By the time we reached the music room I was deeply regretting agreeing to this scheme of hers. It didn't matter if she had an appointment with one of the boys, I couldn't afford to be caught dead in a place like this! My uncle, despite his wishes for me to have some friends, probably wouldn't approve in the least of this host club, I remembered, consisted of seven gorgeous guys, well, six and a kid. They spent their club activity time entertaining girls who had nothing better to do but stop and ogle them. I'd have been better off going home and taking those hours of kendo practice I would have.

"Who's your favorite?" Chie asked suddenly, pausing outside of the doorway where there were dozens of girls milling around. "I mean, the appointment is already booked so it's not like you can choose if its someone other than the one I chose, but if you tell me then I can set you up for another time!" she gave me a pleased smile as I pretended to be giving the question thought. "I'm a regular, so I've even gotten Ootori-kun to give me a discount a few times. I'm sure I could get him to do the same for you on your first appointment!"

I'd rather be struck by lightning and burned at the stake.

"I'll give it some thought. I've never really paid attention to them before," I replied honestly.

Chie's eyes looked like they were about to bug out of her head.

"Really? Honestly?" she questioned, her tone full of disbelief. "Two of them are in our class! How could you not notice?" At that same moment she clasped her hands together and tilted her head back with what I guessed was supposed to be a pitying sigh. "They're so handsome, I don't know how you couldn't notice."

Taking a deep breath, I counted to ten in my head. Now I remembered why I'd never considered becoming friends with the only girl who consistently tried to talk to me. She was crazy and obsessive and over the top. Although, I guess you could use that to describe most of the girls in this school.

If it wasn't for the fact that my uncle had forced me to transfer here I'd drop out in a heartbeat. Just standing here made me feel like I was losing IQ points.

"I've been studying," I answered once I knew my voice would come out calm. "We are third years after all. The exams aren't that far off."

Chie pouted, but didn't bother to respond to that. After all, I was rather certain that she wasn't concerned about those. Knowing her she planned on simply depending on her parents until she married some rich CEO's son and had herself set for life. As all of this ran through my mind, the squeals of the girls got louder. It was at that time I realized the door into the music room was opening... great.

"Who did you say we were meeting with?" I mumbled under my breath as I was shoved forward by the crowd. It was the best I could do not to turn around and smack some sense into the girls behind us.

"I didn't," Chie answered, standing on the tips of her feet as the other girls rushed the hosts.

The seven hosts were posed in the center of the room, each in some position while simply wearing their pastel blue school uniforms. As I studied them, trying to figure what on earth about them happened to be driving these girls crazy, Chie suddenly excitedly began tapping on my shoulder. I once again had to resist the urge to slap away her hand.

"There, that one," she announced, pointing at the mentioned target.

My eyes followed her prompt and I could barely keep myself from laughing. So... she was some sort of lolicon? I thought only guys were into that. The host who she'd pointed out, while he was wearing the uniform of a high school student, looked like he had to either be in middle school or lower, he appeared to be the same age that my brother had been. It didn't help that he had a bunny clutched to his chest, and seemed to have his attention captured by the stand of cake across the room.

"... that one?" I asked after a moment, careful to keep my voice even.

She nodded excitedly, once again seizing my hand and dragging me forward. The boys had begun to separate to their perspective places in the room. To my surprise, instead of dragging me over to the kid she paused next to another of the hosts, a tall black-haired boy with glasses. At least this one appeared to be an appropriate age.

"Ootori-kun~" she greeted, giving a small wave of her free hand. "I believe I'm signed up for today~"

The boy in question adjusted his glasses before lowering his eyes to his clipboard.

"Ah, yes, with Honey-senpai," he said, offering a friendly smile, his eyes then flickered to me. I had to do my best not to return the look with a glare. "And this is..."

Chie gave him a brilliant smile, holding up my wrist as she answered the question.

"Morioka Nao, a friend and classmate of mine. I'd originally signed up with Hana-chan, but she was busy, so..." Chie turned her attention to me and gestured towards him with a free hand. "Nao-chan, this is Ootori Kyoya, he's a second year."

Surprise flickered through me. He was a second year and he'd called the kid senpai? Did that mean he was the same age as Chie and I?

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I said, realizing it would be polite to add in a response after the introduction she gave. My voice came out rather dull, though, not reflecting the words.

Kyoya rose a brow, but didn't comment on that. Instead he glanced towards where Honey and another boy were sitting. The one next to Honey actually seemed like he'd be the age Honey was said to be. After a moment I vaguely remembered seeing them 3-A earlier today. It must have been those two that the girls had freaked out about.

"The pleasure is mine, Morioka-senpai. It looks like they're ready for their first appointment, so feel free to head over there at this time."

