Here we go, a chapter not based off the manga! I'm glad, too. This is one of my personal favorites (regarding character growth) from my anime version, even though this one will have less KyoJin flirting (sorry). I hope you like the changes I made!

Episode 9!

During her year abroad in America, Jin had faced a steep social learning curve. Being a teenager in high school was hard enough without throwing the title "exchange student" on top of it. It was like being the new kid, but with extra steps. Every group in the school tried to scope out who she was as a person and rope her into their inner circle because of some hierarchy that came with being favored by the foreigner… apparently? Jin didn't try to understand it and made friends she felt comfortable with, but that didn't save her from the uncomfortableness of being treated like a celebrity for something so inconsequential.

Little did Jin know, by returning to Japan she did not in fact leave that all behind her.

"Jin! We're going to get our lunches now. Can you please grab a table for us all?"

"Sure, Tamaki." Jin shook her head as Tamaki went from dragging her to the lunch room to dragging Kyoya to the lunch line. Kyoya didn't bother to put up a fight. Like Jin, he knew there was no point in trying to save face by breaking their friend's grip. If Tamaki didn't get to hold one of their arms, even if they were still going to the same place, the blond became mopey and sullen until whoever had hurt his feelings made a gesture to apologize. Normally, in public, Tamaki wasn't as emotional and acted more mature. Why the blond was starting to let his true self out more often was a mystery.

Jin wove her way through other students and lunch tables in her search of an empty place to sit. She didn't mind the fact that Tamaki dragged her here every day instead of letting her eat in their classroom. Honestly, she was happy with the host club's company. Haruhi had different feelings about it, but Jin knew her sister well enough to know that "tolerated" was too weak of a word.

As she searched for a table Jin was well aware of all the eyes following her around. Much like when she was abroad, her popularity at this school came from something other than her personality. Turns out, being friends with the Host Club was almost like being a celebrity by association. It felt a lot weirder than it sounded. Jin hoped she would get used to it soon, because all the staring was sending shiver after shiver down her spine and now she was cold.

"Nēchan?"

Haruhi had appeared at Jin's side without her knowledge, holding a bento box in her left hand that was wrapped up in a patterned fabric that matched Jin's. Haruhi's was grey with green lining and Jin's was dark blue with white lining. Jin forgot about the staring as she smiled at her sister. "Hey, Haruhi. I was wondering when you'd get here."

"We're here too, you know."

The twins popped up on either side of the sisters. With their hands full, the redheads had to depend on their elbows to corral Jin and Haruhi towards an empty table a few feet away. Jin went along with the casual prodding. She had gotten used to it. Her friends were weird, but she liked weird people.

"And just what do you think you're doing?"

For a second, Jin thought Hikaru was talking to her. She stopped halfway down to her chosen chair and looked up. To her great surprise, Hikaru and Kaoru are standing defensively in front of her, glaring hard at a boy standing by the neighboring table. Jin didn't recognize him, but he doesn't have any remarkable features so it was possible Jin just didn't remember. He had short brown hair with slightly tousled bangs that stopped over his dark eyes. Not a bad face, but not exceptionally handsome either.

The nearby chatter had died down at Hikaru's question as the students sitting at the next table waited with bated breath for the next move. Were they that desperate for entertainment? The boy who had been singled out by the twins looked shocked by the attention. His eyes cut left and right at the other students watching before staring ahead, zeroing in on Jin. His gaze was intense in a way that made Jin's stomach curl in on itself and she struggled not to avert her eyes.

The boy suddenly pulled his shoulders back, and announced in a loud voice, "I'm here to request a session with Jin Fujioka as my host." The whole lunchroom went quiet, followed by the sound of fabric shifting against plastic as everyone turned in their chairs to see what was going on.

… What?

"What?"

Tamaki and Kyoya were standing a little ways to the right, both boys wearing various levels of shock on their faces. If Jin weren't so completely floored by the strange request, she'd probably find their expressions funny. At least giggle worthy.

