A/N

Wow! Thanks so much for the reviews everyone!!!!! Heh, hope you enjoy chapter three just as much as the others! I hope I've replied to everyone's reviews -and these two I'll be doing here, since they're anonymous.

sheeprock: Hey! Thanks a lot for the review. Hope you're not disappointed!

Strictlyfomyninjas: Misao caught you off guard, did she? (heh, bet she'd be proud!) Thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

Chapter Three: More Stupid Rich Kids and a Problem

A vein ticked on Misao's head as she heard the 'whispers' from students as they walked by her desk.

"Just look at her...I bet her parents couldn't afford to make her a proper lunch, which is why she's staying her until we're all gone, so that she can eat her food without anyone watching her..."

"Sakura-san, that's so cruel!"

"I'm not being cruel, Mika, I'm just telling it like it is."

"She looks rather malnourished too, doesn't she?"

"Yes, I mean, look at that skinny frame of hers -she clearly doesn't get as much vitamins as she should be getting. Oh, I feel for her..."

"What I'd like to know is how she managed to get into Ouran. I mean, from someone with a background like hers..."

"Well, Haruhi-kun is here on a scholarship..."

"Yes, but there was only one scholarship that was available."

"Maybe...maybe the superintendent heard the heart-breaking story about how her parents had to save up for fifteen years, just to be able to think of sending her here, to Ouran, and decided to allow her to come in, with reduced fees?"

By this time, Misao's whole head was covered with ticking veins, and, when she heard the sounds of 'whispering' again, she just...blew it.

"I can hear you, you know!" she exclaimed, an ugly scowl on her face as she glanced at the two girls who were whispering (more like talking in raised voices) about her.

"Now look what you've done! You've upset her! We shouldn't have made her realize that we knew about her...difficult situation. It's not nice, you know, to flaunt the knowledge that we're far better off than-"

"-The only 'difficult situation' I'm in right now is the one where I'm being forced to wear this stupid dress!" exclaimed Misao.

"I get it," said one of the girls. "She's not used to wearing proper clothes -you know, like dresses." She sighed heavily. "All this time, she's only been wearing what her parents have been able to buy for her." The other girl looked as though she had never heard anything more touching in her entire life.

"Do...do you mean...she's been wearing torn and badly patched kimonos at home all this time?"

Misao stood up hurriedly.

"What the hell is wrong with all of you?!" she yelled, green eyes blazing. "For your information, I have not and will never wear torn and badly patched kimonos at home."

Shooting her more sympathetic looks, the girls walked out of the class, closing the doors behind them. The moment the doors closed, the dark-haired girl slumped back into her seat, a disgruntled expression on her face as she did so.

"Grr...I really wish that I didn't agree to come here..." she mumbled to herself, as she stared at nothing in particular.

"Then why did you agree to come here?" It wasn't the fact that she had thought she was alone in class that caused her to scream and jump up; it was the breath that had tickled her ear.

"Ouch! You're loud," said another male voice, as she spun around, her green eyes wide in surprise. She blinked as she saw the two light-haired males standing behind her - at the two identical light-haired males standing behind her.

"What the-" She stopped abruptly when one of the light-haired males turned to the other.

"Kaoru...are you alright?" He sounded rather concerned. "I know how sensitive your ears are...oh Kaoru, are you really alright?" As he brought the other male closer to him, so that their noses were only an inch or two apart, a disgusted expression flashed across Misao's face.

Her disgust increased as she noticed the way the two were holding on to each other, looking for all the world as though they were a couple in love.

"Urgh, can you two like...take your...incestuous actions somewhere else?" she asked, hands on her hips as she looked down at them.

The twins stopped their 'act' and turned to her, somewhat startled.

"Incestuous...actions?"

"Aren't you supposed to blush, squeal 'brotherly-love!' and faint?"

Misao blinked.

