A/N: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club or The Seven Deadly Sins


Emi POV

Days passed, and all too soon it was the day I was supposed to join Haruhi at the Host Club. I had been honest with Haruhi when I told her that I didn't mind doing her this 'favour' but now that the hour was upon me, I was feeling increasingly anxious.

Looks like I will have to take that extra anxiety pill after all. Why am I so anxious? I just have to hang out with people I already know and am growing to like. What's the worst that could happen?

…God, why did I just think that? I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

I checked the room number Haruhi had given me one more time. Yes, I had technically been in the room on my first day but I get lost super easily, which I didn't want to risk on a day when I was already anxious. I opened the front door of the building (yes I remembered to pull, not push) and slowly started walking towards the club room.

Ah, there it is, I thought as I spotted the room that had first brought the members of the Host Club into my life. Okay, let's do this, I know these people.

I grabbed a hold of the doorhandle and opened the door. I was promptly assaulted by a blinding light and a flurry of rose petals.

What the heck? I thought as I shielded my eyes and entered the room. Once I regained my vision, I saw that the room was filled with female students, most of them wearing puffy yellow dresses for some reason, and surrounding various hosts, who were all wearing their regular clothes.

"Welcome Miss Shima," Kyoya greeted while writing notes on a clipboard, "many of our guests have been with us since high school and prefer to wear their old uniforms out of a sense of nostalgia."

Did he just read my mind?! I shivered and edged away from the infamous shadow king.

"Feel free to join any of the hosts and observe what we do here, though do be sure to spend some time with Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai, as you'll be paired with them for the cosplay next week."

"Uhh sure thing, thanks Kyoya!" I replied and hesitantly walked further into the room, unsure of where to start.

I looked in the direction of Haruhi's table but quickly decided against joining her there, as she seemed to be busy entertaining a large number of both men and women.

Just as I started to look to the next table, I felt a pair of warm arms wrap around my waist and pull me away.

"Come join us, Emi," I heard Hikaru (at least I thought it was Hikaru; Kaoru has a slightly sweeter voice) whisper in my ear, making me bite back a squeak and the urge to push him away. I'm extremely ticklish, and prone to accidentally hitting anyone in the vicinity in my attempts to escape the torture. As it was, I was definitely blushing.

I froze, unsure of what to do as I watched Karou approach us. He proceeded to wrap his arms around Hikaru so that I was sandwiched in between them.

"You're not replacing me are you, Hikaru?" he asked softly, staring into his brother's eyes over my head.

What on earth is happening right now?! I thought in shock. I wasn't a particularly touchy-feely person, except for with my very closest friends (or if I was drunk), and I currently had two of the hosts pressed up against my body. I mean we're developing a friendship but I didn't think we were at this level of familiarity yet. I'm certainly not there yet!

"Don't be jealous Kaoru, I've brought us a toy to play with~," Hikaru continued to whisper sensually, lifting a hand to cup his brother's face, "Besides, you know that even if there's another body between ours, nothing could ever come between our hearts~"

Internally I gagged at the cheesiness that was literally surrounding me, though on the outside I remained frozen and pink-faced, my hands resting on Kaoru's chest out of a lack of anywhere else for them to go.

The twins both looked down at me. "What do you think Emi, will you let us play with you?" Kaoru started.

"...Or would you rather watch?" Hikaru finished suggestively, to a cacophony of loud squeals and thuds, as half of the guests watching fainted. I winced, but I couldn't exactly blame them. I was feeling pretty faint myself.

"…. Um," I gulped, my eyes darting around in search of an escape, "… Play what?" I asked nervously, not knowing how else to respond.

"Well," Hikaru started, twirling me around until I was dizzy, "the game starts like this."

When I regained my bearings I found myself sitting on the edge of a table, leaning back into one twin who was sitting behind me, looking up at Hikaru where he was standing between my legs and smirking, leaning in closer by the second. In the background I could hear more squeals and a couple more thuds.

Holy fuck! This is extremely intimate and… just what the fuck?! Twincest?! My mind was in such a jumble that I couldn't even string a coherent thought together. I just knew that my face was as red as a tomato, and I was thoroughly regretting my life choices.

How do I get out of this with some shred of dignity? I wondered in despair.

Actually, you know what fuck dignity, I just need to get out!

"Wait! Stop!" I yelled, pushing myself off the table. Unfortunately, since Hikaru was in front of me, this only resulted in us both tumbling to the floor, though thankfully he cushioned my fall. Hey, it's the least he can do for putting me through all this.

