Did You Consider Love?
Summary: It had happened more and more often. I was standing beside him, and it felt oddly natural…
Chapter 3: Lifted Up
Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran because it belongs to the wonderful Bisco Hatori.
Warning: Contains both heterosexual and homosexual content. If you dislike it please just don't read this fanfiction. There are plenty of other ones to read.
This chapter brought to you by Spring Break. I honestly do not have the patience to edit so please bare with my terrible spelling and grammar. Sorries…
MissFaun: Yes, I re-read and saw what you meant. I cut her fangirlness short. Awww… I wish I had seen that…
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"Kaoru, come on Kaoru!" The amber-eyed man sat on a red velvet chair, his brother beside him obviously trying to get his attention. Kaoru however was not speaking, looking downward instead. Thankfully the club was closed again an hour early due to his chilly attitude. He had protested against Kyouya's decision, albeit not directly to the raven-haired man but to Haruhi instead. This of course was shot down, as Kyouya went to each of the tables where unnerved girls sat and asked them kindly to leave. It wasn't like he didn't do his job or anything… he was still talking to the girls and putting on his act with Hikaru so why did they bother closing down early? Just so he could deal with his brother pestering him now?
"You were being cold and awkward." Cold words from a cold presence. "No act is good if you are not feeling well yourself." Kaoru almost cringed as he saw his raven-haired senpai walk past him, answering the concerns he had quite bluntly. Kaoru felt his lips purse into a pout. This was not good; it was the third time in a week they had closed early. The auburn-haired man shut his eyes and sighed heavily. It was just that… he didn't know what was wrong with him. He did not know why he was acting so stiff. Heck, he hardly even noticed it!
The annoying voice, similar to his, kept reaching out to him the whole time he thought. Kaoru put a hand over his brother's lips and smiled. "I am fine Hikaru and we already spoke to each other at home." Kaoru felt his voice tremble slightly. "Must you keep bothering me? I mean we already dealt with this so quit making me more annoy-" The auburn-haired man stopped as he watched his brother's eyes darken with sadness and perhaps a hint of surprise.
Kaoru looked at himself and noticed that he had been standing, with a forceful glare in his eyes. He felt every single member from the club looking at him and blushed in what could be a combination of frustration and embarrassment. He wasn't deaf enough to not notice Honey give a quiet whisper of his name in concern or so unfeeling that he could not feel Mori staring straight into his back. How was he supposed to react when everyone was ganging up on him like this?!
A small chuckle left his throat and Kaoru looked at Hikaru with a tired glance. "Please let's just leave it at that today okay?" Kaoru then put his head down, auburn locks falling over shamed eyes. He walked away quickly to the other side of the room; he did not want to deal with any of this at the moment. If it could only be that easy.
As soon as he had thought he had gotten far enough away as blonde-haired man hung himself over Kaoru's shoulder. If Kaoru didn't have some control, he surely would have smacked his clingy senpai away. "Lord, did you not hear me?" muttered Kaoru, "I want to be left-ack!" Before Kaoru could finish his ramblings however, he felt the hands on his shoulder push him into a velvet sofa. He rubbed his head and glared at the perpetrator; who was smiling with a frightening glitter in his sapphire eyes. Kaoru rolled his eyes and smacked his forehead. He felt another one of his King's stupid plans coming on…
"We are going to the amusement part tomorrow!" Kaoru almost fell off the luxurious chair. Of all the stupid things the lord wanted to go to an amusement park? Of course the oblivious blonde did not notice the distress that came from any of the hosts. "There is no questioning that we must serve those young ladies first and foremost," stated Tamaki, clasping a fist in the air and letting it fall dramatically, "But alas, it becomes hard for men to do their duty!" The blue-eyed man winked to Kaoru with a dopey smile smothered on his face. "We'll take a break okay?"
Kaoru felt his cheeks flush and watched Tamaki bound towards Haruhi, clinging all over his next victim. The man began to shout some sort of ridiculous fantasies about father and daughter singing songs together on joy-filled rides, and something about a commoner enjoyment gathering place. Kaoru rolled his eyes and smiled. Maybe a break wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. No way would he ever let Tamaki know that he had made him feel better. The auburn-haired man couldn't help but let a chuckle escape from his mouth.
"That is the Kaoru we love!" Honey sat beside Kaoru, staring at him with happy round eyes, and on the side, Mori stood nodding as well. Next thing Kaoru knew, Hikaru had bounded beside the sofa and was hugging Kaoru's head almost suffocating the poor younger brother. Kaoru put a hand on his brother's arm burying his eyes into the blue fabric before him. He really was surrounded by idiots.
