Kaoru Hitachiin quickly filtered through collection of lavender belts he had prepared for the photo shoot. He picked out three that he thought complimented the chosen dress, awaiting his boss' scrutiny.
The head stylist and Kaoru's boss, Amelie, scurried over, grabbing his arm desparately, "Kaoru! I need you to run back to the closet! I need the Spring Links Collection that arrived yesterday!" she exclaimed in French.
Kaoru smirked and turned away to grab a velvet box, "I thought you would change your mind about the jewellery, so I brought them anyway."
Amelie squealed and grabbed him by the cheeks and gave him a big kiss on the forehead, "What would I do without you, Kaoru?! You are the best, you know I love you!"
He chuckled, "I love you too, Amelie, can I have a raise?"
"When I retire and you take my job you can."
He laughed again and they began to pick out their jewellery.
Amelie was Kaoru's best friend here in France. She was nearly forty years old and was an eccentric woman. But they had clicked immediately when they met at Vogue Magazine and she insisted on making him her apprentice.
Kaoru moved to Paris three years ago after finishing Ouran Academy. An internship in the marketing department of French Vogue turned into a job as an assistant Stylist when he made his talents known to his friend.
At this point in his life, it was his dream job. He still wanted to be a designer one day, but in his own right; he didn't want to rely on his mother's name to rise high in the fashion industry. But, for now, this was perfect for him. He could learn from people who had been in the industry for years. Plus, he still loved dressing people up.
Kaoru loved his life in Paris. It was a fantastic city for a young person such as himself to live in. It was relaxing, but exciting at the same time. Kaoru loved the culture, the food, the romanticism. French was his favourite language and the French were fascinating people.
He was happy. He nearly had it all. The perfect job, the perfect apartment in the perfect city.
Amelie decided on the final outfit fairly quickly after that. Kaoru took notes as she talked the assistant editor through the look. His thoughts wandered to how much fun he and Hikaru used to style the Host Club. Especially Haruhi, he loved dressing up Haruhi.
Kaoru hadn't stayed in touch with the Host Club much. Of course, he talked to his brother as often as he could. The last he saw Hikaru was six months prior when they both went home for New Year. Hikaru was living in New York with his American girlfriend and worked as a curator in a modern art gallery, a job he had used his family influence to get. Regardless, Hikaru was extremely happy. They were doing well not being connected at the hip. It had been Kaoru's decision to first move across the world and at first Hikaru had taken it badly. He didn't want to be apart from Kaoru, nor did he think his twin could cope with being away from him. But Kaoru had known he was ready to become his own person apart from his brother.
In fact, he had wanted to be apart from Hikaru. He still did in a way. He liked having a separate life away from Hikaru and the Host Club. It gave him the chance to be a different person, to reinvent himself and find himself, which he had. Kaoru realised he was much more introverted than he thought. He was still sarcastic and cheeky every once in a while but he liked being this quieter version of himself. He felt more sophisticated and mature.
He spoke to Haruhi for time to time, who was also in New York and living with Tamaki. They were both still studying and Haruhi always moaned about how Tamaki would not stop talking about marriage and children despite her incessantly telling him not yet. He got emails from Tamaki every once in a while, either pictures of some adorable animal or inviting Kaoru to events in New York that he would never be able to attend.
His contact with Hani and Mori was minimal. A text every few months to catch up was the most of the communication. Kyoya was the only one he never heard from at all. He knew more or less what Kyoya was doing from his brothers updates but even Hikaru didn't hear from Kyoya that much. He knew Hikaru had seen the Ootori recently while he was in New York for business, but Hikaru hadn't said much more other than that Kyoya remained the same.
He did miss them all sometimes. They were the best friends he had ever had. But Kaoru distancing himself from the Host Club was a very conscious decision on his part. Not only did he want to be independent from his brother, but also he knew that he needed to keep away from the Host Club, in order to be able to grow on his own. He didn't want to depend on anyone else anymore. It was right decision for him.
The assistant editor suddenly jumped away and moved away from the two of them and Amelie grabbed Kaoru's arm again, "She's here. Manami Nokawa!"
Nowaka was a model that had recently emerged as the new face of the Japanese modeling industry breaking through in the Western fashion world. She was to be the cover of Vogue Paris' November issue. Kaoru was very excited to work with a Japanese model for such a big shoot.
She was extremely beautiful with short black hair and large piercing eyes. She walked with a certain grace that only certain people possessed and reminded him of some of the girls at the Host Club. Even Kaoru could appreciate her beauty.
