Episode 18

The Female Host!

" Bonjour , my dears… The Ouran Host Club bids you… beinvenue !"

The girls giggled with glee as they were ushered into the room. The large windows along the left side of the room were cracked open just enough to let in a gentle breeze. The petals of the red roses scattered around the room fluttered in the wind, their scent mixing with the hint of warm, baking bread. But the icing on the cake was how the hosts were dressed for the day.

Tamaki was front and center, as always, in a white button down shirt with a grey overcoat thrown over it, matching his grey pants and loafers perfectly. And, also as always, Kyoya was his polar opposite. While Tamaki had light colors, Kyoya was mainly in black save for his dulled-purple t-shirt. His jacket, pants, watch, shoes, and even the scarf wrapped loosely around his neck were black as night.

Hikaru and Kaoru were matching with black crew-neck long sleeve shirts and navy jackets and pants. They both also had on black fedoras, which made their almost bright orange hair stand out that much more.

Honey had on a grey sweater and brown leather coat that surprisingly went well with his black, almost blue, pants. The only bright color was the rose-pink collar peeking out from beneath the sweater. Mori was standing behind him, looking a bit more rugged than the rest of the group in a white t-shirt and a dark-blue button down with the sleeves rolled up. For pants, he just had a simple pair of jeans.

Haruhi was wearing a pair of tan pants that fit well with her grey sweater and the white shirt underneath that peeked out around the collar and bottom hem of said sweater. For the first time in a long while, she felt at ease in a cosplay and it was definitely obvious in the way she set her shoulders.

But if the guests were having any trouble with figuring out today's theme, Jin's outfit gave it all away. She was wearing a white, low-collared dress with a grey sweater over it. The pencil skirt of said dress went down to just above her knees, revealing her black tight-covered legs from there down to her sleek black heels. And, daintily placed on the top of her head, was a bright red beret.

"Welcome to Paris, ladies!"

The responding mixture of gasps and squeals and giggling made Jin grin wider. It was particularly important to her that today's cosplay was received well by the guests. Especially since she had been the one to suggest it in the first place. After the fiasco with the Lobelia girls, Jin and Tamaki had had their chat about sexuality and it's various types. During said conversation, she'd asked Tamaki what Benio had meant by calling him a "Halfer". About eight minutes later, Jin tossed out the idea of having a French themed day at the Host Club, and Tamaki had jumped on it.

The tall brunette grinned wider as the girls practically melted into their shoes from either the set-up, the scent of the baking bread wafting from the kitchen (another one of Jin's suggestions), or just the aesthetics of the boy's "French commoner" clothes. Sure, a few of the boys had voiced their doubts about dressing up in "everyday" clothes for the Host Club, but they sure didn't seem to be doubting it now.

Standing up from her perch on the arm of the chair the hosts were surrounding, Jin sparked movement from both sides of the room. The girls filed in an orderly fashion in front of Kyoya while the other boys headed to their respective tables to wait for them. The elder Fujioka observed the scene for a few moments before making her way to the kitchen.

Once inside, she let out a puff of air and looked around. There were a few loaves of freshly baked bread set out on the tables and counter space, and where there wasn't bread, there were piles of éclairs. In the oven there were two more loaves of bread, and the warm smell was making her mouth water.

Savoring the moment for another beat or two, Jin shook her head and dove into action. She piled a few small plates of chocolate éclairs and a basket or two of bread that she'd already cut into thick slices onto a tray. The bread was still soft and warm and more than once Jin had been tempted to try a few pieces on her own.

She did, but that wasn't the point.

Readjusting her beret once last time, Jin smiled and knocked her hip against the kitchen doors, making them swing outwards for her. The moment she did, someone started talking to her.

"I'm still positive your original outfit would've been just as well received as your current one."

"Were you waiting for me out here this whole time, Glasses? Nevermind, not important." Jin chuckled and continued walking towards the nearest host table, which happened to be Haruhi's today, "And really, while I appreciate your… compliments?... you boys originally had me as a French maid in a skimpy little outfit. Feather duster and all. You would've been forced to kill me in order to get me into that dress."

