After another day had ended, Riley was with the hosts in the 3rd music room, lounging lazily on the couch while Tamaki was politely pouring her a cup of tea. "Do you want any sugar, my princess?" She nodded without saying anything and let her eyelids close shut. That day had felt particularily tiring for the young woman, who had been awoken fairly early in the morning because she once again found herself sleep walking into the shower. For a reason she couldn't fathom, she kept sleep walking to the shower and turning on the faucet which, in turn, woke her from her slumber. Unable to fall back asleep after waking herself up at four in the morning, she barely had the energy to keep up with all the demands she faced throughout the day.

The rest of the hosts were all sitting with Tamaki and Riley, each curious for their own reasons about why their only baker was so exhausted though none of them actually voiced their questions. Besides Honey, who hopped over to Riley and smiled, asking quietly, "Hey Rye-chan? Are you sick?"

She lifted her head from its resting position and opened her eyelids to expose her blue eyes to the light shining down on them, "Sick? I sure hope not."

"Then why are you so sleepy?"

The question was simple enough and Riley had no problem letting others know about her sleepwalking problem but on this particular day after that particular night, she felt very reclusive and snippy. So she shrugged her shoulders and muttered, "Just one of those days I suppose."

Tamaki stood from his spot and thrusted his index finger into the air, "I know what you need! We need to get you some commoner's coffee."

One of Riley's eyebrows raised slightly as she muttered, "Commoner's coffee...?"

The excitable blonde nodded enthusiastically, "But of course. It upsets me seeing my beloved so exhausted."

"You know Tamaki," she said with a sigh, "I don't really feel like-" She was immediately cut off by the club's king taking her hands in his own and pulling her off the couch. "Tamaki, wait I don't wanna-" while Riley tried to argue with Tamaki, Mori felt the urge to defend the small baker from the host who started to seem overbearing. Before his body could react to the feeling however, Ghost jumped up on Tamaki and pushed him away from his person.

"Hey!" He exclaimed in surprise, "Take it easy, Ghost!"

The twins stood from their spot and said, "You know I wouldn't mind some commoner's coffee," Kaoru said.

Hikaru nodded, "There's a little cafe down a couple blocks."

Between Tamaki's pleas and the twin's words, Riley found herself contemplating going to the small cafe with the hosts. After a few seconds, she shrugged, "Well... there's a store on the way that I've been debating going into..."

"Then we'll stop there on the way!" Tamaki, who felt suddenly rejuvenated by the prospect of going for "commoner's coffee", yelled.

So then Riley found herself being dragged with Haruhi, who had at first refused to go, down the street and into the toy store Riley had wanted to go to. Of course, once setting foot inside the doors, Honey and Riley both dispersed within the mountains of plush toys and became impossible for the hosts to find.

Mori walked about the store, trying to find either Honey or Riley amongst the multicoloured and various sized stuffed animals and creatures. While Mori wandered through the store, Tamaki and Haruhi were lost by the animal plush toys. Tamaki, who instantly fell in love with the cutesy neon coloured stuffies, grabbed a puppy off the shelf and held it in front of Haruhi's face, "Look at how cute this is! And she's so soft!"

"Yeah, she's real cute senpai. Where'd the others go...?"

Across the store, Hikaru and Kaoru were playing with life sized cat toys that were almost as big as they were. Kyouya, on the other hand, was waiting by the door of the store, scribbling once again in his notebook as he waited for the rest of the group to emerge. Mori happened to find Honey first, who was having a tea party with Usa-chan, a stuffed crocodile and a large toy kangaroo with a small joey in its pouch. "Hey Takashi!" The small blonde exclaimed with excitement and delight lacing his voice. "Look! Usa-chan made new friends!"

Mori sat with his cousin and asked, "Mitsukuni, where's Riley?"

Honey shrugged his small shoulders before placing a teacup and saucer in front his taller cousin, "I'm not sure. Last time I seen her she was over by the big big stuffies." Now that he had found his best friend, Mori stood and went to search for his best friend's baker. Just as he stood, though, Honey asked, "Hey Takashi? Do you like Rye-chan? I mean, she's really nice and you're always-" Before he could finish his thought however, Ghost came bounding in from outside the store with his leash dragging across the floor behind him and knocked him over. The two fell with Honey in a fit of giggles and he wrapped his arms around the white dog's furry neck. "Ghost! You're not allowed to be in here!"

Taking the distraction, Mori escaped from the area and eventually found Riley in a secluded part of the store, surrounded by hundreds of Pokemon plushes. She had two in front of her as she sat with her knees pulled to her chest and she just sat there, as if contemplating something. Thinking back to Honey's question, Mori felt slightly flushed as he walked up to the struggling woman. She shook her head, "I can't decide..."

Hearing his footsteps behind her, Riley turned and smiled, "Heya. How's it going?" Before waiting for him to answer, she continued with, "I just can not decide between this wonderous Raichu," she held up the brown and yellow Pokemon plush, "or this most majestic Arcanine," she held the orange, black and white Pokemon in the other hand. "What do you think?"

