iii.
"Congratulations, Haru-chaaaaan~!"
She was in a party. A party in Circle IX, one of the most exclusive clubs in Tokyo. She was in a party pretending to celebrate Haruhi's new job. To celebrate the job she didn't get. She was in a stupid party surrounded by stupid people from high school and college and even freaking law school.
Kaiya Nakamura was a masochist.
While everyone was dancing their puny brains off, Kaiya just sat at the open bar, drinking Coke. She felt too high on coffee when she actually decided to show up to her party after she exited Starbucks certainly not in style. Kyouya and Tamaki were already talking about cases and stuff, so Kaiya decided it was her cue to leave.
She wished she had stayed in Starbucks.
Haruhi wasn't much of a clubber, but the rental fees and the open bar were courtesy of her new BFFs, the Hitachiin twins. Haruhi protested and protested and the twins insisted and insisted and finally, she gave in. The brown-haired girl wasn't quite happy to see all of the Host Club (excluding Tamaki and Kyouya) but she was happy because she got the job.
Now, Kaiya knew very well who were the Hosts, but she had tried (and almost succeeded) to erase them from her memory. She only wanted jealous rage directed to Fujioka Haruhi to remain.
Revenge was a funny thing. Attempting to have revenge was just plain idiocy. Kaiya wondered which type of revenge applied to her.
"Kaiya-san! Dance with us!" At least Haruhi was happy. Perhaps it was true, the things people said, that the wicked never get rest. Kaiya cracked a weak smile at her and acted as if she got wasted.
"Oh, come on, Kaiya-chan, getting drunk is supposed to be for the after-party!" She doubted if the twins actually knew her, but Hikaru and Kaoru dragged Kaiya to the dance floor, anyway.
"Hikaru, Kaoru…Just let the girl be. She isn't a fan of parties," Slightly-accented Japanese cut through the blaring rock music. Its owner sat comfortably on one of the bar stools in the bar closer to the dance floor.
"You're…Hideki, right?" One of the twins asked as he held one of Haruhi's hands. The other raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.
"That's me." A small smile tugged at his lips. Hideki Tsubasa, born to a British mum and a half-Japanese dad and raised in Britain, was the new god in Devereux Academy of Law. He was actually one of the few people who actually took notice of the ash brown-haired girl with depthless eyes. And because of him – and Haruhi – teachers managed to take note of Nakamura Kaiya. Even for just one semester.
"Nakamura-san, what are you drinking?" His gaze fell on the seemingly drunk paralegal reject, who was sipping dark liquid in a glass cup. It was simply Coca-Cola, but Kaiya thought such information wasn't required.
"Blood," she told him cynically, with a roll of her eyes. He never quite knew what color they were, but her eyes were dark. Literally and figuratively.
"Oooh. Vampire." He quirked as he turned around to get himself a drink.
"Hey, Kaiya-san…Did you get a job, yet?" The twins had already left to dance with some Frenchwoman, so Haruhi and Kaiya were left with Tsubasa on the dance floor.
"If you count working at the library a job…" Kaiya muttered, averting her gaze to the shimmering star-like ground.
"I'm really sorry for taking the internship job from you," It was extremely hard to hate Haruhi, especially when she was this nice.
"It's fine. I don't think I could've lasted a week working there," Kaiya told her truthfully, thinking of nosy Kyouya and all his idiotic smirks.
"Forgive sticking my nose in your business, but a week working where, exactly?" Tsubasa joined their poor excuse for a light-hearted conversation. He was sipping Vodka through one of those little straws – at least, that's what Kaiya thought it was.
"The new Ootori law firm," Kaiya told him, trying to be as neutral as possible. She then took a big gulp from her glass of coke and gave the bartender a small – but still socially acceptable – tip.
Tsubasa made a small sound that could only be classified as a sound of disgust, but he instantly stopped himself, "I say once you graduate law school, you should join my older sister's law firm, Shiroyuki and Co. She's not as…discriminating. I told her much about you, and I think she likes you."
'Why is he being so blunt? Haruhi-san's just there…'
"Of course, Fujioka-san, the Ootoris are a great family, too..." He quickly redeemed himself, "I met the youngest son once in a law convention. He seemed a little…uptight, but he's good at business."
At the mention of Kyouya, both Haruhi and Kaiya paled, but not much could be seen since the club was submerged in darkness. Circle IX, the ninth circle of hell.
"Oh, I'm sorry…I didn't realize that I was walking on a minefield," Tsubasa said, chuckling nervously, "Fujioka-san, is he your boyfriend or something like that?"
"…No. He's a friend or something like that."
'Something like that…'
. . .
"Kyouya, why the sudden interest in law?" Father had asked him about two years ago, when he first brought up the topic. He lied, saying that it would be great if the Ootori Zaibatsu could tie all three main types of business. But sad truth be told, he just wanted to be nearer a certain oblivious chocolate-eyed would-be lawyer.
Father had called her interesting, anyway.
Saying that he loved her was an exaggeration. It was more of…lust and longing. She was interesting, indeed, and she would bring in bags of money once she became a famous lawyer.
Fujioka Haruhi was a mystery; a hard riddle, a puzzle. He couldn't see through her huge brown eyes and her kindness. He wanted to see beyond her, and solve the mystery once and for all.
Father had called her interesting, anyway.
