A Song For Another Time - A Hikaru Hitachiin Story

Chapter Forty One - I Can See the End as it Begins

They had commandeered the limousine Mori had picked up Rose in for their ride back to Haruhi's apartment in that expensive building where all the Japanese exchange students were taking residence. Or, at least, they would be for a few more weeks.

It wasn't a long trip from the Four Seasons to their destination, but it provided plenty of time for Haruhi to bemoan (a little) about how close all of her friends lived and how 'they were never supposed to be here in the first place.' Tamaki had even schemed to rent the apartment right next to his girlfriend's, which came with the added bonus of a door that linked the rooms. (Haruhi had promptly placed a bookshelf in front of it and that had been the end of that particular dream of his.) A year abroad away from everything she knew had quickly turned into another half-baked plot of her clingy friends... and now look at where they were!

As much as Haruhi played up the annoyance with her friends, it was hard to miss the fondness in her eyes when she spoke about them and Rose could practically hear 'sure they're idiots, but they're my idiots' echoing behind every sentence.

It was relatively quiet when they arrived outside the apartments — the buzzing of the street lights and exhaust of the city buses humming lowly behind the murmuring of the night's stragglers — and they kept their voices low as they continued their conversation up the stairs to Haruhi's floor, high heels in hand, and through the hallway to her door.

Haruhi unlocked her door quickly, grumbling about the rose petals littering the linoleum floor outside her apartment, briefly explaining her boyfriend's hair-brained plan to make their prom romantic despite how they'd spend the lion's share of the night apart. She pushed inside, careful to kick the stray petals back outside the door after Rose entered and then shut the door with a sigh.

"One of these days, I'll get some peace," she huffed, pushing herself off the door and throwing her shoes under the entrance table. She pulled the sparkling pins out of her hair and placed them in a small knick-knack bowl as she directed Rose to her bedroom with instructions to change into some of the clothes in the bottom drawer of her dresser.

"I'm not used to dressing up in so much frill," she continued, pulling her earrings out and placing them with the pins. "I'm much more used to going to these things as a man."

Despite her carrying on in such a nonchalant manner, immediately taking to gathering snacks and starting a bag of popcorn, Rose, in the bedroom, paused in the middle of slipping into an oversized sweatshirt and turned toward the cracked door trying to process if she'd heard her right. Blinking a few times, she decided the words must have muddled in her head and turned back toward the open dresser drawer to pick out a pair of sleep pants.

Without much deliberation, she tugged at a navy waistband and pulled it on, setting to synching the drawstrings as she stepped outside the bedroom. The fabric stretched beyond her feet and as she struggled to scrunch the legs, she noticed the white hearts stretching up them. "You said these were your fathers?"

"He's got different tastes than me," Haruhi said, looking up from the bowl she was pouring popcorn into. "He's always liked women's clothing, even before I was born. But he started going by Ranka a few years back instead of his government name."

"Oh," responded Rose, taking a beat to sit on the couch before continuing, "you know, I think that probably explains why you're able to take so much in stride. I swear nothing phases you."

"Nah. If anything, the reason my friends have little effect on me is because my dad is a clingy, overprotective, lush who would break down every time I showed even an ounce of independence," Haruhi corrected, stone-faced as she moved to the living area and placed the popcorn on the coffee table between the television and the sofa. "That, and by this point, I feel like there is very little those boys could do that would surprise me anymore."