lumigo akvo9504: I know right? I was gushing about them myself while I was writing it hahahaha. Thanks for the rating, though I'm not sure I wanna know how you got that test labs...

foxchic1: Well, I can't tell you that, 'cuz I don't really like spoilers so... yeah, sorry not sorry.

This chapter, as I warned you before, is coming strong about that weird thing people usually have, I think they're called feelings. I know, I'm new with the term too, as I am kind of a 'socially selective' person, which translates in 'I don't like most people 'cause I think they're like too intense and sometimes annoying, and thus I usually spend my time reading, writing, watching Nexflix and hanging out with the few people I do like'. I know, my like is just so interesting...

Anyways, that's all for now. Hope you like this!

Patolemus.

"So that was awkward." said Nagisa, finally in the safeness of Karma's room. "You alright, though? I know you don't like this place." 'especially when your parents are home'. She didn't say it, but the sentiment was clear.

The redhead was sitting on his enormous bed, hugging his legs, looking down. He didn't seem like he heard her, but Nagisa let him process what she just said. Karma was a bit shaken up, as he didn't really had good memories of that house—or if one was being grammatically accurate, mansion—. He was always lonely living there, it was a cold, lifeless place. There was no way he could ever consider that mansion a home, and that was the reason he moved out in his second year of middle school. He had the money, and he didn't need no one to help him survive. If he did need one, he could always go to Nagisa's to steal food.

Even so, when the strange occasion of his parents showing up in Japan for more than an hour or so happened, Karma was forced to go back there for dinner or something of that kind, and he didn't like it one bit, as his relationship with his parents wasn't the best either—understatement of the century, in Nagisa's opinion—. That was why Nagisa was needed, she was the one that kept him sane through the awkward conversations and attempts of talking his parents made, or his mother, for that matter. Mister Akabane was as interested in Karma's like as Karma was in his. Misses Akabane on the other hand, always worried, and called as often as she could. That meant Karma got a call from her once a couple of months or so. She seemed to like Nagisa, so she never minded when she came with Karma to their dinner plans.

In the end, the redhead finally looked at her smiling a bit, trying to be reassuring. It didn't work that much—which means he failed miserably—, but the bluenette let it slide.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Tomorrow they'll be gone by the time we're waking up, and I'll be able to go back to my place, or your place, so everything's fine. Thanks for staying here tonight, though. I hate this place." he said, and Nagisa smiled too, sitting next to him, giving him a hug, that she knew he needed.

"I know, Karma." she whispered, and they stayed like that for a moment, before Nagisa pulled away. "C'mon, let's sleep. You promised you'd be taking me to school tomorrow."

And with that they both changed into their pajamas, in Nagisa's case some of Karma's clothes that he would never get back, as it happened every time Nagisa borrowed cloths from some of the guys in the 3-E. They were used to it by now, and there was nothing they could do even if it bothered them.

"Y'know? Maybe next time your parents show up you should bring Shuu instead. I'm sure Rusu-san would be delighted if you introduced him." she said in the middle of the dark. In return, she got hit a pillow on the head. She didn't returned it, but laughed instead, as she knew she was right, and Karma knew it too.

Mitsukuni was lying on his bed, thinking. Takashi had already left for the day, and Mitsukuni wouldn't see him until the next morning, when his cousin came to wake him up like he did every morning. It was ok, he knew Takashi had his own matters to attend, even if his mayor priority was, and always would, be there for Mitsukuni all the time in case he was needed. Not that Mitsukuni cared, he enjoyed his time with Takashi as much as his cousin did.

But now that he was alone, with only Usa-chan to make him company, Mitsukuni was able to think. Not about his usual blabbering, or his childish tendencies, but something a little bit more important than that. The senior's head was filled with thoughts of a girl, and not any girl. Nagisa was pretty special, and not just for Mitsukuni. The bluenette was noticed wherever she went, being because of her blue hair, or her personality. She was captivating in a unique way, and Mitsukuni wasn't exempt of it, no sir.

It took some time for him to realize it, but by now the Haninozuka heir was pretty sure he had caught feelings for Shiota Nagisa. If not love, at least attraction. He wasn't as innocent as he looked, and his mind worked the same way as any other eighteen-year-old teenager. So yes, we could say Mitsukuni was well aware of his likeness towards Nagisa. But until some days ago, when those Lobelia girls appeared and tried to snap Nagisa away from him, the blond never actually thought about it as any more than that, and attraction, or as some would call it, a crush. He surely had a crush on Nagisa, even if it was more of a sexual one. Or that was before, as now Mitsukuni was starting to realize maybe it was more than just that.

