Chapter 7
KaoruxOCxHikaru
Now that I was back in company with the twins the week seemed to fly by. Each and every day I went to the host club, spent a little time with Haruhi, seeing how she was and then went to the twins' table and watched them put on little acts for their customers. Hikaru would always seduce his brother and leave a cliff hanger so the girls would wonder what he meant about punishment games or something of that matter. Before I knew it, it was Friday afternoon and the host club had just been dismissed. I was gathering my stuff into my bag. The twins didn't know it, but today I had my sketchbook out and was drawing them. It gave me something to do while I sat there.
The hosts got so used to my company that besides Haruhi, I was the only girl allowed to stay with them after hosting hours. I usually didn't stay too long, just long enough to say goodbye to Haruhi, and the twins. Honey always made it his goal to say goodbye to me first, before I got the chance to say it to him. Today, though they were speaking of Saturday plans. I couldn't help but eavesdrop a little.
"The hosts should have a get together tomorrow," Tamaki announced. "Since the mall was so successful the last time we went," I swore I saw Kyouya shoot a glare at him as he spoke, "We'll do it again, sometimes even we need a break from hosting correct?"
I felt a little down knowing it was only a host thing, but it was okay. I'd probably just sit around at home, get some cleaning done and play some video games or finish my Hitachiin sketch. Once Tamaki was done talking the twins came back over to me and sat down, "Have fun at the mall you guys." I told them.
They tilted their heads, "What do you mean? Aren't you coming?" Kaoru asked.
"Huh?" I asked. "I thought this was just an activity for you hosts."
"Like we'd count you out Yankee," Hikaru said with a smirk. Yes, even after that little moment we had in the hallway, Hikaru still insisted on calling me by the little pet name he gave me.
"So I can come?" I asked surprised.
"Well, why not? Not like we could stop you if you suddenly decided to go to the mall that day," answered Kaoru.
"I suppose that's true…" I said rubbing my arm.
"We'll pick you up," Kaoru said with a smile.
"Be ready by noon," Hikaru instructed.
I nodded and gave them both a hug, obviously they still weren't used to my rare hugs, but as always they did return them, "I'll see you guys then." I called to them just as I walked out of the double-door music room.
The next morning when I woke up I followed my every day routine, until I got to breakfast. When I walked out into the kitchen which adjoined into the living room I froze in place. It was 11:30 and the twins were sitting in my living room! "How the hell did you-?" I started to say frantically.
"Didn't think it was actually true that Yankee's left a spare key under their welcome mats, but I guess I was wrong," Hikaru said, smirking as he swirled the key ring on his index finger. He then tossed it to me, and I just barely caught it.
"You guys are a half hour early I haven't even eaten yet!" I said crossing my arms, as my eyebrows pulled together in annoyance.
"We can take you out to eat," said Kaoru with a smile.
"Why are you here so early?" I was getting annoyed, no matter how cute Kaoru looked when he smiled that innocently.
"We wanted to see your apartment." They both said in unison.
"Not a whole lot to see." I said flatly.
"Least you keep in clean," Hikaru said leaning back against the couch and looking around.
I was so happy in that moment that I decided to clean last night. Taking a deep breath I sat down on the chair that was next to the couch they were sitting on.
Hikaru stared at me sort of glaring and I raised my eyebrows, "What?"
"You can never make things easy and just sit between us can you?" He spoke with an annoyed tone.
"Nope," I said smirking, and he was taken back by my sudden tease.
In response his eyebrow raised and he mirrored my smirk, "Oh really?" Getting up both of the twins took a seat on each arm of the chair and hugged me, resting their heads on mine. I was starting to get used to their snuggling, but at the same time it still brought my cheeks to a rosy hue.
I recalled the feeling of kissing Hikaru and my face only got redder, "Shouldn't we get going?" I murmured.
The twins humored my request and took my hands in theirs. They lead me out the door, and quickly I turned around to lock it. I heard Hikaru chuckling behind me.
