Disclaimer: I have no rights over any Ouran characters.

"Well, how was the Extravaganza?" Mamoru asked her on Monday morning.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Haruhi said as she settled herself at her desk.

"Zackarie was telling me that you were the belle of the ball," he said, propping himself against her desk and taking a sip of his coffee.

"Oh? And how would he know? He wasn't there either," she said as she pointedly turned away from him.

"Well, you see, Zackarie has this rather nice sister who just LOVES to talk."

"Alianore should learn to mind her own business."

"And you, Haruhi Fujioka, should learn to relax a bit."

"I do relax."

"Sure, when you're practicing your martial arts or sleeping. You need to relax more around people."

"Mamoru Tachiki, I am very relaxed around my friends. That's how you lot get me into so much trouble. Like the time you put that–"

"Okay! Okay!" He held up his hands, "You said you'd never speak of that at work!"

"Then leave my personal life outside of work. If you really want to discuss it than we can do so AFTER work, not during."

He grinned and slid off of her desk, "Sounds like a plan." He turned to walk away and then stopped and turned back around, "Oh! I almost forgot. Father has put me in charge of a very high profile case. I want you to handle the meetings with our client."

Haruhi frowned, Mamoru let her do a lot more than Mr. Tachiki wanted her to do, but he'd never let her lead a meeting with a client.

"What's going on? If this is so high-profile your father will not be happy to discover that I'm handling the meetings. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Yes, you see, I'm absolutely terrified of this client."

Haruhi scoffed, "You? Terrified? What, are we working with a mass murderer?"

"Worse."

Her eyes grew wide, "Worse? How can they be worse than a mass murder?"

"You'll see."

XXX

As soon as Haruhi walked into the meeting room she realized her career as a lawyer was going to be destroyed, all because she had the incredible desire to go find Mamoru and kill him.

She was sure Mr. Tachiki wouldn't approve of that.

Sitting at the table, writing something on a tablet, was none other than Kyoya Ootori.

Haruhi took a deep breath and walked over to the table, taking the seat across from him. He looked up only when she spoke.

"Hello, Mr. Ootori. I'm Ms. Fujioka and I'll be working closely with you so as to achieve your goals."

He looked her up and down, his face almost entirely unreadable. A small hint of puzzlement appeared in his eyes when they met hers, but was gone again by the time he'd moved on to observing another part of her.

"And, pray tell, where is Mr. Tachiki?"

"Well, Mr. Tachiki is out of the country at the moment. Mr. Kenichi Tachiki is currently working with a client, as is Mr. Mamoru Tachiki."

Kyoya abruptly closed his tablet case, stood up and gave her a bow. "I'm sorry to take up your time Ms. Fujioka. I'll come back when Mr. Tachiki or one of his sons can meet with me personally, rather than with an assistant."

Haruhi had to fight to keep a scowl off of her face.

"Mr. Ootori, I am no one's assistant," she quibbled, she was more of a silent partner with Mamoru than an assistant, after all. "I graduated top of my class from Tohoku Law School. I hold a Bachelors from Oxford in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. I also studied abroad during high school at Brekleys Academy in Australia. I am highly qualified and able to assist you, even if my last name is not Tachiki."

Kyoya had been halfway to the door when she had started talking, and it was there that he had stopped once she had begun.

Now he turned to face her, raising one delicate eyebrow, "Well, well, Ms. Fujioka, that is quite an ego."

"No, it is not an ego. I am a lawyer and so must understand my own skills and limitations perfectly so as to best achieve my client's goals." She opened her binder and unlocked the small tablet contained within. Then she looked over at him, still standing there watching her curiously. "Now, Mr. Ootori, are we going to discuss your issue? Or should I inform Mr. Tachiki that you no longer want our services?"

His other eyebrow rose to meet the first, and then he smirked. "I don't think Mr. Tachiki will like losing my family's business. If I walk out right now you will lose your job."

Haruhi smiled coolly at him, "I don't think so."

He studied her for a moment. The silence stretched between them.

She sure hoped he took her bluff. She thought he would. She felt like she knew him quite well after all their physical and verbal dancing on the past Saturday.

Not that he knew it was her. Nothing at all about her appearance gave away her charade as 'Princess'.

And then he smiled, "Ms. Fujioka I do believe you and I will work quite well together."

Haruhi smiled pleasantly back at him as he resumed his seat, "I do hope so, Mr. Ootori. Now, how about we discuss the issue? Since you were unable to give any information prior to this meeting."

Kyoya nodded and opened his tablet back up. He then proceeded to tell her, in great detail, about how the government was trying to break up all zaibatsus, since they viewed all of that power in the hands of a single family as very threatening.

Haruhi, as someone who had grown up in an 'average' family could sort of understand where the government was coming from. The less powerful, but equally successful keiretsu was arguably a better system. But, she also understood that destroying the zaibatsus would cause thousands of people to lose their jobs, just like it had back in the 1940s, when the US had started destroying them. In many ways a zaibatsu was like a constitutional monarchy, albeit, with the monarch holding a lot of power. This allowed zaibatsus like the Ootori Group to take greater risks because they weren't at risk of being hurt by their shareholders.

She'd done her reading up on Kyoya's family, she knew the Ootori Group was responsible for many of the advances in modern medicine; much of this was because they had the funds to invest in research that wouldn't pay off for a long, long time.

"So, Ms. Fujioka, you can see how stopping this benefits more than just the Ootori Group," he said as he showed the projected consequences such a dissolution would cause.

"I can't help but see it, Mr. Ootori. And, don't worry, we here at Tachiki and Sons will ensure that this never happens."

He smiled at her, "Of course you will, that is what my family is paying you for, is it not?"

"You're also paying us to protect you from any and all malpractice suits. Oh, and to settle all legal needs when you procure new technology or property. Am I not right?"

His smile disappeared, "Ms. Fujioka, despite your competency, you need to watch that tongue of yours. It will get you into trouble one day."

"It usually gets me out of trouble, not into it." She smiled at him, as she stood up and closed her binder. "Now, Mr. Ootori, I'll review everything we went over today, as well as the documents you emailed me. Once I've done some research I'll be in touch. It should be but a day or two before you hear from me."

"Good day, Ms. Fujioka. Here's my card, please call my personal cell."

He handed her a very simple card, she tucked it into her binder and then escorted him to the elevator.

As soon as the elevator doors closed she turned and stormed down the hallway. People jumped out of their way when they saw her expression.

She was going to KILL Mamoru.

Or at least kick him around a bit.

Author's Note: So, I'm feeling nice. Here's the second, true meeting between Kyoya and Haruhi. And you don't have to wait until Sunday. Also, if you want a more detailed description of a zaibatsu, check out wikipedia. It's rather fascinating.

Also, people see what they expect to see. Even Kyoya.

Enjoy! :)