Chapter 21

KaoruxOCxHikaru

Saturday morning… my birthday.

I wondered what Hikaru had planned today, although I couldn't help, but be more excited about Sunday, the day Kaoru would return, and I'd get to see him again. Hikaru was great, but there still was a gap that he couldn't fill alone, and that was Kaoru.

I woke up realizing that I was still holding Hikaru's hand from the night before. A small smile played across my face, as I watched him sleep. Somehow even when he was innocently sleeping, he still had that devilish smirk on his face. I smoothed back a strand of his hair that was out of place, and ran my thumb across his cheek. What would happen… if Hikaru and I were actually together? I sighed, and sat up on the bed. Walking over to my dresser I picked up my brush and started running it through my hair. I wasn't expecting there to be a knock on my apartment door, but I hurried into the living room so I could answer it.

When I opened the door, I was surprised to see no one standing there.

"Expecting someone?" asked a voice. My eyes shimmered at the sound.

Turning to look behind me, Kaoru sat on the couch looking nonchalant and carefree.

"K-Kaoru?!" I choked.

He smiled his most beautiful smile, "Happy birthday." he said.

Tears filled my eyes, as he rose off the couch, and started to close the gap between us. I stepped forward, and embraced him so hard I'm surprised he could breathe, "How… how did you know-?" I started to ask.

"Hikaru called me, he also let me in when I arrived a couple hours ago." he said rubbing my back gently, then chuckled, "I just came up with the whole knocking on the door thing."

I smiled as I rested my head on his shoulder, "I missed you so much." another tear slid down my cheek.

"I missed you too," he murmured, "and since Hikaru got you to himself yesterday, I think I deserve you all day tomorrow."

"What about today?" I asked.

"Well, we should both be able to spend your birthday with you don't you think?" He asked, playing with my hair.

"Well, yeah of course, but what is it you two have planned anyway?" I asked flatly.

"Don't sound too excited, not like it's your birthday or anything." muttered Hikaru, who was now leaning against the kitchen counter, watching us.

We both turned to look at him, and Kaoru smiled, "We decided to take you to a hot spring." he said, running his hand down my cheek.

"Hot spring?" I asked.

"Kyouya's family owns a giant hot spring spa about two hours from here. Figured we could check it out." noted Hikaru.

I realized that Kyouya's family pretty much owned everything. That powerful little shadow king.

"Sounds like fun." I said with a smile.

"We can stay for a night, and then in the morning we'll eat breakfast, and I'll get an extra limo to take us where I want to spend the day with you." said Kaoru, embracing me again.

"Where are we going tomorrow?" I asked curiously.

"There's no fun in just telling you now is there?" Kaoru answered with a question, as he playfully tapped the tip of my nose with his index finger.

"Come on," interrupted the ever so impatient Hikaru, "Let's get dressed and go." he and I were still in pajamas.

"I have to pack for a night." I said.

"Kaoru and I did that for you." said Hikaru with a mischievous grin.

My face turned bright red, "When?"

"While you were sleeping," he continued, "those underwear with the little bows are quite cute." he teased.

"Hikaru!" I growled, as he retreated into the bathroom to change.

I looked back at Kaoru with an annoyed expression, and he rubbed the back of his head nervously, "We picked things out of your closet and nothing more I promise. Hikaru's just messing with you."

"Then how did he..?" I wondered.

"The truth is, he peeked into your dresser, found your underwear drawer, and his face turned a bright red." Kaoru laughed.

I just tried to picture Hikaru blushing, but it was almost impossible.

Finally, we were on our way to the Ootori Spa.

When we got there…

"This is it," said Hikaru, offering a hand to help me out of the limo.

I took it, already holding Kaoru's hand with my other, as we both stepped out of the limo, "Wow." I murmured.

The place was fenced in, but in some areas you could see passed the fence, and there was old style fountains, and decorated streams. The closer you got to the front door the more warmth you felt from the welcoming staff. "Ah, this must be the Hitachiin party, yes?" asked the clerk, once we were inside.

The twins glanced at each other, and Kaoru said, "Yes ma'am."

I was standing between them now, holding one hand of theirs each. Not noticing that I was slightly swinging our arms like a child might do.

"Let me show you to your room." said the one of the employees as she bowed to us, and led us to a sliding door, that opened up to a large room, "it has a very practical venue outside as well." said the spa woman, as she opened up some more sliding doors across the room so we could see what was outside. It was our very own hot spring. "Oh, and miss." she said looking at me, "when the time comes where you need your privacy, there's a sliding wall on this door. She said pulling it out of the wall as an example. It divided the room up into two smaller parts.

"Thank you." I said with a smile.

She bowed and looking back up at the twins, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"We're fine for right now." said Kaoru with a charming grin.

"Let us know if you need anything." said the woman before walking out of our room, and closing the door behind her. By then our luggage was already brought in by the twin's helpful limo driver.

