Chapter 2.

It's Monday morning, and despite your slip up yesterday the rest of the 'date' went fine. You'd ended up seeing a thriller, and hearing Haruhi scream like a... well, a girl, had been extremely amusing, and had also made for perfect teasing material afterwards.

You straighten up from 'tying your shoe', starting up a conversation about the movie with Hana-chan, who's just about to pass you. She blushes and smiles at the chance to talk to one of the notorious Hitachiin brothers. (You really wonder if she knows which one you are, and you're tempted to spring the question on her but you don't.)

You smile and nod as she talks oh, I was so scared, but I was with some of my friends so it was fine, we all laughed at each other's screams afterwards... but, really, you're watching your brother again. And this time it's not because you want to see how things go, or that you want to see if you can help in some way. You don't really know why you're watching him walk down the corridor happily chatting, once again, to the cross dressing commoner girl. But whatever it is, it was probably the same thing that made you want to tail them on their first date together. And on their second one. The same... morbid curiosity, the need to see what would happen.

You shake your head softly. No, you can't let that get mixed up in it. This is about Hikaru, this is about expanding your world, not about your petty nosiness.

You wave to Hana-chan before settling into your seat, Hikaru giving you a small, loving smile from behind Haruhi's head.

Hmm. This is going to be harder than you expected it to be.

---

"Hikaru? I'm just going to return something to Kyouya-kun. I'll find you in the cafeteria a bit later, OK?"

"Hahhh? You borrowed from Kyouya!" Hikaru's jaw drops open and he does have a point, you think, because borrowing one of Kyouya's precious belongings would be like making a deal with the Devil.

"He just... had a book I wanted to read! It's not like I ripped it or anything, either..."

"...though that would be a good prank. We could frame Tono." Hikaru finished for you, grinning. "I'll come with you to make sure he doesn't kill you."

"Iie, Hikaru, I'll be fine. Why don't you go ahead with Haruhi?"

He frowns at you, and it does seem that you're trying to get rid of him. You bite your lip, but you have to do this. If you tag along like you did yesterday, you'll end up doing something stupid again. (But why did Haruhi have to stand so close to him in the first place...?)

"...Wakatta. Be quick, okay?" He says softly, and ambles off to look for Haruhi.

You grab a random book from your desk and walk out of the classroom soon after, looking at them wistfully over your shoulder, but you steel yourself. Since you don't have anything better to do, you wander upstairs to look for Kyouya's classroom. It's only then that you realize that you'd never visited the 2nd years' classroom before. Hmm... Well. Tamaki and the Shadow King; that doesn't really give you much motivation, does it?

But now that you think about it, you're kind of curious as to what Kyouya does during lunchtime. You wonder if he plots nefarious deeds on his laptop then, as well. Guy looks like one never to take a break. Maybe you can bug him a little. Hell, maybe you can even ask him if he can lend you a book.

---

You're still looking for the classroom 15 minutes later. Why does your school have to be so huge? ...Probably because you're 'rich bastards', as Haruhi would say.

You wonder what they're doing right now. Is Haruhi 'getting food off your brother's face' again? Maybe pudding, this time?

You shake yourself, hard. Haruhi wouldn't do something like that. The girl hardly notices Tono's many fruitless passes at her, and that Arai guy's attempt to ask her out had flown right over her head. Romance was obviously not the first thing on Fujioka Haruhi's mind.

You stop in your tracks and look around. That's it... you're definitely lost. Kind of pathetic, getting lost in your own school. You retrace your steps, planning to make your way back to the 1st year classroom. You hope you don't run into anyone. You'll have a hard time explaining why you're wandering around on the laboratory floor with a... you take the first look ever at the book in your hand... with a book about bonsai growing. (Where did that come from, anyway!)

...You miss Hikaru. People would think it strange for you to miss your brother after only being away from him for (you look at your watch) 20 minutes, but they wouldn't understand. (Also, it's not really 20 minutes, if you count all the time you spent avoiding Hikaru this morning, and the day before, and the day before when you were busy planning for the date...) Hikaru and you were born together, you grew up together; for the longest time you'd fallen asleep and woken up together. Like you were one person (and the two of you were, but you were two different people at the same time). It's... hard when a presence you've had with you for 16 years is suddenly taken away. But it's happening more and more, lately. And bound to keep on happening, you think sadly.

You make your way down another brightly decorated flight of stairs, realizing you'd missed this floor. Yeah, this is the right one, and you walk along, peering in at the windows until you catch sight of Kyouya... yep, reading a book. How boring. You'd think he'd be doing something more exciting or... evil, him being the Shadow King and all. The door creaks loudly when you open it, and he looks up briefly, glasses glinting. You gulp.

"...Kyouya-kun." He acknowledges your presence with a 'hnn' and goes back to his book. You flop down on the chair next to him. After a few moments of silence, in which you can practically hear the clock tick, crickets chirp, and Tono having a Drama Queen Moment a few floors down, you sigh and ask,

"Ne, Kyouya. What are you reading?"

He doesn't say anything, just pushes his glasses further up his nose and gives you a Look.

"I think the question is: What are you doing here, Kaoru-kun?"

"Well, I... I kind of told Hikaru I had to give you something, so he could have more time with Haruhi...oi!" You notice something. And you gawk at him.

"How did you know I... how do you know I'm me?" You demand, staring at him, itching to pull the book away so you can see his face. But you don't. "It's just because of my hair parting. ...Right? Right?"

"No." He shakes his head. "It's your voices. They're completely different. If I listen closely, your voice is slightly higher than Hikaru's."

You're still gawking at him, because,honestly? That's what this kind of statement deserves. (He's right, though. How did he manage to catch it?)

"You... kuso. How long have you been able to tell?"

"Quite a while now. But it's only after watching the two of you for months that I was able to," And you stop gawking and shiver, instead, because the thought of being watched by Kyouya does that to a person.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"You didn't ask."

You make an annoyed sound with your throat. That's just the type of thing Kyouya would say, isn't it?

"There are more people out there than you think, Kaoru-kun." He starts to read his book again. You're still staring at him. All along... all along, you'd thought it'd been only Haruhi. Now there was Kyouya. And maybe even more. The thought was exhilarating and scary all at once.

"...Ne, Kyouya? Are you reading a book about bonsais, by any chance?"

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