Kyoya smirked at her over the lip of his black journal, "I see. Perhaps we should try to avoid that."

The girl rolled her eyes and patted Haruhi's head gently before walking towards the twin's table. The boy followed her, still scribbling in his journal. Internally, Jin was grinning at how close she was growing to the Shadow King. Looks like she had been correct in thinking that they could be good friends once he stopped being a jerk. And he was fun to talk to and poke and sass at.

"Oh, really? Is that the only reason? And here I thought I pulled off being a French teenaged girl pretty well."

The twins were quick to snag a piece of bread each and start feeding each other as soon as Jin set the basket down on their table. Since they were entertaining their guests well enough by themselves, she turned around immediately and headed back to the kitchen, tray empty again.

Kyoya hummed and walked beside her, "I suppose you are correct. It's not as though your current cosplay doesn't suit you well. Honey-senpai was momentarily worried that he had another rival for his position as the 'cute' host."

Jin can't help but blush slightly, "You guys give me too much credit."

" Au contraire, mademoiselle. We do not compliment you enough."

Scoffing, Jin gently shoved Kyoya away even as her blush burned brighter, "You stupid- You're hosting the wrong person. Go back to your guests, Glasses!"

The ravenet rolled his eyes, but walked away with a small smile. His friend was smiling too as she walked back into the kitchen, the both of them unaware of the pair of eyes trained on Jin as she disappeared behind another pair of doors.

Koji Abe couldn't believe how he'd stayed away for this long.

It had been one thing to know that most of Ouran's eligible female population congregated in this single room everyday after school without fail, save for the occasional day off. But with the most recent addition to the good-looking group… well, the teenage boy's willpower had been stretched unfairly thin.

It had been a simple fluke that wound up setting him just outside of the music room's door, a simple run from the library to his Chemistry teacher's office. It wasn't his fault that he noticed his shoe was untied when he passed in front of the music room. And it certainly wasn't his fault that the loud giggles coming from inside said room captured his attention.

He'd been locked in a very intense mental battle within himself; to look, or not to look. Koji didn't want to be caught by the host club boys, or be thought of as a pervert… but then again he hadn't seen the eldest Honor student since the Battle of the Refractory the Hitachiin twins had put on. And she didn't exactly have the sort of face you forgot about quickly.

After about four minutes standing frozen outside the doors, Koji clasped the handle and inched the large door open as quietly as he could manage. Peeking through the crack he just made, the green-eyed boy found his target almost immediately.

Jin was walking away from her brother's table with a tray filled with goodies perched on her left hip and oh goodness he'd forgotten they cosplayed. She was wearing similar clothes to the ones he'd seen on his last trip to Paris. Beret and black tights and everything . As she walked, she chatted with Ootori-san, and the two were surprisingly speaking civil with each other if their matching soft expressions said anything.

The longer Koji stared at the girl, the more jealous he felt of the host club. Why do they get to hoard all of her attention? Who do they think they are to keep her smile to themselves? Just because her brother is in the club doesn't mean she has to be!

Without conscious decision, the boy began leaning more and more of his weight against the door, unknowingly opening it up a little more. He didn't seem to notice that his view of the Music Room was growing wider. But some people from inside the room had noticed. And two of them stood up.

Koji was too wrapped up in his thoughts to see the two redheads approaching him from the sides. His entire head was now showing from the opened doors as he stared intently at the kitchen doors, where Jin Fujioka had just disappeared behind. Maybe I could talk to her somehow. If she's going to be in the host club, then why doesn't she host? Cater to guys?

"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer!"

"Or better yet, how about you not creep on girls in your spare time?"

There wasn't even an opportunity for him to jump in surprise before the 2nd-year student from class C was yanked harshly inside the room by his arms. The following yelp was very manly, no matter what anyone else said, and he did not wince in slight pain as he was tossed into an empty chair. By the time the world slowed down to its regular pace, the ravenet found himself staring up at two angry-looking hosts. And, to make it worse, it was the twins.

