AN: And I'm back! Sorry it's been so long, it's just life y'know? Let's do some quick reviews and hop back in!

Guest 1: Yay! I'm so glad :)

Left-to-die: Ahaha, it's all good! We'll find something to fit Haruhi. And thank you. Here's your update!

Amethystygirly: Thank you!

Once the drama team had exited her room, Ena was once again left to herself. She got the feeling that these quiet moments would be few and far between, so she curled back up on the couch and returned to her book. However, she found her mind drifting away from the story and back to the eccentric group of students she was in charge of. It was strange how, in such a short amount of time, Ena could already tell that the Host Club would become an important part of her life. At least, for the next year.

Ena dropped her book with a sigh, knowing she wouldn't be getting back into it anytime soon and stretched out on the couch. The carnival in July would be fun and most likely hectic, but it shouldn't be too bad. By that point, the Club would be more settled in and Ena would probably be better at handling them. Though, she wasn't their babysitter, despite her mother's earlier implications. They were all mature adult types who could take care of themselves.

"Right." Ena snorted. "At least I have Haruhi."

Ena's phone pinged, a message popping up on the locked screen.

Hi Ena, this is Haruhi. I just wanted you to know that the boys and I are dealing with our own dinner, so you don't have to worry about it.

"Oh." Ena unlocked her phone and typed back a quick response.

Okay, great! Let me know if you need anything though, alright?

Ena let her hand drop while waiting for a reply, which came soon enough.

We will.

Short and to the point. A bit like Haruhi herself. Ena chuckled at the thought, but then something occurred to her.

Um, if you don't mind me asking, where did you get my number?

Pause. Ping.

Kyoya gave it to me, is that alright?

Totally fine! Ena assured, before adding. Do you mind sending me his? And everyone elses, for that matter?

Another pause. Ping.

Several contacts came through, the first reading 'Ootori Kyoya'. Ena saved them all before sending Haruhi a thanks.

How did you get my number? Ena figured straightforward was the best way to approach this slightly strange situation.

I could ask you the same thing.

Ena rolled her eyes, choosing not to fall into the obvious "I asked you first" trap.

Haruhi, of course.

Of course.

The man's condescending tone came through loud and clear.

You're avoiding the question.

I got it from your file. Obviously. Like I said, I always calculate. Do you need anything else?

Somehow he had turned it around on Ena, like she was the one being bothersome. Ena huffed at her screen.

No, that's all. She replied before locking her phone.

Ena hopped from the couch, moving towards her mini refrigerator. There was leftovers from a restaurant she'd eaten at a few days ago, it would have to do for dinner. She ate quickly and placed the dishes in the skin, she'd done enough cleaning that day, what with the breakfast explosion that morning. Ena threw on her pajamas and fell into bed, setting an alarm for ten o'clock. Hopefully, she'd be allowed to sleep in, but judging from earlier that day, it was unlikely.

Morning came too soon and with it came the much too energetic Host Club. Ena's prediction was right and the Club came to knock on her door at nine o'clock. It wasn't that early and definitely an improvement from the day before. However, she was still a bit grumpy when Tamaki instructed her to get ready to leave.

Apparently, when they had been getting dinner the night before, the group had come across a little park that they just had to have lunch at today. Kyoya was awake, amazingly, and had already located a deli to stop by for sandwiches before heading to the park. He'd even found the quickest route from the park to Ena's grandmother's shop (How had he found her grandmother shop?) and it wasn't that far. However, none of this answered why they had to wake Ena up at nine for lunch. Ena said as much to the group.

"We wanted to give you time to wake up properly!" Honey told her sweetly.

"And to become Nice Ena." Tamaki added, looking quite proud of himself. No doubt he had hatched the scheme, Kyoya was just in charge of logistics. "This way you can have breakfast and coffee before we go."

"I've calculated that if we leave by ten thirty, we will make the deli before rush hour and get to the park while the sun is still in the optimal spot for relaxing." Kyoya explained. "Then, after an hour and a half there, we can get to your grandmother's store in time for our appointment."

"Well, this is all very well thought through." Ena commended. "Come back in an hour and I'll be read then, okay?"

"Okay!" Everyone nodded and walked back to their rooms.

Ena bustled around her room, making coffee and a bowl of cereal to eat quickly before getting dressed. She choose a billowy blue long sleeved shirt and a floral skirt that stopped above her knees. Since they were just heading to the park, Ena didn't feel the need to be super dressy, but this skirt was a favorite of hers and just so easy to wear. She shook her hair out from the braid she'd put it in the day before and grabbed some boots and her bag.

A short knock came on her door, and Ena rushed over to answer. Haruhi stood there, wearing an exasperated expression.

