"The Woman in Black" really is an awesome play. If you get the chance, you should go see it.Once again I thank my beta Leafygirl, and urge everyone to try and get Nekozawa's name added to the character dropdown. And maybe Ranka. And Kasonada.

Reiko Kanazuki walked hurriedly through the halls of Ouran with an air of confidence, her head held high, heels clicking sharply against the immaculate tile floor. She was a woman on a mission. Reiko needed to speak with Nekozawa on a matter she found to be most pressing. She had even left her class early to be sure to make it to the theater department before the others in her club, for this was a matter of utmost importance. She needed to be the second one there today; Nekozawa was always the first.

It had taken her days of divining, hours of fruitless concentration, before she finally had come to the realization she had been searching for. Her club president's spiritual barriers had been almost impossible to break through, and she felt quite proud of herself for finally doing so- despite what he would think. Reiko remembered his objection to her proposal to cast a protective counter-curse on him when she'd suggested it at the restaurant over a week ago. She chose to disregard it. Of course he wouldn't want her to do a reading on him- he was a very private person. But by the time he'd said it, she knew it was already too late for him. He needed her help more than he knew.

Rounding the corner down the hall of the theater department towards the rehearsal room where they met, Reiko was encompassed in her thoughts to the point of complete distraction. She didn't even notice that anyone else was in the hall until someone stopped abruptly in front of her as she reached for the door handle. Looking up suddenly, she was startled to see the timid face of Shinobu staring back at her, clutching a basket.

"Um! S-sorry! I, I didn't mean to bump into you…" Shinobu apologized, blushing, while Reiko was still trying to figure out how she had gotten all the way from her class to the clubroom without remembering a single step of it. Shaking it off, she came to her senses. It was then that something occurred to her as odd.

"Shinobu," she began, confusing the other girl who rarely heard her friend speak, "I thought you were usually the last one here."

"I… Is that a problem? I mean I am but we let out early today… um…. So… cookie?" She held up the basket containing a dozen or so baked goods, fresh from the cooking class, her face bright with embarrassment. Reiko ignored her offer, turning back towards the door. With a push, it opened.

"Come inside," she instructed coldly. "I suppose you'll just have to help."

Inside, as predicted, Nekozawa was alone in the dark room, lighting candles. Reiko confidently approached him, a severe look clear on her usually featureless face. The difference was not lost on her club president.

"Reiko-Chan," he started curiously, setting down the candelabra he had just lit, "is something wrong?"

"There is a matter which we must discuss, Umehito-Senpai," she began. Behind them, Shinobu set down her basket beside their merchandising table and hovered behind them curiously, within earshot. Nekozawa frowned, and turned his full attention to his suddenly serious club member.

"What does this pertain to?"

"Haruhi Fujioka."

Nekozawa flinched, and noticed when Shinobu, who was trying to look like she wasn't eavesdropping, gasped. It had only been a matter of time, he supposed, until this came up. It had been clear to him since the dinner almost two weeks ago that the ever-suspicious Reiko would not be as quick to accept Haruhi as the others had. However, she was not prone to rash generalizations or quick decisions, and he valued her opinion. Reiko's cool countenance attested to her wisdom, and she knew he knew that. Grimly, he steeled himself for the argument he did not want but knew he needed to hear.

"What about Fujioka?" he asked, attempting to force a smile that she did not respond to. She continued to stare at him intently through cold, black eyes, unamused.

"I regret to inform you that I've gone against your wishes, Senpai," Reiko began simply. "But I saw it as a necessary action. You told me not to cast a counter-curse or protection spell because you didn't need one. But by that time, I knew that you were so far removed you wouldn't have noticed if you were under a spell at all. Of course you denied it. You couldn't see the trouble you were in." Her eyes flashed and he listened quietly, his hair hiding his expression. She continued.

