Sorry to disappoint you (I know I disappointed myself!) if you were waiting for Katawa Shoujo characters, but this chapter still focuses mostly on the Ouran characters. There is one Katawa Shoujo character who plays a decently large role near the end of this chapter, but you'll have to wait and see who that is. Won't take that long anyway, considering how disappointingly short this chapter is. Anyways, Katawa Shoujo characters will start to become much more prominent in the next chapter and then I plan to introduce five or maybe more KS characters in the chapter following that one. Thank God too; the Ouran characters are fantastic, yes, but I have to say I love KS characters more. Biased much? Yeah, maybe... Well, in any case, I hope you enjoy Chapter 3.

Chapter 3: The Twins

"And there we have the Hitachiin brothers Hikaru and Kaoru," Kyoya pointed toward the red-haired targets as he said so. "Aloof twins who always stick together and block out everyone else from their lives."

It was a picturesque spring day; warm, bright and with not even a hint of clouds in the sky. This was reflected in the joy of the students frolicking playfully outside in the vast field behind Yamaku. The red-haired twins Hikaru and Kaoru, however, chose to sit on a bench coolly, talking to no one, not even themselves, caring about nothing but the books they were reading.

"This might prove to be more difficult than with Mori and Honey... however, it never hurts to go and ask, right?" And with that, Tamaki confidently strutted up to the twins.

Always wants the easy way out first even when strategic planning would certainly help much more... Additionally, appears to think that his charisma can solve everything when that is... not quite the case as will undoubtedly be proven here, Kyoya typed on his laptop. And I'm sure it'll be entertaining too.

"Hey, Hitachiin brothers!" One looked up at him with a startled expression, the other with a bored one. "Do you want to form a club with me?"

The twin who had first looked up at Tamaki with a startled expression subtly glanced at the other twin sitting by him. As soon as he saw his brother's bored expression, he adopted one himself.

"A club? Really? Do we look like we want to engage in social activities?" The formerly startled twin dismissed.

The other continued. "Get lost, Frenchman. Here in Japan, you don't ask random strangers to start a club with you!"

"B-but... this is a wonderful club, Hitachiin brothers! Best club in existence! You're going to be missing out on lots of fun stuff if you don't join it!" Tamaki said in a last-ditch attempt to recruit these promising young hosts.

"If you aren't going to stop pestering us, I'm afraid we're going to have to leave. Let's go back to our dorm rooms, Kaoru."

This twin grasped the cane next to him and rose slowly, his brother supporting him as he did so.

"Just keep walking forward and follow my lead and we'll make it to our rooms," this twin quietly reassured his brother. They walked slowly and cautiously to their destination, one brother leading the other. Kyoya walked to Tamaki's side, stoic outwardly but quite amused inwardly.

"Well, Tamaki, that clearly did not go as - what are you crying about?"

Surely enough, Tamaki was bawling his eyes out, "That is true brotherly love right there! You were right when you said we need some brotherly love in the host club! I'm even more determined than ever now to get the Hitachiins to join our club! "

"Judging by the way this plan crashed and burned, I think it would be best if you left the twins to me," Kyoya stated. Tamaki responded with an affirmative, if somewhat dejected, nod. "You should go talk to Doctor Hedmastr to see if he will approve of the host club. While this is a wondrous idea, it is rather... unique so Doctor Hedmastr might see it more like the Hitachiins than Honey, if you catch my drift."

"So... our headmaster's name is... Hedmastr?" Tamaki inquired with a chuckle.

"Yes, that is the truth of the matter," Kyoya responded with a laugh while simultaneously cursing Tamaki in his mind for suddenly switching to an irrelevant topic.

Suddenly switching topics once again, Tamaki stopped snickering and triumphantly shouted, "Anyways, wonderful idea, Kyoya! I'll go meet with him right now!"

"Wait a minute, let me tell you what to say to Doc - what the hell?" For by the time Kyoya turned to face Tamaki, he had already vanished. Kyoya immediately smashed his face into his laptop. "Idiot."

"So, you wish to speak with the headmaster, Mr. Suou?" An old, wrinkled secretary with gray hair spoke politely. "As you are new to Yamaku, it is excusable that you are unaware of our procedures; even so, I would think that even the schools you had attended prior to Yamaku Academy required students to schedule appointments with the headmaster rather than randomly barge in whenever you want to."

