Kaoru x Reader -- Easy

    The small neighbourhood downtown was running steadily with streams of people flowing into gift shoppes, around outdoor delis, and against pretty picture window storefronts. It was surprisingly busy for a weekday, but no one had the heart to stay inside with such paradisiac weather. The sky was robin’s egg blue with only whispers of trailing clouds nearly invisible for the lemondrop sun above. The kind of weather that both fatcats and commoners could appreciate, a young man thought to himself. He seemed to blend in well enough just another highschool beau, looking mischievous and absolutely charming seated upon a short brick wall between the consignment boutique and the market. Of course, many gaggles of pretty girls scuttled by his perch, giggling sweetly, and upon further inspection, his street clothes were artificially battered and from brands charging many thousands of yen, but that was probably the closest he could get to inconspicuous.

    Hitachiin Kaoru found inconspicuity refreshing. He often came to this market and shoppe street after meeting Fujioka Haruhi. Occasionally his brother tagged along, but Hikaru’s found the commoner’s place charming in the way one might find a performing animal charming. Kaoru, on the other hand, genuinely found comfort in this simple setting. At least once a week he would disappear from the Hitachiin manor just to spend the day sitting in exactly one place. It was pleasant, no one knowing who he was, where he came from, or expecting things of him. And even better that no one knew where he went each week, not even his ever-clingy twin. This was the last place they would look.

    A large group of gangly juniour high students ambled buy without a cared in the world. Kaoru wondered if exams just finished in public school. Haruhi was always less resistant to hanging out with the host club if a round of exams had just finished, and Kaoru wondered if all commoner students were as grade-concerned as her. But something told him that Haruhi may be a special case.

    He slipped off his bench and prodded his way into a flow of people, padding slowly by window shop store fronts. Hm, the stuff in these places looked kind of nice, actually. And some were really unique. Might make nice gifts. Not that he had too many people to give gifts to. He sighed and tipped his head back towards the sky. Usually these outings cheered him up a bit, but not today. Kaoru was the sort of person who needed a bit of space to himself so as to sort out the things in his own head, and even Hikaru sensed that with his thick skin. They loved each other dearly like only brothers and best friends could, but Kaoru knew how important it was that they slowly develop separately sometime. This was one of those days where Kaoru felt especially blended, like he wasn’t an individual, just one half of someone called Hikaru. He was used to this feeling; it always wore off eventually. But that was just an excuse.

    Without warning, an unidentified force clapped itself against his back like a magnet against an iron spine. Kaoru gasped and stumbled forward some steps, the air slammed from his lungs. Dizzily recovering from the impact, he realised that there were two arms locked around his waist. Was he getting mugged? In broad daylight?! That didn’t make sense!!

    “Kaoru-kun!”

    It occurred to him that the arms were much too thin and small for a thug. Snapping out of his stupour he twisted around to identify his assailer. It stared up at him with large, beautifully (e/c) eyes. 

     “…(S-surname)-san?”

    (Name) relaxed against him, even her visage visibly filling with relief. Then it switched to alarm and she hastily released her hold on him and stepped back. “S-sorry,” she squeaked out, clutching her school-issued schoolbag in front of her and blushing in shame. “I didn’t mean to attack you! I just, uh,” she grinned sheepishly up at him. “I got lost again. I saw someone I knew and got excited.”

    Kaoru didn’t know why he was so shocked to see his classmate outside of school, especially when she was middle-class, so it would be perfectly natural to see her in a commoner’s gathering place. But there was something definitely odd about seeing the ladies’ Ouran Academy uniform against such a backdrop. But in the same way that Kaoru’s streetclothes were of the choicest threads, (Name) wore the fine uniform gown like a play dress. It was made expertly and cost a fortune, but she didn’t try to muster up any of the elegance that such an outfit usually demanded. There were actually quite a few snags in the cloth, and her stockings had ripped up the side. But stranger than this was that she made it work perfectly. It looked completely natural on her, much better than the Ouran ladies… Kaoru snapped out of his musing and took note of the truly worrisome aspect of this. “(Surname)-san, whyu are you still wearing your school uniform? It gathers too much attention,” he looked about and indeed many passersby stared and whispered. “You could get robbed if people know you’re an Ouran student.”

    “Y-yeah, I know,” (Name) glanced at the surrounding crowd fleetingly, acting a bit like a scared rabbit. “But, you know, I got lost.”

    “Wait, you haven’t been home yet?” she shook her head and he gaped at her. “(Name)-chan, school ended near three hours ago!!”

    “I got lost.” When that did not cure this shock she began explaining the circumstances casually. “Well, it takes near an hour to walk from the school to the nearest shuttle each day, but for some reason it didn’t come today. Maybe I missed it? Anyways, so I walked a while more and found another bus, but there this uniform really made me stand out and there were bunches of leering men on that bus, so I got off after we got to a more populated sort of place. I’ve just been wandering because I’m so tired I can’t read the kanji on the street signs, aaaaannnd now I found you!” she beamed up at him, her whole face lit up with a dress that made her look like a sunflower. “Lucky break, huh?”

    That most angelic smile almost assured him, but Kaoru had a lot more sense than most boys his age, so his concern did not abate. “(Name)-chan, you’re a sixteen year old girl! That’s really dangerous! Do you do this every day??”

    “Yeah, of course I do! Well, usually it’s just get on the shuttle and walk another thirty-five minutes home, but you know!”

    Kaoru stared at (Name’s) smiling face in utter disbelief. He finally took a calming breath. “…Alright. Where do you live?”

    “Huh?”

    “Your street name, what is it?”

