Yay for timeskips.
The length of chapters is kind of trippy, but I decided to end the chapter when it seemed like a good time to end the chapter? I don't know.

Enjoy :)

"Hey, stop it!" Miki laughed. The twins took this as a signal to continue pulling each of Miki's blonde pigtails.

"I'm never wearing my hair in pigtails again," she muttered. "Shoot!" Miki then exclaimed. "The cakes!"

She dashed away from the twins and towards the school's kitchen, which the school had graciously allowed her to use. Once she got there, she grabbed an oven mitt from the counter and pulled open the oven door.

The scent of vanilla and roses hit her in the face like a brick. Miki took an apprehensive peek inside.

"Perfect," she thought, and pulled the tray out to leave it on the counter to cool.

The dimmed lights and quiet calmness of the empty kitchen were a bit of a comfort compared to the bright, crowded music room. Miki hummed in silence as she frosted delicate petals on the delicate cakes and set them on the delicate porcelain plates.

Honestly, she had little luck her first few times frosting the cakes, but during her next month of school and employment as the official baker of the host club, she had improved leaps and bounds in order to impress him. Since all she could do was stand in the corner with her tray of cakes and plaster a smile on her face, Miki prayed that idiot blond would notice something about her. Anything.

Miki carted the tray out of the stuffy kitchen and walked into the host club.

"Oh, Miki is back. Thank you, my dear," Tamaki greeted, his smile managing to outshine many of the lights in the room.

"No problem," Miki responded quietly, a smile naturally creeping up on the corners of her mouth. She handed out the plates to the girls seated at the table, trying to look as cute as possible. Tamaki was just so kind and generous, not to mention dashing...

Miki retreated to the corner of the room, leaving a lingering smile directed towards Tamaki and then turning to her fellow corner-occupier, Kyoya.

"The cakes look great as usual, Miss Koizumi."

"Thank you," Miki replied. "I think I've gotten pretty good at it myself."

"You know, your employment has actually begun to benefit the club. Instead of importing and catering our food, having you make them is a lot cheaper than you might think."

"Does that mean I get a raise?"

Kyoya laughed, the rare, velvet sound filling Miki's ears and flooding her mind. She couldn't help but laugh with him.

"Have you ever laughed before, Kyoya?"

"Depends."

"It's a yes or no question," Miki said, smiling and biting her lip.

"I have. I'm not exactly heartless."

"Then you're inexactly heartless, my dear friend." He paused before answering.

"I suppose." He glanced at Miki, who was more or less staring at Tamaki.

"Miss Koizumi?" It look a few seconds for her to redirect her attention towards Kyoya.

"Yes? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I was going to remind you about the cherry blossom viewing ceremony tomorrow. I would suggest catering to the event."

Miki's mouth formed a small "O". She nodded and then turned away, but not before noticing the small disappointment sparkling in Kyoya's black eyes.

Later that afternoon, the host club found itself prepping for the next day's flower viewing ceremony.

"Mi-chan's gonna look so cute in her kimono!" Honey cried, jumping onto Miki's back.

Miki squealed and said, "Honey! You know I'm not that strong! I can't carry you! Mori, help!"

Mori walked over and plucked Honey off of Miki. "Mitsukuni, you know better."

Honey frowned and retreated back to the couch to reunite with his Usa-chan.

"Hey, Miki, do you know what you're making tomorrow?" Kaoru asked as he ran over.

"Green tea cake sounds good," Miki responded. "Maybe mochi." Her thoughts immediately shifted to Tamaki. "I just hope whatever I decide to make will taste good."

"Anything you make," Hikaru started.

"Will be great," Kaoru finished.

"Aw, thanks," Miki said, ruffling their hair. "Hey, maybe I should ask Kyoya and Tamaki about the menu. They're the ones planning the ceremony. Thanks, guys." Miki left the twins and tried to confidently stride towards the other two members of the club, who were hanging out with Haruhi.

"Hey, Haruhi," Miki said.

"Hi, Miki," Haruhi replied.

"Ah, my two daughters get along so well!" Tamaki swooned, pulling Haruhi closer to him. Miki averted her gaze to the ground and shifted her weight onto her other foot. She could already feel emotions rising to her face, exactly which emotions those were remained unclear even to Miki.

"Um, Kyoya? What's the food budget for tomorrow?" Miki asked, struggling to ignore Tamaki.

He pushed his glasses back and opened his trademark black book.

