A/N: Done for a challenge of Shine. It explores the different sides of Honey that the manga/anime had only glimpsed at. And also because of that, I incorporated romance. BD Whatever, I like HikaHani better, but HaniHika is better suited for this scenario.

...it's the rise of my new OTP...beware...BD

Shine Challenge issued by Kazu, (which I believe is Misguided Angel of Darkness (Death or whatever. o.O) It's a lyrics-challenge, and the confession letter is a more simplified version of the chorus of Kokohaku by Funky Monkey Babys. :D I swear it makes me tear up.

Disclaimer: Dun own. Beta'd by Lit. THANK YOU MAH DEAR FRIEND/SISTER/THINGY/SLAAAVE. -shot-

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x.x.x—Gentle but Protective.

"Hika-chan, are you going to stay back?" he asked softly, his hands placed gingerly on the frame of the door. Brown eyes tenderly stared in, eyeing a hunched figure scribbling on a piece of paper madly.

"…Yeah, I will," he grunted, before placing the paper on the score stand. His finger experimentally pressed a key on the piano. With a few more keys and his usual self-confidence, he pressed his fingers into the piano—

Klang.

Plunk—

"GOD!" he cried in frustration, smashing his hand into the keys, wincing at the horrendous sound that he made. The blonde senior only smiled at his attempt before he strolled leisurely towards the strawberry blonde. "This…is so freaking—"

"Hika-chan, what are you doing?" he asked curiously, peering over at the sheets of music that was on the stand. Hikaru's face flared brightly and he quickly collected the papers to himself. The third-year pouted and tilted his head cutely. "Hika-chan, I can't see it?"

"N-No, Honey-sempai…" he mumbled, his face was splashed with pink. "It's…something…"

Honey stared blankly for a while before patiently smiling. He sat on the bench that Hikaru was sitting on, and pulled Usa-chan close to his chest. "If Hika-chan doesn't want me to know then I won't ask."

The Hitachiin let out a soft sigh, his hands straightening out the papers that he had just roughly pulled off the stand. "…Yeah…sorry about that…"

"I'll wait for Hika-chan until he's done with what he's doing," he chirped, leaning his weight against the first-year. The Hitachiin twin blushed as he held the scratched up papers that were in his hands; he snuck a peek into the barely legible handwriting.

He grumbled underneath his breath and crumpled the sheet of paper all together; he tossed it into a rubbish can nearby. "Screw this thing already…"

"…hm?"

"Nothing, it's nothing," Hikaru quickly masked it, before he cushioned his head against his hand. "This…is…virtually impossible…I can never…write…something like…this."

"What are you trying to write, Hika-chan?"

"Nothing."

There was silence, and Hikaru gave a small cautious peek at the senior that had gone quiet. His chestnut eyes had gone cold, almost too cold—and the look almost froze the Hitachiin. "…is it something that Hika-chan doesn't want me to know about? Did someone blackmail Hika-chan to do this? Did Tama-chan, Kyou-chan or Kao-chan tell you to do this?"

Hikaru waved his hands quickly in front of him. "U-Uhm, no— not really, Honey-sempai…" He forced out a strained laugh. "It's out of my freewill…"

Flowers spun and an innocent smile replaced his features. "I see! You could've said so earlier, Hika-chan!"

He let a breath escape from his mouth, as he clutched the score sheets of paper close to him. He'll get rid of it…

'…I don't have any talent on these things…screw the love song, I'll just write a letter…'

-

- 'There's always been something bothering me. I can't put these into words… it's always been haunting me… this feeling. This painful feeling… my heart hurts every time I'm with you. I checked to see if it was a sign of a fever—it wasn't.'

'…this isn't sounding like a confession is it?'

-

x.x.x—Jealous.

Hikaru stared at the blank piece of folder paper that he had, his mechanical pencil tapping on his chin. He had long ignored what was happening—Kaoru was doing well by carrying on the conversations alone with the fan girls.

'I really can't think of anything to say to him…' Hikaru thought, nibbling on the end of his mechanical pencil. He needed time to clear his thoughts of the happy-go-lucky senior with an unknown dark side. He blushed quietly, falling into a slight daze.

