The next day the Host Club went on as usual. Sort of.

One of the customers leaned over to whisper to the twins. "What's wrong with Tamaki-san?"

Hikaru shrugged negligently as Kaoru chuckled. "Oh, he's just exhausted. With Mori-sempai out, he's having to be Hunny's replacement 'Mori' today. Apparently, it's not easy being Mori."

All three of the girls sitting with the twins looked sympathetically at their 'prince' as he snoozed while sitting up on the couch. "Don't you suppose we should at least remove the tea cup from his hand before he spills it?" One of the girls whispered helpfully.

Hikaru shook his head sadly. "No, we don't want to embarrass him by even tacitly implying he needed assistance."

Kaoru nodded his head, looking earnest. But inwardly both twins were loving every moment of Tamaki's suffering and exhaustion. Not that they didn't like Tamaki, but that this sort of thing was amusing to them. And they lived to be amused.

Kyouya watched everything, even as he entertained two young ladies himself. He was all that was smooth, sweet, and proper as they sat together. Outwardly. On the inside, he was rather surprised that without Haruhi here today, he was a bit bored. Maybe he'd been too precipitous to push her toward Mori?

The Host Club's vice president pushed his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose and gave a polite laugh to a lame joke one of the girls told, for the third time in a month. She was sweet, but rather clueless. Or was it that Haruhi's dry sense of humor had spoiled him lately?

Kyouya looked around the room, making sure all was as it should be. He frowned as he caught sight of Hunny rubbing his eyes and yawning. It was past time that Hunny took his nap. It didn't phase Kyouya that Hunny took daily naps. Their female customers thought it was cute and fit in with their Lolita-Shota ideals of him. Only a select few knew that Hunny took daily naps because he was up at an unreasonable time, in Kyouya's opinion, every morning to train in the family dojo.

Briefly Kyouya wondered if any of these girls had ever seen the sun rise? And what they would think of their adorable Lolita-Shota to know that he was up every morning long before they were?

Kyouya smiled evilly behind the cover of his tea cup, as he contemplated what Suoh thought of seeing the sun rise this morning. Tamaki now had a more intimate experience of Hunny's schedule, rather than just knowing about it, he was living it. The Shadow King wondered how Tamaki had stayed awake today as long as he had.

Hikaru's amusement ended when Tamaki started snoring and he reached over to poke their 'king' in the side. "Oh Mori!"

Tamaki smacked his lips and rubbed his face, dropping the tea cup that Kaoru was quick enough to grab. Luckily it was nearly empty. "Oi! Mori!"

The Host Club's king blinked wearily, visions of Hunny spinning impossibly fast to take down his sparring partner this morning fading slowly. Tamaki was just grateful he'd only had to watch this morning, rather than participate in activities at the Haninozuka dojo. Apparently, Mori ran through his Kendo exercises before going to collect his cousin for the school day, but Hunny hadn't made Tamaki do that ...for which he was quite grateful. "Wha?"

"Mori!" Hikaru slapped him on the back. While it appeared like a friendly gesture to those surrounding them, the blow was still sharp enough to make Tamaki cough. "Hunny needs you!"

Tamaki sat straight up, instantly all gracious host. "Of course! I'm on my way, Hunny-sempai!"

"He's taking this seriously." Kaoru commented with a sly grin.

"Of course he is." Hikaru said solemnly, turning to his brother with a melting look in his eye. "Do you wish him as a brother instead of I? Our Lord is so attentive and caring. Before you answer, just know that I will always be there for you, if ever the need shall arise. Mori-sempai's illness has me worried about your health. You did cough twice yesterday."

Kaoru blushed and looked away, as if embarrassed by the look in his brother's eye. "You worry too much over me, Hikaru." His brother's name spoken with a barely concealed longing that had all the girl's hearts racing as they clutched their hands beneath their chins. "And I could envision no one else as my brother. Ever."

Hikaru gently put one finger under Kaoru's chin and turned his head back to him. The brothers stared into each other's eyes from barely a few inches away. "Kaoru." The name was a caress.

"Oooh!" Every girl swayed in their seat, feeling faint. "Brotherly love! I can't take it!"

Kyouya just hoped his camera had captured the moment effectively enough for a decent profit. He looked away from the emoting duo as the door to the room opened, lifting one eyebrow quizzically when he saw Haruhi slip inside. "I thought you were at the hospital already?"

Haruhi nodded. "I'm on my way, I just finished meeting with the Class-1A president about a project we're all working on. I just needed to ask Hunny-sempai a question before I left."

Hikaru and Kaoru had abandoned their still simpering clientele to fan each other as they wandered over to their own personal lodestone. "Haruhi! Hunny-sempai is taking a nap, I think My Lord is tucking him in now."

Haruhi nodded. "I meant to stop and pick up a get-well gift for Mori-sempai. But I didn't know if he had any allergies or anything."

