Waves lapped softly against the sand with the bright sun shining down on the hosts. The scenery was so beautiful, Riley found herself mesmorized as she sat in the shade of her beach umbrella with Ghost sleeping by her side. Honey and Mori were nearby, both working with clients of the host club, as they were doing a kind of exercise regiment along the shore that the baker didn't recognize.

When Tamaki realized how alone Riley was, he casually made his way over to her and covered her eyes from behind, "Hello my darling. What are you doing over here all by yourself? Wouldn't you like some company?"

Feeling slightly annoyed, she pushed his hands away from her eyes and shook her head, "Nah, it's okay Tamaki. I'm not paying you or anything so you can go and deal with real customers."

Not giving up, he sat by her side and said flirtatiously, "No other flower here is as beautiful as you, my lady."

Unsure how to escape the flirtatious blonde, Riley stood up and wiped the sand off her legs, "Thanks Tamaki but... I gotta go bake right now so I'll see ya later."

If she were being honest, Tamaki would've known that she didn't actually have to bake since Honey did not want any cake until after he was done playing on the beach. Before, when Honey was keen on Riley bringing him cake while he was working with clients on the beach, Mori made the point that sand was more likely to get stuck in the icing so, for the cake's sake, Riley wasn't to bake until dinner time.

As she turned to walk away, she bumped into Mori, who was wet from swimming in the warm water. "Oh sorry Mori. Want a water?" She asked before reaching into a cooler nearby and pulling out a bottle. Mori silently accepted the cool beverage and sat down on the beach towel that Riley was previously sitting on.

Tamaki gave a sweeping bow and said, "Well then my princess, I shall leave you to your baking." And with that, he departed.

Once he was out of sight, the baker sat back down on the towel in the shade and sighed, "Tamaki is... he's quite eccentric, isn't he?"

Mori nodded slightly and went, "Hm."

Now used to this treatment from the tallest host, Riley nodded, "He has just a little bit too much energy for me. And he likes... physical contact. It'd be fine as long as he just kept... a good minimum of ten inches in between us. Then I'd be cool with it but he's always... there." And as she continued complaining about how much she disliked Tamaki always in her personal space, Mori noticed a piece of dried seaweed tangled in her long, dark wavy hair. For a moment, he had an internal struggle with himself about whether he should simply pluck the seaweed from her hair or to just leave it. Before he could decide, the baker ran her fingers over her scalp and noticed the plant stuck in her hair. She made a face and began to untangle it while still talking.

"... I mean," she continued, "it's not that I don't like Tamaki. He seems absolutely wonderful it's just-"

"He's always in your space?" Mori cut her off.

Hearing his voice for the first time surprised Riley so much, she could only stare and smile for a few seconds. When she stayed silent a little too long, the tall host looked over at her and gave her a small smile. All she could do was giggle and lightly push his shoulder, "For God's sake Mori... are you trying to give me a heart attack? For weeks you didn't say a word to me and now, words and a smile in one go? Jeez..." she laughed again, "glad to know I now have the 'Mori Stamp of Approval'."

Once she was done laughing, both baker and host looked over at Honey, who was building a sand castle with Hikaru and Kaoru. "Well," Riley said as she stood up, "I'd say it's almost time to go back inside for dinner, wouldn't you?" When he nodded, she began backing up with Ghost, "Okie dokie. Then, gimme like... fifteen minutes. I have a cold, nice dessert idea for you guys. Promise me you'll wait fifteen minutes." He nodded silently, causing Riley to smile and say, "C'mon now. Y'gotta say 'I promise'," she said in the deepest voice she could form at the last bit. One of his eyebrows raised but that was the only response she got out of him. She rolled her eyes and said with a laugh, "Aight fine. One day, we might have an actual conversation. Just you wait. I got you to smile and say something in one day. I know shit now." And with that, she went back to the mansion like beach house the host club had rented.

