The Host Club Has an Apprentice Candidate (Part 3)!

Author's Note: Hey guys, Lily again! You're probably tired of hearing me apologize for the loooong update again, but I can't help but to be sorry anyways. This chapter was an agonizing hell for me, because I lost a great bulk of it not once, not twice, and not even three times, but FOUR. FOUR FREAKING TIMES! On the bright side, I got a new iPhone (it's just a refurbished iPhone 5C, so it's technically not new, but it's new to me) so now I can write my stories on that again! Woot woot! I don't care what anyone says, Android suc- ahem, I mean Android's not my cup of tea. Anyways, with that being said, I hope you enjoy the third installment of this chapter!

"Stupid Matt, stupid Tai…," Sora muttered under her breath. She pondered over what Matt said and she just couldn't come to terms with it. Yeah, she wanted to fix the friendship between her and Tai- and the rest of the host club as well- but to go groveling up to Tai with her tail between her legs? Sure, what she did was messed up, but it's not like Tai was faultless. She tried talking to him, only for him to give her a cold shoulder, when the thought occurred to her that she was reaching out to the wrong person. She shouldn't have to apologize to Tai. She did nothing to him, and he had no right to make her feel like a pile of crap. The only one who had the right to do anything was Marcus, but he never acted hostile toward Sora despite what she had done. True, he hadn't shown up to school since the incident, but even if he did, he probably wouldn't go out of his way to be a jerk to her. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Hey toots, whatcha want?" a tall boy with aquamarine hair opened the door and leaned against the door frame.

"Uh, is Marcus here?" Sora meekly asked.

"Yo Marcus! Your girlfriend's here!" the boy yelled into the house.

"I'm not his girl-"

"So, yous from Odaiba, huh?" the boy looked Sora up and down.

"Yeah," Sora tried her best to keep a steady voice. She felt like she recognized this guy, but she didn't know from where.

"I used to go there but then I got expelled," the boy lit up a cigarette.

"I'm sorry," Sora said.

"Don't be. I hated that prissy ass school anyways. If you ask me, it's almost as bougie as that stupid Ouran school," the boy scoffed. He flicked his cigarette and blushed. "Oh, my bad. Where are my manners?" he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and held it to Sora. "Want one?"

"No thanks, I'll pass. But thank you for your offer," Sora politely declined.

"Leave her alone. You're probably freaking her out," Marcus lightly shoved the guy inside.

"Am I scaring you girlie?" the guy poked his head out through the doorway.

"No, I'm fine," Sora fibbed.

"Go away, Kouki!" Marcus shoved the boy's head inside the house and closed the door. "Sorry about that."

"It's nothing. If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you," Sora said. "I'm so sorry I went through your personal records. What you had was none of my business and I had no right to tell anyone about it, especially when you never did anything to rightfully raise suspicion. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I wanted to give you this to show how sorry I am," Sora held out a slim envelope.

"Thanks," Marcus gingerly took the envelope from Sora.

"It's a round-trip first class ticket for the train to Yokohama. I figured you'd want to see your family again," Sora said.

"Wow," Marcus opened the envelope, astonished. "Thank you so much!"

"It's the least I could do. I've been working at my mom's flower shop everyday right after school so I could buy the tickets," Sora said.

"Thank you. I truly appreciate it," Marcus gave Sora a hug.

"You're welcome," Sora stood up straight. "By the way, come back to school. Everyone else misses you a lot. The host club hasn't been the same."

"Really?" Marcus's eyes grew big.

"Yep. Besides, this can't look good for your attendance record," Sora said.

"Don't worry about that. I told my teachers I had a nasty case of the flu," Marcus shrugged.

"Sora? It's a surprise seeing you here," Izzy climbed up the front steps.

"Yeah, what are you doing here?" Tai said in disgust.

"Don't worry, I was just leaving. I hope to see you in school tomorrow, Marcus," Sora waved goodbye and left.

"Will do," Marcus nodded.

"What was that about? She bothering you again?" Tai scrunched up his face.

"Actually, she came by to give me tickets back to my hometown so I could visit my family. First class too," Marcus said.

"Those don't come cheap either," Izzy whistled.

"I know," Marcus said. "So what brings you fellas here?"

"We came by to bring you some paperwork," Izzy opened his satchel. "I'm no longer in the host club anymore, but since I was in charge of the paperwork, I thought my last duty would be to make sure that you got some proof that you participated in an extracurricular activity."

"We know that moving back in with your family was important to you, but with TK and Davis running the show now, we couldn't trust that they would even know how to add you onto the roster," Tai said.

"We just wanted to come over so we could have permission from you. We wanted you to have a choice whether or not you want to be added onto the roster, for official purposes. I have no problem doing so, considering your situation," Izzy said.

"I couldn't bear to be separated from Kari, so I can't even imagine how you feel. From one big brother to another big brother, I just want to lend a hand," Tai nodded.

"Uhh…," Marcus looked hesitant.

"Look, if you want me to be truly honest with you, let me just say that I haven't shown up to the club meetings since you ran off. I'm not planning on returning either, unless you come back with me," Tai said.

"You want me back in the club?" Marcus asked in disbelief.

"Yep, and we're not taking no for an answer!" Tai puffed his chest out.

"Fine, I'll come back. I'll see you tomorrow," Marcus said.

"Woo hoo!" Tai jumped on Marcus and then ran off. "You better mean it!"

"I should get on my way as well. Since I'm no longer in the club, I'll see you in homeroom. Farewell," Izzy bowed and went to follow an ecstatic Tai.

"Wow, today has been a strange day," Marcus said to himself as he closed the door behind him.

"I wouldn't trust that Kamiya dumbass if I were you," Kouki said.

"Whoa, what the hell?!" startled, Marcus almost punched Kouki in the face out of reflex. "Have you been standing by the doorway the entire time?"

"I couldn't help it," Kouki shrugged. "I'm just saying, Kamiya is bad news. That whole group of privileged kids are bad news. Each and every one of them."

"What makes you say that?" Marcus put his hands on his hips.

"Whatever they're up to, it's a trap. Why would a bunch of rich kids want to be nice to someone in a group home?" Kouki made a face.

"Maybe because they don't care where I come from?" Marcus shot Kouki a dirty look.

"Bullshit. All rich kids care. Besides, I've had trouble with Kamiya. He and his group of snobs are the reason I got expelled from Odaiba," Kouki said.

