"Hiro! What's going on here?" Yuki asked in shock.
The flower shop owner popped up from behind the front counter. "Yes?"
Yuki gestured to her surroundings. "What is this? Why is it so… so…?" She searched for the right word. "Not messy?"
"Ah. Yes." Hiro straightened his apron proudly. "I shelved the new hanging pot planters, displaying a few from the ceiling, as you can see." He pointed up.
Yuki blinked at the pots clustered in a color coordinated triangle. "Yes… I see that."
Hiro continued, "Then I watered the plants, and gave the correct ones their organic fertilizer— which, by the way, stinks pretty badly."
"That's because it's manure."
"Ah. Then using my hands was a bad idea."
"Very bad idea."
"Good to know. Anyways, I came up with a new scheme for the outside display— I'm thinking tiger lilies and yellow orchids. I contacted Brad for the orchids." He paused and looked around the room. "I cleaned up a little, but that's about it."
"You cleaned up? As in, with a broom?" She pretended to sweep with an imaginary broom. "And wipes?" She waved her hands in the air.
"Yes, yes, with a broom and wipes," Hiro mimicked her motions. "Where are you going with this?"
"You never clean up!"
"I did today."
"Yeah, and why is that, again?" she asked with an accusatory tone in her voice. Her eyes widened with fear. "You didn't burn something again, did you? Or melt something with chemical fertilizer?" Panic seized her. "Oh, no! The flowers! What did you do to the flowers?"
Hiro stopped her from running to check every flower in the shop. He put his hands on her shoulders. "The flowers are fine. Everything's fine. Oh, and I'm giving you a raise."
Yuki pulled away. "Alright," she said as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Who are you and what have you done with Hiro-kun? Are you his long lost evil twin brother? I wouldn't be surprised if he had a twin and didn't tell me. Ha, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the evil twin."
Hiro blew out a frustrated breath. "Yuki, I'm not a twin, or an evil twin. It's me, Hiro."
"You're not acting like Hiro-kun!"
"That's because I'm reformed. I'm more serious now."
Yuki stared at him. "Serious?"
He nodded. "I've been shirking my duties as the owner of this shop and your boss. But that's gonna change. No more coffee breaks and shorter lunch hours!" he said in a loud voice. He chuckled behind his hand. "… I've always wanted to say that…"
Yuki rubbed her temples. Only eight in the morning and she already had a headache. That had to be a record. "Hiro-kun, what's going on? I don't understand any of this!"
For the second time that day, he looked completely serious. "Yuki-chan, I haven't been a responsible boss. I've been letting you do all the work and make all the decisions, most of which I should be doing. It's not fair to you. I was too passive and lazy, and you ended up doing everything I was supposed to do, as well as your regular duties. I'm really sorry, Yuki-chan. It won't happen anymore." He bowed to her in a very, very humble and apologetic way.
Yuki flapped about as she motioned to him to straighten. "No, no, no. Get up! Get up! Stop bowing, Hiro-kun. …this is so embarrassing… don't bow!"
He complied, but asked, "Will you forgive me, Yuki-chan, for being such an awful boss?"
"Yes, yes! I'm glad you've… what was the word you used? Reformed! I'm glad you've reformed, but we need to open the shop now, and it's at least three minutes past our usual opening time!" She turned to flip the Closed sign to Open, but Hiro was already there.
He smiled. "I'll do this. You… just stand there and look pretty for the customers."
"What?"
"I said go into the back room and have some coffee. You look like you need it."
"Hey! ….And I don't think that's what you said, but I'll let it slide." She was almost in the break room when she turned and asked with a mischievous smile, "Now, what did you say about a raise?
%%%%%%%%%%%%
"Hey, Kaoru. Look at this."
"Hmm?" Kaoru looked up from his morning newspaper.
Hikaru pointed at something his twin couldn't see over the couch. Kaoru rolled his eyes. "Whatever it is, bring it over here so I can see. I'm eating breakfast."
"I can't bring it over. It'll ruin the effect."
"What effect?"
"Yuki's overpowering cuteness."
Kaoru grinned at his brother. "Which one, the cat or the girl?"
Hikaru glared darkly. "Not. Funny."
"It was very funny."
"Would you just come over here! I want you to see her before she moves and messes up the Lolita effect."
