CHAPTER 6

"Eight AM sharp," Kyouya-san states without lifting his head from where it is buried in the ledgers.

Haruhi swears a blizzard blew through the building.

Beside her, Kaoru-san's expression softens indulgently. At what, Haruhi is unsure. He may genuinely be crushing on the boss. The reasons for such suicidal inclinations, Haruhi is also unsure.

Hikaru-san surprisingly offers to walk her out.

"Hey, Haruhi," he starts to say.

"Who gave you permission to call me that?" Haruhi reacts immediately.

Hikaru-san is taken aback at her outburst. He slows his footsteps. "Are you male or female?"

"Female," Haruhi answers calmly, resettling her grandfather's glasses on her nose. She rolls down the sleeves of her comfortably worn jumper to ward off the chill of dusk. Ordinarily, she would appreciate the few blessed weeks of peace and ease she gains when Tamaki-san goes back to France to visit his ill mother – not dressing up saves her an average of fifteen minutes to half an hour each day. This trip is the consequence of bad news, a worsening of her condition, and Haruhi is worried.

"Oh." Hikaru-san nods, his lips pursed.

They walk a short distance before Hikaru-san speaks again. "Who taught you how to bake and cook?"

"My mother," Haruhi responds, an edge of reminiscence to her words, "Katayama Kotoko."

Hikaru-san grinds to a halt. "You're Katayama-daisensei's daughter?"

"Yes."

"The first cake I ever made was her recipe!" Hikaru-san exclaims passionately. "She's my idol!"

Haruhi beams at him, feeling a flush of warmth towards one of the other staff members at last.

"Mine, too."

At the train station, Hikaru-san earnestly makes a request of her.

"Haruhi, will you teach me how to make your pain au chocolat?"

"Eh?" She is confused. "Does Hikaru-san not know how to make it? It's one of the basics."

"I do," he says, ruffling the hair at the back of his head sheepishly. "It's nowhere near your standard. Both Kaoru and our sister Ageha really love it and I've always wanted to make a perfect one for them, but since Kaoru's is better than mine, there's no point."

"Okay," Haruhi generously consents to it. A tiny giggle escapes her. "Kaoru-san really is Hikaru-san's most important person."

She turns away to validate her ticket and misses the fleeting shock that crosses Hikaru's visage.

"See you tomorrow, Hikaru-san."

"Hikaru is fine," Hikaru recovers, waving it away flippantly. "Tomorrow, then. Don't be late; your life depends on it. Kyouya-san takes some getting used to but he'll chill out eventually. He's pretty relaxed about letting us experiment, so do your best, yeah?"

"Mm!"

.

09/04/2012

Thank you to everyone who put this on alert/favourites, specially to Sammy and monica - sorry I can't reply through PM. Don't worry that I won't update either - I've already written up to Chapter 67 in this story. Horrifyingly large number, I know, I hope you don't lose interest. Give me time to put them up on the site.