Shion had been dropped off at his apartment a little over two hours ago and was still amused. Kyoya was somewhat zoned out so it went unnoticed that he was let off right by Haruhi's—or he did and just was too flustered to talk, Shion honestly couldn't tell. Ootori had quite the poker face. Shion was also glad that he also had a good poker face because he had some blood free flowing in his pants and his crossed legs couldn't be the only thing hiding it. Though Ko's awkwardness through the ride was entertaining.

So there Shion was now in a cold shower that was supposed to be calming, but with what he discovered it was quite the opposite. He was at a loss of words, though he knew one thing for sure.

"Shit, I'm going to fucking murder those twins!"

It was the weekend so he couldn't get in contact with them, and if he still couldn't wash this out he wouldn't be able to go to school either. More curses flew out of his mouth. Maybe Haruhi had their number or something.

It was too late to go over and see, so he just went to bed with wet blond hair.

When he woke up it was surprisingly early, just around seven o'clock. Haruhi would be up around this time and he might even get breakfast if he headed over now.

He knocked on the door.

"Shion why are you here so early? It's the weekend." The door opened and Haruhi looked up to him. She was looking at wild, curly blond hair. "Oh."

"Yeah. Understatement." Shion huffed in irritation and walked in. He could smell the food.

"Oh hello…" Ryoji blinked and squinted suspiciously. "What? Shion? Why do you look like Tamaki."

"Hair dye. I can't get it out even though the twins said it would start coming off in a wash." He sat down on the floor with a thump, "I'm going to maim them. I can't go to school until it's out."

"Oh yeah. What's her name will recognize you… Well, a lot of people will." Haruhi mused while cooking an extra egg for Shion.

"I'm not even going to ask." Ryoji took a swig of his morning coffee. The three of them were watching the morning news in silence for a good half an hour when Ryoji got up and stretched. "It's time to go to work." He yawned and threw his coat on. "Have a great day sweetie!"

Haruhi didn't have the chance to reply as the door was shut.

Shion yawned and stretched, "Well, I'm going to be a shut-in today."

"I'll try getting a hold of the twins for you today."

"Thanks. If I called they'd definitely try to pull one over me," Shion grumbled. They were pretty clever. "Those mischievous bastards, they probably did this on purpose."

"Hmm, probably." Haruhi mused. "It's something they would do."

It turned out that the twins were out on some sort of business so Shion just went back to his apartment for the rest of the day. He wanted to record, but he couldn't with his hair blond. So he practised some instruments he hasn't been playing as often as he would like. He fiddled around with his violin, playing some concerto from memory. After an hour of practising he put the bow down. His fingers were sore, the calluses on his fingers weren't fully developed yet—they were slowly disappearing with his lack of practice—and playing anymore would run the risk of slicing his finger on the strings.

Shion tended to the instrument, wiping it down with a varnish. It was an older violin and he wanted to keep it in good condition. He held it by the neck and appraised the way the varnish made the wood shine.

There was a knock at the door.

He went to get it before the person waited too long. It was probably Haruhi. He put the bow in his mouth so he could have a free hand to open the door. He looked down to indeed see Haruhi.

"He—" Shion stopped and took the bow out of his mouth, "Hey. What's up?"

"Would you mind coming shopping with me? There's a long list today and I really don't want to make another trip tomorrow."

"Hmm… What's in it for me?"

"… Dinner?"

"Alright. I just need to get a hoodie or something."

• • • • • •

"I can't sleep." Shion stared up at the ceiling in his closet-turned-bedroom. He really shouldn't have had that coffee a few hours prior. He was all jittery and full of energy despite being dead tired. Shion really hated himself at the moment.

Because times like these bring up memories. Staring up at nothing, he clenched his teeth. After the job with Ko he had taken a cold shower and went to bed. Too tired to do anything about it—the same as he was now, but the difference was that he was jacked up on caffeine.

Now it was coming back to haunt him—but a different person was in mind, and that person was as straight as a board.

Though maybe not?

After all, he had gotten some reactions from Kyoya that made him think otherwise. There might actually be some hope—Shion halted his thought process.

Hope?

What was he hoping for?

Then he remembered how he felt when he saw Kyoya while doing various things to Ko. He felt… possessiveness overwhelm him. How had his view on him changed so much? He hated him at first… Shion sighed at the throbbing pain in his pants that he didn't have the energy to deal with.

