disclaimer: You know... The usual.

Echo my Love

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Chapter One

( Hikaru Hitachiin's Point of View )

I was mercilessly pulled from my sleep by the sound of a hard thud. Ignoring it, I kept my eyes tightly shut. However, my desperate tries at falling back to sleep was disregarded as something collided with my head. Groaning in pain, my eyes fluttered open and immediately narrowed in annoyance. Shifting my body so that I can lean up, I spotted Kaoru's figure hovering over me. The expression on his face was a mixture of anger, irritation and exhaustion. Eyeing his hand that was a foot away from my face, I concluded that he was the one who smacked my head in a vain attempt to rouse me from sleep.

"This is the third time you did this!", he growled, hazel eyes squinting at me. I made a small noise of confusion as my eyes lowered and closed on their own accord. Kaoru, sensing my sudden desire to fall back to sleep, shook me awake by the shoulders. I forced my eyes back open and met his agitated gaze with a tired one.

"What is it Kaoru?", I moaned, rubbing my eyes with the back of a hand.

"You kicked me out of bed. . . /again/", he hissed, lightly shoving me. I wobbled a bit before finally managing to stay awake. By the time I was ready to crawl out of bed, Kaoru was already stomping towards the bathroom, fuming.

Scratching my head groggily, a yawn parted my lips. What was all that about?

*

When I was fully dressed for school, I headed to the direction of the dining room where breakfast was being served for me and Kaoru. My twin was already there, and judging by the creased eyebrows, he was still ill-natured by what happened this morning. Touching the back of my neck in an awkward manner, I pulled one of the seats away from the table so that I can sit. I was positioned exactly across from Kaoru, who was dragging a bacon strip across his plate with a fork.

"Hey, Kaoru", I called sweetly. His eyes lifted to mine for a brief second before they fell back to his food. I made a sound of disappointment that I couldn't get a more positive reaction out of him. He must be really upset with me. Blowing a sigh, I leaned forward to try and capture his eyes once more. I couldn't, but he shot me a sharp glance when I kept staring. Offering a large grin, I said in the most sincere tone possible, "I'm sorry for waking you up like that, Kaoru."

His expression was beginning to lose its harsh lines, and he sighed too. Dropping his fork onto his dish, he reached for the orange juice but I darted my hand forward before he registered what happened. Kaoru's eyes widened at my action, and the smile never left my face while I twined our fingers together sweetly. "I said I'm sorry."

"Okay, okay", he laughed breathlessly, retrieving his hand to grab the glass cup already laid out for him. "I forget how sentimental you get in the morning."

I laughed at his words, relieved that his momentary bad mood passed. Lifting a piece of bacon to my mouth, I chewed as I spoke, "It's only because I can't bear to see you angry at me, Kaoru."

Rolling his eyes, Kaoru sipped his drink before shooting me a look of mild disapproval. "Save that for the club."

I only grinned lazily in response.

*

Kaoru waited for me to finish eating before we rushed out to the limo that was parked in front of our mansion. Arriving at Ouran Academy in precisely ten minutes, we walked to our class together, sharing jokes and laughs along the way.

Once we reached the room, we took our usual seats on either side of Haruhi. Almost immediately, Kaoru was engaged in a conversation with her about the club's dance next week. I just listened to their voices, tuning in on certain parts.

"I still don't know what the lord is planning. He keeps changing his mind and can't stay on one subject", Kaoru said thoughtfully, thumbing his lower lip. It was a habit of his, and I always found it intriguing, mostly because it was something I would never do. I admit though, it suited Kaoru.

I hummed while idly tapping the table top with a finger. "Well, at least we're having a party. We haven't hosted one in a while. . ."

"That's true", Haruhi nodded, placing a few notebooks on her desk that she grabbed from inside her bag. She let her hands search for some pens too. "I just hope the theme next week is nothing ridiculous."

Kaoru and I exchanged sly looks of glee. We knew she was referring to the Atlantica theme last week. Haruhi was the only one who was blackmailed to be dressed up as a mermaid by Kyouya and his evil ways. She wasn't too happy about it but Tamaki, being oblivious as ever, hadn't noticed Haruhi's constant scowls of discomfort.

"Ahhh, well that's too bad. We were hoping -", Kaoru started, propping his arm on the table with his cheek leaning against his palm.

"- that next week's theme is something just as fun. You know, like -", I continued, mimicing Kaoru's choice of posture with an identical humored smirk.

"- Agrabah or maybe even a beach theme with you wearing a swimsuit", Kaoru beamed.

"It is the host club's two-year anniversay afterall", Kaoru and I added meaningfully, our eyes shining with mischief. "No doubt our lord will make it extra special."

Haruhi grimaced, and we already knew she would never agree to the plan. "No way."

Sighing, I turned to Kaoru in mock sadness. "Guess we don't have a choice. Maybe we should report this to Kyouya-senpai, and hope that he'll raise Haruhi's debt since she's not cooperating."