In a word, he was screwed.

After a few intense moments just staring at each other, Koji attempted a weak laugh, "H-hey… the Hitachiin twins, right?" The red-heads just stared at him, and it looked like Tamaki had now noticed the commotion.

"What's going on?"

"Boss, you might want to come over here."

Needing no further prompting, the blond stood up and, after a quick apology to his collection of guests, hurried over to the three boys, "Hikaru, Kaoru, who is this?"

"No clue, boss."

"Never seen him before today."

"We just found him peeking in through the door at our guests."

Tamaki's expression hardened before facing the boy who was trying to shrink down in his chair, "Is that so?"

"No… Suoh-san. I wasn't looking at your… clients."

The twins leaned closer and hissed, " Liar, liar… "

"No, I'm serious! I was… I was looking at Jin Fujioka. " And wow, if Koji thought that his previous accusation was a bad mark by the hosts. It was like he'd flipped a secret, deadly switch. Two pairs of hands slammed down and locked onto both armrests of his chair, one on each side.

" What was that? "

" Did you just… "

Two more voices joined from behind his chair.

"You were watching Jin-chan… is that what we just heard?"

"Hmm… perhaps you should've stuck with the twin's original accusations."

Koji whipped his head around and saw Mori-senpai glaring down at him like he wanted to pull his lungs from his throat, Honey-senpai and Ootori-san flanking the tall boy with equally angry expressions.

"Mr. Koji Abe, we as a host club have had a few experiences with hormonal boys such as yourself watching our guests from the doorway. Such an act usually ends with a verbal and written warning, and is a mere wrist slap compared to spying on one of our own. For you see," he readjusted his glasses deftly, showing his unforgiving grey eyes, "this incidence just became personal."

The boy gulped, "Wait, wait, wait, can I just explain myself?"

"No need. We know of your actions, and it's unlikely Jin invited you here or else she would've informed us of this little meeting. Which means you were watching her without consent. "

The twins smiled evilly, "Also known as stalking."

"Now, we can't just let someone stalk our friend, now can we?"

"H-hey! I-I'm not the only one!"

The six boys froze, and their stares seemed to grow harder, " What? "

Koji swallowed thickly, "W-well… what I mean is I'm not the only one who's considered it. A lot of boys at this school want to talk to her, you know… see what she's really like instead of just seeing a glimpse of her in the refractory."

"So you turned to stalking?"

"Not stalking! Or, at least that wasn't the intension. I kind of wanted to ask if… you know… she'd host me?" Alright then, not a total lie. I didn't mean to watch for as long as I did… and having Jin host me isn't such a bad idea-

"Not going to happen."

"What's not going to happen?"

Seven heads whipped around to see the very topic of the current conversation walking towards them with another tray of goodies. When she didn't receive an answer straight away, Jin narrowed her eyes in confusion and set the metal tray down on a nearby table.

"Guys, what's going on? Who's that?"

Jin was standing amongst the group of boys before anyone could say anything else. Koji stared at her again, he couldn't help it. She was observing him with interest and a little concern. The mere thought that she was worried about him made the ravenet sink deeper into the chair, relaxing a bit.

"He's no one, Jin-senpai."

"Nothing to worry about, just a peeping Tom."

Jin raised an eyebrow and regarded Koji with a harder stare, "A what?"

The boy blushed and sat back up, "I wasn't staring at the other girls, I promise, Jin-san. I was just… too curious about you to stay away for long." The brunette's head tilted to the side while the other boys scowled in his direction.

"What are you talking about?"

Koji shrugged, attempting to act indifferent regarding the murderous looks being sent his way, "I just wanted to talk to you, so… I was wondering if maybe you'd host me?"

Jin's mouth fell open as the Hitachiin's leaned over him again, " She doesn't cater to guys. "

Summoning up as much courage as he could possibly possess, he leaned towards them as well, "Why don't you let her decide that for herself?"