"Like you'll need privacy," murmured Hikaru. I saw that coming from a mile away.

"Don't they have separate hot springs for men and women?" I asked flatly.

Kaoru chuckled, "Yes."

"Good," I said glancing at Hikaru.

We both gave each other an annoyed look, and walked away from each other so we could sift through our belongings. It was so weird how we acted differently now. Was it because Kaoru was here? Did Hikaru act irritated with me, and make me mad on purpose?

As we got settled in things seemed to grow a little less tense. I wanted to take a dip in the hot spring, but I felt like I'd be so tired afterwards that I'd crash. My body was sensitive like that. I'd save that for the very end of the day right before bed so I could get a good night's rest.

The twins were off changing into the hot spring outfit's the spa had provided for us. Mine was red, with a deep green waist belt. When the twins walked in I had assumed correctly on their color coordinated yukatas. Kaoru's was orange, with a light blue waist belt, and Hikaru's was baby blue with an orange waist belt. I smirked at them trying not to laugh. They were almost too predictable.

"Come on, let's go play ping pong." said Kaoru, helping me to my feet.

We headed down the hall side by side. Hikaru hadn't said anything to me since his little comment before. I glanced over at him, but he didn't look back. It was a quiet stroll, but when we finally made it to the ping pong room, I realized there was three of us, which would make it sort of hard to play. "How're we gonna play with three people?" I asked.

"Hikaru, and I will take turns playing against you." answered Kaoru.

"You mean take turns losing." I corrected confidently, heading over to my side of the table.

Kaoru raised an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

I faced Kaoru first. Hikaru leaned against another one of the tables, looking rather unenthused. Why did he always have to be such a kid about everything? I actually managed to beat Kaoru, and when he went to hand the paddle to Hikaru, Hikaru stared down at it, and then looked up at his brother, "I want to play against you."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow, and looked over at me. I was also confused, but shrugged, "Go ahead." I said, handing Hikaru my paddle.

Watching them play was like watching someone play against a mirror. They were in sync with how they moved. It was unbelievable. Hikaru finally made his move, and Kaoru ducked to avoid being struck in the face with the ball. "What the hell was that?!" it was the first time I heard Kaoru yell.

Hikaru leaned against the table, but said nothing. His face was full or annoyance. This was just his jealousy coming to a head like an ugly zit. "A fair move." he replied flatly.

"You almost hit me." growled Kaoru.

"Pay more attention, Kaoru." scoffed Hikaru.

"Woah, woah guys." I said stepping forward. The last thing I wanted was for them to argue, especially today, "Come on knock it off. You guys never fight. Look, you guys can both face me. I don't mind."

"I'm done playing." replied Hikaru, setting down the paddle, and leaving the room.

I looked at Kaoru, and he was hurt. Picking up the ball, that was now beside his feet, he stared at it thoughtfully, and sighed.

"It's okay Kaoru," I reassured.

He looked up at me, and set his paddle down on the table, along with the ping pong ball. Moving forward, he embraced me, but said nothing. I felt uneasy. Like he was thinking of things that did nothing, but hurt him. Spending time with both of them was starting to become a problem. Now more than ever, they both wanted me to themselves. Kaoru was more accepting of it, but Hikaru was getting worse. He probably felt betrayed, after all the time we spent together, after how much he let me in, and when we almost wanted to say those three little words well… I really couldn't blame him. I was being selfish. I'd have to decide soon.

Kaoru knew it as well as I did, and he was reluctant to let go of me in that moment. I kissed his neck, and he cringed. A tear slid from his cheek, and landed on mine. It made me want to melt into the ground. I raised my head to look into his eyes, and wipe away his tears, "it's okay." I repeated. Running my fingers through his hair to calm him, he seemed to tremble. Whatever war was being waged within me, it was a massacre inside him. I imagined that same war was also within Hikaru.

Soon… I'd have to surrender…

After a time Kaoru told me he was going to go for a walk. That was probably code for "Go talk to Hikaru" so I took the hint, and went back to our room without a word.

When I walked in the room Hikaru was lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. He looked bored, but deep in thought. I sat down beside him, but he wouldn't look at me. "Don't ignore me Hikaru." I muttered, and his eyes snapped to mine. I froze, but sighed, and shook my head, "What's the matter? I thought this was supposed to be fun for all three of us, but Kaoru's hurt, and you're not making this any easier."

He sat up, and looked at me, but said nothing. He was offended though, because his lips were curved down, and his eyebrows were pulled together, "Is Kaoru the only one who is allowed to be hurt?"

"Why are you hurt?" I asked, irritated.

"Because you don't even care about me when he's around." he retorted.

"Of course I do Hikaru! I just haven't seen him in a few days." I sighed.

"You don't get it…" he growled.

"What? What don't I get!?" I boomed.

"I-!" He stopped himself, and started to shake with irritation. All at once he calmed, and looked away. After silence filled the room, he looked back at me, "let's just forget about it… I'll apologize when he comes back."

