This was not how I thought I'd spend my day. It's times like these where I wish I could call my estate lawyer, but unfortunately, that was Mama's main job. When she wasn't keeping Daddy and the rest of the family out of jail as a side hustle. But I'm pretty sure Mama wouldn't put me through this. The bitch she came out of? Hell yeah. She tried doing that with me when I was little, but Mama wouldn't let her. And I loved her for it.

I'm sure Mama wouldn't force me into a dressing room and tell me to wait. Why did I agree to this? Did I even agree to this? Because when the host club showed up at my door this morning unannounced and uninvited (and possibly by illegal means. What can I say? I'm impressed they went to such lengths to find out where I lived.), I don't remember saying yes. All I remember was the promises of coffee and a limo ride. My god, I'm easy to kidnap. I still had yet to get my coffee, too.

But then, a parachute flew over my dressing room door. Or so I thought. When I picked it up, I had no fucking clue what it was supposed to be. Holy shit, a lot of pink had to die for this. And it had more bows than an archery range. What in the hell was I supposed to do with this? I still wasn't quite sure what I was looking at.

"Which one of you assholes threw me this?" I asked, trying to find an entry point. Any indication of one would be nice.

"Mine," Tamaki took his due credit. Why am I not surprised? "Isn't it wonderful? I thought it'd look nice on you."

"Tamaki," I cringed, "I don't even know what it is."

"Do you need help getting into it?"

"I don't even want to get into it." Like I said, a lot of pink had to die for this. It'd be like wearing a baby's nursery.

"You're a young lady, Reila," Tamaki argued, "Act like it. It's perfect."

"It's just a concert," I groaned, "I'm not going to the Kentucky Derby. All this is missing is the big ass hat."

"That can be arranged," Kyoya added, tossing one over. He's a sadistic little shit, isn't he? "Since you asked so nicely."

"You guys are too much," I finally got that stupid dress over my head and laced up the back, "And this is fucking ridiculous."

"Then, come out here," Tamaki begged, "I want to see."

"This isn't seeing the light of day," I put my foot down, hardly able to look myself in the eye. This was a whole lot of yikes. The sooner it comes off, the better.

"Is it on?"

"Yeah, but…" And back went the curtain without my say so. Out of reflex, I covered myself, "What the fuck, Tamaki?!"

"Aww…" the twins melted, "She's adorable!"

"You look super cute, Rei-chan!" Honey sang.

"Lolita works for you, Rei," Tamaki spun me around, my skirt billowing underneath me.

"I mean," I looked myself over in the mirror. Maybe I overreacted, "I do look cute, but it's not really for me."

"Come on," Hikaru whined.

"It's so cute, though!" Kaoru cuddled me.

"Again," I pushed everyone away, "It's not for me."

I pulled the curtain and got it off as fast as I could. All of a sudden, that dress got really heavy. Like it started strangling me. Although, I hit a bit of a snag. Because I have such a thick ass, the bottom didn't want to come off. Awesome. Fucking wonderful. I couldn't get it off fast enough, but by all fucking means, get stuck on my ass. Why did I agree to this?

"Rei?" a soft voice spoke on the other side of the curtain, "It's Haruhi. Can I come in?"

"Yeah," I took a seat on the floor, "At least you have the decency to ask. I appreciate it."

"It'd be rude to just barge in," she joined me, making sure the curtain was closed behind her.

"Tell that to your boyfriend."

"He's…" Haruhi blushed, trying to hide something from me. That's her first mistake. I got a bloodhound nose from hell. There is no hiding from me, "Senpai's not my…"

"If you say so," I let out a heavy, exasperated sigh, "Haruhi?"

"What?"

I caught one last glimpse of myself in the mirror, defeat in my eyes, my dress top down, and my ass causing all the trouble, "I feel like a fucking cupcake."

"You kind of look like a cupcake," Haruhi giggled.

"You ever see Black Butler?" I asked, "Because I look like lady Ciel without the twin drills and a smaller hat."