"Fuck."

He didn't notice dawn creeping up on him.

• • • • • •

"What's wrong Shion? You're unusually grumpy this morning."

"Ugh," Shion grunted in reply. She wouldn't understand the sexual frustrations of a teenage male—maybe. He could probably tease her about it. Nah, too cruel for Haruhi. "Couldn't sleep."

"Gee, I couldn't tell with those bags under your eyes." She said sarcastically. Haruhi got a cold glare in return as Shion sipped on his second cup of coffee.

Shion started choking when there were loud knocks at the door. It had startled him quite a bit.

Haruhi sighed and answered the door. She had a suspicion of who it was. She opened the door, a grimace already on her face.

"Haaaa-ruuuu-hiiiiii!" She was tackled down to the ground by another familiar blond.

"Senpai! Off!" Haruhi struggled in the hug.

Tamaki looked up to see Shion giving him a smirk, "Just get a room already," Shion mouthed. A crimson blush adorned Tamaki's cheeks and he shot off of Haruhi.

"Hakuba!" His expression slowly changed as he took in the still vivid blond hair. "Your hair…"

Shion's expression went sour and he frowned. "Twins."

"So what are you doing here this early in the morning?" Haruhi asked, not very amused.

"We're going to go to Kyoya's house! A study session!"

"Are the twins going to be there?" Shion asked and Tamaki nodded, "Then I'll go," He smirked maliciously, "they need to be put through the wringer for this."

"Just let us finish eating."

Tamaki sat at the table waiting patiently like a dog. He would totally be a golden retriever.

When Shion and Haruhi finished eating they got dressed, they were still in their pyjamas. Shion dressed into the outfit he used as Vince. His hair was still blond and he didn't want any chances of being recognized—though his hair was curly, and he had his glasses on. Shion kept the studs in his ears just because. He liked them and it was a throwback to when he lived in the U.S. Ahh, good times. He was such a punk back then.

Shion threw his study materials and some other things into a messenger bag and went off.

When they were ready they left with Tamaki in the limo. It took about twenty minutes to get to the place. Shion could help but gawk at the pink finish on the outside of the mansion.

"Since the school board couldn't put up with the colour of the school anymore Dad made the house pink instead," Tamaki explained, reading Shion's expression of disbelief. "I forgot to bring my study material so just sit tight for a bit!"

"So where are we actually going?" Haruhi shrugged at Shion's question. She then looked to the side to see a blond thing running towards them at full speed.

"Uh, Shion?" She pointed to the dog—she could see what it was now—that was running towards them, or rather to Shion. "You might want to run." Haruhi could see Shion tense up immediately after he saw the dog.

Shion eyes widened and his face paled. He bolted.

"What the fuck!" The dog was gaining ground on him. Shion jumped over a small decorative wall and ran around back to the limo. "Haruhi! Do something please!" He shouted, "Don't just take a video!" He saw that phone in her hand.

He turned a corner and was barrelled down to the ground. "Get off! I am not your owner!" It was one big dog, he couldn't get up.

There was a whistle, "Antoinette!" The dog got off him and ran to who whistled.

Shion sighed in relief and got up off the ground. He felt all shaky.

"Are you alright Shion?" Haruhi was concerned now. He was panting heavily and looked… off. Sure it was funny before, but now it wasn't. She didn't think that he'd be scared of dogs.

"I… I will be…" Shion's breaths were wavering. He put a hand to his forehead and squeezed lightly.

"Hakuba! Are you alright?" Tamaki ran over with a bag over his shoulder and his dog following him. The dog looked friendly and its tail was wagging back and forth, hitting Tamaki's leg with a thwap each time. No wonder Shion compared Tamaki to a golden retriever, he had one. Oh, the irony.

Shion edged away from the dog. "Yeah…" He hastily got back into the limo. He didn't want to be near it, fresh but unpleasant memories flowing to mind. It still hasn't faded either… He gripped his leg just above the knee, rubbing where the phantom pains were.

• • • • • •

"He's not up yet." Tamaki relayed what a maid had told him. "I'm not waking him up!"

Haruhi jumped in, "Me neither." Shion blinked, clueless, he didn't know what the devil in glasses was like when he was rudely awakened.

