I know you must be thinking "Yokohama? Wha?" but I have a perfectly logical reason for this. My only friend ever, Sayomi, lives in Yokohama—she moved there a year ago. We still write and talk on the phone but we haven't seen each other yet. After having such weird people barreling into my life, I wanted to see a comfortable, familiar face.

Bob was surprised at first but he couldn't refuse me and agreed. Uncle was out of town anyway, so he wouldn't know I was gone. I even planned to stay the night there and ditch Friday of school. I know it was stupid, since I attended a rich school and all, but I was feeling spontaneous. I was sure Sayomi would be delighted at my dramatic surprise appearance. She loved surprises.

I admit the drive was longer than I expected but once we got there I was overjoyed.

"Yoshinda-sama, do you—"

"She lives right here, actually, near the subways," I said. "That really cool apartment complex. Bob, you can either wait outside or drive around. I can call you when I need a ride."

"I can't just leave you, Yoshinda-sama," he said.

"Yeah you can."

"I cannot."

"You can."

"Yoshinda-sama, I cannot."

I pushed 9000 yen into his face ("emergency money," uncle said). "How about now? Get some lunch."

"….f-fine," he sighed nervously. "But call me."

"I will!" I cried happily when he pulled in front of the apartment building. "Thanks Bob! I'll see you soon!" I slid out of the limo and slammed the door shut before bolting up the spiral of stairs. I knew which room she was in since she loved repeating it, proud that she had her own place even though she just turned twenty.

Once I got to the apartment room I started hitting the door.

"Sayomi! Open up!" I called. "Guess who?"

I heard a lot of glass breaking and heavy footsteps, even a couple screams, and the door flung open to reveal my wonderful Sayomi. Her black hair was mussed up, her long bangs in need of a trim, her choppy short hair sticking to her sweaty face. Her pretty blue eyes were wide and a grin was stretched across her face. She wore a giant Tokyo City sweatshirt and was panting heavily.

"K-Kaaaasuuuumi!" she sobbed out, yanking me in and hugging me.

"Sayooo—oh God, you smell!" I cried out, wiggling out of her hug. I plugged my nose. "Geesh, did you just run a marathon?"

"Sorry, my air conditioner is broken," she apologized, still beaming. "I'm getting it fixed. Never mind that! What are you doing here?"

"I ran away," I sighed. "Well, for today; maybe tomorrow too. I don't feel like going to school."

"Ohh, Kasu grew some bad bones," she whistled, impressed.

"I've never ditched school before, just once won't hurt."

Sayomi grinned. "You can stay here!"

"I planned on it. I want you to show me around! I've never been here," I peered about her apartment. I wasn't that surprised that it was a wreck. She had dishes piled up in the sink and clothes were strewn across the couch as well as magazines and wrappers. The trash bag was full and smelled horrid.
Ah, my wonderful, messy, gross Sayomi.

"You need a house maid," I observed.

"I need a god," she agreed, wrinkling her nose as she peered about her own apartment. "I know! Help me clean and I'll buy you lunch and take you shopping!"

"Can you afford it?" I quipped.

"Oh shut up. Actually, I won the lottery! Granted, it was only a couple thousand yen, but still, I didn't know how to spend it! Now I know!" she bounced happily. "Let me shower. We can go in an hour. Watch TV or something, I'll be quick," she said, dashing off before I could reply. I decided to clean while she showered. I stayed out of the bathroom and her room, but I cleaned everywhere else.

Though it was messy, it was strangely easy to clean. I guess that, other than the dirty dishes, all I had to do was straighten things up and throw things away.

Since I planned on staying over for the night I decided to call Bob. He answered immediately.

"I'm staying at a friends. Go home, alright? I'll get a ride back."

"What! Yoshinda-sama—" he began but I hung up before he could protest. I felt a bit bad but he was way too like, I don't know, protective of me. He was a cool guy and all, but I wanted a day of just—you know…fun. For the first time in a long time, I wanted to just have fun with old friends.

