A/N: Um, hey guys. Sorry it took so long to write this one... Please don't kill me? I kinda like this chapter, though I'm slightly afraid that there's too much drama or that the characters are a bit OOC. Please forgive me if they are? *insert cute Hunny-senpai begging face here* Anyway, here it is: the next chapter of Affinity. And seriously, if you guys wanna suggest something...anything you want to happen in the story, please do so. It gives me something to work towards. :P
As always, thanks to my lovely reviewers: Princess Kitana18(All in good time, my friend...all in good time. And I'm really not completely sure Mori even knows any language at all. O.O), iflip4dolphins(Thank you for your praise. :) This one is kinda from Kaoru's head too...kinda.), Crazymusician22 (Oh hey there! I missed you! :D Good to see you again. Sorry the update took literally forever. ^^"), XxMichyBabyxX (Why, hello there. I know it's not soon, but...here's an update! :D), xOxO Lost Angel OxOx (Thank you very much! You're too kind! Here's an update, though not very soon. ^^")
Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club. If I did, these characters would all be real and I would use them as slaves for my entertainment...except in a more literal sense rather than a fanfiction-y sense.
London, England
Arisu awoke suddenly from a long nap on her culinary book. She felt around blindly for her cell phone that rang loudly. Flipping it open, she grumbled, "Hello?" Rapid Japanese answered her on the other end. "Wait, what?" Her eyes widened. "I'll be there as soon as I can." She put some clothes in a bag, grabbed her passport, and wrote a hasty note to her roommate. She bolted out of the room, slamming the door behind her, leaving nothing but silence and a mess in her wake.
The Hitachiin Estate, Japan
He would never forgive himself. He had more or less done what happens in every chick-flic he'd ever seen: he let the girl get away. Though, unlike the handsome Americans on the screen, Kaoru was absolutely convinced that he wouldn't get the girl. He had missed his chance. He could have stopped her. He could have done something; said something—anything—to keep her near him. But he didn't. Like the coward he was deep down, Kaoru shirked away from anything that took him away from his brother's side. He felt a certain responsibility towards Hikaru. They had been together since the very beginning. Hikaru was a part of him; the part whose feelings couldn't be ignored.
Despite being the younger twin, he always felt the need to be the more protective one. Hikaru was too rash to make it alone. He didn't understand that the world wasn't his plaything. It was Kaoru's duty to keep his other half under control. It had always been that way. And since birth, Kaoru had never once considered leaving his brother's side.
But then, she came along. It seemed as though with a blush and bat of an eye, that girl took over his world. She became his unattainable goal without him even realizing. She wormed her way into his thoughts, into his dreams, into his being. And he didn't notice; not until it was too late.
He remembered so clearly the day she left. Her elder brother, Akio, came with the delivery that day. When they asked where Arisu was, they received a puzzled look and the simple reply of, "At the airport. Didn't you know? She transferred to a school in England." The seven of them froze as it sank in. Arisu, their little delivery girl, moved to England. Akio was soon assaulted by questions that would remain unanswered as Kaoru made his way to a couch and sat.
"This…is all my fault."
Three months later, Kaoru still remembers that day so clearly. You never forget when your world shatters. You never forget when your unattainable goal turns into an undoubtedly impossible one. You never forget when your heart breaks into a million tiny shards.
Kaoru sat in an armchair, looking out his bedroom window. The day was slowly shifting into night as he watched. The oranges and pinks blended in with the dark purples and greys of the clouds. It was really quite beautiful, but the boy only sighed deeply and rested his hand on a fist. He was interrupted from his musings by the sound of a door swinging open.
"Hey," Hikaru walked into his brother's room, hands stuffed in his jean pockets. Kaoru nodded slightly, surprised to see his twin in his bedroom. "You've been acting strange lately and I don't like it," he said shortly. Hikaru never was one to beat around the bush.
"I don't know if 'strange' is the right word for it…"
"What's wrong with you? You've been acting all depressed and weird lately. It's kind of pissing me off."
"My bad. I'll be sure to think of your feelings the next time I'm upset," he replied sarcastically, glaring at his brother.
"See, just like that! You've been doing all kinds of weird stuff! You tried to cuddle with me, you talk in your sleep, you're constantly depressed, and you've been acting like a real dick!" Hikaru was livid, he had pent up these frustrations for three months and he finally got to let them loose.
