WORD COUNT: 7,367
NOTE: Heh...chapter eight. I hope you all love the crazy bits and the 'scary' bits. I don't really have much to announce except...I'm dating the Beta Boy! ^_^ Sorry for taking so long, by the way. It's been exactly ten days though, so you can't hate me!
DISCLAIMER: We (Kreative and I) do not own Kaoru and Hikaru, slavery is completely wrong. But...in a bondage situation...xD *this disclaimer is PURELY STAR, Kreative and Gatamigo have NOTHING to do with it*
Beta'd by Gatamigo
Chapter Eight: Drunken Nights and Flashing Lights
Dez poured apple cider for Katie first, before going on to serve the others. Hikaru shuffled the cards, trying to do the 'Bridge' to look more threatening than he usually did. Dez was ignoring him completely, which severely lowered his threat-factor.
Katie sipped her cider, then made a puckered face. "Dez?" She sniffed the drink, "How old is this stuff?"
"Dunno. Maybe it's a little old." She took Katie's cup from her and had a swig. "Ooh, we have hard cider!" Dez watched the younger girl stand and pick up her drawing supplies. "Are you sure you don't want to stay Katie?"
"I'm sure I don't want to drink that stuff, Dezy. It's gross and smells weird." She raised her eyebrow at the smiling girl.
"Aw, shucks, girl!" She tipped the rest of the cup back before licking her lips. "You're gonna let me drink with two guys?" She snorted, "What if something happens? Aren't you gonna worry about me?" She grabbed at the sleeve of her bathrobe that she had thrown over her pajamas to keep her warm earlier.
Katie blushed and turned toward the kitchen, ready to go upstairs and to bed. She shook her head as she walked over, muttering, "I'm more worried about the guys." She ran her free hand through her hair. "Good night everyone. Have fun."
Dez was pouring second cups for herself and the two boys who had just finished theirs, "Will do, m'dear." She turned to the boys and took the cards. "How about a friendly game of war?" She grinned innocently, "I'll deal out all the card and we don't get to look at them. In unison we flip them over and whoever has the highest card gets the other two. The person with the lowest has to take a shot." Her grin become more feral. "If two people have the same card, and it's the highest card, there is a war. The two warring people lay down three cards face down and put an extra one face up. Whoever has the highest out of that wins all the cards. We'll do shots every time there's a war, and the loser has to do an extra."
--
Dez opened her eyes slowly, she had only been resting them for a moment. Hikaru had stumbled off to the bathroom not too long ago, and Kaoru hadn't stopped staring at her the entire time. It seemed to her that he had something on his mind. She scooted closer, leaning on his shoulder lightly. "Wha'cha thinkin', Ka-o-ru?" She said his name softly, distinguishing each syllable.
"Nothing." Kaoru shifted his eyes back to the cards in his hands. His head felt a little woozy from the hard cider...and what was taking Hikaru so long?
'Liar...' Dez thought with a lazy grin. She waited to see if he'd start talking, like Katie usually would if left alone long enough.
"I was just..." Kaoru looked up to see startlingly sharp sapphire eyes looking at him. He swallowed and continued, "I was just thinking about how you're so mean to Hikaru. Why is that, Dez?"
Dez blinked. He must be tipsy to call her without an honorific...or something to that effect. "Uh..." There was an intelligent start to her explanation. "Er, it's simple...really!"
"It is?" Kaoru leaned his head on hers and stared blankly at the wall. "Enlighten me then, because for the life of me I can't see it."
"H-Hika-chan and I are friends," she stuttered, nervous about how close they were. 'Is he even conscious about doing this? He must have had more to drink than I thought.' She heard a chuckle from the twin leaning on her, and could have sworn she detected a laugh in the direction Hikaru had left in.
Kaoru lifted his head and moved away, looking behind Dez at the door where he could see the silhouette of his brother. It couldn't hurt if he learned why Dez acted so hostile to him. "Friends?" He snickered and draped an arm around Dez's waist clumsily, to prevent her from seeing his brother, "You are kidding, right?"
"'m not." Dez smiled up at him, "Hika-chan and I really 're friends, even though it doesn't look like it in the slightest." She leaned back against him, enjoying the warmth.
"Then why d'you fight so much?" Kaoru had his own theory, but he was curious as to what Dez thought about this. She obviously knew what she was talking about.
"I have two different answers to that." She took a sip of her cider, "One: best friends fight often. I know you've heard that before."