"I can't say I know what you're talking about," I pulled out my phone and showed her a reference picture, "Huh…I guess you do."

"Can I ask you a question?" I put my phone back in my bag.

"Sure, Rei. What's on your mind?"

"How in the ever-loving fuck do you do it?" I wondered, "Every day with these guys gets more and more exhausting. How do you handle it?"

"You want to know my secret?" Haruhi kept her voice down.

"Yes, please, sensei."

She leaned over my shoulder, "I don't."

"What?" I gave her a look, "What do you mean, you don't?"

"Just that," Haruhi explained, "I just go with it and take comfort in the fact that it'll be over soon. When you're so resistant, they get even more exhausting."

"Clearly."

"When this is all over," she offered me some comfort, "You can just return everything. I did that once and the money I got back paid for three months of my rent."

"My rent's already taken care of," I thought it over, "But maybe if I decide on a weekend out of the city, a little extra cash can't hurt. Hakone's nice."

"It is," Haruhi agreed, "When did you go to Hakone?"

"Can I tell you a secret?" I hid a smile, "And you cannot tell anyone. Especially the morons out there."

"Swear."

"I was there last night," I hardly spoke above a whisper, "After Kasanoda and I talked things over, we got on his bike and took a trip to Hakone."

"Rei," Haruhi gasped, "That's at least a two-hour trip one way!"

"I know," I giggled, "Now. But that's the beauty of a bike trip. You don't realize it's a two-hour trip. It's totally worth it for the experience."

"What did you do?"

"He took me to dinner on the lake," I swooned, "It was really nice. Then, we went to his friend's tattoo shop in Shinjuku. I got my tattoo. After that, we went back to my place and went to bed."

"You mean," Haruhi assumed, "He took you home and left, right?"

"No," I shook my head, "When you guys showed up at my place this morning, Kasanoda was sneaking out of my bedroom from the fire escape."

"Rei!" she freaked, "Are you serious?"

"Nothing happened," I settled her, "He slept on the couch. He could hardly stand when we got back to my place and I wasn't going to let him drive home like that. I am a decent human being, you know."

"I never doubted that," Haruhi assured, "You never struck me as a horrible person. Just someone defending herself to the best of her ability."

Wow…This chick's full of insight, isn't she? Where Kyoya has the sadism and the twins have boundary issues, Haruhi's got insight, "Hey, Haruhi?"

"Yeah, Rei?"

I rested my heavy head on her shoulder, "Thank you. I really needed a friend."

"You're welcome," she smiled, "But you also have six more out in the store that adore you."

"Really?" I wondered, "It seems more like they adore raking my ass over the coals."

"That's how the host club shows love," Haruhi grumbled, "Trust me. But it's true. You've stirred the host club up more than you know. Tamaki-senpai turns into a puddle whenever your name comes up. Even though Hikaru and Kaoru are still a little afraid of you, they gushed about you to their guests yesterday. Honey-senpai kept asking when you were coming back. Even Mori-senpai was hoping you would've come back. And Kyoya-senpai…He was knee deep in research on you…I've never seen him so concentrated on anything. They do like you, Rei. If they didn't, they wouldn't be doing this."

Dammit. I hated that Haruhi made a point. Why they liked me will forever perplex me. I wasn't in my homeroom for five minutes on the first day and I scared the shit out of the twins. In that same day, I handed Mori's ass to him in a very public forum. Hell, I beat the shit out of Tamaki that day, too! Yet, they still welcomed me back into the host club with open arms. If that would've happened back home, that would've been like a declaration of war. At the time, I was a one-man island and didn't give a shit. Yet instead of beating my ass black and blue, they brought me in. Maybe being put through this is my punishment.

"I guess I could be ok with that," I figured, noticing a shiny reflection in the mirror. Did I…Did I just miss a couple eyelets in the laces? Son of a bitch. I pulled more of the laces and felt the skirt of the dress come away from my hips, "You've got to be shitting me."

"What is it?" Haruhi worried.

"Nothing," I threw my head back into the wall, "I'm just a fucking moron."

