Yay for more reviews! I answer every review if I can, so look for your name!

Victoria62015: A simple "Thank you" should suffice. ;)

wishIwereanime: So do I. T^T I seem to have developed a severe case of writer's block. The chapters will be longer as soon as I get over it.

writingMYdreams: After reading the chapter over again, I have to agree that they were getting a little OOC, but I quickly decided it didn't really matter. The twins act very differently when separated, either from each other or from others. Watch part two of season one, and you'll see what I mean.

princessciel: Glad you think so! I thought it was kinda lame, myself. . . .

HitachiinElephant: Thanks for the idea! Fluff is always good if you don't overdo it. Unfortunately, the ranch scene has ended, but I might make them return later. ;P Thanks again!

And for all you people who have added me to your favourites or to story alert, I thank you very much, but come on! It never hurt anyone to review! Even just a simple "Good job," or "Fix this," helps a lot. Plus, reviews = motivation, and motivation = faster updates! I hope to see the number of reviews closely matching the number of viewers in the future.

I do not own Ouran High School Host Club, Alice in Wonderland, or The Wizard of Oz. Imagine how much fancy tea I could buy if I did, though. ;) *yum*

A Story About a Time When the Hitachiin Twins Should Have Changed:

Okay, so maybe their game was a little mean, but the twins justified themselves with how the girls always reacted. Two wrong do not make a right, but when counted, there were actually four wrongs every time. And everyone knows that if four rights can make a square, then so can four wrongs.

Kaoru did not argue with his brother's messed up logic. He saw the point in what Hikaru was trying to say, even if he couldn't quite say it right.

They both remember it so vividly, even though it seemed so insignificant at the time. Kaoru had received yet another love letter, and they had arranged to meet the writer at their usual spot. Hikaru took his place behind the hedges as Kaoru approached the girl.

She wasn't at all what he had expected. She was pretty enough, but her head was lowered, allowing her bangs to cover her eyes, and she wasn't smiling or blushing like they usually did.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting," Kaoru started, "But I think you mean this letter for Kaoru. I'm Hikaru. You must have gotten our desks confused, but - "

"Just stop right there," the girl interrupted holding out her hand as a signal to stop. There was a hard edge to her voice. She didn't want any nonsense. Kaoru wouldn't have given her any even if he could speak. "Tell your brother to come out of the bushes. I want to play a little game."

As soon as he got over his shock enough to speak, Kaoru tried to play the whole thing off. "Sorry, but we only play one game, the - "

"The Which One is Hikaru? game. I know. That's what I want to play. Get your brother out here now."

Kaoru didn't actually have to call for his brother, because he had wandered over from his hiding place to see what the commotion was. They both noticed that the girl kept her head down so they couldn't meet her eyes. How was she going to play their game if she didn't look at them?

"Okay, so how does this game work?" she snapped.

"Well," the twins began in unison, "You guess which one of us is Hikaru and which one is Kaoru. If you win - "

The girl held her hand up again, which was for the best, because neither of them knew what happened if someone won.

"I don't need to know the stakes." After only a slight hesitation, she continued, pointing at each twin respectively: "This one is Kaoru. This one is Hikaru."

Neither of them could speak. She had guessed correctly. But how . . . ?

"No way!"

"How did you know!"

"You can't just randomly guess!"

"What's your justification?"

They both stopped shouting. The girl had raised her head to look them in the eyes. Her own were the lightest possible shade of gray, drained of all color and glazed over. She was blind.

"My justification?" she whispered, the edge never leaving her voice. "My justification is that you two are selfish idiots. You only think of yourselves when you play that game. Have you ever once stopped to consider how terrible people feel after they lose? How you only make them feel worse by how you act afterwards? They're just trying to be friendly, you know!

"And as to how I knew who was who? Looks mean nothing to me. I don't care if you are identical; you're two different people with two different personalities. It's hard to fool people when it comes to that."

Without another word, the girl began to walk away. She was halfway across the courtyard before Hikaru found the courage to say something.

"Wait!" he shouted after her. "Why did you - ?"

"Why did I come?" She spoke at a normal volume, but her voice carried across the open air. "You made my cousin cry. I had to do something. You can understand that, right?"

After that day, neither of the twins ever saw the blind girl again, just as they had never seen her before. She appeared for a brief moment in their lives to offer them a wise word of advice, and they brushed it off as a little handicapped girl just trying to help her cousin out, because in essence, that's all she was doing. She didn't know them. She didn't know their side of the story. Just another nuisance. . . .

