A/N: Don't own OHSHC. Thank you for continuing to read and a special thank you to Shadow Spears, Hikaru Kaoru plus Haruhi and Misa241098 for their reviews. I hope you enjoy chapter twenty-nine!

New A/N 12.2017: I recently rewrote this story to change an important element in Caine's backstory that I wasn't satisfied with. I hope you all are as content with the change as I am and continue to read and review my story.

Last of the A/Ns: Trigger warning for a short incident of violence/bullying.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: An Unwelcome Reminder

Both Kyoya and Caine found themselves struggling to focus on their lessons the following day at school. Before, they had always been pleased to be seated next to someone with whom they felt connected, but now, each wished that they might, at least for a little while, sit apart. It was all too easy to while away their class time not by studying, as they should have done, but by exchanging secret glances at one another. They couldn't even converse normally like they had, neither knowing how they could move to casual topics of shared interest from the words of the day before. So there they sat, neither able to spend their time on class nor truly on each other, the motion of their relationship forced into a pause.

So when it was time for host club, they felt relieved. Here, at least, they would be forced to be separated, and then perhaps they could focus on things other than each other.

Kyoya could see the knowledge of what had happened the night before in Haruhi's eyes the moment she beheld them, but clearly Caine's belief that they could trust her to keep quiet was well-founded, for she only smiled secretively when she saw them arrive together. And his hypothesis concerning the rest of the club held up too, none of the others showing any awareness that anything had changed between the two friends.

"Today is Special Sweet Day!" cried Honey, running up to Caine. Kyoya was fairly certain it was something the golden-haired senpai had made up as an excuse to get new flavors of cake, but he wasn't opposed to it–Honey's happiness was contagious, infecting guests and hosts alike. At his side, Caine smiled down at the cute host, and Kyoya felt his heart skip a beat. That was right, the silver-haired boy had a sweet tooth too, though not one to rival Honey's (no one could rival Honey's sweet tooth). He felt a sudden rush of gratitude to Honey for choosing today as his 'Special Sweet Day', as he called it.

Caine departed Kyoya's side, following Honey to where the boy had arranged a selection of the newest cakes. Behind Kyoya, the doors opened, and the guests arrived for another day of thoughtless flirtation.

Caine sat down with Honey and Mori, glad the child-like host had provided him with an obvious distraction from his thoughts of Kyoya. The cake was excellent; Honey, despite loving any and all sweets, had a discerning palate and had chosen the best of the new cakes created this season. There was a blue-dyed cocoa-free version of red velvet cake, a light as air raspberry chiffon cake, a mouth-watering chocolate lava cake doused heavily in chocolate syrup: he could hardly decide which to eat first. His guests, arriving, were full of suggestions.

"Oh, I think the raspberry cake would be the best," said Ayatome, happy to make a comment unlikely to trip her up.

"That blue cake looks pretty cool," Tsukamari countered, always ready to choose the most avant-garde option.

"Which cake is your favorite, Caine-senpai?" asked Hayakuza shyly.

"Yes," came the darkly-tinted voice of Honome, sending shivers down the spines of all of Caine's guests, and chilling the blood of the host himself. "Which cake is your favorite?"

It was at that moment that Mira arrived at Host Club. She had been detained by a teacher to discuss a few scholarly matters, not knowing her late arrival would spell disaster for her twin. For the moment Mira walked in the door, Caine looked up, partly at the sound of the noise, out of place among the sounds of clinking glasses and forks, and pleasant conversation. But if it had been any other than his sister who entered, he would have immediately looked away, and paid Honome the attention she felt she deserved. Instead, he got to his feet immediately.

"Mira!" he called, giving his twin a wave, "come, have some cake!" Mira didn't have quite as much of a sweet tooth as Caine, but she still enjoyed sweets, and Caine was well aware she would scarcely miss a chance to try a new flavor of cake.

"Caine!" criticized Honome, dropping the honorific in her anger at his actions. "We are your guests, not her! Pay attention!"

"Why would you say that?" Tanaka said in a shocked whisper, and moment later, Caine turned to his angry guest and repeated her words.

"Why would you say that?" he said, his voice as critical as his accuser's. "Mira is a guest of the Host Club just as much as you are."

A furious look flamed onto Honome's face, causing her usually pretty features to contort into a mask made hideous by her anger.

"Why are you so obsessed with her?" she shouted, jumping to her feet, enraged.

There was a loud crack as Honome's hand made contact with Mira's face, but it was not loud enough to drown out Honome's gasp as she realized what she had inadvertently done. The eyes of everyone in the room were glued to where Mira stood between Caine and Honome, having taken the slap meant for Caine across her own face.

"Don't you ever touch him again," said Mira in a truly threatening voice. Kyoya, who had gotten to his feet ready to rush to Caine when he heard the slap, heard the strength of their twin-bond in her voice and a shiver ran down his spine.

Whispers rushed around the host club–can you believe it, she struck Mira-sama, doesn't she know what family Mira-sama is from?

The other hosts came together as a unit, a single mission in mind.

"You dared to lay a hand upon a fellow guest," declared Kaoru coldly.

"We're going to have to ask you to leave," added Honey, his voice carrying a rare serious tone.

