"Maria-oba! Toma-niichan! We're over here," Daiki called out indiscriminately to the crowd streaming into the arrival lobby. Heads, bearing an equal mix of indulgent smiles and disapproving frowns, turned to watch the boy bouncing up and down on his toes, arms waving like a bird taking off.

"Dai-chan," Haruhi stifled her own smile, turning it into a reproof. "What did I say about proper behavior at the airport?"

The child dropped onto his heels with a thud and dropped his gaze to the floor. "No running, no shouting, no skipping…"

Hearing a strangled sound coming from the rich, black-haired bastard at her side, she turned to glare. Kyoya met her narrowed eyes with a cool expression dripping in faux innocence.

"…no yelling, no bouncing, no asking to pet someone's puppy, even if it's really cute…"

"Remind me what you're doing here again?" she grumped. She hadn't invited him, but somehow he'd wound up coming along anyway. But that was Kyoya, going around inserting himself in his life as if she weren't still angry with him.

The first few weeks after she and Hikaru broke up, Haruhi had buried herself in studying - finals were looming and that came first. She'd still managed to find time to blister Kyoya's ears over how he'd quietly put a distance between them while she'd been dating the elder Hitachiin. As if her dating someone and her and Kyoya's friendship were somehow mutually exclusive!

It wouldn't have been so bad if he'd just admitted his mistake. But, of course, the rat had refused to apologize. He'd simply done that pompous trick of his, pushing his glasses up his nose with a finger, and asserted that he hadn't felt it appropriate to do anything that might make someone she were dating feel uncertain. Even if that person was a moron like Hikaru.

He was completely in the wrong! And, maybe, a tiny bit in the right, the arrogant ass! New relationships were fragile and she'd seen far too many dissolve over unfounded jealousy to not concede he had a point. Still, that didn't make it okay for him to decide things on his own!

And so, half-way into her summer break, they remained at an impasse. At least in her mind – he continued to act as if everything between them was fine!

"I'm merely repaying the hospitality Ocampo-san showed me in Sapporo," he replied in a deceptively mild tone that didn't fool her one bit. "You don't have a car and it's an hour trip to your house by train."

"We could have managed." She crossed her arms petulantly. Sometimes she wished she could get under his skin as easily as he did hers. Give him a taste of his own medicine.

He smiled politely. "But now you don't have to."

Gods, he was infuriating!

"…no talking to strangers, no taking candy from strangers, not even nice obaa-chan's, no…"

"Ok, I think that's enough." With a last scowl at the Shadow King, she looked down at her son and cut off the litany. "Just stand by my side properly, please."

"But…" Daiki's lower lip quivered. "How will they see me? I'm too small!"

Kyoya put his hands on the child's shoulders and Daiki leaned his head back until their eyes met. "Now that's one problem I can solve," Kyoya drawled. At a summoning gesture from his employer, the fair-haired man hovering in the background stepped forward, grabbed Daiki by the waist, and hoisted him up onto his shoulders.

"Oh! I can see everybody!" Daiki wrapped his arms awkwardly around the bodyguard's neck. "Thank you, Tachibana-san!"

"Stop grinning," Haruhi ordered Kyoya under her breath.

Kyoya quirked an eyebrow. "I never grin."

"You're grinning on the inside," she insisted peevishly.

"Perhaps." His lips twitched. "But don't you find an element of nostalgia in the instructions you gave on what not to do at the airport?"

Haruhi couldn't stop the chortle that rose up and made her shoulders shake as memories washed over her. "Oh kamisama, you're right." She was sure every last one of them had come out of her mouth at one point during high school. Including the one about the puppy. "I guess the Host Club was good preparation for motherhood."

Kyoya's eyes glittered. In anyone else she'd say they twinkled. "Although Daiki-kun behaves himself better in public than at least half our members did."

They shared another smile and, just like that, the warm camaraderie they shared slid back into place. He hadn't apologized. She hadn't forgiven him. But, maybe, they would simply have to agree to disagree on that topic. Trying to stay angry at him was too exhausting – like punching water.