Instead, Jin was feeling the overwhelming urge to sink down through the floor. It didn't help when another voice called out from the crowd, "I'd like to request Jin, too!" Everyone spun around to look for the source only for two more boys to join in. Soon a number of voices were calling out through the lunchroom vying for Jin's attention, asking to schedule time with her. Tamaki, Kyoya, Honey and Mori slowly gravitated towards the lunch table Jin was seated at until she was basically in the center of a small huddle.

"We can make them go away." Jin looked up at Tamaki. He looked serious, which was almost just as funny as his shocked expression from earlier. "You are not an official host, and you look scared. Say the word and we'll tell them to leave you alone."

Scared? Jin frowned and lowered her gaze. Why was she scared? She could easily handle herself. These boys wouldn't know what hit them if she decided to fight. Their attention wasn't anything new. Jin knew most people found her to be rather pretty. At least these boys weren't fighting over who got to ask her out like in those shoujo animes her father liked to watch.

She bit her lip and purposefully kept her eyes away from Haruhi's. "If I become a host, would that increase my debt payback?"

To say the hosts were taken aback by Jin's question wouldn't quite do is justice. Tamaki's mouth was flapping open and shut, half-aborted words fumbling past his lips. Haruhi said a single "wait" before Jin grabbed her sister's hand and she stopped. One by one, the eyes of the Host Club turned to Kyoya. He had set his lunch down on the table and was holding his favorite black journal open in his hand, but Kyoya looked hesitant even as he thought the question over.

"Yes," he said slowly. "But I feel the need to-"

"He said yes! I'm first in line!"

The boy who had started it all shouted loudly to the crowd. How he had snuck close enough to overhear Jin wasn't sure, but now everyone was calling out asking for more information and trying to book their own slots with Jin. The cacophony was rapidly spiralling into madness as a mass of boys started pressing in closer.

"We will do a trial run," Tamaki shouted over the din. "One day of trial hostessing-" he was cut off by the responding uproar as the boys trying to get their names on the list grew frantic. Tamaki looked to be on the brink of panicking as he turned around and pointed at Mori.

"Mori-senpai! Get Haruhi and Jin to safety! Kyoya and I will fix this!"

Jin faintly heard Kyoya ask "we will?" before she was suddenly hauled out of her seat. There wasn't a moment to protest, Jin barely managed to snag her bento before she was being carted away by Mori and Honey. The twins were on their tail with Haruhi, everyone trying to move between the spectators without spilling their lunches.

The last thing Jin saw before the doors to the cafeteria shut behind her were Tamaki and Kyoya disappearing into a huddle of boys. What had she gotten them all into now?

*The Next Day*

The tale of the Hostess Lunch Fiasco had circulated to every student at Ouran High School before the day was over. Though no one seemed to be able to agree on exactly how Jin Fujioka reacted, the next morning it was pretty clear Jin had not had a peaceful night. As she and Haruhi made their daily trek up to the school and to their classrooms, the faint purpling underneath Jin's eyes was clearly read as a swipe of makeup over a long night of no sleep.

Jin was checked out for most of the day. Even when the Host Club gathered in the club room for lunch to go over the rules for the afternoon, she picked at her meal in silence. She did not nap, but it did look like she desperately needed one. As she wasn't the only one who looked unprepared for the day. Even Kyoya was sitting stiffly in his seat as Tamaki rambled on. He had mentioned at the beginning of the meeting how, when they attempted a sensible approach to the evening by posting a sign up sheet, a wave of boys had swarmed Kyoya and filled up all the allotted time slots within ten minutes.

He didn't say it out loud, but it was clear the end result was not sitting right with the VP.

As the afternoon classes rolled on, Jin tried to wake herself up. Before lunch had ended she had made herself a quick cup of instant coffee and loaded it with cream and sugar before downing it in two gulps, but the caffeine refused to kick in. She did her best to hide her yawns and not nod off into her desk. By the time she was back in the club room Jin felt dead on her feet.

"Do we have to go through with this?"

Out of every host, Hikaru was the last person Jin expected to test the question. He and his brother were watching the growing crowd at the front of the room with barely concealed displeasure. Jin didn't bother following their gaze. Every time she saw the thirty boys staring at her with desperation, she felt the need to hide in the costume room.

