Futago No Hime (The Twin's Princess)

! Through out the story, in first person, it would be depending on the character's observation, except the phone conversations.

"Hikaru," I said, trying to wake my sleeping brother up, "Hikaru!" He slowly opened his eyes, slightly blinded by the sunlight, "What is it, Kaoru?" Hearing my name from my other half, I replied, "School. It's Monday." "School?" he groaned, "What school?" He was still half asleep. I laughed inside, seeing how cute he looks like. As he caught glimpse of the clock on our nightstand, he suddenly sat up, "Oh shit! School. I overslept," and went straight to the bathroom. I couldn't stop my laughter anymore and let it out. "What're you laughing about?" Hikaru yelled. "Gomen, Hikaru," I said, wiping my tears away, But you look kinda… cute.

As soon as we were running through the corridors, we heard the chime. "We have to think of a reason why we're late," Hikaru told me and I nodded in reply. The 'we' he uses this time only refers to 'you, Kaoru'. We both knew that I'm better in making excuses, especially at times like this. Well, whenever Hikaru is the one telling the reason, he always screws it up. Am I good in acting? Maybe… in hiding my true feelings for Hikaru. We turned at the corner and saw our first period teacher chatting with another teacher. Knowing that he hasn't entered the room yet, "Made it in a nick of time," my twin said, looking back at me smiling before entering the back door. (Actually, there is a front door and back door.) I smiled back and followed him. Who can't resist smiling back at him? That gorgeous smile of his. To me, Hikaru's the most beautiful thing in the world… And, next to him is Aya, Takahashi Aya, our best friend. I sat next to her and smiled, though trying to catch my breath. "You made it, Kaoru-kun," she said. "Yeah. We're late 'coz Hikaru overslept," I said between breaths. I looked to my left and saw that Hikaru left a seat between us. Hikaru can't be possibly mad at me, does he? I thought, I remember that Kurekano was talking with him a while ago, "The seat plan has changed?" It's the first day of classes and the seat plan is supposed to be the same unless there's a new student who's going to be included in our class. Aya nodded, "There's a special student named Fujioka Haruhi who's going to sit between you and Hikaru-kun." Meanwhile, I saw a brown haired guy with glasses, wearing the sweater, coming in from the back door and sitting between me and my brother. At the instant, I became irritated at him but I made sure that I don't show my feelings. I don't know why I'm being irritated at him, though.

I sighed heavily and stretched my arms up in the air as the last period of the day finally ended. I watched the special student walk out of the room. Not aware that I was showing my irritation, Hikaru tapped my shoulder, "What's the matter?" "N-No. Nothing's wrong," I quickly stood up, "Let's go." I know Hikaru definitely knew that I'm telling a lie but let it go. "Manager," Hikaru called, "We're going." Aya nodded and said goodbye to her friends. The Host Club originally doesn't have a manager when it's formed but because of our suggestion, Kyouya-sempai and Dono approved it.

Flashback… One year ago

It was the first meeting of the Host Club and we gathered sitting along the long table. Hikaru's blue cell phone rang. He flipped it open and answered…

"Hello?"

"Hikaru-kun, I got lost. I can't find the Third Music Room," Aya said.

"Huh? I gave you directions, right?"

"But I got confused on it."

Hikaru sighed heavily, "Well—" "Who is it?" I asked, intentionally interrupting him, "Is it Aya?" He quickly handed me the phone, "Here." Obviously he's pissed off, I could tell. "Aya couldn't understand my directions," he said. "Oh," I nodded in understanding, I thought that he was mad at me for interrupting.

"Aya, this is Kaoru."

"Kaoru-kun, I'm lost."

"Where are you?"

"At the cafeteria."

"Stay there. We'll pick you up."

"Un. I'm sorry to disturb you."

"Ah. Don't worry about it. There aren't customers yet."

I handed back the blue cell phone to my annoyed brother, "I'm going to pick Aya up. Wanna come?" He still kept silent, as if thinking about it. "Well," he replied, "ok."

We came back at the music room, after a while, with Aya. Dono got himself a red rose, which no doubt was from a vase somewhere and handed it to Aya, "O-hime-sama, though we're still closed, we appreciate for you coming early. Irasshaimase." Hikaru and I hugged her and said, "Dame, Dono. She's ours." "She only came here to visit," Hikaru said. "Not to designate," I added. "As long as she doesn't disturb us from our preparation, that would be fine," Kyouya-sempai said while writing at his clipboard. "Yey!" We rejoiced, since we won't be doing anything and have time to chat with Aya. "But you only told me to come here," Aya mumbled. Ignoring her, we half dragged her to a couch and sat on her either side. "The twins seem happy," Dono said, "They look like a snob when they're alone." "Probably because of that girl," Kyouya-sempai said, looking at us.

