Friendship Invasion

7 pm...

Haruhi was sprawled out on her living/sleeping area floor, dazed and fighting back tears. All around her were scattered pieces and parts of the new furniture she'd purchased – still unassembled. Not to mention all the boxes unopened. Her first day of independence, and it was a complete disaster. Her hair was straggling half out of its ponytail, her bangs stuck to her forehead, her clothes drenched in sweat.

BZZZ! BZZZ! The door. Oh God. Go away, Tamaki! BZZT!

"Fujioka? Are you alright in there?" She vaguely registered that it was a woman's voice. BZZT!

Dragging herself up, she went and opened the door just a crack.

"Good Evening!" chorused a crowd of strangers. "It's a housewarming party!"

"...!" Haruhi had no words as they began to troop past her into her apartment. Then she found her voice. "WAIT! No! Be careful, please!"

But everyone had already come to a halt, staring at the piles of boards and screws and instruction pages.

"Oh my, you poor thing!" said one of the ladies, the dark-haired one who was a little older. "Why didn't you come ask for help with all this?"

"I- I can do this. But, my electric screwdriver won't charge and none of the bits fit these weird screws anyway, so I only have that stupid little handle thing they give you. I think some of the instruction pages are missing! And some of these are a lot heavier than I expected... I can do this! So, please, go away?" That last part sounded more like a plea for help, but Haruhi was trying hard not to show her desperation.

"Boys!" the woman barked, "take the food and drinks back to Haruto's and set it up there. Ayano and I will bring Fujioka in a few minutes." They obeyed her immediately, melting away into the night. "Now, Fujioka, let's get you cleaned up. Don't worry about all this – if worst comes to worst you can sleepover with me or Ayano. Ayano, find some clothes and a towel." She pushed Haruhi towards the bathroom.

Haruhi gratefully gave up control. "There's a bag over there," she waved towards the corner, "with my overnight stuff. And call me Haruhi, please."

"That's perfect, Haruhi. I'm Hazuki and this is Ayano," Ayano smiled at her, "and we're going to clean you, feed you, and make it all better. So come on, hop in the shower."

Twenty minutes later, the three women entered the manager's apartment. Haruhi had washed away the tears and the sweat and even been persuaded to wear her contact lenses. The five men jumped up from the table, smiling to see her looking so much better. They shepherded her over to the dining area, all set up with eight place settings and the table covered with food, giving off enticing aromas that made her stomach growl.

"Sit, sit." She collapsed onto a seat. "Beer? Iced tea?" Someone shoved a beer into her hand. Bowls of food were passed around and large helpings plopped onto her plate. Mechanically, she took up her chopsticks and tried a vegetable. It's good! She tasted the fish. Yum! Soon she was shoveling the food into her face and gulping down beer.

Across from her one of the men chuckled. He was a medium sort of man – medium height and build, regular features, nice-looking. "We're going to introduce ourselves properly this time. You keep eating. I'm Momota, 30, a pharmacist. I live right upstairs in 2A. Next to me here (and next door to me upstairs) is Jin. He's 28 and is a construction foreman." That guy was really tall and quiet – reminded her of Mori-senpai.

"Welcome," he rumbled in a low voice. "I'm with Momo."

"...! Jin, stop that! Heh heh, never mind him."

"If you're a couple, you don't need to hide it or feel embarrassed around me," Haruhi said. "You all saw my father, right?"

"See, Momo?" Jin shoulder-bumped him. "I like her." He grinned at Haruhi, who was a bit stunned at how handsome the smile made him look.

Next, "I'm Ichimaru, 23, and I live on the other side of your unit. I just started working for S Pharmaceuticals." The residents took note that he left off the part about doing data-entry. Haruhi decided he looked nice enough, but a bit too eager to please.

"I'm Ayano in 2C," said the younger woman. "I'm 24 and a model part-time. I also cook dinner every weeknight for everyone – we meet here at 7. You're welcome to join us, I just charge a little for ingredients."

"You cooked all this? And you do it every night? It's very good. I...I also can cook. Maybe I could help you or even do most of it one night a week? I'd like to contribute more than money..."

"Ooooh, really? That would be fantastic. And I'd really, really like to meet your friends again – Ouch! Hazuki!"

"I'm sorry, Haruhi," Hazuki said, having just slapped Ayano's arm. "Ayano is hunting for a rich boyfriend to pamper her, so just ignore that request. I'm Hazuki from 2D, and I'm the executive secretary for President Horai, who is also the owner of this apartment complex." Haruhi liked this woman. She's very no-nonsense and professional, just like I hope to be someday.

That left the two men who lived together next door. "Kawamura Haruto, on-site manager for my Uncle Horai. I work at Marukawa Shoten, as assistant to the assistant of the President. Oh, I'm 23." He was slender, with very penetrating dark eyes and a serious face. But then he glanced at the man beside him and that face lit up like a Christmas tree, making Haruhi blink.

