Except for the ones I created, the characters don't belong to me.

… … …

And so it went. Haruhi would wake up, do her morning exercises, eat, do the actual training with a break for lunch in the middle of the day, go to dinner, and then collapse into her bed. After about a week, she realized that her body was getting used to it. Either that or she was just too tired to notice that it was hard. And she'd been adopted by the prince and his group. Despite her irritation when they commented on how poor she was compared to them and their general obnoxiousness, she found she actually liked them. She realized that she hadn't expected to actually make friends. But… it was nice.

One day, Haruhi arrived at training to find a new man standing next to the training master. Seeing the other boys grimace (or grin in anticipation, depending on their natures), she figured that they knew what he was here for. She, too, found out soon enough.

The man – a tall, dark haired man with a fierce, but at the same time, almost familiar look - stepped forward and the boys fell silent. "Fencing." His strong voice carried easily. "It's something every knight will need to know, or they will die." And people said Haruhi was blunt. "While your knight master will teach you the finer points once you're squires, it's my job to teach you everything else. Now everyone, grab a practice sword." He gestured to a rack next to the stable wall, and the trainees shuffled forward, each grabbing one of the blunt metal swords. "Now partner up."

Haruhi looked around. The twins, of course, had chosen each other, but she saw Katsuo waving at her, and went over. "Hey. Does he look familiar to you?" She gestured to the new man.

Katsuo raised an eyebrow. "You don't know? That's the arms master. He's also Mori's father."

"Oh… That makes sense." Haru looked back at the man, tilting her head.

Her attention was pulled back to Katsuo when the boy poked her in the shoulder with his practice sword. He smiled. "So, have you ever used one of these?"

Haruhi shook her head. "Not even… at all."

Katsuo grinned. "Well, I'm not going to go easy on you. So remember to guard." Haruhi grimaced at him, eliciting a laugh from the slightly younger boy.

Master Morinozuka showed them some basic steps, and then some more complex ones. The trainees, followed along, Haruhi one of the ones who were struggling to keep up. Katsuo's gloating – playful though it was – didn't help.

…

Haruhi sighed as she stretched her arms in front of her. It was dinnertime, and her muscles were sore from the day's work. She jumped slightly when Kaoru slapped a paper on the table in front of her. Haru frowned, looking down at it. It had the names of all the trainees, and next to them times. "What's this?" She asked, curious.

"You didn't hear?" Hikaru and Kaoru chorused, tilting their heads simultaneously.

Tamaki sat down at the head of the table and leaned forward to inspect the page. "Oh! It's for the ball next week. We're celebrating my dear father's birthday. And you trainees are the ones who will be doing the service. We don't often use servants for that since I suppose it teaches patience and skills or something to the trainees. Not that I needed any when I was a trainee. I was already perfect back then…"

Haruhi zoned out. Over the past week, she found that sometimes it was just best to ignore Tamaki's self-glorifying monologues. If she didn't… well, she assumed that she'd get in trouble for punching the Crown Prince in the face. Looking down at the list, she spotted the twins and her names near the bottom.

"See, this way we have time to dance and flirt with the pretty new girls before we have to work." Hikaru smiled and raised an eyebrow at Haruhi. "You can dance, right? Not that you'll be much taller than any of the ladies there."

Haruhi scowled. "Hikaru. Shut up."