Kaoru awoke with an awkward feeling. He kept his eyes closed and tried to drift back asleep but the hair on the back of his neck began to stand up. He opened his eyes, and although it was still dark, the moonlight allowed him to see his brother was mere inches away staring at him with a large smile on his face. "Hikaru…" Kaoru groaned groggily, "…go to sleep."
Hikaru chuckled, "I would but you are just too cute sleeping."
Kaoru rolled his eyes the best he could and yawned. "I think you should have your head examined. That's generally not something a normal person is so happy about." Someday he needed to have a talk with his brother about what was appropriate to do while someone was asleep, but he was too tired to have such a lengthy discussion at that time.
"When you smile in your sleep, I can't help but be anything but happy because you're obviously having wonderful dreams my love." Hikaru explained.
"You're not getting any Hikaru, just go to sleep." Kaoru replied bluntly.
Hikaru let out a groan. "Fine but I'm still going to snuggle."
Kaoru couldn't help but chuckle at his pouty brother. He felt his brother's body become flush with his. It was an amazing feeling, how perfectly their bodies fit together. One that he hoped he never would get tired of. Hikaru draped an arm over his younger brother, who anxiously accepted it. "Goodnight Kaoru."
"Goodnight Hikaru. I love you." Kaoru whispered.
"I love me too." Hikaru replied.
There was the briefest of pauses before Kaoru began to chuckle which soon turned into another yawn.
"But not as much as I love you." Hikaru finished as he gave his brother a squeeze.
The next morning the halls of Ouran were crowded with girls swarming around the twins. "Hi Hikaru! Hi Kaoru!" cried out one girl as the twins walked by her.
"Hikaru, Kaoru, nice day isn't it?" asked another girl.
"Good morning Hikaru! Good morning Kaoru!" said another.
The twins just smiled and waved their way through the hallway. Years before the twins would have thought these girls crazy, and would have laughed at them. But now, they understood the method to their madness and had to admit that they did enjoy the attention. Just knowing that they had an audience made their games and lives interesting and fun, which made even the most trivial tasks at least mildly entertaining, such as walking to class.
"Are you two going to go back to the Host Club?" Asked one of the girls.
Kaoru stopped and turned to the girl and with a coy smile replied, "You'd like that wouldn't you?"
Hikaru walked behind his brother and rested on his back, "But that's for us to know."
"Still being teases as always." Haruhi said walking past the twins.
"Oh, hi Haruhi." Hikaru said turning his attention to his friend and walking with her.
Kaoru ran to catch up with his brother and friend, "If we just told them one way or another it would kill all the mystery."
"And where would be the fun in that?" Hikaru said.
Haruhi smiled and shook her head, "How did you two last so long without all the attention?"
"Attention?" Hikaru responded.
"You make us sound like Tamaki." Kaoru added.
"You three are more alike than you think." Haruhi said.
"Haruhi, please…" Hikaru said taken aback.
"How can you be so cruel?" Kaoru whined.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Tamaki shouted.
The twins stopped in their tracks, straightened up, and exchanged a concerned look; they hadn't seen him there in the hall. "Oh hey Boss….How long have you been there?"
"Long enough to hear you two devilish twins say you don't know if you are coming back to the Host Club!" Tamaki shouted in an animated fashion.
"That long huh?" The twins gulped.
"So how can you say that?" Tamaki pressed.
"ehh…say what?" The twins said innocently as they locked hands with each other.
"THAT YOU DON'T KNOW!" Tamaki quickly calmed himself and patted the twins' shoulders with a large smile, "I mean, of course you are going to come back to the Host Club."
The twins sighed with relief, "Oh…that."
"That's something we should talk about later." Hikaru said.
"Somewhere private." Kaoru added.
Tamaki blinked, he wasn't expecting the twins to give in so quickly. Perhaps he was more persuasive than he gave himself credit for. His smile grew larger. "Where do you suggest?"
"How about the maze during lunch?" Hikaru suggested.