"What did they do?" Marcus asked.

"That's not important. As your housemate, I'm just letting you know that you should watch your back because I care," Kouki said. "Us class D-ers gotta stick together."

"Uh thanks…," Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"No probs. If you need me, I'll be taking a short break on the porch," Kouki lightly tapped his fist against Marcus's bicep, then took his pack of cigarettes out of his uniform pocket and headed out the door.

"Ugh, do I have to?" Mimi whined.

"Yes. If we want to show the guys that we want them back, we've got to take drastic measures," TK said.

"But I love my stuff," Mimi pouted.

"Shut up. We love our stuff too, but you don't hear us complaining…too much," Rika huffed.

"Why don't you just sell the stuff your mom buys you? You hate purses," Takato suggested.

"That's a really good idea. I forgot about those. Now I don't have to sell my Digimon cards," Rika sighed in relief.

"Yeah, just sell the crap you don't like or use anymore," Koji said.

"But I don't have anything to sell," Kouichi frowned.

"Neither do I," Takato said.

"There's got to be something you guys have," Davis said.

"Nope," Kouichi slowly shook his head.

"I've got nothing either. I just have the basic necessities," Takato scratched his head.

"Damn," Davis rubbed his chin.

"Knock knock, can we come in?"

"KARI! GIRL I DON'T KNOW!" Davis excitedly screeched.

"My name is Zoe," Zoe tried to stay calm.

"It's good to see you here. Do you guys need anything?" TK asked.

"Actually, it looks like you need something," Zoe held up one of the host club flyers.

"We saw that you were planning to have a yard sale, and we wanted to help out," Kari said.

"That would be awesome! We need all the help we can get," Davis grinned.

"So where's Tai?" Kari asked.

"About that…he hasn't been showing up to the club meetings for a couple of weeks now. Neither has Izzy or Sora," Davis sheepishly said.

"I know we live together, but I feel like I haven't seen Tai in a long time either. Is everything okay?" Kari asked.

"Not really. Sora was being a dick to Marcus, so then Marcus ran away, which only caused Tai to tell Sora off and then he stopped going to the club meetings. Then we were being dicks to Izzy, because we didn't vote him president and then Sora left too because we called her a pizza slut," Koji said.

"That's pretty much the gist," Kouichi shrugged.

"Wow," Zoe blinked.

"So now we're throwing a yard sale because we don't have enough money to hold club meetings, but I don't know what to sell," Takato said.

"Don't your parents own a bakery? Maybe you can sell cupcakes or something. I could even help you out if you want. My family has an Italian bakery in Shibuya, so I know a thing or two," Zoe suggested.

"That's a good idea. Thanks!" Takato beamed.

"That takes care of him, but I don't know what I could do," Kouichi frowned.

"Maybe you could have people pay you to draw a picture of them. I see you in art class and I think you're pretty talented," Zoe said.

"Thanks," Kouichi bashfully said. "I don't have any painting supplies though."

"Then you can use my stuff. My mom bought me a crap load of that stuff because she was trying to get me into an art class last summer. It's basically unused, so go crazy," Davis said.

"Thanks," Kouichi nodded.

"So Takato's baking cupcakes, Kouichi's drawing, and the rest of us are selling our crap. That settles it then!" Davis rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"Hmm, I feel like we should do more things- just to attract more attention," Zoe said.

"What are you saying? That we should light ourselves on fire and dance around the park?" Koji scoffed.

"I volunteer Koji as tribute," Rika scoffed.

"Hold on! If we're selling cupcakes, I bet people will be thirsty too!" Mimi said.

"Orangeade?" Kouichi perked up.

"NO!" everyone else said.

"What do you have against orangeade?" Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"Just no. No orangeade," Rika said.

"How about lemonade?" Kari suggested.

"That'll do. We can also have those baby water bottles too! They're so cute!" TK cooed.

"So we'll come by on Saturday to help set up," Zoe said.

"Thanks. We appreciate all the help we can get," TK said.

"Help? What's going on here?" Yolei stomped into the room.

"YOLEI!" Kari and Zoe gasped.

"Ew. What are you doing here?" Rika scorned.

"Hey, you stole the words right out of my mouth!" Davis whined.

"Anyone care to explain?" Yolei tapped her foot.

"We're just helping these guys out with their yard sale," Zoe said.

"And why would you help these chumleys out?" Yolei crossed her arms.

"Well, for one thing, Tai is my brother….," Kari raised an eyebrow.

"Speaking of, where is he right now?" Yolei smirked.

"He's….not here," Davis trailed off.

"I sense an aura of hostility here," Yolei haughtily said.

"Wow, aren't you a psychic," Rika rolled her eyes.

"Hmph, I can see when I'm not wanted here," Yolei pressed her lips together.

"Really? Because it doesn't seem like you get the hint," Koji said.

"Geez, aren't you guys rude," Yolei scoffed.

"And your hair is purple. Want to state more of the obvious?" Rika said.

"Fine, I'm leaving!" Yolei threw her hands up in the air and stomped out of the room.

*SLAM*

"Ugh, she needs to get a new hobby," Koji snorted.

"You have no idea," Kari said in agreement.

"Yolei's going crazy because the only thing she was focused on this year was the talent show, so she doesn't know what else to do now," Zoe sighed.

"She can't go crazy if she's already there," Davis said.

"True," Kari nodded.

"You agree with me? We have another thing in common now! That's total proof that we belong together!" Davis said.

"Uhh…," Kari winced.

"Come on, knock it off," TK tugged Davis by the ear.

"Ow!" Davis whined.

"Stop being a doofus. If we're judging ourselves by the criteria that we agree that Yolei is crazy, then all of us would go out with Kari," Koji said.

"And I'd rather not go out with everyone," Kari awkwardly rubbed her arm.

"And I'd rather not everyone go out with Kari either," Davis said.

"Right…," Kari bit her lip.

"We're gonna go now…," Zoe slowly said.

"Bye," Kari wrapped her arms around Zoe's and the girls left the room.

"What? Was it something I said?" Davis frowned.

"BAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!" Rika burst out laughing.

"I'm gonna say that's a yes…," Kouichi said.

"SHUT UP! WHO EVEN ASKED YOU?!" Davis yelled.

"Didn't you just ask us?" Mimi looked confused. "They did looked creeped out."

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Davis plugged his fingers in his ears.