'I like her. I do, right?' he wasn't sure, as he had never felt that kind of thing before to compare. Was it love? Or it was just a phase? He really liked to spend time with her, even if it was doing things he wouldn't normally like. Nagisa made them entertaining just with her presence. And when she smiled at him, his heart skipped a bit or two, because he knew that smile was just meant for him and no one else. The blond also found a great satisfaction in the fact that she seemed to be nicer with him, as if she liked him better than other people. It made him want to jump, and run, and smile, and yell in joy every time he thought about it.

And when she was sad, crying... Mitsukuni felt horrible too, 'cause just the idea of her being unhappy broke his heart into a million pieces, and all he wanted was to do everything in his power to make all traces of sadness leave her face.

When she was scared that day at the Ministry, Mitsukuni felt like murdering his team. How dared them even thinking about hurting her in any way? Nagisa was very important to him, he wouldn't let anyone lay a finger on her. No need to say, that day his team learned not to mess with her anymore.

And when those girls from St. Lobelia Academy came back for an answer, an Nagisa totally refused, bravely facing them as she turned them down... he felt so, so proud, because she didn't let her fear win her over. And he felt triumph, as he knew he now had something—someone—, they wanted. And he knew one of the reasons Nagisa had to stay at Ouran was the Host Club, him.

What was that supposed to mean? Was he in love? Was that the meaning of that warm he felt inside him every time he saw her calling his name when she came to his classroom asking for help with her maths homework?

"What are you doing to me, Nagisa?" he said, like he was waiting for the air to answer him. And when that didn't happen, he curled up in a ball, hugging Usa-chan as his life depended on it. That girl was surely something, wasn't she? She wasn't even with him and he was already losing his mind over her.

Mitsukuni sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get the answers he needed. He sat down, a determination look on his face. He was gonna figure it out. And for that, he would need to make a little experiment.

The first thing Takashi did when he got home was to meditate. The Morinozuka estate had several meditation rooms, most of them for guests or trainers, but Takashi used the one located at the family hall of the house, just like the rest of the Morinozuka family. So he himself was surprised when he ended up in the middle of the gardens, near a fountain, wanting desperately to meditate right there. It was unusual, but Takashi never disobeyed a command of his heart, and if he had to meditate in the open for that, then he would.

Meditating helped him with a lot of things, being those things his kendo training, his studies, discipline, and control. But for some months now, Takashi often found himself meditating just to put his own thoughts in order, something that didn't happen since he was little. Usually Takashi would just sit and peacefully meditate, not thinking about anything, and just relaxing. It was good mental training, and it made him feel better most of the time. Or that was until some other factors added to the equation.

Haruhi Fujioka and Nagisa Shiota. Since they appeared at the Host Club, his world had turned strangely even more weird than before—if that was possible—, and he didn't know if the reason were just Tamaki's antics, or how those two managed to reach his heart. Takashi thought of the Host Club as something close to family. Maybe not family, for the Morinozuka's held family specially close to their hearts, and he couldn't just decide the club was a part of his family. But he knew those guys were some of the most important people in his life, even is he didn't quite showed it, as he often kept his thoughts to himself.

But Nagisa and Haruhi... they were just different. Maybe it was the fact that they were raised as commoners? The bluenette was fun to be with, and she made his cousin happy too, so that was a plus. Takashi found her intriguing though, because he hardly knew things about her and was still captivated by her aura. The senior knew she kept almost everything to herself, even if she dissimulated it with her talking, giving away little facts of her life. Nagisa was obviously wiser than she looked, and she could act as an adult or a teenager if the situation required it. Either way, he considered her the little sister he had never had, and probably would be something like it in the future, if things went on as he thought they would. 'Cause Takashi may look as he doesn't pay attention to what happens around him, or even indifferent about it, but he was pretty observant, and he wasn't an idiot. When something was going on, he noticed it, specially if it involved Mitsukuni. Besides, he never passed the opportunity to gather ammunition against his cousin. It was fun to see Mitsukuni getting flustered, because he was always in control even if he hid it behind that sweet facade of his.

And for Haruhi... well, he didn't know what to make of her. She was somewhat of an open book, but at the same time didn't let anyone in. Takashi knew he cared deeply about her, and the inability of protecting herself, unlike Nagisa who was very much capable of doing so, just made him worry even more. He was always with one eye on her, in case she needed help with something. Haruhi was so innocent about everything, she still believed in people, and found the good in everyone.