"If you can't treat your fellow guests with respect, then you don't belong in Host Club," Kyoya said, sealing Honome's banishment. His voice was clear and firm, but beneath the surface, he was shaking with fear at the thought of his beloved friend being injured.

Mori took Honome by the arm to escort her out of the room, but instead, she pulled away from him and fled. Everyone's eyes followed her exit.

"Psh, I can't believe any lady, and especially a guest of ours, would ever hit someone," Hikaru criticized dismissively.

"She's no lady, and certainly no guest of ours," Tamaki added imperiously.

Mira stepped gingerly away from Caine, and finally everyone looked away from the door and at the duo who had been assaulted. Behind Mira, whose face bore a red mark, Caine was hunched, his eyes shut tight and his arms protectively covering his head. Kyoya's stomach descended to depths he had not thought possible as he remembered what Caine had told him about being bullied in Kyoto and he started imagining scenes of cruel classmates hurting the boy. Before Mira could fully reveal her brother to the onlookers, she reached back and gently touched Caine's elbow. Feeling his twin's touch, Caine snapped out of whatever had engulfed his mind and put his arms down, although he still looked unsettled.

"I'm sorry ladies, but I think Caine is done for today," Mira told Caine's guests.

"Is he alright? Are you?" the guests asked. The twins each gave a little nod to appease them, then Caine got up and walked into the dressing room. Mira walked with him, and at the door she gave the room one last once over, then disappeared to join him.

The moment the two were out of the room everyone descended into whispered commentary of what had just happened. Disbelief at Honome's actions, admiration at Mira and the hosts' quick reaction. Kyoya was forcing himself to stay still, to not rush to Caine's side, when he caught Haruhi's eyes. Written in them plainly for him to see was her message. Hurry up.

He got up, excusing himself to his guests. He had to go check on the silver-haired boy, he told them, it was his responsibility. They nodded, understanding: they knew he was more the manager of the club than Tamaki was.

Kyoya made his way over to the dressing room Mira had ushered Caine into, opening the door and slipping in. He could hear Mira speaking softly to her brother, and he listened in before approaching them.
"Do you want me to do anything for you?" she was asking. Kyoya knew the phrase; it had an unspoken to her in the middle.

"No," her twin replied, his voice only a whisper. Kyoya had to strain to hear him. "It's not right to return cruelty and violence with more of the same. And besides, it's not worth it. She'll figure out sooner or later she won't get far if she treats people like that."

The raven-haired boy smiled to hear Caine's words. They showed a wisdom he knew the boy had gotten through painful experience, and he was glad to hear Caine was not to disturbed by his guest's unforgivable rudeness. Although he definitely planned to show Caine's guest the consequences of her actions soon enough–his mind was already plotting his revenge.

"Are you okay?" he asked, making his presence known to the twins.

"Kyoya!" Caine exclaimed, his worried face breaking into a smile. Mira's eyes danced between the two boys, and she got to her feet from where she had been kneeling next to Caine's chair.

"I leave him in your capable hands, Kyoya-san," she said mysteriously, leaving the two alone in the dressing room.

"I'm alright," Caine answered when his twin had gone. "It was just an unwelcome reminder of my past, that's all."

"I'll never let anything like that ever happen in here again," Kyoya vowed. "This is one too many." Caine looked confused, so Kyoya continued. "At the beginning of the year, when Haruhi joined, one of Tamaki's regulars, a girl who was, frankly, obsessed with her own social status, threw Haruhi's bag into the pond and then tried to imply Haruhi was harassing her. It was obviously a lie, of course, so we removed her from the club, and I thought that that taint had been removed. It seems I was wrong."

"Honestly, it's not that surprising," Caine replied. "There are always going to be people out there, regardless of their social standing, who think the world revolves around them. Who expect to be paid the most attention by anyone around them. I only reacted the way I did because I… had a flashback to Kyoto."

Kyoya made his way across the room and put his hand comfortingly on his friend's shoulder. Sighing, Caine reached up and cover the glasses-clad boy's hand with his own. It was warm, and Kyoya felt Caine might be comforting him more than he was comforting the silver-haired boy.

"That's behind you now," he said simply.

"I know," Caine responded, "but still, thank you."

They were sitting there in silence when the door slammed open and the voice of an overly loud blond boy could be heard through the changing room curtain.

"Caine! Are you okay!" he cried, anguished. Caine and Kyoya sprang apart, which is to say they removed their hands from Caine's shoulder and Kyoya shifted away a few inches.

"Yes, Tamaki, I'm fine," Caine answered, rising from his chair as the enthusiastic host burst through the curtain.

"Daddy was so worried!"

Caine and Kyoya rolled their eyes simultaneously. They heard the door open again and, in the distance, Haruhi's eyes rolling along with theirs.

"Nothing to worry about," Caine assured Tamaki. "It was just a bit of a shock."

Tamaki didn't look convinced, but, not wanting to press Caine further, and, perhaps, motivated by the arrival of Haruhi beside him, he left the silver-haired boy alone. Next through the curtain came Honey and Mori, Honey repeating the message of concern and Mori bearing a consoling piece of cake. Even the twins appeared, commenting unanimously that they were "disgusted by that girl", and that "as long as Caine was okay, that was good".

Caine looked fondly at the assembled hosts, gladdened by their display of caring, and quickly came to a decision.