Kaoru leaned back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, quietly mulling over the conversation he had had with Sho when the latter visited him in the hospital. It had always been in the back of his mind, but he didn't think much of it until Tamaki had mentioned Miyuki was acting strange.
The younger twin was staring at his sleeping brother deep in thought when a soft knock brought his attention to the door. Sho was standing there looking as if he was in a hurry. "Sho-Senpai, what are you doing here?" Kaoru questioned in a whisper as to not wake Hikaru.
"There's something you should know." Slowly, he crossed the room until he was standing at Kaoru's bedside. "It's about Miyuki." Kaoru leaned in slightly, intense concentration showing on his face. "I just wanted to warn you not to get too attached to her. Odds are, she won't be around much longer."
Hikaru sat up suddenly. "What do you mean by that?" He questioned, staring at Sho with half-closed eyes.
"It's just that- How do I word this..." Sho trailed off, a thoughtful look on his face as he stared holes through the wall he knew Miyuki was on the other side off. "That girl is one who will only lay down her life for someone truly important to her. Up until now, that list of people consisted of her family and me. Because she was taught to suppress her emotions, she's totally unaware that she cares so much for the people close to her that she's willing to throw away her life for them. She is aware that she needs to protect her loved ones, but she hasn't really realized why she wants to." He locked eyes with each of the twins, a blank expression overtaking his features. "The point I'm trying to make is that she has a choice to make, and you can bet she's not going to factor emotions- yours or her's- into the equation. If you look at the situation through her eyes, what would you decide?"
Hikaru returned to the room rubbing a towel around his damp hair. "Are you still thinking about what Sho-Senpai said?" He questioned, instantly keying in on his brother's discontent mood.
"Do you think she's going to leave us?" Kaoru asked quietly, slight pain lacing his voice.
Hearing that immediately brought Hikaru to his side. "Why would she do that? You heard what Sho-Senpai said: she really cares about us."
"But he also said that she probably won't be taking that into consideration." Kaoru buried his face in his hands in frustration.
There was something that Hikaru had been wanting to ask of his brother for a while, and then seemed like the perfect time to bring it up. "Kaoru, do you-"
A knock at the door stopped Hikaru mid-sentence. One of the servants entered the room with a friendly smile. "Hello, young Masters. You wanted me to inform you when we were about to send the car to the Suoh mansion."
"Gah!" Kaoru sprung up from the bed swiftly, dashing into the closet. "I'm not even dressed yet!"
Hikaru let out a sigh, deciding to leave the conversation for later.
XxXxXxX
Staring into the mirror, I didn't recognize the person staring back at me.
"I know it's not really your style," Tamaki carefully fixed one of the roses the twins had given me in my hair, "but even you can't deny that you look stunning."
The dress that the stranger in the mirror was wearing was a deep purple and fell just above her knees. The spaghetti-strap sleeves did nothing to hide the cuts and busies still marring the girl's skin. A pure white sash was tied around her waist that perfectly matched the stockings that she wore. Her shoes were simple, black flats, a white bracelet adorned her wrist, and a black scarf was wrapped loosely around her neck. Of course she wore her dog tags and silver key, which almost went without saying.
She drew closer to the mirror softly touching her face that had little make-up on, since Kaoru had told her that very first day that she could be really pretty even without a lot of make-up. Then her hand traveled to her hair, which was a little shorter than shoulder length. She tugged on it softly as her friends patiently awaited her reaction.
The girl in the mirror chuckled at the same time I did. "It's so short..."
"The car is out front, Miyu-Chan!" Honey informed me, bounding back into the room.
"I guess I'll be off then." I turned away from the stranger with a soft smile at the others. "I don't know when I'll be back though.
"Take care, Miyu-Chan!" Honey cheered sweetly.
"Yeah." Mori agreed.
"Don't worry if you come home late." Tamaki reassured me.
Haruhi bitterly told me, "Try not to get lost in their mansion."
Kyoya uttered an uncaring, "Have a nice time."
As they said their last good byes, I hurried down the stairs as to not keep the Hitachiin's waiting too long.
"Bye!" I called as I ran out the door.
XxXxOne car ride laterXxXx
The mansion that we pulled up to was unsurprisingly huge. A servant of theirs opened the door before I even had a chance to knock. He was on the younger side with brown hair and brown eye and a friendly smile.
"Welcome, Lady Miyuki!"
I waved him a little closer so I could whisper something to him. His smile faded, replaced by a look of curiosity as he obliged. "I'm kind of worried about meeting their parents." I whispered softly. "Do you have any advice for me?"
The smile returned to his face as he pulled away. "There's no need to worry, Lady Miyuki. They already like you because of what you did for Master Hikaru and Master Kaoru."
I gave a soft sigh, finally managing to relax a little. "Everyone seems to be making a big deal about what I did. Any one of you would have done the same."
"Even still," He said, giving me a slight bow, "thank you, from all of us, for saving our young masters' lives."
"Wow..." I heard two awe-struck voices breath. Looking up at the source, I saw Hikaru and Kaoru standing on top of the stairs, looking down on me with golden-brown eyes wide.
The three of us paused a moment to take each other in. I didn't often see them not wearing their Ouran uniforms, and it was a refreshing change. Kaoru's outfit consisted of a black dress-shirt worn under a black vest and a white tie that matched the jacket he wore, and a pair of nice black pants. Hikaru's shirt, vest, tie, and jacket were the exact opposite color of Kaoru's.
"You look fantastic, Miyuki." They both said, huge smiles spreading across their faces.
I gave them a toothy grin. "Thank you for inviting me. You have a lovely home."
They descended the elegant staircase, each of them placing a hand on my should and leading me into another room. "Come with us." Hikaru- who stood to my right- said.
Kaoru- on my left- concluded his brother's thought. "We'll introduce you to our parents."
The place they led me to was a little outdoor patio. Two people sat on some fancy outdoor furniture chatting quietly. When they heard us approach, they immediately stopped and looked up at us. "Miyuki is here." The twins announce, lightly pushing me forward in the direction of their parents who stood to greet me.
"It's so nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Hitachiin." I gave a polite smile and held my hand out to shake hands with them.
Mrs. Hitachiin, a very pretty, slender woman with short, lighter colored hair, ignored my hand completely and pulled me into a tight hug. "I can never thank you enough for what you did." She said in my ear, sounding on the verge of tears.
"Thank you for protecting them." Mr. Hitachiin, a tall, quiet man with dark hair, placed a hand on my shoulder
Mrs. Hitachiin held me at arms length and looked me over. "Oh my, you really are just as pretty as the boys said you were." She gave me a bright smile, carefully fixing the flower in my hair, then my scarf.
I blushed lightly, looking at the ground. "Thank you, Ma'am."
In that instant, all of my fears were dissolved. All throughout dinner, the conversation was lively and continuous- no awkward pauses or anything of the sort. I could easily tell that the twins took after their mother, though they tried to convince me that they took after their father. What a laugh that was. Either way, that young servant at the door had been right to tell me not to worry. Everything had gone better than expected.