AN: Just to clarify something mentioned in this chapter, for those who may be unfamiliar with the term "Pineapple." It's usually a brunette who acts or thinks like a blonde (you know, since pineapples are brown on the outside and golden on the inside). Oh, and I do not own Ouran Host Club in any way shape or form, though you know I'd LOVE to. A big thank you to Sophia Rosalie Gibbs, KatanaNightengale, and Meijipucca for reviewing! Please enjoy!

II

A set of knocking woke me from my nap in front of the window with a groan. The kitten stretched from his spot on top of my abdomen to look at me with his big blue eyes of molten adorableness and squeak, purring in the anticipation that I was going to either pet him or feed him. We had grown close over the week or so after I had rescued him with Morinozuka, and I couldn't help but smile every time I looked down at his growing gray frame. Like expected, my parents hadn't been thrilled to have yet another mouth to feed, but in the end, allowed him to stay after seeing how complacent he was, even with grumpy old Yui. I, however, was thrilled at having another furry member to my rag-tag team of friends, and took extra precious care of the little guy.

The knocks started again after I moved across the family room towards the door, only to see my brother, Akihiro, peeking his head into the door. His clothing was disheveled, like it always was on the weekend, a pair of headphones hung haphazardly around his neck. He pushed his glasses higher onto the bridge of his nose with an irritated glare in my direction while running his other hand through his tousled hair, clearly just haven woken up or was still hung-over from having to restart his new video game for the hundredth time today.

"You better answer it." Aki grumbled, his voice caring effortlessly in the space between us as the kitten scampered over to his side, rubbing happily against his legs. He bent down for a moment, an easy feat for his six foot six frame, to rub the kitten and pick him up, holding him back out to me. "Dad's not going to be happy if someone interrupts his bath before work with a bunch of loud knocking. It's probably Mitty anyway, so tell her to go home."

I scrunched my nose as I took the kitten into my arms. "Stop talking badly about my best friend. She may act crazy, but she's smarter than you think."

He rolled his eyes with a scoff, gesturing to the door before sauntering back down the hallway with heavy footsteps. I looked at the kitten, who was still purring incessantly in my arms, laughing as I finally made my way to the door. Mitty usually didn't come by on Saturday, seeing as she worked the night shift in the paper factory on the other side of the city every Friday night, but with her, you really couldn't say anything with certainty. She prided herself on having the weirdest knowledge in our entire senior class, and was exuberant on a number of things that either had me shocked at how deeply she thought or cringing at how silly she could get when worked up. But over the years, she had really grown on me, and the two of us had become an inseparable duo throughout the various trials of our three years in senior high.

Opening the door, I stood with my mouth hanging slightly open at the fact that Mitty was not standing on the other side. Instead, I was staring- erm, more like gawking like the idiot I was- at Morinozuka and a grinning blonde boy half his height. He looked casual but oh so handsome in the navy slacks and black cropped shirt he was wearing, and I couldn't help but quickly grin at the unexpected turn of events. Who wouldn't be happy to have a tall, dark, and very VERY handsome man standing outside their front door? His eyes slowly drifted down to the kitten in my arms, and soon smiled alongside of me.

"Morinozuka." I greeted warmly, albeit with some shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to check on the kitten and return your umbrella." He said honestly, the light dancing happily in his eyes as he regarded me as he lifted a bag teeming with my umbrella and cat toys.

"That's very kind of you." I replied, my heart pattering at a million miles an hour at his thoughtfulness. Dear light, he was just as kind as I had originally thought! My gaze reverted to the blonde still smiling beside him, and I ducked into a hasty bow, mentally cursing myself for not greeting him earlier. "It's nice to meet you, um-"

"Mitskuni Haninozuka, but you can call me Hani." He chimed in, holding up the box in both of his hands. "I'm Takashi's cousin. We brought you some cake."

"That's really nice of you." I glanced behind me, but neither Aki nor my father were standing there, so I made a hasty decision. "Would you like to come in? I can fix some tea, and you can play with the cats, if you want."

