"One at a time would be best. We'll answer if we think it something that you should know. " My sister took steps so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed, and could avoid a question a lot easier than usual. The question and answer session of my nightmares began with Kyoya, of course.
"What are the circumstances of your blindness?"
"There was an accident when I was nine years old."
"Why do you want to keep it a secret?"
"I believe that you know already, or can figure it out from our conversation this morning. Besides, did I ever say that I could see? Nah. Most people just assume that I can." I was going to give away as little information as possible.
"Very well. That is all, for now." The ominous ring in the last two words made me want to flee, but I held my ground.
"How do you ge around?" Tamaki.
"Walking, same as you. Sometimes running and the occasional trot." Hopefully the sarcasm wasn't lost on him.
"Ah! I meant how do you know where you are? "
"I have psychic powers and know where I am at all times."
"Really?!"
"No."
"But really? How?" Apparently he really wanted to know.
"I use context clues. For example, surrounded by you guys, almost dying from the smell, not sitting at a school desk means it's probably the Music Room, along with other things. Like you, I generally always know where I am." Hiro will also tell me if I ask.
"Okay! Now, tell daddy. How do you eat? How do you do homework. What about -"
"Tamaki. One at a time." Leave it to Tamaki to get carried away."But to answer your questions, I eat the same way you do. Didn't you see me eat the cake Honey-Senpai gave me on the first day? And the member-onlu lunch? Homework is kinda the same too. I read it in braille, but write out the answers."
"So you do everything the same? "
"Well, there are things that I have to do differently, and some things I can't do at all, but when it come to eating and stuff, yeah. Plus, Hiro helps me a lot."
"Oh, I see."
"Kaede-Chan! Do you have super senses? " Honey, repeating what he asked earlier.
"Don't know. "That would be pretty cool, and would make sense. But, seeing as I haven't tested it... And they would probably only be above average, not "super."
"Can you teach me to read dots too?"
"I suppose so." Shrugging, I waited for the next inquiry.
"Why did you say we weren't friends?" He's probably making some sad puppy eyes or something, from how hurt and teary his voice sounds, but luckily I am immune. Although, who would've thought that Honey would ask something like that? Well, he's obviously not as childishly naive as he seems.
"Cause we aren't. You don't even want to be friends, do you?" My voice was matter-of-fact.
"Yep! I wouldn't talk to you if I didn't want to be friends! ! Plus, I thought we already were!" His voice was bright and positive, bu I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something beyond face value about that statement. Hmph...suspicious. But, best not to argue, and keep your guard up.
"So... we're friends? "He continued after neither of us responded. The elation in his voice reached levels that I thought were impossible. It was impressive, he was a good actor. All of them were, in their own ways.
"Whatever. " Noncommittal, just said to keep the peace, not really an agreement.
"Awesome! Hiro-chan too?"
"Mhm." The answer from Hiro was what I expected it to be, hardly an answer at all.
"Yay! Takashi, did you hear that? They admit that we're friends! ! "Oh...we were we just seriously played by his words. We'll have to be careful, even if he may not have meant to? But I highly doubt that he did that unintentionally. Well played, senpai. Well played.
"Yeah." It didn't appear that Mori-senpai had any questions, and if he did, he was keeping quiet. Haruhi didn't ask anything either, but I am absolutely sure she was listening. Haruhi is a very open minded person, and not one to pry, so honestly, it wasn't surprising that she didn't question us. That only left the twins.
"How did Haruhi tell you apart?"In unison, and a genuine question.
"We don't know. " Came our honest answer. "You'll have to ask her." It is an excellent question, considering that Hiro has been acting like me to prevent that exact thing ffrom happening for four and a half years. She's the first to discern between us in that time.
"How can you tell us apart?" Kaoru was the one who posed this particular question.
"We probably tell you apart in slightly different ways, since one of us can see and the other cannot." The response was Hiro's, not mine, and I was thankful that she was so good at giving statements with the appearance of answers.
"That makes sense. What-" Kyoya ruthlessly spoke over Kaoru.
"Break is now over, the guests will be here soon. I suggest" There was a slight pause while he did something. "That we return to our places." There was no room to argue, like usual when it came to Kyoya.
It was the end of the day, and while it wasn't officially a break, it might as well have been. "Hey, looks like Kyoya found a picture of Haruhi in middle school." Hiro noted with casual interest.
"Really? What's it like?" We were not loud enough to be heard.
"It's very different. In the picture, she has long hair. She has straight cut bangs in the picture, and her hair is the color of 20% dark chocolate, Her eyes are very large, expressive, and the color of milk chocolate, and coffee beans in the darker parts. She has a delicate nose and and a chin that is slightly pointy, but not sharp or severe. The eyes and the face shape are the same of course. She just has long hair and is wearing a blue middle school uniform with red highlights."
"Cool, I bet she looks as good as I imagine." We quieted, paying attention to what was going on . Haruhi was in the process of explaining how, to quote a certain someone: "This...became that."
"I had lost a contact, so I ended upusing my grandfather's old glasses. As for my hair, I was walking home from school when one of the neighborhood kids got gum in my hair, so I cut it off. It was easier that way, getting gum out of hair is pretty difficult."
"Haruhi, if that happens again, you can use peant butter to get the gum out, it's a lot easier." The nonchalant voice of Hiro joined the conversation. "Both of them are hydrophobic, hence why water doesn't help with the gum, but the gum and the peanut butter will bond, making the gum less sticky because instead of bonding to the proteins in the hair, the gum bonds to the peanut butter cause it's more chemically attractive to the gum, and then voilà, you can get the gum out." Hiro sorta cut herself off at the end, probably thinking that they would think she was being a know-it-all, despite how obvious it was that she was only being helpful, and happened to appreciate the science.
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind if I ever get gum in my hair agin."
"Mhm" An affirmative sound from Hiro ends her involment in the conversation.
"How do you know that? !" Tamaki yelped, astonished. "Did my other two daughters have long hair too!?" He sounds ready to have a spaz attack from the apparent excitement of this possibility.
"We had a friend with long hair. Mayonnaise or Salad oil works too, for the same reason." I shrugged and lay back in the chair. "And we aren't actually your children. " Tamaki calling himself our dad had been happening less frequently, although that wasn't the case for Haruhi. Probably becaus she never tells him not to. In our case, it most likely won't stop completely, but the less times he does it, the better. It is a bit creepy, and we don't want anyone getting the wrong idea. Less stressful that way.
"Ahh! You girls need to get in touch with your feminine side! And Haruhi! " His attention was directed towards her, sparing us from further lecture, sadly for Haruhi. "Daddy wants you to go back to the way you used to be!" The rambling continued, accompanied by wails of despair. Tamaki eventually succeed in driving himself to a mini meltdown.
"Cheer up, Boss. It's not like she'll be able to keep this up for long. Kaede and Hiro too." The twins attempted to raise him out of his funk.
"Yeah, after all, the physical exams are the day after tomorrow. They'll be found out then." The way they spoke was a slightly exasperated one that you would use to soothe a small child.