Kaoru caught on quickly, and sighed heavily in perfect sync with me. "You're right, Hikaru. Let's go to the music room when class ends and let Kyouya-senpai know."

As predicted, she flinched and squirmed. Not physically, but mentally. Kaoru and I could see the torment in her eyes as she shot daggers at us. "You two wouldn't.", she hissed, but there was a lining of fear in her tone that we recognized right away.

"Won't we? Since when did we have limitations?", we snickered, but straightened when the instructor entered the class.

*

As the teacher lectured about things I didn't care about, I placed my head against my knuckles for some support to keep it up. Otherwise, my head would've been on the desk by now and I won't be gaining any participation points.

Sliding my eyes over to where Kaoru sat, I took note of how his face was lax and his eyes were unfocused as if day dreaming. Interested, I tilted my head forward to take a better look. His mechanical pencil was in a loose grip, but he was too busy dazing off to pay attention.

My eyes sparkled with amusement and I decided to fix my line of vision on to Kaoru instead of the teacher. But after a few minutes of simply watching, my enjoyment morphed into a feeling of wonder. What exactly was he thinking so deeply about anyway?

*

The bell rung throughout Ouran and at last, we were free to leave. I stood up from my chair and stretched to the ceiling as both Haruhi and Kaoru gathered their belongings. Naturally, Haruhi was a scholarship student so she was recommended to take all seven classes every day while Kaoru and I only had to take four. We just decided to not take any electives this year; they were only a waste of time and always interfered with the club's activities.

"Well", Kaoru inhaled, his mouth stretched into a kind smile. "I'll see you guys at the club."

Waving, he began to turn until I clutched his shoulder. Twisting his waist to look at me in confusion, I questioned hurriedly, "Where are you going?"

He shrugged with one shoulder, "To the music room for some independant study. I really need to get a head start with the club's ideas for next week."

I grinned in relief and dropped my hand back to my side. "I'll come with you."

Kaoru looked at me with suspicion and I flashed him an innocent grin. Shaking his head to the side with a miniscule smile, he had no choice but to let me join him.

Saying farewell to Haruhi and assuring her that Kyouya will know of her disobedience, Kaoru and I raced to the club's room, our carefree laughter resounding in the hallways. Once we slowed down to a walk, Kaoru grew unusually quiet and I couldn't help but find the silence unbearable.

Slinging an arm across my brother's shoulders, I leaned my entire body on to him. "What are you thinking about? You've been out of it all day, Kaoru", I drawled, keeping my face angled toward his.

Kaoru laughed gently, his shoulders bumping into my chest while we walked. "Really? I haven't noticed."

"Well, /I/ noticed", I tutted. "Don't tell me you're still worrying yourself over the party next weekend?"

His eyes dropped to the ground's surface, and the uncertainty in his voice alerted me to the hidden lie. "No, I'm not worried at all."

A frown knitted my brow and I flicked Kaoru's ear. He yelped in surprise and I swung him around to face me; Kaoru's eyes were wide and full of shock at my sudden manhandling.

"Don't lie to me, Kaoru. It's no use; you always get caught someway or another", I muttered, my words dripping with hurt. Seeing his eyes tighten, I forced a laugh to bubble out of my mouth, lightening the tense moment. "You always sucked at lying. I was the pro at it."

Running his fingers fluidly through his orange locks, Kaoru chuckled quietly. "There's no getting passed you, huh?"

"Nope", I smirked, pulling him to my side and guiding him through the hallway. "I'm your /twin/, I should know when you're lying to me."

Kaoru said nothing, just bathing in my warmth. When we were twenty feet away from the double doors of the club room, he stops in his tracks. I wait, puzzling over ideas as to why Kaoru would pause like that. Really... He's acting weird today, and it's starting to bug me.

"Kaoru?", I asked, holding my hand out so that I can lead him inside the room. Kaoru didn't move, but he lifted his eyes when I called his name. His somewhat timid smile was pronounced perfectly, and I could only marvel at how he seemed so /angelic/ at the moment.

"...Sorry...", he murmured, his tone shy and reserved. It was funny... Kaoru only ever uses that kind of voice when we act for the host club and its attendees. This only added to my list of Kaoru's strange behavior today. It left me baffled and somewhat... pleased.

I stared for a second longer than necessary before a grin pulled at the edges of my mouth. Leaning forward gracefully (or as much as I can without the blazer being creased), I brought his hand to my cheek and placed it there. His eyes were roaming mine and I simpered in retaliation. "Let's go inside Kaoru."

He nodded, and with that, I directed us both in to the club room with high spirits.

--End of Chapter One/Hikaru's POV

author notes: First time writing an Ouran story, haha~
I've been in the Ouran fandom for a couple of weeks now and I just HAD to write a story for the twins. Love 'em to death! Anything that seems out of character, please let me know. Reviews are very nice to read by the way~ *hint hint*