Kaoru Three weeks after the Host Club retreat:

For once in a long time, Kaoru felt a sense of accomplishment. He thought he did very well on his Pre-Cal mid-term (which is a first.) With any luck, the test would bring his grade up to a B, which would give him a 3.92 GPA. The increasing depression that had been pulling him down for the past couple of months was now only a nagging in the back of his mind.

Hikaru was exempt from the Pre-Cal mid-term because of his (surprisingly) high grade and (even more surprising) lack of absences in the first semester. (However, Hikaru was not exempt from his French, Literature, and Chemistry exams. He had earned a 59F in French, a 64D in Chemistry, and had simply skipped too many Literature classes.) Instead of taking the test and possibly increasing his grade even more, Hikaru waited outside the classroom for Kaoru.

"Well, well," Hikaru smirked as his brother exited the classroom, "What are you so happy about?"

Kaoru smiled back, nearly giddy with confidence. "I think I passed, Hikaru. I really think I did!"

"What? You? Pass a Pre-Cal test? Unheard of!"

"Oh, yea of little faith," Kaoru fake-pouted. "You just wait. I bet I got at least a ninety on that exam!"

"Okay, it's a bet! What are the stakes?"

"If I win . . . " Kaoru was lost. He was no good at thinking of things like dares and stakes.

"If you win . . . " Hikaru encouraged, even though he was just as lost for an idea.

"Maybe this is a job for the boss?"

"Not likely. If I had to choose anyone, it would have to be Haruhi."

The nagging feeling intensified. Of course, Hikaru thought this was a job for Haruhi. He had spent nearly every weekend, not to mention some weekdays, with her for the past month. It had even come to the point where Kaoru wouldn't go into his own room because Haruhi was tutoring Hikaru.

Still, even though his heart sank at the idea, Kaoru could agree that Haruhi was the one to ask. She was honest and fair, and no matter how often she stole Hikaru from him, he couldn't bring himself to be mad at her.

"Hey, Haruhi!" Hikaru called as the girl in question walked out of the classroom. She had also had to take the mid-term exam due to excessive absences at the beginning of the year.

As soon as Haruhi heard Hikaru's voice, a smile graced her face. A few girls began to whisper, but no one really seemed to notice.

"We need your help for a second," Kaoru added, ignoring the depression that kept growing with every passing minute.

"Is it really just a second? I really need to get going."

"Just a second," they assured, "Promise."

"See, we have a little bet going - "

" - And we can't seem to decide - "

" - What the stakes should be."

Haruhi had long since gotten used to the twins finishing each other's sentences.

"What exactly is the bet?" she asked.

"Kaoru seems to think he got a ninety on his test - "

" - But Hikaru thinks otherwise."

"Oh, so it's about a grade?" Haruhi seemed to be taking her job a little too seriously. She was staring into space, seriously considering her answer. "Well, Kaoru does have a pretty low grade in pre-cal," she muttered to herself. "But he's a good student, so I'm sure he did well. Hikaru didn't actually see the test, so he isn't judging by his knowledge of Kaoru. He only thinks Kaoru did poorly because he has in the past, and if he did exceptionally well, it might put Kaoru's grade above his own. . . . "

These musings didn't seem to be helping. Kaoru was almost laughing out loud by this point, while Hikaru was seriously considering pulling a chokehold on his little brother.

" . . . So the odds are definitely in Kaoru's favor," Haruhi finished. "Alright," she addressed the twins, "If Hikaru wins, Kaoru has to do his French homework over Christmas break, but if Kaoru wins, Hikaru has to . . . " This one was apparently more difficult to decide, which was understandable. Pre-Cal was really the only class that Hikaru excelled over Kaoru in, and most of the teachers gave their students a break over the holidays, anyway.

"If Kaoru wins, Hikaru has to cancel his date with me."

So no matter who wins, Kaoru found himself thinking, I reap the reward. It was a startling thought, but it was too late to unthink it. Why was he so intent on keeping Haruhi away from Hikaru, anyway? Sure, they spent less time together nowadays, but they were growing up. It could only be expected.

"Now come on, you two," Haruhi ordered, ignoring the shocked expression on Hikaru's face. "Tamaki-senpai wants to see us about the Halloween party."

Hikaru:

"Alright, Hosts, we need some new ideas! Halloween is coming up, and the ladies will be expecting something amazing!"