"You have more pets?" Hani asked expectantly, looking up at me with his large blue eyes. I almost melted at how sweet he looked! How old was he? Twelve, maybe thirteen?

"Just another cat at the moment," I retorted as they took their shoes off and followed me to the family room. "but I've rescued close to ten other animals in the past."

"Ten?!" He exclaimed, moving to look up at his much taller cousin. "That's really great, isn't it Takashi?"

He nodded once before smiling down at me. "Yeah."

I tried to laugh off his compliment, but it came out sounding forced. "Thanks." I held out the kitten towards him, trying to contain the strange feeling of excitement surging through my veins. "The family room is right through here. Why don't you take Mohi and make yourselves at home? I'll be back in a few minutes with the tea."

They both nodded as the dark-haired boy gingerly took the happy kitten out of my arms, chuckling lightly as the purring ensued again. I watched them tromp off into the family room, already head first into another conversation. Aki soon appeared in front of me, and I jumped in surprise, slamming a fist into his shoulder. He hissed for a second, before clamping a hand over my arm and dragging me into the kitchen.

"Dude." He said slowly, his eyes wide as he stared at my confused expression. "When did you become friends with the top martial arts contenders in the country?"

"What?" I pressed, looking at him expectantly. Those two were that famous?!

He slumped his shoulders, shaking his head dejectedly. "You really are a pineapple, Shi. Those guys come from two of the most influential families in the country. They're kendo, judo, and whatever other form of marital arts you can think of champions. Didn't you even realize that they're seniors who go to the huge academy in the nicest part of town?"

"Whoa, whoa." I put in, throwing my hands into the air as my eyes widened. "Hani's the same age as me?!"

"Pineapple." He muttered, shifting his glasses back over his hazel eyes with a frown in my direction. "They're richer than all get out. Don't mess with them if you know what's good for you. This isn't one of your stories; people like them won't take you seriously."

I frowned as well, popping him deftly against the forehead with three of my fingers. "Stop being such a pessimist, Aki. It's not like I invited them over. Morinozuka is the guy who actually found Mohi, and he just came to check in on him. It's not any more complicated than that."

"Ow." He rubbed his forehead, moving to push past me. "I really hope so, but knowing you, it's not that simple. Your mind is always playing a game you can't win."

"It's not my fault I have an overactive imagination." I mumbled as he sauntered back to his bedroom.

I tried not to think about what he had said, busying myself instead with pulling out the nicest china we had while the tea kettle boiled the water. That lasted for a few minutes before my thoughts caught up to me. There were two wealthy guys sitting in my dinky little family room, playing with my cats. How did they know where I lived? Had they really only come to check in on the kitten? Things like this never happened to me. People came and went, never taking me very seriously, other than Mitty. Aki was right, like usual; I was trying to make more of this situation than it actually was.

A high-pitched whistle from the kettle jolted me back to reality, and I threw a pack of earl grey tea into the boiling water before placing the kettle onto a pad in the center of the serving tray. Double checking that everything looked decent and not screaming that we were almost as poor as a sack of dirt, I sauntered back to the family room, only to pause as I took in the sight going on there. Hani was laying on his belly, holding a rod with a myrriad of colored feathers dangling only inches in front of Mohi's face, giggling as the little puffball tried and failed to catch any of the slow swinging prey. Morinozuka was sitting comfortably on the couch, petting Yui, who was sleeping soundly on his lap, seeming to be pleased as punch at the attention the guy was giving him. That cat never liked anyone, let alone acted like a lap animal. Whatever Morinozuka had done left me swearing he was some kind of sexy animal whisperer.

"Having fun?" I managed as I placed the tray down on the coffee table to their right.

Hani smiled from his spot on the floor, still playing gleefully with the kitten. "Yep! Mohi is so cute. How did you pick the name?"

"I wanted a really optimistic name." I shrugged, moving to pour three steaming cups of tea. "When I was looking it up on the computer in the library, I thought it fit what I thought he deserved in his future with me."

"That's really sweet." Hani replied, looking up at my with kind eyes before glancing at his cousin. "Shi-chan is as smart as she is nice, huh Takashi?"

