If Not for the Day


The man smiled as he handed over the mop. "Here. You know your duties? Good," he said though she hadn't answered, "Prepared to be on call every day, at all hours," he held up a hand when she opened her mouth. "I know, but it's in your contract," he sighed. "Twelve months I'll never see again. Hopefully I will never see you again. Oh, and one word of advice, stay away - far away - from the one with the glasses." He stopped, smile becoming more brilliant. "I'm free."

Without another word the man turned and left the offices of the prestigious Ouran Law Firm.

Haruhi stared at the mop in her hand and resisted the urge to sigh. "This will be short term," she murmured to herself as she started mopping the marble floors of the Firm. "This will be instructive," Haruhi added, "It will be a learning experience and will give me a lesson in humility and a grounding in a back up career. There was simply too many people graduating and too few jobs. I'll be sure to get a job next year. A job opening might even come before then."

She paused, gripping the mop with tighter fingers, "I wish there weren't so many rose petals on the ground. How wasteful."


For the first time in as long as Haruhi could remember she arrived home after her father. He was sitting, traces of make up on his face as he leaned over a cup of still steaming tea. "Haruhi!" He said, "You're home!" He leapt up and embraced her which Haruhi endured for three seconds before pulling away citing suffocation.

"It appears I will be working long hours," Haruhi murmured, rubbing the back of her neck. "But the pay was higher than at the local mini mart."

Her father sighed as she walked stiffly into the kitchen and started making herself some coffee. "Shouldn't you be going to bed?" He asked, playing with the blue cuff of his sleeve.

"I thought I would go over some notes before I go to sleep, I want to keep up to date with legal terminology. It will be useful in the long run," Haruhi said, smiling when she looked up. "There is no need to worry. We both agreed when I wasn't accepted by Fujimoto Law Firm that it would be best for me to get a job and wait until next April."

"That's what you agreed on, Haruhi, I wanted my precious daughter to rest before going into the big world. I have some savings and I've managed to support us both before this," Ryoji insisted.

"I can't depend on you forever," Haruhi said, sipping her coffee. "I have to be practical. It is the proper thing to do."

"You haven't leaned on me enough," her father returned. But didn't protest further when Haruhi left the room, coffee cup still in hand.

Haruhi was very tired, but she read the notes dutifully for over an hour before retreating to her narrow futon. As soon as her head touched her pillow she was asleep, dreaming of more than a thousand sheets of paper falling from the sky, covering her from head to toe.


"This is our office," said Hikaru, his smile not entirely pleasant. He nodded, waving one hand across the wide office space of the Hitachiin twins.

The office appeared to be separated by a mirror, but as Haruhi had belatedly found out, it merely reflected the twin's taste for identical space and design. Haruhi surveyed the room quietly for purely cleaning purposes, noting with some resignation the huge windows. Then she wondering briefly why the twins felt it necessary to give her this tour.

"Yes, now, to Kyouya's office," Kaoru said, linking arms with Hikaru. "He can be very uptight when all his mess isn't cleaned up," the twins waved their hands around, "Commoner cleaner knowledge," they then said at the same time.

"Hmm," Haruhi said noncommittally, not recalling when this had been part of her duties. Perhaps it was an extra one?

Edging their way carefully to Kyouya's office, the twins barged in when they had listened at the door for several seconds. "Ha! You're still here working, Kyouya," declared Kaoru. "Late, late, late, your sweet sister will be most distressed!"

"Not only sweet," Hikaru insisted, "Pretty!" The twins clasped hands and swooned together. Haruhi noted the room was dark, the blue light of his laptop reflecting off his glasses, hiding his eyes from view. So this was Kyouya Ohtori... had to be the 'one with the glasses'.

"And married," Kyouya said, looking up from the blue glow of his laptop. "And expecting her first child."

Kaoru sighed, "A tragedy for sure that such a delightful woman in lost to the cruel shackles of marriage." His brother nodded.

"We still have each other, Kaoru," Hikaru whispered, reaching out and caressing his brother's shoulder.

"Oh, Hikaru!" They embraced, heads posed to perfect effect.

"What is that she doing here?" Kyouya murmured, gesturing to the silent Haruhi. "The new cleaner should be doing her duties, which do not include your amusement. I will have to dock her pay." Kyouya typed briefly in his laptop, then looked up. "And?" Something in the timbre of his voice made the twins jerk back and close the door hastily behind them.

"He docked my pay," Haruhi said, she narrowed her eyes at the twins. "Hmm," she said briefly before turning and retreating to her mop and broom.

"No, no, no!" Hikaru and Kaoru leapt forward, each grabbing one of her arms. "We haven't completed the tour, yet, you can't return to your duties, commoner."

"Don't you have work to do?" Haruhi questioned. "I do. Lots of it."

They waved their hands about again and Hikaru shrugged, "There's always tomorrow."

"Plus, Kyouya is guarding this case file with his life. He only allows Tamaki to review it, I think Tamaki has it now and only because it's Tamaki's speciality," Kaoru added.

"His speciality? I thought this was a commercial law firm," Haruhi murmured. "What speciality could that be? Property law?"

"Ah, Tamaki is our secret weapon, he lures in other clients," Hikaru answered. "He's like a honey bait. Sticky and sweet."

