//Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club.//

CHAPTER TWELVE

TOYS

"You cannot be serious." Asami stares at the twins with a dead expression on her face when they randomly turn up on her doorstep late at night. They have giant smiles on their faces with bags, pillows, and blankets in their arms. "How did you even get by security?" She glances over their shoulders, staring at the policemen patrolling the mansion yard.

"We told them we're your friends and they let us through." They chorus. "We wanted to have a sleepover with you!"

"My father and brother wouldn't like this." She leans against the doorway with her arms crossed, cocking an eyebrow at them. "You didn't even ask me."

"We did during class," Hikaru informs her.

"Granted, we did sneak it in while you were distracted." Kaoru nervously stares and shuffles his feet.

"When did—oh," she sighs once she starts to remember what occurred earlier that day.

The class was focusing on writing their essays that are due by the end of the period. Asami is working hard on hers because she started a bit late considering she took longer to choose her topic. The twins already finished their essays and are watching her curiously, exchanging glances with one another. It is obvious to everyone in the room that the twins are clearly plotting something.

"You know, we've never been over to your house before." Kaoru begins to say.

"Yeah, Tamaki has never let us come over." Hikaru tsks. "Because we're too 'evil and will corrupt the house' he says."

"Hmm." Asami hums to show that she is acknowledging them, but not truly processing what they're saying.

"Will you let us come over?" Kaoru asks.

"Specifically tonight so we can have a sleepover?" Hikaru adds on.

"Yeah, sure. That's fine." Asami says and continues to work on her essay. The twins grin in victory at each other.

"You two knew that I didn't actually hear what you were saying." She comments, narrowing her eyes at them. "That was a low move, even for you two."

"Even for us?" They fake offensively gasp. "I think this is perfectly on brand for us."

"What if I don't let you in?" She asks. "I can call security over and demand them to escort you out."

"We let our entire staff go for the night. Are you really going to send us home where we'll be alone all night?" Hikaru asks with a pout.

"I don't like being alone." Kaoru shakes his head. Asami sighs and eyes then, debating in her head about the situation. She knows her father and brother will be extremely upset in the morning if they discover that the twins spent the night; however, she does feel a bit bad about sending them away after they came over this late—even if they deceived her for this to happen.

"We can watch movies for a bit in my room but then you're going in a guest room." She tells them. They nod their heads with smiles. She allows them in, shutting the door behind them. She leads them to her room and makes sure they are extra quiet while passing by Tamaki's room. She has to stop Hikaru from going into the room and playing a prank on Tamaki—apparently, he brought temporary black hair dye and wanted to use it on Tamaki. They eventually make their way into her room.

"Wow," the twins spin around and observe her room, "this is so nice."

"Thank you, it took me some time to make it my own." She smiles and gazes at the decorations and furniture that she has collected over the months to make her room feel more like her. The room still looks fairly the same as when she first got here—oak wooden floors, pastel blue quilt with matching pillows, the gray throw blanket, the chandelier, and the painting of the sunset over the ocean. She has included various hanging plants on her walls along with more abstract artwork. On her bed are pastel pink and yellow flower pillows to add some color along with another throw blanket, but this one is pastel blue with yellow and white flowers on it. She has a large white rug on her floor and a cat tower in the corner of her room by the vanity. Salem is currently sleeping on the top with Tink curled up beside him—Asami thinks the two are developing a love bond. In the middle lays Gremlin who is playing with a mouse toy. On the bottom are Snowball and Kiki, both watching the trio of teenagers curiously. Sometimes, Asami is convinced that those two cats are actually humans in disguise by how intelligent they seem. Her vanity is decorated with little trinkets and crystals. She has not done much to her bathroom besides adding a small blue rug by the bathtub so she does not slip and fall when she gets out of it. "What did you guys bring?" She gestures toward the bags.

"Games and snacks!" They cheer, dumping the contents of their bags out. She glances and notes that they brought over Monopoly, Shogi, Go, Jenga, and a mini Mahjong game. The snacks include a number of sweet and savory things: Pocky, Choco Pie, KitKats, Baum Rolls, Calbee Chips, Senbei, and Agemochi. They brought a few drinks such as Ramune, Fanta, Qoo, and Bubble Tea.

"You guys came prepared, you do know we have school tomorrow?" She asks. They nod their heads. "I don't know how we're going to play all the games and consume all of this. Let me put a movie on and we can start with Monopoly." She turns her television on, clicks on Netflix, and finds Twilight. She puts that on, heading over to the twins who are getting everything set up. She grabs some Baum Rolls and Bubble Tea to snack on as they play. The night is filled with the twins and her fighting quietly as she claims they are working together to beat her. They move on to each game, laughing and talking about various subjects such as people from school, their teachers, their hopes and dreams, their likes and dislikes, and most importantly, animals. They eventually find themselves laying in her bed, watching the third movie in the Twilight Saga.

"I don't understand how you can like Jacob," Asami shakes her head at Hikaru while grabbing some chips out of his hands to eat, "Edward is clearly better."

"How can you like a sparkly fairy better than a hot wolf?" Hikaru looks genuinely confused. "What is the appeal of Edward?"

"He doesn't sexually assault women," Asami points out, "and he tries everything to make sure Bella is living the human life that she wants before he turns her."

"He abandoned her in the last movie." Kaoru comments, opening his mouth and letting Asami put some chips in it. "How is that true love?" He also holds out the Pocky he's eating and lets her take a bite.

"He wanted to protect her so he did it by distancing himself. This only further proves how selfless he is because he was willing to put himself through pain and heartbreak to let Bella live a normal life without him. And he's willing to do anything to keep her safe," she gestures to the screen where they're watching Jacob keep Bella warm, "even if it hurts him. Edward is always there for her emotionally and mentally and he loves her unconditionally. I wish I could find myself an Edward. Jacob is just an obsessive wolf who thinks he has a claim on a girl because he knew her longer."