"So I've been crystal gazing. I decided to do my own research on Haruhi, to see if there was any chance that he had already cast some spell, and if I could determine what it was. It took me several days, Senpai," she added, raising her eyebrows to him. "Several hours of several days. I was stretched to my spiritual breaking point, and I had nearly given up many times. But I persevered. I needed to. And I was rewarded for doing so, when I was finally answered. Do you know what the crystals told me? What I discovered?"

The lightest trace of a dark smile crossed her lips as she raised her eyes to him. Nekozawa swallowed his breath. The air in the room suddenly seemed to be thick with tension, and his heartbeat sped up considerably as a result. He disapproved of Reiko's casting spells behind his back, but maybe she really was right to do so. The fact that Reiko was bothering to tell him all this meant that there was something to tell. There was something to know about Haruhi.

"Tell me." His voice was low, in volume and in pitch. Reiko smirked slightly, lowering her eyes.

"You might not like it," she explained. Nekozawa set his teeth, his eyes narrowed, as his heartbeat pounded against his ribcage. Was it possible? Could Fujioka be deceiving everyone? Was there a spell? Was there a secret?

"Reiko," he growled. "What do you know?"

"Ha-ru-hi Fu-ji-o-ka…." She started slowly, drawing the moment out, watching with amusement as Nekozawa drew in his breath in anticipation. Entertained by the slight panic she could see through the black hair that fell over his blue eyes, Reiko smiled.

"…has absolutely no psychic abilities whatsoever. He couldn't have cursed you if he wanted to."

Nekozawa expelled his breath in a loud sigh, resting his forehead on his palm in relief. Across the room, Shinobu wearily sat down. He shook his head and glared at Reiko.

"Was it really necessary to build it up like that, Reiko-Chan?" he asked, exasperated. "I was afraid for a moment that I'd made a very powerful enemy without even realizing it."

"I think the drama was very appropriate," she replied, clearly amused. "You needed to understand what trouble you could have been in. But this brings up another problem, Umehito-Senpai."

"Another?" he choked, exhausted already.

"I'm afraid so," she answered. "You see, Haruhi has no skill in magic. Furthermore, it should be quite clear to you that he has no interest in magic, either. And, pertaining to what you said earlier, about powerful enemies… well, you would have them. The Host Club, which seems to cherish Fujioka, includes the future heirs of such industries as medicine, school administration, and fashion, besides of course masters of kendo and karate. At our best, our club has the automotive industry, the music industry, and old royalty. No club in this school can win against them, especially our own, unless we call upon dark forces. Therefore, I've concluded that it would be a disaster for Haruhi Fujioka to join the Black Magic Club."

A deafening silence hung heavy in the air as Nekozawa considered her words. He knew there was a truth to them- a painful truth that seemed to strike him right in the chest. And what was more; he had known it all along, somewhere at the edge of his conscious. He had been having such a good time that he purposefully ignored the nagging thoughts that insisted that all his efforts would be in vain. But eventually, it was sure to become an issue that would need addressing, and now was that time. There was almost no chance of getting Haruhi into his club.

Nekozawa seemed to deflate. Shinobu opened her mouth to say something, but nothing actually came out. She lowered her head, hiding her face behind her hair, at a loss for words of comfort or optimism. Nekozawa sighed, and then righted himself, quickly recovering.

"You're very right, Reiko-Chan," he agreed quietly, his voice solemn. "I shall stop inviting Fujioka to our club."

"Why?"

The question struck him as odd. He raised a curious eyebrow to the dark eyed girl, standing silently in front of him. Hadn't she just given him a long list of reasons why?

"Well… because we could never get him in our club."

"And you can't have friends outside this club?"

There was a long pause.

"Umehito-Senpai," she began, sensing his confusion, "You always knew Haruhi Fujioka would never join our club by his own free will. He has absolutely no interest in its activities. But you sought him out determinately. Why do you suppose that is…?"

Nekozawa did not answer. He could not seem to think of a single response, and opened and closed his mouth several times in the attempt. A wry smirk lightly crossed Reiko's features.

