I'd like to thank my friends Tracey4t and artsygeek9796 for helping me.

"Oh my, Tamaki. You have an apprentice?" said a girl with silky black hair and full lips, one of Tamaki's regular clients. The boy was sitting at their table, watching the king perform his hosting.

Yes," he replied, "he's still in elementary school, but I like the fire in his eyes."

"But are you sure it's ok for such a young boy to become a host?"

"Well, why wouldn't it be? Love has nothing to do with age. Take us for instance." He gazed into her eyes, vibrant purplish irises shimmering under golden lashes.

"Whenever I look at you, my heart starts pounding. Suddenly, I feel no different than a love-sick little boy."

"Oh, Tamaki," she swooned.

"Don't you think it's weird he's making the kid observe him up close like that?" Haruhi asked Kyoya.

"There is a theory that people are considered more beautiful the closer they are viewed. Tamaki seems to live by that theory. Well, let's leave them alone."

Haruhi humphs, leaving the host-in-training to keep staring intensely at the act.

"You naughty girl, you've drawn me to the forbidden fruit. Dearest, you're the mermaid who's brought light into my lonely sea. My mermaid princess," he sighed.

"I remind you of a mermaid?"

"You look more like the carp that swim in my pond at home," Shiro said flatly, "I'd never give false comments like that."

Tamaki began to stammer as he tried to reassure his guest. "Oh, don't listen to him. He's just a kid. You know how kids are; they can't help but be honest."

"Honest?" the girl cried.

"But that's just his opinion and I wouldn't say you looked like a carp. And even if you did look like a carp, you'd be the most beautiful carp of them all…"

"So I am a carp!"

"Uh no...that's not what I meant..."

"Tamaki, you're an idiot!" she shouted as she ran away.

"No wait, mermaid princess!" he cried after her.

Shiro simply rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Man, what a crybaby."

"You'd think Tamaki would've handled that better," said Mayumi as Tamaki growled at Shiro.

"So how's it going, Boss?" Hikaru asked between laughs, "That's an adorable little apprentice you got there."

Kaoru looked down to the floor. "Hikaru, do you wish you had a little brother like Shiro?"

"Don't be silly," Hikaru said, embracing his younger twin, "I could search the globe and I'd never find a better brother than you, Kaoru."

"Hikaru…"

"I think you two are enough Hitachiin offspring to last for a while," said Mayumi in a deadpan tone.

"Their Forbidden Brotherly Love!" a girl squealed.

"Ah, they're homos and they're brothers! That's so wrong!" Shiro said, shuddering.

"I'm kind of starting to like this kid," said Mayumi.

"Who are you anyway, lady? You look too poor and unimportant to be a guest here," said Shiro.

Mayumi's eye twitched. "You wanna repeat that?"

"Yeah you little punk, say that again. I dare you!" Hikaru added.

"You...look...too...poor...and...unimportant...to...be...a...guest...here," the boy sounded out every word in a taunting way.

"And you look like someone who would be a lot of fun bouncing out of a window!" Hikaru said clenching his fist. "Don't you say something like that about Mayumi!"

The boy raised his eyebrow. 'Maybe he's not as homo as I thought...' he considered when he felt a sudden weight on his shoulders.

"Hey, Shiro-chan! You want to have a piece of cake with me?" Honey asked cheerfully, "We got three kinds. Chocolate, strawberry, and lime."

Shiro pushed Hunny off his back. "Hey, back off! What grade are you in anyway? Why are you wearing a high school uniform?"

"Because he's 17," Akane came up and explained.

"Are you as dumb as you look?" Shiro asked.

"Excuse me?" Akane asked, feeling insulted. A menacing aura enveloped around her that read I'm-not-afraid-to-punish-a-little-kid.

"You shouldn't talk so mean to Akane like that," said Hunny.

"Who asked you?!" Shiro snapped.

"Something wrong, Mitskuni?" Mori asked, his tall form casting a shadow over the cowering Shiro.

"That's not fair! A little kid like you isn't supposed to have a cool older friend like him!"

Hunny climbed onto Mori's back, whining.

"But they're in the same grade, and this is my big brother," Akane said, grabbing Mori's arm.

"That's not fair. How could a dumb looking person like you have such a scary older brother like him!"

"You want to talk about a dumb looking kid? Go look in a mirror!" Kaoru said.