'….maybe…that's what I should write about—'

"Hikaru, what're you doing?" his brother asked, blowing a wisp of air at Hikaru's ear. He shuddered, eyes dilating. He hid the piece of paper, regardless whether there were writings or not. He turned a heavy shade of red.

"Nothing! It's nothing!"

The girls that they regularly served blinked in confusion. Normally… it was… Hikaru who was the one teasing and Kaoru who was blushing madly. Kaoru paid no mind to the difference in the act, and the piece of paper was pulled out from Hikaru's grasp.

"Are you writing something, Hikaru?" he asked teasingly, a smirk on his face. Kaoru sniggered under his breath, very well knowing what it was. "Maybe…a…confession?"

Said older twin sputtered and tried to grab back the piece of paper, a large blush evident on his face. "S-Shut up! It's nothing!" he hissed, gritting his teeth, while grabbing it away from Hikaru.

"Aw," the younger twin cooed, snuggling close to his brother. "Is it something that you can't tell your little brother, Hikaru?" A hand encircled Hikaru's shoulders, pulling him close. He could faintly see the familiar glint in Kaoru's eyes, and Hikaru groaned inwardly.

'Play along.'

Play along? He wanted to choke and gag. After his twin freaking stole his paper?! Hell no—

"K-K-K-Kaoru…i-it's nothing…you should know…" Hikaru murmured, his face exploding in several shades of red. He clutched the paper tightly until it almost tore up. "It's—It's…"

"A love confession?" Kaoru covered smoothly; his tone still dripping with innocence. He was fully aware that a pair of suspicious brown eyes was watching him. Hikaru was shaking—oh, Kaoru could sense that he wanted to punch his gut out right about now—

"But Kaoru!" Hikaru was using a failed-uke voice, the fangirls almost fainted at the whining and almost hot tone that the older twin displayed. He pouted cutely, or tried to, his eye started to glisten, the shame of playing the defenseless twin is starting to get to his head. "I-I…worked so hard on it, idiot!"

'Not.'

"It's…that…e-every…word….I…uhm…"

'Shit…what am I supposed to say?'

The small senior twirled a fork from afar, eyes slanting only the slightest as he half-nodded and smiled at his own share of customers. His cousin tossed a knowing glance at the silent lolishota, a dangerous aura could be detected from him.

Kaoru smiled softly, reminding himself to poke fun at his brother's failed display. He tossed himself at his brother's torso, embracing it tightly. "Hikaru… are you and idiot?" He snuggled into the now stiff and embarrassed twin; tears started to collect in his eyes. He took the opportunity to grab back the uke role. "…words are nice if you love me… but… but if you ignore me like this… a confession would never make it up!"

He couldn't take this anymore; act or not act, he just had to get in there. He grabbed his stuffed pink bunny with a hand and stood from his chair quickly, dismissing the confused girls with a smile. Mori only nodded at them, a patient smile offered.

"Kaoru—"

Poff—

"Hika-chan! Kao-chan!"

He landed right between them from his insane jump, forcing the twins to break apart suddenly at his intrusion. Girls no longer were paying attention; they were dead and foaming at the mouth.

Honey had a strange, sickeningly sweet smile on his face. He looked back and forth from each twin, the strained and almost robotic smile started to grate on their nerves. "Kao-chan, can I borrow Hika-chan for a moment?" he asked, his hand already grabbing the first-year's sleeve.

The twins blinked and Kaoru looked down at the senior, pretending not to know why. "Oh sure, you can. Go ahead and take him, the ladies are taking a break, I guess," Kaoru said, a patient, inviting smile on. Hikaru was horror-stricken, after avoiding the blonde for the whole day Kaoru decided to just rat him out—just like that?

'Traitor…'

"W-What is it, Honey-sempai?" he asked, his sentence faltering miserably. He crushed the piece of paper in his hands and hid it well in the crevices of the couch. The small senior smiled up at him, a mysterious smile.

"Let's talk outside!" he exclaimed, grabbing his arm and pulling him off the velvet couch. "Come!"

They were starting to collect stares from customers and hosts alike; Hikaru felt awkward like this—being dragged by the lolishota of the club. The visitors of the Host Club were confused but at the same time thrilled at the discovery of a new yaoi couple.

Hikaru thought it was weird. They shouldn't be together like this… it was… what you would call… rare… moments.

