Over the past few weeks, Shion had started talking more and more with his classmates—and even though he wasn't that social of a butterfly, he met a few people that stuck with him. He had made a few new friends, two in fact, and they were quite the duo. They reminded him of a few friends from his stay in America. They were similar in their comedic crudeness—and their dirty minds…

There was Satsuki Hijikata, a girl of average height with short and messy dyed blond hair with green eyes. She didn't wear the female uniform, wearing the male one like Haruhi. It suited her better than what those yellow dresses would have. She must have some connections to wear the male uniform—unbeknownst to him, she had quite the hell of a connection. She was loud and cheery, though under that large sloppy grin was something wouldn't want to mess with unless they wanted to get beat down to a pulp. She could be hella violent.

"Hahaha, that was hilarious! Huh? Those are great! Take one now, he's not paying attention."

She was a bit of a delinquent, but that didn't bother Shion he had a bunch of delinquent friends from America. He absently thought that he would have to get in contact with them sometime. Skype most likely.

Then there was Aaron Kagami. He was a rather short individual—in both height and temper. He had hazel eyes with a mole by his left eye, his straight and red hair was parted in the middle of his forehead. It gave him a somewhat nerdy look. It's highly advised that one avoided bringing that up with him, otherwise he would spite the victim so hard. He wouldn't take the violence route like Satsuki would—he would rather play mental games. Other than his revenge issues, he was quite humorous…

"Hey Shion, cheese!"

And also quite eccentric.

"Hmm?" Shion turned his head—unaware of what they've been doing for a while, and thinking back on it, it wasn't a good idea to keep those two unattended—to be face to face with his red-haired friend, Aaron. He had a camera and set it off with a flash. Shion cringed at the bright flash and rubbed his eyes under his glasses. "Aaron... What was that for?" He blinked, now he had those damn floaters and couldn't see his friends face due to the flash.

"Oh yeah, you don't know..." Satsuki mused and Shion waited for her to continue.

"...Don't know what?" Shion pressed, they weren't being very cooperative.

"I'm in the photography club!"

"So you took my picture because...?" Shion waited for a sufficient answer, crossing his arms with an eyebrow rising up in question.

"I just felt like it." Satsuki snorted at Aaron's blunt answer.

Shion sighed, "I'm not very photogenic you know."

"Pfft, like hell you aren't! You just don't like your picture taken." Aaron went through a few pictures in his camera, "In every picture I took of you, you look incredibly nice." He wiggled his eyebrows, "Sexy even."

"When did you even take those?!" Shion hastily grabbed the camera out of Aaron's hands and scrolled through them. One he was concentrating on playing trumpet in the music room and another he was kneeling down to pick up books he had dropped. There was even one from when he was changing for gym class. Shion glowered at the camera. Though he was glad it didn't catch his other eye or scars.

"I just didn't have the flash on, but you aren't very aware of your surroundings are you?"

"I am actually. You're just as stealthy as a ninja." Shion raised an eyebrow before muttering under his breath, "Damn ninja... Now how do I delete these?..."

"Ahaha," Aaron grabbed the camera from Shion's grasp and twirled into a bow, "I thank you for the compliment, my liege." He waved the camera in front of Shion's face, taunting him, "But you'll never catch me." Then he smirked and pranced around the classroom.

"Aarrroooonnnnnn!"

Through the whole exchange, Satsuki had been laughing so hard that it wasn't audible anymore. She could feel her abs growing exponentially.

Two people had also been watching the exchange from across the room with smiles on their faces.

"I'm glad he made more friends."

"I thought he was going to avoid having relationships given on what happened between the two of us."

"Yes but that entirely was your fault Kyoya."

Kyoya sighed and adjusted his glasses, watching Shion's interactions with his friends. "I know Tamaki." Then he smirked, it was almost time.

"Come on, delete the pictures." Shion asked, "Please?"

"No way." Shion's face went blank, void of emotion.

He was so done.

"This is a breach of privacy!" Shion cried in outrage. "I'm friends with traitors!" He threw his hands up in the air before crossing his arms with an annoyed huff. He pointedly looked away from them with an intense glare.

"Pass pass!" Satsuki called from the doorway.

"It's all yours." Aaron and Satsuki both nodded and Satsuki bolted down the hallway. "I trust you, you're my last hope!" He yelled and dramatically collapsed onto the floor.

Shion sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose to prevent an oncoming headache. "Why are you so hell-bent on keeping those pictures?" He watched as Aaron got up from the floor and waved his hand, motioning him to come closer.

He whispered in Shion's ear, "Do you know how much those could sell for to your fangirls? Like three-hundred or four-hundred yen a pop!"

"You're going to sell them?!" Shion raised his voice, people looked over wondering what was going on, Shion quickly shut his mouth, choosing to ignore the laughter from his classmates. He paused and thought for a moment. "Wait a second... I have fangirls?" Already?

Aaron facepalmed. "Aaaaahhhh... You are sooo clueless..."

Shion was about to childishly retort 'Am not!' before a teacher opened the door and said, "Is Hakuba Shion here?"

