Solitaire With Friends

Chapter the Second:

In Which We Learn What Happened to Fujioka Haruhi These Past Few Years Over Not So Spilled Coffee


Haruhi stared up at the man that had helped her. She had a case in a few minutes, she was late, and papers were everywhere. To top it all off her glasses had fallen off, and she couldn't see. The man fortunately had caught her, so that was one less thing she had to worry about. Something was familiar about the arm around her waist and against her shoulder. His English was good, but had that Japanese twang to it, and the deep voice was easily recognizable.

It couldn't be who she thought she it was. After all these years, the Host Club would not leave her. It wasn't until she put her glasses on and looked up at him with clarity that she would allow herself to admit the inevitable.

"Mori-sempai?" she said finally. Once he was sure she was steady on her feet and knelt over to pick up the papers. She snapped to attention and knelt over.

"I'm sorry Mori-semp…" she realized that they were far too old to be calling using terms such as "kun" and "sempai." She straightened her glasses, "I mean Mori…-san."

He silently handed her the papers she had dropped. She took them gratefully.

"I want to stay and talk, but I have to be in court in twenty minutes, and in this traffic, it's going to take twenty two to get there," Haruhi said. Mori simply nodded.

"We need to catch up, I seem to hear from Hikaru, Kaoru and Tamaki the most, and you know how they talk about things," she continued hastily, she reached into her bag and took out one of her cards.

"Here, keep in touch," Haruhi said. She really couldn't spare another second, the shorter woman bowed hastily, "I hope to see you again."

She ran out the door, hailed a cab and got in. She cast her gaze back at the stoic face of Morinozuka Takashi as the taxi drove away.

She brushed her bangs back and fixed her glasses. In all truth, she was surprised it took so long for one of the Host Club to show up at the Consulate, she was expecting to see Hikaru or Tamaki. Even Kyoya showing up wouldn't have surprised her. However…Mori? He seemed the least likely to run into her.

Of all the Host Club, she trusted Mori not to be the scheming type. If he ever did anything for her, there was no ulterior motive. His appearing at the Consulate was probably coincidence. Still, Haruhi preferred seeing him to seeing Tamaki. The latter would surely have made her extremely late for the court hearing. She didn't dislike Tamaki, far from it, she cared for him dearly, she just wasn't one for the theatrics. Strange how she managed in the Host Club for so long. Everyone was dramatic, even Kyoya and Mori (although they were extremely understated compared to the others).

The Japanese girl was just glad to see someone from her past that wasn't entirely insane. Haruhi really hopped that he'd call.

Knowing Mori, he probably won't call me…I'll have to call him.

Haruhi smacked her forehead as she realized she didn't get his contact information. Well, she could get it. Kyoya most definitely knew where she could get to him and what would be the most convenient times to call.

It wouldn't be bad to revisit her Ouran days. She'd missed many of the reunions that Kyoya had scheduled, and she really couldn't help that. Exams were something she did not pass up, and court dates were not something you pushed back for sentimental reasons.

The dark haired girl smiled slightly as she thought of the first time they all met. She was so unconcerned with her looks back in the day. Nowadays, she simply couldn't afford to not pay attention to her looks. If she appeared overly androgynous, the jury would be preoccupied with trying to figure out her gender and wouldn't focus on the case.

Speaking of which, the driver had finally pulled up the courthouse. She exited the taxi, files in hand, ready to get to work.


A week had passed since she saw Mori. Haruhi had a tendency to get caught up in work. She liked defending the innocent and weak against the guilty and powerful. She returned home to her brownstone and slid off her shoes. Haruhi never liked heels, she resolved to finally use those cute flats that Hikaru had gotten for her. She placed her bag on the kitchen table, and flounced on the couch. The dark haired girl was exhausted. She pulled a blanket off of the arm of the couch and wrapped herself in it. Just a short nap, that's all she needed.

Her impending rest was interrupted by the ring of the telephone. She glared at it sitting on the side table, and then picked it up.

"Hello?" Haruhi asked groggily.

"Congratulations on another win, Haruhi," a male voice said on the other end.

"Kyoya, I'm tired…" she grumbled.

"And I'm only calling you as a courtesy for my father. He really wants me to marry you someday," Kyoya answered.

"Shut up…" the young lawyer said as she roused herself to go change.

"Well, I am happy for your success," he said.

"As I am for yours," she replied, "Although for you it was to be expected."

"I wasn't so sure of my future for a long time," Kyoya told her.

"You don't understand real meaning of uncertainty for your future," Haruhi said, "Even if you didn't take over your family business, your diploma from Ouran and whatever university you went to was already printed out and signed, it was just waiting for the graduation date. People like me have to worry about whether or not we'll even get into college, if we can pay for it, or even if we'll get a decent job afterwards."

Kyoya sighed, "You always give me a new perspective on life. I never thought of things that way before."

"Yeah well…you never had to see things from the very bottom looking up," she continued, "Your bottom is different from my bottom. Imagine having your ambition but no opportunity to realize your potential. That's the way it is for most people."

"Oh, Haru, Haru, Haru. You're so…how did your friend at the pension put it? Refreshing," Kyoya told her.

"Don't you even start that. Oh, and by the way Kyoya…I need to get something from you," she said, "Do you have Mori's contact information?"

Haruhi could sense the smirk as he paused on the other end and half pictured him fixing his glasses, "Do you want his contact information for the United States, Great Britain, Japan, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia…"

"Just the U.S. and Japan, will be fine," Haruhi said quickly.