"He did ask though," Takato mumbled.

"LALALALALALA! I didn't hear that!" Davis jammed his fingers deeper in his ears and made a scared face.

"Davis, what's wrong?" TK looked concerned.

"Nghhhpmhf," Davis grunted as he jerked his arms in short movements, his fingers still plugged into his ears.

"Stop being a doofus. We're not talking about how Kari thinks you're creepy anymore," Rika said.

"Uhghighooooo!" Davis fell to the ground on his knees and cried.

"Come on, this is a new low even for you. This is most likely why Kari doesn't like you, along with other factors," Koji snorted.

"Guys, I don't think that's the problem," Kouichi bit his lip.

"Then what is it?" Koji huffed as Davis made sounds like a Wookie.

"If I'm not mistaken, I don't think Davis can take his fingers out," Kouichi said.

"That's not possible. He couldn't have jammed his fingers that deep into his ears, could he?" TK gasped.

"There's only one way to find out," Koji pulled on Davis's arm, but it didn't budge.

"Maybe we need to pull him from both sides," Takato suggested.

"Good idea," TK nodded, pulling Davis's arm, while Koji tugged the other arm.

"Everything hurts!" Davis cried.

"Hey guys, I forgot my...what are you doing?" Kari looked puzzled.

"Davis shoved his fingers down his ears, and now we can't take them out," Kouichi explained.

"Okay there…well, good luck," Kari grabbed a Hello Kitty pencil pouch and slowly retreated out of the room.

"Kari, I'm normal! I swear! I'm just being funny because I like to make people laugh!" Davis cried out.

"You're doing a good job at it," Rika snorted.

"Is there anything we can do about it?" TK talked on the phone.

"I didn't even think that was possible! We've never covered that in class, but then again, I'm only a freshman. We barely made it through all of the body parts that can be pierced. I don't know what that has to do with doctoring, but it'll probably be useful in the future. It's not like they fill your head with stuff you don't need to know, right? By the way, have you heard of a Prince Albert piercing? Looks unpleasant," Joe said.

"Are you sure?" Tai looked concerned.

"Positive," Izzy nodded his head. "I'd rather not be involved with 'friends' who don't even remember I exist."

"I really missed a lot, didn't I?" Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry, we're all on the same boat. Well, Izzy might fall behind if he doesn't show up today," Tai frowned.

"For the last time, I do not intend to show up to any of the meetings anymore. Besides, I have an engagement with Rina, so I don't have time for the ingrates anyways," Izzy crossed his arms.

"Who is this Rina girl?" Marcus smirked.

"It's okay, she's a real person. You can ask Mimi if you don't believe me," Tai said.

"Hey!" Izzy exclaimed.

"I believe she's a real girl. I just don't think I've seen her in homeroom or anything," Marcus said.

"That's because she goes to school in Shibuya," Izzy said.

"That's a bummer. Don't you wish she went to school here? So you could be in the same classes together?" Marcus asked.

"Even if she did go here, we wouldn't take the same courses since she's a senior," Izzy said.

"Ooh, someone likes the older ladies," Marcus said.

"There's only a one-year difference between us. That's not a huge gap. We've got seniors dating freshmen," Izzy shrugged.

"If you ask me, I think the whole freshman-senior dating is creepy. You've got someone who's almost college-bound dating some kid who just came from middle school," Tai frowned.

"Whoa, that is creepy," Marcus made a face.

"Well, I should get going. I don't want to be- hey, where did my watch go?!" Izzy looked at his naked wrist. "I'll just buy a new one."

"NOOOO!" Tai yelled.

"Huh?" Izzy and Marcus looked confused.

"It's only been missing for a day! What if you end up finding it? I say give it a week- maybe two weeks before you decide to buy a new one, " Tai nervously laughed.

"That's practical. It's not like I have a lot of disposable income on hand. Anyways, I really should get going. I don't want to miss an episode of Real Girlfr- ahem, get ready to meet Rina," Izzy blushed and ran away. He did have a date, but it wasn't with Rina. It was with the reality TV show, Real Girlfriends of Manhattan, and it was the season finale, which made it all the more important.

"Hey hey hey! Guess who's back?" Tai yelled in a husky voice.

"TAI! MARCUS!" everyone, even Rika yelled and rushed to the door.

"We missed you so much!" TK gushed.

"You guys missed me?" Marcus looked taken aback.

"Of course. You're our friend," Kouichi said.

"Friend?" Marcus blinked.

"Yeah. Ever heard that word before?" Rika snorted.

"Hey, be nice. We just got back," Tai said. "Speaking of hearing things, it's too quiet in here. Where's Davis?"

"About that…," TK huffed.

Earlier this morning…

"Yolei Inoue?" the homeroom teacher read from his roster.

"Here here here!" Yolei flailed her arms in the air.

"I've heard you the first time," the teacher grumbled.

"Okay, just wanted to make sure!" Yolei put her arms down and beamed.

"Oh god, I wonder what she puts in her coffee in the mornings. I need that," the teacher muttered before he rattled on his list. "Davis Motomiya?"

"…" Davis kept his mouth shut. It turned out he couldn't pull his fingers out of his ears last night, so his arms were stuck in that uncomfortable position for hours. If that pain weren't enough, Davis couldn't hear anything. He almost got run over by two trucks on the way to school.

"Davis Motomiya?" the teacher repeated.

"Are you trying to be funny, Motomiya?!" the teacher yelled. All of the other students silently snickered, except for Kari, who looked irritated.

"Sir, Davis can't hear. He stuck his fingers in his ears, and I guess he jammed them really deep in, because we can't pull them out," TK explained.

"He can't get them out, you say?" the teacher grinned evilly.

"Nope," TK shook his head.

"We'll just have to see about that," the teacher rolled up his sleeves and advanced toward Davis.

"HI TEACHER! YOU WON'T BELIEVE THE CRAZIEST THING, BUT I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING! I ACCIDENTALLY SHOVED MY FINGERS TOO HARD IN MY EARS, AND NOW I CAN'T TAKE THEM OUT! I DIDN'T EVEN THINK IT WAS POSSIBLE, BUT OH BOY!" Davis yelled. Everyone started laughing again, except for Kari. She just slid down her seat and groaned.

"How do I know to believe the two of you?" the teacher said to TK.

"Try to pull his fingers out. If you can manage to do so, you can give us zeros on our next tests," TK wagered.