Just as he promised, Mori went back to the beach house with the rest of the club in tow fifteen minutes after Riley had left. They all sat down at the dining room table and began eating the meal that was being served out to them. A collection of sea creatures, most floating in some sort of butter based sauce, were placed along the dining room table and made the whole house smell fishy. Haruhi immediately started devouring the food without thought of anyone else. Thankfully there was so much food that, even though she tried, Haruhi just couldn't eat it all herself.

Each of the hosts had begun eating their respectable meals besides Honey, who sat with Usa-chan in his lap. Tamaki noticed and looked up from his plate to the smaller blonde, "Honey-sempai? Why aren't you eating?"

"I'm waiting for Rye-chan." Honey said as he played with Usa-chan's ears before looking up at his older cousin, "Didn't she come back before us?"

Little did the hosts realize, Riley was in the back of the kitchen with Ghost, popping sweet green grapes into her mouth and throwing the occasional kibble on the floor for her dog. In the past, she had never eaten with the hosts, she only wheeled in the cakes and sometimes ate a slice with Honey if she had the time so she thought that sitting away from them would be expected of her. Not that she minded, she prefered to sit away from them. At least, that night in particular she didn't mind; she disliked seafood.

So in the back she sat with Ghost, both of them snatching food from here or there within the kitchen. It wasn't until a maid walked up to her and bowed her head slightly before saying, "Ms Darko? Mr Haninozuka is waiting for you," that the baker stood from her spot and went into the dining room. When she poked her head through the door, Honey waved happily and waited for her to sit before starting to eat the food in front of him.

The same maid that summoned her returned with a plate of some sort of dead fish soaked in a garlic sauce. The smell reached Riley's nose and she politely declined, "No thank you... could you bring me some grapes though?" The maid bowed her head and departed the room.

"Don't you like seafood?" Haruhi asked through a mouthful of garlic and pepper roasted shrimp.

Riley shook her head as a bowl of grapes were placed in front of her, "Not in particular. It's just all so... fishy, you know? Not really my cup of tea."

Honey finished his small amount of food quickly and turned to Riley, "Can we have cake now? I've waited all day."

The baker looked slightly ashamed as she said, "Well... there wasn't enough flour to bake any cakes because the cooks used it all to make the batter for all the fish but," she motioned at a maid with a flick of her hand, "I did make these."

It took a second but four maids came back, each carrying trays of cookies. "See, they're kinda like cakes. I just kinda scooped out the icing from Oreo cookies and then refilled them with everyone's favourite type of ice cream... I'm sorry Honey. I didn't expect there to be no flour."

Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other for a moment before starting to panic. They both leaned close to Tamaki and Hikaru began to whisper, "Boss, Honey-sempai's gonna flip!"

Kaoru nodded, "Yeah! You can't substitute cakes with cookies! It's not in Honey-sempai's nature! He needs cake!"

Tamaki also began to panic, "Oh no... my poor princess... we must protect-"

"Wow Rye-chan these are delicious!" Honey exclaimed as he ate his first cookie. "But isn't there a store in town? Why don't you go there and get more flour so then we can all have some cake?"

Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru had quieted down by this point and were watching on in anticipation. Riley raised an eyebrow, "Is it still open? I mean... it's pretty late."

Honey shrugged, "I'm not sure but... I really want some cake..." He looked up at her with tear filled eyes and the baker's reluctance immediately disappated.

She let out a little sigh, "Alright then... I'll go and check. Don't wait up."

The small blonde jumped from his seat, "Wait! Bring Takashi with you! He'll keep you safe!"

Riley and Mori made eye contact for a second before she shook her head, "No, it's okay. You could stay if you want, Mori." First, the tall host looked at Honey, then at Riley, before standing up from his seat. Unable to stop herself from smiling, the baker said, "Alright then. Thanks Mori. Hey sweetie?" She said to Honey, "Could you look after Ghost while I'm gone then? He shouldn't be any trouble."

Ghost walked over to Honey and placed his head in his lap, his tail swishing ever so lightly. "Yeah, of course Rye-chan!"