Mori already knew which one she'd choose. There had been multiple times she had gushed about Arcanine, the Pokemon which she considered to be the best. On top of that, she wore a Pokeball necklace around her neck that was coloured with Arcanine's pattern on it. Though instead of voicing the obvious answer to her question, he simply shrugged. Riley giggled quietly and looked at the orange and black plush in her hand, "Thanks Mori. You're as helpful as always."

It took her a few more minutes but, as Mori predicted, she chose the small Arcanine and headed for the front of the store. Soon, Riley had a small Arcanine plush newly named Summer in her possession. Before she could leave the store however, both herself and Mori had to find the rest of the dispersed host club. Honey was the first to be found with Usa-chan but Ghost was nowhere to be found. "The store people had to take him outside," Honey explained when he was asked about the whereabouts of the white husky.

The trio then attempted to find the rest of the hosts. Unfortunately, as they were about to embark on their expedition to find the others, a fire alarm went off with a loud screech screech screech. Honey covered his ears and hopped on Mori's back, "Takashi, it's so loud!"

Jumping into action mode, Mori grabbed Riley by the hand and the three made their way towards the next available exit. As they walked, smoke began settling down on top of the crowd which, in turn, made each person begin to panic. People pushed and shoved as they ran towards the exit. "Whew," Riley thought, "thank God Mori is so big... it's impossible to knock him off his axis."

The sea of people who were acting like a herd of excited sheep got more rowdy with the darkening smoke closing in from above and beside them. With an unexpected shove, Riley lost her hold of Mori's hand and got sucked up into the crowd. "Oh shi- Mori, wait!" She yelled before she was lost within the crowd.

The loss of the baker had an immediate affect on Mori, who tried to grasp at her fleeting fingers but caught nothing but air. He turned and tried to catch a glimpse of her but saw nothing but a stream of endless faces rushing past. For the next few minutes, he allowed himself to be pushed and shoved by the crowd right out the door and out onto the street. "Mori-senpai!" Tamaki called out. "Where's Riley?" He asked when he noticed the lack of the black haired woman.

Honey hopped from Mori's back and stood in front of Tamaki, "She got lost in the crowd," he cried, "and now we might never see her again!"

"She's lost?" Kaoru asked.

"Well, that can't be good." Hikaru finished.

Inside the building, Riley found herself squished into a backroom of the toy store with piles and piles of unwanted plushes. The smoke had gotten too thick outside of the room and, trying to find someplace she could actually breathe, she found herself in the backroom where a small window kept the smoke at a tolerable level. She felt particularly miserable as she looked down at the Arcanine plush and let out a small sigh, "This can't be the end... I'm too young... I haven't finished school... I'm still just a... just a baker." She spat the word out like it was laced with poison. "This isn't how it was supposed to go. I wanted to help. That's why I spent every dime I had and went so in debt just to get into school... and my debt won't die with me. My mom will have to..." She found herself unable to finish her sentence.

Her mind wandered towards Mori, and she felt sudden regret build in her stomach. "Why do I feel like this? I've already decided, he's too tall." Her own words echoed in her mind and she shook her head. "Even in the face of death I lie to myself. Why's this gotta feel so... weird?"

Time ticked by at a slow pace as she sat with her back pressed against the cool wall, trying to keep herself calm in the heated situation. A loud thud snapped Riley out of her thoughts and she looked up. Now that her senses were on alert, she noticed the loud barking that was sounding from just the other side of the door. Slowly, she rose from her sitting position as more thuds beat against the door. Finally, it flew open with one final thud and a rush of smoke came spilling into the room, covering everything with a black smoke so thick she couldn't see through it.

Though Riley couldn't see, she could feel the furry animal tackle her and make her fall to the ground. As if that wasn't enough of a clue, the wet nose sliding along her face was indicator enough that Ghost had found her. Her own excitement at seeing her beloved husky again made her miss the fact that Ghost wasn't the only one in the room with her. She didn't even hear the door close or notice the smoke begin to clear again. It wasn't until Ghost got off of her and went over to the other figure in the room that she saw the tall silhouette standing at the far side of the room.

All the feelings Riley felt as she was sitting in that same room, alone, came rushing back to her and she smiled, "Mori..." She remembered feeling the regret, the sadness that surged within her at the thought of not being able to show the tall host how she felt, with not being able to come to terms with her own feelings.

With all the emotions boiling within her, she strode over to Mori, gripped his shirt in her fists and pulled his lips down onto hers. At first, he seemed frozen, unable to comprehend what was currently happening to him. Then, he let his fingers brush the soft skin that covered her cheek. The feeling of both her lips and her skin made the blood in his veins burn and, soon, he ran his hand through her hair and pulled her closer. And, for those precious moments, the two completely forgot of the situation they were in and allowed themselves to enjoy the other's touch.