<Recap:>

Now I must protect the Hosts.
Like Kirimi and her brother, they're all I have.

<End of Recap>

Max's POV

"Now you've done it!", Tamaki said. It was around a quarter after twelve in the afternoon.

"You guys are so dead." I snicker.

"It's done alright", Hikaru sighed as they looked at the spilt tea.

"But it wasn't our fault", Kaoru protested.

"What?!", Tamaki exclaimed as he looked at the tea stained Usa-chan. "You idiots! You're the ones who bumped into it, right?" The Twins were holding me in their arms as Tamaki looked at the table with spilt tea and Usa-chan in horror.

"Only because Max was running away!", Hikaru defended.

"We were trying to catch her 'cause we wanted to have some fun and dress her up in cosplays", Kaoru added. Tamaki immediately looked back at the three.

"So what? We cosplay all the time!", he said.

"We weren't going with the usual Host Club costumes!", Hikaru said as he and Kaoru smiled.

"We want to see Max in bunny cosplay! Disguised as a girl", Kaoru added.

"Disguised as a girl...?", I asked.

"You'd like to see it, too, wouldn't you?", the Twins asked. Tamaki's eyes narrowed slightly as his cheeks tinted pink slightly as he imagined it. He turned away with a red face.

"I'd definitely want to see that", he said before his face went back to a slight pink and he grabbed his head. "What am I thinking?! There's no time for stuff like that right now!" He quickly turned and pointed an accusing finger at the Twins while glaring at them. "I know what you're up to! You're trying to distract me from the mess you've made!" The Twins were squeezing me tightly with huge smiles. "Get away from Max you punks!!"

"No way!", they said.

"Let me go or else I'll kick your butts.", I threaten.

"Excuse me", Kyoya called from a table while on his laptop. Mori was sitting across from him, reading. "We don't have any guests at the moment, so I don't mind if you make a racket. But please", he looked over at them from his laptop,"be careful. You don't want to wake Honey-Senpai." Tamaki, who had been holding the Twins by their collars and shaking them, and the Twins immediately stopped and turned white. They looked over at the innocent looking boy who was sleeping peacefully on a nearby couch.

"He's a third year and he still takes afternoon naps?", Haruhi asked. "Well, we're going to have to tell him about the bunny at some point. Let's just wake him up and apologize." She began walking towards Honey.

"No, wait!", Tamaki and the Twins whisper called after her. They were peeking over a couch. "Don't get any closer to Honey-Senpai!"

"Do it. Wake him up and make them pay." I said.

"Come back!", Tamaki whisper called as he waved her over. "It's safe over here!"

"What are you talking about?", Haruhi asked after she approached them behind the couch.

"Dang it Haruhi." I mumble dangling from the Twins' arms holding me up. "These guys are lucky that I can't sock them in the face."

"Honey-Senpai wakes up in a very bad mood after napping!", Tamaki explained while still whispering in a panic.

"Huh?", Haruhi asked, confusion evident on her face. Tamaki placed a hand to the side of his mouth to whisper with a fearful look while the Twins peeked over his shoulders, also with fearful looks.

"Now this may just be a rumor, but the Haninozuka family once visited a U.S. military base to give combat training", Tamaki explained. Honey continued to sleep innocently. "Supposedly, Honey-Senpai slept through most of it because of his jetlag. Then, a soldier came in and carelessly tried to wake him up since he had been sleeping for so long. On that day, he wiped out two entire platoons of soldiers. And not just any soldiers. Green (something). And, I've heard, we've had diplomatic issues with America ever since that day."

That's not that bad. I threw a tank at a air control tower before because a plane woke me up. That was when I was....maybe 7.

Haruhi's eye twitched in annoyance. "How terrifying!", the Twins exclaimed. I wiggled out of their arms and walked away from them.

"And we've got a bigger problem", Tamaki continued. "Usa-chan was handmade for Honey-Senpai by his deceased grandmother. You've seen the way he carries it around. That little bunny is his most prized possession! I can't imagine how he's gonna react when he wakes up and see that his precious Usa-chan is ruined."

"HE'S GOING TO DO TO US WHAT HE DID TO THOSE GREEN (SOMETHING)!! AHHHHH!!!!", Tamaki and the Twins screamed after imagining what might happen while sitting on the couch with Haruhi.

"You're exaggerating. It's impossible for that story to be true", Haruhi pointed out bluntly. "I mean, come on." The Twins and Tamaki abruptly stopped screaming and Tamaki leaned over to whisper to Haruhi again.

"It is! And there's other evidence that Honey-Senpai has an evil side to him. Listen to this", Tamaki said. His face was more fearful than before. "His blood type is AB. How do you like that??"

"What does that have to do with anything?" I ask.