"They sent me to get you." She explained. "After playing janken for ten minutes to decide who had to do it."

Ena laughed, gathering the last of her stuff in her purse. "Well, I'm ready."

"They've already gone downstairs." Haruhi nodded to the stairwell. "Kyoya-senpai has called a taxi cab."

"Alright, let's head down." Ena closed and locked her door.

Haruhi and Ena walked down the steps in a comfortable silence, reaching the lobby in just a few moments. Surprisingly, the room wasn't filled with the members of the Host Club. There was only a boy Ena had seen around the school, manning the desk. He looked confused and slightly angry, staring at the exit.

"Um, did a group of exchange students come through here?" Ena asked the boy.

"Yeah. They went outside, after criticizing my clothes, hair and face." He furrowed his eyebrows.

That explains why he looks put out. Ena thought while thanking the boy.

"I feel like I'm always chasing after them." Ena confided in Haruhi as they left the dorm.

"You get used to it, eventually." Haruhi assured her.

"HA-ru-HI!" A screeching voice pierced the air.

"Or never." She sighed, hurrying over to drag her boyfriend from the cackling twins.

Ena laughed again, shaking her head after the poor girl and took a spot next to Kyoya and the college students. Mori and Honey appeared to be in a deep, serious conversation. Upon listening in, Ena realized they were just talking about the next shipment of sweets from their chef back home. She repressed a snort, before glancing over at Kyoya. He was periodically checking his phone and scribbling something down in his black book. As per usual.

"When did you call for-" Ena began asking Kyoya but a car horn interrupted her.

"Approximately twenty minutes ago, seeing as that's the amount of time it took the cab to arrive last time." Kyoya did the menacing glasses-adjusting-thing again.

"Right."

Everyone climbed into the cab and this time it was Kyoya giving directions to the driver. Ena reclined in her seat, watching as they drove to an unfamiliar part of town. They arrived at a little shop, it's sign reading "The Deli". Ena rolled her eyes, Boston was fond of it's generic names. The Host Club piled out of the car, Ena hopping out last. Kyoya paid the driver and sent him off, earning a few raised eyebrows.

"The park is within reasonable walking distance. We may as well enjoy the weather."

There were few grumbled protests, but no one seemed willing to argue with the man on this. Instead, they all focused their energy on terrorizing the staff of the deli with their long and complicated orders and questions about the products. By the time they got their food and left, the young woman working behind the counter and the cooks who had come out from the kitchen look relieved. Ena stayed behind to put some cash in the tip jar and apologize profusely.

Outside, the club was bickering on who should walk with who, thought it was mostly the twins and Tamaki arguing about who got to walk with Haruhi.

"But I'm her boyfriend!" Tamaki was yelling.

"So we can't even talk to her again?" Hikaru taunted. "Didn't know you were the over protective, jealous type Tono."

Kaoru chuckled, seemingly okay with Hikaru's antics as long as they were aimed at Tamaki. Ena sighed, sneaking Haruhi away from the three idiots and walking with her to the college students and Kyoya who had already started heading down the street. It took several moments, but eventually the trio realized that Haruhi was gone. Tamaki went ballistic and sprinted to catch up while the twins hung back, laughing at their leader's misfortune.

By the time Tamaki caught up, Ena and Haruhi were already in a deep conversation about the best vegetables to put in a stew pot and no amount of whining from Tamaki would distract them. Tamaki spent the rest of the short walk sulking in the back of the group. Ena and Haruhi rolled their eyes at the boy in tandem, continuing their chat uninterrupted.

"There's two of them now." Hikaru elbowed Tamaki. "Double the indifference."

"It was bad enough having two of you." Tamaki glared at the twins, who always fell into old habits when Tamaki was the target. "But this is unbearable."

"You'll survive." Ena from the front of the group.

"We can hear you, Tamaki." Haruhi added, giving her boyfriend a dirty look.

Luckily, they arrived at the park before Tamaki had the chance to deteriorate completely. Ena was impressed, the park was actually as nice as the Club had made it out to be. There were park benches under shady trees and everything was green and growing. There was even a little creek running through the center and children laughing and playing in the water. The group found a little pavillion with a barbeque and dug into their sandwiches.

It was a little surprising to Ena that they weren't being more picky about the less than clean eating surfaces. After saying as much to Haruhi, the younger girl explained that they had 'gotten used to it' after going to commoner festivals so many times. Ena snorted, not quite expecting that to be the answer.

