AHAH!! Finally!!! I just got early Christmas gifts (a Mokona backpack, a Mokona hat, a complete bathroom remodle - EVERYTHING IS PINK AND PURPLE NOW~! - and orange Gummy ear buds to go with my orange Kao!ipod!) so I felt in the spirit of giving, and I finally forced myself to stop RPing dirty transactions between Fai and Shigure, and type this up!!! So, here you go! And for those who don't get the negative, I'll explain it at the end~! ^^ Enjoy!! -hearts-

Chapter Negative Eight

Negative Twelve

The playground was cold in early January, moist wood chips covered in a crunchy layer of frost, and warm breath curling in ringlets above children's mouths and noses as they played French variations of Red Light, Green Light or tag.

Rene Grantaine was not one of those children playing, however; he sat at one of the wooden picnic benches that sat close to the door that lead to the inside of the school, toying with an orange in his gloved hand. His mother was getting sick again, and while she would usually recover in a week or so, whenever she - his beautiful, beautiful mother - was confined to bedrest, looking sickly and pale and sleeping in fevered fits, he lost his appetite almost completely.

Still, Rene thought optimistically, this orange made a good toy, and maybe he'd play the piano for his mother when he got home and -

"Are you going to eat that?" a voiced asked, an just as Rene looked up, he saw two children dressed in identical windbreakers over their white uniform button-ups. Wet patches from the frost were evident on the knees of their black slacks as they climbed up, onto the table, crawled over the surface and sat with their feet swinging off the edge on either side of Rene's lunch box. Upon closer inspection (and once he'd gotten over the initial shock of the two's sudden appearance) he saw the two children were...twins.

"Eat...what?" he asked.

"That," the first boy repeated in French, pointing at his orange.

"Or that," the second boy asked in a slightly higher voice as he pointed to the red box of...of...his Pocky!!

"Ack!!" Rene exclaimed, scrabbling to snatch the box of Japanese delicacies as the two other kids reached for it. Hugging the chocolate biscuits to his chest, and he all but throw the orange in their direction, only to have the fruit bounce off the table and splatter on the ground as neither boy paid it any attention. "No! No, you can't!!" he spluttered. "My father brought these over especially from Japan!!"

Boy Number One shrugged. "So? It's just from Japan."

"We used to live there," Number Two put in. "Plus, we just want sooooooooome!"

"Just a bit!"

"A little~!"

"Please?!?" they chorused together, leaning in even closer.

Rene reeled backward, away from the two, flipped off of his bench and onto the cold, hard ground. It stung a bit, but the boy was unfazed save for the loss of his hat, revealing wavy blond hair that bounced around his ears. His face, otherwise pale, was flushed in the cheek and mouth, and his large blue/purple eyes sparkled.

"NO!" He objected. He remembered the day that his father had brought both him and his mother boxes upon boxes of overseas treats; and together, they had indulged, snacking on them mindlessly and enjoying each other's company. But by the time Suoh Yuzuru had left France, there had only been five boxes left. Anne-Sophia had all but thrust them upon her son, and Rene had eaten them sparingly ever since then. There would be no way he would willingly hand over his Pocky now! "You can't have it!!"

"Why not~?" whined Boy Number Two as he swung his short legs faster.

"We just want a little~!"

"NO!"

There was silence for a moment as the twins exchanged a look and then pouted.

"He doesn't want to share, Hikaru," Boy Number Two sniffled exaggeratedly. "He's so...mean!"

"There, there, Kaoru," Boy Number One soothed, patting his brother on the shoulder. "He's just a meanie."

The twins were obviously younger than Rene, and he felt guilty for making younger children cry. Picking himself off the ground, the nine year old opened his mouth to give them a lengthy explanation of exactly why he wouldn't share his Pocky - it was all the ay from back in Japan! - when both of the children darted toward him, stealthily jumping off the icy bench. And while on collided (rather painfully) with his hip, the other managed to wrench the box from his slightly frozen fingers. And then, before he could so much as recollect his breath, they were off running, racing for the doors as the bell to signal the end of lunch rang loudly.

Rene gapped after them for a moment before raising his fist and shouting "You vile...vile dopplegangers!"

What he got in return were two harmonious wet raspberries thrown over the twin's identical retreating shoulders.

Sniffling slightly - it was cold! - the blond child sluggishly picked up his hat and then returned to the picnic bench to collect his lunch. At least, he noted optimistically, They didn't get my chocolate milk...

Negative Eleven

Those twins continued to bother Rene at lunch; almost every time he was alone, one or both of them would pop out of nowhere and frighten him. At first, they just continually asked if he had anymore Pocky, but as these meetings became more and more frequent, they began to ask for other things: his apple, his sandwich, his juice, his chocolate milk...And any time they asked, Rene would quickly chug or devour whatever it was they had inquired about. Of course, then the twins would laugh at him when he began to feel sick and clutch at his stomach.

