Love
"I wish there's something we could do," Dono said. Something we could do? I repeated in my mind, Something we could do to get our best friend back?
Kaoru: Hope you're not getting tired of flashbacks but this would be the last. It's for an introduction of our relationship with Aya.
Flashback (Second year middle school)
"Hm? What's this?" Hikaru asked as he picked the yellow letter on his chair. "Maybe a love letter," I muttered. "Eh? Hontou?" my brother made a disgusting face. Aya appeared beside Hikaru and saw the letter, "It's from Sakura-san." "Sakura?" we said in unison. "You could tell easily by her handwriting," she pointed out the To Hikaru-kun at the back of the letter. "Hontou da," we once again said together. "As expected from Aya," Hikaru patted her back. "It's quite obvious, you know," she muttered. "And it's not quite obvious in our place," I said. Her hands reside her waist, "That's why I've been telling you to socialize." 'Socialize' struck a painful spot in us. Both Hikaru and I kept silent. As if realizing we were hurt, she apologized, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
Aya'a sincerity and sensitivity is what bound us together. "Nah," we waved our hand, "It's all right." "Anyway, we've been receiving these kinds of letters for quite a while, huh," I said as I glared at the letter, Whoever wrote that will be cursed!
"Kaoru," my handsome brother said, "She's here." I followed his gaze and grinned, "Oh, for real."
"Eh?" then Hikaru faced to my direction, "Hey, Kaoru. This girl said you're fine, too." As a queue, I went out from my hiding spot and slowly approached them, wearing a smirk almost similar to Hikaru.
Sakura gasped, "You're the real Hikaru-kun?" My identical twin sighed, "How boring. I'm getting tired of this pattern." And I'm getting tired of cursing girls writing love letters to Hikaru, I added in my mind. "You're horrible! Horrible!" she said, already on the verge of tears. I could sense Hikaru get pissed off as he turned to the tearful Sakura, "Aren't you the one who's cruel? Saying that either one of us is fine, who do you think you are?" "Also," I said as I was already beside him, "You don't fit in that hairstyle at all. If you want to hang around with us, improve your sense of style."
But obviously it was a lie. Aya actually doesn't have a superior sense of style. So, as sons of a fashion designer, we usually pick out her stock of clothes and choices for hairstyles. In short, she was like our doll which we could dress up.
"And next time," we said together, "confess more amusingly, okay?" And Hikaru tore the letter into pieces before the girl's eyes. This last action of Hikaru is the best, which means that she has been dumped (?) and I still have my chance. We laughed evilly as we went away. We love playing with anyone's emotions, one of the aspects that kept us from being liked by everyone.
"That's not nice," we heard a voice said. "It's none of your business," we said in unison, "Aya-chan." She walked towards us, "It's rude for her who gained courage to confess her love." "That's not love, you know," Hikaru wrapped his arm around he shoulder. "If she did love Hikaru," I wrapped my arm on her waist, "then she shouldn't like anyone other than him." Besides, Hikaru's mine, I thought, No one must love him except me. "But there are other ways to say no to her," Aya insisted. Hikaru and I sighed, "Hai, hai. Wakarimashita." She gently smiled at us that would have swept off the feet of anyone.
End of Flashback
Back to when she could smile again, I thought. "Kaoru," Hikaru tapped my shoulder, taking me back to reality, "We're going." "Huh? Already?" I pouted. "We've stayed here for two hours, you know," he said, obviously not attracted on my cuteness of pouting. I sighed, I've been daydreaming more often, "Ok, ok."
Fast forward to episode 26 of Ouran
"Hikaru," I said, slowly getting nervous, "This speed is too reckless!" We were chasing after Dono since we heard that he's going back to France. I'm really disappointed in his track of mind. Making trouble on convincing us to join the host club and dissolving it just like that as if nothing happened?! What about our family bond?! Are you using it to separate us?!! Deep inside, I absolutely understand Hikaru's feelings… but this speed…
"Hikaru!" I called once again, making sure that he heard it, and gripped tight at Haruhi so she wouldn't fall off. Hikaru would kill me if something happened to her… Yes, that's right. Hikaru likes Haruhi to the extent that my heart breaks with jealousy. I know Hikaru is a straight guy and I'm… a bisexual,… who loved my brother greater than just as blood ties.
"We'll bring Dono back," Hikaru finally replied. "Hikaru," I said, relieved that he answered to me. "If he never showed up, we would've been left behind in our world," he continued, "We're lucky to have met Haruhi when Aya fell into a comatose. Because of the host club, we even became friends with everyone!" he almost shouted in desperation. "For the host club to suddenly just end like this," he gripped tighter on the reins, "I DON'T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN!!!" The carriage bumped with a rock or something that sent Hikaru flying off the carriage.
