Surprise! I bet you thought you had seen the last of me! It's been a solid like year and three months, but hey…you know. You know. We'll get back into the swing of things. I felt like writing today. Enjoy

The next day in the club was interesting, as always.

I thought hard of what I could possibly write back and slip into Mori's book as an answer to his question of my homeland, but I was drawing a blank. How could she describe it with words? Beautiful? Amazing? Breath-taking? Lovely? Nothing suited what I had known to be home. Just thinking about it made my heart ache a bit.

I asked Haruhi as we were setting up the room for the clients, but as usual, Haruhi just shrugged and told me to give it my best shot. Typical Haruhi- staying out of the mix as best as she can. I sighed, placing out saucers and tea cups and stealing quick glances at Mori. For some reason, the theme seemed to be uniformed officers. Tamaki was, of course, dressed to the nines in a white military styled outfit, while the rest had the standard blue that most police officers wore. They began to all shuffle to their respective spots, readying themselves for the day, when the door creaked open a smidge.

I glanced up, only to have to shift my gaze lower. A young elementary school girl, with gorgeous blonde pigtails and large blue eyes stared at the group meekly as Tamaki greeted her softly. The mood suddenly changed when the girl began screeching about reverse harems, to which I chuckled softly. She couldn't be more right, she mused as Haruhi looked around at the boys nervously.

"There's debauchery here." The girl exclaimed, still watching the host club with large, unfazed eyes.

"What?!" I suddenly yelped, gaining the attention of my male companions, who were equally shocked.

"There's debauchery here, isn't there?" She asked excitedly, jumping up and down. "You're the glasses character," She explained, pointing towards a calm Kyoya, "You're the boy Lolita, and the stoic type," she moved on to Honey and Mori, "Twincest!" She said eagerly towards the Hitachiin's.

Lastly, she turned to Haruhi, "And the bookworm!"

But the most surprising of all?

"Big brother?" She whispered, gazing at a twitching Tamaki.

Everyone crowded around, scolding Tamaki for never revealing this kind of information to the club members. As he began to explain himself- all while trying to pry the little girl away from him- Mori glanced to me. I shuffled over to the group, paying less attention to Tamaki and the little girl, and more attention to this "stoic" type.

He glanced down at me and we made subtle, silent conversation through our looks to each other. I was still trying to find a way to spark the conversation between us, to connect with him on a deeper level than "crush". It was a difficult task, but damn was I bound and determined to do it.

I decided to try and follow the host club antics once Nekezowa, from the Black Magic club stepped in. My face contorted to confusion more and more as Nekezowa's maid explained that he couldn't be in bright light, and that was the reason for his cloak. Before he had put it on, I noticed, he had brilliant blonde hair and pretty blue eyes, and didn't seem the least bit evil and horrid as Tamaki tried to draw him up as.

"Mistress Kirimi is afraid of dark, dim places." The butler went on.

"So…this little girl is Nekezowa-Senpai's little sister?" Haruhi asked.

"Oh…boy…" I muttered under my breath as Nekezowa stumbled toward Kirimi eerily. "Yikes, yeah. He is not older brother material for her."

Mori caught this. "Why do you say that?" He asked, equally as quiet. I quickly looked up at him, surprised he said anything at all. Clearing my throat before answering, I felt suddenly sickly nervous.

"They're two very different people. If she's going to accept him, he'll have to sacrifice something."

"Ah." Mori replied. And…that's that. I thought, disappointed. I snapped herself back to the situation at hand, watching as Honey worked himself up over it all.

"It's so sad that Kirimi-Chan doesn't think Nekezowa is her brother!" He wailed, rubbing at his watering eyes with closed fists. Mori began to stoop down to comfort him, but was beat by a shorter me. Hugging Honey into me, I sighed heavily at the extremity of the Host Club. They were a handful.

"It's okay, Honey."

"Mistress Kirimi, it's time to go home," the odd Butler began, but was cut off by Kirimi's wailing.

"I wanna stay with my big brother!"

I could see the shattering of Nekezowa's heart as he turned away from them. Tamaki began to speak, but Nekezowa ran off, and I followed him out of the door. I don't know what came over me, maybe the understanding of having feelings for someone who didn't return them, but hey, I felt for the guy.

"Orie!" I heard behind me, but I couldn't help but feel miserable for the boy. I stopped right outside the door, watching as Nekezowa's figure disappeared down the corridor. Frowning, I slowly walked back into the room, greeted by a heated discussion.

"Senpai! Don't keep making promises you can't keep!" Haruhi shouted, her brows furrowing in anger. No one had noticed me walking back in except for Mori, the ever observant host. His gaze questioned, which I ignored as I placed myself in between Honey and him to watch.

I couldn't keep up with their conversation, but when the sounds of the motor began turning and Renge's god awful cackling sounded through the music room, I shuddered. Anything but this. Deciding it was time to make my great escape, I smiled and quickly said her goodbyes to everyone as Renge and Tamaki schemed together, coming up with plans to change Nekezowa "for the better". I wanted no part in this game.

I was still mulling over the answer when Honey and Mori stopped me before I left the room. "Takashi wants to do some extra training before the Kendo match tomorrow! Do you want to go to the dojo with us?" His smile was sickly sweet, and his eyes were grossly pleading. It was as if he were testing me, just daring me to even think of saying no.

I cracked a loose smile. "Uh…sure. All my stuff is at the dojo anyway."

It was a quick, albeit silent, walk over. Honey skipped ahead of us, humming to himself. Mori walked with his normal large pace, hands in his pockets. I fought to catch up with him, my little legs working as hard as they could. Becoming more and more frustrated I finally stopped and tugged on Mori's sleeve. Confusion spread across his face as he turned to me, watching my face grow red and expression grow angrier.

