It had been a week since Whitney's first dance lesson with Kaoru. She had been practicing everyday since then and all of the hosts had been helping her. Today, her dance partner was Mori and Hani was sitting in the window watching for errors.
"Good, Whit-chan. You've gotten much better." Hani said to the younger girl in front of him.
"Ah" Mori agreed.
Whitney smiled.
"Thanks! But that's because of the help you and the others have been giving me."
The song ended as did the dance and she decided to hang out with Hani and Mori for a little longer. She had a reprieve from hosting for the week to practice her dancing, so the twins had reverted to hosting without her for the time being.
Whitney walked with Hani and Mori over to a small table in the corner of the room. The taller senior brought his small cousin a piece of cake and the three proceeded to talk about anything and everything.
"Hey, Whit-chan? Did Hika-chan and Kao-chan show you your dress yet?" Hani questioned.
She shook her head.
"No, not yet. I hadn't really thought about it." She replied.
"Although, I probably should have. Knowing those two, it'll end up being super short."
Hani just smiled at her.
"I bet the dress they made will be really pretty, Whit-chan." he said in that cute way of his.
Mori simply nodded. Whitney wasn't sure if he was actually part of the conversation or if he was just sitting there as an accessory to Hani. But she smiled at them both.
"I think so, too, Hani-senpai."
"Hey, Whit-chan. What if Usa-chan gets dressed up, too?" Hani asked, eyes sparkling.
She laughed at the cute blonde sitting across from her.
"That's a great idea."
The three of them continued to talk until it was time to close the Host Club.
"Mata ashita!" Whitney called to her friends as she walked out of the room with the twins and Haruhi.
The four friends walked out into the school's parking lot and hopped into the twins' limo. But instead of heading toward Haruhi or Whitney's house, the chauffeur began to drive them all to the Hitachiin estate.
"Um, you guys? Why are we driving to your house?" Whitney asked the two redheads across from her.
"We're going dress shopping." they answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"What?"
"We started making dresses for the party." Hikaru said
"And we heard Hani-senpai asking you if you'd seen them yet." Kaoru continued.
"So we're bringing you over to find a dress."
"Okay. So why is Haruhi here? Did you kidnap her?" Whitney wondered aloud, thoroughly confused.
"Something like that." the twins grinned. Haruhi just sighed out the window.
"I'm here because these two wanted a 'girl's' opinion on how the dress looked. That and Tamaki didn't trust them to be alone with you."
"So he sent you?" Whitney questioned, incredulous.
"Wow. I never thought Tamaki would willingly let Haruhi go with the twins." she thought
"Well, actually, he wanted to send Kyouya." Haruhi stated matter-of-factly. "I talked him into letting me go. Kyouya would just charge you for 'wasting his time'."
The four teens in the car laughed lightly at this, the brief ride to the Hitachiin estate being filled with jokes at Kyouya's expense.
The limo finally pulled up to a huge house that sprawled across a giant mass of land.
"Welcome to our house." the twins said as the two girls just gawked.
"Rich people…" Haruhi muttered as she took in the entirely too large abode.
Whitney just stared.
"I thought MY house was big. If I get lost in here, I won't be able to find my way out for months." she thought.
"Come on, you two. You can stare at our house later." Hikaru said, sounding slightly impatient as the two girls snapped out of their trance.
The female hosts nodded and followed the two identical boys down a confusing maze of hallways until they reached a large room, overflowing with dresses.
Whitney's jaw dropped.
"Um…what is all of this?"
"These are the dresses we designed for the party." the twins answered indifferently
"Sorry that there is such a limited amount. We only had a week or so." Kaoru apologized politely.
"This is a limited amount?! I don't even want to know what would've happened if they'd had more time." she thought, the sight throwing her mind into craze mode.
"So, we're going to pick some for you to try on and then we're going to have a fashion show." Hikaru explained.
"There's a room to change in through that door." Kaoru said, pointing.
"When you're done, the catwalk is through that door."
"Ha ha. Catwalk. Good one, guys." she laughed
"What? We're being completely serious." they informed her
She just looked at them.
"Am I expected to walk down it in heels?" she asked, sounding nervous.
"Yeah. Why?" Hikaru questioned suspiciously.
"Heels and me are a bad combination. I'll fall." she laughed.
"Don't worry, Whitney. You won't fall." they twins said.
"But if you do, I'll make sure Kaoru catches you." Hikaru joked as she and his twin blushed.
"How about you two stop teasing her and let her try on dresses. Some of us actually have things to do." Haruhi said.
The two redheads nodded and walked out of the room with Haruhi.
Whitney was drowning in dresses as she walked into the "dressing room" which looked oddly like a bedroom. She opened the first garment bag to reveal an ice blue dress with a knee length skirt. The bodice shimmered in the light and was very eye-catching. She put on the dress and the accompanying heels which were five inches tall and hard to walk in. She wobbled her way to the catwalk and attempted to walk down the stretch of floor in front of her, stopping to pose for her friends who were seated at the end.
"Took you long enough." Hikaru muttered at her.