But at the same time, she was more mature than many of the people he knew, and had grown up faster than she should have. The brunette knew how hard life could be, and she still had a smile on her face. Takashi admired her for it, and sometimes the thought of telling her so crossed his mind, just for him to tossed it aside almost as quickly as it arrived, because it wouldn't be appropriate. They weren't close enough, and they didn't spend that much time together, not like he did with Nagisa, so the occasion never showed up, and it probably never would. It was a shame, really. Takashi really wanted to get closer to her, though the reason... he didn't quite know yet. She was smart, and unlike the rest of the club, she could maintain a conversation without going crazy about something. Kyoya and Nagisa could too, as could Mitsukuni, but the Shadow King used that bad guy facade, and Nagisa's sass sometimes was a lot to handle. And for his cousin... well, he liked to make people think he was a man with the mind of a toddler, so the serious conversations they had weren't an usual thing.

"Hey, Taka-nii, watcha doing out here?" the tall senior looked up to Satoshi, his little brother. Unlike him, Satoshi talked about everything all the time, and had a lot of troubles with keeping control of his body. Non-stop talking, and bouncing all around the place was a normal thing for him. Satoshi had obviously taken that from Okaa-san. Otou-san was more like him, quiet and calmed.

"Thinking." he said, looking at the fountain with lost eyes. His reflex in the water was distorted every time a petal fell, crating a soft waving.

'It is a pretty accurate representation of my mind, isn't it?' thought Takashi, as Satoshi sat next to him, in silence. He knew meditation was an important thing, so he was able to more or less behave according the situation.

In the end, both brothers stayed there for the rest of the evening, until a maid called them for dinner. Takashi's mind was a bit clearer by then, but he knew he had a long way to go until he could figure things out.

"He's an idiot, isn't he?" Kyoya was in his room, sitting in his bed. His laptop was opened, and his fingers were typing faster than people usually were capable of typing. Kyoya was a busy guy, after all, and he wouldn't lost time out of typing problems. But at the moment, the third Ootori son was troubled with some specific task, and not from anyone. Tamaki has just called him to tell him that wonderful idea he was struck by on a dream of his, and that he needed to see in action a-zap.

'How on Earth am I suppose to do this? He only gave me fifteen hours!' was thinking Kyoya, before his fingers stopped for a sec, thinking about that last statement. 'Who am I kidding, of course I can do it.'

Tamaki wanted a pirates theme. For the next day. And he called at three in the morning. Why did Kyoya even listened to the guy again? There must be a reason, right? 'Cause there was no way Kyoya would have picked up the phone call if there wasn't.

The Shadow King yawned, not caring about how he looked. There was no one looking at him, so he was comfortably wearing just some pants and a sweater, his black hair disheveled and pointing everywhere, and the bags under his eyes, that he would cover up later with concealer, something already usual for him. His glasses were precariously placed on his nose, and his eyes closed from time to time. Kyoya really was not a morning person. And he definitively was not a wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-because-your-stupid-friend-called-to-ask-you-for-something person.

But he had to finish everything before going back to sleep, at least the preparations. He could order everything at school, he was Kyoya Ootori, after all. If he wanted something to happen, it would, and if it didn't, it was because he didn't really wanted it.

So, he would need to order the costumes and the fabric, and maybe some pirate things. Swords? Guns? Knives? Yeah, probably those too. Nothing real, of course. If he handled the Host Club something dangerous, maybe they would kill someone, or themselves. And the setting, he needed to cover that too.

'You better like this, and don't bother me ever again, Tamaki, or I'll kill you.' he thought, yawning again. What time was it? His laptop said 4:12 AM. Fantastic. Wonderful.

How could Haruhi managed to handle that stupid blond? It was no small thing, that was for sure. She had his more sincere respects, as the Host Club's King was no easy to keep up with, and she did a wonderful job at it. Even Nagisa, who could get through almost everything Kyoya threw at her with ease, had troubles when it was Tamaki she had to deal with.

(He totally ignored the way his mind related Tamaki with a thing for Nagisa to handle. He was too tired for that).

But Haruhi just... she didn't seem faced with him, or not more than she did with everyone when they did something weird. Maybe it was because of Ranka-san. He had talked to the man on the phone almost every day since Haruhi joined the Host Club, and even if he was fun to talk too—Ranka had some pretty interesting points of view about almost everything—, it was obvious he was a rather... cheery man. Maybe too cheery. Kyoya didn't care, as the conversation compensated it greatly, but it could certainly explain why Haruhi was so good at keeping Tamaki under control, even if it was a little. He did seem more calm when she was around, now that Kyoya thought about it.

