Simple Question

The guests had finally left, and it was the Host club's time to relax. "So, we're selling like hotcakes, eh Kyoya?" the twins said in unison.

"Yes," Kyoya smiled and his glasses flashed, "in fact I believe this month's issue has broken the Host Club's previous record." Hearing this news, Tamaki, being the previous record holder and full-time drama king, wallowed in the corner, clutching his knees to his chest.

"Oh, don't be a baby, boss!" Hikaru laughed.

"I mean what did you expect?" Kaoru added, and they said together, "Chicks dig the taboo!" They playfully stuck their tongue out at Tamaki, who returned from his little pity party.

"Hey," Kaoru said, "Can I look at one of those?" Kyoya handed him a copy of "Hitachiin Uncovered." He and his brother flipped through the pages, laughing whenever they came across something they remembered doing, and joking about the pictures. After studying a few pictures, Hikaru noticed something. "Hey Kaoru, how do you do that?"

"Do what?" Kaoru asked, confused,

"You know," Hikaru said, noticing a pattern in almost every picture. "How do you make yourself blush like that?" Kaoru was startled. He'd never really noticed that he did that; it never really occurred to him. "Hmm…now that you mention it, I do seem to do that a lot. I don't know. Maybe I just have naturally rosy cheeks." He knew this wasn't true. Now that he thought about it, he remembered feeling his face heat up when Hikaru had stared into his eyes earlier that day.

"That can't be it," Hikaru said. "If that was the case, people would have been able to tell the difference between us more easily."

"I don't know." Kaoru's eyebrows furrowed and he looked down at the ground, genuinely confused. "I guess it just comes naturally. Playing the part, you know?" He laughed awkwardly, but continued to stare at his feet. He really hadn't thought about it before. Why did his cheeks redden when they did their little "brotherly love" act? Maybe it was just natural. Maybe it's embarrassment, he thought. I never really thought that our act was embarrassing, but maybe…

"Kaoru?!" Tamaki asked impatiently. Kaoru snapped out of his brief moment of contemplation, and looked up to find that everyone in the club was staring at him. "What do you think?" Tamaki asked. He sounded as if he'd asked this question at least three times already.

"Umm. . . What were we talking about?"

Tamaki sighed. I was asking you if you thought it would be a good idea if the host club. . ." and he went off into an overly enthusiastic description of a medieval "knight in shining armour" themed cosplay, which he decorated with fancy words and tears of joy.

"Great," Hikaru whispered to his distracted brother, "You made him do it again. Why weren't you paying attention the first time?"

"I. . ." he began, "I just have a lot on my mind."

With that, Kaoru stood up, nearly knocking over a chair, and quickly left the room. His double shouted his name and began to follow him, just like Kaoru knew he would. He tried to ignore his older twin, which he had never wanted to do before. He just needed to think. Kaoru stopped in the hallway just outside the music room with his back to his brother. Hikaru, face full of worry, reached out and grabbed Kaoru's shoulder. The younger tensed a little. He didn't want to hurt his brother, but his head was spinning. Kaoru reached across his shoulder and let his fingers rest atop of Hikaru's. This motion was habitual; he had held his brother's hand for years. He didn't even realize he had done it until he looked down at his fingers intertwined with Hikaru's. For some reason unknown to him, his face grew hot with anger. He squeezed his brother's fingers a little too hard and then jerked his hand away.

"Dammit, Hikaru!" He yelled with his head to the ground and his eyes shut tight, still not facing his brother. "Just leave me alone!" With those words, he bolted down the hall, not knowing where he was going or when he would stop. He ran, leaving his brother behind. Hikaru's arm hung outstretched in the hair. His eyes remained attached to his brother's back as it disappeared down the empty hallway.