"I'll forward the information to you post haste," he said, "check your e-mail in a few hours. Oh, and do call your father, he'd like to hear from his darling daughter sometimes."

The dark haired woman sighed in exasperation, "I stop calling for a few days and he gets worried."

"Try a week and a half," Kyoya corrected, "Call your father."

"I will. I'll be looking forward to your next 'courtesy' call," Haruhi told him. They both bid each other good bye and hung up. Haruhi sighed and stared at the phone.

"I guess I'll call Dad," she said, and dialed.


Haruhi did eventually call Mori. After several more days of being absorbed in work, she finally relented and gave herself a long weekend. She called her former classmate about a week before her scheduled vacation, just to see if he was busy. She was in her taxi on her way home from a hard day at the firm, idly watching the scenery pass by as she dialed his cell phone number.

"Hello, Takashi Morinozuka speaking," he said when he picked up.

"Since you answered in English, I guess we can continue speaking in English," she replied.

"Haruhi," he said as both greeting and acknowledgement.

"I knew you'd be too busy to call me, so I asked Kyoya your number," Haruhi explained. She didn't mention the fact that the other man had given her his home and work numbers in two countries and a rough overview of his schedule, right down to approximate times he has meals everyday. Like she even cared to know that much.

"I'm sorry I didn't call sooner," Mori answered.

"Don't worry," she said, "Look, I'm off in a week, do you want to go out to eat or something?"

There was a slight pause and a shifting of papers. Checking his schedule Haruhi thought.

"I'm free after twelve," he told her.

"Oh good," the dark haired girl said, "How about we go to…Cosi. Have you been there yet?"

"Yeah," Mori said.

"Sorry it's not super high class or anything," she continued, "Hey, things aren't like they were back in school, I can afford to go some place else if you want something better."

"Cosi is fine," he said simply.

"All right then. Cosi at one o'clock. I'll see you in a week," Haruhi said, "I've got to go now, so good bye."

He said good bye and hung up. Haruhi had always known that carrying a conversation with Mori took some effort. In person it was difficult enough, but on the phone it made things ten times more difficult. She was just glad a lot of the talking in that short conversation relied on her.

"Guess I'll be doing most of the talking during our little get together," she said to herself.


Little did she know how right she was. They both met at Cosi, ordered coffee and sandwiches, and ate mostly in silence. Haruhi was relieved. She had been on dates before, mostly out of courtesy before she politely refused their advances. They would go on endlessly about themselves, and their work and bad attempts at poetic dialogue. The only person she'd accept such soliloquies from, and that was Tamaki, and only for so long. This silence was a welcome change.

Mori's presence was enough of a statement. Too many words would be overwhelming. Haruhi looked up at him, and smiled ever so slightly. It was good to be in the presence of someone so different, and yet she had known him for years.

"You look different," he commented. She blinked, not expecting him to initiate the conversation.

"What do you mean?" she asked. He didn't elaborate on the question, just simply sipped at his coffee. She smiled.

"Well, do you mean my hair?" she prodded. She had let it grow longer than usual, certainly longer than the last time Mori had seen her, which was at she and the twins' graduation from Ouran.

"Your clothes," he said.

"Hikaru and Kaoru like to design clothes for me in their spare time, knowing my profession and preference. This fall their inspiration this fall is 'Mary Tyler Moore,'" she said, "I'm too old to be girly, I'm glad they stopped trying to get me into those frilly dresses."

"Ah..." he said.

"Hey…Mori, what did you do in Oxford? I mean, what was your major?" Haruhi inquired.

Mori drank more coffee, and crossed his legs.

"I majored in business and communications," he replied.

"A double major? Wow. Was it difficult?" the shorter woman asked. Her companion shrugged his shoulders, which she took to mean "Not really." Mori took another long sip of his coffee and placed it quietly on the table.

"Why did you switch schools?" Mori asked finally.

Haruhi expected that question sooner or later. She was surprised that Tamaki or Kyoya hadn't told him the story.

"The Japanese Consulate offered a full ride at Harvard if I worked in the United States for a few years. I had gotten a very good scholarship to Kobe University, but it didn't cover all of the cost, it was just cheaper to go where it was all paid for," she explained, "We do a lot of work explaining legal documents to Japanese people who are immigrating or doing business. We've handled a few fraud cases. I like helping people like this. They're in the middle of a place they don't understand, something bad happens or they're confused, and I'm here to help them through it."

Mori nodded and took another sip of his coffee. Anyone else seeing them together might surmise he was indifferent to what she had just said. However, she knew that was just Mori, a nod meant he had taken it all in, that he understood. She smiled at him. Some people just didn't change unless he felt the need, and Mori was one of them.

Her cell phone started ringing. She was snapped out of her train of thought.

"Haruhi here," the dark haired woman said. It was the firm. They needed her to pull up a few files for their cases and do a little research.

Haruhi sighed, "Is this an emergency? I took a vacation day for a reason..."

She shook her head as she was informed that they really needed her to do the research, and she hung up in a huff.

"I have to go, duty calls," she said apologetically to Mori, "Unfortunately for me that means a night of reading and researching and sifting through paper work."

"I can drive you home," he informed her.

"Would you?" she said. He nodded. In silence they waited as Mori called for his driver. As they got in the car, Haruhi grinned broadly.

"I'm glad we got to see each other Mori," she said, "Maybe we can have lunch together again one day."

He smiled ever so slightly and tousled her hair. Haruhi took that to mean "Sure, that'd be great."


I had some down time today so I thought I'd update. I'll probably update again Tuesday as Mondays tend to be an terrible day in terms of getting some time to breathe.