"On location?" I groaned, kicking my feet up on the booth. Ritsu did promise me ramen and a hug. At this point, it's practically routine. Right now, I wanted to eat my weight in ramen. And I'll be damned if I let anyone stop me.

"If you're going to be hosting while we're in Osaka," Ritsu teased, "Don't you think you should be watching your figure? How many bowls of ramen have you had?"

"First of all," I glared directly into his soul, hoping he could feel it in the pit of his stomach, "Fuck you. Ever make an unsolicited comment on my weight again, I swear to Christ, I'll rip your dick off with my bare hands and slap you in the face with it. Do I make myself fucking clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," he hung his head in shame. Rightfully so, "Sorry, Rei. That was intended to be a joke, but I came off as more of an asshole than I wanted to."

"Apology accepted," I ordered bowl number five. I'm stressed. Let me eat.

"Why don't you just skip out on them?" Ritsu suggested, "I'm sure they'll manage without you."

"That's a great idea, Ritsu," I slurped down another mouthful of noodle, "That never dawned on me. It'd be a hell of a plan if I wanted word about who I am and where I come from and what I come from to get out. No, thank you. We work from the shadows for a reason. We don't need to be dragged into the light."

"So, that's why you're still with the host club," he assumed. Among other reasons, but that is one of them, "They got something on you."

"Not they," I clarified, "Kyoya. He's the only one who knows. He hacked my records and did some research. Lo and behold, he did a search of the Mendoza family records, saw my uncle's prison records, probably Daddy's mugshots. He's not an idiot. It wouldn't take much to put two and two together."

"Lucky you," Ritsu empathized, waving for another bowl for me. Bless him. He did kind of ow me after calling me fucking fat. I'm not fat. I just have thighs thicker than fog.

"Thanks," I flattened myself on the table, "This sucks."

"You'll be alright, Rei," he assured, "You're pretty tough."

"When is that overnight trip again?" I wondered.

"It's Friday."

"Yay."

"It's not that bad," Ritsu comforted me, "Look on the bright side. At least we'll get Monday off."

"Do we really?" I perked up.

"Yes, we do," he nodded, "Tell you what. If you're not too wiped from the Osaka trip, what would you say about another one to Hakone on Sunday?"

"Ask me on Sunday," I let out a little yawn, "If we're being honest, I could stand a trip to Hakone now."

"I'd love to," Ritsu agreed, "A good trip on the bike sounds fucking awesome right now, but we have class in the morning."

All week, the only thing on my mind was the hell that awaited me on Friday. I had to get up at the ass crack of dawn to get on a luxury bus to Osaka. I didn't even know how far it was from here to there! When I woke up on Friday morning, my head already felt like it was going to explode. I don't want to be a host today. Could I just stay home? Maybe go to Osaka on my own time? No. I know Kyoya knows too much, but I have the family's reputation to protect. Stay in the shadows.

Knock, knock.

Ugh…His optimism would not be appreciated this morning. But I grabbed my backed overnight bag, still wanting to go like I wanted a fucking hole in my head, but nevertheless, "The door's open, Roy."

"Roy?" That wasn't Roy, "I'm pretty sure you call me Ritsu."

"Hey." Finally, a light at the end of this hellish tunnel, "What are you doing here, Ritsu? Where's Roy?"

"I sent him home," Ritsu shrugged, "I ran into him on the elevator and told him to get lost."

"You can do that?"

"Looks like it," he figured, "You wouldn't want a ride to school, would you?"

"From a ruffian like you?" I jabbed, throwing my bag over my shoulder, "Yes, please."

"Alright then," Ritsu took my hand, "Shall we then?"

"Actually, Ritsu…" I took my hand back, "I have a question to ask you."

"Yeah?"

"Did you possibly…?" he handed me a paper cup from the café, "God fucking bless you."

"You're welcome," Ritsu giggled, "Come on. We don't want to miss the bus."

Speak for yourself, sister. Ritsu and I took the elevator down (sneaking in a kiss or two) and jumped on the back of his bike. The cool breeze and the wind in my hair did wonders for my mood. Or maybe it was being cuddled up in Ritsu's shoulder blades that mellowed me out. The sea serpent works its magic yet again. When we parked the bike, we got into the charter bus where our homeroom teacher stood. We were told all about this trip all week. And unfortunately, I'd get sandwiched between a certain pair of twins that I wanted to throttle on a regular basis.

"Good morning, Rei," Hikaru greeted me.

"Are you ready for the overnight trip?" Kaoru asked.

"I'm ready for you both to get the fuck out of my face," I grumbled, "I'm not nearly caffeinated enough to deal with people yet, so if you two could give me a hot ass second to wake up, that'd be great."

"Sorry," the twins backed off, "Haruhi! We may need you for a second!"

"Why?" Haruhi wondered.

