Response to Cheshire 2313 fic request.

He looked at the menu and the flowers in the glass vase. The light had prickled through the glass and colored the water inside into a warm, honey hue, just like the golden chrysanthemums in the crystal vase that smelled fresh and sweet and stroked his senses. They reminded him of happy days he had spent with his cousin, training for tournaments. Those days made him feel content, but they were in past as he no longer engaged in it. He had family responsibilities and duties that required him to abandon Kendo training.

She had called him a day ago, and Mori couldn't say he wasn't surprised to receive a phone call from her. It had been a few years since they had seen each other. He was so startled he had not uttered a word after initially hearing her voice for almost half a minute. But then when he spoke, he thought he sounded strange, a little confused and embarrassed. He thought his voice gave away the array of emotions that babbled in his chest. She didn't give any indication she had noticed anything, and the calm and cheerful tone of her voice had calmed him.

He had no idea how to treat females. In his host club years, he just sat there and did whatever he was good at, rarely talked and heavily relayed on others to drag him around and dress him up in costumes. But he reasoned it wasn't enough to charm a woman. He wasn't even sure he wanted to charm any women. But she was different. He liked her. The moment he had seen her, his heart had taken her as a little brother. But that didn't last long. That day in the club when he rushed to free her from Tamaki-san's arms, he had felt her warm body against his own, her femininity, and his heart had vowed loyalty to hers.

She had asked for a meeting and had even picked the place. He came early. He didn't want to be late. It wouldn't be a manly thing to do to make a woman wait for him. But he was anxious to see her. He fidgeted the menu in his hand and wondered if they had any sweets he could buy for his cousin. Honey had been married for a year with Reiko-san. Mori couldn't understand the woman, but Honey was happy with her, and that was all that mattered.

She walked in, and he jumped off of his seat, involuntarily knocking down the chair. She looked like a nymph with her soulful eyes, braided hair that reached her back and the blue dress she had worn. Mori felt even more anxious than he was before. His breath got caught in his throat, and he stared at her forgetting about everything.

"Mori-senpai," she smiled at him. "Good to see you."

He nodded. He wanted to say he was glad to see her too, but the words got lost in his head, and all he could do was to pull the chair out for her. She smiled again with that pretty smile of hers and sat down, putting down her backpack on the floor.

"I must have surprised you with my call," she said pleasantly with a soft chuckle. "I came back a month ago, and now I am working in Tokyo."

He nodded again. She had grown up. Her hair was long. Mori liked long hair. It looked pretty and suited her. He wanted to tell her that she became beautiful. But the words didn't seem to be proper for the moment. For a person who said so little, Mori had a very busy mind.

"I have read about Honey-senpai's wedding," she said, taking the menu. "I feel terrible for not being there. Must have been really fun."

"Have you decided what you would like to order?" the waitress spoke, looking at both of them with a smile. He was glad she appeared because his nervousness grew, and he didn't know what to do.

He preferred to point at the dish in the menu with his finger instead of voicing it. The waitress smiled. "And you miss?"

"I will have a salad," Haruhi smiled.

"Anything else?" the woman gave them a beaming smile.

Both of them shook their heads. Haruhi's dress was strapless. Her bare shoulders were very pretty. He never thought women could have pretty shoulders, but he guessed everything about Haruhi was pretty.

"Are yous still practicing kendo?" she asked.

"No," he shook his head. "I had to take care of family business."

She knew that he had studied law as well. Although, he didn't seem to be interested in the part of law she was. "I wanted to meet all of you guys. But you were the only person who hadn't changed his number."

He rarely thought about things around him and changing phone numbers were inconvenient. He thought she wanted to meet him only, but it turned out he was the only one she could reach. He couldn't say if it saddened him or made him disappointed. Maybe both of them. The dinner with her went quietly. He wanted to ask questions, but exactly what kind of questions he could have asked, he didn't know. Did she have a man in her life? Was she single? Did she and Tamaki-san separate? He hadn't heard of him either. Were they still together? Maybe she had a new man in her life.

"It was nice spending time with you," Haruhi said at the end of the dinner. "I hope we will be able to meet again."

He nodded. He wanted to meet her again. And maybe next time he would ask all the questions that came to his mind. Yes, next time definitely.

"I will pay," he said when she tried to grab the bill. He looked at her clumsily, wondering if he might have offended her, but then she smiled, and he sighed relieved internally.

"Next time, I will get you ice-cream then," she giggled.

Ice-cream? Yes, he wanted to have ice-cream with her. Truly, he was glad to have any reason to meet her again. After so many years seeing her made him happy. Happiness was a feeling he loved and couldn't dismiss.

Haruhi sighed as she walked into the office. She had so much work to do. There were so many cases, and she wasn't sure she had time to deal with all of them as they piled up on her desk. She grabbed a cup of coffee from the cafeteria and went back to her room, only to find new paperwork and a huge case awaiting for her. She slumped into her chair and sighed.

"Fujioka-san," Soga-san spoke. "You seem to have a scandalous murder case just in the first month of your arrival. I am not envying you."

"Scandalous murder case?" Haruhi quickly jumped up and putting her coffee cup aside, grabbed the paperwork.

Her eyes widened when she saw the contents. No, how could it have happened. Akira Morinozuka was an arrested suspect of a murder case. Wasn't the man Mori-senpai's father? She gasped seeing the photos from the scene. No, she had met the man a few times, and she was certain the man couldn't have been a murderer. It was impossible. It has been a week since she met Mori-senpai. She was waiting for a call from him, but there wasn't any. She thought Mori-senpai was just being himself and remained silent, but apparently there was a huge scandal around his family.

She screwed her eyes and quickly went through the documents. The man was arrested the same day on July 16th the murder was committed. They had immediately arrested as his fingerprints was found on the murder weapon. The victim was 55 years old Tanaka Genta the head of the Tanaka corporation that specialized mainly in the production of traditional Japanese swords. He was found dead in Mr Morinozuka's office; killed by a smooth stroke of a katana. His throat had been cut.

The evidence was against the man, and Haruhi wasn't sure how to treat the case as deep inside her heart she was sure Mori's father couldn't have killed anyone. She grabbed the documents and headed to the police station where the man was detained. She needed to get to the bottom of this. She grabbed her phone and called him.

"Mori-senpai," she said when he took the phone. "How are you? Why didn't you tell me? I know about your father."

"I am sorry," he said. "He is not guilty, Haruhi."

"I am assigned to the case," she said with a sigh. "I don't think people will appreciate to know we had a contact like this, but I needed to talk to you."

"I understand," he said.

"I am heading to the police station to talk to him," she said after moment of thought, trying to find a proper word to replace the word interrogate. "I wanted to let you know that I will find out the truth, and I... I believe your father... he wouldn't do such a thing."

"Thank you," he said.

A/N- so what do you think? Is it bad? lol I am a die-hard KyoHaru shipper, and I never wrote anything involving Mori, so I wasn't sure about this story. Hope to know your opinions that will help me to better navigate in the story. Did I make Mori seem too different than what you imagine him?