End me. Just fucking end me. God, if you're listening, end me right here and now. Because I know Daddy's disappointed and there is no feeling worse than that. He thinks I'm a pimp! I know I've heard the host club casually mistaken as a small prostitution ring without the sex, but come on. Just kill me. I don't ask for very much. Right now, death would be a very welcomed friend.

"Excuse me, sir," Kyoya stepped in, going toe to toe with my father, "Can we help you, sir?"

"Which one are you?" Daddy wasn't backing down, "The dumb one, the big guy, the little guy, the brains, or the chick?"

"Excuse me?" Tamaki jumped in. Obvious which one the dumb one is, "Who are you?"

"My name is Francisco Mendoza," he introduced himself, not shy about throwing hands, "I'm looking for my daughter Reila. Because she and I need to have words."

"Daughter?" Tamaki's ear perked up.

"Hi, Daddy," I slinked down on my couch, horrified about what may happen next.

"DADDY?" the entire host club gasped.

"I had a feeling that's who you were, Mr. Mendoza," Kyoya smirked, "As for your question, I'd be the brains."

"Reila," Daddy ignored the rest of them, zeroing in on me, "A word, please."

"Yes, sir." I'm fucked.

"Is this really the racket you're running these days?" he asked.

"Uh-huh…" I hated nothing more than to be on the receiving end of Daddy when he's pissed. But no matter how angry I make him, he'll never go all out on me.

"Well," Daddy sighed out, "At least these are your boys and not the other way around."

"Um…" I bit my lip, bracing myself for the verbal beating I was about to take.

"Rei…?" he noticed my sudden apprehension, "You are at least running this club…Right?"

"Um…" Yep. I'm dead. I wonder if any of Mama's old buddies at the firm remember me and would be up for doing my will today.

"Reila…" Daddy shook his head, "I thought I raised you better than that."

"I know," I hung my head in shame, "I know. I'm working on it, though."

"If that's the case," he took a look around the room, "Which one of you run this operation?"

"Kyoya," the club vote was almost unanimous. Except for one.

"What do you mean, Kyoya?" Tamaki whined.

"Tamaki," Kyoya asked, "Who balances the books?"

"You do."

"Who puts most of the ideas for themes in your head?"

"You do."

"Who's more likely to do all the hiring?"

"You are."

"When the others get into petty squabbles, who takes care of it?"

"You do."

"Alright then," Kyoya washed his hands of it, "Why do you ask, sir?"

"You know all about Rei, too, don't you?" Daddy assumed.

"Yes, sir," Kyoya nodded.

"How?"

"I have my sources."

"Huh…" Daddy looked him over, "Keeping a tight lip, are we?"

"Yes, sir," Kyoya nodded.

"Hey, Kyoya," I stepped in, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Rei," Kyoya insisted, "What's on your mind?"

"You wouldn't happen to be yakuza, too," I wondered, "Are you?"

"No," he giggled to himself, "Although, that is a rather popular rumor around Ouran. I'm not surprised you're the one to sniff it out all on your own."

"You're not yakuza?" I had a hard time believing it, but fact is usually stranger than fiction.

"No."

"Do you see this, Ness?" Daddy turned to his only source of comfort in these dark times when his daughter is a disappointment, "Not even in a chair position."

"Ness?" the twins shared a confused glance.

"I'm assuming it's short for Vanessa," Kyoya guessed, "Rei's late mother."

"It is," I confirmed.

"Reila," Daddy grabbed my wrist, "We're going home."

"Daddy," I tried to stop him, "Please. Let me explain. I'm not pimping these boys out. And I'm sure as hell not their whore. All I do is talk to different girls about their day. That's it."

"So," he eased up on his grip, "They're paying for a friend?"

"Basically, yeah," I shrugged, "We're not doing anything bad here. It's not like we're taking them in the back for a nooner."

"Although," Tamaki thought it over, "If we were…"

"Prostitution's illegal in Japan, Tamaki," Kyoya stopped him in his tracks, "And that's what that is."

"Dammit…"

"We're still going home," Daddy put his foot down, "You and I need to talk."

"Yes, sir," I still had that cold chill in my soul. That disappointment cuts deep, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye, Rei-chan," Honey waved me off in hopes of putting a smile back on my face. It helped, but it didn't quite get me there.