"Rei's getting scary…"

"Rei," Haruhi took my side, "What did they do?"

"I'm not awake yet," I took a seat next to Ritsu and laid my head on his shoulder, "And the coffee hasn't kicked in."

"Oh," she chirped, "Just leave her alone, guys."

"Aww…" Too late. They were already a puddle.

"Wow, Kasanoda," Hikaru gushed.

"Since when were you so soft?" Kaoru pointed out, the flash from his phone blinding me.

"Who said I was soft?" Ritsu growled.

"You got your moments," I admitted, "But I wouldn't pick a fight with you in a dark alley."

"Thanks, Rei."

"You're also hella nice to lay on," I could fall back asleep right here.

"Go back to sleep, ok?" Ritsu insisted, "I'll wake you when we stop."

"Ok," I wanted a blanket. That's all I was missing. Although, out of nowhere, girls started flocking, muttering about how cute something was.

"Look at him," one awed.

"So sweet…"

"Who knew someone like Rei would be so close to someone like Kasanoda?"

"Rei knew," I opened my eyes. Host club reputation, Rei. Host club reputation, "Ladies, I didn't get shit for sleep last night. Do you think I could clock out for the next hour or so?"

"Go ahead."

"We don't mind."

"I can see that," I cringed internally, "But I'd also like to not be watched while I sleep. If you know what I mean."

"Oh…" the small group of girls dissipated and I shut my eyes.

"I'll keep them off you," Ritsu whispered, "You get some sleep."

"Thank you," I nuzzled my face in his arm and clocked right out. What can I say? Ritsu had a superpower that put me at ease. Not to mention his shoulder muscles had really nice cushion to them. They make for a good pillow. Between that and the smooth, constant motion? Oh, hell yeah. I'm sleeping like a fucking baby.

A little while later, I woke up on my own to the bus still moving and the sun setting. Although, a soft, gentle snore rumbled above me. No way…I looked up at the peaceful glow on Ritsu's face. I guess I'm not the only one who needed a nap. Sleep well, Ritsu. Looks like I'll be the one waking you up when we stop. I took a quick look around, surveying the rest of the bus. A few others were sleeping. Hikaru and Kaoru were engrossed in a video game. Good. Less to bother me.

"Hey," Haruhi noticed. She's ok. She's not nearly as aggressive as the rest of them, "Good morning, Rei. How was your nap?"

"Solid as a fucking rock," I rubbed my eyes, "How much longer until we get to Osaka?"

"Probably another half hour," she figured, "Chances are, when we get there, we'll all have some downtime and hit things hard in the morning."

"I think I can manage that."

"Any idea who you're rooming with?" Haruhi wondered.

"Probably this one," I laid my head back in Ritsu's shoulder.

"What's this, Kaoru?" Hikaru perked up, "I think I hear our two best secrets conspiring…"

"That's what it sounds like, Hikaru," Kaoru agreed, both of them poking their heads over their seats.

"So…?" they wondered, "What's going on back here?"

"We were discussing sleeping arrangements," I filled them in. Regrettably, "Why?"

"Are you two bunking together?" Hikaru asked.

"Haruhi and me?" I assumed.

"They don't allow for coed rooms," Kaoru pointed out, "Just what Ouran wants to be responsible for is teenage pregnancy."

"As far as anyone's concerned," I reminded them, "I'm still a dude. And I'm crashing with one of the few people I know here that make any sense."

"Really…?" And they said Haruhi and I were conspiring.

"What?" I had to ask. Color me curious.

"We need to talk to the boss," the twins slinked back down in their seat.

"He hasn't left my phone alone all day," Haruhi grumbled, "But he's just concerned."

"I guess it's just a way he shows he cares," I shrugged. I knew someone else like that. Speaking of, I grabbed my phone out of my bag to check my messages. Oddly enough, I had a voicemail. That almost never happened. But it'd be nice to hear his voice.

"You have one new message," my voicemail reported diligently.

"Hi, princess…" Hi, Daddy, "Just making sure you're in one piece. I had a spare minute and needed to get away from things. You know how they get. Unruly sons of bitches. I wish you were back here to deal with the rookies. No one kept them in line better than you. But when you get this, call me. Hell, wake me up, if you have to. I love you, Reila. And I miss you. I'll see you soon."

Click.

"End of final message."

Oh…My heart…Usually, I could handle Daddy's messages like a champ, but something in his voice hit me different. And it hurt. Haruhi looked over at me, "Rei…? Are you alright?"

"Yeah," I wiped my eyes, "I'm fine."

"Rei?" Way to go, Haruhi. You woke the baby. Now, I have to put him back to sleep, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," I shook Ritsu off me, "I got a message rom Daddy. Just a little homesick."

