So I'm reallllyyyyyy sorry that it took me so long to update ! Updates will DEFINITELY be coming faster, so bear with me please ! This is just a short filler chapter for now, but I will post a nice long chapter within the next two weeks. So without further adieu enjoy !

Disclaimer: I do not own ouran.

Chapter 6

I grabbed my school stuff, and looked at the modest apartment that Kyouya-senpai had found for me. I was incredibly grateful, but also a little confused. What did that mean for our relationship? Knowing Kyouya-senpai, it had to be advantageous to him in some way. But it didn't matter. Just because I was trying to turn my life around didn't mean I wanted to get involved with any boys. Not to mention the fact that the entire school thought I was a boy.

For the first time in a while, I felt okay. Not great, not all that strong, but okay. It was a relief not to have to pretend so much anymore. I was still quiet, and a little bit sad. But at least now I wasn't in a constant state of anxiety.

The day passed by in a blur of idle chatter and boring lectures. I almost found myself looking forward to going to the Host Club. While those boys were ridiculous, they were always so alive and happy. It made me feel alive just to be near them. I walked quickly down the remaining hallway, and found myself being shoved into the dressing room with a kimono in hand.

It was a beautiful kimono, with a delicate floral pattern in shades of soft yellow and blue. I had to keep my kimono tighter than the other boys so that none of my chest, or the band wrapped around it, was visible.

As usual, the girls were swooning at each of the boys' stations. There was Tamaki-senpai, with his hair extension fitted into a ponytail. On most boys, I would think that positively ridiculous, not to mention unattractive, but it did not take away from Tamaki-senpai's beauty in the slightest.

I watched Hikaru and Kaoru perform their acts of incest dutifully, rolling my eyes inwardly. When the girls caught sight of me, they started a round of giggles and high pitched squeals. It never ceased to amaze me how shallow these girls could be. They were all perfectly nice and everything, but there was no depth to them.

I went to go find my own place to entertain guests when I almost ran into Kyouya-senpai.

"You're guest service has been pretty stable lately. I guess reducing your debt by one half has helped too. But I won't mention interest rates, or the rental cost of the kimono" he said pleasantly, a near evil glint in his eyes.

I can't say I was surprised. Just because things had gotten a little intense over the break didn't mean that Kyouya-senpai wouldn't continue to be his usual, conniving self. I almost felt a little disappointed, but as quickly as the thought entered my mind, I removed it.

"Haru-chan! I lost my sandal" Honey-senpai said sadly with his child-like voice, tears in his eyes.

The girls rushed over to help him look, all completely charmed at the unshed tears of Honey-senpai. I joined in the search for his sandal. Just then, Mori-senpai placed the missing sandal on Honey-senpai's foot.

"It was over there" he said simply.

Now it was Mori-senpai's turn to have the girls swoon over him. Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai's relationship was one that I had never seen before. They were completely devoted to one another, a bond just as strong as blood lay between them. Yet Mori-senpai seemed subservient to Honey-senpai's wishes. It was strange, but also sweet the way they had each other. I realized that I was a little envious of their relationship.

While I had been pondering the mechanics of their connection, I had unashamedly been staring. Mori-senpai caught my eye, and I quickly looked away. I didn't need that dark, penetrating gaze to be fixated on me. Honestly, it was like looking into bottomless pools of the darkest chocolate, and he seemed to see right through my acts. Was there a person who couldn't at this point?

I glanced over at , there was probably someone who had no idea. I noticed he was muttering sweet nothings to another girl with unshed tears in his eyes. Come to think of it, the twins had had tears in their eyes as well. What was with the tears today? Just as the thought crossed my mind, I bumped into Hikaru.

"Sorry, Haruhi" he said simply, but I wasn't paying attention.

I picked up the tiny bottle that had fallen from his pocket, and realized that it was artificial tears. I was about to ask the obvious question aloud, but was silenced when Kaoru put his hands over my mouth. It was hard not to notice how large and commanding his hands were when they were on my mouth.

"It's really common knowledge for all hosts" Kaoru said.

"Except Honey-senpai and Tono don't need them" Hikaru finished.

"Here are some high-classJapanese teacakes for you, ones that commoners would never be able to afford" Hikaru offered, as some kind of bribe, I'm sure. They just loved to point out that I was a commoner.

He placed it in my hands, while Kaoru finally let go of my mouth. The girls nearby moved closer and looked at me expectantly, no doubt assuming I would eat the cake. I looked at it, and before the words could go through the filter in my brain that stops me from saying stupid things, I said "This would be a really nice grave offering." I said it quietly, sadly,and knew that at this point I could probably produce my own tears with no help from the eye drops. I blinked my eyes rapidly, and tried to picture happy things.

