TITLE: Summer Romances Suck
FANDOM: Ouran High School Host Club
GENRE: Romance/Humor
RATING: T (for some language and insinuated jokes (eventually))
PAIRINGS: KaoruxOC, HikaruxOC
CHARACTERS: Kaoru Hitachiin, Hikaru Hitachiin
WORD COUNT: 7,266
SUMMARY: Dez Boucharde and Katie Carmen are normal girls in a small town in Maine who just happen to be obsessed with the Host Club manga. On an early summer afternoon they meet their favorite characters, who are real, and shenanigans of all sorts follow.
NOTE: This story is one that my very dear friend and I are currently writing together. We were going to make it into a manga, but it would take too long as a 'summer project' and have decided to just draw our FAVORITE scenes! ^.^ I will put some information for all of you who want to see the pictures (once they are up on Deviant Art).
DISCLAIMER: We (Kreative Kathryn and I) do not own Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin. Bisco Hatori-sensei does and I am jealous X3
Chapter One: Meeting Place and Blushing Faces
A blue-eyed girl sat on the floor of a long and boring hallway, relaxing against a wall. Silence stretched on and on as she stared at the ticking watch on her wrist. The cold stone wall penetrated her shirt, giving her forearms a ghosting of goosebumps, even though the weather was extremely hot. She bit her lip, hoping that the school's more formidable vice principal didn't find her and try to kick her out...again. She had already graduated but came back because her friends were underclassmen and still had final examinations. It wasn't like she was disturbing anyone.
'Katie, how much longer is that damn final?' The girl stood slowly, revealing her limited height. She didn't notice that the art posters nearby were even taller than her. She was used to being nearly 5 foot nothing and she knew that people made fun of her for it. She didn't care about it much, unless it was her friends who were doing the teasing.
BEEEEP! The bell was high pitched and made the girl jump. She brushed her shoulder length brunette curls out of her face and plastered herself against the wall as released students rushed out of their testing rooms to retreat outside. A strand of brightly highlighted hair fell in her eyes, distracting her for a moment. She was still getting used to the vibrant reds, oranges and blondes in her hair that mixed with the natural brown.
'Where is she? I can usually spot her through a mess of kids...' She popped her head into the room her friend was in, "Katie!" She smiled slowly as she saw her friend picking up an array of colored pencils that threatened to spill onto the floor. "I see you were drawing...again."
"Yeah, I'm finally over my Alice phase." She nodded toward the picture of Alice in Wonderland and fixed the brightly colored barrette that kept some of her copper highlights in a place that she wanted. She slid a bunch of pencils into its case.
"That's a relief."
"Now it's butterflies!" She grinned widely, absolutely chipper with her new fascination. Her brownie eyes glittered with enthusiasm and the girl knew that somewhere on the inside her older friend was sighing. It was if she could draw a giant sweat drop on a piece of paper and hold it by her head, as if they were in a shoujo manga, and not look out of place.
"Are you ready to go? I do have a job to get to." The shorter girl put her hands on her hips. She sounded impatient, but she really wasn't. She loved where she worked, but she wanted to spend more time with her friend.
"Then help me pick up the colored pencils!" They finished relatively quickly with both of them working together and headed toward the door. "Hey Dez...Do you think the new Ouran book is out yet?"
"Oh, I hope so!" Désirée sighed wistfully. "Kaoru—"
"Hikaru..." Katie began.
"Is the best!" The girls laughed as they finished their thoughts together. They left the school the back way to get to Dez's old yellow jeep. They were eager to head to the B&N bookstore that they practically lived in during the summer.
A mere ten minutes later Dez parked in the blaring sunlight and hopped out. There once was a lack of doors—which had been convenient until the winter—but there were replaced and she hadn't taken the time to remove them for the summer break quite yet. She glanced at Katie and remembered what she had been excited to tell her. She tapped her shoulder, "I got my new tattoo."
"Really?!" Katie rushed around the jeep and grabbed Dez's arm, dragging her toward the store. "Lemme see!"
"Careful! It's still really sore!" She lead Katie to the bathroom. "And I'd appreciate it if you don't try to rip my clothes off in public." She went into the handicapped stall, locked it and began to unbutton her sleeveless shirt to show the taller girl her back. As the pale blue cloth slid down her arms a soft gray angel wing that stretched from the top of her shoulder to just under her shoulder blade and a reddish black bat-like demon wing that ranged the same length could be seen.
"Ooh..." Katie reached to touch them but stopped when Dez spun around, and raised an eyebrow at her. "Anymore yet?" She quickly changed the subject so to not feel guilty about nearly poking it. "What about that eclipse-type symbol that you draw constantly? The one that you sign your art with..."
