Like the chapter before this one, it takes place in the past. This is there second date, and they make numerous mentionings of the first date. Which is in the works, I'll post it eventually...


Michiko was sitting down at her messy desk, laptop open. The phone rang, and she picked it up without looking at it. "Hello?"

"I think we should go to an amusement park."

She smiled as she recognized the voice, "Hello Kaoru. What's this about an amusement park?"

"I figured that it would make up for our… mixed signals."

"An amusement park."

"Yeah, you mentioned that you liked adventure, and this one is supposed to be the scariest in Japan. So I thought that at the least I could see you screaming like a little girl.

"…An amusement park."

"Yeah."

"…So, an amusement park?"

"Please stop that."

"An amusement park…"

"Quit it! I thought it was a good idea, but if you don't want to go…"

"No wait! I want to go! I was just… mulling over the idea. So an amusement park-"

"Don't start again!"

"I'm not! I'm just saying, an amusement park, like we're in high school? I haven't been to one in so long, it sounds fun. When?"

"I think I can persuade Hikaru to work alone Thursday. Is that okay?"

Michiko nodded, that was two days from now, which meant she was going to have to pull an all-nighter and then turn in her article a day earlier. "That should be fine."

"Okay, then how about I meet you at my house at 10:30. Do you need directions?"

"No, I'll just google map it or something. Alright then, I'm looking forward to it."

Kaoru hung up, feeling considerable happier. "Hikaru," He called. "I know your lurking in the door way."

Embarrassed at being caught, he poked his head out. "Hi, I was just coming in, but then I heard who you were on the phone with, so I…"

"You eavesdropped."

"I was going to say, didn't want to interrupt you, but basically yeah, I eavesdropped."

Kaoru didn't look to surprise by this. "Is it okay with you?"

"If you take off Thursday? Don't worry, big brother Hikaru will take care of it!"

Kaoru gave Hikaru a look that went something like, 'you know what I meant.'

Hikaru's eyes softened. "Of course it's fine with me Kaoru." He tousled Kaoru's hair. "I was just afraid you'd stay single forever. You were happy for me when I started to go out with Mei, so how could I not give you the same courtesy?"

He took Kaoru's hand and squeezed it. "So don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll have a great time."

~≈&≈~

Michiko had just hung up with Kaoru, when the phone rang again. She frowned at it, because she would have to work fast to finish her article in time, but she picked it up anyway. "Hello?"

"Itooookooooo-chaaaaaaaan."(1)

"Hello Miwa, it's been a while."

"You never caaaalllll meeeeee."

"You could have called me."

"But you don't sleep enough already! What if my call disturbs one of those precious moments when you're not working!"

"Well now your call is disturbing me when I AM working. What was it that you wanted?"

"I wanted to see how your Christmas party went! Did he do something exciting like kiss you under the mistletoe?"

"No, nothing like that, it was… interesting though."

"Ooooh, what happened?"

"Nothing important."

"Tellll meeeeee."

"It's nothing! Stop acting like you a five year old when you're older than me!"

"I'm not a five year old."

"Oh right, you're just the height of one, my bad."

"Meeeaaannnnn."

"Than stop wasting my time with frivolous questions!"

"If you feel that way then I'll just leave." She pouted. She knew Michiko to well than to actually be insulted.

"No, don't. I'm sorry… uh, well, I kind of pretended to get mad at him, and he told me that he wanted to go out with me. So, we're going to an amusement park near by."

"See, that's not nothing! So you're going to the one near by? The one that's supposed to have the scariest rides in Japan?"

"That's what he said."

"So what time are you going?"

"Um, I'm meeting him at his house at 10:30, so I guess we'll be there by 11:30 ish. Why?"

"Ooooh, no reason. What are you going to wear?"

"…I haven't decided yet. Why do you want to know?"

"J- just want to make sure you look pretty for your date."

"Yeah, okay." Michiko was deeply suspicious. "I guess I'm going to dress warmly, because it's still pretty cold. So um, my dark blue plaid jacket? The one that reaches kind of mid-thigh? Trimmed with faux fur?"

