A/N: I live! My roomate (in college) is letting me use her computer to do stuff, so of course I had to finally update Average Life! I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter so please comment! I freaking love receiving all the feedback from you guys! Thank you all for reading and for waiting! 3


"You really didn't have to come to the store with me Maiko." Haruhi said, looking over at the older girl walking cheerfully next to her. Both girls were holding bags from the local market.

Maiko rolled her eyes and playfully bumped into Haruhi's arm. "If I'm going to stay at your house tonight it's the least I could do."

"You could have at least let me buy it all." Haruhi said.

"You made me split the price with you!" Maiko complained. She had money and she wanted to spoil her friends with it, not that Haruhi or Hana would ever let her.

"That was some sale though!" Haruhi basically sighed as she said it, causing Maiko to let out a small laugh. The two girls then walked together in silence, simply enjoying the nice weather outside. It was then that Maiko noticed.

"Hey Haru, is this normal at your place?" Maiko asked, gesturing towards the crowd of people out front. They seemed like they were looking at a car but Maiko couldn't be sure from the distance they were currently at.

Haruhi slowly shook her head, "No, I wonder what everyone's looking at? I hope it isn't a problem with the apartments." She had a worried look on her face and so the girls sped up their pace slightly, just trying to get a better view.

The two froze when the whole of the Host Club began to climb out of the car, which now that they were closer Maiko could easily tell it wasn't just a car, but a limo.

"Can we go back to the store." Haruhi said lowly, not taking her eyes off the attention seekers.

"I think they'd just freak out and camp out at your door." Maiko responded, confused on why the Host's were even here.

"Remember men!" Tamaki shouted, causing Maiko and Haruhi to look in his direction. He had the other Host's in a type of circle up and was talking to them sternly. "Now don't forget that this is a casual 'we were in the neighborhood' visit. We're not here to judge the Fujioka family's lifestyle!" Maiko looked over at Haruhi to see her growing anger.

"The words Shabby, cramped, or run down are absolutely not allowed to be said! Don't say anything that might offend Haruhi or her father!" Tamaki continued on.

Maiko glanced at Haruhi before sighing, figuring she should at least make Tamaki quit while he was ahead. "I think you already offended her. Jeez Tamaki, showing up at a ladies house unannounced, how rude." Maiko said jokingly, popping her head up into the circle of boys.

"Maiko!" Tamaki visibly jumped at the sight of her randomly appearing. "How did you know we were here? We tried calling you but you didn't answer."

"Oh whoops, I left my phone inside." Maiko shrugged and walked back over to a fuming Haruhi. "Anyways you guys should have asked Haruhi before just showing up."

"Well you just showed up." Hikaru shot back causing Maiko to look at him, trying to gauge if he was being serious or not.

Maiko looked from Hikaru and to the shopping bags that were still in both her and Haruhi's arms. "Hikaru….you're kidding right?"

"Get the hell out of here!" Haruhi said to Tamaki, shaking with anger. Maiko decided she was just going to pretend she didn't notice Hikaru's lasp of thought process skills and would instead pay attention to the second mess in the area.

Tamaki went pale, a horror stricken grimace crossing his face before he turned to the twins, "Haruhi's so mad she actually cursed at us!" He screamed and cried at the other two boys, who just leaned away from him and avoided his eyesight.

"Uh excuse me Haruhi, Maiko, is everything alright?" An older woman had walked up to the two girls. She was wearing a lavender turtleneck and had short wispy brown hair. Her eyes only showed her worry as Tamaki continued to have his self induced meltdown a few feet away.

Haruhi jumped slightly at the new voice before turning and seeing who it was. "Oh, hello ."

"Her name is ," Maiko said, sighing over Haruhi's obliviousness. "Anyways we're fine! We go to school with these guys!"

Tamaki pushed Haruhi and Maiko out of the way and instantly charmed , causing Haruhi to sigh for the seemingly endless time. "He's got her."

"You might as well just let them get a look and then leave. They're interrupting our girl time." Maiko said, crossing her arms, which was slightly difficult to do since she still had the shopping bags.

Haruhi looked at Maiko in confusion, "What do you mean girl time? We're just studying together?"

