A/N: Not entirely satisfied with this chapter but oh well. I hope you all enjoy, my little dumplings~

We managed to get to our seats near enough unnoticed thanks to us sitting near the back. Although the back row were sending us quizzical glances and already starting to gossip mercilessly in hushed whispers. It felt as though my whole body was blushing and I wasn't entirely sure why this was bothering me so much. Had I really come to respect their approval to this extent in merely a year? By the end of class, there were constant swivels of heads as news of my new attire – either cosplay or otherwise – reached the front of the class much to the disdain of our teacher.

As I watched the Hitachiin brothers doodle some odd comic strip on my notebook, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Normally I wouldn't even have it on my person during school hours but a game of snake was helping the time drift by that little bit faster. I flipped the phone open and peered at the screen from the confines of my desk.

Kyoya Ootori (11:24) – Honey's left me a chocolate cake with your name on it, consider it an incentive to make it through today x

Haruhi Fujioka (11:26) – Shadow King's being a rebel and texting during class?! But cake does sound brilliant right about now… As does curling up in bed x

Kyoya Ootori (11:30) – Rebel is my middle name, I'll have you know x

By lunch time, the twins were prepared to whisk me away from prying eyes and the repetitive questions that were about to send all three of us insane. We collapsed in a heap inside Music Room 3 where the only thing there to interrupt us was the possibility of Tamaki wandering in at any moment.

"That was intense and I'm not even the one wearing the dress," Hikaru sighed, slumping onto one of the couches and melting into the upholstery. We joined him seconds later, allowing ourselves to become an organised pile of limbs as I snuggled up between the pair.

I giggled wearily and Kaoru leant towards his brother, pointing to one of the many storage compartments that the host club room held. "We can change that if you really want."

"Nah, I don't have the figure for it fortunately," Hikaru joked.

As the laughter died down, we sunk into silence. We all needed it by now but the thought of going back to class in under an hour was stopping me from relaxing and enjoying the break. "I don't think I can take any more of that. Being centre of attention isn't my favourite thing in the world."

Kaoru yawned and shuffled onto his side to face us both. "Haruhi, it's started now. You need to go out there with your head held high."

"And by tomorrow it'll be old news and everyone will be thinking how stupid they were for ever thinking you were a dude," Hikaru added. "Albeit a reasonably convincing one."

I couldn't bring myself to answer them, mainly because I knew they were right and admitting that would be giving them ammunition against me later on. Instead I cuddled into them further and gave both brothers a quick squeeze which they happily returned. I was just dozing off when the bell sounded through Ouran, informing us that lunch/nap time was over and we had to make it back to classes.

With languid steps, we forced ourselves to trudge back to class but still took our time so to avoid the lunch time traffic as students shuffled about to make it to their assigned rooms. This time there seemed to be less people staring as we made our way into the classroom and I hoped that they had lost interest in me by now.

Minutes crawled past until hosting hours were set to begin. I was dreading Tamaki's reaction to seeing me in a dress. It was a blessing that I hadn't run into him earlier in the day as it was, but as the only host not to be aware of my decision to reveal my real gender, there was a good chance he might be upset.

As the three of us snuck into Music Room 3, the host club king was too busy introducing the new members to one another that our presence went unnoticed for the time being. It took ten minutes for him to turn around and ask Kyoya where we had gotten to, but his eyes fell straight on me. He blinked; once, twice. And nothing. There was no freak out. Surely there must be some mistake and the man before me wasn't in fact Tamaki Suou but an imposter.

He averted his eyes quickly and went on talking to Kyoya in a hushed voice before calling us all to gather round. The host clubs opening time had been pushed back somewhat as we made last minute tweaks to the new set-up of our entourage. Each member was lined up against the regal walls of the music room whilst Tamaki examined them with a critical eye. Although I'm not entirely sure what he was searching for as the amethyst orbs scanned every inch of the boys. I sat nearby at a table as the new hosts were 'inducted' of sorts.

"Right troops! Today is the first of a new era in the host club. We are apparently saying our farewells to our natural type host and welcoming our new recruits," Tamaki bellowed and I could sense the disappointment in his voice as he spoke. "I will be your king, and you… you are my loyal subjects!"

Yasuchika huffed and crossed his arms defiantly, "Since when was a king responsible for commanding meagre soldiers?"

The self-appointed king stuck out a rigid finger and pointed squarely at the frustrated first year. "Replacement Honey, you shall speak only when spoken to!"

Chika's pale skin was glowing red with anger at the French boys remark, "Whaaa-"

Hikaru and Kaoru, who were stood on either side of the easily riled youngster, swung their arms back and delivered simultaneous blows to the back of Chika's head to shut him up, "You heard the king!"

"Now, we must assign you all a hosting type." Tamaki cleared his throat as he paced. "Casanova!"

"It's Kasanoda…" Ritsu muttered gruffly.

Tamaki took a few seconds to ponder, all the while stroking his chin to convey his state of deep thought. Eventually a light bulb flashed above his head and he announced gleefully, "You can be the creepy type."

I took this as the best time to intercept, "Tamaki-senpai, I don't think that will attract many clients. He needs to have something that will make girls want to designate him."

He glanced at me over his shoulder but didn't meet my eye. His innocent voice squeaked out, "Uh, the scary type?"

"Terrifying type?" Hikaru suggested.

Kaoru joined in the apparent free-for-all, "Ugly mug type?"

"Hitachiin brothers, I command you to stick a sock in it!"

Silence fell over us as we all began to ponder. Nobody seemed to be able to find a decent solution so I piped up, "How about the gentle type? Kasanoda-kun isn't as scary as he tries to make out. Plus, there's really no way to put a label on him…"

"I suppose that shall suffice for the time being," Tamaki sighed and marched along to the next new member in line. "Satoshi Morinozuka. Hmmm… What type would you fit? You definitely don't fit your brother's old position."

"Satoshi could possibly be the protective type," Kyoya cut in before there was any nonsense this time around.

"Perfect! Now, all we need now is a type for replacement Honey."

The young Haninozuka looked ready to pounce. "I have a name, you assho-"

Another simultaneous smack courtesy of our identical redheads. I could tell they were getting a kick out of picking on the youngster. "King did not say you could speak!"

"He's the violent type, no doubt about it," Kaoru sighed as he stood over the downed body of Chika who was recovered from the harsh blow.

"The slightly psychotic type, more like."

"Needs to take those glasses off type."

With a loud sigh, I cut in once again. "Let's just call him the strong type and get on with it. We have no idea how their hosting style is going to develop anyway so this is really a pointless exercise, Tamaki-senpai."

The host club king nodded his head firmly in agreement. He stepped back and looked over the new additions to his family and smiley sincerely, "Well then, I hope you newbies are ready. 'Cause we're throwing you in at the deep end."