Chapter 4:
Hikaru ambled down the hall, curiously staring at anything he passed. The rooms were so small, the hallway cramped and creaky in certain places.
It was truly fascinating.
He glanced around, looking at the different doors. Finally, his eyes stopped on a mahogany door, and Hikaru moved towards it, hand outstretched to push the door open.
However, before he could get far, something stopped him. It was a tug, not a physical one, but one that pushed his mind back, and caused his golden eyes to stray to a white door next to the original one he intended to open. Blinking slightly, Hikaru shuffled towards the white panel of wood, obeying the tug in his mind.
His hand settled on the doorknob, but then a sense of privacy and prying washed over him. Jerking his hand from the door, he glanced at the room.
Should he really be seeing this?
Something told him that whatever was beyond that door was private, and closed off for a reason.
Something Hikaru Hitachiin's golden eyes shouldn't be seeing.
But as always, his curiosity got the best of him, and he grasped the doorknob firmly in his hand, and pushed the door open slowly, little by little. When the crack opened to a size that someone his figure can enter with limited difficulty, he stopped pressing against the door and slipped in.
The room was dimly lit, the only light coming from a crack on where the curtains covering the window didn't quite meet. When Hikaru's eyes adjusted to the dim light, he glanced around the cramped area, his eyes growing wider by the second.
This was Aoi's and Haruhi's shared bedroom.
It was simple, really─ two futons that were side by side, two desks on opposite sides of the room, both stacked with various books and papers. When he turned his head slightly, Hikaru caught sight of a drawing board with a sheet draped over it, and a small closet.
Nothing like the extravagance he and the rest of the hosts were used to.
But still... interesting.
Moving silently to one side of the room, Hikaru glanced at some of the books that was littered across one of the desks on the far right side.
Law? Hikaru shuffled some papers about and saw the name scrawled across a sheet of paper.
Haruhi Fujioka, it read. A small smile bubbled onto Hikaru's lips.
Of course.
However, something kept on pulling Hikaru towards the drawing board. Stopping in front of it, he analyzed it with curious eyes. The sheet was crumpled, and splattered with a rainbow of colors─ obviously used much more than once. But there was no dust lingering on it, so it was definitely used recently. Grasping the sheet in his hands, he slowly tugged it off until the gray fabric collapsed into a puddle at his feet, revealing the large picture mounted on the flimsy wooden stand. Hikaru's eyes widened, staring incredulously at the painting in front of him.
It was… him.
His reflection stared back at him, unblinking, unmoving. It was copied perfectly─ the amber hair, the small, almost nonexistent smirk that seemed to plant itself on Hikaru's lips, a habit he had developed.
And it was the one difference between Hikaru and Kaoru, the one he'd never thought anyone would notice.
Hikaru stared at the signature at the bottom corner of the paper.
Aoi Fujioka.
Hastily covering the painting again, Hikaru leaned against the wall, his heart beating fast.
Aoi was certainly full of mysteries.
He didn't even know Aoi's gender for sure.
After being kicked out of the fitting room on the first day the Fujioka twins showed up at the host club, Hikaru had thought that Aoi was a girl, for certain.
But after Haruhi was revealed as a female, her twin had denied any question about gender whatsoever.
Was Aoi a boy? Or a girl, like he had once thought?
But as if to answer his question, a stray ray of light hit something white, flashing ever so slightly on the desk he hadn't touched. Moving quickly towards the source of the glow, Hikaru picked the white object up in his hand.
It was Aoi's middle school ID.
Most of the information was familiar, not exactly surprising─ Aoi's full name, birth date, and the name of the school the Fujioka twin had attended. Then he got to the little stamp that indicated the gender of the card owner.
Female.
It was as plain as day, scripted in bold letters, printed in front of Hikaru's eyes. But the shock didn't hit like he thought it would. Instead, it felt… normal. Predicted.
Expected.
The thought shocked him. Was he honestly expecting Aoi to be a girl?
Hikaru knew his thoughts were confusing, but not this confusing.
But the real shock settled in after his eyes found the picture on the plastic.
Long brown hair, almost black with side bangs, unlike Haruhi's past bangs.
A girl's uniform.
But it was no doubt that it was Aoi─ the same smirk was there, paired with the glint in her eyes. But it was fainter. She looked... almost quiet. Feminine, even. The type of girl you'd expect to study hard and yet still receive dozens of confessions everyday.
What changed her into the tomboy she was today?
And why?
However, his train of thoughts was wiped from his mind when there was a series of scuffling and a bang as the door flew open.
Aoi.
Wordlessly, he held the card up, question in his amber eyes.
Aoi's eyes widened, her complexion paled, and she sagged against the doorframe, her eyes never leaving the piece of plastic in Hikaru's hand.
Suddenly, she gave off a soft laugh, one that withheld no humor.
"You found out. About time." She whispered, but even the sarcasm was weak. Hikaru shuffled his feet.
"Yeah…"
Aoi straightened, and stared at him straight in the eye.
"Are you going to tell the other hosts?"
The forward question took Hikaru off guard, and he hesitated.
"…I don't know."
Hello my lovlies~ Haha I know I didn't update for several days (I feel so guilty _), since school was so busy and all of that. I technically had this chapter written already, i just needed to go back and add more details and that's when I scraped bottom ^^;; So the next chapter will be up soon, but maybe not right away because school's gonna be extra chaotic this week. So please hang on, and we will meet again~!
Ja ne~!
