1. Legend

Disclaimer
Ouran High School Host Club is the shared property between Hatori Bisco and Bones Studio. I own none of the characters nor the original plot line. Only the idea of this fanfic belongs to me.

Author's Note
What you have to know is that this story is very unlike your usual Ouran fanfics; it has relations with neither Ouran Private Academy nor the host club whatsoever. The story itself still centres around Fujioka Haruhi of course (who is clearly not mistaken as a male here). However, in the case of this fic, the 'Scholarship Student' happens to be a Commander within the police force. Suou Tamaki, who we used to recognize as the 'King' is now the Commissioner, and is therefore, the boss of Haruhi. Most of the other characters will find their places within this story later on, so I won't spoil it for you here.
Keep in mind that Haruhi is a policewoman in this story, that's why she may sometimes seem a bit unlike the Haruhi that we know. I have tried to keep her as in character as I could though, same with all the others.
Anyways, read, enjoy, and review, ne?

--

A woman in her late twenties sat elegantly beside a futon in which a young girl was tugged into.

She smiled down at the child, gently stroking the youngster's chocolate-brown hair.

"What's the story for tonight, mommy?" the child looked up eagerly at the okaa-san that she greatly admired, her tea-coloured globs twinkling with excitement.

The mother took her daughter's hands in her own and began to narrate a tale in her ever-loving tone.

"Long long ago—even before mommy's granny was born—rumours of the two mysterious identical Phantom Thieves have been spread throughout the country...

"Legend has it that nobody, not one single soul, has discovered the true identities of these two. Not even till this day."

The four-year-old gasped at this statement. She gazed at her mother in awe and waited for her to continue the story.

The fair lady traced the outline of her daughter's face, glad that the young child was taking a great interest in the plot line. However, she could not help but to feel a little worried about that wild imagination of the youngster's.

Would she be silly enough to stay awake for an entire night wanting to catch a glimpse of the legend, just as how she had waited up for Santa Clause last Christmas?

She hoped not.

The older female shook her head, carrying on with the tale without noticing that the younger one was already prepared to enter dreamland.

"It has been known to the people that the nature of the Phantom Thieves is a rather unusual one. Put aside the fact that they would send notices before stealing artworks from famous museums, the two never seemed to physically grow, for every time they appear, they always look to be around twenty-three-years-old at the most. That's how it has been for centuries; it was as if they weren't even human...And on top of it all, they—"

The snoring of the petite girl took her mother by surprise.

With a pleasant sigh and another affectionate smile at her beloved, Fujioka Kotoko tiptoed out of the room, carefully closing the door behind her.

--

"Commander honey!"

Hearing the sickening approach of her title, twenty-two-year-old Fujioka Haruhi turned around, only to find herself being greeted by a beautiful princely blonde that she did not wish to see at the moment.

"Yes, Commissioner?"

The blonde took a step toward the Commander as the target rolled her eyes, annoyed. "I was just wondering, Commander, how are those cases coming along?"

In an uninterested tone the brunette replied dryly, "Fine."

The Commissioner's eyes lit up at the respond he got, obviously not realizing that the woman was troubled by his act.

Okay, maybe he wasn't that bothersome and could be very sweet sometimes, but it was at times like this that the Commander seriously regretted about ever choosing to become a police instead of a lawyer like her long deceased mother.

Just as she has expected, the man that all the other women would swoon over parted his lips and, with his face as red as the rose that he was presenting to her, asked if she would like to enjoy a nice candlelight dinner with him that evening.

"No." Haruhi looked back down at the stack of papers waiting for her to go through, blocking out the whining of the man that she had to address as her 'boss'.

He pouted beside her, asking for the nth time as to why she would not go out with him: Was it because he was not good enough for her? Or was it because the birthday present (which was a total of nine-thousand-nine-hundred-ninety-nine roses) that he had given to her last year did not suit her taste?

The Commander sighed inwardly. He would never get it, would he?

"...Look here, Commissioner," said the petite brunette, not daring to look up from her work, fearing of what she might see in his eyes.

She did not back down from the innocent questioning sound of the blonde, however. She knew that she had to tell him the truth sometime soon, so why not get it over with now that he has brought it up?

"I know that you're a nice person—a special person who I can always depend on in fact—and I know that you like me a lot. The truth is, I like you a lot too, but only as a friend. I'm really sorry to say that I have never taken you as more than a mere comrade."

Tamaki stood there stunned.

Was that a...rejection?!

But...Why?

No woman has ever rejected him before!

Maybe Commander darling just didn't feel comfortable enough to go on a date with someone as popular as him?

He for one didn't mind at all that she had come from an impoverished family...

But she had refused to accept his love for her all the same.

He was turned down completely.

Commissioner Suou bit his bottom lip, not knowing how he could prevent this sudden information from sinking in.

Wanting very much to escape the gaze that was resting on her side, Haruhi excused herself quickly and fled into the restroom, leaving the blonde to stare regretfully at the sight of her back.

--

Haruhi fumbled around with the door lock with great impatience.

What had come over her?!

It wasn't a bit like her to be rushing like this; her usual calm ego had been famous within the police force.

That was why she had been chosen as the Commander, as one who was able to make the best decisions even when surrounded by danger.

So what seemed to be the problem here?

...Alright, so she had bluntly told Commissioner Suou that she could not accept his feelings.

But really, how did he expect her to like someone let alone loving someone after that terrible incident with her mother years ago? The one that would still haunt her dreams every now and then...

How was she supposed to learn to love again after the assassination of the most important person in her life?

How?

As Haruhi quietly observed her own features in front of the mirror, the walky-talky that she always carried around on the belt delivered to her the voice of Houshakuji Rengé.