The bus pulled up to (no surprise here) what looked to be a five-star hotel and Ouran students started to pour out. Sure enough, Rei isn't allowed nice things. Hikaru and Kaoru made sure to flag down Tamaki and Kyoya along with Honey and Mori. Look at that. The gang's back together. And I'm the one outnumbered.

"Reila…" Tamaki curled a finger to me. As I was preparing to launch my fist into his stomach, "Could I speak to you for a moment please?"

"Sure, Tamaki," I had nothing to worry about, "What do you want?"

"Where are you staying tonight?" he asked.

"With Kasanoda," I told him, "It's not the end of the world."

"Rei," Tamaki let out a heavy sigh. Like a disappointed parent, "You don't need to be staying with another boy."

"It's Kasanoda," I rolled my eyes, "It's not like we haven't slept under the same roof before."

"It's true," Ritsu chimed in, "I've stayed at Rei's before."

"WHAT?" It appears we've caught the entire host club off guard. Except for Haruhi. She knew. And Mori, too. Mostly because he's got other things going on in his head that no one will ever know.

"Kasanoda's stayed with you?" the twins gasped.

"Yeah," I nodded, "When we went out the other night. Hell, you guys damn near ran into him. If he wouldn't have climbed out my fire escape, you would have."

I think Tamaki may have fainted. Kyoya scooped him up, "Do you see what you've done, Rei? Now, I have another mess to clean up."

"At least he didn't erode," Haruhi found the silver lining, "Come on, Senpai, it's not the end of the world."

"Do you know how indecent it is for a young lady to share a room with…?"

"Senpai," Haruhi cut Tamaki off, hopefully getting him to calm down, "Weren't we going to share a room tonight?"

"We…" Tamaki turned bright red, "We were…?"

Ritsu leaned over to me, keeping his voice down, "I think that's our cue to dip out. Haruhi just took a bullet for us."

"Thank you," I whispered to her on our way out.

"You owe me."

Ritsu and I grabbed our bags and a key card and headed up to our suite. When we got there, a manila envelope sat on the table in the kitchenette with the Ouran crest on it. I'm guessing that's for us. I popped the seal on it and skimmed over the information inside. Most of this shit made me laugh like a fucking idiot and I loved it.

"What's gotten into you?" Ritsu smiled a bit, catching my sudden giggle fit.

"They must be smoking something," I came down, wiping the tear from my eye, "Listen to this bullshit. Despite tomorrow being a Saturday, we still need to wear our uniforms when we're out together. We'll have a six o'clock wakeup call tomorrow morning. And curfew will be ten o'clock tonight. Boo…"

"And I'm guessing you'll pass on most of that?"

"Yes, sir," I threw the packet on the table, "They're so funny."

"You do know who runs the school, right?" Ritsu wondered, "Because you know his son very well."

"I do?"

"You are new to the host club, aren't you?" he checked the room over some more, "Uh…Rei?"

"Yeah?" I followed him.

"There's one problem here," Ritsu pointed out, "How can there only be one bed when there's two of us?"

"Looks like someone grabbed a single room key." And it was not me.

"So…" he turned skittish, "How do you want to do this…?"

"Well…" I got close to him, wrapping my arms around his waist, "It looks like there's only one solution."

"Really?" Ritsu's face started changing colors, "And…What, what's that…?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I smiled sweetly, "I get the bed. You get the floor. Good? Good. I'm glad we have that established."

"Wait," he gave me a look like I just slapped him with a salmon, "What?"

"You heard me," I jumped onto my bed, "I called dibs. If playground rules don't apply, the world is in complete anarchy. You should've thought quicker."

"So," Ritsu wondered, "One more question…"

"Go ahead, Ritsu."

"Are we really staying in by ten?"

"No, Ritsu."

"Ok," he relaxed, "Awesome. I figured you had intentions on bending the rules a bit."

"When don't I?" I scoffed, "Technically speaking, I'm not even in the right uniform."

"True."

"I'm sure they'll be checking the rooms at ten, though," I thought this through. Daddy didn't raise an idiot, "Don't worry about it. I have a plan."

"I figured," Ritsu smirked, "Should I be worried?"

"A little," I brushed him off, "You wouldn't happen to have a fake ID, would you?"

"Of course I do," he assured, "But I look old enough to where it's a rarity I have to use it. Why?"

"Because," I let out a heavy sigh, "I haven't had a drink since I was last in Spain and that was probably a year and a half ago. I had just turned fourteen and Daddy wanted to take me to see the other side of the family. I could stand another one."

"I got you," Ritsu gave me a nod, "What's your poison of choice?"

"Wine," I told him, "Bordeaux. Preferably something from the late seventies, early eighties, but I'll take what I can get right now."

"How would you feel about something a bit more local?" he offered, taking a seat next to me, "Because now that you mention it, sake sounds like a hell of an idea."

