The rest of the hosts took it as well as Nala had expected, Tamaki twirling her around and around until she was dizzy and Mori had to rescue her from him, Honey full of cheerful joy at the news, Haruhi smirked and winked at her, and the twins laughed and teased that it was about time, even though Nala could've sworn she caught a glimmer of sadness in Kaoru's eyes, but her worry over that diminished as soon as he and Hikaru winked at her and made a joke about when to expect kids which prompted Tamaki to freak out and chase them out of the club room. Any worry she felt about that glimmer though disappeared when the twins got her between them, each with an arm over her shoulders, and in low, conspiratorial voices told her that if she ever was ready to "take that big step forward" to come to them and they would get her the supplies.

Nala's face burned fire-truck red at that, and she jerked away from both of them.

"You guys are jerks, and I can supply myself thank you very much. I don't need help from you, perverts! And besides, I don't think either Kyoya or I have thought that far ah-" She cut herself off there, and clearing her throat tried again. "The point is, I don't think any of us will need to worry about that and you two are creeps. Honestly, it's no wonder Tamaki chases you around like he does with his baseball bat! I swear that half the time you deserve it!"

Tamaki, upon hearing his name bounded over to her like a faithful puppy and grinned.

"You called sweet dove?"

Wrinkling her nose at him, Nala huffed and shook her head.

"Thanks Tamaki, but no. Just doing my thing over here."

Before he could respond however, an awful cackling filled the room, and the lights began to dim. Heart tripping in her chest, Nala leapt over the nearest couch and crouched down behind it even as the other hosts leapt around her in a semi-circle.

"You think you're good enough for my Kyoya-kun!?" The cackle continued, and a platform swirled up from the ground. On top of it stood a young girl, her eyes glowing demonically in the now dim light of the room, and her voice booming like thunder as her cackles filled the air. Nala could've sworn she looked familiar, but at the moment she was too freaked out by the fact that the lights were out to really debate where she knew her from. "I'll show you good enough! He might have turned me down when I came to marry him, but I can still keep tramps like you away from my precious, sweet, kitten loving, closet romantic lover of the night!"

Wait…

"Renge!?"

Both mine and Haruhi's combined voices were full of horrified shock.

Of course it would be her, who else would call Kyoya their closet romantic lover of the night?

"Miss Houshakuji, we've been over this before, I am not your romantic interest, and I do not prefer to have you calling me that."

"But Kyoya! We're destined to be! Nekozawa's great cat of prophecy has foreseen it for us both!"

And are those hearts glowing in her eyes? Where'd the demon eyes go? Maybe she is a demon? That would certainly explain a lot…

"Renge, I suggest you leave now, and don't enter this room again on that device." Kyoya's glasses flashed and his signature smirk slid over his face as he continued speaking.. "It would be a shame if the school's repair men were told of the strange tunnels that were under the school housing scientific objects wouldn't it?"

With a wail over how cruel her lover was, Renge disappeared in a flash of lightening and a blast of thunder. The lights un-dimmed, and gentle piano music was once more slipping from the hidden speakers around the room. For all purposes and appearances, it was as if Renge had never been there, and the hole that Nala half expected to be there in the middle of the floor, gaping open into some dark pit of hell was, well, not there at all. There was not even a scratch.

Freaky…

Before Nala could ponder it, the stiff voice of Kaoru at her side caused her to look up at him and his twin in surprise.

"We're leaving. Tell the girls we were feeling sick."

The twin's voice was underscored by a cold edge that Nala had never heard from him before. Normally, if one of them was having an attitude it was Hikaru, but apparently not today. With those words, the twins turned and stalked out of the room. Nala's questioning gaze heavy on their backs.

"They're more on edge lately." Haruhi's voice at her side caused Nala to jump, and turn her green eyes towards her best friend.

"Why?"

The other girl shook her head.

"We can't tell. There's just something in the air around them these days. Even the girls are noticing it. Their, and as much as I hate saying these words, their brotherly love act has been...too forced recently. It's as if something's eating away at them on the inside."

Or clawing its' way out.

The unspoken words hung heavy in the air between them, and with worried eyes the girls turned back to their work of preparing the music room to receive its' many guests.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Nala's mind was a tangle of confusion, joy, and more confusion. She could barely believe that Kyoya could actually, really feel something for her, but at the same time the idea of it filled her with warmth and happiness. If it was a game, he was playing it well.

