"I'm so sorry, Nanami." Otoya said for the umth time. He knows she has been asleep for a long time now. She was resting comfortably, her head tucked on his shoulder, body pressed up against Otoya, a dry tear mark down her cheek laying faintly on her white skin. Otoya had removed his red jacket and draped it around her shoulders before strapping her in, leaving him in a short sleeved, white shirt and ripped, blue jeans. Masato had her hand in him, sitting next to her on the other side, facing to the window but eyes turned to her.

Currently, they were driving down a long, dirt road through the small town nearby Haruka's old house. It was dark out, the blue car's headlights turned on, the inside dark to let Haruka sleep. The car was an eight-seater, just enough to hold everyone. Masato sat to the left of Haruka, in the middle row. Otoya sat to the right of her, gently rubbing her back. Natsuki sat directly behind Otoya, Tomo sitting in the middle and Syo right next to her, Kupperu perched on Natsuki's lap. Ren was seated up front, Hayato driving his car.

For the most part, they were quiet. Until Ren, who was holding a washcloth up to his face sighed, turning to Hayato.

"Where did you get this car?" Ren asked.

"I've always had it." Hayato answered. Silence. The air was rather uncomfortable, causing Ren to speak up again.

"Then why were you in a tour bus?"

"That what I ask my manager..." Hayato muttered.

"How'd he answer?"

"'Get on the bus'." Hayato said.

"Why dose Ren get to sit up front?" Syo muttered.

"Because I'm injured, Munchkin." Ren answered, lifting the wash cloth from his face and checking his cheek for injuries in the mirror.

Flashback, cause I bet no one is tired of those yet ;)

"Then we're taking her with us." Hayato said, glaring at Haruka's father.

"You can't do that, thats kidnapping!" Haruka's father hissed, taking a step forward.

"And that was child abuse. We could call the police and have them come. Who do you think they'll believe? The man with a temper, or the girl on the floor with a red cheek and crying?" Hayato narrowed his eyes. Haruka's father balled his fists and clenched his teeth. If looks could kill, everyone would be dead.

"Ano, Hayato-san-" Haruka said, trying to stand up. Otoya pulled her back done, sitting her down.

"Little Lamb, please let us take care of this." Ren said, walking away from her, taking a place beside Hayato, turning to wink at Haruka before becoming serious, glaring at Haruka's father with never before seen anger.

"I am her father and I may discipline her as I please. She defiled me, so I punished her. Nothing about child abuse, so you can not take her." Haruka's father walk past them. He reached out to grab his daughter, but a strong grasp wrapped it's way around his wrist. He looked up and hissed as Ren glared. Haruka's father tried to pull away, but Ren was not letting him go. Fed up and in rage, Haruka's father's fist flew up. Haruka watched in horror as her father's fist connected with Ren's face, causing his face to whip to the side. Ren let out a grunt of pain and his grip loosened, allowing the older man to escape. Ren lifted his hand to his face, checking it.

Things began to move in a blur for Haruka. She felt herself being lifted up, cradled in Natsuki's strong, protective arms. Masato and Syo moved to block Haruka's father as he made another move to get her. Natsuki, quick as a flash, darted out of the car shop, taking Haruka with him. She saw Hayato fly past them, opening up the door of a car. The pain in her cheek caused a tear to fall from her eye. She knew how hard her father's slaps were, so she was afraid for Ren. It would surely bruise.

Everything that had just happened washed over Haruka in a wave, pulling her into an ocean of fear. She was getting dizzy, the world around her blurring. And then, she passed out.

"So, where are we going?" Tomo asked.

"We're heading to my cottage." Masato said.

"You have one here?" Ren asked.

"It's newly built." Masato explained.

"Is it big?" Syo asked.

"Big enough." Masato answered.

"Otoya, where are you staying? I mean, you DID use to stay in Nanami's den." Syo pointed out.

"I'll have a maid set up a room for you as well." Masato informed, opening his phone, shiny and new.

"N-no, you don't have to do that." Otoya insisted.

