A/N: It's been a while, hasn't it? Or maybe not that long... Well, here we are with a new fic, and I have to say I'm somewhat 'returning to my roots'. Not to say this another of the killer one-shots of old, but ignoring the novel I should be writing, short chapters, probably irregular updates and no written plan. XD You have been warned. I do have ideas, of course, but nothing has been pegged down. Sometimes it's nicer to write that way, don't you think? Ah, I'm babbling. Stop it. (self-slap)

Disclaimer: Ouran High School Host Club does not belong to me. Naturally.

Going Solo

Chapter One- Tea and Cake

It was raining at Birmingham International Airport and Kaoru, for one, was glad. It was bleak weather, to match this bleak place and his bleak mood. He did not want to be spending his summer break here. He put out a hand to catch some rain droplets and wondered if this was really what England called a summer. He had always wanted to come here, but already he hated it. Maybe it was because he felt so completely alone here. It wasn't just a feeling. He had never been this alone. He hadn't even done that first most daunting journey, hadn't even been born, alone. Leaving Hikaru behind had been like leaving behind an arm or a leg or a hand, some attachment that had been loped off. His mother had told him to 'make the best of it'. But as he watched the umbrellas going up around him he wondered if even she would have been able to.

"Kaoru-san?" That girl was behind him. He hated her already, her and her fat cheeks and easy smile. He knew it was irrational and it wasn't her fault he was here, but if he looked he could find ways to blame her. She had been, after all, the one who had agreed to let him stay. "The train is coming soon. You need to come back inside."

Kaoru said nothing, merely took hold of his suitcase handle and turned, heading back through the revolving door of the airport. This wasn't going to be a holiday, this was going to be purgatory. He almost envied Hikaru. Almost.

*

They had made all sorts of plans for the summer break, most of them involving dressing Haruhi up. Kaoru had plenty of plans of his own too, most of them involving setting Haruhi and Hikaru up. But then it had all gone wrong.

He had always been quicker at getting up, so he hadn't thought anything of it when he was up and moving before his brother. He took a long, leisurely shower, dressed and headed back into their bedroom, wanting to see if Hikaru was up to have breakfast. The maids, he saw, had already slipped in and made his bed, but Hikaru's was still occupied.

"Come on, Hikaru." He said, shaking his shoulder. "You can't stay there all day, you know."

"Get off..." Hikaru said, hitting Kaoru's hand away before burying his head deeper into the pillows. "I don't feel well."

"That's just sleepiness. Come on, we were going to take Haruhi to the amusement park today, weren't we?"

"Mmm." Hikaru clearly didn't care, scratching idly at his arm. "Go without me."

"What? But..." Kaoru noticed his brother was scratching his other arm now. "...Are you okay?"

"Like I said..."

Concerned now, Kaoru felt his forehead. "Hey, you are kinda hot."

"Good, so will you leave me alone?" Hikaru snapped, scratching the back of his neck.

"...You keep scratching..." Kaoru said, peering through the gloom. "...We've had chicken pox, right?"

They had. But as it turned out, Hikaru had it again.

"Wait, is it even possible to get it twice?" Kaoru demanded.

"Yes, occasionally." The doctor nodded. "And if Hikaru-san got it again, there's a good chance you could too. I recommend you two are separated for a little while."

"What?!"

"He's right, Kaoru." Their mother said, anxious. "Chickenpox is worse for adults then for children. Your father got it when he was twenty-two and was in bed for three weeks... and then there are complications! If you got sick too, Mama would be so worried..."

And despite all his protestations, no-one would listen and they began to decide what to do with him. Unfortunately, they had realised that if he were allowed to stay in the house he would find a way to sneak into their room and spend as much time with Hikaru as he normally would. He had to go somewhere else. He almost went to stay with Tamaki, until they recalled how easily moved Tamaki was- before too long Kaoru would have convinced him to help him break back into home. Then his father hit on what his parents considered the perfect solution.