But he seemed so convicted when I asked him the first time if it was a game. I don't think he would do that to me, I really don't...but what if…

A pleasant male voice at her side broke her out of her thoughts.

"Stop over thinking it Nal-chan." Startled, she looked down to find Honey staring up at her with a smile. "Stop doubting him. He hasn't done anything to break your trust, so there's no need to be afraid of what will happen in the future. Worry about the now, not what comes next."

Nala sighed, and her eyes wandered across the room till she was looking out one of the many windows into the cherry tree filled courtyard.

"It's hard not to worry about the future Honey-kun. I've spent so much of my time these past few months worrying about what is going to come next, when the next attack will be, who will get hurt, how to stop these creatures. I guess," She covertly glanced across the room at the tall Ootori boy who was correcting Tamaki on some absent-minded poor mannerism. "I guess I'm having trouble adjusting to the idea of something really, truly good being here for me right now."

The young man nodded, and his brown eyes followed hers across the room to rest on Kyoya.

"It's normal Nal-chan." He hopped up onto the table next to her, swinging his legs like a little child. "When I was first chosen to be a priest I was scared too. I was worried that I would fail and people would get hurt, because it is a big responsibility. Luckily I had Takashi to help me, and that's how I did it. You've gotta really let people help you Nal-chan. If you don't do that you'll never be able to stop worrying about the future. You worry about the future because you think you're all alone in this with no one to watch your back, but you aren't. You have us," He beckoned towards the other hosts, "and you have Kyo-kun too now. And we both know he'll watch your back no matter what."

Nala stared in disbelief at the small boy sitting on the table smiling up at her. In that moment she could really see how he was a priest. He held a wisdom beyond his years, and she instantly embraced his words to heart. With a small grin at Honey, Nala nodded.

"You're right. I have you guys! I feel like every time that I have these doubts you always know. How do you do it!"

She marveled at him, and he let out a happy, boyish laugh.

"You're an open book Nal-chan! Everything you're feeling shows in your eyes. I think," and here he leaned forward conspiratorially towards her, "I think it's why Kyo-kun fell for you, because being able to be with someone who can't hide anything from him is vital. He values the truth above anything else, even if he does twist it sometimes himself."

"You know what Honey-kun?" He blinked up at Nala when she spoke, his eyes full of cheerful knowledge. "Thank you. I needed to hear that, thank you for the pep talks you keep giving me. You're totally the best senpai ever!"

From somewhere behind them, Tamaki's shocked cry of outrage proved he and his magic hearing had heard that particular statement, but Nala and Honey just laughed.

From some unknown location, the gentle tinkle of a bell filled the air, and Honey instantly snapped back into his more boyish character and bounded over to where the rest of the hosts were gathering to welcome the guests in.

*V*V*V*V*V**V*

Sure enough, within minutes of the doors opening, someone had noticed the ring on Nala's hand and a general outcry had been risen. Now, in a mass amount of pandemonium, bets were being won, money trading hands, designer purses being promised to come within the next day, and all manners of strange things that the winners wanted being delivered.

Crazy rich people.

On her part, Nala was content to field questions away from herself, deliberately stating she would appreciate privacy, but yes it was true that she and Kyoya were a couple. It took a few tries, and by the time she had them talking about something else Nala knew the girls were only doing it to appease her, but they finally managed to change topics, and the time flew by.

Finally, it was time for th last few girls to leave. However, as they were heading out, one of Nala's regulars, the little mousy girl who had unintentionally gotten Nala truly mixed up in the world of the supernatural, turned and ran back to Nala sliding a note into her hand before dashing away.

Her curiosity burning, Nala looked after the girl as she sprinted from the room, before opening the note to peruse its' contents.

Dear Nala,

I realized I had forgotten to ever say thank you to you for what you did for me, and I just wanted to ask if you would like to go to dinner with me tonight so I can properly thank you?

If so, I'll be by your house around 6:30 stand outside the house if you're interested and I'll see you. If you do decide to go, dress nicely. You'll see why.

The note was signed with the girl's name and a cute little smiley face inside a heart that made Nala grin.

That actually sounds like fun! And since I don't have plans tonight I don't see why it would be a problem.

And that, was how Nala found herself three hours later watching as a sleek, black limousine pulled up to the curb in front of her. The driver popped out and opened the door for her, and from the interiour the other girl waved at her with a grin and a smile.

