Beauty Beholden

Chapter Eleven: Confusion and Decisions

Tamaki was particulary subdued today, Haruhi mused while watching the self proclaimed king and father figure of Ouran gallery. He sat with his head propped in his hand, lounging one of the many chaises in the salon. Haruhi sat on a nearby couch, legs drawn up beneath her regarding her employer.

'It's even a dress up day, and he's not nearly as energetic as he usually is.' Haruhi wondered what could have brought the mood down so drastically. 'Could it be the show next week?' She thought, Tamaki had spent the better part of the last month complaining about the twin's lack of compliance to his two in one theme, he'd suggested. Now the show was two days away and they'd yet to finalize a theme.

Luckily, Kyouya had done some quick marketing and let the press know the show theme was going to be a 'surprise' it bought them time, but time was running short.

'Apparently he is affected by real life stresses.' She was a little surprised at this revelation. Tamaki never seemed down, but today he definetly was down.

Tamaki let go a dramatic sigh, casting puppy dog eyes in Haruhi's direction.

'Oh great, what does he want now.' Haruhi let her eyes drop to a spreadsheet she'd been working on for Kyouya.

"Har-u-hiii," Tamaki whined pathetically.

"What?" Haruhi asked crisply not lifting her eyes from her spreadsheet.

Tamaki recoiled at the tone but pressed further, "Daddy is feeling low today, wont you be a good daughter and help cheer him up?"

Haruhi sighed heavily. She knew this was coming. Now to figure out what it is that would 'cheer' him up. Setting aside her paperwork, Haruhi glanced over at the wide sad eyes Tamaki was giving her.

"I'm not dressing up." Haruhi stated.

Tamaki fell to his knees on the marble floors, hands perched before him very reminiscent of a puppy dog.

'Damn it, not the puppy eyes.'

She looked away. She had to be strong.

"No way."

"bark."

Haruhi glanced over at him, why did he have to be such a child.

"I'm not dressing up; I'm leaving to meet a client soon," she said firmly.

"bark, bark."

His eyes bored into her. she tried her best to look away but she couldn't, she knew there was no winning when he was like this.

Haruhi sighed, "I'm only dressing up until I have to leave for my appointment in twenty minutes. Got it? Twenty minutes that's all!"

Tamaki released a half bark, half excited squeal.

Haruhi hung her head, he was awfully good at manipulating her into doing what he wanted; she wasn't sure why she even tried to say 'no' anymore.

In the dressing room, there were several racks of clothes in today's theme, 'Arabian Nights' Tamaki had obviously chosen to be the king, and he'd picked out an Arabian princess costume for Haruhi. She took one look at the gazimer slacks, and belly shirt before snorting her nose in disbelief. He must be insane if he thought she'd really dress like that. Haruhi sifted through the rack, find a loose fitted pair of billowing pants and a shimmering shirt that covered her entire torso, fringed with gold charms that clanked when she moved. It was a bit ostentatious for her but it was better than what Tamaki picked out for her.

On her way out the door, she noticed another set of costumes set aside. She paused to examine the bright red fabric trimmed with gold. It was billowy pants in a deep crimson, along with gold trimmed vest. There were two of them, so she assumed they were for Hikaru and Kaoru when they showed up today.

Haruhi paused at the thought. She saw Hikaru and Kaoru nearly every day, as she did everyone else at the gallery, but lately she'd been getting a funny feeling when Hikaru got too close to her. Ever since that morning in her kitchen, every time Hikaru touched her, whether accidental or purposeful, she felt a strange sort of twisting in her stomach. When he walked into a room she felt a little hitch in her breath. She wasn't quite sure what it was. She'd never had this problem with him before or ever for that matter.

Haruhi ran her finger along the gold seams of the vest, could there be something wrong with her? Being of a logical mind her thoughts went to pratical answers but came up short. Maybe it had something to do with her decision to rely on people; maybe it was a side effect of that. Maybe when people hugged her or touched her she reacted that way. Twins were the primary perpetrators in the physical affection department, Tamaki was a close second lately.

