Time to wipe the dust off this story. WE'VE HIT A DOUBLE DIGIT! HURRAY!

Okay, as an apology for the long ass wait, I have put so much Hikaru progression here, it is insane so PLEASE ACCEPT MY SINCEREST APOLOGIES. Just kidding, I don't deserve your forgiveness... Hopefully there aren't too many mistakes this chapter! I should get a beta to proofread, I really should...

Incase you haven't noticed, I've been editing chapters all the time, so when I'm not updating, I'm editing the past chapters as minorly yet majorly as possibly. Cleaning things up here and there, because as I get older, I catch things that I didn't before.

My goal is to finish this story by the end of the school year. I'm serious. I've been dragging these stories too long, and I want this story DONE by THIS TIME NEXT YEAR. Hope you're here to hang on for the ride, boys and girls. Onward!

-X-

Chapter 10: Sometime Along the Way

-X-

The washroom mirror was veiled with a thin sheet of mist, steam rising out from the shower in tendrils. You stand braced, the curtain drawn up in a hurried gesture to cover your exposed parts.

This can't be happening.

They're frozen at the doorframe, the door ajar, their eyes turning from confusion to anger as they realize what you really were.

"You're a girl," the older one spits.

You open your mouth to explain, but no words form. Your entire body feels a weight just pulling you down... Pulling... You... Deeper...

"How could you?" the younger one follows.

"No," you manage, but that's all you can, with your mind in a haze. "No!"

"Get out." A force wells up in your eyes and next thing you know, you're crying, and it's hard to breathe, with the steam and emotions and guilt and you just couldn't speak.

"I'm so sorry," you sputter, fat tears trailing down your cheeks, cracking your skin, leaving you to bleed and fall apart.

"Get out!" You grip the shower curtain tighter, disappearing further into it, wishing you could just disappear. Couldn't they just leave you alone? "Get up!"

All of the sudden, he grabs your shoulders, and you yell out in fear. You're naked behind this curtain! What is he doing?

You can't think straight, and all you can do is roll around and sway like a rag doll as he starts shaking you. "Wake up!"

"For freakin' sake, WAKE UP, TAGARA!" Your eyes snapped open and you jolted upright in your bed, breathing hard, before you squinted on reflex. Your eyes weren't adjusted yet. You took a moment to collect your thoughts and look around you, realizing that you weren't alone. The sheets were damp with cold sweat, and you scrambled to discern the realms of dream and reality.

"H-Hikaru?" His fingers were shy of your arm. "Kaoru?" He was frowning at you deeply, ember eyes piercing.

You swallowed nervously, immediately rubbing the morning crust out of your eyes, only to realize that your cheeks were damp. Had you been crying? "What time is it?"

Hikaru completely ignored your question. "What happened?"

"You were... Muttering really loudly in your sleep," Kaoru expanded. You blushed, looking around and patting your hair and face in fruitless attempts to make yourself more presentable.

Wait.

You were... You were wearing your dress shirt. You looked down into the covers, and saw your pants still on. You were still in your uniform! Even your cast was still on, with your crutches on the side. W-Wait a second, how -

"How did I get in bed?" you blurted unintelligently, and the twins shared a look and snickered.

"You fell asleep in the lim-"

"I didn't even shower! I- I didn't even phone Haruhi!"

"We phoned her for you, or rather, Kaoru did," Hikaru revealed, and Kaoru nodded. "She was hardly concerned, since she knew you looked tired. You don't have to be so worried..."

"Right... Right..." you muttered passively to yourself, still dazed and trying to remember what happened. Who had taken off your coat? Had they carried you in? Did they... Did they find out that you were a girl? You rubbed your nose and sniffled, not realizing how much snot you had stored. You let out a cough to clear your stuffy throat, gritty against the stale morning air. "Did I wake you up?" "Sorry, I-"

"Don't be sorry," Kaoru smiled thoughtfully. You had to seriously concentrate to remember... Had he always been this caring? "You were just having a bad dream."

Hikaru tilted his head against his palm in curiosity. "What were you dreaming of to make you react that strongly?"

You shivered, hands trailing to your side to give yourself a rub. Yes, you indeed had your clothes on. It was definitely a dream. The twins had no idea that you were a girl.

That you were lying to them.

Now that you finally got to look at them with your thoughts cleared, you noticed they were both at your bedside; one on each side, kneeling down on the ground in their pajamas, which consisted of solid color shorts (or boxers) and no shirt.