With that, Riley and Mori were about to depart from the room before Kyouya said, "Hurry back you two. There have been some weather warnings. It would be unfortunate if you two were to get lost in a storm."

Almost out of habit, baker and host looked over to Honey, who didn't hear Kyouya and was playing with Ghost. "We'll make it back," she said, whether to the hosts or to herself, she couldn't tell.

It was a mostly silent walk into town since Mori went back into his silent state and Riley had run out of things to say. When they reached the store, it was closed due to the storm warnings. "They must've been some hard core warnings... hey Mori?" She asked, "D'you think we should call a taxi to take us back to-" She was cut off by the loud rumble of thunder which came from nowhere. For a moment, she stood stiffly before her muscles unclenched and she smiled, "Cool."

Mori, suddenly panicked, grabbed her hand in his and started running back towards the beach house. By that time, the wind had already picked up and blew viciously against anything standing in its path. Barely halfway back to the beach, Riley let go of Mori's hand and put her hands on her knees as she doubled over and was breathing heavily. "We have to hurry." Mori said, trying to coax her back to running.

In between gasps for air, she managed to yell over the wind and the beginning rain drops, "Mori I make cakes for a living! So I let myself go okay?"

He looked around and ran away from her. She shook her fist after his shrinking figure, "You... are terrible!"

Once she managed to catch her breath, the rain had started pouring down from the clouds and the wind was blowing so hard they pelted Riley's face like tiny rocks. Before long, she noticed a figure running towards her. At first, she felt panicked though it subsided when she saw Mori's familiar features. She glared at him when he was standing in front of her again, "You jerk I thought you-"

Before she could continue to yell at him, he grabbed her hand in his again before running back where he came. Then again, just as last time, Riley began to fall behind. "I am so sorry-" she began but was again interrupted when he picked her up in his arms and continued running.

Quickly, thanks to Mori, the two made it into an underground cellar connected to an abandoned house. Once Mori put Riley down, he closed the doors to the cellar and the sound of the rain and wind was muffled. Both of them were soaked from head to toe and the baker wrung water from her hair, "Well... that was exciting."

She looked up and noticed that her fellow adventurer was pacing anxiously, all while staring at the doors leading back outside. Immediately knowing what was bothering him, she stood up and grabbed him by the arms, making him stop pacing. "Mori? Honey's okay. Don't worry."

He still had a faintly distant look as his eyes refused to focus on her. She grabbed his chin with her fingers and made him look at her, "Takashi? Sweetie listen to me." Finally, his eyes seemed to register her and she continued, "Honey, is fine. You saw that big ass mansion. Honey will be okay." In an attempt to soothe him, she brushed his wet hair that became plastered to his forehead back, "Really, sweetie. It's just a little wind and a little bit of rain. He'll be fine."

As the seconds ticked by, Mori's whole demeanor suddenly began relaxing as she stared into his grey eyes and he stared into her blue ones. Riley knew he was okay when he picked a twig out of her hair and flicked it away. She smiled up at him, "Thank goodness. I dunno what would've happened if you went crazy or something. Now, let's get some light in here." The cellar the two found themselves in had no light and was almost pitch black except for near the entrance. So, to light up the black, the baker took out her phone and turned on its flashlight. She also attempted to reach one of the other hosts to let them know that they were okay but all she got was static. "Must be this cellar..."

Feeling suddenly exhausted, she sat down with her back against one of the walls closest to the entrance after she took off her wet jacket, shoes and socks. "Too much excitement for me for one day."

Following her lead, Mori sat beside her. After a few moments of silence, he muttered, "Thanks."

His sudden gratitude made her smile broadly and say, "No, thank you. You could've totally just left me out there because I'm so... let's just call it inactive but you came back for me. And you carried me. That's pretty heroic, if I do say so myself."

As more time ticked on, Riley found herself laying her head against Mori's shoulder, "Sorry Mori but... I feel very tired." Soon, a quiet snore sounded from the tanned baker and Mori followed soon after.