"You're so cute when you play dumb." Maiko said, shaking her head at Haruhi before walking up the stairs to Haruhi's apartment, causing the others to instantly follow.

"Okay, one quick peek, three seconds and then everyone but Maiko leaves." Haruhi said, unlocking the door to her apartment.

Honey-senpai popped up next to Haruhi holding a blue box with a pink bow and green ribbons around it. On the box it said.' Luxury Confectionaries'. "Look Haru-chan, Mai-chan, I know how much you love cake!" His flowery aura was surrounding him as he smiled, slowly breaking down Maiko's resolve. He continued to talk as Haruhi spun around.

"Fine, I guess I'll make some tea." Then the door opened.

The Host's all sat there in a silent pause as Maiko pushed past them, sliding her shoes off and making her way to the kitchen, truthfully she just wanted the bags off her arms.

"What a hovel." Hikaru said, a look of disgust on his face as Tamaki turned and screamed.

Kyouya pushed up his glasses, "It's a two bedroom unit. That's normal for a commoner family of two."

"Haruhi is such a pipsqueak, at least we know she won't hit her head on the low ceilings." Kaoru said, looking bored.

Honey smiled widely at the room, "Well I think it's a super cute little room!"

"You don't have to struggle to compliment it." Haruhi deadpanned, walking over to the kitchen where Maiko currently was. It was then that Honey's attention was focused on the two pairs of shoes at the door.

"Hold on, do we have to take off our shoes too?" He asked, pointing over towards where both Maiko and Haruhi already had.

Maiko nodded her head as Haruhi verbally confirmed it.

"Do you hear that Takashi? We have to take our shoes off!" Honey then smiled brightly at his cousin. "It's kind of like being at the dojo, huh?"

"Yeah." Mori said, causing Maiko to snap her head over towards her senpai. If Mori noticed her reaction then he didn't show it, but Maiko couldn't help narrowing her eyes at his smug expression.

'Jerk, he should just talk more.' Maiko thought to herself as the boys began to walk into the room, she chose to attempt to block out the twin's complaining. Maiko then walked into the living room where all of the boys were sitting close together with their knees tucked into their bodies.

"You guys are weird." Maiko said bluntly, looking over at Haruhi and seeing her growing anger.

"How come you seem so comfortable here Mai-chan? Isn't this uncomfortable for you too?" Honey asked. Maiko tilted her head to the side and tried to figure out what he meant.

"Yeah you're rich too yet you seem perfectly content being in this hovel." Hikaru said rather rudely, causing Maiko to get a little annoyed for Haruhi's sake.

Maiko looked at all of the boys, all of them wearing expectant looks. She reached up and tuck a strand of her hair behind her ears while sighing loudly at them. "You guys are all acting pretty stuck up right now." Tamaki opened his mouth to say something but Maiko just shot him a bored expression.

"I know we're all rich but this is how a lot of the workers at our families companies live. It isn't something that you guys should belittle just because our parents happen to be the owners or the CEO's of our respective businesses. If we can't empathize with how a majority of our workers exist then none of us have any right to eventually take over the business," Maiko paused and then shook her head, :actually it's not that we won't have the right, it's that we don't deserve to." Maiko stretched and clapped her hands together before standing up. "'I'm gonna go help her make whatever tea Hikaru threw her way, so behave."

"Haruhi, Maiko, you guys don't have to make the tea! Honestly we'll all be fine with just a glass of water." Kaoru called out weakly. Maiko tilted her head, wondering just what they could have been talking about after she left them.

"But we already made it?" Haruhi said, looking at the boys in pure confusion. She then looked at Maiko who shrugged.

Haruhi (with the help of Maiko) began to slowly set the tea out on the brown table in the living room. "Okay guys the tea's ready. Sorry that not all the cups match."

"You could always just let me buy you guys a full set." Maiko said pouting, knowing that she already was going to end up losing the argument before it's even begun.

Haurhi shot her a look, "I already told you that you're not allowed to buy me stuff."

Maiko pouted, causing Kaoru to let out a small laugh. Maiko looked over at him as he shot her a wink, causing her to remember the night at the hotel and a bright red blush to fill her cheeks. She quickly looked out, blocking out the conversation around her.

