Yay! Kyah! Squee! XD

Finally written chap 24! Combination of school, writer's block and recent addiction to Fullmetal Alchemist has been delaying this chapter…

Anyways, I don't own anything except Miyoko and a few other randoms.

Chapter 24 – Cake!

I sighed at the picture of myself splayed across the front page of Ou-Spo. It was from way back – my hair was longer and thicker than its usual wispy shoulder length and I was still wearing my old dark brown middle school uniform. Underneath the photo was the headline 'Betrayer strikes again!'

Rolling my eyes, I put the paper back down on whoever's desk I had found it lying on. Why did those naïve Newspaper Club writers have to believe everything that Naoko said?

With no Chess or Host Club to go home, I had suddenly found myself having a lot more spare time. Maybe this is a good thing, I thought sadly as rested my head in my arms and waited for Kameko to pick me up.

I felt guilty about not telling her everything that had happened, but how could I start? She was already worried enough for the two of us. She didn't need the extra weight handed to her that I had singlehandedly destroyed any hope that I had ever had at actually having friends at this school.

Naoko had handled my 'betrayal' in his usual businesslike way – like I was a bad worker in his company rather than a member of a 'free-to-join' high school club. Officially, he had 'released me from his employment'. It seemed a far cry from what had really happened. Things were handled differently in the Naoko world.

The dark room was silent; all of the other students were either at club activities or had been chauffeured to their various manors and estates. The eerie stillness was somewhat a relief to my exhausted brain. There was no-one to ask me hurtful questions about my parents, why I had gone undercover or anything else. They always unsettled me. I was never sure how to answer; I didn't know the reasons myself.

The gentle tick of the clock was slowly becoming louder and louder as I waited. Vaguely I wondered what strange cosplay the Hosts were entertaining their customers with today.

Although I had always believed that the Host Club was stupid, I'd been a lot happier than before. It may be silly, crazy, and whimsical… but it had always made me laugh, even if it was about the pure absurdity of it all.

That time was all over now. Tamaki especially, would surely hate me for what I had done to him and the club. If only I could…

My chair fell askew as I ran out of the classroom. There were still a few minutes until my sister would arrive. I had time.

Why was it that I was able to run fast now when I'd always come last in important competitions?

Strangely, this was the thought that plagued my mind as I ran wildly through the east campus, the sports ground, the courtyard, the tennis courts…

Despite my mysterious speed, it seemed like a lifetime had passed by the time I finally reached it.

On the top floor of the South Campus…

And along the north corridor…

I opened the door to Music Room Three despite the large 'closed' sign. For once I was glad that those random sakura petals were there to greet me.

The first person who caught my eye was Mori. He blinked in surprise but didn't say anything and continued to help Honey out of that day's cosplay. I smiled gratefully. Mori's stoic personality was usually annoying, but today it seemed like a good thing.

"Takaki," Haruhi said bluntly, "Why are you here?"

I blushed, aware that all of their eyes were on me. Some were angry, some upset, some confused – and one pair where a mixture of all three. I gulped nervously. At last I was going to make things right.

Tamaki shivered in fear as I walked towards him, ignoring the accusing stares of the other Hosts. He was still in his costume and had clearly been getting over excited again – his cloak was stained with Honey's latest cake. It only took one glance to know that it had been the twins who had thrown it.
"What are you doing here?" he asked nervously.

I didn't listen. Instead, I punched him lightly in the stomach and enveloped him in a hug.

"Sorry, idiot," I said into the folds of his rather poufy outfit. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Tamaki-Sempai."

"But aren't you a member of the Yakuza who are secretly conspiring against us?" he asked awkwardly.

I pushed him away, frowning. Why were rumours exaggerated so much at this school?

"Yakuza?" I asked. "Hell no. I'm just a stupid chess nerd."

Tamaki had his idiot face on in full force. Even though I was determined not to hurt the Club anymore, I was finding it very difficult to control myself.

