"Everyone! Meeting time!" Tamaki called. Aki sat down in front of him, wondering what this was about. The others sat down, though the twins sure took their time.

"What's this about?" Aki asked.

"Next week, on Valentine's day, we'll be hosting a dance!" Tamaki said, grinning.

"Another one?" Haruhi asked.

"Of course," Kyoya answered. "Valentine's Day is a very popular day to have a dance."

"It wasn't even our idea," Hikaru said.

"The school always has a Valentine's dance," Kaoru added.

"We'll just be the ones hosting and making sure everyone has a good time," Kyoya said.

"We also need to be the ones to decorate and set everything up," Honey added.

"What, you guys don't have a bunch of people to do that for you?" Aki asked, really just joking. Honey shook his head.

"So, who's going to be in change of decorations?" Tamaki asked.

"We will," the twins said.

"And the music?"

"We can get some suggestions from the classes," Kyoya said.

"Who's going to DJ?" Aki asked.

"I know someone who can!" Honey said. "He's in Tama-chan and Kyo-chan's class, actually. Um...Takashi, what's his name? Hisao Higa's little brother."

"Keiji."

"Oh, I know him!" Tamaki exclaimed. "He's really quiet, but really adorable!"

"And very shy," Kyoya said. "And not one for dances or crowds. I know, I've been around him before."

"But you can convince him to play songs, right?" Tamaki asked.

"I can try."

"If he doesn't want to, I have a friend who I don't think would mind," Aki said. "He's DJed for a bunch of school dances before, so this wouldn't be a problem."

"We'll keep him in mind," Kyoya said.

"What else?" Kaoru asked Tamaki.

"Mmm...well..."

"Do we need to bring food?" Aki asked. Tamaki chuckled and shook his head.

"No, of course not. We already have the chefs here making food for the dance...Well, we are going to be wearing suits. And a dress for Aki. But...maybe we can get Haruhi into a dress again?"

"Again?"

"A story for another time," Kyoya said. "Anyway, there's no reason for Haruhi to be in a dress, so we won't put her in one." Tamaki frowned.

"Are we wearing anything during the club?" Haruhi asked.

"Yes. Suits and a dress for Aki, like with the dance, only the suits and dress will be different for the club and the dance."

"Can I choose my dress?" Aki asked.

"Nope. We've already got that covered," Hikaru and Kaoru said.

"What, is your Mom making it again?" They nodded. "Doesn't she have something else to do? I mean, isn't there some Valentine's Day fashion show coming up? Isn't your mom in that?"

"Well, yeah, but she's going to make a bunch of dresses anyway," Hikaru said. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind making one – well, two – for you. She could use them in the show."

"What about the suits?"

"We can just rent them," Kaoru said. "Mom doesn't need to work on a bunch of suits."

"Tama-chan, can we have heart-shaped cake?" Honey asked.

"Sure!"

"How about cookies, too?" Aki asked. "Heart shaped cookies? And cupcakes?" Tamaki smiled and nodded.

"We can have those, too."

Kyoya tapped Aki's shoulder. "You do know how to dance, don't you?"

"With a partner? Sort of, I guess. I'm not an expert but I think I'm decent enough." Not really. She didn't usually dance with anyone. The last time was during a school dance and it was with Nobuo, but that was a long time ago, and they'd been stepping on each others feet. She knew the steps, though, she just wasn't good at it.

"Hm." Kyoya pushed his glasses up and turned to his notebook. Aki tried checking out what he was writing, but he managed to hold it away from her. "Well, I think that's all for today. I can handle anything else. And remember, we'll be practicing dancing next week."

"Why?" Haruhi asked.

"Because of you," Hikaru said, poking her cheek. "It's really just practice for you."

"When do we have to practice?" Aki asked, getting up.

"During lunch and after the club," Kyoya said.

"What? I can do lunch, but not after the club. I've got to get home."

"We'll be ending the club early next week," Tamaki said, smiling and patting her head. "Don't worry, Aki-chan. You'll get home on time."

"I'd better. See you later, Senpai."

"Bye, Aki-chan!"

She grabbed her bag and headed out of the room.

"Ow."

"Sorry."

"Ouch! Aki."

"I'm sorry!"

"Aki..."

"Look, I'm sorry!" Aki gritted her teeth and stepped away from Kaoru. That was probably the millionth time she'd stepped on his foot.

She huffed and ran her hand through her hair. She didn't think that dancing would be so hard, especially dancing as slow as they were.

"I'm not cut out for dancing," she said. "I'm terrible."

Kaoru rolled his eyes. "You're being ridiculous. This is only your first time in a while, right? Not everyone gets it on their first try."

