Kindred Spirit (Mori x OC)

Two

"A dance party?" The elder sister laughed. The Fujioka sisters were sharing their day over a meal. "How'd you get roped into that one?"

Haruhi let out a deep sigh, "it can't be helped. They said they'd reduce my quota if I attended."

"Hmmm... Want some dance lessons? I bet I could show you a thing or two," Hanabi grinned.

Haruhi replied flatly, "no thanks. I won't be dancing."

"I see..." She knew her sister would refuse. "Well, good luck with that. When did you say it was?"

"This weekend. Do you have plans? I bet I could get them to let you come with me."

She waved her hand dismissively, "no way. I deal with the upper class way to often to want to do it willingly."

"Oh, that's right." Haruhi gave her an impressed look, "I don't know how you do it, ne-chan."

"It's not so bad. The best thing about my job is creative freedom, so they usually leave me alone," she said as she finished up the last of her food. "Thank you for the meal!"

"Still, I feel like I'm losing years of my life dealing with them every day," Haruhi admitted with a dark look on her face.

Hanabi giggled, "they must be an interesting group."

Her eyes narrowed a bit as she gave her sister a deadpanned glance. "You'd fit right in with them."

Hanabi blinked in surprise. "...Haruhi, why do I feel like I've just been insulted?"

"You're imagining things."

"Oh!"

.....

"Ne-chan!!!" Loud pounding could be heard throughout the entire complex. "Ne-chan!!! We came to play!"

"So loud!" Hanabi scolded upon opening the door. "Other people live here, ya know?!"

"Never mind that!" A young boy called Satou easily dismissed her warning, causing the high-schooler to grow an irk mark. "We brought a new friend!"

Hanabi looked over the usual group of kids, to see a new face that was hanging slightly back. She let out a sigh, "alright, just don't break anything!" She opened the door wider, allowing the kids to run into her domain. She smiled to herself as the new girl widened her eyes in wonder as she stepped through the threshold.

And what kid wouldn't be amazed? It's a children's paradise! Tanks lined the walls, filled with fish, reptiles, or bugs. She eagerly answered any questions that the kids had, excited to see the young ones so interested in learning about the creatures.

This is both her hobby, and her job. Nothing could make her happier than to create a space that both animal and human could enjoy. And as more and more people asked for her help to create their own systems, it turned into something much greater than a simple hobby. It started as simple tanks for the neighborhood kids. But now, she's often asked to oversee large projects such as artificial ponds or private aquariums.

But of course, large projects like that are costly, services aside. But when working with the elite, she can design dream after dream with almost no worry about the cost. And when something truly extravagant is created, it only creates more business.

One of her favorite clients is a large company that strives to make artificial resorts as natural and real as possible. It's basically her dream come true!

But even with all of that, she is by no means rich. She's mostly paid for just her opinion and instruction. She's just a high-schooler, after all. She does have a small amount of steady income for routine services, but that pays for the cost of living. And for her personal hobby, of course.

And sure, maybe if she worked harder she could've bought Haruhi a few uniforms for school, but they're commoners.

And what commoner would spend thousands of hard-earned dollars on threads?! Not this one, that's for sure.

She sent the kids home before dinner time, knowing their parents would be worried if they stayed too late. And once she finished cleaning up, she locked up the apartment and made her way down the hall.

"I'm home!"

....

With her sunglasses shading her eyes, and a smile on her face, Hanabi drove up the ridiculously long driveway in her little beater car. She'd die for sure if she had to walk up driveways like this every weekend, it'd only make sense to have a car, right?! Stepping out of the vehicle, she greeted a familiar attendant of the Morinozuka family.

"Sakura-chan! Hello!" She called out upon seeing her.

"Welcome, Hanabi-chan," she greeted back. "Doing the usual checks today?"

"Yup! I'll let myself into the garden, so could you take these for me?" She held out a box filled with various treats and items. "Satoshi told me that his brother is taking care of a tanuki, so I brought some things that the little one would love!"

"How thoughtful of you," Sakura grinned. The young lady then let a sly grin cross her face, "ne, Hanabi-chan, could you be trying to win favors with the older brother?"

Confused at the sudden shift in the maids mood, she answered, "of course not! Satoshi speaks very highly of his brother, so I'm sure he's a great person. But I've never actually met him before. And to be honest with you, I'm more interested in meeting that tanuki..."

Sakura gave the younger girl a deadpanned look, "somehow, I'm not surprised at all." Hanabi only tilted her head in confusion, causing the maid to let out a giggle. "Leave this box to me. I think the gardener is also in the back, be sure to properly greet him as well."

"Oh, perfect! There's something I wanted to check with him. Thanks, Sakura-chan!"

.

"Thanks for your hard work!"

"Oh, hey Satoshi!" Hanabi greeted the 2nd son of the Morinozuka family. She was packing her car, already done at this residence. "Working hard today?"

Satoshi was wearing his training outfit, and she admired his dedication to training even on the weekends. Though he was sweaty and probably tired, his grin never left his face. "Of course! Taka-kun trained even harder than me at my age. I need to follow in his footsteps!"

Hanabi wanted to say something like, 'resting is also training', or 'don't overwork yourself!' but she knew it was a bad idea to try to give advice to esteemed families like these. Akira Morinozuka is pretty easygoing when it comes to family heads, but even he may react badly to some friendly advice to his sons well-being. "I'm sure he's proud to be your older brother," Hanabi settled with.

"You should meet him sometime! I talk about you all the time, I'm sure you'd get along great! For one, you're both animal lovers!"

She smiled, "I'm sure I'll get a chance to meet him someday, but let's not bother him, okay?"

"Nah, he wouldn't mind. He's not home today, otherwise I'd grab him right now. But he's at some kind of dance party for school."

"Oh? At Ouran, right?"

"Yeah! He's a 3rd year," Satoshi continued smiling.

It could only be the dance party that Haruhi was complaining about. Hanabi briefly wondered if her sister had ever met this 'Taka-kun' before. But it's a large school, and they were two years apart. What are the chances?

They continued talking for a bit longer before parting. Hanabi had other house calls scheduled that day, including a close family to the Morinozuka, the Haninozuka.

She knew they had two sons as well, but just like in this case, she's only met the younger one. He's not as friendly as Satoshi, but he's not as cold to her as he used to be, mostly due to Satoshi's influence. They were cousins, after all. And she enjoyed their presence immensely when they kept her company at their estates.

Hanabi made her way down the long driveway, knowing that it won't be the last one today. But, she wasn't upset about it in the slightest. She could spend hours in her own domain just staring at the ants building tunnels, or the spiders spinning webs, or the mantis hunting. Hanabi would never tire of revisiting the little words she's helped create.

Getting paid for it is just a lucky bonus!