Tamaki eventually stopped looking at the crowd himself and started ushering the twins away. "Now, now, they may not be what we're used to but, for today, these men are guests of the Host Club and we must treat them with the same respect as any other guest. Now, you have your jobs, so I suggest you get ready."

He watched them leave with a placating smile before abruptly turning around and getting really close to Jin's face. She was so out of it she barely flinched.

"But seriously," he whispered with a desperate sort of tone Jin was slowly getting used to. "If someone makes you uncomfortable at all, you call one of us over and we'll remove him from the room. If you don't like today, you never have to do it again. I'm hoping that by being students at Ouran Academy they will be chivalrous and gentlemanly, but Kyoya said-"

"Excuse us."

Tamaki backed away and stood up straight as two boys made their presence known on the other side of the table. Jin blinked hard once to really focus on their features. She vaguely recognized one boy from the lunchroom yesterday, but had no names or class placements to go with it.

The taller boy on the right had his upper lip curled ever so slightly as he looked Tamaki over. "I understand acting… close with your fellow club members is something that engages your female clients, Suoh, but personally I find it to be intruding."

Jin's brain stopped on the word 'intruding' and the bad feeling in her gut that accompanied it had her blanking for a few seconds until she felt Tamaki's hand on her shoulder. She returned to reality just as her friend walked away, taking his hand and reassuring presence with him. Her first two guests of the day sat down on the couch in front of her. A small circular table with a vase that held three light green flowers was in between them. Jin still felt like they were too close.

"You look beautiful today, Fujioka-san."

Jin felt her heart beat funky in her chest. It wasn't a great feeling. "Thank you," she mumbled. "Would you like some tea?" Because I sure as hell need some.

The two boys nodded and Jin busied herself with the tea kettle. The last time she'd felt this uncomfortable was when she had visited her father at work and a drunk older man squeezed her ass. But this was a vastly different situation. Whether or not she regretted it now (fun fact, she did) ultimately Jin had given her consent for this trial run. The boys sitting across from her weren't drunk perverts old enough to be her grandfather. It would be fine, right?

The taller boy of the two took a polite sip from his cup before setting it back down. "Fujioka-san? I realize you must be told this often, but I have to say I appreciate how you don't wear makeup. There are some girls who cake it on every morning, but your natural beauty is too perfect for that. So thank you."

Jin wanted to look at the clock so badly, but she was worried it might seem rude.

*\/*

*Kyoya's P.O.V.*

If Jin's energy was low when hosting hours began, she was now officially, as the commoners put it, "running on fumes" as the final hour started ticking away.

As per Tamaki's requirements for their Hostess Trial Run, everyone had been on high alert regarding Jin and her wellbeing. I tried to keep a balance between monitoring Jin's situation and catering to my own guests, but I appeared to be one of the few hosts to consider this. Most of the others, namely Tamaki and the twins, had spent more time jumping up from their chairs to intervene on Jin's behalf than they had speaking with their guests. More than a few of their guests left early, a trend I hoped wouldn't become the norm in the future.

On some level I understood their concern. Given the nature of the sign up for the event, I knew that Jin's guests would mostly consist of boys who were desperate for Jin's attention. With any other girl I knew, I would've been concerned about how forceful the boys would be, but this was Jin. Strong and intelligent; any other day and I would've had no worries about her ability to handle a few hours of bad flirting.

A few tables away, Jin gave another huge yawn that she could barely cover with the palm of her hand. On the couch across from her, one of the three boys leaned forward with a smug expression on his face. I could just faintly hear him ask, "That's the second time you've yawned with us. Would you like to take a nap? You can rest on my lap if you want-"

"Get him out of here!" Tamaki stormed across the room, pointing frantically between the boy who spoke and the doors. The boy barely had a moment to look up before Hikaru and Kaoru were grabbing him by the arms and dragging him away. Jin looked like she was trying to say something, but was interrupted by another yawn.

"Kyoya? Is Jin going to be alright?"

