Kosuke leans her head against the window of the limousine, watching the familiar scenery pass by. She's been riding since four thirty that morning, and even though her legs and arms are stiff and her boredom is reaching new heights, she can't deny the excitement bubbling inside her. She's finally on her way to Ouran University, and will be spending the next few weeks in a new environment, surrounded by new people.

And away from her aunt.

Tee hee hee.

Looking back, it's surprising to see how fast time flew between Ai's Birthday Disaster and where she sits now. Rin, as Kosuke predicted, was not entirely happy that Kosuke had chosen a university over one of the arts schools she had wanted. However, Kosuke was happy that for once, she had a choice that was up to her, and attending Ouran was that choice. Her relatives were happy to hear it, too, much to Rin's chagrin. All of her passive-aggressive statements ("I guess I'll tell the headmaster of Pinecrest to cancel that interview" or "You just got a letter from Nigushi Arts—I'll throw it away for you.") fell on deaf ears.

Her friends were happy for her, too, especially when they heard of Rin's irritation to it all. The five of them had an end-of-the-year party their last weekend before graduation, and Kosuke had saved her admission letter to open it there. Everyone else had congratulated her appropriately, while Okina was the one to pull her into a hug with a squeal. More cheers were sent her way at their graduation ceremony. Kosuke was proud that she managed not to cry…until Okina started to. Then they were both sobbing like babies.

Summer had ended on a bittersweet note. All of her friends—Kohta, Tomoko, Jet, and Okina—were headed their separate ways, hours away from Nagoya. The closest of them would be Tomoko and Jet, and they'd be forty-five minutes apart. They all agreed to text one another, but, well…Didn't everyone make that promise at some point in their lives, and then forget about it? In the least, Kosuke knew that Okina would keep in touch, or at least try to. She had hugged Kosuke for three minutes straight when she departed for Orugu Academy.

Her parents gave their proper goodbyes the weekend before, when they were on a short break from work, and gave her encouraging text messages this morning. Minami did see her go, and to Kosuke's surprise, did not cry when the limousine pulled away. Rin was there, too, but all she gave was a flick of a goodbye wave.

The street signs and passing buildings are becoming even more familiar—Kosuke remembers passing by them in the pouring rain. She pulls her earbuds out of her ears and tucks them and her phone into her pants pocket.

Traffic comes to a slow on the street outside of Ouran Academy, so a good fifteen minutes are spent stopping and moving, stopping and moving. Eventually, the brick walls come into view, then the opening gates. Past those, she sees familiar pink buildings and a brick clock tower. The campus is dotted with teenagers and parents, most carrying luggage with them.

The limousine finally pulls up before Ouran, and when she steps out, she has to admit that Ouran is ten times more beautiful in the shining sun. She quickly pulls her camera from her satchel and takes a few pictures of the tall buildings and crowds, then a few of the clock tower.

She only then realizes that the limousine driver is trying to take all of her luggage out of the back and carry it himself. Considering there are three bags packed tight, the poor man's face is red and sweaty, and Kosuke quickly tells him to set them down. They bid each other farewell, and the limousine drives away, leaving her alone.

She quickly notes that she probably should have helped the limousine driver take her bags in, as opposed to taking them all herself. She carefully wraps the straps over her shoulders and just hardly manages to stand to her feet. She takes deep breaths and moves forward, probably looking like a deflating red balloon. Some people passing by give her curious looks, but she's getting numb to it by this point.

The regret increases the more that she moves. She can feel her limbs crying in pain with every step. She tries to put on a brave face, but she can feel sweat running down her skin, and she keeps making a weird sound, like "Mpffpfmfpf".

At long last, she makes it into the lobby and pads over to the short line at the front desk. After ten agonizing minutes, she steps forward, smiling at the receptionist politely despite the pain in her eyes.

"Hello," she says in a high, clipped voice. "Can you. Show me. The way to. The dormitories?"

The receptionist blinks at her, but never the less reaches underneath the desk to pull out a map. He turns it towards her and points at the dormitory building. She'll have to go through the main building, and then go to the building at the right.