They must have learned his name from somewhere, because by the fourteenth encounter, the two red heads were calling him "Rene", pronouncing his French name - as they did the language in general - with a slightly Japanese edged accent.

Still, Rene never called them 'Kaoru and Hikaru', which was partially because he wasn't sure which was which, and also partially because thieves such as them did not deserve names.

and, even when he insisted they call him 'Tamaki', (eager as ever to be called that by someone of actual Japanese decent, which he deduced the twins to be) they had simply scoffed, complained they would never remember such a strange name, and stolen the wrapped creep he'd brought from home for breakfast.

Negative Ten

There was some stupid, idiotic game that circled around school the following year. Children (and sometimes even teachers) would take countless guesses at attempting to tell the two twins (Hitachiin, Rene had learned their last name was) apart. Although rarely anyone seemed to get it right; eventually, Rene began to wonder if the two said people were wrong, even when they were right, just to see if they would have the guts to stand up and say 'no, I know I'm right'. No one seemed to, however. Not even him.

It was raining, the transparent droplets of water clinging to large, family-sized umbrellas as parents ushered their young from under the covered court-side driveway overhang and into cozy family cars. Several children clumped together in groups, pulling their coats closer to their bodies and suppressing shivers as they smiled though gritted teeth. Rene was among these groups, but as Pierre, Giselle, Louse and Isabelle ran into the pouring onslaut that left Rene all alone, or alone until the time when one last car (black, long, sleek...not his) pulled up and two children burst through the school's front doors, jackets billowing behind them as they clutched the hoods in their hands, and book-bags flapping wildly at their sides.

Flashes of red hair were the easily recognizable signs of just who those two children were, but by the time they reached the car, their locks were darkened and damp. Rene found himself shivering and sniffling in sympathy as he buried his nose deeper into his fleece scarf.

The door to the expensive car was held open for them from the inside, and one of the Hitachiins easily clambered in. The other, however, paused after only throwing his pack in and spun on his heel to race back to where the older blond child stood.

"Hey," the red head panted, his breath curling into a stream the moment it left his mouth. "H - hey, Tono. Can you tell? Which is which, I mean?"

Rene bristled slightly at the mention of the Japanese nickname, but weather out of happiness or annoyance, he knew not. Still, it threw him off.

Slacken-jawed, a proper, nice response didn't even have a chance to filter through his mind or mouth. "No," was the monotonous reply. "I don't even know your names, really."

A brief look or hurt flashed across the boys face, but was quickly replaced by a smile. "I'm Kaoru. Here!" and with that, the boy shoved a brown paper back into the others hands and ran toward the car.

"I...uh...Thanks, Kaoru," Rene called after him, waving slightly with one hand. However, the child with the retreating back did not turn to wave or anything in return. However, the other red head poked his head out before his brother got in and demanded:

"Why are you thanking me?"

And, of course, it was only after the Hitachiin's car zoomed off that Rene realized that the bag he was holding was damp - not from the rain; it was warm and damp - and smelled of a mixture of sour milk and dog poop.

When he dropped it in disgust a few seconds later and the soggy paper splattered the bags contents all over his shoes, it proved to be just that, as well.

Negative Nine

Early summer of the next year was probably the worse time to deal with the Hitachiin twins. The obnoxious preteens never seemed to want to keep their clothing on during lunch, and would often run away from the teachers with their shirts tied around their heads like turbans, yelling about being ancient Japanese ninjas, or else pirates. The two of them also developed the endearing game of putting ice cubes down their classmates shirts, as well as those of the teachers if they could manage.

And it seemed, on the insanely hot day where the teachers deemed a picnic to the nearest park (and pond) before school finally let out was, the two red headed children seemed to favor Rene as their target.

"Ah - hold still, Tono," the twin who was sitting on his stomach demanded, his brother grappling with the blonds flailing arms with one hand while the other held an ice cube between his fingertips.

"Where not going to - oaf!"

"Hurt you!"

"No! No! NOOOO! Molestation! Unwanted touching! Mommy! Teacher! Heeeeeelp!!"

"Don't be such a little cry baby!" The boys insisted in unison, huffing at the effort it was taking to partially restrain the older boy. "We're trying to help you cool off."

"Help is as dirty as sin when unwanted, you vile dopplegangers! Now - unhand me!" This did nothing but cause Hikaru and Kaoru to dissolve into a fit of giggles, still effectively pinning him to the ground.

"You see~?" One choked out, still giggling.

"This is why we call you 'tono'," the other added. "Because you talk like an ancient lord."

"If I were a lord, you two would be the court jesters, and I would have you outlawed!!! You hear me?!!?!? OUTLAWED! Never to set foot in the castle again! Ever!!" And now the two of them were practically howling with laughter.

Rene squirmed; it was too hot for bodily contact, and the struggling was just leading to grass stains on his previously impeccably white shirt. He sniffed a bit in remembrance for the whey article of clothing before again pushing at the "jesters". This time, they let him sit up.