The walk through Ouran took an eternity. Although, the dead silence may have had something to do with that. You're alright, Rei. You'd have to fall a lot farther than the host club in order to reach the status of full-on family disappointment. I'm pretty sure my uncles have done some stupid shit in their time that kept me afloat, so I'm still safe.

"Rei," Daddy broke the silence between us as soon as we were on the sidewalk, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," I wasn't going to say no. I'm too high on his shit list to be turning him down.

But then, a lightness returned to my heart as a little smile crept across his face, "You are going to run that club like a well-oiled machine, right, princess?"

"I'm number two in the rankings," I smiled back, a wave of relief crashing over me. Thank God. I'm not excommunicated, "And I'm only there two days a week. The rest of them are there Monday through Friday."

"And you're already number two?" he gasped, "Wait, then, who's number one?"

"Tamaki," I told him, "The dumb one."

"Of course," Daddy sighed, "It's always the pretty, dumb ones that get all the ladies."

"At first," I confessed, "I tried getting out of it. And I tried my damnedest to get out of it. But then, Kyoya found out about me and I half assed got blackmailed into joining. Ritsu had dealt with these guys before and he told me that if I wanted out, I just had to be a shitty host. But for some ungodly reason, these girls would flock to me when I'd treat them like garbage. I don't get it, but whatever works for them, I guess."

"I don't either," he chuckled to himself, "You know, when Mama and I first started seeing each other, she said she was sick of assholes treating her like shit. You know what I told her?"

"What?"

"I told her she was the shit," Daddy smiled, "And don't quote me, but I'm pretty sure that's the moment she fell in love with me. So, don't worry about the whole drama club thing you have going on."

"Host club," I corrected him.

"The fuck's a host club?" he gave me a look.

"That's what I said!" I squeaked, "I had no idea what a host club was when I joined. Apparently, it's just a group of guys that get paid to flirt with girls."

"You're getting paid for that?" Daddy asked.

"Not that I know of," I thought it over. Where did all the money from the host club go? Sounds like a Kyoya question. But a question for another day.

"All that aside," he brushed it off, "How was school today?"

"For the most part," I reported, "Things were ok. Although, things got a little weird with Ritsu today."

"Really?" Daddy's ear perked up, "What happened?"

"Well," I rocked back on my heels, "When we stopped off for coffee this morning, he accidentally called me baby for the first time."

"Accidentally?"

"You had to be there," I assured, "But it was definitely an accident. Because afterward, he got weird. And I got kind of weird. And we haven't spoken to each other since."

"So," Daddy wondered, "Is everything going to be ok with you two?"

"I don't know," I felt a knot start to form in the pit of my stomach, "I really like him, Daddy. And I don't want to lose him. Not when things are this good between us."

"First of all," he began, "It's about damn time you finally admitted it. You're sweet on the kid, Rei. You don't exactly make much of an effort at hiding it."

"Dammit…"

"I do have a question, though," Daddy added, "Has he ever had a girlfriend? Like, a serious girlfriend?"

"Not that I know of." Ritsu never mentioned a previous girlfriend before. I just assumed that shit ended messy and he didn't want to talk about it.

"That right there," he shoved his finger in my chest, "I bet you anything I got that's why he got weird."

"Would you be willing to bet the narrows?" I asked, keeping my fingers crossed.

"You already got the narrows, baby," Daddy threw an arm around my shoulders, "You know that. But this is probably just as new for him as what it is for you. And given that you've both been brought up in environments that don't exactly give you much wiggle room for relationships, it only makes it that much harder on you. Just give him a little time. I'm sure he'll come around."

"You think so?" I laid my head in his shoulder.

"Probably," he kissed the top of my head, "That little ramen shop…The one you talked about where you go after school…You usually meet Ritsu there, right?"

"Usually, yeah."

"And what time do you go?" Daddy asked.

"Around six or so," I checked my phone. Almost five.

"Well," he got the door for me, "Do you think you can fix whatever the fuck broke with you two in an hour?"

"I don't know," I mulled it over, "It might be a little longer than that."

"I think you can," Daddy insisted, hitting the elevator button, "In fact, I know you can. Besides, fixed or not, I need you back here in an hour. I'm leaving tomorrow and your marital drama can wait."

"Ok," I know he meant well by all of that. And in his own special way, he did help. At least I have one less problem to worry about. I'm not the family disappointment because of the host club, so I had that going for me. I threw my arms around him, "Thanks, Daddy."

"Anytime, princess," he kissed my forehead, "That's what I'm here for."