Kaoru cocked an eyebrow. "Lolita? This I gotta see." He left his half-finished plate of western-style bacon and eggs to see what his half-witted brother had done to the poor kitten.
Yuki (the cat) had been placed in the middle of the floor on a tiny pedestal. She was dressed in a small, cream-colored dress with lots of frilly bows, and a teeny tiny top hat and parasol. On the small ribbon that attached the hat around her little kitty head, there was a pink, taffeta rose. Yuki was frozen in terror.
Kaoru stared. Minutes seemed to tick by.
"Sooo… What do you think?" Hikaru asked in a hopeful voice.
"How…. can you do something like that to a helpless kitten? You must have the designer blues bad."
"The designer whats?" Hikaru stood to face his brother angrily.
"I'm just saying, Hikaru," Kaoru held up his hands. "I know you've been staying away from designing because of Haruhi—."
"Don't say her name!" the elder twin bit out.
"Haruhi! HA- RU- HI! Hikaru, get a hold of yourself! It's a name! She's a girl! A woman really! And she's married! Get over it and move on with your life!" He paused to look at him in incomprehension. "I thought you'd accepted their marriage…"
Hikaru growled. "Well, I didn't! It burns me up every time I think that I… that I—!"
"That you what, Hikaru?" Kaoru asked quietly.
"That I never had a chance.
Kaoru sighed as he flopped onto the couch. He looked up at his brother. "You had a lot of chances, Hika—."
"No, I don't mean like that," Hikaru sat down next to him. "I mean, I never stood a chance."
"Ah," Kaoru toned. "Now I see." He paused to look directly at his twin. "Hikaru, we all knew Haruhi loved Tamaki. It was just a matter of time before she realized it."
"I don't understand how you can't be bitter, Kaoru," He shook his head at the irony. "You gave up on Haruhi so that I could go after her, and I ended up failing miserably."
"Well," Kaoru said ruefully. "I knew you failed miserably at everything else, so…"
"Be serious."
"Ok. I was a little disappointed. After all, I didn't get Haruhi for my sister-in-law. I just didn't carry my momentary unhappiness as far as you have. It's become an obsession with you, Hikaru."
"It has not—!"
"It has, bro. You've quit designing because every time you think up an outfit, the model is always Haruhi. You can't have a normal conversation with either Tamaki or Haruhi without making some snarky comment as bitter as rancid vinegar."
"Nice metaphor."
"Thank you."
Hikaru sighed. "Ok. You're so wise, what do I do? Should I find some distraction to keep me from going to distraction?"
Kaoru gasped. "You've been watching late night British dramas haven't you?" He shook his head. "Never mind, never mind. Anyways," He smirked. "We've seen what happens when you try to amuse yourself." He gestured to Yuki, who was about to have a hissy fit about her uncomfortable ensemble.
"Yeah…." Hikaru said. He helped Yuki out of the clothes as quickly as he could, and earned a small scratch on his hand. "Ouch. That hurt."
Yuki looked up at him in ferocious kitty-wrath, as if to say, "It's your own fault for making me so miserable."
Hikaru frowned at her. "Yuki can say such rude things."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"See?" Kaoru gestured. "You're talking to a cat."
"Lots of people talk to cats."
"Yeah, crazy old ladies with about a hundred of them, going, 'Oh, what a cute little fluffy-kinz! Mommy made tuna for all of you!'"
"…."
"What?"
"Dude, how do you know all this?"
"I watch American TV. Very educational stuff."
"Why did you just wink at me?"
"Never mind." He looked Hikaru up and down. "We need to get you up and out of the house. Get you doing something fun, something creative. I know! A sport!"
"A sport?"
"A sport!"
"What kind of sport?"
"Uh… Soccer!"
Hikaru clapped as if for a toddler. "Excellent idea! Because the last time I played soccer was a huge success!"
FLASHBACK:
Kaoru yelled to his twin from the sidelines as he waved yellow pom-poms. "Go Hikaru! Go, go Hikaru!"
He turned to look at the other Ouran Middle School Majesties player on the bench, who stared openly. "What?"
The player blinked. "What are you doing?"
"Cheering on my twin. In fact, you're taking away time that I could be using to watch him. Excuse me," He turned back to the field.
The score was six to zero. By accident, one of the Majesties made a wild pass, which somehow got to the only player in the direct path of the ball: The eldest Hitachiin twin.