Haruhi walked back into the salon, Tamaki noticed her entrance and instantly began to protest her being in the wrong costume. She ignored his tirade as she often did, letting her mind wander to solve this recent puzzle. If she was reacting to touch from anyone then if anyone touched her she should have the same reaction. It seemed logical all she had to do was test her theory.

Haruhi looked up to Tamaki in a full blown fit. She'd missed most of his tirade but she got the gist of it from his rambling. She knew it was a bad idea, but she wanted to test her theory, and since Tamaki was right here…

"Tamaki, can I hug you?"

Tamaki's face changed abruptly midsentence. He opened and closed his mouth, before a crimson blush stained his cheeks.

"Haruhi, I-I," he stuttered.

"I need to prove something to myself," she held open her arms invitingly.

Tamaki's face lit up with an unknowable expression –at least unknowable to Haruhi- he propelled himself forward enveloping Haruhi into a rib cracking hug.

Hikaru stood in the doorway, a painful twisting at his heart. It'd been nearly a week since his day out with Haruhi –he still refused to acknowledge it was a date- a lot seemed to change between them since that night, but he couldn't quite place it. But somehow the scene before him seemed nearly painful. He'd never thought about it before, but now it seemed painfully obvious. Tamaki had feelings for Haruhi, how could he have been so blind before, he wasn't sure. It was nearly physically painful to realize. Then just now, Haruhi had asked him to hug her, even if it was only for her to prove something to herself it still pained him, and he didn't know why. That was the worst of it. What if… what if Haruhi liked him back? That thought just seemed to bring him into more of a panic.

His anger started billowing up like an angry cloud. He was preparing to lash out at the pair of them, when the two broke apart, a strange expression was on Haruhi's face, something akin to confusion. She let her hands fall to her sides as Tamaki looked away with a deeper blush staining his cheeks. Haruhi turned away brows nit together in concentration. She glanced up from the floor and met his gaze; something sizzled and sparked within him. He squashed it down in favor of a cheeky greeting.

"Milord, quit sexually harassing Haruhi!" he cheered.

Tamaki turned on him, his embaressment easily shed, "I did no such thing! If you must know, my little girl asked me for a hug." The remark stung but he shrugged it off. Better to not think about why that affected him the way it did.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself to sleep at night." Hikaru shrugged his shoulders mock defeat.

Tamaki sputtered shouting at Hikaru for falsely accusing him. Hikaru ignored him in favor of watching Haruhi as she was puzzling her way through something particulary confusing. Neat brows arched down giving her face a gruffer look, she was definetly confused, but about what he wondered.

Before he had time to chase this train of thought however, he felt a hand come down on his shoulder. He glanced at the contact to find Kaoru giving him a weak smile. He'd been this way all week, ever since he'd spent the night a Haruhi's. Why was it that as soon as his life was going well, something else had to go wrong? Was the universe out to get him or something?

Tamaki finished off his tirade, as Haruhi exited the room with a huff. The 'kings' eyes were filled with righteous indignation as they fell upon the twins.

"Well," Tamaki remarked regaining composure. He took a seat back on the chaise, taking the pose of a regal king, he watched the pair of them unguardedly as if he could see right through them. "As you know, the show is only two days away and you've yet to give me your answer on the theme." Tamaki rested his head in between thumb and forefinger regarding the pair openly.

Hikaru stifled a laugh, how many times would they go through this with him? There was no way, no how…

"What if we do, do it?" Kaoru asked quietly.

Hikaru's mouth dropped open as he stared at his brother in shock.

He couldn't be serious.

A pleased smile pulled Tamaki's lips, "You know what happens, the world finds out about the two of you."

It could ruin everything.

Hikaru wanted to shake his brother, slap some sense into him. What was he talking about? After all they'd worked for. All they'd done. But all he could do was stare at him in utter shock.

He couldn't let it end. He wasn't ready to face the world.

Kaoru sighed, then looked to his brother, his eyes were emploring, no more like downright begging. He really wanted this, but why? What could he possibly gain from it?

"Why?" Hikaru whispered.

"It's time," Kaoru dropped gaze to the floor.

Hikaru stumbled back, letting himself sink into one of the opulent French Victorian couches.

This wasn't right. It was like he didn't even know his brother anymore.

He couldn't be serious; had he lost his mind.