"That?" Dez turned over her wrist and the crescent that wrapped around the sun was visible. Four long rays from the nigh devoured sun stretched to either side of her wrist, almost connecting in the back and stretching over the base of her palm and down her inner arm. "I sold all of my Harry Potter chocolate frog cards to get that one for Christmas. I had a bugger of a time hiding it from my parents. They were gonna skin me alive."
"You didn't tell me when you got it."
"Sorry, I didn't want to risk my parents finding out." She shrugged and finished buttoning up her shirt. "Ooh! Random subject change! I got the Ouran anime!" She clapped her hands together excitedly and did her best not to squeal out loud as the left the bathroom. The girls naturally headed to the manga section of the store out of habit.
"Wha-? Why didn't you tell me?" Her eyes widened and she looked letdown.
"Because I brought it with me for you to borrow! I just got it in the mail two days ago and I had to watch all of it first." Dez froze in her tracks. Right ahead of them was a tall redheaded guy looking at the books. "Oh my gawd...Katie! Look at that guy! He looks like Hikaru!"
Katie's eyes rested on the guy and she furrowed a brow. "How can you tell? You can't even see his face!"
Dez raised an eyebrow and smirked. The expression was very cat-like, bordering on mischievous. "I've read a lot more Ouran than you have. I would know."
"How do you know." Katie stuck her tongue out at the older girl.
"I introduced it to you, what do you think? C'mon Katie. Go talk to him!" She looked up at Katie, a challenge in her eyes that most people wouldn't see from someone at least six inches shorter than the person being stared down.
Katie's eyes slid open until they were the near size of dinner plates, "No way!" There was a squeak that tinged the edge of her voice. "I'm not making an idiot of myself to a look-alike! Plus, it's rude!"
The evil look on Dez's face grew more intense. 'I gotta get her to do this. Just to get her to...assert herself a little more.' She knew that she had to hide her real intentions before things got too carried away and she blanked her face. "Well, alright. But he's right in front of the Ouran books and I know that you want your own copy really badly. You have to talk to him to at least get him to move."
Somewhere inside, Katie knew that Dez was getting some sick and twisted glee from making her face slip into the all-to-familiar blush that accompanied her whenever guys came into their topic of discussion. "I-I can wait. I d-don't have to get it now."
The grin on the short girl's face was instantly revived and began to get wider, "But you know you want it now." She glanced at the man standing in front of the books in time to spot him turning around. Her mouth was agape. If they were outside she could start catching flies. "Stars above, Katie. Look. At. Him! You are so gonna freak!"
Katie was preoccupied with a novella that was brightly colored. She picked it up and looked at the back. "Hold on Dez, I'm readin'."
"No, now!" She wanted to grab her friend by the face and turn her toward the guy. She didn't. Katie would have made some loud noise and that would have been bad. Very bad. Horrible even. That would ruin the advantageous situation that was slapping the small girl's face at that very moment.
"Oh jeez. Let me guess...he grins like him or something. Just drop it Dez. I'm not, I repeat not, going over the—"
Dez wrenched the book out of Katie's hands, went up on her tiptoes and forced her face in the direction of the guy. The younger girl's eyes blanked as she took in the view before her. Dez let go and sighed, "See?"
"Oh...my...gawd! Have I gone loopy?!" The brownie eyes blinked quickly as if even they didn't want to miss the sight before them.
"If you have then I'm in the same boat. It's a nice one too." She giggled a little too devilishly. She cleared her throat, "I can see him as clear as day. That is Hikaru."
Katie snatched the book back from her friend and buried her tinging face in it as she predicted what was going to happen. She didn't want to lock eyes with him. She did not want to be caught as a gawker. She definitely didn't want to be put in the same fangirl life raft that Dez floated in comfortably.
The guy looked up when he heard his name and glanced around, obviously bored with the small store. He spotted two girls not too far away, but they were plain. Highly uninteresting. He sighed quietly to himself and wondered where in this place his twin could have gotten to. It was odd not seeing the commonly shared flaming red hair close by. 'Why would anyone say that name, my name? It's not like it's a common name here.'
His gold eyes flicked back to his book, but secretly his ears were focused on a few girls who were timidly glancing his way and smiling. They were more...usual...than the two who were whispering by the books. A plain looking coffee rested in front of the flirtatious girls. Ugh. This was just great. They were away from the Host Club and still had people fawning over them.
"Now you have to talk to him!" Dez almost squealed as she did a dance in front of Katie. Her eyes were pleading and the energy that was pulsating through her gave even the most devoted caffeine junkie the shudders.