"No, you're the one being a dick here! You can tell that I'm upset and yet you just shun me until you decide it's too much for you to handle? What kind of brother does that? You're so selfish, Hikaru! You don't care about what I'm feeling until it's an inconvenience to you."
"Why do you have to be like this? You've been like this since…since…" Hikaru paused, finally figuring out the source of his younger brother's melancholy. "…since Arisu-san left."
"What?" Kaoru asked, irritated by his brother's angry stare.
"Why are you upset because she left? She was just a toy, a plaything, nothing more than something to waste time with. You can't honestly expect me to believe that you like her." An awkward silence ensued and Hikaru gave his younger counterpart a look of disgust. "You can't be serious. Her? Why her? What's so special about her?"
Kaoru stared at his brother with contempt. "I could sit here and tell you a million reasons why she's special. I could tell you countless moments that are so insignificant when shared with everyone else, but with her, they're everything. I could tell you absolutely everything about her and me, but it would be a waste of time because you don't care and you wouldn't understand."
"Oh my god. You slept with her, didn't you?" Silence. "Didn't you?"
"So what if I did?"
"You…I can't believe you! You slept with a girl that you hardly even know? What is wrong with you?"
"What do you mean, 'what's wrong' with me? Isn't that almost exactly what we do at the Host Club; flirt with girls we don't know just to make ourselves feel better?" Kaoru asked, nostrils flaring. "And don't give me that crap that Milord says about trying to make every girl happy. It's all lies! All we do is flirt and raise hopes and have empty relationships with empty girls. I don't want that anymore."
"How do you know Arisu-san isn't just going to be another empty relationship, little brother? Tell me that."
"I just know, okay? Everything she said and did was more real than anything. And I don't care how much you resent her or me; it doesn't change anything." Kaoru pushed past his twin and moved to the front door, Hikaru following him. Kaoru grabbed the coat a maid handed to him and asked her to get him a driver immediately.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm doing what I should have done months ago."
"And what's that?"
"I'm going to go be selfish for once."
Elena cursed, throwing her blankets towards the foot of the bed and getting up. Whoever was at the door was going to get a talking to, that was for sure. It was the one day a week she got to sleep in and here some bloody git was pounding on her door at ten in the morning! She unlocked the door and began yelling before it was even open. "What the blood-soaked hell is the big idea? Aren't I allowed to sleep in like—oh. Um, hello. Do…do I know you?"
The redheaded boy looked at her, confused. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and read off slowly, not wanting to make any mistakes, "Hello. My name is Hitachiin, Kaoru. Is this where Hirohata, Arisu lives?"
She stared at him for a moment, trying to soak it all in. "Wait…you're Kaoru?" He nodded. "Well, Arisu certainly has done well for herself, hasn't she?" she mumbled. "Sorry, but Arisu's not here right now, though you may as well come in anyway. She left two days ago for Japan. I expect her back later today or early tomorrow." Kaoru looked at her, not really understanding what the Englishwoman was saying to him, as she spoke at such a rapid pace. "Oh right. You're from Japan. You speak Japanese. I'm so stupid sometimes…" She brought her laptop to life and brought up Google Translate. "Well, this is as good a time as any to work on pronunciation…" Elena proceeded to speak to the boy in broken Japanese, barely getting her point across.
Once she was finished, he nodded and yawned. It had been a long and stressful flight from Japan to London and it was finally taking its toll. "You look tired," Elena said, pointing out the obvious. "Well, seeing as Arisu isn't here yet, feel free to use her bed. I'm sure she wouldn't mind. I wouldn't say no to more sleep, myself."
"I do not know that it would be…appropriate for me to sleep in the same room with…"
"Relax, kid. This is Europe. We aren't so strict about that. You just stay on your side of the room, and I'll stay on mine. Got it?"
Kaoru nodded and kicked off his shoes. It wasn't long before he was fast asleep, clinging to her pillow. Sure, it wasn't nearly as comforting as a live person, but her scent was the closest thing to comfort he'd had in months. And Kaoru decided that close enough was good enough…for now.
"Waking the neighbors, unfamiliar faces; he pleads, though he tries, but he's only denied. Now he's dying to get inside. Forgive me, I'm trying to find my calling, I'm calling at night; I don't mean to be a bother, but have you seen this girl? She's been running through my dreams and it's driving me crazy, it seems. I'm gonna ask her to marry me." –Remembering Sunday-All Time Low