"To find out…" she started slyly, "…why don't you go down to the Host Club and visit him?"

Another silence followed. Nekozawa turned towards the recently lit candelabra, watching as the fire steadily burned down the wick, fluttering unpredictably in the slightest of winds. He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he had made a decision.

"I think I will," he declared confidently, grabbing Bereznoff from the end table. The door opened then, and Taro entered the room.

"Oh! Reiko and Shinobu, you're quite early," he commented. He then watched in mild bafflement as his club president picked up the basket of Bereznoff key chains by the door and hurried out, quickly calling over to Reiko that she was in charge until he returned. Taro turned curiously to his club members.

"He is going to see Fujioka," Reiko smiled coyly, her eyes dark. Taro grinned.

"Well finally," he replied crossing his arms.

"I don't think anything will happen today," she commented. "He still doesn't quite understand. It's sort of sad, really, to think that when he realizes it, he'll be the last to know."

"Correction," Taro smirked. "Haruhi will be the last to know."

"HARUHI FUJIOKA!"

With a gasp, Haruhi jumped, nearly dropping her teacup but catching it before it spilled. Setting the cup down safely, she turned to scowl at a pair of identical grins. She had only just sat down and was hardly expecting an ambush from behind her chair.

"Is there something you want, or are you just here to scare me?" she asked, irritated. The twins looked at each other, and then back at her, smiling devilishly.

"Before the clients get here," they began in unison, their eyes sparking with mischief, "we wanted to show you something!" Before she could protest, they had pulled her up forcibly and were dragging her over to the practice room. Stopping just in front of the double doors, they left her, quickly reaching for the door handles before she could find the time to ask what was going on. With a glance to each other, Hikaru and Kaoru opened the doors. Behind them, a beautifully crafted elegant white satin dress hanging off a slender dressing dummy shimmered before her.

Haruhi turned and walked away.

"No, no, no, no!" they protested, following her. "You're supposed to get all sparkly and go 'I wanna try it on!'"

"No thank you," she replied blandly as Tamaki peered into the room to see the garment in question.

"But we had it made for you!" Hikaru continued, stepping into Haruhi's path. "See? High-cut, shoulder less design with extra material around the chest to hide that you don't have one!"

"Forget it."

"Haaaaruuuuhiiiii!" the twins whined, "Just try it on!"

"No."

"But I wanna know if we got the measurements right," Kaoru explained. "Since we had to sort of eyeball it."

"Stop eyeballing my daughter, you miscreants!" Tamaki hollered fiercely, before turning towards Haruhi determinately. "And Haruhi, as your father, I insist that you try on that dress!"

"Pass."

"Act your gender!" he despairingly demanded. "You're a girl, and you should wear girl clothes! Your brothers went to a lot of trouble to have it made!"

"Yeah, we did!" the twins agreed, backing their club president. Each reached forward and grabbed one of Haruhi's hands. "So if you would just…"

The clubroom door began to creak open and they quickly dropped their hold of Haruhi, to her relief. The Host Club straightened themselves to greet their guests. Kyouya, who had been silently observing from the back, subtly shut the back room doors, hiding the garment. The club members smiled radiantly at their client.

"Welco-"

"Their greeting was cut short when a familiar black cowl and cat puppet darkened their doorway. Kaoru groaned while Hikaru rolled his eyes, and Tamaki drew back a few paces defensively. Kyouya made note.

"Nekozawa!" Tamaki started in a shrill voice, "What do you want?"

"Why, nothing you aren't willing to give, Suoh-Kun," Nekozawa smiled darkly from beneath his hood, entering the room, "and maybe a few things you aren't wiling to part with."

"You can't have my soul!"

"I'll bargain for that later. For now, I've come to inform you all of a great deal we're offering at the Black Magic Club, you really can't miss it!"

"We don't want it," The Hitachiin twins interrupted, waving him off. "Go back to your bat cave."