"No way! This just give me more of a reason NOT to."
'Ah damn. Katie is being so frustrating! Even with her being so enamored with Hikaru's character in the books she is too shy about it. This is a very rare chance! And she's blowing it up!' The schemes were rocketing through her mind and one after another she tossed them away. 'She hasn't had a single guy ask her out because of this devotion to him, and if that is the way it's gonna be...I'll get them together even if it kills me!'
"Hey Dez...don't you think it's weird?"
Dez jerked out of her thoughts, still going through machinations as she answered, "Huh? What was that?"
"Don't you think it's a bit odd? Him being without his brother."
Dez's mouth fell open, she was at a complete loss. "Eh? What do you mean?"
Katie shuffled a bit and glanced at Hikaru before hiding her face behind another book. "Hikaru."
'I heard my name again.' He glanced up and his eyes locked with Katie's for a moment. He eyed her suspiciously before going back to his book. 'Maybe it's just a coincidence. Yeah, that's it. No need to get freaked out by some chick you've never met before...'
"What about him?" Dez raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side at the same time. It was a look that she had perfected to make herself look adorable and as curious as a cat watching a mouse hole for the first time.
"Where is his brother?" It was a simple question. Very simple. Painfully obvious. She bit back a giggle at the deadpanned look that Dez gave her.
"That...is a good question! They are never apart!" Dez rested her hands on the shelving unit next to her to give her a slight boost to rake the tops of the other shelves with her stormy blue gaze. Nothing.
"I know, it's weird, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Dez let go of the shelves and returned to her normal shortness. "But still, that doesn't change the fact that you are going to march right up there and talk to him." She smirked and crossed her arms over her chest, a defy-me-if-you-can pose if there ever was one.
Katie's eyes widened again and she shook slightly. "B-but Dez, I can't do that! You're crazy if you think that I have that much courage!"
A perfect plan did the macarena in front of her. "Well then, it looks like you'll be needing a little of my help!" The inner-Dez laughed maniacally. 'Bwahahaha! Now's my chance!'
"Wha-?!" She felt Dez's hands plant themselves on her back and she marched Katie over to where Hikaru stood. Her plan was going great, but Katie's natural clumsiness fine tuned the operation. "Eep!" The girl had tripped over the rug, or her own feet. Dez couldn't tell. All she knew was Katie had toppled onto Hikaru and once the dust cleared...they looked almost cozy.
Hikaru's legs were draped over one of the armrests of B&N's more comfortable chairs. The rest that dug into his back was probably uncomfortable, but no so much as the elbow that almost punctured his gut. Katie was on top of the gorgeous guy and her face was changing reds faster than a mood ring.
Dez smirked, satisfied. Her inner self was cheering. 'Well, my work here is done!'
Katie pushed herself off of Hikaru, only to fall to the side and onto her butt. "I-I-I am s-so sorry! A-are you okay?" She got up shakily and waited to be berated by the handsome figure before her.
Hikaru stood slowly, assessing his aches and straightening his clothes. Their sudden departure from Japan had prevented him from changing out of his school uniform, not that it mattered much. She hadn't made it more rumpled than the long plane ride had. "I knew the girls here were different from back home, but I didn't know that they were so forward." He smirked and leaned closer to her, resting his hands halfway in his pockets. "I like it."
'Oh my gosh, this is bad! He thinks I'm some sort of HUSSY!' She tugged at the bottom of her tee hoodie and did her best not to fidget any more. "Oh! N-no! I'm s-so sorry. It's just that...I mean to say, I, uh, tripped! That's a-all. I d-didn't do that intentionally. C-complete accident!"
Hikaru's smirk grew with every adorable stuttering word that fell from her lips. "What if I didn't want it to be an accident? I mean, you are cute." He wondered if she was going to change colors again, 'She might make a good toy, for now at least. Maybe I should show her to Kaoru...unless she has a friend as equally intriguing for him.'
The embarrassed girl's blush flared and she looked away, "I really do think I must be g-going now. Um, uh once again, I am really sorry. Good bye now." She turned to leave, not expecting to have Dez jump in again so soon.
'Oh no you don't!' Dez had fisted a part of the blusher's hoodie, and steered her back toward the smiling but confused Hitachiin. "I don't think we've been properly introduced." Her smile was charming and honey seemed to drip off her words. A honey that may or may not be laced with arsenic. "I'm Désirée Boucharde, and this is my friend, Katie Carmen."
Katie knew she wasn't getting out of this. She put on a nervous but polite smile, "Charmed."