"There they are!" Daiki's cry pulled her attention back to the lobby. "Maria-oba! Toma-niichan! We're here!" He waved his arms back and forth vigorously while Tachibana kept a tight grip to make sure the boy didn't fall off.

"Hauri-chan!" Maria squealed as she burst out of the crowd. She threw her arms around the younger woman, pinning Haruhi's arms to her side. "It's so good to see you!" Stepping back, she grasped Haruhi's arms and looked her over. "Oh! Tokyo has been good to you! You look wonderful!"

"Ocampo-san, welcome to Tokyo." Kyoya stepped forward with a polite bow. "How was your flight?"

Maria jumped, not having seen the man by Haruhi's side. "Ootori-san!" Her head swiveled back and forth speculatively between the two of them before turning wide, excited eyes on Kyoya. "The flight was incredible. Would you believe it? They overbooked coach and had a lottery to upgrade someone to first class. And we won!" She clasped her hands to her breast. "So luxurious! Did you know they use real plates and glasses for the meal?"

Haruhi missed his reply as she narrowed her eyes at the suspected source of Maria's good fortune. Damn. Now she definitely couldn't stay angry with him. Maria had no status, no power. Doing this couldn't benefit him in anyway. No, he'd done this for her. Because he knew just how much she treasured Maria's friendship. She should have known he'd manipulate his way out of her being upset with him. Sometimes she didn't know if she wanted to hit him or hug him.

"Maria-oba, welcome!" Daiki reached toward the Filipina matron, tumbling off Tachibana's shoulders and into her arms.

"Dai-chan, look at you!" She snuggled the boy clinging to her like a baby koala. "You're getting so big!"

"I grew four centimeters." He held up his fingers in emphasis.

A scrawny adolescent fought his way out of the crowd. Balancing a suitcase in one hand and an oversized, cloth-wrapped package that screamed 'home made food' in the other, he bowed low to Haruhi. "Fujioka-san, thank you for your hospitality. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

Haruhi smiled at her first, and still favorite, student. "It's no trouble, Thomas-kun," she replied, "I'm looking forward to showing you around Toudai. What other universities will you be visiting while you're here?"

Maria set Daiki down and wrapped herself around her son's left arm. "Oh, we'll be looking at Hitotsubashi as well. Maybe Tsukuba if we have time before we leave to check out Kyoto, Nagoya, and Osaka. All the top national universities." She reached up to ruffle the teen's head, her face glowing with pride. "Thomas was first in his class again this term. I'm sure he can go anywhere he wants."

"Kaa-san!" Thomas whined in protest, accepting the praise with typical teenage grace.

"Good job," chorused the Fujiokas.

"Impressive" was Kyoya's contribution. "You'll be checking out their law schools, I presume? I understand your interests lie in that area."

Kyoya's attention had the young man subtly straightening up, throwing his shoulders back as if standing before a superior. "Yes, sir." Casting a quick glance in Haruhi's direction, he gave an apologetic half-smile. "But immigration law, not criminal." A shadow passed over his face, hardening his jaw and lighting his eyes up with determination. "I want to be able to fight for all the hafu whose Japanese fathers never acknowledged them and all the kids born and raised here who are only one change in government policy away from being deported to a 'homeland' they never knew. I want to make sure this country looks after all its children, not just those with the right blood."

Thomas's eyes widened in the silence that followed. In an instant, the boy was back, replacing the glimpse he'd shown of the man he would become. Rubbing the back of his neck, he made a sketchy gesture that was half-nod, half-bow. "Ah, sorry. Sorry. Sometimes I get carried away."

"Don't apologize." Kyoya flicked it away with a wave. "That was very well said. I didn't hear Ouran University on your lists of schools to visit, have you considered it? We have an excellent law program and a strong alumni network."

"I would love to attend Ouran, but…" Thomas's flushed red with embarrassment over what he had to admit. "But, it's at least twice as expensive as any of the others. Erica's in high school now so I want to be able to pay my own way."

