Checking her watch, Kyo noted it was about an hour before the host club ended.

It was later than she would usually visit, sometimes during their meeting time she would go to sit in and then leave before the guests arrived. Other times she would go during club activities and sit with the guests. This time, she lazed around on the roof, biding her time before mustering up the will to drop by.

Kyo already changed out of her uniform, hating the damn thing. She had stuffed it neatly folded in her bag, not having the heart to wrinkle it with how much Tohru fussed over it. Seeing the giant doors, she opened them, finding the room void of the usual crowd of girls, and seeing all the hosts huddled in front of a giant chalkboard.

"Operation...Haruhi is a boy…" Kyo read out, getting closer to them. "Okay, do I even want to know what this is about?"

"Kyon! We were wondering if you were going to come!" Hani exclaimed. Tamaki had jumped and stood in front of the board to shield it before he noticed it was Kyo.

Calming down, he grinned widely. "Now that you're here we can begin this plan!"

Kyo grunted, confused. "I don't get it. Why are you trying to convince people that Haruhi is a boy? Isn't he?" She looked around when there was just silence.

Hani looked up at her, a confused look on his face as well. "I thought you knew Kyo...Haruhi is a girl."

Kyo jerked back in surprise, but not shock. She had a bit of a suspicion when she first met Haruhi because of his-her- similar andryogonus look as Ritsu, but she didn't think much of it. Knowing now, she could see the features that made Haruhi a girl.

"Did you really not know?" Kyoya said, adjusting his glasses.

Kyo's ears reddened as she glared at him. "No! I mean-I sort of suspected it but I didn't want to assume anything. I have feminine cousins so, yeah…" She trailed off.

"It's alright Kyo-senpai. No one outside of the club knows." Haruhi comforted her.

"Huh." Kyo muttered into her cup of tea. They had moved to one of the empty tables where Haruhi told her the reason for the secret, "Well I guess that makes sense. Kind of shitty with the debt though."

"Are you offering to pay her debt?" A chill went down Kyo's spine as she turned her head to see Kyoya standing behind her, smiling.

"What the hell, how long were you there?!" She yelled, frightened.

"I've been here the whole time, you seem to lack awareness...interesting." He walked away, writing away in his notebook.

"Hey! Come back here! Oh-whatever." She slumped in her chair. Kyoya freaked her out, but she doubted she could argue with him and win. Ignoring Haruhi's chuckles at her demise, she tuned into the hosts' conversation of planning the grand scheme.

"We're telling you M'lord, this will be perfect!" The twins prodded at Tamaki. They pointed at the chalkboard that revealed a grand amount of writing she couldn't read from this distance,

Smoothing out her dress, she stood up, going to the board to read it. "...You do realize this plan is stupid, right?" She said in a blunt manner once she finished. There was no way the students would believe Tamaki of all people was Haruhi.

"Don't worry about it senpai! This plan will be a success!" The twins assured her, their mischievous smirks saying otherwise.

"Yeah, that plan was stupid." Kyo sighed as they made their way back into the music room. While it had been hilarious to see Tamaki actually go with wearing a wig to impersonate Haruhi, it quickly turned sideways when she was almost assaulted, even if it was accidental.

"But it was all worth it in the end. We helped that man out." Tamaki grinned, opening the doors to let them in.

"By the way Kyo-san, I don't think we saw you get examined." Kyoya pointed out, confused. "You didn't participate with the other second years when we went."

Kyo shrugged, grinning. "The Sohmas can only see our family doctor, so I got excused from this. A good thing too. I don't want a doctor to tell me lies to make me feel better about myself."

Settling down on a couch, she listened to the others as they started to plan the next main event. She paused when she heard footsteps running toward the room, everyone else hearing as well and getting their host face on.

The door opened abruptly, a blonde head peeking through. His eyes roamed around, gasping when he caught sight of Kyo. "Kyo! Du bist hier!" The boy smiled brightly, coming in completely. "The office lady was right, you would be here!" He had a slight German accent to his voice, but his Japanese was perfect.

Kyo's jaw dropped in shock and anger. "What the hell are you doing here Momiji?" She managed to get out, trying not to yell as she stood up, stomping toward him.

"Don't be mean Kyo! Me and 'Tori came all the way here to visit you!" He pouted, running up to her to give her a hug, holding her tightly.

Anger boiled in Kyo as she attempted to push Momiji away. "You little brat, you just can't come here out of nowhere! And what do you mean Hatori is here? Why wasn't I told about this?"

"Kyo, who's this?" Hani asked, breaking her out of her rant.

She looked at him, realizing the hosts were staring at the two of them. She cleared her throat, giving up on unraveling from Momiji. "This...this is Momiji." She sighed in defeat. "He's my cousin and is leaving now!" She directed the last part to him, only to have him stick his tongue out to her.

"Wow, he looks similar to Hani-Senpai…" The twins mused, humming,

Looking between the blondes, the hosts nodded in agreement. "They could pass off as relatives…"

Hani smiled at Momiji, holding onto Usa-chan. "It's nice to meet you Momiji, my name is Hani, and this is Usa-chan."

Momiji gave a small gasp at his plushie, letting Kyo go to get closer to Hani. "It's a rabbit! I love rabbits too!"

"Momiji, you still haven't told me why you and Hatori are here!" Kyo reminded, frustrated with the younger. She grabbed his shoulder, pulling him away from Hani.

