Haruhi strolled lazily down the couple of blocks leading to the humble, cozy apartment she shared with her two recently acquired roommates, occasionally sighing and looking up at the fast darkening sky. The first stars were appearing, and the city skyline, which she will soon gaze at on her balcony, was starting to take on its familiar, romantic glow. She smiled happily to herself and thought again that gong to New York City had been the right choice.

At her university in the city, classes were challenging and worth every minute to the scholarly young woman. Although Columbia separated Haruhi from the family and friends she cherished in Japan, she had remained stubbornly willful on her decision to go abroad. Nevertheless, as she flew over the ocean she had a pinching, miserable feeling at her core that wasn't caused by airsickness, and the first few weeks of living in a strange country were especially lonely.

Thankfully, she managed to polished her English the help of her chatty, generally helpful American roommates. She had found them in a chatroom catering to university students looking to find places to live, and soon became a close friend of theirs. Within the few months of her first semester, she easily settled into a school and exploring the city. Becoming more accustomed to the urban atmosphere, she liked to sometimes walk home instead of riding the subway. On nights like this, there was no need to fake a tuneful tone when she responded to the many emails that former Host Club members spammed into her mailbox daily.

As Haruhi climbed the few tall steps leading to her building's entrance, she was surprised to see the light on in her room through its front window on the second floor. She was sure that she had left it off in the morning, and her roommates would not go in there without her being present. Puzzled, she moved a little faster, going into the building, up the stairs and unlocking her apartment door in a minute. In her living room, she found her roommates, a pair of bubbly sisters, sitting with eager smiles on their faces as they saw her enter. The older sister closed the book she had been reading and announced, "Haruhi, why did it take you so long to get home? There's a cute boy who's come to visit you in your room!"

The you sister added, "He seems to know you so well we figured you must know him, so we just let him in."

Haruhi gaped at them for a moment before looking staring off at the short hallway that led to her bedroom door. All right, which one is it?

"We would have called you, but he said that we should keep it a surprise." the older sister cheerfully said.

Geeze, don't just let a person you don't know into your apartment and do what he tells you to. Keeping her annoyed thoughts to herself, Haruhi asked, "Um, what does he look like?"

"Oh, tall and charming…" the younger said.

"Ok, thanks…" Haruhi walked past them and towards the hallway. Not a pair so not the twins; tall, so not Honey-senpai but unlikely to be Mori-senpai either…

She rounded the corner and stepped through the open doorway of her room.

Tamaki-sen--

"Kyouya-senpai?"

"Ah, Haruhi, long time no see. How are you?" Kyouya was at one side of her room, holding up a framed photo of her, him and the other Host Club members. Dressed casually but immaculately in expensive dark jeans and a light jacket, he did indeed, while standing there before her, look tall and effortlessly charming.

"Kyouya...senpai..."

"Yes, that is my name-- were you expecting someone else?"

"Um, sort of but I wasn't really expecting anyone..."

He simply smiled, and she was instantly reminded of the Club members' tendency to simply drop without a moment's notice and not expect that to be strange.

"Ah, it's good to see you again senpai, what brings you to visit?"

"Hmm," Not answering her question, he remarked, "You were expecting Tamaki, weren't you? He was squirming to come, but his grandmother had hooked him into some last minute business with his family. I myself am supposed to meet with one of my father's clients here within a few days and I decided to come in a little early."

"Oh, I see...but senpai, why are you in my room?"

The right corner of his lips lifted in a knowing way before he answered, "I don't suppose that your roommates have told you anything about your landlord besides his being a Japanese and living out of the city?"

Her brows knit in puzzlement. "Well, no, they don't seem to know much about him either, I guess that you could say he's kind of a shadowy figure."

"A shadowy figure...is that what you people think of me? Well, I suppose I could be called worse."

She froze. "Y-you're my landlord?"

He calmly turned back to the shelf he had lifted the photo frame from and replaced it before responding, "Yes, I own this building and few other similar ones in the area—they were a birthday present from a generous relative. I came here because I just wanted to know what one of my tenant's rooms would look like. Isn't this a marvelous coincidence, Haruhi?"

COINCIDENCE?!

Haruhi stared, shocked and feeling not a little horrified at how everything fit and made sense now. Finding roommates and getting an apartment that was so conveniently close to her school in a nice, chic neighborhood had been just a tad too easy. She had effortlessly accomplished both tasks just a week prior to her leaving Japan.

"But—but the owner's name on the lease document isn't yours!"

"True, it's my cousin's name, but that's only a name. Taxes can be troublesome for a property owner like me who's living overseas--it's much easier to have my American relative serve as a between man. I can trust him."

Trust? You mean private police force!

Before she could start giving him a piece of her mind, he turned back and asked, "Well, how do you like living here?"

"I—" Whatever anger she had about having her life monitored and laid out for her immediately dissipated because she couldn't answer with anything beside, "I love it here."

She was a little sullen but she really couldn't get mad. I mean, how could I?

"Mmm, good, it's my favorite building as well. There's a spare apartment, and I think I'll be staying here for a while."

"Staying here—you?"

"I think for at least a week-- we'll be neighbors."

Speechless, she was certainly surprised at this turn of events.

Kyouya webbed his fingers together and stretched his arms forward for a moment, not waiting for Haruhi to respond to this news before saying, "I don't often come to here, but you've been around for so long you're almost a native now, aren't you? Don't suppose you've had dinner yet? If you haven't, it'll be my treat, of course."

Haruhi' big round eyes grew rounder; she suddenly remembered she hadn't eaten since noon. She smiled, suddenly feeling cheerful; Kyouya always knew how to regain her favor after dropping a surprise on her.

"No, I haven't had dinner yet, but I know a couple of good spots for it."