She nods, but then realizes that the receptionist is holding out the map for her to take. Her hands are on her bag straps to keep them in place, and although she tries to move one, she feels a strap shift almost warningly. So instead, she leans down, grabs the map between her teeth, and goes on walking.

The receptionist watches her go, as does a teacher that had walked up behind him.

The teacher raises a brow and looks down at the receptionist. "She knows we have carts, right?"

THIRTY MINUTES LATER

Once inside the lobby of girls' dormitory, Kosuke kneels down just low enough for her bags to rest on the floor. Her muscles seem to sigh in relief, but she doesn't dare revel in it too long. She finally removes the map from her mouth and tucks it into her satchel, in turn grabbing her lanyard instead. She flips the card over, reading the room number.

Room 302—third story.

Kosuke spots the elevator just up ahead, and pulls her lanyard over her head before once again lifting up her bags. However, just as she is ten feet away, a man dressed in a gray shirt and matching cap walks up to the elevator and places an 'OUT OF ORDER' sign on it before walking away.

Kosuke looks over to the stairwell with a low whimper. She walks ahead once more, thinking, It's just three stories. I can make it in no time.

THREE HOURS LATER

When the door to her dorm swings open, Kosuke lets herself fall flat on her face to the floor. She's lucky that she doesn't break her nose on impact, but sighs in relief regardless. She lies there for a few minutes, at least until her legs don't feel like lead anymore, and shimmies her way out of her straps. She pulls herself up to sit on her legs.

The dorm is quite spacious, more like an apartment or a condo. Stepping in, Kosuke finds herself standing in the 'living room', complete with a sofa, a coffee table, and a flat screen television. A cellophane-wrapped welcoming basket filled with chocolate, fruit, and candy is set on the table. There is a kitchenette, too, with an island bar and pretty much every appliance sans a stove. Everything is made of wood and velvet and gold. To say Kosuke is impressed would be an understatement.

She grabs the straps of her bags and drags them down the small hallway to the door at the end. It's shut, but she could see faint light coming from underneath it.

She drops her bags, straightens out her clothes, clears her throat, and knocks.

"Hello?" she calls. "It's your dorm mate, Kosuke."

She receives no response. Inching forward just a touch, she holds her ear to the door. She can hear faint music on the other side.

"I just need to bring my bags in for a second." Silence. As bone-tired as she is, she can feel a vein begin to throb on her forehead, but takes a deep breath and adds, "I'm not trying to be rude, but I just spent four hours trying to get here, and I'm pretty sure my body is about to collapse like a push puppet."

She thinks she hears a voice, but it's so quiet and so quick, and she almost thinks that it sounds like a boy for a second. Her eyebrows furrow and she sets her ear to the wood of the door—

—only for it to swing open as a result.

Kosuke jumps back before she can fall into the room. The door is open just a touch, but she can still see a faint white light, almost as if it's coming from a television or some other kind of screen.

She figures that, whether her dorm mate is inside or not, it's still her room, too, so she's not exactly intruding by coming in to set her stuff down. She presses a hand to the door and pushes it open.

On the bright side, her half of the room looks great. There's a dresser, a desk with a chair and a computer, and a bed, already covered with sheets and a small mountain of pillows. So yes, that side of the room is fine and dandy.

The other side, on the other hand…

It has the bed. It has the dresser. It has the desk and the computer and the chair.

It also has more plushies than she can even dream of counting.

On every surface flat surface, every remaining space, piled on the bed, almost every nook and cranny, there's some kind of fan memorabilia. There are plushies, figurines, body pillows…Every single one of them is of a handsome boy of some sort, and there is at least five of each one. Some things are as small as Kosuke's pinky; others are as tall as her knees. The boys are also depicted on the posters that cover every inch of the walls. They're in groups or pairs, one or two showing a single boy smiling or smirking suggestively at Kosuke. Most of the posters have the logo of the boys' anime or manga or whatever they came from. Honey Pie Café. Ibotawi Hockey. Sugar and Spice. At least, everything is kept to that side of the room, to the point that it looks like there's a perfect straight line between each half.

Kosuke has no problem with dedicated fans, but even this seems…eerie. It's not at all helped by the fact that whoever her dorm mate is, they'd drawn the curtains tight shut, so the only light is coming from the flat screen television hanging on the wall.