"You won't hear me out? How disappointing. Well I can't come all this way and not tell anyone. Shall I stand outside, then? I can ask the girls who approach if perhaps they would be interested…"

"Okay, okay, okay!" Tamaki conceded in a panic. "We'll listen! Just don't…. talk to anyone!"

"How wonderful!" Nekozawa beamed at the Host Club, who seemed to wilt. He held up the basket of key chains in one hand- Bereznoff seemed to gesture towards the basket on his other hand. "Since you're all such good friends of the Black Magic Club, I just wanted to inform you of the new item on the market! You can buy them independently, or receive one free with each visit to the Black Magic Club! You're very own-" he reached in to the basket to retrieve one. Suddenly, Nekozawa blanched, frozen in horror.

"…C-cookie…"

There was a long, awkward silence, during which Nekozawa's face turned from ghostly white to blood red as he stared at the fresh baked treats that were certainly not Bereznoff key-chains like he thought they were. Wasn't that what was in this basket? Who had brought cookies to the meeting? The moment he asked himself the last question, he knew the answer.

"…Cookies?" Tamaki repeated in obvious confusion, not about to be fooled by the snack's delicious appearance. Nekozawa righted himself, attempting to recover.

"Yes, of course," he continued. "Cookies. Like I said, a new item at the Black Magic Club, made by its very own members."

Shinobu Kokoro, he thought to himself, hiding a scowl, I will kill you.

(Somewhere across the school, Shinobu shuddered involuntarily.)

"That's an odd thing for your club to sell," Kaoru remarked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe…" Hunny bravely stepped forward, "Maybe they're really good cookies."

"Yeah, and I bet Snow White's apple was pretty good, too," Hikaru replied suspiciously. Mori grabbed Hunny's hand before he could take another step towards Nekozawa.

It was Haruhi who finally stepped forward and took one, and despite Tamaki's protests, bit into it. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment while her club mates waited, breath held, to see if she would turn into a frog or faint or something. Finally, Haruhi swallowed.

"Its good," Haruhi finally decided. She raised her eyes to Nekozawa. "Did you make it?"

Nekozawa shook his head fervently. "Shinobu did," he replied. With a small, mischievous smile, he leaned forward and whispered into Haruhi's ear, "Actually, I grabbed the wrong basket. But I'll tell her that you enjoyed them."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow at him. A thin smirk crossed her lips, but she said nothing as she stepped back towards her club members, who quickly surrounded her and began inspecting her for signs of witchcraft.

Nekozawa felt a little flush at the smile she gave him, and his heart seemed to beat a little faster. It was so strange to him; there was definitely something about Haruhi Fujioka that he reacted to, something no one else he knew had. Something he felt only when Haruhi was around. But according to Reiko, she had no magic or spell casting abilities at all. What was it about her? Nekozawa didn't know, but he was beginning to realize what it was about the underclassmen that attracted the Host Club to her. He couldn't name what it was yet, but he was starting to narrow it down.

So, Haruhi would never join the Black Magic Club. That was fine. He was already resigned to that fact anyway, though for a long time he fought it. But that didn't mean he couldn't stop by now and again to see her, and it wouldn't stop him from inviting her to club functions as he had been previously. He would just continue in the manner he had been. Reiko was right; he could have friends outside of him club. Surely that was what he had wanted all along.

"Senpai." A cool, smooth voice drew Nekozawa's attention, and he looked over to see Kyouya standing beside him, his face in his notebook, his eyes hidden behind a glare on his glasses lenses. It was then that Nekozawa realized he had probably been staring, and hid a blush.

"Our clients will soon arrive. I thank you for your visit but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. Don't you have your own club meeting today?" he asked, raising his eyes to the upperclassmen.

"Yes, of course," Nekozawa quickly replied. "I apologize for interrupting. I'll leave this gift with you, then; a token of friendship, from my club to yours," he grinned, setting the basket down on a table. With one last glance towards Haruhi, Nekozawa exited.

Kyouya took note.