Kaoru's brow furrowed, "Then what about you and Katie-chan?" He wondered why he remembered the suffix for Katie's name, but not Dez's. He ignored it for the time being. "You two hardly fight."
Dez chuckled, "We're sisters, that's all." She put her cup back down on the table, "Anyway, m'next reason is a lot more serious. The reason why Hika-chan and I fight is ob..." she paused, trying to remember the correct word. "ob...obvious! If you think about it." Dez ran a hand through her bangs absently to keep herself occupied so she wouldn't meet his eyes. "'m possessive of Katie because I think of her as a real sibling. 'm pretty damn sure both you and your brother know this, even if I've never said it 'loud. You two are possessive of each other, yeah?" She continued her explanation after he nodded. "Hika-chan is as possessive as a child who dunno how to share." She paused when she thought she heard someone huff, when nothing else happened she proceeded with her little spiel. "We clash and fight over her."
"I can see that, Dez," Kaoru sighed. "I thought you were going t' tell me something I don't already know."
"'m not done yet," Dez's head tipped to the side playfully and she smirked. "That's just my surface observation. On the underneath, 'm guarding her from him because I know he's a common playboy." She didn't wait to give Kaoru room to protest. "He sees that 'n' naturally fights back. He wants to prove to me that he genuinely cares about her. I already know this, even if he hasn't been able to realize it yet."
Kaoru nodded, 'She really knows more'n Hikaru gives her credit for...hell, she knows more'n I give her credit for.' He waited for her to continue, it sounded like she wasn't finished yet.
"So, for all our arguin', on one level or another, is to protect her or prove to her. To put it in layman's terms, Katie is the reason why we're fighting." Dez sighed, 'This is gonna be hard, gettin' them together. I doubt that either of them could have understood what I meant.' She turned as Hikaru stumbled in, 'He must hard heard, and by the look on his face he completely missed the point I was trying to make, I bet.'
"I'm going outside for a bit, wanna join me?" Kaoru's question dangled in the air for either of them to take, but Hikaru shook his head and told him that the room was spinning enough already, thank you. Kaoru turned his gold eyes to Dez and she took the hand he offered.
When they stepped out into the cool night air, Dez tottered over to the railing. The slight wind was making her realize how much she had drunk. She grabbed the railing for reassurance and knew that Kaoru was feeling the same way. She waited for him to speak.
"Hikaru gave you a look like you were mental when we left. He heard everything." Kaoru leaned against the rail next to her, slouching so he could be level with her.
"Maybe I am, but I know he likes Katie." She pulled her robe around her a little tighter and braced her hands on the rail, hopping up and turning to sit on it with drunken-yet-practiced ease.
"I think so too." He told her, but on the inside he was completely unsure. 'How are we supposed to know? Yes, you two are so different from the girls back home,' he had to fight down a soft smile at that thought, 'but does that really make you as special as you should be? Dez...you deserve someone better.'He clasped his hands together and shoved his thoughts away, "Are you okay with it?"
Dez turned her face up to the sky, watching the half moon with a distant look. The breeze teased her hair as she began to smile, "Yeah...completely." Her hands tightened their grip that kept her from falling over the back of the deck, "I might act like I hate him—and I really don't want to loose my Katie—but if he is the one to make her truly happy..." She sighed, her words dying in her throat for a moment. "I'd hand her over to him with no regrets in a heartbeat." She looked back down and her heart leaped into her throat to see the glowing gold eyes so close to hers.
Kaoru's smile was unknowingly heartbreaking as something softened in his eyes. "It's too bad that Hikaru doesn't know about your soft and sweet side."
The girl blushed and leaned away slightly, suddenly uncomfortable with how close they were. "W-well, I'm too busy being a bitch to him for him to get a chance. He has to prove himself worthy of my Katie before he sees my nice-to-boys side."
Something twinged a little painfully in Kaoru's heart at those words. 'She's nice to me...but does that even make me special to her? She fights with Hikaru all the time, maybe she secretly likes him and doesn't want to get in Katie's way.' But it wasn't his feelings that were important right then. It was hers, hers and Hikaru's. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He shivered when the breeze got more insistent.
"Want some of my robe?" Dez asked innocently. "It's all thick and fleecy." She began to hop off the railing so she could take it off and drape it around their shoulders when his hand touched her shoulder, stopping the movement. "K-Kaoru?"