"Why don't you two go play with children your own age?!" he demanded, still in 'lord' mode.

One Hitachiin shrugged, the other looked away - toward the children who were gathered around the stray dog that had come to sniff at the kids. In unison, once again, they answered, "They're not as fun as you," before standing up, linking hands, and skipping off to poke at a rock and god-only-knew what was underneath it.

Somehow, Rene wasn't surprised that when they all set back to school, the blazer he had first discarded was drenched in mucky pond water and smelled/looked like it had spent the better part of the day sitting under a large rock.

Negative Eight

Rene was slightly appalled to find that, aside from being witty and maniacal and tricksters and liars, the Hitachiin twins were actually pretty smart in their own graces, and when the different grades in the middle school devision of their school broke off into their individual reading groups, Hikaru and Kaoru were pulled from the sixth grade analysis of American Shakespearian plays, and were shoved into the seventh grade's dissection of Les Miserables. This irked Rene to no end for some time, but upon seeing how withdrawn and - dare he say it - almost scared the twins looked in the group of ten, he immediately felt an empathetic tendril of his heart go out to them.

"I find Fantine's last song to be really sad," voiced one girl.

"It was supposed to be sad, but I think little Cosette's story was sadder," implored another.

"It's all supposed to be sad," a boy quipped. "But there's no use crying about it."

"It's an allegory, right?" a new voice cut into the banter. One of - he still didn't know which - the twins was looking around the circle that the chairs had been pulled around to create. He had large, amber eyes, these ones unhidden by the fridge that the other boy seemed to be favoring instead of eye contacts. "About the revolution. Fantine had to die - she was the old France, and Cosette the new."

The other children stared - some looking dumbstruck and some glaring spitefully - but Rene clapped.

"That's right!!" he exclaimed vivaciously, grabbing for his own copy of the book in order to page through it for a line or paragraph or even chapter to support the allegory theory in a way that the others would understand. "It - it makes sense, because Fantire had to die in order for Cosette to be nurtured by Jean Cal Jean and meet Marius, right?"

"...Yeah," the other children began to gradually agree and concede, Rene beamed brightly. Or at least, he did until he felt two chairs simotaniously knocked into either side of his own.

Startled, the blond gasped and, glancing to either side; as he registered that the Hitachiin twins were on either side of him and opened his mouth to speak, they cut him off. "Tono~" two voices teased him in unison. "We would have never expected you to be so smart."

Instantly, Rene reddened. "W - what's that supposed to mean!?" he demanded, stuttering slightly.

"Well, we had to look online to figure that out," the boy to his left explained, his smirk mirrored perfectly on the boy to his right's face.

"So...you didn't figure it out on your own?" the blond asked, and somehow - he guessed from he exaggerated way they nodded and the way their smirk seemed to broadened - that no one else in the circle had heard that little confession. "You...you cheaters!!"

The loud explanation, coupled with the fact he'd all but jumped from his seat and into the middle of the circle. Now all eyes were on him as he dramatically pointed at the twins.

"Er...what?" Giselle queried, asking the question that seemed to be mirrored on everyone else's faces.

"Those two unscrupulous dopplegangers cheated," Rene repeated, turning to observe his audience's reaction. "They went to an outside source to figure out that this book was an allegory, even when I came up with t he notion all by myself. They cheated!" And with a triumphant huff, the blond finished his three-hundred-and-sixty degree turn to face the accused once again, only to find...

Pouts, hurt creases in the brow, a protective hold on both of their copies of Les Miserables and...were those tears in their eyes?

"That...that's so mean," one whined, the other accompanying him with a sniffle. "I think you're just jealous that we pointed it out first..."

There was a moment of silence, and then:

"Oh, Rene! That's so mean!!"

"Hikaru, Kaoru! Don't worry; we know you're smart!"

"Gosh...I never knew you were so heartless, Rene...I mean, they're just little kids."

"Here - tell us more about what you learned."

Honestly, the response wasn't surprising; the two red heads looked pretty pitiful, and played on it well. Rene, with the tad-bit overzealous air of accusation he had pointed at the younger kids with, didn't stand a chance.

"That's...no, really," he insisted weakly, voice trailing off into the continuous jabber of his classmates. "That..that's not what I..."

"Just sit down!" Ilsa pressed.

Ruefully, Rene did, again feeling his book group mates missed a not-so-subtle aspect of the Hitachiin twins as they all, once again, seemed to not see when HIkaru and Kaoru pulled at their eyes and stuck out their tongues in his direction.

My god! Anyone else wanna stab the twins just a little bit...xDD Well, anyway, for those who didn't figure it out, the negatives are the years backwards I'm jumping! Like, the twins are nineteen in this fic, so at the 'negative twelve' bit, they're seven, and Tamaki is twelve and so on! ^^ I was being clever, so...REVIEW ON MY CLEVERNESS! And Merry Christmas to all!!! I LOVE YOU!!!