"Damn Emi, if you wanted to skip to the last step of the game you could have just said so. You didn't have to jump him," smirked Kaoru.

"Wha-…," I trailed off, noticing just how compromising of a position the fall had left me in. "Ah! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to push you! Are you hurt?" I asked, doing my best to deflect the attention from the fact that I was straddling Hikaru. Again, thank god I was wearing shorts and tights under my flowy dress.

"How could I be hurt when I have such a beautiful woman on top of me?" Hikaru responded lasciviously, waggling his eyebrows for good measure. And there go the rest of their guests, I thought as I heard several thuds and no more squeals.

Suddenly, a hand came out of nowhere and punched Hikaru's head.

"Cut it out already!" yelled Haruhi. "She's here as a favour to me and you guys are taking things way too far!" She then proceeded to walk over and punch Kaoru on the head as well, before grabbing my arm and marching us away to the tune of the twins' whines.

I marched behind her robotically as she pulled me to her station, which thankfully had fewer guests than I had seen her with before. I tried to pay attention as she went back to her hosting duties, but I still felt completely out of it. I felt like I was blushing from my head to my toes and I wasn't sure if I would ever recover. I didn't even know where to start! I mean, there was all the physical contact, with guys (which wasn't familiar to me!), then there was the fact that the physical contact was pretty suggestive in nature, and to top it all off, this all happened in front of an audience! An audience of strangers!

Well, strangers and the people I'm trying to befriend… Oh god, that's worse! I wailed in my head. I mean, they're probably pretty used to this sort of thing from the twins since it seems like that's their schtick here, but I'm not supposed to be part of it! Ughhh, why did I have to freeze? Why couldn't I have stayed cool and collected?!

"Emi-senpai?" Haruhi called.

"Hmm?" I answered distractedly, immediately zoning back out after responding.

Honey POV

I waved a cheery goodbye to mine and Takashi's guests. I was kind of glad that we didn't have any requests for the last hour since today was the day Emi-chan was visiting and I wanted to eat cake with her!

I looked around, wondering where she was. I had seen her arrive and then get snatched up by the twins but I had been so busy with the guests that I hadn't seen how she had reacted to their brotherly love routine. I did hear more squealing coming from their direction though.

It was then that I saw Haru-chan approaching and towing a dazed-looking Emi-chan behind her.

"Hii~!" I called out excitedly, only to be greeted by a vague mumble from Emi-chan, which only came after Haru-chan nudged her with her elbow.

I looked to my cousin, who just shrugged.

Haruhi sighed, "I think the twins broke her, she's been like this since I pulled her away from them earlier," she explained. "Since you two don't have any more guests for today, would you mind if she sits with you? I think a calmer atmosphere would do her some good."

"No problem Haru-chan! We wanted to spend time with her anyway, right Takashi?" I responded.

"Hn," he confirmed, nodding.

"Great, I'll see you all later then," she stated before walking back to her station.

I looked over to see Emi-chan standing where Haruhi had left her, shifting from foot to foot and looking embarrassed. She was pulling at the sleeve of her oversized cardigan distractedly and didn't seem to know what to do.

"Wow, they really did a number on you, huh Emi-chan?" I asked sympathetically, not really expecting much of a response.

"Uh…I guess?" she answered, then mumbled to herself, "this is so embarrassing."

"Don't be embarrassed, Emi-chan! I didn't see what happened but I'm sure you reacted normally," I encouraged as I gently grabbed a hold of her hand so that I could lead her to the sofa. Her hand was surprisingly small, almost the same size as mine, and soft. Her hand was also burning up with heat and when I looked at her face I could see that her face was red with heat too.

Once I had her seated, I looked to Takashi for guidance.

"Calm and chocolate," he reminded me quietly, so Emi wouldn't hear.

I brightened, "Oh yeah! Let's have some chocolate cake Emi-chan, I think you'll like it!"

I bounced to the clubroom's kitchen to get her a piece of chocolate cake, and then grabbed the rest of the cake for myself.

When I got back, Takashi was quietly asking about her studies and Emi-chan was answering just as quietly. As I went to place the cake in front of her I noticed that her hands were clenched tightly around each other in a white-knuckled grip.

"Emi-chan would you like to hold Usa-chan? She always makes me feel better!" I offered, holding out my bunny.

She hesitated for a moment, then took Usa-chan from my grip, gently running her fingers along the plush fabric. I felt a warmth in my chest, pleased that she seemed to like one of my most treasured possessions.

