Note from the Author: Hello everyone! I don't know how well this is going to turn out, but I hope it'll be all right...The idea of seeing the host club after they've left the school world forever came into my head at 11:00 one night, and my ideas at night never turn out as good as I hope them to be. But I wrote this anyway, and here it is. By the way, I tried changing their personalities ever so slightly (though you only see two of the hosts in this chapter), but not too much...they're still the same people, but they have grown, so...I hope you can forgive the slight changes. If not, tell me so and I'll switch back and see if I can do it!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club or any of the characters, no matter how much I may want to.

"Thank you so much, Fujioka-san! I don't know how I'll ever repay you!"

"Please don't worry about it, Mr. Imawato," Haruhi said with a bright smile, "It was inevitable you were going to win the case." She wanted to leave the courtroom and get home as quickly as possible, but her client had her hand in a firm grip.

"I don't know what I would have done if I had gone to jail! Thank you!"

"You're very welcome," Haruhi pressed, "Now, if you'll excuse me…" Her voice trailed off and the man realized he was gripping her hand. He quickly let go, his cheeks turning a little pink.

"S-sorry about that," he laughed.

"Oh, it's all right," Haruhi assured, smiling a little sweeter. I bet he's a pervert, she thought maliciously, Sick bastard…

She gathered up all her papers and folders of evidence, then left the court feeling proud of herself for defending an innocent man, though perverted as he was (or as perverted as Haruhi thought he was).

She hoped her mother would be proud of her.

After years and years of intense schooling, Haruhi had finally made it as a lawyer. It had taken hours of studying and determination, but she did it. Just for that, her mom should have been very proud. Her dad had repeatedly congratulated her upon her graduation from law school for almost a year, and was still doing so to this day. Maybe that was enough for two parents.

Oh….my feet are killing me…her thoughts complained when she reached her home a few convenient blocks away from the courthouse. Fiddling through her bag, she found her keys and opened the door to her own little sanctuary. She sighed in relief when she was at last able to kick off the two inch heeled shoes that had been torturing her poor feet.

"I'm home!" she called out. The only response came from a large golden retriever which barked loudly over and over while running to the door.

"Hey there, Antoinette," Haruhi greeted her loving dog, "I missed you too." Antoinette had been Haruhi's only company since she had left the dorms in college. She had felt so alone in the first week on her own, so she went to buy a dog. For some reason, Antoinette seemed to be the perfect name. She just couldn't remember why…

"Are you hungry?" Haruhi asked the large dog trailing her footsteps, "After we eat, we should probably do some cleaning, huh?" Antoinette barked, more out of the recognition of coming food than out of agreement with Haruhi's suggestion. As Haruhi walked to Antoinette, bowl of food in hand, something caught her foot. She felt the bowl fly from her hands, scattering dog food all over the room (which Antoinette quickly got to finding and eating), as she fell to the floor face first.

"Ouch…" she whined quietly, pushing herself up onto her knees. Her entire face was throbbing and her foot hurt even worse. Haruhi looked behind her angrily to see what caused her fall. It was a box.

Haruhi pulled the box closer to her, wondering why she had put it in the middle of the floor (or rather close to the middle). Out of simple curiosity, she opened the folded cardboard flaps and paused. Inside were more boxes. Great, she thought, yet continued on her quest to see the real contents of the evil box. She removed one of the smaller, more brightly colored boxes on top and opened it, happy to see there wasn't another box. Instead, there were pictures, small notebooks, and various trinkets Haruhi had trouble remembering why she kept. She grabbed a stack of no more than fifteen or twenty pictures and began to scan. A smile instantly broke out on her face.

Her fondest memories came rushing back to her as she scanned the through the pictures of a music room filled with the biggest idiots she had ever known- the host club.

Nearly half of the pictures were of someone angrily yelling at whoever was holding the camera, the other half was just blurry, leading Haruhi to assume their had been a fight over who got to use the camera. The moment started coming back to her, as faint as it was. It was Hunny and Mori's last day at school. Hunny had been the one who brought the camera, but it had been instantly stolen by the twins, claiming they knew how to take a picture better than anyone in the school. Tamaki had decided to challenge that, and a battle had erupted. Sure enough, in most of the pictures that weren't blurry, you could see poor Hunny in the background, near tears, begging for the camera.

Haruhi almost laughed, but choked. The tears began to brim around her deep brown eyes.

Antoinette put a furry paw on Haruhi's leg and whined. Instantly, she snapped her eyes away from the pictures and wiped her eyes. The pictures were tossed back on top of everything else in the box they had come from.