"Thomas!" Maria hissed under her breath, "I told you I'll figure something out for wherever you want to go. If you aren't considering this school because of cost…"

"No." The teenager cut his mother off with a sidelong glance at the other two adults, a silent plea not to make a private argument public. "I'm almost an adult, Kaa-san. You need to take care of Erica and the twins, not worry about me."

Maria gave her son the universal parental look meaning 'this isn't over.'

"It's not generally known," Kyoya interjected into the contest of wills, "But every year the Chairman offers five scholarships through his private family foundation, one for each of the law, engineering, and business schools and two for the new school of music. He awards them to hand-picked candidates from backgrounds less…" The word 'privileged' hung in the air but he was too smart to use it. "…typical of most Ouran students. Full tuition for all four years, dependent on continued high academic performance of course, and a generous living stipend. I can provide you with the details, if you're interested."

"Ye…yes!" Thomas stammered, a tentative hope lighting his eyes. "I'd be very interested. But, a school like that… well, it's pretty elite. Do you really think I could qualify?"

"There are no guarantees, competition for the slots is fierce and the final decision belongs to Chairman Suoh, but you are the type of candidate he likes." Kyoya glanced at Haruhi, his eyes lit with amusement. "Just try not to be too annoyed if he insists on proclaiming you a hero."

Haruhi took one look at the Ocampos glowing faces and made her decision. Hug him. In this case, she definitely wanted to hug him.

Tachibana trundled up with a cart containing the rest of the luggage. He was so good at making his presence in the background unnoticed, Haruhi hadn't even realized he'd gone. Silently, he took the bags and packages from Maria and Thomas's hands, stacking them on the cart.

Kyoya beckoned towards the exit. "Why don't we discuss it further over dinner, after you've settled in at Haruhi's." He nodded in her direction. "We can celebrate both our first place scholars."

Now it was Haruhi's turn to flush awkwardly under the congratulations.

At a nod from Kyoya, Tachibana headed towards the exit, the crowd parting before him like a Japanese Moses. Daiki followed in his wake, tugging Maria and Thomas along by their hands. Kyoya walked forward a few paces while tapping away at something on his cell, his steps slowing until he was at the back of the pack.

Haruhi decelerated her pace until she drew alongside him. "Thank you," she murmured under her breath. He looked up, puzzlement knitting his brow, and she rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't give me that, you know what for."

Slipping his phone back in his pocket, he pushed up his glasses imperiously. "There's no need, I simply informed a bright young man of an opportunity he might not have been aware of."

"Bull. Shit." She enunciated carefully. "You aren't giving him information, you're sponsoring him - those scholarships require a recommendation from a board member. The education he'll get, the connections he'll make - it could change his life. I know you could just have easily chosen a kid whose family would be able to repay the favor somehow. "

"I prefer long-term benefit over short-term gain." Kyoya shrugged. "Thomas-kun strikes me as the type of person who will be successful no matter what. It will only benefit me if he believes he owes some part of that success to me."

Haruhi snorted. "Oh, come on! That has to be the weakest excuse for doing something nice that you've ever given me. Cut the crap, Senpai, and accept my gratitude like a man." She stopped suddenly, forcing him to swing around to face her. When she had his full attention, she repeated herself slow and deliberately. "Thank. You."

"Well, if you insist." A smile flitted across his face. A real one – warm, gentle, almost tender. A smile that made her feel like, for once, she was the victor in whatever game he was playing. "Your welcome, Haruhi."

~oOoOo~

"Ack, turtle-shell! No fair!" Thomas' cry of mock outrage wound down the hallway and into the kitchen, followed by peals of childish giggles. "Oh yeah? Let's see how you handle this – banana peel!" The giggles turned into a high-pitched shriek drowned out by more masculine laughter.

The two women sitting at the kitchen table smiled at each other over their cups of tea. "Oh, I've missed that sound," said Maria, "Thomas is much too serious these days."

