAnimeNerd and I would like to thank patamon642, Shadow Regrowth, a Guest and BellslovesOUAT for reviewing our fic! We'd also like to thank all the fabulous people who followed and/or favourited it! We're, really, really looking forward to hearing more from all of you lovely people, so please review, and let us know if you have any questions.