Shion glowered at the smug look Aaron was giving him before turning his head to the teacher with a small smile. "Yes?"

"You have been called down to the office."

"Oh, thank you."

"Ooooohhhhhh, someone's in trouble," Aaron singsonged along with Satsuki who just ran back into the room, screeching to a halt on her heels—they actually ended up harmonizing with each other.

"If you are going to sell them—and I know you will regardless if I say so or not—then let me approve of them. I'll only approve this if I get half of the profit. If not I'll send a note to the school board that you've been selling things illegally on campus." Shion negotiated—even though Aaron didn't really have a choice. Shion could just feel Kyoya's smirk growing along with an adjustment of his glasses, a white sheen appearing in the process. It was just a hunch that he felt, though he was sure it happened.

"Ehhh..." Aaron pouted, but then again he was the one in the photos. "Fine..." He laid his upper body on his desk and sulked.

"Stop pouting." He chuckled and pat Aaron's head. Shion turned to leave to the main office, wondering what it was about, but he would only find out if he went.

"Haha, success!" Aaron and Satsuki clapped hands, both doing their own little victory dance, "He laughed!"

• • • • • •

"Eh–hem, now Hakuba-kun. I noticed that you hadn't joined a club yet." The principal, or as he remembered, Tamaki's father, intertwined his fingers seriously on his desk. The seriousness didn't suit the man, because now when Shion looked at the man he saw Tamaki, and Tamaki didn't suit serious.

"Um... No?" His voice raised in pitch, along with a confused tilt of the head.

"You haven't been told that's it's mandatory to join a club, have you?" Yuzuru understood Shion's situation of not being familiar with the customs of the school.

"What? It is?" He took a bit of a double-take, the clubs weren't mandatory in America.

"Yes. If possible I would like you to make your decision by the end of the week."

"Yes, sir." Shion frowned in thought.

• • • • • •

"Hmm..." The only things I'm interested in with clubs would be music or drama... Shion thought as he walked down the hallways. Drama would require a lot of after school time and work, and music he would have to practice each day after school too... Even though he did those things in his daily life, it would interfere with his work. The possibility of the host club popped into mind—though he quickly shook the thought away with a shake of his head.

"What are you thinking about Hakuba?" A person tapped his shoulder.

Shion jumped with a start and whirred around to come face to face with Kyoya and Tamaki who had been following behind since he went down a flight of stairs. "Jesus! Enough with the jump scares Ootori!" Shion fixed his bag that spun around his body at the movement.

"What were you thinking about?" Tamaki came in. He was oddly calm at the moment. Shion wasn't used to a calm Tamaki, though it was refreshing. "We were trying to talk to you but you were lost in thought."

"Just about which club I—" he stopped mid-sentence. He should not have mentioned it to them, because Shion saw that calculating glint in Kyoya's framed cobalt eyes. He probably had known this would have happened, hell he probably planned it. That sneaky rat... Shion had the feeling that it was planned with that knowing smirk Kyoya had. Manipulative bastard. Then realization slowly dawned upon Tamaki.

"Why not observe our club for a few days, you may enjoy it." Kyoya offered.

"Yeah Hakuba! It'll be fun!"

Shion sighed, "Sure, but don't peer pressure me into joining. If you do... Hmm. I'll think of it later." Shion warned, but he would give them a chance, he was dead set against joining in the first place, but he had to find a club that wouldn't take too much of his time. That eliminated the sports clubs. Bye-bye track and field. That kind of club required too much effort.

While they were on their way to the club room Shion thought of the rest of the warning. I'll never be friendly with them again.

• • • • • •

"So, how do you like the club so far?" Haruhi sat beside Shion. She had just finished with her customers and was taking a break before doing the chores she had to do. She had been surprised when Shion showed up to the club room willingly, though from his expression she could tell that he wasn't too pleased about it.

"It's... Fine I guess..." He looked up from his red book and glanced around. The customers were smiling and fawning over their preferred hosts. He looked over to Tamaki who was doing a bit when he put a rose in his mouth and twirled the girls around in some dance. Shion's lips lifted into a smile when he got some inspiration on a song he was writing. He went back to writing into his little red music book.

Hani approached Shion and went unnoticed since he was small and outside of his range of vision. Shion had been getting quite a lot of attention from the various girls and had been ignoring it expertly. He looked bored, so Hani was going to get him up and about. He's getting a lot of attention! Kyoya must be happy.

Though on the contrary, he looked a little irritated.

"Hakuba?"

Shion's eyes moved over his book to the small blond standing in front of where he sat. "Yes Hani?" He took the pencil he was writing with away from the corner of his mouth, it was a habit he had when he concentrated.

"Do you want to try to host?"

Tamaki's ear perked up and his head whipped into their direction. Almost instantaneously he came running, "Why isn't that a great idea! Hakuba, you must try to see if it piques your interest, I insist!"

"And by insist you mean to annoy me into submission?" Tamaki didn't make eye contact and whistled. Shion sighed, "If I don't do this he would either go into his depressed state or nag me tomorrow in class... Alright. How do I do the host?"