"You have got to be kidding me." When they twins continued to send her a joint, questioning glance, she found herself swallowing. "That kind of 'brotherly-love' is just...disgusting. Do you honestly expect people to squeal and faint at such a...sick display?" Her eyes narrowed as one of the twins whacked her lightly on the head with a fist. "Oi!" she exclaimed, glaring at him.

"That's for insulting us," said the twin, not looking the slightest bit phased by her glare. "And for your information, the girls love these 'sick displays' of ours. You're the only one who doesn't."

"You can't be serious..." started Misao, skeptically. The twins exchanged a glance.

"You don't believe us?" Misao scoffed.

"Of course I don't believe you," she said. "I mean, the students here may be a lot of things, but I'm sure that being demented isn't one of them."

"Hikaru, it seems that-"

"-we need to show this commoner the truth, does it not?" Misao bristled at that.

"For your information, I am--- hey! What the-! What do you think you're doing?! Let go, now! Hey, I'm speaking to-" Misao tried to wrench her hand free of the firm grip that was on it, but found that it was to no avail -especially since both of them were holding on to her arms.

"Please calm down. We simply want to give you a little demonstration, to prove that we are being serious," said one of the twins, pleasantly. Misao didn't seem to care about his politeness.

"I don't care what you're trying to do! Just let me go, you...pumpkin-head! Now! Or I'll-"

"-Kaoru."

"-make you---huh?"

"Hitachin Kaoru," repeated the polite twin. "That's my name. And that's Hikaru." Misao glanced briefly at the other twin who was scowling, before she turned back to Kaoru.

"I don't bloody care who you are," she hissed. "You could be the hitokiri Battousai himself, and I wouldn't really care!" The twins stopped.

"Who?"

"Who what?" snapped Misao, on the verge of losing her temper. Again.

"The...Battousai...? Who's that?"

"Oh ha-ha," said Misao. "If you're trying to annoy me, you're doing a really good..." she stopped when she stared at Kaoru, seeing the confused expression on his face."You...you're serious?"

"...About?"

"You don't know who the hitokiri Battousai is?"

"Isn't that obvious?" asked Hikaru, somewhat rudely, causing Misao to glare at him.

"Haven't you guys heard of Rurouni Kenshin?" She was met with more blank looks. "Samurai X?" Two more blank looks. "Have you guys even heard of anime?"

"You mean cartoons?"

Misao nodded.

"Yes, I -well, no, not 'cartoons'...I mean anime. As in, Japanese anime...you know...?" She sighed a minute later. "Okay, you don't know..."

"We know of cartoons, on Cartoon Network, but we have never heard of this...Rurouni Kenshin," said Hikaru.

"Figures that you'd only know about American cartoons," muttered Misao, under her breath. "Stupid rich kids..."

"What was that?"

"I said it figures that you'd-"

"-What are you two doing?" The three students looked ahead of them at the sudden voice, to see a short brunet standing by the doors to the class, a peculiar expression on his face as he observed them.

"Ah, Haruhi. What brings you here?" questioned Hikaru, smiling at the brunet.

"Nothing that concerns you," muttered Haruhi, before turning to the girl the twins were holding on to. "Ara...you're the girl from yesterday..."

Misao nodded as she recognized the brunet.

"Hai," she said, noticing that there was still a faint red mark on the boy's...ah, no, on the girl's nose. Speaking of which... "Can I ask you a question?"

Haruhi, who had glared pointedly at the twins, trying to get them to relinquish their hold on the girl, nodded. "Why are you dressed up as a guy?"

Three pairs of eyes turned to stare at her.

Five minutes later:

Suoh Tamaki opened the doors that led to the 3rd music room, where the Host Club regularly met. Following him were three other students; short (and cute) Haninozuka Mitsukuni, tall (and silent) Morinozuka Takashi and bespectacled Otori Kyoya (who didn't look too happy at having been disturbed during his lunch break).

Heading towards one of the couches, Tamaki crossed his arms across his chest.

"Okay, what's going on you two?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows at the twins who were seated on the couch. "Why did you ask us to meet you here?"

