October 20

"Now remember, don't say anything about the lack of space! Sit gym-style to save space." Tamaki instructed, earning an intense eye-roll from me and obedience from everyone but Kyouya, who was sitting in a chair and ignoring Tamaki. Luckily, Haruhi was in the other room, and she couldn't hear Tamaki going on about the lives of us commoners. We were all hanging out at Haruhi's house; the twins were serious about paying Haruhi a visit, and once Tamaki found out, he just had to make it a club bonding activity. Personally, I thought it might be a Tama-Haru bonding experience in his eyes, but maybe that was just the romantic in me saying that.

"Yes, sir!" The twins yelled. Hikaru picked up Honey-senpai and put him on Mori-senpai's head to 'save space'. I had just about had it with them, so I excused myself politely to the kitchen where Haruhi was cooking.

"My apologies, Haruhi. I know you asked me to make sure they don't burn the living room down, but I can only take so much of their banter." She nodded understandingly, turning away from the pot of miso ramen.

"Oh, I get it. I'm honestly surprised you didn't come in here sooner." We both laughed, and I gravitated toward the stove. Within seconds, I was working side-by-side with Haruhi. It seemed to just work, as if we'd been doing it for a long time. Before I knew it, the ramen was ready and Haruhi and I were mentally preparing ourselves to re-enter the living room.

"Thanks for your help, Kaiyo," She said, giving me an amicable smile. I returned the gesture, picking up a tray.

"No problem. You know what they say- many hands make work light." She laughed as she picked up her own tray.

"Never were truer words spoken."

*

Haruhi was about to flip out on Tamaki and the twins.

"Out!" Haruhi yelled, shoving the two copper-haired twins out the door. "Your visit has long since expired." Hikaru and Kaoru both looked playfully distraught.

"Haruhi!" They whined. "It's only been two hours. We wanted to see the house and hang out with you." She rolled her eyes.

"Great, you saw the house and you saw me. We're done," Haruhi stated. The twins put on their own versions of puppy-dog eyes toward Haruhi, and she sighed deeply.

"Fine, we can go somewhere else. I'll come with you, just as long as you're not in my house and you shut up. I don't want to hear the word 'commoner' come out of your mouth one more time today." Her eyes flashed angrily, daring the twins to say anything. Surprisingly, they both nodded, pulling the rest of the host club out of the house. Kaoru had to go back and get Tamaki separately, prying him out from under Ranka-san's piercing gaze.

Once Kaoru dragged Tamaki outside, Hikaru sidled over to him.

"Great! Now Haruhi's happy. Let's go on over to Kaiyo's house!" My eyes promptly widened, and I held my hands up.

"Whoa, wait. How'd you make that jump? Who said we were going to my house? That wasn't part of the deal." Hikaru grinned.

"Well, now your house is the only house that none of us has been to. We have to all be educated." I shot a glance over to Kyouya, who had obviously been to my house before. He just raised a cocky eyebrow, smirking as per usual.

"Her mother has already said it's alright," Kyouya informed them. I sighed, opting to scream inwardly. I'd have to talk to my mom about inviting my friends over without my permission. Especially when those friends were part of the host club.

"When did you call her?" I asked. I hadn't seen him on the phone at all today.

"Don't worry about it," He said evenly, straightening his pristine jacket.

"Let's go, then! What are you waiting for?" The twins grabbed my arms and ran with me, dragging me towards the nearest limo. I stopped, squeezing myself out of their grasp quickly.

"Oh, no," I began rather sassily, earning the twins' attention. "We're not riding in a limo." They both looked confused, as did the rest of the host club (minus Haruhi).

"Why not, Kaiyo-chan?" Honey-senpai asked. I smiled brightly.

"Since this is a completely different deal, I get to put up my own side of it. If we're going to my house, you're going to get there the way that I would. And that means you're walking." I said. I saw Tamaki's mouth drop open, and I smiled again.

"Well, then. You'd better start walking. I live rather close, so it shouldn't take you too long. Step on it," I said, turning on my heel. Haruhi fell into step beside me, and we walked away knowing the host club wasn't following.

I knew they didn't think we were serious until Haruhi and I got to the end of the street and turned the corner without them, blocking them from view. Meaning they'd be lost without us (they wouldn't actually be, with Kyouya there. But he might enjoy watching them all scramble for a spell). We both heard their footsteps pounding on the pavement, and Haruhi and I had a good laugh as we sped up the pace. By the time Kaoru, who was first in line, ran around the corner, Haruhi and I were at the next corner, waving at them as we turned it. We both almost collapsed in laughter as we heard Tamaki start yelling.

"Wait!" Haruhi and I laughed aloud as we started running, hearing Tamaki's yelling and the twin's complaints fade away.

*

"You're so... Mean... Princess..." Tamaki was huffing in between nearly every word, and I could not take him seriously. He was acting as if he'd just run a marathon.

"I don't think it was that bad. Haruhi walked with me the whole time, and Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai caught up with us after the second corner." I turned to them for confirmation, and they both nodded. I turned back to my front door, still laughing as I unlocked it.

"Oh, my. I didn't expect you all would be here so soon," I heard my mother say. I walked inside and saw her standing just inside the doorway at the sink. She stepped back and dried her hands off on a towel as the members of the host club tumbled into my house one by one. I opened my mouth to introduce them, but Hikaru and Kaoru beat me to it.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Sahni! We're Hikaru and Kaoru, Kaiyo's best friends." I rolled my eyes and my mom laughed at the last statement. They began pointing to everyone, introducing them as they spoke.