"Thanks Honey," she smiled shyly.

I felt a strange flutter in my stomach.

Maybe I didn't eat enough cake earlier, I mused.

Emi POV

I looked down at the soft pink bunny in my hands, smiling slightly.

"Hey Emi-chan, do you wanna try this cake with me now?" Honey asked, eyes wide and hopeful.

"Sure! You know I can't turn down anything with chocolate." And even if I could, I certainly couldn't turn down his puppy-dog eyes.

"So," I started as we dug into our respective pieces of cake, "I saw what the twins do here, and a bit of what Haruhi does here, but what do you two do?" I asked, trying to stop myself from blushing at the mention of the twins and hoping beyond hope that I hadn't just opened the door to more kinky shit.

"Mm," he gulped as he inhaled another piece of cake, "Takashi and I mostly eat cake and look cute~! Ne, Takashi?"

"Yeah. And strong."

"Uh…right. Right, well that makes sense," I said, relieved. I was finally starting to get back to normal and the last thing I needed was a repeat of what happened with the twins.

"Mhmm," agreed Honey. "But, Emi-chan, can I ask you a question?" he asked, becoming more serious.

"Yeah, of course," I responded curiously.

"Why did the thing with the twins bother you so much?"

I could tell he was asking because he was genuinely interested, and not because he was judging me for my shyness or something so I tried to answer as honestly as possible.

"Well, I guess because I'm just not that used to so much physical contact, especially with people I've just met recently. And, maybe because I've never really had friends who were guys, or any close male figures in my life really, to be physically affectionate with. Though, to be fair, I think I would have reacted similarly if I had two women I wasn't close to pressed up against me too," I shrugged.

"Hmmmm, so then we just have to make sure you can get to know us! And to touch you more often so you get used to it!" Honey concluded, beaming.

Don't go there mind, he didn't mean it like that! Get out of the gutter! I berated myself internally. Though, I blamed the spectacle the twins put on for putting my mind in the gutter in the first place.

"Desensitization," Mori nodded.

"Hey, I thought I was supposed to be the psychology major Mori," I laughed. "But yeah, basically."

I finished the last bite of my cake, noticing that Honey had finished the rest of the cake in the time it had taken me to eat one slice, and stretched.

"That cake was delicious Honey, I definitely feel a lot more relaxed!" I stated, thanking him.

I turned to face him where he sat next to me on the sofa, and took in his pink hoodie as I thought more about their club.

"But, Honey, Mori, don't you ever worry about how your roles in the club might impact people?" I asked hesitantly.

"Hm? What do you mean Emi-chan?," Honey asked, tilting his head to the side curiously.

"Well, I know you wouldn't mean to, but don't you worry about accidentally leading people on? You know, like making them think they're more to you than they are? Or that the flirting is more meaningful than it is?" I asked cautiously.

"All the guests sign a contract," Mori's deep voice responded, "and we don't get too close."

"Takashi's right! All the guests know what they're signing up for, and even if they did develop feelings and confess, we'd be nice about it and let them down gently! Besides, it's not so different from regular life is it? You've probably had to turn down someone whose feelings you didn't reciprocate, ne?" Honey explained.

"Well…I've only had to do that once or twice, or maybe three times… But you're right Honey, that makes a lot of sense," I answered thoughtfully.

"What's that I hear? My daughter has had to turn people down?! Who dared to think they were good enough for her?!" Tamaki suddenly cut in, running over and flopping on the sofa dramatically. The sofa, I might add, that I had been on a moment before and would still have been on had Mori not pulled me off in the nick of time.

"Sorry," Mori intoned, apologizing for grabbing me I assumed.

"Uh, no problem, thanks Mori," I responded before looking to Tamaki in surprise, "Tamaki, you have a daughter? I didn't know that!"

I wasn't sure why, but this seemed to send Tamaki running into a corner wailing. He then proceeded to grow mushrooms, periodically shooting me mournful looks.

"Um, was it something I said?" I asked, confused.

"Oh, don't worry about it Emi-senpai, he just gets like that sometimes," Kaoru said, popping up abruptly.

"Yeah, especially when his only daughter refuses to acknowledge him," shrugged Hikaru.

I stared at them blankly. I still don't see any little kid here that could have rejected him...

"What Hika-chan and Kao-chan are trying to say, is that Tama-chan sees you as his daughter~!" Honey explained casually, as if what he was saying actually made sense.

