A/N: Hello! I apologize that the last two chapters were pretty short. I like to focus a lot on the development of the characters in my writing, so the beginning of my stories typically feel a bit slow because I give main characters such a long introduction period. Just thought I'd mention that as a future warning.
Anyway, please review! I love comments on the story and if you have any suggestions or constructive criticism I'm all ears!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran, unfortunately ... :( All credits go to their rightful owners.
The following week, Tsukiko built up the courage to walk into the music room during business hours. Hesitantly, she turned the curved, golden doorknob with a small creak and a "click".
"Ah, Shizukara-san. Who would you like to request today?" Kyoya asked, clipboard poised.
"Um, I- … may I request … Mori-sempai?" she asked timidly. The twins, having been eavesdropping on the whole conversation, almost fell over. Tsukiko? and Mori? Seriously?!
"Your request has been noted. Please make your way to Mori's table at the west side of the room. He has no other customers right now because it is so late in business hours, so you can have a free conversation with him," Kyoya said. She nodded.
The table was, indeed, empty. Mori gave her a light smile, much to her surprise. She could vaguely feel the presence of the twins, probably eavesdropping again.
"G-good afternoon, Mori-sempai," she stuttered. Why was she stuttering?!
"Hm."
"Um, I need a favor, actually. It's ... about the twins. I'm not sure how well you know them, but I feel like you are the easiest to talk to, so I was wondering if you could tell me if they're more social recently. I remember that they didn't really interact with others when I first befriended them," she said, nervously fingering a short lock of hair.
"They've been better since Haruhi came. Haruhi seems to have been a good influence on them," he said, surprising everyone in the room by how much he was actually speaking. He never even spoke this much for his regular customers.
"T-thank you. Thank you for telling me. I'm glad," she said, smiling for the first time during this visit. The students watching didn't think that they could be surprised any more, but they were soon proven wrong when Mori gave Tsukiko a gentle pat on the head and another smile. She found Mori's presence comforting. His aura was actually surprisingly gentle, and he seemed more talkative than she'd expected. The moment, however, was soon shattered when the twins bolted upright and dashed to Mori's table, forcefully pulling Tsukiko out of her chair and dragging her to their table.
"Eh? Hikaru? Kaoru? What the-"
"HOW COULD YOU HAVE FALLEN FOR MORI-SEMPAI?!" they practically screamed at her.
"What? I was just asking him a favor. Jeez, calm down. I haven't fallen for anyone," she laughed, as if the idea was the most incredulous thing that she'd ever heard. Their table was also currently empty, Haruhi and Tamaki's being the only ones with customers.
"Actually, I need to ask you guys something. How did Haruhi managed to get tangled up in your mess?" she asked, the question having been nagging at her in the back of her brain for quite some time now.
"That's actually a pretty funny story. She broke this vase that was worth 180,000,000 yen and now has to repay it by getting a thousand customers to request her," the twins laughed in
sync. She glanced at the disguised girl, suddenly feeling a wash of pity roll over her. Poor thing.
"S-seriously? You guys actually did that to her?" she sweatdropped, wondering why she'd even bothered to ask. She could totally envision them forcing the poor girl into a boy's uniform and throwing her out into a crowd of swarming girls.
"I suddenly feel sooooo sympathetic towards the poor girl," she muttered under her breath, but loud enough that the twins could hear her.
"She's been an interesting toy," they smirked, eyes glinting evilly. She facepalmed, giving up on trying to salvage the last bit of respect or familiar feelings that she had for the twins.
"Naw, don't worry too much over it," Kaoru smiled. He draped an arm over her shoulders.
"Secretly, I think Haruhi enjoys being here, weird as it might sound," Hikaru continued, wrapping his arm around her waist and leaning in just a little too close for comfort.
Her face bloomed with color, and she stood up abruptly to push the two mischief makers off of her and bolt to the other side of the room. She found Mori and hid behind his conveniently tall figure.
"Ehh? Tsukiko-chan? Were the twins bugging you? You can come hang out with us if you want," Honey smiled, pink flowers practically floating around him as he radiated with cuteness.
He was so adorable!
"I always knew they were mischievous, I guess I just need to get used to it again. It's been a while…" she smiled nervously, slightly overwhelmed by his ridiculous cuteness. This guy was a third year, right?
"Awwww, but Hikaru-chan, we miiissssed you~!" The twins sang in sync, appearing out of nowhere from behind her and causing her to trip and nearly fall flat on her face. However, before she was able to do that a strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her into someone's hold.
Ah, this scent was so nostalgic. Kaoru.
"Seriously, Tsukiko-chan, don't ever leave us again. It was so lonely and quiet without you constantly singing and humming whatever pieces you were working on," he whispered into her ear quickly while he still had her in his grip.
She escaped not long afterward, a blush creeping up her cheeks at the fact that his breath had been tickling a sensitive spot that she happened to have on her neck right below her ear.
"I-I won't. I finally finished my training, and the next few years of my 'career' involves winning every competition in Japan, since music has gained some steam again here. And that'll take a while. Competition here is stiff, and stylistically, my approach towards music won't be received well here, so that's another challenge that my advisors are trying to throw at me," she smiled in the most fake and exhausted way that either of the twins had ever seen out of her. And that was saying something.
"Hey."
They were speaking in sync again, the tone of their voices having suddenly become quite serious.
"What's up?" she asked, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly.
"You need to take a break."
Hikaru.
"Yeah, we can see that look on your face that's screaming-"
Kaoru.
"-that you're gonna overwork yourself and pass out again any minute now."
Hikaru again.
She was a little speechless at that. And then the ridiculousness of the whole situation hit her and she couldn't help but burst into a fit of giggles.
"You guys are weird," she giggled.
And suddenly everything felt a little off, but in a good way. A little different.
She'd gotten a little more feminine, her pale, blue eyes were rounder, her face was softer, and her hair had grown out into long twists and furls of raven black. She was also noticeably curvier, and her fingers were longer and thinner. Her chocolate eyes, which used to be bright and fresh, now held something more. It was a weary, tired dullness that hadn't been there before, a fire of determination and something darker than that too. Maybe desperation. Maybe heartbreak. Kaoru couldn't help but wonder what she'd seen in the years she'd been gone. And Hikaru wondered if there was a way to erase the dullness and replace it with the light that had been there before.
They'd gotten taller. And their facial features had gotten, if possible, even more good-looking. Thier eyes held the same cat-like nature as before, but a lot more playfulness and light than they'd had the last time she'd seen them. Hikaru's voice had deepened in the deep, low tone of a cello's D-string, whereas Kaoru's had taken on the mellow, warm tones of a viola's C-string in third position. Suddenly, she could see why they did so well as hosts in a host club. They were cute, in the way that makes people on the street stop to stare. Had they always been this good-looking?
"How did I end up here?"
Tsukiko stared in bewilderment at the familiar marble staircase, and glared lightly at the twin maids that had brought *ahem* kidnapped *ahem* her to what she knew was the twins' mansion.
Ah, and speak of the devil. Or devils, apparently.
"Tsukiko-chan! It's been forever since you visited, and as soon as we found out you were back in Japan we decided to invite you to a sleepover! It's been forever since we had one!" they said in sync, and she sweatdropped.
"Uh, have you guys asked my parents?" she inquired, quirking an eyebrow.
"Yes! They agreed immediately!"
Crap, they'd gotten to her boy-crazy mom. She was stuck now.
"So what do you say we should do first? Movie? Brunch? Or do you want to play dress-up?" The twins asked, still in sync, with a mischievous grin.
"Actually, do you guys still have that piano in your guest room?" she asked, sighing because of all the days they had to pick to kidnap her, it had to be the day when she'd planned to do an extreme practice on her Mozart and Chopin pieces.
Kaoru's eyes widened and, to both Hikaru and Tsukiko's surprise, the younger twin grabbed Tsukiko's hand and pulled her up the marble staircase in a direction she knew all too well.
"Kaoru?" Hikaru asked, confused, but said nothing after seeing his twin's expression.
"Here."
He pulled open a door of oak and brass doorknobs revealing a vast library of bookshelves surrounding a 9-foot grand concert piano.
Tsukiko found herself wandering in towards the instrument, letting her hands run along the shelves of books all along the walls. Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Brahms, it was like a collection of all the works of all her favorite composers.
"Guys, this is amazing. You didn't have this last time," she breathed, eyes flitting over their vast collection of Kreisler arrangements and quartet scores.
"We had it built right before you left-" Kaoru started.
"But you were so engrossed in that competition in Germany that was forcing you to move-" Hikaru continued.
"That we never got a chance to show you," Kaoru finished.
Tsukiko snapped back to reality at that, turning to stare at her two best childhood friends.
"Guys … I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry that I left," she whispered, gaze dropping to the floor. Tears had begun to sting her eyes, and she bit her lip.
She'd never wanted to leave, but music was her passion. But had it been worth it? Worth the tears and the emotional breakdowns because, why, why couldn't she get that stupid passage down? Or the lost sleep, or the hate she'd gotten from competition, or the stress, or the practicing while sick, or the lost meals, the passing out right before concerts-?
A sudden embrace stopped her thoughts short as Kaoru's and Hikaru's arms found themselves around her shoulders. The twins rested their chins on her head, Kaoru rubbing her back gently, Hikaru stroking her hair.
They were so warm, and she felt so safe, and, gosh, she'd missed them so much.
"Hey, it's okay. We missed you too, Tsukiko-chan," Hikaru mumbled into her hair.
The three finally reunited friends held that position for a while, savoring each other's comfort and presence.