But no, he could see it in his face, in the firm set to his jaw. He wanted this, a lot. How could he be the one to stop him?

Hikaru raked his hands through his hair, he needed a sign; what should he do?

Then he got one. Haruhi walked in from the changing room, back in her street clothes, and out of the tacky costume she'd been in before. Her hair was a mess from changing and her clothes looked crooked. But he couldn't think of a time she'd look more beautiful. Haruhi, she'd entered his life and made so many changes in it. He was changing everyday because of her. He was a different, better, person because of her. Maybe now was the time to finally break free. Maybe now he was ready to stand on his own two feet, beside his brother and face the world. Maybe now was the time to step outside their tiny self made world.

Hikaru turned his eyes back to Tamaki who watched him very intently. "We'll do it. We'll premier as two artists."

Tamaki shouted in delight, grabbing Haruhi in a crushing embrace for the simple fact that she was too close to him when he received the good news. Hikaru let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He glanced over to his brother, Kaoru didn't look happy, he didn't look sad either. He looked terrified.

He realized his expression probably mirrored his twins.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

The silence stretched out between the pair of them. Kaoru wasn't sure where to start. He never dreamed Hikaru would have agreed to the show. Truthfully a part of him was terrified. He was scared of a lot of things. He was scared of stepping out of their world, being taken from the shadows and thrust into the lime light. Where they could be judged, maybe even be used.

Kaoru shook his head, it was too late now. He'd left the final decision up to Hikaru and he'd taken it. He was afraid of losing his brother; he was afraid of being separated but he was even more terrified of being trapped alone in their little world for the rest of their lives. He needed to break free; he needed to be Kaoru and only Kaoru for once. As scary as it was, he had to start pushing Hikaru away, and the show was only the first step.

Kaoru took a long ragged breath, and now it was time for step two. "I think we should start sleeping in separate rooms."

Hikaru turned a bewildered expression to his twin, "What are you talking about?"

"We're too old to sharing a room. We should start living separate lives. We need to learn to branch out on our own. I've been thinking about it a lot and I think after the show, we should start working on our own careers and maybe I'll get my own apartment. I don't know yet…"

Hikaru's brows furrowed together. This wasn't right, everything was falling apart like he knew it would. He never should have told Tamaki they would do this stupid show.

"Whatever you want." He snarled.

The car pulled into the parking lot of their building, Hikaru flung open his car door, storming out and towards the entrance to their building.

Kaoru took another ragged breath. "I'm doing this for both of us, you idiot."

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

He couldn't sleep, again. How could he after he'd had two bombs dropped on him. What was Kaoru thinking? Was he crazy? Separate rooms? Separate apartments? Separate…

He didn't like it, everything was moving so fast. He'd just agreed to do his first show with both of them featured and now he wanted to divide them up? Hikaru's breathing caught in his throat. This wasn't right, it was all very horribly wrong.

When had it all turned like this?

What'd happened to his twin; when did he lose touch of him?

Hikaru cast a disparing glance towards his sleeping brother. How could he sleep at a time like this, two days from the show. At the cusp of their final divide.

They'd never been apart, why now? Why?

Hikaru choked back a sob. He couldn't let him go through with this, this divide.

Divide. It made him feel bitter.

What purpose did it serve really?

Kaoru wanted them to be individuals. But they were hadn't Haruhi said so.

Haruhi knew. Why didn't the rest of the world?

A niggling thought crept at the back of his skull, because the world couldn't see them as separate. They couldn't identify them separately.

"If only people could tell us apart, maybe Kaoru wouldn't make us split up like this."

Hikaru ran an aggravated hand through his auburn locks, stilling half way across his scaNlp. He couldn't do anything about his face, or body, but hair… that was a different story.

Hikaru swung his feet off the edge of the bed, letting them fall to the ground with a satisfying thunk. It was an insane crazy idea, but those were the best kinds of ideas in his opinion.

Now to find a store open this late at night.

A/N: Not much to say I suppose. I appologize for Haruhi's OOC moment, I just couldn't resist and it needed to be done. 6 More chapters and an epilogue... I'm sad to see it end but I'm excited to see the story completed.

thank you all for your continued support. It makes my day. :3