Saturday morning started with a pillow bouncing off Hikaru's head, thrown by Kaoru. The older twin opened his eyes lazily, thankful that the maids hadn't arrived to open the curtains yet. He could see his brother sitting on the edge of the bed, watching for his reaction. Hikaru retaliated to this unconventional alarm clock by chucking the pillow back at its thrower.

Kaoru chuckled, tossing the pillow aside as he stood up, and said, "Come on Hika, you lazy butt. We're going to that parade today, remember?" Hikaru grumbled incoherently in reply, indicating that he had forgotten about this particular event and was not too happy to have been reminded of it.

"Can't we just stay here?" The elder twin asked as he rolled out of bed and stood up. His younger brother had already thrown multiple articles of clothing out of their closet in his effort to locate a suitable outfit. Hikaru ducked under a shirt Kaoru had accidentally thrown toward his face and joined his brother in surveying the racks of clothes.

The younger twin sighed. "You'd think that with a fashion designer for a mom, it'd be easier to find something nice to wear." He'd completely dodged Hikaru's prior question.

"You're just not sure what kind of outfit to look for, Kao. It's a parade, not a party. Dress casually," Hikaru suggested, scanning the selection briefly before settling on a monochrome grey T-shirt and white shorts. He does come in handy sometimes, I guess, Kaoru thought as he watched his big brother slip on the shirt and shorts.

Hikaru's shirt exposed about two inches of his porcelain midriff, an area Kaoru found difficult to pull his eyes away from, for some reason. They'd slept in only their boxers, so it seemed strange that he became more drawn to his brother when Hikaru had his clothes on. Kaoru decided that perhaps it was the fact that his twin's torso became taboo with the arrival of a shirt that made observing Hikaru's midsection more appealing. In many ways, it was similar to their brotherly love show at Host Club.

Kaoru turned back to the closet before Hikaru could catch him staring. Why was I even thinking about Hikaru in that way? "I suppose you're right, Hika," the younger Hitachiin admitted as he pulled out an eggplant purple tank top and beige shorts.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Hikaru, Kaoru!" The maids entered just as Kaoru finished getting dressed. A mumbled greeting tumbled from each twin's mouth as they made their way out the door in search of breakfast. The parade began at 9 o'clock and was about thirty minutes away, giving the Hitachiins twenty minutes to eat their breakfast and get out the door.

Their parents and sister were sitting at the table already when the two boys came in. Even at shortly past seven in the morning, their mother was talking a mile a minute, describing a new fashion line to the youngest Hitachiin sibling. At the far end of the table, Mr. Hitachiin was completely absorbed in reading the newspaper. So, in other words, it was just another Saturday morning, other than the fact that the Hitachiin twins rarely got up at such an early hour.

After scarfing down a helping of French toast each, Hikaru and Kaoru bid goodbye to their parents and ran to the mansion's driveway to fetch their chauffer. No sooner had the two boys settled themselves in the backseat of their car than the elder twin's phone rang. Seeing that it was Tamaki, Hikaru answered the call, then proceeded to dangle the phone away from his ear.

"Where are you, evil doppelgangers? The parade is starting, bakas!" Tamaki Suoh yelled through the cellular device.

"We're on our way Boss, calm down," Kaoru replied. Calm down. Hikaru snorted softly. As if Tamaki Suoh was ever anything bearing any sort of resemblance to calm. "Plotting" was probably the closest the Host Club King had ever come to "calm."

"Yeah, and the parade shouldn't be starting for another half an hour!" Hikaru added.

In the background of the call, the twins heard Haruhi scolding, "Tamaki-senpai, the parade isn't starting yet. This is just a few people going to line up for the parade. Hikaru's right, it doesn't start for at least another half an hour."

Even through the phone, Haruhi could tell the Hitachiins apart. I know she's explained how she knows before, but that doesn't make it any more unsettling that she can always tell us apart with perfect accuracy. The only other person who can do that is my brother, and he's got a distinct advantage.