"What about the Grahams?"

"Oh!" His mother smiled. "That's a great idea."

"Grahams...?" Kaoru repeated. The name was familiar, but he couldn't place it.

"Do you remember the couple who came to stay with us last summer? Well no, I suppose you didn't have much to do with them... they showed you a picture of their daughter. The plump blond girl."

"Would you call that blond?" Kaoru said immediately. He didn't remember much about the parents, but the picture had given them a kind of morbid fascination. It was like the girl pictured wasn't even trying to be cute. Maybe England's standards weren't so high. He wondered what had happened to that picture; he didn't remember throwing it out or giving it back...

"Yes, well... when they stayed here, they said we'd be welcome to stay with them any time, it would be a little rude not to accept it." His mom smiled, and Kaoru saw what she was getting at.

"No way!"

"Come on." She wheedled. "You've always wanted to go, you could look on it as a holiday! And they have a gorgeous little cottage in the countryside! Very English!"

"I'm not going abroad!"

"Kaoru, don't shout." His father said, mildly.

"Then don't try to send me to England!"

"You'll wake Hikaru."

Kaoru stopped shouting but glared just as venomously. "I'm not going." He hissed.

"Kaoru..." His mom looked suddenly tired, and hugged him. "You've been working hard encouraging Hikaru and Haruhi-chan, haven't you?"

"Well, yeah, but what's that got to do with anything?"

"Isn't it because... you recognise he'll need his own life in the end and you want him to be happy?"

Kaoru found he couldn't say anything to that. He didn't think his mother understood, and now she showed she did. What could he say?

"It works two ways, Kaoru. You have to go out and have your own adventures too. You need to grab life with both hands, and you can't if you're clinging onto Hikaru. You're the smart one, Kaoru, he won't let go till you do. So... for both your sakes..."

"Mom..."

"So, it's settled!"

"I didn't agree!"

She smiled. "You don't have a choice, so you may as well make the best of it."

And that was the end of it. No matter how obstinate and argumentative Kaoru was, no-one would listen. The Grahams were duly contacted, and it was the daughter, Ellie, who answered. She explained that her parents had gone directly from Japan the previous summer to Paris, to work there for some time. It had already been over a year, but she was sure their business wouldn't keep them much longer. In the meantime, she said, she would be glad to have Kaoru come and stay for the summer.

It was not for the whole summer, Kaoru insisted to himself. The moment Hikaru was better, he was coming home. He just had to put up with this damp and dreary place till then.

"Where are we getting the train to?" He asked. The Graham girl's Japanese was good, so he saw no reason to tax himself trying to speak English, though his mother would have said it was politer.

"Worchester." She replied, smiling, leading them onto a platform where the next train was to Birmingham New Street. "Worry not, Birmingham is not a favourite place but we have to go there first and change."

Perhaps not so good. Oh well.

"As in the sauce?" He asked, unimpressed. She, however, seemed to find it funny.

"Yes, that's right." She giggled. "You have it in Japan also?"

"Yeah..." He couldn't help but look at her sideways. "But you say it weird. Worcestershire."

"No, that's how it's said. Wuss-ter-sheer."

"Hmmph. Well, if you don't want people to say it Wor-chest-ter-shire then you shouldn't spell it that way." She laughed. "I'm not trying to be funny!" He snapped. Did this girl not understand rudeness? It frustrated him.

"Kaoru-san..." She glanced around embarrassed at the people listening in confusion at this Japanese conversation interspersed with the correct pronunciation of Worchester.

"Hmmph. All I'm saying is, you can go to Wooster if you want, I'm going to Worchester."MHmmH

"Yes, Kaoru-san." She turned away to hide her smile. Kaoru tightened his grip on the handle of his suitcase.

This was going to be a long holiday, and if he couldn't even have any fun at her expense, it was going to be even longer.

