Of Chocolates and Roses

"Happy Valentine's day."

Haruhi turned to see the bored look on Hikaru's face as he passed by and greeted her. "Yeah," was her only reply.

Kaoru followed soon after, pushed an elaborately wrapped box to her direction before scrambling after his twin brother. He looked worried more than anything else.

The twins had been acting strange the whole month, she'd noticed. She wondered why she noticed. When had she cared about anything else around her? Maybe it was a Host Club effect – becoming sensitive of the happenings that come and go. Maybe, though Haruhi thought there could be a deeper perspective.

She looked at the box on her hand and the messy handwriting that was Kaoru's. Much love from both of us, he wrote, though Haruhi was almost sure it was only Kaoru who placed an effort on such a gift.

She sighed and felt a literal heavier weight on her shoulders. There wasn't much weight to add with her books and notepads, but there was weight all the same, and to Haruhi it was more weight than she could carry.

"Why did I even bother?" she asked with a sigh of exasperation, shifted her bag on her shoulders and followed the track of her two classmates to the club room.

…

Tamaki's reaction was expected upon seeing the wrapped box: an explosion of energy that required dramatic flourishes and colourful storytelling that was far from the truth about a girl proposing her love to Haruhi, and ending with Tamaki curling to a corner with a dark cloud over his head when he realized that Haruhi might even reciprocate that love and give something back on White Day.

Haruhi responded as what was expected, brushing off everything that Tamaki threw with a look of utter indifference. Then she noticed Hikaru looking. Then she noticed herself noticing Hikaru looking. She immediately turned her head before anything beyond her capacity to understand comes on her.

But of course, Kyoya, the ever knowing Dark King saw and knew the happenings of the afternoon. He smiled his usual evil smile that even the twins had to look away, and look away they did, but not before Haruhi saw Kyoya open a drawer and dump in a bag of what seemed like a present. For the first time, the Dark King was caught doing something without him noticing it. And it was Haruhi of all people.

"Where's everyone?" Hikaru voiced the question that was bothering Haruhi's mind the moment she stepped into the club room.

Tamaki stood up from his curled up position and went back to his usual Prince-type glamor. "I've initially planned to stage a Host Club special for our dear princesses, but I've realized we have to make time for ourselves as well! And our darling princesses, they were quick to agree that we have the Valentine's day off!"

"Why?"

It was Haruhi who asked. She realized it was a wrong move when even Mori looked up from Honey and Honey looked up from his cake. Wasn't she supposed to notice? No. She wasn't supposed to care.

"It's Valentine's Day, dear darling daughter!" Tamaki cried, still too dense to notice anything different. "It's the time we, the Host Club should use for each other! It's not just for couples and confessions, after all!"

"That didn't help the number of chocolates you got, did it?" Kaoru asked, glancing at the mountain pile of chocolates in a corner of the room with a barricade around it with a cardboard cutout of Tamaki guarding it.

Tamaki laughed the way he usually laughed, that Haruhi had to stop herself noticing these small details. When had she known what kind of laugh Tamaki laughed? "I am very well loved by our princesses, don't you see?"

"But Haru-chan never gave you a box of chocolates, didn't she?" Honey-senpai was quick to kill the happy Tamaki atmosphere, as all of the Host club members did when Tamaki was on his happy Tamaki atmosphere. And Haruhi noticed that too.

Tamaki, being who he was, retreated back under his dark cloud of self-pity.

You haven't given me anything either.

The thought came, unbidden, that even Haruhi was surprised, so surprised she dropped the twin's box she was initially holding.

"Haru-chan? Are you okay?" Honey's quick questions weren't reserved to Tamaki, either. His quick instincts might have come from his vast knowledge of martial arts. Which Haruhi also noticed.

Haruhi immediately bent down to pick up the box and gave him her usual look and said, "Yeah." She walked to the table where the twins sat and sat down with them.

Haruhi carefully opened the box Kaoru gave her, the only box she kept with her apart from the other few she also got from the princesses which she kept in her locker for the meantime. She thought could reuse the cover for future box wrapping purposes. The chocolates were divine, she thought, that she had to keep her mouth from watering when she looked at them.

"They're lovely. Did you make these?" The question as directed to Kaoru of course.

Kaoru looked nervously at Hikaru before opening his mouth to answer. Hikaru still beat him to it. "Took him a while, too. Watched a lot of chocolate-making tutorials and spent a week fussing over the ingredients. Annoying."

Hikaru sounded more annoyed than usual. Haruhi knew why. One look from Kaoru and Haruhi knew why.