Ignorance is bliss, or as they say.

"Alright." Shion started walking, but stopped and turned around, "… Where's his room?"

After Tamaki guided Shion there, both Tamaki and Haruhi backed away from the door.

Shion opened the door and slid in, trying to let as little light in as possible. He almost burst out in laughter when he saw what Kyoya looked like. It was the first thing he saw. Kyoya had a huge pillow under his head, so plush it almost adsorbed his head into it. His comforter was very large and plush also, poofing up around him. He could only see the tufts of black hair escaping the smothering pillow.

"O-Ootori…" Shion whispered and laughed into his hand. He looked around the room, it was very large. The bed itself would take up half the space in his living room. Shion had an urge to snoop around but acted against it. Kyoya wasn't someone you wanted to mess with. Not in that way at least.

Now he needed to think of a way to wake him up.

Shion walked quietly over to the edge of Kyoya's bed. He put a hand on the bed to lean on and shook Kyoya's shoulder. "Ootori." There was a grumble in response and he burrowed further into the blankets, otherwise, he didn't wake up.

"He's a deeper sleeper than I thought." Shion mused. He moved Kyoya's shoulder so he would be facing upwards, the blanket moved and that's when he saw that he wasn't wearing a shirt. "Hmm… Not bad." Shion appraised. This was a chance to really look at him without him noticing. With his hand on his shoulder he could feel that his skin was soft, and with a closer look, Shion noticed that he had a beauty mark on his neck.

He was taking too long. The other two would become impatient.

Shion grinned and pinched his nose. A few seconds later Kyoya's mouth opened in a gasp for air, but once again it was a failure.

Shion frowned. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Even though it really isn't. Shion just thought it was funny. He leaned over Kyoya and blew gently into his ear, he felt Kyoya tense under him. Shion lowered his register and, "I don't remember who you are… but last night was really fun."

Suddenly he was thrown off the bed. "Ouch!" Shion nursed his neck that hit his side table. He glanced up and burst out laughing at Kyoya's expression. It was deadly, If looks could kill he would be dead—that would be if Kyoya didn't have a raging blush and looked conciderably panicked.

Kyoya's eyes darted to where the voice came from. He put on his glasses. He didn't recognize him at first—still having the blond hair and everything, including the same clothes as his Vince persona—but that didn't deter his rage.

"Hakuba Shion," Kyoya said coldly, but Shion couldn't control his laughter, "is that how you wake people up?"

"I-I've exhausted all my resources." Shion wiped a tear, his stomach hurting from laughing so hard. "I didn't think that would actually work."

"Out."

"Will you go back to sleep?" There was no response as Kyoya just sighed in annoyance. "Then no. The others are waiting." Kyoya glared but got out of bed. "I'm waiting until you are dressed. Do you want some coffee?" Shion offered some of his from his travel mug.

Kyoya went to take a sip and his face scrunched up in displeasure.

"Oops, I forgot to mention that it's black " Shion smirked at Kyoya's darkening expression. When Kyoya was ready and decent Shion opened the door. Tamaki was there, waiting with Haruhi and the twins.

"Y-you're alive!" Tamaki gasped, "and he's docile!" Usually, whenever Kyoya was woken up he was the dark lord until he's been up for at least twenty minutes. He wondered how Shion did it.

Shion raised an eyebrow, and zeroed in on the twins, walking up to them with a dark look.

"H-huh, so do you still like the hair?" "Yeah, i–it looks great!"

"I need it out." Shion leaned down and put his hand on their shoulders, a fake smile on. "You'll help me. Won't you?"

"W-we could get it brought here."

"You don't like your hair blond?" Honey tugged lightly on his sleeve, "But you, Tama and I can be the same!"

"It's not that I don't like it, it's because if I keep it the… Hmm… I don't know if this saying would translate well…" Shion thought for a moment, wondering how to word it. "Well in English it's the shit'll hit the fan."

Haruhi snorted, "It sounds just like what it means, figuratively though I hope. Things will get very bad."

"Disastrously bad."

"The product should be here in about an hour," Hikaru said as he hung up the phone.

"So are we going to study?"

• • • • • •

Shion blinked owlishly. Tamaki really needed to work on his pronunciation of the English language. Shion wished he had a recorder on him. Tamaki Suoh—swearing! He coughed into his hand, holding back some laughter, "… Tamaki… Do you know what you just said?"

