i. Content

"Hikaru." Kaoru whispered, peering into his twin's eyes.

"Mmm, Kaoru." The older Hitachiin murmured back, pulling their faces closer to each other. For a split second their eyes met and they knew what the other was thinking.

"This is nothing but stupid." They complained dryly in unison. "Will the customers actually believe this stuff?" Hikaru added. Kaoru nodded in silent agreement. It was still improbable to him that girls would pay to see brotherly love, as their dear "King" put it. But Kaoru also knew Hikaru had another reason even though he didn't realize it just yet.

Tamaki sighed. From the start, he understood that it would not be easy to convince the two of the merits of brotherly love but at least, the twins came. It was a good start, the most important step in assimilating them into the Host Club. The only thing left to do is to make sure that they stayed and didn't get bored. Heaven forbid that they got bored while in the third music room. It would be impossible to convince them to return once they left the club.

"Kyouyaa!" Tamaki whined. "Help me sort this out!" The twins are not listening to me!"

The dark haired teen peeked from the edge of his clipboard and raised an eyebrow. "Hikaru, Kaoru." He called out. The two looked at him questioningly, irritation clearly marked on their faces.

"Are you two awkward with one another? I guess I and Tamaki were mistaken in thinking you'd be able to pull this off. We just thought you were comfortable enough with each other to be able to act that way but I guess we overestimated your closeness." Kyouya threw the twins a challenging stare. And his ploy worked, for one twin at least.

"Just because we said it was stupid doesn't mean we can't do it. Even if we have to kiss one another, we could." Hikaru lashed out at his senior.

"I'm sure no one mentioned kissing."Kyouya mused to himself. "Then please show us what you can do." Kyouya replied smilingly.

"Fine." Hikaru muttered.

Kaoru pulled his brother to one side. "If this bothers you, we can always quit the club anytime." He tried reassuring his twin.

"No." Hikaru protested. "We'll show them we can do this. Just signal to me if you're uncomfortable, okay?"

Kaoru nodded dismally. "I'll be okay, Hikaru." Will you be? His twin had played into Kyouya's trap gracelessly.

As if on cue, Kaoru settled down on the settee while the older twin hovered above him. "You know I'd love to be alone with you right now, Kaoru."

"Hi- Hikaru…" the younger Hitachiin managed a blush to creep into his cheeks. Hikaru was mesmerized, particularly since he, of all people knew Kaoru didn't blush like that. It was only then that he remembered they were simply acting. Oh. And as if on cue, his hand moved to cradle his brother's cheek and his thumb started to caress the smooth skin of his Kaoru's face.

"N- not here, Hikaru. People are looking." And Kaoru glanced shyly at the other members of the Host Club who were openly staring at them in shock.

"That's it!" Tamaki nodded approvingly. "That's exactly how you two should act out the brotherly love." Too close but not close enough, suggestive but leaving some room for doubt. It would make the customers come back for more without fail.

The two broke apart and sat down on the sofa next to each other. Kaoru still looked worried and Hikaru reached out to hold his hand. "That's more like it." Kyouya said over his shoulder, his eyes looking at their entwined fingers. "It should look more natural between the two of you so figure how to do that on your own."

"B- but-" Hikaru protested. But the word fell on empty ears. Their two sempais were preparing to leave. Today was meant for practicing the brotherly love and Hani and Mori were not in attendance.

"The host club will officially open tomorrow, you two." Tamaki reminded them. "See you then!" He left them with a parting wink.

"I guess we'd better be heading home, too." Kaoru suggested. He was still worried at Hikaru's irritated expression. "Come on, Hikaru." And dragged his twin along to where the limo awaited them.

The ride home was filled with an awful permeating silence. For the first time, they sat at opposite ends of the seat and not next to each other. Kaoru was beginning to feel frustrated at this incident and whatever triggered it but it seemed to him that Hikaru was still sorting out things in his mind. He sighed and gazed out the window.

Being in the host club seemed like fun but if things don't get resolved soon, it would simply mean he would lose the only person important to him as of the moment. He'd rather have only Hikaru than lose his twin. He hoped it would all turn out for the best.


The younger of the two leaned against the coverlet with a couple of volumes of boy's love manga. He really didn't have any idea on how to "improve the brotherly love act." What, were they supposed to practice at home or something? Kaoru mentally rolled his eyes. He hoped his brother had ideas but right now, Hikaru was still sulking in a corner of the bed and Kaoru just wanted to knock some sense into him right now. But he wouldn't do that because he recognized that this was something Hikaru needed to figure out on his own. He sometimes wondered how he can understand his twin better than he can understand himself. He knew Hikaru was the same and that was a comforting thought. Kaoru tried to focus on the manga he was reading. What he'd like to do is to throw the damn thing somewhere where it could rot in peace. How long would it take for Hikaru to realize that –

"Hey, Kaoru." His twin muttered, interrupting his train of thought.

