My Muse

Chapter 9

"A bodyguard?"

Yazuha was still smiling brightly as she nodded. "I've already talked to your boss. He said it wouldn't interfere with your work schedule as long as it's only until Hikaru's case is over."

Behind her smile, her eyes seemed to be begging. "After the case is over, you'll be able to go about your work as normal." She added. "And don't worry! I plan on paying you of course. I don't want this to seem like a favor."

Haruhi looked at the floor unsure. She almost let a loud 'yes!' slip, after hearing how much Yazuha was actually willing to pay, but bit her tongue. And when she mentioned the hours she'd be working, she almost choked. Eleven hours? It was another full time job.

"I'm not exactly... bodyguard material." She muttered quietly. She was a security guard, sure, but only for a small shopping mall. She spent most of her time with her hands in her pockets, reminding kids not to steal candy. They didn't even require her to take a physical.

That went right over Yazuha's head, but her expression fell for the first time, as she started to refill her glass a second time.

"To be honest, I use "bodyguard" very lightly." She said, kneading the fabric of her skirt. "It's mostly for Kaoru. I know they're big kids and can take care of themselves, but ever since Hikaru's stopped working here, Kaoru has never really been able to put out his best towards the company, because he spends so much time with him."

"His debut show is coming up in a few months. It really means a lot to him." She explained. "He needs to make it his main priority so it goes well, and I know he won't be able to do that, worrying about Hikaru the way he does."

"Wait," Haruhi said before she could stop herself, knowing where this was leading. "You... want me to babysit him?"

Yazuha smiled at her understanding. "Let's just say... Kaoru's really particular to how Hikaru's taken care of, but he spoke very highly of you after that... little video (Haruhi cringed) got around, so I know he'd feel better if he knew you were... watching over Hikaru."

"I say bodyguard, so that they won't bite my head off." She sudden chuckled.

"And... Hikaru really can't take care of himself?"

"I'm most certain he can," she wanted to laugh. She really did. But she didn't. "It's just..." She paused, thinking over her new few words very carefully. "Hikaru was diagnosed with dysthymia in college, so it isn't really a matter of whether he can or not. It's just... hard for him sometimes."

Haruhi felt a rush of panic. Understanding what taking care of him finally meant. "I- I wouldn't make a good nurse either" She stuttered. "I don't even know CPR."

When Yazuha laughed again, Haruhi felt physically drained. "Oh, no. It's nothing like that."

"See," Yazuha muttered, turning to a painting hung on the wall above her desk, as she trailed off. "Hikaru has depression..."

'i didn't need to know that...'

That thought occurred to her, as Haruhi stepped back from the metal doorbell, and waited. It wasn't often that she let a sad life story get to her. She had seen plenty of sad stories. She could ignore Hikaru's.

She couldn't however, ignore the agreement check floating in the back of her wallet.

There had been a knot in her stomach ever since she left the Hitachiin's warehouse two days ago. Since when had she gotten so desperate for money? This feeling made her sick.

This was a bad idea. She stiffened, hearing the door unlock. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do.

The door opened, and she was forced to swallow her words before she had accidentally said them out loud. She tightened her hand around the handle of her briefcase and straightened her back, preparing for his cold front. No matter what, she was going to set boundaries and dominance. She wasn't going to back out, because she wasn't going to let him get to her.

But their eyes met, and he surprised her. Again. His shirt was wrinkled, and the ends of his hair were bent and stuck out in every direction. His skin was flushed, and his eyes were red. It was already almost nine, and he looked as though he had just rolled out of bed.

It really was amazing, what he could hide behind those sunglasses.

Hikaru's eyes took their time, traveling from her shoes to her face. Noting that there wasn't a single crease in her hideous skirt suit, and every perfect hair that wasn't out of place. She looked exactly the same as she did the last time he'd seen her. Perfect. He kind of hated it.

He looked down at her shirt and mused, that no, she never did get the coffee stains out.

She opened her mouth, uncomfortable under the silence staring, but he stopped her.

"You really are a lot of things, aren't you?" He muttered.

Haruhi hesitated, not sure if she should take that as an insult.

"Don't take this out of context," she said. "It wasn't my idea."

"I know," he grumbled, opening the door for her to step inside. His chest tightened under his shirt as she stepped past him, and she tried not to look, as it just now dawned on her that she was stepping inside the house of an accused assaulter. Honestly, this hadn't been her brightest couple of days.

His house was just as she imagined the inside of a rich person's house would look like. Tall ceilings and very expensive. But it was soft, and unlike the other places she'd been recently that were associated with him, she didn't feel intimidated by how out of place she was. Everything was a warm beige, from the couch and the carpet, and smelt like pine. Where there wasn't tall, draped windows, large framed paintings were hung, high on the walls.

But what stood out to her was the second head of fiery red hair, sitting at one of the kitchen bar stools. And surprisingly, he was the one who looked angry.

