*~*Just The Girl*~*
-x-
Hikaru didn't want to go. He knew what school reunions were like from watching too much television while he was supposed to be working and from Click 5 songs. He didn't wanna go wanna go wanna go go go go! On the inside he was acting like a spoilt child- hell, he used to be one- while on the outside his stoic businessman expression hadn't changed one bit. He had to act like a businessman. He was a businessman. He had to be one since Kaoru wasn't.
Kaoru had ran off with the Polish ice cream salesman to Hawaii.
God knows why.
He sent a post card once in a while.
Nice of him, huh?
Sometimes, like now for instance, Hikaru though Kaoru only slept with the guy to get out of school reunions and enjoyed the pleasure of seeing Hikaru squirm in horror at the utter uselessness of it all-that wasn't true...not really, at least-. Oh God, Hikaru could'a made so many innuendos with that one sentence back in school, but now he wasn't in school. He was just on his way to school. But...different.
'Goddamn Polish dude...stealing my brother...,' he complained to himself, scampering along to the place he knew off by heart. Ouran High School.
Now, the Polish guy was nice enough, even if the only thing he knew in Japanese was 'do you want a flake with that?' -Kaoru apparently spoke with him in English, since that was the only language they were both fluent in- and Kaoru liked him and all but really Kaoru's relationship with the man isn't the plot of this story.
Hikaru sighed, looking up at the huge building. Ouran High School. The school he was forced to go to for the last three years of proper education before college. The school where he had the pleasure to meet Haruhi Fujioka and the displeasure to meet Tamaki Suoh. The place where he and his twin caused a ruckus wherever they went. The place where they'd shine a fashlight at the black magic club president, send Tono to his emo corner, steal Hunny's usa and shamelessly flirt with the commoner whom everyone adored, yet no one ever had a chance with.
Except Tamaki Suoh.
But again, off topic.
He sighed, looking down at his watch. The letter that had been sent to his and Kaoru's parent's house said that the gathering for old time's sake would start at five in the afternoon. By Hikaru's watch, he had arrived over half an hour early. He sighed, dropping down to sit on the newly tarmacked pathway, fiddling with his dyed ash hair.
It wasn't like he had a reason to be here. Kaoru was still in Hawaii, using the excuse that he couldn't book a flight in time and Haruhi was in France. Last time he heard from her anyway. She said she was going to study in college in Europe on the last day their last day as third years and never spoke to him since. Well except for the day of the wedding. Even then it was only a passing 'congrats' and 'thanks'.
Not that he blamed her really. Hell, he was worse than any stalker; especially since she already had someone that wasn't him.
He sighed, smiling wryly as he dropped his chin into the palms of his hands, kicking his 'rich person' shoes in the gravel. He'd even heard from Kyoya, who'd he'd barely had two nice words to say about, and still not one phone call from the girl he loved. Charming.
At least he had the sweet knowledge of knowing that she hadn't spoken to anyone else either. Except Tamaki. Obviously.
"Mister mister mister! Look ouuuuuut!"
Hikaru's head shot up quickly, sadly not quick enough, just to get smothered by some kid falling on top of him, pushing him down over the kirb and on to the grass. The child chirped apologies and Hikaru tried to push him off.
"Hey, kid, watch it," he said scowling, dusting off his trousers as the child's mom came running down the path.
"Jamie! Get off him! I am so sorr-" the girl stopped talking mindlessly and stared Hikaru down. Hikaru flinched away. "Hikaru?"
Hikaru blinked. The girl spoke his name in a local accent, yet used no honorific, her brown even cut fringe falling in her eyes her bangs reaching down past her shoulders. He stood up and her head followed him. Her fringe fell away out of her gaze to reveal the chocolaty brown eyes he used to take such great pleasure in staring into while he was supposed to be writing essays six years ago while he still attended this Goddamn school.
"Haruhi," he breathed, "Haruhi Fujioka..."
The woman whom he thought wouldn't arrive nodded briskly, taking the blonde child by the hand. "Its been a while, huh?" she mused, tapping her chin thoughtfully with the hand she wasn't using to hold on to the struggling five year old.
"Six years since graduation. Five and a half since the wedding," Hikaru confirmed, fiddling with his fringe nervously.