"Surprised you knew what a mirror is. You just have to look at your equally dumb brother to know if you look right," said Shiro.

Mayumi had enough of this kid. "Ok mister, I think you need a time-out," she said in a low tone, and roughly grabbed his ear.

"Hey, hey let go!" Shiro said as he backed away, and bumped into Haruhi.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "I know, it's kind of hard getting used to all the weirdos around here. It took a me while to get adjusted to all the craziness. So don't freak out; I'm sure you'll get used to it." Shiro looked at her, almost analyzing her until he had to ask:

"Are you a cross-dresser?"

Mayumi was surprised by how panicked Tamaki and the twins suddenly started to act over Shiro's obvious snide comment.

"Ok, that's enough. I think Shiro should take care of the tea for us, don't you?" Tamaki suggested nervously.

"Wow Haruhi, you're looking extra manly today," Kaoru forced the compliment out.

"Now do what the boss says and let Shiro take that tea set. It's part of his training. You're too macho for tea sets," Hikaru said as he pat her on the shoulder.

"Now be careful with it, it's heavy," said Haruhi, handling it to the kid who promptly dropped it.

"It's not my fault that I dropped it. It's your fault because you're the one who made me take it in the first place," said Shiro.

"Say what?" Haruhi said looking like she was going to strangle the kid.

Kyoya spoke out. "Haruhi, that's another 100,000 yen."

"Hey, you should make the cross-dresser do all your stupid chores! I'm not here to carry tea sets! I'm here to learn how to make women happy!"

"You won't get anywhere with that attitude," Tamaki explained, his face twitching with irritation, "And I am not going to let you disrespect Haruhi, Mayumi or Akane! So...Put this brat in isolation!" Tamaki pointed at Shiro. At that moment, a cage fell from the ceiling and landed on the boy.

"Where did that come from?!" Mayumi cried.

"This is supposed to be a music room, right?" asked Haruhi.

Shiro gripped the bars of the cage, scowling at the hosts. "This is no way to treat your loyal apprentice! Now let me out of this cage!"

"No! Not until you've learned your lesson," Tamaki said.

"Did you guys have this cage in here this whole time?" Mayumi asked.

Tamaki just sat in his chair with a cup of tea. "I made you my apprentice because I thought you were serious about becoming a host, but I guess I was wrong."

"I am serious, totally serious! I want you to teach me how to make a woman happy. I'm gonna run out of time. Please, won't you teach me?" the boy begged, "You're a host because you like girls. You like bringing a smile to a girl's face. That's why you do it, right? Please won't you teach me to be like you? You're a genius at it!"

"He seems pretty desperate," Akane noted, "I mean, he's going as far as to call Tama-chan a genius."

"He's getting through to Tamaki," said Mayumi who noticed Tamaki looked happy again.

"Well, you may be a brat, but I admire your desire to become a host, so I'll teach you. You know, Shiro, you and I are so much alike."

"What?" asked Mayumi, confused.

Haruhi shook her head. "You poor kid."

"Then, you'll help me become the kind of host that can make any women happy?" Shiro asked in a hopeful voice.

"Of course, making women happy is the sole purpose of being a host. If that is what you really want, Shiro, then you'll have to figure out how to use the material you already have."

"Uh type?" Shiro asked.

"You see, here at the Ouran Host Club, our policy is to use our individual personality traits to meet the needs of our guests," Kyoya explained. "For example, there's Tamaki, who is the princely type. There's the strong silent, but wild type. The boy-Lolita type. The little devils type. And the cool type. It's all about variety and now our group is complete with the addition of Haruhi, the natural."

"The Natural?" asked Haruhi, dumbfounded.

"Call me crazy, but I get the feeling this kid's in love with someone," Mayumi whispered the Akane.

"At his age?" Akane asked.

"If you go by his age, he should be the boy-Lolita type," said Hikaru.

"But Honey-senpai's already got that covered," Kaoru reminded.

"Is he going to replace me?" Honey asked worriedly.

"Oh come on! Is that all you got?" a voice rang out.

Suddenly, they felt the floor shaking and a platform rose from below, a girl proudly standing in the center of it.

"Is that Renge?" Akane asked, groaning.

"What's up with this place?" Haruhi asked. "It's supposed to be a music room."

