MAIKO TAKATA was not good at making friends. She only had one friend, and that was Haruhi Fujioka. But when Haruhi finds themselves becoming a host in Ouran Academy's notorious Host Club, Maiko meets some new people that allow her to flourish in a n...
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MAIKO.
I woke up the next morning extremely tired in an empty manor. I bid my mother off last night as she boarded a plane for Paris once more — we had a conversation beforehand, where she revealed that she didn't want to stay in Japan. She wanted to be in Paris for the rest of her time, and Japan just wasn't her home anymore.
It wasn't that big of a surprise for me, but it still put me in somewhat of an awkward position. I was given the option to study here in Japan for university, or follow my mother to France and leave everything behind. If I was given this option a year ago, my answer would be obvious: I would leave for France in a heartbeat.
But now that I had such a good support system, I wasn't so sure I wanted to leave that behind.
I didn't want to start over again. To be alone all over again.
She said that this trip wouldn't be so long, so I wouldn't be surprised if the conversation came up again when she would return.
Since it was a weekend, I didn't have to go to school. Instead, I decided to head to Haruhi's house. This wasn't a new occurrence — Haruhi's house felt more like home than my own. I absolutely loved visiting, and her dad always treated me like his own.
I stepped out of the sleek limo that my family owned, thanking the driver on the way out. Walking up the stairs, I found Haruhi's apartment easily and knocked on the door. They opened the door fully dressed, smiling widely when they realized it was me.
"Maiko! I'm about to run some errands, want to tag along?" They offered, stepping out of the unit and locking the door behind them.
"Sure," I looped my arm through theirs. "Is your dad home?"
They shook their head. "He's coming home later. Pretty sure he had a longer shift at work today." I hummed in response. "Your mom left last night?"
I nodded slowly, mentally debating if I should ask for their opinion. I felt the cool breeze tickling my skin as I sighed in comfort. I paused before I began, listening to the quiet chirps around us as we walked through their neighbourhood.
"We had this um, this conversation before she left," I started off, kicking at the loose rocks on the side.
Haruhi furrowed their brows. "What kind of conversation?"
"She wants to go back to France and stay there permanently," I gave them a timid smile. "She gave me the option of choosing to stay here and continue school, or to accompany her in France to follow in her footsteps with her company."
"Oh..." They trailed off with a thoughtful expression. "Well, what do you want, Mai?"
I stopped in my footsteps, drawing my brows together. What did I want? I didn't know.
"That choice is completely up to you," Haruhi continued, pulling me along with them to continue walking. "Obviously I'd want you to stay, but that would be selfish to ask you to stay just for me. What I'd want the most would be for you to be happy, wherever that might be."