"Tsk Tsk." Tamaki said wagging his finger, "I'm not falling for that trick again."
"Then where would you like to meet?" Kaoru asked.
"We'll meet in the Music Room of course." Tamaki stated.
"Fine, we'll be there." Kaoru said.
Hikaru turned to the nearby girls who were 'accidently' listening. "Now if you ladies will excuse us, we need to get to class."
The twins opened the double doors to Music Room #3 and walked in. In the middle of the room there was a single small table with three chairs. Tamaki waved the twins over to the table and urged them to sit. As the twins sat down, their former trainees appeared next to them dressed as waiters. They put glasses on the table and filled them with water and then disappeared. The twins were busy trying to repress their laughter when the hosts reappeared with covered silver trays. Hikaru and Kaoru looked at the trays and blinked. The two young hosts removed the covers from the trays revealing small salads. Tamaki thanked and dismissed Quincy and Hibiki before turning his focus back to the twins. "I know you two have been skipping lunches for some time now, but it is important that you two do consume something to regain your strength if you plan on hosting again. So I had two light garden salads prepared for you."
Hikaru looked at his brother out of the corner of his eye, but Kaoru gave Tamaki a smile and said, "Thank you. They look delicious."
The three friends ate their salads over relative small talk. Once their lunch had been consumed the topic changed to something more serious. "Now about you two rejoining the Host Club."
Hikaru just stared at Tamaki. Kaoru looked at his brother, then at Tamaki. He kept looking between the two of them before he sighed, "Hikaru may not want to say it. But yes, we would like to rejoin the Host Club."
Tamaki smiled. "Wonderful! However, before you two rejoin the Host Club, there is one little thing you need to take care of."
The twins exchanged wondering glances, "What?"
"Kyoya insisted and I agree full heartedly with him that you two must stop smoking." Tamaki said. "We tolerated it earlier, but now we really must insist upon it now. Kyoya has offered his family's services to the both of you."
"Fine with us." Hikaru said with a shrug, expecting his brother to join him. He didn't. The elder twin looked at his brother, "Kaoru?"
Kaoru fidgeted. He wasn't as willing to simply give up his cigarettes. He had started smoking to deal with the stress of his brother's antics, then his brother's abandonment, then his brother's exclusion, but even now that Hikaru was beside him once again the cigarettes were there to help him through the day, smooth out any of the speed bump stresses throughout the day. Was it okay to just toss something aside that helped him so much?
"Right Kaoru?" Hikaru prodded.
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Kaoru said shifting his glance to the floor.
"Wonderful!" Tamaki said leaning across the table and throwing his arms around both boys. "The family is back together. It just warms my heart that my twins have come back home. " Tamaki glowed as he broke the hug. "There is just so much that we can do now. Let's see there's…"
Hikaru reached out and took one of his brother's fingertips between two of his own fingers. After a brief moment Kaoru finally looked up. Hikaru with a simple look asked him if he was alright. Kaoru gave a halfhearted smile in reply. Hikaru closed his eyes, and together the twins stood up.
"So when will you two be joining us?" Tamaki asked.
"Give us a few days." Hikaru said, before fully taking his brother's hand in his and walking out the door.
Kaoru took a deep inhale, feeling the burning smoke as it was sucked down his throat and into his lungs. He held it a second before releasing out of his nose. He could already feel the stress of the day, particularly the meeting he just had, disappearing. He could feel the weight of the world ease off. He smiled.
"Better?" Hikaru asked.
Kaoru nodded, "Thank you Hikaru."
Hikaru watched as the cigarette grew shorter and shorter. Kaoru felt his brother's eyes upon him and he saw the way his brother watched him. "Sure you don't want one?" Kaoru asked extending out the package of cigarettes his brother had given him only moments before.
Hikaru shook his head, "I'm fine. I'm trying to quit."
