a/n; *edited*

Mmkay, it's edited/revised! Well, it's really just the Kao-Hika part that was edited so yea ~ :3
Oh, wow, I got so much reviews/alert things after that last chapter xD!
Thank you so much ~
I really do appreciate it~!
Anyway, here's Chapter 10! Enjoy!

Kei was leaning against a wall, her hands in her jacket pocket, watching through the glass windows in front of her. Her brother was there, eyes still closed, the numerous tubes still attached to his body, their parents watching over him, their worrying upped due to the short-lived heart failure. Despite it being short-lived, it still scared the Ryuko family so much. After all, who wouldn't get scared at potentially having their son/brother's heart to stop functioning? Numerous things were going on in her head - what would she do without him? She couldn't stand that. No, no. She wasn't supposed to dwell on those things. She should focus on what she can do to help - focus on her situation in school. Wasn't she doing this for her brother? That was the least she could do when he was in that state. Kei didn't want to be helpless and just wait - she wanted to do something for him. When he wakes up, she'll tell him all about Ouran and the people she met and all that ever happened; she'll have him read the journal she wrote entirely for him so he can easily fit in.

"Oi."

The girl looked up, watching Hikaru walk towards her. At Kei's gaze, Hikaru felt a sudden nervousness. What do I do now, Kaoru? he thought, wishing he had telepathic powers to convey to his twin. However, his other half wasn't there beside him and certainly wasn't able to give Hikaru any advice. Kaoru was the more mature and considerate of the two. In addition, Kaoru was better at comforting other people beside himself. Then again, neither of the two had much experience in that field so it was probably not best to rely on Kaoru - especially when it was such a touchy subject such as this. Speaking of Kaoru, the others had decided - by drawing straws, at that - on who would go talk to Kei and as luck would have it, it just had to be Hikaru. One person was better than two in that situation especially if the twins had to come comfort her - all two of them. They didn't want Kei to just up and cry, right? After all, checking on her didn't involve having her cry.

"What do you want?" she said, rudely, at that and Hikaru quickly got what she meant by that; Whatever you want to say, I don't want to hear it so get lost. To think she was going to be a bit nicer, he was wrong, apparently. Despite her obvious rude tone of voice, he let it slip, continuing to walk to Kei and leaning on the wall beside her - not looking at her but past the glass window to where her brother was. He had always felt she was keeping something - something big. She was always so stiff - so serious and rude when in front of them yet was always so nice in front of others. Hikaru always thought of it as her host self yet that didn't seem to be the case. Was she doing it for her brother?

"Ne, why didn't you tell us about your brother?" he asked, not once looking at Kei but looking straight ahead. He didn't want to see her reaction - he was asking for a death wish for that single question. He could notice, however, her moving her head a little to look at him, almost immediately after he asked that, her face tightening. No sooner did her facial features soften, looking down at the ground. He couldn't tell what was going on in her head; was she thinking of telling him or wasn't she?

"I didn't want to," she said, her eyes still on the ground. Hikaru felt his chest tighten as well as his teeth, placing his hands in his pants' pockets.

"Why not?" he asked, a little tense, which was originally intended to come out more light-hearted though failing to do so. He was struggling so he wouldn't look at her though his eyes kept going back to Kei, though not daring to move his head in order to keep his glances from being noticeable. He could see, however, that she was a little hesitant, judging from how she kept moving, her right hand coming out from her pocket before she said, "I didn't trust you," in that same voice, that same tone. He knew she was blunt but why did that make his chest tighten more and made him clench his teeth to stop himself from shouting?

"So you didn't trust us, huh?" he repeated her answer, running his left hand through his hair. Why did she have him so frustrated? With only those words of hers, nonetheless! He didn't understand. He didn't understand why he was feeling that way, why he was so frustrated and why he felt the need to comfort her - then again, he was dragged into that by chance but still! He had never felt this protective over someone aside from Kaoru and Haruhi. Haruhi he could understand. After all, she was nice and could distinguish them from each other. Kei, though, was incredibly blunt, incredibly violent and she seemed to hate them so much.

