Loving Love

Chapter 4 – Tamaki Tipping

That Monday, school commenced as usual. And the twins were less than eager to attend. Neither knew what it was, but from the moment they woke up both had this sense of impending doom that they just couldn't shake. For the majority of the day it seemed as though it was just an unjustified anxiety, brought about by the sheer deformation of the twins minds. It wasn't until the end of Host Club activities that their fears became realised.

"Hikaru! Kaoru!" Tamaki chirped, rushing up to the Duo. Both Twins glanced up at him from the cups of tea they had been engrossed in only moments before.

"What's up Milord?" Hikaru inquired, taking a sip of his tea and then resting it on his lap. Kaoru sat next to him, with one leg crossed over the other in a seemingly effeminate way.

They watched Tamaki with Mild interest, as the boy flashed them a dazzling grin and gestured to himself. "Today, I will give you my first lesson on proper dog care!"

Hikaru stifled a laugh and Kaoru smirked. "Okay, but we don't have Ai with us here."

Tamakis face fell as if somebody had just told him something devastating. Looking around the room he gave a shrill cry. "Your right! We can't do this here!" From the other side of the room glasses glinted inconspicuously in the background, accompanied by a satisfied smirk. 'You wouldn't have been doing it in here anyway' Kyouya thought satirically.

Grabbing each twin by the arm, Tamaki dragged Hikaru and Kaoru into a standing position. Hikaru dropped his teacup and it smashed on the floor, causing shards of expensive china and warm tea to spill over the tiles. Kaoru, being the more agile of the two, managed to catch his teacup before if fell out of his grasp, but almost fell over face first onto the ground since he had had his legs crossed when sitting down.

Kyouya spoke up from the other side of the room. "Haruhi, clean that up. And Kaoru, Hikaru, you're paying for that teacup."

Haruhi appeared from somewhere else in the room with a mop and broom, and started mopping up the mess that had been made. All the while mumbling angrily about 'rich bastards' and 'un-payoff-able debts'.

"What?" Hikaru piped up, shooting Kyouya a scowl from across the room. "But it was Tono who pulled us up without any warning!"

"Yeah!" Kaoru added in protest.

Tamaki glanced over his shoulder at Kyouya who was writing something in his notebook. "You're not going to make me pay, are you mommy?" He asked quietly, studying Kyouyas movements.

Kyouya snapped his notebook shut and turned away from Tamaki, heading over to the table where his laptop resided. "Tamaki, just give me the money for the teacup and we'll call it even." He replied exasperatedly.

Tamaki watched his friend for a few seconds longer before spinning back around to the twins. "Now, where were we?" he asked, looking from one twin to the other. Hikaru and Kaoru both stared at him with deadpan expressions. "Oh yes, that's right!" Tamaki exclaimed, throwing his hands around the twins and pulling them along with him to the Music rooms doors. "Off we go to our first lesson! Bye everybody!" The others' responses were drowned out by the twins complaints about being dragged around. Tamaki ignored this, and in turn, drowned their complaints out by talking about his love for dogs –in particular Antoinette- until they reached his limo which was already waiting downstairs.


Hikaru sighed; he and Kaoru were currently waiting in Tamakis limo outside the Second Suoh residence as the Host King went inside to fetch Antoinette. Much to Hikaru and Kaorus exasperation, the blonde idiot insisted on having Antoinette present during the 'lesson' so he could give them visual references and examples. All Hikaru wanted to do was go home, but of course nothing was ever that easy.

"Remind me why we're doing this again…" Hikaru mumbled, sinking down on the limos seat.

Kaoru turned away from the window he had been looking out and rolled his eyes. "Because apparently we need to learn to look after our dog better."

Hikaru snorted. "Says Tamaki."

"Says the only person we know who has a dog." Kaoru countered. "And he must be a decent owner since Antoinette is still alive and healthy."

Hikaru huffed and poked Kaoru in the shoulder. "Stop taking Milords side!"

Kaoru laughed and leaned in to kiss Hikaru on the cheek. "I'm not taking sides, just stating my opinion."

As Kaoru was sitting back up straight, the door of the limo flew open and Antoinette bounded in the car, finding refuge in a very disgruntled Hikarus lap.

Tamaki jumped in the limo next, hollering at Antoinette for being a bad doggie 'and she should have waited for him, honestly!' Hikaru and Kaoru shared a look and watched as Tamaki clamoured onto one of the seats and told his driver to go to the Hitachiin mansion. The whole time the boy wore a huge grin on his face; he was genuinely happy to be helping the Twins, Hikaru and Kaoru had to remind themselves that Tamaki was only being friendly, even if he was extremely annoying and idiotic.