It honestly felt rather strange to be called senpai by someone taller than me. Although, I guess it wouldn't feel so strange if I interacted with the underclassman more often.

Without waiting for any agreement on my side, Chie dragged me towards where the two boys were sitting. Giving off a brilliant smile, she paused right before them. Using her free hand, she tossed a bit of her brown hair that had hung in front of her face over her shoulder before gesturing at me with the hand.

"This is my friend Morioka Nao, she'll be joining us today," she said. "She's in her class, but she's not very social so I'm not sure if you would have seen her or not."

I could feel my annoyance building the longer I was around her. No matter if I was wanting to use this fake friend business on my uncle, the more people she introduced me to like that, the more I felt like denying it. For some reason she just rubbed me wrong. Instead of letting my temper show, however, I simply forced a simple smile in place.

"Nice to meet you."

That should work. I said something, so now I'll able to just let her talk the rest of the time, right?

Chie and I took seats across from them at the table. At that same moment I dropped my school back, nudging it under the seat with my foot. Her smile directed at her target of choice, meaning Honey. At that moment I allowed myself to study both of them, a bit of curiosity flickering through me. Was there anything in specific that would cause Chie's earlier reaction to me not knowing my favorite? Honestly, beyond Honey, with his childish features, I couldn't see what set them off from any other guys.

"Do you like cake, Nao-chan?" Honey asked, startling me. I must have zoned out a little after sitting down.

Wait... Nao-chan?

When...

"I'm Haninozuka Mitsukuni, but most people just call me Honey," he said, realizing he had my attention now. There was a childish atmosphere to even his way of speaking and the expression as he did. "And he's Morinozuka Takashi, but everyone calls him Mori, and this is my bunny, Usa-chan!"

As Honey finished, he held up the stuffed bunny he'd been holding earlier. Turning my attention away from the bunny, I glanced at the other one who'd been introduced. Meeting my eyes, Mori gave me a short nod of greeting.

"To answer your question..." I hesitated, considering what I'd eaten so far today, Uncle was very strict when it came to meals. The moment I realized the reason for my hesitation, though, I felt it fly away with a bit of annoyance added in. Why did I care? He wouldn't find out. "Yes, I like cake."

Honey gave me a pleased smile, removing a plate from the stand that I just noticed was standing on the edge of the table. He pushed it towards me and looked as if he were about to say something. However, annoyed at being out of the conversation, Chie chose that moment to start chattering about something I couldn't bother to pay attention to. Whatever it was must have been interesting, because she managed to pull Honey into the conversation.

Slightly relieved about not having any attention on me anymore, I picked up a fork and broke a way a bit of the cake before stabbing it and taking the bite. Surprise surged through me and I left the fork there for just a moment, wishing for the flavor to linger that much longer. How long had it been since I'd had sweets? At least a few months, most likely longer.

It was about then I turned my eyes upwards, realizing someone was looking at me. My eyes met Mori's, which despite his rather deadpan face, had a slightly curious look in them. Embarrassment flushed through me as I dropped my gaze back down to the cake. My expression when I'd taken the bite must have been rather strange. Removing the fork from my mouth I quickly took another bite, not letting it linger between my lips this time. I would savor the flavor, but I could do that without looking like a freak. In his manner I finished the cake.

The next time I looked at him, his expression seemed rather similar as it had been before, but I could almost have sworn that something about him gave off the feeling of being amused. I couldn't help but feel even more embarrassed as I realized that, although I was careful to keep it from my face. Needless to say, I was rather relieved when Chie informed me a few minutes later that it was time for us to go. The reason was obvious when I glanced around to find a set of girls standing and waiting for us to move so they could sit down in our places.

"See you tomorrow, Nao-chan, Chie-chan~" Honey announced as we stood.

Chie looked practically ecstatic, a blush rising to her cheeks as she gave a nod in return.

"Goodbye."

I'd just begun to stand when the word startled me. Glancing across the table, I realized that the one who had spoken was Mori. Shaking my head a little, I put on a small, fake smile and offered a wave.

"Goodbye, Honey-san, Mori-san."

With that, I quickly trailed Chie out of the room, tuning out most of her mindless chatter. Thankfully, once we were outside she quickly said goodbye and left in her car. I did the same, however, only a few moments after arriving home I realized my mistake as I reached for my bag and found it missing. Calling back the driver, I had him take me back so that I could hurry to the club room and retrieve it.

When I pulled the door open, however, the scene that met my eyes was rather surprising. The host club boys were all gathered towards one side of the room, one of them standing there with a insanely red face, his hand clasped over his mouth. Not far from him was another one of the host club boys... only instead of being in their normal attire... he was in... a dress?