Speaking of it, it's where the music is emitting from. The screen is on some kind of pause menu of sorts.

Squinting, Kosuke can just barely make out a title at the top.

"Uki…Doki…Memorial?"

The pieces click together.

Oh.

Oh no.

She has to get out of here.

She has to—

"HEY!"

Kosuke literally jumps five feet into the air.

The girl standing behind her is shorter than her by a few inches, with honey-blonde hair long enough to brush against her hips. Her eyes are brown, round, and her eyebrows are knit over them. She's dressed in a school uniform of sorts, but Kosuke knows for a fact that it isn't anywhere near Ouran's because its main colors are crimson, black, and white. It's trimmed in lace and buttons and a rose emblem is stitched to the breast of the blazer.

Otaku.

The girl leans close to Kosuke, almost nose-to-nose. Kosuke tries to lean back, but the girl follows, even when Kosuke is nearly bent backwards.

"So you're my dorm mate, huh?"

Kosuke glances over to the door. Maybe...Nah. "Yes...?"

The girl finally moves back and pulls Kosuke upright with her. She shakes the hand that she was already holding and sends a wink to Kosuke.

"Nice to meet ya! I'm Renge Houshakuji." She keeps shaking Kosuke's hand even when it goes slack. "And you are...?"

Kosuke just barely manages to speak the first syllable of her name before her voice cuts off into a choke. Renge had grabbed her lanyard and pulled her ID to her face, never minding the fact that she nearly decapitated her dorm mate.

Renge's eyes skim over the ID before she finally lets it drop. As Kosuke rubs her neck and wheezes, Renge obliviously smiles and states, "Kosuke Nakahara, huh?"

Kosuke tries to answer, but it comes out as a slurred "Yeauh iss nei ta mee hoo."

"Well, Kosuke Nakahara..."

Renge zips over to her side of the room and goes rummaging through her many, many items piled together in the corner. As she does so, she tosses items over her shoulder, plushies and body pillows and figurines. Kosuke ducks and dodges and just barely manages not to get a boxed toy to the eye. She smiles victoriously...until a giant plushy sends her toppling to the floor.

She had just pulled herself to her feet, holding the plushy to her chest, when Renge zips back over to her with a large scrolled paper in her hands.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look just like the protagonist of Night of the Rose Moon?"

She unfurls the poster so close to Kosuke's face that she has to lean back to see what it shows: a girl in a flowery kimono standing squished in the middle of a group of handsome boys. Every boy has the ears and tail of a wolf and are either winking, smiling, or glaring at Kosuke. The girl in the poster, looking quite flustered with her situation, has crimson hair and pleading blue eyes.

"No, I have not," replies Kosuke. "...Probably because most people have never heard of such a thing."

Renge scrolls the poster together and holds it to her heart. Somehow, almost supernaturally, the room around them melts away to a starlit forest. Wind lifts around them, bringing cherry blossom petals that Kosuke has to flick away from her face. When Renge speaks, she has a distant, dreamy look on her face, as if recalling a personal event.

"It's about a girl who wanders away from her town's summer festival and finds herself kidnapped by a pack of werewolf brothers. They're convinced that she's the 'Flower Bride' of an ancient legend, and one of them will marry her and lead all of werewolf-kind to a future free of hiding or hate!"

"...Oh. Hm." Kosuke pauses. "Otome or anime?"

"Both." Renge glares at nothing as they return to the image of their dorm. "But I don't talk about the anime. But anyway!"

Renge claps her hands, turning on the lights. She walks to the small shelf underneath the television and picks up a controller that Kosuke hadn't noticed before.

As Renge moves through the pause menu, she speaks over her shoulder, "I was just coming back to turn this off." She turns back to Kosuke with her brown eyes shimmering. "Do you know what Uki Doki Memorial is?"

Kosuke pauses. Renge is staring at her much too expectantly for her comfort.

She sends Renge a thumbs-up and a wink. "Yes!"

Renge's smile instantly drops into a glower. "No you don't."