"Let's see, Miss Koizumi...importing the cakes last year cost 50,895 yen. You get 50% profit for food, so in order for your maximum profit, your budget is 12,500 yen." Miki smiled.

"That's good. I'm almost a quarter way through paying Mori back."

"Good." Kyoya smiled. "Don't work too hard, though. You don't want your grades to continue slipping."

"Kyoya, that's none of your business!"

"You work for me. It is my business. But I wonder, what would make our star student falter?" His voice conveyed ignorance, but the gleam in his eyes suggested otherwise. Half invested in the conversation and half invested in Tamaki, Miki's eyes stayed on the tips of Tamaki's shoes in an attempt to spy on him without making eye contact. He wasn't holding Haruhi anymore, to Miki's slight relief, but still, there was this creeping, sneaking suspicion that Tamaki was smitten with Haruhi lodged in the back of Miki's head.

Tamaki's shoes turned to Miki, and her head shot up in response. Kyoya scoffed at her newfound interest in the situation.

"Miki," Tamaki cried.

"Yeah?" Miki asked, her voice louder and higher-pitched than before.

"Haruhi's mad at Daddy!" He wailed. Miki's heart dropped like an amusement park ride at the mention of Haruhi's name.

He then wrapped Miki in his arms and began to cry on her shoulder. Her face immediately turned red.

"K-Kyoya? Help?"

His face was buried in his black book. "You'll be fine."

Miki felt her insides twist in dismay. She knew Kyoya was characteristically apathetic, but he was usually a little kinder towards Miki. Miki thought she meant more than that to Kyoya, her always-corner-occupier. She awkwardly patted Tamaki's head in an attempt to comfort him, her usually sharp mind not knowing how to react to the situation. Tamaki pulled away and sniffed.

"Thanks, Miki. But Daddy is still very hurt that Haruhi is mad at him."

"O-ok, Boss. Whatever you say."

"Now you too? Wah, both of my daughters are mad at me!" He dashed off and sat in the corner of the room, idly poking the ground.

"Wait, Tamaki, I'm sorry!" Miki cried, but he was too absorbed in his thoughts to notice. After a few minutes of watching Tamaki, Miki turned away. Trying to forget about him, Miki attempted to refocus her thoughts.

"Kyoya?"

"Yes?"

"What does your family do that makes them so rich?"

He cleared his throat. "They...they're in the medical field. They work with a lot of manufacturing and procedure."

"Oh. I don't mean to pry, but..but you don't seem too excited about the business. Not that it's a bad thing, though."

Kyoya paused for a while, his black book covering his expression. "Now may I ask the same question about you?"

"I thought you would've known that..." When Kyoya shook his head, Miki continued. "Well, since my family is related to Mori's and Honey's families, you would expect us to be relatively rich. Which we were. We manufactured specialized surgical tools which I believe Ootori Medical purchased from us once. Remember the company Kintsugi? Then my dad got sick and my family lost a lot of business, on top of a new competitor manufacturing the same, but lesser quality tools cheaper. We've been struggling to reach our former glory ever since. It's kind of jarring to go from dinner parties to microwave dinners," Miki said quietly. "We just never told our cousins because my dad was too prideful to admit that he needed help.

"I also told my parents not to tell anyone because I didn't want my friends to treat me any different because I suddenly had a lot less money."

"I see," Kyoya said, the pen in his hand suddenly moving much faster than usual. "Kintsugi? I do remember it-our family used to purchase from it before it couldn't keep up with our orders." The pen ceased to move. "Have a nice day, Miss Koizumi." And the black book shut close.

Taking that as an invitation to leave, Miki waved goodbye and left the host club.

Miki grabbed her book bag from her locker and began the long trek home, mentally calculating what she could buy at the store for tomorrow's ceremony. She wanted to finish paying off Mori, but somewhere inside her, she wanted to please the club and make more profit for them. Since the discount market was a bit further off from her house, Miki planned on going home and asking her dad to drive her.

Once she arrived, she saw her dad standing in front of the house, arms crossed.

"Hi, Dad! You're really early today."

"Miki, your uncle stopped by the house today and told me about you."

"Mhm?"

"Do you understand the severity of the situation? I thought you were going on scholarship, but instead, you're borrowing money from your own relatives."

"Dad, I didn't have the time to fill out the application before it was due. I don't understand why you're mad. I'm getting a good education and paying it off on top of that."

"I'm mad because you lied to me."

"I'm trying to make money for us, Dad! This is some of the best education in the country! And I'm paying Mori back! I knew this would happen..."

