Well, it has been long enough for this chapter! Forgive me for taking so long! I hope to have the next chapter up by February! Enjoy!


"Hm-hm, hm, hm. Hm, hm," Tsukiko hummed as she made her way to her locker before lunch. "Happy Birthday, dear Demon Lord." She wasn't paying attention and ended up bumping into a certain purplish black haired second year.

"Oh, Tsukiko! You need to pay more attention to where you are going!" the young woman exclaimed, once the petite girl looked up to see Suzune.

"Gomen, Suzune-senpai," she smiled and gave an apologetic bow. "I was in my own little world."

"Just how old are you?" the older student asked out of the blue. "You barely look like you are in middle school, let alone high school."

"But, Suzune-san!" a tall bleached haired girl exclaimed, another girl was with her with green braided hair. "She's so tiny and kawaii!"

"Though, she does look like she'd be better off in middle school," the braided haired girl added.

Tsukiko just looked at them and smiled. "Well, I think that's a tad personal to be asking, don't you think? Appearances can be deceiving, just look at Honey-senpai, he looks much younger than he really is," she replied with a chuckle. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to lunch."

And with that the tiny high schooler continued on her way. Leaving a few stunned upperclassmen.

"Well, she's a character isn't she?" the bleach haired girl replied.

"She's got moxie, if that's what you're getting at, Tomomi-chan," said the braided girl.

"Rina, have you noticed how this new girl has been here just over a week and has completely won over the Host Club?"Suzune asked, crossing her arms.

"Well, you know Tamaki," replied Rina. "He loves meeting new people, and her bubbly personality is not unlike his own."

"But she never sets up an appointment, they allow her to setup shop in their clubroom without paying a cent. Isn't that odd?"

"Now that you mention it," Tomomi answered, crossing her arms as well. "That's is weird that they let her do that. But is that really our business?"

"Probably not, but I don't like it."


Most high schoolers like it when it's their birthday and virtually the entire school acknowledges it. Not Kyouya. This was quite possibly one of his worst days yet. He didn't get too much sleep because he was preparing for a test he had earlier that morning, and he did have to babysit his father's ill guest that took quite a bit of his time. Above it all, he was receiving so much attention from teachers and fellow students who wished him a Happy Birthday he had to keep up his smiling host appearance no matter how much he wanted to just ignore everyone and be on his way.

Lunchtime was no different.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHADOW KING!" the twins exclaimed once he had taken his seat between his guest and his crossdressing friend.

"Our little Kyouya is whole year older! Daddy is so proud!" Tamaki shouted, gushing in his seat across from his friend as the twins set off mini confetti canons.

"How old are you Kyo-chan?" Honey asked excitedly, feeding Usa-chan cake that had magically appeared.

"I'm seventeen now," he replied pushing around the food on his plate.

"Uh-oh, is the birthday boy not feeling well?" Tsukiko said in a teasing tone. "Or are you just pissed because you forgot it was your birthday?"

"WHAT! YOU FORGOT YOUR OWN BIRTHDAY!" Tamaki nearly screeched.

"I did not forget my birthday, thank you very much…" said the venomous Kyouya.

Tsukiko threw back her head with a laugh. "Yes, you did, you thought it was tomorrow!" she teased, nudging him. "Oh, quit pouting, I only tease you because I love you." She grinned widely. "And you make it far too easy!"

Kyouya shook his head and patted hers. "Kiko, what am I to do with you?"

"Just keep giving me material to tease you with and help me entertain myself and I should be good to go," she said taking another bite.

"That's not what I meant." He shook his head again.

"Oh you love me!"

"Depends on your definition of love…"

The two continued to bicker and the twins looked at each other. They shared the same thought. We have a new mission. They both nodded.

"So, Kyouya-senpai, what are you doing for your birthday?"Haruhi asked, changing the subject.

"Well, I have no doubt that Tamaki has some crazy scheme planned for club activities today, though I am surprised he managed to keep it quiet for so long," he answered, continuing his meal. "Other than that, I don't have any plans for tonight other than homework-"

"Because you forgot your own birthday, man you must be getting up there if your memory is going!" Tsukikoteased, giving the boy a nudge.