"Deal," the teacher smirked. He walked over to Davis.

"MR. TEACHER, SIR! WHAT ARE YOU DOIN- OH NO! NONONONONO, PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!" Davis yelled as the teacher tried to pull Davis's fingers out. "STOP STOP STOP IT! IT HURTS!"

"KNOCK IT OFF," the teacher grunted as he kept struggling with Davis.

"OWWIE OW OWWWW!" Davis howled.

"Fine," the teacher let go and clapped his hands. "I'll be right back."

"THANK GOD! I THOUGHT HE WAS NEVER GONNA STOP!" Davis yelled in relief.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," TK said to no one in particular. The teacher came back with a big, strong-looking woman. She cracked her knuckles and made her way towards Davis.

"AWW, COME ON! PLEASE DON'T! OWWWWWWW!" Davis screamed as the woman tried to pull his fingers out of his ears.

"Sorry, Mr. Richardson, they just won't budge," the burly woman sighed.

*RIIIIIIIIIING!*

"Fine. You win, happy?" the teacher huffed. "TK, take him home."

"And that's pretty much what happened," TK shrugged.

"Is it really possible to cram your fingers that deep inside your ears?" Marcus raised his eyebrow.

"That's what everyone's been asking the entire day," TK sighed.

"We were here when it happened, and we still can't believe it ourselves. Then again, it's Davis we're talking about, so maybe we shouldn't be surprised," Rika smirked.

"It's really bad when the gym teacher can't pull Davis apart. He is really stuck," TK frowned.

"Hmm," Marcus shook his head.

"Maybe we can ask Joe for help?" Tai suggested.

"We already did, but he's never heard of something like that," Takato said.

"Damn…," Tai said. "If he can't help us, then who else can?"

*buzz buzz*

"I just got a text from Davis's mom," TK pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"What's it say?" Tai asked.

"Basically, she just texted to tell me that the doctors couldn't take his fingers out and that Davis is the biggest mistake she's ever made, next to Jun. I cleaned up the language a bit," TK bit his lip.

"Well then…," Marcus grimaced.

"As you can see, Davis doesn't have a good relationship with his mother. He doesn't know it though. He just thinks his mom is being funny," TK said.

"Wow," Marcus blinked.

"Wow," Izzy let out a small gasp. It was a good thing he had this afternoon free, because it was the season finale of his new favorite show, and it sure didn't disappoint. As much as he didn't want the show to be over, he was also glad it was over for now because he wanted to get back to regular life. The show was just too hypnotizing to miss.

"New episodes of Real Girlfriends of Manhattan will return this fall. Now stay tuned to the world's premiere of Catching Up With The Cardozas!" the TV blared, and then started to play a catchy, whistling tune as a bunch of attractive girls kept pushing each other out of the camera's view.

"Oh my god, you're totally in my way!"

"As if! You're blocking me!"

"Shut up, you putas feas!"

"Watch your mouth!"

"I'm bored," a little girl tugged on a rope, causing a curtain with the show's logo to fall in front of the girls.

"This looks like total garbage," Izzy rolled his eyes. He had his thumb hovering over the channel button, but for some reason, he couldn't press it.

"Hey there, I'm Clara. You might know me as global trendsetter and Berlin Marriott's best friend," a 20-something-year-old girl lounged on a luxurious-looking couch.

"Best friend? More like Berlin's little bitch- or to be more accurate, Tinkerbell's little bitch," another girl cackled. "By the way, I'm Carla."

"Shut up! You're just jealous because you're not a celebrity like me," Clara scoffed.

"Don't you have some dog poop to pick up?" Carla retorted.

"What are you puta whores talking about?" another attractive girl walked onto the camera view and sat at the edge of the couch. She looked like the other two girls, except she was proportionally bigger than them.

"Mami? What's a puta whore?" a little girl asked.

"CARLOTTA MAGDALENA MARIA ANA CARDOZA!"

"Oooh, you're in trouble," the older girls sneered.

"VETE A LA MIEREDA, PUTA MADRE!" Carlotta jeered.

"Do they just put anything on TV nowadays?" Izzy groaned. He was well aware that he was complaining about something he wasn't even forced to watch, but he just couldn't turn away from it.

*BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ*

"Oh my god, it's Rina!" Izzy accidentally dropped his phone. "Hello?" he said in an abnormally deep voice.

"Uh, is Izzy here?"

"This is he," Izzy squeaked. He could feel his face turn red.

"It's uh, Rina. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Izzy cleared his throat. "I think a bug flew into my mouth- not that I eat bugs or anything- you're not vegetarian, are you? Please don't judge me!"

"I'm not a vegetarian," Rina laughed.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I'm just blabbering like an idiot!" Izzy said.

"I don't mind. In fact, I was just gonna ask you about that," Rika chuckled.

"Wait, what? Did I act like an idiot at the store? I'm sorry...," Izzy bit his lip.

"Relax! You were fine! I just called to ask if you wanted to hang out on Saturday," Rina said.

"You wanna hang out with me?" Izzy squeaked.

"Only if you want to," Rina mumbled. If Izzy wasn't mistaken, it sounded like Rina was shy.

"I'd love to," Izzy said.

"Great! How about we meet in front of Palette Town at noon? I haven't been to Odaiba in YEARS!"

"I'd be down for that," Izzy said.

"Awesome! I'll see you then! Bye!" Rina said before she hung up.

"What just happened?" Izzy said to himself. Stuff like this wouldn't have happened when he was in the host club. In fact, he wouldn't have met Rina at all if he was still in the host club, because he would have been babysitting his friends instead of being at the mall, where he only had to babysit Mimi. Izzy couldn't picture himself ever returning to the host club, especially when things were finally turning up well for him.

The next day...

"Hmmm...," Tai rubbed his chin. "So...?"

"We only have three days before our yard sale and it's as if we're not even prepared!" TK gasped.

"Uh, we brought all of the stuff we're gonna sell. Isn't that enough?" Rika scoffed.

"You? You didn't even do anything. You had Marcus carry your crap over!" Koji snorted.

"You had Marcus carry your stuff too, you jacka-"

"GUYS! Would it kill you to shut the hell up?!" TK picked a stuffed animal up from a random pile and tried to throw it at Koji, but missed.

"HEY, IS THAT THE LIMITED EDITION PRINCESS DIANA BEANIE BABY?" Davis hollered.

