A/N: Chapter two is here!
.02 Kaoru
Sunday was Haruhi's favorite day of the week to go shopping, because this was the day the local department store gave the best deals. This particular Sunday, she didn't really need anything, the groceries had been bought the day before and she'd already purchased a gift for her father's birthday next week. Today, Haruhi simply had no homework to do nor any other plans. Her father was working all day and she didn't feel like sitting home alone.
The clothing racks held no interest, nor did the make-up or jewelry sections. She mostly stood around the books and the food aisle comparing prices. As she made her way toward the Home Goods, a familiar flash of orange made her stop and blink her eyes a few times. That wasn't who she thought it was, was it?
Her mind returned to that short conversation they'd had only three days ago. She hadn't thought about it since it happened, and neither Hikaru nor his brother (Kaoru, was it?) acknowledged her at all the day after, making her think that she should just put the whole thing behind her. It wasn't like she'd see either of them outside school, right? Right.
She'd obviously just been seeing things.
'And really, what would a rich guy like him be doing here anyway?'She told herself. She was fairly comfortable with this reasoning until she heard a voice ring out.
"Hey, Fujioka?"
Haruhi turned to face the speaker, and there he was, Hikaru Hitachiin standing two feet away from her in casual clothes. She stared at him for a good few seconds, unsure of how to handle the situation. The redhead approached her with an easy grin, which seemed strange considering what had occurred in their last encounter.
"I thought it was you," Hikaru said cheerfully. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised, what with all the commoners walking around."
The brunette felt a twinge of annoyance, but kept it down as she forced a smile.
"Well today is a sale day, and to be honest I'm more surprised to see youhere. This doesn't seem like…" She stopped, at a lose for how to continue her sentence without sounding offensive.
She was in luck though, as Hikaru seemed to understand what she was getting at, and his smile grew to a grin.
"You're right about that, I'm only because I was curious about this commoner stuff. Everything here is really cheap," He reached out and randomly grabbed a container from the shelf. "Like this coffee, what does 'Instant Coffee' mean anyway? That it's already ground?"
Haruhi blinked, "Already ground? No, it's instant. You just add hot water."
He gave her a wide eyed stare that left her feeling a bit unconfortable.
"You just…add water?" he asked, sounding as if she'd just told him she was the Queen of England. "I've never heard of that."
Haruhi couldn't resist rolling her eyes, "Well, it was nice seeing you again."
She nodded farwell and turned to leave. However, she could hear him following her and he was still there, smiling, when she stopped and turned her head.
'Just what does he want with me?' She asked herself. 'He seems so different from before.'
"So what are you shopping for?" He asked as they walked toward the clothing racks.
"Nothing in particular," Haruhi answered with a shrug, absently running her fingers down a green sundress on display.
"Well that's a cheap looking dress," Hikaru said with a snort. "What kind of fabric is this anyway, polyester? Surely commoners have better taste than this."
He continued muttering to himself until he noticed Haruhi staring at him, eyebrow raised.
"My mom's a fashion designer," He explained. "I've grown up around this sort of thing, so trust me when I say this dress is cheaply made."
Haruhi nodded, "I see."
She took another look at the dress. It was nice she supposed, but then she'd never known much about that sort of thing, much to her father's annoyance. He always wanted to dress her up in 'cute little outfits like other girls wore' but she would never go along with any of it.
"My dad's always trying to get me to wear stuff like this," She remarked while pulling a frilly pink dress off another rack. "He thinks I need to be more girly or something."
"More…girly?"
Haruhi glanced at him, her curiosity peaked by his tone. The dress he'd been criticizing had fallen from his hands, and he was staring at her with wide eyes as if he'd never seen anything like her. Haruhi blinked and tilted her head a bit.
"Is something wrong?" She asked innocently.
Hikaru suddenly seemed to come to come out his stupor and shook his head a couple of times, "No, no, I'm fine."
Then he stilled, looking her over up and down and taking in the blue T-shirt and khaki shorts she wore.
"But while we're here, let's find something for you that your dad willlike."
Haruhi blinked, "Wait, what?"
It was too late to argue. Hikaru grabbed her arm, his expression that of a man on a mission, and dragged poor Haruhi through the harrowing depths of the clothing section.
'He really doesn't act like the Hikaru from before.'
During the two long hours Hikaru kept her, he'd denounced 90% of the clothing items as 'cheaply made trash not suited for homeless people' and had her try on what felt like fifty different outfits, all of which he eventually rejected for one reason or another. She couldn't help but wonder why he cared so much about her clothes, or why as more time passed, she became more and more convinced that the person she was speaking to definitely wasn't Hikaru Hitachiin.