He stepped around one of her legs until he stood directly in front of her and slid his arms under the robe and around her waist. She felt so warm and soft, and she smelled like lilies and lemon grass again. He heard her gasp and felt her freeze in his embrace, but he was too warm to care. He nuzzled his nose into her neck and smiled against the smooth skin there when she giggled quietly.
When he had finally settled around her, she relaxed and pulled the robe around him. Tentatively, she hugged him back and rested her cheek against his temple. She closed her eyes and listened to him breathe.
'This...this is ridiculously comfortable.' He rested against her more. Her frame was so delicate and small compared to his. With a slight adjustment he stood closer, straighter and rested his cheek on the top of her head and pulled her into the circle of his arms. She was a perfect fit.
Dez's cheeks burned and she pushed away...and toppled into the flower bushes on the ground with a groan of pain. She stood shakily with the aid of a slightly swaggering yet concerned twin. They returned to the table where freshly poured drinks were waiting. It didn't take much time for them to get back into a different card game.
It was nearing midnight when Dez finished off the rest of the cider. Her robe was spilled at her hips, covering her thighs from the cold. She was currently in second place in their game of strip poker. To her left sat Hikaru, giggling to himself in only his boxers, and on her right was Kaoru, only missing his pants. She tugged her tank top up in the front as subtly as she could manage before turning to Hikaru, "H-hey, Hika-chan!" She suppressed a hiccup. She really wasn't that drunk. "Do you like Katie?"
Fuzzy gold eyes failed to focus on her, "So what if I *hic* do?" He swayed even though he was only sitting.
"Ooh!" Kaoru smiled, "Hikaru 'n' Katie-chan...sittin' inna tree..." he hiccuped, "K-I...uh, some'in' some'in' I-N-G!" He leaned on Dez and grinned up at her, "Did you know you're cute?"
Dez blinked, "I am?" She smirked when he nodded eagerly, his head still on her shoulder. "Thanks. Time for bed." She grabbed his arm and hoisted him up, before offering a hand to Hikaru to assist him too. "C'mon, bed. Now." She made them walk before her on the stairs to she could rest a hand on their lower backs to make sure they didn't lean the wrong way.
She stopped them in the middle room, planning on making them both sleep there, so she'd be close if they needed help. She started to pull back the covers for Hikaru first when warm arms encircled her waist. She turned, surprised to see Kaoru hugging her. "Kaoru?"
Kaoru grinned at her and a hand found her cheek. He stroked it with his thumb briefly before pulling her toward him. His lips brushed hers gently, tasting of the hardened cider and something else she was to intoxicated to put words to. "Sweet dreams."
Dez stood frozen as Kaoru wandered off. Her brain had temporarily disengaged. When she came to her senses, Hikaru was falling asleep on his feet. She smirked evilly, "Idea..." She took his hand and kindly led him into the back room. She pulled the sheets down and helped him into bed. He instantly moved toward the warmth he sensed in Katie's body and curled up behind her.
Dez stumbled back into the middle bedroom and was too drunk and tired to even wonder where Kaoru had gotten to. She flopped onto the bed, not bothering to use the blankets. She curled her legs up tightly so her robe would cover everything and welcomed the inky blackness.
--
Sapphire eyes cracked open slowly, burning from the early morning sun. Ah, hangover. She should have known. There was a random throbbing somewhere behind her right eye bad enough that she wondered if it would pop out of the socket. She tried a few more times to open her eyes, and when she was finally successful she nearly screamed. 'What is Kaoru doing in the bed with me!?'
She froze when the warm arms around her pulled her closer. 'Oh jeez, this might be awkward.' She bit her bottom lip, 'I wonder if I can get up and out of bed without waking him...' She gently brushed her fingers over his arm, hoping the slight tickle might make him retreat. She began to scoot away when his arms tightened around her. She blushed and gave up, instead reaching up to brush a piece of hair out of his eyes. She leaned in and brushed her lips over his forehead.
"Dammit Hikaru..." she murmured as she smiled at Kaoru. "This is all your fault, and for once, I don't mind a bit." She curled up closer and hoped that he wouldn't wake for at least a little while longer.
"Ugh..." Kaoru's free hand moved to his forehead as it danced with his pulse. "I feel like I got hit by a truck."
"It's called a hangover," Dez muttered from within the circle of his arms.
Kaoru jumped when he heard the voice coming from somewhere under his chin. He jerked away from her, taking the blankets with him, "Wh-what the hell did we do last night?" He landed on the floor and leaned against the wall, looking up at the girl kneeling on the bed in front of him.