"Um, yeah, I know that one. Okay. I'll see you soon."

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh! Well, you know!!! I live right by you, so! It's just likely! Hahaha! BYE!"

Click!

Michiko stared at the phone, frowning. "Okay, then… Suspicion meter rising." She placed it back on the table and frowned at it, as if wondering if it would suddenly take an interest in her clothing and then laugh nervously, just like the caller on the other end did.

Thankfully, the phone, being a phone, did not, and Michiko eventually went back to work.

~≈&≈~

Despite Hikaru's previously calm and cool speech to Kaoru, come Thursday he was a nervous wreak.

Sitting in his and Kaoru's office, he dialed Haruhi's number in a wild frenzy.

"Hello?"

"Haruhi! I need back up!!"

"Hikaru? What is it? I'm working."

"K- Kaoru's- Kaoru's gone on a date!" He blubbered.

Haruhi failed to see the problem. "So? Kaoru's been on a date before."

"Yeah! But I always knew her! Normally we would have met her at the same time! Or I would have introduced her to him! But I've never really met this one before! What if she's really some horrible person and Kaoru's heart gets broken!?"

"Is it the same person from the Christmas party? The journalist?"

He sniffed. "Yes."

"Well than it should be fine, she seemed nice enough to me."

"Yeah, but what do you know!"

"Thanks Hikaru, but I have to go back to work."

"No wait! Don't leave me Haruhi! I need you to come help me follow them!"

"That's what you called for?! Why don't you just get Mei to help you? She probably would."

Hikaru pouted. "She's out of town."

"Just leave them be Hikaru, unlike you, Kaoru's grown up, they'll be fine."

Fine, then he would just call-

"And don't call Tamaki! He's working, and you know he would drop everything to help you."

"How does she do that?"

"Kaoru left you there to look after the place while he was gone, so why don't you just do that?" Hikaru stuck his tongue out at the phone; he had just been planning to leave his assistant in charge.

"Yeah, yeah. Bye Haruhi."

Fine! If nobody would help him protect his brother, then he would just have to do it by himself!

A few of his employees that were passing by, wondered why he was posing like that.

~≈&≈~

Michiko pulled up to Kaoru's house. His parents had bought him and Hikaru separate houses apart from the Hitachiin mansion. They weren't as big as the Hitachiin mansion, but they were about the size of a large apartment complex, and compared to Michiko's tiny apartment… well, she was impressed.

She rang the doorbell, and a maid answered. "Ah, you must be Michiko-san! Please come in! Kaoru-sama will be down in a second."

Kaoru looked at Michiko in surprise when he came down the stairs. "You look," He decided chose his words carefully, because her flat expression dared him to test her. "Tired." He, rather wisely, settled on.

And she did, he skin was paler than usual and even though she had done her best to cover them up, dark splotches were smeared underneath her eyes. "I am. I stayed up… late. I had to finish something just a bit earlier than I thought I would have to."

He frowned, "I thought you said Thursday was fine?"

"I did. It's no big deal. I probably would have pulled something like this anyway."

"If your too tired…?"

"No, I know, but I'm not. I'm here aren't I?"

"Okay then…" He said doubtfully. "I've decided to drive us there instead of taking a car."

Michiko made a flapping motion with one hand. "Drive away."

His car was sort of sporty, Michiko couldn't tell what kind it was, but the tan leather seats were comfortable, and she had the feeling that they were heated. The radio jumped on as the car did. "What sort of music do you like?" He asked, adjusting the volume.

She winced. "I never know how to answer that question. Um, I like a lot of different things. I like classical music, but I also like techno. Um, I end up listening to a lot of obscure British bands. I guess it would just be easier to tell you what I don't like. Uh… I don't mind country as long as it's not is large doses. I don't like R&B."

He mentally deciphered this and changed stations. He looked back at her to see if it was okay and she nodded.

After half an hour, he glanced over at her again, wondering if the comfortable silence was just his imagination or not, but found that her eye's were closed. Was she…? Yes, her breathing was slow and her lips were slightly parted. She was dead asleep.