"So you're a vampire girl," Hikaru says in disappointment, "I thought you would be better than that."

"I would rather be a hot, blood-sucking fiend over being a mutt." Asami playfully makes a biting motion at Hikaru causing him to laugh. "I'll kill you in a second, Hikaru, but not you," she turns her face to smile at Kaoru, "I'll only bite you if you ask." Kaoru's face becomes a bright red and Hikaru roses in laughter, knowing exactly what his twin brother is most likely thinking in that moment. She yawns and lays her head on Kaoru's shoulder, allowing her eyes to close.

"I'm tired." She mumbles. Hikaru winks at Kaoru and makes a motion for him to get closer to her. Kaoru hesitates before wrapping an arm around Asami and pulling her closer to him. She nuzzles her head into his shoulder more as her sleepiness overwhelms her. "You guys can just stay here for the night if you want, I'm too tired to move to show you to the guest room."

"I'll sleep on the floor," Hikaru launches off the bed, smirking at Kaoru as he makes a makeshift bed on the floor for himself. Kaoru goes to move when Asami stops him.

"Stay, you're comfy." She yawns.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" He asks, sending Hikaru a small glare for leaving him in this situation.

"Hmmm." She hums and nods her head. "Go to sleep." Kaoru freezes for a moment as he thinks over all the scenarios that could greet him when he wakes up. She could be angry that he slept in her bed with her, Tamaki could be attacking him, her father could be trying to murder him or she could lazily smile up at him as they wake up and maybe even kiss his cheek. He gets comfortable and allows her to cuddle closer before slowly closing his eyes, relaxing. Hikaru takes this moment to sneak a picture of the two, cooing at how adorable his brother is before he goes to sleep as well. They all slept peacefully until someone rudely woke them up.

"Why are the heathen twins in your room? What have they done to you? No! Did they make you impure? Not my sister, you demons!"

"Tamaki, please be quiet. I'm tired."

"Tired! What were these demons doing to you all night?!"

•••

The host club is doing a small session for their guests in the school garden once more. Asami hums softly to herself, gently touching the purple petals of a lilac. "You know, I think the flowers here are jealous of your beauty. They can't compete with such radiance." Asami turns to see Kaoru approaching her with a charming smile.

"I cannot even begin to compare to the flowers." She comments, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I wouldn't say that. You have a way of making even the most beautiful flowers seem dull in comparison." He states and plucks one of the flowers. He tucks a strand of her bangs behind her ear with the flower. Asami tries to seem unbothered by the flirtatious undertones, but can't hide the smile that tugs at her lips.

"You're becoming such a smooth talker, aren't you?" She jokes. He leans in slightly, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Only when I'm with someone who brings out the best in me," he sincerely replies. She stares at him, feeling her heart skip a beat at the forwardness of his words. She would expect this type of thing from Hikaru since he is the bold twin and Kaoru tends to be a bit more shy, but it is nice seeing this side of Kaoru. She wonders if their sleepover has anything to do with the new boldness in him.

"And what about when you're not with that someone?" She asks.

"Well, then I'm just a regular guy with no smooth-talking abilities." He states while shrugging. 

"That's not true, you're a host." She gestures toward the guests Hikaru is entertaining at the moment. "You have some smooth talking abilities even when you're not near me."

"My words aren't sincere with them." He informs her and holds out a hand for her. "Shall we take a stroll and admire the flowers together?" She cautiously takes his hand, sending a look over her shoulder to make sure Tamaki was not paying attention. After what occurred this morning, Tamaki has forbidden Asami from interacting with the twins. Once she is sure that he is too busy with his guests and staring at Haruhi, she agrees.

"Lead the way, Mr. Smooth Talker," she winks and he laughs. The two walk around the garden with Kaoru dropping some flower-related pick-up lines on her.

"I must be a bee because I cannot resist hovering around your beauty. If you were a flower, you'd be a damask rose because your beauty is timeless. Are you a garden? Because I am digging you." Kaoru smiles as she laughs and shakes her head at the horrible pick-up lines. "Are you a petunia? Because you're 'petu-nice' to look at."

"P-please stop." She chokes out in between her laughter.

"I like seeing you laugh, it brings out your smile." He says. She stops laughing but allows the smile to stay on her face.

"I have one for you." He turns to face her in anticipation. "Do you know how a flower feels when it sees the sun? That's how I feel when I see you." A light blush comes across his cheeks. He opens his mouth to say something when they get cut off.

"Stay away from my sister!" Tamaki rips Asami away and glares darkly at Kaoru. "Heathen." He snarls. Asami waves goodbye to Kaoru as Tamaki escorts her over to Kyoya. She sits next to him and peaks over his shoulder to look at his notebook.

"Guests are asking for musicians?" She asks after seeing the new budget category.

"Some guests have expressed that having musicians play during club hours will provide a more elegant environment," Kyoya informs her. "I am trying to determine who we can hire to stay within budget because we have been pushing it lately." A sigh escapes his mouth.

"I can." She reaches over, takes the notebook, and puts a large zero in the musician budget category. "I can perform on the piano, flute, violin, harp, and cello."

"That is remarkable. Since we do occupy a music room, there are instruments in the backroom that you can use. Would you like to do a test run next host session?" He asks.

"I'll love to." She states, "It's been a while since I last played an instrument. I was originally going to go to Lobelia Girls' Academy before I came here."

"I am glad that you did not go there." He comments with a soft look in his eyes.