"Sorry, Antoinette," Haruhi apologized with a weak smile, "I think I just need a walk…" The large dog barked and ran to the door, grabbing her leash in her mouth. Haruhi felt herself recovering from her brief moment of reminiscence as she stood up to go get changed in more "appropriate" park clothing.

Yes, Haruhi's hair may have grown past her shoulders, but by no means had she changed her preference for clothes. Maybe her years as a host had something to do with it, but perhaps it was simply her nonchalance for the male/female stereotypes that pushed her to wear whatever she found comfortable rather than what made her look "best." While the other "fashionable" women in the park wore their well-fitted clothing and various skanky outfits, Haruhi was wearing what she would probably wear to bed that night. Her favorite, most comfortable pair of jeans and a soft, warm red sweatshirt she had admired since her junior year in college. Haruhi felt as though she were walking through the raining sakura petals with a bed wrapped around her.

Though rather comfortable, and having to pull relatively hard on Antoinette's leash to keep her from running off (which is exactly what the dog wanted to do), Haruhi was lost in her thoughts. The pictures kept coming back to her mind. And with them came more memories she had long forgotten. I wonder what they're doing right now…she thought. Words Haruhi had forced herself to abandon years ago.

The moment Haruhi sighed, she felt herself almost fall to her face for the second time that day as a tall man, looking ready for some rather important business (in a long brown coat, to boot), came running past her. She whipped around the second she regained her balance.

"I'm so sorry!" Haruhi yelled in apology to the man, though it wasn't her fault at all that he ran into her, at the same time the man turned to yell, "Watch where you're going!"

Both froze

Both stared.

"H-Haruhi?"

"Hikaru?"

Antoinette barked twice and tried to take the opportunity to run off. Haruhi broke from her shock to pull on her dog's leash with two hands and all her strength.

"Antoinette! Stop it!" she ordered. The game of tug-of-war was beginning to tear her arms out when Hikaru laughed and walked around Haruhi to the golden retriever. He kneeled down to pet the dog who instantly found a new friend.

"Antoinette, huh?" he repeated, "Just like milord's." Haruhi made a exaggerated gasp upon remembering where the name had come from, but let her moment of triumph melt away when she saw the worry on Hikaru's face. She wailed, letting go of leash.

"N-no! It's not his, I mean, well…you know, I just thought the name fit! We're not…uh, you know! It's not like that! I haven't seen him in years!" she had to stop there. Not only did she just say what she really wish she hadn't said, but Hikaru was laughing.

"It's okay, I didn't think anything like that," he assured.

"Oh…" Haruhi sighed, feeling herself turn a little red from embarrassment, while reaching down to pick up the leash she had dropped. Hikaru stood up as she did, eyes locked on hers, a smile burned into his face.

"Sorry for running into you!" he said, obviously just wanting to keep talking. Otherwise, he may have never apologized.

"Oh, it's fine!" Haruhi answered anyway, knowing perfectly well Hikaru probably didn't mean it, even if they hadn't seen the other for almost ten years. Remembering Hikaru's near to disastrous social skills (in no way associated with his flirting skills), Haruhi decided to be the next to bring about a mild conversation.

"What are you doing here, Hikaru?" she asked, disregarding how the statement sounded almost insulting. Hikaru just laughed again. Haruhi couldn't remember him ever been this cheery…

"Not only do I live here, I kind of work here too," he answered, his smile about to rip his face in half.

"In the park?" The smile disappeared. "Isn't that illegal?" Silence.

"Why would I live in the park, Haruhi, really?" Hikaru snapped gently, "You're as slow as ever."

"Excuse me! I happen to be a lawyer now, I don't think you can accuse me of being slow!" Haruhi fought. Hikaru's eyes shone again, followed by the bright smile once again. He moved a little closer to Haruhi.

"Really? Good job, Haruhi! I wondered if someone like you would be able to make it!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Hikaru just laughed. Again. Haruhi dropped the issue of the insult.

"Um, Hikaru?" she began.

"Huh?" he asked back, recovering from what seemed to be his hundredth laugh attack in the brief moments he had spent with Haruhi in the park.

"You looked like you were in a hurry to get somewhere," Haruhi went on, "Where were you going?" Hikaru froze before breaking out screaming.

"Gah! That's right! I'm late!" he shouted in panic before starting to run off again. "Be here again tomorrow, kay?" he called back while continuing down the path, looking back at Haruhi. She watched him disappear across the busy street, a little confused.

"Sure, what time?" she quietly asked to herself. Antoinette pulled on the leash, sending Haruhi lurching forward. This time, she really did fall on her face for the second time that day.