A/N: Greetings and salutations, particularly to all those who reviewed me. At first I had writer's block... I really wanted to improve on this, but I made a rash statement to starlight2005 today... something to the effect of, "I'm going to update my story! Yeah, I'm going to update it tonight!" Lol. And I am soooooo grateful to all the people who said such positive things, especially The Lolita Doll and japanesenut, who both flattered me by saying this could be (or is) the best Kyouya-Kaoru story there is (not surprising, since there aren't a lot of them, and I know flattery when I see it!), to trueyamigirlfriend who was my first reviewer--and who liked the maple syrup bit!--and of course, starlight2005, whose stories I am about to go check out and finally review. There, I hope she's happy... she now has a written promise from me. Lol.

But this A/N is dragging on too long, so without further ado, I present to you all Chapter One.

Chapter One: Invisibility and Bruises

Once the Host Club girls got their hands on one idea, they didn't let go of it.

"Kaoru-kun, aren't you going to sit over there with Kyouya-sama?" one of them asked meaningfully, raising her eyebrows at them. "He isn't doing anything very much. We're sure that he'd like to see you."

Kaoru flushed, knowing exactly what they were implying. Sometimes he wished that they really were as flighty as they seemed. But actually, they could be pretty determined when they wanted to be. "Ah, but I wouldn't want to let go of my darling brother," he said, casting his eyes down demurely. "Hikaru—"

He stopped. Hikaru was talking to Haruhi and her customers. He was joking around, drawing unwilling giggles from the girl dressed as a guy while making the reserved girls who designated Haruhi come a little more out of their shell. "Oh."

"Hikaru-kun seems busy," the girl observed.

As though a button had just been pressed, Hikaru looked up at them and gestured with a lazy smile that Kaoru should join them. Kaoru shook his head lightly and tilted his head to indicate their own customers. But the waggle of Hikaru's eyebrows signified that he wouldn't be coming back for a while.

Kaoru made a weak attempt at laughter. "Of course Haruhi is our best friend," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. He wasn't as good at hosting without Hikaru. In fact, his appeal lay mainly in his interaction with his twin brother. Suddenly he felt a little bit helpless and more than just a little cold without Hikaru.

"Then that settles it!" the girl chirped. "Kyouya-sama, could you please come over here?"

Kyouya's head was lifted from his calculator. He currently didn't have any customers, and didn't plan on having any for at least another hour. But if the princesses wished it, he had better get moving. "Yes, hime-sama?" he asked, gracefully getting to his feet.

"Kaoru here was dying to talk to you!"

Kaoru's cheeks burned. "Kyouya-sempai, I don't know how this happened," he muttered in the older boy's ear while displaying a false smile to his customers. "It's just that Hikaru is kind of busy."

Kyouya nodded without looking. "I know. And if Haruhi's customers weren't enjoying themselves so thoroughly, I would have ordered him back. Your earnings will suffer without him." He offered Kaoru a predatory grin. "I have no alternative but to serve as a substitute in the meantime. I have no customers at the moment anyway, and if there are any, they can just join us here." He smirked. "Let's give them a show."

"What? Sempai!" Kaoru reddened even further when Kyouya lazily draped an arm on his shoulders. The girls let out squeals that caused Tamaki to look over.

"Kyouya! How could you let yourself be corrupted by that little devil!" he cried out. The rest of the host club peeked at the cozy little scene. Hikaru purpled with fury.

"Well, well… it looks like Hikaru will be coming to reclaim his place," Kyouya noted. He smirked. "Ladies, I think I am intruding—"

"Not on your life!" one of them said, grabbing his arm to prevent him from leaving. "We don't want you to leave, Kyouya-sempai!"

It seemed that Haruhi's customers didn't want Hikaru to leave either, and Haruhi tugged gently on his arm, silently asking him to sit back down. With a last glowering look over at Kaoru and Kyouya, he flopped unceremoniously back into his seat.