Suddenly a piece of chocolate cake was sat down in front of her, causing her to snap out of it and look up. Mori was sliding his strawberries between the two girls. "You both like strawberries right? You can have mine."

"That's nice of you Mori-senpai!" Haruhi chimed, smiling brightly with a faint blush.

Maiko just looked at the cake and then up at him, "This is literally the most I've heard you talk in one single day." She said, looking at him in awe while he just smiled and laughed quietly.

"WAHH!" Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru suddenly shouted, causing a scene while crying. Maiko just looked at them a little in confusion but also a little in disgust while she began to munch on her slice of cake.

"Ah! Eating all that cake sure wet my appetite." Honey said, leaning away from the table to stretch.

Hikaru nodded, "Yeah isn't it about lunch time right now?"

"We'll take care of it, we did drop by unexpectedly after all. Go ahead and order sushi from your favorite place." Kyouya said standing up.

Haruhi quickly made her way over to him, catching Maiko's attention. "Thanks but no thanks. I know that if I let you guys pay I'll just end up regretting it later."

"It's no problem Haruhi. We'll pay using the photos of you that we auctioned off." He flashed a golden credit card.

Haruhi cringed, "So I'm really paying for it after all." She muttered.

"Haruhi I can-" Maiko was cut off by Haruhi putting her hand over her mouth.

"You're not buying food." Haruhi deadpanned, shaking her head at Maiko while she pouted. "Anyways, if you guys want sushi I have a friend who sells some. It's actually pretty high quality stuff."

Tamaki gasped and began to write something, catching the attention of the twins and the newly freed Maiko. He then handed his note over to Haruhi to read.

"Be careful Haruhi, just because the sushi's packaging says it's high quality doesn't mean that it actually is." She read aloud before crumpling up the note and then throwing it into the trash. She glanced back towards Tamaki and glared, "I'm not stupid, I could figure that out on my own."

As Tamaki cried Honey decided to strike, "You know, I would really love to try something that you cooked for us Haru-chan!"

"No Honey-senpai! How could you ask that of her!" The twins both shouted, despair clearly on their faces as if they had just personally attacked Haruhi.

"I guess I could whip something up but it's going to take me some time." Haruhi said, thinking while Honey cheered. "I'm going to have to go to the supermarket again."

"We're coming with you!" Hikaru exclaimed.

Kaoru nodded his head, "Yeah we wanna go too!"

"Me too, me too!" Honey cheered.

Kyouya nodded as well, "This could be a learning experience."

All of the boys except for Tamaki ran out of the apartment, leaving just Haruhi, Maiko, and Tamaki.

"Hey Haruhi, is it okay if I hang back here? I'm afraid that I'm still a little tired from us going out earlier." Maiko said, looking a little embarrassed.

Haruhi smiled at her friend, "It's okay you're not used to having to do this kind of stuff. Can you let my dad know where I went if he comes home early?"

Maiko nodded her head and smiled, laying down on the floor sprawled out. Haruhi shook her head at Maiko's antics and went to find Tamaki, who Maiko already knew was paying his respects to Haruhi's mom (Maiko had pointed out where the shine was to him).

"We should probably get going don't you think?" Maiko heard Tamaki say before screaming filled the apartment. She sat up in surprise and ran to the little privacy corner of the room to see Tamaki on top of Haruhi. Maiko's eyes widened before a new voice suddenly filled the room.

"I'm home Haruhi, Maiko!" Haruhi's dad said, running in through the open door and twirling for effect. "Why did you two leave the door open?" It was then that he processed the scene.

Tamaki currently had Haruhi pinned to the floor, blushes on both of their faces while Maiko was just standing in shock, looking between the two and to Haruhi's dad. Maiko quickly threw a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at the poor shock that filled his face.

"Welcome home dad." Haruhi said as if there wasn't anything interesting to the situation. It was then that Maiko lost it, her laughter could easily be heard outside of the apartment, causing the other boys to look back in. "How was work?"

"Hello again Ranka." Maiko snorted, trying to calm herself down. "Would you like to sit down?"