"Well," Dez's mind flashed through the strip poker (where Hikaru had gotten a little too enthusiastic and tried to become a streaker), the older twin's 'confession' and the sloppy kiss Kaoru had planted on her lips. "Nothing really. Just some cards. So, don't worry."
Kaoru's eyes roamed over the girl on the bed who was only wearing a long tank top and her panties. The gold orbs snapped up to her face when he realized what he was doing (and how low cut a slept-in tank top can become). "O-oh, okay." He shifted uncomfortably and covered his nose and mouth with a hand. 'No nosebleed, please!' He was grateful that the blankets came with him and could easily cover his growing 'problem'.
Dez blushed when his hand moved to cover his mouth and she finally noticed what she was wearing. "I-I'm gonna go get dressed." Dez hurried over to the door that led to the back bedroom, tugging on the edge of her top as if it would help her look more decent. She could feel Kaoru's eyes follow her. She slammed the door open in her rush and woke Katie; Hikaru fell out of the bed in only his boxers.
"Dez!" Katie screamed, yanking the blankets up suddenly as she sat bolt upright. "What did you do?!"
Dez held onto the door for dear life, but still slid down to the floor slowly as laughter shook her body. "B-brought him t-t-t-to the wrong room." She wheezed, "Wh-while I was dr-drunk?" She laid on the cold floor and gasped for air, occasionally hitting the ground with a fist. She didn't know why she thought it so funny, but she did.
Hikaru grabbed an afghan from the foot of the bed and wrapped it around his waist with a huff. "Bitch." He waddled to the door as dignified as he could with the limited leg movement he had granted himself. He nearly kicked her, but the only result was having to waddle faster so he wouldn't fall over.
Dez slowly stood, still giggling sporadically, and shut the door behind him. "That was worth it..." She glanced at the clock before exploding with joy. "YES!" She glomped poor Katie into the mattress. "I CAN TOUCH KATIE AGAIN!"
"H-huh?!" Katie squawked as she fell onto the bed. Over Dez's shoulder she saw the boys throw the door open and freeze. She could only imagine what was going through their heads. Dez still hadn't added any clothes, and now she was straddling the younger girl on the bed. It only took a few seconds for their eyes to widen to impossible proportions and to get knocked back by the force of their bloody noses.
Dez perked up at the sound of prone bodies hitting the floor. "Ew...Hikaru's a pervert." She pulled Katie out of the bed and grabbed the clothes the younger girl had set out for them the night before, "C'mon Katie. We should change in the bathroom, at least there we can lock the door." She stepped carefully over the boys as they laid in a small growing pool of their blood.
Half a minute later the twins slowly sat up, each holding a hand to their face. Hikaru stood and offered his hand to Kaoru, but just as they began to think is was safe they heard Dez say: "I'll help you, since it's so tight in here." Their recovery was instantly gone.
--
"I'm bored." Hikaru groaned, flopping back onto the rug. He had just abandoned the labyrinth game he had been playing when he lost for the 23rd time.
"Me too." Kaoru flicked a marble at Hikaru's foot.
"Me three..." Katie laid on her stomach, staring at her sketchbook. It had rebelled and didn't give her any more paper. 'Just the perfect time to run out!'
"I'm not!" Dez walked in to the dining room and grinned at them, a spoon hanging from her nose and three more held between each finger. "Bet ya can't do this!"
Hikaru sat up, a gleam in his eye. "How much?"
Dez rolled her eyes and tossed a spoon at him. "Aren't you tired of loosing yet? I don't want to bet anything."
"That's a shocker," Katie muttered as she took the spoon Dez handed her. She cleaned the spoon before artfully putting it on her nose. "Ta-da." She grinned and crossed her arms over her chest and initiated a staring contest with Hikaru as soon as his had his on too. The loser would either blink, or loose their spoon.
"It won't stay." Kaoru sighed, staring at his rebellious utensil.
Dez scooted over to sit before him and held her hands out for the spoon. "Let me help, please?" She took the spoon when he offered it and cleaned it with the hem of her shirt. She moved to kneel before him and gently touched his chin to adjust the tilt of his head. She was so fixated on what she was doing that she didn't notice the blush creeping onto his face.
Katie poked Hikaru and turned toward the other two, snickering quietly with him once he saw what she had pointed out.
"There." Dez smiled.
Kaoru looked at the spoon cross-eyed before moving away from Dez, finally realizing how close they had been. The spoon fell to the wooden floor with a clang. He cleared his throat and chuckled when Dez's fell off of hers when she reciprocated his movement.