"That was entertaining," Kyouya murmured to Kaoru. The redheaded boy was far too inhibited about the whole thing. After all, they had done stranger things for the sake of the club. With a smirk, he blew gently into Kaoru's ear, causing the Hitachiin to shudder and scoot a little bit away from him.

"KYOUYA! YOUR BEAUTIFUL INNOCENCE WILL BE TAINTED BY—"

"If there's any innocence for to be taken, Tamaki, rest assured that it is not mine," Kyouya's smooth voice cut through the king's babbling. "I will be doing the taking."

That was the last straw. Ignoring the protests of the girls surrounding him and Haruhi, Hikaru stalked over and glared at Kyouya.

"Hikaru," Kyouya said, inclining his head. He smirked. "I have to get back to the club's accounts now anyway. I'm very sorry, ladies, but I really must go."

The girls pouted. "But—"

Kyouya suppressed a low growl of frustration and inwardly cursed his best friend for coming up with the idea of a host club, of all things. It meant that you didn't own yourself, and that you had to act charming to just about everyone. Then again, he was used to it, wasn't he? He smiled, knowing that he had to appease them somehow. "Now, now, ladies—I don't want to lose control of myself right here and now." And with a swift movement, he took Kaoru's hand and kissed it. "Adieu for now, Kaoru. Princesses," he added, bowing low to them.

Now it wasn't just the girls. It was the rest of the host club as well.

"Kyouya, you have gone over to the ranks of the minor homo-homo characters!" Tamaki wailed.

Kyouya didn't even look up from his notebook. "You classified me as one of them from the very beginning, Tamaki," he said, completely deadpan. "That threat does not deter me in the least. Nor would it have, even if you hadn't called me a 'minor homo-homo character' from the start." He added emphasis on his quotation, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

"You don't touch my brother," Hikaru said.

Kaoru sighed. "He didn't touch me. It was just a hand kiss."

"But—"

"If you hadn't abandoned your usual post, I wouldn't have had to go over," Kyouya pointed out. "But now that I think about, it would be rather profitable if you joined Haruhi's customers. Your quirkiness sets off her natural host talent, though there is the issue of yours and Kaoru's customers. I don't think that I would be as popular as when it's the two of you. Forbidden love between twins, after all, is your selling point, and I'm not exactly Kaoru's twin."

Hikaru glared. "You seemed to do okay."

"Is that an attempt to dissuade me from adopting that strategy? Because it seems to be the exact opposite."

Hunny nodded. "It isn't Kyou-chan's fault that you left Kao-chan!" he agreed. "Kyou-chan was only trying to help. If Kyou-chan hadn't stepped in, I would have invited Kao-chan to join me and Takashi instead." He turned towards Mori. "I was just about to, isn't that right, Takashi?"

"Yes," the normally silent senior confirmed.

Hikaru struggled to compose a reply. "Well, obviously, there's nothing wrong with either of you guys…"

"I don't understand why you would treat me any differently from Hunny-sempai or Mori-sempai," Kyouya said coolly. "Unless you are suggesting that Kaoru gave any indication that I meant more to him than an ordinary sempai would."

"Don't be stupid!" Kaoru interjected before Hikaru could reply. "Of course not. Hikaru was just putting on a show for the girls. Right, Hikaru?"

Hikaru glared. "Of course, Kaoru."

"Oh, I see," Kyouya purred. "I understand, naturally. But please don't let your act get out of hand, Hikaru." He gave them a faint nod.

"Then it would be even better to create a love triangle… or square, if Haruhi agrees," Renge chirped, the light of mania flashing in her eyes.

Kyouya began to think it over. "That would be rather effective, at least in the short-term, and fairly simple to pull off. Profits would skyrocket. Hikaru and Kaoru, I doubt that the two of you have any real reason to object. And I think that I can offer Haruhi an incentive concerning her debt…"

Haruhi perked up immediately at the mention of her debt. "What does it entail?" she asked warily.

"Nothing too far, Haruhi, you just have to act like the unwitting boy whom Hikaru gradually falls in love with. Kaoru will naturally be the faithful lover who eventually turns to Kyouya even though he wants to stay with his twin brother and rekindle their fading forbidden love," Renge said brightly.