Hikaru winked at her, "I should hope so." He flashed her a winning smile that elicited a fangirl squeal out of the girls drinking coffee. He continued as Katie blushed, "I am Hikaru—"
"HITACHIIN!" Katie blurted before slapping her hands to her mouth, wishing she could disappear at that very moment.
Hikaru's gold eyes were confused and his brows furrowed slightly, "Yeah, how did you know?" This was strange. They really did know him somehow and that was creepy.
"Um, well...you see, it's 'cause—" Dez couldn't actually come up with a reason. Saying 'You're a main character of a shoujo manga filled with teen heartthrobs,' was cliché and would probably weird the poor guy out wicked bad.
A shaky idea clicked in Katie's head, "We're fans o-of your mom's clothes!"
"Wha-? Oh! Oh yeah! We love her clothing lines, big fans we are. We heard that she was moving somewhere for a summer to broaden her brand's fame but...why are you here? Even if she is an international brand..."
"Yeah, well..." He sighed and put his book put on the shelf. "Mother wanted to go somewhere more...secluded...for inspirations and so we ended up in this rundown town in the middle of nowhere."
"Hey!" Katie pouted. She liked this 'rundown town' a lot. She loved it even. It's not like she lived in the middle of town where she could walk everywhere like Dez could, but still.
"No offense meant to locals." Hikaru glanced around him, "But please excuse me, I must go find my brother. He left to look around and has been gone for ages..." He trailed off and spotted the top of his brother's head among the shelves. "Ah, there he is." He ushered the girls over so they could meet him. "This is my brother, K—"
"KAORU!" Dez clasped her hands in front of her and squealed. Before she could move, Katie had a firm grip on the collar of her shirt and she couldn't advance toward the younger twin.
"Sorry, she can't help it. She was suckered into being the head of your fan base three years ago...and it's moved from statewide to a lot bigger and because of the rather large fan network she deals with constantly, well, um...she's developed quite the...fascination for you."
Kaoru blinked and looked down at the girl who almost had pulsing hearts for eyes. "Er, that's an awkward way to meet someone. But it doesn't hurt that you're hot." He gave Dez a mischievous smirk.
"Oh gads..." Dez nearly stumbled backward, but decided to almost faint instead. Katie's grip on her collar stopped her in the process, unless she wanted to ruin a perfectly good shirt.
"Dez?" Katie refrained from gritting her teeth before the twins, "Could I speak to you, privately?"
Dez smiled and said dreamily, "Okay..."
"We'll be back in a moment." Katie dragged Dez to the women's restroom, "Dez! Are you nuts?!"
Dez sighed wistfully, "About him?" She was regaining normalcy, and the rate was alarming.
"No, in general!"
"Put this in perspective. They'll be going home at the end of the summer, yeah? Sure, they think people are toys...but if that lets me hang out with them for the whole summer, so be it." She looked Katie up and down, waiting for the younger girl's reply. 'I think I hear the wheels turning in her head.'
"I...guess you're right."
"Of course I am!" She smiled brightly. "Sadly, I have to work..." she pouted instantly, "So I guess that means you get to keep them interested in staying here!" Her voice was chipper with a potent level of evil laying underneath.
"What?" Katie's voice squeaked and cracked at the same time. "No! Get back here!"
Dez ran out of the bathrooms and raced toward the direction of the twins. "Have fun with Katie 'till I get off work, 'kay?" She waved as she passed, looking over her shoulder at them as she spurted out her rushed sentence.
As soon as she disappeared from sight, Katie came in panting. "Where'd she go?" She took a few deep breaths. "I'm so going to get her. How dare she do this to her little sister!"
The twins looked at her incredulously, "You two are siblings?"
"Not really." She wondered how to explain it to them. "In her senior year of high school she decided to adopt me in a way." Katie smiled as she thought back, 'Yep, this is how all this started. I'd be wrong if I only partially blamed Dez, but I guess I have to thank her too...' Mentally shaking herself from her reverie she changed thought patterns, 'Okay Katie, think! What to do, what to do?' She fidgeted a bit, 'The only think I can think of talking about is Ouran, but they probably don't know that most of their life is splashed onto pages of manga!' She asked the first question that came to mind. "U-um, have you two looked around Augusta a lot since you came here?"
"Not really." The younger twin glanced at his brother.
"It's boring, what is there to see?" Hikaru's eyes followed the change in Katie's expressions.
"L-lot's of things! We're in the Augusta Marketplace!" Katie waved her arms about to add emphasis. "I-I mean I know it doesn't look like m-much but...It's b-basically the hangout of Augusta! I'm sure that we can find something to do." She let her arms flop to her sides, 'Okay Katie, stay calm. All I need to do is keep them occupied enough so they don't wreak havoc before Dez gets out of work. Start countdown at four hours...'
