It's been for-freaking-ever since I wrote anything for my stories. School was a pain, I'm taking an online course, I'm on a new browser, I didn't get time to work on the actual computers. But here I am. I've got a fuller plotline going for Keindrich now though. Hopefully I can fit a chapter into this short block of time.

Fair warning, this chapter is going to get a little dark.

Kein's POV

The next week began pretty badly. The Host Club had planned a day for the children of the middle and elementary schools to come in and see how the Club worked. A lot of them were young'uns who came in with their favorite stuffed animals. They showed off their colorful bows and fluffy fur to eachother, much like how the highschoolers compared new clothes. It was cute at first, then it started to annoy me.

Maybe it was because I came from a "commoner's home". I did chores to earn money for toys while these kids just had to beg their parents to buy things for them. I had only a few toys because I didn't play with them much (nevermind that I'm fourteen). I bet these children had rooms full of toys they didn't play with anymore. No. No, these are small children, just like I was. I got by, I was happy; they're getting by; they're happy. That's what matters. In fact, these companions of theirs didn't look extravagant. They were a little worn down, chewed on, stained in places. They were well-loved.

Honey bounded toward me, Usa-chan in hand and a trail of children following him. "Kein-chan! Guess what?"

I smirked. "I'm invited to an exclusive tea party?"

The kids gasped and giggled. Honey pouted. "No fair! You were listening in, weren't you?!"

"No! No! Lucky guess, I swears it!"

He calmed down. "Oh. Well, yeah. It's an engagement party. Usa-chan's getting married!" He held up a beaming Usa-chan.

Sango came in with a bunch of pudding moulds. "Who's the lucky guy?"

I tensed up. Usa-chan blanched. "I hope you realize," I whispered, "that Usa-chan is a boy-bunny."

"But it's pink. And it's called Usa-chan."

"Yes, but Honey calls the hosts '-chan' and they're boys. He calls me Kein-chan."

"So what's you're point?"

"My point is that you cannot use endings as a gauge for determining someone's sex."

"Okay, even so, what if he's actually gay? What if Honey told me once that Usa-chan had a boyfriend? You cannot use sex to determine sexuality."

"Touche."

She faced Honey again. His faced told me he heard everything and he wasn't impressed. "Sorry about that. So who does have Usa-chan's heart."

"A girl-cow. Her name is Shika-Eri." Now I'm sure that he was insulted. "Now would you like to come have some tea once you get that foot outta your mouth?"

"Sure, sorry-"

Wait, I know that description. "Wait, did you say Shika-Eri?"

"Uh-huh. Why, have you heard of her?"

"I think so. Did she have brown fur? A green bell tied around her neck? Her tail looks like a deer's? The name Shika-Eri is written on the tag on her...back?"

"Yeah! You must be a psychic or something, Keindrich."

My stomach knotted up. I'd nearly forgotten about...her. "No."

A girl pulled on Honey's coat. "You said that you found Shika-Eri in the woods. Maybe Mr. Keindrich knows who lost her."

"I did." The kids looked at me again. "I'm the one who lost her. Long ago." My eyes began to itch and water. "And I'm sorry, but I'm in no position to see her. Not like this." My head hurt like crazy, but it wasn't a stress migraine like usual.

A middle school boy reached for my shoulder. "Mr. Keindrich?" I was tempted to pull away and run, but I froze for fear of accidentally trampling him. "It's okay to cry. I lost my favorite teddy bear when I was little. Mother and Father offered to get me a new one. My baby brother even offered me his to sleep with. It's not the same, is it though?"

"No. And our situations might be different." I slowly pulled away, not wanting to let them see my face if I looked up. "It's not losing her that pains me so much as how I lost her."

Sango hurriedly put the tray down on a table. She grabbed my upper arms to support me. She knew exactly what was about to happen. "I'm sorry kids. There are actually some very terrible memories associated with losing her. Ones that he's not ready to face. Maybe we can talk about this some different day." She lead me out of the room. I could barely see someone through my bangs staring at us.

SANGO'S POV

It was tough getting him out of that room in one piece. I don't know how, but everything that happens at this host club seems to trigger memories of the past. This must've been the fifth time that he's nearly broken down this month. I don't understand him. He wants to be treated like a sentient adult yet he blubbers like a child sometimes. Uncle Iwao really should not have sent him to school so early after Yasuko's death. It's really not healthy for him to be in constant grief and I can't keep skipping class to babysit him.

At first, yeah I was interested in Mitsukuni, but when Keindrich kept goofing up I felt like I had to keep an eye on him. I kept making bogus little desserts for the boys just to have an excuse to visit the Host Club. I've lied to my teachers for a month, saying that he was ill and I was delivering these to the hospital for him. I'm supposed to be the innocent younger cousin, not the illegal babysitter. But I don't care anymore, because it's ending today.

I slammed him back against a wall outside. He coughed and gasped, still fighting back those damned baby tears. "Pull yourself together, goddammit!" He finally looked up at me, his eyes vacant, cloudy. I'd expected embarrassment or even rage, but he must've not even heard me, he was that out of it. "Kein, are you there?" Nothing.

Then I saw what was really going on. A wide, distracted gaze. Cold sweat. Slow shallow breathing. I could feel his heart beat through his shoulders. He wasn't crying, he was collapsing. Memories of Yasuko don't do that to him. He can explain what's going on through his tears when it comes to her. He's not even absorbing anything right now. I've seen that deer-in-the-headlights look of his only twice before, once during a camping trip when we saw the carcass a bear had just left behind, the other at school, when a bunch of yakuza kids were beating him up, pinning him against a tree, calling him a bastard and other unsavory slurs. He had stood there mortified until they knocked him unconscious.

The woods. Lost. Danger. Fear. Panic...panic...panic attack!

I had just dragged him down two flights of stairs during a fucking panic attack.

He suddenly regained his wits, his eyes narrowing in cognizant confusion."...the hell just happened?" He felt the sweat on his face and neck. "Sango, what the hell are you doing?"

"I just dragged you out here. You were about to lose it. You need to go home. Now."

"I appreciate your concern, but it was not necessary to manhandle me."

"You are weak and confused. You don't know what's going on."

"Yeah, because I had a concussion already and you slamming me against the wall like that exacerbates it."

"No," I slapped him upside the head. He scowled. "You don't seem to grasp it. You just had a panic attack. This can't keep...I can't let this happen again. You need to go home and get some therapy."

"And you need to mind your own business. You're not my mother, Sango. Now move it."

"I am not letting you through those doors." I blocked the entrance with my body. "You can go home or I can euthanize you here and now."

"I'm not going to ask nicely. Either you get out of my way or I will physically remove you."

"If you touch me, I'll tell the dean that you attacked me."

He made a gesture as if to grab me by the collar, but he hesitated. In fact, something in his eyes made me think he was trying to probe my brain. "You know what? Fine. I'll go home. But it'll take forever for Papa to come pick me up, so I might need some company."

"Wha?"

"You're staying with me."