Kohaku sat in front of the mirror once more, Amber had gone as soon as she removed the wig and she had done that the moment she had stepped into the small room. Placing the contacts in their case, Kohaku blinked rapidly. Wearing coloured contacts irritated her eyes if she had a long performance or if they weren't soaked properly and it seems she forgot to soak them last night.

Unzipping her dress, she stepped out of it and folded it up carefully before stripping down to her underwear and placing her ordinary clothes on. A knock on the door startled Kohaku until she realized that it was either Lace or Ryuu.

"Come in," she called out.

Ryuu walked in to the dressing room and grinned at Kohaku; "Well done girl! The club was packed tonight and they were all there for you!"

Kohaku smiled slightly before correcting him; "No, they were there for Amber."

"You and Amber are the same person, like two sides of the same coin. Either way Lace is proud, she says that if Saturday is as successful then she's going to give you a cut of the profit."

Kohaku gaped at Ryuu; "What? Can she even do that?"

Ryuu laughed "Of course she can, she's the owner and anyway you deserve it! You were amazing tonight."

Kohaku shook her head slightly; "I wasn't at my best, I trembled when you were face to face with me. That wasn't meant to happen."

"I barely noticed that so I doubt the crowd did, you've really come along since we first started performing together Kohaku - Chan. I remember if I got within a foot of you, you trembled so badly you couldn't sing."

Kohaku laughed at the memory; "Yeah, it's only you who can get that close to me though. No other guy can."

Ryuu leaned against the wall and surveyed the younger girl; "That's because you don't try, you tried with me because Lace wanted us to perform together and you said you needed the job. You just need to trust the person you're letting close, like you trusted me."

"I only trusted you because I knew Lace would beat you up if you hurt me," Kohaku joked.

"Oh! Ouch! You wound me girl! Now as much as I would love to stay here and be insulted, I have a hot date tonight," Ryuu wiggled his eyebrows as he said the last part.

"Ah, poor guy. I feel sorry for him," Kohaku giggled causing Ryuu to stick his tongue out at her.

"See you later Kohaku - Chan!"

Kohaku smiled as Ryuu left her alone, he was probably her best friend despite him being nineteen and the only time they spent together was when they worked together.

Taking a damp cloth and wiping her face, Kohaku sighed, boy she couldn't wait until she got home. A hot bath sounded perfect right now.

For the second time since her performance ended, there was a knock on her door and Kohaku thinking it was Lace merely raised her voice and told her to come in. However when she looked in the mirror, she saw a group of faces that she never expected to see at her work.

Kohaku turned sharply and stared at the Host Club who now stood in the small dressing room. Panic was clear on her face and her eyes darted about the room.

"Why are you all here?" She croaked.

Kyoya smirked at the girl in front and spoke; "Well, we wanted to find out what your priorities were Amber. Quite interesting, I thought Ouran School Rules forbid any part time job."

Kohaku gulped and opened her mouth before closing it again; she had no idea what to say.

"Now, it would be a shame if they found out about this and you lost your scholarship Amber." Kyoya produced his phone and played a video of 'Ambers' earlier performance.

"My name isn't Amber, it's Kohaku," was the only thing that came out of her mouth.

"Kohaku means Amber doesn't it? And it was you performing? With that wig right there." He pointed to the wig that now stood on its stand.

Kohaku could only turn her head guiltily and not answer the correct statement that Kyoya made.

"What do you want Ootori – San?" She whispered.

"Perform at the Host Club, work off the money you made us lose," Kyoya stated simply.

"And if I refuse you will show that to everyone and I will lose my scholarship, right?" Kohaku's voice was flat, it sounded dead. She knew she had no way out but to agree to perform for this Host Club.

"It's exactly like that." Kyoya smirked at Kohaku.

"I'll agree on one condition." She raised her head to stare at the scheming vice president who merely raised an eyebrow.

"Let me use the room to practice, when there are no customers and it's just the Host Club. I need to practice or I'll lose my scholarship."

"Easy enough, now if you'll come to our club room after school tomorrow we can go over suitable music and what you will play."

Kohaku merely nodded; resigned to her fate she clenched her trembling hands as Kyoya turned to leave the room.

"By the way Nakamura - San, nice performance," He glanced at the shocked girl before leaving.

"Kyo – Chan is right! You have a great voice, Ku –Chan!" Honey said as he left the room with Mori.

"We liked the songs you sang, particularly the last one." Hikaru added, grinning as he winked at Kohaku.

"I didn't like the last one!" Tamaki pointed at Kohaku causing her to flinch back violently, "That song was not suitable for my daughter, you dirtied her innocent mind with your filthy lyrics! How could you?"

Kohaku looked terrified as Tamaki blamed her for 'poisoning' Haruhi and had begun to tremble as Tamaki got closer and closer to her until Haruhi stepped in and pulled the overreacting idiot away from Kohaku.

"Ignore this idiot; I liked the songs you sang." Haruhi pulled Tamaki out of the room mumbling about a 'delusional idiot' as Tamaki repeatedly ask Haruhi why she didn't love daddy.

As the door shut behind Haruhi, Kohaku let out a shuddering breath and ran a hand through her hair. She had managed to not have an attack when Suoh – San was shouting at her but she was very freaked out.

Glancing at the clock that Lace put on the wall she gave a start, she had expected to leave by now, despite being a club singer, she never stayed out too late. She was paranoid she might get attacked on the way home.

Rushing out of the small dressing room, she made her way out of the club, avoiding the workers that stayed behind to clean and walked out of the door and straight into the back of her boss.