Before you could even register the thought, you suddenly remembered - or rather, felt something even more important.

Your chest bindings had loosened during the night.

"AH!" You pulled the covers over your chest and laid back down on your back, not even bothering to be obvious enough to look down and check to see if you were, err, exposing anything. They shared a look a incredulity. You tried to think of a good excuse for your hurried action, but nothing logical formed.

"Thanks for worrying about me! It was just a regular nightmare," you proclaimed awkwardly, and they opened their mouth to say something but you intercepted. "We have school today, right? You guys better get going to get changed!"

"..." They shared another look at each other, before breaking out into grins. Hikaru let out a grunt, and Kaoru gave him a knowing look, which his brother returned.

"Strange as always, Tagara."

Luckily, they departed without another word, and closed the door behind them. You rubbed your nose impatiently again and sniffed inward once to prevent your snot from dripping. Two gentle knocks came to the door, and you glanced up, speculating briefly on whether the twins had been back - but then, they probably wouldn't have bothered knocking - and then you remembered who always showed up at your door every morning, like a little angel wishing you good luck before the start of each day.

"This is Mikaela, Kyo-san. May I come in?"

You replied with a prompt 'go on ahead', and she entered with a respectful 'Good morning.'

It was Wednesday. Literally only three days since you had start living with the twins, and three days of this pampering treatment. You glanced at the crutches leaning against your nightstand and let out a hearty groan.

You still had to spend at least another week with them, and with the premonition of your dream, you knew that it was only a matter of time...

But how, after holding up this façade for so long, were you going to tell them?

-X-

"Just a regular nightmare," you repeated your lie, once they began interrogating you again at the breakfast table. You tried not to gulf down the eggs Benedict, but it was so good how was it possible that you had never heard of such a thing agh!

"Aww, does Tiger-chan need a hug?" Hikaru purred, and you glowered at his accusation that you were being childish. So what? Even adults have nightmares!

"Should we tuck you in and read you a bed-time story before you go to sleep tonight?" You let out a grunt and pointed your fork at them accusingly.

"One day when you guys have a nightmare, I'm not gonna show any sympathy," you huffed, scarfing down the omelette like oh my goodness you were in heaven you had never eaten something so goo-

"What are you talking about?" Hikaru said.

"We are giving you sympathy," Kaoru said.

"Shut up." A glance at your wrist watch told you that you had another good 15 minutes before you really needed to get to the car. The twins had actually gotten up early and on time today, so there was no wait.

In the middle of devouring the rest of your ham omelette, you decreased momentum. Now that you thought of it, the reason they were on time was because they had woken up to go to your room. How had they known that you were having a nightmare? What were you doing in your sleep, mumbling? Shouting? Had you been thrashing in your covers? Nothing that severe, right? You'd asked Mikaela to see if she had been the one to tell the twins of your nightmare, but she didn't even know about it until you mentioned it. Besides, it wasn't really a... Nightmare. Only a dream about them discovering that you were...

"A girl?"

You choked on your eggs, coughing as it seemed to go down, up, and then back down your throat as you forced it to swallow properly. The twins stared at you curiously, that devilish glint always apparent in their expression as they chewed.

You stammered, thoroughly embarrassed. "W-What?"

"Were you dreaming about a girl?" You blinked, registering their words before you gave yourself an inward dirty look. Of course they don't know you're a girl, Tagara, get yourself together...

"Uh, I guess you could say that," you confessed, taking a few sips of orange juice to wash down your meal. You mustered up the courage to confront them. "Did you guys seriously hear me from your room?!"

They didn't miss a beat. "Yeup."

Your expression was of terror. "H-How loud was I sleep talking? I don't usually..."

Did you always sleep talk? If you did, your mother certainly hadn't mentioned anything-...

Your fork fell from your lips as you swallowed your food.

Had you... started after she passed away?

"Bastien... Get the car, please." Your glance flickered up expectantly as Kaoru waved Bastien over. Their plates were only half-finished, and so was yours.

"You're done, aren't you?" You raised a brow at Kaoru, who smiled serenely, and you swallowed a giant wad of saliva and felt it travel slowly, painfully down.

"Uh, how did you-"

"Know?" Hikaru cut you off, earning a curious glance from both you and his brother, who's smile faltered just the tiniest bit.

