Wednesday morning dawned cool and foggy. Dressed in their Ouran uniforms, the Hitachiin twins stepped out of their family's mansion and into the car which was waiting to escort them to school. The drive, which would've felt long and dreary if yesterday's silence had continued into today, was made shorter by the twins' persistent banter throughout the journey.
"Kaoru, did you remember to brush your hair?" Hikaru scolded. "Of course! Is it still a mess?" Kaoru raked a few fingers through his auburn hair, frantically trying to straighten it out. "Perhaps next time I want you to have neat hair, I should be a bit gentler," Hikaru growled, leaning in so that the twins' faces were only centimeters apart.
Kaoru shrank back into the seat just a fraction, blushing profusely. Hikaru never seemed to stop teasing his little brother. Whether the Host Club was in session or not, the innuendos never ended. "H-Hikaru!" The younger boy protested.
Hikaru laughed and retreated to his initial seat. He couldn't help picking on his brother all the time; Kaoru blushed so easily that it hardly took much effort on the elder Hitachiin's part to initiate a rosy tint to his twin's cheeks. Besides, it kept both of their skills sharp for the Host Club.
The car idled beside the Ouran campus' main entrance, allowing the two boys to emerge from its air-conditioned interior. All around them, students of all ages walked into Ouran Private Academy, talking and laughing in small groups. The Hitachiin twins, as usual, walked by themselves. They were a private island in a sea of growing nations.
When they reached the high school building, Kaoru began to look around for any of the girls his brother had mentioned yesterday. He needed to cheer up his brother, and right now, Kaoru deemed his best option to be locating his brother a suitable date. It would need to be someone truly extraordinary in order to get Hikaru's mind off of Haruhi. Lucky for them, Ouran had plenty of extraordinary students. After all, this was a school for well-bred children, and good breeding frequently led one to good connections, which essentially translated to highly-coveted positions in highly-coveted companies.
Soon, the younger twin spotted Akari Yamamoto, the daughter of a well-known surgeon. "Hey, Akari-san!" Kaoru grabbed his twin's hand and dragged him along, running toward Akari. Akari looked up at the twins as they stopped in front of her. Hikaru looked slightly cross and rumpled, while Kaoru appeared breathlessly happy.
"Ohayo, Kaoru-san, Hikaru-san!" Akari smiled at the twins. It was rare for Host Club members to directly seek out a customer outside of club hours, and other students had already begun to stare. Kaoru looks so handsome today! I wonder what he's come to tell me, Akari wondered, dreamily imagining a multitude of situations in which the younger Hitachiin brother swept her off her feet and escorted her on a wonderful date.
"What did you think of the poem we read in class yesterday?" Kaoru asked, his eyes shining and alert. This wouldn't be the first time the boy had set up a date for his brother.
Akari-san bashfully gazed at the toes of her shoes. "I thought it was lovely."
Hikaru studied Akari's face. It was true, she was a beautiful, kind, and smart young lady, quite similar to Haruhi. But she would never have the brunette's spark and willingness to stick up for her opinion, even when it wasn't the most popular idea. And, she has the nerve to flirt with Kaoru.
"It was about a man who had lost his lover, right?" Hikaru interrupted bluntly. Both Kaoru and Akari blinked at him in surprise. He must not realize that I'm trying to help him out here…
"That's right." Kaoru shot Akari an apologetic glance on behalf of his brother.
"Tragic love is beautiful, isn't it? Although, I imagine the two of you must know better than most people, huh?" Akari giggled, her raven black curls bouncing.
How does she know what we're going through? The Hitachiin twins were caught equally off-guard, Kaoru even going so far as to step back in surprise. It seemed they had both forgotten their forbidden brotherly love act, at least for the time being. Kaoru opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Hikaru.
"Indeed. It is hard to find much alone time with my brother. We take advantage of whatever we can get," Hikaru admitted, slinging an arm around his twin's shoulders. I was only trying to help you, Hikaru, Kaoru thought sadly as they exchanged goodbyes with Akari. The bell rang, sending the two boys rushing off to homeroom.
At lunch, Kaoru tried again. He finished his serving of pork tonkatsu, the younger Hitachiin cleared his table and left the lunchroom with a quick "I'll be right back," to his brother. Nothing seemed amiss to Kaoru as he made his way out, but he was unaware of the critical eye with which his brother was watching him.