What the fuck? How does that even work? He's younger than me isn't he?

"Yeah, it's pretty weird but he sees us all as his family," Haruhi shrugged, joining in.

Oh… That's actually kinda sweet, I thought.

"You know, in the Queer community, a lot of people have a 'chosen' family; a group of people who accept them for who they are even when their biological family doesn't…", I mentioned, "I'll be right back, I'm going to go talk to him."

I walked over to Tamaki's corner, eyeing the mushrooms with equal parts awe and equal parts 'what the fuck'. I carefully kneeled next to him, tucking my dress under myself, and faced him even though he continued to stare at the wall.

"I'm sorry Tamaki," I started, seeing him peep at me in surprise and then turn back to the wall, "I didn't know you thought of me as a daughter," I looked away, staring at the wall as I continued.

"To be honest…. Well, I haven't told anyone here yet, but my dad died when I was pretty young, and even before that my parents were divorced so I didn't see him much. I know it sounds crazy, but I was even shy with him since I rarely saw him. What I'm trying to say is, I'm not really used to having a father-figure in my life and I'm not really sure how to respond to that kind of affection. So, I may not be totally comfortable with your 'fatherly' love at first, and I can't promise that I ever will be, but I do want you to know that I'm touched that you consider me a part of your family. That's not something I have a lot of, so, thank you," I finished quietly.

Silence. There were no sniffing sounds, no mushrooms growing, and no talking happening in the background (I was hoping the whole club didn't just hear my speech). I turned to look at the dramatic blonde, who was apparently just longing for a family, to see him staring at me misty-eyed.

The next second I was airborne, listening to Tamaki squeal in my ear as he swung me around by my arms.

Please don't let go, please don't let go, please GOD don't let go!

"MY POOR SWEET DAUGHTER! Daddy's here now don't worry! You'll never have to go without a daddy ever again!" Tamaki yelled in apparent ecstasy.

So much for discretion, I sighed internally.

He continued to ramble on and on. Meanwhile I was getting dizzier and dizzier and my shoulders were starting to hurt from the centrifugal force.

"Tamaki," I gasped out, "too much."

Immediately I was yanked out of his hold by Mori, who set me down next to Honey on the sofa. Tamaki pouted, walking over to sit in a chair dejectedly.

"Thanks," I managed to say as I wobbled from side to side even while sitting. It still felt like the whole room was spinning around me, and then the room really was moving as my body leaned to the side. As I realized I was leaning up against Honey's shoulder, I struggled to orient myself enough to sit up fully but was prevented from doing so by Honey, who put one arm around my shoulders to keep me where I was.

"Practice makes perfect, remember Emi-chan?" he sang, referring to his desensitization theory, "Besides you should probably stop moving until you're not dizzy," he added rationally.

"Ugghh," I groaned dizzily, "yeah, okay." Anyway, his hoodie was super soft and smelled sweet, like strawberries and vanilla. I couldn't help but to relax a bit.

"Well, since everyone is gathered together I believe now would be a good time to begin preparations for next week's cosplay," Kyoya interjected. "Miss Shima, as you may or may not know, the cosplay you will be joining us in is for the anime The Seven Deadly Sins. Are you familiar with the show?" he asked.

"Uhh, yeah I think I watched it at some point," I answered, trying to remember what that anime had been about.

"Wonderful," he responded drily. He went on to tell me everyone's roles and finished with, "And Honey-senpai will be playing Meliodas, sin of wrath."

Huh? I sat up straight to look at them all.

"Wait, the sin of wrath? Are you sure that suits him?" I asked incredulously, pointing to the small host who was currently swinging his legs back and forth and playing with Usa-chan.

"Well beyond the fact that Meliodas is short and blonde, the sin of wrath does actually suit Honey-senpai pretty well," shrugged Kaoru, looking at his nails disinterestedly.

"I'm sure you'll see that side of him eventually, don't worry about it for now," Hikaru stated dismissively, waving a hand.

"Uhh… alright, I guess… but, wait! Isn't Meliodas a super pervy character?! He was going around stealing panties and groping that girl that was always with him!" I remembered in disbelief. "Is- Is that really appropriate for a school setting?"

"Should I remind you of the details of your music class assignment? Or what it is you do as a job?" Kyoya asked, glasses glinting as he stopped taking notes to stare at me.

"Uh," I paled, "No no, you're right, this is university, we're all adults. It's fine," I answered hastily, looking away from the curious stares of the other hosts (minus Haruhi who already knew what Kyoya was talking about).

