[ disclaimer : I do not own Ouran High School Host Club! ]

[ chapter one : notice me ]

"Look, Kaoru. She's there."

Kaoru stopped leaning against the window and turned his body to look. There, one floor down at the courtyard but still under the shade of the school building, was a girl. Kazehaya Miyuki. That was the first time he really noticed her, despite them being in the same class since middle school started.

"Yeah... You're right, Hikaru."

But he knew who she was. She was voted class representative almost every year. She was the second child of the Kazehaya family who owned the Kaze Hotels around the world. She was the one who wrote him that love letter.

And that was why the twins were making their way down the stairs then. They had always done this, whenever someone wrote a love letter to them, like it was a test or something. Neither remembered how it started but they had done it so many times, their little show was almost routine. They said the same things, the girls replied the same things, and it always ended the same way.

Maybe a little different every time, depending on the girl but the Hitachiins pretty much knew what to expect by now. So, staying out of sight, they parted ways and Hikaru went to wait behind a tree by the fountain in the courtyard while Kaoru walked towards the girl, the love letter in his pocket.

Miyuki didn't notice him at first, still smoothing out the front of her brown school skirt. She was fixing her dark almost-black hair when she finally realized his presence. A sharp intake of breath, a rush of heat to the cheeks, her heart beat faster the same way anyone's would when faced with one's crush. "H-hi," she stammered out nervously, bowing a little. The young girl wasn't used to doing something like this, confessing and all... It was her friends who convinced her to do it! Her fingers fiddled with each other.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting, Miyuki," he said charmingly, not bothering with honorifics, and quickly added without waiting for a response, "I read your letter."

Miyuki took a deep breath to work up her courage. "Kaoru-kun, I—"

"I'm sorry but," Kaoru paused to pull out the letter from his pocket and then lied smoothly as they had done so many times so easily before, "I'm Hikaru, actually. You must've gotten our desks mixed up and put your letter in mine." He smiled in a way one would say was gentle.

The girl looked crestfallen which quickly turned into embarrassment a moment later when she realized her mistake. She was sure she put the letter in Kaoru's desk... He was the one who usually sat by the window, right? O-or maybe she did get it mixed up in her flustered-ness. And it wasn't uncommon for the twins to switch seats so... She was just about to apologize for her mistake when the auburn haired boy spoke again.

"Do you think you could like me instead?"

Miyuki finally looked up. The boy's face was closer to hers than she realized. It didn't faze him though.

"I should confess... To be honest with you, I always thought you were really cute. Besides, Kaoru has a crush on someone else. So... what do you say?"

Surprised brown eyes blinked back at clam lighter ones. Truthfully, the fact that stood out most to her was the fact that Kaoru already liked someone else. She had no idea... It made her feel so embarrassed! But Miyuki forced herself to stay strong. Hikaru was waiting. And he had just given her a pretty sweet offer.

"No," she finally said, after a minute. The answer surprised both parties, apparently. Miyuki pulled her lips into a small smile, looking back down to her fiddling fingers. Bad habit. "I'm sorry, Hikaru-kun. Doing that would be unfair because... I still have feelings for Kaoru-kun. I'm really flattered though!" she added this last part quickly, lifting her gaze and surprising him again. Her cheeks were flushed.

Kaoru looked back at her, unsure what to say. This was not part of the script. Every other girl just went with it. They would accept the idea of liking the other twin instead and then they would turn around and chide the girl for being greedy and shallow or whatever. The insult differed every time—never the response. But there she was. Kazehaya Miyuki, rejecting one twin for the other.

Seeing no reaction, she hurriedly continued, now playing with the end of her ponytail on her shoulder. That shy smile still graced her features. "N-no one has ever said what you said to me before so... thank you." She bowed lightly and started to walk away, leaving Kaoru alone and watching her back as she disappeared down the hallway and around a corner.

"Well, that was interesting," a voice mused aloud.

Kaoru turned his head to see his twin standing next to him, also watching where the girl was. Despite that nonchalant face, he could tell that Hikaru was equally baffled as he was. Even though that girl couldn't tell them apart, as evidenced by her not realizing Kaoru was lying about his identity, she still stuck to her idea of liking only one of them.

But what was the difference? The other girls didn't seem to think there was much of one. And if she did, she didn't figure out their lie though. So what was with her?

Kaoru looked again though she was no longer there. "Yeah..."

Since that day, Kaoru began "noticing" Kazehaya Miyuki. The way she always giggled politely to her friends' jokes even when they weren't that funny. The way she covered her mouth when she laughed more sincerely. The way she doodled when she was bored and the way she fiddled with her fingers when she got nervous. The way she got nervous whenever he walked into the room or when she noticed his general presence.

She probably didn't think he noticed. Granted, it was hard to tell considering the Hitachiin twins usually kept a poker face on. But he noticed. He knew Hikaru did too but it didn't seem to have any effect on him though. They went on with their lives, breaking a few hearts here and there with their routine. It went smoothly, unlike with Miyuki. They didn't bother to really acknowledge her after that day, treating her like they treated everyone else.

But still, she lingered in the back of Kaoru's mind. On her end, it seemed she never lost her feelings for him, if how flustered she got around him was any indication. Kaoru wasn't sure how he felt about it—about her.

The only other eventful thing that happened that school year was when an upperclassman somehow convinced them to join a new host club he would be starting the year after. They'd be playing a borderline incestuous pair of the mischievous twins, no less... But slowly, their world was opening up. Now it was up to them to let people in.