"Please have that finished for tomorrow." The teacher said as the final bell of the day rang.

Hikaru sighed and closed his notebook. He hadn't been sure what to do when class had started, so he had distracted himself by actually doing the assigned work. It was harder than he had imagined. So that's why Haruhi's always so mad when we steal her books. He thought.

"Ready to go?" He looked up and saw Ren standing beside his desk. Behind her, he saw Haruhi get up and head for the door.

"One moment." He said, jumping up and following Haruhi. "Hey! Haruhi!" He called.

She stopped and turned to him, sighing heavily. "What is it Hikaru? I don't really have time to talk."

"I thought maybe we could walk to the club room together." He said. He was feeling a little nervous. He had never had to try to get a girl he liked to spend time with him. Probably because you never noticed girls before. He told himself.

"I'm sorry." Haruhi said, starting to back away. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, and I don't have time for you to explain." She turned and hurried out of the room.

"Wait!" Hikaru called after her, but she was already gone.

"Having trouble talking to girls?" Hikaru turned around when he heard Ren's voice. She was smiling at him.

"Why did she run off?" He muttered. "I just wanted to walk to the host club with her. The three of us used to do it all the time."

"But now there is no 'three of you'." She said. Hikaru was getting tired of her constant reminders. "And she didn't know what you were talking about, because you aren't part of the host club."

"What?" He exclaimed, a little too loud.

"Come on." Ren said with a sigh. She grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room as everyone else stared at him. "It looks like I've got more explaining to do."

"It's actually quite simple." Ren said as she balanced on a low barrier. The two of them were just walking aimlessly. Hikaru didn't even know where they were, but that wasn't important. He listened carefully to what Ren was saying.

"Tamaki scouted you and Kaoru for the club, right?" He nodded even though he knew that it was a rhetorical question. "And why were you scouted?"

It took him a moment to realize that she wanted him to actually answer this one. "Uh... Because we looked bored?" He looked up at her hopefully, but she shook her head. "Because we were from the Hitachiin family?" He tried again, but got another no. "Um... Was it because we got so many love letters in middle school?"

"No!" Ren exclaimed. She looked like she was getting frustrated. She jumped down and faced him. "It's because identical twins make for an interesting element in a host club! Girls are always fantasizing about dating a pair of twins!"

Hikaru took a step back. "So we were only part of the club because we were twins?" He found that hard to believe. "We only had friends because we were twins?"

"Wrong." Ren stated firmly, crossing her arms to form an X. "The only reason you didn't have friends before joining the club was because the two of you blocked everyone else out." She sat down on the barrier. "So, which do you like better?"

"What?" Hikaru looked down at her, very confused. "Like what better?"

She sighed and looked up at him. Her expression was one of impatience. "Do you like being popular, or do you like having the host club as your close friends?"

"Oh." He sat down beside her. "I liked being part of the host club." He sighed and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Honestly, nothing you have shown me today has made me like this version of my life. Can't I just go ba-"

Before he could finish his question, Ren jumped up. "Come with me." She told him. She started walking down the street again before he could respond.

"Hey!" He called after her. "Wait for me!"