Kyouya nodded and opened up his ever present notebook. "He has an allergy to penicillin, but I doubt you'll find that substance in any gift you might purchase. Other than that, he has no allergies at all."

"Oh, right. Thanks." Haruhi smiled, slightly amused and exasperated at the same time. She should have known that Kyouya had files on them all that included stuff like allergies. He really was thorough. A bit scary, but thorough.

After Haruhi had left, Kaoru turned to look at the others. "Kyouya, I didn't think about her buying a gift for Mori-sempai. This has disaster written all over it."

Kyouya shrugged, pulling the twins away from the earshot of their remaining customers. "No, it's perfect. She's a commoner and can't afford much, true. But Mori-sempai would never hurt her feelings and will accept anything she offers with his usual good grace." Hikaru nodded in agreement.

Kaoru, though, wasn't so sure. "Remember, Mori-sempai's in the hospital. Any gift she gives him will be seen by his family."

Hikaru drew in a deep breath. "And the Haninozuka family. What kind of impression will she make with whatever poor offering she can scrape up money for?"

All three of the Host Club members remembered the day that Haruhi had first invaded their territory. She'd been dressed in horrid glasses, with an awful haircut, and sloppily dressed in an oversized, stretched out sweater.

Kyouya's stomach dropped. "We need to intervene."

o.o.o.o.o

Within fifteen minutes, the three were tailing an oblivious Haruhi as she headed for the hospital.

"Tamaki is taking care of the remaining Host Club customers?" Kaoru asked as they tried to blend in with the crowd. It was hard to do when everyone kept turning and looking at the toothsome threesome.

Kyouya nodded.

"How did you manage that?" Hikaru asked, as he and his brother had been sent off to collect everyone's gifts for Mori. When they'd returned, Kyouya had been waiting at the door for them. "I can't believe Tamaki didn't insist on coming with us."

"Hunny isn't awake yet." Kyouya said dryly. "I merely pointed out to Tamaki that he was free to wake Hunny from his nap early, but I wasn't going to do it. He actually blanced at the thought. And that as the interim 'Mori', it was his duty to remain with his charge until Hunny awoke on his own."

"Yep. He'd go for that." Kaoru nodded happily as they ducked behind a group of people as Haruhi stopped at a traffic light. "But how did you get him to turn over his present? Surely he has no interest in making sure Haruhi doesn't embarrass herself by exposing her commoner tastes to Mori's family?"

Kyouya snorted lightly. "Hardly. I just pointed out to him that Mori would do it for him. And seeing as how he IS Mori today, that makes Mori HIM for the day. So basically, it's Haruhi giving the present to Tamaki, not really Mori. He really liked that idea."

The twins almost fell over laughing as they imagined their Host Club king falling for that line of thinking.

"We have trouble." Kyouya announced suddenly, stopping to pull out his cell phone.

The twins rushed forward to look, stopping in utter shock as they saw Haruhi enter the train station. "Public transportation?" They said it as if were an infectious disease. Hikaru and Kaoru noted all the people heading into the train station with deep unease. That was too many people! Surely the train couldn't hold all of them? "It'll collapse!" They quailed in unison.

Kyouya finished his phone call and turned to watch the twins arguing about whether or not Japan's public transportation system could handle so many people all at once. He sighed and shook his head. "The train is fine, and is built to handle the populace quite nicely, thank you. Still. I am not subjecting myself to being squeezed into a public train like a sardine into a can." The very idea was enough to make him break out in a cold sweat.

"So what are we going to do?" Kaoru said, both twins watching their Shadow King anxiously as they held the bags with the Host Club's gifts for Mori. "You haven't even let us in on your plan to save Haruhi from embarrassing herself."

Kyouya shrugged, not willing to admit he was still working out the finer details of his 'plan', such as it was. It was then that his three bodyguards showed up. Quickly he dispatched one of them to follow Haruhi and to call him on the cell phone if she got off the train anywhere but at the station closest to the private hospital.

After that, all three boys climbed into the back of Kyouya's family car and allowed the chauffer to drive them to the hospital.

Hikaru commented as he settled himself comfortably in the spacious vehicle. "It's a good thing our King isn't with us, or we might have found ourselves on that train after all. All in the name of 'commoner' research."

Kyouya pushed his glasses up once more while shaking his head, glad Tamaki was tied up with taking care of Hunny. Silently he pledged to himself never to let Tamaki nag him into getting on public transport. The instant coffee and commoner snacks were bad enough.

o.o.o.o.o

"But Hunny-sempai, we have to hurry to the hospital!" Tamaki pleaded, looking debonairly desparate.

But Hunny just shook his head and continued to eat his cake. "Something's missing." He said in his uber-cute way, looking around the table still a bit sleepy-eyed from his nap.

Tamaki jumped to attention and looked around as well. "Cake. Tea. Utensils. Napkins. I even have a string around my finger to remind me to remind you to brush your teeth. Hunny-sempai, what could possibly be missing?"

Hunny's eyes welled up as he looked up at Tamaki standing over him. "I miss Takashi."