Hikaru got past an opposing team member out of sheer, dumb luck (the player tripped over his own shoelaces), faked past another (the player was one of his own teammates), and went in for the kick that would send them to victory—.
The ball went high and wide, over a player directly in front of Hikaru, smashing into the face of the burly, bald referee on the sideline. The player that had been standing in front of Hikaru got the effects of the follow-through right between his legs. He collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.
Hikaru stood over him, hands on his hips. "Take it like a man, you wimp!"
The player managed to gasp out, "I'm your own… teammate!"
"I know! You're shaming the team with your pitiful display!"
"HITACHIIN!"
Hikaru turned pleasantly to the referee. "Yes?"
The big man's face was red with anger (and from the soccer ball). "You're out of here!"
END OF FLASHBACK.
"Oh, yeah," Kaoru said. "I almost forget about that."
"How could you forget something like that?"
"I dunno. It was pretty traumatic. My brain must have blocked it out of my memory so I wouldn't have to remember the humiliation."
"I got thrown out of the game."
"Yes, but I'm your twin. Your identical twin. I look like you."
"Yes, I know what identical means."
"You know how many times people gave me dirty looks, thinking I was you? That, and I was on the same bench as the others when they started yelling at you. Pretty scary." Kaoru sighed. "Ok, so not soccer. Hmm… Something else that's creative…"
"Please stop stroking your chin like that."
"Why?"
"It's creepy."
"I've got!" Kaoru snapped his fingers. "We'll sign you up for art lessons."
Hikaru tilted his head at his brother. "But I know how to draw… You've seen my design sketches."
Kaoru shook his head, a grin on his face. "Not just drawing, Hikaru! Painting! Watercolors! And possibly sculpting!"
"Sculpting…?"
"Yes!" Kaoru said triumphantly. "And when you start, I will very graciously allow you to make a bust of me."
"I'd want to make art— not a gargoyle."
"You do know we're identical, right?"
"Shoot. Walked into that one."
"Then it's settled! I'll call the head of the community art class!" Kaoru whipped out his cell-phone.
Hikaru stood up in panic. "Wait a minute, I haven't said yes yet!"
"Too late!" The younger twin held down a single number with his thumb.
"You have them on speed-dial?"
Hikaru was forced to wait while his sneaky little brother made arrangements. Every once in while he'd try to yell that he didn't want to take an art class, but Kaoru would just shush him and tell the teacher, no, it was just a yapping dog in the background, sorry.
When Kaoru was finished, he announced, "Alright! Time to get ready for the host club!"
Hikaru looked at his watch. "It's two hours before we have to be there."
"I know; Kyoya just wants everyone to be there early today." Kaoru had scarfed down his breakfast and was on his way to the bedroom to change.
"Is Hanagato-san required to come?" Hikaru pushed himself off the couch.
"I suppose so." Kaoru's voice was muffled by the closet.
"Do you think she knows?"
Kaoru appeared in the doorway, with his shirt halfway on. "Probably so."
"Do you think we should stop by the flower shop to remind her, just in case?" Hikaru shouldered past his twin and went to the wardrobe.
"Probably not." Kaoru buttoned up his dress shirt.
"Why not?"
"Because the last thing you need, Hikaru, is to be courting a girl," Kaoru winked at him.
"Whaaaaaat?"
%%%%%%%%%%%%
Yuki did indeed know and had arrived even earlier than the twins. She was already sitting down on her usual sofa when they walked in. Hikaru waved at her a little, and then felt goofy.
"So, Kyoya," Kaoru asked, flopping down onto a couch and eating a cookie from the tray already set out. "What're we planning?"
Kyoya chuckled slightly. "You're under the impression I called all of you here earlier than usual because we had something to discuss. I'm sorry to say you're mistaken. We simply have an early booking."
"Ehhh?" The entire room sat up in shock.
Haruhi scowled. "We're just here because Kyoya wants us to make more money, isn't that right?"
"Indeed," Kyoya said dead-pan.
"Well," Tamaki said in attempt to be cheerful. "At least we have time to prepare—."
"The guests will be here in three minutes."
Tamaki wilted. "Never mind."
"And," Kyoya's glasses glinted. "A few of them have asked specifically for Hanagato-san."
The host club swung around to stare at her.
Yuki blinked twice. "Eh?"
E…