"Huh, really that long?" She looked surprised, "I really meant to call everybody and all, for old time's sake, but just with law school and Jamie and divorce stuff...it just slipped my mind," she scratched the back of her head sheepishly, mussing her now llong hair in the process, "I'm awfully sorry, Hikaru."
Hikaru nodded, smiling at Haruhi slightly. 'Well,' he thought, 'At least she thought about calling me. I'm sure having a kid while at law school and going through a divorce is very chal-'
Then it hit him.
Yes, it took that long.
This is Hikaru we're talking about. Not exactly the brightest crayon in the kiddy box.
"D-divorce?" he choked, hope rising slightly in his voice.
Haruhi gave a soft 'mhm hmm' while nodding.
"I-I'm very sorry," Hikaru managed, feeling more happy than sorry.
"No its okay, just didn't work, thats all," she said smiling sweetly.
"Wanna talk about it," he asked, "while we go in?"
"I guess so," she replied, walking ahead of him as he spoke.
"So why's you guys break up?" he asked gently, trying not to sound overly pleased.
"Nothing bad really. Just Tamaki being an idiot and running off with a Swedish girl to the Bahama's and telling me the news by email so I have to do all the legal work by myself while he sits around drinking champagne, but then, whats new, this is Tamaki, the king, we're talking about, right," she shot Hikaru a smile, "I should've expected as much from him."
'Well, lookie here,' Hikaru thought wryly, 'Looks like I'm not the only one. Damn ice cream truck...' "I know how you feel."
Haruhi didn't question him on why, just kept walking, dragging the little kid after her. The kid looked back at Hikaru, massive brown eyes boring into his own amber ones. And then he stuck out his tongue, Just like that, in a sign of insolence, not playfulness. Hikaru blinked, wide eyed at the kid, who'd now his back to him, swinging the battered teddy bear, that Hikaru knew all to well, happily.
"So..." Hikaru mumbled, trying to revive conversation and not wonder why the little brat ad been rude to him.
"So," Haruhi continued, "How have you been? Where's Kaoru?"
Hikaru glowered at his shoes, as he kept walking. "Hawaii with the Polish ice cream man," he muttered darkly, waving a hand when Haruhi looked at him strangely, "That's a long story," he grinned, "You send the guy out to get an ice cream and he comes back with a spouse."
"Hm, cant say I'm surprised," Haruhi mused, not watching Hikaru's 'what the hell' look, "He did always want to go to Hawaii."
Somehow, Hikaru didn't think she was getting the point. "Yeah...I guess he did," Hikaru said sheepishly.
"Your brother's gay," came the simple remark from the similarly simple kid. "You're gay too."
Haruhi scowled at the kid, "Jamie, how many times do I have to tell you not to watch those stupid American television shows where 'gay' is an insult! And that was quite rude!" she looked apologetically up at Hikaru while he just shrugged.
"But he is!" Jamie protested, "Old Daddy said so! Old Daddy, old Daddy, said that him and his brother were gay!" he stomped his foot a bit, "He showed me pictures of them hugging!"
Hikaru was about to come in for a comeback but Haruhi got there first. "You hug your father; that doesn't make you gay." Note how she never mentioned Tamaki there. Hikaru stifled a laugh as the kid pouted, shutting up. Who knew five year olds could have such- wait...oh yeah...
"S-so," Hikaru started, quitetaken aback by the last couple of moments, "Are you still living in France?"
"No," she replied hastily, walking a little faster as Hikaru tried to walk at the same pace as her, "I moved out a few months ago. I'm living down in the same apartment block as my dad now. He was happy," smile, "He never did like Tamaki all that much."
Hikaru grinned, recalling the incident in episode ten- hah hah, die fourth wall die!- in which Tamaki was caught in an incredibly awkward position with Haruhi. Looks like Ranka still hadn't forgiven the French man for that.
They entered the hall of Ouran, where crowds of classmates ran around loose and on the run with no rules or leashes! It made Hikaru want to go get the next flight to Hawaii, steal his twin from that Polish guy's arms, bring him back here, just so he could cower behind him and be unsociable like the old days. The funny thing was, this was only half the students and the rest were outside, admiring the cherry blossoms which had flowered late this year, that surrounded Ouran's private swimming pool.