"Well, what do you think?" She asked trying to be the best model she could be. She struck a very dramatic pose which was only graceful in her own mind.
"Well, first off, you should stop posing like that." Hikaru laughed.
"What's wrong with my posing?" She asked as she stood up straight, hand on her hip.
"There we go! Pose like that from now on." he instructed.
"Whit-chan. I would advise that you don't try and go into modeling." Kaoru suggested, trying his best to not offend the girl in front of him.
Whitney huffed a little before she turned her attention to Haruhi.
"Haruhi, do you have an opinion on the dress or are you going to follow these two doppelgangers' example and comment on my poor modeling?" she asked bitterly.
Haruhi thought for a moment and then turned her attention back to the girl in front of her.
"I don't like it." Haruhi replied bluntly.
"Hey! I take offense to that. I designed that one!" Hikaru said loudly.
Whitney just laughed at him.
"That's what you get for making fun of me." she chortled.
"No offense, Hikaru, but I agree with Haruhi. It doesn't look right on her." Kaoru said, looking over the girl in front of him.
"So I'm guessing that's a no on this one?" Whitney asked, hopefully. It was nothing against the dress. She had just hoped that her dress would be a little longer.
All three nodded at her.
"Go try on another one." the twins ordered.
Whitney took off the heels and walked back down the runway to the "dressing room" to choose a different gown. She put on the next one, a light yellow one this time.
"No, the yellow reminds me too much of the school uniform." Haruhi said.
"Yeah. Nobody wants to go to a party in that." the twins commented.
Whitney kept walking back and forth between the two rooms, trying on all of the dresses in the adjoining room until there was only one left. Every dress had been found to be flawed on her.
"All of these are gorgeous but they've shot down every one. Maybe there's something wrong with me." She thought as she took out the final dress, gasping when it was unveiled. The gown was a deep crimson hue that rivaled even the most beautiful rose. It had short sleeves and slight beading on the top, nothing too over the top. The skirt was floor length and made of tulle, making it look slightly poofy. Out of all of the dresses she had tried on today, this was her absolute favorite.
Whitney put on the shoes that went with it, a pair of kitten heels.
"Finally, some shoes I can walk in!"
She took a deep breath and walked into the room.
"I hope they like this one."
As she walked down the catwalk, there was a collective gasp heard throughout the room.
She stopped at the end and waited with baited breath for the verdict. She was only met with silent stares.
"So…what do you think?" she asked, timidly.
Haruhi was the first to speak up.
"That is a really pretty dress, Whitney. I like this one a lot."
Whitney smiled a little, waiting for the twins to speak up.
Hikaru nodded his approval.
"Whitney-chan, if you don't wear that dress to the party, I will kill you." he said in all seriousness.
The raven-haired girl began to perk up a little.
"Okay, that's two judges down. Only one more to go."
Whitney turned and beamed at the only one who hadn't commented on her attire yet.
"So, Kaoru-kun, what do you think?" she asked, twirling so that the skirt flared out.
He just stared for a minute before giving his answer.
"You're…beautiful." Kaoru said breathily.
Whitney blushed a little, taken aback by his comment.
"W-what did you just say?" she asked, shocked.
"I mean, it's beautiful. The dress is beautiful." he corrected himself.
She smiled.
"Thank you. I love it! You both did such a good job!" she said, showing the twins her appreciation.
"Well, actually, it's Kaoru you should thank." Hikaru told her, smirking a little.
Whitney looked at him, confused.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" she questioned.
"What I'm talking about are his designing skills The two of us designed all of the dresses together except for two." Hikaru started to explain.
"We made a bet to see which one of us could design a better dress for you. Hikaru's was the light blue one that you tried on first." Kaoru continued.
"I'm still offended that you all hated it." Hikaru interjected.
The three other people in the room just ignored him.
"Anyways, Kaoru designed the one that you're wearing right now, Whit-chan." Hikaru finished.
Whitney just looked at the dress and then it's designer in awe, wondering how he ever managed to design her perfect dress.
"You're wondering how I came up with the design, aren't you?" Kaoru asked, looking somewhat embarrassed.
Whitney nodded her head.
"It's absolutely perfect, Kaoru-kun." she complimented him as she waited for his answer.
"Thank you." he accepted.
"So, how did you come up with this design?" she prodded.
"Sorry, Whit-chan, but I can't tell you that." and Kaoru said, smiling at her in a shy way.
"Would you excuse me for a moment?" he asked, standing up and walking out of the room.
Whitney stood on the runway, even more confused now than she had been earlier.
"Hikaru, if you don't mind, I'm going to leave, too. I've still got chores and homework to do." Haruhi said.
Hikaru nodded and called their chauffeur to take Haruhi home. She walked out of the room, leaving Whitney alone with Hikaru.
"Hey, Hikaru? Did I do something to upset your brother?" Whitney asked quietly.
"I think I embarrassed him earlier. I shouldn't have asked where he got his inspiration from." she reasoned in her head, mentally slapping herself for being so inconsiderate.
Hikaru just laughed.
"I think he'll live. He's just embarrassed because he thinks you'll be freaked out if he tells you that he dreamed about that dress." he stated nonchalantly.
"Huh?" She said, cocking her head to the side.
Hikaru hoisted himself onto the runway, sitting on the edge and motioning for her to sit next to him.
"Kaoru had a dream about the party and in it, you were wearing that dress." he said, motioning to her current wardrobe.
"When I woke up the next morning, he was already sketching it." he chuckled, reminiscing.
Whitney sat there, surprised.
"Why would he be embarrassed? I've dreamt about my friends a bunch of times." she wondered.
She suddenly stood up, thankful for the low heels. The closer she was to the ground, the less likely she was to fall over.
"Um…Hikaru, if you don't mind, I'm going to go find Kaoru and apologize. Thank you so much for all the work you put into this." she said, hugging the boy in thanks and then exiting the room.
She walked out of the door, Hikaru left behind.
He shook his head as he got up to leave the room.
"That girl is a piece of work." he thought, laughing in his head.
Whitney walked back into the "dressing room" and changed back into her school uniform before attempting to find Kaoru.
She walked out of the door and down the hallway, looking high and low for the redheaded twin.
"If I were Kaoru, where would I be hiding from me?" she wondered to herself.
She opened many doors, all of them leading to empty, Kaoru-less rooms.
She kept up her search as she walked down a seemingly familiar hallway.
"Haven't I been here before?" she thought as she began to open doors. They were the same empty rooms that she'd checked over twenty minutes ago.
"Ugh. Why didn't I have Hikaru help me? Now I'm lost in their house. And on top of that…it's getting dark." the girl shuddered at the thought of the absence of light. She was afraid of many things, but the dark was very near to the top of that list.
She continued to wander around aimlessly, beginning to get antsy as the corridors became darker.
"Kaoru, where are you?" she called out.
All too soon, the sun had set and the hallway was entirely too dark for her tastes.
"Kaoru-kun!" she yelled, hoping that the boy would magically appear so that she could apologize and go home. But he was still nowhere to be found.
Whitney slid down a wall, sitting in a dark corner of wherever it was that she was at the moment. Tears began to roll down her face as the darkness settled in.
"I'm never going to find my way out of this place." she wept.
All the sudden, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. She screamed as loud as she could.
"Hikaru! Kaoru! Help me!" she yelled, thrashing about in her assailant's arms.
A hand let go of her waist, covering her mouth.
"Shhh. It's me, Whitney-chan." came a voice from behind her.
She turned only to come face to face with Kaoru, blushing at how close he was to her.
"Whitney-chan, what are you still doing here?" he asked her. "And why were you screaming?"
She suddenly remembered that she had been looking for him and so she backed away from the boy and bowed.
"Sumimasen, Kaoru-kun."
He looked taken aback. But his shock softened into a smile as he laughed at the girl.
"Sorry for what? You don't have to apologize for anything."
"But I…made you feel embarrassed." she said, not sure what was going on in his head.
"It's alright, Whitney-chan. It wasn't as big of a deal as it seemed. There's no need to apologize." he reached out to find the girl in the dark.
"Why didn't I turn on the lights?" he thought to himself. "That seems logical when you're in the dark."
He finally found her and pulled her close to him.
"You still haven't answered my questions, though."
She nodded. She knew he couldn't see her, but she did it all the same.
"I'm still here because I was looking for you so I could apologize, Kaoru-kun. And…"she trailed off.
"And….?" he encouraged her to keep speaking.
"I can't tell you why I screamed." she said, frowning slightly.
"And why not?" he asked.
"Because you'll laugh at me." she pouted.
"Did you laugh when Hikaru told you about my dream?" he questioned.
She shook her head.
"No. But that was a normal thing. It's kind of disgraceful for a seventeen-year-old to be the way I am." she whispered.
"I promise I won't laugh, Whitney-chan." he said.
"Well, I'm…afraid of the dark." she mumbled.
He took her by the hand and began walking down the hallway.
"Kaoru-kun, what are you…?"
Suddenly, the hallway was illuminated, the darkness fading away.
"Stupid. Why didn't you just say so in the first place? I would've turned on the light for you." he smiled at her.
She just stood frozen.
"I didn't want you to think I was a baby." she replied softly.
"I would never think that of you." he said, his face inexplicably getting closer to hers.
They were inches apart when they were interrupted by a noise.
"Kaoru! Whitney! Where are you two?" Hikaru called out.
The two quickly jumped apart from each other.
"We're right here, Hikaru." Kaoru answered his twin.
"Whitney's car just arrived." Hikaru informed them.
The three friends walked out of the house and down to where Whitney's ride home waited.
"Thank you for everything you two have done for me." she said, grinning at her two friends.
They nodded their acknowledgment.
"No problem, Whitney-chan." they said.
"Oh, and Kaoru-kun? I'll keep your secret if you keep mine." she said, holding out her hand.
He grasped her hand and shook it.
"Okay, Whit-chan. It's a deal."
"Oyasuminasai." she yelled as she got into her car.
"Oyasuminasai." Hikaru and Kaoru answered.
And with that, she drove off into the dark night, thinking about the strange occurrences at the Hitachiin house.