"Well..." Kaoru tapped his chin with a finger. "If you can keep us amused until that other chick gets out of work we just may reward you." He gave the girl who was just barely shorter than himself a cheeky grin.
"Maybe." Hikaru interjected.
"Okay, fine!" Katie almost slapped herself for the bold words. She had taken their challenge. "Where to first?"
"Doesn't matter to us," they said in unison, "We've never been to any of these stores before."
"What? You're kidding!"
Kaoru shook his head, a direct negative. "Nope."
"Never been to Wally World?" Katie was unable to believe what she was hearing.
Hikaru was the one to speak this time, "Never."
The girl's jaw dropped, "Well I guess I know where we're gonna go first. Off to Wally World!" She grinned like an idiot and pointed toward the door triumphantly, as if she was leading a crusade.
The twins followed behind her, lagging behind to whisper. Kaoru started. "You know, it's almost infectious the way she acts. She reminds me of Haruhi with Hunny-senpai's attitude toward people. She's really happy."
"Maybe we should play a game with her?" Hikaru winked.
Kaoru smirked, satisfied with his brother's suggestion, "You think she could tell the difference?"
Hikaru rolled his eyes, "Pfft, she just met us." He grinned evilly, his gold eyes sparkling, "Not a chance."
Katie turned around and started to skip backwards, "What's keeping you guys? You comin' or what?"
"Coming!" The twins looked up at her and dashed over. They threw their arms around her shoulders and smiled all-too-innocently.
"You know, you're kinda short." Kaoru watched the brownie eyes turn on him.
"Not for a girl!" Katie frowned up at him, not quite pouting.
"Yeah, maybe. But to us you are short." Hikaru poked her cheek, drawing her attention to him this time.
Katie rolled her eyes, "No duh." She led the boys passed Dez's register and the shorter girl nearly hopped over the counter in a poor attempt to follow them.
"Hey!" She called out, waving her arms like she was trying to flag down a ship, "Where do you think you're going?!"
"Wally World!" Katie called back, smiling. "They've never been!"
"Oh not fair!" She pouted, obviously frustrated that her work was constraining her fun-with-hot-boys time. "Come back when my shift ends, will ya?"
"Okie dokie, Dezy!" She waved as they went through the front double doors. 'At least she isn't too upset.'
'Damn it all! I wanna go...' she whined to herself as she grabbed a blue sharpie from a drawer and tried to draw fake waves of tears on her cheeks. A co-worker took the pen away, after lightly smacking her upside the head and informed her that she wasn't a heroine in a manga nor a manga character in the first place, and had no right to have waves of tears like that.
Katie stopped and stretched outside the door, dislodging the arms that were becoming heavy on her shoulders. "You guys ready to go?"
Hikaru watched her walk toward the direction he presumed the store was in, "Where are you going?"
Katie stopped and looked back at the twins puzzled faces. "Um, to Wally World, where else?"
"You mean we're walking?" Kaoru was hardly short of gawking at her.
"Yeah...it's faster." Katie blushed, "It's c-close enough to walk to, and it'll save gas!"
Kaoru looked at her suspiciously, "Are you trying to say something?"
'God! Just get off the driving topic,' she thought desperately. "No!"
Hikaru leaned very close, making Katie's blush flare, and cocked his head to the side. "I think that by the flustered expression and the apparent blush that she's saying she can't drive." He smirked, "Am I right?"
"NO!" She blurted just a little too loudly to be convincing. This was just great, she was never going to hear the end of it, was she? It was bad enough that Dez teased her about it, but not these two as well? "I-I j-just don't h-h-have my p-permit yet..." Her voice steadily quieted during her last comment until the last words were barely a whisper.
Kaoru nodded knowingly, "Oh...well, Hikaru, we'll have to take her on it then." His voice was too sunny for the look that was lingering in his troublemaker gaze.
"Wait, what?!" The girl squeaked, turning her head back and forth to look at both twins in turn. Their little devil smiles grew wider and soon Katie stopped switching between them before she gave herself whiplash.
"I guess we'll have to." Hikaru shrugged.
"W-what are you t-t-talking about?" Katie stammered.
"Do you think she can handle it, Hikaru?"
"Handle w-what?" Katie tried to push the goosebumps on her forearms down, fruitlessly.
"If we can calm her down long enough."
"Take me on w-what!?" Katie glared at them.
"Would you like to drive Katie-chan?"
"Drive what!" Katie grabbed the sleeves of their uniforms and almost felt hurt when the twins finally acknowledged her presence. She almost pouted, but decided against it at the last second. They weren't like Dez who would melt at the big puppy eyes.