"I am too." She mumbles, taking this moment to glance over at each of the hosts. The twins are putting on the brotherly love act for their guests, Haruhi is talking about her studies, Takashi and Mitsukuni are serving cakes to their guests, and Tamaki is dramatically acting to make his guests swoon. This odd group of people has become her family. She does not know what she would be doing right now if she was attending Lobelia instead.

•••

"I cannot believe that you actually are the manager. Have you been stalking this Kozume guy the entire time?" Asami shakes her head in disbelief at Kaori. Kaori is grinning widely with her Nekoma volleyball jacket on. Hikari, Kazuki, and Haruhi are walking behind the two, quietly discussing possible part-time jobs they could take during the summer holiday. Asami feels a bit bad because she does not need to worry about money anymore like they do though she will still be getting a job to occupy her time.

"I have not been stalking him!" Kaori glares at her. "We are actually friends now."

"Sure you are," Asami teases though she does not fully believe the girl anyways. "Haruhi," she sings songs while turning around to walk backward so she can speak to the girl behind her. "I'm so happy you agreed to come with me!"

"I appreciate you inviting me. It's nice being around normal people after spending most of my time surrounded by rich people." Haruhi comments.

"Yeah, they can be a bit much." Asami agrees, still in the commoner mentality that she grew up in. She is getting used to being rich, but it is still weird calling herself that. "Tamaki is trying to rent out the swimming area for the host club. He wants to do a summer beach theme type of thing."

"Please no." Haruhi sighs. "I don't care much for water. The beach is fine, but water parks and swimming pools are just not for me."

"The beach is prettier," Hikari says as she types away on her phone. "The sunsets there are gorgeous, the sand is nice to put your feet in and you can catch crabs to eat for dinner."

"The best part is when you can rent a boat and go out into the ocean to see all the marine life," Kazuki explains with an excited glint in his eyes. "One time, I got to scuba dive and see a bunch of fish, squid, string rays, and sharks."

"That's so cool," Asami perks up, "I would love to do that. Maybe I should convince Tamaki we should do it at an actual beach." They keep chatting with one another until they eventually end up at Nekoma High.

"Come on, I'll introduce you guys to the team," Kaori takes Asami's hand and drags her with everyone else following closely behind. "Everyone, I'll like you to meet my friends."

"Hello, I'm Souh Asami." Asami greets the group of males. Some are staring at her with wide eyes and blushes on their faces. Haruhi and Kazuki also introduce themselves. The club begins to introduce themselves: Kai, Yaku, Yamamoto, Kozume, Inuoka, and Shibayama. Yamamoto struggled to say his name which Asami found a bit endearing. She observes Kozume, who is playing on his switch, and wonders what Kaori sees in him.

"I'm Lev, you should join our fan club!" A tall boy with gray hair and catlike green eyes grins widely at her.

"Idiot, leave her alone." Another male with black hair and catlike features scolds him, gripping his ear and ripping him away from her. "I'm Kuroo, the captain of the Nekoma volleyball team. You must be new." He eyes her with a playful smirk.

"Ah, you're the legendary Kuroo, the self-proclaimed king of the court," Asami states, glancing at Kaori as she remembers the description Kaori gave for each volleyball member.

"You catch on fast, what's your name?" He asks.

"Maybe if you were here a few moments ago, you would know it." Asami links arms with Haruhi and starts walking away.

"How about a bet? If I win the practice match, you tell me your name." Kuroo confidently says. Asami wonders why he just doesn't ask one of the other volleyball members. "And I take you out on a date."

"And if you lose?" She curiously asks.

"I get to live with the torment of never getting the chance with you." He comments.

"I hope you lose." She teases with a smile. He winks at her and leaves to join his team.

"Sit with us!" Hikari demands, tugging on Kaori's arm. Kazuki waves for Asami and Haruhi to go up without them so they do, finding seats close enough to watch and hear the court.

As Asami takes the seat next to Haruhi, Haruhi turns to her with a curious look on her face. "How are you doing, Asami?"

"I'm doing good." She replies with a smile. Haruhi shakes her head and her smile falls.

"I know you're not." Haruhi comments. "How are you doing?" Asami stares at her, surprised that Haruhi can tell that something isn't right. She frowns while trying to decide if she should just dump her problems on Haruhi or if she should keep everything inside. "You don't have to keep everything bottled up, you have people here for you that want to help." Asami blinks in surprise and she understands why Haruhi gets so many guests now with her natural, caring self.

"I'm overwhelmed," Asami sighs, "with the host club and school and everything at home, stuff is just becoming too much for me."

"You don't have to do it all alone. If you ever need help, I'm here for you." Haruhi comments. "They're here for you too," she gestures to the trio of friends still arguing at the bottom of the bleachers. "And so are the hosts."

"I forget that I don't have to carry the world on my shoulder alone." Asami softly states.

"We all need a little help sometimes and that's what friends are for," Haruhi tells her.

"Thank you," Asami says and Haruhi reaches over to grab her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She releases it as soon as Kazuki and Hikari join them.

"I can't believe she won't sit with us. It's a practice match, do they really need their manager?" Hikari grumbles.

"Umm yeah." Kazuki shakes his head at her. "The manager is there to help with strategy, take care of the players and balls, and if someone gets hurt." Hikari huffs and dramatically throws herself in the seat next to Asami while Kazuki sits next to Hikari.

"So," Hikaru's attitude turns a complete 180 and she grins at Asami, "I saw the captain was flirting with you."

"I know, how disgusting." Asami fake shudders.

"Disgusting?" Hikari gasps. "He's the hottest dude in our school. Every girl wants him," she gestures to the large group of girls cheering for him, "and he chose to flirt with you over everyone. You just get all the dudes."