Again I found myself riding in the twins' limo with them on either side of me. I suppose Kaoru remembered my appetite, because we stopped off at a local breakfast place to eat. We got a booth, me on one side and the twins on the other. Of course it couldn't be an ordinary breakfast. Kaoru insisted on feeding me a bite of his food and Hikaru was playing footsie with me under the table.
After breakfast we were back on the road, driving past the local mall, "Uh, guys we just passed the mall." I informed them.
They just smirked and Hikaru shook his head, "Yankee, calm down. We're going to the bigger mall, about a forty five minute drive from here."
I was getting antsy sitting in this limo. I wanted to get up and move around. We had already been driving for about an hour now. I never once went on an almost two hour drive just to go to a mall before.
"You look bored," Kaoru analyzed.
I shrugged, "Maybe a little. Not used to being on the road for this long."
"We could entertain you if you like," Hikaru said resting his head on my shoulder.
"I'd rather listen to my music," I said flatly. Hikaru told me when we first got in the limo that if I pulled out my MP3 player he'd take it from me.
He lifted his head, and ran his nose from my cheek down to my neck, breathing heavily to tickle me, and of course it worked, "I'd rather you not." He murmured and just pressed his lips against my neck. He didn't kiss me though; he was just teasing me, hoping to make me remember our precious moment previously. Of course it came back into my head. My face turned a deep red, and I looked away hesitantly.
Kaoru remained quiet. When I looked over at him, he looked sort of down. Slowly his gaze turned to the window and I was actually rather shocked he wasn't joining Hikaru by now.
"Kaoru?" I asked, my voice really gentle, especially for me.
He slowly turned back to look at me and I smiled at him. Maybe he felt invisible. I didn't want him to feel that way, not at all. Slowly but surely, he returned my smile and placed his hand on mine, before turning his attention back to the window. I stared down at our hands and slowly parted my fingers so his would fall entwined with mine. I think he noticed, because he squeezed his fingers against mine, and gently rubbed his thumb against the side of my hand.
For the rest of the car ride, we were all silent. Hikaru would run his hand through my hair every once and a while and Kaoru would tighten his grip on my hand every now and again, but for the most part words weren't exchanged. We were all happily content just being in each others' company.
Once, we arrived at the mall, the driver pulled up to the doors and let us out, then sped off. The twins walked on either side of me like they always did, swinging my hands back and forth as we went along. They informed me that the group was to meet up at the front entrance inside. When we walked in, the rest of the hosts were already there. Luckily we weren't too late, Haruhi said that she got a ride from Tamaki and despite that being one of the longest rides of her life, they only got there about ten minutes before we did. Kyouya was a late sleeper so as we pulled into the parking lot we noticed him being dropped off. The early birds were Mori and Honey, who arrived a half hour early. They didn't complain though, Honey decided to fill his time by getting a giant cookie, and it seemed Mori decided to get a blue raspberry slurpy.
Before I knew it however we all separated again. Kyouya was hungry because he hadn't ate, so him and Tamaki decided to go get a late lunch. Mori and Honey wanted to go to the small theme park deep inside the mall. That left Haruhi, the twins and me standing there wondering where to go first. "Actually," I said, "Think I'll use the restroom, I'll catch up." That said I started my long expedition, operation: mall restrooms.
I found the restrooms not even five minutes later, after that little trip I came out to see Kaoru standing there leaning against the railing waiting for me, alone once again. Did something happen between the twins the night before? They seemed really distant today…
"Hey Kaoru," I said walking up to him, "What're you doing here alone?"
He gave a me a small smile before replying with, "Hikaru and Haruhi went to go find one of the mall directories, so I just thought I'd come and make sure you wouldn't be alone encase they decided to walk off absent mindedly without you."
He was looking out for me. That made me genuinely smile. Kaoru always seemed to have that effect on me. "Thank you Kaoru."
His smile grew as he took my hand in his, and we started walking. We didn't get far before he stopped and glanced at a nearby picture booth, "Ever been in one of those before?" He asked.