"Hmph, I see he still has his fingers in his ears," Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"WHAT?" Davis yelled. "BY THE WAY, DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER BEANIE BABIES?"

"Ugh, I don't know what I'm gonna do," TK sat down at a chair. "The doctors couldn't take his fingers out, and they said that if Davis couldn't get them out by tomorrow, they might have to do an operation on him."

"What?" Kouichi asked.

"Yeah, they're planning to cut him open so they can get his fingers out. I just want this all to be over. I can only give him so many sponge baths," TK groaned.

"I can take care of this. Operation my ass," Marcus cracked his knuckles.

"What are you going to do?" Rika eagerly asked.

"HEY MARCUS! WHAT'S-UH, WHAT ARE YOU! PLEASE DON'T- OWWWWW! IT HURTS! OWW-oh hey! I can move my arms again! Look at me, oohhhh!" Davis flailed his arms around. "Thank you so much, Marcus! I've never felt so freeeeee!"

"It was nothing," Marcus said.

"Knock knock!"

"Is that my beautiful Kari?" Davis jumped to his feet.

"Don't worry, I'm here too," Zoe blandly said as she and Kari struggled to carry huge boxes in their arms.

"Let me give you a hand with those," Marcus grabbed the big box from Zoe.

"I can help too!" Davis grabbed onto Kari's box.

"No, that's okay. I can take care of it," Kari said, pulling the box closer to herself.

"Alright, enough with that. Give it to me," Marcus swiftly took the box from Kari.

"Hey! That was my box! I was gonna carry it!" Davis whined.

"Alright then. Be my guest," Marcus gave Davis the box.

"Careful," Kari cringed.

"Psh, I got this-whoaaaaaowwwww! My fingers!" Davis screamed. The box was so heavy, it pulled Davis forward and his fingers got crushed underneath the box.

"Nonononono, this cannot be happening!" TK shook his head.

"Relax, Teeks. You're acting as uptight as Izzy!" Tai jokingly said.

"Well, someone has to! Without Sora and Izzy, how is anyone gonna get things done around here? Huh?" TK snapped.

"Blondie's right. It's not natural when Tweedle-dee is our replacement for Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius," Rika snorted.

"Do you ever say anything nice?" Kari stood akimbo in front of Rika.

"When the mood strikes me," Rika shrugged.

"My fingers...," Davis whimpered.

"They're weird-looking, like something familiar. I can't think of what though," Takato frowned.

"Like long, purple mushrooms?" Kouichi tapped his chin.

"They do look like that, but that's not what I'm thinking of," Takato squinted.

"Oh my god, your fingers look like dongs!" Marcus blurted.

"Oh yeah, that's what they look like," Takato nodded.

"You have penis fingers," Koji sneered.

"Look away, my beautiful princess Kari! Your lovely eyes should not be subjected to the vulgarity of my appendages!" Davis shrieked.

"What does it mean if your fingers look like penises?" Tai talked on the phone.

"I think you guys are just trying to be funny with me. First you say that Davis plugged his ears in so deep, his fingers got stuck in the ear canal. Now you're saying he dropped a box on his hands and they look like penises? Where are Sora and Izzy anyways? Doesn't matter, I have to go. I don't have time for these crank calls," Joe said and hung up.

"But Joe...," Tai whined to himself.

"You guys need Sora and Izzy back," Zoe said. "I know, I'm not in your club, but you guys are a mess without them. Kari and I will try to help out as much as we can, but it won't amount to much if you can't even help yourselves."

"She's got a point. We gotta get them to come back," Marcus said.

"But how are we gonna do that?" Mimi whined.

"You guys could try to apologize to them," Zoe said as if were common sense.

"Oh yeah. Why didn't we think of that?" Koji tapped his chin.

"It's common sense," Takato said.

"Maybe that's why we didn't think of it. Because we don't have common sense," Rika snorted.

"Sora and Izzy did the common sense for us. We really need them back," Davis shot his face in the air.

*BAM*

"Ow! Davis, you punched me in the nose!" Kari covered her face with her hands.

"Way to go, dumbass," Koji smirked.

"OH MY GOD, I'M SO SORRY!" Davis gently touched Kari's wrist.

"No, please. Just don't touch me, okay?" Kari stretched her arm out and pushed Davis away.

"I didn't mean to do it! I'm supercalifragisticexpialodociously sorry!" Davis fell to his knees.

"I know. I just don't want you near me for now," Kari whimpered.

"I am really really really really sorry! Please forgive me!" Davis bellowed.

"Uh, let's go. We should get you an ice pack," Zoe put her hand on Kari's back. "We'll see you guys later."

"Alright. Bye," Tai said. After the girls left, everyone turned to Davis and glared at him.

"New rule: Davis, don't touch anything. NOT A THING, got it? Nothing until your fingers stop looking like dicks," TK scolded.

"Okay," Davis slumped.

"Next order of business! We need to get Izzy and Sora back into the club ASAP. I'm thinking we divide and conquer. Tai, since you're the closest friend to Sora, you take care of her. The rest of us will go after Izzy. All of us were total pricks to him, so if all of us show him how sorry we are, maybe that'll make him come back," TK said.

"Wow, TK. I've never seen you take charge like this before. I'm impressed," Tai said.

"Thanks...," TK blushed.

"So, that's our plan for tomorrow?" Mimi dangled a lock of her hair in front of her face.

"It should give us some time to come up with a decent apology," TK said.

"Are you sure? No offense, but it's not like we're the most eloquent people around," Marcus frowned.

"Better tomorrow than if we tried to do it today," TK nodded.

"True," Kouichi nodded.

"You heard the man, divide and conquer!" Davis held his hand up for a fist bump.

"Nuh uh. Put your hand down. We don't need any more of us getting hurt, Penis Fingers," Rika quipped.

"That's right, I forgot," Davis stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground, forlorn.

The next day...

"This is do or die," Tai muttered under his breath. He had rehearsed what he was going to say to Sora since yesterday, that he couldn't even sleep last night. This had to be perfect. "Hey Sora," Tai stuttered. As soon as he spoke, his mind went blank.

"Oh, it's you," she replied coldly.

"Uh...eh...," Tai rubbed his neck.

"What do you want?" Sora huffed.

"Come back to the club!" Tai blurted.

"No way!" Sora yelled.

"Pretty please?" Tai whined. Great, way to sound like a kindergartener, he mentally scolded himself.