"Why don't you find out?" The twins singsonged from behind him. A chill went down Shion's spine. They grabbed and picked him up, bringing him to one of the hosting areas.

"Would anyone like to give our temporary trainee a whirl?"

"Wait, I don't even know what to do!"

"I see a few volunteers, now come on down!"

"Yes, why not ignore the person in need?" Shion's voice was dripping with cynicism.

Kaoru whispered into his ear, "You have been watching us this whole time."

Actually, I haven't… He thought with annoyance but didn't try to fight it. Fighting it would only make it worse, especially in a public setting.

"Why not put that observation to good use?" Hikaru whispered.

They pat his shoulders and put him in the lion's or rather the lioness's cage. They backed away to watch from a distance. He glared at them, at the club in general. He wasn't in the mood for this.

"H–hello." A girl spoke up.

Shion blinked, the voice bringing him out of his mental cussing, it made him realize that he had to host or woo these women somehow. He remembered how all the hosts had been graceful in their actions, each host had their own type, but he didn't know his own.

"Hi, sorry, I haven't been instructed in how to host yet, I haven't even officially joined the club, but if you kind ladies could help this poor commoner learn how to host I would be grateful." He hoped that being humble and playing on his commoner status would pull them in.

"O–of course!" The three girls smiled.

"Nice word choice..." Kyoya raised an eyebrow at his sudden change of character.

"Yeah, his posture straightened too." Tamaki stroked his chin in thought.

"I understand that each host has their own… type, correct?" The girls nodded. "I don't happen to know my own, so what do you girls prefer? I'll try my best to fit the role given."

"Oh?" Kyoya raised an eyebrow at Shion, interested in what he was trying to do—it was something new.

"Then... how about a shy type?"

"As you wish." Shion was right, he could work on acting in the host club—method acting. "Just a moment, I have to get into the role."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. Stereotypically as a character shy people were quiet and reserved, usually cute or socially awkward, and get embarrassed or scared easily. Not outspoken, stutters during speech—voice may crack if nervous. Body language tight and fidgety—defensive positioning, can't keep eye contact for long periods of time, looks at the ground a lot.

To further get into character he messed his hair up a bit, covering his face a bit more with his hair. He also unfolded his sleeves to cover his hands to his knuckles.

He breathed out and his body language visibly changed.

"Umm... S–so what are w–we supposed to t–talk about?" He batted his eyes and looked away shyly. The girls were shocked, the sudden change in attitude, they couldn't help but blush. On the other end of the room the others were also surprised. Shion smirked inwardly, he totally had this.

Wait. I'm making this more difficult for myself aren't I?

"How about your hobbies?"

"Umm... W–well I like music. I, uh, play a few instruments." He tugged at the bottom of his shirt nervously and shifted in his seat. He made a light blush dust his cheeks. It was a bit weird how he was able to, but it was a technique his old improve teacher taught him.

"What kind of instruments?"

Shion brightened and started to smile, "I–I can play the saxophone, violin, trumpet, guitar and piano. B-but the last four I have the most experience in... I'm trying to learn others… The French Horn is hard to play." His eyes widened, "Oh, I'm r–rambling. A–aren't I?" He scratched his cheek nervously. Seriously, fuck the french horn—difficult to play, but pleasing to the ear.

"Wow..." Shion blushed at their reactions and scratched his cheek with a small smile.

For the next few minutes, they talked about things that Shion wouldn't remember the next day before Kyoya intervened. "I apologize ladies, but we are closing up shop."

"Oh, it's closing time?" Shion questioned, still in character. To be honest he based it on Hani a little bit. "It was nice to meet you two!" Shion smiled brightly, the shyness started to ebb as he got more comfortable with them.

"It has been a pleasure." They got up to leave, "Oh, and If you do become a host you should be the creative type."

One stayed behind for a moment, "I hope to see you again." She bowed and left.

Shion smiled politely and when the door closed he sighed and curled in on himself in a ball of despair. He just dug a hole for himself and now Kyoya would definitely get him to join. He sighed again, putting his head in his hands and grabbing his hair, tugging on it lightly just to keep up with reality.

I just turned into a shy schoolgirl by the end of that. My gods.

"Oh–ho, now don't we have an attention seeker here!" Hikaru gave Shion a noogie.

Shion got up from his position on the couch and batted the Twins away. "I had no instructions. At all—thanks for that by the way. So I just did what I do best." Shion gave the two dirty looks before he fixed his clothes. He rolled his sleeves back up and fixed his hair also.

"Act?"

"Noo," came Shion's cynical drawl.

"But the creative type is too vague... What would his type be?" Kyoya pondered.

"Hey, I haven't joined yet!" Shion protested and went ignored.

"Oh, I know!" Tamaki and the twins had a eureka moment.

"He's the–"

• • • • • •

Also I think I'm turning Tamaki into Gai from Naruto, here's an example; Tamaki came running "Why isn't that a great idea! Hakuba, you must try to see if it piques your interest, I insist!" That's totally Gai like... Now he just needs a bowl cut and some blond caterpillars for eyebrows. :D

Well, I'll see you in the next chapter! Bu-bye!