That black haired boy gritted his teeth. The thought made him... mad? Uncomfortable? Unpleased? A mix of everything, he guessed. He was aware of it, and the reason was pretty clear to him, but he wasn't about to accept it just like that. Nope. There was no way that could happen, not for a long time, and maybe not ever.

"If I just go to sleep and finish this shit tomorrow...?" he considered it, really, he did. His bed was so soft, and his pillow was calling him, begging him to lay down and close his eyes. It was so tempting...

'No! Stop it Kyoya! You're stronger than that.' he was right. He was stronger than that. But did he really had to do it?

'Yes, now finish this so you can sleep dumbass.' his mind was a pretty weird one, it insulted him and helped him at the same time. Well, it was like having another older brother, so he was kinda used to it.

The Shadow King really hoped Tamaki would like what he was doing, because Kyoya wasn't sure how he could react if the blond wasn't.

Nagisa was heading home after some hard training with Karasuma-sensei. It seemed that, as she forgiven him, he assumed he could be a monster at training again. Like, what the hell, man? Totally not cool.

So the bluenette was exhausted, and that wasn't even all. She had to walk all the way to the Ministry from Haruhi's house, when they were having a study session earlier. Nagisa was helping Haruhi with English, and in exchange she helped her with Math. Nagisa wasn't sure how she had to feel about having help from someone a year below her, actually. Haruhi was an honor student, though, so Nagisa would assume it wasn't as terrible as it could be. She could be having help from the twins, so Nagisa was actually lucky to have Haruhi.

The bluenette even had the chance to met Ranka, Haruhi's cross-dresser father. When Nagisa saw him, she felt kinda identified with him. Yes, she was a girl, and she accepted it now, but Nagisa had a phase years ago. She didn't like it, she wanted to be a boy, and that was the main reason his mother treated the way she did—the thought of that being the reason she didn't want to be a girl had crossed her mind more than once, but she still wasn't sure that was it—. Nagisa hated dresses, and skirts or blouses, and she was sure she would cut her hair as soon as she could. She still preferred comfy clothes, but she had come to accept girly outfits a bit, and Bitch-sensei had helped a lot with it.

She didn't force her, but showed her that girl clothes weren't necessarily a bad thing if you could use them the right way. So now Nagisa could use dresses or things like it without feeling like a strange inside her own body. And she even came to like it sometimes. But a pair of shorts and a shirt would always be better for her.

Anyway, the no-assassin in training was already out of her training clothes, but she had the knives in her hands, since she was absently playing with them while she could, as she had to hide them inside her bag when she wasn't in restricted area, where she trained. That was just one of the most precautions the Ministry took to avoid people knowing about her, so only the high ranks, the people with enough clearance, could see her train.

"Miss Shiota." Nagisa stopped her tracks, turning around to see who was calling her. She almost dropped her knifes when she saw Yorihisa Haninozuka standing few feet from her. He had a straight face, and Nagisa wasn't sure what he would say.

"Ha-Haninozuka-san. I didn't expect to see you here." she said, and it was obvious she didn't. Nagisa's already pale skin was lacking all color, and her eyes were widened, making her look like a scared deer, which was strange, because she was holding two knives on her hands. Huh, irony.

"Do you think we can talk about something? It is a very important matter, Miss Shiota." he didn't say it, but Nagisa got the message just clear. They were gonna talk, even if she didn't want to. Oh, joy.

"O-of course Haninozuka-san. Lead the way." she said, smiling nervously at the head of the Haninozuka family. She was gonna die that night, wasn't she? He was gonna skin her alive. She was an assassin who had been going to his house almost every three days, spending a great part of her day with his older son and nephew. Of course she was dead.

As they entered one of the conference rooms, the bluenette fidgeted nervously, hoping her death could be quick and clean. She knew how painful torture could be.

'Oh, Kami, sushi lord, please help me.'

Did you like it? I'll admit it, my heart kinda melt with Mitsukuni's thoughts, I just love him more than I should... and what about the other hosts? Do you have any theories about the Tamaki x Haruhi x Kyoya triangle thingy? I really wanna hear about that ones. Takashi's scene was also exciting to write, as I really think he's a character with a huge mind development that needs to be explored. And what do you think about the final scene? Next chapter I promise some interesting events.

Fun fact, Rusu (Karma's mother) is 留守 in Kanji, which means absent.

Hope you like this, and until next update!

Patolemus.