Although they bought a slice of chocolate cake to share, Yumiko had managed to shove the entire thing into her small mouth. Haruhi stuck her tongue out at she wiped at Yumiko's round face, despite the little one's protests. Once they'd finished Haruhi waggled her fingers and Yumiko gladly held one of them as they trotted off together, leaving the hospital café.
Haruhi had been in contact with Captain Haninozuko—she couldn't bring herself to call him Hani-senpai—a couple of times in the past few years, passing by in court houses or via email, but nothing could have prepared herself to see him standing by the hospital bed of a sleeping Kyouya.
"She's not mine," Haruhi had said as soon as she saw the Captain. The small child in the stuffy ward gripped her leg, confusion on her delicate features at all the beeping machines and sick people. "I'm just looking after her for Kyouya."
Hani had nodded, a tired smile barely stretching across his face. "It's okay, Haruhi. You don't need to explain yourself to me."
Haruhi nodded and patted Yumiko's soft hair, pointing at Hani. "This is a friend Yumi. Say hello!" The little girl stayed behind Haruhi's leg, staring at anything except Hani. "She's usually friendlier than this."
"Don't worry, I'm sure she just wants to see her father."
The two of them exchanged little less than these pleasantries, keeping within the guise of their professions. If she hadn't registered it before, Haruhi found it oddly jarring now. All Hani told her was that Kyouya had fallen ill while in the police station, but offered nothing more than that.
Yumiko's father slept under the covers, face unshaven and dark circles beneath his closed, tense eyelids. Haruhi held Yumiko in her arms, leaning her down to let her pat Kyouya's head, but instead the little girl recoiled. She gripped Haruhi's neck, whining to get away.
"But that's your dad!" said Haruhi, on the edge of thrusting the child at Kyouya to wake him up.
"Haruhi," said Hani from the doorway. "Maybe it's just a little too much for her."
She stepped back as her mouth wobbled, wanting to tell Hani that it was too much for her, Haruhi. The unstoppable student, now desperately running from her next breakdown.
"Hey lady, watch it!"
Haruhi blinked and gripped Yumiko's hand with such force, to stop both of them from walking out on to oncoming traffic. Yumiko began to whine before Haruhi knelt down and patted her head, stroking her chin.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "We're going home now. And then you can play all you want, okay?" Yumiko nodded, wiping her dry chubby cheek in an attempt for the dramatic. Haruhi nearly laughed and hoped her father's own habits hadn't rubbed off on the little girl.
Across the street, a figure caught her eye. A short, white man with a baseball cap on his head walked alongside a slender, middle-aged woman, the two barely speaking to each other. Their heads were turned in opposite directions as they strolled together along the flow of the crowd.
That man… where was he from? He looked so familiar, was he a client?
"Green!" yelled Yumiko. "Green, green!" She pointed at the pedestrian crossing, where dozens of others had begun to walk. Wasting no time, Haruhi hauled Yumiko into her arms and skipped across the street.
That man was Ian Fielding, the witness in Kyouya's trial. The convenient witness.
Fielding walked ahead with the woman, presumably his wife, until they reached a black car parked on the side of a road. Haruhi stopped sharply on the street corner, bumping into several passersby, and hid behind the brick pillar in front of an electronics store. She peered round, briefly glimpsing the car roll into traffic.
She ran out into the side of the street, waving her free hand in the air for the nearest yellow taxi. When it barely stopped for her, she banged her palm into the bonnet.
"Are you crazy?" yelled the driver from his rolled down window. "You could have damaged my car!"
She flung the door open and placed Yumiko inside, sliding herself in before slamming the door shut.
"You didn't stop!"
The driver grumbled, noticing the child, and began the journey. "I'm nearly off the clock."
"Just follow that black car ahead of you."
"What is this, a police car chase?"
Haruhi twisted the words over in her mind, ignoring the prodding thought that she'd completely lost it.