"...Is it just me or did Kyo-senpai become more angry with Momiji around?" Hikaru mumbled, crossing his arms.

"No, you're right." Kaoru nodded, whispering back to his twin.

"Oh, yeah! Hatori is waiting in the nurse's office to give you your examination!" Momiji touched his temple, having forgotten why he was here. "He sent me to go get you!"

Kyo didn't understand. "But that was supposed to happen tomorrow, he notified me. Why is he here now?"

"Because Akito wanted to come."

Kyo's body stiffened at the name, face darkening as she stared at the back of Momiji's head. She couldn't stop her sharp inhale, her grip on his shoulder tightening painfully. Momiji was fiddling with Usa-chan, having been given the rabbit by Hani. He didn't meet Kyo's stare.

He was going to come with us but he started feeling sick and was forced to stay home. He still sent Hatori though." He spoke, his mood muted now.

Kyo let go of Momiji, clenching her fists to hide her trembling fingers, her body feeling numb at the thought of Akito coming here to talk to her. Gaze flickering at the hosts, she turned around, her back facing toward them. "I'll be back." Was all she said as she left the room, leaving Momiji with the hosts.

The air was thick with tension as the hosts tried to wrap their head around what just occurred, bewildered at the interaction between the cousins.

"Would you like some cake, Momiji?" Hani broke the silence, gesturing toward the table of sweets he frequented.

Momiji nodded in thanks, smiling as he picked up a piece. He sat down at a table. "Thanks! It looks really good!" He said as he started to eat, smiling. After a few bites, he cleared his throat, looking at the hosts. "...You guys are Kyo's friends, right?" He asked.

Haruhi hummed. "Senpai comes in to talk to us most days." She didn't know if Kyo would refer to them as friends, but they certainly saw her as one.

Momiji smiled at them, his voice soft. "I have to admit, I have an ulterior motive for coming here too. I wanted to thank you all."

Tamaki frowned in confusion. "Why would you thank us? We haven't done anything."

"Oh, but you have!" Momiji argued, giggling. "Kyo won't admit it, but she's been happier and calmer at home lately. I don't have many chances to visit, but when I do, she's less angry. We thought it might be that she had friends here, and I was right!"

"But she looks mad most of the time." Hani pointed out.

"Yeah, it looks like she doesn't want to be around us." Hikaru raised his brow, not believing Momiji.

"That's because it's her mask." Momiji sighed, looking down at his cake. He poked at it with his fork, no longer having an appetite. "I've known Kyo since I was little, and she's had a tough childhood...most Sohmas do actually. Sometimes I regret not trying to befriend Kyo sooner…we're all lonely on the inside, but Kyo's had it the hardest. She's never talked to anyone about it, but we know a bit. It's been better recently, but she's happy, I can tell, even with a few months of being here. So thank you. I know you guys are the cause of it. Just please, continue to be her friend."

The hosts were at a loss. They were left with even more questions than they started with, the mystery around Kyo growing bigger and bigger. Before they could come up with a response, Kyo came back into the room, a tall man behind her, presumably Hatori.

"Alright Momiji, we're done so get out of here." Kyo said, her face white, but her voice strong.

Momiji got out of the chair, his bright attitude back on. The hosts couldn't help but wonder if happiness Momiji's mask. "Aw but Kyo! I want to stay longer and play!"

"No way! You've been here long enough!" Kyo immediately shot him down, crossing her arms.

"You're a meanie Kyo!" He pouted. "I'm going to go see Tohru then!" He decided, running over to Hatori's side.

Kyo sighed in frustration, giving up. "Whatever…"

"We'll be leaving now, Kyo. Don't forget about what I said." Hatori spoke, turning away.

Kyo gave a muted nod, a glint of fear in her eyes. She watched the two leave, Momiji waving at the hosts while Hatori didn't even give them a second glance.

As soon as the two left, Kyo cornered the hosts. "Okay, what did Momiji say to you guys? I know that brat couldn't have just stayed quiet this whole time."

Tamaki floundered with a response, having enough brains to know repeating Momiji's words probably wouldn't end well.

"He was telling us how he thought you looked nice in your uniform." Kyoya stated, ignoring the incredulous looks from the others.

There was a long pause before Kyo groaned, ruffling her hair in despair. "I can't believe I forgot to change! He's going to tell everyone about it!" Kyo hurried to her bag, barely giving them a goodbye. "Momiji, Hatori, wait!" She called out as she ran out the door, hoping to catch up to them.

Haruhi turned to Kyoya. "Kyoya-Senpai, why did you use that lie?" She asked, curious.

Kyoya hummed, looking down in his notebook. "It's obvious in the way Kyo dislikes the girl uniform, changing out of it before heading home. With her reaction to her cousin, it wouldn't be too farfetch to assume she would be embarrassed for her family to know how she looked in a dress."

The twins clapped in awe, having respect for Kyoya being able to figure that out.

"Now, if we can get back to discussing next month's event?" Kyoya changed the subject, wrangling everyone back on track.

But even as he listened to Tamaki ramble about the need for a traditional Japanese tea ceremony theme, Hani couldn't help think about Momiji's words and Kyo's hidden fear.

.

.

.

"Kyo, do put on the dress again, let me take a picture for memory sake!"

"Fuck off, Shigure!"