"But the problem is that I know how it's supposed to go. I've seen people do it. And it's such a slow dance! So why's it difficult?"

"Hey, you two." Hikaru and Haruhi entered the club room with their lunches. Aki turned to her own and got a bit of meat onto her chopsticks, popping it into her mouth.

"Any luck?" Haruhi asked.

"No," Aki grumbled. "I keep stepping on Kaoru's feet."

"He's just not that good of a dancer," Hikaru said, putting down his food. Kaoru stuck his tongue out at his brother. "C'mon, try it with me."

"I don't think so..."

"You don't have a choice." Hikaru grabbed her hand and put his free hand on her back and under her shoulder. She sighed and put hers on his shoulder.

They started to dance, Aki counting one, two, three over and over in her head. In no time she'd screwed up and stepped on Hikaru's foot.

"Ouch!" He frowned, but kept on going. "Ow, ow!"

"Sorry, I'm sorry! Ow!" There were a couple more winces as they tried to continue going but eventually went from dancing to just stepping on each others feet and Hikaru squeezing Aki's hand too hard.

"This is a train wreck," Kaoru muttered to Haruhi.

"Shit – Hikaru, stop, let's just st–" She was cut of when they both tripped and went tumbling down.

Hikaru landed on his rear while Aki had fallen to her knees and hit her head on his shoulder. Both of them gripped each others hand.

"Damn it," Hikaru muttered, letting go of her hand. "Ugh, my ass."

"At least you made it out with a bruised ass and feet," Aki said, kicking his foot. "I've got bruised knees and probably a bruised head because of your sharp shoulder. And my hand..."

"Stop laughing, Kaoru," Hikaru snapped at his snickering brother.

"You're the better dancer, huh? That never happened when I was dancing with her," Kaoru said.

"C'mon, get up," Aki said, pushing herself to her feet. She took Hikaru's hand (the one that she hadn't tried to squeeze to death) and helped him up.

Then Kyoya and Tamaki walked through the door. Tamaki put down his lunch and immediately went over to Haruhi. Aki walked over to Kyoya, rubbing her head.

"I don't think I can do it, Senpai," she said.

"Do what?"

"Dance. I keep stepping on their feet, and just now I tripped and fell!"

"Well you aren't going to be perfect the first time. Keep trying. You aren't getting out of the dance no matter how hard you try."

Damn it, she thought. She really wanted to get out of it. Not because she didn't like dances, but she'd made plans with Kasumi on Valentine's Day. She'd rather be at home with Kasumi than at the dance.

"Do you want to be my partner? I think I scared away my last two."

Kyoya smiled a bit. "I'd rather not have my feet crushed. But I'm sure Tamaki would be glad to be your partner." He rose his voice at the second sentence, catching Tamaki's attention. He hurried over, stopping at Aki's side.

"I'd be glad to be Aki's partner!" he said.

"You sure about that?" Aki asked. Tamaki ignored her (or maybe he didn't hear her) and took her hand in his.

"Let's go, Aki-chan!" he said, pulling her to the middle of the room.

"Hey, Tamaki-senpai, I should warn you that I step on feet a lot. I mean, a lot. Ask Hikaru and Kaoru."

"I don't mind. If it'll help you learn how to dance, then it's alright." He stopped and turned her to face him. Aki sighed and put her hand on his shoulder while he put his under her shoulder.

They started dancing, Aki counting in her head again. In no time she stumbled over one of Tamaki's feet and stepped on the other. He only let out a small wince. After a couple more times he stopped and looked down.

"Maybe it would help you if you could see your feet," he said, frowning. "But you can really see them past your dress, huh?"

Aki looked down. "No." The skirt of the dress was too poofy for her to see her own feet. She was just stepping around blindly. "This would be better if I had pants."

"Then bring pants tomorrow, okay? Maybe it'll be easier."

"I hope so...Why do I even have to come to the dance? The host club's hosting it, right? I'm just a maid, not important. What, does Kyoya want me to clean up after everyone?"

Tamaki chuckled and patted her head. "No, no. You're part of the host club!"

"I'm the maid."

"You're still part of the club."

"An unimportant part."

"Oh, what, are you still stuck on what Renge said?" Hikaru called.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Aki said. They stuck their tongues out at each other. "And, no, I'm not. That's just how I feel about it, and I know I'm right."

"You're important!" Tamaki said. "You clean things up so the club room is presentable and you set things on the table so our clients don't go hungry or thirsty!" She gave him a skeptical look.

"Senpai, anyone can do that."