"At least age has been kind to me, I have quite a few lady's eyeing my appearance, I don't believe I can say the same about you."

"Au contraire," she retorted. "Time is still on my side, from the family photos I've seen throughout your house, you will be greying before you're thirty, meanwhile in my family neither one of my parents have started to grey."

"So you won't have to dye your hair, and with your height the poor fool who will marry you will look like he's making out with his daughter rather than his wife."

"I'm four foot eleven, thank you very much!"

"There is no way you're four eleven!" The twins exclaimed, interrupting the argument.

"Uh oh, it's family feud!" Tamaki exclaimed.

"Tamaki-senpai, you're not helping…" Haruhi sighed.

"But you started it!"

"What? What makes you say that?"

"You were the one to ask the question!"

"You idiot, that makes no sense!"

"Now it really is family feud, Usa-chan wants you all to stop!" Honey exclaimed, a frown on both his face and Usa-chan's.

Mori patted his head. "There, there," he said, and Honey smiled at him.

"You always know how to make me feel better!"


"Thank you, my dear princesses, for attending the banquet of our coolest host!" Tamaki announced on a stage that he had made sure was built. "Today, our beloved Kyoya turns seventeen and to celebrate we have this lovely banquet for you! Also, thanks to several of our lovely princesses, we will have some entertainment while you enjoy the refreshments."

"To start our concert," the twins began, pulling out their hats.

"Now we won't be playing the 'which one is Hikaru game,'" Hikaru continued, much to the dismay of their fans.

"We will, however, like to introduce our first act, performing Endless Tears…" Kaoru added.

"Please welcome Ami on guitar and Tsukiko on keyboard!" they exclaimed together as the two girls appeared.

They took their places and Tsukiko began the melody. "Kimi no kokoro ni tsumareta mama," Ami began singing as she began to play a few chords.

"Ai wo chikai," Tsukiko added behind her.

"Nemurenai yoru nando sugite mo."

"Ne uketomete."

"Ima sugu aitai namida tomaranai."

"Furetakute," Tsukiko sang as her playing slowed a little. "Suki dakara…"

"Kuru shikute!" they sang together, as their playing sped up again. "Kimi no koto omou hodo, kono namida koboreru no. Kono mama aenai to shite mo. Dare yori sukidakara."

Just how long have they had this planned? Kyouya wondered as he watched the show. The twins had appeared behind the girls to perform the rapping part of the popular song. "I think I now understand the torture Ishikawa-sensei went through last week," he muttered to himself.

"What was that, Kyouya-san?" Suzune asked, sitting next to him.

He put on his smile and replied, "Oh, nothing, just remembering something that happened last week."

"Speaking of last week, I'm so glad you were able to attend the gala this weekend, it was pleasure to see you there," she continued, ignoring the performance.

"It was a pleasure to attend."

"I was not expecting to see Tsukiko there," she commented. "I didn't realize my father had sent an invite to the Mizushima family."

"To be perfectly honest, that would be my father's doing," Kyouya covered smoothly. "You're invite mentioned all eligible children to attend, my siblings were ineligible so my father offered Tsukiko the spot as a favor to her father. You know how those deals are."

"Of course, that makes sense," she replied, standing up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must be getting ready."

"Will you be performing as well?"

"Tamaki asked me if I would do a number, something about the show not being complete without my flute."

"Well, I look forward to hearing you play." He wished her luck and the second year was on her way, leaving Kyouya to actually watch the performance. He admitted that it wasn't bad at all, it could've done better without the twins rapping, but Ami and Tsukiko were outdoing themselves with their playing and singing.

"I love you," Tsukiko sang as the song was reaching its close.

"Love you," Ami continued.

"Love you."

"Love you."

And the twins rapped in the background.

"Anata to!" the girls sang together.

They played the last of the notes and stood up to the applause. They bowed as the customers cheered. "Thank you, Lovely Princesses!" Tamaki exclaimed jumping to the stage again. "And you too, Masters of Mischeif!"

"Masters of Mischief?" Kaoru asked his twin.

"Eh, I can dig it," he replied.

"Now please give a warm welcome to another special princess, Suzune on her flute!" Tamaki announced as the second year waltzed onto the stage and took her seat.