"Hmmmm?" Kaoru eyed him questioningly.

Hikaru grabbed the book from his brother's hands and tossed it to one side. "I was really irritated today." He began, but his voice faltered and Kaoru waited for him to continue.

"I – I hated feeling awkward with you. We never felt something like that between us before…" Finally Hikaru met his twin's eyes. Kaoru smiled at him, they really were twins.

Hikaru continued explaining "I know we both decided to join the Host Club but if it's going to put a rift between us, then I don't want to be in it anymore. I'd rather we just have the two of us." Hikaru mumbled near the end.

"Kyouya-sempai told us to figure it out on our own but what's there to figure out?" Hikaru asked more to himself than to Kaoru.

"Plus the host club opens tomorrow so we only have tonight to work this out." Kaoru reminded him.

Hikaru's hand groped around for the book he tossed away moments ago. He lay down on the bed and pulled Kaoru next to him while they tried to read the manga.

"This guy is an idiot" Hikaru muttered. "isn't it obvious the other guy likes him? He already got kissed and yet he's going on and on being jealous about a girl. Are all ukes this oblivious?"

Actually, there are a few oblivious semes as well. Kaoru thought to himself and suppressed a smirk.

"I think." Kaoru explained, "It's because the seme is not being straightforward with his feelings. That's why the uke's confused."

"You got a point there." Hikaru agreed. 'So what does reading this manga have to do with our act?" He looked down at his twin snuggled closely by his shoulder.

"Hey, Kaoru? Don't move." Hikaru warned. He felt himself moving closer and closer to his brother's face almost instinctively.

When their faces were a few centimeters apart, Hikaru paused. "What if I kissed you?"

Kaoru looked up to his twin, their faces close enough to see the individual lashes casting shadows on his brother's pale cheek.

"I – I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to. I've been thinking about that since we started practicing the brotherly love act." Hikaru could swear that the blush coloring Kaoru's features was real this time.

That blush, and hearing Kaoru's acquiescence was exactly the push that Hikaru needed. He dove in without thinking about it, because Hikaru sensed that if he thought into it any deeper, he would not be able to do this. It sounded like a desperate excuse but it was true.

Without any idea on how to initiate a kiss, Hikaru nervously pressed his lips onto his brother's and lingered there, his heart hammering loudly in his ears.


He found that he liked the feel of Kaoru pressed against him softly; just enough to be assured he was near yet in a way made him want to get even closer to his twin. Hikaru suddenly pulled away, realizing that the kiss had lasted too long for it to be ever branded as an innocent one.

"Ah. K- Kaoru, I'm -" Hikaru stuttered. But he soon grasped he was feeling awkward again and shook his head as if to remind himself that it was Kaoru with him, after all. There was no need to feel ill at ease because if anyone knew him better than himself, it was his twin.

"How was that for our first kiss, Kaoru?" Somehow, Hikaru still found it in himself to smirk. But he seriously wanted to find out what Kaoru thought about it.

"You did okay, Hikaru" the younger twin teased. A yawn soon followed.

"We should sleep." Hikaru suggested. It was getting late and it was a big day tomorrow. He moved to lie down on the bed and pulled Kaoru against him. "Is it okay if we sleep like this?" Hikaru knew he didn't really need to ask for permission but he was still feeling a little insecure with this new closeness and he wanted to hear if was alright.

"mm." Kaoru assented. "Feeling better, Hikaru?" They knew he was referring to the afternoon's incident.

"I guess I am." Hikaru agreed, a small laugh in his voice. "Good night, Kaoru."

"Good night, Hikaru. Thanks for the kiss." Kaoru pressed a finger to his own lips, still remembering how it was to have Hikaru pressed against him there. It somehow felt right.

Hikaru, on the other hand, wanted more. But he decided he would have to be satisfied with this, at least, for now.

The next day, the brotherly love act was an instant success at the Host Club.


A/N

I'm sorry for starting a new fic. But I need this one badly now. I have received a few requests for PWPs and other related stuff. While I'd love to write them, I would hate for PWPs to fill my stories list. (It's my ploy at faking innocence) :3 And I'm sorry it came out like this. I really can't write nice now but I wanted to just sit and write and move on. orz

(( haha. I just remembered at one time Lit mentioned she wanted 100 chapters of host club orgy. I might just do that. xD ))

Thank you so much for reading. I'd love to hear what you think about it. I'm always open to ideas, suggestions, requests and criticism.

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Ouran High School Host Club (c) Bisco Hatori

*The manga I was refering to here is "Only The Ring Finger Knows" (c) Hotaru Odagiri and light novel (c) Satoru Kannagi