"Doubtful, but what?"

I stood up and the giant, poofy nightmare fell to the floor, "There were more laces."

"Oh," Haruhi shrugged, "That doesn't make you a moron. You just didn't see them."

"You know," I thought it over, "It really wasn't that bad. Maybe with a few less ruffles and only a couple bows, it could be good. And maybe some black. I am a slut for black. Can you tell the guys I'm about to come out?"

"Sure," she got up from the floor and left me to get changed. If I've noticed anything, it's that sending Haruhi to do anything having to do with those guys is a guarantee for it to work. They're all slaves to her, but she doesn't abuse her power. That's how we get shit done. I got redressed and walked out of the dressing room. After searching the store, I realized the others had congregated outside. Really batting a thousand here, Rei. Shake it off. You're better than that.

"Alright, boys," I rejoined the group, "Which one of you is getting me coffee? Because if we're going to keep doing this, I need the caffeine boost. And if I don't get it in the next ten minutes, shit's going to get ugly."

"I did promise you coffee," Kyoya stepped in, "I got it. What do you want?"

"Flat white, triple shot, mocha creamer," I ordered, "Thank you, Kyoya."

"You're welcome," he split off from the herd to a coffee cart on the other side of the block.

"Hey, Rei," Tamaki put his arm around me, "Since this is for you, do you have any preferences?"

Haruhi talked to him. She had to. Tamaki's pretty, but that's about it most of the time, "You came on a little strong out of the gate. That wasn't bad, but we could stand to tone it down. And maybe add more black."

"But you look so pretty in pastels, Rei," he hugged me tight, "Why?"

"Because," I peeled him off me, graciously accepting my coffee from Kyoya. Bless him, "I don't do pastels. I'm not the soft and sweet type you seem to think I am, Tamaki. I'm sorry, but it's true. Besides, I got that shit force fed down my throat at a very bad time in my life and that doesn't need to come to light. Kyoya…"

"Yes, Rei?" Kyoya's ear perked up.

"Rumor has it, you've been doing your homework on me. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"If that's the case," I assumed, "Then, you know somewhat about that time, don't you?"

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Kyoya wondered, "Could you elaborate?"

"Don't give me that bullshit," I growled, "You know damn well what. That's not a rabbit hole I want to go down today. Not when it started off so well."

"Yes," Kyoya kept his mouth shut, "I'm assuming it's…

"Shut the fuck up, Kyoya!"

"Ok." The last thing I wanted to think about was that goddamn custody battle. Or the bitch that tried to take my Daddy away from me. That's why pastels make my skin crawl. For a week, I had to live with her while everything was going on. Without Mama there as a buffer, all hell broke loose. And I fucking hated it.

"Right then," I settled myself, downing my coffee, "Shall we?"

"Ok," Tamaki took my hand, "And Rei?"

"What, Tamaki?" I grumbled under my breath.

"I'm sorry that I put you through something that made you uncomfortable," he apologized, "I never meant that for you."

Weird. A week ago, I wanted to beat the fuck out of this guy. But now? I wrapped myself around his arm, "Thank you. You didn't have to apologize. It's not like you knew. But it's appreciated."

"Of course," Tamaki hugged me a little tighter, "Are you ok? Can we try a different store?"

"Absolutely."

It wasn't that I had a problem with the bows and the ruffles. Tamaki had a point. Lolita did do me wonders and I looked cuter than hell. But Kasanoda was still taking me to a concert tonight. Was I really going to look like a giant five-year-old to go to a concert? No. Honestly, I kind of wanted to trash up for tonight. Like an angel that fell to Earth and crawled out of a gutter at two o'clock in the morning. I wonder if I could find a way to merge the two.

In the next store, I found most of what they had in the other one, but in much darker hues. Beautiful. Black ruffles and black bows seemed…I don't know. So much more like home. And I loved it. After finding a fluffy black skirt and a stark white ruffled shirt, I was holed up in a dressing room near the back of the store and tried them all on. Oh, yes. This works.