*

Grace Graham. It was a small brand, but one growing in popularity. Many people liked the way the name sounded. Kaoru's mother, her finger always on the pulse of the fashion world, had heard good things about the designer who had started off by designing and making clothes in the Worcestershire countryside before her talent was recognised by her husband and eventually the brand was picked up by one of the British supermarkets, eventually spreading into being an entity of its own, with stores across the United Kingdom. Western Europe followed suit, with the double G logo cropping up here and there across France, Spain and Germany. However, in such things England had always had a better relationship with the USA, and it was there more than anywhere else people fell in love with the designer alongside a spate of other fashions crossing the pond. It was the age of 'cool Britannia', they said. Long may it reign.

Kaoru wasn't sure who had approached who the previous summer, but somehow the Grahams ended up staying at their home on a short break to Japan, during which time they discussed using the Hitachiin stores as a basis for a launch of the range in Japan. The talks reached no conclusion- Grace Graham was still relatively unknown and by no means ready to make an international venture- but the link was established. And somehow all that had lead to him lying here, under the beams of that very same cottage the brand had begun in. The bed was creaky and the rain was drumming down on the roof above him. His watch read one PM, but that was Japanese time. The clock on the wall claimed it was four AM. Stupid country. Even so, he was sure he could hear movement downstairs. Did that mean Ellie was up already?

He shuffled a little guiltily. He had been tired and in a foul mood upon his arrival- both of which he could see were going to continue for some time- but maybe he had been a little too rude to her? Or maybe not. He didn't want to be here, so it would be ruder to pretend that he did.

Besides, if she hated him, she would say she couldn't cope with having him stay here a moment longer and he'd have to be allowed home.

It wasn't like she attempted to make herself particularly likeable. So far she had done nothing to ease his irritation except laugh at it. Not that she was unpleasant, just... boring. There was nothing about her personality that was particularly memorable, even her appearance was dishevelled. Maybe being surrounded by models all the time made him expect a little more effort from people in terms of their appearance, but she wasn't trying at all. To be fair, she seemed to have lost some weight since the time the photo was taken, but it had left her with the strange gaunt half-there look of someone who had lost a lot of weight too quickly- and she still wasn't particularly skinny. Someone needed to tell her crash dieting was not the way to go. She wore no make-up and her clothes were all too big for her, her hair wasn't blond or brown and she had just tied it back in a ponytail. There were few girls who could pull off a ponytail, and they all had better bone structure than she did. Bored of lying in bed and staring at the darkened ceiling, he headed downstairs to investigate the noise.

Ellie was in the kitchen and didn't notice his approach, presumably because she appeared to be singing to the oven. "Cook, cook, hurry and cook little cakies, be nice and hot, but not so hot we burn ourselves, choco-co-late cakies..." She sang. Tunelessly.

"What are you doing?" Kaoru asked, announcing his presence. She jumped and turned to face him.

"Kaoru-san!"

"Graham-chan." He answered.

"Oh... no, you can call me Ellie." Trying to hide her blush, she pulled the oven door open and pressed gently on one of the chocolate fairy cakes just finishing cooking. Apparently satisfied, she took them out and set them cool on the hob.

"Grey-chan suits you fine." Kaoru replied, though he wasn't so sure any more. Was she grey and boring or just weird? He didn't know of anyone who would be baking at this time of the morning except Honey. And they all knew he was weird.

"Grey-chan... I like it." She smiled, not realising, as usual, she was being mocked.

"Going back to the original point," Kaoru said, irritated. At this rate, she'd never hate him enough to send him back to Japan. "What are you doing?"

"Oh! I thought, seeing as it's about lunchtime in Japan, you might want a snack."

"So you got up at four AM and made cakes?"

"Well, I got up about an hour ago... but yes. They should be a little cooler now, please feel free to try one."

"Hmmph. You know, if you didn't eat cake in the middle of the night, you might be slimmer." Kaoru pointed out, picking one out and making sure it wasn't still hot enough to burn. Ellie's smile had slipped just slightly he noticed. At last. He peeled the case off and sniffed it cautiously.