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So this Sunday was not turning out as he thought at all. Kaoru grumbled to himself, walking behind his much happier than him friends. The whole day had consisted of Tamaki and Hikaru inadvertently fighting over Haruhi, Honey running around to all the food booths with Mori following and Kyouya acting as if he didn't know any of them at all. Okay, well, maybe he should have expected this but no one could accuse Kaoru for wanting to take a break from all this chaos. He hadn't expected to feel like a babysitter all day.
"Kaoru, Kaoru!" The auburn-haired man raised his eyes to the identical looking figure that ran to him. "Haruhi and I are going to ride on the roller coaster! There are three seats in each row! Perfect eh?" Kaoru had to admit, he was fascinated by this brightly coloured world at first but now he was just getting tired out. There were too many screeching children and annoying carnival music. The younger twin looked towards his taller blonde senpai who was holding Haruhi's hand and muttering something about how they should ride the dangerous spiral thing together in order to be safe.
Kaoru shut his eyes and shook his head with a sigh. "Take Tamaki with you, it looks like he really wants to get on the roller coaster with Haruhi." The younger Hitachiin brother watched his older brother's dejected stare. "No, it's not like that! I'll go on with you after okay? I just want to wash out the rest of the ice cream Honey-senpai got on my clothes." Kaoru pointed to the faded sticky pink stain on his yellow shirt. "Once you are done this ride we will go on the one with the spinning swings again, okay?"
Hikaru's saddened glance brightened slightly and the auburn-haired man nodded. He grabbed the short girl, who was wearing the most adorable of dresses, and the crying sapphire-eyed man towards the terrifying ride. Brown eyes looked at him, concern within them. Hikaru gave a reassuring smile back. Haruhi had told him to give Kaoru some space, and he was going to do that.
Watching the three run off Kaoru looked to his shirt. For being a karate master, his small senpai sure was clumsy. Well, even if this whole thing overall was a pain, he did get on some really fun rides with Hikaru, and Haruhi had even bought him one of those hotdogs covered in a deep fried batter. Some of the shows were interesting too, like the one with all the dogs…
A teddy bear landed itself into Kaoru's hand. Kaoru blinked and stared into black eyes. The older man with glasses shrugged and pointed towards a game booth. "I won it at that pinball game over there. Calculating the odds of winning was not such a difficult task." Kaoru merely looked at the plushie with the red bow and laughed. "Thanks Kyouya-senpai. Hey, you mind coming with me to the main building?" The raven-haired man looked at the submissive twin oddly.
"You can't go to the bathroom on your own?" Kaoru blushed a deep scarlet and felt his voice tremble in retaliation against the insult. "I just wanted some company walking there," explained the embarrassed twin, "And Honey-senpai is running around with Mori-senpai right now. Do you mind or something?" His flush only worsened as the man with glasses smirked back at him. "Not at all."
So that is how it went, and Kaoru was walking ahead of his raven-haired senpai, clenching the teddy bear tightly against his chest. The two entered the central building of the amusement part without saying a word; just Kaoru rushing ahead and Kyouya taking a leisurely pace behind. Thankfully, it was getting late in the afternoon so not many people were crowding the bathrooms. Kaoru walked inside and rinsed some of the creamy mess off of his shirt. Something with his thinking wasn't right however… Even if it was late, shouldn't there still be people in the bathroom?
Kaoru looked to the raven-haired man, who gave him an indifferent stare. Kyouya smiled in that non-feeling manner of his and leaned against the bathroom tiles. "My secret police are merely allowing you to use the facilities privately." Kaoru felt his eyebrow twitch. In a public building, you do this of all things? He could just imagine the crowd gathering outside. Kyouya however, continued softly, his glance uncharacteristically going astray. "And, I thought I should apologize." The auburn-haired man lifted his hand, shutting the tap on the sink stiffly.
"Why would you need to apologize?" Kaoru lifted his gaze, smiling as happily as he could. "I thought we settled the fact that it was my fault." Kyouya shook his head and extended a hand towards the younger of the twins. The somewhat smaller hand accepted it. Kaoru slapped himself mentally as his body moved on its own, a pink blush on the surface of his cheeks. "So what are we doing now?" asked Kaoru, completely fazed by the whole scene.
Kyouya led the boy back into the central building where many shopping booths were still set up. "Well seeing as you look tired, we could just take a look around." Kaoru was surprised by the taller man's accurate observations and smiled softly. So even the shadow king cared a little about him. Kaoru nodded, taking the hand of the raven-haired man and ran towards the various booths. The amber-eyed man could almost laugh at the surprised response from his upperclassman. "You volunteered so I am not holding back!"