"Ah! Hikaru," Haruhi called, latching onto the older twin's arm, oblivious to his gleeful expression at this little action, "Look! The class rep's out there; lets go talk to him!" she dropped his arm, trotting along in front of him, with the little child, who was now munching away happily on a biscuit one of the ex-fangirls gave him because he was cute, in tow.
Hikaru sighed, quite contently as he strolled along after her. She was still as cute as the day he fell for her. Not that he remembered when that was-hell, Kaoru had to tell him that he loved her, so how was he supposed to know when this feeling happened? And the only thing that had been in his way, Tono, was now gone! This was his lucky break! Maybe Haruhi would finally see that he really was incredibly serious when he told her that he loved her at the ski lodge. Maybe she would finally give him a chance.
But first he had to ask her.
Obviously, that issue was going to be just as much of a challenge as getting her to accept.
He finally caught up with the girl, who was talking animatedly with the class rep. Obviously, everyone knew she was girl, since a lot of classmates were invited to the completely heterosexual wedding- and since Haruhi was in the dress...-and word got around, so.
"So Fujioka," the class rep said, highly nervous now that he was aware, "You and Suoh-senapi split? I'm very sorry, but may I-"
The boy with glasses was easily interupted by Hikaru, who waltzed in, took Haruhi's hand and excused herself and him with a simple, "Got to go Class Rep!"
Hikaru, ignoring her protests, dragged Haruhi out under the cherry blossoms blooming, a few shaking off the tree and mingling in their hair. He looked at her skeptical expression as she cocked one eyebrow up questioningly. "And what was so important, might I ask," she drawled, "That you had to drag me away from a lovely conversation with the Class rep?"
Hikaru looked her up and down, not sure if she was being sarcastic- hey, the Class rep isn't that interesting as a person- or not and decided quickly that he didn't really care one way or another. He took a deep breath, trying not to be put off by her 'I'm waiting' expression.
"Haruhi I still lo-"
It happened all very fast. Haruhi looked down and realized Jamie was gone, cried out in shock and pushed Hikaru away in her desperate attempt to relocate her son. Hikaru, not being the most balanced of people, stumbled a few times before falling straight into Ouran's private swimming pool with a hearty splash.
His clothes weighed him down as he desperately tried to swim up to the surface, panicking as he hadn't breathed in before falling. Luckily, he managed to kick his way up, bursting out of the water, panting heavily and shaking his head not unlike a wet dog. He scrambled out of the pool, ignoring the blatant giggles from the girls and chortles from the guys as he shook himself again, wondering why he didn't pack spare clothes for a school reunion like an abnormal person- really, he wouldn't have thought he would've needed them-or something.
He glared at a few of the ex students, who looked away in faux innocence to ever making fun of the man. Then he looked around helplessly, trying to spot the girl who had so carelessly pushed him in in the first place.
But Haruhi was already gone.
-x-
"Hello?"
"Hey..."
"Hikaru! How are you! You should call me more!"
"Kaoru, you should answer your phone more!"
"Good point; but really I only turn it off when its irrating me when we're d-"
"Save it, Kaoru. I dont want to know. Really...and shouldn't you save that for the honeymoon?"
"Do I look as if I have a chasty band?"
"Uh, no?"
"Exactly. Now, how is my dear brother doing in my absence?"
"I had to go to the school reunion on my own"
"You didn't have to go."
"Haruhi was there."
"With Tono?"
"She's divorced him."
"Awesome for you, dude!"
"Her son doesn't like me much. He called me gay."
"You make it sound like an insult, bro..."
"So did he."
"Ah, too much American television?"
"Worse then Tono with the samurai stuff."
"Ouch, anyway, you talk to her?"
"Yeah, about stuff..."
"Did you tell her that you loooved her and wanted to maaarry her and that you even frequently- in fact, you still do it it, huh Hikaru?- wrote 'Haruhi Hitachiin' all over your school books and that you want her so badly that-"
"She pushed me in the pool when I tried."
"You seriously were going to admit to all that?"
"Hell no! I was just gonna confess...again..."
"Know where her and the brat child are living?"
"Yeah, same place as her Dad."
"Then go get her, bro."
"Thanks Kaoru...by the way, am I ever going to get that ice cream I sent you out for over ten months ago?"
