Kyoya leaned out the tall bay windows and let the contents of his lungs out in long sigh, watching the wisps of smoke dance before being carried away by the crisp autumn breeze. Leaves rustled across the concrete of the courtyard down below, the only sound in the otherwise quiet square; classes were still in session and Kyoya knew he had at least a half hour more of privacy. He brought his cigarette to his lips and took another long drag, waiting for another breeze to come by before parting his lips and letting the smoke waft away.
"I know your secret."
A voice growled in his ear, ripping him from his thoughts and sending him several steps back from the window. A Hitachiin devil was grinning up at his from the window sill, amusement dancing in his amber eyes for having caught the Shadow King off guard. Kyoya looked the teen over, gathering his thoughts, expression cool as he evaluated that the twin in front of him must be-
"Kaoru."
A flash of something crossed the twin's expression, like maybe he had been waiting to be identified and was pleasantly surprised, and he shrugged coolly before turning to peer out the window.
"Go ahead and finish, I don't mind."
Kyoya narrowed his eyes at the Hitachiin before slowly returning to his perch leaning in the window, bringing the quickly dissipating cigarette to his lips. He could feel those amber eyes watching him from below but worked hard to ignore them, tapping some of the glowing ash away as he let the smoke in his lungs out. He knew the conversation wasn't over: Kaoru wouldn't have approached him if he hadn't had some kind of angle and Kyoya felt a twinge of anticipation over what the Hitachiin devil was up to- the younger of the twins, though quiet, was a schemer like himself and knowing secrets, to people like them, was schemer's gold. Finally he decided to speak first and take control of the situation; Kaoru was good but no one could out-scheme the Shadow King.
"You know my secret."
He flicked grey eyes down to see amber ones glimmer with satisfaction- Kaoru was waiting for him to speak first. The twin curled his legs under himself, getting comfortable in his windowsill perch as he spoke nonchalantly,
"I've actually known for a while: you come here and smoke on the days we wear cosplay because no one will smell it on your uniform, don't you."
It wasn't a question- he knew he had it figured out. Kyoya kept his gaze on the horizon, expression unchanging.
"I'm impressed by your investigative skills, Kaoru, but it isn't any kind of secret."
The Shadow King would not be black mailed and he didn't care if the twin had figured him out. Kaoru peered up at the man and smiled.
"If it wasn't a secret why would you be working so hard to hide it?"
His eyes began to follow the wisps of smoke dancing from the end of the cigarette between Kyoya's lips as he continued,
"Don't worry Kyoya-senpai, I won't tell anyone. There's no point in making an enemy out of the Shadow King."
Kyoya hated the twinge of relief that flickered in the pit of his stomach and he ground the butt of his cigarette into the concrete ledge before letting the cigarette drop below. If the twin really didn't want anything out of this situation he wouldn't have revealed he knew Kyoya's 'secret' in the first place- was this all for attention? Did he just want to push the 'Shadow King's buttons?
"A Hitachiin slinking around without its double is unusual."
Kyoya commented coolly, raising an eyebrow down at the younger teen.
"What are you doing here, Kaoru."
Maybe the second part came out a little too harsh, Kyoya scolded himself- it was apparent he was going to have to keep the Hitachiin devil a little closer to him moving forward, after all. The twin shrugged before standing, sending a grin over his shoulder at his senpai.
"Well, I guess I kinda got a secret, too."
He crossed his arms behind his head, peering up at the ceiling and continuing,
"I'm actually a little offended you haven't bothered to figure it out yet."
Kyoya adjusted his glasses, turning to face the twin. Now that he really thought about it….
"You've been coming to the club room early- but not usually this early…"
Kyoya would already be changed by the time the twin would slink in, only a few minutes ahead of the others, barely noticeable to a club vice president already in the throes of getting ready for business.
The twin was shrugging off his uniform jacket, hanging it on the back of a chair.
"You're half right and half wrong. I am earlier than usual today, but I only ever come early on the days you do, too."
Kyoya eyed the twin carefully, wondering what he was implying. Why would Kaoru need to come early on the same days he did? Was this really all about trying to get his attention?
The twin was giggling as he watched the Shadow King, beginning to loosen his tie.
"Don't look so self centered Kyoya-senpai I'm not coming early because of you."
He was unbuttoning his shirt and Kyoya didn't know what to think, wasn't sure what his expression should be, and the twin was pulling the white cotton down over his shoulders-
Reddish brown bruises were painted across the creamy skin of his collar bone, trailing down towards his chest, and his cheeks were becoming a little pink as he felt the grey eyes perusing him.
"An outstanding host would never be caught with love marks all over himself,"
He was shrugging his shirt back on as he spoke, a sly smile on his lips,
"So I cover them up on cosplay days to avoid the wrath of the Host King and his shadowy counterpart."
Kyoya adjusted his glasses with a single, slender finger, smiling to himself. It was no secret to him that Kaoru was the sex pixie of Ouran Academy but he also knew he was one of the select few with this knowledge. The Hitachiin had done a very careful- and in Kyoya's opinion if anyone asked, impressive- job of guarding his reputation while acting as he pleased, the Shadow King suspecting he pulled it off by never fooling around with anyone he couldn't financially destroy. He himself of course had stayed completely uninvolved, not caring what any host did with their free time as long as it didn't affect the club. If anything he was a little bit flattered to see how much effort the twin put in to heeding the vice president's warning that club members must always remain squeaky clean, although he knew it was probably more for the sake of keeping the less tactful Host members in the dark.
"In that case you better get to it."
The Shadow King replied simply, gesturing towards the clock with his chin; there wasn't much more time before the club room would alight with the presence of their whiny Host King. The twin crept a little closer, expression innocent.
"What, you don't like what you see?"
His face dissolved into a sly smile, leaning closer to his senpai and sing-songing,
"If you want, you can come give me a hand~…"
Kyoya raised an amused eyebrow down at his kohai, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Not interested."
The twin pouted cutely before turning away and heading into the back room to get ready. Kyoya watched him go, intrigued by the conversation that had just passed. He had been underestimating the younger twin but now whether it was intentional or not the Hitachiin was on his radar. The vision of the red blossom's on Kaoru's collarbone and the knowing smile on his pale lips were replaying in Kyoya's head, sending a twinge of something through the pit of his stomach and making him wonder if maybe his last words had been not entirely true.
He shook his head and smiled to himself, hands shoved deep in his pockets as he turned to begin gathering his things. Maybe he was forming a new secret here and now, visions of scheming amber eyes dancing before him like the smoke on the breeze. He knew now he would have to work harder to keep this one to himself.
