<Recap:>

I refuse!
Who does Tamaki think he is?!
I'm done with his club!

<End of Recap>

Max's POV

"Ta-da!", Honey said. The entire Host Club was staying at the Ootori family villa. "Here you go! Don't they look yummy?" Honey and Mori put plates of crab all over the table.

"I apologize that there aren't any maids around to help you cook, Honey-senpai", Kyoya said.

"It's no big deal. We appreciate you letting us stay here", Honey said. "Hey, Takashi? Will you go get Haru-chan?" Mori nodded. "It's awfully gloomy out there, huh?" Honey and Kyoya looked out the window. "It looks like it's gonna rain."

"It's not just gloomy outside", Hikaru said. Honey and Kyoya looked his way.

"It's pretty gloomy right here in the dining room, as well. Just take a look at Senpai and Max", Kaoru said. Tamaki was sitting with his back against a pillar like the window was his corner. I was sitting at the table glaring towards Tamaki's direction.

"Come on, quit moping, Boss", Hikaru said.

"You shouldn't have picked a fight with hi-" Kaoru stopped himself and continued. "-her in the first place", Kaoru said. The door to the room opened and Mori stood beside Haruhi, who was wearing a dress.

"Whoa", Honey said.

"Haruhi, where'd you get that dress?", the Twins asked.

"From my dad. He must've repacked my bags when I wasn't looking. He's always trying to get me to wear this frilly stuff", she replied.

"That's awesome! Way to go dad", they said. Tamaki peeked around the pillar and blushed a little. He hid again once he saw my glare.

"You look so cute, Haru-chan!", Honey said. Everyone sat down at the table to eat. Since Tamaki and I were beside each other, it was awkwardly silent and uncomfortable. Haruhi was sitting on Tamaki's other side.

"Well, this is uncomfortable", Hikaru commented.

"Yeah. And kind of awkward", Kaoru added.

"Let's dig in, Max-chan", Honey said uncomfortably. "These are the crabs we caught. I bet they're delicious!" I shrugged and Haruhi began eating. She ate crab leg after crab leg.

"These crabs taste in-crab-able", she said. "Get it?" She continued to eat and Tamaki looked at the big pile of crab leg shell beside him with wide eyes.

"Don't you think you've had enough? Give it a rest!", he said.

"She can eat all she wants." I comment elbowing Tamaki.

"Excuse me? I thought you weren't speaking to me?", Tamaki said to me.

"Shut up. I only did it to defend Haruhi's right to eat as much as she wants." I look over at Tamaki and glare at him before looking back at my plate. I wasn't a fan of seafood. I'm not hungry. Kyoya, would you show me to my room, please?" I got up and walked away as Kyoya wiped his mouth before standing.

"No problem. Well, excuse me everyone", Kyoya said before leaving.

Third Person POV

"Maybe she's right. She did get into Ouran on a martial arts scholarship." Tamaki said looking down.

"So that's it. She got to you, huh?", the Twins asked.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt you to consider her feelings", Hikaru said.

"But it's not like we're going to force you to do it", Kaoru added.

"Besides, that's not the real issue here", they said.

"To be honest, we were all a little worried about how recklessly Max acted", Hikaru said.

"What do you mean? She didn't cause you guys any trouble or anything", Haruhi said. The Twins sighed, looked at each other, and shrugged.

"That's not true, Haru-chan. I think Max should apologize.", Honey asked. "She made us all worry. Especially Tama-chan. I think Max needs to apologize to him the most."

"So you...were worried about Max? But why? Max can take care of him- I mean herself.", she asked. Honey sighed.

"You're hopeless", the Twins said. "That's the problem and why you're on her side. You still think she's a guy and there's no problem."

"You think?", she asked. "Guys, I'm sorry." They all hugged her and all basically said they accept her apology and forgive her when she got a strange look on her face.

"Is something wrong?", the Twins asked.

"I'm not feeling so good", she said.

"You must've eaten too much crab", Hikaru said.

"Be strong, Haru-chan!", Honey said.

"Let's get her to the nearest restroom. Hurry!", Kaoru said.

~Magical Time Skip~

Max's POV

I turned off the water and looked at myself in the mirror. I sighed seeing the heartless me in the reflection and walked out of the bathroom to look around the room I had come into to look for a bathroom. "Are you okay?", a person on the other side of the room with a towel on his head asked.

"I apologize, sir. I didn't mean to intrude", I said.

"Don't be silly. It's just me", he said. I noticed the glasses on the table.

"Kyoya", I said sighing. "I'm sorry. I was just looking for a bathroom." He looked at her and stood up.

"That's all you're going to apologize for?", he said and took a drink of water. "I had an especially hard time separating Kaoru and Hikaru from those two punks. They almost beat them half to death." My eye twitched in annoyance and he walked closer. "And, because of you, I had to send each of the girls a bouquet of flowers to apologize. They've been looking forward to this trip and we don't want to disappoint them."

"So? See if I care." I shrug and he approaches me.

"Everyone was worried about you, and not because you're a girl. No one knew before you announced it like that." Kyoya walks over to the wall.

"Fine. I'll pay you back for the stupid flowers", I said.

"Each bouquet cost me 50,000. That's a grand total of 600,000 yen", he said and turned all the lights out and looked at me.

"Uh, why'd you turn the lights off?", I asked.

"If you want to, you can pay me back with your body", he said with a smirk, grabbed my wrist, and pinned me to the bed. "Surely you aren't so naive that you believe a person's sex doesn't matter. You've left yourself completely defenseless against me." My eyes widened in realization. Kyoya.....what are you playing at? "So far, you've haven't made any move to attack me, further proving you won't fight against me in fear of hurting me."