"You probably dont want it after where its been..."
"*sighs* too much info, bro. Bye, Kaoru."
"By Hikaru! Have fun with Haruhi!"
-x-
Her apartment was number 210. He'd asked the woman, smoking behind her desk, and she'd told him that number in a drawl. He'd thanked her and received no reply so he just headed on. With the random rose he had stolen from the old lady down the road's garden. At least he presumed-after all the years being a host- that he'd chosen a rose and not some weed.
1, 2...oh yeah, 3 He knocked on Haruhi's door.
He heard shouting and calling inside before he heard the padding of Haruhi's slippers coming towards him and the door swung open.
"Hello- Hikaru?" she said, surprised, looking at him strangely. He held up his hands in mock defense, the flower fluttering around.
"I swear I'm not stalking you. Really," he insisted, grinning. Haruhi couldn't help but smile back.
"Are you coming in?" she asked, laughing to herself about how randomly he just turned up on her doorstep, "Jamie's in bed."
"Ah yeah," he said, laughing, holding out the flower nervously, "For you."
Haruhi looked at him blankly as he mentally killed himself about doing something wrong because she wasn't over the moon that he was actually being romantic. He must've did something wrong. It made him wonder if it was actually a weed again.
And then she laughed.
She took the flower from his hand, chuckling at his flaming face and gently lay it down on the table. "Thank you. Hikaru, thanks."
He broke out into a grin that would give that massive pink and purple cat a run for its money as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "No problem, Haruhi." 'No problem at all...'
"Want tea?"
"Commoner tea? Yes please!"
She sighed at his unadulterated gleeful expression at the mere mention of something common, not being able to help being reminded of the host club antics she hated to admit that she enjoyed from time to time. "Sugar and milk?"
"Yup!"
She put the cup and the rich tea biscuits in front of him, sitting down opposite him across the kitchen table, sipping her own tea carefully as he messily slurped his, dipping the odd plain biscuit into it. She grinned. Same old messy Hikaru, suit or no suit.
"So Haruhi-"
"Mommy!" Jamie yelled, running into the room in his little footed pajamas, glaring at Hikaru and then looking innocently up at Haruhi.
"Yes?"
"I want a bedtime story!" he demanded, hugging Kuma tighter.
Haruhi looked from Jamie to Hikaru and then shot the latter an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Hikaru. He wont sleep without one. It shouldn't take long," she said softly, taking Jamie by the hand and leading him up to his room.
'Wow,' Hikaru thought, watching her go up the stairs, 'Who knew being all mom-ly would be so darn cute?'
-x-
"Hello?"
"Hey Hikaru!"
"Wow Kaoru! You actually called me!"
"Hah, dont get all mushy and proud of yourself there, I'm only calling to see how things went with Haruhi and whether or not you told her that you loooved her and-"
"Kaoru."
"I kid, I kid. So, did you see her?"
"Yeah...she made me commoner tea and its just as good as commoner coffee and she talkied to me and I actually managed to pick out a rose and not a random weed and-"
"Now now Hikaru, who's getting a tad over zealous."
"Is zealous even a word?"
"Do you even own a dictionary?"
"I have you."
"Sure you do. Anyway, you didn't tell her?"
"No."
"Do it. Do it!"
"Fine fine, I'll try next time."
"And you wont chicken out?"
"That...I cant promise."
"Hah!"
"Night Kaoru."
"Sweet dreams lover boy."
"Can it!"
-x-
It became a regular occurrence; Him arriving at Haruhi's door with a rose- which would be laid on the table along with all the other wilting flowers- her offering himtea, Jami coming down, abusing Hikaru and demanding a bedtime story from Haruhi and after putting him to bed some more talking and recalling event and laughter.
And not confessing that even after all these years he was still in love with the brunette, of course.
One night he just happened to be pulled into another apartment before he could arrive at Haruhi's, thats all.
So, in a matter of happy go lucky I'm-going-to-see-Haruhi-yay seconds, he found himself in a darkened room he vaguely recognized under a far too bright light with Haruhi's cross dressing father standing over him, watching the older Hitachiin like a hawk.
"R-Ranka-san?" Hikaru stammered, scared of the completely demonic look the older man(?) was giving him. "Are you okay?"
"You love my daughter," came the simple reply.