I pulled the reins and glanced at Haruhi at my side, to see if she is all right, before I worriedly rushed to Hikaru. He landed on the ground full of pumpkins. Is it just a coincidence that he landed here? I thought, If not then my bond with Hikaru isn't as strong as I think it is now. I helped him stand up, "Hikaru, are you all right?" I saw him hold his arm. Sensing that he was hurt, I asked, "Does your arm hurt?" "Damn it!" he turned to his soft tone, "Are we… Are we just going to end like this, Dono?" "Hikaru," I held his hand as if saying that I'll always be there for him. There's still Aya on our side whenever we are back to our world. But Hikaru seems not to see Aya, or even me. All he sees is that bitch Haruhi.
Everything went back well. Haruhi safely brought Dono back though they were soaked with water, saying that Haruhi lost control of the horses and fell of the bridge. But well, everything's fine with me. As long as Hikaru is happy then I am too. I'm his identical twin anyway.
After Mori-sempai, Haruhi is finally dancing with me. Smile, smile, I thought. Luckily, Haruhi didn't notice that I was forcing myself to smile, if she did then she would immediately ask why. This curious little fox! If the dance with Haruhi wasn't for the club, as Kyouya-sempai said to gain more customers, I would never agree to dance with her.
I saw Hikaru next to me, waiting for Haruhi. His arm was already bandaged by the school nurse. God, I was so worried of him! Honestly, I thought his arm won't heal anymore. I made Haruhi turn around and bowed at her while Hikaru caught her gently. I smiled at them, If Hikaru really loves Haruhi, then it's better to let go. I bit my lip to keep myself from crying as I repeated these words in my mind.
… But, it's really hard to let go of the one whom you love most…
Finally, it was Dono's turn to dance with Haruhi, pulling up his princely move and smiling all the time at Haruhi. I sighed, If only Hikaru is that gentle to me as before… We saw fireworks light up the black sky and I joined the other club members to watch.
"Wonderful fireworks, isn't it?" a voice came from behind as the fireworks ended. My eyes widened, recognizing the voice. I quickly turned around and saw her, Takahashi Aya. "A-Aya?!" As Dono and the others heard this, they followed my gaze and saw her. "Aya-chan!" Hani-sempai pulled her arm, "You're finally awake, Aya-chan!" "Ee," Aya smiled. From the corner of my eye, I saw Kyouya-sempai push up his glasses and smiled, obviously relieved that Aya's finally well.
Haruhi blinked, "Aya?" "The manager of the host club," Kyouya-sempai replied for her for we were all talking with Aya. "Ah. So she's the one," the cross-dressing girl said. "You must be Fujioka Haruhi, the new member," Aya approached her, smiling, "I'm the club's manager, Takahashi Aya. Nice to meet you." "Yes. Nice to meet you too," Haruhi smiled cutely. I sighed, What can I say? She's the natural type. "By the way, Aya-kun," Dono said, "How did you know about the Ouran Festival?" "Mako-sama brought me here," she replied. (The Hitachiin mother's name is merely an invention for her name isn't revealed yet.)
Note: Hitachiin Mako doesn't want to be called oba-san
"Mom did?" Hikaru and I repeated, "No wonder your dress is so familiar. It's mom's latest design." She looked down at her dress, "Really?" "You look good in it, Aya-kun," Kyouya-sempai smiled (no grinned?!) at her. Aya returned the dark lord's smile, "Thanks." Haruhi glanced from Aya to Kyouya-sempai. I'm sure she also noticed something between those staring.
Love is so fresh in the air in high school. Everywhere I look and turn, there's always love. But my biggest problem is that I love Hikaru… my other half… my brother… There's no way Hikaru will notice my affections because he had his eyes on Haruhi alone.
I saw Haruhi glance at Hikaru and both smiled at each other. I sighed once more, Just as I thought. Those two are starting over.
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Translations:
-chan
Honorific. Can be used either as a diminutive (e.g., with a small child—"Little Sasuke"), or with those who are grown, to indicate affection ("My dear").
Dono (can also be pronounced as Tono so either is correct)
Dono roughly means "lord".
Ee
Informal saying of 'yes.'
Hai, hai. Wakarimashita.
Okay, okay. We understand.
Hontou?
Really?
Hontou da
It is (real).
-kun
Indicates familiarity or affection.
It is used by superiors in addressing inferiors, by males of roughly the same age and status in addressing each other, and in addressing male children.
-oba-san
Auntie
-sama
"Master" or "Mistress."/ This honorific is used primarily in addressing persons much higher in rank than oneself, and in commercial and business settings to address and refer to customers.
-san
Honorific. Carries the meaning of "Mr.," "Ms.," "Miss," etc., but used extensively in Japanese than its English equivalent.
-sempai
Upperclassman