"She's beautiful," Amelie mimicked Kaoru's thoughts in a dreamy voice.
"I don't think she's gay," Kaoru teased.
"No, but I can wish," she sighed, "Kaoru, how could you not be attracted to such a beautiful woman. I just don't understand."
"The same way you're not attracted to beautiful men."
She chuckled, "What a pair we are."
Amelie walked over to introduce herself to Nowaka. Kaoru hung back, he knew as assistant stylist it wasn't his position to approach a high profile model before Amelie.
A few moments later, they approached Kaoru and he stood up straight and smiled.
"This is Kaoru. He's from Japan too and is very excited for this shoot," Amelie spoke in English as their mutual language.
Nowaka smiled widely and began to speak in Japanese, "It's very nice to meet you, Kaoru-san. I'm looking forward to working with you for the next couple of days."
"I look forward to it too, Nowaka-sama."
The photo shoot went very smoothly. Nowaka was very easy to shoot; confident, receptive and extremely polite when they were throwing different clothes at her and adjusting them once on.
Towards the end of the shoot, while Kaoru was revising a list of items for the next day, Amelie approached him with Nowaka in tow.
"Kaoru! Nowaka would like to go for a drink with you later. I can't make it," Amelie mouthed to him 'hot date'.
Nowaka smiled warmly and spoke in English, "My fiancé has not yet arrived and I would love to meet with someone other than my assistant. I would love to take you for a drink and learn more about you."
Kaoru would have thought she was flirting with him if she hadn't mentioned her fiancé, "I would love to."
Later that night, Kaoru found himself in an expensive bar sitting across from Manami Nowaka, sharing a bottle of champagne.
He had been to this bar for a fashion week after party once or twice. It was extremely exclusive. Kaoru found that he normally didn't like these places. They were over-priced and pretentious, something he had experienced all his childhood and teen years.
"So Kaoru-san, how long have you lived in Paris?" Nowaka said, her chin resting on her knuckle and staring directly in Kaoru's eyes.
"For three years now."
"How do you like it?"
"I love it. It's a beautiful city. I love my job. But I do miss home sometimes. It's hard being so far from home," Kaoru said honestly, taking a sip from his glass.
"It is hard to be away from home, I travel so much and don't get to spend much time at home. I am going to be in Paris for the next six months with my fiancé and I hope my family will get the chance to visit."
"It's nice that you get to be with your fiancé though. I bet that doesn't happen too much with your recent success."
She softly smiled, "Yes, I am looking forward to it. So, do you have a girlfriend?"
He laughed, "No, I don't like girls. Not like that."
She quirked an eyebrow up, "So a boyfriend?"
"No, not at the moment. I guess I haven't really had the time to look."
"Well, you're not missing out," Nowaka took a moment to sip at her drink, "My fiancé is a charming man, but takes his work much too seriously. It is frustrating; he sometimes ignores me for his work. It's annoying."
Kaoru hesitated for a second, not completely confident with the subject matter, "Well, as some who is guilty of putting my career before my relationships, I can only say talk to him about it. I know I didn't always realise I was doing it until my boyfriend brought it to my attention or told me when we broke up. Some people just aren't as aware of how absorbed they may become with work and other things."
She smiled again but more widely this time, "Thank you, Kaoru-san. You give very good advice."
The evening went by rather uneventfully. Kaoru was reminded of being host; Nowaka mostly talked about herself and her modeling. They spoke a bit about her modeling and fashion career while finishing off the champagne. Nowaka was nice enough to pay for a taxi for Kaoru. They said their goodbyes until tomorrow.
Kaoru lay in bed, tossing and turning and trying to get to sleep. He couldn't help but think that maybe he should try more to find a boyfriend. As he curled up, he felt massively alone for the first time in a long time.
His thoughts became conflicted. There was the side of him that loved the independence, loved being alone and distant from others, yet still being happy and confident in himself. Yet, there was a side of him who missed his brother sleeping next to him, missed being surrounded by his old friends and even longed for a man who would look after him.
Still awake, his phone began to ring and he jumped a little in surprise. He picked it up and watched it ring for a while, the screen flashing 'Hikaru'.
He huffed and threw his phone to the other side of the bed. He always told Hikaru not to call him so late.
He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to wash over him.
So, I'm back everyone! It has been a long long time! But I finally have some time to write so hopefully I can get this one out quickly!
I recently rewatched Ouran High School Host Club which inspired me to write this story. This is a bit of a slow/introductory chapter, I promise it will pick up next chapter!
Thank you all for reading and please leave a review!