Eventually Sayomi stepped out of the bathroom, her hair dripping wet, but she wore a black shirt and jeans. She was in the middle of pulling up her hair into a ponytail as she stepped out and flashed me a grin.

"Holy shit did God walk through here?" she gawked when she noticed my handy work.

"Nope, just me."

"Well then, lunch it is."

"Don't forget shopping," I decided to add. She laughed.

"Right, how could I forget? Come on, let's go," she said brightly. "Let me get my purse."

She rushed off and returned with her big black bag. We left, using her new car (her dad got it for her in celebration of her getting accepted into a fashion college nearby) and drove to a small café where we ate and talked for hours. I felt like I was reconnecting with her; Sayomi and I hadn't spoke in a while, not as often as we used to via letters and phone calls, and seeing her in person was comfortable.

We went shopping too, but not for long. She managed to get to me to let her buy me a sweater I had been eyeing. She even playfully got a white shirt that said "YOKOHAMA" across the chest, which for some reason made me laugh. We even stayed up all night watching movies and telling each other about our lives. Eventually she finally asked me why I decided to play hooky.

So I told her.

"Are you serious?" she asked me when I was finished, shocked.

"Yeah, obviously," I said as I shoved popcorn in my mouth. We had a bowl sitting between us, lying on the floor with a bunch of pillows and blankets. The TV was blaring above us, the volume turned down so we could talk.

"That's….hilarious," she laughed a bit.

"No, it's a nightmare."

"A funny nightmare."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Wow, thanks, Sayomi. I come here for comfort and you laugh at me."

"Sorry, babe, but it's pretty funny," she said. "So, this Mori guy…"

"I mentioned Mori?" I asked blankly.

"Vaguely. You said, and I quote: 'this tall silent guy who thinks being mysterious is sexy—'" she stopped and flashed me a lazy grin. "Sexy huh?"

"I didn't say that!" I said indignantly.

"You did!" she cackled in amusement. "I think you like him!"

"I hate all of them!" I cried out. "Other than Haruhi, she's okay, but everyone else is annoying!"

"Isn't one of them tutoring you?"

"Well…yeah, but that doesn't mean I like him."

"You're really no fun," she sighed.

"I'm no fun because I actually have a brain?"

"You're no fun because you don't let yourself have any fun," she said. Oh no, she had on her 'I'm serious right now and I'm gonna go off on a deep speech about your feelings' face. "You tend to like, close yourself off. Your first reaction to everything is anger and you tend to either scare people off or simply run from them. These guys—yeah they seem weird, but some of them seem genuinely nice. Just, try to accept their attempt at friendship."

I sighed at her. "You wouldn't say that if you met them."

"I'm sure I would."

"Ugh…" I said. "You really think so? I doubt it. They're way mentally unstable. I just can't stand them. What kind of people charge girls to flirt with them? That's pretty much whoring yourself, right?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Well, whores are people too!" Sayomi cried dramatically. "You're racist!"

"Wow Sayomi, wow," I stifled the urge to roll my eyes at her dramatic antics. "Let's watch TV."

"Deal!" she yanked the remote up and turned the volume up. Eventually we fell asleep while watching TV. We managed to move enough in our sleep to end up in a strange position; I ended up using her stomach as my pillow and had two blankets draped over me awkwardly. Sayomi had her head rolled to the side, one of her legs pressed against the wall—which, I thought as I woke up the next morning, must hurt.

"Sayomi, get up," I shook her with a yawn, glancing at the clock on the VCR. I felt really hot and felt my body reek and slick with sweat. Damn broken air conditioner. "It's like, six, I need to call in sick or else they'll call uncle."

"Huhhh, wha?" she muttered, swatting at my hands.

"Get up," I leaned forward. "Gackt is in the kitchen making pancakes!"

"Where!" she gasped, shoving me and leaping to her feet. She blinked awake and frowned at me, feigning tears. "That was cold, Kasumi, that was ice cold. I want Gackt's pancakes."

"Get me your phone."

