Ooookay. I haven't even opened up this document in months. I've been so busy with schoolwork. D: I'm going to try switching the viewpoint to Kaoru later on in this chapter. I've been itching to do this for a bit. XD; Anywho - enjoy.
This chapter was inspired by aznricebowl232!
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Hazy, golden eyes opened into slits. Hikaru rolled over to drape his arm over his brother's identical body, except - Kaoru wasn't there. He sat up, slightly alert, and peered around the room. Looking over at the clock, he read the time: 9:16am.
"Kaoru...?"he asked hoarsely, as if his brother were hiding in the room somewhere. Silent replies followed. He threw off the white covers and crossed the room to the dresser, pulling it open and slipping on a breezy white collared shirt and tan cargo shorts. The Hitachiin boy quickly headed into the hallway, eagerly seeking his other half. When he reached the main hallway, he took slower steps so he wouldn't seem as hurried as he actually was to see his dear brother. When he neared the end of the hallway, he could hear laughter coming from his right.
"Kaoru?" he called out when he reached the intersection of the kitchen and gathering rooms. He quietly stepped into the kitchen where Kaoru and Takako were preparing breakfast. Kaoru burst out laughing at a joke Takako probably made an attempt at. The younger twin leaned his head back and almost cackled. A smile tugged at the corner of Hikaru's lips, seeing his brother so happy. At the same time, he resented the person who resided so close to his brother's side. The boy cleared his throat loudly, making his presence known, and strolled over to the two.
-------switch to Kaoru's point of view-------
"Morning, you two," Hikaru said to them, taking a position between the pair, and smiling brightly.
"Wow, Hikaru, you're happy this morning," Kaoru chuckled, and returned to dicing tomatoes for an omelet.
"Maybe it's the thought of vacation finally hitting me." The older brother joked.
"Well, while you're on vacation, do you mind helping out?" Takako teased, handing Hikaru a knife and pushing over a handful of herbs. He smiled grudgingly, and took to chopping, while Takako washed oranges to be squeezed for fresh orange juice.
"Tch. I wonder who the maid is around here!" Hikaru complained, chop-chopping away. Takako tsked back and replied, smirking,
"Well, it doesn't matter! It's good to lend a helping hand once in a while, anyway."
Wow...They seem to be getting along well...Does...Does Hikaru like Takako? Is that why he was angry yesterday?
"Ah..." Kaoru stopped dicing the tomatoes and looked up, "I want to get something out of the room. I'll be right back," he smiled, untying the apron around his waist, and bustling out of the kitchen.
Let's see what happens when I leave those two alone...He chuckled to himself as he made his way down the corridor gleefully.
-------Back to Hikaru's POV-------
After Kaoru left, the kitchen became quiet.
Hikaru diced and sliced all of the herbs in silence and then threw them into a mixing bowl. When he looked over his shoulder, he caught Takako giving him the dirtiest look she could muster up.
"Well. I guess you can do the rest yourse--"
"Why do you dislike me so much?" Takako interrupted him mid-sentence.
"What?" he stared at her, solemnly.
"Why do you dislike me so much?" she repeated calmly, though Hikaru could hear the edge in her voice, "Is it because you don't like women? Or that you think Kaoru dislikes women?"
"What does Kaoru have to do with what I think?"
"You don't like me near him. I can see that." She stated flatly.
"Tch. 'Course I don't like you near him." He turned around and leaned back on the counter, looking to the side.
"Why?" she set down the oranges she held, and faced him, crossing her arms.
"Cause I don't like you period." he looked at her, giving her a nasty glare before adding, "Stay away from my brother, and stick do whatever you were hired to do."
"I'm afraid I can't do that." she glared back at him with almost as much intimidation.
He faltered for a split second. "Why not?"
"I seemed to have..." she focused her gaze outside the kitchen window, seeming as if she couldn't directly look him in the eyes and tell him, "grown attached to Kaoru...I've...fallen in love with him."
Hikaru couldn't help but smirk lightly, as he looked down at the ground and then reattached his gaze onto the girl, "Only a few days, and you've already 'fallen in love with him'?"
A bit aggravated, Takako's eyes darted angrily to the older twin, "Is that wrong of me?"
"Yes," Hikaru replied dryily, "it is."
"Oh?" The girl let out a small heh, "Why? Why is it so wrong for me for that?"
For a few moments, Hikaru said nothing as his focus was switched to the floor.
When he finally spoke, he spoke clearly, as if he were saying something extremely important, and it was the last time he'd ever say it.
"Because I love Kaoru. More than just a brother."
--------Kaoru's POV-------
The younger boy pranced around his bedroom, trying to waste time supposedly looking for something he'd forgotten. When he finally decided to head back to the couple he'd left behind, he sauntered down the hallway with a devilish smile across his face.
He stopped in his tracks when he heard Takako's harsh voice saying, "Why is it so wrong of me for that?"
There was silence, and he thought to himself, Are they...are they arguing? What's happened? I thought--
He stopped when quiet words from his brother's lips gingerly reached his ears.
"Because I love Kaoru. More than just a brother."
Kaoru stood stone-still, unable to connect any of his thoughts with logic. He stopped breathing, afraid that the tiniest sound he made would reveal himself. Slowly, his hand raised to his chest, and he clutched at his shirt momentarily as if trying to calm his rapidly beating heart.
I...H-Hikaru...what?! He can't...h-he...loves me...loves me...But I...What am I going to do?