Hikaru laughed at them, causing his own spoon to fall, "aw, damn."
"Yes!" Katie threw her arms up into the air, the spoon still firmly in its place. "I am the Spooning Champion!" She paused. "Wait, that sounds..."
Dez snorted. "That sounds so bad, Katie!"
"Dez!" Katie blushed and took the spoon from her face, "you pervert!" A flash of light vaulted through the house. Katie jumped and hid her face in Hikaru's shoulder. "What was that?!"
Dez stood and walked over the the deck door and opened it, sniffing the air. "I smell a thunderstorm." The air was heavy with static and she could smell the 'impending cleanliness' in the air.
"How do you smell a thunderstorm?" Hikaru asked incredulously.
"Not important." Dez walked over to the bay window and grabbed her sandals. "Right now we need to worry about the severity and what we should do to stay safe, eh?" She pulled out her craptop and struggled with the connection to the internet for a moment, muttering, "damn dial-up." Her eyes widened as the page finally loaded. "We've got some work that needs to get done before the storm gets here."
"Work?" The twins wondered out loud.
"Yes, work. Hikaru, go out to the woodpile and do your best to fill up the crate next to the wood stove." She waved him away as she turned to Katie. "Go upstairs and close all shutters, windows, curtains and doors. If any windows break we don't want it to spread and damage more of the house. Unplug everything."
"R-right!" Katie ran out of the room.
"Kaoru-san, do the same thing as Katie downstairs. I'm going to go put the jeep in the barn." She touched his arm briefly as she rushed into the kitchen to grab her keys.
Hikaru filled the last space in the crate when he heard someone scream above him. He flinched and raced up the back steps. He tripped over the huddled form of Katie, her hands firmly over her ears and her eyes scrunched up tight.
"Katie!" He got up and pulled on her upper arms, forcing her into a sitting position and making her look at him. "What's wrong?" His voice shook with concern as panicking gold eyes traced her body, looking for blood or some other type of injury.
Katie sobbed into his chest, "I d-don't like being a-alone during th-th-thunderstorms!" She shivered as warm arms wrapped firmly around her and gentle fingers stroked her back.
"Hush..." He helped her stand. "I'm here now, alright? We can work together and get it done really fast." He noticed that she hadn't gotten very far before she freaked out.
They started down the main stairs when they heard a tree go down. Katie froze for a second before yelling, "DEZ!" as if she knew what had happened. She rocketed down the rest of the stairs and ran through the living room and dining room to see Dez come in. She was soaked and holding her right shoulder. A few small scratches speckled her cheek, and more were on her arm.
"Shit," Dez muttered, trying to look at the blood oozing from the top of her shoulder. She moved her fingers toward a large splinter that poked out of her skin. A warm hand enclosed over hers, soft yet warning.
"Don't. You'll make it worse." Kaoru pulled her toward the dining room and made her sit so he could look at her shoulder. He wasn't sure what he could do to help, but maybe Katie knew?
"What happened?!" Katie knelt by Dez's leg, her brownie eyes afloat with worry.
"A pine tree fell. It died a while back, and wasn't that big or anything...the wind took it down and onto me. I barely jumped out of the way in time. I just got nicked by a branch."
"Where's the first aid kit?" Kaoru asked.
"Above the toilet in the downstairs bathroom." Dez replied automatically. It registered when he started to move away, "Wait! You know what to do?"
"No, but I'm sure you'll be able to walk me through it." Kaoru grinned at her, confident.
Dez sighed and smiled when Katie sat next to her and rested her head on the uninjured shoulder. "I love you, Dezy."
Dez rested her cheek on the top of Katie's head and her free hand touched Katie's cheek softly, "I love you too, Katie." She let her hand drop, and smiled when the younger girl held it in both of hers. "Sorry for sending you upstairs alone."
Hikaru quietly gawked, 'Since when is she so calm and nice? Must be the pain or something.'
Kaoru returned and took out the peroxide, listening to Katie's instructions and Dez's minor corrections before starting to dab at the cuts on her face. He paused at a splinter and took out a pair of tweezers, warning the silent girl as Katie squeezed her hand and distracted her with the story of what happened upstairs.
"Thank you, for helping her." Dez actually met Hikaru's eyes when she said that, and only her body flinched at the pain of the stinging liquid cleaning her wounds.
"N-no problem." It was weird for him to be thanked in such a calm tone, let alone by Dez.