As the slower eaters (Ena and Haruhi, who wanted to enjoy their food, not inhale it) finished their meal, the more excitable boys ran around the park, playing with a ball that had mysteriously come into their possession. The twins and Tamaki seemed to playing a convoluted form of dodge ball, that involved just chucking the ball into each others face. Mori's job was to carry around Honey and help him steal the ball from the others and run away. Kyoya sat at the farthest edge of the table from them, doing something very important and official looking on his phone. Haruhi smiled as she watched them all.

"You really like them, huh?" Ena leaned her head on her hand.

"Hmm?" Haruhi glanced away from the Host-watching, before looking back. "Oh, yeah. I guess so."

"It must have been weird, at first." Ena checked to make sure Kyoya was occupied. "When you were first a part of the club."

"It was." Haruhi nodded, eyes following her boyfriend running around the park. "I got used to it eventually."

"I don't know if I could." Ena chuckled, turning to watch the boys.

The girls sat in silence for a moment, before Haruhi spoke up again.

"You may not be used to them yet, but you've handled them pretty well so far." Haruhi observed.

"I don't know," Ena sighed, running a hand through her hair, "they're kinda overwhelming."

"Yes." Haruhi agreed bluntly. "But they usually mean well and they seem to like you."

"Really?"

"I've been around them long enough to figure out there are somethings they only do in front of each other and me. Like Tamaki sulking, the twins arguing with each other and Kyoya being...less guarded than usual."

"Now that you mention it," Ena thought back to the night that Haruhi came to tell her about the Host Club, "Mori came to visit a little before you the other night and thanked me. He probably said at least three sentences. It didn't seem very characteristic."

Haruhi's eyes widened. "It's not. He does get kinda chatty when he's tired though...More flirty than chatty really."

"He didn't seem to be flirting." Ena thought. "He just said something along the lines of 'thanks for putting up with us'."

Haruhi chuckled. "Well, he's right. I'm sure there are other things you could be doing this summer than babysitting a bunch of exchange students. We really do appreciate it, even if we aren't good at showing it."

"That's sort of what he said." Ena noted. "And it's my pleasure. It's certainly been interesting and the rest of the summer seems to be shaping up the same way."

"It always is with this bunch." Haruhi motioned towards the Club, who were all running back.

"America is great!" Tamaki exclaimed when he got to the pair. "You get three months of vacation and you can find toys everywhere!"

"Tamaki, where did you get that?!" Ena asked, grabbing the ball from him.

"Over there!" Tamaki pointed in the direction of a family. "It was a little ways away from those people."

"That means it's probably theirs!" Haruhi hit her forehead with a hand.

"Oooohhhhh."

"Go give it back!" Ena and Haruhi demanded in unison.

"And apologize." Haruhi added.

Tamaki did a full body flinch, before slinking towards the family. Ena turned on the twins, who were cracking up.

"You two are no better." Ena crossed her arms.

"What did we do?" They asked in tandem.

Haruhi jumped in. "You could have told him that it belong to someone else. You know how Tamaki gets."

Kaoru had the decency to look a bit sheepish but Hikaru wasn't having it.

"I don't see how it's our fault that Tono is unobservant." He grumbled.

"Just stop arguing Hikaru." Kaoru sighed. "They're too much for us."

"Yeah. There's two of them now." Hikaru repeated from earlier.

Ena was about to ask what exactly he meant when Tamaki bounded over to them, recovered from his fumble.

"They were lovely!" Tamaki glowed.

"They weren't angry that you stole their ball?" Ena asked.

"I just explained that it was a misunderstanding and they were completely agreeable."

Haruhi and Ena glanced at each other.

"Damn charming, attractive rich people." Haruhi sighed.

"My sentiments exactly." Ena shook her head.

A little ping sound came from the other side of the table and the group glanced over at the source.

Kyoya pressed something on his phone and stood. "If we want to make it to our appointment in time, I suggest we leave now."

Kyoya quickly called the cab service, hopefully for the last time, and it arrived within a couple minutes. The ride was rather short and soon they were hoping out of the van and in front of Ena's grandmother's shop. It was just a little store on the corner, with an old sign reading "Lowell's Flower Arrangements" in fancy script. There were boxes outside filled with all sorts of flowers and the place seem bright and cheery.

"My grandma should be waiting for us inside." Ena ushered everyone through the door.

The little bell hanging in the entryway announced their arrival, but Ena called into the store for safety's sake.

"Mémé! C'est Ena! J'ai apporté des élèves!"

"Ma ours!" Mémé appeared from behind a huge arrangement. "How are you?"

"Just fine." Ena gave the old woman a warm hug.

"These are the students you told me about?" Mémé motioned to the Host Club.