"Wow, miss bossy so early in the morning," she muttered as she walked to the kitchen. She returned a moment later, shoving the phone in my hand. I thanked her and she grumbled at me as she went off to get dressed. I laughed when she began to narrate her actions mockingly until I heard her turn the shower on. I shook my head as I dialed the school number. I have no idea how I even knew the number. It may always be a mystery.

After I was connected to someone in the health office I lowered my voice and said, "Yoshinda Haru here, calling to report that my niece Kasumi will not be at school today. She's ill, I'm afraid."

"Oh, alright then, Yoshinda-san," the woman behind the phone said gently. "I'll talk to the attendance office."

"Thank you," I said and hung up, perplexed that I actually got away with it. I always thought my 'man voice' impressions sucked but apparently all that practice paid off.

Um…yeah, don't ask why I spent time practicing my man voice.

I don't even know.

After Sayomi finished showering I took one right after, borrowing an old dress of hers—one of her summer dresses from years ago. She offered to drive me home and I accepted the offer, suddenly excited at the thought of having the mansion to myself for the weekend.

Other than Honey tutoring me, that is.

The ride was pretty fun. We talked and joked most of the way, turning up music and singing loudly. At one point we even got a guy waiting at the stop light next to us to dance too. But all good things come to an end and I found myself at home, hugging Sayomi tightly in woe.

"Thanks for the ride," I said as I dug in the plastic bag she had given me to hold my clothes and such to find my keys. "I had fun."
"We should hang out more often," she said.

"I agree—"

"KU-CHAN!" a familiar voice wailed. I froze, my skin prickling and my face draining of all color. It couldn't be. Oh God, please, don't forsake me now, please tell me that voice was but a mere horrid memory.

"Yoshinda-san, you don't look sick," another voice said and I knew it wasn't a dream at all.

I turned and, sure enough, the host club stood there. In front of my house.

Uninvited.

"I thought you were sick!" Honey cried sadly.

"What an amazing recovery," Twin 1 said thoughtfully.

"She's sick!" Sayomi decided to jump in, obviously recognizing who these people were. She hugged my head, tugging my short self against her and frowned at the small throng of people. "We just got back from the doctor's. She needs rest."

"Oh?" Kyoya deadpanned.

"MY POOR PRINCESS!" Tamaki sobbed out. "ARE YOU SO ILL YOU CANNOT GIVE DADDY A HUG?"

"…I'm too sick to even look at you," I groaned, turning away. I didn't mean it literally but he seemed to take it that way.

"MY POOR PRINCESS!" he said again. I twitched. "WE CAME TO NURSE YOU TO HEALTH, SINCE YOUR UNCLE IS GONE!"

"Stop talking in caps lock!" I snapped. "Go home. Sayomi is here to help me."

Haruhi held up a grocery bag. "….I brought soup…..and medicine."

Somehow, the gesture, and the way her face was void with emotion, I found her strangely cute. I stared at her a second longer then sighed for the fifth time that day and shook my head.

"Fine, okay? I'm not sick, I lied," I admitted, pushing Sayomi away. "I just wanted to visit my friend Sayomi."

"—I'm dying," Sayomi said. "I have a terminal illness and Kasumi came to offer to take care of me," she feigned tears that rimmed her eyes. "She wanted to spend one normal day with me before I die."

"If you're ill, shouldn't you be in a hospital?" Kyoya asked.

"Umm…." Sayomi said slowly.

"So you lied to get out of school," Kyoya concluded.

"Hey! No fair, you didn't give me time to think of a good excuse!" Sayomi crowed in irritation. I threw my arms in the air, defeated.

"Sayomi, go home. You all, come with me," I found the keys and shoved them in roughly, grumbling to myself the whole time.

"K-Kasumiiiii…" Sayomi whined.

"Go, I'll talk to you later," I said firmly. She gave up and went to her car, shouting gibberish in anger as she did. I ignored her, pushing the door open and stepping in. I glared as each host entered then slammed the door shut.

"Why are you really here?"

