Chapter Three: Home, Sweet Home
I want to go home, bury my head under the pillow, play some numbing game and forget about all this. Home, sweet home.
I forget. Haruhi's going home with me, in Kaoru's body.
"I hope Kaoru remembers to pick up those groceries," Haruhi murmurs. She's tugging at her short red hair and her eyes are following the lamp posts dashing past our limousine window. We're going back to my place.
"Pick up groceries?" I can never imagine Kaoru picking up groceries. All the maids take care of that!
"I was going to do that today because the fridge is empty. However since Kaoru is in my body, he has to pretend to be me. So I hope he doesn't forget otherwise Dad will be annoyed."
Arghh! Dad will be annoyed? Last time he was angry, he inflicted major damage on milord. To this day, he still has the scars. Kaoru…no…Kaoru, what is he going to do? At least a father won't hurt his own child's body. Right?
"Wait," my mouth falls open in horror, "Does this mean he has to cook?"
"Yes. Let's just hope he doesn't blow up the kitchen."
"He doesn't know how to cook!"
"I've given him explicit instructions," Haruhi replies firmly. "It shouldn't be hard. He can ring me anytime for help."
Oh man. This is not okay.
"Why are we turning off the road?" Haruhi glances at me in surprise. I've already given instructions to our chauffeur.
"We're going to your house," I say determinedly. "We'll pretend we're having a sleepover or something."
"Kyouya already tried that. Dad said no. So Kaoru will have to pretend to be me."
Oh man.
"It won't be too bad," Haruhi turns to face me. She smiles slightly and her eyes are kind. "Kaoru and I have already figured things out. He's more sensible than you, so he won't make a big mistake."
Ouch. Thanks.
"Now, let's stop thinking about it. It will only make matters worse," Haruhi says in her cool and practical way. "Let's revise what we learnt in history today…"
"Are you mental?" I can't believe it. "Why are you perfectly okay being in Kaoru's body?! You aren't even freaking out. Do you like being in his body? Did you want to in the first place? Our bodies are identical. What made you-"
"Of course I don't want to be Kaoru's body," she interrupts sharply. "I was surprised. But I, unlike you, can keep a cool head. There's nothing you can do except try to fix the problem, which is what Kyouya is doing."
"He's up to something sinister!" I yell. "He's not trying at all!"
"He probably is," Haruhi mutters. "Look, we can't do anything now. I'll confront Kyouya tomorrow morning. But we've still got tonight to get through. So, let's do our history revision."
To anybody watching: it looks like Kaoru and I are revising history. I hate history.
What an odd picture. Haruhi has complete control over Kaoru's body. It's all hers now.
To my relief, everything goes okay. All through dinner time, Haruhi didn't make a single exclamation of surprise at the service or the food. I could tell she was itching to do things herself instead of being serviced by a maid though. All through dinner, we were whispering to each other and sending Kaoru text messages under the table. Thank god he's okay. The maids didn't raise an eyebrow. Kaoru and I often do weird things like that. No, everything was fine. Until sleep time. I didn't realize there would be a problem until-
"Hitachiin-sama," a maid informs me, "I've changed the sheets of your bed."
My bed. Our bed. Kaoru and I sleep together. But tonight…Haruhi has to sleep with me?! Don't freak out. Of course not! Why I'll just sleep on the floor. No harm. Whew, problem solved.
We were sitting on the cushions and finishing a bit more homework after we had brushed our teeth. I've never liked doing homework better. It clouds your mind and you don't have to think about anything else. It was near 11pm and the maids came in to bid us goodnight.
"Hi-ka-ru." A hand touches my elbow. Soft hair brushes the back of my neck. The maids are at the doorway of our bedroom staring at me with big round eyes. What? What's wrong?
"Good night," Haruhi brushes her lips on my cheek. Very close to my mouth.
BANG
The door crashes close. There is the scurrying of steps and the sounds of hushed up gossip. "Masters…""Kissing…""Must be for their acts at school…""No it didn't seem…"
I'm up against the wall and I'm in absolute terror. The memory of that faint kiss, the tingling sensation of warm breath, how our noses touched, the cool spot of imprint…
In semi darkness, I watch her hazy golden eyes. Haruhi's occupying Kaoru's body, so it's all hers now. It's making me shake. Since the maids walked in on us, they have left. The door is firmly closed. The outside corridors closed off. The lights turned off. The outside sounds turned off. Just me and you, breathing softly and staring at each other.
Why did you kiss me on the cheek? Why are you doing nothing but staring intensely at me? WHY ARE THE LIGHTS OFF?
Damn. I-I-I'm turned on.
"What's wrong?" She lifts Kaoru's perfectly arched eyebrows. Something is seriously wrong with me. But I can't think about that. Not when she's leaning forward and coming closer with every second. A few strands of red hair prick at her eyes and she brushes them away impatiently. Kaoru never does that. It's Haruhi alright.
"H-H-H-Haruhi?" I hear myself stammer.
She leans over and flicks my forehead. Another touch. My body trembles. "Are you okay?" The corners of her mouth are upturned in her characteristic manner.
"N-n-n-no," I stammer. She's sitting on two more cushions than I am, so all I see is the lower part of her face.
Suddenly, golden eyes are glaring at me. "Hikaru, what is wrong?"