"That is indeed true. What is also true, however, is that, despite your age, you look like a beautiful flower flourishing in the midst of a magnificent spring," Tamaki said, pulling out a red rose and channeling the heavens to surround him with radiant light. He extended the rose toward the secretary and continued, "Looking at how wonderful you look now, my dear... it makes my heart break that the law and social conventions dictate that we cannot be together."

"Oh my..." was the only statement the enraptured secretary could say. With the secretary properly distracted, Tamaki took the opportunity to slip past her and barge into the headmaster's office.

The headmaster was reading an important-looking paper, but he was startled out of his work and immediately turned to face the intruder. He rapidly regained his composure and began to speak, "Ah, Mr. Suou. To what do I owe this... eh... pleasure?"

"I would like to start a club and I seek your approval, headmaster," Tamaki answered enthusiastically. Hedmastr smiled warmly.

"It is wonderful to see that you are taking the initiative to begin a club mere days after your arrival here. What kind of club do you plan to form?" Hedmastr inquired, his expression of annoyance quickly being replaced by one of happiness.

"The Yamaku Academy Host Club, sir!" Tamaki yelled to the heavens, his eyes gleaming as he said so.

"You are planning to start a male prostitution ring here at Yamaku?" Hedmastr asked, completely befuddled by this request. Tamaki was oblivious to Hedmastr's obvious discontent and continued.

"Ah, no, no, host clubs do not involve sex of any kind. Us hosts seek to merely entertain girls via flirtatious activities and exposure to new cultures as well as provide them with a wide variety of food and drinks. It's a great source of stress relief and affection," Tamaki said rapidly. Hedmastr held his head in his arms and groaned.

"Can... I take that as a yes then?" asked Tamaki hopefully.

"Get out, please," Hedmastr tried to restrain himself but...

"But -"

"GET OUT OF MY OFFICE, SUOU!" His restraint failed him and he blew up.

And with that, Tamaki ran out of Hedmastr's office as fast as he could.

As Tamaki's plan failed miserably, Kyoya's plan was just beginning. He had taken careful notes on Kaoru and his type of personality prior to initiating his plan and had planned accordingly.

Heavy indecision and submission to someone he considers a higher authority, typically his parents or his brother, but me this time... Perfect.

At that time, Kyoya was standing in front of Kaoru's dormitory. Kyoya made sure he appeared to be the image of self-confidence so as to better sway Kaoru and then knocked on his door.

Even after a mere fifteen seconds, the fidgeting Kyoya had to restrain himself from knocking again. Indeed, he was just about to when the door opened slightly and his target poked his head through the opening.

"Kyoya? Um, w-what are you d-doing here?"

"Follow me, Kaoru-san," Kyoya said kindly and yet also in an undoubtedly authoritative manner. Kaoru became even more befuddled.

"B-but, wh-?"

"Just follow me please. It's all for the best, Kaoru-san," Reluctantly, Kaoru acquiesced to Kyoya's demands.

Over the course of a few minutes, Kyoya led Kaoru to the very same bench they had met at earlier that afternoon. Kaoru looked around him frantically for a way out of this bizarre situation, but there was nothing he felt he could do to escape.

Kyoya stared intently at Kaoru, "You should definitely join the host club, Kaoru. If you join, Hikaru will follow. Brotherly love is quite popular with the female populace these days, so the host club needs a dose of that to prosper. Wouldn't you agree that you and Hikaru are perfect for the role?"

Kaoru certainly did not wish to actually join the club. However, he had become completely incapable of making decisions for himself after a whole life spent following the orders of his brother and parents. He often wished it to be different, but that was just the way it was. He felt nothing could change it. Thus, he reluctantly obliged with Kyoya's demands. "Y-yes, Kyoya."

"Wonderful! Now, I implore you, please sign this contract that binds you and Hikaru to the host club forever," Kyoya presented the form and a pen to Kaoru. Kaoru took them hesitantly and proceeded to stare at the paper for a good thirty seconds.

"Oh, please do sign it, Kaoru-san," Kyoya said warmly, his impatience growing exponentially as Kaoru continued to hesitate.

"Okay, okay, I'll s-sign -" The pen and form fell from Kaoru's grasp and loudly hit the ground.

