First of all, I am so sorry that I kept you waiting for so long! However, I have a lot of things on my plate, so this story won't always be my priority. Don't worry, though. I'm not giving up on this just yet!

Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club. I only own my OC.

The Host Club Goes To The Ball Game!

"What's with this atmosphere?" Haruhi muttered to herself as she observed the room. It was a normal day. Nothing too out of the ordinary happened, and there was no obvious thing that could have caused this phenomenon. The host club was open for business as usual, and yet...

...everything seemed lackluster.

The fact that the very word was even used to describe the host club already sets off a red flag. What kind of awful, inhuman thing could have caused them to dull? Well, of course, it's not as if it was terrible. It was just that this particular day seemed so mild compared to the usual antics that took place in the third music room. However, all of this could be traced to one thing, which happened to be the same thing that everyone glanced at in unease.

Shun's empty seat.

Her guests moved in their seats, folding their hands nervously as they looked between the abandoned cup of chamomile tea on the table and the large double doors. It had been thirty minutes since the club activities started, and Shun had still failed to appear.

This wasn't the first time that Shun neglected her duties as a host. Throughout the week, her time spent working reduced little by little. Of course, everyone understood and took the news with a grain of salt, but this was getting ridiculous. Did she really have to practice that much?

After a few more moments of uncomfortable silence, Tamaki cleared his throat. "It seems that, once again, Shun will not be able to join us today. My apologies to his guests that have been patiently waiting, but we must understand that this is a crucial week for him. An important baseball game is approaching, and it is Shun's responsibility to be prepared." He cleared his throat again. "That being said, we will support him no matter the circumstances. Thank you."

Tamaki retreated to sit with his guests, while the hosts and the rest of the patrons attempted to lighten the atmosphere.

"Hey, wanna see me do a magic trick? I'm gonna make this cake disappear!" Honey chirped happily, seemingly unaffected by Shun's fourth absence.

The girls seated next to him giggled happily, their moods lifted by Honey's natural adorableness. Unfortunately, not every host hopped at the chance to laugh away the issue.

"Um, Hikaru, Kaoru, why don't we play a card game?" one girl offered hesitantly.

"Hey, that sounds like a good idea!" Kaoru brightened up considerably and turned to his brother. "Right, Hikaru?"

Hikaru had his chin in his hand, his elbow resting on the arm of the sofa. "No thanks," he drawled, his expression bored.

Kaoru, noticing his brother's gaze lying on Shun's empty seat, nudged his shoulder. "Come on, it'll be fun!" Then, under his breath, he said, "Don't worry about her. She'll be fine."

Turning his head slightly in surprise, Hikaru released a tired sigh and straightened up. "Alright, fine, but you better not cheat."

"Hey, the only one who cheats is you, Hikaru!"

The girls tittered quietly.

The next day...

Shun rolled her sleeves up. No, too unprofessional. She rolled her sleeves down to cover her wrists. No, too uncomfortable.

"Uh, captain, are you okay? You've been fidgeting for a while."

Shun snapped her head up, her eyes wide as if she'd been caught. Quickly, she cleared her throat and brushed some nonexistent dust from her sleeves. "It's nothing, I'm fine," she trailed off, before suddenly shooting up from her seat. "Team meeting!" she roared, and despite the fact that her teammates had several inches on her, they complied immediately.

After the team had gathered up, she crossed her arms and squared her shoulders. "We're going against Fukuyama Academy today! You know what they are? An athletics academy!"

"Right!"

"So what do you think they're good at?"

"Athletics!"

"Now, which team do you want to win?"

"Ours, captain!"

"Of course! And we can't do that unless everyone here today is committed! We can't afford slip-ups now! There are scouts out in that crowd watching our every move! If I see even one mistake, we're doing all of our drills fifty times over! Let's go!"

"Right!"

The roar was deafening when they stepped onto the field. Cheers from every corner of the stadium echoed throughout. There was even a separate section for the host club and their patrons, who shrieked louder than anyone else when Shun waved to the crowd. Unfortunately, the enemy team's fans shouted just as loudly. The captain leered at Shun and ran his finger across his throat. Shun merely scoffed.

As the teams took their places, everyone held their breath. The crowd was silent. The game had begun.

Shun stood tall on the pitcher's mound, watching as a rookie stepped up to the plate, his knees shaking. Then, faster than light, Shun curved her arm and threw the ball. In a split second, she felt something in her shoulder seize. Her elbow angled, and the rookie smacked the ball into the outfield. Damn! She swore under her breath, rubbing her shoulder.

The Fukuyama students in the crowd cheered as the player rounded two corners. The announcers couldn't wait to leap on the strange occurrence.

"It seems like Inoue is not having a good day today! Usually a pitch like that would be expected from some of the newer players!" one announcer, Yoshimoto, said.

"Perhaps it was just a pity throw, like Inoue wanted to show them who's boss! Yeah, that's right! Fukuyama's team isn't as well-balanced as Ouran's, so there's no doubt in my mind who will win!" the other, Himura, said.

"I'm not so sure, Himura," Yoshimoto warned. "Inoue is not one to throw away runs like that. If he ever has a slip-up like that, something must be wrong."

Seated in the third row, Tamaki began chewing his nails anxiously, muttering things about 'his little girl' and 'worried about her'.

Haruhi sighed. "Tamaki, you don't have to worry so much. I think Shun knows what she's doing more than you do."

