The twins never thought that anyone could really, truly tell them apart. And I proved them wrong.
Hikaru and I were talking during a break between classes. He and I talk a lot, come to think of it. Anyway, he said, "You're all disheveled today, Haruhi. Don't you always get here an hour early?" He ran his fingers through my bangs and winked. "Your hair's all unruly. It looks like you did something unscrupulous in the library."
"I studied for the English test."
"What English test?" he asked absentmindedly.
"The one that's coming up after this break. You didn't study at all? It's on Shakespeare."
He said, "We'll do fine. We always do."
I smiled. "You did it again."
He blinked. "Oh, right. I'll do fine; Kaoru'll do better."
I laughed, now. "I don't see how so many people could confuse you both! You even confuse yourselves, sometimes."
He looked away. "There aren't any lines between us. We're pretty much one person."
"If there aren't any lines between you," I said, more seriously, "why is Kaoru talking to a group of girls over there?"
We both looked at Kaoru, on the far side of the room. Hikaru said firmly, "We don't have to spend all our time together."
I watched him, and waited.
He wouldn't meet my eyes. "Will you listen seriously?"
I said, "Do you have any other friend who would?"
He sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Haruhi, I like you. Romantically. Kaoru…wants to spread out a little more. To find someone of his own."
"You know this for a fact?"
He grinned. "We're twins, Haruhi. You can't argue with me on that, right?"
I frowned at him. They were both my friends. "Did you talk to him about it, Hikaru?"
He was watching Kaoru. "No."
"Hikaru," I said, softly. He looked at me. "Do you two talk at all anymore?"
He laughed. "Maybe you don't understand the full meaning of the twin thing-"
"How well do you know him?"
He was silent.
I pressed on, "You two have very different personalities."
"No, we don't," he bit out.
"Fine. You have different dispositions."
He shook his head violently. "Look, Haruhi, can I just get a reaction, please? I said that I liked you. Now you either accept or reject me, and things move from there."
I smiled at him. "Hikaru, I'm glad that you like me. It's very sweet. But you need to understand that I'm not the one for you."
He closed his eyes. "It's just that you're different from all the other girls around here…"
"No, not really."
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, trannie."
"Do you know anyone that you could be with for the rest of your life?" I asked him.
"No." He giggled. "I'm pretty much non-screwed." He sobered, and said sadly, "And I'm losing my Kaoru…"
I sighed, and got to my point. Some people are very blind. "Did you ever think that the difference between you two can make you more compatible? If you two were exactly alike, wouldn't you get bored like you always do?"
He gaped at me. "Haruhi, when did you get smart about relationships?"
I winked. "This morning, Kyouya may or may not have been in the library to mess up my hair."
He stared at his twin, across the room. "Would it offend you if I got back to you about that crush thing?"
I shook my head. "I'll be waiting right here."
He stood up, and took a few steps away.
"Good luck," I added.
He gave me a two-finger salute and whistled away, taking his brother's arm in his as he went.
Maybe things would work out for them…somehow.
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