I turned back to my guests with a placating smile. I had two at the moment, both of them first year students from class B. They too had been keeping an eye on the boys drifting in and out of the club room this afternoon and thankfully seemed more concerned than annoyed.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. Jin is a strong woman. This is nothing she can't handle."

One of the girls beamed in clear relief, but her friend was still fiddling with her tea cup. "It's just… I know one of the boys sitting with Jin right now. We were in the same class in middle school and he liked trying to lift my skirt with his pencil when I walked by his desk."

I set my tea cup down and looked over at Jin's remaining guests. I recognized one of them as the son of a famous restaurant chain owner who had been in class C since we were in grade school, but the other I wasn't familiar with. "Is it the one with his tie untucked from his school jacket?"

My guest glanced over and back before nodding. "Yeah. That's Gou-san."

"I see."

Gou was leaning closer to Jin now, saying something I couldn't hear because the boy Hikaru and Kaoru had pulled away was making a fuss by the doors. Not seeing much distress in Jin's posture, I went back to reassuring my own guests.

"Please don't worry too much about Jin. Like I said, she's strong and more than capable of handling herself. And the rest of the Host Club is keeping an eye on things."

My guest relaxed and her friend let out a giggle. "Do you think Haruhi would go nuts if he saw someone trying to make a move on his sister?"

"No no, he doesn't seem like the possessive type. But what about Mori-senpai?"

"Now ladies." I had to head them off. "I must remind you that I can't condone any hosts acting violently. A fantasy is one thing, but we are first and foremost gentlemen-"

Bang!

"Do not touch me like that again!"

I stood up at Jin's shout before I even knew what I was doing. She was hunched over her table, chair knocked backwards, and was holding Gou down against the table by his neck with his right arm held behind his back. Gou was trying to wiggle his way out of Jin's hold, cursing up a storm but otherwise unsuccessful. Jin's other guest, whose name I finally recalled as Shigeko Inai, was plastering himself back against the couch cushions and staring at Jin in alarm.

I walked over to the scene. The other hosts beat me there, but were hesitant to approach Jin's personal bubble. Not that I blamed them. A sleep-deprived martial artist who was already upset and pinning a boy who was at least a head taller and fifty pounds heavier than her was not someone I would want to interrupt either. As I drew level with Mori-senpai and Haruhi, I asked, "What happened?"

Shigeko flapped his mouth a few times before shaking his head. Right. Glad he outed himself as useless right off the bat. Gou tried to say something but was cut off by his own yelp of pain.

"I'll tell you what happened," Jin ground out through her teeth. "This pervert tried to sneak his hand onto my crotch. Just another reason I'm glad I wear pants to this school."

"You aren't going to believe her, right? Ow!" Gou squirmed a bit more, clearly unaware of how much worse off he was making himself. "I was just trying to get a piece of lint off her knee and she went nuts! Someone get her off me!"

"You're quite right about that," I pretended to agree. "Jin? Would you mind letting this gentleman up so we can escort him out of our club room? I believe he has overstayed his welcome."

"What?"

Gou struggled as he was moved from Jin's custody to Mori's, the gentle giant frog-marching the handsy pervert out of the room without a word. I took one look at Jin, who was back to sitting down with her head in her arms on the tabletop, and gave Tamaki a pointed look. Thankfully, my ditz of a "best friend" caught on and raised his voice to the rest of the room.

"Fujioka-san's time as a hostess is officially terminated. She will be seeing no more clients for the foreseeable future."

A wave of complaints rose up from the remaining boys waiting their turn but Shigeko, for one, nodded frantically before jumping up and running out of the room like he was fleeing a house fire. Hikaru and Kaoru were on his tail, guiding and occasionally shoving the others out into the hallway under Tamaki and Honey's direction.

I glanced at the clock. There was just over forty five minutes left of hosting hours. Three rotations, in which I have no more guests to entertain. And now, neither did Jin. Which really only left me one course of action.

Jin was still face down as I approached, Haruhi by her side gently rubbing her back. If Haruhi was surprised by my joining them, she did not show it. Although her eyes did go a little wide when I said, "You need to go and see your guests off. I'll keep Jin company."