"Oh Amber, are you alright? Why did you walk straight into me?" The blonde looked over Kohaku's face before nodding, "Your pretty face is fine."

"Why are you standing here Lace?" Kohaku asked, her boss would normally be adding up the money by now.

"Ku – Chan!" A familiar voice called to Kohaku and she looked passed Lace to see the entire Host club who were being stared down by four of the workers who looked very... dangerous.

"Eh? Haninozuka – Senpai? Why are you guys still here?" She asked confused.

"You know these punks, Amber?" Lace asked eyeing the boys with distaste.

"Yeah, they all go to my school. They sneaked back to my dressing room to see me when my set finished." Kohaku ran a hand down her face, tiredness setting in.

"Oh! I'm sorry about that! Boys, back down they are Amber's friends. Sorry boys, we have to be careful there have been a lot of break-ins recently. Anyway it's nice to finally meet some of Amber's friends, she never seems to invite anyone to see her perform which is a shame, and she always does a great performance and gives the crowd a go..." Lace said before Kohaku interrupted her.

"Lace, you're rambling." Kohaku yawned.

"Right, yeah. SO are you boys coming to her acoustic set on Saturday?" Lace asked.

"No, they can't, they're busy," Kohaku answered for them.

"Well, that's a shame. I love your acoustic sets, don't get me wrong hon' you have a great stage presence but when it's just you and the keyboard, you really capture the whole room with your voice. That's true talent." Lace patted Kohaku on the cheek as the girl yawned again.

"You're tired; get moving before you fall asleep in the club entrance. Oh before I forget! Ryuu said he'd be able to duet with you on Saturday!" Lace shouted after the girl who merely waved at Lace before walking very tiredly towards home.

Kyoya watched as Kohaku stumbled over her own feet as she walked home.

"You'd think she was drunk," He observed as she almost walked into a pole.

Hikaru and Kaoru both sniggered as she suddenly stopped for a moment and shook her head.

"Think she'll fall asleep while walking?" Hikaru asked Kaoru.

"Nah, I don't think that's possible," Kaoru replied.

"Shouldn't we help Ku – Chan? She might get hurt!" Honey said while pouting.

"We can't have her getting hurt; she's supposed start working tomorrow. Someone carry her."

As he looked to everyone he saw they were avoiding his eyes causing him to sigh and adjust his glasses.

"She doesn't bite you know," Kyoya said.

Still no reply, he glanced at Kohaku just as she was about cross a road and walked up to her and picked her up bridal style. Glancing at her face, he saw that she was asleep or very close to it as she opened her eyes slightly and smiled up at Kyoya.

"Night Mommy," She whispered before falling asleep.

Two snorts could be heard from the twins as they heard what she muttered. Kyoya glared at the sleeping girl before continuing to walk in the direction of her house.

The twins had tried to make one joke about what Kohaku called Kyoya but they were silenced when they glanced in Kyoya's direction and took in the evil aura that caused the whole group to shudder.

The group walked mostly in silence, Tamaki tried to talk but when Haruhi shushed her Senpai, he decided to sulk at the back of the group instead.

Finally approaching the apartment that Kohaku stayed with her mom, Haruhi knocked on the door.

Shiori answered the door and looked surprised at the sight of the Host Club boys and shocked to see her daughter sleeping in the arms of Kyoya. Quietly she ushered the group in and showed Kyoya where he could place Kohaku.

As they both entered the living room, she asked the group; "What happened?"

Kyoya glared at the twins before he started to speak; "It seems that she was exhausted and as she walked home from the club that she works at, she almost fell asleep while walking so I decided it would be safer if I carried her the rest of the way."

Shiori's mouth opened in a silent 'oh' before she asked; "She let you carry her?"

Kyoya shook his head; "I don't think she realised who I was."

Hikaru interrupted with a laugh "Yeah, she called him 'Mommy'" causing Shiori to burst into giggles.

"Oh dear! That girl... Well, I don't who should be offended, you or myself. I either look like a man or you look female." Shiori sighed before continuing. "She is always tired after she performs at that club. It probably didn't help that she just got out of hospital yesterday, oh well. Thank you for making sure she was safe,"

Haruhi seemed to be in thought before she spoke; "Why were you surprised that Nakamura – Senpai let Kyoya – Senpai carry her?"

Shiori smiled sadly at Haruhi before speaking; "You probably noticed that she doesn't like being crowded, right? Well, she doesn't like being touched by men; she goes into a complete panic if it happens most of the time."

"But why?" Haruhi asked.

Shiori patted Haruhi on the head before replying; "I'm afraid it's not up to me to tell you that, she'll tell you when she trusts you enough."

A phone rang and Kyoya pulled it out and answered it; "All right then, we'll be right there."

He looked at the Host Club and Shiori before speaking; "Our cars are here."

All of the boys filed out of the apartment saying goodbye to Shiori before bickering about who would take Haruhi home.

"Ootori – San, thank you." Shiori said as Kyoya walked passed her.

He smiled at the older woman and nodded his head in response and closed the door behind him as he left.

Shiori headed into her daughter's room and fixed her bed cover which had fallen off. She kneeled staring at Kohaku for a moment before whispering;

"They're a good bunch, Kohaku, don't push them away."

A/N: Kyoya is evil isn't he? But the thing is I can totally imagine him doing that! Maybe my image of him is just a tiny bit distorted. Just a bit!

Anyway thanks to Wolflover17 and Itsgoose2u for reviewing! && a big thanks if you have added this story to your favourites or Alerts.

And a happy Halloween! I hope you all have spooktacular time if you are doing something for it!

Dear lord, that was a bad, chhhesheesy pun.