Right, so for those that know, I said I was going to start this one... so hi again!
For others, hi!
Also, if you have any requests for one shots or short stories, please let me know! I would be happy to write~ (plus, I'm doing English Literature, and they encourage creative writing)
Please read and review, construcive criticism is welcome, also, if you have a flame... keep it to yourself, make some toasted marshmallows and work ovr it in your own mind :) taa~
Roses were dotted about the third music room, or all colours: red, white, blue, purple, orange and pink; all colours, all shades... everywhere.
Kyouya was sat amid several bunches of the flowers, making sure he had all the bunches Tamaki had ordered, so then he could make sure he hadn't paid out too much, and if so, he'd be on to the company to make sure they reimbursed him.
Or God help them.
Tamaki was on the other side of the room, waltzing about by himself as he 'supervised' the decoration. Mori was up a large ladder, hanging a basket from a pillar, while Honey steadied the ladder at the bottom.
"Everything okay Takashi?" he called.
"Yeah." was the short, monotonous reply from the taller senior, while he put some nails in his mouth to free his hands, then drilling holes in the wall for the brackets.
He was a D.I.Y. kinda guy.
Haruhi was watching, stood in a corner, while the club went completely fruit loopy over the pointless festival.
"Guys, you do know it's only Valentines Day, right?" she asked, to no-one in particular, but two sneaky red heads heard, and crept up on her.
"Only Valentines Day?" they repeated, sounding appalled. "Haruhi, sweet, common Haruhi... this day is the one day of the year that every girl waits for!"
"The day when the guys they've been crushing on can reveal their feelings without shame-"
"When girls can take the opportunity to tell the guy they like him."
"The day when more girls than ever will come in, and we'll triple our profits, be able to cover the costs for all of this, and probably the next three weeks events... as long as our 'king' doesn't go over the top." said Kyouya, who had made his way over to see what the twins were harassing Haruhi over.
"... So this is all about money and having girls fawn over you?" she asked, with a hint of distaste in her sentence.
"Basically." the other three replied, smirking in unison.
Which was rather unsettling for the brunette girl, so she went off to do something, before Kyouya could add to her debt for some absurd reason.
She hadn't realized unto what terrible area of the room she had walked in to.
"Haruhiiiiiii~"
She stood stock still at the call, and cursed herself... of course that idiot would be there.
"Tamaki?" she grumbled.
"Guess what? Guess what? It's Valentines Day!" he cried, glomping her.
"I'm aware." she grumbled, pushing the blond off.
So, he went off sulking, whining that Haruhi was being grumpy, leaving her to the twins mercy.
"Why are you being so grumpy Haruhi?" Hikaru asked, slinging his arm over her shoulder.
"What's wrong with Valentines Day?" Kaoru asked, standing in front of her, giving her a curious look.
"It's just... over-rated. Loads of guys gave me Valentines when I was in middle school... but a piece of paper means nothing."
"... that was their way of saying they like you..." they mumbled, shaking their heads at her.
"Haru-chan's kinda... um..." started Honey, but he couldn't think of the right word. Plus, he'd left the ladder unattended, and Mori was at the top when it started to wobble, and just jumped from it in time before it slipped and clattered down.
He landed, looking relatively unaffected, and finished his cousins sentence with "Stupid."
"Well said Mori-sempai!"
"Couldn't have put it more bluntly myself."
The twins started laughing, and Haruhi swiped at Hikaru's arm before she went off.
It was nearly time to open club up.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Everything was in full swing, the ladies who normally came to be entertained where there, and they'd also brought along friends to gawk at the seven hosts, who were being twice as sweet and complementing to them all.
"A flower for the lady?" Kaoru asked, dangling the red rose in front of a young girl, who's face quickly turned a colour that could put the roses to shame.
"Th-thanks!" she gasped, taking the rose and blinking furiously.
"No problem." the younger twin smiled.
Haruhi watched, and sighed. Before turning back to the girls she was sat with.
"What's wrong Haruhi?" asked one girl, looking worried as ever when the 'natural' host looked exasperated.
"Nothing, I just... I just wish I had someone really special to spend this day with." she replied quickly, making all girl simultaneously 'aw'... because if she said the day was crp, that wouldn't go down too well.
"You don't have a special valentine?"
"No... but I am happy to have you ladies. I'm glad to have your company." she said, smiling. A rather simple sentence to be honest.
A simple sentence which made them all go gaga and fuss over the girl-who-was-pretending-to-be-a-boy-but-couldn't-let-them-know-that.