"It sounds feasible," Kyouya agreed.

Tamaki frowned. "You sound more than a little too eager to take on this job, Kyouya—"

Kyouya's smile dropped. "Then would you rather I do it with you?" he asked, his eyes alight with strange fire.

"The king rules alone, Kyouya," Tamaki said, tossing his head. "But I refuse to let out precious daughter be involved in this sordid scheme."

The light flashed off Kyouya's glasses. "I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing!" the king squeaked, recognizing the danger signs. "Nothing at all, mother, go ahead and raise our daughter as you see fit."

The others stayed quiet, knowing that it was best not to interfere with Kyouya when he was in scary-demon-business-overlord mode. Even Hikaru didn't object.

"Good," Kyouya said, nodding in satisfaction. "I thought that you might see it that way."

"Hikaru… I don't want to go to club tomorrow," Kaoru whispered to his twin as they lay side by side in bed. "I don't want to have to act with Kyouya-sempai. I want to act with you."

His twin was silent a moment. "Well, I guess there's nothing really wrong about it," he finally acknowledged. "I mean, he's right. It's not really like he's any different from Hunny-sempai or Mori-sempai. The only difference is that he can tell us apart, but it's not really that big a thing. I only overreacted because he was all over you and because you were blushing and all. No one molests my little brother."

Kaoru reached out and took Hikaru's hand in his. "You know that I'm not interested in things like that," he said quietly.

Hikaru glanced at him. "Sorry, I know you're not gay," he said. "Didn't mean to imply otherwise."

That wasn't really what I was trying to say… Kaoru took a deep breath, but then released it. There was no point in saying anything now. "Besides, Kyouya-sempai has nothing over you."

Hikaru smirked. "There's no need to do that right now, Kaoru. There's no audience around us."

The younger twin smiled and nodded, a sheepish smile frozen on his face. That's just the problem. Around the audience, it was always Hikaru who initiated everything, always Hikaru who flirted and teased. Alone, he barely even touched Kaoru unless Kaoru touched him.

But Kaoru said nothing about that. "So you mean you're okay with all of this?"

"Yeah," Hikaru said indifferently. "At least I get Haruhi all to myself tomorrow."

Kaoru frowned, but instead of pulling his hand away, he only held on tighter. "Yeah, you guys are lucky."

Hikaru laughed. "I feel kind of sorry for you. You're going to have to hang around Kyouya-sempai all day tomorrow. That's going to suck, big time." He tugged his hand away. "Ouch, that hurt. You crushed my poor fingers." He sighed. "I kind of like the fact that more people can tell us apart now."

"Ah… yeah," Kaoru agreed, snuggling up to him a little.

"Hey, Kaoru, you're too close," Hikaru complained.

"You're hogging the covers, is why," Kaoru said. "I don't know what I should think about being me instead of just part of the Hikaru-and-Kaoru pair." He closed his eyes. "I'm kind of uncomfortable about Kyouya-sempai being the one to know."

Hikaru raised his eyebrows mischievously. "Then let's give him a bit of trouble tomorrow. What do you think?"

"Trouble?" Kaoru repeated, suddenly feeling a sense of foreboding. "Remember that this is Kyouya-sempai we're talking about. Remember the penguin burgers and polar bears as cars?"

"We'll be fine," Hikaru said dismissively. "There's nothing that sempai could do." He smirked. "Besides, I'm bored."

Kaoru sighed. He knew that it was a bad idea, but he agreed anyway. "Okay, okay," he murmured. "You win."

Meanwhile, Kyouya was still dealing with a hyperventilating Tamaki. Apparently the blonde host king had suddenly forgotten about how threatening Kyouya had been—and could be—because Tamaki was still at his house at ten o'clock in the evening, interrupting the Shadow King's studying time. They were supposed to be studying together, but it turned out to be anything but.