"Yeah, so what?", Haruhi asked.

"But Haruhi", Tamaki began as he began sweating more than he had been. "That means he's the same blood type as Kyoya." Haruhi's eyes widened as she cautiously looked over at Kyoya, who was typing on his laptop nearby.

"What's the matter? Do you guys have a problem with my blood type?", he asked while still looking at his computer screen.

"Any blood type is cool. It's just the stuff you need to live though." I said.

"Oh! Those of you reading with type AB, please don't take any offense to this", Haruhi said, sweating a little after being convinced to be fearful. On another couch, Honey turned to face away from everyone and yawned in his sleep. The Twins, Tamaki, and Haruhi shuddered before peeking at Honey from around another couch.

"This is bad. We have to do something quick! Before he wakes up! Hikaru! Kaoru!", Tamaik whisper shouted before snapping. The Twins saluted behind him.

"Sir!" Tamaki stood up.

"Go get your folk's (something)", Tamaki ordered and turned around to face them. "Fly to (something else) and bring back a medium! We'll channel his grandmother and she can guide us through it! We can make a new Usa-chan for Honey-Senpai!!" Tamaki pulled out a map and flung it in front of himself to show the Twins. "Take this map of the (another something) prefecture with you! And don't forget to bring back apple juice, apple jam, and (...) souvenir dolls."

"That's a stupid idea." I said.

"But we don't have that much time", Hikaru pointed out.

"We're used to your crazy ideas, but you should come up with something more practical", Kaoru added. Tamaki turned away annoyedly.

"Alright. How about this? We'll send Usa-chan to the cleaners. Max", Tamaki said. He walked over to me with a pink bunny suit. "You're going to have to wear the bunny suit." Tamaki was blushing slightly.

"Yeah!", the Twins said in agreement while giving a thumbs up each. "Good idea, Boss!" My eyebrows twitched.

"Forget about it", I said before trying to run away, only to be stopped by Tamaki grabbing me while I resisted. "I'M NOT WEARING THAT STUPID BUNNY SUIT!! IT'S NOT GONNA WORK!! HE'LL KNOW IT'S ME!!!"

"No, he won't. He won't be able to tell the difference, if he's just waking up from a nap!", Tamaki pointed out. I looked back at him while still trying to get away.

"Well, then why don't you wear it, Mister 'I'm so confident that'll work'?!", I asked.

"It won't be as cute if I wear it!", he claimed.

"It doesn't matter if it'll be as cute or not!"

"Come on, this is the least you could do. Since we can't get another bunny, you're going to have to step in!", Tamaki said. We continued to argue kinda loudly while the Twins stood by. While they were arguing, Honey sat up on the couch and yawned. Tamaki turned towards him with a fearful look. "HE'S AWAKE!! We'll have to use a substitute! We've got no choice!"

Honey rubbed his eyes, obviously still a little tired. When he looked down after rubbing his eyes, he saw Tamaki's bear, Kuma. The Twins and Tamaki watched from behind a couch in fear as Honey picked up said bear and threw it to the ground with no hesitation. Tamaki let out a scream.

"THAT'S MY TEDDY BEAR!!!", he screamed.

"HE'S GONNA COME AFTER US NEXT!!!", Hikaru screamed.

"AHHH!! HE JUST SPOTTED HIS BUNNY RABBIT!!!", Kaoru pointed out with a scream. Sure enough, Honey had his blanket in one hand, dragging it behind him, and he was walking towards the table Usa-chan was on. He picked up the tea stained bunny and looked at it for a moment before looking towards the three.

"Who's responsible for this?", Honey asked. His voice sounded calm, but he had a threatening undertone. "Who got Usa-chan dirty?" Tamaki and the Twins trembled in fear and screamed at Honey's expression, which will be left to your imagination.

"Someone help! Mori-Senpai! Don't let him hurt us!", Tamaki and the Twins pleaded.

"He wanted tea, so Usa-chan decided to have a drink", Mori said plainly. The other three froze. The room was silent for a while before Honey smiled brightly, back to his sweet innocent self.

"I see! So that's why his face is all dirty, isn't it?", Honey asked. He turned to Mori and held Usa-chan up to him. "Hey. Do you think he wants some cake, too?" The Twins and Tamaki all slumped down on the floor in relief and disbelief that they didn't realize that that was all it took.

"See how easy that was?" I smack Tamaki on top of the head for being stupid.

~Magical Time Skip~

"Honey, how do you like to have chocolate?", one of the guests asked. I sat with Honey and his guests today, after being told by Kyoya that I have to. Apparently Honey's cute appearance makes me more 'approachable'.

"Moose? Bon bons? Wait, I bet chocolate cake is your favorite, huh?", another guest asked.

