"Mitsukuni, which position do you want to take up for the baseball tournament?" Gakushu asked as he surveyed the list of players. His cheek leaned on his left hand while a pen calmly twirled between his right fingers. Although the Student Council President already had an idea, he preferred to ask the shorter teen. From time to time, Mitsukuni liked a change, and if Gakushu could accommodate him, he would.

Mitsukuni hummed, his hands were playing with Reiko's soft fur before he nuzzled her neck with his nose to take in her fragrance. "I dunno," he sang, not turning to look at his childhood friend. He turned Reiko, who sat on his lap, to face him, and tilted his head. "Ne, Sweets, what do you think?" he mused with a childish pout on his face.

Asano spared the cat plushy a glance, internally he wondered when Mitsukuni would grow out of it, but he didn't voice his question. He knew better, and so long as it didn't hinder Mitsukuni's study or his, he wouldn't say a thing. Reiko, as Mitsukuni had named her, hadn't done anything wrong after all.

"How about Pitcher?"

Asano looked up to see Sakakibara, who leaned on the nearby desk, hands on the wooden surface he gave both teens his usual amiable smile. Mitsukuni followed the purple-eyed teen and stared at the raven head with a contemplative hum.

"Pitcher?" the shorter of the three echoed as he squeezed Sweets closer to his chest. "Mmm, whatcha think, Sweets?" he asked, turning to face the mute cat. Without surprises, Reiko remained silent, but that didn't deter Mitsukuni, who seemed to hear her answer. He firmly nodded. "'Kay, Pitcher's good!" he beamed at both Ren and Gakushu.

Asano hummed, he spared Ren a glance before he wrote the answer down. "Pitcher then," he whispered as his pen flew across the page. "Are you playing this year, or do you want to stay out of it again, Ren?" he asked, looking up from his paper to glance at the raven head.

Sakakibara beamed one of his charming smiles— the Host quality ones, as Mitsukuni liked to call them. He shook his head, a light chuckle slipping past his lips as he brushed his bangs back. "Thank you, Asano. I'll stay out of it, this year too," he agreed. "Put me on the bench if you need to," he added.

The strawberry blond nodded, he marked the Student Council Secretary's name in another box, the one with the people to allot in case players were missing.

"For the other members," Asano's eyes swept the classroom. He would put in the same players as last year, and ask them if they were up to it afterward. If they weren't, he would make the necessary arrangements.

"Here, last year's team formation," Sakakibara provided as he took a paper out of his portfolio and slipped it in front of the male. He hadn't waited for Asano to ask him, already knowing the blond would request it and had printed the list beforehand.

"Thanks, Ren," Gakushu acknowledged. His eyes scanned the printed paper with ease as his right hand recorded the name and position on his draft.

Ren pulled another paper from his portfolio. The record contained each A-class boy's name with their statistics neatly written next to it. From stamina to strength, not forgetting their clubs, everything was there.

Asano accepted the paper with ease. He took the running time of each student into account, as well as their strength as he elaborated on the first draft of their strategy. He needed to determine a good batting order. One that put them at an undeniable advantage, but that didn't weaken them in the long run.

Mitsukuni boredly looked at his serious childhood friend and competent Secretary. He kept Sweets on his lap, secured in his left arm before he picked the paper about the competition from Gakushu's desk. His eyes scanned the document. It wasn't all that different from the previous years.

Scratch that, it wasn't any different from the past two years. Except for the fact that they change 1 to 2, and 2 to 3 this year, nothing had changed.

He read over the flyer, and for the first time since he entered Kunugigaoka, he flicked his gaze to the exhibition match. He hadn't found any interest in it previously. After all, A-class always came out on top, and watching people get squashed under others' feet didn't entertain him all that much.

Baseball Club's third-years VS. Class 3-E

The line that he previously ignored the same way one ignored a pebble on the street, stood out like never before to the former Host. He fell into a contemplative mood. He wondered, how would Tama-chan and Haru-chan react? After all, both were the most "righteous" members of the Ouran High School Host Club.

The question brought an amused smile to his lips. He chuckled, a somewhat nostalgic and faraway glint to his eyes. They would be angered.

He didn't need to ask the question. He already knew the answer.

Someone as right as Haruhi, who became a lawyer, wouldn't approve of it. The childish and simple Tamaki would feel revolted— would he call for a meeting to overthrow the regime of headmaster Asano? Most probably.

And then, if the King moved, Kyoya would too. Mitsukuni could almost see the raven head think up some devious schemes behind his glinting glasses. The twins would be the first to move, already pulling pranks and disturbing the course of things with repetitive traps.

Mitsukuni's honey-brown eyes crinkled happily. He hummed, yes, this was how it would go. Then, Takashi and he would follow the others' directive, and together, they would succeed.