"Those devilish twins, targeting not only Haruhi but you, Kyouya," Tamaki bemoaned. "I cannot stand by idly when my beloved best friend is under the spell of—"

Kyouya was offended. "No one can manipulate me," he said tartly, slamming his History book shut. He had studied okay, managing to tune Tamaki out for the most part. But now that he was done, there was nothing to distract him from the host king's words grating on his ears. "Shouldn't you go home now?"

Tamaki seemed to wilt under his fierce gaze. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked in a small voice.

Instantly Kyouya felt a stab of guilt—an emotion he rarely felt save for around Tamaki. "No, you can stay," he said curtly. "But it's rather late, Tamaki, and I don't want to keep you." He began repacking his things into his bag. 'I don't want to keep you' was actually polite code for 'please leave now'.

Tamaki shook his head. "Dad's away. It's just grandmother at home."

Kyouya stopped, knowing what Tamaki meant. "Oh." He looked at the blonde. With that look of sorrow so evident in those purple eyes, he knew that he would start to make consoling offers that he would definitely end up regretting later. Might as well get them over with. "You can sleep over," he said grudgingly.

They had an excess of space in the house anyway. One more person staying for the night wouldn't be that much trouble—it would hardly even be noticed. "You can have your chauffeur send your uniform and things over."

"Really?" Tamaki asked, brightening. It was kind of pathetic really, but Kyouya found himself softening despite that fact.

"Yes, really." Kyouya stood up. "I'll show you to one of the guest rooms—"

"No," Tamaki protested. "I want to stay with you, Kyouya."

Kyouya paused before nodding, turning away from the host king so that his expression couldn't be seen. "All right, then. You win this time."

The following day started off with quite a bang. Kyouya had a sleepy, irritated look about him that radiated an aura of don't touch me unless you want to die and Tamaki was shying away from him as much as possibleKaoru was glaring at Hikaru with a venom that made the older twin cringe. It was also noted that the younger redhead had bruises on his face.

"Tamaki-sempai?" Haruhi asked. "Why are you hiding from Kyouya-sempai?"

Tamaki shuddered. "Have you ever seen Kyouya wake up on a weekday?"

"Uh… no." Haruhi exchanged a glance with the seniors, but Hunny and Mori just shrugged back at her. "Why?"

The Shadow King was a lot of things, but morning person wasn't one of them. They had seen him awaken during the weekends before, but apparently that was nothing compared to him getting up for school. "I didn't mean to wake him up like that," Tamaki whimpered.

As it turned out, Tamaki had bounced out of bed at five-thirty sharp, forgetting exactly who he was talking to and proceeding to shake Kyouya repeatedly while singing a good morning.

"Apparently Kyouya needs at least four alarm clocks to get him to wake up," Tamaki said in a low voice. "And they were all set for six. I woke him up a half-hour early, and now he's mad at me."

"Why were you there anyway?" Haruhi asked.

"I just stayed the night. We were studying together," Tamaki said, still trying to avoid Kyouya's piercing eyes.

"Okay, but Kyou-chan understands, right, Kyou-chan?" Hunny piped up.

Kyouya forced a smile on his face. "Oh yes, 'Kyou-chan' gets it," he said in a menacing tone. Mori immediately picked Hunny up and took him away from the Shadow King's immediate vicinity. Kyouya wasn't base enough to crack his knuckles or make direct threats, but the nuances in his attitude were enough.

"Perhaps I should count myself lucky that you saved me some money, Tamaki," he said smoothly. "After all, I normally smash all those alarm clocks in the morning, and I have to replace them with new ones everyday." He scribbled something down in his notebook. "I will, however, charge you for disrupting my sleeping time and lowering my efficiency rate."

Tamaki winced. "No, mother—!"

But Kyouya had already pulled out his phone and was dialing a number into it. "Hello? Takada Catering? We'd like to order five of everything on your menu. Please deliver it to Ouran High School. The bill can be charged to the Suoh family."

"If you're mad at me, don't take it out on my bank account!" wailed Tamaki. "I'm going to get into trouble with grandmother if you overspend!"

"Kyouya-sempai, maybe you should give Tamaki-sempai a break…" Haruhi ventured.