"Sorry to interrupt gentlemen, but what's with the lackluster character analysis? I must say I'm quite disappointed. I thought I taught you better."

"Who invited her into this conversation?" Mayumi asked annoyed.

"All righty then, Miss Manager, how would you work Shiro into our collection of characters?" asked Tamaki. "He can't be the boy-Lolita because Hunny's already got that covered.

Renge sighed. "You just don't get it, do you? Now listen up! There are plenty of girls out there who have a thing for younger boys or boys with baby faces. These girls would be considered Shota fans. Now Shota can be a very broad category. So it's important to know that the genre can be broken down into many different smaller sub-categories. For example, Shota fans with an interest in Lolita boys would favor a boy like Haninozuka-senpai. If I had to pick a character for him...Yes! He'd be the naughty boy type without a doubt!"

"The naughty type?" Shiro asked.

"Renge, he's just a kid. He shouldn't be such a womanizer at that age. Besides, I think he's interested in one girl in particular," Mayumi said to the otaku.

"Not now!" Renge hissed.

"She's not listening," said Akane, shaking her head.

"So what else is new?" Haruhi asked.

"Now to play up the naughty type, you have to wear shorts," she instructed, now realizing he was already wearing shorts. "Okay...You gotta have bumps and bruises. Give him a couple of scars!" The host club began to place Band-Aids and draw fake scars on him. "Run like a spoiled child! Make it reckless...Now I want you to trip and make it big!"

"You want to purposely hurt the kid?!" Mayumi asked, "I admit he had it coming, but still! Can we focus on the bigger issue here?!"

"This will help with the bigger issue! " Renge insisted.

"Why do I have the feeling we're both talking about two different issues? Yours being wanting the naughty boy type in real life? That's kind of sick don't you think?"

Then they both noticed Shiro just laying there.

"Are you okay, little boy?" the otaku asked sweetly before saying, "Now, give'em your catch phrase!"

"No big deal. It was nothing," he said, getting more frustrated.

"OH, that was perfect! Absolutely perfectly, Shiro!"

Tamaki started to applaud. "That was outstanding. I never knew you were such a great coach, Renge."

It was then that Shiro lost it. "They're idiots. They're all a bunch of idiots. I've have enough of you people! This is so stupid! None of this is ever gonna help me make her happy!" He ran out of the room.

Tamaki shouted after the boy, "Wait, Shiro! We haven't taught you how to apply the techniques you've learned yet!"

"I swear younger boys are good for nothing. I went to all the trouble to coach him and then HE QUITS," said Renge as she disappeared.

"Yeah, go crawl back into your hole, troll," said Mayumi to herself.

"I can't believe he ditched us because he didn't like the lesson. What a selfish little brat," Tamaki added.

With what Tamaki just said, something just snapped inside Mayumi.

"Tamaki, did you listen to some of the things he was saying?!" her voice had risen. "He was trying to tell us to listen! He couldn't believe how blind we all were, how we couldn't see! I don't think he wanted to impress women, just one woman, or a girl even, possibly a classmate! He was pleading with us because he was running out of time for something!"

The redhead started panting for breath.

"Okay, calm down," Hikaru said, comforting her with a hand on her shoulder.

"I think she's right though," said Haruhi.

"We should figure out what's going on," said Akane.

:The next day:

"Um, Tamaki, what exactly is the purpose of this plan exactly?" Mayumi asked as she, Akane and most of the other host club members all stood in a closet spying on Haruhi and Hunny dressed as underclassmen.

"Oh it's a very good plan. It'll help us help Shiro. You'll see," said Tamaki.

"Okay, I can kind of understand why Hunny-Sempai is wearing an elementary school uniform. But why is Haruhi in a middle school uniform?" Mayumi asked.

"She looks like a little doll!" Tamaki said with delight.

Mayumi narrowed her eyes. "You just wanted to see her dressed like that? You can be such a pervert sometimes. Are you really sure we're here to help Shiro?"

"Of course," said Tamaki, "if I could, I'd help everyone on the planet."

"Sure," said Mayumi as she rolled her eyes.

"No, I'm serious," said Tamaki, turning to face her, "There's just something about knowing you could put a little good back into the world." There was something in Tamaki's voice that sounded so sincere, which made Mayumi want to believe him.

"Let me put it like this. If you can prove it by fixing this Shiro's problem, then I'll believe you."