"Hikaru what were you going to say?" I asked.

He stared into my eyes, and leaned forward, "It's not important." He was about to kiss me, but pulled away last minute. I wondered why, until I heard the door open, and Kaoru walk in. He seemed afraid, but Hikaru looked up at him, and stood up. He walked up to him, and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry Kaoru." Kaoru's eyes shimmered, and he returned the embrace. Staring at me like he was surprised. I so easily swayed him. It was almost hard for even me to believe.

After that, although things were a little awkward, we all seemed to settle down. We spent some time playing some Japanese board game I had never even heard of before. We got a few laughs out of it, because I kept getting confused, which humored the twins. Before we knew it the sun was starting to set over the horizon.

"We should get into the hot spring." Hikaru commented, "All three of us." he smirked.

"I'm not getting in the same hot spring as you two. That's like signing my own death warrant." I said sticking my tongue out at him.

"Our hot spring has a latched door on the fence, that opens up to another hot spring. I checked it out earlier." murmured Kaoru.

"Then I call dibs on that one." I replied.

Once I was on my side, I locked the latch behind me, and stripped down before stepping into the spring. I was right. This would about knock me out twenty minutes afterwards. I heard the Hitachiins making small talk on the other side, and eavesdropped. "Quit listening over there." called Hikaru. He knew me way too well.

"I'm not." I argued. A fence was all that separated me from them, but that was enough to make me feel even just a tinge of emptiness.

"Lonely over there all by yourself?" asked Kaoru. They both knew me too well.

"I'm fine." I replied.

"Are you having a good birthday?" asked Hikaru.

"I couldn't have a bad birthday with you two around." I answered. I was already feeling a little light headed, but managed to stick out for about fifteen more minutes, before I needed to get out of there. If I fainted… that'd be so embarrassing. I heard the twins get out, so I assumed they were going to head back inside as well. I wrapped myself in one of the huge spa towels, and unlocked the gate to get to the other side, my yukata at hand. I froze in place to see them standing there with only towels on as well, gathering up their yukatas. All of our faces went bright red, and I quickly ran back into our room, frantically apologizing over and over again. I slid out the other wall so I could have my very own changing room, and changed. I was so afraid to walk back out there. I had never seen them like that before. I was just happy my towel didn't slip or something. Could have been much worse right?

"Hey Chelsea? We're dressed now… so you can come out." Kaoru murmured.

Slowly I slid the wall to the side, and they stared at me. My face flushed again, as I smiled at them shyly.

"Why did you come out when you knew we were there?" asked Hikaru flatly, "Trying to peek hmm?"

"As if I'd do that!" I exclaimed, face flushing worse, "I heard you two get out so I figured you headed back inside."

"Could have asked." replied Kaoru.

I sighed, admitting defeat. Collapsing to the ground sitting Indian style I decided not to argue about it anymore.

They both sat down on either side of me, and tangled themselves around me. I shivered. They hadn't engaged in a twin attack in quite some time. Hikaru scooted back behind me, and started to play with my hair. Noticing the ponytail holder on my wrist, he asked for it. I was too tired to argue, so I handed back over my shoulder to him. Kaoru decided to sit in front of me, and held my hands. He gave me a small smile, and I returned it with sleepy eyes.

"Tired?" he asked, and I nodded.

Hikaru had put my hair up in some fancy ponytail fashion, but he managed to do so without pulling my hair a single time. Which was a hard task. That's when I felt him slip something around my neck. I looked down, and it was a necklace. My eyes widened. Two chains connected in the back by the clasp, each having one side of a heart. One light blue one the right, and one orange on the left. When placed together they fit perfectly. My eyes shined as I marveled over it, connecting the two pieces together over and over.

"You like it?" asked Kaoru.

I nodded quietly, unable to say anything.

Hikaru wrapped his arms around me, and pulled me back to lean against him, "Congratulations," muttered Hikaru, "No matter how cheesy it sounds, you complete us."

I closed my eyes and smiled, but somehow it hurt a little in a way, because when it came down to it… I could only complete one of them. I tried to dismiss that in my mind for now, but it lingered. Kaoru, laid down on top of me, resting his head on my stomach. I fiddled with his hair. We always seemed to end up like this. Hikaru holding me, and Kaoru laying on me for comfort, and warmth. Why did it have to end?

Tomorrow I would be spending a day alone with Kaoru. I still didn't know what to expect… what would happen?

Author's Notes: About time I got to this again. It's been about a month since I've updated, but there will probably only be three more chapters left in this series, two of which will be alternate endings. I'm sorry I've made you all wait so long, but I feel this is going to have to end soon, and at least you'll be able to pick your favorite ending. Who will she end up with? The choice is yours. My thanks go out to everyone who has read this all the way through, and gave me your wonderful feedback. It's been really nice to hear what you guys have to say, and hey maybe I'll write some more Ouran in the future. See ya guys next chapter. =D