Although, I looked down at my hips. Something about the fluffy skirt on the bottom wasn't doing them much for justice. It only made me look wider and I didn't need that kind of complex on the brain. I poked my head out from behind the curtain and did a quick look around. My pair of bodyguards stood outside, "Hey! Hikaru, Kaoru!"

"Yeah, Rei?" the two of them chimed, "Did you need something?"

"You think you two could go on a little errand for me?" I requested so sweetly. That seemed to be the way to win them over.

"Sure," Hikaru nodded.

"What do you need?" Kaoru asked.

"Find me a black leather skirt," I ordered, "You know what size to get. Something that'll hit maybe a little above the knee. Can you do that for me?"

"On it!" they both saluted me and scattered to do my bidding. As much of a dumpster fire as the last store was, this was kind of fun. A wise woman from back home once said that when it came to dressing, a girl could look like a ho as long as she made it fashion. Ho, but make it fashion. And I'm going to make you proud, Tyra!

"Rei?" Tamaki called into my dressing room, "Are you still back here?"

"Yeah," I stuck my arm out, letting him find me, "What's up, Tamaki?"

"Here," he handed me a hanger, "I figured this would suit you."

When I pulled it back in, I couldn't keep a smile off my face if I wanted to. Oh, hell yeah…I think this is more of the apology than the one he already gave me. It's hard to believe I didn't own a black leather jacket. Then again, my closet back home was nothing but designer shit. Nothing but the best for Daddy's baby girl. And nowhere did I pick up a black leather jacket. And with the hella ruffled shirt, it was a nice contrast. Damn, girl…You really can pull this off, can't you?

"Well?" Tamaki wondered, "Do you like it?"

"Hell yeah," I did another turn in the mirror, really feeling myself.

"Here, Rei!" Right on time, Hikaru and Kaoru came back with my new skirt.

"Thank you, boys," I dropped my shorts and slid it up my legs, "Oh, hell yeah!"

"What?" Tamaki could hardly contain himself, "I want to see!"

"You'll see," I walked out, really feeling myself now, "Yes. Fucking. Please."

"I think this suits you better, Rei-chan!" Honey approved, "You look even cuter now than you did in the other loli dress. Don't you think so, Takashi?"

"Yeah…" Mori's cheeks turned red. If I got him blushing, this is going to throw Kasanoda into a fucking coma.

"You think so?" I did a few spins, only adding to the fanservice. Yes. I am that bitch today, "I need some fishnets, but other than that, I think we're good here."

"Tamaki," Kyoya showed him his phone screen, "Do you know what this is?"

"Aww," Tamaki melted, "She's adorable! But who is that, Kyoya?"

"Kyoya, you little shit!" I squeaked, taking his phone from him, "Where did you get that?"

"Reila!" the twins caught a glimpse of the horrors Kyoya has unearthed, "Is that you?"

"When I was about seven," I wanted nothing more than to throw Kyoya's phone into the fountain, but I wasn't going to be that big of a dick. Although, I did bring it back with me in the changing room to delete the evidence, "Kyoya, where in the fuck did you find that?"

"I have my sources," Kyoya's tight lip was going to get him in trouble, "Again, nothing but a quick little search of your name and you'd be amazed at the things I could find."

"Yeah," Tamaki thought out loud, "Let's do that."

"Let's do what?" I came back out, fully dressed, and gave Kyoya his phone back. As much as I wanted to smash it to pieces.

"That," Tamaki took my hand and gave my new clothes to Kyoya, "You know where to meet us?"

"I'm thinking so."

This was going to be a long afternoon. And if someone doesn't give me more coffee, I'm going to punch a bitch. Although, after that long afternoon and my ass going numb in a salon chair, someone figured putting fourteen-inch-long extensions in my head would be a good idea. Now, I understand why Kyoya dug up that picture of baby Rei. Tamaki isn't a complete moron. It's just that sometimes, his ideas need a little nudge in order to come to the forefront of his consciousness. That's what Kyoya does. Other than being a grade A shit starter.

"Mother of all holy," I dragged behind the group, "Whose dumbass idea was this?"

