-At Sixes and Seventeens- F o u r t h- Adventures of a child in a playground-

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You don't realise you're getting old until you try and outrun a child on sugar rush

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When they were ten, Hikaru fell. They were on top of some slide down the road from the public school they didn't attend, and Hikaru fell. He slipped on the wet metal and toppled down off the ten feet tall slide.

He was only scratched, but no one could ever persuade him to get back up on a slide again.

Even Kaoru. But then, Kaoru respected Hikaru's fears, and never even tried.

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So, the host club were clueless to why Kaoru was suddenly three and a half feet tall again. They were also clueless to why they were now at some sort of playground. All they knew was that it had something to do with having two puppy-dog-eyes faces pulled at the exact same time.

So that's how the host club ended up sitting on the outside railings of a commoner's playground, watching Kaoru and Hunny play on the swings.

Well, trying to climb the swing set was more appropriate in Kaoru's case.

'Kaoru,' Hikaru called over, 'You're going to fall.'

Kaoru turned his head around to retaliate, and lost his balance, hurtling to the ground. There was utter silence as he landed exactly on his feet. Kaoru stared at the ground, looked up at the slide and then to the host club.

Hikaru felt himself be knocked off the fence by the force of Kaoru hurtling himself at him, bawling. 'WAH! I FELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL, HIKAAAAAA-KUUUUUUUUUUN!'

Hikaru sweatdropped, picking himself and the kid up off the tarmac. 'But you're not hurt, right?'

Kaoru nodded slowly, his eyes watering. Hikaru smiled. 'Then you shouldn't be afraid! Go and try something less dangerous, okay?'

Kaoru grinned, little cherry blossoms dancing around him. 'Okay!'

He hopped off Hikaru's lap and ran off towards the slide. Hikaru clambered back up on the fence beside Haruhi. She smiled at him and he grinned unabashedly back.

Then he was pulled off the fence again, by Kaoru again. 'Hika-kun will play with me!' he laughed, dragging the now seventeen year old over to the slide. Hikaru felt the colour drain out of his face.

'Heh, how about the seesaw, Kaoru?' he asked carefully, trying to drag the childs attention away from the looming slide of doom.

Kaoru pouted. 'No, Hikaruuuuu! Slide!'

'B-but that.....'

He was cut off as Kaoru dragged him up the slide itself. Yes, the slide, not the ladder, the slide.

Hikaru grabbed Kaoru around the waist as they slipped back down it, landing in a heap on the soft tarmac*.

The older boy sighed as Kaoru tried to wriggle his way out of his hold. 'You slipped, Hika-kun! Try again Hika-kun!'

Hikaru took one look at the over excited boy, threw him over his shoulder and got to the top of the slide in three steps. Kaoru's mouth was in a perfect 'O' shape.

'Hika-kuuuuun is fast,' he giggled. Hikaru smiled slightly, positioning Kaoru on his lap, as he sat down at the top, pushing himself and his twin down. They tumbled to the ground, grinning.

'Yays!' Kaoru laughed, trying to climb up the slide again by himself. Hikaru smiled at his naivety as he fell down again and again.

'Hikaru?'

He glanced up at the girl who was now standing beside him. 'Yeah, Haruhi?'

She smirked, helping him up off the ground. 'We gonna be here much longer?'

The older boy turned to look at his brother, who had managed to get half way up the slide but slipped down again, giggling. 'By the looks of it, yeah.'

'Huh,' she said nochantely. 'I thought we could've gone somewhere, but if you're too bus'Huh,' she said nochantely. 'I thought we could've gone somewhere, but if you're too busy......'

Hikaru jumped in front of her. 'Nope nope, lets go! Sure, Tono can mind Kaoru no problem!'

He grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the park before the child noticed he'd even gone...

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Oko- =D To QT Pie- Heh, I don't know what a cosmic intervention is (lol) and its not really 'repaying' as such, but you're really close! Guess again! ^^

Bob- *yes, you can have soft tarmac, and its generally used in little kids playgrounds, okay?

Yumi- And, people are getting so close to the real answer! Just get the wording a bit righter and you'll win people!

Oko- =D Good luck (and you can try again, you know. You can only guess once per review, but if you review twice, you can guess twice and so on! Keep guessing folks! I'll notify you when someone wins, okay? But we wont tell you who....so you all who didn't get it will still be in suspense doo noo noo!)