"Now thatlooks good on you," the redhead finally declared after what felt like days. "You'd look even better without those glasses."
Haruhi ignored the last part of his statement, and instead focused on her reflection in the mirror. When she took in her appearance, she had to admit she looked nice.
She wore a red spaghetti strap blouse with white sleeves underneath and blue skinny jeans. Her sneakers were the only part of her old outfit remaining (she'd vehemently refused shoe shopping). Any thoughts of how she looked however were erased when she came back out of the fitting room dressed in her regular clothes with the chosen outfit back on it's hangers, and Hikaru began dragging her towards the checkout line.
"I can't buy this," She protested loudly. "It's too much money!"
"Oh come on, after all the time we spent picking it out?" Hikaru retorted.
"That's not the point!" Haruhi argued.
The redhead ignored her and continued to pull her. Just as they reached the checkout line, Haruhi finally broke free of his grip.
"Look, I told you it's too much money," she said firmly. "That means I don't have enough to pay for it. So how do you expect me to buy it?"
Hikaru smiled, "Well if that's the case, I can pay for it."
If he thought that was the right response, he was wrong. Dead wrong. Haruhi shot him a annoyed look, then turned and began to put the clothes back on the racks.
"What's the matter," Hikaru asked urgently. "You don't want me to buy them for you?"
"No." she answered flatly, trying to make it abundantly clear that this was her final word.
Did he really think she wanted a handout, just because she wasn't obscenely rich like him and all the other kids at Ouran? These damn rich people really were all the same.
Hikaru's expression of surprise and, dare she say it, sadness, however, made her anger fade a bit. She gave an exasperated sigh.
"It is really that important? They're just clothes after all."
She got the feeling Hikaru wanted to comment on that, but thankfully he didn't. Instead, he surprised her by flashing an apologetic smile.
"I don't know, I guess I just felt bad for the way I acted the other day. I suppose an 'I'm sorry' would've been more sufficient, but I wanted to do something nice for you. Besides, you looked adorable in those clothes."
By now Haruhi's anger had completely melted away, replaced by light annoyance and, to her surprise, amusement. She smiled in return.
"Well, I suppose it was nice of you to offer, Hitachiin-san," She responded after a beat.
The redhead grinned cheekily, "Hey, none of that 'Hitachiin-san' stuff, you can just call me Hikaru."
Haruhi blinked, and she examined the young man's face for a few seconds before answering.
"Well I would…if you were Hikaru."
'Hikaru' gasped, and Haruhi had to stifle a laugh. Seeing him look so shocked was actually rather amusing, considering the 'cool guy' front he'd been playing up all day.
"Wh-what do you mean, of course I'm Hikaru!" He argued, his composure very clearly shaken.
Haruhi, of course, remained calm as ever when she answered, "No you're not. You do look like Hikaru, and to be honest, you really did have me fooled for a while, but as we were talking, I began to notice a lot of differences between the two of you.
"It's true I didn't speak with Hikaru for long last Wednesday, but I can already tell that your speech and actions are a bit different than his. I guess it's not really noticeable unless you're apart. I'm guessing you're really his twin, Kaoru, right?"
Kaoru opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, clearly at a loss for what to say or do. Haruhi waiting patiently until her wandering eyes caught a clock on the wall, and her insides jolted.
"Uh-oh, is it that late already?" She thought aloud, then turned to the still speechless Kaoru and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, I have to go now. My dad will be home from work in a few hours and I have to get dinner started."
She moved past him, stopping to look back at him one more time.
"Thanks for apologizing. Tell Hikaru when you see him that I accept, though I wish he would've told me himself, and tell him I said 'hi' too, okay?"
By now, Kaoru seemed to have regained some brain function, but unfortunately not enough to string a few words together, so he simply nodded his head. Haruhi smiled and turned to leave. Four steps later, his voice sounded again.
"Wait," Kaoru called out, finally breaking from his shock. "Can I give you a lift home?"
Haruhi faced him and shook her head, "No thank you, my place is pretty close, so I can walk from here. I'll see you at school."
And then she was gone, before Kaoru could even blink. Still he stared after her retreating form as footsteps approached him. He wasn't all that concerned about them, as he already knew who it was standing next to him. Kaoru knew that his brother was just as, if not more, shocked by what had just occurred.
"She knew you weren't me," Hikaru's voice was barely a whisper.
Kaoru nodded without looking at his twin. Hikaru had hidden behind some clothing racks and watched the whole time Kaoru was with Haruhi, and even he wasn't sure just what had happened to make this…this commoner whom they barely even knew figure it out when even their own mother had trouble sometimes.
"She's different," Kaoru said wistfully, then a smile came to his face as he turned to face his brother. "And I can't believe we actually thought she was a guy."
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