"Happy birthday, Kyouya-san," she said before playing.

Delicately, Suzune's fingers danced across the flute, playing the beautiful notes for the crowd to hear. She had most certainly been playing since she was very young. You could hear the guests mumble in aw at the beauty of the song. "It's Let It Go from Frozen," Tsukiko said, appearing behind her bespectacled host.

"Are you sure?" he asked, not even phased that she materialized behind him. "That song has always annoyed me to no end. This sounds beautiful."

"I can prove it," she smirked and hummed to the tune Suzune was playing. "To test the limits and break through," she began to sing softly as to not upstage the upper classman on stage. "No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I'm free! Let it go! Let it go! I am one with the wind and sky!"

"Okay, I believe you," he shook his head. "I was actually enjoying the performance too." He grumbled with an eyeroll.

"Aw, did Fuyumi play it on repeat whenever she came to visit you?" she mocked.

"That's none of your concern, I'm surprised she hasn't had you belting it out when you were looking at old photos."

"Oh we were, we had other songs too, she's not as obsessed as you think," she shrugged.

"I'll be the judge of that, now will you go away. It would be impolite of me to converse with you during her performance."

"Just like how you conversed with her during mine?" she pressed.

"I didn't know you saw that."

"You're facing center stage, now pay attention, she really wanted to perform this for you." She walked away after that.

Soon the second year was finished and stood and bowed at her applauding audience. Even the bespectacled birthday boy was clapping his hands and smiling, despite learning she had played him the song that was the cause of a year's worth of annoyance. "Thank you!" she said and walked off the stage.

"Thank you, Suzune!" Tamaki exclaimed and announced the next act as Suzune took her seat next to the Shadow King.

"That was very well done, Watanabe-san," Kyouya replied.

"Kyouya-san, how many times must I tell you it's okay to call me Suzune?" she teased as she smiled at him. "But thank you for the compliment."

"My apologies, Suzune-san," Kyouya smiled.

"So what were you talking to Tsukiko about, if you don't mind my asking?" she pressed as Tamaki played his piano.

"Oh, she was just commenting on how well you were playing, she enjoyed it almost as much as I did."

"Well, that was rather rude, if I may be blunt."

"Well, I don't think being rude was her intention," Kyouya defended and smiled at the second year. "And to be fair, you were conversing with me while she was performing."

"Very true," she laughed a little at the comment.


When they arrived at the Ootori Mansion after the club activities were over, Tsukiko realized this was the first time she saw the whole Ootori family, minus Mrs. Ootori, under the same roof, in the same room, at the same time, since she first came to mansion when she was four with her mother. It was also when she realized that the only one of them seeming to be cheerful and delighted at such an occasion was Fuyumi. The Ootori men were a very series breed indeed.

The atmosphere at dinner that evening held heavily in the air. The chef had served some sort of spiced Motoyaki, one of Kyoya's favorite dishes. Small talk had been made, but most of the dinner was completed in silence. Only the sounds of silverware hitting plates could be heard. Silently, Tsukiko was glad she requested a milder form of the dish, after seeing Fuyumi and her husband's faces after taking a bite. Yuuichi's wife didn't seem too keen on the spiciness of the meal either, to Tsukiko's amusement and empathy.

Luckily supper was soon over and everyone had retired to the living room for cake, coffee, and Kyouya's presents. Being unable to take the quietness of the evening, Tsukiko plopped herself down on the couch next to Fuyumi's husband. "Shido-san, how long have you been married to Fuyumi?" she asked.

"About two and a half years, but I met her a long time ago when we were kids," he replied, sipping his coffee. "And, please, Tsukiko, call me Aoi."

Aoi was a very nice man. He was about the same age as Fuyumi, maybe a year older with brown hair and brown eyes. Something just seemed so familiar about him to her. "Aoi, when did you first meet her? How old were the two of you?"

"I believe she was eleven and I was twelve," he replied. "Why?"

"Oh, I used to come here all the time with my mom and sister when I was younger," she replied. "You just seem very familiar, I probably saw you around here with Fuyumi."

"Maybe," he replied with a smile. "To be honest, I don't quite remember too well."