"I'm so excited!" Tamaki exclaimed, jumping up and down on the seat.

Kaoru forced a smile and nodded. "So what are you going to be teaching us today?"

Tamaki lifted a hand to his chin and struck a thinking pose. For a few minutes the Limo was eerily quiet, that was until Tamaki piped up suddenly and broke the silence. "How to groom your dog!" He said happily.

Kaoru and Hikaru raised their eyebrows. "Milord, don't you think that's kind of pointl-" But Tamaki, who knew what Hikaru was going to say before he even finished, cut him off. (Tamaki could be a dolt but he wasn't stupid; in fact, he was very intuitive when he wanted to be).

"It's not pointless! Not at all!" Tamaki waved a finger at them. "You don't want the Hitachiins to be seen walking around with a dog that's all scraggly and dirty do you?" Tamaki asked matter-of-factly.

Hikaru looked down at Antoinette; She was impeccable down to the last strand of fur. It was true that the Hitachiins' image would be tarnished if they were to be seen with an unkempt dog for a pet. And as much as he hated to admit it, the Hitachiins may have been experts in the art of grooming humans, but grooming animals was a completely different cup of tea.

Kaoru seemed to be thinking the same thing and spoke their thoughts. "You're right, it would be bad for us to be seen with an unkempt dog."

Tamaki nodded, the smile never having faded from his face. "We're going to have fun! I don't get to spend much time alone with either of you, so this will be nice."

Hikaru smiled and Kaoru blushed; both twins took Tamaki for granted most of the time and viewed him as one of their toys. It was easy overlook the fact that he was one of their closest friends, because what he said was true – neither of them got to spend much time alone with him. Sometimes they forgot just how nice a guy Tamaki was, he was truly a gem and they were lucky to know him.

"We're happy to be spending time with you as well." Both twins replied in unison and Tamakis grin only became bigger. A comfortable silence then fell over the trio and they didn't talk again until they reached the Hitachiin mansion.


"Okay, now that we've finally gotten Ai and Antoinette into the bath, lets begin!" Tamaki said, bending down and picking up the bottle of doggie shampoo he had magically produced when they had reached the bathroom.

Kaoru bent down and picked up a small jug, proceeding to dip it in the water and fill it up. Hikaru watched in amusement as Kaoru gently poured water over Ai and Tamaki hummed to himself as he lathered Antoinette up next to him. "You have to make sure to wash everywhere, don't be shy about the questionable places!" Tamaki declared, pointing a finger up in the air swiftly and flicking soap foam onto Kaoru.

"You mean we have to touch his…" Hikaru trailed off to embarrassed to finish the thought.

"Of course!" Tamaki exclaimed in an incredulous tone. ""How else do you think it'll get washed?"

Kaoru burst out laughing and stood up from the bath, wiping the foam from his strawberry-blonde locks. "Come on Hikaru, help me wash Ai!" Kaoru wiggled his eyebrows mischievously as he said this.

Hikaru mumbled something under his breath but walked over to the bath and started lathering Ai up anyway, nether-regions and all. Tamaki beamed as he watched the oldest Hitachiin twin diligently scrub his dog until Ai looked like a mountain of bubbles. "Great!" Tamaki smiled, picking up the shower nozzle that was resting on the side of the bathtub. "And now we rinse!" With this he pointed the nozzle at Antoinette and started to wash all the shampoo off her. Antoinette whined and moved her head out of the direct path of the water.

Kaoru picked up the shower nozzle that was on the other side of the bath (everything came in twos in their house, this was because Hikaru and Kaoru tended to like doing things together) and started to gently rinse Ai off. When he was finished he and Hikaru turned to each other and broke into a fit of hysterical giggles. Turning around to see what the commotion was, Tamaki had to stifle a laugh as well.

Ai stood completely drenched, looking like a drowned rat in the bathtub. His head and body appeared so small without the mass of fluff that usually surrounded them - the picture was nothing short of comical.

"Wh-what is that thing?" Kaoru gasped in between giggles, trying to wipe away the tears that had escaped his eyes.

"He looks like an alien!" Hikaru snorted, slapping his knee in hysterics.

"I don't know what to say." Tamaki snickered, trying his hardest to keep from breaking down into guffaws.

It took them a few minutes but the trio managed to get over Ai's appearance and they returned to what they were doing. Tamaki explained to them that they would have to condition Antoinette and Ai as well, and then they would blow-dry and brush their fur out afterwards. The three worked tirelessly for the better part of two hours (mostly because of Antoinette running around the room and all three of them having to try and restrain her) before they finished and were finally able to rest.

