A/N: Managed to get a couple of chapters written up today, but I'm not gonna spoil you and post this one right away, muahaha.

Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying the story, my little ducklings~

"Haruhi? Haruhi, are you in here?" Kaoru poked his head through the door, scanning the room with feline eyes before coming across me sitting on the floor amidst the rails of clothing. "What the hell are you doing on the floor?"

I remained silent as he wandered over to join me. A tear trickled down my cheek but I wouldn't allow myself to become a sobbing mess. "Huh, Haruhi, what's wrong? Who's ass do I have to go kick?!"

"No ones."

Two arms wrapped around me and held me tightly against his chest for support, but I still didn't let myself break down into a full blown pity party. "The girls were fine with you being a girl, I thought you'd be relieved."

I scrubbed my cheek roughly, destroying as much of the evidence of my crying as I could. "It's not the girls… Tamaki, he…"

"What's Tono done now?" Kaoru growled, going into overly protective brother more. "Did he do something perverted?!"

"Not exactly perverted," I uttered. My glassy doe eyes flickered up to meet his sharp, burning depths. "Kaoru, he told me he loves me. He kissed me. Told me that both you, Hikaru and Kyoya are only out there to break my heart. It makes no sense. We're all supposed to be friends, so why would he say that?"

The dam broke and tears leaked down my face as I clung to the surprised twin with all my might. After taking a second to process what I'd just said, he pulled me into his lap and stroked my back softly as he murmured calming words in my ear.

"Love inspires people to do and say crazy things," he pulled me back to look me full in the eye. "And don't worry, I'm not out to break your heart. I am however gonna go out there and break Tono's nose for making you cry."

For a moment I wanted to laugh, a proper hearty laugh that would echo throughout the room. But it subsided quickly. I pressed a kiss to his cheek and hugged him appreciatively – and at the same time to stop him from actually going through with that plan. "Don't. Just… stay with me?"

"I'm not going anywhere."

Hikaru POV

Kaoru had wandered off to the bathroom almost a full hour ago and I was torn between worry and stress at keeping the ladies at bay. Without Kaoru I couldn't truly perform the taboo twin act that they came to see every day. Tamaki was moping around and bringing us all down but the girls pandered to his every need to try and cheer him up – leaving me and Kyoya to direct the new hosts as they tried to get into the swing of their new roles.

Casanova wasn't doing too badly. In fact, he'd almost won over Haruhi's entire client base as well as a fraction of Mori's previous clientele. He was like a deer in the headlights talking to so many girls at one time, but he was clearly enjoying the experience. At least he could be left to his own devices and hopefully not mess up too badly.

The worry lay in Yasuchika and Satoshi's hosting skills. While Satoshi was doing a great job of wooing the ladies and attracting a decent amount of customers to his table, his cousin was doing an equally good job of chasing people away.

A swift swipe of a shinai caught the younger Haninozuka on the back of the head. "Chika, you need to be nice to the girls! You can't insult such beauty!"

"Beauty?!" Chika cried in pain. "That girl had more makeup on than clothing."

Unsatisfied with his cousin's answer, Satoshi crossed his arms and stared down Chika with a disappointed glare. "Then you should have told her she would be more breath taking au natural."

At that, the girls swooned. "Oh, Satoshi-kun!"

"Yasuchika-kun," one girl approached the angry first year. "Those glasses look dirty, would you like me to clean them for you? Otherwise you'll never be able to see."

"He doesn't actually need the glasses. They only work to make him look older," Satoshi informed the girl, despite it only being a half truth. She blinked back in confusion at the pair, but reached out and snatched the glasses off his face before he could argue. Everyone turned to see how the transformation of the Haninozuka and smiled at the improvement.

"You don't need them, Chika-kun. Such lovely brown eyes shouldn't be hidden with these dingy frames," the girl cooed, pink dusting her cheeks.

Satoshi was clearly enjoying watching his cousin fumble for words as his cheeks blazed crimson. "I- uh, you… you really think so?"

The table all nodded in mutual agreement leaving the boy anxiously rubbing at his wrists to stop himself from stealing the frames back and perching them safely on his nose. It was the first time that I'd ever seen him without the glasses and it was quite an improvement to say the least.

Things seemed to be going smoothly from there on out, although my table seemed overcrowded and hard to please. Where was Haruhi when I needed her? Wait, where was she?

I excused myself from the demanding girls for a minute and relished the short break. Kyoya was entertaining a small group of stray girls that were new to the club, but he didn't seem too busy that I couldn't interrupt. I tapped him firmly on the shoulder and he peered back at me expectantly. "Kyoya-senpai, could you go look for Haruhi and Kaoru for me? They've been gone for too long."

"I believe Kaoru had gone to collect Haruhi from the changing room a while back. Their absence shouldn't be a worry. We can handle the girls between us," The shadow king drawled out confidently, skimming through his black notebook. That was the cue to get back to hosting and just deal with it. Our financial director turned back to his designations and shone a plastic smile at them and continued his hosting routine.

Grudgingly, I wandered back to my table alone. It was tempting to go figure out what they were doing in the walk in wardrobe for so long. Images flashed through my mind of all the weird things that could be going on behind those closed doors: some that amused me, some that both angered and terrified me. If I knew my brother, he wouldn't be in there skiving off work, so all I could do was trust that he'd return as soon as he could. "Sorry for the wait, ladies. Would anyone like some more coffee?"