"How do I get all the dudes? No one else sincerely flirts with me." Asami frowns in confusion. Haruhi looks at her in astonishment which she does not recognize when the host club members flirt with her. Hikari and Kazuki also look incredulous at her.

"You're blind," Hikari states. Asami looks in between in confusion, not understanding why they are looking at her like she is dumb. The game starts and they turn their attention to it. Asami watches in amazement, the constant back and forth between the two teams, the desperation from both sides to win, and the energy surrounding them.

In the end, Nekoma won their practice match and Kuroo got Asami's name and number for their future date.

•••

Asami smiles as she eyes the piano in front of her. It has been a bit since she last played. She closes her eyes and begins to let her fingers glide across the keys. Jeux d'eau by Maurice Ravel floods the room, gaining the attention of the guests and hosts. Some guests wander over to stand closer to Asami as she plays. They watch as Asami loses herself in the music, her body swaying with the tones of the notes. As the last notes of the piece fade, the guests clap in admiration and express how wonderfully she played. Asami blushes at the attention, grinning at the influx of praises. She glances up to see Kyoya staring at her with a hint of a smile on his face. She gets up and approaches him.

"Kyoya, I hope you enjoyed the performance," she says, "is that a good enough test run for me to be the host club's musician?"

"It was exceptional," Kyoya replies, "you have a remarkable talent."

"I'll take that as a high compliment since it's coming from you." She laughs. Kyoya is hard to impress with anything because of his high expectations. To hear such praise from his lip is astounding for her.

"Indeed, you should," he says. "You are now our official musician. I do request that you play at least thirty minutes every hour, but what you play and when you take breaks, is up to you."

"Thanks for trusting me with this." She grins at him. She bids him goodbye and begins to do her usual rounds with tea and cakes for the guests. She curiously watches as the twins play a game with their guests.

"It's the "Which one is Hikaru-kun" game!" They chorus. "Well then, can you tell which one is Hikaru?"

"Oh, that's so hard..." One guest nervously places her hands on her cheeks.

"You two look so identical." Another one states.

"So far, no one has been able to really tell who's who." The twins' chorus with smirks. Asami raises an eyebrow and approaches them.

"No one?" She repeats and crosses her arms. She has been able to tell the twins apart numerous times. She may slip up once or twice, but overall, she knows the twins fairly well.

"Excluding you." They say, wrapping their arms around her shoulders. "But you're not allowed to play in this game."

"What a worthless game," Haruhi comments as she walks by.

"What? Is there something you don't like about it?" The twins' chorus.

"Actually... I still don't get why you two are so popular." Haruhi states.

"Oh, that's something really nice to say." They shake their heads at her.

"It really seems that Haruhi..." Hikaru begins to say.

"...does not understand the benefits of us, the twins, being in the Host Club." Kaoru finishes.

"Listen. Just the fact that we're both handsome types and homo scores a lot of points. And while our act that swings between friendship and homo is favorable enough..." Hikaru grins.

"...in our case, we use the highest taboo of us being twins as our biggest weapon," Kaoru says as they approach one of their guests. Asami stands by Haruhi, watching the twins overwhelm their guests.

"On top of that, this setup of also being loved simultaneously by these two tightly-bonded twins is..."

"...a maiden's ultimate romance, right?"

"Ah... Huh? Huh? Me? I can't take it anymore!"

Suddenly, Tamaki runs toward the group. "Hikaru, Kaoru!"

"Huh?" The twins look at him in confusion. They then look over at Asami to see if she knew why he was so angry at them this time. She shrugs.

"I left both of you in charge of the club's website because you promise to do it seriously."

"Yeah, we are doing it seriously," Hikaru states.

"Yeah, we stayed up the whole night yesterday." Kaoru tilts his head to the side, staring boredly at Tamaki.

"And this is the graphic you guys came up with?!" Tamaki shows a picture of Haruhi photoshopped onto a boy's-Tamaki's-body. Haruhi gasps, reading the words on her picture, 'I'm great when I take off my outfit.'

"Haru-chan, you're so cool!" Mitsukuni beams. The girls crowd around Tamaki with the computer, swooning over how sexy Haruhi looks. Tamaki glares at the twins as he changes the page to a new one.

"And this!" Asami sighs, seeing the picture of her kneeling with the twins seductively holding her face. They asked her before they began to photoshop the picture if it was okay to make it. They wanted to further progress their love triangle for the guests. "When did you guys take a nude picture of Haruhi?! When did you force my sister to participate in impure activities?!"

"Your imagination is way too crazy." The twins say with a shake of their heads.

"It's obviously a shop," Kaoru informs him. Tamaki seems to short-circuit as he realizes that these photos are photoshopped.

"It's a nice job, right?" Hikaru asks.

"We possess some elite skills at this." Kaoru grins.

"Outrageous! Do you know you're wasting you're talents by doing this? Shame on you!" Tamaki shouts before pulling out a magazine of cute idols while Haruhi remains dead inside against the wall. Asami gently pats her back in support. "If you really want to do it, you must use these celebrity idols' photography collection pictures to generate her photo. I want to see her wearing a fluffy pink dress."

"It would be faster if you'd ask her to wear those clothes." The twins tell him. Tamaki holds a frilly dress to Haruhi's back.

"How about something like this?" Tamaki asks.

"Why do you have one on hand?" Mitsukuni asks.

"Why did they do this? Are you not angry with yours? They're making it seem like you're in a relationship with both of them." Haruhi asks as she rests her head on the wall, staring blankly at the wallpaper.

"They do stuff like this when they get bored." She sighs. "I'm not angry because they asked for my permission before they did it which they should've asked you as well." She glares at the twins who whistle and look away from her.

"Please stop that, making shopped images like that without permission," Haruhi tells the twins.