He tried not to feel insulted, and considered waking her. But he shrugged to himself; they had about twenty minutes to keep driving anyway.

When they finally reached the park he considered how to wake her. "Michiko." He said flatly. Nothing. He leaned in close to her ear. "MICHIKO!"

"Wagh!" She bolted upward and rammed her head against the wind shield, then, her seatbelt, which had locked when she moved forward so quickly, pressed against her neck, until she gasped for air and realized where she was, and what was going on.

Kaoru laughed. "A comical reaction! I knew it!"

Michiko, her hands massaging her forehead, glowered at him. "Your four." She said flatly.

"And you're amusing."

She sighed, and then mumbled. "I tend to get that a lot."

They went to buy the tickets.

~≈&≈~

"Target identified."

Miwa stood behind a light pole, talking to herself and peering at the couple with a pair of obscenely large binoculars. Took make an even odder image, she was dressed in a Sherlock homes costume that was just a bit too big for her, complete with a pipe. In other words, she was attracting a lot of attention.

"Do you think she's dressed up as their mascot or something?" One person whispered.

"Or maybe she's a real detective following them because there criminals." The other replied.

"Don't be stupid, real detectives don't dress like that anymore. It's probably just a little kid messing around."

The twenty-five year old looked at them with teary eyes. "I'm not a little kid." She mumbled.

"Oh, it's crying now."

"Probably just because we figured out she was a fraud. Come on, let's go on that ride over there."

"I'm not a little kid." She said louder, perhaps attracting even more stares. She frowned, and looked back toward where Kaoru and Michiko had been a moment ago. "I'm not." Then, she looked back and forth very quickly.

"Crap! I lost them!"

~≈&≈~

Hikaru had done things a bit more efficiently. He wasn't in disguise, but he also wasn't being horribly obvious, so it balanced out.

Because he didn't have binoculars, he had to stick a bit closer than Miwa did, but years of sneaking up on Tamaki with being noticed by Kyoya or Haruhi had finally paid off.

"I'm watching you Michiko." He said threateningly, as he watched them laugh about something. "If you turn out to be a bad person, I will warn Kaoru. So watch what you do…"

~≈&≈~

Unaware that they were being tailed, Michiko and Kaoru both were enjoying their time. She had been playing one of the games where you hit the mallet on a scale and if it hits the top you won a prize. She laughed when it barely moved, and flexed her arm unimpressively.

She turned to say something to Kaoru, then blinked and looked at something behind him.

"What is it?" He asked, turning to look as well, but nothing of real interest was there.

She shook her head, "No, it's nothing, I'm sure. Uh, where do you want to go next?"

~≈&≈~

That had been a close one. She was more perceptive than Hikaru had thought. He was now kneeling in a bush, panting heavily. He stood up very suddenly, and a few little kids who had wandered in that direction yelped in surprise.

Hikaru narrowed his eyes in determination, and scanned the lines of people waiting to get on rides. He spotted something unusual, a young woman in an over coat and large black binoculars trained directly on his brother.

He frowned, and walked over to the woman. "Um, excuse me?" He tapped her shoulder.

"Ah!" She dropped the binoculars, and as she looked up at him, her eyes widened. She looked from Kaoru to him very rapidly. "Huh? But? I though! …Did you go get your hair died while I wasn't looking or something?"

"That person you're stalking right now, yeah, that's my twin." He pointed to Kaoru and glowered at her, it was pretty scary.

"…Oh, yeah, I think she mentioned that he had a twin…"

"I'm sure. Now why are you stalking him? Are you some wired girl who likes to follow couples around at amusement parks?"

"I'm not stalking him!"

"You have a pair of binoculars."

"Well I'm not stalking him! I'm following Michiko!"

Hikaru looked confused. "Why? Are you her kid sister or something?"

"I'm her cousin. Her older cousin. I'm older than you too! So stop being so disrespectful!"

"Oh… sorry. So, why are you following them?"

"I wanted to know what happened, and Michiko won't ever give me full details." She sighed, "But it's been really boring. All the rides are too scary to get on, so all I really do is wait by the entrance until they come out."