They soon stopped, and Haruhi turned to look at the twins, who though they apparently loved this day, had apathetic expressions. She excused herself and walked over to them.
"What's wrong with you two?"
They looked at her, blinked, then smiled, as if pulling on a mask.
"Nothing!" they chirped.
"Don't lie... you don't like Valentines Day, do you?" she asked, looking at them.
Kaoru was the first to crack under her piercing, if not adorable eyes.
"See... we used to get loads of Valentines cards... but girls would give them to Hikaru, thinking he was me, or vice versa, then when we tried to correct them, they didn't think it mattered..."
"It was like they thought that we were just clones. Different names but the same inside and out."
"One was the same as the other... so what did it matter who you liked?"
Haruhi looked at them, and their brooding faces. She began to piece together what they were saying.
They wanted to be treated as different people, but others just didn't seem to see that.
"In the end, we let them think what they wanted, and then got back at them. We'd make them cry sometimes." Hikaru said, scowling.
"...We stopped getting Valentines after that." Kaoru finished.
Haruhi nodded mutely, in understanding.
This day was just another reminder of the fact that people saw Hikaru and Kaoru as one in the same. That people thought 'Why bother picking one, when you can have the best of both?'. It was unfair to them, they deserved more than that... but what could she say without sounding patronizing?
"Oh..."
That would work... for now.
"Yeah... so we go along with it, because Tono wants us to, but not 'cos we want to."
Haruhi just nodded, and went back to her guests.
Leaving them to do their job was probably the best solution.
-x-x-x-x-x-
After all the guests had milled away, and given the hosts their last, longing looks, the teens went about cleaning up. For the most part, it was just moving the used tea sets into the kitchen for the cleaners to sort out, and getting ladders and buckets out for the janitors to go about taking down the unnecessary decorations.
And since everyone had been well behaved today, Kyouya relented from making anyone stay behind to clean and tidy, even though Haruhi offered to, because she might have the chance to work off some debt.
The twins went off on their own, and it was only when they'd gotten out of the building and into the courtyard when Hikaru remembered that he'd forgotten his notebook, in which he had his latest sketches in. Kaoru told him he'd wait here, while Hikaru ran back to get it.
After a minute, he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder.
He turned to look, and saw a pretty young girl, with bright blue eyes, and long, curly brown hair. She was blushing, as she held out an envelope, and mumbled something to him.
Being the kinder twin, he smiled slightly and prompted her to talk louder, by saying:
"Pardon?"
The girl took a deep breath, and with a look that clearly showed her gathering every ounce of courage in her small body, she said, in a louder, albeit slightly shaky voice:
"I made a Valentine for you Kaoru."
He smiled, and took the card from her, but only when he had started to open the envelope did he pause.
"Excuse me?"
"K-Kaoru... I made you a Valentine." she repeated, stammering over his name.
"You... you called me Kaoru." he said.
"That is your name." she pointed out.
So he looked at her with his mouth slightly agape, then remembered the card in his hands, and opened it up.
It said, quite simply, 'Kaoru, I like you, a lot.' in it, but the words meant the world to the teenage boy. He had to wonder...
"How did you know I was Kaoru?" he asked, and the girl flushed slightly.
"Because... because you're nicer than your brother, and you don't seem as forward... or vindictive..." she said, whispering the last word. "I think you're sweet." she added, averting eye contact altogether while he smiled.
"Thank-you..."
"No problem."
"What's your name?"
"Misaki." she whispered, sounding surprised he asked.
"Well... thank you Misaki... this is... this is special to me." he said, quietly, but he never once stopped smiling. "People don't normally tell us apart."
"I only think it's right." she said, simply "You might be twins... but you're not the same person."
And with that, she waved a small goodbye, and walked away, and Hikaru bounded up seconds later.
"Hey... what did she want?" he asked, watching Misaki walk away.
"Nothin'... just wanted to talk." he said, discreetly hiding the card in his pocket.
"Oh... cool."
Hikaru wasn't about to tell him that a blond girl with amber eyes had given him a card, knew he was Hikaru and not Kaoru, and gave reasons to justify it, not just 'I can tell'.
It was best to keep it from him, he mused. Because if he though someone besides Haruhi could tell them apart, but liked him more, he'd be jealous.
Kaoru thought the exact same thing.
And another thing they secretly agreed on, but never voiced, was that... maybe Valentines Day wasn't so bad after all.