"You're like an open-book, Tagara. It's obvious from your expression..." Kaoru offered, and Hikaru took the invitation graciously.

"... that you've lost your appetite," his other half finished.

You sniffled, embarrassed and touched that they had been attentive enough to notice. "You're not going to ask why?"

As if they were sharing an inside joke, they peered at each other and gave a lopsided smirk that jumbled your insides.

"Whenever you're ready." They said it like a mischievous challenge, and you couldn't help but break out into a giant grin.

"You guys are so frustrating," you muttered as you shoved down the rest of your food in five seconds flat. Chugging down the rest of your orange juice, you glanced at their bewildered expression.

"Aren't you guys going to hurry?" You snickered, eyes crescent shaped from smiling, "Bastien's already getting the car, and as long as we're living under the same roof, there's no way I'm letting you waste any of the food you're cooked!"

The two devilish twins gave your heart a leap as the corner of their lips pulled up into mirroring smirks before they dug in.

-X-

"Okay, you know what?" you growled, hobbling over to Hikaru's side. "You look like you're about to butcher a baby rabbit! Is it that hard to do a project by yourself! Let me help you!"

"No! You stand right there. Even the teacher instructed that you sit out on this project!" Hikaru waved his finger at you tauntingly. "So if you're not going to listen to me, at least listen to him! I'm building this."

The Woodworking class was assigned to do a special project for the last two classes: something small that could be made in a class or two, to review and really put to use the skills used from the beginning of the September to now, but you could use time outside the class, too. Whatever Hikaru was building, he was really serious about, because he'd come in on his empty blocks in his schedule to come in and cut and sand his parts for composition (or so you had heard the rumors).

It was true, that with your leg, it really wasn't a bright idea for you to be using saws or heavy machines when you risked losing balance at any point and causing an accident, so the teacher just told you to help Hikaru with anything small he needed, since this was a partner project. Since you were handicapped, though, Hikaru was insistent on doing it by himself, but he was keeping it a secret, and watching him struggle while drilling and hammering just made you have a headache! He let you help out last class, but he was refusing to let you in on his final product, so you still have no idea what was being built. Something that had to do with an arm rest. A bench? A chair? Maybe something for his desk so he could lay his arm on it while using his mouse? You had no idea, and the suspense was killing you!

"Watching you struggle like this is so much harder than having a busted leg! Let me help!" you whined, reaching your hands forward."Seriously, why did you even take woodworking? You don't seem to like it at all!"

"Shut up!" he snapped, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. You pursed your lips, startled by his look of focus and determination to get the instructions right. You had taken the course out of handiness: why buy a table, or a shelf when you could learn to make one, and save the cost entirely? But a rich kid like Hikaru Hitachiin taking woodworking?

Hikaru's eyes wavered back and forth from you and the wood in front of him. You were zoned out, watching his uncertain fingers, and musing away at yourself. He'd notice that whenever you weren't talking and trying to bite off their heads, you liked to think quietly to yourself a lot.

Hikaru always wondered about what. Was he in there?

Was his brother in there?

He snapped out of it and concentrated on the instruction to his personal project. He'd already joined all the miscellaneous parts together, so now all he had to do was join everything and do some last finishing touches this period, except this was the part you'd always excelled at. You really had an attention for detail, which he really appreciated when you were working together, but you were definitely a pain since you had trust issues or something and would never trust him with fully glossing or anything. Nevertheless, he rolled up his sleeves and got started.

He was determined to show you what he could do.

You shifted the crutches under your armpits. People born with silver spoons in their mouth didn't need to do anything themselves, and yet woodworking was like the most hands-on elective you could choose! Why...?

"You," He met your eyes, and you raised a brow at his strangely uneasy tone, "go stand somewhere else."

"What? Why-?"

"You're... distracting me," he confessed softly. You looked at him with disinterest, hopefully showing him that you didn't really care about his childish excuses. "I want to do this. You judging my every move isn't helping."

You blushed out of embarrassment, realizing that you had misunderstood him. You felt embarrassed that you had given him such a gaze of attitude when he had meant it genuinely.

"Sorry," you apologized shamefully, scooting over lamely as a thought entered your mind. Thinking back to your first woodworking class as partners with him, you had already started bickering and quarreling with him since the very beginning, and it had honestly never stopped.