I looked over to see what he was talking about, "A picture booth? A couple times with mom when I was little."
"Come on," He said pulling me toward it.
I laughed a bit, and tilted my head, "What makes you so curious?"
"I've never been in one before." That statement surprised me.
We took a seat inside the booth and Kaoru started messing with the buttons, "How does it work exactly?" He asked curiously.
"Uh," How could I explain this? Wasn't it obvious? "Well, you put some money in the slot, pick a border for your picture, take up to about three pictures, and then choose your favorite one to be printed off for you to keep. Normally you get about three copies, one large and two wallet sized."
He nodded quietly, and distributed some change into the machine's receiver and started flipping through the borders, "Which one do you like?" He asked me.
I stared at the screen and looked for the one that seemed to fit us the best, there was an orange and baby blue one that read Best Friends across the top; for some reason it reminded me of the Hitachiin twins. I pictured them hugging each other with dreamy eyes and smirked subconsciously, "How about that one?" I asked.
He nodded again and selected it, "And now?"
"We pose." I answered.
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and leaned his head against mine. I noticed later on we both had shy smiles. Kaoru was certainly different when we were alone together. We had ten seconds to think up the next pose, "Sit on my lap." He said with a grin.
My face turned bright red, "Why?" I asked.
"Come on," He said taking my hand and helping me onto his lap. He then took his hand and led my eyes to his. We both smiled and the picture took.
"One more," I said slowly sliding off his lap to be sit beside him again.
Kaoru thought about it for a time, and there was only five seconds left, we needed to do something or this last one would be useless. He snapped his fingers, held my face in his soft and gentle hands, and then gently kissed me on the lips. Luckily the camera caught my eyes closed the second before they were wide open. When he released, I was dazed. He smiled happily and his face turned a bright red. Looking back at the screen, without asking for my opinion, he clicked the last picture, and it started to print.
"You seem quiet suddenly," He stated.
I looked down at my lap and shook my head, "Sorry." I really was not used to this type of attention.
We got out of the booth and collect the pictures, "You can have the big one, and I'll take the wallet sized ones." He said, tearing off the big picture and handing it to me, then putting the other one's in his wallet.
I put the picture in one of my cargo short's pockets, and we started to walk again, "Wonder where Haruhi and Hikaru are?"
"Haruhi said something about a book store, so let's try to find it." He answered.
We found the mall directory and soon enough we made it to the book store. Hikaru had on a set of headphones listening to previews of songs on a CD, but Haruhi wasn't anywhere in sight.
We walked up to Hikaru and he pulled the sample headphones down to his shoulders, "Took you long enough." He complained, "Get lost or something?"
Kaoru shrugged and took a CD off the shelf, "What are you listening to?" He asked him, changing the subject.
"I'm going to go find Haruhi," I said, and headed off into the book section. I found myself inside the artist section of books and was actually sort of pleased I stumbled upon it. They were selling sketchbooks, but they were a little pricey. Then I realized I left my money at home. I was a little disappointed, but I shrugged it off and was about to leave the aisle when I noticed Hikaru blocking the entrance.
"You like drawing and I can tell you want it, so why don't you buy it?" He asked, his voice gave off an annoyed tone.
"I left my money at home," I said, feeling a little stupid about forgetting such an essential when going to the mall.
He came forward and plucked the sketchbook off the shelf and handed it to me, "I'll get it for you then, I need to pay for this CD anyway," He said holding up the CD for me to see.
"You don't have to Hikaru, I can always get a cheaper one when I go out grocery shopping or somethi-" I started to say.
"Don't worry about it, I've got it." He said, shaking his head.
"Are you sure?" I asked feeling guilty.
"You act like I'm as poor as you are." He said flatly.
Now I was a little offended, "Thanks a lot…" I growled.
"You're welcome Yankee." He was getting back at me for my sarcasm earlier that morning. Taking the sketchbook from me, he started for the pay counter. I followed dragging my feet the whole way.