They pulled up at the iron gates of a large residence, gravel crunching beneath the tyres of the taxi. Haruhi peered through the gates at the house. It wasn't as large as, say, the Ootori residence, but it was spacious in its own right. A stone peacock stood at the centre of the luscious lawn, flowers blooming in the warm breeze. The peacock sat on top of a fountain that sprayed water every now and then, water trickling down from several layers of clean stone.
The car they had followed was already inside. Haruhi had no idea how to get in.
"This is as far as I go," said the driver. "That'll be ¥950."
"What? We barely went past the city limits!"
He tapped the meter with a rough hand, dirt beneath the nails. "¥970…"
"Fine," said Haruhi, thrusting the cash towards him. "Let's go Yumi."
A soft snore came from the corner of the cab. Haruhi groaned at the sleeping child, knowing it'd only make it more difficult, but she had no choice.
As the taxi drove out of sight, Haruhi lumbered towards the gates with Yumiko draped limply across her shoulder. Had she gained weight in just a couple of months?
She inspected the camera at the top of the gate. A sensor flashed above the keypad embedded in the stone pillar before a voice barked into the intercom.
"Yes? What do you want, Miss?"
Not short of politeness today, thought Haruhi.
"Dropped off by a taxi? I don't believe we are expecting any… visitors."
She knew the owner of the elderly, clipped voice wanted to say 'commoners'. She almost wanted to bait it out of them. Besides, where was she? It wasn't too far from where she was staying, and if Fielding had been driven through the gates with his wife…
"My name is Haruhi Fujioka. I'm a friend of Kaoru's."
The voice stuttered for a moment. "Master Hitachiin? He didn't say anything about anyone…"
"No, he probably didn't. I just wanted to drop by. That is okay, isn't it?"
What was with the heightened security?
There was a rustling of paper in the intermittent silence. Haruhi's shoulder began to ache but she didn't want to move Yumiko to the other for risk of waking a sleeping toddler. She stepped towards the intercom. "I'm sorry, is there a problem?"
"I will have to check with Sir—"
She sighed, long and dramatic, a little like her father before he wanted something from her. "If you don't let me in, I guess I'll have to tell the twins just how unhelpful you've been, and I'm sure they'll find a way to repay you in kind."
The intercom clicked off, the gates buzzing open.
Haruhi smiled. The staff member behind the voice probably grew up with the antics of the twins, knowing full well what would happen if they got on their wrong side.
The front lawn was like a beautifully sculpted garden as colour burst from every crevice. Sunny daffodils, pearlescent plum blossoms, red spider lillies, and an array of tulips spread across the vast garden. Suddenly, Haruhi wanted to lay down on the soft grass, taking all the time in the world.
There was, however, no one else standing outside.
She crept up to the large, oak front door before a noise caught her attention. Around the corner, a ground-floor window hung open and a loud, sharp voice resonated from within. Haruhi slid beneath the window, kneeling slightly, her entire posture becoming ridiculously difficult with Yumiko's dead weight.
"—but you can't leave, there's so much to do—"
"—understand, my business won't run itself, your mother and I must return—"
"—stay for another week, or two? For Miyo and myself, just think—"
With the overwhelming feeling she'd overstepped the mark, Haruhi precariously wobbled Yumiko to her right shoulder, the left completely numb, and lifted herself up from the crouched position before banging her head on the opened window.
Yumiko thudded softly on the grass before bawling herself awake. Despite the throb at the back of her head Haruhi grabbed the toddler and tried to soothe her back to sleep, wishing she had never stepped foot through the gates—
"Ahem."
She turned to see Kaoru hanging over the open window, his mouth slightly agape. A few other figures stood behind him.
"Sur…priiiise?" said Haruhi, grinning through the pain.
Haruhi fiddled with the buttons on her cream jumper as she stood in front of the bathroom mirror, her phone gripped tightly between her ear and shoulder.
"…I said no, but they're insisting on dinner. What do you mean 'what am I wearing'?"