They all watched as Haruhi and Hunny dash off together.

"Come on let's go," said Tamaki.

"Wait, we're following them?" Mayumi asked as she tagged along after the hosts. "So there really was no reason to dress Haruhi up?"

Tamaki sweatdropped.

Hunny pointed to a door. "This is it, Shiro-chan's classroom. When I was in elementary school, this was my classroom too!"

"There's nobody here," Haruhi noticed.

"So the kid's classroom is empty, isn't it?" Tamaki asked as he entered the room, the others following.

"This sure takes me back," Hikaru said, a tinge of nostalgia in his voice.

"I wonder if doodles are still on my desk," Kaoru said, looking at it's surface.

"Doubtful. The school changes the desk every year," Kyoya informed him.

"Hey, if you're just gonna barge in here like that, then why are we wearing these stupid disguises?" Haruhi asked, mad at the sudden drop of the plan.

"Yeah really," said Mayumi.

"Don't worry about it," Hikaru dismissed.

"There's no one here to catch us," Kaoru added.

"That's not the point. You probably humiliated Haruhi making her dress like this!"

They suddenly heard footsteps that sounded like a teacher. Everyone ducked under the different desks.

"If the teacher finds us…" Kaoru whispered.

"...we'll have a hard time explaining why we snuck in," Hikaru finished.

"Shh, shut-up guys!" Haruhi hissed.

"Zip it up!" Mayumi whisper-yelled at them as she motioned them to zip their lips. She looked annoyed that they did that literally. Both she and Haruhi shared a look before they heard the sound of the footsteps walking away.

"It's all right. He's gone," Haruhi said after checking if the coast was clear, "but you guys, we came here to get the scoop on Shiro, not relive the past. So what do you think we should do now?"

Kyoya observed some photos that were hanging on the wall. "Well, here's something interesting."

"What did you find?" Haruhi asked joining him by the pegboard.

Mayumi also came to take a look and saw different photos of Shiro playing the piano with a cute little girl. "It's Shiro."

"So, he's in the classical music club," Kyoya noted.

"He looks like he's enjoying himself. It's nice to see him with a smile on his face. I had no idea he could look so sweet," Haruhi admitted.

Yeah," Tamaki sighed.

"So, should we go check the music room?" Akane asked.

"It'd probably be the best place to start looking for him," said Haruhi.

Walking over to the elementary school's music room, they peered through the windows.

"There he is. There's Shiro-chan!" Hunny said excitedly.

The hosts all watched as a little girl came over to him and asked if he wanted to play with her. He told her no, saying since there's only one grand piano and that she should use it. With a smile, the little girl walked away from the little boy to play the piano. They could see Shiro smile as he watched her.

An elementary schoolgirl walked out of the music room, and Tamaki proceeded to kindly walked over to her and offered her up a rose.

"Pardon me, mademoiselle. I've never seen a rose more lovely than you my dear. Here, this is for you." The girl blushed. "I was wondering if you could tell me anything about that young lady playing the piano. Do you know her?"

"That's Hina Kamishiro," she told the blonde host.

"Her name is Hina?"

"That's right, but you better not fall in love with her."

"Why?" he asked confused.

"Didn't you know? Hina has to move away soon. Her dad just got a new job in Germany. So they have to move there at the end of the week," said the girl.

Shiro walked out the classroom, catching sight of the host club. "What do you think you're doing!? I want you idiots to leave immediately!"

At that Tamaki grabbed Shiro and hoisted him over his shoulder. Despite Shiro's protests, Tamaki marched off with him, accompanied by the others without saying a word.

Returning to the music room, Tamaki threw Shiro onto a couch.

"What is your problem, you big idiot!?"

"I'm sorry but you're the idiot!" Tamaki said sternly. "You said that you wanted me to teach you how to make women happy, but that's not it, is it? You're not concerned with the happiness of just any woman. You've got your sights set on one woman in particular. You only care about one and that's Hina Kamishiro! But I'm afraid, there's nothing I can do to help you with that." Shiro's gaze fell to the floor, and his tone softened. "Listen, Shiro. I know that I told you it's the job of a host to make women happy. But when you can for someone, you must find the courage to express what is in your heart! You have to tell her how you feel about her! You didn't come to me looking to become a full-fledged host. You want to be a full-fledged man."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Shiro said sadly, "I've run out of time. I just...I wanted to hear her play before she left for good. That's all."