"Yes I do." Masato said, punching numbers into his phone, pulling it up to his ear. He waited for a moment before speaking. "I'm having people over, set up two bedroom." And, without waiting for a response, he shut the phone, putting it in his pocket.

"Spoken like a real businessman, 'no' not aloud." So whispered to Natsuki, causing the tall blond to nod his head in response.

"Turn here." Masato instructed, causing Hayato to turn on his blinker and turn onto another road. Soon enough, a traditional Japanese house peaked from around the trees, light flooding through it's doors into the dark, wooded world around it. "This is it."

"I could see this being a Hijirikawa mansion." Ren commented, snickering about it's normal traditional Japanese demeanor you could find in all Hijirikawa houses.

"Did you expect anything different?" Masato hissed, narrowing his eyes at the laid back, blond. Ren chucked in response. Hayato parked in front of the car, the engine coming to a halt. They opened the door, stepping out of the car. Otoya carried Haruka out of the car, struggling to hold her up. Natsuki took her from him once he had gotten out of the back. Hayato locked the car behind them, making sure the seats were back in place. Masato lead them into his house, opening the sliding door. He removed his shoes and asked the others to do as well. They left their shoes at the entrance and headed in. Masato opened another door, revealing a line of maids.

"Welcome back, Master Hijirikawa-san." They said in unison, bowing.

"Whoa! You have maids?!" Syo cried, taking a step back in surprise.

"Of course." Masato said, calmly walking to them. "The bedrooms are ready?"

"Yes, sir." A small maid with braided hair answered.

"Master Jinguji-sama, what happened to your face!?" One of the maids with blond hair tied up cried, moving to stand in front of him. She looked at his face in worry, asking if he needed a first aid kit.

"No, I'm fine. I just got into a bit of a fight, but nothing I couldn't handle." Ren purred, winking at her, causing her to blush, little hearts magically flying out of her. The other maids sighed like love-struck teens, some giggling a little.

"Don't flirt with my maids." Masato said, yanking Ren back by the collar. "Lead us to the rooms."

"Yes, Master Hijirikawa. Right this way." The small maid said, bowing before leading them down the hall. The hallway was lined with sliding doors whose light poured through to the hallways, making the outside look darker than normal. The other maids, making sure to stay out of earshot of Masato, quietly whispered to the other boys.

"What's wrong with her?" One asked Natsuki, peering at Haruka's sleeping face. "Her cheek looks swollen."

"It's, um...complicated." Natsuki frowned, looking sadly at Haruka.

"How many were there?" The blond maid asked Ren.

"More than you could count." Ren answered. "But I could take them."

"So cool~" She blushed, looking up at Ren with admiration.

"Lyer." Syo muttered.

"Shut up, munchkin." Ren said.

"A-are you Hayato-sama?" An older maid asked, staring up at the blue haired idol shyly.

"Yes, I am." He answered.

"I-It's an honor to have you here, Hayato-sama!" She blushed, looking dreamily at him. He simply nodded his head, staring forward.

"Hello there~" A young maid said, bending over to Kupperu, who was laying in Tomo's arms. She scratched his head lightly, causing him to arch into her touch, meowing softly. "Aren't you a cutie~"

"Ha, yeah, he is." Tomo agreed, smiling. "But he sure gets into trouble a lot."

"Aw~ That can't be true! Not someone as sweet as you." She said, giggling when Kupperu purred, licking her finger.

"Thats what I thought at first too." Otoya laughed. "But I've seen it myself. He has a notorious streak of stealing things from people to lead them to Nanami."

"Here we are." The small maid said, opening up a sliding door, letting the light blast through. The room was small but neat, a bookshelf in the corner, a bed to the side, and a small desk with a few cushions to kneel on scattered around it. "The other room is just through that door." She said, walking in and pulling back the screen, leading to a nearly identical room.

"Shinomiya, you can put her there." Masato said, looking to the bed.

"Hai." Natsuki said, kneeling down and gently placing her on the bed, pulling the covers over her torso.

"Thank you, you are dismissed." Masato said to the maid, causing them to bow.