"Hi Nala," Her voice was soft and sweet as she grinned up at the hostess. "Thank you for coming, I meant to do this for a while now but was too shy to ask in person…"

Nala grinned and waved a hand carelessly as she slid into the vehicle.

"It's ok! I'm glad we could do this, I'm sure it'll be fun. Where are we going that you asked me to dress nicely though?"

The girl all but mumbled the name if the restaurant, and Nala's eyebrows shot up for a split second. It was a renowned, seclusive, private date restaurant that normally only couples went to to eat. It required good money, a date, and a good sense of fashion to get into the place which was what surprised Nala so much. However, when she voiced her concerns about the money needed, the other girl merely waved her hand at her.

"It's all ok, it's really not too expensive, and it's a nice quiet place I thought we could talk in without being disturbed."

Nala smiled at her weakly. She was fast getting the strange feeling that something very weird was going on that she didn't know about, and silently praised her luck that she had remembered to tell Haruhi who she was going out with that night. However, she was determined to try to enjoy herself because heck when was the next time she was gonna be in a restaurant this nice?

Kyoya might take me someday…

She shoved aside the traitorous thought, and focused back on the girl in front of her with a grin.

"Thanks! This was very nice of you, and- Oh look! The waiter is coming!"

At the prospect of food, any thoughts over how odd the situation was disappeared, and Nala was practically salivating as she day dreamed about what to order. She ended up, at the insistence of the other girl, to get whatever she wanted, and ended up with some overpriced but absolutely delicious cut of meat.

The girls made small talk over dinner. Mere chit-chat to pass the time, but as she ate Nala still had that niggling feeling in the back of her mind that the other girl wanted something from her.

Guess there's no time like the present to ask…

"So you asked me here to talk about something right?"

The other girl lifted her brown eyes to mine, and a blush spread across her cheeks.

"Er, yes, I realized after you and Kyoya became official today that I needed to talk to you about something. Let's not do it here though, can we go for a walk?"

Nodding her head in confusion because she had no idea what her's and Ootori's relationship could have to do with anything this girl said Nala waited for her to pay the check as the other girl wouldn't even hear of them splitting it. Finally, they were ready to go, and they rose and left the restaurant. Walking down the street, the sun was low in the sky, and the dim light around them made a feeling of foreboding crawl up Nala's spine.

Everytime she was out and about after dark, something always seemed to go wrong. The girl at her side didn't seem to notice Nala's discomfort, and merely kept chatting away.

It took a moment for Nala to regain the thread of the conversation as she had been busy scanning the area around them.

"-It wasn't until I saw the ring on your finger that I realized I had only this one chance to ask you!"

Wait what? What about the ring?

"Er, ask me what?"

Nala's voice was hesitant, unsure, blatantly showing her confusion to the other girl. The girl stared up at Nala with adoring eyes, before practically lunging forward to grab Nala's hand, and vehemently began talking.

"For you! That day when you ran of to defend my honor from my boyfriend, and then that day on the beach when you saved me again! I realized that you're the one for me! There can't be anyone else! I'm in love with you Nala, and I wanted to ask if you would be my girlfriend."

Nala's mind reeled in shock. She'd been expecting...something to happen, but...not this.

Well...crap.

**Authors Note**

Hi guys! I SURVIVED MY FIRST YEAR OF PUBLIC SCHOOL! Cue the happy dancing please *ahem* right but in celebration of that here's a chapter for you all! Updates should get back to their more regular schedule as I now have more time in which to work on this story now that school is out. What did you think of this chapter? Cliffhanger! Needed something to get over the mild case of writer's block and this presented itself so bam! Please review! And leave any suggestions for me about what to do in the next few chapters as this story is coming to a close!

Shout out to…

Chapter 48

lilmissy21 + facecake98 + swimmer1102 + Barracuda57 + HalleluiaZeyohannes + kanakoyuki + Rsur Thorai (Thanks for the follows and favs! You guys are epic!)

Crystalline Amore (hehe thank you)

animegal1357 (thank you! I've been focusing a lot on fixing little things in my writing and I think that has helped but u have to start going over all my old chapters to edit them ugh help)

Barracuda57 (thank you! I tried!)

swimmer1102 (Thank you haha! Your reviews were super sweet and also I love your username because yes swimming!)

killjarkidranger (haha I'm glad you loved it!)

Lady Artimes Blaine (Haha well it's here now!)