After some minutes, Kyouya-sempai clapped his hands to get our attention, "Time to work, our customers could be here in any minute." "Already?" Hikaru sighed, "Come on, Kaoru. Aya just stay here." The said girl blinked, which made her cuter, "Eh? Ii no ka?" Hani-sempai nodded, "It's okay, Aya-chan. Nee, Takashi?" "Aa," the tall junior said.

This continued a few more days. Aya visiting us at the music room and letting her stay until the Club is closed. An idea struck us one day, since we want Aya to join the Host Club no matter what. Of course, we knew she couldn't be a host.

"Nee, Nee, Dono?" Hikaru and I called, "We've got an interesting idea. Wanna hear?" He looked at us. Taking it as a 'yes', we said, "Let's make Aya the club's manager. "Manager?" Dono repeated. "It's going to be too much troublesome…," Hikaru said and I continued, "… if Kyouya-sempai had to work as a host and as a boss." Kyouya-sempai pushed up his glasses, "I don't need any help but at some time I could use one." Dono flicked his hair, "Well does everyone agree?" and raised his hand. Hikaru and I both raised our hands, "Agree!" Hani-sempai, who was sitting on Mori-sempai's shoulders, waved his hands in the air, "Bokura mou. Bokura mou." Kyouya-sempai proceeded on writing on his clipboard, "Everyone is in agreement." "Then, Takahashi Aya, of 3rd year Junior High Class A, is the official manager of the Host Club," Dono announced. Hikaru and I hugged each other in joy, "Wai!" A knock was heard from the door and was opened. Speaking of which, it was Aya. We, Hikaru and I, danced our way to Aya's either side and put our arm around her shoulder, "You're now our new manager, Aya!" She blinked, "Manager?" We nodded as we smiled widely. "But I—" "You don't want Kyouya-sempai to get mad, do you?" Aya turned to look at the shadow king and saw him looking back at her, the light on his glasses making his expression unknown. Aya sighed heavily, "Well, ok. I'll be your manager."

End of Flashback

I smiled as I recalled it. Aya, since we were seven years old, came into our world and tries to change us little by little. Well, actually it's a two-way. Hikaru and I… made Aya smile for the first time while she takes away the lock to our world.

The door of the Third Music Room finally opened, revealing our first customer of the day as… as guy? Wait, I thought, That is… Fujioka Haruhi, the scholar student?!

Aya looked to see the commotion as she heard Dono's continuous babbling about his handsomeness. "Shitsurei shimasu," the scholar said and exits. Instead, Hani-sempai quickly grabbed his arm, "Hey, Haru-chan, Haru-chan. Are you a hero? That's awesome." "I'm not a hero. I'm a special student," then he shouted at the loli-shota, "Wait. Who are you calling Haru-chan?!" Aya sighed and walked towards Kyouya-sempai who smiled and turned back to watch the scene. I looked at the two, Is something's happening that none of us know? (I think you already knew what Aya is thinking by this clue.) "But I didn't expect the famous bookworm to be gay… So what type do you fancy? Wild type? Loli-shota type? Little devil type? Cool type?" Dono asked, introducing each of us, hosts. "Y-You got it all wrong. I was just searching for a quiet place to study," the confused scholar said. "Or," the lord tilted Fujioka's chin, "How about me? Wanna try?" He suddenly jumped back in surprise and accidentally bumped into the expensive Rune's vase… CRASH!

"Tamaki-sempai, you don't have to be rude at him," Aya said as Fujioka collapsed. "So you are saying that we don't have to let her pay?" Kyouya-sempai asked sharply. "It's not that—" Aya's cell phone suddenly rang. She quickly excused herself from us and went out of the room.

"Aya is taking it too long," I said. "Let's go check on her," Hikaru suggested. I nodded in agreement and both of us headed for the door. "Minna-san!" Aya said, bursting the door open and hitting Hikaru and I flat on our faces. "Ah! Gomensai," she apologized, "Something important has come up. I have to go." "Eh? You're going already?" we asked. She nodded, "It's urgent." "If you have to go that badly, then you can," Kyouya-sempai said, still writing on his clipboard. "Thanks. Ja ne," and she quickly ran through the corridors. I wonder what would be so urgent that she had to leave the club, I thought.