After he paid for our desired items he handed the sketchbook back to me and I hugged it against my body, "Thank you Hikaru." I murmured.
He just nodded, and we went to meet back up with Kaoru who was now lounging about with Haruhi.
"What should we do now?" I wondered aloud.
"We could go meet up with Mori and Honey-Senpai." Haruhi answered, "They went to the theme park; might give us something to do."
We all agreed on it, and made our way to the theme park. Half of it was inside the mall and the other half was outside. There were rides, entertainment, and a small water park. Truth be told I wasn't interested in any of it. I just wanted a quiet place to sit down and draw. Course I didn't exactly have a pencil on me. I followed behind the three of them quietly, examining each thing we passed. The twins wanted to go on a rollercoaster, and I automatically refused to go. For once they let me do as I pleased, guess because they could see the fear in my eyes. Haruhi told me she wanted to go find Mori and Honey so I just nodded and told her I'd wait for the twins and meet up with them later.
Finally, I got a chance to sit on a bench. Nearby was a small place to buy cotton candy. The guy was keeping track of sales the old fashion way, paper and pencil. I asked him if I could borrow one if his pencils, and to my surprise he nodded and gave me a freshly sharpened one. I contemplated what to doodle, not like I had a lot of time to do anything fancy. I was sure the twins would get bored with the rides eventually like they got tired of just about every thing else. There was a nearby carousel, and I watched it turn a few times before I flipped open to the first page and started quickly jotting it down.
Good thing for me was that I could get a whole lot down in a short period of time. I was already working on the detail of the animals that were attached to the machine before I heard a voice mumble, "That's pretty good." I snapped out of my focus and turned around to see the twins hovering over my shoulders. Hikaru was the one that commented before.
"I noticed you were also drawing yesterday after school," Kaoru said, "I had no idea you liked to draw."
"I normally don't do it much outside the apartment." I said, blushing. I wasn't used to other people looking at my drawings.
They sat down on either side of me, "Where did Haruhi go?" Hikaru asked.
"Oh, she went to find Mori and Honey." I answered.
"And left you all alone?" Kaoru asked.
"I wanted to wait for you guys." I murmured.
They smiled at the thought that I was thinking about them. Draping their arms around my shoulders they both moved in closer.
They urged me to keep drawing, and despite the fact that I didn't like people watching me draw I kept going. Eventually I got sort of used to them staring at the progression on the page. We must have sat there for an hour or so, because before we knew it, the rest of the hosts found us.
"There you guys are," Haruhi announced, "It's about seven, think we should start heading back. Dad'll be worried if I'm out too late."
We all agreed it was time to head home. We all said our goodbyes and went back the way we came: Honey and Mori, Haruhi and Tamaki, Kyouya solo, and myself with the twins. The drive home didn't seem as long as the drive to the mall, but I guess I must have been really worn out because on the way home I fell asleep on Hikaru's shoulder. I always fell asleep on long car rides as a kid; guess I still did from time to time.
When we arrived at my building, Kaoru woke me up, and they both walked me to my apartment. I unlocked the door, thanked them for a good time, and wished them good night. Before I could step in however, they both took me off guard by hugging me, and before walking away. I smiled shyly and headed inside. Locking the door behind me, I put my new sketchbook on the coffee table, went into my room, hopped onto my bed and slipped off my shoes. Lying back I pulled out the picture of Kaoru and I and I felt myself smile again. Setting it on my nightstand I flicked off the light switch and slowly dozed off into dreamland. Later, that night my eyes bolted open remembering that I had forgotten to return the pencil back to Mr. Cotton Candy.
Author's notes: I am sorry the last little bit was rushed, but this was such a long chapter that I needed to wrap it up. Forgive me! *hopes I don't get a rusty spork thrown at me* Anyways I shall write chapter 8 in the near future. Leave me feedback as always, and have a wonderful day. ^^ Thank you for the support readers.