"That piece she played, it's Mozart's sonata in D major for two pianos, isn't it?"

He walked over and pulled a cover off of something to reveal a piano.

"There's a piano in here?" Haruhi asked in disbelief.

"Because it's a Music Room, Haru-chan," answered Akane as if it was a silly question, walking up to another piano next to Tamaki's. Haruhi looked around annoyed as the other hosts all made similar comments.

"Let it go," Mayumi said calmly.

Tamaki and Akane each sat down at a grand piano, looking once more at each other, before letting their fingers play on the keys. Both Mayumi and Haruhi were surprised to hear Tamaki play.

"Awesome..." Shiro awed.

"For the next week you will spend your mornings, lunches, recesses, and free time after school in piano lessons with me and Akane," Tamaki started to say.

"But why?"

"You wanted to be my apprentice, right? Besides, that young lady looked like she wanted nothing more than play the piano with you."

"I'll gladly help with that," said Akane, "but don't think I'll go easy on you. Prepare yourself for the hardest training you've ever had."

:A few days, later...:

Mayumi and Akane were wearing gowns the same color as the hosts' special cream-colored jackets with red ribbons.

"How did they let us talk us into this? We're not even Host Club members," Mayumi asked her.

"True but Shiro's my pupil and you've been watching the lessons. We're a part of this," said Akane.

"Oh, she's here," Tamaki said, excited.

"You got to admit, this is kind of sweet of all of them," Haruhi said as everyone moved into position.

The door opened and there stood Hina looking confused and a little scared.

"Welcome Princess, we've been waiting," said all the upperclassmen.

Mayumi and Akane curtsied. "Welcome, Princess." Poor Hina looked overwhelmed.

"I present you Shiro Takaoji's piano recital," Tamaki said leading Hina towards the world grand pianos the host had put into the music room. Shiro was already sitting at one. "If you please, princess."

"Let's play together, Hina," Shiro said, offering his hand.

"Okay!" Hina said sounding happier about the situation. She quickly took their seat and started to play together. As the two kids played, the Host Club and the girls watched with smiles on their faces.

Tamaki sighed. "We did a good thing."

Mayumi looked towards Tamaki as he said that. He looked really happy about the whole thing. "You know Tamaki, you might be good with kids after all."

"Yes, I think so," said Tamaki.

"I used to think you were such a clown, but I think I changed mind about you. Just a little, so don't let it go to your head."

"Hmm, well I suppose I can be happy with being seen in a new light," said Tamaki.

Haruhi came up to the blonde. "He loves with all his heart. So I guess that's one more way Shiro takes after you, huh Senpai?"

"Why yes, I'd say so," Tamaki said as he smiled.

Mayumi noticed Haruhi was smiling at him, a very affectionate smile.

10 days later, Shiro was once again at the host club, surrounded by a bunch of girls.

"So, you've been exchanging e-mails with Hina everyday now that in Germany?" asked Haruhi.

"Yeah, more or less," said Shiro. "I like her, but she can get pretty jealous for an elementary school girl. She'd be upset if she knew I was with you ladies, so let's keep this our little secret."

Girls fawned over the boy. "Oh, isn't he the cutest?...his little girlfriend is so lucky...I wish I had brother just like him."

"Naughty boys are the best."

"I could kiss you."

Mayumi giggled a little at that scene until she hear a faint growl.

She turned around to see Tamaki getting angry, obviously jealous of Shiro's popularity while Hikaru and Kaoru tried holding him down. "You brat, what are you doing?! Those are my guests!"

"Well, it looks like they've found someone they like better. It's so easy to steal your customers. I think there's a new host king in town," Shiro said with a smug smile.

"I thought he'd make it through without exploding this time," said Kaoru.

"We should have known he was going to blow up sooner or later," Hikaru shrugged.

Both Mayumi and Haruhi looked at each other.

"Shiro really does have a lot in common with Tamaki-senpai," said Haruhi.

"Yeah, something tells me that Tamaki was a spoiled brat when he was a kid, too," said Mayumi.

"I was not a spoiled brat! I was nothing like him when I was a kid! I was a sweet, innocent, precocious adorable child! Do you hear me!?" Tamaki retorted loudly.

Mayumi couldn't help but laugh at that.