Man, this chapter seemed like it would be a nightmare to write… Then I realized that I could fuse it with the next chapter to make it both a better chapter and easier to write. So, I hope you enjoy.

Ouran Academy's days seemed so similar, that Neku could tell even on his second day. Aside from the subjects he was studying, the day passed the same way. Haruhi worked hard, the twins flirted, and Tamaki was loud.

And again, Tamaki dragged Neku to Music Room 3, intent on a proper introduction to the Host Club. This time, Tamaki tied him to a chair, ensuring that he stayed sat. After introductions that seemed both far more formal and more idiotic than the ones Neku received the day before, he was bemused when the group began talking between them, Haruhi being the only one seemingly left out due to his own lack of involvement, basically admitting he knew what they were doing was idiotic. And Mori, but he didn't talk.

After a few moments there was a crunching of gears, and Neku was amazed when a section of the floor opened and a platform rose out, carrying a laughing girl who introduced herself as 'Manager Renge', not giving her surname. Neku was reminded of Eri, but Renge was by far louder than her.

She made a long-winded speech about a failure to pick up on personalities, then circled Neku as if judging him. After a few laps, she seemed to have an epiphany, and declared his 'Host Type', the Deep type. She gave him a few pointers, in some of which she referred to gestures he couldn't see, and after about five minutes she realized that he was still tied up, at which point Mori walked over and untied the ropes. Neku sighed, rubbing his wrists.

So this is where I lose my sanity…

The week passed, and Neku managed to sink into the routine, finding that his role wasn't all that bad. Most of what he did was sit in silence, pretty much acting as eye candy. The few times he had to talk to a guest, it was only one of them and they were generally rather timid.

He wasn't irritated to see the weekend come along though. He was glad that he'd finally get a chance for some proper sleep. So he lay down in the bed that Friday night, his alarm turned off, and prepared for a long lie in.

Of course, he should have expected better. When Tamaki barged in, shouting something about a shopping trip, Neku was rudely awoken. He checked the clock by the side of his bed – 6:49 – and groaned, his head falling onto the pillow and curling up.

"Neku~! Wake up~!" When he heard the voice, Neku startled awake, thinking Joshua was in the room. His head his Tamaki's, and they both recoiled, Neku now fully awake.

"Why are you waking me this early?" Neku asked angrily, still rubbing his head. That was going to bruise, he was certain.

"Because we're going on a trip!" Tamaki smiled, far too happy to have just fallen off of a bed after being head-butted this early in the day. "Get dressed! We're going to be late!"

Neku groaned, but pulled himself out of bed, walking over to the wardrobe to pull out some of his clothes. He decided to go for his usual outfit – the Jupiter of the Monkey set that Shiki insisted was as out as it could be – and stepped out, heading for the tin next to his bed as he stretched, a yawn escaping from his mouth. He sat on his bed and opening the tin, grabbing some pins at random, then Tamaki suddenly grabbed his arm and began to pull Neku away, not letting him look at what pins he had. Luckily he had his wallet, so he might be able to find something, but there was no way he'd have gotten a good set of pins from random choice, too many of his pins he had for playing Tin Pin Slammer, a lot of them did nothing.

He was right. After being escorted to his own Rolls Royce, something he didn't complain about even when he found out that his car was picking up Haruhi, Hunny and Mori, he checked his pins, recognizing all but two as being useless. The only ones he had that were useful were the Cure Drink pin Beat had given him and one of his multiple Psychokinesis pins. Why he had so many, he wasn't sure. But he did.

His car picked up Hunny and Mori first, then Haruhi. As they were off to wherever they were going, Haruhi gained a slightly guilty look on her face. "Neku, I have to tell you something." He said.

"What?"

"Haruhi…" Mori spoke, and Haruhi smiled.

"I'm really a girl." I wasn't surprised, although I might have been if she had told me in school. I admit, the dress she was wearing did surprise me a little, but that made sense now. "I owe a debt to the club, and have to pretend to be a boy to pay it back." She explained.

"It matters?" I asked, and she smiled.

"Just, don't tell anyone in school, all right?"

As she said that, the car stopped and Hunny opened the door, the four of us climbing out. I heard Haruhi sigh, and mutter something about going to the shopping center we were standing in front of again.

"You're here!" Neku turned as Tamaki approached, the twins and a half-asleep Kyouya following him. "Man, you guys got lucky…" One of the twins complained.

"Yeah, you don't want to see Kyouya in the mornings…" The other spoke.

"Just don't leave me on a bench again..." Kyouya groaned, and Neku as surprised for all of two seconds before he remembered what Tamaki was like. And he twins. And Hunny. He looked to Haruhi, raising an eyebrow.

"He was angry when I found him."

"Not surprised." Neku spoke. The others seemed surprised about his response to Haruhi, and he decided not to explain Shiki. That was one story he planned to keep a secret. After all, it did sound rather insane.

The group wandered inside, and didn't really stop wandering for an hour. They did stop at times at various shops, depending on what the Hosts wanted. The twins stopped at the various clothes shops – Neku realized Shiki would love to meet the two of them – Haruhi at some more food based, Hunny went for any sweet shop he spotted, Mori tailing him. Kyouya was half asleep until Neku had an idea, splitting off from the others and escorting him to a café to buy him a strong black coffee, waking him up quickly – making a comment on the inferiority of the coffee almost immediately, but drinking the whole thing anyway.

The group carried on wandering for a while, not really buying anything but browsing a lot. It took over an hour for them to really separate, with Tamaki and Kyouya disappearing upstairs to a pet shop – Kyouya to keep the other under control – while the rest followed Haruhi into a food shop. After that, Hunny and Mori split off into a small shop selling decorative weaponry.

Neku split off after a short while, distracted by a stall selling pins. There was a wide selection, and he could even tell the different brands that were familiar to him from Shibuya, even a small sections for Gatito and Pegaso. He looked for a few minutes before spotting a few he didn't recognize, glancing between them and glancing at the prices for each of them. It was only when he looked closely did he notice that there were a couple of fakes, he could see from the bad covers and slightly faded prints behind them, but several were real. Especially the Pegaso, oddly. But he had enough spare money to pick up a couple of the ones of those he didn't have, collecting them despite knowing that they didn't have the best Psyches, as far as he could tell. Well, maybe the Lightning Rook, he remembered that being useful in the short time he had one in the Game.

Suddenly, he heard a chuckle. A very familiar chuckle, and he span.

"You don't change much, do you Neku?" Joshua asked, his face a smirk.

"Joshua?"

"I'm afraid I don't have time to explain." Joshua spoke, a scream following seconds later. He sighed. "Looks like she found me." He said as the people around him started to run as frogs, wolves, bears and other animal-like creatures began to charge in from rooms. "Can I have a hand?"

"You? Asking for help?" Neku joked.

"Yes, Neku. Laugh all you want." Joshua sighed.

"Well, why wouldn't I help?" Neku asked, his feet slipping into their familiar positions as the room emptied, save for the Noise. "Which do you want?"

"Any you don't." Joshua replied, his smirk returning slightly. "Have fun Neku."