"Why should I when all of you are angry with me and calling me names like pizza slut? What is a pizza slut anyways?" Sora crossed her arms.

"I wish I could tell you," Tai shrugged.

"I don't think I want to be a part of the host club anyways. If it's not you brushing off everything I say, then it's the way you guys treat Izzy. I'll admit, I'm just as guilty for not giving Izzy credit where it's due, but I've apologized to him and I'm extremely grateful that he heard me out and forgave me. He's a great friend, but we all took him for granted. If he doesn't go back to the host club, I don't blame him. We were all complete assholes to him," Sora said.

"Hey, me and Izzy are on good terms too! He's my right-hand man!" Tai stood akimbo.

"I wasn't talking about you. It's the rest of the guys who should be going up to Izzy. He might not talk about his feelings much, but it has to hurt him when we're jerks to him. He's just as human as you or I, and the guys need to realize that," Sora said.

"Yeah, I think they're finally starting to get it," Tai nodded.

"Anyways, good luck with the club," Sora slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"Thank- hey! So you're not coming back to the club?!" Tai shrieked.

"Nope. Besides, I've joined another after-school activity," Sora said.

"Are you back on the volleyball team?" Tai asked.

"No...," Sora turned red.

"Then what is it?" Tai raised an eyebrow.

"There you are!" Matt ran up to them and rested his arm on Sora's shoulder. "I've been looking for you everywhere! Tai, was Sora always late when she was in your host club? We can't encourage this bad behavior. You guys might not think so, but band practice is important too!"

"Band...practice?" Tai gasped.

"Yeah. Well what do you want from me? At least in band practice, we can eat Fruit Gushers and drink Capri Suns, and sometimes Jackson's mom brings pizza and Lunchables," Sora defensively said.

"Don't be modest, Sora! You know, this girl is super talented with the electric triangle. It's the perfect addition to our sound without us seeming like we're selling out. That electronic buzzy stuff is all the rage now," Matt winked.

"I can't believe you, Sora...," Tai shook his head.

"I know! The way she struck that electric triangle- just wow! Absolutely beautiful!" Matt put his hands over his heart.

"Well then. I wouldn't want to hold you guys up," Tai pressed his lips together.

"We do make beautiful music together. I'd let you watch, but we like to keep our practices between the bandmates. Keeps it more intimate, you know what I mean?" Matt winked.

"Oh my god, Matt. Just stop talking," Tai groaned.

"Fine. We have to get going anyways. Smell ya later!" Matt flashed him the rock-on sign, and he and Sora walked off.

"Ugh, what does she see in that guy? He's so annoying!" Tai kicked a locker. How was he going to tell the guys he couldn't get Sora back?

Concurrently...

"Ugh, I can't stand how my boyfriend takes even longer to get ready then I do! We like have a reservation at the fancy new seafood bistro and he's like still in the bathroom!"

"Blah blah blah, no me chingas, Clara! Just face the facts, your boyfriend is a maricon!"

"Mooooom, tell Carlotta to stop making fun of my boyfriend!"

"Carlotta, be nice to your sister and leave her gay boyfriend alone!"

"Come pingas, Mom!"

"This language is so confusing. I can't even find most of the words in the dictionary," Izzy pinched the bridge of his nose. He borrowed a Spanish dictionary from the school library so he could understand the show better, but it didn't help much. Spanish probably had to be one of the hardest languages out there.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"Knock knock, anyone home?"

"Davis...," Izzy growled through his teeth.

"Come on, don't pretend you're not home! We can hear the TV!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Izzy huffed and got up from the couch.

"About time! We were waiting outside for like hours," Rika strolled inside.

"What do you guys want?" Izzy grunted.

"Can you please come back to the club? We miss you a lot," TK said.

"And since you've been gone, the club has been a hot mess! We need you back," Davis begged.

"Absolutely not! I am not going to be your fix-it guy anymore, just so you can ditch me again. I'm done with this pattern!" Izzy snapped.

"But we're really sorry," Takato said.

"And me and Rika came here to say we're sorry, and we're probably the biggest unapologetic jerks in the club. Doesn't that account for something?" Koji grunted.

"I take that into consideration, but I'm still not returning. Ever since I've left, my life has been going right for once," Izzy said.

"That's not very nice," Davis pouted.

"Hey, is that Catching up with the Cardozas? I love that show too!" Kouichi sat down on the couch.

"I do not love that show!" Izzy turned red.

"Then why is the TV on at that show?" Mimi teasingly said.

"Because I was flipping through channels when you decided to come over," Izzy pressed his lips together.

"That makes total sense. I can't picture you liking some trashy show like that," Rika snorted.

"But then again, I can't picture Kouichi liking a show like that either," Takato remarked.

"Look, you guys need to go. I don't want to go back to the host club, and that's final," Izzy rubbed his temples.

"Okay...," TK frowned. "You heard him, guys. I guess we should go now."

"Can we wait until commercial break? This is getting good!" Kouichi asked.

"Let's go," Koji tried to pry Kouichi off of the couch, but Kouichi wouldn't budge. "If you don't get up, we're gonna make Davis pick you up."

"But I thought I wasn't allowed to touch anything," Davis said.

"Kouichi will be your exception," Koji said.

"That's okay! I'll get up!" Kouichi sprung up from the couch and ran out of the apartment.

"We're sorry we wasted your time," TK said to Izzy, and led everyone out.

"That was strange," Izzy closed the door after everyone, shook his head, and sat back down on the couch. Izzy hoped that his new favorite TV show wasn't turning him into a pervert, but if he could recall correctly, Davis's swollen fingers kind of looked like stubby penises.

"Did you have any luck yesterday?" TK asked Tai.

"About that...," Tai sheepishly said.

"Don't worry about it. We couldn't get Izzy back either," TK sighed.

"It probably didn't help that Kouichi pretty much went straight for the TV instead of apologizing to Izzy," Koji glared at Kouichi.

"I'm sorry, but it was a new episode!" Kouichi said.

"I think we pissed him off more than anything," Rika shook her head.

"How did you do?" Takato asked Tai.

"Sora isn't here, so...besides, she's in a new club now," Tai said with disdain.

"Wow, someone moved on pretty quickly," Mimi pouted.

"Where did she go?" Marcus asked.

"She's in Matt's stupid band now," Tai baffled his hand into a fist.

"She joined the dark side?!" Davis gasped.