As soon as I got back in the penthouse, I stripped out of my uniform and left it on my closet floor. If shit between Ritsu and me isn't great, I needed something that'll leave his jaw on the floor. The weather is starting to cool off at night, so my black shorts may not be the smartest idea. Or my black leather skirt. Even though I did look hotter than hell in that damn skirt. I did have a pair of black skinny jeans with a few rips up the legs that would work. Those jeans, a dark blue button-up that could be seen from space from all the glitter on it, and a pair of black heeled boots? Would that work? That would work. That would work quite nicely.

"Well?" I walked out into my living room, doing a spin in front of Daddy, "What do you think? Too much? Too little?"

"You're such your mother's daughter, Reila," Daddy smiled, "You're such your mother's daughter."

"Really?" I gave him a look, "What makes you say that?"

"Mama had a thing about glitter, too," he explained, "Every time I'd go back to the boys, they'd always know if I had a date with her. It became a running joke. Hey, Frankie! Did you just see Vanessa or did you go to the strip club? I can hear it plain as day like it was yesterday."

"I miss her," I sat next to him.

"Yeah," Daddy threw an arm around me, "I do, too, baby girl. I do, too. Go on. Get to the ramen shop and patch things up with Ritsu."

"Ok," I kissed his cheek, "I love you."

"Love you, too, Rei," he gave he a little push to help me up. These heels on these boots were killer, but they got me where I needed to go. And they made my long ass legs even longer, so I'm not complaining. I've said it once. I'll say it again. My legs are my best feature. Whether they're being viewed as an object of desire or going into someone's skull, my legs are incredible and I loved them.

I walked down to the ramen shop and took a seat in our normal booth. Not too many in here tonight. Just me and some purple haired chick that was likely not a local. I'd strike up a conversation with her, but she looked like she was about to come out of her skin, so it's probably best if I leave her alone. But then, that little bell above the door chimed so sweetly as it always did. Surprise, surprise. Look who the cat dragged in.

"Hey," I waved him down, offering him the empty seat across from me.

"Hi," Ritsu sat down, "Do you think we could talk?"

"Yeah," I allowed, ordering another bowl of ramen. It's times like these where I'm glad Ritsu and I had the same order, "What's on your mind?"

"Look," he couldn't even make eye contact with me. He was too twitchy. Kind of like the chick on the other side of the restaurant. Only with more potential for a nosebleed, "I'm sorry about today. I thought that was something I was ready for and it turns out I wasn't and everything backfired so quickly and…"

"Ritsu," I took his hands, "It's ok. We're fine. Besides…It was kind of cute. I like the sound of it. Say it again."

"Reila," Ritsu shut me down, "Not the time, nor the place."

"Oh, come on," I hushed him, "You have to admit. You're fun to fuck with."

"Try being on this end of it," he grumbled, hiding a smile from me, "I will get you back for that one day."

"Fight me, bitch," I teased, getting a cheap laugh out of him. That's better.

"So," Ritsu wondered, treading lightly, "We're good?"

I leaned over the table and gave him a sweet and loving kiss, "Of course. But when you're about to get weird with me again, you could at least tell me first."

"Sorry."

"Hey," I bit the inside of my cheek, "You wouldn't want to come back to my place, would you?"

"Is your dad still in town?" Ritsu wondered.

"Yeah," I nodded, "But it's also his last night in town. And believe what you want. Daddy likes you."

"Really?"

"He does," I confirmed, "Please? Come over?"

"Well…" I see I really had to twist his arm around, "Alright."

"Yay!" Fixed my relationship with time to spare. Dinner with two of my favorite men. Life is good.

A/N: Hi, friends! Looks like things between Rei and her dad are good again. Things between Rei and Ritsu are a little less weird. And I may or may not have forgotten to write an outro for this since I've had this chapter sitting around for the last week. It's a damn good thing, too. I'm a little on the sick side and I don't think I'd have it in me to write a full chapter. To put things into perspective on how ahead of the game I am, I think I'm going to try and push myself a little to finish the last Trouble Comes in Threes chapter. The last one comes out on Halloween. I also have a few shenanigans prepared for you for when I'm on hiatus in November, but I'm sure you'll be fine. I mean, unless you could give two shits less about the stories I got coming up. But it'd be nice if you did. But I'm going to go over here and attempt to get some work done. See you next chapter! xx

(Although, if there isn't a Friday chapter this week, do forgive me. This whole sick thing is kicking my ass. K, bye!)