"Yes! I said, this city is not a—" Tamaki stopped himself when he heard Shion chuckle.

"You're saying shitty, not city."

"What's shitty?"

Shion held back a groan, Tamaki was too innocent. "It's an English swear. Shit is feces. It's your kuso." Tamaki paled as Shion explained.

"Tama-chan swore?" Honey started to tear up and snivel.

"I'm afraid he did Honey-senpai." Haruhi pat the blonds head.

"Tama… He…" Honey looked up at Tamaki with hurt eyes, "He can't be the prince now!"

Tamaki started panicking and tried to calm his senpai down. "I–I didn't realize! I'm Sorry Honey!"

"It was a mistake on Suoh's part—he didn't know what he was pronouncing. But it's alright Honey," Shion leaned towards him and pat his head, "because he swears that he won't anymore." Shion smirked and the twins burst out in hysterics.

Haruhi just sighed and rubbed her temples, "Shion… No…"

Shion grinned at Haruhi, "Shion yes." He laughed and got up to stretch, "Hey Ootori, where's the washroom?"

"I'll get someone to direct you to it."

Shion was directed to the washrooms. When he was done he looked around and… had no idea where to go. His guide just left him and he didn't remember the way back.

Well, I'll just wander around then.

While walking down a hall he heard giggling, spiking his interest, he walked towards the sound. When he turned a corner he came to see a familiar woman and child.

"Oh! Mother, it's him!" The kid ran up to him and grabbed his leg. "Hello!"

"Hey… Asahi right?"

"Mmm!" Asahi nodded. "Your hair's different!"

Shion smiled, "Yes, it is. How have you been doing?"

"Great!"

Shion smiled at him and looked to his mother, "I thought you looked similar. You and Ootori have the same looks."

"You're a classmate of Kyoya's then?"

"Yes, same class and club. By any chance are you his mother? You look too young."

"Oh heavens no, I'm his aunt." She waved a hand dismissively at Shion's complement.

"Hakuba! We were wondering where you went!" Tamaki barrelled around the corner and Shion avoided a hug.

Kyoya nodded a bow to his aunt and directed a small smile to Asahi. "You were taking long so we thought you had gotten lost."

"Ah… well yeah. I did."

Asahi looked up at Shion and Tamaki with sparkling eyes, "Are you two siblings?!"

"No. If we were I'd run far away." Shion said with no hesitation. "My hair's just temporarily dyed." He bent down and ruffled Asahi's hair. He looked sad that they weren't brothers for some reason. "Sorry to burst your bubble kiddo." He smiled, hoping that it'd cheer him up.

"No bubble is popped! Tama's just awesome, if you were his brother it'd be more awesome!"

"Your cousin is very bright Kyoya!" Tears were brimming Tamaki's eyes.

Before things could get even more out of hand, Haruhi needed to ask something. "Shion, Ryoji wants me back, are you coming too?" Haruhi asked since she knew that Shion didn't want to be there too long. They've been studying for hours now.

"Yeah, I have some things to do." Shion turned and smiled, "It was nice seeing you again."

"Bye, bye!" Asahi waved, a crying Tamaki hugging him.

Shion needed to get the dye out of his hair. No matter how many showers it would take.

• • • • • •

The shampoo actually did its job and it got the dye out in two washes. He had to give it to the twins for that. Otherwise, they'd be wishing they weren't alive. He was back at school and things went as they usually did.

Except for the fact that exams were around the corner—it would take up half of the next week.

But alas, he was still in the club.

"Atchoo!" Shion sneezed.

"Are you okay Shion? Do you need a hankie?"

Shion smiled down to the cute—he still refused to believe that he was older than him—third year. "Thanks, but I'm fine Honey." It felt wrong to call him that because it made it sound like he was referring to a wife or something.

The small blond clambered up onto the couch beside him. "You sure?" Shion nodded. But Honey didn't really take that truthfully, so he crawled onto his lap much to Shion's discontent.

"It is getting quite cold out isn't it?" His last guest of the day frowned as she looked out of the window.

"Oh, you don't like winter?" Fall was long gone and the temperature started dropping recently, down to actual winter temperatures.

"Not at all, it chills me to the bone."