Suoh's left lower eyelid was twitching, "Fine. Jin?"

"Yeah?"

"How would you feel about hosting a male client?"

Her bright red cheeks were so endearing Koji nearly missed her flustered response, "I'm… I'm not really sure… but I suppose we can't really, um, rule it out without a, ah… trial run?"

The six hosts stared at their friend with wide eyes as Koji leaned forward, smiling brightly, "When can I sign up?"

*The Next Day*

Jin sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Peeking out at the front of the room, the tight feeling in her abdomen ramped itself up. Still there.

Standing among the normal group of girls waiting for Kyoya to sign them in were a little more than twenty guys either staring at her or giving each other "shifty eyes". One of them noticed she was watching them and puffed out his chest, winking with what he thought was a winning smile. The other boys noticed his actions and performed similar behaviors.

The brunette quickly ducked her head and tried to control her breathing. Looking anywhere except the boys eyeing her like a piece of candy, Jin was caught in plenty of worried looks. Haruhi looked like she was debating staying still or walking over to sit by her sister's side. A quick silent conversation later and Haruhi unhappily sat further back in her seat.

The twins were the only boys not sending her encouraging or concerned glaces. They were too busy glaring daggers at the group of guys in the front of the room. Jin couldn't help but feel a little better at that. If any of those boys say or do something I'm not comfortable with, I have seven people as instant backup.

It had been a little hard for that boy yesterday to truly convince the Host Club to at least have a trial run with catering to males. It seemed like every host was against it save for the Fujioka's, who were only half interested. But after Renge popped up and rambled along some lines about really getting into Jin's potential romantic interest , the deal had been made.

One day of male hosting and any further dates would be decided at the end of the club hours.

Of course, that didn't mean the hosts had agreed without adding 900 or so pages of strict rules and regulations.

Every male client had to sign up on the single sign-up sheet in the main office, and only the first 24 would be allowed in on the first day. There would be a client shift every fifteen minutes for the two hours they were open, and only three male guests were allowed to sit with Jin at a time. No one-on-one appointments, and she'd be sitting in a chair while the others would share a couch.

There would be no touching of any part of her unless she initiated the contact, but the client was not allowed to advance said contact in any way. Innuendos were forbidden and could result in ejection from the club room. Any action or phrase that made Jin uncomfortable would receive a similar punishment. Jin could chose whether or not to answer a question, should she deem it too personal or not for public knowledge.

Or, at least that was the basic gist of it. Honestly, Jin was just hoping for today to go smoothly. And at the end of the day, she'd either have an additional chore that she was comfortable with, or she'd never have to do it again. Right now, she was fine with either outcome.

And it was honestly sort of cute how the boys were so protective of her. Tamaki's table was to her right, Kyoya's to the left, and the cousins were behind her. Basically, if any boy stepped out of line, she had the president to order an ejection, the vice-president to second the order, and the muscle to carry it out. It was nice to have that feeling of safety.

"Hello!"

Jin's head jerked up from its bent position and she stared at her first group of the day. It was the same boy from yesterday, Koji Abe, and two others. They were smiling pleasantly at her, so she did her best to return the favor.

"Hi. I guess you're my first group today?"

"Yes, Ma'am. May we sit?"

The brunette nodded, "Of course." As her very first male clients took their seats, she sucked in another steadying breath, "So, would you like some tea?"

The two on the ends nodded, but the guy in the middle shook his head and leaned back into the cushions instead. Jin reached across the table top to grab the kettle, but the moment her hands touched china another pair of large, warmer hands clasped over hers. In her shock, she tried to pull away, but the grip was too strong for her in her surprised state.

Looking up, she saw one of the boys she didn't know partially standing up so his face was hovering a little over the tea kettle, smiling teasingly at her, "No, no… I'll get it. We wouldn't want to burden you with such a menial task."