Before Kaoru could answer, Hikaru shrugged casually and pointed to his far left. Four pairs of eyes followed his outstretched hand, and four pairs of eyes widened simultaneously (although you couldn't really see one pair of eyes through glinting glasses).

Tamaki blinked at the dark-haired girl, huddled on the ground with her hands tied behind her and with a piece of cloth wrapped around her mouth.

He continued to blink.

What-?

"Ara! That's Misa-chan!" Honey suddenly found everyone staring at him, including the dark-haired girl...although she was positively glaring.

"You know her, Honey-sempai?" questioned Kaoru, surprised. Honey nodded as he ran towards the girl, a big smile on his face.

"Misa-chan's my new friend!" he exclaimed, clutching his Usa-chan firmly. "We met this morning."

"Eh? How did you-"

"-Hikaru! Kaoru!" exclaimed Tamaki, glaring at the twins. "What is the meaning of this? You do realize that that's a girl you've got bound and gagged, don't you?"

Hikaru nodded, brushing a few strands of his light hair out of his eyes.

"Aa," he agreed, not seeming the slightest bit bothered by it. "She refused to shut up, so we had to do shut her up."

"B-but...she's...she's a girl!" spluttered Tamaki.

"Really?" wondered Hikaru, rolling his eyes at the king of the Host Club. "We really didn't realize that, tono..." Before Tamaki could reply, the doors to the music room were opened once more as Haruhi stepped into the room.

"There you two are..." she said, looking relieved when she saw the twins on the couch."I was looking everywhere for you-" she was interrupted by Tamaki's theatrical gasp.

"-Haruhi! You...you were l-looking for them?! What a-about m-me?? Don't you care about Otousan at all? Haruhi? Haruhi???"

Choosing to ignore him, Haruhi continued.

"Where is she?" Seeing their blank looks, she sighed. "Where's the girl you two were bullying in cla---" As she absently glanced to the side, her eyes widened when she saw the figure on the ground, with Honey kneeling down beside her and telling her a story about his Usa-chan.

She was beside the girl in a flash, untying the cloth around her mouth as well as the rope that had her hands tied behind her back. "Are you-"

Misao was on her feet in an instant, causing Haruhi to fall over at the sudden movement. Her green eyes wandered to the males standing by the couch before landing on the light-haired twins.

"Ah," muttered Mori, as he recognized the expression on the girl's face as she glared at the twins. This should be...interesting.

The next thing the Host Club knew, the dark-haired girl was on the twins, and the trio disappeared in a cloud of dust emitting yelps, whines and screams.

Tamaki, Haruhi and Honey stared at the scene, their jaws dropped. Mori just stood still, whereas Kyoya pushed his glasses up his nose, sighing.

"I think that's enough," he said, as he took a step forward, towards the trio.

"-Kaoru! Are you alright? You...you -what did you do to Kaoru?!" Haruhi blinked in surprise. Had the girl got in a good hit? She was impressed!

"What does it look like -ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!!!!" Honey's eyes narrowed slightly as he heard his new friend's yelps. Were the twins hitting her? A girl?

"Hikaru, I don't think- what was that for?!"

"Payback! How could you do that?! And here I thought you rich kids had proper manners...but no, it appears that you don't! HANDS OFF NOW!!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TOUCHING YOU PERVERT?????" A faint blush spread across Tamaki's face as he could more or less imagine what had happened. Those twins...

"Oh. Sorry. It's not like there was anything to touch anyway..."

"WHAT?! WHY YOU---!"

Letting out another sigh, Kyoya turned to the dark-haired senior standing behind him.

"Mori-sempai, could you-?" He nodded towards the cloud of dust, without having to finish what he wanted to ask the senior. Nodding, Mori stepped forward and crossed over to the...cloud of dust.

Leaning forward so that he towered over the cloud, he reached out, hands roaming around until they came into contact with what he was looking for. Tightening his hold on it, he leaned backwards, yanking a figure out of the brawl and taking a few steps back as he did so.