"You kissed me on the cheek…"
"I have to act like Kaoru. Kaoru told me you guys kiss each other goodnight every night. I only kissed you because otherwise the maids would be suspicious, wouldn't they?" I slump to the floor with a loud groan.
"KAORU, I'M GOING TO THROTTLE YOU WHEN YOU GET BACK IN YOUR BODY AND FEED IT TO THE HUNGRY SHARKS IN OUR AQURIAUM!" I yell out the window. Hope he heard that.
"Eh?" Haruhi stands up and rolls her eyes. She picks up the scattered cushions and throws them in the corner. "I still can't believe how much stronger Kaoru is." The cushions slide down the bookshelf from their mis-throw.
"I'm stronger." I scowl.
The books are crashing to the ground one by one. BANG bang BaNg… I hardly hear them.
"THE MAIDS ARE EVEN MORE SUSPICIOUS." I yell. "We don't do such a thing every night!"
"Kaoru said so…"Haruhi wrinkles her forehead. I groan again. So she chooses to believe my scheming, lying brother over me?
"Right," I say as pleasantly as I can, "Haruhi you can sleep in our bed. I'll sleep on the floor."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" She throws me a quick searching glance.
"Are you thinking we'd sleep on the same bed?" I choke. Whoa. Overload.
"No," she says with irritation. "Aren't you too proud and rich to be sleeping on the floor?"
"Excuse me?" I splutter. "I'll sleep in a sleeping bag."
"It's okay," she says wearily. "I'll sleep on the floor. I've done it before."
"No!" I push her fiercely onto the bed. Now it happens that Haruhi, a little surprised at my defensive/angry behavior, grabs onto me automatically. Next bewildering moment, I'm pinning her to the bed. We're looking at each other, eye to eye.
"Hikaru?"
Two seconds later, I'm on the other side of the room, flat against the wall, not facing her. "Just sleep in that." I mumble. "I'll sleep on the floor. I don't mind. You're the guest anyway."
"Well…if you insist." A second later, "Umm…Hikaru?"
"Yes?" I answer quickly.
"Just to let you know, I'm wearing these to sleep." She holds up loose shirt and trousers. "I'm not going to bed practically naked, which is what you guys do."
"Okay…" We don't sleep naked.
"Hikaru?" Why does she keep on calling my name?
"What?"
"Are you going to go to sleep? It's almost 11pm. We have school tomorrow."
Oh. Yes. I'm still clutching at the opposite wall like I'm stuck there.
The moonlight is flickering on our faces. I'm trying to sleep. It's not easy knowing that you're sleeping in the same room as Haruhi.
I wonder why.
A long time ago, it would have been so much fun sleeping with Haruhi and making Tono's hair stand on end. We even told her so and invited her. She said no thanks of course. B-but…that was when Haruhi was just a friend. Someone good to play with. Someone good to tease and flirt with. A tool in annoying Tono.
"Goodnight Hikaru." She says it automatically. "Thanks for lending me the bed."
"No problem. Goodnight Haruhi."
I hear the blankets rustle, the bed creak and then just soft breathing. Haruhi was a very special friend. Someone to laugh and make jokes with. Someone to talk to. I really enjoyed her company because she is like no other girl I've ever met. Then something changed one day. I don't know how and why. Now every time she looks at me, comes closer to me, touches me, I go insane.
Haruhi is more than just a friend.
Kaoru says I've fallen in love.
The next morning:
It was only 7am and I didn't want to wake Haruhi up, so I walked out of the bedroom only to bump into a maid.
"How was it?" she whispers timidly. "I heard a lot of noises."
"WHAT?"I curse. So the maids saw Haruhi in Kaoru's body kiss me on the cheek and jumped to conclusions?
"Bangs like the whole house was falling down…" the maid continued with a conspiracy voice. That was the books falling off the bookshelf. "A lot of yelling, though I couldn't hear what you were yelling about…" Well then you should of heard what I was really saying instead of fantasying. "A groan or two. Are you sure nothing happened?" "Nothing!" I turn a brilliant red. I make a mental note to have this maid fired.
"Nothing?" Haruhi walks out the bedroom with a clueless look. In this situation, it could be interpreted as feigned innocence.
"Nothing," the maid agrees with a smug expression. She eyes her sleeping attire. "I'll prepare for your morning showers." She bows politely and leaves with a smile that is too wide for my comfort.
"I'll like a morning shower," Haruhi says. It's the last thing the maid hears before she's out of earshot. "I usually have evening showers though." She looks at me quizzically. "Do you guys usually have morning showers?"
"No." I'm already banging my head on the wall and wishing for oblivion.
"Then, how did she know to prepare for showers?' Haruhi is puzzled. "How fancy. Other people preparing showers for you."
Please, just stop talking Haruhi. Please. You have no idea.
"Your showers are ready now," the maid is back. Haruhi is following her like a good puppy. They stop. "Hikaru," the maid turns, "aren't you coming?"
I forgot. I usually have showers with Kaoru. It's one of our odd habits that the maids are so used to.
Shit.
Does this mean I have to shower with Haruhi?
A/N: Thank you Reima-chan for beta-ing this!!! Merry xmas everyone. xD
lu.e3