Predictably, the girls swooned at my unshed tears.

"Who would you leave the grave offering to, Haruhi?" one of the girls asked sweetly.

While she didn't mean any harm by the question, my heart gave a painful lurch, and I felt as if somebody had punched me. I concentrated hard on my breathing, and formulated my lie on the spot.

"My grandpa died last year" I said in a rush. My lying skills really needed some work. Regardless, they seemed to buy my flimsy excuse.

"That's so tragic!" one of them wailed.

"We weren't all that close" I said, plastering a smile on my face.

Tamaki came over, and began piling the cakes on my hands.

"Here you are, dear child" he said. "Take as many as you like."

He was so obnoxiously ridiculous it was embarrassing.

Everyone who had been gawking and swooning now began to return to their posts, much to my relief.

"I didn't know that about her grandfather." Honey-senpai said adorably.

It almost made me want to confide in the Host Club,explain the whole sordid tale. But I couldn't do that. I refused to be caught vulnerable in front of them. It was my burden to bear, and mine alone.

I could still feel the tears prickling at the back of my eyes, so I decided to go to the bathroom to hopefully collect myself. On the way, I felt eyes on me. I turned around, and I saw Kyouya-senpai. I thought I saw something like concern in his eyes, but as soon as the thought came, I heard a very loud and unfamiliar girl shout at Tamaki. It left me wondering if Kyouya-senpai had really been concerned, or if it had just been a trick of the light.

"Don't touch me, you faker!" the new girl shrieked.

Tamaki-senpai seemed shocked, and more than a little perturbed at this development.

"I CANNOT believe that you are recognized as a Prince in this club! You shouldn't sprinkle your love so easily. Don't you know it makes girls' hearts tremble if you smile with sorrow" she shrieked at poor, dumbstruck Tamaki.

"Why do you look so stupid?" she continued, voice still raised. "It's as if you're an air-headed narcissist, useless! Too ordinary!" she finished.

With every insult she threw at him, Tamaki seemed to be in physical pain. It was almost comic. Tamaki-senpai seemed unable to remain standing any longer, and fell backwards dramatically in a way that only he could pull off.

I looked at Kyouya-senpai, who had turned to look at the girl. I saw a spark of recognition in his eyes.

"Could it be that you're..." he started.

"KYOUYA-SAMA!" the girl shouted, tears in her eyes.

She flung herself onto Kyouya-senpai.

"I wanted to see you so badly! My prince" she said, clinging to him.

I was utterly shocked.

Thankfully, I wasn't the only one. It appeared that the entire Host Club was baffled by this revelation. Kyouya-senpai looked slightly annoyed, but did not seem phased in the slightest. As odd as this turn of events was, it had made me forget about my problems for a moment. Forgetting was good. It was the only way of escaping. So while I had no idea who, or what, this girl was, I was thankful that she had created such a disturbance.

"Hello everyone! My name is Houshakouji Renge. I'm Kyouya-sama's fiancée" she said happily, her entire demeanor changing in mere seconds.

I was utterly shocked. Kyouya-senpai had a fiancée? He might have mentioned that fact before. I looked over at him, but his face remained as passive as ever.

I felt waves of anger emanating from a corner of the room. I looked over and found Tamaki-senpai sulking. He was glaring at Kyouya-senpai.

"He's mad because Mom was keeping something from Dad" Kaoru said.

In this situation, I had to assume that Kyouya-senpai was 'Mom,' and Tamaki-senpai was 'Dad.' Renge was apparently not listening to a word of the Host Club. She seemed caught up in her own fantasy world.

"It was love at first sight!" she exclaimed bashfully. "Being affectionate to the backyard plants, helping stray kittens when he thought no one was looking" she continued.

Everyone stared at her in disbelief. This sounded like the exact opposite of Kyouya-senpai. I liked to think that I had seen his kind side, and it did not even come close to what Renge was describing.

"Must be the wrong person" I said, no sarcasm or malice in my tone,just simply stating a fact.

Kyouya-senpai gave me a rueful glance. I quickly looked away, realizing that must have sounded pretty rude.

"NO! MY EYES SAW THE PROOF!" shouted Renge, enraged that I would question her claims of Kyouya-senpai's supposed acts of kindness.

"Kind to everyone, never asks for anything in return. Loves solitude, but actually hates the loneliness" Renge continued.

I was glad to see I wasn't the only one who was disbelieving of Renge's claims. Hikaru and Kaoru seemed to be fighting off laughter, Mori-senpai just looked confused, and Honey-senpai wanted to believe the best in everyone, so he took Renge's claims to heart.