"Let me at 'em, let me at 'em!" yelled Misao, thrashing around in the senior's grip as she tried to escape. Unfortunately his hold on her was too strong.

"Are you alright?" asked Haruhi, coming back to her senses as she ran towards Mori and the dark-haired girl with a concerned expression on her face. Honey and Tamaki joined her, equally concerned.

Misao turned away from the twins to glance at the three worried students somewhere on the ground below her. She frowned; that's strange...they looked rather...small. She hadn't known that she was that tall -

-catching sight of her legs waving madly in the air, she turned her head to the side so she could see how exactly she was towering over the trio.

"W-what are you doing?" she asked, when she realized that the dark-haired sexist was holding her up in the air.

"... ... ..."

"What the hell are you doing?" repeated Misao, getting ready to focus all her anger on him.

"... ... ..."

"Ano...Mori-sempai, you can put her down now," pointed out Haruhi, sweat-dropping.

"Aa." Lowering his arms, Mori gently put the girl back on her feet, only to have her move as far away from him as she could. Shrugging at the looks he received from Tamaki and Haruhi, he dug his hands into his trouser pockets and watched as Haruhi pulled the girl towards her.

"Ano ne, are you alright? Are you...hurt anywhere?" she asked, as she fussed over the girl. Misao bit down an angry retort as she turned to the brunette, remembering that she had nothing to do with what had happened.

"Hai," she said, kindly. "Thanks. But I'm alright." She shot a glare at the twins. "But I'm not sure if they are." Confused, Haruhi, Tamaki, Honey and Mori turned to look at the twins.

"Eh?!" Hikaru and Kaoru were sprawled out on the ground, swirls in their eyes as they mumbled incoherently. Haruhi sweat-dropped. "Well...I suppose it serves them right..."

Putting her hands on her hips, Misao nodded.

"Of course it serves them right. They should have watched what they were doing." She shot them another dangerous expression, unwittingly causing Tamaki and Honey to move closer to Haruhi. "No one messes with Makimachi Misao and gets away with it! So there!" And then, much to everyone's surprise, she stuck her tongue out -rather childishly- at the still-swirly eyed twins.

One thought was running through Tamaki, Honey and Mori's head; 'I wouldn't want to get on her bad side'. (Which made Mori sigh inwardly. He was sure, he didn't know how, but he was sure that he was on her bad side)

"So...our lunch break was interrupted for...this juvenile act?" asked Kyoya, directing everyone's attention to him. "It's a pity...here I was thinking that something serious had happened..."

A vein ticked on Misao's head.

"So your friends' manhandling me wasn't serious?" she questioned. Kyoya turned to her, his glasses glinting for a moment, as a smile formed on his face.

"No, Makimachi-san, it wasn't. Because you seemed to be handling yourself just fine." He tilted his head to a side. "And I think 'slaves' would be a more accurate adjective to use, concerning those two..." His smile widened.

Misao unconsciously leaned towards Honey and Haruhi, wondering at the shiver that traveled down her spine.

"Evil..." she mumbled, under her breath. Tamaki nodded fervently, seeing Kyoya's glasses glint once more.

"I agree totally," he whispered. "He may be my best friend...but he scares me sometimes..."

"What was that...?" (Another glint and another smile)

"N-nothing!" exclaimed the two.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Misao turned her head to a side to look behind her. Her eyes narrowed at once as she saw the dark-haired senior. Shrugging his hand off, she tried to move out of the way, but his other hand fell on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" she hissed, struggling once more to get away from him.

"Turn around."

"What?"

"Turn around."

"No way!"

"...Turn around," directed Mori, once more.

"And what makes you think," said Misao, turning around to face him abruptly, "that I'm going to turn around just because you said so? I'm not turning around, so there!"

Mori, who had raised an arm to catch her long braid as it had swung around with her sudden movement, raised his eyebrows at the girl.

"...You just did," he pointed out. An angry (or was it embarrassed?) flush formed on Misao's face as she realized the truth in his words.