Tamaki was being his usual eccentric self, shouting and gesturing wildly as if he were having muscle spasms. The twins were sure that anyone looking though the window would see Tamaki and call an ambulance. At least, anyone who didn't know Tamaki.

"A trick-or-treat party!" Hunny piped immediately. "The ladies can come to us for candy, just like they were trick-or-treating!"

"But, Hunny-senpai," Haruhi responded gently, "Then you'll have to give away candy, and you won't be able to eat any."

"Oh . . . well, how about the girls bring candy, and - "

"That won't work, either," Mori stated simply.

Hunny looked very put-out before Tamaki added, "Don't worry, Hunny-senpai, since it's a party, there's bound to be sweets!"

"What about a simple costume party?" Haruhi suggested. "I remember my middle school used to sponsor one every year."

"You know every other girl will come in the same costume," Kaoru pointed out, which was exactly what Hikaru was thinking.

"There'll be an abundance of princesses and kitties."

"Not to mention the ever-popular angel."

"Okay, then what about a themed costume party?" Haruhi tried again. "You know, like Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz? I remember one year - "

"What a great idea, Haruhi!" Tamaki interrupted, smothering Haruhi in a huge hug. "You always have great ideas! You're so smart!"

Hikaru faked a gag behind Tamaki's back. Funnily enough, he wasn't at all offended that his senpai was smothering his girlfriend. Hikaru brushed it off as simply not being the jealous type, but in the back of his mind, he knew that wasn't true. His world was still small, consisting of only Kaoru, Haruhi, and the rest of the Host Club. If anyone else tried to intrude, he got extremely defensive. So, in short, he was in no way not the jealous type, but at least he acknowledged it.

"I don't know, do you know how many Alices or Glindas there will be if we do that?" Hikaru added, rather loudly to get Tamaki's attention.

"No matter what kind of theme we pick," Kaoru added, "Everyone will want to be the same thing."

"We could do a masquerade," Hunny suggested, sounding more like he was asking.

"That's a great idea, Hunny-senpai!" Haruhi praised, attempting to catch her breath after Tamaki's assault.

"It's good," Kyoya agreed, "But the ladies will get bored after a while. We really need to mix things around a little."

The ground began to shake. It was barely noticeable at first, but is gradually increased in intensity. Even if you somehow missed the vibrations, no one could possible ignore the platform rising from the ground.

Grumbles such as "Dammit" and "Not her again!" could be heard from several hosts, but Renge didn't seem to notice.

"You're all a bunch of boys, you know that?" Renge admonished. Hikaru was sure she meant it as an insult, but felt the need to talk back anyway.

"Well, duh," he said in perfect unison with his brother. The way they did that still scared him a little sometimes.

Renge ignored their comment. "Halloween is a fun time with candy and cosplay and mystery! That's it!" she gasped, "Mystery! You should all dress up as each other! And we'll turn it into a contest for the ladies. Whoever can guess who is who correctly wins the last dance with their favorite host!

"I just so happen to have some connections in the movie makeup profession who can help us with that. And I like the idea of masquerade! It enhances the mystery and helps conceal your faces! Makeup can only do so much . . .

"So it's settled!" she decided as she descended back into the floor of the music room, "I'll make some calls! All you have to do is meet me two hours before the party starts. This will be a blast!"

When he was sure Renge was gone, Hikaru muttered, "I love how she makes these decisions without consulting us."

"Well, Renge is our manager," Kyoya replied as calmly as ever. "And I believe the ladies will be thrilled with the idea."

Hikaru was not happy with it at all. "Whoever can guess who is who correctly"? That was too much like their game, as if that wasn't painful enough. He was suddenly dreading Halloween.

I am well aware that this chapter was disappointing. Even if it wasn't, I am not a confident person, so I think it's terrible. The point of this was basically to set up for the next chapter, since I needed a stepping stone between the ranch and Halloween. I hope you enjoyed my stupid filler chapter anyway.

As for the little stories at the beginning, I think I'm going to make that a regular thing. Little one-shots that give a little hint about what the actual chapter is going to be about (i.e., How Kaoru gained his fear of horses but hid it from Hikaru as related to the ranch setting and how Kaoru is still hiding something from Hikaru.) I might put these all into a separate fanfiction that is simply a series of one-shots. What do you think? REVIEW!

Epymominously yours,

Alexishy