"You know what these people are like! I hope it's not that awful orange dress."
She frowned at her reflection. "Dad, I wore that one time! I'm going now, bye."
"Bring me back some foooood—"
She gingerly patted the top of her head before concluding there definitely wasn't a bruise there. Taking one last look at the black-and-white bathroom the size of her office, Haruhi took a deep breath and made her way to the living room.
"Come, Haruhi is it? Sit!" Miyo tapped the seat next to her on the leather chaise longue, her smile wide and bright. Her dark hair was scooped up in a ponytail, tendrils framing her round face. "This is Yumiko, right? I'm afraid Kaoru's been a little short on details, but I know you went to school together?" Her accent was fluent, conversation warm like the day outside, but she could easily switch to English in an instant for the benefit of her adopted parents.
A tea set was laid out on the table. Miyo poured a cup for Haruhi, gesturing for her to take it, before going back to tickling Yumiko who sat beside her. Mr Fielding sat apart on the other side of the room and regarded Haruhi with sharp eyes. Kaoru and Mrs Fielding had excused themselves to tell the cook they needed two more places set for the evening.
"Yes, we were at Ouran together a while ago now, seems like such a long time." She sipped politely at the tea, hyperaware of her entrance only half an hour ago. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have barged in like this—"
"Quite," said Mr Fielding. Without his baseball cap, a bald patch was exposed with thin grey sideburns. His pale face seemed to have been sunburnt with patches of red on the cheeks and forehead.
"Dad," cut in Miyo sharply. Haruhi knew she'd stumbled in between a family argument, but wasn't sure if this was a regular occurrence. "It's fine. Any friend of Kaoru's is welcome."
"Tell me, Miyo, does Kaoru keep his friends so unwelcome they find themselves hiding beneath window ledges?"
A knife could have scraped through the icy air. Haruhi set down the cup and pulled Yumiko into her lap, bouncing her gently to quieten down her protests.
"I think we'll be leaving," she said quietly.
"No, you're staying, because this isn't our house. It's Kaoru's, right Dad?"
"Miyo you're overreacting," he said, folding his arms and looking away. "For once, not everything is about you."
Tears glistened in Miyo's dark eyes, her lips turning down.
"You know what, just go back home. We can do this wedding without you." Her words were full of quiet anger, the dangerous kind. Haruhi had seen this plenty of times when dealing with clients, after all, that's what family law often led people to feel like. Bitter and resentful. Plenty of hurt.
"Haruhi?" Hikaru peered around the corner of the archway. "What are you doing here?"
"Hey!" she said a little too loudly, bouncing straight up. She marched over to him with Yumiko in tow before stopping short a couple of inches apart. Was it too awkward to hug?
Hikaru smiled, if a little confused, and tickled Yumiko underneath her chin. The toddler babbled in laughter and held her arms out for him to take her.
"Can I speak to you?" she said, loudly again, ushering them out into the hallway. When they were alone, she pressed her back against the wall, her jaw dropping. "I think I might have come across something I shouldn't have."
"What?" said Hikaru as he tried to redirect Yumiko's hands away from his tiny earring. "Oh wait, you've met Ian. I try to stay out the way… far far away."
Haruhi massaged her forehead. "I followed him here, you know. It's all my fault, but I know something's up, I need to find out what."
"Well, Kaoru's already on thin ice as it is, so maybe don't poke the beast."
"Kaoru is what now?"
The two of them spun around to see Kaoru with his arms folded, frowning at them.
"I wasn't, I mean, just—"
"Hikaru, shut up. Haruhi, what the hell are you doing here?" He spoke so lowly but hissed, as if scared to be caught by a teacher. In fact, it felt like the three of them were back at school, whispering in the hallways about how to cover up the latest Host Club scandal.
Haruhi stared at the twins for a moment, noting their different styles, and wondered when they had abandoned the double-act so adored by dozens of Ouran girls.