He paused. He wondered, the Him from before. The one who had yet to be an adult, who hadn't lost anything, and kept some of his childish innocence. Would he have done something already? Stood up against the system to defend the E-class.

His grip on Sweets got tighter. He brought her closer to his chest, as if to reassure himself, and carefully inhaled her fragrance.

Yeah, there was no need to ask.

He would have already done something.

But He didn't.

::

"The match has ended!" the deafening sound of the speakers echoed through the baseball ground, almost drowning in the students' cheers until someone turned the volume up, and it overwhelmed every sound. "3 to 1! Class A is the overall winner of the Third-years Baseball tournament!"

Mitsukuni beamed at Gakushu who walked up next to him, both high fived and hurried to congratulate Tanaka, the star of the match. He was responsible for the home run, and as the last batter to go up, his marvelous hit had allowed A-class to score more than enough point to ensure their win.

Mitsukuni received a towel from Ren, who sat on the bench and his gourd of sparkling water. He could hear the MC, who he soon recognized as Araki Teppei from his class. Not so surprising as the male was the Head of the school's Broadcasting Club. He was part of the people who were exempted from taking part in the competition and instead commentated on every match.

With one eye, he caught sight of the rude couple from last time, namely, Seo and Kaho. But from the way they acted they didn't seem to be going out anymore, not that it regarded him in any way.

Mitsukuni hurried to finish his bottle before he changed out of his sportswear and picked Sweets from Ren's arms. He had entrusted her to him at the beginning of the match, knowing that he could trust the raven with her.

Telling himself that he would shower later, as in, once he was home so in a few hours, Mitsukuni began to pull his uniform from his duffle bag.

"Not so fast, Mitsukuni."

The voice of his childhood friend stopped Mitsukuni in his endeavor. The shorter turned to give the blond an innocent smile and childish giggle. "Yeah? Shu-chan?"

Gakushu's smile turned faker, almost plastic, and Mitsukuni could feel the energy that oozed from him. "Don't 'Shu-chan' me, Mitsukuni," he taught, his smile widening as he crept closer to the shorter teen. "You're not getting out of here without a shower," he threatened before grabbing the blond by the shoulders and dragging him toward the shower room.

Ren observed them with an amiable smile, two clean towels in hands, as well as some soap and shampoo, he followed Gakushu's lead to the shower room. Unlike the two boys, Ren hadn't done so much as a stretch throughout the game. He wasn't sweaty at all and didn't need to shower, only wait for them to finish.

Mitsukuni didn't bother to struggle against Gakushu. After all, he knew deep down that he needed a shower, and his grandmother had told the blond to look out for him. When Gakushu smothered him like that, it reminded him of Takashi, and he liked it.

Showering as fast as possible, he hurriedly put on his uniform, slipped his duffle bag over his shoulder, and tucked Reiko under his arm, before running out to look at the exhibition match.

Ren raised a dubious eyebrow at the departing back. He flicked his gaze to look at Asano. "I didn't know that Kannazuki was interested in the exhibition match," he voiced as he readjusted his grip on his bag. He already changed into his uniform while the two teens were showering.

Gakushu flicked his gaze to look at the door. He sighed and flickered his violet eyes to Sakakibara before tying his shoes. "He isn't interested in the match," he refuted. "He's got a friend who's playing so he wanted to watch."

"Oh, from the Baseball club? Shindo maybe?" Ren asked, referring to the Baseball team's captain. After all, with Mitsukuni's ability, combined with the fact that Shindo was part of A-class, it didn't seem too far fetched.

Gakushu's brows minutely creased, but he smoothed his expression quickly enough for Ren not to notice. He stood up, tapped the toe on his shoe against the floor. "No, from E-class," he corrected.

Sakakibara's eyes widened. "E-class? Oh," there was a pause as if the raven didn't know what to say. And although Gakushu couldn't hold it against his friend, he couldn't help but feel slightly irritated by his reaction. "Well, I guess Kannazuki knows a lot of people."

::

"In hardly any time at all, the bases are loaded with no outs!"

Mitsukuni hadn't expected to meet some stand that sold cake on his way to the baseball grounds. As a result, he had miss more of the exhibition match than he wanted. He felt slightly disappointed, he would ask Karma for details after the game.

"It's exactly the same situation Class E was in at the top of the first inning!"

The mention of 3-E's former situation picked Mitsukuni's interest. He could picture the situation from the speakerphone's words, but images were better. He quickened his steps and paused when he saw a familiar feminine silhouette.

"The greatest difference is that the batter now stepping up the plate is the pride of our school!" Araki cheered. "The superstar SHINDO-KUN!"