"We really screwed up if she went running off with Matt," Kouichi remarked.

"Don't you think I know that already?" Tai snapped.

"So I guess we're never gonna get those guys back, huh?" Takato frowned.

"You guys are being so negative! I totally know what to do!" Mimi beamed.

"You do?" everyone gasped.

"Hi everyone!" Zoe came in with an artist toolkit and a sketch pad.

"I've got that for you," Marcus grabbed the art supplies and placed them at the table.

"Thanks, that stuff was heavy. Kari was gonna help me out, but she didn't want to show up because she didn't want to get into any more accidents," Zoe glanced at Davis.

"Also, she had to get a splint on her nose. She was doing fine until I made a comment about her nose looking like a beak, so now she doesn't want to leave her room," Tai bit his lip.

"And the World's Best Brother award goes to...," Rika smirked.

"I was just trying to make her laugh. I didn't think she actually cared about her looks, like a certain someone I know," Tai looked at Mimi.

"Guys, I hate to interrupt your...conversation, but we don't even have 24 hours until the yard sale. We haven't even come up with how we're going to arrange the booths, and me and Takato have to bake a bunch of rainbow cookies, so the sooner we get this done, the better," Zoe said.

"She's right. We have a lot of things to do," TK said.

"Do we have to get Sora and Izzy back? Why doesn't Zoe just be in our group?" Mimi whined.

"Yeah, Zoe's awesome!" Davis sat up straight.

"I'm flattered and all, but I'm really not interested in joining your club. It just seems like too much work, and I used to have talent show rehearsals with Yolei," Zoe said.

"Ouch," Koji frowned.

"Sorry," Zoe turned red.

Saturday morning!

"Hmm, I like how we organized everything by price point. It makes it easier for the shoppers to pick out how much they want to spend," Tai nodded in approval.

"We're gonna have the best yard sale ever! Suck it, St. Patrick's Cathedral!" Davis said.

"As long as you don't touch anything," Rika snorted.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Davis frowned.

"Oh crap, we never thought about that," Kouichi pressed his lips together.

"You can...you can...you can just sit there," Tai pointed underneath a tree.

"Okay," Davis trudged over and plopped down on the grass.

"As for the rest of us, let's get get to our stations," Tai clapped his hands and led everyone over to their tables.

"Sorry I'm late," Mimi ran over to them with a huge shopping bag.

"What took you so long? And how come you didn't bring a lot of stuff over?" Tai put his hands on his hips.

"I did bring a lot of stuff. Look," Mimi emptied the shopping bag over a table and a bunch of tiny sweaters fell out.

"So you're only selling American Girl doll clothes?" Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"No! These are my actual clothes! I wore that sweater the other day!" Mimi gasped.

"What happened? How did they become so tiny?" Takato asked.

"I spent all of yesterday night washing the clothes, because that's really gross trying to sell clothes that are dirty, and when I pulled them out of the laundry machines, they turned out tiny!" Mimi cried.

"Do you even know how to do laundry?" Tai made a face.

"No...this was the first time I've done it," Mimi shook her head.

"You're 16 years old and you don't know how to do laundry?" Koji snorted.

"Okay, I get it! I don't know how to do laundry! Stop rubbing it in," Mimi pressed her lips together.

"I'm sorry, but that's just sad!" Davis hollered.

"That is sad when Davis knows how to do something more than you do," Rika smirked.

"I get it, geez!" Mimi said.

"That's not a problem. We'll just have a sign that says they're doll clothes. Besides, I bet a lot of parents will be happy to see them. American Girl clothes sure aren't cheap," Zoe said.

"American Girl anything isn't cheap. I'm just happy Kari never wanted that stuff," Tai said.

"There we go! Crisis averted!" TK said in relief.

"Not yet...," Rika grabbed some duct tape and taped Davis to the tree.

"Good thinking," Davis said.

"I think we're ready for action now. Mimi, get off your phone!"

"Gimme a second," Mimi turned her back to him and continued tapping on her phone.

"MIMI!" Tai yelled.

"Okay, okay, I'm done!" Mimi slipped her phone in her pocket.

Meanwhile...

"Sorry I'm late! I hope I didn't keep you waiting for long!" Rina ran up to Izzy.

"That's okay. I just got here 2 minutes ago. Something came up," Izzy blushed. Something did come up; there was a marathon of Catching Up With The Cardozas and although he had already seen all of those episodes already, he didn't find any harm in watching it over again.

"Izzy, I have to be honest with you," Rina held Izzy's hand.

"What is it?" Izzy gulped.

"So, I would normally lie about why I showed up late, but I feel like I can open up to you," Rina said.

"You do?" Izzy could feel his face turn red.

"Yeah! It's not like you know any of my friends, so I don't care if you know anything about me!" Rina said.

"Oh," Izzy shrugged. He tried to play it cool, but he was partly sad and offended by that statement.

"Come on, I'm just kidding!" Rina poked Izzy's rib. "I'm sorry, you probably think I'm a terrible person! A lot of people don't like my sense of humor, and I can't blame them, I guess. I have this problem of sounding serious when I'm just clowning around. Sorry!"

"That's okay. Mimi's the same way, except I think she's actually serious. So yeah, don't worry about it. I'm used to it. At least now I know you only joke around," Izzy said.

"I'm so happy you understand! I know, I have to fix it but I don't know how," Rina shrugged.

"It's okay. None of us are perfect. I'll admit that I'm very uptight. If you don't believe me, my friends will gladly tell you," Izzy said.

"I'll take your word for it," Rina giggled.

"Uh...so, want to grab a bite to eat?" Izzy asked.

"Sure, but I don't want to go to Palette Town right now," Rina said.

"Huh? But I thought you wanted to meet up here," Izzy looked confused.

"I know...but I changed my mind. Sorry," Rina blushed.

"That's okay. I know a good place we could go for lunch," Izzy said.

"No. I know what I want," Rina led Izzy into a McDonald's.

"McDonald's? But don't you have one in the food court at the mall?" Izzy looked confused.

"I know what I want," Rina sternly repeated.

"Okay. I believe you," Izzy raised his eyebrows.

"What do you want?" Rina asked him.

"Nothing for me," Izzy said.

"Alright. Can I get a cheeseburger, 6-piece chicken nuggets, two sides of medium fries, and two soft drinks?" Rina said to the cashier.

"That'll be $11.84," the cashier said.