Haruhi seemed to contemplate my order before she gave a little nod and walked back to her table, though not without giving Jin one last pat on the head. I waited until Haruhi was far enough not to hear a quiet conversation before looking down. Jin had rotated her head until she could peek at me out of the corner of her eye, though how she could see me with her hair covering almost her entire face escaped me.

"You will, will you?"

"Yes. Unless you'd rather go home early. If anyone here deserves a nap before dinner…"

Jin gave a muted laugh and sat up a little, stretching her arms. "No… I'd rather stick around here for a while." Her eyes cut to the now closed doors and I understood. Perhaps the club should escort her and Haruhi off the school grounds, too.

"Understood. Now, I know I told Haruhi I'd keep you company, so unless you'd rather spend your remaining hour alone, perhaps we can work on our JSL homework together before closing time. We are supposed to work with a partner, after all, and you seem like you might need assistance with retaining information."

Jin actually smiled and had another small laugh. "Sure, Kyoya. But first you should probably lead by example and say goodbye to your guests."

"Touché."

Sure enough, my two guests were still waiting by the table I left them at barely five minutes ago. They didn't seem particularly troubled by my abandoning them, though the shorter of the two did question me before leaving.

"I thought you said you couldn't condone any hosts behaving violently?"

I had said that, hadn't I?

"Well, Fujioka isn't a host. I suppose that makes her the exception."

"Good." She and her friend smiled at me, like I'd said something particularly charming, though I didn't recall doing so. "I'd hate to see her get in trouble for standing up for herself. We need more girls like Jin around here."

My guests walked off and I accompanied them as far as Jin's table. Hikaru and Kaoru would make sure none of the guests leaving or arriving were haggled by any boys lingering in the hallways. I deposited my school bag beside the couch and took a seat, reaching out to pour the two of us some soothing tea. Another thing Jin looked like she needed.

She smiled at the action. Lifting her hands, she held her left hand almost parallel to the floor and tapped her right hand against her left wrist before lifting it upwards. Like a railroad crossing gate being lifted.

"You're welcome."

Of course, Jin must've used the last of her cognitive thought to remember that particular sign, because as soon as she finished taking a long sip of her tea, she accidentally missed the saucer coming down and spilled the rest of her drink. With a shriek, Jin set the now empty tea cup down and looked at her now bright red hand.

For the second time in the past half hour, I reacted without thinking. Taking Jin by her dry hand, I quickly tugged her out of her seat and towards the storage room. Inside, set beneath a row of cupboards that held various teas and instant coffee containers, was a sink. I flicked on the cold water and pushed Jin's left hand beneath the stream. She let out a soft hiss but began moving her hand so all of her red skin was being washed over.

As soon as I regained my breath from the sudden run, I stepped back and crossed my arms. "We are never going to let you host boys again. You're too tired to function and clearly stressed out of your mind! I should have called it off the moment you hesitated in the lunchroom! You need to learn when to tell people you don't want to do something because this was a disaster and now you're hurt."

Jin pulled her hand out from beneath the faucet and I switched gears. "Jin, I'd advise against that. The tea was still steaming when you spilled."

"Kyoya." Jin lifted her hands again and clasped them together, right over left.

I blinked, momentarily confused. It was clearly sign language, but what sign was… oh. I looked up from her hands and found Jin starting at me intently. Waiting for my response. I raised my hands and returned the gesture.

'Friends'.

Jin must not have been feeling particularly verbal at the moment, because she simply beamed at me before putting her injured hand back under the water. Or perhaps, like me, she didn't know what to say. Yes, we clearly weren't enemies, but we hadn't quite confirmed that we were friends. Not until a few moments ago. It was an odd feeling. Friends with a commoner, for no reason other than I enjoyed her company.

Odd, indeed.

I'm sorry that I can't seem to speed up. All I can say is I'm finally rediscovering my passion for reading and writing, and I haven't forgotten about you all. I hope that whoever is still reading my work still finds it enjoyable.

See you next chapter!