"Our bikes of course." The twins looked down to the girl clinging to their shirts. The gleam in their eyes had not died down, and they gave Katie a feeling that it would be there a lot for the first few times they hung out.
"Y-your what?"
"Come here." Hikaru wrapped an arm around her shoulders, not missing her renewed blush, and lead her over to where two motorcycles stood.
"Um, uh..." Katie's eyes were wide open. "A-are you sure they're safe?"
Kaoru gave her a winning smile. "Of course."
"Aw, c'mon Katie-kun. It'll be fun!"
"Well..." Her face clearly declared that she was unsure about all of this.
Kaoru smiled brightly, imitating the look that was usually on Katie's face, "It's settled then. We'll take you for a ride and then you can show us Wally World." He gave her his best 'innocent' smile. "Now...who are you going to ride with?"
"I'll take her." Hikaru nearly laughed aloud at the blush that was staining Katie's face once again. 'She's hopeless. Why don't we just dye her cheeks that color and be done with it?'
'Wow, it's so obvious. I just hope he doesn't break her too bad. She is a sweet girl in ways.' Kaoru dashed the sympathetic thoughts away by confirming his brother's suggestion. "It's settled then. You can go with Hikaru."
Hikaru walked over to the blue motorcycle and skillfully swung his leg over it with practiced ease and turned his gaze to the fidgeting girl. "Well, come on. Get on already." His mind wandered as she shuffled closer. 'Hmm, I hope she's strong enough, cause if she can't pass our test then I have to hope that she won't go completely insane.' When she finally climbed on Hikaru turned his head toward her, so to meet her eyes. "Hold on to me, okay?"
Katie flicked her gaze away but leaned forward at an achingly lethargic pace and wrapped her arms around Hikaru's middle. Her face hadn't cooled in color from before and just managed to get redder.
"See?" The older twin's voice was soft and sweet. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?"
"I-I guess not." Katie mumbled into his back.
"Alright then. Which way is it?" He peeked at Katie before turning his head to his twin and winking.
"That way." Her words were muffled, but they saw her hand pointing in the direction of the superstore.
"Then...let's hurry!" Kaoru smirked.
"Right." Hikaru gunned his bike and released the brake sending them forward suddenly.
"Wha-a-a-a-a!!" Katie screamed as she clung even tighter to Hikaru as they circled the parking lot a few times before heading toward the store.
"If you keep screaming you can't give directions." Hikaru called over his shoulder, taking his eyes away from the road before him for the barest moment. He watched her point again. Apparently she couldn't talk now.
After a very 'scenic' route to Wally World they find a place to park near one of the entrances. Kaoru hopped off of his motorcycle and patted the seat affectionately. "I love my bike. It's always nice to go for a ri—" He stopped in mid word when he looked over at his brother and saw the death grip Katie had on him. 'Is she for real?' He did his best not to crack up, but he had to lean against his bike for support.
"Um, Katie-kun? You can let go now. We're here." Hikaru's back was beginning to hurt from the position it was in to keep Katie from tearing it. She slowly released her hold on his shirt, that is...until she noticed how close they were. She jerked back quickly. A little too quickly. She toppled off of the bike backwards and both twins gawked at her out of concern and made an ooh-that-has-got-to-hurt face, before laughing.
"It's not that funny." Katie murmured as she brushed herself off. As her hand went over her pocket it began to ring and Katie jumped as if she had gotten bitch slapped by a piece of lightning. She pulled out the cell phone that was in her pocket and flipped it open, ignoring the laughter in the background. "Hello?"
"Oh Little Miss Katie...!" Dez's voice sang out from the cell.
"Okay, you are up to something."
"Oh, I'm hurt." Katie swore that she could hear the pout. "Will you do Dez a favor?"
"I knew it. What do you want and how much does it cost?"
"Well you're no fun!" She sighed over the line. "I ran out of curling mousse this morning and I was wondering since you were going to Wally World...could you get me some?"
Katie sighed and turned away from the twins who were now miming her falling off of the bike. "Sure. What's the brand you like again?"
"The göt 2b Series!" It seemed as if Dez had stolen all the chipper from Katie before the younger girl left the store. "Thanks so much, Katie. I'll pay you back."
"Yeah, yeah. I know. See you after your shift."
"Bye!" The line clicked and Katie could almost picture little hearts and flowers dancing around her friend's goofy smiling face. She shoved the phone back into her pocket. "C'mon you two."
Kaoru took a deep shuddering breath to calm himself some more. "S-so, who was that?"
"Dez. She—"
"Hey! It was your fangirl!" Hikaru snickered.