"I find winter a wonderful season. When it snows everything seems so vast and empty, it's even quieter when there's heavy snowfall. The cold weather makes hot chocolate taste all the better." Shion thought to a memory of his old friends back in America. They had a large snowfall warning. There was even news about the state and others around closing up to prepare for it. The snow was really high, almost higher than everybody's front doors. Even though they were all around thirteen they made an igloo and caves in the large snow banks, they didn't care what anyone thought of them so why not?

"You must like winter." Tamaki rested his elbows on the back of the chair Shion was sitting on.

"Yeah... I do." Shion smiled, Tamaki picked up on the sadness that was underneath.

"Ooh, I have a swell idea! Momma!" Tamaki shouted in excitement.

Kyoya almost sighed, "Yes, Daddy?"

"Book a hotel at that resort!"

Shion was clueless about what was going on, so he brushed it off. He would find out sooner or later. He bid goodbye and waved with a smile to his only guest of the day. Shion's act crumbled once she left and you could see a dark shadow looming over him.

"Well, I better get to work..."

He got his bag out and wondered what he should work on. He chose to work on a song he was composing for the trumpet, it was almost finished, but he had to add a piano accompaniment to it now. He sighed, he was just adding more work to the load.

"What are you working on Shion?"

"Music."

Haruhi blinked owlishly at the short answer. "For what?"

"Performances."

Haruhi huffed in frustration, "Come on Shion, you need a break. You're overwhelming yourself."

Shion looked up to Haruhi with a small smile, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Winter break is around the corner, it'll be nice to relax." Speaking of relax, the guests were gone.

Shion jolted when his phone started vibrating. He didn't get calls often, so he never expected it when it happened. He fished the phone out of his pocket. "A skype call?" He saw the notification and swiped to answer the facetime call, holding the phone in front of him so the camera could show his caller his unamused expression.

"Oh, don't make that face. You'll get wrinkles here." The person pointed between their brow with a well-manicured hand. The club members were intrigued.

"Mom. Why."

If they were intrigued then, well they were invested now. "Is… is that a video call?" There was a murmur. The group snuck behind Shion to see who was in the call. The woman—who was established as Shion's Mother—looked professional with the blouse they could see. Her caramel brown hair was done up in a tight bun with a braid going around it, bangs swept across her forehead, and her hazel eyes playful from messing with her son.

"I'm at school right now."

"Oh, a club then. I thought you weren't going to join one."

"Well—yeah. But it's mandatory. So here I am."

"Hmm… Well, I was going to visit without telling you, but some stuff came up so I'm calling you to cancel that."

Shion deadpanned, "You're calling me to tell me that you were going to come for a surprise visit, only to cancel?!" He sighed, "Mum, look. I'm not sure if you get it, but that's just redundant."

"So I have to make an excuse to see my son?" She raised an eyebrow.

"So now it's an excuse?" He mirrored his mother, raising an eyebrow—but with much more sass. He paused and sighed irritably, and without turning around he spoke. "Guys," he turned his head to look behind him over the couch, "I can see you in the back of the camera."

"I was wondering what they were doing."

"Yeah, thanks for telling me." He retorted to his mother with heavy cynicism.

The twins leaned on the back of the couch. "We were curious about the call."

"Hello, Murasaki-san." Haruhi greeted.

"Oh if it isn't Haruhi! And Murasaki is our old surname, call me Hakuba or Mizuki!"

"Sorry Mom, but I think Murasaki-san is ingrained in her head."

"Oh, how I remember you saying that you'd marry Shion when you were just kids. I wonder if you're still interested? Oh-hohoho." She laughed creepily.

"What! Haruhi how dare you betray your father!" Tamaki freaked out.

"So these are your friends?"

"…Yeah."

"Was that hesitation I heard?" "Yes, I think it was." The twins grabbed his phone and let his mother see them. "Hello, we're Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin." They switched the phone's camera to the outer one and pointed to the other members.

"I'm Honey and this is Mori!"

The camera swerved over to an extreme close up of Tamaki since he took hold of the camera not knowing how to wield it. "I'm Suoh Tamaki!"

"I do not trust you with my phone Suoh!" Shion snatched it back and switched the camera back. Kyoya ended up sitting beside him in the ruckus so he just tilted the phone to get him in the frame, "That's Ootori Kyoya. I'm afraid he's too busy tuning everything out because it's too lively."