    “Oh, u-uh,” she offered him a square of paper that had been clenched in her petite hands. There was Kanji smeared with graphite and dirt on it. He studied it and nodded. “Okay. Got it. Come on, I’m taking you home.”

    “(Name)-chan,” he gently took her by her shoulders and bent down a bit to look into her confused countenance. “You’ve had a long day, you’re completely lost, and you’re an attractive young lady. You need an escort, and I know this part of town well. I’m really worried about you,” she glanced away a little guiltily. “so I’ll take you home, okay?”

    She stared down at the ground, toying with the handle on her schoolbag. “But, you don’t have to, you know?”

    “Of course I do.” he said firmly. “We’re friends.”

    (Name) looked up into his face suddenly, her eyes sparkling. “Friends? Really?”

    Kaoru blinked a few times, taken aback. “Of course we are.”

    “Yay! Oh, I have such trouble making friends!” she clasped his hand in both of hers in her excitement and grinned up at him. “This means that you can’t ever call me ‘san’ again, okay? And if I tackle you at school it’s totally your fault!” she laughed. “And you’re really sweet, so I’m lucky to have a friend like you. Let’s go!” before he could even register her statements she tugged him to go down the street. But he planted his feet down firm. She turned back to him in surprise. He tried not to laugh.

    “…This way (Name)-chan.”

    “Oh, yeah! Ha, guess I’ll follow you.” She casually slipped her arm into his and his mind went momentarily blank until she spoke again.

    “So how do you know this place, anyways? Didn’t think anyone from Ouran would come by here.”

    “Oh, they don’t,” he replied just in time, shaking the blankness from his head and guiding her along the busy streets, taking care that the smaller girl wasn’t swept away. “We followed Haruhi to the arket this one time when she invited—well, we came over to her house.” (Name) laughed lightly at this. She was becoming familiar with the host club’s ways. “I like coming here. It’s…peaceful, in its own way. Real nice.” For some reason, words were failing him the longer this girl smiled. “Hikaru used to tag along but--”

    “—he gets bored easily.” (Name) finished his sentence and clapped a hand over her mouth. He stared at her with wide eyes and she looked up sheepishly. “S-sorry. It’s just that you two are so different. Hikaru is a lot of fun,” she added quickly. “But he doesn’t appreciate and think about things like you do. I like that quality.”

    Kaoru couldn’t quite keep a blush from dusting his cheeks this time. “Y-you’re kind of sweet--” then he stopped dead in the middle of the walking path. (Name) almost tripped over him but saved herself and turned to her friend with concern. “Kaoru-kun, what’s wrong?”

    He stared at her. “You called me Kaoru.”

    She tilted her head to the side inquisitively. “…Yeah?”

    “When I was walking all alone, you came up to me--”

    “—Well it was more of an ambush than a ‘come up to you’--”

    “—and you called me Kaoru.”

    “Uh, yes. Yes I did.” She stared back at him, genuinely perplexed.

    “(Name)-chan,” he said softly. “You can tell me apart from my brother?”

    “Is that what this is all about?” she smiled and shook her head good-naturedly. “Of course I can tell you apart! I told you, you two are totally different! Although, if you promise not to tell anyone,” she winked mischievously. “I find that you’re a lot easier to be around. I really like you.” His face completely lit up and his mouth went dry as she smiled at him. He didn’t even process her chattering for the next few minutes as they strolled along.

    “Oh, hey! This is my place!”

    Kaoru snapped out of his daze to find that they were by a street sign with kanji that matched that square of paper, in front of an apartment complex not unlike Haruhi’s.

    “Hey, um…”

    If Kaoru’s eyes weren’t deceiving him, (Name) was the one blushing now, a lovely pink colouring her complexion. She averted her lovely eyes and subtly clung a little tighter to her escort’s arm. “I know you know this place a lot better than I do, but,” she peeked up at him, braving a smile. “I found this really cute little ice cream shoppe a few blocks down. Really out of the way, in this sunny spot of town. I can get changed real quick—would you like to go with me?”

    And that was when Kaoru said the stupidest thing in all of his life. “Uh, my dad needs me home in half an hour.”

    (Name) wilted at this announcement. Kaoru’s heart plunged into stomach at the sight of this beautiful girl suddenly shadowed with sadness. His mind broke into a sprint to find how he could make this girl smile again. What was today? Thursday? “B-but I come here every Thursday!” he blurted out. “Can you do next Thursday?”

    As a smile blossomed on her pretty face, Kaoru was thankful of his quick thinking. “Yes, I can! I can do that!” his heart skipped a beat. “You make a promise, okay?”

    Kaoru found that he was unable to stop grinning. “Next Thursday, after school. Got it. I promise. Uh, meet you here?”

    “Yeah, right here. My apartment is the one up the stairs and three door down.”

    “Okay. Thursday. Uh,” he scratched the back of his head with a goofy grin on his face. “Right, uh, have a good day (Name)-chan.”

    “Y-yeah, you too.” She giggled and kept grinning and grinning.

    He turned to leave before remembering something. “Oh, (Name)?”

    “Yes, Kaoru?”

    “I’ll send one of our chauffeurs to take you home after school each day, okay?”

    “Oh, Kaoru you really don’t have to--”

    “No, no, I insist. Because we’re friends. I care about you.”

    Her grin stretched even wider. “Yeah, friends. So, Thursday.”

    “Yeah, uh,” they stared at each other for a full ten seconds just smiling and blushing. “…see you.” Kaoru took off full-sprint down the street, hopping and skipping as he went. Thursday, ice cream with (Name). With the friend who knew him as Kaoru and wanted to know him more. Nothing felt so right in his life.