"Here you go," Izzy gave the cashier a $20 bill.

"Thank you," Rina blinked. "You didn't have to do that, I didn't mind paying for it."

"And neither do I. However, I am surprised how you could eat this much," Izzy said.

"Who said this was all for me?" Rina flashed him a devious smile.

"Huh?" Izzy was taken aback.

"You're gonna eat too. Take it," Rina handed Izzy a cup.

"You're ridiculous," Izzy shook his head.

"If I didn't trick you into eating, then you wouldn't eat," Rina smirked.

"You're right about that," Izzy said. He didn't want to say it out loud, but Rina was starting to remind Izzy of Mimi and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. When Mimi did something, it irritated Izzy. Yet when Rina did the same thing, Izzy didn't mind. He felt like a hypocrite.

"Fake chicken or fake...this burger couldn't pass for beef even if you fed it to someone who was born without taste buds. Anyways, you want the chicken nuggets or the burger? I like both, so it doesn't matter to me which one you pick," Rina said.

"Uh, I guess I'll pick the chicken," Izzy made a face. He wasn't too fond of McDonald's, but he was getting hungry.

"Awesome! Sit, sit!" Rina led him to a table. "Isn't it funny? I'm eating a burger while we're sitting on burger-shaped chairs?"

"I guess...," Izzy winced. "I'm gonna sound like Mimi right now, but this place is so ugly, I can't even eat here. This is what nightmares are made out of."

"We don't have to eat here. In fact, I'd rather take it to go anyways!" Rina grabbed two paper bags and dumped the food in there. "Why don't we eat in the park?"

"Um, okay...," Izzy said.

"How about this park?" Izzy pointed across the street.

"Nah. There's too much grass," Rina shook her head.

"Alright...," Izzy said. The more time he spent with Rina, the more eccentric he found her.

"Let's keep walking!" Rina said as she ate out of her paper bag.

"There's that park straight ahead," Izzy suggested after they walked six blocks further.

"No, there's a playground," Rina said in disgust.

"We don't have to go on the playground," Izzy looked at her quizzically.

"I know, but I don't like it," Rina shook her head.

"We should pick a place soon. The food's going to get cold," Izzy said.

"I already finished. I was really hungry," Rina blushed.

"That's okay," Izzy said. "Do you still want to go to the park then?"

"Yeah! I know this great park, and it's a couple of blocks this way!" Rina tugged Izzy to another street.

"How do you know about any parks when you said you haven't been to Odaiba in years?" Izzy asked as he let Rina lead him down random streets.

"You ask too many questions!" Rina laughed. "Now hurry up before the light turns red!"

"Why do you want to go to that park? Look at all the people here anyways, it looks so crowded," Izzy made a face.

"Trust me!" Rina said as she dragged him further into the crowd.

"IZZY! You made it!" Davis beamed.

"Nuh uh! I don't want to be here!" Izzy yelled.

"Sorry, but you're not going anywhere!" Rina grabbed his wrist.

"Please let go," Izzy said.

"Not until you hear what your friends have to say. They asked me to bring you over," Rina said.

"How? How did you get each other's numbers anyways?" Izzy gasped.

"I might have went through your phone and copied Rina's number," Mimi smiled.

"Why would you do something like that?" Izzy looked astonished.

"You were mad at us, so we decided if you weren't gonna listen to us, we thought Rina would make you do it," Mimi said.

"In our defense, we didn't know Mimi did anything until now," TK said.

"As you can see, if Mimi came up with a clever plan to trick you into coming here, we definitely want you back," Rika said.

"And we're really sorry for taking you for granted. You're a really important part of the host club. We're nothing without you," Kouichi said.

"Really? Because it seems like you're doing very well without me. You pulled off a yard sale without any of my help," Izzy crossed his arms.

"Yeah, but it wouldn't have been possible without Zoe, Kari, and Joe. We were like chickens running around without heads," TK said.

"Besides, without you, how is Marcus going to go back to his family? His fate depends on this club," Takato asked.

"I alread-"

"Before you say anything else, we have a little apology gift for you," Mimi handed him a small box.

"Uh...," Izzy turned red.

"When we had enough money, we ran off to the store to get you something," Tai said.

"We hope you like it. Mimi picked it out," TK said.

"And I went with her to make sure she didn't spend money on anything else," Tai glared at Mimi. "She did a good job."

"Just open it already," Koji grunted.

"Wow. I don't know what to say," Izzy opened the box.

"It's a beautiful watch," Rina said.

"I figured it would be like so much better than your ugly calculator watch. If you ask me, I say good riddance to that horrendeous watch," Mimi said.

"This isn't a cheap watch either," Izzy said in awe.

"And again, we're really sorry we treated you like crap. You're a great president," Kouichi said.

"So how about it? Come back to the club?" Davis asked.

"They really do seem to care about you," Rina said.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but...," Izzy took in a deep breath. "Yes. I'll be president again."

"Yayyyyy!" everyone yelled in unison.

"We're glad to have you back," Takato said.

"And now I'm free as a bird! I don't know how you do this," Zoe said to Izzy.

"Honestly, I don't know how I do it either," Izzy said. "Thanks for your help, Zoe."

"You're welcome," Zoe said.

"TAI!" Kari ran up to Tai and started crying.

"Kari! What happened?" Tai wiped her tears.

"I went to take Miko out for a walk, and look!" Kari held up her cat. It was shaved everywhere, except for a couple of patches that made it seem like it was wearing a bikini.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Rika and Koji burst into laughter. Everyone else politely tried to hold it in.

"Sorry, but you look so funny right now. You kinda look like a bird with the nose cast and let's not even talk about the cat," Rika cleared her throat.

"I know...," Kari cried.

"Did you try to give Miko a trim?" Tai asked.

"N-n-n-no. I saw him like this today," Kari said. "I asked Mom if she did anything to Miko, but she didn't even realize we still had Miko. She thought he died a long time ago."

"Mom has problems," Tai said.

"She did raise you," Kojij muttered under his breath.

"If that wasn't weird enough, look!" Kari handed Tai the cat. She pulled a Ziplock bag of cat hair out of her purse. "There's a ransom note inside too."

"What the heck?" Tai handed the cat to TK and opened the letter. "You got what's coming to you, Kamiya."

"Who would want to shave your cat though? That's really weird," Kouichi asked.

"I think I know who might have done it...," Tai growled.