Three months had passed. And with each day, the trio grew closer and closer, and the twins opened their hearts more and more. That day at the mansion had been back in late September. It had just turned to January, and the snow falling outside the classroom window down to the frozen ground made it evident that it was so. It was now the final term of the school year…so much had changed in almost four months.

Mayu looked to the window and watched the white snowflakes fall and join the white blanket covering the grass as one. She hated the wintertime. Well, not so much as hate, but that she would always be anxious for April, for spring, and for the new cherry blossoms on the trees. She enjoyed the springtime very much. And to think, in just a few more months that she would be in her final year at the middle school. She smiled to herself and tucked her waves behind her ear and continued to listen to the teacher's lecture, but she still doodled on the margins of her notebook all the things that would come with the springtime, touching a golden heart necklace she wore lightly as if it were the thing most dear to her. Clearly it held a lot of value for her.

Kaoru looked at Mayu gazing out the window, and thought of how beautiful she looked. Winter was a dead time, but Mayu hadn't dulled at all. She was as bright and spontaneous as a cherry blossom. He had nicknamed her 'Sakura' even though she hated it. Well, Hikaru and him had both come up with it. It was so strange. Seeing her sitting there, with her Ouran uniform, and her fair face hitting the soft light that came from outside…it made him want to stare at her forever. He had realized he had fallen for Mayu over the last break, during Christmas time, when they went over to the Hiitachin estate once more to celebrate together.

She was a delightful guest, according to his parents, as they had absolutely adored her. He knew they wished there were two of her so both boys could have a Mayu. Kaoru knew well enough to figure that his mother must've been thinking of the wedding gowns she could design for such a perfect girl as the only heir to the Hayashi clan.

Kaoru smiled thinking of how Christmas dinner went.

"Thank you for having me over for the holidays Mr. and Mrs. Hiitachin." Mayu bowed respectfully to the elders and Mrs. Hiitachin held her hands up and claimed it was no problem at all.

"What were you going to do over the break anyway?" Hikaru had asked Mayu at dinner.

She shrugged. "My parents had an important meeting to attend in Hong Kong, and they wanted to visit Taiwan I believe, to search for a vacation home or something." She looked down at her fork in her hand and stated, "I was going to spend my break alone at home with the servants, and visit my cousins for the actual holiday but-"

"You are welcome here anytime. Even if we are not around, please make yourself at home." Their father finally said something and Mayu seemed more surprised at what he had said then him talking for the first time ever since she'd met him a few nights ago.

"The boys will always be there to take you in! I'm sure they love your company and would never be able to see you so alone and desolate!" Mrs. Hiitachin smiled at her boys. "Isn't that right Hikaru? Kaoru?" she looked at the wrong one as she said each of their names and Mayu wanted to say something but she wasn't sure if it was her proper place.

Finally she announced softly, "The one closer to you is Kaoru, and the one directly across from me is Hikaru."

The Hiitachin family all looked to her in surprise. Mayu lifted her head and smiled gently.

"Ms. Hayashi, how can you tell?" their mother seemed shocked.

"Call me Mayu, Mrs. Hiitachin. And I just can." She went on to try to teach their parents about how to tell them apart and by the time the staff came to collect the dessert plates, the entire dining hall was filled with rich laughter from all five members of the dining table.

Mayu was given a guest room a few doors down from the twins' room, but about quarter past 1 that morning, she crept out of the room, down the hall, and into the boys' room.

She stood there quaking in fear, looking on to the lumps in the two beds pushed together to be one.

Just by looking at them, she began to breathe easier, but it was still too quiet.

Kaoru, who was a light sleeper, awoke when he heard the door click and realized someone had just left the room. He made sure to get out of bed and follow what he thought he had just seen without waking his brother.

He crept after the figure and in front of the main staircase, with a large stained glass window behind them, he grabbed their hand and stopped them from creeping around the house.

"Mayu?" he questioned in a whisper when he saw her face.

Her face broke his heart. She looked afraid of something. "What's wrong?"

"I…I just didn't want to be alone." She whimpered. "I'm always alone at home…and…" she trailed off and shivered.

Kaoru took her into his arms and held her close, immediately picking up on the fact she may in fact have some degree of monophobia- which was the fear of being alone. He wouldn't blame her either. With all he'd learned about her in the past few months, he knew she was on her own a lot. She rarely saw family, with the exception of her distant cousins every once in a while. The only people in her estate were servants, and of course, that bodyguard of hers- her chauffeur- Tamatsu? He was practically raising her it seemed.