Kaoru took advantage of the silent moment to rip open the sleeve of Dez's shirt.
"What are you doing?!" Dez jerked away from him, her eyes wide and terrified briefly. She felt Katie stroke her arm and calmed slowly. She just hadn't expected such a sudden and possibly violent movement from him.
"Going after the problem area." He lifted her bra strap with the tweezers and slowly moved it out of the way, grimacing when parts of it stuck to the skin. He chuckled when she hissed something along the lines of 'warn me next time!' and paused. "Ready to give me directions? I'm unsure on what to do."
"The wood is too old and dry to just pull it out. It has a barbed effect now." Dez leaned away and dug in the first aid box. "Aha." She pulled out a small roll of fabric and unrolled it on the table. "I knew Grump left his dissection kit in here." She picked up a scalpel. "You're going to have to carefully cut the skin between the surface and the wood."
"What?!" Kaoru swallowed, feeling sick to his stomach.
"You heard me." She moved away from Katie. "Hikaru, come here please? I need you to hold me, so it doesn't get worse...like, if I thrashed or something."
Katie walked to the other side by Kaoru and gently held the wrist that Hikaru wasn't gripping. She rested her hand on the back of Dez's head when the short girl put her head on the table.
"Do it and get it over with, please?" Dez sounded tired, almost as if she had given up and into the pain.
"This isn't safe, or sterile. We should go to the hospital."
"Kaoru-san!" Dez snapped, and instantly regretted it. "Kaoru-san..." Her voice was much softer then. "It's not that deep. It's only under a layer of skin. Cut. It. Out." Her teeth were grit tightly as the first hesitant cut was made.
When Kaoru was done, he grabbed the tweezers and ripped it out quickly, to get it over with.
Dez wrenched her hand away from Hikaru, backhanded him in the stomach and yelled, "FUCK!"
"The hell!" Hikaru spat, holding his aching stomach. "Why'd you hit me? Kaoru's the one inflicting pain!"
"Yeah," Dez scoffed, wincing as peroxide was gently dabbed on the open wound, "He's still got the tweezers, in case you are blind as well as stupid. He's your twin, take some damage for the team!"
Hikaru grumbled, but calmed down when Katie touched his arm, "Hikaru-kun, let's make a tent out of blankets and chairs. We could tell stories in it later." She grinned and took his hand. She led him away thinking, '...and not piss Dez off more.'
They started to clear away the stuff on the table so they could fold it up and move it out of the way. Katie paused thoughtfully, "Hey Dez...is it safe to leave the power on?" She blinked at the half-shocked, half-mad look that the older girl gave her and dragged Hikaru to the stairwell so she could turn it off.
"Oi!" Dez called after her, "Go raid the beds for sheets!" She sighed as the couple disappeared from sight, holding hands once more.
"She's getting forward." Kaoru commented absently. He pulled out a few butterfly bandages and carefully pulled the edges of the cut together.
"Nah," Dez winced and shook her head, "she's just getting used to him always being there. Not like it's permanent though."
"What do you mean?" He taped gauze over the wound and gently brushed his fingers over it, making sure it laid flat.
Dez suppressed a shiver at the light touch and turned to face him at the puzzlement she heard in his voice. "What would seriously keep you with us? Nothing. You're here because you wanted to kill some time. You'll leave after tomorrow and I know it. You know it, Kaoru-san."
'Sh-she's really perceptive. Was all that cutesy stuff in the beginning fake...?' Kaoru stepped toward her, "Don't say that. We'll still see each other occasionally." Kaoru wondered as she smiled up at him and hugged him, if she was the one who had been using him. "You do have our cell phone numbers."
Dez grinned, "Indeed I do, but when school starts up again..." She sighed and thought about the leap her cell phone bill would take if she tried calling him. "Japan is definitely long-distance calling."
"Oh, oh yeah..." Kaoru tried not to look crestfallen. 'I forgot we were going back.' He wondered what life was going to be like without the girls, but the more thought about it, the more he didn't like it. Soon, he dashed all those thoughts from his mind.
Padding feet heralded the return of Katie and Hikaru. Katie peeked over the lump of blankets and sheets in her arms and smiled cheerfully, "Let's make the fort!" She dropped the blankets and sent Dez off in search of clothespins. As Dez left, Katie began to show the boys how to arrange the chairs, and started on the 'Proper Way' to build a chair fort.