"Hikaru… thank you."

Hikaru didn't meet her eyes but she knew she was right. She turned to Kaoru, knowing Hikaru would not acknowledge her whatsoever. "He made these, didn't he?"

Kaoru blushed. "He didn't even want me to help. I ended up wrapping it and putting the message on the front. I'm sorry."

The feeling from Kaoru was different, like he was holding something extremely fragile and when he made one move it would break and so would he.

"WHAT? THE DEVIL TWINS MADE SOMETHING FOR MY DAUGHTER?" Tamaki was immediately beside Haruhi, staring down at the box of neatly arranged chocolates inside a box.

Haruhi closed it immediately and said, "No, you're not going to tell me Hikaru and Kaoru placed a poison or some kind of love potion on it and you're not going to forbid me to eat because I will no matter what you say."

Tamaki was dumbfounded, a rare occasion, because of course, he was going to do what Haruhi just told him not to do.

Honey-senpai, always the one cutting the atmosphere, "Actually, I made a chocolate cake for Haru-chan as well," he stood up from his chair and carried a bigger box to Haruhi's direction and placed it in front of her. "Mori made the chocolate icing, so that's his gift to you, too!" he exclaimed before skipping back to his chair.

"I think Kyoya-senpai also made some chocolates for you, too," Kaoru said.

Kyoya laughed and reopened the drawer before throwing the bag of goodies to Kaoru who caught it effortlessly with one hand and handed it to Haruhi.

Haruhi looked up from the only boy in the room who didn't give her anything… who also stared back at her with blank uncomprehending eyes. She sighed before taking out the chocolates she herself made and offered a pack to Tamaki, "Happy Valentine's day, senpai."

Now, even Hikaru was staring.

She took out more of the packs she had, all the same size and same packaging and went to each of the Host Club members to give their own share.

"Waaah! Thank you, Haru-chan!" was Honey senpai's most enthusiastic response, which covered both for him and Mori-senpai.

Hikaru still couldn't look at her.

Kaoru looked shy.

Kyoya looked unsure.

And Tamaki… looked blanker than ever.

"It's a thank you present, for taking care of me every day… and I realized that I've been noticing a lot of things lately. Things I don't take notice of before and I think it's because of the Host Club, so thank you. That also came from my monthly allowance so I hope you enjoy it," Haruhi said.

"If you think you can cut your debt by offering this you are wrong," Kyoya said.

Haruhi glared at him, "I never said anything about-" he didn't mean it. She let her sentence fade that way.

"I guess this is a special Valentine's Day after all," Kaoru said.

"Right, Hikaru?"

Hikaru was surprised to find himself in his and Kaoru's room. He hadn't notice the time flying so fast and even everything that happened before this. Of course he knew the part when Haruhi gave him his chocolates, but he barely saw her because he was trying his best to look away. The past weeks had been horrible, and he was grateful he had Kaoru for support.

Said person was already almost through with his share of chocolates and Hikaru knew that Kaoru's next target would be his twin brother's. He wasn't about to let that one pass. "I'll be walking around," he took his pack of chocolates and stood up to go.

"Hikaru."

Yeah?"

"You didn't get to give her your roses."

That made Hikaru stop. "You knew about the roses?"

Kaoru laughed. "You're so stupid I could hit you. Of course I do, you're my twin brother."

Hikaru tensed.

"Don't worry. I sent them to her address."

Hikaru turned around, face red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "You did what?"

"I did you a favor," Kaoru smiled at him. "Now, now, no need to get all mad. I know you can never have the guts to give her so I made the step."

Hikaru looked down. "It's just that… Dono was…"

Kaoru's smile turned soft when he whispered, "You should have seen the way she looked at you."

"What?"

Kaoru took a chocolate from his pack and threw it to Hikaru who scrambled out of the room. Hikaru saw the ball shaped chocolate before disappearing behind the door.

Once in safety, Hikaru sighed and walked the hallways of their home with no specific destination in mind. He settled for the next right turn after their bedroom and slumped by the wall on the hallway.

He looked at the pack in his hands, so simply done. Hikaru knew Haruhi could never afford to buy anything luxurious in her life so these chocolates must have cost more than what she'd claimed. He opened the pack and was surprised to see three pieces of heart shaped chocolates.

He might have been stupid as Kaoru claimed but not so stupid to not realize what these means. These means he owed Kaoru an apology. And Haruhi, an explanation.

.

(A/N: Is it too late to post a valentine's day oneshot? ;) Belated to all of you love-enthusiasts out there!)