And no matter in how much of a hurry Tamaki was to get to the hospital, even he was felled by the full wattage of the Lolita-Shota look. He knelt down next to Hunny's chair, all sympathy and earnestness. "Mori-sempai is fine. Kyouya has been getting reports and your cousin is recovering beautifully."

Hunny's eyes welled and he looked at Mori's empty seat. "I'm not used to Takashi not being there. He's quiet, but I always know he's there."

Tamaki rushed to take the indicated seat, and was relieved to see Hunny give him a watery smile. He started to speak, then caught Hunny's small shake of his head. Oh yes. QUIETLY sitting there. That's what the real Mori would do. So Tamaki complied, and it nearly killed him to remain so silent as Hunny ate his cake. How could Mori-sempai do it? Even his teeth started to hurt at sitting so quietly.

The Host Club president watched desperately as the senior finally took the last bite of cake. With a happy smile, he started to rise, ready to head to the hospital.

"Chocolate this time, I think. With strawberry filling." Hunny said, holding up his plate.

The King of the Host Club sighed. "But don't we have to get to the hospital?" He asked, almost whimpering.

"But you said Takashi was doing well." Hunny pointed out calmly. "And I always have two cakes after my nap. Takashi would know that."

The Suoh boy sighed, having no idea he was being played and went to get Hunny a second cake.

For his part, Hunny felt a slight sense of guilt. But it was assuaged by the fact that he really did usually have two cakes following his afternoon nap. Still, he really did want to go visit Takashi and see that his cousin was doing alright with his own eyes. But he'd wait just a bit longer, giving Takashi time alone with Haruhi.

o.o.o.o.o

Kyouya and the twins arrived at the hospital in record time. They didn't beat the train per se, but since Haruhi still had to walk from the station to the hospital the trio did manage to arrive before she did.

The Shadow King was listening to his guard's report on the cell phone as they entered the private hospital. "Hai." He said before disconnecting the call. "She has yet to purchase a gift and is about half a block away."

"So, she's looking to buy something at the gift store? Here?" Hikaru theorized, then he shook his head. "I don't think she fully comprehends that this is an Ohtori hospital. I doubt she could afford any decent gift at the shop here."

Kyouya nodded, walking briskly toward the shop in question. After a brief conversation with the sales clerk, who had snapped to bone-breaking attention at his presence, he returned to the twins. "I've summoned the manager. I feel that today is a good day for a nice sale. Perhaps ten percent off?"

Kaoru crossed his arms and gave Kyouya a baleful stare. Hikaru matched his brother's cold stare on the opposite side. Finally the Shadow King sighed. "Fine. A quarter off on every item."

Neither twin moved a muscle. Finally Hikaru spoke up. "This is Haruhi. What do you think she's going to do at a sale? Buy out the store? She only wants the one gift."

Kyouya's blood was chilled at how much he was going to have to cut the prices, but for his plan to work, he had no choice. With a sigh, he went to meet with the approaching manager. Slightly taken by surprise that she was so young, and even rather pretty.

Introducing herself was Nodoka Kokoro, the woman bowed deeply and listened with surprise as the young Ohtori laid out his request. A request couched within an order. She was both amused and surprised at his rather austere approach. She wasn't that much older than he, but this young man acted like he was ancient. And in charge. That's why it surprised Kokoro so much that what he was spelling out …was actually a rather kind gesture for a friend. Ignoring protocol, she nodded and escorted all three young men into her office to watch from the two way mirror. Besides, it could be beneficial to do a favor for an Ohtori. Even a third son.

Kyouya, for his part was impressed with her immediate grasp of the situation and even some of her suggestions to improve the plan.

So it was that the gifts from the other Host Club members where unwrapped and marked at incredibly low prices. And just in time too. As Kyouya and the twins watched as Haruhi entered the shop.

The manager was a bit confused, having been told that a young woman was to be shopping. But the Ohtori youth indicated that the young person in the male uniform from Ouran was actually the shopper in question. Rather than argue, she walked up to the person indicated and offered her assistance in choosing an appropriate gift.

o.o.o.o.o

Hunny and Tamaki were in the back of the Suoh car on their way to the hospital. Hunny was hoping he had allowed enough time for Takashi to have some time alone with Haruhi.

For his part, Tamaki was praying that Haruhi hadn't been alone with Mori-sempai at all. How could the tall senior show an interest in the girl Tamaki thought of as his daughter?! No. The very idea left him sweaty and cold.

Kyouya was watching from the two way mirror as Haruhi browsed the store with the manager. He wondered how this Nodoka woman had become a full manager at her young age.

Meanwhile, the twins were busy making a contest out of which gift Haruhi would choose for Mori-sempai.

Mori sneezed, then continued to eat his green jello. Silently. Satoshi sat beside him, chattering on about his day at school.

o.o.o.o.o

Well? I hope you like the update! Review please if you liked it. Or review if you didn't. Constructive criticism is always welcome.