Ah, the first day of school. You could be a three-time repeat and still never get used to the idea of school. I wonder how Kein is holding up.

And chill, you will see the Host Club very soon.

Is this some sort of joke? Starting school on a Monday shouldn't be legal. Not only am I in full-weekend mode, but I really don't want to listen to people talk for hours on end in the first place. I've reviewed all my classes already and luckily, I have most of my supplies. I've got a few guides around the school and some kids who are willing to study with me. Since they're first years like me, it doesn't matter if I'm a middle-class man because they'd never know.

A new friend from class is telling me about the many clubs around school when something she says catches my attention. "...but don't bother with trying to court anyone anytime soon. The host club pretty much has monopoly over every girl's heart nowadays."

I lifted my head from my hands. "A monopoly?" Surely, that couldn't be. Some of these girls had beaux of their own and thus could not possibly fall for them. Then again, these young men were expert charmers according to Yasuko. She had invested a lot of time trying to court Kaoru, even though he was very much occupied with his own brother.

I remember something else now. Yasuko had asked me to tell the host club she was fine before she passed...so I was to be a bearer of bad tidings. but what would they say? Would they grieve and shut the club down? Would Kaoru quit? Would they even care? What was I thinking-of course they would. She's a very lovable girl, so they must empathize. Besides, she and Tamaki Suoh essentially saved the student body so naturally he must want to know what happened to his partner. So in that respect maybe he would take it the hardest. To tax him like that would be...

I got up and shook my head. No, I couldn't tell them just yet. "I have to go. I'll see you later." I dashed out of the library, my friend calling my name. I made my way to the top of the building. A boy was making his way down the steps as I was coming up. Tamaki!

I tripped in an attempt to dodge his glance. Crap, why now of all times? He saw me and lifted me up by my arm. "Sir, are you alright?" I pulled away, but he caught me again and lifted my chin. He recognized me and gasped. "Dao-kohai! Are you alright?"

I couldn't let the likes of him see me troubled. I ran off again, with him following close behind. "Just please leave me be, Suoh-sempaii," I shouted. I heard him stop. Now was the time to escape. I sprinted into the music room at the end of the hall. I closed the door behind me and leaned against it. Alone at last...with about four dozen girls. I stammered, looking for a way to express my apology. Hold up. Top floor of the South building, the music room that is never used...this was the Host Club! Craaaap! I sank to my knees in defeat. Great, I was in their domain and they could obviously see me. Now I had no choice but to tell them. No, I could still escape in time.

I turned around on my knees to open the door again...just to get slammed in the head by Tamaki walking in the door. The ladies gasped, as did Tamaki. "Oh my gosh! Keindrich, I am so sorry! I had no idea you were right there! I came looking for you and now you're...Keindrich!" I couldn't hear much afterward because my hearing began to fade. My head hurt immensely and my sight was almost immediately blurred. Is this how a girl feels when she faints...?

Tamaki shook the boy's shoulders gently. "Please, Kein, stay with us." But it was pointless-he was knocked out cold. He gestured toward a boy with glasses. "Kyoya, we need a first aid kit." Then to a rather tall one, "Mori-sempaii, set him on a desk." Then to a short boy, "Honey-sempaii, please make sure Kein's vitals are alright." To a pair of redhead twins, "Kaoru, Hikaru, help our guests out of the room please." Then finally he addresses a short-haired girl who just walked in as everyone else hurried out. "Haruhi, you and I shall tend to the wounds once Kyoya returns."

Haruhi looked about her and sighed. She then caught sight of their new companion. "Tamaki-sempaii, what happened? Did this kid trip on his way in?"

"The boss came in looking for him..." said one twin. "...and knocked Keindrich out as he was trying to leave," said the other. They both joined together in saying, "Once again the boss is a klutz."

"Now's not the time for mockery! This is serious," Tamaki shouted.

Mori set Keindrich down on the desk. He lifted one of his straw-colored bangs from his face. The area where the door collided with his forehead was bruised and tender, somewhat resembling the flesh of a fig. His forehead wrinkled and his brow furrowed in strain. Listening closely, Mori could hear him wheezing a little. "A serious concussion."

Honey pressed his thumb to Keindrich's wrist. He counted the time off. "About one hundred-fifty beats per minute." He felt the area of his forehead that was not afflicted. "He's running a high fever. It's serious alright."

