Untouchable

By WraithR249

Some of the most important things in life are Invisible… some of the best are Untouchable.

Chapter 1

"Ah!"

The bus that passed by kicked up a splash of water, causing Haruhi to jump back from the curb out of reflex. She grimaced, straightening her damp suit as much as possible, trying to make herself look at least somewhat presentable for work.

Wet.

It was incredibly wet. The rainy season bothered her- the weather conspired to make her appear as unprofessional as possible, and Haruhi felt like a disheveled little girl amongst a firm full of organized, sharp-looking lawyers. She looked up at the windows on the second floor of the building, where she worked. Even now, she could see them buzzing around, working busily. At times, she wondered if she really belonged there.

"It's not just about looks. You have the brains and the drive to do this," she told herself as she climbed the stairs. She reached the door, nodding to herself and trying to believe in her own words. She gripped the handle to the office tightly and pushed it open, entering.

"I'm here," she called. "Sorry for being late."

Everyone continued their work, ignoring her as she shut the door behind her.

Haruhi sighed deeply, hanging up her dripping coat on the coat rack by the door. Being the intern, her presence (and work itself) was not particularly important. At times, she was given a task that was somewhat meaningful- she enjoyed those jobs, reviewing legal documents, offering her insight when it was asked for. Of course, the real lawyers at the firm were doing her a favor, as they didn't actually need her opinion. Still, the experience broke the dull routine of menial jobs that she performed more often. If she wanted to be getting people coffee for the rest of her life, she probably could have just become a full-time host.

A wave of nostalgia rolled over her as the thought crossed her mind. She set down her briefcase next to her chair, and sat down at her (very) small desk. She pushed the small pile of papers that sat atop it aside, opening a drawer and picking up the single picture frame that sat inside of it. The members of the host club sat in or stood around an expensive looking couch, smiling back at her happily. She sat in the center of the group, looking somewhat confused at the particularly superfluous design of the ornate teacup in her hands, obviously unprepared for the photograph. She almost laughed at the memory, and set the picture frame down, straightening it properly.

It had been so long since she had seen any of them. The last time they had all met together was at the graduation ceremony half a year ago, and even then they seemed to be growing particularly distant. The Hitachiin brothers had dropped by a few months ago to see where she was working, which was when they presented her with the picture with the picture that sat on her desktop.

It was a parting gift- the twins were leaving to study overseas for a few months. They had complained that the picture frame by itself had taken up about an eighth of her available workspace, and caused a scene in an attempt to get her a larger desk.

"You'll see, she's going to be the best lawyer in Japan!"

"With her brain, she needs a desk that's two… no, four times bigger, you know?"

It was only when Haruhi insisted that she actually worked better with a smaller desk, that it helped her focus on the task at hand, that having a bigger desk would just give her more room for other distractions, that they finally up and left. The entire office looked at her disdainfully, and she shrunk back to her work.

"Fujioka," her supervisor called, shaking her out of her thoughts.

"Yes, sir?"

"Have you finished with those forms that I left you?"

Haruhi looked down at her (incredibly tiny) desk, and the papers that sat atop it.

"I'm sorry, sir. I just got in, I haven't had a chance to sort them out."

"Do that right away. They're for a very important client." The man gave her an ugly look, making her feel as though she should have somehow completed the paperwork anyway, regardless of how physically impossible that might have been. "I'll take care of them right away, sir."

She picked up the stack of papers, straightening them out on her desk. It looked like about thirty- no, forty papers. This task would take a little bit longer than what she was normally assigned, but it would take her no more than about an hour to finish, she guessed. Two, at most.

She was wrong.

Half an hour into her work, the fax machine began spewing medical documents and what appeared to be pages from some kind of scientific journal. She normally would have thought nothing of it, but these papers were somehow finding their way to her desk, and her responsibilities grew in number. "We need those reports completed and filed as soon as possible," her boss told her. Haruhi sighed- her fourth hour into her work, she decided that she would break for lunch. She gathered her things, leaving her workspace and heading back into the front of the office.

Just before she turned past the divider into the main area, she heard two people arguing. It sounded like a client, and Haruhi decided to stay put. It seemed particularly important, and eating there might make things awkward.

"I'm sorry. I just don't think it looks very optimistic at this point. The doctor has already sent us everything he has, and I'm not too certain that we can build a solid case from just that."

"You don't need to prove that the idea was stolen. Just show that it originated with us."

Haruhi's ears perked up at this.

This sounds kind of familiar…

"Um… excuse me," she stepped out into the open, and froze as both the lawyer and the client turned to look at her, surprised. Actually, the lawyer appears less surprised than both Haruhi and the client, and looked somewhat annoyed.

