It'd been three days since Hikaru's conversation with Renge and Kyoya. Renge's orders had been playing in his head on an endless loop, fraying the older twin's nerves even more with each repetition. Things had gotten to the point where Hikaru didn't notice his brother getting sick.
The elder Hitachiin woke Tuesday morning having slept fitfully, waking up frequently and slipping back into dreamland before he could ascertain what had woken him up. Worst of all, he still didn't know why he'd woken up so much. At least, not until Kaoru let out an ugly, rasping cough that made Hikaru bolt upright.
"Kaoru!" Hikaru gazed down at his little brother. Kaoru felt like crap, and it showed; his lips were chapped, his face shined with sweat, and there were bags under his eyes from spending the whole night awake and coughing.
"Hey, you're awake. I can't believe you slept so soundly, I thought I'd wake you for sure," Kaoru croaked, his voice hoarse. His older brother flinched at hearing his twin sound so pitiful.
"Oh Kaoru, I'm sorry, it's all my fault you're sick! I should've at least woken up and asked if you were feeling alright!" Hikaru exclaimed, collapsing forward and burying his face in the younger Hitachiin's soft ginger hair. Kaoru slowly pulled a hand out from under the covers and rubbed circles on his big brother's back, trying to calm the other's shaky, panicked breathing.
"No, Hika, it's not your fault. I could never blame you," the younger twin whispered. The two brothers were forced to pull apart so that Kaoru could cough without spreading the sickness to his twin.
Hikaru narrowed his eyes and slammed a fist down onto the bed. "That's it, I'm not going to school today. I'm going to stay here and take care of you."
Kaoru's gasp became a cough. When he'd cleared his throat enough to speak, the younger boy protested, "No, Hikaru, you still need to go to school. They need you at Host Club."
"Don't be silly, Kaoru. None of that is as important as you," Hikaru insisted. The older twin stood up and paced across the room. He muttered something under his breath, then disappeared into the bathroom. When he returned, Hikaru was carrying a glass of water, a bottle of Advil, and a thermometer.
Kaoru tried to protest as Hikaru set the glass of water on the bedside table along with the bottle of painkillers, but his complaints faded into fits of coughing. The older twin took his little brother's temperature, and frowned at the monitor.
"You're running a fever, Kaoru. I'm definitely not leaving you here alone," Hikaru teased in a sing-song tone. Kaoru breathed a sigh of defeat. Why is my brother so infuriatingly stubborn?
Hikaru handed Kaoru an Advil and the glass of water. The younger twin accepted it and swallowed them down obediently. Hikaru smiled. "Good boy, Kaoru. You get some rest, and I'll be back in a bit, alright?"
The older twin affectionately ruffled the younger's ginger locks, then trotted out of the room. Kaoru relaxed into the pillows. A moment later, his eyes fell shut. It'd been a long night, and sleep overcame him in seconds.
When Kaoru awoke from a strange dream in which he'd been made to model bikinis for one of their mother's fashion shows, he found his twin sitting at the foot of the bed. Hikaru smiled and said, "So, Sleeping Beauty awakes."
"Hey, Hika," Kaoru whispered hoarsely, a smile playing onto his lips.
The elder twin stood up, his movement as sleek and graceful as a panther. Hikaru definitely wasn't sick. Kaoru coughed into the crook of his arm again, giving his twin time to pick up the glass of water that had been sitting on the bedside table and offer it out to him.
As Kaoru took a long sip of the water, Hikaru said, "Do you want to watch a movie, Kao?"
This got the younger Hitachiin's attention. "A movie?"
"Yeah," Hikaru nodded enthusiastically, "I brought some DVDs up with me."
Kaoru leaned over to place the glass of water back on the bedside table as his older brother bounded across the room to fetch a stack of DVDs from their desk. Hikaru thumbed through them as he returned to his brother's side, reading the titles aloud. "I brought 'Shall We Dance', 'Hana', 'The Hidden Blade', and some American movie called 'Titanic'."
"So, do any of those sound good?" The elder Hitachiin asked as he sat down on the bed beside Kaoru. Judging by the amount of sunlight filtering through their windows, it was midmorning now; they still had plenty of day with which to watch the films.
"Is 'Titanic' about the boat?" Kaoru asked, his voice scraping painfully as he did so. The Advil he'd taken this morning had helped, but it wasn't a complete cure.
Hikaru set down the other DVDs and studiously inspected the movie in question. "Yes, it is. Supposedly it's a very iconic American movie."
As if he could sense his little brother's next question, Hikaru handed the DVD to Kaoru. The younger twin inspected it with an equal level of interest. When his curiosity had been satiated, Kaoru handed the DVD back to his brother.
"It looks interesting. Let's try it," Kaoru said with a smile.
Hikaru grinned in response and leapt up. "Then let's go! We'll watch in the theater."
What should've been a giggle turned into a cough as Kaoru watched Hikaru bound out the door like an overexcited puppy going for a walk. He's been different, somehow, these past few days. I can really see it this morning. He… He may not understand why, and I can't say that I do either, but he's unusually considerate, the younger twin thought.