The younger brother blushed, "Shut up Hikaru." A small sulk was in the corner of his features. It was embarrassing. He was used to fangirls, but this one was...different from the others.
'Oh brother, I hope he's not getting attached to these random idiot girls.' Hikaru groused to himself.
"C'mon!" Katie's energy suddenly returned in a burst. "Let's go!" She leaned forward and grabbed their hands and started dragging them toward the building. She didn't notice Hikaru's cheeks getting pinker.
'What the hell?!' He shook his head violently to clear it. 'That's not supposed to happen.'
"Welcome to Wally World!" Katie let go of their hands and spread her arms wide as if to show them the extent of it all. She giggled when the boys' eyes widened and they stared.
"Wow." Kaoru stepped inside more to look around.
"I don't think I've seen so much commoner...well, stuff." Hikaru blinked.
Katie accepted a smiley sticker from the greeter and proudly stuck it to her cheek before taking their hands again. "C'mon, I have to get some stuff."
Kaoru grinned impishly at the tint in his brother's face. "And you thought I was bad?" He whispered in Japanese.
Hikaru's face flared redder and he cursed, "Shut up!"
"Did I miss something?" Katie met Hikaru's eyes before he abruptly pulled away his hand and his gaze.
Kaoru let go of Katie's hand and patted her shoulder. "It's nothing."
Katie shrugged and walked in front of them to lead the way, pausing here and there to look at brightly colored or shiny things.
Kaoru leaned in toward his brother, "Oh yeah. Really bad." He sidestepped away from his brother before running to catch up to Katie so he could have a witness if Hikaru tried to kill him.
A couple hours passed as they wandered through the clothes and housewares and eventually they detoured to the donut shop inside to buy something to drink. Katie spotted gum at one time and bought it instantly so she could pop a piece of caffeinated mint heaven into her deprived mouth. She picked her way through the sketch books and picked a decently sized one before remembering her 'errand'. She lead them to the cosmetic area which drew dubious looks from both twins.
"Um, Katie-chan, why are we here?" Kaoru didn't move down the aisle that had make up and deodorant on one side and hair styling products on the other.
"'Cause I gotta get Dez some mousse like she asked." Her brownie eyes roved the shelves for the correct words she was looking for.
Hikaru was brave and had stuck by Katie's side. "Why doesn't she just get it herself?"
"She's still at work..." Her eyes found purchase on a bright orange bottle. "Aha!" She picked it up and read the bottle to make sure it was the right one. "O-oh my..."
Kaoru started down the aisle to look. "What?"
"I didn't realize what this was called."
Hikaru looked over her shoulder. "What's it called then?" He didn't glance up when his brother joined him and looked over Katie's other shoulder.
"Hey Katie-chan?"
"Y-yeah?"
"What does 'kinky' mean?" Hikaru rested his chin on her shoulder for a brief moment. He looked at the name on the bottle 'göt 2b kinky' and raised his eyebrows as he wracked his brain for the correct meaning.
Katie's face was becoming quite at home being bright red. It could even be a second nature by now. "W-w-well. I-I um, i-it is...oh gawd! I, well I can't r-really explain it."
Kaoru pulled back enough to smile devilishly at her, "Why not?"
Hikaru smirked also, instantly picking up on the game. "I mean we really haven't fully gotten the hang of reading the English language, and there are so many different words that I'm not quite sure what it means."
Katie pulled out a dictionary from basically nowhere and began to look it up as her companions gawked at the book. 'Where the hell...?' and 'How the fuck...?' were basically hovering over their heads and occasionally doing some stellar acrobatics. She found the word, read the definition to herself and promptly snapped the book shut and turned away from the other two. Even her ears were red this time.
"Well...?" The boys asked.
"No way am I saying that."
"Aw, come on, please?" Hikaru pleaded.
"N-no! Ask D-Dez when we get back or something! Her shift must be almost over by now."
Kaoru glanced at his watch. He had almost forgotten about the other girl, "Oh, you're right. But we still have about ten minutes to kill..."
Katie gave a very out of character frown, pondering. "Then what should we do?"
The twins smirk in unison and each wrap an arm around Katie's shoulders. "Let's play the Which-One's-Hikaru game!" The twins turn her away from them and mess up their bangs and then walk before her so she doesn't know which one is which. "People usually use our bangs, but we're not letting you off that easily!"
"Okay." She shrugged. On the outside she was calm, her Inner Katie, however, was screaming. 'Oh my god, oh my god, OMIGAWD! 3 I never thought I would be playing this! I feel like I'm in a story!'
"Okay! Which one is Hikaru!" They grinned at her, their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders.