Kosuke hangs her head. "No…"

Renge holds one hand other her heart and raises the other to the air. The room once again melts away, this time to the courtyard outside of what seems to be a high school. A springtime sun beats down on them as cherry blossom petals once again begin to drift in the wind…despite the lack of any cherry trees anywhere.

"Uki Doki Memorial is about a young girl who—"

Kosuke swats the image away and thus snaps Renge out of her moment.

"On another note," she says quickly, "Shouldn't we be going to the opening ceremony?"

Renge's eyebrows furrow together. "The opening ceremony was two hours ago."

"…Oh." A bead of sweat rolls down Kosuke's temple. "Right."

Renge finally places the controller back down and adds, "But they're serving lunch right now. I can show you to the cafeteria, if you want."

Kosuke bends down to lift her satchel onto her shoulder despite its lingering soreness. "Okay."

As they walk to the door, Renge once again turns to her with a large grin, this time pointing at her elaborate uniform. "Do you want to know which character I'm cosplaying as?"

"Are you going to tell me anyway?"

"Yep!"

"Okay, then!"

Kosuke lets Renge entwine their arms together and pull her out of the dorm and into the hall.

At some point in the cafeteria, Kosuke loses track of Renge. Quite abruptly, at that—Renge was there one moment, and the next, she was gone. She got her food—the menu held enough gourmet pastas, soups, and desserts to stop world hunger—and sat down with a group of girls who were friendly but didn't make much more than small talk. Not that she minded. She was eating.

After that, everyone was guided into the event hall for the second time that day. The opening ceremony, as Renge explained, went over the schedule for the rest of the day and the school year, and split groups up for campus tours. At the closing ceremony, the headmaster of the Academy gave his speech introducing us all to the new school year, giving out thanks, the generic sugar-speech that Kosuke has heard at least ten times.

Afterwards, the hall is filled with the sounds of moving feet and cheerful voices. Kosuke, meanwhile, is left pondering what she should do. She could go back to her dorm to start unpacking, or she could go find her classrooms. Then again, she did have a map already…

As she's contemplating (and speaking said contemplating aloud), she hears a familiar voice calling, "Kosuke! Kosuke!"

Her head turns left and right, trying to find the source, only for it to come walking up to her just a moment later. He looks almost identical to how she remembers him—tall, lanky, with perfectly messy blonde hair, only now he is dressed in a white blazer and slacks.

"You're here," he said when he finally came up to her. "A few weeks ago, I was reading through the list of first-years and saw you were listed." He paused here to turn away from her with a hand placed humbly on his face. "I influenced you, didn't I? My words must have inspired you!"

Kosuke paused and chewed her cheek thoughtfully. "Huh. I guess you did."

Tamaki's entire figure slumped forward as he murmured, "You say that like you didn't even think of it before now…"

"…Anyway. What are you here for? Didn't you go through this…what, two, three years ago?"

The effect was as quick as the flick of a switch. He spun back to her with a smile on his lips as he explained, "The presidents of the clubs are asked to attend opening day ceremonies. I think it helps the first-years become more comfortable."

Kosuke turns her gaze to the figures stepping off of the "stage". The majority of them have thinning hair and crow's feet at their eyes. The youngest of them look to be nearing their thirties. They were certainly too old to be students.

"What are those people here for?"

"Besides the staff, some of those people are from the school board. You missed them speaking at the opening ceremony." He lets out an exclamation and raises a hand to point towards them. "See the man leaving now?"

Kosuke stands to her tip-toes and cranes her neck. She just hardly manages to catch a pressed suit and neat light brown hair before they disappear past a door.

"Yeah?"

Tamaki nods, glowing with pride. "My father, Yuzuru Suoh. He comes for all four opening days every year."

"That makes sense, being the Chairman and all." It's one of her thoughts that she's spoken aloud again, but Tamaki doesn't seem to mind or notice, instead nodding in agreement. "Sounds like he's been busy, hopping all over Ouran."

"Very busy. But everything about Ouran is excellent—even its Chairman, so he remains dedicated."

Kosuke isn't sure how to reply, so she simply nods her head. Most of the students and parents have already filed out by this point, so there's less clattering and murmuring over their conversation.

Tamaki turns to her again and curiously asks, "So what are you going to do next?"