Kyoya looked up from his laptop and towards Shion, "I happen to be busy."

"There, she's seen everyone. Now shoo," he felt crowded. "Now what did you really want?"

"I'll just call you back later. Bye, everyone!" She smiled with a wave and the call ended.

"You know, you don't look like your mother at all." Tamaki voiced and realized that he probably shouldn't have from how Shion's expression soured.

"I take after my father."

The bastard.

That was bad, he shouldn't delve into that topic. He pinched the back of his hand to get a grip. Exams were right around the corner. He needed focus.

Focus!

• • • • • •

"Ahhh, a glass of milk after a shower is the best!" Setting the glass down with a clang in the sink, he left to rummage through his clothes for something comfy to wear. It was the fourth day of winter break and Shion had taken to playing some video games late into the night, err... early morning...

Exams were hell for him. He never did well with written tests. He was more for playing and acting tests that actually required him to do and not write. Despite how anxiety-ridden he was he thought that he did well on the tests.

Hopefully.

No, don't let the doubt come back in. Shion scolded himself. It was winter break. All of that was over and it was time to relax—suppositively. He was still working on things.

He finished the composition for the piano accompaniment so now he just had to get practising with Aaron when school started again. He had a few other things planned, but he didn't want to start a whole bunch of new things, so he had to look through his files to find older projects to use. After finding a simple outfit—jeans, a long sleeve shirt with a plaid sweatshirt, and a hat to tame his hair as it dried—he sat down at his computer in his studio to record a well-requested song from his comment section on his channel.

Well into the recording he noticed a thumping noise from outside. He took off his headphones and waited. Another set of thumping noises was heard. "Someone at the door? Must be Haruhi..." He hung his headphones on his mic stand and strode over to the door. He heard a faint shhh sound but didn't really think anything off from it—it had been really windy through the night.

"Haruhi? I'm a bit busy–" He opened the door to see the host club... and Haruhi looking sheepish in behind them. He stared blankly at them as if that would make them go away. They stared back observing his casual attire. "Guys... why must you do this..."

"Well, we've all been to Haruhi's home and when Kyoya said that you lived in the same place—"

"Just—just come in." Shion sighed and gestured them to enter, "Make yourselves at home." He wiped some sweat off of his forehead. He had been recording a whole bunch of things for a few hours and his throat started feeling sore.

"Ooh, this is bigger than Haruhi's place."

"It's a two-in-one, so of course it's bigger."

"So this is the living room."

"Just let me clean up a bit, I have junk hanging around from the move still." Not to mention some socks and sweaters that had been flung off to the side, forgotten. "Don't break anything," Shion warned. Then he started gathering the clothes into a pile in his arms and went to his room to throw them in his empty hamper.

"You have quite a small room."

Shion heard Kyoya say with some amusement in his voice. "Yeah well, it's for a reason–"

He looked down and noticed some tissue paper clumped up on the floor. He quickly hid it from view by kicking it under something. He just hoped that Kyoya didn't notice. Man, that would be embarrassing. Shion coughed awkwardly, suppressing a blush at the predicament.

"I could make you guys some tea or something." He casually tied the sleeves of his sweater to his waist, trying to detract himself from Kyoya's knowing gaze.

"That would be nice." His eyes flicked up to Shion's, he tightened his grip on his phone in his pocket, "Also Hakuba—"

"Momma!"

"Well Ootori, you better go help your husband." Kyoya raised an eyebrow at Shion but otherwise left the room. Shion sighed and hastily picked up the other stuff off of the floor before throwing them out. Leaving his now clean room, he went to his kitchen.

"Guys, find a seat in the living room otherwise there will be no tea for you." He heard a few replies, though the twins complained that they wanted to explore more. He put a few spoons of the desired tea in the mesh strainer and after a few minutes later the kettle started screaming, he poured it in a see-through teapot. He liked watching the tea steep. Getting the cups, he set them on the table where the host club were sitting around.

They started chatting but it started dwindling down when they thought they could hear something.

"Do you guys hear that?"