"There's something up with Miyo's dad," she said. "I don't believe what he said in the trial. He can't have just been passing by Cho's house at the time of the murder—that's too big a coincidence."
Kaoru groaned, running a hand through his short hair as if he were about to pull it out. "Look, I'm already struggling to keep Miyo happy with everything, this really isn't the time—"
"But he's going back to England, isn't he? So I need to find out as soon as possible. Something happened that day which isn't adding up, and it all comes down to whoever killed Yumi's mother."
The three of them looked at the babbling little girl with worry as guilt ebbed at the pit of Haruhi's stomach.
Dinner was a quiet affair. The scrapes of knives and forks echoed into the large dining room. Even Yumiko, flanked by Haruhi and Hikaru, played quietly with her food.
Miyo's mother, who had been absent to the argument, sat beside Haruhi. A delicate woman with short, brown hair, she seemed eager to make friends with the stranger in the room. "Please, take more food! Plenty for everyone."
Haruhi politely declined.
"So, a lawyer then, right? That must keep you busy!"
Haruhi stopped, the fork halfway to her open mouth. She glanced at Kaoru who shook his head.
So Mrs Fielding hadn't been at the trial and was in the dark as much as Miyo.
She smiled. "Yes, it does, but it has its own rewards." In that moment, Haruhi struggled to think of one good aspect of her job.
"I see," said Mrs Fielding, mauve lipstick spread across thin lips. "And a mother too, that's quite something."
"Oh no," cut in Haruhi a little too quickly. "Yumiko isn't my child. I'm looking after her for a friend."
"Oh dear, not for long I hope?" said Mrs Fielding.
It was a thought that plagued her constantly. How long would Yumiko be in her care? She'd grown to love her, there was no denying that, but she wasn't hers. When would Kyouya be in the all clear, so he could have his family back? Did he even want her back?
Haruhi chewed for a moment before smiling. "No, they're just a little unwell at the moment. Should be back on their feet in no time." She eyed Miyo's father across the table. "You look awfully familiar, Mr Fielding. Have I seen you before somewhere?"
She heard Kaoru audibly moan before looking away. Hikaru rubbed his face.
Fielding glared at her, stiff upper lip ready to split.
"Oh, that's right! You're CEO of Accenture Electronics, right? Leading brand right after the big few in the UK?"
Hikaru peered through his fingers.
She seemed to have disarmed the worst. Fielding wiped his mouth with a napkin and cleared his throat.
"That's right. You seem to have done your research," he said curtly.
"I make it my business to," she retorted. "Are you enjoying your time in Japan?"
He gripped his fork, clearly upset by this interrogation. "It is what it is."
"Any interesting events happen on your trip?"
He eyed her with disgust, clear on his pale face, knowing exactly what she was picking away at.
"Not as interesting as finding a suspicious character outside my window."
"Dad, we just discussed this!" Miyo's knife and fork clattered on the empty plate. Her mother quietly gasped.
"Because I really want to know," said Fielding, ignoring his daughter, "what you were doing there, eavesdropping on my family and I? And then asking me all these prying questions?" He pointed the fork in her direction.
Haruhi had been in worse situations. "I was coming to see a friend," she said coolly.
"Whom you haven't spoken to in years? Oh yes, I make it my business to do my research too!" said Fielding when Haruhi's calm had faltered. "What do you really want? Is it money?"
"That's enough." A stony expression settled across Hikaru's face as he stood up. "You can't speak to her like that."
Fielding chuckled. "Finally, Tweedledum decides to speak."
It was a split second movement as Haruhi shot up before Kaoru could speak. She glanced at him, the fury in his eyes when his brother was insulted, and spoke louder than everyone else.
"We're engaged." The silence stalled everyone's breath. "Hikaru and I. That's why I came, to announce that. We're getting married!"
She looked back at Hikaru, his cheeks red, and grinned stupidly with a whisper barely audible beneath her breath.
"Sur…priiiise."
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