"Kyouya-senpai?" she mumbled as she stared in shock, not quite believing it was him.

But it was him. He was standing in the office where she worked, his hair parted neatly as always, wearing a dark suit with a black trench coat wrapped around it. Seeing him dressed in such a fashion, after all of her memories pointing to a Kyouya-senpai in the traditional Ouran uniform, caused Haruhi to blank. He was handsome.

Yep, definitely good looking.

"Oh, Haruhi," he said blankly, collecting himself from the surprise encounter. "I wasn't aware that you were employed at this office."

"I am," she replied dumbly, unsure of what else to say. What were you going to say before you stepped out in the open, dummy!

"Oh," she started, recalling the reason she spoke up in the first place. "Were those medical records and science notes yours?"

"Yes," the lawyer interrupted impatiently, obviously somewhat irritated by the acquaintance of his client and the office intern. "Those documents are all pertinent to Ootori-san's case. I trust you've sorted them."

"Ah, well… I haven't been able to finish filing them properly," she admitted. "I was held up because I had to call the JPO to check the classification of the papers. What I wanted to say is that they were pretty sure that the research notes that we received are valid, and can be used to support your claims."

"That's great news, isn't it, Moriyama-san?" Kyouya turned to the lawyer, raising an eyebrow. "It looks like we can make a favorable case, after all."

'Moriyama' blinked, staring at Haruhi. "That's excellent news," he muttered. "If you'll excuse me." He walked briskly into the back of the office. They watched as he stormed out of sight, no doubt to complain to someone about Haruhi.

"I made him mad," Haruhi groaned. "I'll probably hear about this later…"

"Don't worry. I'll make sure he doesn't give you a hard time." She stared as he said this. She didn't doubt his ability to follow through on his word, but she wasn't sure if he was aware of how the others viewed her.

"You must have been just about to go out to lunch." She looked back at him as he checked his watch, then turned his gaze back to her expectantly.

"I think I might have lost my appetite." She felt her stomach twirling inside of her, half from the shock of seeing Kyouya again so suddenly, half from the problems that she had just created for herself with her co-workers.

Helping people and doing my job should not feel as bad as this does.

"Is that so? I'm sorry to hear that. We have a bit of catching up to do." She sighed, his conversation easing her mind a bit. It was uplifting to see a familiar face. It did her more good than she would have guessed.

"Well, what about dinner?"

The conversation skipped a beat.

"…What?" she asked stupidly, mentally slapping herself for being so stupid. It's Kyouya-senpai, and it always will be, regardless of how he looks or dresses. You two are friends. Catch up with each other.

"When?" she coughed, correcting herself.

"Not tonight, unfortunately. I have an appointment that would make it too difficult," he answered, pulling a device out of his pocket. Haruhi noted that he seemed to have upgraded from a pen-and-paper planner to some kind of PDA.

"You must still be studying while you work here. What about tomorrow night?"

"I am, but tomorrow night is fine," she agreed, her nausea slowly becoming excitement. "Um… would it be asking too much if we go somewhere that I don't have to dress up for?"

Kyouya paused mid-poke as he held his PDA, then raised a brow at her. For a split-second she feared that he might offer her a dress to wear.

"Of course not," he replied easily, then went back to poking. "Does seven o' clock work for you?"

"It does," she answered, nodding.

"Perfect. I have to go now, but I'll see you then."

"Oh, alright. I'll see you tomorrow then, senpai." She walked him to the door, and for a moment wondered how his appearance stayed so immaculate. If she didn't know any better, she wouldn't have guessed that it was raining outside.

"Oh, and thank you. You really helped me out back there." Her stomach flipped as he gave her one of his rare, slow smiles, the kind that almost convinced her that he was normal, deep down inside.

"Oh… no problem. Just doing my job," she waved, and he left the office, shutting the door behind him.

She returned to her desk after drinking a small can of orange juice from the vending down the hall. The size of the pile of papers nearly doubled, but she didn't mind so much. She opened the drawer, balanced the picture frame precariously on the desk (on the only space in the corner where it could fit), and hummed as she organized the paperwork.

--

Dear Readers:

After a year of non-writing, I stumbled upon the AMV for my old story, INVISIBLE, published under Yue Guang Kuroneko. Out of curiosity, I went to go check on the story. To my great surprise, Kuron, after receiving numerous requests to finish the story after I had abandoned it, had actually completed it. I feel like a jerk for not finishing it when there were so many people who wanted it finished.

It must have been a year since Kuron and I last spoke, and it's too late for me to take back my mistake of abandoning such a great collaborative work.

But are there still any fans of Kyouya x Haruhi fanfiction? If there are any of you still alive out there, please read and review. If anything, it'll motivate me to write more.

-WraithR249