"Thank you, Master Hijirikawa-san. Have a good night." The door was closed behind them, leaving the eight friends alone once again. Masato sat down by the table, sitting in a traditional fashion. Kupperu jumped out of Tomo's arms, laying down next to Haruka, keeping close to her.

"This is a nice house." Otoya smiled. "It's a bit overwhelming."

"It's nothing much." Masato said modestly.

"I think we need to focus on the matter at hand." Hayato said, sitting next to Masato. "We need to talk about Nanami-san's legal guardianship."

"Your right." Ren said, slouching down on the ground. "I could take her in, as a personal maid~"

"Denied." Masato said straight out.

"Yeah, like we'd let you do that!" Syo cried. "Who knows what you'd do!" Syo hissed, causing Ren to shrug.

"Hm~ I could adopt her as my sister!" Natsuki suggested, causing the others to give her weird looks. "What? I wanna be able to dress her up in all sorts of cute clothes and dresses! Like a princess, or a little girl, or as a cue puppy..."

"I could get in on that!" Tomo smiled, laughing.

"No way, thats torture!" Syo cried.

"Eh?! Syo-chan~!"

"I could get the president to take her in, as an employee." Hayato suggested. "After all, she has talent on the piano."

"But what about us?!" Otoya cried, catching everyone's attention from his sudden outburst. "We'd need to find a way so we could all keep in contact! I don't want to leave her alone after what happened! She needs emotional support!"

"Ikki is right." Ren said. "The Little Lamb should go somewhere we could all have her."

"But, where would we do that?" Syo asked.

"Maybe she could live on her own." Natsuki suggested.

"I don't think she's old enough to do that yet." Masato pointed out.

"Isn't she 18?" Hayato asked.

"I thought she was 16." Syo said.

"I don't know, she looks 14." Natsuki said.

"No, she has to be 17. She wanted to apply for Saotome Academy last year and you have to be at least 16 to get in." Ren pointed out.

"No, it's recommended that you're at least 16." Natsuki pointed out.

"So what, you're saying that she was 14 when she wanted to apply?" Syo muttered.

"With her looks, I'd say 17." Tomo said.

"Nanami-san looks around 16, but acts about 18." Masato said.

"Oi, Otoya, how old is she?" Syo asked.

"Eh?! Me? Um...let see..." Otoya said, thinking. "She's, like 16... I think."

"You don't know?!" Syo cried.

"It never came up!" Otoya defended himself.

"This is rather tricky." Hayato said. "She looks 16, she acts 18, she's smart as someone 19, she seems 15, and she's clumsy like she's 14."

"Gah!" Syo cried, rubbing his head excessively. "How old is Nanami."

"15." They turned their head, spotting Haruka. The petty pinkett was sitting up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I'm 15 years old. 16 in a few weeks."

"Nanami!" Otoya jumped up and rushed to her side, sitting down in front of her. "Are you feeling okay? Hungry? Thirsty? Do you need more pillows? Are you warm enough? Hows your check?"

"I'm fine, Ittoki-kun." Haruka smiled. "Don't worry. But, if I may ask, why were you talking about my age?"

"We were trying to figure out if you were old enough to live on you own, or even get a job for that matter." Hayato answered.

"Oh... Um... Where exactly are we?" Haruka asked, looking around, confused by her new surroundings.

"We're in my cottage." Masato explained. "We agreed that you would be safe staying here for a while."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't of intruded like this!" Haruka cried, trying to stand up. The boys quickly shot up, rushing towards her. They pulled her back down, stopping her from getting up.

"Nanami-san, please rest. You need to calm down." Masato instructed. "Don't worry about anything right now. We'll make sure you are properly cared for here. Is there anything you want, anything at all?"

Haruka looked down, thinking. The boys waited eagerly to assist the pinkett in any way. She looked up at them, opening her mouth to speak before closing it, looking down. They all chimed encouragement, wanting to know exactly what she requested. Haruka looked around at all of them, then down at her bat, who was meowing kindly, asking her what it was. Haruka gave a small, happy smile, looking up at the boys with confidence.

"I...I want to enter the Saotome Academy Debut Competition."