Kaoru suddenly found he could not speak. He fell from his seat, his body making a loud thud as it made contact with the ground. He started convulsing erratically on the ground, his limbs began flailing around wildly. It became difficult for him to breathe. His heart raced, his skin became pale.

He lost consciousness.

"Kaoru! Are you feeling okay?" Even as Kyoya uttered those words, he knew Kaoru was not feeling okay in any way. He looked at the convulsing boy in front of him and began to panic for one of the first times since that horrible incident.

Oh God. Look what you've done. Is putting Kaoru through horrible stress and horrible pain for my own selfish ambitions really worth it...?!

Okay. Calm yourself. Kaoru has epilepsy and severe psychogenic nonepileptic seizures caused by being in a frightening situation. It probably is my fault but the only thing I can do now is... follow the procedures. Just... follow the procedures... and everything will be completely fine.

Still quite rattled, Kyoya acted rapidly to make up for the time wasted. He called the nurse's office while turning Kaoru on his side so he would not choke on his saliva. He pushed the unbolted bench away from Kaoru so he would not hurt himself by slamming his limbs into the bench. He gently restrained Kaoru so he would not inflict any pain on himself. He timed the seizure. It ended after seventy-six seconds from the time he began counted.

Kyoya breathed a long sigh of relief. Based on what he had read, at least, Kaoru would be fine. Nevertheless, he kept a close eye on him. He saw the nurse's staff rushing over with a stretcher but still watched over Kaoru's limp body.

I still remember the first time. When I was six. It was during class too. I convulsed, my heart raced, all that stuff new to me then but just another part of life that I have to get used to now.

Everyone stared at me. But no one helped.

Hikaru didn't even know what was happening. No fault of his, of course, he can't see. But, even so, watching the person I looked up to and followed devotedly just sit there doing nothing while all this crap happened to me was a horrible thing to experience.

I lead him everywhere physically, he leads me everywhere mentally. That's the deal we had made from the start. But, what happens when I become unable to lead him because of my condition? What happens when he can't lead me mentally because I can't tell him the sights around him, the events occurring around him that he just can't see?

We're dependent on each other. It's some form of brotherly symbiosis we have here. When Hikaru learned what had happened right next to him, he began to weep uncontrollably. It was horrible to him as much as it was me that he could do nothing to help me. It seemed to transgress the unspoken rules we had made a long time ago. From when we were young, I was seen as the weak, submissive one who required protection from my stronger brother and I slipped into that role. We both had the same childhood of overly nurturing parents, yes. But Hikaru was just lucky enough to be different from me from the start. Whereas I was dependent on everyone for assistance, he always insisted on being as independent as possible, even going so far as to refuse someone's help when they offered to lead the way for him even in a completely unfamiliar locale.

My brother eventually came to understand that relying on others for help in matters where he would just need some help would not lessen his independence at all. He found a good middle ground between dependence and independence, accepting help when he needed it but never relying too much on other people. I, however, could never quite find that middle ground myself.

I hate this.

"Here you are, Hikaru-san... Kaoru-san is right in front of you," Kyoya said as he led Hikaru to Kaoru's side. Kyoya had a false veneer of calmness and collectedness even as he was being wracked by guilt. Even so, Kyoya convinced himself that the act was quite cogent; after all, he had practiced this kind of repression for years so he liked to think of himself as an expert at it at this point.

"Kaoru! Kaoru!" Hikaru wildly moved his hands around to try to grasp his brother's hands. Kyoya grabbed Hikaru's hands himself and led them to his destination. "Kaoru! Are you feeling okay?"

Kaoru opened his eyes and looked up at Hikaru weakly. "Yeah, I'm good. Just feeling a bit dizzy, but I'll be okay."

Tears began to stream down Hikaru's face as he responded, "I'm sorry, Kaoru. I should have been there for you."

"Don't worry about it, Hikaru, it's alright." Kaoru subtly shifted his gaze toward Kyoya. Kyoya could see the barely restrained fury in Kaoru's eyes. "Besides... someone was there already."

"Hey, Kaoru! Feeling better?" The blue-haired nurse known only as Nurse to the student populace walked to Kaoru's bed with his trademark joyous smile.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just feeling a bit dizzy, but I'll be okay," Kaoru said. Kyoya noticed all of the emotion Kaoru had infused into this statement, at least via his body language, when he was talking to Hikaru had vanished.