"That's Haruhi, Mori-senpai, Honey-senpai, Tamaki-senpai, and Kyouya-senpai." At the introduction, Kyouya stepped forward, smoothly shaking my mother's hand.

"I apologize for their forward nature. However, they are correct; this is the host club in its entirety. Thank you so much for inviting us into your home, and I do hope we are not intruding."

"Not at all!" My mother said, earning an 'are you sure about that?' look from me. She nodded appreciatively at Kyouya, looking over my friends. It was still foreign to me that Kyouya was familiar with my mom. She might have been more familiar with him than I was, for all I knew

"You all look like a sensible bunch," She said, I snickered. If only she knew. "I'm glad you're able to come over! Make yourselves comfortable. If you need anything, I'll be around. Just call." That last part was directed at me, and I nodded. She walked down the hallway, probably to her room.

"You heard her. Make yourselves at home. Without breaking anything or commenting on the amount of space," I clarified, earning a laugh from Haruhi. We actually all managed to settle down in my living room- I moved some of the furniture around to shut the twins up so we could sit in a big circle, and we all were playing cards. Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru were all sitting so close together that I couldn't figure out if they were cheating or not. They said they weren't, but they were whispering like mad and would slide a glance over at me every now and then. Ignoring their antics, I was about to make my own play when I got interrupted.

"Oneesan!" I craned my neck to see my little sister walking toward me. I smiled, pulling her into my lap as she came over.

"Hey, Kasoiya. You okay?" I asked. Her little green eyes surveyed the full room around her.

"Yeah." She nodded her head, then pointed to Haruhi, who was sitting beside me. "Who's that?"

"That's Haruhi," I explained. "And these are the rest of my friends." They began introducing themselves. Kasoiya tumbled out of my lap and went around the circle, shaking each of their hands as they said their names (she probably got that from my mom) and making them all laugh. Once she got to Kyouya, though, who was sitting directly across from me, her eyes lit up.

"Oniisan!" She yelled. To everyone's surprise, even mine, Kasoiya threw her arms around Kyouya in a tiny hug and climbed into his lap. She sat there giggling as she patted his knees, and Kyouya looked extremely confused. I was a little shocked myself; she had only met Kyouya the one time he came over, and I didn't expect her to remember him.

"Kasoiya, come here," I said, beckoning for her to come back to me. She shook her head, her long brown pigtails bouncing as she kept patting Kyouya's knees. Kyouya looked at me with wide eyes, obviously confused and unsure what to do, and I laughed a little bit. It takes a lot to faze Kyouya in strenuous situations, but give him a young child and he's lost.

I got up after I spent a second watching my little sister, walking over to Kyouya and picking her up easily. She squirmed slightly in my grasp, turning her head so she could still see Kyouya.

"... Oniisan?" She questioned, and I shook my head with a smile as I hiked her up further on my hip.

"You're going to sit with me, Kasoi-chan. Okay? Kyouya-senpai will still be here." Kasoiya shook her head as I sat back down across the circle with her in my lap, and she pointed to the spot to my left where Hikaru was currently seated.

"Oniisan, sit here." She said, giggling as she kept pointing. I looked over at Kyouya, who I knew was still hearing this, but he didn't budge. Kasoiya kept pointing, now alternating between the spot next to me and Kyouya.

"Oniisan, sit here, please." She requested once more, now looking a little bit worried. Her eyes widened a little bit, glimmering as she guilt-tripped Kyouya into getting up and walking over to me. Without speaking, he waved Hikaru out of the way and sat down in his seat. Kasoiya cheered, scrambling out of my lap to sit between the two of us and pat our knees. I shook my head at the little girl, in total disbelief that my little sister managed to manipulate Kyouya-'businessman in training'-senpai into sitting with her so that she could pat his knee every second. It was unbelievable that she even remembered him in the first place, let alone liked him so much.

After looking over at Haruhi, who shrugged, I picked up my cards and played my turn. The rest of the host club didn't say anything about it, continuing the game and their banter as if nothing had changed. I did see Tamaki and Kyouya exchange a few glances, but I just played the game and let Kaiyoka keep patting. She did that until everyone eventually left; Kyouya was the last one to leave, only because he stayed for a minute to talk to my mom and Kasoiya had latched onto his leg. I had to pry her off of him and hold her until he left. He waved a cordial goodbye to my mother when she excused herself and added that distinct little grin to his wave for me. I nodded with a smile of my own in response, unable to wave because I was holding my leech of a sister up.

"Goodnight, Kaiyoka." I stood at the door, waiting to see him off.

"'Night, Kyouya-senpai." I watched as he walked down the stairs and to his limousine, which was purring on the curb. Before stepping inside, I saw him say something to his driver. He turned around and looked back at me, nodding at me once more before stepping inside. The car drove off, and I waited until it disappeared around the corner before going back inside. I walked down to Kasoiya's room, bouncing her up and down on my hip before putting her down on her bed. I poked her cheek as I sat down, tucking her in.

"Kasoiya, why do you like Kyouya-senpai so much?" As her face scrunched up I assumed with confusion, I clarified-

"Oniisan." Her face lit up again, and she laughed.

"You like him! So I like him." I cocked my head to one side, studying my sister as she went from fully alert to asleep in about a minute. I left her alone, turning off her light as I went to my own room, thinking about what she said the whole time. It amazed me that she could tell that I liked Kyouya-

Did I?

I mean, Kasoiya said it so nonchalantly (as young children do) and I accepted it, just like that. Sighing as I changed and got into bed, I cleared the thoughts from my mind and tried to go to sleep. I didn't like Kyouya like that, but I couldn't get one thought out of my mind; at least, not yet.