"Yeah, Kyou-chan," Hunny agreed. "Tama-chan didn't really mean to disturb you."

"And an extra portion of your finest ootoro," Kyouya added. Haruhi brightened and immediately stopped her defense of the host king. "And strawberry cake," he added, effectively silencing Hunny.

"Then how come Kao-chan is angry at Hika-chan?" asked Hunny.

Kaoru gave a tight smile that looked more like a grimace. "I'm not mad," he said.

"Did Hika-chan beat you up?" Hunny questioned, suddenly frowning at Hikaru as he moved to touch Kaoru's arm. Kaoru let out a yelp and jerked away, wincing. Mori's brow furrowed and he tugged at Kaoru's jacket, exposing more markings running down Kaoru's arms.

Hikaru looked sheepish. "I really didn't mean to kick you off the bed, Kaoru…"

His twin glared at him. "It's not the getting-kicked-off-the-bed thing that pisses me off," he said shortly. "It's more of the fact that you kicked me so hard I nearly flew across the room." He gritted his teeth. "Five times." Each time he had tried to get back in bed, but Hikaru would promptly boot him off. Giving up, he had finally fallen asleep on the floor.

"Maybe you guys should try sleeping in separate beds, then," Haruhi pointed out.

The twins exchanged looks. Hikaru was staring guiltily at the black-and-blue spots on his brother's white skin. "Maybe," he said doubtfully. He was still pretty amazed that he had kicked his brother that hard. Maybe Kaoru just bruised easily…

"No," Kaoru said with firm conviction. "It's fine, okay? I'm not mad." '

"However, those bruises will serve to raise your rating with the customers, if you can turn it into one of your acts," Kyouya said indifferently. "If they don't hurt very much, that is. I think that you should take a painkiller or two, in any case. I have some medical supplies at the back. I'll get them." With a tilt of his chin, he indicated that Kaoru was supposed to follow him.

"Thanks," Kaoru said, getting to his feet and starting after him. He paused for a moment to check whether Hikaru would come along out of concern.

But instead, Hikaru sat with Haruhi and began kidding around, only to be berated by Tamaki for 'corrupting his innocent daughter'.

"Don't look back," Kyouya murmured to him.

"Eh?" Kaoru said, looking up.

Kyouya shrugged. "It would be easier if we didn't."

"Kaoru-kun, don't those hurt?" one of the girls asked, concerned. "They look awful."

He tried to smile. Of course they hurt, surely you aren't that stupid. The club had been in full swing for half an hour already, and the painkiller was starting to wear off. He had decided not to take the stronger ones since they would only make him sleepy—and the host club's customers didn't exactly appreciate it when you fell asleep while talking to them. The only one who could get away with that was Hunny-sempai. "It's nothing," he said, dropping his gaze to his lap. "It's just that… Kyouya…" He faltered at just the right moment.

"You mean that you're into Kyouya-sama now?" one of them gasped. "But what about Hikaru-kun?"

Kaoru's eyes widened. "I would never leave my beloved Hikaru," he said firmly. He was unconscious of his nails digging into the soft flesh of the base of his palm. His eyes followed his twin, who was holding a squirming Haruhi in his lap. "But if… if his interests lie with someone else… then… I just want him to be happy…" His hand moved smoothly to put the eye drops in, but the way his bruised arm knocked against the couch made it unnecessary. Moisture sprang into his eyes from the pain.

"Oh, Kaoru-kun!" the girls wailed, squeezing him tight with sympathy—also managing to hit all the spots where he had been knocked against the wall last night.

Oh, brother.

"Does it hurt?" Kyouya murmured by his side, appearing out of nowhere. Kaoru let out a little squeak and scooted away, causing the Shadow King to chuckle. "I'm not that bad, am I? I'm not going to eat you, Kaoru."

"Ah… yeah," Kaoru said, making room for him on the couch. Kyouya took his seat beside him and offered the girls a simple, charming smile, causing all of the 'princesses' to blush.

"You were the one who bruised Kaoru-kun?" one of them questioned.