The longer you thought about it, the more you realized: you really were like an open-book with your emotions. You didn't bother holding back any of your dislike for the twins, nor did you hesitate in letting them know when you thought they were disappointing or sub-par to you. Yeah, you were trying to prove a point, because they had started out as two vain brothers who did nothing but harass you for your wealth (or lack thereof). It had transformed a bit into more playful territory, because for the most part, you weren't really serious, but...

But sometime along the way of defending yourself from their attacks, you'd begun attacking them just as strongly. Sometime along the way, especially during the past few days, they'd treated you kindly and fair, and...

Sometime along the way, it stopped being you dealing with them, but them dealing with you.

...Huh.

You hummed to yourself, satisfied with having some good thinking done, and finally looked up at him. Whatever he was building, he was building it on the floor, which meant it was big.

"Hey, I'm going to go to the washroom."

"Take your time. Go take a nap somewhere. I won't need you for this today," he replied bluntly, eyes not even looking up at you from his building process. His orange work goggles matched his zesty orange hair and matching eyes. His eyebrows, which were usually brought up in a mischievous grin were furrow in focus. You grinned. He looked cute when he was concentrating, hard at work.

... I think I'll take his advise and take a nap. You tottered off with your crutches, trying not to think about what thought had just crossed your mind. You were not attracted to Hikaru. I am not attracted to the twins. Not that way! O-or in any way! Or I guess any way is a bit mean, but definitely not... Romantically!

Whatever Hikaru was working on, it was going to take the whole period, and he obviously had no intention of letting you in on it. Maybe it was a surprise! Huh, yeah right, he probably just didn't want you around...

You told the teacher that you wanted to go to the library, since you weren't very useful here particularly for Hikaru's project, revealing that Hikaru's project was probably a bit personal, and he wanted to keep it a secret and build it himself for the last touches. Luckily, the teacher was very understanding and down-to-earth, even for an instructor of such a prestigious, strict school. But he was always very kind, laid-back and innovative, so he told you to be safe, and come back before the period ended so he'd be sure you were all right. You agreed with a promise, and he wrote you a slip for the library before you went off.

I wonder what class Haruhi has, you mused. Was it Japanese, or History? Tamaki said something about Miss. Yako's class being in second block once, and Haruhi was in that class, so you decided to pass by on your way and maybe give her a quick hello from the classroom. You crutched over to the elevator, pressed for the ground floor. As soon as the doors opened to your destination, you froze.

"Oh," Aiko greeted, face falling.

"Good afternoon, Suzu...Suzum-" you hadn't even paused for a second, when she cut you off, as she were so sure you wouldn't remember at all...

"It's Suzumura." You frowned. You had just remembered when she chose to cut you off.

"Suzumura Aiko-san," you greeted cordially. She blushed, realizing that you had remember her name before she cut you off, hearing the 'm' as she interrupted; plus, you remembered her first name. "I'm sorry. I didn't forget, I just wanted to be sure."

"... Of course," she mumbled, but you couldn't tell what she meant by her words, whether they were sarcastic or not. She seemed like she might be a sarcastic girl, with her down-to-earth personality, but at the moment, she was looking rather... fragile, as you would choose to put it.

"Um, Suzumura-san, if you have time, I'd like to talk about yesterday-"

"Tagara-san, I have a class right now." You blushed when she intercepted you haughtily, and you nodded, understanding that she didn't want to talk to you.

"Is... that so?" you spoke to yourself, and sported a gentle smile to send her off, earning you a blush from her cheeks. "Then I won't bother you, anymore."

"Y-you're not bothering me, I just... I..." She exhaled irritably, impatient for some reason. "I'm sorry, I'm not usually like this. I just can't find the words, and... I'm..."

"No, you don't have to be sorry, I know what it's like-"

"I'm sorry for the way I acted yesterday. It was hardly proper of myself, and I haven't been able to get a rest of mind because-"

You shook your head vigorously. "No, like I said, please don't be sorry, I also haven't really forgotten about it because it was-"

She responded with just as much fervor in her expression. "No, but I stormed off so angrily, and that wasn't right-"

You were determined to right your wrong. "Only because I was such a jerk to you, and I can't believe I didn't know you were in my English-"

She disagreed, "You weren't a jerk! I guess in the end... I-"

You interrupted, "To be honest, I really just want to say that-"

"I am truly sorry!" you both finished in unison.