"If all else fails," I laid my head on his shoulder, "We could just sit in here and get bombed."

"You can hardly deal with the host club on a regular basis," Ritsu pointed out, "Do you really want to work it when you're hungover?"

"Oh, hell no," I shook my head, "Thank you, Ritsu. Always looking out for me."

"No problem," he kissed the top of my head.

When night fell over Osaka, a light knock echoed at our door. And bless this boy, Ritsu answered it for us, letting the faculty advisor know we're both in here and both down for the night. Oh, little did she know. Because once they finished making the rounds, they all went into their rooms, leaving us all on the honor system. A shit ton of high school students on an overnight trip out of their usual city being left to their devices? Yeah. That's going to go over well. Once the door closed, I dug around in my bag for a little special something, something I brought just for this trip. What can I say? I'm a girl that was raised in the night. And I thrive in the night. I'm sure the local scene is a good time.

I looked myself over in the mirror just before I left the bathroom. Goddamn, I looked like a high-class street rat, if such a thing existed. Granted, by day, I had to look like a dude for self-preservation reasons, but that clock switched from AM to PM and I could break free of the in-school expectations. We're not in school anymore, are we? And damn, did it show on me…

My short leather skirt hugged me in just the right way. The holes in my fishnets added a little sparkle. And a black crop top brought it all together. This bitch is looking for a fight and a good time. But where I'm from, those are one in the same. Boots…I had a pair of knee-high black boots with a killer heel on them with me. I'm sure I did…There they are!

"Hey, Rei," Ritsu called out, "You ready yet? We don't have all night."

"We do," I zipped my boots up, "But I get it. I'm almost ready. Give me a second."

I looked in my makeup bag for a bright red lipgloss that I had fallen in love with over the summer and couldn't leave without. Tonight felt like one of those nights. Don't get me wrong. I already was feeling like the baddest bitch in the room, but what harm could a little boost to that do? With a sharp enough wing on my eyeliner and my lips stained with the blood of my enemies, I was beyond good enough.

"You've had plenty of seconds, Rei," he groaned, "I thought you said you don't take long to get ready."

"I don't," I walked out, "You're just impatient."

"Uh…" Ritsu had that same look on his face like I slapped him with a salmon. Only this time, I think I might have broken something. Because a little trail of blood trickled out of his nose.

"Really?" I rolled my eyes, getting a warm washcloth, "Uh…? That's the brilliance you have to say to me?"

"I'm sorry," he jumped on the defensive, "You act like this is how I see you every day."

"I know," I admitted, catching the blood before it fell off his face, "It does come to a few as a shock. It's cute, though, yeah?"

"Yeah," Ritsu's breathing evened out, "Where are we going tonight?"

"Wherever the road takes us," I gave him the washcloth, "It's too bad we don't have your bike."

"We could rent a scooter," he suggested.

"I'm not riding bitch on a scooter," I shot him down, "We should get going before someone hears us."

"Alright," Ritsu cleaned the blood up from his nose and took my hand, "And Rei?"

"Yes…?" Without hesitation, he pulled me into his chest, giving me a kiss that rivaled the one from the roof.

"Now," he decided, "We can go."

"Ok…" I blinked the stars out of my eyes. I think I like him. And, call me crazy, but I think he might like me, too.

Carefully and quietly, the two of us snuck out of our room, making sure the door didn't slam. I wonder what the Osaka nightlife looks like. Daddy always did say I had an affinity for it. Come on. It's home. I was raised in the lights and the bass and came out of the womb with my foot tapping. Let me get lost in neon, ok? Although, going by the doors down the hall, Ritsu and I weren't the only ones thinking about doing a little rule breaking.

"You naughty girl," Hikaru and Kaoru hummed.

Huh. Looks like these boys have more moxie than I gave them credit for, "If I'm the naughty girl, what does that make all of you?"

"Concerned citizens?" they figured.

"Bullshit," I did a quick headcount, "You seem to be short a couple. Where are Honey and Mori?"

"In their room," Kyoya filled me in, "The ride here tired Honey-senpai out and wherever Honey-senpai goes, Mori-senpai follows, so they're staying in tonight."

"Understandable."

"Rei…?" Tamaki averted his eyes. Some stars are too bright to look at directly, "Don't you think you should put some more clothes on? You might get cold."

"I got plenty on," I rolled my eyes, "I look hot as hell and if all else fails, I have a backup jacket. Lady and gentlemen…Shall we?"

A/N: Would you look at that? Rei, you naughty girl. Sneaking out for the overnight trip. Honestly, I'd do the same thing. Rei's not the only one out of town for the weekend. Because I am, too! I miss you all terribly and I love you. It's also Wednesday night when I'm writing this and I'm half buzzed on Mike's Hard Lemonade and exhausted all to hell, so I have to pack. I'm leaving in the morning. See you next chapter! xx