"-the throbbing love simulation game, you! You, who looks like Ichijo Miyabi-kun from Oki Doki Memorial" finished Renge.

"OTAKU!" most of the members of the Host Club yelled,with the exception of me, Mori-senpai, and Kyouya-senpai.

"Ahh, I see," began Kyouya-senpai, "she has a lot of interest in this character, replaces me with him, makes me her fiancée, and then gets lost in her wild fantasies."

"How are you so calm about this? Isn't she your fiancée?" Tamaki questioned incredulously.

"I don't remember affirming that fact once" Kyouya-senpai said in that pretentious way of his.

"You might've mentioned that earlier" said Hikaru.

A flood of relief went through me when Kyouya-senpai said he didn't have a fiancée. I ignored it, and focused on the conversation at hand.

Renge seemed oblivious to our conversation. Instead, she was going on about how Kyouya-senpai was such a great store manager, and how he pretty much ran the Club. The girl was clearly a little loopy, but she had already figured out who was really in charge of the Club.

Renge kept going on about how she wanted to bake for the Host Club's store and all that. The twins and Tamaki-senpai were throwing negative comments her way, but she wasn't listening, intent only on the conversation she was having with herself. At last, she proclaimed "I'll be an Administrative Assistant for the Host Club!"

Everyone stared at her with expressions of dread. As always, she didn't notice.

Tamaki-senpai and the twins looked at each other, then at me. Oh no, I thought.

"Haruhi is in charge of your Host training!" they yelled, while scrambling to get away from Renge as fast as they could. I personally thought that their treatment of her was a bit harsh. So what if she lived in a fantasy world? I knew better than anyone that fantasies were always better than the cold, harsh reality.

I hadn't meant to think of depressing things. I really had been doing better thanks to Kyouya-senpai's help. But I had some serious issues even therapy probably wouldn't help. I did a mental shutdown, and turned to Renge, trying to remain calm and friendly.

I was thinking of protesting to Kyouya-senpai, but I knew that I at least owed him, and the rest of the Host Club, enough to take care of Renge for a day.

Kyouya-senpai gave me a funny look, and I realized he could probably see right through my controlled mask. It pissed me off. But mostly it just made me feel resigned. I was so sick of caring if everyone found out my life story. But even as I thought that, I knew I couldn't really tell them anything. Kyouya-senpai had found out for himself, but as far as I knew, he hadn't told anyone else.

He had said that he wouldn't, but I couldn't trust Kyouya-senpai. He had been kind, yes, but I'm sure there had been an ulterior motive. I looked at Renge, and decided to make her my distraction. My thoughts were always going in circles. I just wanted a few minute's rest.

I started to think about how unfair my life had been so far, but these thoughts never got me anywhere. Unconsciously, I started mentally replaying the events of that night. I physically winced, and tried with all my might to forget.

I closed my eyes tightly, and held my hands together to get rid of the shaking. My shaking hadn't been so bad recently, but whenever I thought about things, my hands started trembling full-force. Renge flounced off, saying she'd meet me in the kitchen in five, seemingly ignorant of the anguish inside my mind.

Taking deep breaths to calm myself, I stared straight at the wall, begging myself not to cry. At last, my eyes completely dried, but the painful knot inside my chest had tightened perceptibly. I had thought that it was starting to loosen; I had slowly started eating again. But that was clearly not to be.

Finally calmer again, I made my way to the kitchen, not knowing that someone had been there to see my almost breakdown.

TWINS POV

Hikaru gave Kaoru a panicked look.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded, knowing that Kaoru would hold no answers for him.

They had both seen Haruhi. She had looked to be in physical pain. Her hands had been trembling, she'd been clutching her chest, and she had been trying with all her might not to cry. It seemed that she was okay now, but the twins had always noticed something was off.

"That thing about her grandpa was clearly a lie." Kaoru commented.

"If that was a lie then hat else has she been keeping from us?" Hikaru answered.

It was a shock for the twins that there was someone who could always tell them apart, without fail. Even their mother hadn't achieved that feat. But surely Haruhi realized that if she could read them so well, they could read her too? Apparently not. They had wanted to confront her for a while about this, but while Hikaru wanted to demand answers, Kaoru knew that she had to be ready to tell them. And if she wasn't ever ready, then they would help her when they could. And watch her try to suffer in silence.

It pained them both, and while neither would ever admit aloud to caring for another person besides each other, they had come to care for Haruhi. With a last, unsettled look between them, they walked off, trying to figure out the puzzle that was Haruhi Fujioka.

Hope you enjoyed, as always R&R :)