Haruhi laughed ruefully, "I think that's the natural state of most third-years. If it hadn't been for my friends, I don't think I would have poked my head up from my books from June to February during mine. And I had a guaranteed spot and scholarship as long as I kept my first-place position."

"Mmm… you mean friends like the charming Ootori-san?" Maria asked with a sly twinkle in her eyes.

"Maria-chan!" Haruhi rolled her eyes and huffed in exasperation. "Stop imagining something that isn't there. I've told you, we really are just friends."

The older woman's smile broadened. "I'm just saying he seems awfully involved in your life for someone who's 'just a friend.' Getting you this house, helping you find a job, picking up strangers he barely knows at the airport for you…"

"That's just because he has an obsessive need to control everything and likes to get his own way," Haruhi snorted, "And none of my other friends are much better, meddling in my life is kind of a hobby for them. Practically a competitive sport."

"Well," Maria drawled with a smirk, "If you say so…"

"Stop misreading things." Haruhi shook her head in denial. The woman simply wasn't going to let this go, not until it was explained properly. "You have to understand, Kyoya… well, I'm not sure he had any real friends before Tamaki." Funny, how she could say his name now without fear that tears would follow. Time had transformed the pain into a warm, lingering ache. "That's not something he can easily let go of. To him, I'm still Tamaki's girlfriend. The mother of Tamaki's son. Yes, we're friends too, but a lot of the concern he shows me is due to that. He's the type to take that sort of thing seriously."

Maria tilted her head, searching the younger woman's face. With a reluctant sigh, she seemed to accept Haruhi's account of the relationship. Picking up her cup, she sipped cautiously at the hot tea before putting it down. "Pity. I was hoping…" she shrugged, leaving the rest unsaid.

"Tokyo has been good for you." She made an up-and-down gesture with her hand encompassing Haruhi from head-to-toe. "You look so much happier, and healthier, than you did a few months ago. Back then I was always afraid that one day I'd get a call saying you'd been hospitalized for exhaustion, especially after you got that manager's job. I suppose I was hoping your love life was blooming as well."

Haruhi winced involuntarily and Maria's eyes sharpened like an eagle spotting its prey. "Ooooh! There is something going on! I know that look – Erica gets the same one whenever she has a new crush and she thinks she can hide it from me." Leaning forward conspiratorially, her eyes gleamed. "Tell me all about it. Is he handsome? How long have you been dating?"

"No, no." Haruhi waved her hand back and forth in front of her face, but she knew Maria's curiosity wouldn't be dismissed that easily. She needed to give up at least some details. "It's… well, it's all over now." Shoulders drooping, she traced a lazy, swirling pattern on the table with her finger. "It was someone I knew from before I left. But, it didn't work out."

"I'm sorry about that." Maria's hand covered Haruhi's, giving it a brief squeeze before she drew it back. "But, I'm glad you tried."

"Really?" She huffed, "Because, I'm not. I thought I could date him as a friend, see where things went. I didn't realize just how much I would hate it if it didn't work out. I don't like causing pain to someone I care about."

"Endings always hurt, even when it is for the best." Maria spoke with the air of someone carefully choosing their words. "Still, it's good that you put your heart out there. That you allowed yourself to be open to finding love. It will make it easier the next time."

"I don't think there will be a next time," Haruhi said with finality. "I'm not cut out for this sort of thing. Hikaru, the guy I dated, he was perfect in so many ways. If it couldn't work with him… if it couldn't work with someone who was nice and fun to be with, not to mention good looking, then maybe, it's a sign I've already met my destined one. That Tamaki was it for me."

Maria took a long sip of her tea, then set her cup down gingerly. "Haruhi-chan, you've only been open to the idea of dating for, what, a few months? For a long time you were… comfortable with things as they were. With it just being you and Dai-chan. Sometimes, when we start something new and encounter a failure, it's tempting to want to flee back to someplace we know, even if it wasn't a place where we were happy.