"Oui. This is Kyoya, Mori, Honey, Haruhi, Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru." Ena introduced everyone. "Everyone, this is my grandmother, Marie."

"You can just call me Mémé, like Ena here does." Mémé leaned over to her granddaughter. "Ils est trop beau hommes!"

"Merci, Madame!" Tamaki bowed grandly. "Vous êtes une trés élégant femme."

"You speak French?" Mémé asked delightedly. "How wonderful!"

The two hit it off, launching into a quick paced conversation.

"What did they say?" Kaoru asked.

"She said that you're 'such handsome men' and Tamaki thanked her and said she was a 'very elegant woman'." Ena translated. "We ought to stop them before they start reminiscing about the Old Country."

"Old Country?" Haruhi whispered to the twins.

"I think she means France?" Hikaru shrugged.

"Mémé, can we go see the van?" Ena interrupted the two.

"Oh, of course! How rude of me." Mémé bustled behind the counter and grabbed a remote control. "Let's go out to the garage."

The woman led the way out of the store and around the corner to a pair of metal garage doors. She pressed a button on her remote and one of the doors creaked open. Inside was the van. It was a typical Ford that fitted eight people. It was on the older side, but not in too bad of shape. The one distinctive feature was the paint job.

"It's..." Hikaru began.

"...so..." Kaoru added.

"Wow!" Honey beamed.

"Yeah." Mori agreed.

"Kyoya." Tamaki turned to the man, who had already began writing something down.

"We'll take it." Kyoya turned to Mémé.

"So soon? Do you want it inspected?" Mémé looked a bit concerned.

"I'm sure any problems with it can be resolved after the fact." Kyoya gave her his best Host smile. "Now, let's talk price..."

There were flowers painted all over the car.

Mémé invited them up to her flat above the store for tea so her and Kyoya could work out some of the kinks. Everyone else sat at the table while they discussed. They all munched on cookies and cakes while talking a little with Mémé. The woman was quite charmed, saying they were all wonderful men and that Haruhi was such a 'lovely young woman.'

"I'm just so glad to meet Ena's friends." She said at one point. "She doesn't have many, you know!"

"Mémé!" Ena blushed. "That's not true!"

"Then why do you never bring them over?"

"Because most of them live in Oregon!" Ena insisted.

"Who even says we're her friends?" Hikaru asked, rudely. He was still a little put out from the lecture earlier, it seemed.

"Hikaru!"

"What?" He asked his brother. "All she's done is chauffeured us around so far."

"That's not true!" Tamaki piped up.

"Thank you, Tamaki." Ena nodded and smiled at the boy.

"She also gave us a tour of the school!"

"Hey, you're supposed to be helping me make a point!" Ena frowned.

Honey joined in, saying that Ena had 'also made them food', beginning the debate of which was more important. Being driven around or being given food? Ena was getting more and more red and more annoyed as the argument picked up steam.

"Oh, you're all being stupid." Haruhi spoke over everyone. "She knows about the Host Club and she hasn't left yet."

All conversation froze and six pairs of eyes turned to Ena.

"You know about the Host Club?" Tamaki asked nervously.

Ena nodded.

"And..." He glanced over at Haruhi, his meaning clear.

"Yeah, she told me about that too."

Everyone was quiet for a beat.

"Ena is our friend." Mori rumbled and there were murmurs of agreement from all around the table.

"Now," Kyoya's business voice interrupted the brief silence, "I was thinking..."

And the conversation turned from Ena once again.

Kyoya and Mémé had soon come to a reasonable agreement and the woman handed him the keys, who in turn handed them to Ena.

"You're driving us home." The Host Club filed out the door of Mémé's apartment.

"Right." Ena sighed, giving Mémé a quick hug before following suit.

The Club was loading into the van by the time Ena got to the street. Ena hopped into the driver's side, Kyoya having taken the passenger seat up front. She turned the keys in the ignition and the van started up without problem. Ena stared at the wheel for a moment, not taking her foot from the brakes.

"You do know how to drive, right?" Kyoya asked form the seat next to her.

"Yes!" Ena responded defensively. "It's just been a little while. I usually just drive my scooter around here."

"You mean that piece of scrap metal in the dorm's parking lot?" Hikaru drawled from the back of the van.

"Hey! That 'piece of scrap metal' cost me a year's salary, so have a little respect." Ena stared back at the wheel and took a deep breath. "Everybody buckled?"

"Just go already!"

"Alright, alright." Ena released the brake and slowly drove into the street.

The drive to the dorms wasn't awful. There was a hairy moment at a stop sign involving a couple of kids running out into the street, but other than that... Everyone arrived back at Hinderlie in one piece. Ena was probably the most relieved of all of them to get out the car, walking a little wobbly once they had reached the parking lot.