"Haruhi, can we go to your house and play?" Haruhi immediately says no to them. "Then can we spread rumors of you being a girl?"

"What am I to you guys?" Haruhi seems rather annoyed.

"Heh... That's obvious. You're our toy." They say. Asami gasps and reaches over to hit them, but each twin grabs one of her arms to block the hit.

"That is so rude! Haruhi is a human being, not a toy!" She scolds.

"Don't be too jealous, Asami. You're our toy too." The twins say. She pauses and stares at them with hurt in her eyes.

"A toy?" She mumbles. The twins let her go and stare at her in concern. "That's all I am to you?" She asks. "I thought we were friends." The twins seem to realize that they genuinely screwed up and then go to say something when Nekozawa peeks through a door. "Nekozawa-senpai?" She blinks in surprise.

"Toy, toy... If you like toys, then come to my club, the Black Magic Club. Currently, we're organizing the world's ancient magical artifacts exhibition. If you join us now, we will also throw in a wonderful cursed voodoo doll for you folks. We have mass every day too." Nekozawa informs them.

"Why are you talking from that little opening?" Haruhi asks.

"And was there a door over there before?" The twins question.

"Nekozawa-senpai doesn't like places that are bright," Kyoya tells Haruhi.

"You must not take part in his life. If you do, you're sure to be cursed." Tamaki mumbles.

"On what grounds do you say that?" Haruhi asks.

"Tamaki thinks everything bad that has happened to him is because of Nekozawa-senpai." Asami rolls her eyes. "He's actually very nice. He helped us with our cat cafe theme." She heads over to the male with a brilliant smile on her face. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing good, Souh-San. How are you? Have you used the doll yet?" He asks.

"I'm as good as I can be and not yet, I'm waiting for the right moment." She says. Tamaki is dramatically retelling how he took the wrong test and how his feet felt like lead days after he stepped on Beelzenef. "Ignore him, he acted like I was possessed when I put crystals in my room."

"Crystals can boost energy levels, block evil energy, and heal you." He muses.

"I think they failed on blocking some evil energy." She sends a look at the twins who seem to be whispering to one another and grabbing a flashlight.

"The power of this voodoo doll, Beelzenef, is authentic," Nekozawa says after Tamaki finished his storytelling. "If you write the name of the person you hate on the back of this doll, that person will suffer much misfortunate."

"How much hate has to be in my heart for it to work?" She asks.

"It does-"

"What's a cursed voodoo doll?" Hikaru asks, pointing a flashlight at the male.

"What about this much light? Can you take it?" Kaoru asks. Asami stares with wide eyes as Nekozawa screeches and runs away back into the other room.

"Murderers!!" Hikaru and Kaoru shrug, turning off their flashlights.

"Hikaru, Kaoru, what have you done? You guys don't understand the true horrors of black magic!" Tamaki looks at the twins in horror. Hikaru and Kaoru walk away and take a seat near the window. Asami watches them, wondering what is wrong with them today. Sure, they can be menaces sometimes, but she has never seen them be so outright cruel toward another person before. Maybe she didn't know the twins as well as she thought she did.

"There really isn't anything fun around here." Kaoru comments, looking out the window.

"Haruhi has also gotten used to the club activities." Hikaru sighs. Tamaki heads over to the twins and gives them signs that say, 'No talking allowed. No movement. Prohibited from having customers for 2 days. By King.' The club continues as normal except for the twins not being allowed to host and being forced to clean. Asami is sitting with Haruhi for the day, glancing at the twins in worry every few moments. She knows what they can do when they get bored and she is worried about what their next plan is.

"Haruhi-kun, Asami-Chan," the guests catch their attention, "I really can't tell who's who after they hide the way they part their hair to the left or right. How are you able to tell them apart?"

"Hmm, well, let's see...If I had to say, Hikaru's speech and behavior reveal 10% more evilness." Haruhi informs them.

"Hikaru is more bold in his approaches while Kaoru is more shy," Asami explains.

"Pft... Fufu... S-Sorry, Hikaru. Hahahaha!" Kaoru starts to laugh.

"Hey, I'm just being sincere and saying what I want without hiding anything, and in fact, Kaoru's the one that's more ill-natured," Hikaru says.

"Don't just be saying whatever you want. I'm the one that has to deal with your selfishness all the time." Kaoru comments.

"I may be the one that brought this up, but you're the one that's digging a deeper hole. If you don't like it then stop. Are you stupid or something?" Hikaru snaps.

"That's because I couldn't help but see you being dumber. Besides, even though you call Haruhi a toy, you always make a pass at Haruhi whenever you get the chance. Hikaru, you actually like Haruhi, don't you?" Kaoru points out.

"Ngh... What?!" Hikaru startles at that accusation.

"Wh-What are you misunderstanding here?! You really are an idiot, Kaoru. Accusing me of making passes at Haruhi when you do the same thing to Asami, you actually like her, don't you?" Hikaru growls. Tamaki gasps in anger that the twins like Haruhi and Asami. Asami blinks in surprise and glances at Kaoru, silently wondering if there's any truth to that.

"Yeah! There are things you should and shouldn't say in this world!" Tamaki angrily shouts.

"Besides, why would I like a short fox like Haruhi?" Hikaru scoffs.

"How dare you call Haruhi a short fox!" Tamaki bristles. Asami watches Kaoru, realizing that he has yet to deny having feelings for her like Hikaru is doing with Haruhi.

"Beautiful! This is beautiful!" Renge rises on her motorized platform. "A beautiful yet painful four-sided relationship revolving around Haruhi and a three-sides relationship revoking around Asami. And two of them are twins. What a predicament-like development. Renge could eat three bowls of rice for this!"

"Get lost, you otaku." The twins demand.

