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The next afternoon, Kagome yawned discreetly as she left her classroom. For some reason, she'd been more tired today than usual. She hoped she wasn't coming down with some-

She was suddenly lifted bodily up and over a broad shoulder.

"Target acquired!" Honey chirped happily, flashing a thumbs-up sign at her dumbstruck expression.

"Yeah." She heard Mori's voice vibrate through her stomach and it struck her that he had picked her up and slung her around so much like a poor sack of rice.

-thing...

"W-What the hell, Morinozuka! PUT ME DOWN BEFORE I KILL YOU!" the miko screamed, struggling hard and punching him in the opposite shoulder. She was getting a lot of shocked stares, and a particularly nasty sneer from Hiro as he nursed his broken wrist, but she didn't really care at this point.

She didn't see him flinch from the blow or the pained expression that briefly dominated his face before he smoothed it away.

"But we need your help, Kago-chan!" Honey exclaimed, a worried look on his face when she bared her teeth angrily at the small blonde.

"Then ask! Don't just manhandle me like a damn caveman!" she snarled as she wobbled on his shoulder, gasping when Mori placed his free hand dangerously high up her thigh. "Watch the hand, pal!"

"Sorry," she heard him mutter, adjusting his grip around her waist and moving that hand back down to her knees.

"Kago-chan, you walked Shiro-chan back to the elementary school yesterday, right?"

Her attention snapped immediately back to the other senior boy, a wary mask falling in place. "So? What does accosting me have to do with that?"

"Shiro-chan came to visit the Host Club yesterday to talk to Tama-chan. He left because he was sad about something," Honey continued, a despondant expression crossing his features.

"Yeah... I got that from him. What was the deal with him?"

"He wanted to learn how to make girls happy," Mori spoke up quietly, ascending the stairs to the third floor. Kagome had stopped wiggling around, knowing it was pointless, and he was thankful for that. His shoulder ached and he was sure he going to have to ice it later.

"... Whut." She was just glad that he couldn't see the way her face flamed up when he spoke. Unfortunately, Honey could. 'Damn it! What the hell is wrong with me?!'

"We think Shiro-chan has a special girl he likes and he wants to make her happy."

"Tell him to either keep his opinions to himself or shut his trap," the former time traveler replied, rolling her eyes as she remembered the mouthy little brat.

"That's not nice, Kago-chan," Honey sighed, shaking his head with a crooked grin on his face. Kagome blinked. When he did that, he actually looked his age.

"Well, neither is abduction," she countered, propping her head up absently. A few moments later, she heard a door open and people gasp, so she strained to see what exactly was going on. In the next instant, she was set back on her feet carefully and glaring up at Mori as he rolled his neck and stretched the shoulder she'd hit. She didn't regret that. Nope. Not at all.

... Okay. Maybe just a little.

'Stupid conscience,' Kagome thought grumpily, crossing her arms and staring at a wall. Her vision was obscured by a blue blazer, bright blonde hair, and a crushing embrace that she instantly tried to claw her way out of.

"Oh, Kagome-sempai! I knew you had a softer side to you! You care about people more than you let on!" Tamaki railed on, swinging her around despite her increasingly violent muffled protests. Since when had she told him he could address her by her first name?!

"There you are, Honey-sempai. You should get changed," Kyoya chimed in, pushing his glasses up his nose, "Haruhi is already getting ready."

"Right!" The tiny blonde disappeared, narrowing down Kagome's options of who to ask for help.

"Boss, you're suffocating her," one of the twins spoke up while in the process of playing a game on his handheld. The other nodded absently and gestured at the screen.

"Oh!" Tamaki gasped, letting the miko go. She immediately backpedaled so fast she flipped over one of the many couches sprawled around the room. Uncaring of the looks the boys gave her, she brandished one of the throw pillows between her and the approaching Tamaki.

"Don't come any closer, you crazy idiot!" Kagome hissed, a wild glint in her blue eyes.

"B-But, Kagome-sempai! We need your help!"