Tamaki gasped, clearly offended by Haruhi's not-meant-to-be-offensive comment. "Well, isn't it natural for a loving father to worry about his little girl? I know for a fact that—gack!"

"Shut up!" Hikaru shoved Tamaki to the side. "The second inning started!"

"Wow, Hikaru! I didn't know you liked baseball that much!" Honey noted innocently, popcorn and cotton candy stuck to his face.

At Honey's comment, Hikaru's cheeks pinked, and he turned away. "I don't."

Kyouya smiled, jotting something in his notebook.

A while later...

Shun was angry. Seven innings, seven innings, and she hadn't struck a single player out. Seven innings, and she hadn't hit a single home run. Something was wrong, and she knew exactly what it was. Why here, of all places? Why now, of all times!

Her teammates suggested that she take a break. So, here she was, standing in the locker room and furiously staring at the hideous bruise that now consumed her entire shoulder. Go away! She yelled in her head, as if the discolored mark would just fade away. It stayed.

With a yell, Shun stalked out of the locker room and out into the field.

One of her teammates, Matsuo, noticed her. "Oh, captain, here's your mitt—"

With a dark glower accompanied by a snarl, Shun snatched it from his hands, continuing her walk to the pitcher's mound without a second glance.

"Yeesh, what's wrong with him?" The other teammates shrugged.

"Oh, Inoue's back, and badder than ever!" Himura announced with a clap.

"Is it just me, or does he look really tense?" Yoshimoto asked.

Himura raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean? He looks fine to me, if a little angry. But in that situation, who wouldn't be? It's the ninth inning and the score is 5-4!"

"No, not that. His shoulders are seized up, see? And he keeps fidgeting. If it were anyone else, I would say they're nervous! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a rare occurrence! The great Shun Inoue is actually scared about the outcome of this game!" Yoshimoto stated in disbelief.

"Don't say that! Inoue doesn't have any fears about this game, not when he can help it! Just watch, he'll prove you wrong!" At that, the two announcers sat forward, watching intensely.

Shun bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. Her nerves were on fire, and for once in her life, she was unsure. Snap out of it, idiot! She raised her arm. Fukuyama will win this game if you don't get it together! Shun lifted her head, only to see the captain of the enemy team tapping the bat on the ground. He stared at her with that same idiotic sneer, egging her on.

That was the last straw. All of her anger that she had bottled up burned inside her throat. I won't let you win.

The crowd, swept up in the adrenaline of the moment, began chanting.

"Come on, Shun!"

"Go Shun, go!"

The host club stood from their seats.

"You can do it!"

She smirked, despite her fatigue, despite the pearls of sweat dripping down her chin, despite the opposing captain's arrogance. With an unparalleled speed and an unrivaled strength, Shun threw her arm forward, and—

SNAP!

The crowd fell silent. Every single player on the field froze. Nobody uttered a single word, except for Shun.

A cry of pain ripped from her throat as she fell to her knees, clutching her right shoulder with trembling hands. Fearfully, she glanced at her arm. It was limp. She couldn't move it at all.

Suddenly, a noise broke the silence. It was the opposing captain's obnoxious laugh as he jogged around the bases, shouting triumphantly as he leaped over home base.

Nobody said anything. Not even the students from Fukuyama cheered, nor did the announcers comment. Then, as if a chord snapped, everything spun out of control at once.

"Shun Inoue is injured! What the hell happened?"

"I have no idea! This is chaos!"

The host club rushed out of the stadium just as Shun was being led away. Haruhi immediately rushed over to help Shun, gently holding her injured shoulder. As they left, Tamaki attempted to find an explanation.

He noticed a teammate of Shun's heaving a large duffel bag over his shoulder. Tapping his shoulder, he asked, "What happened to Shun?"

The boy shook his head. "No idea, but he says he can't move his arm." As Tamaki began prodding, the boy nervously backed away. "Sorry, I don't know what else to tell ya. I gotta get the captain's stuff back to him."

Kyouya dialed somebody on his phone and walked away, speaking urgently as he went. Honey wailed, stress-eating caramel popcorn and greasy sticks of takoyaki while Mori attempted to calm him down. The twins stood anxiously, waiting for some kind of information from Kyouya, when they saw a familiar face pass by.

The captain of the Fukuyama team recognized them, and with a smirk, sauntered up to them. "Looks like your resident pretty-boy took a real beating out there. What a real shame, huh? Too bad I wasn't the one to—"

Before he could finish his taunt, Hikaru reared his fist back and punched him square in the face.

"Hikaru!" the hosts gasped in shock.

Ignoring them, Hikaru pushed his elbow beneath the captain's chin, cornering him against the wall. "You think it's funny, huh? Tell me how hilarious it really is! Go on, laugh in my face! I dare you!"

Before Hikaru could break the guy's nose, Mori forcefully pulled him away. Just as he started to argue, Mori silenced him with one sentence.

"Do you think Shun would be happy about this?"

Hikaru averted his gaze, shoving his bruised hands in his pockets. The captain looked as if he wanted to say something more, but with one collective glare from the hosts, he turned tail and ran away.

Kyouya returned, snapping his cell phone shut. "I've sent a private doctor to Shun's house to check on her. I'm afraid we won't know anything until then."

Tamaki glanced at where Haruhi and Shun just were. "Then, all we can do is wait."