"So mean! So mean! How could you say that to the manager?" Renge cries out.

"Renge, I thought you liked Haruhi," Tamaki says in confusion.

"That's a separate thing. Having a different stomach for this kind of relationship is common sense these days." Renge comments.

"Anyway, I thought you had already gone back to France," Haruhi states.

"So did I." Asami sighs, rustling through her bag for her cursed doll only to see that it wasn't there. She stares at the empty spot before slowly looking over at the twins, a light bulb going off in her head once she connects the dots. The twins see the look on her face and mischievously grin at her.

'Evil gremlins,' she mouthes at them. They chuckle at her words.

"Well, when I tried founding a host club in France, it wasn't received well because it's too early for them." Renge sighs.

"I've had it with you already! Always sneaking into my bed is so annoying!" Hikaru suddenly screams and gets into Kaoru's face.

"I slept with you because you looked so helplessly lonely, you idiot!" Kaoru yells. Everyone watches them go back and forth like a ping-pong match.

"Who are you calling an idiot?! You're worse than me in math!"

"Look who's talking! You should go study Japanese more!"

"Ngh... You obnoxiously noisy person!"

"Who's the one with the bad sleeping form and always falling off the bed?!"

"Erotic imp!"

"Pervert!"

"At least I'm better than you!!" They chorus. "I'm not talking to you anymore!!" They stalk away from one another. Asami goes to go after one of them when a hand grabs hers. She turns to see Haruhi shaking her head.

"Let them cool off." Haruhi sighs. "I don't want them hurting you anymore with their words." Asami's eyes widen and she gently smiles at Haruhi's concern for her feelings.

Tamaki fawns over at how well his darling daughter and sister are getting along.

•••

Later that night, Asami opens the door to see Hikaru and Kaoru standing there again with bags. "You two are mean, letting me believe you guys were actually fighting." She crossed her arms and narrows her eyes at them. "Am I still just a toy to you guys?"

"You were merely a toy when we first met, but you're one of our friends now." Kaoru smiles softly. "I'm sorry for what we said, but we have to stay in character so expect more things to be said." She hums and glances at Hikaru.

"What?" He asks.

"Kaoru, you may come in. Hikaru, you're not." She gestures for Kaoru to come in. Hikaru gapes and pouts.

"Why can't I come in?"

"You haven't apologized yet."

"I'm sorry."

"Say it like you mean it."

"I'm sorry, Asami. I didn't mean what I said."

"Okay, come in. You guys are apologizing to Nekozawa-senpai tomorrow too because what you did was very rude." She scolds them, leading them to her room once more.

"Okay, mother." The twins teasingly say.

"Don't call me that! Now, why are you here?" She pauses and turns to see the twins reach into the bags and reveal hair dye. "Oh lord."

•••

Asami sits in class next to Haruhi as they compare their assignments to make sure they have the same answers. "How did I get a negative number when you got a positive?" Asami asks, staring in absolute confusion at her math work. Haruhi laughs a bit and points at a specific section in her work.

"You just forgot to drop it here after multiplying." She explains. Asami makes an 'o' shape with her mouth before fixing her work.

"Hikaru?" Asami and Haruhi glance up at his name and gasp. Hikaru arrives at class with his hair dyed flamingo pink.

"Good morning." He greets them.

"Hikaru, what's up with your hair? Why pink?" Haruhi asks. Asami admires her handiwork.

"It looks nice." She comments.

"Because it looks good on me. Cute, no? I'm pink starting today." Kaoru arrives at class with blue hair. "I'm sick and tired of always being mistaken for the likes of Kaoru."

"Good morning." Kaoru greets them as well.

"Blue really suits you," Asami comments with a grin.

"And Kaoru is blue, eh?" Haruhi sighs. Hikaru goes to sit at his desk.

"I was finally able to have an elegant sleep alone last night, but I had a bad dream. A dream about dying my hair pink... something disgusting like that. Hahaha..."
Kaoru goes to sit at his desk, but Hikaru kicks the chair out from under him. Kaoru lands on the floor. "Erk..." he winces in pain before snarling and pulling Hikaru's chair, and Hikaru falls to the side. Hikaru and Kaoru glare at each other and start throwing various items across the room. Mitsukuni's bunny plushie ends up in the fray. He jumps in after his bunny plushie and gets tossed into the air.

"Mitsukuni!" Asami cries out in worry and runs in between the throwing to catch him and his bunny plushie. "Are you okay?"

"Thank you for saving us, Ami-Chan." He nuzzles his head in her shoulder in a tight hug.

•••

At the cafeteria, during lunch, Hikaru and Kaoru order their meals when things go wrong again.

"Lunch set A." They chorus. "Actually, I'll take the B pasta and D salad! No, the Cappellini and Barbary duck from F. Nevermind, a foie-gras poele with perigueux sauce! Stop copying me! I said stop copying me! Grrr..." the twins snarl at each other.

"Amazing... They're fighting with gritted teeth." Haruhi comments.

"I thought it was unusually noisy here. You two are still fighting? You guys are a disgrace to the Host Club." The entire host club appears in their lunch room, approaching the quarreling twins.

"Okay, stop right there! Double punishment for fighting!" Mitsukuni takes out a cake. "Fufu~! Hika-chan and Kao-chan will each have half of this cake and makeup with each other. Okay? Ahh, but I want to eat, too, so we'll have to split it in three. Oh, four ways so we can include Ami-Chan. The strawberry you can't divide, so what will we do? Can I have it? Since I like strawberries, that's okay, right? Ah, but... Hika-chan, Kao-chan, do you like strawberries?" Takashi comes and removes him from between Hikaru and Kaoru.

"You're only making things worse, so stop it," Takashi says. Mitsukuni turns to Asami.