"I am not sticky! I clean my teeth every day, wear different clothes every day and I am not bait!" Haruhi turned around at the voice stared down at a small blond child. Her gaze was immediately brought up when she regarded the very tall man standing stoically behind the child.

"Honey!" The twins exclaimed together.

"It's true, I'm not bait at all. I'm not, right Mori?" Honey looked up and smiled winsomely at Mori who nodded. "See? Mori knows I'm not bait!"

"What is a child doing here at such late hours?" Haruhi asked. Staring when Honey looked like he was about to burst into tears.

The twins burst into laughter, "That's not a child! Those two are partners, Mitsukuni Haninozuka and Takashi Morinozuka! Honey and Mori," they said between guffaws. Honey pouted.

"Oh," Haruhi said, briefly looking away from Honey. "I didn't know."

"I'm not bait," Honey murmured, "I just like honey. On cookies, cake... mmm. I want cake!"

Still cackling, the twins led her forward leaving Honey and Mori behind, Honey still chatting on the importance of fresh, sweet honey and how it went perfectly with strawberry cupcakes. "Now, to lion's den!" Hikaru declared.

"To meet the infamous Tamaki Suoh once and for all!" Kaoru chimed in. "Don't be scared," he whispered, warm breath blowing against her cheek.

"But don't worry, we won't judge you run and away and cry," Hikaru added, snickering snidely. "Tamaki has a way of making all the ladies - " He stopped, "You'll see."

They smiled together, opening the door with one smooth motion, bowing and gesturing her forward. Haruhi absently adjusted her kerchief covering her hair, it seemed to have gotten loose when the twins had forcibly dragged her where she had been mopping the floor outside the foyer. She didn't notice at first Tamaki, who had stood up when the door had opened.

"Ah? Is this another client? So late? I don't normally deal with male clients but this case must be troublesome," and suddenly Tamaki was by her side, one hand on her elbow, drawing her to a small purple lounge when he sat her down and then joined her. "Is your wife cheating on you?"

"My wife?" Haruhi asked, confused, jerking back when Tamaki stroked her shoulder. "No. I don't, I am a - "

"Of course not! Any woman who cheats on her husband is not worthy of the title of wife, bestowed upon in the springtime of love, cruel lies tearing at hope and affection," Tamaki insisted, one hand on his heart.

"But she doesn't - " Haruhi interrupted, frowning slightly. This man, she thought, was a fool.

"No! No! Don't tell me," Tamaki recoiled, one hand held up to her gaping mouth, "She has... done it more than once! Cheated on such an individual as yourself! The desecration of the marriage vows!" As he moved forward, his blond hair was swept away from his eyes, the vivid purple startling Haruhi.

"I don't have a - " Haruhi tried to break in, noticing for the first time the room was heavy with the scent of roses. Ah, she deducted, Tamaki must be the source of the roses constantly spread across the smooth marble floors of the Ouran Law Firm.

"Oh dear! Oh dear! She and her lover, lovers! Have embezzled your fortune and..." He stared at a moment at Haruhi's attire, "Burned your clothes?" Tamaki shook his head, "The temptress! Leaving you to wear some disgustingly hideous clothes, it is a tragedy!"

Haruhi blinked staring down at her clothes. "I like these clothes," she said quickly. "They're comfortable."

"Such a pity!" Tamaki murmured, holding her hand, staring deeply into her eyes. "She has spun fantasies in your mind, making you delusional. Don't worry, Tamaki will return your sanity!"

"This is ridiculous, I don't - "

"You still wish to return to your treacherous wife?" Tamaki clasped a hand to his heart, head jerking backward, "You are a true lover! Your love spins around you, cocooning you from the hard realities of your wife's behaviour!"

Haruhi stood up, "I really have to leave, I have duties to return to." She thought of the foyer, how quiet it had been until the twins had disturbed her mopping. She sighed, it looked like she had a long night of work to look forward to after this eventful evening.

She stumbled backwards as the twins entered the room, dancing around her and laughing.

"This is too much, I can't believe - "

"That he actually believed that - "

"Haruhi was a - " They burst into laughter again.

"Out, out! Fiendish twins return to your lair!" Tamaki declared, pointing dramatically to the door. Though he seemed more confused than angry over the appearance of the twins. "You are not welcome here! Our precious client is frightened by your obnoxious antics!"

"More frightened by you, my lord!" Hikaru chortled.

"Kettle black!" Kaoru added.

Haruhi continued to wobble crab like backwards not noticing how close she was to the edge of Tamaki's desk, the surface littered with documents. Haruhi tried to stop, but her legs seemed out of her control when -

"Ah!" Haruhi was thrown back as one of the twins bumped into her. Her back slammed into the edge of his desk, the china of his coffee set disturbed at once, the full kettle spilling quite suddenly over the entire surface of his desk. "Ow," Haruhi muttered, rubbing her back. She slowly turned around, noticing with distant horror that Tamaki was gaping aghast and the twins were frozen figures, stuck mid motion. She gulped.

It was ruined. Paper drowned in dark, dark coffee. Words disappearing in a wave of coffee, swallowing up by caffeine and sugar. Haruhi took a deep breath as she surveyed the devastation, rubbing her back.

Everything was ruined beyond repair.


AN: inspired by merith. Hopefully will go for three parts. Hopefully, those muses can be dreadfully devious.