"Tsukiko, I told you, we can't go swimming today."

"Why not? It's not even that far! Come on, can't we just go for a bit?"

"Tsukiko, I told you—"

"Watch out!"

"Tsuki-chan!" Tsukiko started, looking down at Honey's smiling face. "Tsuki-chan, Takashi and I brought you this." He set the small bowl of candy cane ice cream next to her elbow.

Tsukiko smiled and mouthed "Thanks" to him. Haruhi was still bent over her books and the sun was hot on their backs. Kyōya sat beside them, scribbling in his black book.

Tamaki and the twins were terrorizing each other with her old water guns. According to Tamaki they had cheated five times already. Fortunately, nobody had sprayed Tsukiko and Haruhi with water. Tsukiko suspected that was only out of fear of hitting Kyōya.

Mori sat with Honey on the grass. The smaller boy was happily enjoying the five cakes he had brought. He was currently on his fourth one.

Tsukiko took a bite of the candy cane ice cream, sticking one of her own candy canes in the treat.

"Here you are!" Tsukiko's grandfather, (or Daisuke, which he insisted they call him), walked outside. He was carrying several trays of food. Tsukiko rose and helped him set up lunch. Tamaki and the twins abandoned their water guns for food.

"Tsuki-chan, are your mom and dad going to join us?" Honey said through a mouthful of cake.

"Mitsukuni, don't talk with your mouth full. You'll choke." Mori said.

Tsukiko held up her notebook: They're away right now.

"Oh, where are they?" Tamaki said.

Somewhere in Europe.

"Your parents can afford—" Said Hikaru.

"—to go all the way to Europe?" Kaoru said. "Why are you in Class D then?"

Tsukiko shrugged and fiddled with one of her clips.

"We should go to Europe!" Tamaki said. "We could backpack and take pictures back to show our guests! No, no, we could bring our guests!"

Haruhi groaned and lowered her head into her hands.

Tsukiko decided to take pity on her, she wrote: Do you guys want a tour of the house?

"Tour! Tour!" The twins chanted.

And last stop, my room. Tsukiko said, raising her notebook above her head. The twins and Tamaki were busy comparing it to Haruhi's house… still. The Host Club barely fit in Tsukiko's tiny room.

"Don't decorate much, do you?" Hikaru said. Tsukiko smiled and shook her head. The only things close to decorations she had were pictures of her and her grandfather. The walls were white, the carpet dark blue.

"Tsukiko, play for us!" Tamaki said, pointing to Tsukiko's small drum set. It was squished into the corner.

Tsukiko wrote: You don't want to hear me play, it's not good.

"No, Tsukiko-chan, we want to hear!" Honey said.

"Yeah." Said Mori.

"How long have you been playing?" Kyōya said, jotting something down in his black book.

About two years.

After much pleading and whining, Tsukiko gave in.

The Host Club was surprised at how horrible she was.

"Um…" Hikaru said, after Tsukiko stopped. The Host Club wasn't sure what to say, but they were glad it was over.

Tsukiko's lips twitched. Before she knew it she was laughing, harder than she'd laughed in years. The sound was quiet and breathy, more of a wheeze than an actual laugh, but that's what she was clearly doing.

After composing herself, she quickly wrote: You should have seen your faces! Don't worry, I know I'm horrible. I just need more practice. Thanks for listening.

"You'll get better, Tsuki-chan!" Honey said. Tsukiko nodded and guided everyone out of her room and into the living room.

"Who's that?" Hikaru said, pointing to the picture of Tsukiko's brother.

"Hikaru—" Tamaki started, but Tsukiko rested her hand on his arm. She wrote: That's my brother, Sora. He passed away a couple years ago.

To Tamaki's surprise, Tsukiko smiled. It's okay, let's go have candy. She didn't want them to feel awkward or sorry for her.

"Candy!" Honey said, dropping down from Mori's shoulders. Tsukiko went into the kitchen and returned with a bowl of rice candy. After passing the bowl around, everyone settled onto the couch or in one of the arm chairs. Mori and Honey shared an arm chair and the twins and Haruhi sat on the couch. Tsukiko sat in her usual place on the floor, with Kyōya and Tamaki across from her. Tamaki was trying to convince Kyōya to sit like a proper commoner.

Tsukiko's grandfather joined them shortly after, ruffling Tsukiko's hair. He dropped another candy into her palm. She kissed his wrinkled cheek.

"Knock it off!" Haruhi said. Tsukiko looked up. The twins were sitting on either side of Haruhi, each trying to pluck the candy from her hand.

Tamaki leapt to his feet and started yelling at the twins. Tsukiko shook her head and finished her candy. She couldn't remember the last time the house had been this loud.

A/N: Hi! Any review, no matter how short, helps!

I wrote this while having a horrible stomach ache, so if it's not that good that's probably why haha XD.

So, I did some research, and found out that the word "mute" doesn't just refer to people who can't talk because of a traumatic event… So sorry if I offended anyone!

It's hard to find information about this –sigh- so I don't know how loud Tsukiko's laugh would be… Whatever… This will just be an unrealistic/inaccurate story…

As usual, I'm sorry if this is bad/if characters are OOC, I did my best!