Kaoru stood up at the sight of her, and tried to hide any traces of his and Hikaru's argument on his face, as he turned his lips in his charming, very fake smile.

Haruhi looked between the twins, and wasn't sure what to think anymore.

"You're always on time," Kaoru said, amused. "Hikaru was just about to leave for work."

Hikaru made a face from over her shoulder, as if to say, no, he wasn't, but Kaoru ignore him.

"Don't give each other a hard time, okay?" He looked at Hikaru specifically. "And call... if you need me."

"Jesus Christ, Kaoru."

"And change your shirt," he continued, firmer this time, as he reached over to straighten his collar. "You look like a slob. Did Miako not go to the dry cleaners? Honestly."

"No one can tell."

"I can tell."

Haruhi glanced down at her watch as the two of them lowered their voices, speaking softer as Kaoru reminded him of something about their father, while rubbing his face and trying to pass him a bottle of moisturizer he pulled out of his pocket, as Hikaru tried to push him away.

"Guys," she sighed. So much for having a schedule. "We're going to be late."

The twins looked at her as though she was interrupting something very intimate, before Kaoru reluctantly pulled away, swiping his thumb across Hikaru's chapped lips.

"I have work anyway," he shrugged. "I fired the leading model the other day, and Mother's been on my case all morning."

Hikaru didn't react as Kaoru leaned over his shoulder and kissed his cheek. He bid his goodbyes to them both before eventually finding his way out the door, and Hikaru turned to her, once they were finally alone.

Haruhi cowered under his stare again, and how his eyes were fixed steadily on her face, as if he was expecting something.

"I'm not going to kiss you." She said after awhile, to which he rolled his eyes.

"Let's get this over with." He heaved.

Watching him rip his bag off the back of the couch, and shrug out his keys with a curse under his breath, Haruhi couldn't help but feel the same way.

Haruhi walked patiently behind Hikaru's slow strides through Ito-Co's lobby.

All eyes were on her from the few young receptionists lined along the wall, an old wondering executive, and a group of old women. She heard them whispering but she could hear them from across the hall, so they must not have been trying to be very discreet.

She was careful in avoiding a hunched old man who stood planted o the floor like an angry statue and watched as his eyes followed them until they turned the corner out of his sight.

She hated the feeling of being watched, and ironically, ever sine meeting Hikaru, she'd felt it a lot lately.

"I haven't felt this famous since high school." She murmured.

Hikaru said nothing, and she'd noticed he hadn't said anything since they left his house that morning. It made their drive down together awkward, but the last thing she knew how to do was strike a conversation with someone like him. Especially now. The way his face curled the moment he stepped into the building unnerved her, and he looked even less approachable.

The Hikaru Hitachiin she first met reemerged in almost a blink of an eye. It was like he had created his own persona of himself, and he was trying way too hard to fill into shoes that didn't fit him.

The doors of the elevator opened to two older women, They gasped, and ducked their heads as they hurriedly scurried passed them at the sight of Hikaru. One spat out a name towards him before the elevator doors shut between them.

"The devil." Haruhi parroted, once they were alone, wondering if she heard right. "They're subtle."

Maybe that persona wasn't his; but everyone else's.

They apparently gave it a name, too.

Hikaru had tucked himself into a corner. Grabbing onto the support railing. Watching the veins in his hands. He used to laugh when they all called him that. Now it was exhausting, and every time they said it, felt like they were stomping on his chest.

Haruhi was facing him. Her brow was slanted, as she focused on every movement of his hands, and his shifting off each foot. Her eyes looked deep, but her face was blank. He couldn't imagine what she was thinking, he just wished she'd stop looking at him.

The doors finally opened, greeting them to a wide hall. The two men, both peppered with age and bitterness, that were talking by the large window with coffee immediately lowered their voices to grumbles and turned away as if Hikaru disgusted them. They were two directors of the board, who were at the top of his kill list, so it was obvious they were one ones having the biggest fit.

He felt overheated by all the stares and abhorrent sneers. The seniors had turned into rabid dogs and their words were starting to suffocate him, so much he almost collapsed into his office as he opened the door.

He threw his bag down on the floor and as if that was a switch, his chair spun around.

Fujibayashi smiled. "Good morning."

Haruhi looked up towards Hikaru. His face was unreadable, as though it was still loading.

He took in his surroundings and figured he must've walked into the wrong room. Everything was was either misplaced or gone but his brain didn't completely click until he noticed how the wallpaper was faded where Kaoru's portrait used to hang.

"What's going on?" He demanded.

His secretary was standing beside the desk next to Daichi, with an uncomfortable look on her face. She turned away when he looked at her, eyes asking her to explain.

Fujibayashi looked surprised. "I thought you knew. The office comes with the job."

Hikaru turned back to him, teeth digging into his cheek. "What?"

"I didn't expect it either." He said. "It has something to do with positions and not wanting to confuse the floor staff. I tried to talk to your father out of it, said it'd be far too stressful for you to move across the building, but he said you'd understand."