"Ah…"

"No touching." Jin slipped her hands out from under the boy's and clasped them in her lap as Tamaki towered over her table. However, none of the three boys across from her looked all that worried at the fact that Tamaki was glaring dangerously at them.

"It was an accident, Suoh. Won't happen again." Tamaki opened his mouth, probably to call for Mori and Honey-senpai, but Jin had managed to work her heart rate back down and she tapped his arm.

"Tamaki? It's okay. If it doesn't happen again… they can stay." The blond eyed her incredulously as her client smirked and poured two cups of tea. For a moment there's no sound at the table other than liquid splashing into the tea cups. Then Tamaki nods stiffly and walks back to his own table, but not before patting his friend's shoulder in a consoling way.

She watched him walk away, worried she'd made the wrong call, when her guests speak up again, "Jin? Would you like some tea yourself?"

"Oh, um… No thank you. I'm not thirsty." In reality, Jin was dying for a drink to quench her suddenly dry mouth, but right now the boys were acting like they were hosting her . She noticed movement behind her and gave her head a minute shake, discouraging Honey-senpai from getting up.

Once the boys were settled with their tea, the boy in the middle sat back up straight, "Would you like for us to introduce ourselves?" Before Jin could answer, he grinned and pressed a hand to his chest, "Toshi Iwasaki, Class 3-B."

The boy on Jin's right pulled his teacup down from his lips so quickly he almost spilled, "Yuudai Nakano, Class 1-A." He smiled bashfully, "I sit behind your brother in class. Haruhi is a very bright student."

Jin managed a small smile in return and nodded, "I will be sure to pass on the compliment." Okay, Yuudai seems nice. The other two...

The third boy continued to sip at his tea until Toshi elbowed him a little roughly, "Don't be rude. Introduce yourself."

The ravenet smirked and looked up into Jin's eyes, "We've already been acquainted, haven't we, Ms. Fujioka?" The girl squirmed slightly as the two other boys started looked between the two of them, as if the truth would be written on their faces. He smirked deeper and looked at his "host" smugly, clearly waiting for her to confirm his claim.

Jin suddenly understood what he was doing. He was trying to act like he had the upper hand over these boys with getting close to her. Were these boys expecting a relationship out of this? Was this their version of speed dating ?

Adopting a confused look, Jin tilted her head slightly, "Um… your face is familiar, but I don't recall your name."

Koji's face went beet red and the other boys relaxed a bit into their spots on the couch. The ravenet ducked his head a bit a muttered, "Koji Abe, Class 2-C. We met yesterday? I'm the one who convinced the hosts to do this?"

Jin nodded and wriggled deeper into her chair, "Okay… so do you have any questions?"

The three boys sat up straighter and Jin's stomach dropped to her toes.

By the time 4:40 rolled around, the entire host club was on edge.

Tamaki was sure he was developing a nervous twitch due to the number of times he whipped his head sideways to check up on Jin. His guests didn't seem to think he was overstepping anything, however, as they were also casting wary glances at the male clients. In clearly unnerved everyone that all of the boys were still in the room. Instead of coming and going around their appointment time, all the boys had arrived in the club room at the beginning of the day and stuck around afterwards, save for the few that had been thrown out. Tamaki had nearly exploded in a ball of rage when he caught one of the boys flirting with some of the other female clients.

Jin wasn't looking much better. After every 15 minute shift the elder Fujioka looked more run down and nervous than the last time. She was tucked so far into her chair it was only a matter of time before she became one with the upholstery. What made it worse was the fact that her clients either didn't notice her discomfort in the slightest or found it endearing and tried to get more of those types of reactions out of her.

Tamaki didn't think he'd seen her pull her hands from her lap at all in the past hour.

He wasn't the only one who was growing tired of today's activities. The twins were completely gung-ho for physically dragging the boys out of the room and pretending like this day had never happened.

Haruhi had lost count of the number of times she and Jin had locked eyes and she saw all of Jin's anxiety on display for her. It had been a long, long time since she had seen that amount of nervousness in her sister.