Third POV

The car came to a halt when it almost hit a guy crossing. "Watch it!" the guy angrily said and walked to the back of the car. "But it's a green light," the driver, Hashiba, said. Without the two, Hashiba and Aya, knowing, that guy has put some kind of device at the back of the car. "Hashiba-san," Aya called from the back, "What happened?" "It's nothing, Aya-sama," he replied, "Are you hurt?" The girl shook her head, "No." Thus, Hashiba continued to drive. After a while, his eyes caught glimpse from the rear mirror a toy car following close though no one's controlling it, "There's something weird about this." Aya heard her not-so-old driver's mumble (He's only 25) and asked, "Something weird?" "Please tighten your seatbelt, Aya-sama," he said, "I'm going to speed up."

No matter how many turns they went, the toy car kept on following them. This is bad, Hashiba thought. He found an empty warehouse and parked the car inside it. "H-Hashiba-san?" the poor Aya called, confused on what is happening. "Get out of the car quickly," he said as he was unfastening his seatbelt. Aya nodded and quickly got out of the car. Hashiba put his boss away from the car… 3….. 2….. 1….. BOOM!

Aya gained consciousness and saw Hashiba before her. "Are you all right, Aya-sama?" he asked, like a concerned servant to his master. Aya slowly nodded, trying to recompose herself. She noticed that she was being leaned to the wall by Hashiba who was in front of her. Realizing what just happened, she asked, "Hashiba-san, are you ok?" "Yes, I'm ok," he replied, despite his back was being burned from the explosion. "Man! The Takahashi girl isn't dead?" a voice said. The two looked and saw a bunch of guys holding either guns or steels. Hashiba was immediately pulled away from Aya. "Well then, let's get started, boys," a big guy, who seems to be their leader, said. Aya shivered in fear, wondering what they would do to her.

Back to Kaoru's POV

Hikaru slumped to our bed, "Ah, I'm tired!" I sat beside him, "Me too. A lot of customers were there than I thought." "I wonder what happened to Aya," Hikaru thought aloud, "I sent her a mail (text message but it's called mail in animes) to call us whenever she got home." "And she hasn't called yet?" I asked. My twin nodded as he closed his eyes, "But she replied on my mail when she was still on her way home. She said that someone mysterious called on her phone and said that her parents were captured by him." I stared up at the ceiling, I'm having a bad feeling about this. Suddenly, Hikaru's phone rang, making me jump in surprise. "It's Kyouya-sempai," he said as he reached for his phone. Each Host Club member has a different ring tone so we would know who it is, especially when Dono is overreacting over his super overreacting mind… I guess that was too much.

"Hello, Kyouya-sempai?"

"Hikaru, I need you to go to our hospital. Take Kaoru with you."

"What is it? Do we have to dress as doctors and nurses tomorrow at the Host Club?"

"No," he replied sternly, "Something happened to Aya. Good thing someone brought her and her driver to our hospital."

"What happened to her?! Is she okay?!"

"She's in a comatose."

Hikaru fell still. "Hikaru," I worriedly placed my hand on his lap.

"Hikaru," Kyouya-sempai said, snapping Hikaru back to his senses.

"We'll head there right away," and hanged up his phone.

"Go where?" I asked, "We have a curfew." "Fuck that curfew," he said angrily, "We have to go to Aya." My now hot tempered brother dragged me out of his room, "Kyouya-sempai said that she's in a comatose." Aya is? I thought, It can't be. Please God don't make our treasure disappear in our lives… Please.

---

Translations:

Aa

Yeah

Bokura mou.

Us too.

-chan

Honorific. Can be used either as a diminutive (e.g., with a small child—"Little Sasuke"), or with those who are grown, to indicate affection ("My dear").

Dame, Dono.

No way, my lord.

Dono (can also be pronounced as Tono so either is correct)

Dono roughly means "lord".

Gomenasai.

Sorry.

Ii no ka?

Is it okay?

Irasshaimase

Welcome.

Ja ne.

See you.

-kun

Indicates familiarity or affection

Minna-san

Everyone

Nee, Dono.

Say, my lord.

Nee, Takashi?

Right, Takashi?

-sempai

Upperclassman

Shitsurei shimasu.

Excuse me.

Un.

Yes/Okay

Wai!

Yey!