"But don't worry," Daichi added. "I know you have a stress problem, so I made sure all your things were moved to your new department so you wouldn't have to worry about a thing."

Hikaru walked up to the desk, and both Haruhi and his secretary sensed he was about to detonate and moved to step between them, but stopped, and watched him closely as he slowly picked up a file, that was half hidden under Fujibayashi's computer.

It looked oddly familiar to his file with the design layout for the Reverse Project.

He paused to breathe, just to stop himself from throwing it into his face.

"What's this?"

Fujibayashi barely faltered. "Must've missed something."

"Fuck you."

Haruhi grabbed his arm, and started to pull him back, but he ripped away, and stormed for the door. He was already gone before she could get a word out to him, and got halfway to the door before a voice stopped her.

"You must be, Fujioka."

She turned. Fujibayashi was looking at her, with his chin propped up on his knuckles, as he stared at her through his grey lashes. Behind his square spectacles, a smirk tugged on his lips. He looked entertained.

She really hated when men looked at her that way.

"You're the big shot lawyer everyone's been talking about, aren't you?" He said, already knowing the answer. "The company's been worried about who it would be, handling that Hitachiin's case."

"I heard a lot about you. It's good to have heard he's in capable hands," he admitted. "But it's a pleasure to meet you in person."

Haruhi cause the secretary's awkward look, and fiddled with her briefcase, that he just noticed, was starting to get very heavy.

"Yes," she muttered, "A pleasure, Mr. Fujibayashi."

"I hear you're also Hikaru's escort." He added humorously. "We're all very old here. That little incident gave everyone a scare."

"I hope your Niece is doing well," she blurted out. Just itching to get out of his sight, but even more wanting to stop his path of dangerous questions. "It's unfortunate... what's happened. I hope this is all resolved quickly. For her sake."

He hesitated. Not from loss of words, but just to stare. He looked at her, up and down, from her shoes to her face, staring deeply and Haruhi felt compiled clutch her shirt closed.

"Yes. As do I." He answered.

"As you can see, I'm in a difficult situation," he said, just as she pulled the door open to let herself out. "For the sake of the company, it's in everyone's best interest for the Hitachiin to win this case. And for it to be over with quickly."

Haruhi swallowed the words she wanted to say, and instead forced her very fake smile she was starting to really hate. "I can assure you, Mr. Fujibayashi, I have no intention of losing this case."

He raised his head, for his hand to grasp his cup of coffee. "Good to hear."

"Now if you'll excuse me."

He gestured to the door, but she didn't notice. She stepped into the hall, looking for Hikaru, and luckily it wasn't hard to find which way he went, from the way a short woman was gawking down the hallway, staring at the floor as if he left a trail of fire.

But he wasn't in the elevator, and felt helplessly lost as she stumbled around the lobby, getting trampled people much taller than her, wearing shoes much sharper than hers, and almost getting ran over by a supply dolly.

Everyone was barking orders or yelling into a phone, that she couldn't hear him, but eventually, spotted his unruly red hair in the corner, just as he finished signing something on a young girl's clipboard. He took one look at her from over his shoulder and and turned the other way, heading towards the front door, and didn't catch up to him until he was halfway down the sidewalk.

"Hey," she called out to him, but he didn't stop until she grabbed his hand. Then, he whirled around so fast she almost fell over. "Are you okay?"

"You don't have to follow me," he tisked. "I'm going home."

She started to panic. For some reason, the last thing she wanted was him out of her sight.

"Come... come get coffee with me." She practically choked. "We'll talk."

"Talk? Is this some lame attempt to make me feel better?" He scoffed but quickly looked away, feeling unusually self-conscious under her eyes. "I'm fine. I don't care about him. I figured this would happen anyway-"

"I said," she jerked him back and he bit back a scream. "We'll talk."

"Please," she whispered.

His eyes were wide as he looked down at how tight she was holding onto his hand. It felt desperate, and her eyes were pleading. He wanted to pull away to insist he was the boss and she couldn't just drag him around however she wanted, but his hand contradicted that, as he still hadn't pulled away from her, and if she really did want to drag him around, he'd probably let her.

"...Okay." He said quietly.

They held each other's gaze for a few pregnant seconds. Both surprised that they let themselves stay so long, and after a few more moments of a silent, behavioral lecture, Haruhi cleared her throat and tucked her now warm hand under her arm.

"Are you going to make rescuing me a habit?" He smirked after awhile. "Careful. I might get used to it."

She ignored him.

Hello! just to pop in.

For those who were wondering about the Company that Hikaru works at: "Ito-Co" is named after the twin's father's former surname. (In the manga, Mr. Hitachiin took Yazuha's last name when they married, and in this story he used to be "Mr. Ito."

(Since we don't know Mr. Hitachiin's first name, and I couldn't think of a name that wouldn't sound cheesy, He'll only be known as Mr. Hitachiin in this story;;)

I hope you're enjoying this story as much as I am! tootles.
Favorite/Review