Kyouya paused for just a moment, taking a sip of the fine quality tea that the Takada Catering group had delivered. "Why don't you tell them what happened, Kaoru?" he asked, voice like velvet.

Kaoru flushed. "I—I…" It was a lot harder to pull off this act without Hikaru. At least he knew Hikaru inside and out; he could read his twin like a book. Playing the part with Kyouya was like groping blindly in the darkness. "Kyouya-sempai, that's not appropriate for them to hear!" he finally said.

Kyouya didn't bother replying, only examined the bruises a little more carefully. He looked into Kaoru's eyes and knew that the tears weren't just from the eye drops. "I think you should put a little medicinal cream on those," he said. "I'm sure that they hurt."

"It's okay, sempai," Kaoru tried to insist. "They don't hurt a bit." Kyouya raised an eyebrow and with a swift gesture pressed his thumb lightly on one of the markings.

"OUCH! YOU F—!

Kaoru reddened both from the expletives he had just let out and the looks of shock that the rest of the people in the room shot his way. Tamaki had dropped his teacup on the floor—Kyouya was definitely going to charge him for that later—and Mori was covering Hunny's ears while looking admonishingly at him. "Okay, they hurt just a little bit," he admitted, completely humiliated. "And I apologize for… speaking in language inappropriate for the ears of you princesses." He winced.

"That's okay, Kaoru-kun," they said, still a little taken aback. "After all, we know that you're in pain right now."

Kyouya nodded. "Come on, Kaoru." He put a soft smile on his face just for the girls. "Excuse us for a moment, ladies."

"Damn it, that hurt!" Kaoru whispered through clenched teeth.

"I know," Kyouya said. "That's why I dragged you here."

Kaoru bit his lip. "I'm surprised that you care, sempai."

"Don't get the wrong idea. Your efficiency will be lowered if you aren't in top physical condition," Kyouya said coldly. He hauled him behind the curtain but took care to handle the Hitachiin with care. "You can shrug off the top part of the kimono." Somehow he could make 'you can' sound like an order, and after hesitating just a moment, he obeyed.

"I never realized that we had so much medical stuff back here," Kaoru noted, taking in all the shiny equipment. There was even a dentist's chair, for heaven's sake. It made him wonder why they ever bothered using the infirmary when they had all of this in the music room.

Kyouya came up after rummaging in the boxes for a small tin of balm. "Yes, well, I had it completed just a couple of weeks earlier." He put a tiny amount of the cream onto his hand. "I thought that it was wise, considering just exactly who our king is."

Kaoru laughed. "True. Milord is accident-prone."

"That," Kyouya said, "is obvious." He sighed. "Stupid Tamaki." He heard a muffled noise of rage, and people shushing that person. Both he and Kaoru exchanged looks. Then his dark eyes wandered over the curtain, where he saw a shadow. A smirk spread slowly on his face. "We have an audience," he murmured too softly for anyone to hear.

Kaoru smiled impishly. "Oh really?" He checked the figures silhouetted conspicuously on the other side. "That's Renge, to be sure. Mori-sempai and Hunny-sempai. And I think that's Tamaki… and the customers." He felt a pang of regret when he recognized Hikaru's outline melding seamlessly into Haruhi's. Small comfort that Tamaki's shadow was basically impossible to tell apart from Haruhi's as well.

"I believe Tamaki and Hikaru are… how do they say it? 'Glomping' Haruhi," Kyouya said dryly. "They're all looking for something juicy to overhear." He raised his voice slightly as he smeared some of the cool balm onto Kaoru's skin. "Feels good?"

"A-ah, yeah," Kaoru said, grinning. His eyes widened. "Ah!" he said, as Kyouya accidentally pressed too hard on one spot. "Kyouya-sempai!"

"Sorry, I'll try to be a little gentler," Kyouya said, smirking. They heard the distinct sound of a 'Kyaa!' from the other side of the curtain, and the two of them shook with suppressed laughter.

"No, it's okay, sempai… that feels amazing," Kaoru said.

At that, the curtain was ripped open. Hikaru and Tamaki were both staring, furious and breathing hard, at the two of them.