"I don't think so." I put in before he could answer. I rubbed the back of my head with a melancholy smile, hating that these rich, privileged kids were praising someone like me. "Morinozuka was the one who actually saved him. I don't know if I would have stopped and taken him otherwise."

"I sure you would've." Hani smiled, moving to look between the tall boy, who was now staring intently at me, and the kitten still intent on playing with him. "And you keep calling Takashi by his last name. He prefers being called Mori."

"What about Takashi?" I quipped, clamping a hand over my mouth as I realized my blunder and blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, I didn't mean too sound informal with you! It was just a joke, honestly."

Mori raised an eyebrow at me before watching Mohi jump again. "It's fine."

My blush didn't subside. A million thoughts were crowding my mind, a new chain for a story line building around this strange, unfolding circumstance. I pushed the stupid author's intuition away with a mental shove. This wasn't the time; I really needed to Aki's advice a lot more. Despite being two years my junior, he had built up more than enough wisdom for the both of the two of us. Don't think so much was his daily warning to me, and out of all the days, today seemed to be the one I wished I could do just that.

"Shi-chan?"

I jumped, looking over at Hani with an apologetic smile. "Sorry! I was just wondering how in the world your cousin managed to subdue Yui into sitting on his lap, let alone sleep on him."

"Takashi's great with animals." Hani chimed pridefully, moving to sit cross-legged as Mohi finally noticed that I was in the room and scampered over to my side. "He has a chicken and a tanuki that he rescued this year living at his house."

"Ah." I laughed gently, moving to squat down to pet Mohi. "So that must be the mysterious Piyo-chan he was mumbling about when I bumped into him. I'm guessing that's the name of your chicken?"

Mori nodded. "Yeah."

I started to ask questions about how difficult it was to care for a chicken, and before long, we were all head first into a weird but interactive conversation about different animals we've always wanted to have as pets. It was so nice that I eventually let my guard down and started rambling a million miles an hour about the one time I had gone on a drive-thru safari, thinking that the whole point was you got to take one of the exotic animals into the car and the zoo let you take them home with you as a souvenir which I found out in a moment of earth-splitting realism, was not the case. The other two chuckled at my childhood blunder while finishing off the strawberry cake they had brought, and in the end I was laughing just as hard with them, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere they were building up around me.

That aura lasted until my father stuck his head through the open doorway, glaring impatiently at me. Hani was half-way through a statement about what kind of rabbit he wished genetic modifiers could breed, but paused abruptly as he caught my stricken expression. I stood, moving to the door, trying my best to not shudder as I felt the other two's eyes following me with concern.

"Hey, Dad." I managed a tiny smile, looking into his exhausted face. "Is it already time for you to go back to work?"

"Of course it is." He snapped, looking over my head to the two boys. "Who are they?"

"Just friends." I wasn't entirely sure if it was the truth, but I didn't know what else to call them.

"Really, Hoshi?" His tone made it absolutely clear that he was disappointed in me. "This is what you make me deal with when I slave away day and night so you'll have a roof over your head and food in your belly?"

I ducked my head down, hoping he wouldn't berate me anymore in front of the other two. "I'm really sorry. It won't happen again."

A few moments of silence ensued before he sighed. "You're almost as bad as your dead-beat brother, but at least you remembered to pack my dinner. Make sure to have everything cleaned out by the time your mother gets back, alright?"

"Yes sir."

He noted my meekness, clicking his tongue distastefully before walking towards the front door. I turned back around to see Hani and Mori sharing a look, and a rock seemed to drop into the pit of my stomach. The look in their eyes made it clear that they were onto the complex situation I was living through. My mind immediately put barriers up, and I forced an cheery smile, giving a small chuckle as I moved to rejoin them around the table.

"Is that your father, Shi-chan?" Hani asked cautiously, his expression serious for the first time since their arrival.

"Yeah." I attempted a tiny smile, but my lips were cemented into a thin line of panic. "He's going off to work, and he wasn't sure what was going on. That's the usual, though; he's asleep most of the day as it is so he doesn't really know anything other than working or sleeping."