Suddenly, a loud cackle reverberated through the kitchen and out into the hallway.
"You--!" Takako squealed loudly, "You love your own brother?! What's wrong with you?! Not to mention he's your twin! That's just disgusting!"
Though Kaoru knew it was Takako's voice, he paid no attention to it as he was trying to recollect his thoughts. As the younger Hitachiin remained silently in the hallway, the ruthless, cackling maid continued her ridicule.
-------Hikaru's POV-------
The citrus headed boy remained silent, letting the maid finish. His expression was slate clean, but inside, the words sunk in deeper than they should have.
"I--I can't believe this! You," she pointed at him, "loving the same person I love. But, I mean, it's not at all wrong for me - he's not my brother!"
They boy turned his head, seeming to look as if he had had enough of her rambling. This happened to slightly annoy the girl. She quieted down, and then said, "You know that...when you tell him, he'll be just as disgusted with you as I am. I wouldn't be surprised if," though Hikaru wasn't looking at her, he could hear the smirk on her face, "he hated you and never wanted you to speak of it again."
This girl...she thinks she knows everything. Kaoru wouldn't be like that...he...he wouldn't...would he?
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A few minutes after Takako's statement, Kaoru walked back into the kitchen with a smile on his face. Apparently, he hadn't heard any of Takako's accusations after Hikaru's confession. For half an hour, he paid no mind to Hikaru and helped the maid with every little thing she needed. The girl smirked satisfyingly at Hikaru every moment that she could.
Kaoru decided that he would just avoid the situation, not wanting to prod around for more information.
If I just...stay away from him...or not bring it up at all, then...then I'll be able to think of what to do...later.
Two hours after breakfast, Kaoru decided to help Takako with the laundry, as well as sweeping the porch, dusting furniture, making beds, scrubbing windows, and other little things that wouldn't make him commit much of his time to it. Just in case Hikaru passed by, he would bustle off to do another job.
The older brother could not handle much of this. Finally, as the day grew dimmer, while the three, more like Kaoru and Takako, were sipping tea on the balcony, Hikaru suddenly stood violently.
"I'm going to bed."
Kaoru stared strangely at his brother.
"But it's only six..."
Hikaru began trudging his way to the main gathering room, calling back, "I'm tired." From where he was, he could hear Takako whisper,
"He didn't even do anything; you were the one helping all day. Are you tired?"
"Actually...I am a bit tired. My neck is killing me, so I think I'll go to bed too." Kaoru smiled lightly at the girl, stood up, took his cup to the kitchen sink, and walked into the dark corridor after his brother.
By then, Hikaru was already in their room, undressed and under the covers. He wasn't asleep, though. He rested on his side of the bed, thinking angry, irritated thoughts. He barely heard the door slowly click shut as his younger brother made his way over to the dresser to undress. When Kaoru slipped under the covers, Hikaru could feel his brother's eyes staring at the back of his head. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, he turned around and asked,
"Why have you been avoiding me?"
Kaoru's eyes quickly darted down, then up again to his older brother's eyes.
"I-I haven't been avoiding you. I've just been busy...with helping Takako." he said meekly.
"You must like her a lot, huh?" Hikaru's eyes narrowed slightly, silently accusing his younger brother.
"Yeah. I do," Kaoru said, furrowing his brows a bit,"She's a good person."
Annoyed, Hikaru turned his back to Kaoru, as to not show the disgusted expression on his face.
"Have fun with that." he said flatly.
"She's a good person," Kaoru repeated, as if not hearing what Hikaru had said, "I don't know why you'd get into an argument with her all of a sudden..."
The younger Hitachiin could feel his bedmate go stiff.
"Hikaru..." he continued quietly, "I..I heard what you said..."
There was a hushed heh from the other side of the bed.
"You must think I'm a freak now, right? You'd probably...You'd probably never look at me the same," Hikaru mused, "No wonder you were avoiding me. I would have too."
"No, Hikaru!" Kaoru quickly denied, "I-I mean...I...I-I..." For some reason, Kaoru was at a shortage of words.
"Goodnight, Kaoru," Hikaru mumbled, "Go to sleep."
"No!" The younger brother cried, "Hikaru, I love you too! I-I really...I love you so much, but it was just...I was in shock to hear you say that you loved me...more than a brother."
There was silence.
"Because I-I felt the same way.." He was trembling softly from anticipation, waiting for the other's reply.
Slowly, Hikaru turned to face his quivering reflection."Kaoru," he rested his forehead down on his twin's, "Really..?"
When Kaoru spoke, it was barely more than a whisper, "I really love you,"
Gently, Hikaru leaned down and pressed his lips to Kaoru's. His brother's lips weren't as soft as the other girls that he'd kissed, but they were fuller, better than theirs anyway. He let the kiss linger for a moment before pulling back slightly and mumbling,
"I'm glad,"
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Sorry. Was thinking of putting a lemon in here, but it would just stretch the chapter too long. XD You can be sure of it, though, that there'll be one in the next chappy. :D Please R&R
And thank aznricebowl232 for this chapter - my new muse!
By the way..Does anybody else get this problem? When I upload documents, I usually save them onto Notepad and then upload them, because it doesn't work on Microsoft Word. But after uploading them, there's like...squares and funny little lines in it! Wth! It takes me like..an extra half hour to go and replace them with the correct punctuation. If you have any solutions, please message me with them! Thanks - will be greatly appreciated!