"That's because you won't do it, Kyoya", I said and his eyes widened. "I know because it wouldn't do you any good. You wouldn't gain anything from it. And you're right. I could never hurt any of the hosts. I've always wanted the opposite. I wanted to protect all of you." He smiled and got up.

"You're right", he said. "You're a fascinating young woman, Max." I sat up.

"Don't call me that." I said looking at the bed.

"A young woman?"

"Yeah. Don't call me that.....because I was told to be a guy my whole life. So don't call me that. But, I've learned something from this", I said. "I guess I never realized what a nice guy you are, Kyoya." He put his glasses on while I spoke and then looked at me. "I know what you're doing. You're just trying to prove what Tamaki said earlier." He stood up. "I know that you're trying to prove his point, that you're just posing as the bad guy. But that doesn't make up for the fact he doesn't believe I can hold my own. Because I can. I always have." It was silent until there was a knock on the door.

"Kyoya", Tamaki called as he opened the door. "Do you have any lotion? This sunburn is worse than I..." He trailed off when he saw me sitting on Kyoya's bed and Kyoya standing there with a towel and no shirt. He glared at Kyoya. "You bastard!"

"Here", Kyoya said as he put the lotion to Tamaki's face. "Use as much as you want, you big goof." Then, he left the room. Tamaki approached me.

"What were you doing alone with him?", he asked me.

"Nothing really", I said. He pointed at me and started screaming.

"YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT NOTHING WAS GOING ON?! YOU WERE ALONE IN HIS BEDROOM!! AND WHY WERE THE LIGHTS OUT?!", Tamaki asked and looked at me. "Don't you lie to me!" His voice almost sounded hurt and he looked down. "Never mind. You've been through a lot today. I'm sure you're tired. You should get some sleep." He started to walk away.

"Tamaki", I leaped up and grabbed the back of his shirt as thunder echoed through the room. He looked back at me as I lifted my hands.

Just apologize.

"U-Uh--", I started, but I couldn't finish my statement. Tamaki turned to face me completely.

Make up.

"What's wrong, Max?", he asked.

You can have emotions.

"It's nothing! I just remembered there's some business I have to take care of. Excuse me", I said and climbed into a wardrobe.

You can become attached.

"WHAT BUSINESS COULD YOU HAVE IN A WARDROBE?!", he asked.

You can be yourself.

"I'm alright. I didn't need anything. I just need to be alone.", she said with a shaky voice. Tamaki stopped trying to pull the doors open.

But I'm scared.......

"By yourself?", he asked quietly and stood in thought for a bit.

What if he doesn't accept the real me? What if the only reason he's tolerated me is because I've been cold to him the whole time?

"Max......I have to ask. When I saved you by jumping into the ocean and rescuing you......why were you thrashing? You know how to swim." Tamaki asked looking at the doors.

What if......I just end up hurting him?

"N-No reason really. I just...." I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"I get it...you're afraid of the ocean...because something happened right?" He pulled the doors open. "I understand now, Max. I'm sorry I acted the way I did. You grew up without relying on anyone else...but not anymore." He held out his hand and I looked at him. "You can come out now." I looked at him for a bit before thunder and lightning struck again, reminding me of the crack I felt when my back hit the water that day, falling thousands of meters from the sky. I decided to trust him and jumped from the wardrobe into his arms and he hugged me. I hadn't been hugged in my whole life, and for my first time, it wasn't so bad. "You don't have to be afraid. I'll always be here for you, Max. I promise that you'll never be alone again." I tightened her grip on him, feeling relieved and happy. Even though he doesn't know the truth, he still reached out towards me and offered his support. For that, I am truly grateful.

~Magical Time Skip~

"Are you sure it's a good idea--", Hikaru started.

"--to leave the two of them alone?", Kaoru finished.

"She might kill him." Haruhi says concerned.

"She's with our prince, Tamaki. What could possibly go wrong?", Kyoya asked. They knocked on the door.

"Hey, Boss. We're coming in", the Twins called. I was sitting on the floor and Tamaki was in front of me. Tamaki was currently trying to teach me anti fear tactics to make me feel better.

"With this waterproof flashlight, you can see everything! Plus these chocolates can help relieve you of stress!", Tamaki said. I looked at the flashlight and chocolate, intrigued.

"Fascinating. They make chocolates for the occasion?", I said.

"You nasty pervert", Hikaru said. Tamaki looked back at them in shock.

"What kind of foreplay is that?", Kaoru asked.

"It's not like that! It's not what you think!", Tamaki said.

"Foreplay?" I look at Tamaki and he freezes.

~ Magical Time Skip~

"You better watch your back, Max", Hikaru said.

"I never would've pegged the Boss as an S&M pervert", Kaoru said.

"I TOLD YOU, IT WASN'T LIKE THAT AT ALL!!", he said.

"I see", I said. "Well, now I know what S&M is. I can't believe I almost let you get away with it."

"I WASN'T DOING ANYTHING FREAKY!! I WAS TRYING TO HELP YOU!!", he said. I shook my head at him in disappointment.

"So you're staying in the club Max?" Hikaru asked leaning on my right shoulder.

"We'd hate for you to go." Kaoru said leaning on my left.

"Yeah I guess I'll stay in the club. Sorry for all those things I said about the club." I apologized. Everyone accepted my apology.

"Let's go", Kyoya said. The limo started driving off without Tamaki.

"HEY! DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT ME! WAIT, YOU GUYS!!", Tamaki called and ran after the limo.

Maybe staying in this club isn't a bad choice.....
It's my only way back to work.
Plus.....the people here aren't that bad.