"That's great!" Nurse's smile widened even further. He looked at Kyoya accusingly without even losing his smile. "It was a good thing Kyoya was here to protect ya, eh?"

"Yes. Certainly," Kaoru responded, glaring at Kyoya angrily. This apparently was not lost on Nurse.

"Hey, Kyoya, could I have a word with ya?" Nurse asked, not even bothering to wait for an answer before walking out of his office. Kyoya was forced to follow even though he knew and feared what was coming.

"So, it was a wonderful coincidence that, even though you had never talked to Kaoru before, you just happened to be by him when he had his first psychogenic nonepileptic seizure in months, eh?" said Nurse, his goofy smile finally vanishing as he closed the door to his office.

So, it was my fault, wasn't it?

"Yes, it was quite lucky I came across him when I did," Kyoya replied calmly.

"Didn't have anything to do with your... host club, did it?"

Kyoya's calm, collected veneer vanished in an instant and he stammered, "W-what? N-no... yes... Did Kaoru-san tell you, Nurse-senpai?"

Nurse shook his head, "Nah, he was really quiet about the entire thing. I just made a good guess. It is, after all, my job to monitor every activity that may potentially be a health hazard and as we've seen... this host club can be quite dangerous to students with certain conditions primarily fueled by emotions and the like."

"Now, I won't pretend it's not a good idea. It's a wonderful source of entertainment, stress relief, all that good stuff; affection too," Nurse said with a wink. "I don't want to baby the students here and I definitely can't baby them when they leave Yamaku. They deserve better than being forced out of relatively harmless activities because of their condition." Nurse gave an uncharacteristic frown. "They also deserve better than being manipulated by you, Kyoya. Your idea is great, but what you're doing is not. If you can't stop being a manipulative kid, then at least stay away from Kaoru so this never happens again."

Damn! I've always put on a show of kindness around Nurse and he saw right through it? How? But... yes. What he is saying is indeed correct.

Kyoya was genuinely guilty when he replied, "You're completely right, Nurse. I'll stay away from both Hikaru-san and Kaoru-san for the rest of my year here at Yamaku."

"Good!" Nurse's smile returned. "Good talk, Kyoya!"

Nurse briskly re-entered his office. Wanting to get out of the general vicinity as soon as possible, Kyoya prepared to sprint out of the medical building back to his dorm. Unexpectedly, however, Nurse came back outside.

"Kaoru wants to see you," said Nurse.

A confused Kyoya walked back into Nurse's office to the bed on which Kaoru was lying down on. Kaoru had a determined expression on his face; his brother, however, seemed annoyed and exasperated.

"I'll join," Kaoru said emotionlessly. Hikaru seemed to sigh loudly. Kyoya was paralyzed by Kaoru's statement.

What? Is he trying to torment me by always being at the host club or something? I can't live with that guilt, I'll have to refuse. I'll just tell Tamaki that they refused, he doesn't need to know the truth.

"Ah, sorry, but -"

Someone charging into Kyoya recklessly interrupted his speech. He turned around to see a weeping Tamaki crying into Kyoya's back.

"Kyoya, Kyoya!" Tamaki tightened his embrace as he wept. "Hedmastr didn't like the idea!"

Go figure.

"Well, that's a shame. What to do, what to do..." Kyoya contemplated, grateful for this reprieve from his misery. He snapped his fingers when he realized what the perfect solution was. "Ah, yes! We'll have to appeal to the Student Council! The headmaster respects the Council so he'll probably listen to what the Council has to say. In addition, I have a great deal of power in that organization for... various reasons so Queen Hakamichi will probably listen to what I have to say. Eh, probably..."

"Grand idea, Kyoya! Let's go talk to this queen right now!"

"Wait, we have to think of a good way to appease Queen - what the hell?" Tamaki had suddenly disappeared again, leaving Kyoya to gape.

Bloody freaking idiot!

"Well, I hope to see you guys soon, Hikaru-san, Kaoru-san," Kyoya turned to the twins and smiled warmly. "But I'm afraid I need to... track that fool down."

"Farewell. Fun times when we meet again," Kaoru said with a rather creepy smile. A slightly frightened Kyoya rushed out the door as fast as he could while still appearing calm, even as Kaoru's final words to him caused him to feel the exact opposite.