Mori and Honey were also having their own quiet debates on how to help their friend. Every time they made a move to get up and start towards the boys, Jin waved them off. Kyoya noted every time that she did so, Jin attempted to sit up straight and act as if nothing was wrong. And while he admired the fact she was willing to keep her word to try it for a day, there was an unsettling feeling in his gut every time Jin sank deeper into her chair cushions. Perhaps the club should have been a little more picky in their selection.

Still, it came as a breath of relief for everyone as the second to last shift started drawing to a close. This had been the worse group yet for Jin, and it was all because of one boy.

Her previous 20 clients had nothing on Atsushi Inaba. He didn't find ways to "accidentally" brush their hands together or keep up a continuous stream of questions that he "didn't know were personal". And he certainly didn't actually do as he was told in a way that made Jin comfortable chatting with him like a small handful of the others.

No… he just stared at her. And it was just the two of them. Alone at the table.

The other two boys had been thrown out already. One of them for almost tackling Jin over the table and the other for having a huge collection of photos of her cut out from the Host Club's magazines in his bag that spilled all over the floor. The two had sworn up and down that 'I tripped! I swear it!' and 'Those aren't mine!', but the hosts were so on edge already that they didn't want to hear it.

So now there was one, and Jin was secretly hoping he would do something similar and be forced to leave. It had been a long time since she had felt this uncomfortable in her own skin, and it was not a pleasant experience. Already Jin was preparing her verdict for these additional duties for her as a host club member.

No, freaking, way.

After today, this was done . She was not going to lose her enjoyment of being in the club because of some stupid boys. Maybe those Lobelia girls did have a vague idea of how some boys acted around girls…

A shift from Atsushi brought her attention back to him. Jin regretted it immediately. His eyes were drilling holes into her, and she had a feeling that when she wasn't looking at him Atsushi's eyes drifted around the rest of her.

Coughing lightly, Jin tried to get comfortable in her chair, "So… our time is almost up. Is there, uh, anything you want to ask before you have to leave?"

Surprisingly, Atsushi straightened up, "Yes, I do." His young, oddly soft voice didn't match up at all to his appearance. With dark brown hair that was almost black and eyes that were the same color, he gave off the expression that he could, and was willing, to take whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. The large muscles and his broad shoulders he gained from the weight-lifting club only helped that look.

Jin nodded, trying not to look intimidated, "Really? Like what?"

"When can I see you again?"

Never, Jin was screaming in her head, but she managed to just shake her head, "I'm afraid I don't know the answer. This might be the only time I host male clients-"

"That's not what I meant."

There was a brief moment of silence before Jin spoke up again, "Then what do you mean?"

"How about next time, we meet up at a coffee shop in town? Just the two of us so the host club won't be around to interfere."

There was a strange choking sensation in Jin's throat, and she was having a hard time breathing properly. It had been an exceptionally long time since she had experienced a panic attack… she just hoped her asthma inhaler was still in her bag where she'd left it.

"Um… I'm not very comfortable with that. And even if I do keep hosting, I shouldn't show favorites."

"Why not? Then the others would leave you alone."

"But that's not the point of a host club. I'm supposed to flirt with everyone , not just one person. This isn't speed dating or a season of The Bachelorette !" Jin caught herself before her voice jumped up in volume or even pitch, but it was clear that at least some of her argument caught Atsushi's attention.

Unfortunately…

"It can be!" He leaned forward over the table, gripping the sides with his hands, "If you left the host club and became my girlfriend-"

Jin interrupted him this time and stood up, getting out of her seat and moving to stand behind it, "No. You flatter me, but no. I'm staying in the host club, and I don't think I wish to host you any longer."

Atsushi's face pinched, a flicker of anger showing in his eyes as he lunged forward and grabbed her right upper arm. Squeezing tightly, he tried to growl, "Listen to me-"

But that was all he got out before a pained scream left his lips. His chest was now pressed up against a pillar that dug roughly into his cheek while his right arm was pinned behind his back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jin glaring at him. Her face showed no emotion other than anger as she effortlessly kept his 200+ pound body pinned to the pillar.