"To play doctor with you, Ku-chan!" Honey said, hugging me tightly. I sighed loudly, deciding to ignore him. As long as he didn't touch anywhere he shouldn't, I didn't see the point in letting him hinder my point.

"I would buy it if it was just Honey and Haruhi. But you guys?" I glared at the others. "What's really going on?"

Kyoya pushed up his glasses. "Well…"

"WE'RE GOING TO THE BEACH!" Tamaki shrieked in joy, dancing a bit for emphasis. I sweat dropped.

"Uh…?"

"In Florida," Kyoya said.

"Uh…! You can afford that?"

"We don't need to. We have our own means of travel," Kyoya explained.

"Rich bastards…" Haruhi and I muttered at the same time.

"IT SHALL BE GRAND!" Tamaki picked up poor Haruhi and spun some more. "I even bought you two girls some swimsuits!"

My eye twitched. Was he serious? "And…?"

"You're coming, of course!" Tamaki put Haruhi down and came to me. I stumbled back to avoid his touch, surprised when Mori stepped up and stared at Tamaki. I guess they can talk with eyes or something because he backed off, looking a bit scared.

"Right, anyway," he said, turning to beam at me again. Thankfully he kept a distance from me. "We want you to come!"

"So I can serve you?" I scoffed.

"You're fluent in English, correct?"

I nodded wearily. "Oh. So I'm the translator."

"Yeah!"

I stared at them blankly. "Get out of—"

I heard Kyoya's voice call gently, "Law suit."

"—town!" I finished awkwardly. "I…would…totally…like to go…" I forced out. I forgot Honey was clinging to me until he wiggled happily against me, making me jump, and tilted his head back to grin at me. I blinked down at him. He really took action on my whole 'hugging permission' thing.

"I wanna see Ku-chan in a swimsuit," he whispered, licking his lips. I went red, gawking at him as he giggled cutely and skipped off to Mori. I continued to gawk, confused, oh so confused. Was I imagining things? Did such a deep, suggestive tone leave those innocent baby lips? I shook my head, aghast, and grimaced when Tamaki got to me again, picking me up. I looked down at him in annoyance as he beamed up at me, his grin stretching so far across his face I was worried it would crack.

"So it's decided! We leave in a week!"

"A week?"

"A week!" he repeated in joy. "On Monday! Bring your bags on school that day. I'll keep reminding you!" he let me down and rushed back to bother Haruhi.

"And remember," Kyoya said as he suddenly appeared at my side, "you still have to show up after school. Got it?"

I grimaced. "Whatever."

"I'll take that as a yes."

I watched him walk toward the door and usher the others, who were busy wandering around and pointing at things in the house, out of the house with him. Haruhi turned to me after the chaotic group left and bowed politely.

"I'm sorry about them."

"Don't bow," I said. "It's fine."

She straightened. "I'm sorry for intruding."

"Not at all. I said you were welcome, right?" I offered a smile. She returned it hesitantly.

"It might be hard to break away from them. My debt should be paid by now. Somehow, they keep adding onto my debt so I can never leave."

"I think it's because they like you," I said. "You guys are like a family."

"That's why I'm worried," she said, blinking dully at me. Oh yeah, I see the concern shining in your eyes, Haruhi. "I think they really like you."

"….what?"

"Tamaki is already calling you his daughter…in his own way. Kyoya hasn't acted so interested in keeping anyone around before, much less someone who doesn't make him any money. The twins—well…I won't even go into that. And Honey seems to like you more than everyone else."

I think that's the most Haruhi has ever said to me.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"HARUHIIIII!" I heard Tamaki call from outside. "Hurry!"

She glanced over her shoulder then turned to me again.

"I have to go."

"What did you mean?" I repeated suspiciously.

"…he never clings to someone like that," she said. "Other than Mori, he avoids touching anyone outside of the club hours."

"So?"

She eyed me. "Good night, Yoshinda-san. I'll see you Monday," she bowed again and left. I watched her go, confused. Then I remembered that Honey was coming to tutor me tomorrow with Mori.

Oh, great.