"Big Sister!" Mitsukuni cried above the deafening cheers as he ran to jump on the blond's back. He cleanly received her shoulder throw and executed a perfect somersault before landing on his feet after she threw him up. He giggled, ignoring the surprised look on both adults' faces.

"Oh, Mitsukuni," Irina whispered. "I didn't know it was you, are you hurt anywhere?" she asked, giving the teen a once over as she patted him all over in search for a possible injury. "You shouldn't jump on my back without any warning! Look what I did to you!" she admonished.

Mitsukuni giggled. "Mhm, sorry Big Sister," he easily conceded as he squeezed Sweets to his chest. He tilted his head to look at the raven head. That was E-class' homeroom teacher, wasn't it?

"Ah, right, Karasuma, this is Mitsukuni. Mitsukuni, Karasuma, my colleague," she introduced, feeling the probing stares from both sides of her.

"Hello, Big Brother!" Mitsukuni fearlessly began with a polite bow. "I'm Kannazuki Mitsukuni, from 3-A, Head of the Judo Club," he introduced.

Karasuma gave a curt nod, his eyebrow twitching from the way the blond called him. He already knew the information the teen gave him, but he didn't let it show on his face. "Karasuma, 3-E's homeroom, and PE teacher," he introduced with a nod.

There wasn't any need for an introduction on his part, but he found himself swept by the blond's enthusiasm.

"Did you come to watch the exhibition match too, Mitsukuni?"

The boy nodded, he looked up at the blond hitman and grinned. "Yep! I came to cheer for Ma-chan!" he chirped, his eyes flickering to the field to search for the redhead as he spoke.

"Ma-chan?" Karasuma echoed. "A friend of yours?"

Mitsukuni hummed in agreement. "Mhm, Ma-chan is in E-class. If I don't cheer for him there's nobody," he said with a grin. "I mean, Shu-chan would never agree," he lamented with a pout. "Right, Sweets?" he asked, looking down at the plush in his arms.

Karasuma observed the teen with some reserve. He had received Lovro's files not so long ago, and the teen wasn't part of any assassination program. On the contrary, he had never dabbled in the Underworld, and at most followed Karma around to prank people.

What unnerved him more was the look in the boy's eyes when he overlooked the match and the E-class students. Sure, he said he was there for them, but his eyes were a bit too gauging, like a predator testing its prey.

He didn't know if it had to do with the boy's Martial Arts, or if it was something else, but he didn't like it. He was sure Akabane hadn't spilled anything, but he had the nagging feeling that the blond wouldn't let them rest.

"It's a swinging Bunt!"

Mitsukuni's eyes narrowed on both Karma and the raven head beside him, wholeheartedly ignoring Shindo. He wondered. If their reflexes were so good, did it mean that they could fight? After all, the pressure they gave off was off, and the more Mitsukuni thought about it, the more he liked it.

"Third Base Runner is out!"

After all, Mitsukuni, as a Haninozuka, was part of a Martial Art family. Wasn't it normal to search for ways to improve his craft and new people to test his skills on?

"Second Base Runner is out!"

Mitsukuni's smile widened, his eyes glinted the same predatory light he sometimes adopted when he got into a fighting stance. He squeezed Reiko tighter, a soft, excited giggle slipping past his lips as he moved his weight from one foot to the other.

"G-Game over!" there was a pause on Araki's side. "Somehow... Class E has ended up beating the Baseball Club!" there was an audible lack of enthusiasm in Araki's voice.

Irina clasped her hands, a bright smile on her lips as she overlooked her students. "So, what did you think, Mitsukuni?" she asked the teen as he seemed to share her enthusiasm.

Mitsukuni grinned. "That was awesome! I didn't know E-class was so good! I'll ask Ma-chan to fight me once we get home!" he beamed, happily squeezing Sweets to his chest as he looked up at the blond woman.

Karasuma minutely narrowed his eyes.

What troubled him most was that despite not belonging to the army or Underworld, Kannazuki Mitsukuni's name was recorded in the government's files.

He bit his lower lip, hid his frown and thoughts, and decided to send a formal request to the higher-ups for further information tonight.

Karasuma was rigorous. He didn't want to go in blind.

BONUS CHAPTER

This arc is almost coming to an end, the next chapter is the last!

I went over your answers, and when I saw the right answer one word went through my mind "fuck."

Well, one person got it right, she's a student and attends High School. Anyway, Teacher was close enough, so I also accepted it! Haruhi's situation is the closest to her life in OHSHC out of all the characters, to be honest.

Anyway, congratulation either way!

Next: The Twins (yes, they come as a pack, I couldn't separate them :))

Hint: they were mentioned once, are older than Haruhi, but younger than Takashi