"I was just thinking about that." Kosuke holds up a finger. "I could either go back to my dorm to finish unpacking—" She holds up a second finger. "—or I could go around campus to find all my classrooms." She pauses, and then adds a third finger with a coy smile. "…Or do nothing. 'Do nothing' is always my third option."

Tamaki nods and he smiles that incredibly genuine smile of his as he says, "Well, you know, most of the Clubs are open to the new students right now." He winks and leans towards her and sings, "You could swing by the Host Club and see how great we are~!" Then he pulls back with a finger at his chin and his brows furrowed together. He looks her up and down and hums, "Though I'm not sure who you'd fit with. How do you feel about the Hosts that you've met so far?"

Kosuke pauses and tries to remember their faces and everything she picked up from them from that one night.

Haruhi's kind smile appeared in her head first. "Haruhi is very friendly and approachable."

She looked at Tamaki, with his eager smile and bright eyes. "And so are you, but with more…charisma." She waves her hands in a circle to sprinkle imaginary sparkles in the air. Tamaki beams with pride.

A third face with big brown eyes and a sugary sweet smile comes up next. "Hani is definitely adorable."

The fourth face is as still as stone, the mouth pressed into a neutral line. "I don't know much about Mori but he seems fine."

The last face is cold and glares at her through the lens of his glasses. "And I'm pretty sure Kyoya hates me."

Tamaki's chuckle pulls her out of her thoughts. "Kyoya hates spending money, not you. Trust me—he's like that with everyone."

He turns halfway from her and says, "I should be heading back now." He gives another smile, and hand extends out to her, palm facing upwards. "Care to join?"

Kosuke pauses. On the one hand, everything could work out fine, but on the other hand, putting everything off could mean trouble for her later. Then again, it wouldn't be anything she couldn't—

"Ah, why not?" Kosuke slaps her hand onto his. "Lead the way!"

His grin is bright enough to light up a room, and he pulls her to the doors.

The room of the Ouran Host Club (Tamaki explained to her that they were lucky enough to get another Music Room, something she didn't understand) isn't far from what Kosuke had imagined. It's expansive, a bit too much on the pink side, and filled with plenty of girls from all four years. They're spread out everywhere, some of them clustered together, probably around Hosts she can't see. Others are seated on sofas and sipping tea as if awaiting something. Giggles and chatter rise up from every direction.

Tamaki has one arm around Kosuke's shoulders and the other on his hip. He lets out a deep breath as he looks around, like he's overlooking some beautiful landscape.

"Isn't it beautiful?" he sighs. "So many young ladies enjoying themselves in the company of perfect young men." He lifts a finger to wipe a tear away from his eye. "And to think this all began as a high school endeavor. Isn't it beautiful?"

Kosuke has no idea what he's talking about, but she wipes a tear away from her eye to humor him. "Absolutely."

Tamaki nods and claps his hand on her shoulder. "If you want to join a group, go right ahead, but if you want to book a personal appointment, go see Kyoya. Appointments are free today!" He straightens his blazer and runs a hand through his hair, more for show than tidiness. "I must return to the wanting masses. I know I said that a gentleman never leaves a lady in unfamiliar surroundings, but you'll be fine on your own, right?"

"Mm-hm!"

"Good. Enjoy yourself!"

And with that, he calls out to the 'princesses' and is swallowed in a wave of cheers and squeals. Kosuke is left blinking dumbly and hugging her satchel to her chest.

She lets out a breath and looks around the room. She taps her feet awkwardly.

"Okay…" she murmurs to herself, "I can either talk to people or make an appointment. Or I could leave, because nothing is always the third option."

She eventually decides to walk through the room. If she doesn't find anything that interests her, she'll either strike up a conversation with one of girls or leave. She was pretty sure that appointments would be packed, free or not. She doesn't think Tamaki will notice either way, and it would at least be better than standing immobile in the doorway. Maybe she'll take a few photographs while she's here, too.

