Chapter two

Lilia kept a slow pace as she followed the female figure down the long corridors of her new school. She kept her head down as she followed close behind, but she still made sure that she could see the shadow of the spirit's footsteps. From the moment she stepped outside the door that morning, she knew that the day was not going to turn out in her favor. She longed for one normal day in her life, just one. One which a spirit did not persist that she helped contact someone or locate something. She probably should get better at pretending not to see them, but there was little to help that, since Matti was always at her side. Not that he was today... other spirits scared him; she understood that much. Talking to a spirit attracted attention of course, from other spirits... Thus driving Matti away. The spirits saw that she could see them and the humans thought that she was talking to herself… which did not help her plead her case as a 'sane' person. The figure stopped in front of a large set of twin doors. The label above read 'Music Room #3'.

"Are you sure this is the right room?" She whispered the figure, to which the figure responded with a nod. Lilia apprehensively reached to grab the nob, but pulled her hand back. "Should I turn back?"

The figure shook her head disapprovingly.

"I have a test tomorrow. I should go home and study."

The figure pointed to the door once more. Lilia sighed. "Fine. Fine. Alright."

As Lilia walked into the room the spirit beside her vanished and she was left alone. Confusion was the first thing that struck her as she was greeted by the smell of sweets and flowers. As she looked around she came to realize that this was a brothel, of sorts, for females. Handsome young men tended to entertaining young females of the school. A growing feeling of discomfort grew inside her. She came that far, at least she was in. taking deep breath she stepped forward. Knowing she might have to interact with people made her feel the need to turn around.

'No one saw me come in. No one will see me leave. . .' She though as she headed back to the door, but just before she took a step, a young man appeared at her side. "May I help you?"

And that's how she got here. Sitting on the couch with a… cross dresser? She didn't ask questions. She rarely ever did. It was not her life, therefore not her problem. Not in a rude way, she just liked to stay out of other people's business. That being said, it was hard to do what she did every day.

Lilia stared into the teacup and down at the dark brown, almost black liquid in her hand. The substance was definitely foreign to her. She enjoyed the smell more than the taste, but she politely sipped on the freshly brewed drink as to not be rude. She tried to hide her displeasure with the liquid as much as she could, but failed.

"You might like it better if you add cream and sugar." The short haired girl in front of her stated. Lilia took the girl's suggestion, adding the two ingredients to the cup, and took a sip. She smiled in content with the drink now.

"So… my mother came to you?" Haruhi asked as she leaned forward anxious to hear what the girl had to say. Regardless of what the others thought, Haruhi wanted to know what the girl had to say. She didn't think much on the subject of the supernatural, but she wanted to believe her mother was still looking after her.

Lilia nodded and stared back into her china cup. She didn't look up or make eye contact as she traced the rim of the teacup with her pointer finger. "Right..."

Suddenly the spirit appeared at her side once more. Lilia held back the urge to shiver from the goosebumps that became present on her arms. Haruhi sat patiently, waiting on the girl's response. The spirit, also waiting for Lilia to speak up, gestured to Haruhi. Lilia set the cup down on the table and set her hands in her lap.

"There is a small fortune in your name." Lilia stated twiddling her thumbs.

"A small fortune?" Haruhi gave her a puzzled look.

"Well... She began saving well before you were born, up until she could no longer work."

"I see..." Haruhi said as she processed the girl's words.

"She saved it for when you became older, and as next week is your seventeenth birthday-"

Lilia was cut off when the pair of brown nosing twins stood from behind the couch where the ladies were conversing and made their presence known. One twin let out a long exaggerated yawn as the other rolled his eyes. "Karou, this is getting boring. "

"Sadly I agree, Hikaru." The other twin shook his head and wrapped his arm into his brother's so that the two's arms were now intertwined. "I thought her mom came back to tell her that she was secretly a princess or something."

"Would you guys cut it out?!" Haruhi exclaimed as one of her eyebrows twitched. She glared at the two redheads angrily. "How many times have I told you not to listen to other people's conversations?!"

"We were bored, what did you expect?" They both said in unison. They shrugged it off and walked into a different part of the room where the rest of the club sat.

Haruhi shook off their annoying interruption and faced Lilia once more. "Sorry. What were you were saying?"

"What were they saying? What's happening?!" Tamaki asked from the crouner where he crouched. He was eger to know what the two girls were talking about and why Haruhi's mother had come back from the grave. The two red-heads crouched down beside him.

"If you want to know so badly why don't you go over there yourself?" They folded their arms and each raised an eyebrow.

"M-me?" Tamaki shivered at the thought. The twins smirked and wrapped their arms around their friend's shoulders.

"Unless..." Karou whispered in his left ear.

"...You're scared." Hikaru whispered in his right one.

"I-I'm not scared!... I just don't want to... disturb our guest!" Tamaki said as a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead. He quickly regained composer before the twins could scare him further. He shrugged their arms off of his shoulders. "Enough with this chatter! Tell me what is going on!"

"Nothing interesting." Hikaru said with a roll of his eyes, causing Tamaki to slap his head. "OW! What was that for?!"

"Have you no respect for the dead?!" Tamaki scolded the older twin. "Haruhi's mother is reaching her from beyond the grave! There's got to be a reason for that. Have more respect!"

"I'm just saying, boss." Hikaru said rubbing the small bump that began to form on top of his head. "All the girl said was there was a small fortune in Haruhi's name from her mother."

"A-A- S-S-SMALL F-F-F-FORTUNE?!" Tamaki began in a melodramatic tone. He then drained of all color even his clothing, as the back drop turned black and he crouched with his mouth wide open. Small pieces of him began to tear like paper until he was nothing more than a big pile of scraps.

"What's the big deal boss?" The twins asked raising their brows. He put himself back together instantaneously and then looked at the twin astonished.

"Don't you two idiots get it?" Tamaki said pulling down a chart from the thin air. The chart was a monthly documentation of Haruhi's payments to the club ending the month prior. He pointed to the steady incline of the graph. "Our beloved Haruhi has more than half her debt to us paid, leaving only 3,420,000 yen left. If she has the money she'll pay us off and no long be in debt to the host club, therefore leaving her with no reason to stay here!"

"Not to mention the 19,000 yen that she earned us so far this month." Kyouya stated, appearing out of nowhere with his laptop in hand, seemingly unfazed by the matter.

"Well as long as she doesn't have more than 3,401,000 yen, then Haru-chan will stay, right?" Honey smiled hopefully from Mori's shoulders.

"Yeah." Mori stated also seemingly unfazed. Suddenly silence settled over them.

"How much is this 'small fortune'?" They heard Haruhi ask from across the room as she picked up her drink and took a sip from it.

"Around 9,000,000 yen." Lilia said plainly.

With that Haruhi spewed her drink on the girl in front of her.

While on the other side of the room the group of guys, with the exception of Kyouya, stood with wide eyes and their mouths agape. They all stammered the same word. "MAH."

MAH is right. Will Haruhi stay is the host club? No promises! Stay tuned for the next chapter of The Psychic Phenomenon and Overcoming Anxiety. (Do keep in mind that 9 million yen is around 87 thousand US dollars) Please remember that reviews are well appreciated... Aka they help me to know that people are actually reading my story! Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed it. (: