The song for the title of this chapter has some connection to the chapter's contents. Plus, not a lotta humor in this chapter. Anyhow, onto the good stuff.

CH2: m-flo loves Yoshika – Let Go (I highly recommend this song…so much, in fact, that I'd be willing to send you it)

Kaoru stood outside the Kendo practice room, seemingly lost in the flood of buff and well-built students. But try as hard as he may, he could not find Mori.
"Christ…he's at least half a foot taller than everyone here and I can't find him!" he muttered aloud. Seeing as he would have to wait a bit longer, he went and sat on a bench across the Kendo room. Minutes passed by without any signs of Mori: just a continual flood of students walking into the room and walking out. But the students didn't stomp their feet or slam the door. Rather, they made almost no noise at all, save for the pitter patter of their quick steps. It reminded Kaoru of a rainy day. A long and rainy day, where Kaoru would eventually fall asleep listening to the rhythm of the rain.
"I guess…I guess I can take a little nap…" muttered Kaoru as he began to doze off.

Normally, Kaoru would have awakened of his own accord. Today, however, a sharp pungent smell awoke him. He sat straight up, trying to locate the origin of the foul odor. That was when he noticed that he was no longer on the bench. He was in the men's locker room. The odor was most likely sweat.
"What kind of a joke is this?" grumbled Kaoru as he got up to get out.
"Oh. You're awake." Kaoru spun around to see whose voice it was. There, in front of him, stood a half-naked Mori. He had one towel wrapped around his waist and one towel slung over his shoulders. But other than that, it was all bare skin. Kaoru could feel blood rushing for his nose(1). He quickly pinched his nose.
"Oh, Mori-sempai, there you are. I've been looking all over for you" said Kaoru through his squeezed nose. Mori looked at him questioningly.
"…Do I smell that bad?"
"Ah…well, uh…heh" stuttered Kaoru. No way in hell was he telling Mori about the waterfall of blood ready to escape his nose that very moment. "Yeah you kinda do" he lied. Mori chuckled and started to head for the showers.
"…I'll be done soon." Taking his cue, Kaoru ran for the sink and let the blood run from his nose.

Kaoru walked alongside Mori as they headed for the Third Music Room. There was no particular theme planned for the day, so they could take their time. But once again, the silence between them bothered Kaoru. He tried to quicken his pace and hoped Mori would too. Sure enough, Mori began to take larger strides to keep up with Kaoru. They stopped at the doors to the Third Music Room, only to find a note on the door.
"Oye, you two are LATE! The rest of us have already headed on over to the BBQ. Do us a favor and bring the two coolers in the room will ya? Thanks! Hikaru." Kaoru had completely forgotten about the BBQ for today.
"Ah damn, Tamaki's gonna bitch at us later…" sighed Kaoru.
"…It's my fault" said Mori in a regretful tone.
"No worries Mori-sempai" chuckled Kaoru nervously. "Me and Hikaru will team up on him if he starts up." Mori's stoic face did not change however. 'He sure can get worked up over nothin' thought Kaoru to himself.

The two made the long journey from the Third Music Room all the way to the front courtyard. Well…technically it was a short journey, but carrying the heavy coolers slowed Kaoru down considerably. At first, he tried holding the cooler by the handles on its side. But that started to tire his arms out. So he switched to pulling the cooler around on its corner. That made it difficult to walk up and down stairs. Finally, he settled with pushing the cooler around. He didn't care if the cooler fell down the stairs. He was damn tired.
"…You really shouldn't do that, Kaoru" sighed Mori. He leaned over and picked the cooler up in one hand and hoisted it onto his shoulder. The other cooler he held against his hip.
"Damn, Mori-sempai, ya got some big guns there" joked Kaoru. Mori actually began looking around, as if searching for guns.
"…muscles, Mori. I meant muscles." Kaoru chuckled a little as he thought of the famous saying: "All brawns and no brains".

It really wasn't their lucky day. It really wasn't. All doors leading outside were sealed off because they were either being repaired or repainted.
"How the hell do we get out then" grumbled Kaoru, annoyed. They had come to the 15th exit, only to find it sealed off too (apparently, Hunny had knocked down this door during one of his rampages). The two continued their search for an exit when the silence started to settle in again.
"So Mori…" said Kaoru as he tried to start up a conversation. "What'd you do today?"
"…wake up…eat…drink…go to school…"
"I meant something interesting."
"…I had natto for breakfast…"
"That's…that's nice…" Talking to Mori was virtually impossible. Kaoru kept silent for a moment as he tried to think of something else to talk about.
"…Do you feel uncomfortable around me?" asked Mori suddenly.
"What? What makes you think that?" asked Kaoru, trying to sound as surprised as possible.
"You…you normally do not talk so much to anyone…unless out of necessity…or because of Hikaru." Kaoru stopped in his tracks.
"Well…well I don't always depend on Hikaru" said Kaoru indignantly.
"…Well I didn't say that" said Mori without even looking at him.
"And…why can't I try and have a decent conversation? Is that so wrong?" he asked angrily.
"I didn't say that either…" Mori turned around now. He looked Kaoru straight in the eye with his serious expression on. "I was merely trying…to get to know you. If you can get to know me, then why can't I get to know you?" Kaoru didn't answer. He didn't exactly know why he had responded so defensively. He also didn't know why he had to lie…especially to Mori of all people. He continued past Mori but ignored him. But just as he started to descend the stairs…he slipped on a banana peel. He lost consciousness as he rolled down the stairs.