"Hey you," I shouted angrily, kicking him flat onto the ground. "I said I was sorry! You could at least say something instead of making me stand here like an idiot!"

He laughed, rubbing his sore arms from where I'd knocked him down.

"Yes, Miyoko, I understand," he said happily.

"So Miyo-chan has changed her mind about us and Tama-chan?" Honey piped up.

"Yes," I confirmed, smiling hopefully.

Would that be enough?

It was only logical that everyone in the room, except Kaoru who I noticed was staring firmly at the floor as if it were the most interesting carpet he'd ever seen, turned straight to Kyoya. He cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses. The final verdict was up to the Demon King.

"If Takaki is willing to make sure that she never joins another school club for the duration of her school life at Ouran, then I will be perfectly happy to revoke her ban," he said calmly. "There will also be a small fee regarding the twenty packets of designer tissues that Tamaki has used since your incident. Is that alright?"

He smiled coolly.

No, it's not alright! I thought desperately. He really is the 'Shadow King'.

"Yeah that's fine!" I exclaimed a little too happily.

"Excellent."

The next day at school, the other students could tell that something was different. For a start, I arrived in Classroom 1-A to find Honey sitting on my desk, eating his morning cake.

"Miyo-chan!" he called happily, blissfully unaware of my gaped expression and the confused frowns of my classroom. "Want to have some cake? Tama-chan said that I could come and eat cake with you every morning!"

Smiling widely, he ate a large forkful of cake, so large that I was surprised that he managed to fit it into his small mouth. By now, the students of 1-A were no longer even pretending not to stare.

"Um, that's alright, Honey-Sempai," I replied, dumb folded. "I had a… big breakfast."

Truthfully, all I had eaten was a small onigiri as I was walking out the door, but a little lying wouldn't hurt him.

"Okay, Miyo-chan," he said cheerfully, taking the bait, "That means I get to eat more cake, right?"

Despite the innocent expression he wore, I knew this was all a cunning plan. Honey seriously had a dark side. I nodded encouragingly, watching with slight horror as he squashed an even larger helping of stickiness through his lips.

"Honey-sempai, what are you doing in our classroom?" Hikaru asked loudly.

He had just arrived with Haruhi and his brother.

"Hello, Hika-chan, Haru-chan and Kao-chan!" he greeted warmly. "Usa-chan and I felt like having cake with Miyo-chan!"

He blinked.

"But she's not eating," he pointed out. "All I can see is you dropping crumbs on her desk."

"Besides," Kaoru added, "isn't class about to start anyway?"

I felt myself shrinking into my chair. Although I had apologized to Tamaki and the Host Club, I was still in the dark as to why Kaoru had told them in the first place.

"Mitsukuni," Mori said quietly, appearing from nowhere. "It's time to go." ***

He had been there the whole time, I realized at last.

At last Honey and Mori had left, leaving my desk a mess of cake crumbs. However, I barely had a minute of peace before they were replaced by the curious questions of my classmates.

"What happened, Miyoko?"

"I thought you were against them?"

"Didn't you try to take down Honey-Sempai with nothing but a broken shinai? How come you're eating cake with him?"

I blinked. How did they manage to come up with that?

After spending the morning denying rumour after rumour about my violent confrontations with Mori, Honey and even Kyoya, the class still hadn't gotten bored of questioning the 'reformed betrayer'. At last I had managed to give them the slip and had escaped to the safety of the empty classroom to eat my bento. I sighed in relief.

"Miyoko?" a familiar voice asked nervously from the doorway, interrupting my moment of peace.

It was Fuiju.

"Um, hi," I mumbled awkwardly, my mouth full of rice.

"Is it true that you made friends with the Host Club despite the fact that just last week you beat up Mori so badly that he was landed in hospital with a fractured collarbone?"

What was wrong with this school?

***Everyone cheer for Mori XD It's his first spoken line ever in this story!