Slowly, Kaoru sat up and disentangled himself from the bedsheets. He paused to give his head a chance to stop spinning, even though he suspected that this headache would be with him all day. Grabbing his now almost-empty glass of water and the stack of DVDs Hikaru had left behind (in case they decided to watch another one later on), Kaoru followed his brother toward their home theater.
The house was blissfully quiet as Hikaru led the way to the theater room. Between the nearly floor-to-ceiling TV screen and cluster of extremely comfortable armchairs and loveseats, the Hitachiin home theater was the perfect spot for any kind of media event. There was even a popcorn maker, although Hikaru suspected it would get no use today.
You can already act affectionate around your brother, but you have to take it to the next level with him. Hikaru shook his head in annoyance as Renge's words played through his mind again. Once you've got him alone, woo him with some romantic words, and finish the night with a tender but passionate kiss!
The elder Hitachiin swore he could feel the lady manager's impatient gaze on him even from the safety of his own house. This movie was a prime opportunity for a romantic move; Ah, Kaoru, did you have to get sick?
Kaoru arrived in the home theater a minute or two after his older brother, and was surprised to find the movie already in, with Hikaru skipping through previews. Without saying a word, Kaoru settled himself on one of the plush red loveseats. Hikaru finally got the movie to play, but he did not go to sit down with his brother just yet. Instead, he collected a box of tissues from across the room and refilled Kaoru's glass of water. He had too much nervous energy to sit down just yet.
"Are you alright, Hikaru?" Kaoru inquired, noting his twin's distressed expression as he sat down to his left on the loveseat. The elder Hitachiin looked momentarily startled at having been discovered, but this was quickly replaced with a cross frown.
"I'm fine, Kao," Hikaru replied tersely, then added on a softer note, "Let's just enjoy the movie."
I wonder if I'm getting sick too, Hikaru thought as he placed a hand gingerly on his stomach, which felt like it had gotten thrown in with a load of laundry on tumble-dry; although, a nagging voice in the back of his head whispered that it was the idea of kissing Kaoru that was making him feel strange.
Not today, the elder Hitachiin told himself, sparing a glance at his little brother, who had become utterly absorbed in watching the film. Not until Kaoru gets better.
The twins had been watching the movie for some time when the film came to one of its most iconic points. Hikaru had recovered completely from his bout of nerves, and the frequency of Kaoru's coughing had been decreasing slowly but steadily throughout the course of the morning. It appeared the younger twin would be making a full recovery by the end of the day.
"Jack, I'm flying!" Both twins were captivated by the moment unfolding on the screen. Rose and Jack stood on the railing at the front of the ship, arms outstretched like birds. I want to call this cheesy, but, Kaoru thought, I'm not sure I can.
"Let's try that ourselves, Kaoru. It looks like fun," Hikaru suggested, standing up and pulling a surprised Kaoru to his feet. Hika… what?
"But we're not on a…" Kaoru started to protest, but he was silenced by a fit of coughing. When he'd recovered, he found Hikaru's arms around his waist. Sensing what his twin wanted him to do, Kaoru stretched out his arms and, deadpan, "Hikaru, I'm flying."
Behind him, Hikaru snorted. "Come on Kao, get into it. A little fun might help you get better."
Personally, I question your healing methods. Kaoru kept that to himself, although, a little fun couldn't hurt, right? Perhaps this was something they could use in Host Club. The younger twin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, imagining that he could feel the wind throwing the salty scent of the sea against his face and the gentle rolling of the ship beneath his feet.
"Hikaru… I'm flying, Hikaru!" The younger Hitachiin repeated. A hoarse laugh tore itself from his throat, which prodded Hikaru into laughter as well. The older boy had pressed his cheek against his little brother's soft ginger hair and closed his eyes as well. Both of them laughed for a moment.
"This would never have happened if anyone else were here, right?" Hikaru asked, his voice rumbling in Kaoru's ear.
The younger twin could only nod in response. That had been an oddly fun thing to try, although his brother was entirely right; moments like this didn't happen around other people, even their family members. To an outsider it may have looked like another one of their brotherly love acts, but only the Hitachiin twins could even begin to differentiate between what was real and what was an act.
"Good," Hikaru murmured possessively, "Because only I get to do things like that with you."
Kaoru immediately retracted his previous statement. Sometimes, the line was too fine for even a Hitachiin.
The two stepped away from each other, sufficiently instigating the awkward moment of What next?
"Ah, are you hungry at all, Kao? I could make you some soup," Hikaru offered, scratching at the back of his neck sheepishly.
Kaoru plopped back down on the loveseat with a smug smile. "You mean you'll have one of the maids make me soup. I doubt you could even find soup in our cabinets."
"I could too! I'll prove it to you!" Hikaru insisted, storming out of the room. He wasn't really mad. That's just Hikaru. When he doesn't know how to respond to a situation, he gets defensive like that, Kaoru thought, looking at the spot where his brother had disappeared with a wistful expression.
Returning his gaze to the movie screen, Kaoru realized they'd forgotten all about their film. Oh, well; there's still plenty of time to watch.
A/N: This took much longer than it should've to post. Don't worry, I intend to finish this story; no matter how long I go between updates, I'm not giving up on this thing! If you enjoyed the fluff in this chapter, you're going to love what I have for you in the next chapter... Prepare yourselves. ;)