Walking around, she gets a better understanding of why the Hosts are divided by 'Types'. Each of them is playing their acts up to their fullest to ensure that they're all unique from one another. Hani's infectious smiles and adorable pouts are making girls left and right squeal in delight. Kyoya speaks with a light smile and direct eye contact to cause every girl to duck their head and stutter. It's as amazing as it is hilarious. Across the room, Tamaki says something that Kosuke can't hear with a wave of his hand, and three girls hit the floor.

She takes a few photographs as she walks: one of Mori wiping some frosting off of Hani's cheek while girls silently scream in the foreground, one of Kyoya talking to a customer while her absolute attention is trained on him, one of Tamaki saying something with a grin that makes the girls chuckle. She has to capture them at the right angles and moments, but still, no one seems to notice.

At one point, she recalls the night that Tamaki introduced her to the Hosts. He had mentioned that there were two more that were not present that night…

Kosuke turns in a circle, her finger pointing and landing on each Host as she murmurs, "One…two…three…four…Wait, that's three missing. That can't be right."

She turns a bit too sharply, and of course, she crashes right into someone.

There are exclamations from both of them, stumbling footsteps, and the tinkle of rattled China. Thankfully, only a few people notice, saving Kosuke from yet another Oh Geez Everyone is Staring at Me Moment. ™ That doesn't keep her from being any less embarrassed and guilt-stricken.

"Sorry! Sorry! I swear I'm like a fish on roller-skates…Are you okay?"

Haruhi nods and gives a shaky chuckle as she relaxes. Luckily, no China on the tray she's holding has dropped and/or shattered, but a teacup and sugar bowl have toppled over, scattering cubes and spilling hot tea. She holds the tray carefully, evenly, to keep it from spilling over the sides. A few drops had landed on her scarlet blazer.

"I'm fine, it's okay. Sorry, I shouldn't have been walking so closely."

"No, no, no, it was totally my fault. Ugh, I made a mess."

Haruhi shrugged. "It's only tea. We have plenty of it. It's no big deal."

Kosuke purses her lips. She raises her hands to the tray. "Here, I'll go get more."

"Huh? Oh, no, you don't…have to…" Kosuke reaches for the tray and looks at her pleadingly, complete with watery eyes and a pout. Haruhi blinks, but eventually lets Kosuke take hold of the ends. "Okay then."

Kosuke sends her a smile and walks in the direction Haruhi had been coming from. The brunette walks beside her, and anyone that was still watching stops and turns away.

Kosuke eventually finds the small table where the spoons, cups, sugar, bowls, and whatever else is set up. She places the tray down, moves the stuff off of it, and goes to wiping it down with some handkerchiefs.

It's silent for a few minutes, save for the hum of the voices. Kosuke tosses the handkerchiefs into the wastebasket, and Haruhi finally speaks up.

"So how's your first day at Ouran going? Do you like it so far?"

Kosuke nods enthusiastically. "Yep! I almost went into cardiac arrest three times this morning, but other than that—" Kosuke sends Haruhi a thumbs-up and a wink, both genuine. "—I've been fantastic!"

Haruhi gives her a polite but confused smile. A bead of sweat rolls down her temple. "Oh. Good." Then her smile turns genuine again, a bit sheepish, as she adds, "But it sounds like you're having a good first day. Better than mine, at least."

Kosuke furrows her brows as she reaches for a teapot. "Not enjoying college life already?"

"Hm? Oh, no, I meant my first year at Ouran four years ago." She sighs. "I broke a vase worth eight million yen."

"That's lovely." Kosuke sets the teapot back down and asks, "How did that work out for you?"

Haruhi rubs the back of her neck. Looking away from Kosuke, she explains, "I'll save you the details, but basically, I had to join the Host Club to repay the debt."

Kosuke's eyebrows rise at that. Given, she hasn't seen much of Haruhi, but nothing she has said or done have given her any indication that she's unhappy with being in the Host Club.

"And you still haven't paid it off yet?"

"Well, I joined the Host Club to pay off the debt, but I stayed because it's actually great being a part of it." She laughs in a scoff. "I wouldn't have said that the first few weeks, trust me, but I guess everyone grew on me."

Kosuke smiles and teases, "Especially Tamaki?"

Haruhi's cheeks go pink as she chuckles. "Yeah, especially Tamaki."