"Kids actually do this for fun?" Hikaru commented dryly as he pinned the sheets around an arm of the chair. He let out a very unmanly noise when Dez reached from inside the fort and grabbed his leg. She dragged him in and forced him to sit on a lump of pillows and blankets with Katie.
Katie bounced and leaned against him. "Who tells the first story?"
--
Dez hummed to herself, holding a stick with three marshmallows on it in front of the open door of the wood stove. She bounced slightly from her spot on the floor to the tune she made.
"Dez, where's the chocolate?" Katie stuck her head out of the pantry. She had been looking for the last ten minutes and still couldn't find them. She wanted to be roasting marshmallows with the others anyway.
"We don't have any. I brought chocolate graham crackers though." Dez tapped her lip with a finger. "I think they're on the top shelf." She poked her 'mallows to see if they were gooey enough yet.
"Dez..." Katie sighed, trying not to hit her herself in the face out of exasperation, "why are they up that high, if you're so short." Really, Dez's logic sometimes was odd enough to make her head hurt.
"So I don't have to go and buy more because a certain someone," she glared at Hikaru, "gets into something he's not supposed to...again." She left out the part about it keeping her from temptation too. But really, who could resist chocolate graham crackers?
"Cheap bitch." Hikaru muttered, spearing a marshmallow. The move was violent and he jumped when he felt his stick brush his finger. He had nearly stabbed himself.
Dez turned abruptly and whacked him upside the head, not improving his day at all. "Rich bastard." She pulled a melting marshmallow off of her stick and squished it onto his face. "You need to learn some manners!"
"Look who's talking!" He retorted weakly while pulling the white goop off of his cheek. He tossed it into the fire and watched it hiss and sputter.
"You are." Dez smirked. She could just barely keep herself from crossing her arms over her chest triumphantly as the older twin reacted.
Hikaru threw his hands up in the air, narrowly missing his twin. "I give up!"
"Good!" She smirked and ate her only remaining marshmallow, "'Cause I already won!"
"Who says!"
Dez leaned against Kaoru and smiled when he wrapped an arm around her carefully so to not hit her shoulder. "Me, obviously. I'm the only adult here. So you can't overrule me, either."
"You sure don't act like an adult." He grumbled. "Wait! You're only seventeen! I'm seventeen too, you know!"
"Ah, yes. But you recently turned seventeen. In seventeen days, I'll be eighteen. Legal adult." She smirked and ignored Katie's little singsong in the background of 'Dez likes younger men...and she can buy porn...' She rolled her eyes, "and even if I did you wouldn't listen to me in the first place. So why bother acting like something I'm not?"
Katie brought in the graham crackers and grabbed a paper towel and wet it to help Hikaru clean off his face. "So, what are you guys going to do for the rest of the summer?"
"Huh?" Hikaru took the towel from her and scrubbed vigorously. "What do you mean?"
"She means," Dez scoffed, "She was wondering what you'll be doing for the rest of your stay in America. Jeez, you're dense." She pulled away from Kaoru so she could turn and look at them both. She had a feeling that they had actually forgotten about going back. It didn't make sense to her, 'They have to just be using us, right?'
"But I thought..."
"It's only for the four days, Hikaru." Kaoru reminded him, as he gave a look that clearly said between them, 'They probably have other plans for vacation that don't include us.'
Hikaru subtly nodded to his brother, "Not sure," he answered Katie finally. "I'm sure we'll find something fun." He didn't see the saddened look that flashed over Katie's features, and thus remained oblivious to the pain he had caused.
Katie leaned on Dez, who was nearly asleep, and sighed. "Dezy..." She murmured, "You should really go to bed. You have to work tomorrow, and you have to take us all home too."
"But," she yawned and snuggled into Katie's arms, "I have to pack."
Katie gently pushed Dez away so she could stand and drag the small girl to her feet. "I'll do it for you, c'mon." She glanced back at the guys still sitting on the kitchen floor. "You should pack too, we have to clean up the house before we leave." She left, half-carrying Dez.
Kaoru looked at his mirror image. "What are we going to do without them for the rest of the summer?" These four days had passed by quick, and it was so much fun. He knew that they were supposed to be 'just toys' but now...now they were friends. To him, at least. Where could they find such a startlingly suiting friendship like the one they now had?
Hikaru snorted disdainfully, "We'll figure out something. At least I won't be abused by that vertically challenged psycho anymore." Hikaru wasn't going to regret leaving Dez behind. She had some weird magic or something around her that made Kaoru easily forget what they were, what they had to be.
