A Song For Another Time - A Hikaru Hitachiin Story

Chapter One - All I Know is a Simple Name

Fall in America was different than he had imagined. It was a strange combination of wet and cool and it seemed every street in the suburbs surrounding Boston were coated with the remnants of summer. He kept his head down, a hoodie protecting his dyed black hair from the light breeze, as he walked his way to the university.

He had no idea why he had been summoned to the school's library by his friend, but he welcomed the opportunity to walk alone. Ever since moving to America he and his friends had been closer than ever - mere apartments apart - and though it was so uncharacteristic of him, he was grateful to brood in his newfound singularity. It was hard enough that he and his brother were in a new place in suboptimal housing but everyone he was close to was also adjusting to the life change and not everyone was adjusting easily. Well, except her, but she was already used to living in a small place with little access to amenities.

It was so strange how everything in this city was simultaneously within a feasible walking distance but seem incredibly far away and before he knew it he was face to face with the school's library. He opened the heavy wood door and quickly realized he didn't actually know where Mori was.

"Why did I even come when he asked," he thought out loud, annoyed at himself for so easily bending to the will of others.

Despite his anger, something inside him told him to keep going and he stepped forward on a mission to find his friend with a fierce determination in eyes. He got about four steps before a soft voice rang out somewhere near his right shoulder.

"Uh, excuse me?"

Stopping in his tracks, he turned his head toward the owner of the seemingly mousy (though she was honestly just trying to be polite) voice with an unamused expression wavering behind his eyes. Great, a girl, he thought sarcastically. Time to put on the charm. He readjusted his posture slightly, preparing to don his best host club persona but the girl got the first word in

"Are you Hikaru? Mori is in the third floor conference room," she said briefly before turning on her heel and disappearing among the bookshelves. He watched her long brown hair fade into the well-worn novels covering every surface as far as the eye could see, caught off guard by her brevity. She hadn't even taken a second look at him, leaving him feeling deflated after the effort put into his preparations. Was he already losing his touch? It was better to dwell on such things and so he quickly turned his attention to the staircase and made his way to the third floor.

When he finally found Mori, his friend was in a room closed off by glass walls, clearly in the middle of some kind of school-related discussion with five or six students. Mori was at the head of the table with his laptop open while another student stood in front of a projection at the side of the table.

"He's still busy. Why did he ask me to come here if he was going to be busy," Hikaru fumed inwardly as he turned to sit on a chair outside the room. He pulled out his phone while kicking up his feet onto a nearby table and was just about to text Mori a strongly worded message when the students began to file out of the room.

He lifted his head at the noise and caught a glimpse of a short, blonde head of hair making its way into the room. Hikaru clicked his phone screen off and shoved the device back into his pocket, frustrated. He dropped his feet, rose from his chair and begrudgingly made his way into the conference room.

"Hi Hika-chan," exclaimed a very bubbly looking Honey. "We're so glad you came!"

"I don't know why you asked me here. You guys look busy and if you wanted to hang out, we could have just done it at the apartment when you got done with school work," Hikaru responded.