The two of you stared at each other with equally baffling faces. You were both breathing soundly from passionately cutting each other off so the other side wouldn't 'get the wrong idea'. It was so strange. Strangely funny, and confusing, and just plain silly!

You grinned brightly, and she let a whisper of a smile escape onto her rosy lips, her cheeks staining with a tender pink hue.

"Ha," you breathed.

"Heh," she emitted.

And without any more thought, the two of you burst out laughing, right there in the hallway, in front of the elevator doors.

"We really are alike, aren't we, Suzumura-san?" She caught a glimpse of your madly grin and smiled once more.

"I suppose that's why I find you so charming," she confessed. You blushed in your chuckle, hand reaching back to scratch at your head like you'd seen some guys do when they're embarrassed. Funny that you'd catch on to such a habit, as part of your charade.

Your face fell slightly. Your charade.

You thanked Aiko for her time, glad that you had finally cleared things up with her. You hobbled with her over to her class - it was just down the hall - and said that you'd see her tomorrow in English. She blushed for some reason, probably embarrassed about the commotion she had caused yesterday, maybe. You weren't really sure, but you went about on your way to the library, continuing with your train of thought.

Even a winsome girl like Aiko... was a subject unaware of your charade. And what for? To help Haruhi cover a debt that she'd unintelligently brought upon herself?

No.

You wouldn't have ever agreed to something as stupid as that. You might not have even lasted as a 'servant' for that long had Kyouya not suggested the alternative of being a host, because you loved Haruhi, but she wouldn't have let you continue with it either. You had enough pride to only put up with so much, and you weren't going to just go with something because you were told to, and you wouldn't have agreed to disguising yourself as a boy just to help Haruhi out. What is this, some childish fan fiction where something that unrealistic actually happens? (1)

It might have started out as something like that, but why not admit it: it sounded kind of fun at the time - adventurous, even. Putting a different persona of yourself in front of others was something that sounded like a challenge, and it was better than what you were doing.

Hiding yourself. Not daring to show who you really were to people, because if you didn't like who you were, how would others?

This charade stopped being about Haruhi, and more about yourself the moment the first guest sat in front of you. You were always such an insecure person about yourself physically, about who you really were on the inside... You weren't really pretty; not that tall, not as smart as Haruhi to get in here with a scholarship, not that talented; all you had was a pair of eyes more observant than usual, and a hair full of red hair that was probably prematurely balding and attracted attention to you when you really didn't want any at all.

But being a host: being a boy had given you the ultimate mask to hide behind. You didn't really need to talk about yourself, and you could keep yourself in your shell without coming off as inconsiderate - it wasn't a necessity for the host to talk about personal things. You'd divulged some personal bits about your parents that first day, and it seemed that the girls' thirst was already quenched. You weren't used to getting close to people, and yet being a host allowed you to interact with people and still keep your distance. You didn't want to admit it, but you sought approval too frequently, so this kind of scenario was quite ideal. You wouldn't be able to stand telling someone about everything you felt, because sometimes, really spiteful things came out of your mouth. You only had to make small talk and converse about natural, every-day proceedings with the guests you had, which in itself gave the impressed that you were chill and friendly. You knew better than anyone that naturally, you had a fiery type of character similar to your mother's, and if anyone ever brought out that spiteful side of you, you had no idea how anyone would ever deal with you ever again-

...

Isn't that what I'm doing with Hikaru and Kaoru? You blinked, finally arriving in the library.

I'm basically telling them everything on my mind... And I don't hesitate in the slightest to tell them about my dislike.

You handed your slip to the librarian and signed in so she would know you weren't skipping. She gave you a dirty look out of recognition, since you always ventured in with Haruhi and caused a 'commotion' compared to the usual silent, ever empty library.

Making your way in front of a grand window facing the courtyard fountain, you lowered yourself into a chair, and leaned your crutches against the table. The library was empty as a breeze blew in from the open window.

You smiled meekly, blood pooling thickly behind your cheeks where the stain would remain for minutes to come, thanks to your genes, but you weren't concerned. This entire day really was fully of funny, funny things.

Sometime along the way, I started letting them in.

-X-

Hikaru wiped his forehead of sweat comedically and glimpsed at the door anxiously. It was almost the end of the period, and yet you weren't back yet. Were you okay? Did you simply fall asleep and lose track of time, or... Did you fall down the stairs?

He took off his goggles, eyes staring at his finished product, his pride for the project momentarily alternated out for concern.