"Ah..." Hikaru tried to find the right words and when he failed, he just looked Ranka in the eye, trying not to flinch away from the cool gaze, and nodded. As soon as this action was done, Ranak broke out in a smile and all the lights went back to normal, revealing Haruhi's old pokey home.
"Well," the okama chuckled, fiddling with his long hair, "I much prefer you to that blonde idiot that she so stupidly married-" Hikaru swore he heard him mutter something about assassins under his breath- "But you haven't told her this why?"
Hikaru didn't ask Ranka why he knew so much, he just looked down at the ground, flushed and wondering how he ended up here and whether or not Haruhi was waiting for him in the apartment upstairs. "I...dont know."
Ranka sighed. "Look kid, I like you well enough, so why dont you ignore the kid, or try and make a truce with him, and just admit that you like her." A unspoken 'again' rang in the air, but neither decided to acknowledge its presence.
"How did you know Jamie didn't like me," Hikaru asked quietly- which was quite the miracle-.
"He doesn't like anyone who tries to get close to Haruhi because he was so attached to his father and doesn't want to replace him." It was such a simple idea and quite the case in most situations like it. "Tamaki didn't get custody because he was the one at fault for the split anyways, leaving him and Jamie seperated by miles and only able to exchange phone calls," Ranka smiled, "I might not like the guy, but he's my grandson's father, and nothing will change that."
Hikaru just smiled.
"Hikaru, kid, I want you to give it a shot."
-x-
"Kaoru!"
"Hey Hikaru, why are you calling?"
"Ranka likes me!"
"Have you told her yet?"
"No..."
"Then thats top of your list of priorities."
"*sigh* bye Kaoru."
"Love you too, Hikaru."
-x-
"Hikaru!" Haruhi exclaimed, as she opened the door to the Hitachiin for the thirteenth time that fortnight.
"Ah, Haruhi!" Hikaru grinned, "Sorry I'm late. Just a little...detour on the way here, that's all."
"That's okay," she laughed, "Jamie just fell asleep so do you want tea?
"Hikaru nodded happily, thrusting out the rose at her, grinning idiotically. She smiled, taking the flower from him, and this time putting it in a small water filled glass on the table, along with the other wilted ones.
'And now would be the ideal time to fess up, moron,' Hikaru told himself, flushing just thinking about it. She looked so cute, making tea in her little commoner kettle with her little commoner teabags. And all the roses he'd given her were still sitting on the table, which was a good sign, right?
"Haruhi?" he asked, looking down at the ground nervously as she turned around, surprised at his uncharacteristic tone of quietness. "Can I tell you something?"
She blinked, her massive brown eyes batting easily, like always. "Does it have anything to do with what you were going to tell me before I accidently pushed you into the pool?" she asked innocently as his mouth fell open in slight horror.
'She saw me fall into the pool,' he thought in exasperation and mortification, 'Can the ground swallow me y-wait...she saw me fall in and never helped me out? Haruhi! Why...?'
He was just about to word his findings when she began to chuckle at his expression. Her laughter, quite contagious, caught him soon enough and he was laughing with her, knocking his head comically with his fist at his own stupidity.
"But seriously," she choked, trying to stop laughing "What were you trying to say?"
Hikaru froze again, looking at his not too interesting, rich man shoes. "I-I..."
He nearly hit himself again, at his nervousness at one little statement. All he had to do was tell her. Simple as. And if he didn't, his brother would never ever let him live it down as long as he lived. What was stopping him?
Her eyes were stopping him. Piercing into his with her beautifully blunt stare.
Her mouth was stopping him. Where her blunt reply will emit from, either making his day, or breaking his heart.
She was stopping him. Haruhi Fujioka; the girl who never could find it in her heart to love him back in high school.
Hikaru took a deep breath. He wasn't in high school anymore. There were no screaming fangirls, there was no Tono, and there were no secret genders or love styles. He was here, and so was she. They weren't kids anymore. And maybe this time, her answer would be different.
But he still couldn't speak.
She was staring, worriedly, at him now; him being immobile for the last five minutes.
He decided to do the next best thing. He walked briskly towards the smaller girl, resting his hands on her two shoulders easily, his amber eyes boring into her chocolaty ones. She blinked, watching him suspiciously. He took another deep breath before blurting-"Please don't slap me for this!" He leaned in.
Unbeknown to the two in the kitchen- their tea about to get cold, might I add- there was a small boy holding a teddy bear, watching them from the doorway. Hikaru leaned in and the teddy dropped to the floor, making a small thud that neither of the other two heard.
It happened reasonably fast after that. Jamie ran up to Hikaru, pushing him so he ended up kissing Haruhi's ear instead. Haruhi turned to see her child pout furiously, angry tears pooling in his brown eyes as he turned and briskly walked away, muttering something about dislikes and Swedish girls, picking up kuma on the way.
"Ah, Jamie, wait," Haruhi began, attempting to chase after him before Hikaru stopped her.
He grinned at her surprised look at the motion before easily saying- "Its my fault, I'll handle it," before running after the small child.
His room wasn't too hard to find. It was only down the hall and the apartment wasn't that big anyway. He gently knocked on the door, only receiving a muffled 'go away' in response. Hikaru, never being too obedient, pushed the kid's door open anyway.
The kid was underneath the covers, making it look like he wasn't there when he most obviously was that lump in the duvet. Hikaru smiled softly, going up to shake him."Hey, kid?" Hikaru whispered, pulling the covers down to reveal a scowling five year old, "Why do you hate me so much?" The kid shook his head. "You dont hate me?" A nod. "Well you really do act like it, you know?"
"I know," came a mumble.
"Why?" Hikaru pushed, wondering when he got to be this nice to children. It was the commoner tea's fault, it had to be! Haruhi moved into the doorway, listening and smiling slightly.
"Because you're just like her. That woman was talking to Daddy like you talk to Mommy and Daddy left after that and you'll make Mommy go away!" he insisted, hugging the stuffed animal closer. Haruhi kept watching as Hikaru looked puzzled, before understanding who Jamie was talking about.
"I won't take Mommy away," Hikaru chuckled lightly, "I love your Mommy very much, but I wouldn't take her away."
"Promise," Jamie mumbled.
"Pinky swear."
Haruhi felt her mouth turn up in a smile as Hikaru ruffled the kids blonde curls slightly as the boy wriggled underneath the covers, his eyes drooping sleepily. "Hikaru," she called softly, catching him off guard, "Your tea was cold, so I made some more."
Hikaru blushed, scrambling to his feet frantically. "Haruhi, how long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough," she replied bluntly and Hikaru's heart felt like lead.
Then she leaned up on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek lightly, a mere brush of her lips. He turned several shades of scarlet before calming himself down enough to ask, stammering,-"W-what was that for?"
"I'm not quite sure," she smiled, turning around to walk out back out the doorway, "Hikaru, your tea is getting cold."
-x-
"Kaoru?"
"Hey bro!"
"The kid likes me...I think..."
"Well, that's a bit of development!"
"Yeah, I guess..."
"You tell her you looove her yet?"
"No, but Kaoru, I think she already knows...
-x-
Yumi- Ah, the random HikaHaru-ness of it all (also, I do not mean to insult either homosexuality, Poland or anyone with this story. Everything is solely for humor and plot.)Bob- Blink blink (it's over 5,000 words of complete nonsense!)
Yumi- For Mimi-Dudette ^^
Oko- You might like to check out Awesome August, for differences in requesting, updates and new stories ^^ Because August is just that dang awesome!
Yumi- Please review and sayounara! ^^
EDIT!
Yumi- Well, looks like that first sentence of Authors notes was there for nothing. To american, (that should have a capital letter, if you really are that patriotic.) One thing first, your spelling and grammar is so utterly atrocious that I cant make sense of most of your review. As far as I know, using the word gay as an insult came from South Park (which I don't watch) and seems to be used quite often in said cartoons and by people who watch them. Over here, in Ireland, a cartoon is something most parents think is for children therefore, allowing their children to pick up profanities and politically incorrect sayings from them.
I am not in anyway saying that only American television uses those insults, or that all American shows do, I'm simply stating that there is a lot of them out there. If you read the warnings above, you would have realised that I don't mean to insult anyone. As for the rest of your complaints, I cant make sense of it, so if you care to elaborate in proper English what you were trying to say, by all means, go ahead. Until then, good day.