His senior pulled Hikaru out from the whisperings people and into a deserted hallway, the pink doors falling closed. Though he didn't stop there, Honey continued leading him further down the empty halls, his back turned to him the whole time.

"Honey-sempai, where are we going?"

Once he said that, they stopped, his sleeves were released and Honey turned around, a strange, dark smirk on his usually cute face. "Hika-chan…what is it that you need to write?"

Hikaru blinked stupidly, his heart started to pound again. 'No way…sempai shouldn't have been listening in on our act…right?' Another tap of a shoe and the Hitachiin stuttered, "W-Well um, nothing…important I guess…you shouldn't be worried, H-Honey-sempai."

The shorter boy stared at him, an icy stare. "What is it then?"

"Uhm…a report," he lied, eyes darted elsewhere.

"I see…" he murmured quietly, still unsatisfied with the answer. Honey pulled his head up with a new face. "Let's go somewhere tomorrow then!"

The light-brown haired teen twitched; his heart just skipped a beat. "W-W-What?" He inwardly slapped himself for stammering, but the senior didn't seem to have caught it.

"It'll be a date then, just the two of us," his eyes glimmered and Honey smirked. Hikaru shivered at the change of facials, his eyes twitching. The Haninozuka reverted back to his charming cute smile. "Okay?"

'…this guy…' Hikaru thought; he found himself blush again, and right in front of this—this person! He didn't even have the time to respond before a teasing finger jabbed into his cheek gently—

"Meet me at the small café at nine, don't be late, Hika-chan," he said—

Hikaru blinked.

Did… did he just smile at him mischievously? His face flared and he stomped his foot as Honey skipped away happily. "Hey, H-Honey-sempai?!"

-

-'But you know… you're… I don't know how to say this… you make me… happy… I guess. Every time I see you smile, it just makes my face red… I don't know if that's good or bad, but you decide. Your fake smiles, genuine smiles, even sometimes the ones that confuse me… I like all of them…'

'…this is my opinion anyways…'

-

x.x.x—Cool.

"…Honey-sempai…this…is…" he mumbled, eyes lowering at the thing that was held between his upperclassmen's fingers. A strange…pancake it was…but he was eating it…with his hands? "…uhm…people are staring…"

"Hika-chan, you don't like being stared at?"

Hikaru stayed quiet for a moment. It's not that he didn't want to be stared at but being seen like this would degrade even the most unashamed of all shameless. "Honey-sempai…do you really have to dress up that…" There was no way of avoiding it in this context…Hikaru blushed and he mumbled, saying the words as if it was dangerous. "…cute?"

The Haninozuka tilted his head slightly, big brown eyes peering at Hikaru. He tossed a small piece of the pancake into his mouth and chewed on it slightly. "Hm? Is something wrong with wearing pink?"

Grim lines decorated his face. "N-No…" He turned his hazel eyes away, sucking on the straw of the coffee he had ordered from the café. He could feel the stares of girls and boys alike staring at the two of them.

He faintly wondered if guys were blind enough to be staring at his senior.

…really.

'Just…why something with a bunny hat?'

He had to be in slight awe at how cute the eighteen year old was. He was wearing a pink bunny hat—which practically stood out from everything, while having a white bunny backpack with his Usa-chan poking out from it.

'Everything's all bunnies,' he thought, shutting his eyes somewhat tiredly. Hikaru sighed quietly to himself, reopening his eyes. '…Honey-sempai can really pass off as a girl…'

"Hika-chan, here!" a peppy voice interrupted. Hikaru blinked out from his daze, only to see a piece of strawberry pancake offered to him. "It's really good! It's sweet, it has strawberries, and I like it!"

"…"

"Open your mouth, Hika-chan," he egged on, tapping the Hitachiin's lips with the bread. The twin reluctantly took the small bite, chewing it slowly. He really wished that Honey didn't notice that his face was burning. "Is it good?"

"…Yeah… very…" he stammered, quickly hiding away his face.

"…Hika-chan, why do you have a book with you?" he suddenly asked, brown eyes pointing at the sling bag that was over his shoulders.

Hikaru twitched, eyes snapping open. He hid the notebook from view, smashing the papers into the deep crevices of his bag. "N-N-Nothing, it's nothing, sempai…" Honey only looked at him worriedly and suspiciously.

"Hika-chan, you've been acting weird… do you have a fever or something?"