"Well...you're a girl. Another girl, so Haruhi isn't alone."

"She's around girls all the time."

"But you're the only girl who knows her secret."

"What does it have to do with me being important to the club?"

"You're keeping the secret. That's important."

Aki shook her head. "How about you go dance with Haruhi? I'm done for today."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay...but tomorrow we'll work hard, okay? Me and you!"

"If you say so." Tamaki grinned at her and she couldn't help but smile back. "Now go on and dance with Haruhi before someone else gets to her." He quickly left.

Aki sat down on a nearby chair and watched the twins and Tamaki argue over who got to dance with Haruhi first. Haruhi sat off to the side, finishing her lunch. Aki decided to start eating her lunch. She only had so much time to finish it all.

Honey and Mori entered the room a while later, apologizing for being late. Apparently they'd forgotten and didn't remember about practice until they'd finished their lunch. By this time Tamaki was sulking because Hikaru was dancing with Haruhi and muttering about how he stole his daughter.

"Hiya, Aki-chan!" Honey said, bouncing up to Aki with Mori right behind him.

"Hi," Aki said.

"Aren't you going to practice?"

"No. I'm done until tomorrow."

"What? But what about after the club?"

"I'm going to leave."

"Will Kyoya let you?" Aki shrugged.

"I dunno. I'll just skip out while he isn't paying attention."

And that was what she did. After school ended she went and did her job. Once the club was over, she set everything back in the snack room, grabbed her bag, and hurried out of the room. She heard the twins calling after her, saying something about Kyoya, but she kept going.

Thankfully she got to the train station without anyone grabbing her and dragging her back. She hopped onto the train and headed home.

When she got there she stopped in her tracks. In front of her were Jin and Michiko, looking at each other. Well, they were looking at Aki now, but they had been looking at each other before she walked in.

"Am I interrupting something?" Aki asked slowly, closing the door and setting her bag down.

"No, no. We were just talking, but it wasn't super important," Jin said, smiling at her.

"What are you doing here so early?" Michiko asked.

"The club ended early," Aki replied.

"Oh, that host club thing?" Jin said. "You know, one time Michiko –" At that moment Michiko slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Auntie what?"

"Nothing, Tomi-chan, nothing," Michiko said. "Anyway, I thought you had to practice your dancing."

"What? Tomi-chan has to dance?" Jin said.

"It's a school dance and I have to go because my club it hosting it," Aki said.

"It's slow dancing, right?" She nodded. "So...you're getting close to boys, then?" Jin asked, smiling and wiggling his eyebrows.

"Shut up, Jin," Aki and Michiko said. He chuckled and held his hands up.

"Anyway, yes, I do have practice, but I didn't want to go today. I'm no good. During lunch I kept stepping on feet and tripping. I can't even see my feet past this dress."

"Do you need help dancing? I can help you out," Jin said. "I learned a couple slow dances when I was younger, and I'm pretty good at them."

"That's al–"

"I think you should help her," Michiko said. "She needs to get this down by Friday. It is Friday, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay! You guys can start right now!"

"Okay...I need to change first, though."

"Nonsense!" Jin said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the living room. "You don't need to see your feet to learn."

"You don't?"

"Nah."

"But how would you know? You're a guy, so you always wear pants. You always see your feet."

"Well..."

"Have you ever worn a dress?"

"Have you?" Michiko asked.

"No!" Jin said quickly. "No way! But, I mean, I'm sure you can learn even if you can't see your feet. You're wearing a dress to the dance, aren't you?" Aki nodded. "You probably won't be able to see your feet even then."

I hope that's not the case, she thought.

"C'mon, just follow me first. Michi, you come on and join."

"Oh, no, this isn't for me."

"Yeah, c'mon and join, Auntie," Aki said, pushing her aunt next to Jin who wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Michiko sighed.

Aki stood opposite of Jin. He started off, moving forward with Michiko. Aki stepped back, then continued to mirror his movements. It felt nice to not have to worry about stepping on anyone's foot. Jin would tell her when she was stepping too forward or too much to the side. Sometimes when he'd step on Michiko's foot or she'd step on his foot, Aki would say, "You're stepping too much/too little to the side." The adults would stick their tongues out at her and she would stick hers right back out.

Eventually Michiko was done and went to sit on one of the couches. Jin decided to step up and actually dance with Aki. He took her hand in his and put his other under her shoulder blade.

"Michiko?" Jin said, looking over at Michiko. "Music, please!"

Michiko started to hum the Blue Danube. Jin stepped forward and Aki stepped back. Then they stepped to the side, then Jin stepped backward and Aki stepped forward.