Kaoru looked at his watch and his eyes widened. "It's already eight!"

Hikaru turned to Tamaki "Since we haven't had anything to eat yet, want to stay for dinner?"

Tamaki smiled and nodded. "How kind of you, staying for dinner would be lovely."

Hikaru and Kaoru helped each other up off the bathroom floor where they had been crashing for the last ten minutes, and then outstretched their hands to Tamaki who took them happily and pulled himself up. The three then walked downstairs (with Ai and Antoinette following behind them) to the kitchen where they pulled out the cold food they hadn't eaten from a few hours before (when the cook had obviously made dinner for them) and chucked them in the microwave. When everybody's food was heated, they went and sat in the dining room.

At first it was quiet as they ate, but then a thought struck Hikaru and he decided to speak up.

"So Tamaki, when were you going to tell Kyouya-senpai you like him?" He asked innocently, as if the subject wasn't completely out of the blue and uncalled for.

Tamaki almost chocked on the piece of chicken he had been eating. His face turned a brilliant shade of scarlet red and coughed violently before stuttering out his reply. "H-how did you know about that?"

Kaoru looked up from his plate and sighed. "It was pretty obvious Tono, you make eyes at him every chance you get."

Tamaki ran a hand through his hair and muttered something in French. "That doesn't prove anything…" He mumbled.

"You've been off in your own little world so much you've been ignoring Haruhi too." Kaoru insisted.

Tamaki swallowed and started tapping his fingers on the table. "Y-you aren't going to tell him, are you?" He asked nervously, flicking his eyes from one twin to the other.

Hikaru and Kaoru grinned. "Of course not! You're helping us, so we figured we would help you." Kaoru purred.

"By the time we're finished, Kyouya will be all over you." Hikaru added, giving the blonde a suggestive wink.

If it was even possible, Tamakis face turned an even deeper shade of red and he looked back down at his food. "That's not really necessary…" He mumbled, pushing around the peas on his plate with a fork.

"It's completely necessary." Hikaru retorted.

"It's the least we can do." Kaoru added.

Tamaki still looked very unsure and uncomfortable, so the twins decided to take action. Standing up they walked around the table to where Tamaki sat and draped their arms over his shoulders, leaning down to be level with his face.

"Just leave it to us." Hikaru smiled.

"It will be fine." Kaoru whispered.

Tamaki lifted is head and looked at them both with an expression that was a mixture of defeat, anxiousness and apprehension. "Fine. But please, Kyouya is my best friend, if anything happens to ruin that, I'm holding you two personally responsible."

Kaoru and Hikaru shot up and flashed the blonde salutes. "Yes Sir! Understood!"

Tamaki rolled his eyes and stood up from the table. "Thank you for dinner but I think I'd better be going now." He informed, stretching his arms out behind him.

Kaoru and Hikaru nodded "Okay then, see you tomorrow Milord!"

Tamaki walked up to them and pulled them in for a group hug, which the twins returned. "Mata ashita, Bonne nuit!" Tamaki grinned, giving them a wave. "Come on Annie! We're going home." Tamaki announced to his precious pooch. Antoinette stood up from under the table where she and Ai had been resting while the trio ate and followed her master out of the room.

Hikaru and Kaoru turned to each other once the blonde had left the room.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Hikaru admitted with a smile.

"No, maybe having lessons with Milord won't be so bad after all." Kaoru agreed, with a smile identical to Hikarus.

Tomorrow they would begin their mission: Operation SunShadow. Or in other words, 'Get Tamaki and Kyouya-senpai together.' In their opinion the former sounded way cooler though.


Konichiwa Everybody! I just wanted to take this oppurtunity to thank all those who have reviewed, faved and/or put this story on their alerts. Also thank you to anybody who has read this far, I hope you're enjoying the story! But I have to say, I'd really like to hear more of your feedback and would appreciate reviews. Is it good? Bad? Boring? Interesting? Give me tips people, I want to hear what you want! Ideas are always welcome!

On another note, if you're wondering about the title it has a range of meanings:
1) Tamaki's giving them tips on how to look after Ai
2) Hikaru and Kaoru tipped Tamaki off that they knew about his crush
3) I was originally going to have the twins tip Tamaki over somewhere in this chapter, but found nowhere to fit it in (*frowns*)

Translations:

Mata ashita - See you tomorrow (Japanese)

Bonne Nuit - Good Night (French)

Until next time, Sayonara!

Amber***