Kyoya came back with a gray box bearing the Ootori family seal. Haruhi opened it and took a cotton ball and small bottle out. He poured a few drops of the contents on the ball and dabbed the wound. Keindrich's brows furrowed even more and his teeth came together like he was trying to clench them. Tamaki wrapped gauze around his head. Kyoya then placed a cold compress overtop.

Everyone backed up from Keindrich. The only thing left to do was to let him rest. Hopefully, he would wake up before his folks got worried. "I'm sure his parents would be worried," Kyoya said, "so I'll see if I can get their number and tell them what happened." After a minute of looking in his book, he found the number and dialed.

"Hello, Mr. Daokiju. This is Kyoya Ootori. I'm afraid your son has sustained an injury and must stay overnight to heal...I'm surprised...is that so? Well what about your daugh..." He gasped. "Honestly...I'm very sorry to hear that. I offer you my condolences. Do not worry. We shall take care of Keindrich. Good day, sir." He hung up and sighed. "Let's go."

Kaoru looked at him. "We can't just leave Kein-chan here. Listen, our mansion has a guest bedroom. He can stay with us tonight." Hikaru frowned at him. "Yasuko was a good friend of ours and she's been there for us since she started visiting. It's only right I return the favor. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

Hikaru shrugged. "So long as you're sure about this." He picked their friend up and carried him out the door with the rest of the group. "But he's staying in his own bed."

Kyoya was the last one out. He took a last look at the 'scene of the crime' so to speak. "Who inches toward a door on their knees? This family is just full of tragedies aren't they?"

Keindrich

Oh my gosh, I'm dead. Tamaki just killed me with a door. I'm going to hell, I'm dead. I can't open my eyes. Is it safe or are a bunch of demon-snobs sneering demonically at me? I hate this place, I don't wanna be in...

A fancy bedroom. Okay, so I wasn't dead, simply hallucinating. I did hit my head pretty hard, so it figures. Looking down, I saw that I was wearing red satin pajamas. There were little knickknacks lying about the room. So it seems that I'm rich. I really hoped the next hallucination was a cute girl in a linen nightgown walking in and kissing me on the forehead saying "Good morning, my sweet."

To my surprise the door opened and in came not one-but two brunette maids. They come to the side of my bed and say, "Good morning, Mr. Daokiju." Whoop! Twin maids at my disposal-even better! "Masters Hikaru and Kaoru wished us to call you down to breakfast." Dang it. No sexy maids for Kein.

Wait, did they say 'Masters Hikaru and Kaoru'? I'm in the Hitachiin Manor! I suppose they brought me here after my accident. Come to think of it, I felt a small migraine coming on just now. I'm in pain, so this definitely was not a dream. I was really here. Thank you Host Club!

The maids picked me up out of bed and set me down on the floor. "Shall we help you get ready for school. We've dry cleaned your uniform and polished your shoes." I gasped. So this is what Hikaru and Kaoru get to have every day. Then I saw the glint of their eyes. If the Hitachiins themselves are reckless and these ladies serve them...oh boy.

I got caught in a flurry of clothes and hands. These maids did not mess around. Then I heard them gasp. Great, they know about that. I gestured for them to keep quiet. If the twins found out about my malformation, I'd never live it down. They nodded and continued to dress me. They brushed my hair out and tied it back, then put bobby pins in to hold one of my bangs.

I looked at myself in the mirror afterward. The first thing I saw was that huge lump on my forehead. I suppose I considered myself to have a severe concussion. I was kind of irate that they had tied my hair into a side bun and put chopsticks in-as if to make fun of my long hair-but I really did like their work on my uniform. I looked like a professional clerk. It would have been perfect had I not been a dude. I gave them a thumbs up. "Nice work, ladies."

"Thank you. Now hurry up and get to breakfast while there's still time!" You know, it's odd how they speak at once consistently. How can the patriarch stand them and his sons speaking at once like that? Nevermind that. I wasn't going to starve today. Food!

What a morning. The servants were all so nice to me and had laid out plenty of protein rich foods and citrus fruits for vitamins. I was sure to thank Kaoru and Hikaru for letting me stay with them. They actually seemed glad to have me over for the night and were also super nice to me.