Well aware that everyone eyes were now on them, Jin growled out lowly, "Do not ever try to force yourself on a girl ever again . I may be your host, but I am not an object that you can manhandle. Now, if I let you go, are you going to leave quietly?"

The boy hesitated before nodding stiffly, but that wasn't enough for Jin. She lifted his right fist further up until it rested between his shoulder blades, "I said , are you going to leave quietly and not come back?"

"Yes."

"Good." Jin's hands fell away and Atsushi quickly ran towards the exit. She watched him go until her eyes fell on the remaining 17 boys watching her from the front of the room. Placing one hand on her hip, she pointed at the door with her right hand.

"You guys, too."

There was a great deal of complaining, but the other hosts were quick to stand up and start herding the group.

"You heard the lady, out! "

"And stay out!"

Jin watched the progression for a while before she found herself leaning up against the pillar for additional support. She let out a deep sigh and shut her eyes. I can't believe I agreed to this. What was I thinking? No more. I hated this so much, I'm such an idiot. I really, really hated this I never wanna do anything like this again. Never ever never.

"You alright, Jin?"

"I'm not sure any more." Opening her eyes, Jin found herself looking at the vice-president of the club. Kyoya was watching her with something that resembled concern. And if Kyoya himself visibly looked concerned over something…

"I don't think having male clients is going to work out."

The ravenet smirked gently, but the hint of concern was still there, "I couldn't agree more. I'll make the announcement on the website later."

Letting out a grateful breath of air, Jin smiled honestly for the first time since the hosting hours began, "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me," Kyoya reassured her. He gestured towards Honey and Mori's table, "Why don't you go and have a slice of cake. You look like you need it."

Laughing lightly, Jin reached forward and gave Kyoya a grateful hand squeeze, "Thanks." She walked away from the pillar and sat down on the empty couch just as the doors boomed shut. The two girls sitting in front of her gently poured her some tea and handed it to her. Jin sipped quietly until Honey and Mori sat down on either side of her.

Honey hugged her tightly, "It's okay, Jin-chan. You tried it, but it didn't work out. You never have to host a boy ever again, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks for being my back-up."

"No problem, Jin-chan!"

A large hand gently patted her head and she gave her other friend a smile. Mori smiled back before leaning towards the table and cutting a piece of chocolate cake for her. Jin took in another deep breath before setting her tea down and accepting the plate of cake in its place.

"Takashi, can I have a slice, too?" The small blond blinked cutely at his cousin who nodded as the girls across from them squealed in joy. Jin found herself smiling, too. Honey was almost too cute for his own good.

"Oh, that reminds me! Honey-senpai?"

"Hm?" Her friend looked up at her with curiosity and Jin smiled fully.

"I meant to tell you yesterday but got a little sidetracked. You really don't have to worry, no one could out-cute you."

Honey tilted his head, "Huh? What do you mean?"

Jin took a small bite of her cake before answering, the chocolate soothing her nerves down and away from her previous anxiety, "Yesterday. I heard that you mentioned my french cosplay was really cute and that you now had some competition."

She took another bite and Honey narrowed his eyes in thought. He stared off at nothing for a few moments before looking back at his friend, "I didn't say that, Jin-chan." The four other students fully turned to look at him as the small boy poked at his plate of cake, "Or, at least I didn't say it out-loud. You did look super cute yesterday… but I didn't say it. Who told you I did?"

Jin blinked, "Ah… Kyoya."

If it were possible, Honey looked even more confused, "Kyo-chan said that?" The small boy thought that new piece of information over a little more before smiling at his friend, "I'm glad to see him making some more friends, especially with people like you, Jin-chan!"

"Yeah…" Jin looked over her shoulder at the shadow king who was typing frantically on his laptop, "That was really nice of him." She smiled and took another large bite of cake.