They both look at Tamaki's "station" across the room. He's seated amongst a ring of girls, all of whom are staring at him with hearts in their eyes. He's speaking with his telltale charming smirk, but pauses, as if sensing that he's being watched. His purple eyes turn over to them, and he waves ecstatically, with a grin split across his face. Haruhi and Kosuke wave back.

"Hey, Haru-chan!"

Hani comes bounding up to them then, dressed in a suit not unlike Haruhi's, but rosy pink in color. He's holding a stuffed pink rabbit in his arms. Kosuke hadn't noticed it before.

He's already smiling when he stops in front of them. His eyes turn to Kosuke, and she feels her blood sugar soar again. "Hi, Kosu-chan! How's your first day going?"

She hasn't been called 'Kosu-chan' since elementary school, but she doesn't mind. "Fine. How are you?"

A bigger smile, higher blood sugar. "Great! Oh, hey!" He holds up the pink rabbit to her. "You didn't get to meet Usa-chan, did you?"

Kosuke takes 'Usa-chan's' paw and shakes it gently. "Hello, Usa-chan."

Hani giggles, and when Kosuke lets go of Usa-chan's paw, he brings it back to his chest. "Usa-chan says he likes you!"

It's bizarre how happy that makes her, how…blessed. She brings a hand to her cheek, a nervous tic of hers, and murmurs, "Thank you…!"

Haruhi speaks up, "Is there something you need?"

Hani blinks at her. "Hm?" His lips form an 'O', and he giggles again. "Oh, yeah! Here."

He waves his hand forward, and Kosuke only then notices Mori walking up to them. He looks the same as usual: cool and stone-faced. His suit is a deep blue color, with his tie looped rather sloppily around his neck.

When he comes to them, Mori extends his hand. At first, Kosuke thinks he's handing Haruhi something, but then she notices the tear at his cuff.

"Takashi has a hole in his blazer," said Hani. "We were hoping you could sew it up."

Haruhi nods and reaches into the back pocket of her slacks. "Yeah, give me a second."

She pulls out a small plastic box just a bit bigger than her palm. She opens it, and inside, buttons, pins, needles, tweezers, a tiny pair of scissors, and a flat spool with several colors of thread are pressed into it.

She takes out a needle and the spool and pulls at the dark blue thread. She does it with experienced speed, only pausing to place the box onto the table.

All eyes are on her as she lifts the needle close to her eye, squeezing the other shut, and slowly lifts the thread—

"KYOYA!"

Haruhi jumps at the sudden, loud appearance of a certain blond right behind her. Tamaki's sparkling violet eyes are staring down at Haruhi's hands in wonder, but he's waving his arm so quickly it's turned into a blur.

Haruhi lets out a shaky glare and gives Tamaki a light glare. "Tamaki, don't make me jump when I'm holding a needle!"

Tamaki stops as still as a statue. Kosuke blinks, and Tamaki is tenderly holding Haruhi's hand with the eyes of a scolded puppy.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" he almost whimpers.

Haruhi blinks a few times. She shakes her head, still surprised and looking almost guilty. "No, no, you just scared me, is all."

Tamaki lets out a gush of air. "Thank goodness." Then he's back to waving his arm. "KYOYA!"

"I'm right here." He pushes his glasses up his nose as he steps between Mori and Kosuke. His suit is violet, but whereas the others' look at least slightly worn, his has no creases or wrinkles to see. "I hope whatever is happening is important enough for everyone to leave the customers."

Kosuke doesn't really see how that's a problem—practically every girl in the room has come forward to stand around them. They're just as transfixed on the needle as Tamaki is.

"Kyoya, look!" Tamaki points at the needle in Haruhi's hand with both of his index fingers. "It's a needle from one of those miniature sewing kits I told you about! Oh, look!"

He snatches up the box from the table and holds it close to his face. Everyone pushes closer to get a better look.

"It's amazing," whispers Tamaki. "It's everything a tailor needs in a tiny little box."

A murmur of wonder rises up from the girls. 'How convenient!' 'So smart!' 'How do they do it?'

"It's an amazing trick that commoners have," Tamaki says. "They make things tiny without making them useless! Look, Kosuke—isn't it astounding?"