"See? It was fine."

"If you call going slower than a grandma 'fine', then sure." Hikaru jibed, skipping away from his brother and a pissed off Ena.

"What's gotten into him?" Ena asked Kaoru. "He seems worse than usual."

"I think he's just getting comfortable around you, so he's holding back less."

"That's him not holding back? Greaaat." Ena drew out the word.

"It's more him not being afraid to scare you off with his abrasiveness." Kaoru explained. "The fact that he didn't start off this bad actually means he was trying to make a good impression."

"Wow, I wouldn't have gotten that at all." Ena opened the door for the red headed twin. "Good this we've got a Hikaru translator."

Kaoru chuckled. "Yeah, I know him pretty well by now."

"It seems like it. If you don't mind me asking, what's up with the...?" Ena gestured to his hair as they walked up the stairs.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask sooner."

"I've got a little thing called tact. Your brother should check it out."

Kaoru laughed fully at that, before pausing. "It's kinda a long story..."

Ena motioned to her door. "The only people who haven't had a heart-to-heart in Ena's room yet are you, your brother, Tamaki and Honey."

"Well, I better get off that list." Kaoru grinned, walking in with her.

"Tea?"

"Nah, I filled up at your grandma's."

Kaoru plopped down on the couch and Ena took up the recliner. It was quickly becoming the "Dr. Ashwood" chair.

"So Haruhi told you about everything, right?

"Mostly." Ena nodded. "She kinda skimmed at parts."

"Well, I don't suppose she told you about me kissing her." Kaoru rubbed at his neck.

Ena's eyes may have bulged a little. "No. No, she did not."

And so, Kaoru told Ena about the fight between him and Hikaru, the real one, and how they had both struggled with their crushes on Haruhi. Ena listen attentively, just as she had before. Some of the things Haruhi had been confused about were starting to make sense, with Kaoru's input. She couldn't help but wonder at the miscommunication that seemed to happen in this group, even now.

"We're okay now." Kaoru told her at the end. "But Hikaru decided to keep his hair brown, because it was something that was his."

"People really had a hard time telling you apart?" Ena marveled. "You're just so different."

"Well, we didn't used to be." Kaoru shrugged. "At least we didn't act like it. Haruhi was the first person to break through to us. Before that..."

"That must have been awful."

"We had each other and that was enough. We didn't even know what we were missing."

"Wow." Ena leaned back into her chair. "This whole thing is a lot deeper than I thought."

"It's strange." Kaoru suddenly said.

"What is?"

"I don't think I've told anyone about this outside of the club." The redhead admitted. "It feels good to talk about it with somebody else."

"I'm glad you could get it off your chest." Ena smiled. "If you ever need to talk more, I'm here to listen."

Kaoru stood. "I'll remember that. I might have to send Hikaru to talk to you at some point. I'm sure there are things he needs to discuss with someone as well. Everyone else is just too close to it all, but you're unbiased enough that it makes it easier."

"Dr. Ashwood is always available to take on more patients. But, you might want to give me a warning before you send that particular patient my way. I'll need to caffeinate. And hide my knives."

"Hikaru probably wouldn't take them." Kaoru stated with a grin.

"Let me rephrase that. I'd need to hide my knives from myself."

The two giggled at that and Kaoru bid the Ena goodnight.

Ena leaned back into her recliner, which was also becoming "Ena's Thinking Chair." A lot of the questions Ena had about Haruhi's story were filled, but there were also some new questions. What had gone on with Hikaru that caused him to forgive Kaoru? Neither Haruhi nor Kaoru had talked much about Tamaki's family, but it how had they had been involved in all this? Where did Kyoya fit in all this?

No matter how Ena looked at it, the dark haired man was the only outlier. She could put Honey and Mori into the equation with a little work, but why was Ootori involved? Was it purely for profit? Or was there something else. Without asking him or Tamaki directly, it was unlikely she'd find out.

Ena glanced at the clock, startled to find that it was past dinner time. She rushed through her night routine and ate the last of her leftovers before falling into bed. However, even when she got there, she spent a long time looking up at the ceiling, thinking about the Host Club and their strange, distant lives. It took a while for her to finally fall asleep.

AN:

When Ena greets her grandmother, she says "Granny. It's Ena! I brought the students."

By the time I've posted this, I'll actually have written ahead like I planned to before. I'm pretty sure I haven't said it here yet, but I told someone on AO3 that I have at least eighteen chapters planned out. Maybe more if I see some good prompts in the reviews!

As for your homework, it's the same as last time! If you can think of a ringtone song for any Host Club members, let me know!