"Commander Fujioka!" urgency took the place of the usual girly cheerfulness in Rengé's tone that day.

The brunette immediately noticed that something had gone wrong. "Come in, Inspector."

"It has been discovered that after vanishing for nearly a hundred years, the infamous Kaitou Hikaru and Kaitou Kaoru have struck again!"

"What?!" the Commander almost jumped as she yelled into the machine.

"They left a note at the Mori Art Museum, stating that they are to 'pick up' the 'Crystal Tears of the Mirror' at twelve o'clock sharp tonight."

Haruhi groaned.

Out of all nights, these two so-called 'Phantom Thieves' just had to chose this night, where she was clearly not in the mood of a massive chase game, to reappear into the world of judgment.

How devilish.

"Commander?" the voice of Inspector Houshakuji grabbed the brunette's attention once again.

"How many men do you have guarding the museum so far?"

There came a thoughtful pause, then Rengé informed her superintendent that she had around 300 policemen surrounding the place.

"Are you sure that's enough?" Haruhi asked with suspicion. "Mori Art Museum is quite enormous of a place as far as I know."

Following the trail of 'ho ho ho's was the confident element added back to the Inspector's tone, "Oh, please do not let this trouble you my darling Commander," she giggled in delight, "as I am absolutely positively sure that my men won't let me down. They all love me after all."

Another shrill of Rengé's symbol laughter pierced Haruhi's ears.

The side of the brunette's face twitched a little as she took the walky-talky as far away from her as possible, "So you're saying that Inspector Ootori has agreed to marry you?"

"He's...Another case..."

Haruhi laughed. The relationships between the two Inspectors were even stranger than the one between Tamaki and her. "Anyways...I have no other choice than to believe in your judgment now, do I? Just make sure that if you ever need to do anything else, discuss with the supervisor first."

"Easy for you to say..." Haruhi could just picture her subordinate sticking her bottom lip out as she murmured, "How am I supposed to discuss with Mr. Morinozuka when he doesn't even want to talk to me?"

"Just do as I say, Rengé." threatened the Commander, "Or it's no more visual novel-type video games for you."

"...Oh that's just low..."

"Did you say something, Inspector?" twitch, twitch, twitch.

"None at all, ma'am! None at all..."

"Well then, get to it." the Commander ordered, finding her old confidence and energy once again; sure it was going to be a long night's chase, but hey, if that's what the Phantom Thieves had wanted, then they were in for a surprise.

"Got ya!" came the response.

Commander Fujioka suddenly felt a refreshing wind blowing through both her short locks and her lost ego as she opened the restroom door.

--

"Are you alright, Commander?"

As soon as she opened the door, Haruhi once again found herself looking into those charming yet lonely violet eyes.

She shrugged like a stubborn child, getting annoyed by his careful tone already.

The young man in front of her sighed in relief and hugged her. Then he pulled back swiftly, "Sorry that I was a little forceful earlier. I hope that you will forgive me, Haruhi." he added quickly.

Addressing someone by their first name has to be the easiest way to gain forgiveness.

She stared at him unbelievably.

Was he nuts?! What was he apologizing for?!

She was the one who ought to have said sorry! It was her fault for hurting him that way!

Sort of...

"No, it's perfectly alright, Commander."

"Why not Tamaki?"

She looked up in surprise. "Eh?"

Realizing that he had not made himself clear, the blonde explained quickly, "Why are you not referring to me as 'Tamaki' even after knowing me for so long?"

Haruhi tilted her head. "Well...At least I got over calling you 'senpai' like I used to."

Upon hearing that quick-witted respond coming out from his subordinate, Commissioner Suou chuckled.

The Commander too smiled, remembering the good times that they had shared back when they were attending high school.

"Anyways, I have a mission for you Commander," the blonde cleared his throat, reminding Haruhi that joke time was over. "I just got a message from Detective Haninozuka, notifying me that the museum in which his cousin is the supervisor at may be in danger tonight."

"Ah, hai!" the petite female nodded in agreement, "Inspector Houshakuji has told me the same thing as well."

"You'd better get going, then?" the Commissioner asked as he picked up the phone to order an automobile prepared for his subordinate.

Haruhi saluted.

"Yes sir, I'll do my best, sir!"

--

Author's Note
Ever since I was young, I have been very fond of anything that has relations with detectives or Kaitou (also known as 'Phantom Thieves', if you have not realized that earlier). Mystery novels like Arsene Lupin and the series written by Akagawa Jiro all fascinate me a great deal. There has been awhile when I couldn't stop reading that kind of manga as well; Case Closed, Kindaichi Case Files, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, and D.N. Angel, are all good examples of the kind of detective/Kaitou manga that I have enjoyed snuggling my nose against.
That is why I decided to write something like this. The idea was appealing to me, and I liked how it turned out. This piece was meant to be a one-shot originally, but both a friend of mine and a wonderful reviewer – NutBuster, said that the ending doesn't sound complete enough and thus not entirely convincing. That's why I've come to the realization that I'm going to make the fic a bit longer. Heh, I hope that's the right decision. X)
Oh, and by the way, I am not a supporter of Tamaki x Haruhi just so you know. I only wrote the story to be this way simply because it suited the plot. Seriously, I prefer the twins way over the blonde. I mean, come on, he's blonde! (Eeek, I see blondies chasing after me...)
P.S.: Incase anyone wonders, there really is a 'Mori Art Museum' located in Tokyo, Japan; I didn't make it up. It looks to be an elegant building too. The inside is as sophisticated as the outside, mind you. Go do a little research in the library or look it up on Google. I myself definitely wish to visit the place one day.