"Um, let's see...", Honey said in thought before smiling brightly. "Well, I like 'em all! I like anything chocolate, Usa-chan, and all of you ladies!" The girls screamed in delight.

"HE'S SO CUTE!!"

"Mitsukuni Haninozuka, otherwise known as Honey-Senpai. Age 17. Ouran Academy third year. Class A and a member of the Host Club", Renge said through a microphone. "Favorite things include cake, chocolate, and bunnies. He's famous for his enchanting lolita characteristics."

"Why are you announcing it like it's a game show or something?" I say while looking up at Renge.

"That was a close call earlier, huh, Senpai?", Haruhi asked Tamaki as they watched Honey and I with his guests.

"No kidding", he said. "I'm glad we settled that Usa-chan issue without any violence."

"Honey-Senpai's catchphrases include 'I love candy' and 'I love cute things' and, while some find these charming, I'm not quite sold on his cutesy loli boy image. It's not exciting enough. IT FEELS LIKE SOMETHING'S MISSING IN HIS CHARACTER ARK!!", Renge continued. Haruhi carried a tea tray over to Honey's table while he ate cake.

"Uh, Honey-Senpai, you can't keep eating nothing but sweets all of the time", she said. "You know, you're gonna end up with a cavity." She began sitting cups of tea on the table while Honey ate.

"Oh, don't worry. I always brush my teeth", Honey declared before happily taking another bite of cake. However, when he took a bite, he froze in pain. All the other hosts turned to Honey immediately while Honey looked at his lap and held his right cheek.

"Honey-Senpai?", I asked in concern. "Is it...?"

"Nah, it's nothing. 'Kay?", he said, his voice lacked his usual pep. The Twins came over and tried to get Honey to open his mouth, unsuccessfully. I held Honey up with my arms under his shoulders, locking him in place as he squirmed.

"Let me just take a look in your mouth", Haruhi said.

"Nooooo!!", Honey whined while kicking and flailing his limbs to get them away, dropping Usa-chan in the process.

"Hold still", Hikaru said.

"Honey-Senpai, please quit squirming!", Kaoru said. Honey had tears in his eyes and continued to hold his hands over his mouth. I felt bad and dropped him and he landed on his feet.

"There's nothing wrong! Quit messing with me!", Honey insisted while Mori walked over. "Leave me alone!" Honey stopped when Mori's shadow loomed over him. As he went to look up, his hands lowered and Mori quickly grabbed his right hand, tackled Honey on a couch, and used his other hand to hold Honey's mouth to try and see inside. The guests screamed in delight at the scene.

"Yes! That's it! That's it! That's what was missing!", Renge said. "It's moe~!" Renge watched as Mori squeezed Honey's cheeks to force his mouth open until he could see inside. Once his mouth was open, Tamaki peered over Mori's shoulder.

"So, is it...a cavity?", he asked.

"Yeah", Mori replied.

"It's alright. I'll be okay", Honey said with teary eyes. Mori looked back at Tamaki as he sat up.

"Tamaki."

"Yes. You're right. I'll take care of this", Tamaki said before turning to the other hosts and guests and cleared his throat. "Until Honey-Senpai gets over his cavity, I'm afraid he can't have sweets." Honey's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped in panic and shock. "Therefore, we'll be supportive and ask that you kindly refrain from eating snacks in the club room until this ordeal is over." Honey's eyes went teary again.

"No... No, don't, Takashi. Please don't take my snacks away. You can't. Don't do it. What'll I do without them?", Honey pleaded. Mori picked up the plate with Honey's half eaten piece of cake on it and began walking away. "I can handle it! Please don't take away my cake!!" Mori stopped and looked back at Honey.

"No more cake." Honey screamed at Mori's response and seemed to spiral into despair. Honey clung to my leg begging.

"Don't let them do it Max-chan! Make them stop it!" He wailed.

"Hey....it's okay. I'm sure the cavity will go away soon." I squat down to his level as he hugs me and cries.

"And that's how it all began. One little cavity and suddenly Honey-Senpai's life became a living hell", Renge said.

~Magical Time Skip~

Honey started wearing a cloth tied around his head for his cavity. The ends of the cloth at the top of his head kinda resembled bunny ears. He was walking down the hallway at the time with me. He never went anywhere without me now, saying that if he can't have candy, he wanted me around to make life seem a little sweeter for him. It kinda made me feel good about myself and happy that I was able to help him somehow.

"Poor Honey-Senpai looks so miserable", one girl said as she watched. "It's a shame the Host Club banned snacks."

"It must be really difficult for him", another girl said. "I hope this doesn't seem insensitive, I know he's in pain, but--"

"Aww~! He's so cute!", the two girls said in unison at how adorable Honey was. Mori walked over to Honey and I and held out a hand.