"I guess we only need to split it two ways now. Can I have the strawberry please?" He cutely asks. Asami nods her head and he cheers. He splits the cake in half, giving her some and taking his half with the strawberry. The two eat their cakes while watching the drama unfold in front of them.

"Oh, Haruhi! It's so rare that we meet in the cafeteria!" Tamaki smiles.

"I'm worried about these two, so I tagged along before I knew it. I wanted to eat in the classroom because I have a bento box, though." Haruhi says.

"Ah... A bento...? Even if it's an embarrassing-looking heart bento box, I will eat it without any hesitation!" Tamaki cries out with hearts floating around him.

"While I have no idea what you're saying, I have deduced that your imagination has no coherence whatsoever." Kyoya walks off. Haruhi and Asami sit down for lunch. She warily eyes Hikaru as he approaches them. Asami also brought a bento box for lunch today.

"Haruhi, is this seat free?" He asks.

"Oh, yeah..." she glances at Asami to make sure it was okay for him to sit here and she nods her head.

"What's in your bento box?" He asks Haruhi. Asami turns around to see if she could spot the blue hair of Kaoru.

"Just yesterday's simmered dishes and fried eggs," Haruhi states.

"Exchange it with me, please. When I asked for something different from Kaoru, they were all things I hate." Hikaru takes Haruhi's bento and gives her his tray.

"Sure, but..." Haruhi notices the fancy dishes and takes a bite of food. She hums in happiness.

"It was delicious, huh? It was delicious, right, Haruhi? I'm so glad... I want you to eat these things every day. Well done, Hikaru. As a reward, I'll give you my lunch set A, so hand over that bento box." Tamaki says.

"No."

"Oh, don't say that." Tamaki sulks.

"Hell no."

"Asami." Kaoru sits beside her. "Do you want to try some of my food? Here. Ahh..." Kaoru offers a spoon of jelly to Asami, but Hikaru eats it before she does.

"Excuse me, but go away."' Hikaru demands. Kaoru throws a dish of soup at Hikaru. Hikaru blocks it with Tamaki. Asami snorts. Hikaru and Kaoru begin throwing things across the room again. Mitsukuni ends up in the fray again, so Takashi goes in after him. He is also thrown across the room. Tamaki is thrown into the fray as well.

"I think I'll eat in the classroom after all. Are you coming, Asami?" Haruhi grabs her bento box, beginning to walk away. Asami nods her head, grabbing her lunch and following after the girl.

•••

Haruhi, Tamaki, Kyoya, Mitsukuni, and Takashi sit at a table. Asami is in the room with them, but she's tuning some of the instruments while listening in.

"If this situation goes on, we'll be forced to stop selling the brotherly love. Designation rates will definitely be down." Kyoya sighs. "Oh, you don't have to feel responsible for anything, Haruhi and Asami, even if the reason for their fight was because of your two thoughtless little comments. Okay?" Asami rolls her eyes, knowing that he is blaming both of them for the twins' behaviors.

"This is the first time that Hika-chan and Kao-chan have fought, right?" Mitsukuni asks.

"Yeah." Takashi nods his head.

"Really?" Haruhi blinks in surprise.

"I've known them since kindergarten. Even though I hadn't talked to them since we were in different grades, those two have always played by themselves." Mitsukuni explains.

"Yeah... I've only ever known them since middle school, and they were pretty odd." Tamaki agrees. "It was as if they wouldn't let anyone get close to them except themselves. Their personalities were many times odder compared to now. So if you think about it this way, fighting might be a good direction for them. Doesn't it mean that their world is getting wider now? Right now, letting them be might be the best thing to do." He muses. Asami is a bit surprised at how mature her brother can be in certain moments.

"Is it really a good direction?" Haruhi asks. "But if it's their first fight, doesn't that make it more important for someone to be there and tell them when to stop? They probably don't even know how to make up to each other."

"No, Tamaki is right." Asami steps in. "If we step in, they'll never figure out how to stop and forgive each other on their own." Haruhi looks uneasy but nods her head. "We can't hold their hands through this. They need to do it themselves. Or wait until they come to us for help." As Asami sees how worried everyone is, she feels a bit guilty that she knows the truth.

•••

Everyone is back at the host club after classes and Hikaru and Kaoru continue throwing things at each other until there's nothing left to throw, and they both breathe heavily.

"Even after this much fighting, you guys still aren't satisfied? You troublesome siblings." Tamaki states.

"Troublesome? Troublesome, you say?! You've got to be kidding me. I'm the troubled one, having an identical face to Kaoru...I'm tired of being mistaken for you, and the truth is that I really hate you!" Hikaru shouts.

"Ngh... That's my line." Suddenly, Kaoru pulls out a cursed fool. "Look, the voodoo doll Asami bought from Nekozawa-senpai and gave to me, Beelzenef!" The hosts give her a look when he announces this.

"I got that a bit ago and he took it from me, I didn't give it to him." Asami defends herself.

"I'll write your name on the back of this doll," Kaoru informs them. Tamaki shrieks. "From now on, you'll be hit with a lot of misfortunes and tragedies!" Kaoru writes on the back of the Beelzenef doll. Haruhi punches Hikaru and Kaoru on the head. Asami covers her mouth to stop her laughter.

"Enough already! Don't bring something like this into a trivial fight! Both of you are at fault in this fight, and what's worse is that you're troubling everyone else around you, too! Makeup with each other already! If you don't makeup right now, I'll never let you guys visit my home!" Haruhi shouts. Hikaru and Kaoru grin.

"So if we make up, then we can go to your home?" Hikaru and Kaoru put their arms over each other's shoulders and look down at Haruhi. Haruhi turns the voodoo doll around. "Fail" is written on the back. Hikaru and Kaoru high-five and hug.