What if you fell down the stairs on your crutches, because you were stupid enough to take the stairs instead of the elevator? But what cripple would take the stairs instead of the ele- But this was you he was talking about! You were so stubborn- AND STUPID! It wouldn't surprise him if you decided to take off your cast and walk around the courtyard to work off pain or loosen the joints or- oh my goodness, you were lying somewhere, unconscious with no one to-

"Uh, are you okay?" He whipped around, eyes wide in frenzy, with his mouth ajar and sweat trickling down the side of his face.

You blinked, taking it all in. "Wow, you look terrible."

Hikaru scowled, and turned around so you wouldn't see the pigment on his cheek. "Idiot. What took you so long?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. You must have been so worried about me," You rolled your eyes sarcastically, not noticing the pinkness of his ears, because you were much more eager to find out what he had made.

"Are you done your Mona Lisa? Can I see now?" He spun around and looked honestly unprepared for your question. He'd forgotten about showing you his creation in his fleeting distress for your well-being.

"Yeah..." His voice was a soft whisper. Clearing your throat, as if that would help clear his anxiety, you hobbled over and he backed off with a tense look while you looked at what he had built.

Your eyebrows shot up. He closed an eye and squinted the other to brace himself...

"Wow." He waited. Was that a good 'wow' or a bad 'wow'?

You didn't even notice his skittish behavior, as you bent your spine to look at the piece closer.

"You built a rocking chair! In two classes?" You whirled around with your mouth still open, and he batted his eyelids in an awkward blink, bemused.

He managed, "So you like it?"

You cast him an unimpressed look, and he stiffened. "Do I like it? How could I not? This is so cool, I can't believe you built an actual rocking chair!"

You broke right back into an awe grin, and he cracked a tug of the lips.

"I'm glad."

Your delighted expression fell a smidgen, as you straightened up, and slowly turned to Hikaru.

"Why," you narrowed an eye and even tilted your head slightly to show your disbelief, "are you speaking... as if ..."

Hikaru stared right back at you, firm and steady. You regarded him slowly, and then confronted him straight on.

"Did you build this to impress me?"

He made a show of contemplating your words, already smug with your approval, before eliciting a shrug of his shoulders. "Something like that."

Warmth flooded your heart for a moment before you swallowed and kept it at bay with a frosty barrier. "Why? I mean... Why would you...?"

"All you ever go about is rich kids this, rich kids that. We're all spoiled."

The bell to class rung, and the students all buzzed about their finished products. It would be marked at the beginning of next class to help out some students who hadn't finished quite on time and had to come in on after school or during lunch. Next period was lunch, so some student ignored the bell and continued to work, full concentration.

"And yeah, we are," he admitted unpretentiously with a smirk. "But y'know, we're not just spoiled. We're capable of working hard too, and this is proof of that, Tiger."

You didn't say anything, so he went on, scratching his head in that embarrassed way that you had done earlier in front of Aiko. Had he always scratched his head like that? Was this where you picked it up from? Surely not...

"What you said the other day really made me think," he went on when you didn't reply. "About how Kaoru and I depend so much on each other, and how we're too separate people... But I built this without Kaoru. I love my brother, and I always will. Without him, by myself, I'm just Hikaru."

Hikaru looked straight up at you with a faint arrogance in his eyes that sent a whirlwind of emotions tumbling in your gut.

"Just Hikaru built this, but someone still approved of it."

He didn't elaborate any further, as he went on packing up, and you helped him to put away his stuff. When you were done, you watched him store his rocking chair into the closet for marking next class, and you both went off to your next class.

Feeling bold, you dared to finish his statement in your head for him.

"Just Hikaru built this, but someone still approved of it."

So maybe one day, someone will approve of just Hikaru, without Kaoru, too.

End of Chapter Ten.

-X-

(1) HAHA, I BROKE THAT FOURTH WALL LIKE BAM. (;

All those emotions. Threw a little bit of a deep pondering in there, because there was some stuff I've been meaning to get out into a chapter, but never really could. Since Kyo's gonna have some time to herself with that crutch, I decided to put it here!

OH YEAH, PROGRESSION, BABY. Kyo's character is slowly changing, and so are the twins. You'll get some alone time with the both of them, so Kaoru fans, don't fret!

Please tell me how I'm doing because I was actually really satisfied with how this chapter ended, and reviewing tells me that you were, too.