"I think what you need is to give it more time. Really consider whether you want to fall in love, get married, have more kids even. Maybe…" Maria shrugged one shoulder and smiled. "Maybe you should picture yourself ten years from now, picture yourself happy, and figure out what that life would be like."

Haruhi's face screwed up in distaste. "That sounds a bit too much like fortune telling for me."

"Oh, it is not!" Maria chastised. "It's... well, think of it as a visualization technique for figuring out what you want. It's how I've determined what paths to take in my life. Why I stayed in this country instead of going home after the divorce. Why I didn't take a higher paying job where I'd have to work nights when it was offered. How I know that, once the twins have graduated high school, I'm going to open that restaurant everyone says I should. Because I imagined my future and picked the one in which I was happiest."

It still sounded like a bunch of self-help nonsense to Haruhi but she didn't want to hurt Maria's feelings. "I'll think about it," Haruhi replied, meaning no, and turned the conversation to other topics.

~oOoOo~

Haruhi stepped out of her bathroom into the master suite, running her hands over her forearms to rub in moisturizer. It smelled good. And expensive. Since it was another one of those little items that mysteriously appeared in her purse every time she'd been at the Hitachiin house, it probably was. Oh well, at least it was useful – her skin got dry in the summer and the over-priced crap did seem to help better than her normal drugstore brand.

Pulling back the covers, she crawled into bed and shut off the light. After a life spent sleeping on futons, the western style bed felt a bit awkward. She was getting used to it though. Just like everything else that had changed since she came to Tokyo.

'Comfortable.' That's what Maria had called the life Haruhi had built for herself and Daiki in Sapporo. Comfortable, but not happy. She supposed there was some truth to that. The constant struggle to make ends meet. The fear of what might happen if the Suohs found her. The loneliness. They'd all tugged at her, preventing her from finding anything more than contentment with her circumstances.

Things were better now. She could definitely say that, even if it galled her to admit Kyoya had been right to encourage her return. But, while she wasn't unhappy, she couldn't fully claim happiness either. It felt more that she was on the road to it, a destination that was approaching but which she hadn't quite reached.

She'd never really thought about what it might look like when she arrived.

She turned over on her side, snuggling her head against her hands. Imagine ten years in the future… It sounded ridiculous, a westernized misinterpretation of eastern mysticism. But, what the hell, it's not like it could hurt.

Start with the basics, the things she knew had to be there. Ten years from now, she'd be a criminal defense lawyer. Probably not partner, yet, but definitely a fully licensed attorney with a solid client base and able to do pro bono work on the side. And she'd still be living in Tokyo – it was home. Her friends were here. Daiki's grandparents were here. This was where her life was.

Smothering a yawn, she let the tension of the day ease out of her through deep, calming breaths. Without even realizing it, she slipped into sleep…

Haruhi pulled her car in through the front gates and parked in front of the door where the it would be easily accessible. That was important. Somehow, she knew that leaving the house soon after arriving back from work was a frequent occurrence. Exiting the car, she locked it and trailed her hand lightly along the side of the white mini-van. A part of her recognized this was a dream, something conjured up during her bedtime 'visualization.' But knowing this and having control over it were two different things. Unwilling to summon the effort needed to wake, she let the dream take her where it willed.

Looking up at the house before her, she smiled. Even her dreams were modest, unable to come up with anything more luxurious than where she lived now. She walked up the steps, opened the door, and called out a greeting but received no reply. She wasn't alone, though - piano music drifted through the closed living room doors and filled the hallway. It was beautifully played with hints of missed timing and occasional repeated phrases that suggested it was live and not a recording.

Slipping off her shoes, she noticed that jumbled in the entry were multiple pairs of familiar-looking school shoes in assorted sizes. Leaning down, she straightened them out and knew, in the way you knew things in dreams, that this was a daily habit. After placing her purse on the console table, she started up the stairs to change her clothes into something more comfortable for cooking or errand running. The Haruhi in this life, she sensed, was a busy woman with little time to sit still. But, apparently, that's how she liked it.

