Hikaru sighed angrily as he stared at the tent he had attempted to put up. "Kaoruuu!" He whined looking over at his twin who was helping Hunny gather fire wood. "The tents not working," He moped earning an eye roll from the other. Haruhi had mentioned camping was a fun family activity for commoners and oh so shockingly Tamaki had been over joyed and insisted the Host Club try it. And oh no they couldn't use cabins or even RV's no they had to go find a clearing in a forest and use tents. Last year had been such fun; Tamaki demanded they do it again. "Did you even bother to look at the instructions?" Kaoru asked as he started to help Hikaru with the tent. "They don't make any sense," Hikaru complained handing said paper over. It took Kaoru no more than five minutes to understand the instructions and help Hikaru set up their tent. Hikaru looked around seeing everyone else had had their tents up a while ago. Even Tamaki was already lounging around in his and Mori's tent. Granted Mori probably did most the work. "So, what now?" Hikaru asked snatching the hat off Kaoru's head and putting it on his own. He had a similar but last year he had forgotten it when packing and instead he and Kaoru stole one back and forth, so this year he just didn't even bother to pack his own. Kaoru smirked slightly and rolled his eyes at Hikaru's hat stealing before shrugging. "There's still more stuff to unpack," He suggested earning a groan from Hikaru. "But we already got all our stuff, can't we just cuddle in the tent like boss and Mori?" Hikaru whined wrapping an arm around Kaoru and leaning on him slightly. "Dude no, I don't like you like that," Kaoru said pushing him off calmly and heading to grab some other stuff from the cars. Hikaru frowned watching him, he knew they didn't have any feelings stronger than that of normal brothers. They're brotherly love act really was just an act, but lately Kaoru had seemed more and more uncomfortable with it. Any time Hikaru would try and joke around Kaoru would push him away or say he didn't like him like just now. He'd even started doing it during club hours, much to Kyoya's displeasure. Hikaru had ended up making the girls think he and Kaoru were in a sort of fight just to keep safe from Kyoya's wrath. But it was starting to upset Hikaru, he thought at first Kaoru was just getting tired with the act or maybe he'd found a girl he liked, yea Kaoru was straight believe it or not, but he had started pushing Hikaru away even when it was just them and it was just a simple arm around the shoulder and nothing more, or even if he tried to hold his hand like they always did since they were little. He'd hoped going camping would have made things better. Last year they'd had a ton of fun, even without they're comfortable beds or air conditioning or maids. They'd played around and jokingly flirted; they'd caused trouble and kept others up while laughing in their tent. Last year had been so much fun.
"Shh shh here they come," Kaoru snickered ducking behind a tree with Hikaru, snatching the hat back, and peeking around to watch as Tamaki and Haruhi started to approach. "Haruhi look! Look at the pretty flowers on the other side of the river!" Tamaki basically squealed pointing at the flowers he was talking about. "They are pretty senpai," Haruhi nodded in agreement. Tamaki bounced closer to the river tugging Haruhi with him. "Let's go pick some! We can decorate the camp with the-" He was cut off as the twins pulled a rope they had tied to another tree causing him to trip and fall towards the river pulling Haruhi with. The twins dashed over catching Haruhi before she fell in hugging her between them and looking down at Tamaki who was now splashing in the river trying to stand up on the slippery rocks. "Wow boss, you shouldn't drag someone down with you when you fall," Hikaru tsked shaking his head. "You could have gotten Haruhi hurt dragging her along with your clumsiness." Kaoru added disappointedly. "Come on Haruhi, we'll keep you safe from this dangerous man," Hikaru nodded leading Haruhi away. The rest of the night Tamaki had moped around the fire, Mori having given him one of his own blankets when he couldn't find a towel.
….
"Ahhh! Takashi it caught fire again!" Hunny squealed as he blew on his flaming marshmallow before pouting. "I can't get it right." "You need to be more patient Mitsakni." Mori said handing Hunny a new marshmallow. "S'mores are so messy," Hikaru chuckled as he squished a marshmallow between two gram crackers making sure not to forget the chocolate in the middle. "But good!" Kaoru added as he roasted another marshmallow. Hikaru offered his freshly made s'more to his twin who happily took a messy bite. They both laughed at the shower of crumbs and white sugary goo sticking Kaoru's lips together. "We should do s'mores for one of the club days!" Renge squealed sitting beside Kyoya who nodded in consideration. Hikaru didn't even bother to try and figure out how or when she got there as he snatched the hat back from Kaoru and enjoyed the s'mores with his twin.
….
"Come on Haruhi, the waters great!" Hunny giggled splashing around. Hikaru grinned relaxing in the rivers current. He'd never admit it but swimming in a river wasn't so bad, though he did prefer his pool. In his pool he didn't have to search for the deep end or worry about painful rocks under his feet. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden splash of water on his face making him jolt and breathe in a little water. He planted his feet more firmly on the river bottom coughing the water from his lungs and glaring at his laughing twin. "Kaoru!" "You should of seen your face!" Kaoru snickered hugging his own stomach as if it was the funniest thing in the world. Hikaru glared for a moment before smirking and starting to creep closer to the laughing boy. Kaoru noticed Hikaru's approach and stopped laughing but his smile stayed as he started backing up. Kaoru splashed a wave of water at Hikaru before running as best he could through the water. Hikaru laughed chasing after his twin. They half ran half swam around splashing eachother and laughing for a while. Eventually they got the rest of the host club into a splash fight, Haruhi even joined in from the river bank. Both boys eventually left the battle and sat on the river bank leaning back and enjoying the sun. "The hats mine when we get back to camp." Hikaru said with his eyes closed. "So you think," Kaoru grinned lying back in the grass.
Hikaru sighed as he shook his head trying to stop thinking about last year and comparing it to this year. Everyone was already getting the camp fire ready for dinner and s'mores. He'd lost the first day focusing on last year. A lot had changed since last year he had to remind himself. Boss stopped obsessing over Haruhi and won over Mori's affections. Renge became less annoying and had found someone other than Kyoya shockingly enough, Hikaru started to wonder if she'd still pop up sometime during the trip though. But one thing Hikaru wished hadn't changed was his and Kaoru's relationship, he couldn't even figure out when it had changed or why. Was his brother uncomfortable with his flirting because he was gay? But hadn't Kaoru always known? Or had he only found out when Hikaru mentioned he found on of the servants cute? It couldn't be that, Kaoru was perfectly fine with people's sexualities; it wasn't like he treated Tamaki or Mori different since they started dating. And he hadn't acted any different when Hikaru told him. Hikaru sighed again before walking over and joining everyone, he sat beside Haruhi but she was already giggling with Kaoru. Hikaru knew Kaoru didn't like Haruhi more than a friend he'd mentioned that enough times. Hikaru shook his head looking at the fire. He hoped this year's trip would somehow fix things.