"And I'm Izumi Keitarou, salesman and installer for Sona Electronics. I'm 28 and live next door with Haruto." He smiled sweetly and put his arm around Haruto, who leaned his head against Izumi's shoulder. "Yes, we're a couple also."

"Ugh. Quit acting lovey-dovey, you two! It's sickening, honestly," scolded Ayano.

"Just wait until you fall in love, Ayano," Izumi told her.

"No way! I'm going to wrap some man around my little finger and boss him around and keep him on a leash! Just you wait!"

"Ooh, Ayano is going to be a dom!"

"Shut up, Momo High Maintenance!"

"Who wants a man you can push around like that?" piped up Ichimaru? "Isn't that kind of pathetic?"

"Oh, you can all be pushed around like that," said Hazuki matter-of-factly. "It's just better to be subtle about it, Ayano."

Izumi laughed. "I'll admit it! Haruto's so cute I can't resist him!"

Haruhi sat back, full to bursting and enjoying the teasing. It's almost like being back in the Host Club!

"So, what's your story, Fujioka?" asked Momota

"Oh! Call me Haruhi, everyone. I was a scholarship student at Ouran Academy through high school. That's where I met the guys who were here this morning. Now I'm studying law at T University. I want to be a lawyer like my mother was. She...she died when I was very young, so it's just been my father and I. He's kind of a scatter-brain, so I've always been the practical one. I really can assemble my own furniture! But, ugh, everything went wrong today. I guess I was a little overwhelmed, tried to do too much in one day."

"Wow! Ouran on a scholarship and now T Uni? You must be incredibly smart!" Ichimaru gushed.

"Not so much. I do study very hard though because I want to make my parents proud and...well, if I'm going to marry Tamaki someday, I need to be my own woman first, if that makes sense."

"Of course, we understand that. It's nice to fantasize about being pampered, but the reality is we'd all feel small in that kind of world if we didn't already know our self-worth." Everyone nodded in agreement with Hazuki's statement.

"Exactly! And Tamaki understands, even if some of the others don't. I suppose that's why I agreed to marry him." She fell silent, still shy when it came to Tamaki.

"Well, boys," said Izumi, "let's get to work!" He headed for the bedroom and reappeared carrying a small bag full of tools. The other men trooped out with him.

"Leaving us with the dishes, I see," Ayano complained. The three girls made quick work of the cleaning up, then Ayano dragged Haruhi over to the full wall of shelves on the far side of the living room.

"Feel free to borrow anything you want from here. We all give our books and things to Haruto when we're done with them – since we have much smaller apartments - and Haruto loves to read and watch movies. And now that he's working at Marukawa, he's getting some nice freebies! Where's that BL novel I saw? I've never dared to buy one, so I'm dying to read it!"

Haruhi slowly looked at all the shelves. Manga, novels, computer programming, true crime thrillers, cooking, gardening, architecture, curses (...?), a sex manual, anime, movies, magazines, audiobooks. "I can borrow anything? It's like a private library!"

"Haruhi!" They turned to see Momota waving from the front door. "Come over and tell us how to arrange things."

"Already?" She ran next door. "Oh!" Everything was assembled, empty boxes disposed of.

"You..how...? So fast!" she stammered.

"You had everything lined up correctly," Jin told her. "We had the right tools, so it was easy."

She pointed here and there and, like a miracle, her apartment soon looked like a comfortable little home. Ayano and Hazuki put away her kitchenwares, Haruto filled her little bookshelf, Izumi set up the television and computer. Momota even made her bed up while Jin and Ichimaru moved furniture around at her direction.

"It's perfect! Thank you all so very much! For dinner, and for all this!"

"Welcome home, Haruhi!" they chorused.

"And welcome to our family," Izumi added quietly. "It's a bit crazy, but I think you're going to fit right in. Never be afraid to ask any of us for help, alright?"

Haruhi nodded, overcome with relief and happiness and exhaustion.

"Okay, everyone out!" Hazuki Drill Sergeant ordered. "Haruhi, call that gorgeous man of yours and brag to him about how you set everything up yourself. Then get some sleep. Tomorrow we can show you where the local shops are, if you'd like. Or we can stay out of your hair."

Once they had all gone, Haruhi collapsed onto her new bed and stared at the ceiling. Here I am, all alone in my new apartment. She thought of her new neighbors, heard an echo of their voices bickering and laughing and scolding. And it's not lonely at all.

Phew! I made it to the end. Sorry, this one got a little long, but there are so many different characters and I didn't want to shortchange any of them. Will Ayano snare one of the twins? Will Ichimaru? (He's single too) Who knows what will happen next in the Tokyo Yaoiverse! (Not me!)