"Nekozawa-senpai, where do you want these books?"

"There's a bookshelf in the study. You can just place them in there and I'll organize them later, it's the second room on the right."

"Okay, gotcha."

Haruhi thought that if her high school self could see her right now, then the young girl might have been confused by the situation she found herself in. But it's been years since she graduated from Ouran, and now at the age of 25, the woman was a proud career woman who finally started out as a new lawyer at her firm.

Everyone from the Host club branched out to live their own lives, but they all still kept in touch with each other. Tamaki moved on to a foreign university where he studied business with Kyoya, and now the two of them diverted from their parents' companies and started their own start-up business together. Huni and Mori both followed in their families' footsteps and took over their dojos respectively. Like his mother, Hikaru became a very popular fashion designer with his younger brother Kaoru supporting him as a talented hair and makeup stylist.

The most surprising thing she probably didn't expect in her life, was to become close friends with her upperclassman Umehito Nekozawa in college. It was a pretty unexpected development. She actually became good friends with his little sister Kirimi first, and some way along the lines the two of them became good friends too.

Currently, she was actually helping the tall man move into his new condo.

"I think we've got a good chunk of everything put away. Why don't we take a break for now? There's a good restaurant down the street, why don't we go? It'll be my treat."

Haruhi, being the same easily convinced glutton that she was in high school, agreed and got up to stretch her back. She hadn't grown any taller since she was a teenager, but Nekozawa seemed to grow an extra few inches to add to his already impressive height. Now he was more than a foot taller than her, so it hurt to look up at him sometimes.

He'd gotten over his photophobia a little bit since entering college. He actually started going to therapy for it for the sake of his little sister. Despite that though, he still wore a black wig whenever he went out and even started occasionally wearing dark contacts to mask his blue eyes. He said something about people not taking him seriously because of how he looked, but she suspected that he'd grown tired of all the love letters (and creepy) gifts that he got from girls.

The one who sent him a handmade love doll made out of their own hair might've done it for him.

Somehow, Nekozawa ended up behind her and ran his fingers through her now long brown hair. She'd grown it out after she graduated high school. After the secret of her gender was finally revealed to the rest of the students at Ouran, she didn't feel the need to keep cutting it anymore. That's where a strange kind of habit started to develop between her and her former upperclassman.

Whenever he would notice that she was starting to be bothered by her hair, he'd always go behind her and start tying her hair up for her. It must have been an unconscious habit of his from taking care of his sister. He's done it so many times now that she'd just gotten used to it.

His long fingers weaved expertly through her hair. The sensation of his touch on her head sent gentle tingles throughout her body, but she just supposed that was a normal reaction. And it didn't really bother her to have him that close to her. His looming figure always near him gave her a sense of comfort whenever they were out.

Now that she thought about it, he had always been the considerate type. Back in college, he was always the one who stayed with her late in the library (with her studying law while he was up writing a long essay), and he always made sure that she got home alright, even going so far as driving her to her house personally. He lived alone before for a time after he reached 21, and since then he'd learned how to cook for himself and generally how to become independent thanks to her help. She was always the first one to taste any new dishes he made and he would always beam in joy whenever she told him it was delicious. He always made sure he was there for her when she was incredibly stressed out too, even though he himself had a lot on his plate.

Honestly speaking, he was a pretty good guy. It was a shame he was still single.

"Are you ready?"

The soft whisper of his voice right beside her ear always seemed to surprise her, and Haruhi responded by playfully elbowing him in the stomach.

"Yeah, I'm all set to go senpai."

Nekozawa was at his front door already putting on his shoes, but he was pouting at Haruhi while he was still bent over.

"I'm not your senpai anymore Haruhi. When are you going to start just calling me normally?"

She laughed at his pouting face. He still acted so childishly even though he was already 28 years old.

"I don't get it Nekozawa-san. You're such a nice guy, how come you aren't married yet?"

The man leaned back in his chair with a contemplative look on his face. He hummed to himself as he fiddled with the chopsticks in his hand.

"If the woman I like agrees to be my girlfriend, then maybe one day I could get married to her too."

Haruhi's mouth formed a small 'o' shape as she used her napkin to cover it. So there was someone he liked? She wondered who exactly the lucky lady was.

"Well, I'm sure whoever she is, she'd be a fool to say no to someone like you."

"Coming from you, I'm feeling confident then." He said, giving her a playful smile.

"Is she someone I know?"