Katie didn't even pause to think and pointed to the boy on the left. "You are Hikaru-kun."
"How do you know it isn't me?" Kaoru gave her a winning smile.
"I just know."
The evilness slid off of their faces like skates on ice. "B-but how did you know?" Hikaru asked, messily fixing his bangs.
Katie rested her fingers around her mouth thoughtfully, "I don't really know...I guess it's just a...natural talent!"
"I guess that other girl will be our next target."
"Oh my GOSH! DEZ!" Katie ran to the self check out, bought her items and ran outside, dragging the boys behind her.
'No one's figured us out before...' Hikaru thought as they drove back to the book store. 'Well...except for Dad. And Haruhi. Maybe she is a little different.' As they stopped in the parking lot a light bulb appeared behind Hikaru's eyes, making them light up puckishly. "Hey Kaoru, let's go ask Dez what kinky means."
"Don't do that!" Katie protested in vain.
"You have to give her the mousse anyway. So we're going to ask." Kaoru grabbed the bag from her and both boys rushed to the front doors, a frazzled Katie chasing after them yelling and waving her arms.
"Wait!" She called after them. "You have my sketchbook!"
'It's over! Freedom!' Dez put a hand on her stomach when it growled loudly. Her co-worker from before raised his eyebrows and she smiled apologetically. "Heh heh?" She rushed to the bathrooms to change out of her work clothes and into a comfortable Wheaties tee. As she neared the front doors with her bag over her shoulder she saw a blur of orange hair. She stopped fluffing her hair and braced herself for an impact of some sort.
"HEY! OI! YOU, THAT GIRL!" The twins raced up to her.
Dez's eyebrow twitched and her jaw clenched. 'They couldn't even bother to remember my name?' She almost laughed at them when they were reprimanded by an employee.
"Can we ask you something?" Kaoru inquired, his voice softer now.
'You already did...' she grumbled to herself. "Go ahead, shoot."
"What does..." Hikaru began when Katie stumbled in out of breath and looking haggard.
"Okay, moving on. What does kinky mean?" Kaoru searched the short girl's face for some sort of hint from her expression.
"Don't ask her that!" Katie was blushing again and sounded very exasperated. 'Even though I told them to at Wally World. Stupid Katie!'
Dez's face was expressionless until she looked at Katie. She glanced down at the bag and remembered her mousse and burst out laughing.
"It's one of those god awful, painfully obvious words, isn't it?"
"No!" Katie cried out, trying to defend herself.
Dez ushered them outside before any more outbursts got her in trouble. "L-let me guess..." she dissolved into giggles once they got outside. "You...you, pfft, asked Katie!" The twins nodded and she had to lean against the pillar by the door to stay standing. "God, I wish I was there to see the look on her face!"
Katie blushed more and pouted at Dez, "It's not funny."
Luckily for the older girl her eyes were too clouded with tears to instantly be weakened by the younger girl's 'powers'. "Yes it is. Now be a good girl and plug your ears."
"Yes, Dezy..." She took out her ear buds and turned on some music before putting her hands over her ears.
Dez walked over to the boys and ushered Kaoru over first. She wrapped an arm around his neck and got up on her tiptoes to reach his ear and maintain her balance and whispered in his ear. When she let go he blushed and muttered, "Oh...this is awkward."
She moved to Hikaru and grabbed the collar of his shirt and tugged him down to whisper in his ear the meaning as well. She didn't really mean to treat them differently, but she was Kaoru's fangirl and she was going to take a few...liberties...when she thought that the boys wouldn't recognize it for what it was.
Hikaru tried not to laugh, "Pfft...but, why wouldn't Katie know what that means?"
Dez pondered to herself for a moment. 'Probably because my poor Katie never had a date before. But it seems like she's getting along with the Hitachiins just fine. Maybe...' She smirked. "Look at her."
Katie was bouncing happily on the balls of her feet to the beat of her music. Every so often they could catch a whisper of her humming to the song.
"Think she's ever been on a date before?"
"Not really." They replied.
"Exactly. So if she's never done anything like that before how would she know about kinky?" She left the two to wonder and tapped Katie on the shoulder, signaling that is was okay to remove the anti-hearing precautions. Katie obliged and put her iPod away.
"KINKY!" The Hitachiins chorused.
Katie blushed and looked frustrated at them.
Dez bounced up and smacked both boys upside the head. "What did I just tell you?!" She turned away with a huff and crossed her arms over her chest, "Jeez, I feel like I'm babysitting two little kids." She glanced back at them to see them looking at a pop-up book on the clearance shelf outside of the store. 'Ugh, make that three.'