There was a long silence as they strained their ears for any sound. Then they heard it. It was music, singing. Suddenly Shion stood up, bumping his knee on the table. "Fuck, it's still playing! That means it's been recording this whole time. Damn it, that's gonna have to be edited out..." He mumbled as he hastily went to his studio room. He had left to door open too so it could be heard throughout his apartment.

The others followed him to see what was going on.

"Woah, just what is this room!"

"It's a studio," Shion answered as he was clicking away on the mouse, turning a whole bunch of things off. The mic, the recording, and the instrumental music were all on and going.

"It looks cleaner than before," Haruhi observed.

Shion had fixed up the room some more. The soundproofing squares alternated between black and purple, and he had organized all his music on his shelves rather than being strewn across the room in a haphazard mess. Overall the main difference was that you could see the whole floor. The window also had some blinds now so he could work without being blinded.

Shion looked behind him and couldn't help but feel irritated. "Alright, out, out, out! It's cramped in here." He gestured to the door and they went back to the living room.

"Aww, but we wanted to hear some music..."

"Well, you'll hear it at the end of the year. Or some other time, just not now."

"Why?"

"Throat's sore."

"Do you need medicine? Are you sick?" Tamaki bumbled around him.

"No, Suoh... I'm fine."

"Then what's wrong? You look really stressed."

Shion sat down on the couch with a sigh, grabbing his cup of tea and taking a big sip. "Shit." He cursed. The tea was still too hot for him despite sitting out for five minutes, at least it didn't burn him. He had hoped to avoid answering the twin's question—though from the looks of them he knew he wasn't getting out of it.

"Well, I'm sure you know about my scholarship. Right?" They nodded. "Well, Ootori should know the details." Then all eyes went to Kyoya and Shion felt himself relax a bit. Kyoya's surprised expression was proof that he wasn't expecting that and it made Shion feel... nice. He liked seeing what kinds of expressions he could evoke out of the stoic teen.

Kyoya coughed, "If I'm correct Hakuba will have to perform in different areas to show his progress."

"I have to perform eight songs, four for vocal and four instrumentally, two of the performances with the vocals and band clubs. Then I also have to perform three acting performances, one with the drama clubs play, a Shakespeare monologue and another of my choice." He heard a whistle coming from Haruhi, she knew about the performances, but not about the workload.

"Just find some music and perform them then," Haruhi said simply.

"I have older compositions that I need to fix up, for music I'm fine, but it'll take time to finish them. Though for the acting part I'm wondering what to write. I have an idea on what, but–"

"Wait, write? Compositions?" Haruhi cut in, then she sighed, facepalming. "This is so like you."

Shion blinked. "What is?"

"Making things more difficult than they have to be! You don't have to create everything, just find music or scripts that you connect to and practice."

"..." Shion sat in silence for a moment, hand slowly moving onto his temples trying to squeeze the pain away. He sighed a long, heavy, irritated sigh. He mumbled something incoherent. They could see his irritation building if his clenched jaw and hand were anything to go by.

The others strained their ears trying to discern the mumbling into words. From what they heard, it sounded like ducky in the English language.

"Sorry, what?"

"Fuck me!" He shouted in English, temper rising. "Why didn't I fucking think of that, my God I'm such an idiot! Shit!" Some of the occupants in the room that could understand his foreign rant blushed at the first thing he shouted in rage. Kyoya coughed and fixed his glasses, masking a blush also.

"S-Shion?" Tamaki cleared his throat and asked cautiously. He knew that an angry Shion wasn't safe to be around. Oh, how he remembered the soup incident as if it was just only the other day that it happened.

"What?!" He snapped, he came to his senses and looked down to his friends sitting around his living room, his eyes widened. He didn't realize that he had stood up abruptly and stormed around the room, not to mention the things he had been saying. No doubt that they could understand at least some of it. "Ah... Sorry..." Shion sighed again and pat Haruhi's head. "Thanks for telling me, but it's too late for me to stop now. I've started writing everything already..."

Suddenly he felt pain in his head. A pressure exerted on his head and he felt all tingly. A wave of heat washed over him. Then his vision went black. He felt around for the armchair or couch. He wasn't out for the count yet. He knew it was from his sudden outburst. "Shit."

"Hakuba? What's wrong with you?" Hikaru asked when Shion started reaching around, eyes not focused on anything.

Haruhi realized what was going on and got up from the floor. She grabbed Shion's arm and guided him to the couch. Even if she hadn't seen him for years prior she still remembered what to do if this ever happened to him.