Hikaru nodded. "Well, I'm following them too, and I need a look out. So follow me."

Miwa made a face at his back once he had turned away. "Fine, I'll follow you."

~≈&≈~

"So which one do you like the most so far?"

Michiko pondered this. "I think I still like the one that drops you straight down from really high the most. The Screaming Tower, or something like that."

"Really? But what about the one rollercoaster that went backwards and through all of those loops?"

"Hmm, so, I still like the one that drops you, it's really exhilarate…ing…" Michiko's eyes snagged on something in the crowd, and focused on it in an almost predatory fashion. "Found you." She hissed.

"What is-?"

She shoved her bag in to his hands. "Stay here!" She shouted at him, and then shot off, zigzagging through the crowd. He blinked, she moved awfully fast for someone who didn't get any sleep.

"You can't out run me Sherlock!" She yelled.

It wasn't necessarily true; Miwa could out run her on a good day. But Michiko had irritation on her side, and Miwa was slowed down by her costume. Hikaru, seeing as he soon would be caught, opted for diving into a bush.

"Got you!" Michiko crowed triumphantly, and grabbed Miwa's hood. Miwa jerked to a stop, and grabbed at her throat.

"Ow!" She complained.

"Shut it." Michiko's eyes scoured the crowd, and landed on a tuft of auburn hair sticking out of a bush. "You too Hikaru. I see you."

He wearily rose. "Hi…"

"You two," She gestured, "are coming with me." She pointed towards where she had just run from. She stormed off, and they wearily followed.

Kaoru looked surprised when Michiko came back two more people than she had left with. "Hikaru?"

Michiko pointed toward a bench, and they sat obediently. "Now, your both going to explain what your doing here. And don't say you just came here to enjoy the park and we happened to be here all at the same time just by coincidence! Because if that were the case, that doesn't explain you running off when I say you!"

"We were following you." Miwa mumbled.

"And, whhyyy where you doing that?"

"Because I wanted to see if you were worthy of Kaoru. Like what if you turned out to be a bad person and Kaoru got his heart broken!" Hikaru cried.

Kaoru made an indignant sound from behind her.

"And am I?"

"Well, you have a nasty temper." He sulked.

"Pfffft. What's your story Miwa? And what's with the pipe?"

"I got it from a pawn shop."

"A pawn shop really? I mean- stop that! I'm mad at you!"

Miwa squirmed, uncomfortable under Michiko's scrutiny. "I wanted to see what you to were doing because you'd never have given full details! So I sort of… followed you?"

Michiko sighed and looked back at Kaoru, and he saw that she actually wasn't that mad, she was just playing the part. "What should we do then?"

He considered this, "Well, they're already here, so we might as well just let them stay and ride the rest of the rides with us."

Michiko nodded, "Consider yourselves spared." She rolled her eyes. "Oh, and Kaoru, meet Miwa; my cousin. I'm sure she has something to say to you." She pinched Miwa's cheek. "Don't you Miwa?'

"Sorry for messing up your date!" She said cheerfully.

Michiko flushed, "Just 'I'm sorry' would have worked too!" She said, and grinding at Miwa's head with her palm.

At the end of the day, both Miwa and Hikaru scrutinized their relatives date, and flashed a thumbs up. "I approve!" The said in unison.

"Yeah, because that's what we totally needed, your approval."

It was a nice thought though.


Holy Jesus! That was 11 freaking pages!!! I'm suprised if any of you actually got this far.

On the other hand, that God for spell check, because there was like, 52 errors in this. Siiigh. Speaking properly FTW, eh?

Anyway, now that I'm done with that, I'm going to start trying to update some of my other stories, yeah?

Sorry if this was lagging a bit in the end, I was just like, "SPARE ME! SPARE ME FROM WRITING A TWELVETH PAGE!" Eh heh.

Awsome, thanks for the 3 reviews I have XD.

No, I'm just kidding, I wasn't expecting to get any at all, so it's all good, man.

-Sasha.