"I'm sorry, Kaoru. Even if we went by our scenario, I fail as an elder brother for saying such horrible things to you." Hikaru apologizes.

"Don't say that! I was so worried about inflicting any injuries on you..." Kaoru says.

"Kaoru! I'm not letting you go anymore!"

"Hikaru!" Haruhi drops the voodoo doll in shock.

"What, this was a fake fight?!" Mitsukuni asks.

"Hey, we were bored! Ahh, that was fun! Thanks for your help, Asami." They grin at her. The hosts slowly turn toward her.

"You knew?" Kyoya questions.

"I realized after I noticed that they took my cursed doll and made me dye their hair for them." Asami smiles sweetly at the dark and angry looks directed at her. Hikaru and Kaoru stick their tongues out at Tamaki, wrapping their arms around Asami. Tamaki stares in horror, wondering when the twins made his sister into a demon too. Host club activities return as normal and the twins are once again entertaining guests.

"All right! Time for the "Which one is Hikaru-kun" game!" The twins' chorus.

"Umm... The pink-haired one is Hikaru-kun?"

"Bingo!"

"Your hair colors will be staying like that even after making up, huh? But I'm happy that it's easy for us to tell now."

"You're wrong," Haruhi says as she walks by with Asami.

"You guys switched colors and didn't even tell me? Who did it for you this time?" Asami asks, reaching up to touch their hair. "I still think blue looks better on you." She muses at Kaoru.

"Kaoru is the pink one today, and Hikaru is the blue one. You guys switched colors, right?" Haruhi continues. Hikaru and Kaoru glance between the two girls. At that moment, they realize that their world has expanded and welcomed two more members.

•••

Asami ensures that her shoes are off before emerging from the dojo and bows in greeting. She stands up and eyes the numerous people littering the area. She goes to stand on the side of the other new beginners and glances over to see Takashi and Mitsukuni with the more experienced people. The two requested her to come today to watch a kendo match between them. After a few moments of talking, Takashi and Mitsukuni approach the front of the dojo and stand on the mats with their gear ready. She observes how Takashi stands tall, composed, and confident. She blushes when her eyes lock onto his toned muscles. She quickly looks over at Mitsukuni to see that he seems hyper and enthusiastic. The sensei announces the start of the match, and the two bow toward each other. As the match began, the sound of clashing swords fills the room. Asami feels her heartbeat quicken at the fast pace of the battle. Mitsukuni is able to strike faster due to his nimble statue yet Takashi's unwavering stance stops the blows each time. It was truly exhilarating watching this occur. The two cousins look as if they were performing a choreographed dance. Asami's eyes widen when Mitsukuni goes to land a blow on Takashi's head, but Takashi quickly parries it and tries to land a hit on his torso.

"Good one, Takashi!" Mitsukuni says with a bright grin as he blocks the torso hit. As the match continues, their movements become more fluid, each anticipating the other's actions with ease. Asami finds herself holding her breath and not blinking because she did not want to miss a second of this. Finally, after a fierce exchange of strikes, Mori manages to land a clean hit on Mitsukuni's wrist securing his victory.

"Great match, Takashi!" Mitsukuni exclaims. Takashi bows respectfully. The two leave the mats and head toward Asami. "How did you like the match?"

"It was amazing," she breathes out, locking eyes with Takashi. "You were amazing." She blushes when she realizes what she said and Takashi also has a shy blush on his cheeks at her words.

"Thank you." He comments. 

"You have a great teacher," Mitsukuni states. "He'll be able to teach you a lot of things." Takashi's eyes widen and he sends a small glare at his cousin for the underlying intentions in his words.

"He is great and I can't wait to learn everything he can teach me," Asami says, not realizing what Mitsukuni was also implying with his words. Takashi closes his eyes and turns away from her for a moment to collect his composure as Mitsukuni laughs. She gives the two a confused look at their reactions.

•••

Asami waves goodbye to Takashi and Mitsukuni after they take the time to drop her off at her house. She tightens her grip on her bag, jogging up to the mansion when she pauses. She sees more policemen than usual standing in front of the doors and her father looks stressed out. "Asami," he greets her and wraps her in a hug. "You probably don't want to come in right now."

"What do you mean?" She furrows her eyebrows. "What's going on?" Yoshiro steps out of the house with a forlorn expression on his face.

"Miss Asami," he seems a bit relieved to see her, "we have caught Emica." Her heart stops beating and her blood runs cold at those words. "She has posted bail and has come here to speak with you because..." he pauses, "she is going for custody for you after her kidnapping trial."

"What?" Her entire world seems to be falling down around her again. "But she's not my biological mother."

"Surrogacy laws are complicated here." He informs her in a gentle tone. "It's not illegal, but it's considered unethical and is treated by such in the court. There have many cases where the surrogate mother is ruled as the legal mother of the children despite not being blood-related." Asami curls further into her father's arms at those words. "She is making a case that because she gave birth to you that she technically did not kidnap you. She took you back home with her. Because she then raised you for numerous years, she's your mother and should have legal custody of you."

"What about Tamaki?" She quietly questions.

"She is making the claim that since she gave birth to him as well, she should be his legal mother, but she did not raise him at all. She has a higher chance of winning custody with you than with him." He reaches out and softly pats her arm. "She is in the living room. Would you like to see her?" Asami stares at him. She feels like she is underwater and slowly drowning. How could this be happening?

"No," she shakes her head, "tell her I'll see her in court and we can talk then."

(Current love interest ranking:
Kaoru
Kyoya & Takashi (tie)
Haruhi
Hikaru & Umehito (tie)
Mitsukuni
Ritsu
Kazuki )