a/n: This one is kind of hard to sum up without giving it away, so just read. :D No real specified pairing, anyway. It stemmed from an idea I had, and so I wrote a short not-really-a-story about it. On a minor note: the thing that fell from a window in episode 16 was actually the window itself, and not a vase, in the manga. I chose to go with a window here. Enjoy! Reviews are appreciated.
Let's be responsible.
Responsibility is something they know well.
When his brother blows up, gets out of hand, flies off the handle, Kaoru is always there to rein him in. To act as a balm on the burns.
When Tamaki can't manage things for himself, when he can't so much as coordinate what is considered an average day at the club, Kyouya's there. Punching in numbers and scribbling down plans.
Let's be realistic.
Realism is not pretty, sometimes.
Kaoru can't forget how scared he was, for a split second, when the window fell. In that split second, it felt like he was in slow motion; he could almost see the screaming red cuts all over her face and arms. In that split second, before he could even think about it, he had his arms around her and had taken the blow himself . But even in retrospect, when he realized he'd crossed some line, this was a good thing. He didn't care about getting cut himself. He cared about her.
Kyouya can't forget the way her words caught him, can't shake off the way her laugh rang. It isn't often someone is so familiar with him. She knew him; even though they'd never gotten close she knew who he was. It made him feel nervous, somehow, but clean. Like she was scrubbing off a stain.
But then, realism gets in the way. And they know they can't speak these feelings out loud, because speaking them would translate to betrayal.
Let's affirm that we have no chance with her.
And then, what's the point anyway? When it's so obvious, by the way she looks at them, and then the way she looks at them. It's always been Hikaru to hold her, or Tamaki to comfort her. If anyone has a chance with her, it's not the two onlookers. The brother and the friend.
And so they stand. The brother and the friend. They can never tell her those three words: I love you. So instead, they communicate with each other –wordlessly.
And they commiserate in the pain of responsibility.