"But you won't have Katie either." Kaoru pointed out.
"Mm." Hikaru shrugged as if loosing her mattered nothing to him. "I guess so." He shivered at something cold that slid down his back. "I think I almost got attached to them."
"Yeah..." Kaoru stood and turned from his brother to hide the gentle and fond smile curling his lips, "They have that ability, don't they?" He started toward their room, for the last night of their visit. 'But really...what are we going to do? If we get really bored, we could always return to B&N. I bet we'll find them there.'
--
A car door slammed harshly, the sharp sound jolting the twins from their sleep. Hikaru rubbed his eye sleepily as Kaoru sat up and leaned toward the window to spot Dez heading back toward the house. He rested his elbows on his knees. "We slept in." He glanced at the clock and winced. "It's a good thing we packed last night."
Hikaru groaned and rolled over. "I don't want to leave," he whined. He froze. He meant that he didn't want to get up, right? Not that he didn't want to leave. He could be fine. 'I think.'
Kaoru smirked and shoved his blankets off, "What was that, brother?"
Hikaru pulled the pillow over his head. "Nothing!" He threw the pillow at his chuckling brother when someone knocked on the door lightly. "Yeah?"
"It's Katie. We need to leave kinda really soon." She sounded unsure and nervous. She shuffled anxiously on the other side of the door. Had she woken them up? She could have sworn she heard talking when she went through the upstairs to tidy up. She thought they had been already up. "Are you guys packed?"
Hikaru stood and walked over to the door. He opened it, "I'll bring it down."
Katie's eyes ran over him once, quickly, before letting a blush set in. "O-okay..." She turned around abruptly and ran to the stairs, hurrying down them as Dez called for her.
Hikaru looked down at himself, wondering what could have chased her off, and noticed that he had answered the door in only boxers. 'How many days in a row is she going to see me in only my underwear?'
"Nice one, Hikaru." Kaoru chuckled as he tugged pants on.
A minute later the door was abused once more as Dez wrenched it open. Her eyes are only faintly blue, with a stormy gray overpowering most of the iris. The whites of her eyes were slightly pink, and both boys freeze.
Hikaru returned to tying his shoe, "Told you she would be noisy." He didn't meet anyone's eyes as he secretly wondered what had happened now to get her so pissed.
"Shut. Up." Dez hissed between her teeth. "You're going to make me late for work. Hurry up." She paused as she met Kaoru's concerned eyes, which were about the only body part moving. The rest of his was half-frozen in the motion of starting to put a shirt on. She swallowed, "s-sorry..." she spun on her heel and dashed out.
"Aww, Kaoru!" Hikaru simpered, "Your little fangirl is going to miss you."
Kaoru yanked his shirt on, slipped his feet into a pair of sandals and scooped up his bag. "Shut up." He hurried out of the room before he had a chance to blush, praying that his ears weren't turning red.
Katie ushered the boys into the back as Dez locked up the house. The short girl checked all of the luggage in the back to make sure it wouldn't fall out while she drove and hopped in, passing Katie her iPod. "Something bouncy?"
"Only if you keep to the speed limit." Katie grinned cheekily as she looked through her library. She wondered why they were paired this way. She hadn't been in the front seat since they came down. She stared at the clouds as they passed slowly, and occasionally turned around to talk to the twins about random things they passed.
Dez checked the clock on the dash as they entered Augusta. "Shit." She bounced her head off of the steering wheel at a red light. "I'm gonna be unable to drop you guys anywhere. Katie, do you mind staying at B&N until my shift is over? It's only six hours. There's plenty of books to read."
"Don't worry about it Dez. If Mom calls she won't mind picking me up here." She smiled at Dez, "There are some books I saw last time I was here that I didn't have a chance to get." She changed the song, 'Like that Ouran one.'
When Dez had parked and pulled the key out of the ignition she hopped out. "See you whenever," she called over her shoulder with a sharp wave. She couldn't look at them, not now. If she did she would break down, or beg them to stay.
Katie climbed out and pulled her seat forward. "She doesn't like goodbyes." She explained apologetically. She shook Kaoru's hand and blushed when Hikaru pulled her into a goodbye hug. All words were short and awkward. Katie grabbed her small bag with her iPod and sketchbook and waved as she walked away.
'Is this really goodbye?' The boys wondered, not knowing that Katie had just muttered the same question to herself. They turned away from the bookstore, unsure if they'd ever see the two girls again.