"I-I know that!" she exclaimed. "I was just test-" The soft touch on her neck forced her to stop, abruptly. Not seeming to notice, Mori lightly brushed his fingers along the side of her neck, a small frown on his face as he did so.

"Takashi...?" wondered Honey, surprised at his cousin's actions. That seemed to snap Misao out of her trance.

"What do you think you're -" The hand left her neck, and was held up in front of her face. "-What are you..." Misao caught sight of the red substance on the senior's fingers, and a light-bulb was switched on above her head. "Oh."

"Ah, does anyone have any band aids?" questioned Haruhi, glancing at Kyoya when Tamaki and Honey shook their heads. "Sempai, where's the first-"

"-You've got to be kidding," said Misao, slapping Mori's hand away from her face as she turned to Haruhi. "It's just a small scratch; it's nothing serious."

"It's bleeding," pointed out Honey.

"Yeah, so?" Misao sighed. "Trust me, I've had worse, and survived. Sheesh, it's just a tiny---" She gasped as Honey suddenly flung himself on her, wrapping his arms around her neck and...well, dangling. "---Aargh...g-get off...g-geroff me...!"

"Misa-chan! You've been through worse? Do you get beaten up at home? Is that why you wanted to join the kendo club yesterday, so that you could learn to defend yourself?!"

Misao blinked.

"What the-"

"-Don't worry, Miss Misao! We will not let you be beaten up again!" proclaimed Tamaki, taking her hand in his. "We will protect you -at all costs."

"Please get off me...?" Misao glanced desperately at Haruhi, who just sent her a sympathetic glance. Seeing that nothing was going to be done, she took a few steps backward, only to have her back hit something solid. Turning her head (with great difficulty, seeing how Honey was dangling off her neck) she saw the dark-haired senior looking down at her impassively.

"... ... ..."

"That's it. Get. Off. Me. Now!"

"Misa-chan..."

"Miss Misao..."

"It's Misao! Stop being ridiculous and drop the 'miss' part!"

"But Miss Misao-"

"-Itachi-chan."

"GET OFF ME RIGHT NOW BEFORE I BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU!!!" Honey and Tamaki were off her in an instant, giving her room to move away from Mori -who once again found himself on the receiving end of an angry glare.

"B-but Miss -"

"-Itachi-chan...did we do something wrong?" Haruhi sweat-dropped at the short senior's...innocence. Or was it stupidity?

"Yes, you did!" shrieked Misao. "You've virtually ruined my lunch break, attacked me, gagged me, almost cut off my oxygen supply and...and..."

"And, itachi-chan?" The cute childish expression on the short boy's face unnerved Misao.

"AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO CALL ME ITACHI???!"

"Oh dear...this will take a while..." commented Kyoya, as he and Haruhi watched the purple-faced girl.

"Shouldn't we stop them before something bad happens?"

"Where's the fun in that?" asked Kyoya, smiling down at her. Haruhi shivered.

"You really are evil..."

"That's it," said Misao, breathing heavily. "That's it. I'm leaving. And don't you dare try to stop me -" she glared at Tamaki and Honey. "-Just leave me alone, alright?" With that, she stomped towards the doors.

She was almost there, when the twins seemed to recover from their...indisposed state.

"Wait."

"She knows-"

"-that Haruhi-"

"-is a girl."

"That's why we-"

"-wanted you to meet us." Pushing his glasses up his nose, Kyoya moved swiftly so that he was blocking Misao's path to the door.

"What-"

"It seems," he said, smiling politely. "That we have a problem."

"A...problem?" Misao stifled the urge to run as far away from the bespectacled boy as she could, crying for her mother.

"Aa," said Kyoya, pleasantly. "A problem."

His glasses glinted. "A serious problem."

A/N

Phew...that was long! Heh, and sorry about leaving it at that, but I didn't want to make this any longer!

Hehehe, I really couldn't resist the reference to Rurouni Kenshin. Hope that didn't bother anyone!!

Anyways, hope you liked chapter three too!

See ya next time!!!

Siriusgirl1