"Help?" the senior murmured as she furrowed her brows and straightened up. "With what?"

"We shall be infiltrating the elementary building to determine Shiro's motive for approaching us yesterday," Kyoya explained, pulling the pillow from the girl's grasp and guiding her to sit on the sofa. "Honey-sempai and Haruhi will be going in disguise to keep us from being spotted by him; we need one more spy, though."

"Spy... how?" she asked warily, watching the remaining boys. A door opened and she turned to see Honey in clothes that looked just like Shiro's and pulling what was unmistakably Haruhi in the girl's middle school uniform into the room. Tamaki and the twins were cooing over the annoyed female Host in a matter of heartbeats, and Kagome could slowly see the plan coming together. Especially when another brown uniform was presented to her.

"... No."

"Please, Kago-chan? We can't do this without you!" Honey begged, tucking his hands under his chin and lifting enormous chocolate eyes to her. She twitched, knowing that her defenses would crumble if she kept looking at him. She turned her head away and screwed her eyes shut.

"Nope. No way. Not. Happening. I've seen this movie and I am not participating!" the girl ground out, shaking her head hard as she shoved the uniform back at Kyoya and started for the door.

"Men!" Tamaki snapped his fingers.

"Yes boss!" There was a mad scramble of hands, elbows, and various curses, but Kagome was eventually shoved into the bathroom and the door was shut on her.

"You can't come out until you put it on, Kagome-sempai!" she heard the blonde second year announce and grit her teeth as she punched the door.

"That's just fine! I'll stay in here!" Kagome shouted, jiggling the doorknob and finding it locked. "And since when did I say you could call me Kagome?!" Pouting, she slid down to lean against the door and prop her elbows on her knees.

"Come on, sempai! Just put the uniform on!" the more caustic twin yelled through the door, pounding on it for emphasis.

"I'd rather drown myself in this tub!" she responded loudly, hearing the muted gasps on the other side. The miko smirked. Let them deal with that!

The door was opened and Haruhi was pushed in.

"Those damn rich bastards," she grumbled, scratching her hair under the long wig she was wearing, "Look, sempai. Sometimes, with them, it's just easier to go along with their plans, no matter how stupid they are."

"So, you're saying I should just let them push me around because they're rich and can get away with it?"

"... Well, no. But," at this Haruhi smiled, "it doesn't mean that you can't get back at them later."

Kagome stared at the girl, surprised that she hadn't thought of that, and sighed. "All right. But those idiots owe me."

"Good. I was going to feel really stupid going in there like this with just Honey-sempai." Haruhi left, and the older girl pursed her lips as she looked over the uniform.

"Well, it's not as bad as my other middle school uniform. At least the skirt is long."

A few minutes later, the former time traveler knocked on the door. "Hey. I'll play your ridiculous game today, but if you ever try to involve me in one of your schemes without my permission again, heads will roll." The door clicked and was pulled open. When she stepped out to see all of their surprised faces, she felt horribly exposed, tugging the skirt just a little lower. After all, she'd been wearing pants for a month and a half now, but she knew that it would go away once summer hit and she was wearing shorts pretty much every day.

"So... So cuuuuteeee!" Tamaki squealed, diving in for another hug. He stopped himself short, though, when she raised her hand and cracked the knuckles in a threatening way. "Eep!"

"Let's just get this over with," the miko groaned, putting Kyoya between her and the blonde. Out of all of them, aside from Mori, the young Ootori seemed the most sane. She could only hope that was true.

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An hour later, Kagome was watching Tamaki play the piano for Shiro with a finesse that had her jaw dropping. Who knew the half French idiot could be so elegant?

'He has a charisma that I really need to watch out for. Next thing I know, I'll be doing him some kind of favor without even realizing what I'm agreeing to.'

It was settled. She would simply have to be more careful around this odd bunch of rich boys. They were all starting to prove her completely wrong.

And she didn't think she could become attached to anyone else without ending up dependent on them for her sanity.

She refused to be that weak again.

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