"It's not poisoned." She said, taking one herself. She had injected her voice with the lightness of a joke, but was that a tinge of annoyance? Kaoru smirked. He could get under anyone's skin if he wanted to. And maybe he upset the daughter, the parents would be upset and wouldn't do any deals with his parents. It would just show what happened when you tried to forcibly separate the two of them.

"It better be good." He said, and bit into it. It was just a little bit crunchy on top, soft and springy in the middle. As it should be. True, it wasn't anything that special, nothing like the delicacies of Paris, but it definitely wasn't bad. Not for something home made in the small hours of the morning.

"It's wet but it's pretty warm out." Ellie said, making a cup of tea. "I thought I might sit out on the decking. Would you like to join me?"

With nothing better to do, he agreed. She lead him out the back door, onto a wooden deck with a roof over the top. The rain dripped off the guttering, into the black pre-dawn, just beginning to be tinged purple. There were rustlings all around. Mice and hedgehogs and foxes and badgers, he supposed. Or rats. England had a lot of rats.

"You can use my dad's." She said, gesturing to a wooden rocking chair with thick cushions on it. He sat down and noted the slight scent of mildew, natural to fabric that was left outside in such a damp environment. The cushions themselves were dry, but he still decided not to sink too far back into it. She handed him a warm mug, and he wrapped his fingers around it gratefully as she took her own rocker.

"This is warm?" He demanded. She laughed.

"It'll warm up when it gets light. If the weather clears, there's a wonderful view of the countryside and the Malvern hills."

"Malvern... didn't we drive through there in the taxi?"

"Right." She said, rocking gently back and forth. "Funny. I thought you were asleep by then."

He scowled at her and sipped his tea. It was all he could do not to spit it back out. He was well acquainted with Western milk tea, but this was... "Eww, what is this?!"

"Earl Grey. Do you not like it?"

"It tastes like dirty dishwater." Kaoru said bluntly, going to the edge of the decking and tipping the rest out on the flowerbed underneath. She didn't seem to care.

"I suppose it's an acquired taste. We can go down to Bromyard tomorrow and get some normal stuff."

"Good." Kaoru said. "I thought when I came here you would at least feed me."

"The cake was good, wasn't it?"

"I guess..."

"Good."

They sat in silence for a while, rocking and creaking and, for Kaoru at least, freezing. Around half past five, it was beginning to get light, though it looked like it would be another grim and rainy day. In the half-light, he noticed she had fallen asleep, chin on her chest. Her neck was going to hurt when she woke up. He nudged her chair with his foot until it tipped forward abruptly and she jolted awake.

"If you're going to sleep, go back inside." He commanded.

"...you're right, sorry." She stood up, stretching, and rubbed the back of her neck. "But... it's too close to time to get up to go back to sleep. I'll make some coffee."

"It had better be better than the tea." Kaoru sniped, following her inside. Then he noticed he was treading in a puddle. Following it, he saw the water dripping from the edges of the table. The whole surface was covered in water, the cakes were ruined, and there was a hole in the roof letting the rain in.

Ellie finally regained movement and removed the cakes, placing a washing up bowl beneath the drip. "I guess we've sprung a leak." She said. "I'll mop up."

"...Call me when breakfast is done." Kaoru sighed, heading upstairs. Some holiday this was turning out to be. He flopped down on the bed, folding his arms behind his head.

He wanted to go home.

*

A/N: And so ends chapter one, the pesky introduction chapter. Written on a typically grey and drizzly English morning- it may be January but it feels like the summer! XD Just to say, while I have visited Worcester and Bromyard and Malvern etc a lot in the past, and I'll be as true as possible to the places, it's been quite some time since I've been to any of them; so my memory may prove false.

Also, Ellie's got it wrong. Earl Grey tea should be served black with lemon. D: