Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran or any characters.
How many roads must I walk down? Before I find what I seek?
This thought flitted through Haruhi's head as she stared at the twisted street laid out before her.
She'd been walking for hours and she'd not yet found the address listed on her phone.
In fact, she was beginning to think that the address didn't actually exist. She'd typed it into every search engine map she could get on her phone, even the one the locals preferred.
All she'd gotten back were error messages.
Haruhi glared up at a nearby street sign. It was a series of numbers with those strange symbols the locals called Hangul. Underneath was the Hangul translated into English letters, letters that were purely a phonetic translation that did not match up with the address she'd been given.
This was getting ridiculous.
She continued to plod down the street until she reached a corner with a Family Mart on it.
She parked her suitcase outside and went inside to buy some water and a snack. Luckily the food preferred by the locals was similar to Japanese food so she didn't have too much trouble finding something to eat.
The clerk tried to speak to her in his natural language, but she just smiled sadly and shook her head and said something in English. Japanese weren't widely admired in some areas here, she really didn't want him to know where she was from.
Once she paid she took her snacks and went to sit at a table outside. Munching happily away at some seaweed and rice that the locals called gimbap she flipped through her phone, looking for anything that could help her.
As she finished up the last of her gimbap she dropped her phone on the table in annoyance and decided to admit defeat.
"I should've just taken a taxi from the bus terminal," she muttered under her breath.
She'd just returned from finishing Law School at Harvard. All she wanted was a nice flat place to lay down and sleep. She'd just spent almost twenty hours on planes and another hour or so on a bus. She'd been so tired of sitting that she'd figured it wouldn't be so hard to walk from the bus terminal; after all, it was only about five blocks.
She hadn't counted on all the uneven sidewalks and crazy streets. For all she knew she had spent the last thirty minutes walking in the opposite direction…
Grumbling, Haruhi grabbed her phone and walked back into Family Mart. The clerk stared at her as she put her phone on the counter and pointed to the address written in Hangul there.
He still looked confused though so she thought for a minute and then said, "Adie?" one of the few local words she'd made sure to learn on the plane ride over.
He looked at the address for a minute before pulling out a map. He pointed to one spot and said something in his language. She frowned and shook her head. He closed his eyes for a moment then opened them again. He pointed at the spot again and said, "Me, you."
Haruhi nodded in understanding this time and smiled.
He smiled back.
Then he pointed to another spot just a street over and nodded at the phone as he said something in his language agin.
Haruhi couldn't help it, she grinned.
Her destination was only one street over!
She said, "Thank you! Thank you!"
She didn't know if he understood her words, but he certainly understood her meaning.
He walked her to the door then and pointed out which way to walk. She smiled and thanked him again as she grabbed her suitcase and began walking.
A few minutes later she was standing in front of a brick house that looked no different from the ones around it. The number by the front gate was the same as the one on her address so she knew she'd finally found it.
She knew his apartment was on the second floor so she looked around until she found the staircase, then she walked up it, carrying her suitcase as quietly as she could.
He had very good hearing and she didn't want him to know she was there until she knocked on the door.
Her boyfriend had come to this country to work, study and learn. He'd been in the middle of a project during her graduation and so was unable to come to Boston to see her. She hadn't been too disappointed; after all, it was just a ceremony.
They'd made plans to meet in Tokyo in two weeks, but she realized she didn't really want to go to Tokyo yet.
She'd just spent a week with her father in Boston, so wasn't exactly missing him. As for her friends, well, most of them had come to her graduation and the rest were busy doing work at various parts around the globe.
This meant that the only person she felt like seeing was currently sitting on the other side of the door she stood in front of.
Haruhi raised her fist and pounded on the door – trying to make the knock as dissimilar to her normal knock as possible.
There was silence for a moment and then she heard a sound on the other side of the door.
A male voice that she found very familiar said, "Ubseyo?"
Haruhi just pounded on the door again.
A moment later the door swung open and an extremely familiar voice started saying in Japanese, "What the…"
But he was cut off by the sight of Haruhi.
His jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide.
Haruhi grinned, "Surprised?"
He tried to close his mouth, but it flopped open again.
She took a step forward, pulling her suitcase behind her. "Can I come in?"
Her movement seemed to have woken him up. "Haruhi? How…?"
She shrugged, "I couldn't wait."
The next thing she knew she was in his arms and being held close.
"Oh, Haruhi!" he gasped.
She just smiled and hugged him back.
She didn't know how long they stood there in the doorway, and she really didn't care. It had been months since they'd seen each other and she'd missed him so much.
Not that she'd let missing him stop her from studying, but it hadn't helped.
Eventually they were situated inside his small apartment; cuddling up on his small couch, just happy to be together again.
Her eyes moved around the small apartment , she really hadn't expected him to be living in such a tiny place, it wasn't his style.
He seemed to read her thoughts, like normal.
"This place is close to my work, plus it's really quiet and safe. I've never been a fan of living in a highrise you know, so this is perfect."
"I like it, it's comfortable – though it is very hard to find."
He chuckled, "I'm surprised you found it at all. Most people can't. But then, it is you, so I shouldn't be surprised."
Haruhi snuggled closer to him, so happy to have his warmth next to her.
"How are things going with work?"
"Really well. My designs have never looked better. I keep sending things to Kaoru and Mei and they keeps being surprised. We've already got our fall lineup ready, our spring lineup is almost finished too. There are so many things to inspire me here; the ideas keep flowing out of my hands and onto the paper. I think it's because everything is so similar to Japan, yet so different. I think I'm falling in love."
She poked him, "Hikaru…"
He chuckled again, "Don't worry, I still love you more."
Then he pulled her in for a kiss. She melted in his arms and sighed as he held her tightly.
She'd missed his kisses.
Author's Note: It's shortish, sweetish, and rather simple.
I've been rereading my old work and I found myself wanting to write a little something. It's not anything special, just getting my feet wet again. It's been so long since I wrote something for Ouran, almost a year actually. At that time I had just broken up with Zack and was preparing to head to South Korea.
Well, I've been in South Korea for nine months now. I left four days after I buried my mother. Three months after that I met MY, an amazing man that's been making me truly happy for the last six months.
This work is dedicated to several people:
To MY and the love I feel for him.
For my sister and the awesome month I just had with her in Korea.
To my friend Nicole and her new(ish) baby girl.
I guess it's a belated birthday gift for her. That's why I have the pairing I do.
I hope you enjoyed it. Though I know it wasn't my best work. This is the first romance I've attempted in a year. Most of what I've written since then has been for my non-romantic original story. Or my Korean blog (link is on profile if you're interested).
Enjoy! Read! Review!