It was unlike Kaoru to simply get up and leave, even if he promised to come right back. Perhaps something's bothering him, or he needs to ask another student a question, Hikaru reasoned with himself. Still, he'd usually tell me about whatever's going on.
Yuna Misaka was exactly where Kaoru expected to find her: sitting on a bench under one of the campus' many cherry blossom trees, gazing thoughtfully at the clock tower. Clearing his throat as not to startle the girl, Kaoru seated himself on a bench across from her. Yuna brought her attention toward her visitor, brushing a strand of platinum blonde hair out of her face as she did so.
"What brings you here, Kaoru-san?" The girl asked quietly. Her small, delicate hands fiddled with the yellow dress she wore.
"Well, I wanted to know what you thought of my brother, Hikaru," Kaoru admitted, rubbing his hair sheepishly. Damn, Hikaru's really going to tease me about my hair when I get back. I don't know why he always makes such a fuss about it, Kaoru thought.
Yuna hesitated, mildly surprised by the younger Hitachiin boy's peculiar request. "Hikaru-san? He's a little intimidating, mostly because he's got such a dominant personality. I'm sure you know that, though. Even though he's always teasing you, he seems nice, like he really cares about you very much."
Kaoru repressed a sigh of defeat. Two options down, only one left available. He could tell Yuna wasn't romantically interested in Hikaru, at least not for herself. She, like the rest of Ouran Academy, was convinced that the Hitachiin twins were actually lovers.
"Yes, that sounds about right. Thank you." Kaoru stood up and walked back to the lunch room, his hands shoved deep into his pockets from frustration. Was this whole school really so easily fooled by the twins' act? Was there still no one who saw them as separate people?
Kaoru has been acting stranger and stranger today. I wonder if something really is upsetting him. Hikaru stood up from his seat as the bell rang to signal the end of the school day. Host Club would begin in not too long now. Outside, the clock tower chimed two-thirty.
No sooner had the twins left their classroom behind than Kaoru spotted someone up ahead in the halls. "I'll be right back, Hikaru!" Kaoru promised before weaving hurriedly through the crowd of students to catch up to a girl in a yellow Ouran dress with light brown hair which fell straight down her back in a long, loose braid.
What has gotten into him today? Hikaru wondered, stopping to gaze helplessly after his twin. Kaoru, in the meantime, had just caught up to Nanami Akiyama in the courtyard under the clock tower. "Nanami-san!"
"Kaoru-san! Is everything alright?" Nanami asked, her brows furrowing in worry as she observed the younger twin. I wonder why he's not at the Host Club already. Still, it's nice to talk to him alone, Nanami thought happily.
"Yes! But I have a favor to ask you." Hikaru, who had followed his brother out of the high school building and into the courtyard, (he now waited out of sight behind the support for an arch) arrived just in time to hear these words.
"Of course Kaoru-san, what can I help you with? Are you having trouble with your math again?" Nanami, whose father worked in an important engineering position and had numerous math degrees to his name, was an ideal candidate to tutor Kaoru in one of his toughest subjects.
Kaoru, who was beginning to feel a little disheartened for the third time today, worked up the courage to finally ask, "Would you perhaps be willing to… go out with him, on a date, sometime?"
Hikaru felt a flame of anger spark up in his chest. What did Kaoru think he was doing? He couldn't just go around asking girls on dates for his brother! Hikaru was tempted to march out there and give Kaoru a piece of his mind this very instant, but he also wanted to hear what Nanami's answer would be. But after that… After that he could knock some sense into his little brother.
Kaoru wants me… to go on a date with Hikaru? "I'm sorry, Kaoru. I just don't see your brother that way. Besides, aren't the two of you together?" If there was trouble between the twins, Nanami wondered who she would go to for Host Club this afternoon.
Nanami's rejection, even though it wasn't quite his, was the last straw for Kaoru. "That's alright. Yes, I can't imagine how upset Hikaru would be if he heard this, but… I just want him to be happy. He's seemed down lately, and I was hoping you would be able to cheer him up."
"Well, why don't you talk to him, Kaoru? I've never seen Hikaru happier than when the two of you are together." Nanami left Kaoru with these final words of insight, then walked back into the high school building.
Boss is gonna kill me. I could've ruined our whole act there… Kaoru clenched his hands into fists. His eyes were squeezed shut, but he refused to let a single tear drop. How could I have been so stupid?
"Kaoru?"