Her hand gripped the banister as she headed up. Like now, the wall adjoining the stairway was covered in photographs. Looking closer, she saw that the images had changed. Some were blurred, as if hiding from her, but others were as so clear it felt like looking through a window. She halted with a gasp at one - a young man, illuminated by a spotlight, played a piano with an enraptured look on his face. The spitting image of a dark-haired, teenage Tamaki, it could only be their son. Her heart squeezed and tears formed in her eyes, but instead of crushing loss she felt only comforting warmth accompanied by pride.

The next series of pictures were of strangers that somehow seemed familiar - a grade-school girl with long, black hair and a serious expression held a trophy almost as big as her, the wording on the wall behind her proclaimed the picture taken at the 'Tokyo Junior Chess Championship;' two children with messy brown hair, matching uniforms, and identical grins lacking front teeth each holding a soccer ball; and Daiki, again, in an Ouran High School uniform next to the dark-haired girl wearing the elementary school version, with the brown-haired twins in kindergartener-wear (one in shorts, the other in a skirt) standing in front of their older siblings.

The last picture on the wall was also the biggest. A horde of children clustered together under blooming Sakura trees. All but three appeared to be under ten, but that's where the similarities ended – the three unknown children from the earlier pictures, tall and somber brunettes, impish golden-haired tots, grinning redheads, a boy and girl with skin the color of ebony, and a pair of twins with rainbow-colored Mohawks. In the back row, dead center, stood Daiki and a boy who looked so much like Kyoya he could only be Takeru. Each had one arm wrapped around the gorgeous, auburn-haired girl between them.

Smiling to herself, Haruhi made her way up the rest of the stairs towards her bedroom. So her 'happy' life of the future included happiness for all her friends as well. Or at least lots of babies.

Removing her jacket, she hung it up in the closet while taking a look around her bedroom. It was clear two people occupied it – one half of the closet was filled with dark-colored suits, one bedside table contained the hard-bound biography of an influential judge and her glasses while an e-reader lay on the other. Unbuttoning her blouse, she looked down and realized a diamond solitaire circled her ring finger.

A footstep sounded in the hallway and she turned around, but the words 'welcome home' died on her lips at the figure in the doorway. At the pair of gray eyes so filled with love that not even a pair of glasses could hide it.

Haruhi woke with a start and pushed herself upright, shaking her head back and forth trying to throw off the dream like a dog did water, heart thudding against her chest like a taiko drum.

What. The. Fuck?

A/N: I did not mean for this one to take so long, but I ended up rewriting it several times - cutting out and rearranging huge swaths of it before I got it to where I wanted it. With this, the 'summer' arc is complete and with the next chapter I'll move into fall – the season where everything that's been growing until now reaches maturation.

Thanks to everyone who has favorited or followed and big, gigantic, hugs to all who have left a review. A few selected responses:

Kdfe001, Hyuuga Senpai, and all the other HikaHaru folks – sorry, but this was always going to be KyoHaru. I will confess to falling a little in love with the HikaHaru pairing through writing this and I have you guys to thank for that.

Annjudith, Burashi, seralyon88, MollyMuffinHead, Storz, Illusionist, Chalice13, Jenny and the KyoHaru shippers – your time is now.

SentimentalChair – I don't know if I'll write another non-OC story. As Storz said, the hard part with Ouran is there is only one Haruhi (and I'm not much for writing BL). I have a couple ideas for one-shots or short (3-5 chapter) stories but nothing I'm working on at the moment.

Romantic Fridge – sorry, I called dibs on Kyoya if Haruhi doesn't want him either. But only if my crush on Mori doesn't work out.

xxxSerinaxxx, displacedtexan and the folks who commented on the Omake – I'm glad you liked it. I don't think I'll write this one, but I've already got it half-plotted out so what do I know.

And thanks to SLW, Bloodippedroses, Bard of Innail, mandy90210, and Tishaloki for the encouragement and feedback.