"You could have gotten a scholarship as well, but you were too disorganized to even consider filling it out."

"I received the scholarship application late because you had never given it to me."

"In a week, you are transferring from Ouran to Miyazaki High." Miki's mouth dropped. Her eyes flooded with tears and her book bag fell to the ground.

After a long silence, she asked, "What'll make you change your mind?"

He laughed. "At this rate, only if you could somehow resurrect the business. And we all know that's not possible."

Miki stared at the ground, resigned to her fate.

"Yes, Dad."

Miki ran to her room in tears. What would she do about her studies? How would she be able to make new friends? How would she finish paying Mori off? Tamaki. What about the host club and Tamaki? Haruhi, Hikaru, Kaoru, Honey, Mori, Kyoya?

Then it dawned on Miki that she still had to bake for one of the highest grossing events of the year, and her dad was definitely not going to drive her to the market.

She knew she didn't want Mori or Honey to continue funding her expenditures, even if she could pay them back. They had done enough for her. Calling Tamaki would probably result in either embarrassment or disappointment, something Miki didn't really need at the moment. If she called Kyoya, she would most likely be turned down. Haruhi didn't need to spend money for Miki, given her poor economic state, not unlike Miki herself. The only option left was to call the twins, whom she had somehow befriended over the past month.

With shaking hands, Miki picked up her cell phone and dialed Kaoru's number.

"Hello?"

Miki cleared her throat and made her best effort to not sound like she had just been crying.

"Kaoru? It's...it's Miki."

"Miki? You sound terrible."

"Do I?"

"Yeah. What's wrong? Do you want me to get Hikaru on the other line?"

"Sure."

"Miki? What happened?" Hikaru asked.

"Um, it's nothing, but I need to ask you two a favor."

"Sure," they said at the same time. "What do you need?"

"Can you go to the grocery store for me? I...I can't make it today and I need to shop for tomorrow."

"Ooh, fun. What do you need us to get?"

"Please, no tricks. I honestly can't have any shenanigans happen tomorrow. I trust you two."

"Fine, fine."

"Thank you. Ok, now about the groceries. I'll just email the list to you. Please keep it within budget, and don't spend extra money on me. I'll pay you back tomorrow."

"We'll do it. If you can tell who's who on the phone."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Nope."

"The one that picked up was Kaoru and the one that talked after that was Hikaru."

"No duh, Miki."

"I technically answered the question. Please, I just really need you to do this. You can me bother me tomorrow."

There was an audible sigh on the other line. "Just this once."

"Thank you so much, guys."

"Mhm." Miki swallowed hard, knowing she would miss these two troublemakers more than she thought. Not wanting her voice to crack on the phone, Miki quickly hung up and emailed the list to them.

The clock struck midnight and Miki was still awake in bed. She hadn't told anyone yet, but she was wondering when she should.

At the ceremony tomorrow? But that would ruin the mood of the evening. How about the last day she was there? That would be the quickest and most efficient way to cut ties with the people she had learned to care for the most in the short span of a month.

Just then, Miki heard noises outside her room. It was her mom on the phone.

"Mr. Morinozuka, we greatly appreciate your generosity towards my daughter's education. Miki is transferring schools as well as completing her payment towards you next week. Unless she manages to resurrect the business, but that's impossible for someone with such little leverage.

"No, it's not yours or Takashi's faults. It's Miki's fault for misleading us. It's no issue for us. Don't worry; you've done enough.

Thank you so much. Have a lovely evening."

Miki's stomach churned. Her mom had decided to tell Mori's dad. And Mori's dad would tell Mori. Mori would tell Honey. Honey would tell the host club.

And what would she do about the remaining debt? What would she do about Tamaki?

Panic slowly set in. Miki scrambled to find her phone and text Mori.

"Mori, you may or may not have heard this yet, but my parents are forcing me to transfer to Miyazaki High and repay my debt by next week because they don't want me borrowing money from you. My mom just called your father and told him. Please don't tell Honey or the rest of the host club. I'm going to tell everyone the last day I'm here. Thank you so much for everything."

The reply came within seconds.

"My father just told me. I understand where your parents are coming from, but not their actions in response to yours. I won't tell Honey or the host club. As to the rest of the debt, I can easily find a way to pay that off. Don't worry. We're all going to miss you. Visit often."

Mori's text stung. It hurt to leave the people who had done so much for her in such a short amount of time. It pained her to tell the man she loved that she wouldn't ever see him again.

Miki curled up into a ball and cried the rest of the night.