"I'm not desperate" Kaoru muttered aloud. He was floating in darkness. But he seemed to have regained consciousness.
"Are you really?" asked a voice he didn't recognize.
"I'm…I'm not."
"Seems like you are…"
"I'm not!"
"Then…who do you depend on?"
"Well, Hikaru of course."
"…But you just said that you don't depend on him."
"So I lied. Bite me."
"He's not always there with you."
"Uh…yeah he is."
"…He's not always there to listen to you."
"Yeah he is!"
"…He's not always there to help you when you need it most."
"Yeah―"
"Look, just shut up and listen to me goddammit. The point is, Hikaru's not always there for you. But you, on the other hand, need someone to always be there for you." Kaoru had no idea who the voice was…but the voice stirred a feeling of guilt within him.(2)
"I…I know that. But…I try­―"
"You try what?"
"…I try my hardest. To not depend on him."
"Doesn't seem to be working. No matter what you say, at the end of the day you hafta run back to him."
"Well, duh. We live in the same house after all" replied Kaoru sarcastically.
"You think he's the only one you can trust…the only one you can believe in. You on the other hand have sealed yourself off from others. But Hikaru, he doesn't depend on you. Look at him. He's got Haruhi."
"Stop it" commanded Kaoru.
"He doesn't need you. He's got Haruhi."
"Stop it!" yelled Kaoru.
"In fact, he doesn't even want you as a brother. Aren't you just another burden to him, clinging to his shirt every moment of his life?"
"…stop it" pleaded Kaoru. He felt weak. Like his energy was leaking out of him.
"He'll leave you one day."
"…stop…" begged Kaoru now. Even though he was floating in mid-air, he felt like he was curled up into the fetal position. He felt completely sapped of energy…not even enough energy to shed a tear.

"Kaoru?" This voice was different.
"Wake up, Kaoru." It was a gruff but gentle voice.
"…wake up. Please…" Kaoru opened his eyes. He sat up and immediately noticed that he was in the nurse's office. There by his bed was Mori. His face was buried into the covers and he seemed to be brooding over something.
"Oye Mori-sempai, what happened?" Mori jolted upright. His eyes seemed to be glazed over.
"Kaoru…" uttered Mori in a low voice. "…Are you alright?"
"Yeah…" Of course, Kaoru wasn't all right, there were some bruises on his body. That was when he realized that he was shirtless.
"…I'm sorry" apologized Mori. He bowed his head as if there was something to be ashamed of.
"Hey now, it's all good. Nothin' serious right?"
"But…you fell…" continued Mori.
"Because I wasn't looking where I was going."
"…Because you felt uncomfortable around me." Kaoru started to chuckle. Mori really did take everything too seriously.
"And you carried me all the way here right? And…I'm alive…and my bruises hurt…and I'm shirtless…" Kaoru said slowly, clearly imitating Mori's style of speech. Mori's face was still hardened.
"Oh come on. I'm really alright" sighed Kaoru. He closed his eyes and tried to lay back…only to realize too late what was happening…again. His body willed him to lean forward, just as it did yesterday. He couldn't stop it. Well, he didn't want to stop it. His face began to slowly inch towards Mori. But again, he had no idea if Mori was preparing for a kiss either. 'Why can't I open my damn eyes?' he mumbled to his inner self.

Seconds passed by, but to Kaoru, it felt like hours. He imagined how awkward he looked. He imagined how awkward Mori must've felt if the feeling wasn't mutual. He imagined how awkward it would've been to walk in and see them both like so. He imagined…and his imagination was fulfilled. Warms arms wrapped around his bare flesh and drew him into an even warmer body. Kaoru braced himself for the kiss…only to find his mouth nuzzled against Mori's shoulder. So, his imagination was only half-fulfilled…better than nothing. Mori held his hug over Kaoru for a moment or two and then released him from his embrace suddenly.
"Heh…what was that for?" asked Kaoru nonchalantly. In truth, his heart was beating rapidly and sweat was pouring down his back.
"…To say I'm sorry."
"Well I already said it's alright and all…"
"…Well I mean sorry in more ways than one…" Mori stood up and started to head for the door.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"…Some things are better left unsaid."

TBC

A source of enlightenment for the enlightened reader:

1) don't know if this note is necessary but: bloody nose thinking naughty thoughts/getting horny or turned on

2) voice of his conscience if you haven't figured it out

R&R plz, cuz reviews to a fanfic writer are like cake to a fat kid.


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