"Well, I don't care! Hurry up and get here!" Tamaki complained, then ended the call. Those twins are the devil, the Host Club King thought as he grabbed Haruhi's hand and pulled her along to pet some nearby family's Golden Retriever. The canine reminded him of his own dog, Antoinette.

The car transporting the Hitachiins had moved quickly, delivering the twins to their destination a whole five minutes before the parade was set to start. Said parade was taking place in a small village with no real draws, other than decent scenery and this annual town heritage parade. It showcased the various talents of local families, and gave the children attending school in the town a chance to show off their arts and crafts skills.

"You boys were almost late." Startled, both Hitachiins leaped around to find themselves face to face with the Host Club's Shadow King. Kyoya's driver was currently pulling away, apparently having just dropped off the older male.

"You're one to talk," Hikaru grumbled, turning away and leading his brother into the fray of the crowd. Kaoru couldn't help himself from giggling. His big brother looked like a cat who'd just been startled, complete with ruffled hair, tense shoulders, and an annoyed gleam in his eyes that clearly signaled that if Kaoru intended to rile up his twin today, now would be the most satisfying time to do so.

It was a very short amount of time that went by before the Hitachiins realized they were lost. How, exactly, two well-educated high school freshman could get lost on the main street (read: 5 blocks) of a suburban town remained a mystery, but at this point, the parade was scheduled to start any minute now, and neither Hitachiin wanted to endure an encounter with Tamaki's baseball bat if they didn't show up on time.

"Kaoru, do you see Haruhi and the others anywhere? I don't see them," Hikaru announced, standing on tiptoes to peer above the crowd. Pedestrians now lined the sidewalks -some sitting, most standing- in expectation of the parade.

"I haven't seen them," Kaoru offered not-so-helpfully.

"Maybe we should've stuck with Kyoya," Hikaru fretted, grabbing his twin's wrist and dragging him through a portion of the crowd toward a slightly less crowded area. The elder Hitachiin stopped suddenly, peering across the main road in an effort to discern if a certain head of blond hair was their eccentric Host Club leader, causing Kaoru to smack headlong into his brother's shoulder.

"Ouch! And if I remember correctly, it was you who dragged us away from him in the first place, Hika!" Kaoru said accusingly, rubbing his tender forehead absentmindedly.

Hikaru shot his little brother a look of annoyance, mostly because his twin was right and he knew it. "Yeah, well, Boss is gonna kill us if we're late…"

As if right on cue, the beginning of the parade appeared around a street corner. The gathered pedestrians greeted the start of the festivities which drowned out any attempts at conversation. Meanwhile, the Hitachiins shared a moment of genuine fear; Tamaki was going to kill them!

"Okay, well, let's just try to make the best of the situation. We'll watch the parade on our own," Hikaru decreed.

Kaoru narrowed his eyes and laughed. "What's with you today, Hika? You're so serious!"

Hikaru opened his mouth in protest, but Kaoru cut him off with a string of ridiculous impersonations of the elder Hitachiin. "Have you seen Haruhi and the others? I can't find them! We'll be late! We should've stuck with Kyoya! Let's make the best of the situation!"

The older twin promptly smacked his little brother over the head with one hand. Kaoru just threw his head back in a laugh. Hikaru noticed, at that moment, that at some point his gripping Kaoru's wrist had turned into his holding Kaoru's hand. A rosy tint made its way onto the older twin's porcelain cheekbones.

Kaoru was about to comment on his twin's sudden blush when he, too, noticed the compromising situation that had befallen the two boys. Suddenly, the noise of the festivities going on around them seemed a little quieter, and maybe a little slower as well. Two identical sets of brilliant amber eyes connected.

"I, uh-"

"Hika-"

"There you two are!" Tamaki Suoh came racing toward the Hitachiin twins, the rest of the Host Club in tow. Hikaru and Kaoru promptly sprang apart, hands feeling unusually warm and tingly. Luckily, the blonde did not appear to notice the implicative situation that had just unwound, and neither did Mori or Honey. On the contrary, Kyoya's raised eyebrows and Haruhi's shocked smile implied that these two Hosts were a little less ignorant than their friends. They also sent noticeable amounts of crimson heat to the Hitachiins' faces.