"Mine," Tamaki chirped to no one's surprise, "Honestly, I just wanted to stop by your penthouse to say hi, but this was merely a happy accident. Why? I think today has been nothing but wonderful."

"That's because you have to be on some kind of medication," I assumed, scratching the back of my head, "These extensions are hot. And itchy…"

"Don't scratch at them too much, Rei," Hikaru swatted my hand away.

"You don't want them falling out," Kaoru took my other hand. These two are the worst cone of shame.

"They're hotter than hell," I could feel the sweat rolling down my face, "I haven't had long hair since I was eight and now, I'm starting to remember why I cut it in the first place. Aside from spite."

"Spite?" Tamaki wondered.

"Yeah," I guess I have to take this one in the shorts, "After my mom died, there was…Let's just say a little unnecessary turmoil from her side of the family. And her mother loved that I had long, dark hair. She would never hesitate to touch it any time we saw each other, no matter how much it'd piss me off. And she'd always yell at my mom about it and tell her I was being bratty about it. So, after…Things happened…I asked my dad if I could cut it. He made me an appointment the next day. It's been short ever since. And I forgot how hot as balls it is!"

"But Rei," Tamaki whined, "You look so pretty…"

"Hold on," I noticed a convenience store just up ahead. Good. I split off from the group and bought a pack of hair ties and a bottle of water. With a quick flick forward of my head, I threw all of my new hair up, already feeling a million times better, and walked back to the group, "There. That's better."

Out of nowhere, the twins sandwiched me, "She's even cuter!"

"You know, Rei," Hikaru suggested.

"You don't have to go out with Kasanoda tonight," Kaoru added.

"You could stay with us…"

"Pass," I wiggled out of their embrace, "I already have plans for tonight. Besides, you two wouldn't be able to handle me. You barely can now."

"We can handle plenty," they assured.

"Uh-huh," I rolled my eyes, "You freaked out over one little tattoo. Imagine what I'm like when the lights go down and the moon comes out."

"I'm sure that together…" Hikaru flanked my left, a seductive glint in his eye.

"We could handle you just fine," Kaoru flanked my right, mirroring his brother.

"I'm sure that works on the airheads that come into the host club," I pushed them off me, "But I got a date tonight. And it's not with you two."

"My god," Hikaru gasped.

"She's immune," Kaoru stared in disbelief.

"Someone was bound to be eventually," Kyoya offered what little comfort he could.

"We don't like it."

"Proud to be the monkey wrench," I sang, "Now, if you guys don't mind, I think I'm going to head home. I'm exhausted and if I'm going to be going out tonight, I'm going to need a pregame nap. It's been real. I'll see you Monday."

"Wait, Rei," Tamaki stopped me, "Before you go…If we could see you a little sooner than Monday, that'd be great."

"You won't," I argued, "Tomorrow, I have all intentions of getting some shit around my house done and I feel like most of you would just get underfoot. And I don't want to deal with that. K?"

"Fine…" I feel like I just made him watch me shoot his puppy. And I hated guilt.

"Maybe," I thought, "Maybe if you can all behave yourselves, Tamaki, Hikaru, Kaoru…"

"Why us?!"

"Because," I glared at all of them, "You're the ones that cause the most blatant mischief. Kyoya, you're not off the hook."

"What have I done?" Kyoya wondered.

"You know damn well what you've done." That one was the undercover mischief. The one that pulled all the strings. And he fucking knew it.

"I won't hack your records anymore."

"Thank you," I smiled, "If you can behave yourselves, you guys can come over. But! Only if at least one of you tells me you're coming over. And it's nowhere before noon."

"Deal!" Tamaki lit up, "We'll see you tomorrow!"

Goddammit, what have I done? I've made the mistake of making friends. And that's ok. I could still walk away from them and be perfectly fine. It's nice that they've opened their home to me as a place to crash, but that didn't mean I was moving in and becoming part of the family. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just crashing on the couch.