Haruhi purses her lips and sighs. She doesn't appear annoyed, just…used to it. "Tamaki, it really isn't that big of a—"

Kosuke asks, "Does it come with all of the stuff inside of it?" She leans closer, eyes wandering over the contents of the box. "Or do you just buy the box and buy everything else individually?"

Tamaki whispers, "That's a good question."

Kosuke looks up at Haruhi. Although not nearly on the same level of Tamaki's, her eyes are sparkling with wonder as well. "Where can you buy mini-scissors?"

Tamaki turns to Haruhi. "Yes, where?"

Haruhi sighs.

The rest of the day continues uneventfully. Kosuke leaves the Host Club (sometime after Haruhi gives a presentation on how sewing kits work), walks around campus for a time, eats dinner, and unpacks her luggage. She talks to some people, including some of her photography classmates, and takes a few pictures while she's around campus.

She spends some time just moseying about in her room. She tidies up, reads a bit of a book, plugs up her laptop and connects it to her camera to tinker with some photographs.

After completing another photograph with a few more shading effects and filters, she shuts her laptop and sighs. She can hear voices and music coming from one of Renge's gam—visual novels, but not much else. She drums her fingers on the desk.

She feels…Well, she doesn't know. Disappointed? No…

"Unprepared?" she guesses aloud. She shrugs.

She knows it's only the first day, and classes haven't even started yet, but there's some sense of blankness that she can't shake off. She's seen the other freshmen around campus—they've already joined clubs, made new friends, made plans for the weekend. She hasn't. She knows it's a dumb thing to complain about—again, she just got here—and she normally wouldn't mind. It's just that it feels like she's behind. Like she should already have things figured out.

Ah, well. It isn't that big of a deal. Besides, who knew? Maybe a club was looking out for a photographer.

She dresses in her pajamas, brushes her teeth, combs her hair and whatever else and climbs into bed. The room is glowing blue from the television, but it's dim enough that she doesn't mind.

…But the voices do. The visual novel is fully voiced, and when she's not hearing the occasional creak of a door or the pitter-pat of footsteps, she's hearing a guy speak, chuckle, or laugh.

She tries to ignore it. She's gone to sleep with sound before.

And then there's a fight scene. She's not looking, but she can tell by the sudden shouts, grunts, and clashes of swords. They ring out in the room.

She ignores it for three more minutes, and then she rolls over. "Renge?"

No response. Renge is completely submersed in the television.

"Renge?"

Still no response. Kosuke groans as she throws back the blankets and trudges over to Renge. Her roommate only notices her when she stands directly in front of the television.

"Can you please turn it down a bit?"

Surprisingly, Renge nods and hums, "Mm-hm!"

She picks up the remote beside her and taps it several times until the volume is half of what is used to be.

Kosuke smiles at her gratefully, murmurs "Thank you!", and returns back to her bed. She pulls her blankets up to her chin and closes her eyes, ready to drift away and—

"Yes, I understand."

Kosuke's eyes flutter back open. Did Renge say something?

She just hears the hushed voice of one of the boys on the television. So she shrugs and closes her eyes again.

"But isn't there something else we can do?"

Okay, she definitely hears something this time.

She rolls over just enough to look over at Renge. Her eyes are still trained on the television, but Kosuke only now notices her lips moving.

"But what about sensei? Can't he do anything?"

Kosuke's eyes go to the television, even though it stings. Other than the boy, there's a paragraph of text on the screen, and Renge speaks every second of it. Passionately, too, and especially loud now that the volume has gone down.

Kosuke groans to herself and pulls her pillow over her head. It only slightly drowns out Renge's voice.

Ding-ding!

This sound comes from her phone rather than the television. She reaches out for it, fingers fumbling across the nightstand, and she winces when its light glares in her face.

From: Okie-Dokie
Hey! Sorry it's so late I forgot to text you earlier ;^-^ How is Ouran?

Kosuke flinches when Renge gasps suddenly and loudly. There's hushed gasps of pain from the television, and Renge is suddenly whimpering "No, no, no, no!"

Kosuke sighs and taps on the buttons of her phone.

To: Okie-Dokie
Fantastic!