"H-Haruhi?" His ears started to ring loudly and the sounds around him became warped.

"Shh, sit. Can someone get some water? There should be cups in the upper left cupboard." She heard a groan from Shion behind her. "Is this the pressure or the ringing?"

"Both."

"Oh." She winced. She was about to move him to lie down but Shion moved before she could and put his legs up on the edge of the couch.

"I-Is he going to be okay?" Honey asked, worried.

"Yeah, just having a dizzy spell. Comes with the package." He mumbled the last part as a joke to himself. Though he didn't notice—he couldn't notice—that Kyoya was close enough to hear also. Haruhi made a noise at the back of her throat but otherwise didn't laugh at his attempt of humour at the situation.

"Okay... my vision's coming back."

"Are you alright?" Kyoya asked, he hadn't experienced anything like that happen around him before and was panicking slightly. Shion started blinking to get used to the returning vision, he looked around and up to find Kyoya standing beside him.

"Yeah..." He didn't really want to tell them just like how he didn't want to tell Aaron and Satsuki. "Just some... Health problems."

"Are you dying?!"

"No Suoh, I'm not dying," Shion said exasperatedly and raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous assumption.

"Are you sure? You look pale." Honey reached out a hand to his forehead.

"Yes, I'm sure." Shion smiled and tousled his hair around. "Well, I think I should have a nap. Time for you guys to go. Goodbye."

"But Hakuba–" Tamaki wanted, no, needed to know why his friend was avoiding the issue. He wanted answers. They all did.

"Good. Bye." He said harsher than before.

Tamaki looked defeated and went to the door with the others. Shion noticed Mori lingering behind a bit.

"I'll be fine thanks though Mori."

He nodded and left with the others, almost hitting his head on the doorway. Shion laughed when he heard a metallic sound and a groan. Mori had hit his head on a low hanging bar at the stairs.

Haruhi stopped before exiting his apartment, "Just call if you need anything, okay?"

"Yes, yes. I will." He rolled his eyes. He was happy she worried, she could be a bit of a mother hen sometimes. With a kachink the door was closed and Shion made his way to the door to lock it. He came to feel dizzy again. Grabbing a few granola bars he went to his bed. He probably got up too fast after what just happened, but food wouldn't hurt either.

"I need rest." He fell asleep after eating the food he needed desperately to get some energy. He hadn't slept properly since the beginning of the break, and he needed it.

• • • • • •

"Haruhi, by the way you acted I assume you know about Hakuba's... Condition?"

The others have left and it was just Haruhi and Kyoya. His limo was waiting for him, but he had questions that he didn't have answers to.

"Honestly I wouldn't have told you before, but you two have been getting close..."

She noticed Kyoya's shift in stance, fixing his glasses uncomfortably. She smirked inwardly. She had met Shion's friend Satsuki and she had no problem about her ship of him and Kyoya.

She sighed. "Just don't hold it against him for anything- and don't tell the others. He wouldn't like the news getting out." She looked up to Kyoya to judge him. He looked neutral, as always. "Shion has chronic low blood pressure. That's what causes his dizzy spells and fainting, also possible nosebleeds."

"I see."

"Don't treat him any differently, he will notice."

She remembered back to when her parents told her about Shion's condition and she started acting differently towards him. He was scary when pissed off even when they were kids. He was a cute and yet quite an intimidating seven-year-old. Absently she wondered if she still had those photo albums her mother made of them.

"I understand."

She frowned at his answer but otherwise thought that he wouldn't tell the others.

That was good enough.

"I better make sure he's eating properly..." She mumbled. Then she looked back to Kyoya. Oh crap, he heard that. "Well... I'm going to check how he's doing. Bye Kyoya." She walked back up the stairs with a few metallic clangs.

"Hmm, what to do..." Kyoya wondered during the ride back to his mansion, looking outside the window, he smirked. It seems that I will be booking that resort after all.

• • • • • •

Hey guys! Extra-long chappy here for you, reason being I'm going on vacation to Arizona and cannot bring my precious child—my laptop—with me. I hope you guys liked it and reviewed. I'm still able to check things with my iPod. Yay hotel wifi!

That also means I won't be able to edit any errors in the chapter until next week.