"That's fine," she laughed, shaking her head. "I wasn't expecting you to, if I did meet you before, it was briefly."

"Probably," he laughed back. "So how long have you and Kyouya been dating?"

Tsukiko was caught off guard and Kyouya nearly choked on his coffee. But, Tsukiko just laughed. "Oh no, we're not dating."

"You're not?" Aoi looked genuinely confused. "I'm sorry, I just assumed-"

"It's fine," she laughed shaking her head. "I am living here, but that's only for schooling, it's a long story about an agreement Ootori-sama and my mother came to."

"Oh, so like the agreement Ootori-sama and my parents came to," he smirked, she nudged him with her elbow.

"No!" she giggled. "Nothing like that, well, not necessarily, it's a very long story that can wait."

"Understood," Aoi chuckled and placed his cup on the coffee table. Yuuichi's wife had quietly excused herself to not cause much commotion. But Tsukiko saw, and she had a couple of questions for her.

"Please excuse me for a moment," Tsukiko said, standing up and following the young woman.

She followed her down the hallway and watched her enter the restroom. She waited patiently, as though she was unaware of the twenty other restrooms in the mansion. The woman was surprised when she saw the girl waiting for her. "Oh, Tsukiko-chan, you scared me!" she exhaled with a laugh.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I was just checking to see if you were okay."

"Of course I'm fine, what would make you say otherwise?" she wondered aloud.

"So how far along are you?" she asked bluntly.

"Excuse me?"

"Sayuri, you left for the restroom in the middle of dinner, you're chugging down Sprite like there's no tomorrow, and you've been snacking on potato chips that you stuffed in your purse," she explained.

"If you must know, I'm on my period and salt is all I've been craving," she replied, crossing her arms. "And I'm getting over a stomach bug and the carbonation in the soda helps settle my stomach."

"Normally, I might believe that, but," the girl put her hands on her hips and smirked. "I've never heard of a menstrual craving being dipping olives in vanilla frosting."

The married woman sighed and just laughed. "Okay, Tsukiko-chan, you caught me, but can you please keep it a secret?" she asked. "It's Kyouya's birthday and Yuuichi and I don't want to take the moment away from him."

"Well, how far along are you?" she smiled at her friend's sister-in-law.

"About twelve weeks, we're planning to tell everyone at dinner on Sunday," Sayuri grinned and put her finger to her lips. "But remember, it's our little secret."

Tsukiko put her finger to her lips as well. "You're secret is safe with me." She pulled something from her pocket. "And here, I snagged some from the kitchen for you."

Sayuri chuckled and accepted the bag of olives. "Thank you, Tsukiko."

"You're welcome, now get back to the party before everyone suspects," she gave a wink.

"Of course."

Tsukiko returned to the party shortly afterwards, just in time for Kyouya to open his gifts. He received several gift cards and some books in English and German and some stock bought by his father and a couple other rather expensive gifts that Tsukiko wasn't sure her gift would be extravagant enough. But she looked at Fuyumi who smiled and nodded at her when it was her turn to give him her gift. He's going to love it! Was what her eyes were telling the first year student.

"Thank you, everyone," Kyouya said with an almost host smile. "You really shouldn't have."

"You have one more present, Little Brother," Fuyumi chuckled as Tsukiko stood up with a brightly wrapped box.

"I hope you like it, I put a lot of work into it," she said, handing him the present.

He took the present almost skeptically. What on Earth had this crazy little nutjob of a girl gotten him? "Thank you," he said and began to rip open the paper.

With the paper torn away, all that remained was a white box taped shut. He used his nail to tear open the seal and removed the lid. Inside laid a brown leather bound book, in the center was a picture of a very young Tsukiko poking the cheek of an also very young and very annoyed Kyouya. He pulled the book out of the box and opened it. Tsukiko had made him a scrapbook of pictures Fuyumi had taken during the little while Tsukiko had been at the Mansion. There were pictures of a very annoyed Kyouya dealing with the shenanigans of a hyper little Tsukiko. But as he turned the pages there were photos of a much more tolerant Kyouya playing with the hyper active Tsukiko, a big smile plastered over his face. He turned some more pages and he watched as he grew up and Tsukiko disappeared from his life. His grin had been watered down to a smile smile and most of the photos that had been taken were family photos taken from vacations. He watched as his mother disappeared from the photos and his smile became even subtler. He was beginning to wonder why one Earth Tsukiko would give him such a gift, then he turned the page.