"I'm glad you're onboard Miss Shima, because it is actually you who will be playing Meliodas's female companion, Elizabeth," Kyoya put in smoothly.

WHAT?!

"Sorry, what? I'm… I'm Elizabeth? I.. I mean, I'm not really anything like her am I?" I asked desperately, wary of incurring Kyoya's wrath.

"Actually, Emi-chan, you are kind of like her~!" Honey sang. I looked at him questioningly, trying to understand what he was talking about.

"You care about people," Mori explained. I looked away bashfully.

"You do have a really soft and sweet voice," Haruhi mused blandly. I could feel my cheeks warming up…

"It's hard to tell with the flowy clothes you usually wear but we bet you have the curves too~," the twins chorused mischievously. And… now my cheeks were red.

"You leave my daughter alone you perverts!" Tamaki yelled. "Besides, she's obviously most like Elizabeth because of how pure her heart is!" he declared more calmly, placing one finger on his cheek thoughtfully.

"Um… thank you? I guess?" I said, unsure of how to respond to all that. "But, I'm still not sure…"

"What's wrong Emi-chan? You don't wanna be my companion?" asked Honey tearfully, eyes wide and watering as he clutched his pink bunny to his chest.

"No! I mean, no that's not what I meant! It's-," I backtracked frantically, not wanting to have hurt his feelings. I was cut off as he vaulted himself onto my lap and leaned over me, placing his hands on the sofa on either side of my head, smirking.

I stared up at him in shock as his personality seemed to shift from pure cuteness to something… more adult.

"Heh, so you do want to be my… companion," he smirked suggestively, his voice deeper and rougher than usual. I gaped, wondering what was going on. I may have also been blushing deeply, which was probably just from shock.

Yeah, sure, let's say it's the shock.

Suddenly, the floor shook and I heard a loud rumbling sound making me jump and clutch at my heart in fright, just barely avoiding banging my head on Honey's face.

As the rumbling came to an end, I heard what sounded like the cackling of an overexcited hyena coming from behind me. Since Honey was still on my lap I couldn't turn to see what was happening so I looked up at his face to try and gauge the situation from his facial expression.

Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly (I didn't know what to think anymore), his demeanor was back to that of the cute, cake-loving Honey I was more familiar with.

"Like that Renge-chan?" he asked looking behind me as I looked up at him in utter confusion.

"That was perfect, perfect, perfect! You'll make a wonderful Meliodas, Honey-senpai! I could eat three bowls of rice!" I heard a feminine voice squeal loudly.

Who is that? It sounds like she's been coaching Honey or something?

I squirmed, trying to get a look at this 'Renge' person. Honey looked down at me.

"Oops sorry Emi-chan!," he apologized as he got up from my lap, "I was just practicing for next week!"

Are his cheeks a little pink or is it just me projecting?

"Uh, n-no problem Honey," I stuttered, standing up and turning to face the hyena.

"Hi, Renge, right?" I asked, approaching the enthusiastic slim young woman who was sitting on a platform that I didn't think had been there before.

"Yes, I'm Renge, the club's manager and cosplay coach! And you're Emi Shima, next week's Elizabeth!" she responded. She leaned in and whispered, "I'm a big fan of your work, though I didn't expect you to be so shy and meek in real life!"

"My… work?" I whispered back.

"Ahem, if we could get back to work?" Kyoya cut in, "Time is of the essence."

"Yes, of course!" Renge saluted, "I've prepared a strict training regimen to help you all get into character for next week, AND YOU BETTER FOLLOW IT TO THE LETTER!" she ordered harshly.

"Except for you Emi-senpai, I've determined that the best strategy is for you to be surprised by Honey-senpai's act so that your responses are more genuine," she nodded determinedly, "Besides you're already perfect just the way you are," she sighed dreamily.

"Um… that's very kind of you Renge, thank you," I bowed politely to the sound of her squeals. "In that case, I'll be going now so that you all can get to it," I said waving to everyone.

I gathered my bag and walked to the door, already hearing Renge yelling at the hosts to get into character.

As soon as the door shut behind me, I released a deep sigh, feeling the tension I had been holding for the past couple of hours drain out of me.

Jesus, that was exhausting. I feel like I just lived through ten lives! How does Haruhi do this?

In any case, I certainly learned a lot about the twins and Tamaki today. And I certainly saw a whole other side to Honey!