"You missed the start of the parade!" Honey complained, then added, "Hey, why're your faces all red?"

"There was, um," Hikaru began to say. "A couple. Um, kissing, in that alley over there, and, ah, we accidentally interrupted them," Kaoru added. Honey seemed to buy the story, while Hikaru merely glanced at his brother in a failed effort to mask his surprise.

How did he come up with that so quickly? Unless he was thinking about it in the first place, Hikaru thought, his face growing progressively redder as he tried to halt the torrent of images assaulting his mind. The younger Hitachiin, also blushing more strongly than before, had either caught on to his big brother's train of thought, or had become lost in a romantic fantasy of his own.

"It's unlike you boys to do anything by accident, especially something of that nature," Kyoya remarked, not bothering to look up from his notebook. Both twins stiffened noticeably. They relaxed when Tamaki gasped, having caught sight of something interesting behind the twin gingers, and shoved the firstyears out of his way to get to it.

"Oh Haruhi, look! This dog is dressed up for the parade! I didn't know commoners did that kind of thing! Haruhi, will you dress up Antoinette with Daddy sometime? Please, pretty please?" Some family had adorned their black Labrador with a strange, presumably historic outfit. With synchronized sighs of defeat, the Host Club trudged after their unpredictable King.

"Sure, Senpai," Haruhi replied, sharing a pained look with the Labrador. Tamaki leaped up from his crouching position beside the dog, shouting with joy. This was followed closely by the blonde giving Haruhi an excited kiss, directly on the brunette maiden's lips. Haruhi immediately flushed an impressive shade of crimson. It was unlike Tamaki to show so much affection in public.

Tamaki, dense as ever, simply grabbed Haruhi's hand and began to lead his girlfriend along the crowded street, searching for a suitable place to watch the parade from. The other five Hosts followed along, talking amongst themselves; or, to be more accurate, talking in small groups.

"Look, Takashi! There's a bakery, can we get cakes?" Honey exclaimed, pointing to a small bakery on the opposite side of the road. Mori responded with a somewhat consensual grunt.

"Pretty please, with a strawberry on top?" Honey continued to plead, this time earning a response from Mori of "Wait until after the parade, Mitsukuni."

Meanwhile, Kyoya had dropped back to walk with the twins, putting both Hitachiin brothers on high alert. If the Shadow King wanted to talk to them, especially right now, they could be certain it was unlikely to end well for them.

"Because I doubt you'll share what really happened back there, I just wanted to tell you both that I have a pair of weekend tickets to one of my family's resorts. You could get a free weekend to sort out whatever that was," Kyoya said.

The Hitachiins watched the older student suspiciously, then asked in unison, "But what's in it for you, Kyoya?"

The Shadow King just smiled. "Entertainment. If you want the tickets, let me know. Otherwise I'll have to give them to Tamaki and Haruhi. I have a feeling resort guests would rather overhear you two than put up with Tamaki."

On that note, the youngest Ootori son walked on ahead to catch up with Honey and Mori, leaving the mischievous twins with a somewhat uncomfortable silence between them. Should we talk about that holding hands thing? Before either brother could reach a conclusion, Tamaki found a suitable place to watch the parade from, and loudly ushered the two gingers over to him and the others. Hikaru and Kaoru shared a silent look of agreement: Whatever it was, we can sort it out later. For now, we've got a parade to watch… and a certain blonde to annoy!

A/N: Since most of you probably don't check my profile page (it's a great place to stay up to date with me and my books), I'll just let you know here that I was dealing with some depression, and that's why this chapter took so long to post. I'm really sorry about that, you guys are amazing and you don't deserve a maniac like me for an author. But I'll do my best! This chapter was a ton of fun to write, so I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did!

Also, if you're interested, I got my first manga today (of course it was Ouran), so I was extra-inspired to write tonight! Plus, I had delicious new material to fan over, some of which wasn't in the anime, plus I got to know the Hitachiin twins better! Hopefully now, and as I acquire more of the manga series, I'll be able to give you guys better, canon-er characters. Thanks!