"No," he mumbled, sinking onto the table tiredly. The blonde-haired senior finished the pancake, chugging down the glass of milk to wash it down. He slammed the cup onto the mahogany table, a content smile on his face.

"I'm full!" he chirped, catching the attention of most of the guys there. Hikaru made a note to himself to shoot glares at them later on. But…

Does Honey have to be that loud and enthusiastic?

He had to wonder why…

"Hika-chan, stay and wait for me while I pay for the tab!" he exclaimed loudly, before bounding away from the table. Hikaru blinked, grabbing a hold onto one of the ears of the hat.

"Wait, what about my share—"

"It's alright, Hika-chan," Honey sang, patting his head lightly. Hikaru stared in slight awe at the soft smile he had. "It's my treat."

Hikaru reluctantly released the cloth he held, and he crossed his arms. "Fine, Honey-sempai…" he grunted, glumly sitting back, submissive. Hikaru drank the iced coffee, almost violently chewing on the plastic straw. 'Geez… Honey-sempai's so… so… egh…'

A hand slammed against the table he was sitting at, the mere sound made Hikaru jump, his eyes snapped up to meet angry glares from the teens that were spying on them earlier. "What kind of man are you? Making a girl pay for your own treats?"

Hikaru rose a brow, staring at the group that had suddenly approached him. "…uhm…" was all he could say, as a certain word resounded in his head; '…girl?' "It was…" A hand grabbed at his shirt, roughly pulling him upwards—

"You're such a shame—"

A hard object rammed into the side of the older teen's head, cutting him off in his sentence. The menu bounced onto the floor, the young adult cursed under his breath before furiously whipping at the person at fault.

"O-Oh…" he faltered.

A tense glare was fired at him; Honey was stepping closer.

The 'cute' Honey-sempai that Hikaru knew was… gone, replaced by one surrounded with a bubbling purple atmosphere.

"Please get your hands off Hika-chan…" he said lowly, eyes growing cold and icy. The older teens shivered and gave into the command, slowly releasing Hikaru's shirt from his strong grip. Hikaru's eyes widened slightly.

"It's not very smart to attack someone out of the blue, mister," he said, smiling sweetly, though his eyes differed in emotion. Honey brightened his smile, while taking light bounces towards the teen.

"You might be reported for violent behavior…" The Haninozuka continued, walking up to the teen. His eyes glinted dangerously, the cute smile lowered into a grin. "And given an offense for starting a commotion in a public place…"

"Y-You—"

"…just leave," Honey said quietly, mumbling another phrase out from Hikaru's earshot; surprisingly they backed away, grumbling quietly to themselves. Hikaru blinked, wondering if the usually cute and pure senior said something—

"Hika-chan, are you okay? They didn't hurt you did they?" he asked seriously, planting his hands onto the silent Hitachiin's shoulders. Honey looked at him worriedly, brown eyes returning back to its innocent look.

"N…No…" Hikaru murmured, gathering back his voice. He blushed at the proximity of their faces, before tossing a glance away from him. "I'm fine, Honey-sempai…"

"That's a relief," Honey smiled, reverting back to his old self. He chirped, while sitting back onto his seat. "The bad people didn't hurt you…"

Hikaru sipped the coffee quietly, the blush still burned on his face. "…mn, yeah…" He gave a sneaky glance back at the senior, who was a bit busy look back at the group of people that were there earlier…

He didn't want to admit it…but…

'…he was… kind of cool back there…'

His mind processed the thought and he took a long slurp from the straw, his face returning back to the color of red.

'What the hell am I thinking…?'

-

'I don't know what to say. I'm not a freaking romantic person like milord…I don't know what to say about this at all…I'm not…a smooth talker…'

'I love you, I love you so much. I wish I could take this confession and make it nicer…but it looks like the only words I can afford to say is this—'

-

x.x.x—Dark.

He didn't know what had possessed him that day. He pushed away all tasty, sweet treats; he appeared to be without any signs of his beloved bunny… something was obviously wrong with the loli-shota.

Honey refused to talk to talk to anyone; even his cousin who understood the Haninozuka very well… couldn't determine what had gone wrong. He had a dead serious face on, never during the hours of the activities did he even break a smile. Mori was left to entertain the hosts for his cousin's sake.