That was when his night began, running from one shop to the next in amazement. There were so many little trinkets all over the place, simple toys of various colours, delicious commoner food, clothing that was just wacky and fun and even some guy advertising a commoner cleaning product. Kaoru felt his heart rise, the tension releasing from his shoulders. He found himself interested in a blue hairclip at one of the booths, admiring its simple shining surface.
"You have good taste."
Kaoru watched expert hands lift the hairclip and the black-haired man turning it at various angles and observing it. "This is made from lacquering wood under several processes in order to get a clear looking azure. Authentic too… impressive." The Hitachiin brother could only nod as the clip was placed back into his hands. He almost died as he felt another flush fall onto his face. The older man with glasses handed some money to the young woman at the booth. He could see that the girl had almost died into a fever of redness and stuttering as well, but that did not matter. Kyouya had just bought him, Kaoru Hitachiin, a gift!
"You didn't have to do this." Kaoru held the gift bag in his hand, now with the teddy bear. He could not help but blush. He felt like a total girl here! Naturally, such a naïve interpretation from him would be shot down as his upperclassman turned to him with an indifferent stare. "It was an apology. That is why I got it for you." It was short, honest and blunt, and it caused Kaoru to find himself in shame again. He should not always be expecting so much.
That is when his cell phone rang, playing a familiar tune. This was the song that was given to that chocolate-eyed girl. Why would Haruhi be calling him? Amber eyes filled with dread and Kaoru looked back on his watch. It had been almost over an hour since Kyouya and he were at the main building. He just stared at his phone, unable to answer. He had forgotten; he had forgotten Hikaru…
A pale hand reached out, taking the phone from his hand and answered it. "Kaoru is busy right now. This is Kyouya Ootori speaking." Kaoru looked at the older man, shock evident on his face. Ever since that day at the pension, after his talk with the older man, he had always thought they were on the same level but he was far from that. They were for certain, miles apart. The man in front of him was an adult, not the pouting child that Kaoru was.
"Hikaru is looking for you. Haruhi tells me that he went in a frenzy after you didn't come back for an hour." A pit fell into the bottom of Kaoru's stomach as he grasped the stuffed toy in his arms close to his chest. He was always feeling so distanced when Hikaru would hang out with Haruhi but here he was, doing the exact same thing to Hikaru. "Kyouya-senpai, we need to go right now-"
"KAORU!!!" The younger Hitachiin twin was thrown back as a similar body mass toppled him over. "Kaoru, are you okay?" Kaoru almost felt himself cry from shame and from just being plain overwhelmed. "Hikaru!" Kaoru buried himself into the chest of his brother, glad to have the familiar warmth near him. "I'm sorry… I should have called you." The dominant twin lifted the submissive one up and glared visibly at the man with glasses.
"Honestly, this jackass again?" Hikaru seethed with anger. It agitated him, and he wasn't sure why. Kaoru and him, they had always been slowly growing apart, as much as he tried to deny it. Yet, this man, this money pilfering man had somehow increased this distance exponentially. Kaoru never would hide anything from Hikaru but when it came to this four-eyed man, it was a forbidden topic. Kyouya was separating them, and just maybe the man with black hair could achieve the impossible…
"Hikaru!" A feminine voice burst out. "How could you say that to Kyouya-senpai?!" The chocolate eyed girl hunched over to catch her breath, followed by the three other hosts. Once calm, she stood up; placing both hands on her hips and glared at the older twin. "Kyouya-senpai does not deserve to be called that by you. Haven't you learned anything?" Hikaru felt himself flush from embarrassment and parted from his twin. The dominant Hitachiin twin stood up and held Haruhi's hand begging for forgiveness. He did not want another Arai situation.
Kaoru smiled, taking a moment before standing up. Somehow, the brown-haired angel had gotten his brother to grow up. She had stopped him from making another regrettable action. Haruhi was the one who did that… not him. She really was special. Kaoru flinched from a slight shock as a hand placed itself on his head. Kaoru laughed, looking up at his much taller senpai. "Thanks Mori-senpai." As usual, Honey came bounding forward with a cheerful suggestion. "It's getting late! Let's go on the Ferris wheel! It must be so pretty at night…"
The other blonde came rushing forward, practically thrusting Hikaru's and Haruhi's hands apart. "That's right! Something a father and daughter should never miss; looking at the city lights and watching all the activity below with a happy smile."
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So that was how it happened. Kaoru sighed, wondering how his fellow hosts could function with such an erratic style. Indeed however, the sight below was beautiful. Glittering lights of the city, contrasting against the night sky and the sight of many smiling faces below. He had to admit, Tamaki was a total idiot but you really couldn't help but smile looking out of this window. Kaoru touched the glass softly and smiled to himself.
"That baka would love this… if he would only settle down."
Kaoru looked over to the raven-haired man across of him, who was pointing with his finger behind Kaoru. Turning his amber eyes back and spotting the separate car, Kaoru laughed as he watched his brother and Tamaki argue, while Haruhi sat on the other side of them; looking rather annoyed. Really it was typical of them but they should just sit down and enjoy the ride. The auburn-haired man turned around and leaned back into the seat again. He managed to catch a glance at the man in front of him, looking rather bored.
That was right. Each car on the Ferris wheel could only take 4 people. Honey wanted to sit in a car alone with Mori, Tamaki and Hikaru would not dare part from Haruhi and in the efforts to not leave Kyouya alone, Kaoru had volunteered to get on a car with him, despite his brother's protests. Kaoru took a deep breath and stared out the window again. His peace only lasted so long as he felt the wheel jerk to a stop. Kaoru nearly smacked himself for forgetting that the wheel would stop for 5 minutes so that everyone could take in the view for a little longer. The auburn-haired man mused to himself as he looked around in fascination. From what he could tell, the car he was in must be at the very top.
"Hey Kyouya-senpai… what do you think?" "Hmmm…?" Kaoru couldn't believe he was trying to ask the man such a childish question, but really he needed to start somewhere. "I mean, what do you think of the view?" Kaoru flushed slightly as black eyes stared directly at him. Damn, he was going to look like an idiot again. "I think it is nice." It was a short curt response and oh so expected. The auburn-haired man could not help but give an agitated response as he felt the dull thud of annoyance.
"Would you be happier if Tamaki was here?" Kaoru nearly regretted his words as he watched a dangerous smirk form on the taller man's lips. "You know, you seem to be awfully interested in the relationship that Tamaki and I have." Kaoru scoffed raising his nose up high. Sure he may have asked questions about Haruhi but he was almost certain he had never mentioned Tamaki to Kyouya. "I see the looks that you give me when I am speaking him." The amber-eyed man coughed as his shoulders sulked. Well so much for his pride…
"Besides…" Kaoru trembled as Kyouya leaned forward, much closer to his face, warm breath barely touching his nose. "Do you think I should be happy now?" The amber-eyed man leaned backward and laughed nervously. What the heck was Kyouya doing?! The black-haired man leaned back as well and rolled his eyes, pushing up his glasses. "You really don't get it do you?" Kaoru shook his head slowly. He still didn't understand what Kyouya was getting at.
"Well you know how I feel about Tamaki right?" Amber eyes widened and Kaoru flushed a light crimson hue. Turning his gaze away, the young man nodded. Well, if one tried to look, it really was blatantly obvious how Kyouya felt. "And you don't like the fact I feel that way do you?" Black eyes stared at the young man questioningly. "What?!" Kaoru felt his legs surge forward in shock. "No way-" Kaoru's eyes widened as the car shook, his body losing any balance that it had.
"Shit that hurt…" Kaoru blinked, finding his body sprawled awkwardly between the seats in the car, and more importantly, over Kyouya. Blushing a deep scarlet, Kaoru scrambled to lift himself, off of his upperclassman. An arm reached out grasping his shoulder, preventing that from happening however. "Honestly, I haven't finished talking to you yet." The auburn-haired man watched in embarrassment as the taller man rubbed his eyes, glasses having been thrown off from the collision. His eyes really were much clearer without that distraction in front of them…
Kaoru snapped from his stupor as he watched Kyouya's hand move towards a small gift bag, crinkling the paper and withdrawing a blue beret. He had almost forgotten that it was even in the car. Now it was certain that he could not stop himself from turning red as the pale hands reached out to put the clip in his slightly messy hair. Kaoru could only shut his mouth and watch as Kyouya leaned up against the seat behind him, looking rather irritated.
"As I was saying, you don't like that I feel that way right?" Kaoru nodded, his eyes caught within the black ones before him. "I'll give you a chance to change that feeling." Kaoru let his eyebrows arch in confusion. How could he change that of all things? It wasn't like he could turn Tamaki into some sort of jerk, and nor did he want to. Nonetheless it didn't take long for Kaoru to find out how he could change such a thing, as a hand caressed itself slowly against his cheek. Kaoru leaned forward, cheeks warming and possibly all sense leaving him as his chin was guided towards the figure beneath him.
A kiss.
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Since I was so late I tried to make it as mushy as possible. xp Hope you like it! Again please review if you liked this chapter and thank you for taking the time to read!
IkuiTenshi