"You've asked what you wanted to now, right?" she suddenly said, making Hikaru actually look at her then. Kei, from looking down at the floor, looked up right at Hikaru, all seriousness reflected in her face. She seemed more ... serious than angry, which made him less scared of getting mauled and more sympathetic of her. His heart hastened its beat, a blush rising to his face as she took a step towards him, her face near his. What he felt was short-lived, however, as soon as she said, "Then get lost. I neither want nor need your sympathy, Hikaru." And she moved away, the seriousness in her face replaced by a haughty look as she turned and entered the door where her brother was in. Through the glass windows, Hikaru could see her conversing with her parents and looking down at her brother. She seemed so sad though he knew if that were Kaoru in there, lying there with all the tubes stuck to his body, he'd give the same expression. She briefly looked up through the glass, their eyes meeting for a second before she looked back at her mother, apparently calling her. It was only then that Hikaru snapped out of it and walked back to where the others were. They questioned him though he wasn't really thinking straight then. All he could think about was how she called him 'Hikaru'.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Hikaru?"

He snapped out of it, identifying his brother's voice. It had been two months since that incident, when Kei told him to get lost. She was often avoiding the questions by the host club and shortly after that, they stopped the questions altogether. Kei was planning to quit but Tamaki wouldn't let her. She said something about switching clubs but, as said before, Tamaki wouldn't let her. Kyouya convinced her, however. What he didn't know was that it was like he was taking advantage of what he knew. If she doesn't stay, she'll rouse suspicion and that she didn't want, did she?

They were in their bedroom, getting ready for bed, having just taken a shower. Kaoru was done and Hikaru had just finished getting dressed, the towel over his head. Kaoru was sitting on the bed, his legs under the covers when he stood up and moved towards Hikaru. Their room was vast though it only held him and his brother in there, a door leading to the hallway and another into the bathroom that they often shared. The bed was in the center, a rug in front of the door, a couch at the side with the television in front of it. When they had nothing to do, they were in that room, just the two of them.

"Hikaru, what are you thinking?" asked Kaoru, worried. Hikaru looked up at his brother. He had always told him everything - absolutely everything and that time was no different.

"K - Kei ..."

"Hm? Kei? What about her?" he started, his tone a mixture of worry and curiosity.

Hikaru was a little hesitant. Not hesitant at telling Kaoru but that was just it; what did bother Hikaru? Kei? Why did her name pop out of his mouth? Hikaru was obviously fidgeting, uncertain of what to do and Kaoru, naturally, saw this. "You're thinking back to that time, huh?" he said. Hikaru nodded. So it seemed Kaoru was right. Dragging his brother to the edge of the bed, seating him there, Hikaru started to let it all out. How he wished Kei would stop avoiding him and tell him, how he wished she'll stop trying to carry it all by herself and let them help her, how he wished she'll start seeing how worried they were about her.

"What?" Hikaru asked, a suspecting look on his face once he saw his brother's sly look.

Kaoru stood up, crossing his arms, still with that sly smirk on his face. He seemed like ... he knew something, something Hikaru didn't and that bothered him. Very much. "You," he said, pointing to the seated Hikaru, taken aback by the sudden pointing, "Like Kei."

Hikaru was ... well, he didn't know how to react to that. At first. Then he, too, was standing up, his face red, his voice raised though obviously tense, "Wh-What do you mean, I like her? That can't happen! She's extremely blunt and rude and so freakin independent and -!"

"But that's why you like her, ne?" said Kaoru, adding a wink to that. Hikaru was taken aback though quickly looked down. He can't possibly like her ... right? Oh, his brother really was that dense when it came to that! He couldn't help but feel sad, though. Would this ... break their bond? He really hoped it wouldn't and he really hoped Kei wouldn't take the precious time he had with his brother. He loved his brother and he wanted to see him be happy but Kaoru was just as selfish as Hikaru was; he wanted his own happiness, too, didn't he?

A chuckle came from Kaoru, sparking another annoyed look from Hikaru. Kaoru gave a yawn before turning off the lights. "Ma, let's sleep now, alright?" said Kaoru, lying down on the bed and covering himself with the blanket. Hikaru, too, lay down on the bed, also covering himself with the blanket and faced Kaoru.

"Ne, Kaoru?"

"Hm?"

"Do you really think ... I like her?"

"Mhmm."

"Then. Do you think she likes me?"

"..."

"Kaoru?"

"Ma, maybe."

"Oi! What do you think 'maybe'?"

"I dunno."

"Kao-"

"Go to sleep already, Hikaru."

"... Tch. Fine."

a/n;

Ah, I really hope I managed to play Kaoru out well.
I've roleplayed as him once and it wasn't as easy as I thought xD!
Critics on anything is appreciated ~
[/really wants to get better at playing Kaoru]
Mori's probably the hardest for me to play though xD