It was the beginnings of the Host Club. A first year Kyoya and Tamaki, along with the bowl-cut middle school twins and the second year Mori and Honey. His smile was returning as he scanned through the photographs of the shenanigans that Tamaki had put them all through. Then finally on that last page were the pictures taken the day the twins had Tsukiko model some of their mom's clothing line. The smile on both of their faces as Kyouya had spun her around was the final picture and a few pages had been left empty.

"I left a couple pages at the end empty in case you had some pictures to add or whatever," she said once Kyouya had finished going through the book. "You said you couldn't really remember when I came here with my mother, luckily Fuyumi had taken and kept pictures from back then so I made you a scrapbook to help jog your memory." She continued to explain. "And I couldn't just not include pictures from the Host Club luckily Tamaki was able to get-"

"You're still in that stupid club?" Akito remarked coldly.

"Akito!"Fuyumi scolded. "It's his birthday! No need to scrutinize his club activities!"

"But it is a stupid club! There's no point to it and it merely wastes everyone's time!"

"Perhaps," Tsukiko countered, shocking the group. "Perhaps it is a stupid club, with no point and wastes a lot of people's time." She crossed one ankle behind the other and folded her hands on her lap. "But as much as it may seem like a waste of time and useless to you, Kyouya has learned quite a bit from the club. He manages the expenses of the club, takes very good care of the customers, plans many of Tamaki's wild and crazy ideas to make them come to life, all the while remaining top of his class and well aware of the goings on in the business world. If you ask me, it's because of his stupid club that he is still in the running to become the company's next Patriarch. But that's none of my business, is it?"

The entire room was stunned, the second eldest shut his mouth, while the other siblings and siblings-in-law sat there jaw-dropped. Yoshio just smirked and sipped his coffee. "And that, is precisely why I had tolerated that club for so long. It appears I was right to do so," he said, then stood up. "Unfortunately, I am not getting any younger and work today has left me rather exhausted." He turned to his son and daughter –in-law. "Forgive me for being so rude, but feel free to spend the night, you know where your rooms are." He then patted his youngest on the head. "Goodnight, Kyouya. And happy birthday, Son."

And with that the current Patriarch retired for the evening. "I'm afraid I'm in the same boat," Akito confessed, standing up. "Goodnight, everyone, and happy birthday, Kyouya."

"Thank you, Akito." Kyouya replied and the all waited until they could no longer hear the middle brother's footsteps.

"Well, that was very interesting," Aoi joked, leaning back onto the couch a little more casually. "Tsukiko-chan, you are quite the debater for your age."

"I'll say!" Sayuri commented, struggling not to laugh. "That was beautifully done, and rather insightful. I had no idea what it took to be in the Host Club, but you would know more than I would."

"I'd be lying if I said he didn't have it coming," Yuuichi even commented as his younger brother looked at him in surprise. "He's been scrutinizing you ever since you started the club."

"Oh, what a way to end a birthday! I'm sorry, Kyouya!" Fuyumi exclaimed, but Kyouya just looked at his sister, then at their guest and smiled.

"Kyouya?" Tsukiko asked aloud, and then sighed. "Kyouya, I'm sorry, I didn't think this gift would cause a riot. I just wanted-" but she was caught off when he began to laugh. "Are you having some nervous breakdown or something?"

Kyouya just kept laughing. "No, Tsukiko," he replied taking a breath. "Thank you, thank you very much, I'm amazed you were able to find so many pictures."

"Y-you're welcome," she hesitated and he chuckled. "You must be exhausted, you're giggling like a madman."

"I'm fine, honestly," he replied, but began to laugh again. Thus causing Fuyumi to laugh, then Yuuichi, then their spouses.

Confused, Tsukiko just looked around the room and assessed what had just happened, finding herself laughing along. "Well, Happy Birthday, Kyouya!"


Oh Akito you just have to ruin the fun! Anyway, more to come hope you enjoyed! Please review! :)