"I can't really take the lack of communication anymore! Ever since Okinawa I've been trying to sort out my stupid feelings and figuring out a way to communicate with you better! I don't even know why I'm venting about you to you, but gosh!" I stared at the ground, taking a deep breath. "Italy is beautiful. You should go there, sometime." I finished my rant, slapping my hands over my face and feeling humiliation spread through my body. I stood like that for some time before feeling a hand drop lightly on the crown of my head and brush my hair away and behind my ears.

"Orie." He said, trying to get my attention. I peeked out a little bit.

"I'm sorry, Takashi. Truthfully, I really like you, and I would like to be able to have a solid… friendship. I'm sorry. That all spilled out of me."

I was surprised to hear the light chuckle spill from his mouth. "Don't apologize. I'm sorry I haven't been showing my interest as well either. I think you are a good friend, Orie….I'd like a "solid friendship", too." He replied, his bass voice bringing butterflies to my stomach.

I looked up at him, seeing a smile grace his face. He only saved those smiles for special people. "Come on," I tugged his sleeve again, "Honey's waiting."

Later, we all sat together in the darkness of the third science room, writing out phrases that Nekezowa wasn't allowed to use when communicating with Kirimi. Mori and I were taking turns writing the phrases on a chalk board, while everyone else watched as Renge "taught" Nekezowa.

Renge held up a flashlight to Nekezowa, and the two argued over Occult related things. Honey, Mori, and I stared at the huge list on the board. "Wax dolls…blood candles…sacrificial lamb?! What the…" I murmured, reading just a few examples off. The two boys next to me shrugged, and I let out a sigh of boredom. "This seems absurd. I know that Nekezowa will have to do some changing if he wants to see Kirimi, but come on…lines and a new character? It seems ridiculous." Crossing my arms, I watched Renge and Nekezowa closely.

My gaze continued over to the twins, who had a mannequin with a bathing suit on it, the same one Haruhi wore to the pool a couple weeks ago. Why did Tamaki look so…nauseated? "Hey, Orie!" A twin shouted over to me, "We're trying to get Boss to confess his love for Haruhi to this mannequin!"

"Ya know, to lead by example!" The other twin finished.

"Uh…good idea?" I offered, glancing at Honey and Mori, who were confused as well.

"Yeah, we think…" One started,

"You should go next." The other finished, but both had devious looks.

"Excuse me?" I sputtered, shocked at their forwardness.

"Yeah! You can admit your love for Mori-Senpai and show Nekezowa how it's done!"

I stood there, mouth wide open, staring in horror at the twins. They cackled at my look, but I was paralyzed. my hand searched for my school bag as I stumbled away from the two boys next to me, trying my hardest not to make eye contact as I made a sloppy escape. My forearm was caught by a large hand, and I whirled around to see Mori's eyes etched with concern.

I tugged her arm away from him and tore out of the room, sending glares at the twins on the way out. The twins suddenly looked over to Mori, who was staring at them calculatingly.

My grunting filled the room as I punched and kicked with passion and frustration. I heard the footsteps fall behind me, but I didn't stop. "I figure," I said in between punches, "If I think hard enough, the bag will become the twins."Sweat beads rolled down my forehead and neck, yet I couldn't feel bothered with my appearance. I had had enough embarrassment for one day.

"It won't." He reasoned. His familiar voice stopped me immediately, and my whole body tensed up. Turning on my heel, I could see his eyes graze over the tear stained cheeks and puffy eyes. "Why were you crying?"

I shrugged, lifting a hand to my cheek and swiping away any trailing tears. "Easy crier. When I get frustrated."

His eyes narrowed. "You didn't bother to wrap your hands?" I shook her head. "Come here." After a moment of staring at him, I finally budged, walking with him to the stands where a first aid kit always sat, just in case. As he began to clean my battered knuckles, he tried to reason it all out.

"I'm sorry the twins insinuated that. It's my fault."

The snort that came from me must have surprised him, his eyebrows shot up and his eyes showed slight amusement. "Your fault how?"

"I…I told them that I had feelings for you. That I thought you were a girl I could…" I recognized his body language, the way his breathing was ragged. His throat felt thick, and the feeling was something I had experienced before, every time I talked to him. "I could, be involved with." He paused, sighing. "Romantically."

I stared at him, blankly. "But," Mori continued, "I can see that you just want to be friends. I'm sorry, Orie-Chan."

"I…" the loss for words was something I was experienced with. But at this moment, I wished I had a pen and paper so that I could sort out all of the things flying around my head. Only one solution came to mind: "Let's spar."

Let's spar?

Takashi nodded. I waited for him to change, and we greeted each other on the mat. Truthfully, I analyzed myself, I focused better on the mat. I would be able to directly tell him what I thought if I was doing something that engaged my discipline. It wasn't the most romantic thing in the world, but hey. It worked for me.

We both dodged and rebounded off each other's hits, both gracefully moving around each other. Neither of us made so much of a sound, just the occasional grunt. When I had the upper hand, I finally found my lost voice: "I wasn't mad that the twins insinuated that I was in love with you." I kicked around his ankles, causing him to lose his balance and end up on the floor. "I was mad that they were the ones to tell you."

Mori stared up at me, watching as my skin turn a deeper red as I realized what exactly I was doing. His light smile was deceptive enough as he hooked his foot around my knee and brought me down, crashing on top of him. It was a bold move, something Takashi wasn't exactly known for, but hey. It worked for Takashi.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"For which part? Because I do have very fragile knee caps, sir, and I'd hate-"

His lips met mine.

Let me know if there's mistakes cause man, I haven't written in so long. Feels good to be back :) thanks for all the support for the story! I hope you like this newest update! I figured you deserved it!