Ranka continued to be frozen before smiling warmly at the two girls. He quickly walked over to Haruhi and threw Tamaki against the wall. "I'm sorry girls! I hated having to leave you two alone last night."

Haruhi looked at her father with wide eyes as Maiko lost it all over again, laughing even louder. "T-That's alright dad we were fine, but that sound, he hit really hard."

"Oh dear, my left arm has been bothering me lately, it's so sore like I went hand to hand with some ferocious beast!" Ranka said, rubbing his shoulder.

Maiko walked over to the father-daughter duo. "Well as fun as this is, you probably shouldn't go throwing people into walls Ranka."

"So this is the Host club I've heard so much about! I can't even decide who I like best! What about you girls? How about you boys go ahead and call me Ranka? It's my professional name!"

"By professional name do you mean like a stage name?" Honey asked.

Ranka nodded his head, "Exactly like that Mitsukuni!"

"How did you know my name, sir!?" Honey said in surprise.

Ranka smiled, "You two are third years Takashi Morinozuka and Mitsukuni Huninozuka." He pointed at the two of them, causing Honey to gasp in shock. "And you two are both in Haruhi's house, the Hitachiin brothers Hikaru and Kaoru, but I'm afraid that I can't tell which is which."

Kaoru looked shocked before letting his eyes glide over Maiko's frame, "Did Maiko talk about us?"

Ranka looked at the Hitachiin boy in curiosity, before glancing over at the girl in question, 'interesting' he thought to himself. "Nope, Kyouya told me all about you guys over the phone!"

"You truly are a beautiful person, Ranka." Kyouya said, smiling at the man.

All of the Host club gasped in confusion while Maiko raised an eyebrow at the scene.

"Kyouya?" Tamaki questioned, looking at his vice president.

Kyouya simply smiled, "We've been entrusted with his daughter, it is only natural that we introduce ourselves and give him our reports. Though normally that would have been your job, right?" Kyouya then took a sip of the tea that was made earlier.

"I'm impressed that the club has such a capable president, oh wait but you're just the vice president aren't you? I guess that president of yours is truly a good for nothing." Ranka just continued to sing praise for Kyouya but to also hurl sharp insults at Tamaki, honestly Maiko was a little impressed by the amount of multitasking that was happening.

"You never told me you were talking to Kyouya-senpai dad! Why didn't you say you've been getting calls from Kyouya-senpai?!" Haruhi yelled

Ranka pouted, "What am I supposed to do? You rarely tell me anything about school!" he whined.

"So that makes it okay to talk behind my back?" She shouted. Maiko frowned and walked over to Haruhi as she yelled at Tamaki for doing something.

Maiko put a hand on Haruhi's shoulder right as she had pulled herself away from her dad. "Hey, let's go to the store now."

Haruhi nodded, not putting up a fight. "I'm going to the supermarket and I just want to go with Maiko. So all of you just stay here and try to behave yourselves." With that the two girls walked out the door, ignoring the shouts of Hikaru.

"Are you really okay?" Maiko asked once they had started down the street.

Haruhi sighed and slumped her shoulders, "Yeah, my dad is just really exhausting and it wasn't cool of Kyouya-senpai to go around talking about me behind my back."

"You know they just do it because they're worried about you, right?" Maiko asked, walking with her hands folded behind her neck.

Haruhi tilted her head, "Why would they be worried? It's not like talking to my dad has anything to do with paying back my debt."

"Haruhi," Maiko paused, lowering her arms and looking over at her friend, "are you playing dumb again? They all care about you a ton, your guests included." Maiko said with a wink.

Haruhi looked frustrated, "But why would they care?"

"You're their 'secret princess', admit it you like being around them." Maiko said.

Haruhi looked at her with a deadpan, "I would hardly say I like it."

"Then let me pay off your debt."

Haruhi stopped dead in her tracks. "What?"

"I said, if you really don't like hanging around them then let me pay off your debt, then you're free to quit the club and pursue your own things." Maiko shot back, the look in her eyes showed that she wasn't joking around like usual and was being deadly serious.

Haruhi looked at her for a few seconds, neither one moving.

Silence.

"Let's just hurry to the store before they destroy your house." Maiko said, relaxing and shooting a smile at her friend, afterall, her silence said enough on the matter.