"And what about your mother?"

"She's out right now, visiting my aunt who lives a few towns over. During the week, she's a preschool teacher so she tries to relax on the weekends when she can have a few hours to herself. I think you guys would really like her; she's the only person Yui actually tolerates."

"So that leaves you in charge here, huh?"

I shrugged, hating to think that I carried that much weight around here. "Not really. I just take care of the animals, pick up whatever chores my mom or brother, Akihiro, didn't finish, and make sure there's dinner and food packed for Dad. It's the least I can do, seeing as I don't have a job just yet."

"And what kind of job would that be?"

"My brother tells me you guys go to Ouran." I blurted instead, completely avoiding his question. There was a heavy lump in my throat; I didn't want to talk about myself anymore, let alone my stupid hopes for the future. "What's it like? I've only seen it in passing."

Hani glanced blankly at me for a a little longer than necessary before jumping back into his energetic self. "It's really awesome. The people are really nice, and we have lots of fun."

I glanced over at Mori, who was still staring blankly at me. "What about you, Mori? How do you like the academy?"

"As long as Mitskuni's happy, I'm happy."

I pondered his simple statement for a moment while sipping my lukewarm tea. It was simple that he adored his cousin, and it was just another admirable trait I saw in him. He seemed as close to perfection as you could get in a guy, but still, there was something alluring about him that made you want to dig a little deeper. It wasn't like I was going to get the chance, though. In the end, they would stop coming to see Mohi, and I'd never see either of them again. Most people's hearts would have lurched at such a dreary notion, but with all the loss of friends I had found over the years in high school, I had almost become immune to it.

A series of beeps interjected with my dismal thoughts, and Hani pulled a light blue cell phone out of his jacket, smiling as he read whatever message he had received before looking up at his cousin. "Kyo-chan wants us all to meet up at the mall in forty-five minutes. We should get going, Takashi."

Mori nodded slowly, moving to pick Yui up gently. The chubby Calico grumbled in disagreement, but sat in the next cushion obediently as he moved to stretch his legs. He bent over for a moment to scratch the feline in between the ears, only to have him purr deeply in response. I watched the exchange with a tearful expression; light, did he have to be so good with animals? It was making it hard for me to believe this was still reality. We all stood and moved towards the door, Mohi followed behind us with a small set of mews to let me know he didn't want to be left out of the good-byes.

I picked him up with a laugh, holding him out towards Mori and Hani with a genuine grin. "The little guy's sure gotten attached to you. You should probably say goodbye, or he'll be heartbroken."

"Bye, bye Mohi!" Hani cooed as he gently patted the kitten on top of his head. "I promise we'll come back another time to play, right Takashi?"

"Yeah." Mori smiled gently, moving to scratch the kitten underneath the chin with one of his fingers.

"Really?" I squeaked, trying to suppress the urge cry at the hope of getting to see them again. So far, so good in that department.

"Of course!" The blonde gave me an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "You're really nice, Shi-chan. There's not a lot of places where Takashi can play with animals, and Mohi's so cute, I couldn't not see him again. It'll be lots of fun, just like this time."

"Great." I managed, a few tears of joy spilling down my face as I fumbled for my cell phone, the hope for a new, real friendship pounding wildly in my chest. "Could we trade numbers, then? I can send you pictures of Mohi and Yui, and you can send me pictures of Piyo-chan, the tanuki- anything you think is cute."

They both agreed, and before long, I had both of them listed in my phone's contacts list. After Hani gave Mohi one last goodbye pat and Mori leaned over to ruffle my hair with a tiny chuckle at the enthusiastic – albeit idiotic- grin etched across my face, they left in great spirits. I squatted down near the floor to let Mohi run around, crumpling my hands across my face at how stupidly happy I felt at the strange turn of events. Could this all be true? I could hear Aki's words of warning ringing forbiddingly in the back of my thoughts, but I pushed them away as I jumped to my feet, feeling more invigorated than I'd felt for the first time in three years.