"Yes?" Kyouya asked. Even though Kaoru had his top off, the tin of healing salve that Kyouya was holding justified anything. "Did you need anything?"

"Ah… nothing," Tamaki and Hikaru said, both blushing to the roots of their hair.

Okay, so Kaoru had had fun tricking Hikaru and the others. But now Hikaru was annoyed at him. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?" he said for the thousandth time. "Kyouya-sempai and I were only trying to pull some fun on milord and the customers."

Hikaru glared at him. "You made me look stupid."

It was time to pull the guilt card. "Yeah, well, you made me look like a zebra," Kaoru said, indicating the black marks on his white skin.

Blanching at the offhand remark, Hikaru muttered, "Okay, I'm sorry too." He suddenly grinned. "Hey Kaoru, remember how we said we would give Kyouya-sempai some trouble?"

Kaoru paled. "Yeah, I remember," he muttered. "Are we going through with that?"

"Sure we are!" Hikaru said enthusiastically. "Come on, we're going to start with phase one."

"Phase one?" Kaoru echoed. "You didn't tell me about the plan at all."

"Kaoru-kun!" his customers called out. Their eyes sparkled when they saw Hikaru with him. "And Hikaru-kun, are you coming back?"

"Yeah," Hikaru said, positively beaming at them. Kaoru frowned; the smile was devious, and he didn't like it one bit when Hikaru smiled that way—at least, when it was only Hikaru smiling that way. He preferred it when their expressions mirrored each other's. With a weary sigh, He allowed his brother to drag him back to the girls.

"Um… Hikaru… what exactly does phase one entail?"

"I don't know, actually," his brother said nonchalantly. "If I knew, I would have told you. But let's just wing it for now."

"Just… just wing it," Kaoru repeated, feeling a small measure of relief at the words. That was good. Usually Hikaru had some elaborate plan in mind—which usually never went according to their carefully laid preparations, but always had some explosive effect anyway. "Okay…"

"Kyouya-sama already left to join his own customers," one of the girls sighed. "What a pity…" Then she glanced slyly up at Hikaru. "Don't you care in the least that your brother is involved with Kyouya-sama?"

Hikaru paused. "But of course," he said. "I love Kaoru, body and soul."

"But you're always with Haruhi-kun," one of girls noted.

"Eh, Haruhi's our best friend!" Hikaru protested. "I would never let anyone else have my brother. But it looks like… like someone stole you from me, my beloved Kaoru."

Kaoru flushed. "Hi-Hikaru, of course not," he said. "I… I tried to…"

"Ssh, it's okay. I don't blame you for what happened," Hikaru crooned, tilting his twin's chin so that Kaoru was gazing up at him. "Although knowing that sempai touched you in places where only I'm supposed to touch…"

For some reason Kaoru was irritated. Maybe it was the act that was grating on his nerves. The way that Hikaru looked at him, as though he loved him. That light in those mischievous eyes… well, he knew well that Hikaru didn't love him, whatever his actions might have suggested. He didn't reply, causing his brother to halt their act and look at him in confusion.

"I think I'm a bit tired," Kaoru said, knowing that Hikaru wanted an explanation. He didn't really feel like providing one, but just because he was annoyed at his twin didn't mean that he had fallen out of love with him.

And he was in love with Hikaru, much as he despised himself for it.

"Oh, okay," Hikaru said after a moment's silence. The girls watched them quizzically.

Kaoru forced a smile on his face. "So, whatever happened to phase one?"

Hikaru grinned again. "It starts now."

A/N: Phew, glad that's over... Cliffhanger, anyone? Haha.

Anyway, I'll try to update soon, but I have yet MORE exams tomorrow... and then a contest... and then training... and then more contests... so you get the picture, right? I'm actually supposed to be writing an essay, but I'm skiving off at the moment. Lol. Anyway, forgive the slap-dash job I did at the moment. I'll try to make the next chapter a bit better, if I don't rush it.

And, as always, more reviews equal faster updates! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, and remember, I reply to any and all reviews.