We talked all through breakfast about our parents' jobs and our teachers. I was able to tell them apart after a few minutes because of their voices, which amused them greatly. I learned that my sister Yasuko stayed with them on Monday evenings to help plan the club's activities. That took care of part of my anxiety.

Apparently, much was said about eachother between visits, especially about me. "But from what Yasuko told us, we didn't expect you to be so cute," Hikaru murmured. I covered the bottom half of my face with my napkin to conceal my blush. They thought I was cute? Bah, they're probably making fun of my girly hair. Even so, they were quite charming themselves. "Well, you are our little brother now, so I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise."

I blinked. "Yes," Kaoru continued. "Yasuko and I are somewhat of an item now. Since you're her brother, we consider you our brother as well." How sweet.

Their affection for me made it harder to bear the news to them. What if they got upset at me and never wanted to talk to me again? No, that was ridiculous. They'd probably get more mad if I didn't tell them. Well, all I had to do was to say one sentence and then it was out. I sighed. "Actually, about...about Yasuko." They focused on me with hard honeyed eyes. Three more words. 'She passed away.' Not that hard. "I'm afraid that she..." Dang, too chicken to finish.

Kaoru gasped and covered his mouth. Hikaru stared at his plate and clenched his teeth and fist. There was heat rising in one's face and tears on the other's. Hikaru banged the table. "Do you mean to tell us that she was unfaithful? Her of all people?" Kaoru tapped his arm and motioned for him to sit down. "Kaoru..."

He kept his gaze on me. "Tamaki told us about the accident. We know she got hurt and was in pretty bad shape." I could hear his voice cracking further than normal. "She's a strong girl though. She had a chance." His lips quivered as he spoke. "Please tell me that there's a chance that she's still alive." I didn't answer. He knew it was over. He sobbed into his napkin, Hikaru hanging onto him.

I couldn't really stand to see him that way. Thus I looked away and concealed my own tears. "I'm sorry. I tried to find her. I knew she was a strong girl and I did what I-" Hikaru put up his hand to cut me off. He was glaring through his tears. I felt ashamed. It wasn't my fault but I couldn't suppress some sort of dread.

He stared up at me again. "So that's why you ran away from Tamaki, I presume." There was a venom in his voice that terrified me. He came around the table to my seat. I flinched. I could tell that he was mad. From what I heard, he had a bad temper and now I've evoked it. I was sure he would yell and curse me out for delaying in telling him. Or worse, he might actually hit me!

I felt him yank me upwards by the wrist. I braced myself to be struck, but instead, he let go of me. Before I could react, I felt him wrap his arms around me and him pressing his forehead to mine. He was shivering and I felt tears fall on my head. "It's okay. You're scared and anxious, like us." I gazed at him. He forced a smile through his tears. "You didn't have to be afraid to tell us. Like we said, you're our little brother now."

Kaoru got up and rested his head on mine, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. "She was our dear friend," he whispered, "but your sister first. We don't know how it feels to lose a sibling, but we'd be devastated if the other was injured or killed. I can only imagine how hard it was to admit such a thing."

"There's more to it." They tightened their grips. But this time I continued without hesitation. "You see, she didn't come home until Friday each week. I now know where she spent Mondays, but there is still more I don't get. I have a bad feeling about her."

"Shush," they both said at once. "It's been a harsh week. Relax."

My head ached once more-a result of my crying and previous head injury. My legs felt rickety and sore. Don't faint, don't faint! "I feel dizzy. We've got to get to the car before I pass out." They nodded and rushed me to their limousine. We all took a nap on the way to school, resting my head on Hikaru's shoulder and then Kaoru's on mine. I was glad to have 'big brothers' and friends to lean on. I'm sure Yasuko valued them too.

Again, feel like crying. Iced coffee and a freezing room don't help. I should probably revise the description a bit. I don't know why, but I always seem to deviate from my original plans. The curse of easy inspiration. But that can wait for now.

I have to say that this was my favorite chapter so far. Despite it being the most recent and the ending being low-caliber.

I'm dedicating this story now to my dear friends-Sammy, Matt, Eric, Sara, Bobby, Quayah & Josh-my parents, and my child sister Madison-who is perfectly happy and lively and I pray long out-lives me. They mean a lot to me and even though I get moody, I can always lean on them.