disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club.
Prompt 02 | Wind
word count: 583
Haruhi swore she was never getting on the ferris wheel alone with Hikaru ever again.
So, when Kaoru took Haruhi by the hand after Hikaru went to get some drinks, Haruhi thought it shouldn't be so bad. When separated from Hikaru, Kaoru was more relaxed and down-to-earth. He was more mature and quite calmer than his brother. He was pleasant to be around had more self-control than his brother. Where Hikaru tended to act recklessly, Kaoru would be more rational.
But then the ferris wheel came to a stop while their cabin was nearing the top, the care-free smile practically glued on his face since they arrived at the carnival several hours earlier had been replaced with something Haruhi didn't often see on him. As his eyes scanned the trees in the distance, watching the branches dancing gracefully in the wind, they darkened.
Haruhi furrowed her eyebrows together as she watched him. His hands prompted on the bench on either side of him. His posture was rather loose. There was a grim twist to his mouth.
This wasn't the Kaoru she'd gotten on the ferris wheel with.
"Alright, spill." The words rolled off her tongue as she spoke, not even bothering to see if he even wanted to talk to her.
He didn't answer right away, as if he were weighing his words. And when he did speak, he didn't attempt to make eye contact, almost like he was talking the air beside her rather than her.
"I don't get it."
Haruhi raised an eyebrow. "Get what?"
"My dumb brother."
When he offered nothing more, she said, "Explain."
"I thought I knew him, ya know?" He let out a shaky sigh. "He's not just my brother, he's my twin brother. We've only had each other our whole lives. But lately, he's been different."
"Different how?"
"He's distancing himself from me… and I don't know how to talk to him about it." His words were soft—almost vulnerable.
At first, Haruhi didn't know how to respond. She had no siblings. She wasn't the closest to her father. Sometimes all she had was the club.
And she knew sometimes all Hikaru and Kaoru had were each other.
Haruhi knew it was Hikaru Kaoru needed at that moment. But she also knew he was searching for a friend to turn to. He was scared. He was hurting. And he was confused.
He needed someone to tell him it would take time. He needed someone to be his shoulder to lean on. He needed someone to let him everything between him and Hikaru would be alright.
"How do I talk to him, when he won't talk to me about it?"
Kaoru needed a friend at that moment, and he had picked Haruhi, out of all the other club members to be that friend.
She stood in the cabin, moving to sit next to Kaoru and place a hand over his in for reassurance.
"Your brother is dumb," she offered, "and maybe he's going about whatever he's dealing with in the wrong way. But he'll come around."
This time, Kaoru eyes met her gaze and Haruhi noticed they didn't look as dark. "You sure?"
"He's your brother, not mine."
And Kaoru laughed. A laugh that reached his eyes. Nothing fake or foreign about it. A genuine laugh.
"Yeah, Haruhi, I guess you're right."