"Mitsukuni. Bag", he said.

"I can carry it", Honey replied.

"Yes, you can. Hand it over", Mori said. Honey reluctantly handed the bag to Mori who opened it and held it upside-down only for a pile of candy up to around Honey's knees fell out. I sighed as I looked down at Honey.

"I was just looking. I wasn't going to eat them", Honey said.

"Really?", Mori asked. "If you're just looking, then try this." Mori held out a pink sheet of paper. It was a flyer advertising half-off candy. Honey's eyes filled with tears again. "I'll keep the real stuff." Honey seemed to spiral into despair again and fell to his knees and hugged my leg.

"Hey, it'll be okay. I'm sure we can find something sweet that's good for you." I squat down and rub Honey's head.

"*sniffle* Thank you Max-chan." His crying calmed down a little.

"Oh, man", the Twins said as they and Haruhi watched from around the corner. "That was rough."

"I can't help but feel sorry for him", Haruhi said before the three of them started walking again.

"You know, I had no idea that Mori-Senpai could be so brutal", Hikaru commented.

"You wouldn't expect it", Kaoru said. "I thought his principles kept him from doing anything to upset Honey-Senpai."

"And to think that he could get the Boss to go along with him", Hikaru added. The Twins continued walking while Haruhi stopped and stood in thought for a bit.

~Magical Time Skip~

Host's POV

"It's too bad, Tamaki", one of the guests said. "I wanted to give you some of the chocolate specially made by our new chef. My family just hired him from France, but I can't share them with you because you're not eating sweets."

"Do not fret, my princess. For the present, I must abstain for poor Honey-Senpai's sake, but eventually we'll be able to share chocolate together again", Tamaki replied, making sure to use his host charms. It worked.

"The friendship you boys have is absolutely beautiful", she said before Tamaki picked up her hand to hold.

"I believe things will work out for the better this way, my dear. I'm sure it's delicious, but no chocolate could ever be able to withstand the heatwave of my love, so it would all melt and go to waste", he said, adding in even more charm. You could practically see the girl melt.

"Oh, Tamaki", she said. Once he was finished with that guest, he stood and walked by the Twins when Hikaru spoke.

"Impressive, Boss", he said. "That was quite an act." Tamaki stopped.

"Missing sweets, aren't you?", Kaoru asked as if he already knew the answer.

"Buzz off", he replied. "The club's number one priority is our guests. All that matters is their happiness."

"You had better watch yourselves out there", Kyoya said from nearby with a hidden grin. "Don't give any sweets to Honey-Senpai no matter what tricks he resorts to." Kyoya looked up with a smile. "Oh, and incidentally those instructions come from Mori-Senpai. This isn't my doing." Kyoya turned and started to walk away.

"So, is it just me, or does he seem to be enjoying this?", Hikaru asked.

Max's POV

I was walking down an opened corridor and just happened to look over and see Mori and a girl in the other opened corridor. I hid behind a column while the girl spoke.

"I just can't hide it any longer", she said while looking down shyly. "I have to get this off my chest. I need to know what your feelings are towards me and if you'll except my love." Mori remained silent and expressionless. "Will you, please?" Silence. The girl looked up at him. "Unless, of course, there's someone else. Please tell me. Is there someone else who's dear to you?" Silence. The girl sighed and looked down again. "There is, isn't there?" Tears began to quietly fall from her eyes. "I should've known." With that, she ran away crying. Mori watched her run away.

"Brutal."

Mori's eyes widen when he turns around to see me leaning against a pillar.

"You're just gonna let her run off by herself?" I ask stepping closer to him.

"I don't share her feelings."

"Doesn't matter. I'm not talking about that wishy washy crap. I'm talking about her mental state. People do some crazy stuff."

"Maybe, but that's for her to figure out."

"Huh. Guess when you grow up protecting someone specifically, it's different." I mumble.

"Just who are you Max?" Mori asks.

"Me?" I say smiling while looking up at him. "I don't matter. I'm a nobody."

"That's not true at all. You're somebody to the Hosts."

"That's just it. To you guys, I'm an actual person. To them.....I'm a weapon. A tool to be used." I say looking up at the sky. "I don't miss that."

"Sounds like you didn't make decisions for yourself and do what you wanted."

"I couldn't have it any other way. I'm a monster after all." I say while turning around. "Don't tell anybody about what I said today. I've said enough. And Mori.....be careful. I worry about you guys." I wave and head back to the Music Room.

That's right. I don't miss my life at all
I don't want my job back, I don't want to be a tool.
I want to stay with the Host Club
If people have to die to keep things the way they are now, I'd gladly kill them.