Nekozawa gave her a strange look like he didn't know if she was asking seriously or not. A sudden thought seemed to pass through him, and he was back to his usual pleasant smile.

"I believe she is." He continued on. "We're pretty close."

Haruhi's smile faltered just a little bit. This whole time she had actually come to believe that she had been the closest person to him. They spent a lot of time together, excluding the times they spent at work of course. If he had someone else, how had she not known about her before? Surely he would have mentioned someone else while they were together, but he never did.

"So what about her made you fall in love?"

She didn't know why she was still pursuing the conversation when it so obviously made her feel upset. All these years should've matured her more, not the opposite. She'd be in denial if she didn't think that she was attracted to the taller man, and now hearing that his heart belonged to someone else made her feel rotten, especially since she herself did nothing to go beyond friendship.

Nekozawa on the other hand, noticing his companion's obviously unhappy frown, seemed to be enjoying himself. He placed his elbow on the table, placing his cheek in his open palm as he smiled at her in a way that can only be described as charming.

"Well for starters, she's an incredibly intelligent woman. Conversations with her just flow and I feel very comfortable just being with her."

Haruhi nodded along, swallowing a now tasteless bite of her food.

"She can be a bit dense at times, but I don't have a problem with it. I find it very cute. Although lately, I do admit it's been getting a little frustrating trying to get through to her about my feelings."

She gave him a polite smile, one she would always look to mask her feelings at work.

"If she's someone who's caught your eye, then I'm sure she's a wonderful person." She paused for a moment in hesitation, already feeling regret for what she was about to ask. "Is she pretty?"

Nekozawa leaned towards her now, a dreamy look crossing his bright blue eyes as he seemed to sigh to himself.

"She's the most beautiful woman I've ever met. Sometimes I wonder if she'd be satisfied with someone like me though."

The young woman's eyes flared, wondering just how on earth someone would be dissatisfied with someone like him.

"That's absurd! You're an absolutely wonderful person with a fantastic personality! I believe that it would be a total loss for that woman to not have someone like you by your side. You need to have some more confidence in yourself senpai."

His smile widened as he inched closer to her.

"Then do you find me handsome, Haruhi?"

"Yes, you're very handsome."

It was his turn to back up a bit in surprise. He had forgotten that Haruhi had always been a straightforward person and his small attempt to tease her backfired, leaving him to feeling a little embarrassed this time.

"Thank you for your honesty as always," he chuckled. "So then, what do you suppose I do with this girl then?"

She had mixed feelings about this, and she took a deep breath as she thought about her next words. She had always been the determined type and was one who always strived to get what she wanted. But at the same time, she respected Nekozawa too much to be a hindrance. She would never be the person to stop the people she loved from going after their own happiness.

"I think you should ask her out senpai. If you really like this person, then you need to go for it. Who knows? Maybe she likes you back."

This just made the man grin even wider as he hummed thoughtfully to himself. He seemed to think for a moment, and Haruhi offered him silence as she dealt with her own complicated feelings.

"You know what, you're right. There's really no use in putting it off any further."

Haruhi was about to offer him some words of encouragement but was surprised when he faced her with a serious look in his eyes. He carefully took her hands in his and gave them a nervous squeeze. Heat crept up Haruhi's cheeks as she struggled to make sense of his sudden actions.

"Senpai? What are you—"

"I love you Haruhi. I've loved you since we were still in high school and I'm confident that I will love you in all the years to come. I may not be the most perfect man out there but you give me the strength and confidence to try my best at everything. You're a wonderful soul and it would be my greatest dream to join you in your journey through life. Will you do me the pleasure of becoming my girlfriend with the intention of marriage?"

"Huh?" She said with wide eyes, completely taken aback. "Was that…a confession? You…like me?"

Nekozawa looked just as surprised as she did before he let out a wide, goofy grin.

"Of course I do. You just got it now?" He managed to say with a small laugh, taking this opportunity to plant a small kiss on her palm.

"Even though I've been so obvious about it this whole time?"

She felt like a teenager again for some reason. It wasn't bad enough that she fell back to her dense ways, but she thought about how much time she wasted fretting over her feelings that would have readily been reciprocated.

"Well? What do you say?"

Haruhi glared at him playfully, though there was the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Judging by the wide smile that Nekozawa had on his face, he already knew what her answer would be.

"Is that even a question? I may not be as good at words as you, but I'm confident I will reciprocate all that you give. Of course, I'll be your girlfriend, will the full intention of one day becoming your wife."