"Too forward," Jin said when she stepped on his foot.

"Sorry."

They stepped to the side, then back, then to the side, then forward. After the first successful box, Aki started to look down at her feet. However, she was more focused on trying to see her feet than she was on dancing and didn't step far enough when Jin moved to the side.

"Tomi-chan."

"Huh?" She looked up, then noticed how she was facing his shoulder instead of his chest. "Oh, sorry."

There were a couple more mistakes until they got two successful boxes. Then Jin started turning when they went to the side. That's when Aki started stepping on his feet more and even tripping a couple times.

"Alright, we'll go slower, then." Jin looked at Michiko who started up Blue Danube again, this time slower than before.

Jin and Aki tried turning again. She was able to do it when they were dancing slower, but still had some trouble when they sped up.

"This isn't even full speed, you know," Jin said after stopping her. She sighed and shook her head.

"Thanks for helping me out anyway," she said. He smiled and nodded.

"No problem! Anything for a friend, especially a little cutie like you!" he said, patting her head, She swatted his hand away.

Jin looked over at Michiko who'd fallen asleep at some point and chuckled. "I guess she just got bored, huh? Here, play along." He walked over and gently shook her. "Hey, Michiko. Michiko."

A few shakes and Michiko cracked open her eyes. Jin smiled at her.

"Good morning, Michi," he said.

"Good morning, Auntie," Aki said. Michiko frowned and sat up.

"Good...morning?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. "It's morning? Why are you here, Jin?"

"Because you're late for work," Jin muttered. "Big Boss isn't happy, you know." Aki shook her head.

"What? I'm late?" Her eyes widened and she jumped up. "I'm late!"

Aki turned away to hide her smile. She hurried off into the kitchen to start making dinner. She could hear Michiko freaking out about her clothes and how she hadn't taken a shower yet while running around the house.

"Noodles would probably be good," Aki murmured, looking through the pantry.

"Michiko," Jin was trying to say over the frantic woman. "Michiko...Michiko!"

"What?" Michiko said, finally stopping. There was a long pause, then she blew up. "YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! MAKING ME BELIEVE I WAS LATE! I NEARLY HAD A HEART ATTACK! FUCKING HELL, JIN-HO!"

Aki briefly poked her head into the living room and saw Michiko hitting Jin while he laughed and protected himself.

"Hey, hey, calm down Michi," Jin chuckled. "You aren't even hitting that hard."

"Do you want me to hit harder? Because I can," Michiko said.

"Haaaah, no thanks."

There was another pause, then Aki felt two hands gripping her shoulders. She jumped and looked back at Michiko who was giving her a cold glare.

"Hitomi," she said darkly, digging her nails into Aki's shoulders. "You went along with it...Making your poor aunt think she was late..."

"Jin! Jin, help me!"

"You're doing better than yesterday," Tamaki said after finishing a successful box waltz. Without spinning, of course. "What'd you do after you left?"

"I had a friend help me out," Aki said.

"So this means that if I try again, you won't step on my feet?" Hikaru asked, watching Kaoru dance with Haruhi who was stepping on his feet a few times.

"As long as we're not spinning, then yes."

"A few more times," Tamaki said. They did a couple more boxes before Tamaki decided to start spinning. Without telling her. So she tripped.

"Damnit, Senpai," she said, hugging Tamaki's arm. "Tell me before you start spinning."

"Sorry, sorry." She let go and they got back into their original position.

"So we're spinning?" He nodded. "Okay. Go slow, alright?"

He nodded again and they started the dance again. Aki stumbled a couple times over Tamaki's feet and he over hers before wanting to stop, but Tamaki wouldn't let her.

"You made it a couple times," he said. True, she had done a few successful turns, but she just wanted to stop.

"C'mon, Tamaki-senpai. I gotta eat," she said, gesturing to her plate of uneaten food.

"One more time," Tamaki said. "Please?"

Aki shook her head and sighed. "Alright, alright, one more time. But slowly, okay? Just go slow."

Tamaki nodded and they danced one more time, slow enough for her to do successful turns. After it was over she let go and went to sit down next to her food. Tamaki went over to Kyoya and started talking to him.

"I hope I'm decent by Friday," Aki murmured to herself, poking at her lunch. "It can't be that hard to learn a dance like this..."

"Yeah, there's probably something wrong with you," Kaoru said. Apparently Hikaru was dancing with Haruhi now.

"Shut up."

Hopefully with practice every day and Jin helping her (he'd promised to come back and help her out every day. He'd even teach her more than just a box waltz) she'd be alright for the dance. If not then...well, something really would be wrong with her.