I left the host club behind and headed home for the day. At least until Kasanoda comes back to get me. But for now, it'd just be me time. I walked into my penthouse and threw my bags on the coffee table. These extensions still itched like a motherfucker, but nothing I wouldn't be able to manage. Although, getting hair in my mouth every few seconds was going to drive me nuts. I could already tell. As long as I keep it up, I'll be fine.

Knock, knock.

Shit. I didn't want to get up. The couch was too comfortable and my legs felt like pudding. I don't think I locked the door again when I came in. My knife's within arm's reach always. I doubt it's the building manager and I doubt the host club came back, "It's open! And I'm armed!"

"It's just me, Rei," Roy walked in with a bag of groceries on his arm. He peeked over the couch and I thought his eyes were going to fall out of his head, "Rei…?"

"Hi, Roy," I shut my eyes for a minute, "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to touch base," he put the groceries on the kitchen counter, "What…is this?"

"What's what?"

"You're…" Roy was afraid to touch me. Like I might break, "You're so…Cute."

"Yeah," I groaned, "I know. I had some friends come over and we went out for a little while. Enough about me. How are you? How'd it go with you and Yumi last night?"

"Actually!" How simple Roy could be. As long as the focus was off me, I didn't care, "It was awesome! We talked for a while. We got drinks. Hell, we even got dinner, too! Then, we went for a walk in the park and oh, Rei…I'm so glad you convinced me to ask her out."

"You don't have to invite me to the wedding," I assured, "Give my seat to someone else."

"It's funny you say that," Roy pointed out, "Because we're going out again tonight."

"That's great, Roy." Because that means I'm free of my babysitter for tonight, too. I'm starting to like this Yumi chick a little more.

"I'll be getting her at eight o'clock," he told me, "Are you going to need me any time after?"

"Not that I know of." Sometimes, shit just works out for me. Whoever's pulling the strings up there, thank you.

"What about you?" Roy asked, "It's a Saturday night. Do you have any plans?"

"I'm going out with a friend of mine." What's the harm in telling him? I'm sure he's not going to read into it any deeper, "I'll probably be home by midnight."

"Ok," he allowed. Not that he really had much say in the matter anyway. Even when I was still in New York, Daddy was cool with me going where I wanted. As long as I was careful and didn't do anything stupid, "Be careful. Make good choices. Behave yourself. Your friend you're going out with tonight…Male or female?"

"Does that matter?" I hated that everyone seemed to be so fixated on that, "I don't give you the third degree when you go out."

"Fair enough," Roy dropped it. Thankfully, "I just wanted to check in and make sure you were doing ok."

"I'm aces," I promised, "Go on. I'm sure Yumi's waiting for you."

"Not quite yet," he checked his phone, "Last I heard from her, she was getting her nails done."

"I'll see you later, Roy," I ushered him out the front door. He didn't need to be looking around and finding any evidence of someone being here that wasn't me. And I wanted to take a nap with enough time to get myself ready. I had never heard of the Gazette before. I didn't even know if they were any good. I'll find out tonight, won't I?

A/N: Hi, friends! Look at little Reila…She's adorable…Or so the boys seem to think. I just wanted some of those crazy host club kids to get carried away as they do. Also, it seems that Rei has a new friend in the form of Haruhi. I want those two to be best friends. I mean, I also want her and Kasanoda to be best friends, but…We're saving that one. They're already buddies. And when she wakes up…Well, no spoilers. Not until Monday. Buuuuuuuut!

We have a new friend. And hopefully new friend is back here again. So, to LadyLera, first of all, I see you…*waves frantically* Hello and welcome! Make yourself at home. Drinks are in the back. I'm personally finishing this evening off with Mike's hard lemonade, but you do you. But thank you for the well wishes and I, too, have a hella soft spot for the Gazette. But there's also a reason why they're SPECIFICALLY going to see the Gazette. You'll see. There's always next week. You love this story and the story loves you back. As do I. You're wonderful and I hope you'll be a repeat visitor. I feel like this won't be the last time we bump into each other.

I'll see you all next chapter! xx