Host Club activities went on as normal as it could be…with the exception of a deathly quietly Honey. After the club, Mori had gone home first, Honey was quiet—eyes lowered at the ground. No word came from his mouth.

Hikaru probably understood what was wrong… somehow; well… not very much…

His mind was in a deep haze; his face was burning red. His fingers curled around the smaller teen's shoulders—

Just what the hell was he doing here…in this situation?

Oh yeah…he was grabbed, forcibly— yanked back into the club room just when he was leaving. Coincidentally…no one else was here. Maybe this was what he gets for staying back late. Hikaru's back was pressed against the wall, smaller hands gripping his arms tightly—

Just what the hell was happening?

His legs were starting to fail him. The hands that held him into place had become his only support—his lips were being pressed harshly, a mouth was devouring his own. Hikaru shivered weakly; his eyes clenched shut.

A tongue brushed against his moist lips, before it broke away altogether for air. Hikaru chanced to open his eyes; his face flushed and red. Dark and empty eyes stared down, "Hah…H-Honey—"

Tenderly, a finger was placed at his lips, silencing him. Honey's eyes were dark, mysterious, and alluring. Hikaru…didn't know what was wrong with the senior; they were alone together, especially after club hours. He should run…Honey didn't look normal; he wasn't acting normal either.

"Honey-sempai… are you….okay—?" the hazel-eyed teen asked, slowly shifting away from the small threat.

"You weren't going to stay and talk," he mumbled quietly and emptily, whilst wiping a small string of saliva from the corner of his lips. Hikaru shivered, and decided—Honey wasn't his normal self. He should—

"Hika-chan has been running away from me a lot…"

A hand latched onto his shoulder, and in a fluent motion, he was thrown against the floor. His hands were wrapped around Hikaru's wrists, pinning them against the wall. "Why are you running…?" he asked innocently.

"H-Honey-sempai…is there something wrong with you today…?" he managed to murmur, his face turning bright and red.

Honey stayed silent, looking at Hikaru blankly. Was there…? He examined his underclassmen's insecure stare. He allowed a soft sigh to escape his lips, and a soft smile replaced his grin. Slowly he released the tight grip on Hikaru's hands, moving away from him.

"…I'll let you go for now…" he muttered, leaving a confused Hikaru sitting up from the floor. Swiftly he reclosed the gap, kissing him gently on the forehead. "Next time…" he whispered darkly into his ear. "…Don't run away from me, Hika-chan…"

The Hitachiin's face turned red. He blankly stared at the senior who stood from the floor, his gaze shifting off coolly from Hikaru's figure. "…it's late, Hika-chan…let's go home—"

"Ah, wait!" he cried, grabbing Honey's sleeve. The blonde stopped in his tracks before glancing back down blankly. "Uhm… I…" Hikaru blushed furiously before standing up quickly, swallowing the words back down. "Let's go home, Honey-sempai."

He only took a glance at him, before smiling.

"Yeah, Hika-chan."

-

'I love you so much…and that's all I can say…but that's everything I want to tell you.'

-

Hikaru stared at the piece of paper; his face still flushed red by the day's events. His confession, something that he had thought he could write so easily, was being a bit harder to assemble than what he had originally thought would be.

As the previous events flashed in his mind, Hikaru couldn't imagine what he wanted to write…

'Just write something, idiot,' he thought angrily, chiding himself. He slumped onto his desk and sighed, his face to a neat sheet of paper.

K-chak.

"…oh, Hikaru… still mulling over this…?" a voice asked, the door closed quietly behind him. Hikaru gave a tired glance at his twin, who only grinned at him patiently. "Never knew you were going to be staying up this late…"

"…I can't think straight, Kaoru," he mumbled, scratching his head roughly. "I try to think, but I can't. I don't know. It's just… well… Honey-sempai is just… Honey-sempai! What the hell am I supposed to say?"

He let out an unsatisfied moan, and fell limp onto the desk. A hand patted his head several times, ruffling his twin's hair. "Hikaru…it's not as hard as you think," he said comfortingly, embracing his twin. Kaoru placed his head onto his shoulder, a hand covering Hikaru's. He moved Hikaru's hand onto the paper, the pencil resting on the piece of paper.

Kaoru pulled himself off, and he tapped the paper several times.