"Don't tell Hikaru about my fear." Mayu whispered into his shoulder desperately. "I can't have him worry more about me than he already does. You're much more rational than he is- let's face it."

Kaoru pulled back and smiled devilishly at her. "C'mon!" and he tugged her gently and she followed, holding his hand tightly as they hurried downstairs.

"Kaoru- what are we-"

"Shhh." He hushed her. "It's an adventure." He pushed open the door to the kitchen and went over to the giant fridge and opened it up, the light from the refrigerator the only thing illuminating the room.

"Late night snack?" he motioned to the fridge, and Mayu grinned. Together, they dug through the foods until they found a small tub of ice cream enough for two people.

Together they ate it on the floor of the kitchen, in the dark, but they eventually got used to it and were able to see shapes and lines in the darkness. They even would take spoonfuls and feed each other. After they finished the tub, Kaoru took a post-it note from the center table and stuck it to the tub of ice cream and wrote- "For Hikaru" on it. He placed it back in the freezer as if it were the funniest prank and when he closed the freezer, he saw Mayu glaring at him her arms crossed over the chest and immediately Kaoru wondered if he should remove the note and throw it away, but then she broke out into a wide-toothed grin and stifling her laughter said, "Even when you're on your own- you still act like your brother! It's nice to know that despite how different you are from him when you're alone, you're still a lot like him."

Kaoru smirked. And together they traveled back upstairs. "Would you like me to join you in your room or would you rather sleep with my brother and me?"

Mayu yawned and murmured, "Whatever you want to do."

Figuring Hikaru would get too jealous if he woke up to find out his brother had abandoned him for a girl in the middle of the night, and not wanting to send Mayu back to her own room by herself, they ended up back in the twins' room, all three sleeping together.

When Hikaru awoke, he acted like Mayu alone was his Christmas present.

But the day only got better.

They opened their gifts, Mayu getting some custom-made clothes designed by the twins for Mayu, and seeing Mayu's delighted face as she pulled the fabrics out of the boxes, they gained confidence in their abilities to make clothes. "Oh my gosh- when you two become professional designers like your mom, can you please make me tons more of clothes? I love it! I can't wait for next Christmas then if it means that more of your gorgeous designs will appear!"

The twins' faces lit up as she said that, and their hearts soared.

Her other gift was a pure golden necklace in the shape of a heart with engraved roses around the edges and her first name in the center.

She had Hikaru put it on for her, and the boys were even more thrilled when she announced that she would never, ever take it off.

She had gotten the boys, things she claimed 'were nowhere as good' as their gifts for her. Prank kits, designing drawing pads, and many other miscellaneous things.

She dragged them out into the first snow of the holidays a few days later, and they together built a snowman and three forts to have snowball fights. Mayu had cheated though, however like a sly fox she was, by taking multiple white balls of fluff and chasing the boys around loudly and throwing the snowballs at them. She was subtle that one.

It was now that Kaoru realized he had fallen for her. If he was too young to know what love was, he did not know- but he knew he definitely felt affection for her greater than any other ; a kind of love he had never felt before- because it was romantic.

He knew Hikaru felt the same, based on how he was looking at Mayu too, Kaoru turned and made sure that the sibling behind him was still watching her. The only difference was that Hikaru was much more dense that way. But he had actually opened himself more to Mayu it seemed than Kaoru did. On things Kaoru couldn't dare to do, Hikaru would open up and do it for her. It was like…even though Kaoru was the one who was aware he was in love with Mayu, it stopped him from pursuing her blindly like he used to, because he didn't want to push her away. However Hikaru loved even more blindly, and was completely open with her. If that made sense.

Mayu…was she even aware of what she had cast them under? Did she know just how far they were willing to go for her?

Kaoru knew that in the end though, no matter how hard he fought, it would be Hikaru who would emerge victorious with Mayu, as Kaoru was willing to sacrifice his own happiness for his brother's, no matter what. If he ever felt the way about someone else that he did Mayu, he doubted it would ever be the same level of devotion however, he knew he would probably still let Hikaru win. He didn't want to lose Mayu, and he didn't want to lose his brother, and if they could be happy together, then he should be happy to see them happy…shouldn't he?


A/N: Sorry it's been a few weeks! Been busy with life, sigh. But I managed to stay up and write this for you guys before you all lose complete interest and hate me. :O

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And as usual, which twins do you love more for Mayu?