"Just tell him how you feel…plain and simple…"

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x.x.x—Confession.

'There's always been something bothering me. I can't put these into words… it's always been haunting me… this feeling. This painful feeling… my heart hurts every time I'm with you. I checked to see if it was a sign of a fever—it wasn't.

…this isn't sounding like a confession is it?

But you know… you're… I don't know how to say this… you make me… happy… I guess. Every time I see you smile, it just makes my face red… I don't know if that's good or bad, but you decide. Your fake smiles, genuine smiles, even sometimes the ones that confuse me… I like all of them…

…this is my opinion anyways…

I don't know what to say. I'm not a freaking romantic person like milord… I don't know what to say about this at all… I'm not… a smooth talker…

I love you, I love you so much. I wish I could take this confession and make it nicer… but it looks like the only words I can afford to say is this—

I love you so much… and that's all I can say… but that's everything I want to tell you.'

-

-

The soft wind brushed through his blonde tresses, the paper was in his hand, flittering, threatening to fly away from his grasp. The boy leaned against the open window, watching the cherry blossom trees flutter in the gentle breeze. He let loose a sigh, eyes looking up at the dimming sky—

'He's finally got it…' he thought, smiling at the note. Honey's brown eyes re-read the slightly crumpled paper. He could just imagine the process in which it took to write it. The Haninozuka couldn't contain a giggle. 'Hika-chan was probably trying hard…'

Honey neatly folded it, flattening the rumpled surface. He tucked his pink bunny underneath his arm, holding it close to him. The third-year looked out at the clock tower; it was already the afterhours of the host club, he had told his cousin to go ahead of him and head home…

And—

Tp, tp—

"Hika—?"

Thwack.

"Sorry! I tripped on my way here, and spilled my books and things and—" he blurted out, his hand resting on the sliding door of the empty classroom. Honey blinked, looking at the disoriented teenager. He then brought up a hand to cover his laughter. Hikaru tried to catch his breath, and he raised an eyebrow. "Honey-sempai—?"

"No, Hika-chan! I just got here," he chirped, a smile spreading.

Hikaru nervously laughed, closing the door behind his back. "…uhm…so you…er…"

"Were you worrying about the love letter, Hika-chan?" he asked sneakily, waving the piece of paper in the air. And it suddenly hit Hikaru again—that's right, he wrote that letter and stuffed it inside Honey's case when he wasn't looking—

"OH!" Hikaru exclaimed, blushing instantly. "Y-Y-Yeah, about that I, uhm, yeah, so… it's—"

"It's okay, Hika-chan!" the senior exclaimed suddenly, a bright smile on his face. He hopped off from the window sill, pocketing the letter into his pants. The Hitachiin could only stand there and blink stupidly at what he had just said. Honey tackled him with a hug, embracing his torso tightly. "I feel the same way for Hika-chan! I love you too!"

"…wait…what?"

"Hika-chan is really slow," Honey mumbled; a gleeful blush was on his face. Hikaru chanced to look down—dark brown eyes flared up at him mysteriously. "Hika-chan should've known from long time ago that I loved him…"

His face became blank.

"…oh…"

…and that explained the weird and sudden kiss that Honey gave him the day before.

Honey pulled Hikaru down, his hands grabbing the sides of his face. He roughly kissed the Hitachiin on the lips, almost forcing the boy to collapse into a pile of jelly. Hikaru felt himself trembling against the kiss, before Honey broke away. A sneaky blush was decorating the blonde's cheeks. Hikaru stared questionably and dazedly; the not so familiar, mischievous glint was in his eyes again…

He smiled sweetly up at him, before his hand patted the mass of light brown hair.

"Hika-chan…is really slow…"

-

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A/N: Yeah, whatever. It's lame. I don't care. I liked writing it to be honest. So...:D For those who have never considered this a possible pairing but think it's crack...well...think again? :3?

OH YEAH. JOIN SHINE. I SPENT HOURS WASTING MY ARSE OFF ON TRYING TO FIND AWESOME THEMES FOR THE DAMN SITE. -.- APPRECIATE IT AND GO THERE AND JOIN AND CHAT AND STUFF. o.o IT ONLY SEEMS DEAD BECUASE THERE AREN'T MUCH NEW MEMBERS.

...Please...? :D

--Demi-kun.