Kaoru rolled his eyes as he took once last deep drag before dropping it to the ground and stamping it out beneath his heel. The plan was that that was to be his last cigarette, but already he could feel the weight being placed back on his shoulders, the pressure to quit, the pressure of becoming a host again, the pressure to excel in school, the pressure to not screw up with his brother again, and the pressure of keeping it a secret. On top of all of that were numerous smaller weights that add on without knowing exactly where they come from, but their collective weight was felt nonetheless. Already the weight felt crushing, but there was one weight he didn't mind. The light weight of the cigarette pack in his shirt pocket comforted him, as if reminding him that it was there to help him at a moment's notice.
As Kaoru began to head to his next class Hikaru stopped him brother at the door. He reached into his brother's jacket and pulled out the pack of cigarettes. He then caressed his brother's face and kissed his cheek. "Be strong."
Kaoru's heart swelled, his brother knew him too well. But he no longer noticed the weight on his shoulders or his worried mind; he was more focused on the warmth on his cheek and the quickened beating in his chest.
"Come on Kaoru, at least eat something." Hikaru said pushing a small bowl of soup toward his brother.
Kaoru didn't even look at the bowl instead he buried his head deeper into his arms that rested on the table.
"Everything alright?" Haruhi asked sitting down next to Hikaru.
"It depends on who you ask." Hikaru answered. "I'm fine but for Kaoru here," Hikaru rustled his brother's hair receiving a spiteful growl in return, "the world is ending."
"What's wrong? Is he sick? He seemed fine yesterday and this morning." Haruhi asked with her voice filled with worry.
"We're at the two day point since our last cigarette." Hikaru said with a sincere smile.
"Then why aren't you like him?" Haruhi asked.
"I only smoked one a day during lunch when I knew Kaoru was smoking. Kaoru started smoking only one at lunch, but then it moved to two or three, then one after school then two after school." Hikaru said ruffling his brother's hair again.
Kaoru's head shot off the table, rage burning in his eyes, "I swear if you don't stop it Hikaru, I'll…"
Hikaru looked deep into his brother's eyes, "You'll what?"
Kaoru growled and stood up and began walking away.
"Kaoru, wait! Where are you going?" Hikaru said trying to gather all of his items back onto his tray.
"Outside. It reeks in here. It's making me sick." Kaoru said as he walked out the door.
Hikaru finished tossing everything onto the tray. He ran up to the nearest attendant. Thrust the tray into their arms. Then ran after his brother.
Haruhi watched the events unfold before her and then sighed. Another lunch alone.
Kaoru strummed his fingers against his notebook then looked at the clock. It felt as if the class had been going on all afternoon but the clock told him it had only been thirty minutes. His leg began to bounce up and down. Kaoru began to stare at the notes of the girl sitting next to him. It seemed like she understood everything that the teacher was saying, yet whenever he tried to listen it was as if they were speaking separate languages. Kaoru began to chew on the end of his pen. Finally a few words that the teacher said clicked in Kaoru's head and he began writing but as he did his attention went back to girl beside him. She was looking at him, specifically his leg. Kaoru's leg stopped moving. He had not even been aware that he was doing it. He could feel her judging eyes upon him, thinking that he was going to lose all his money, and that he was going to be a failure, that he did not deserve to be where he was. He could feel his animosity build up. He needed to leave before he either blew up at the girl or died from boredom.
A moment later Kaoru was walking the halls, he vaguely remembered the excuse he gave but it didn't matter, all he cared about was that he was free. But as he walked he felt something gnawing at him. A little voice in him told him that it was the best time to smoke as no one would be around to see him. He could have a cigarette and by doing so get rid of all the pesky problems his withdrawal was creating, all without getting in trouble with his brother for cheating. As his line of reasoning ended he found himself standing at the stairs to the roof. He took the steps two at a time and stopped at the door. He reached up to the top of the frame and grabbed the object of his desire. He shoved the cigarette in his mouth and pushed open the door, already in the process of lighting it.
"What are you doing?" came voice beside him as he stepped out onto the roof.
Kaoru froze and in a fluid motion moved the now lit cigarette behind him. "Hikaru? What are you doing here?"
The elder twin shook a finger with a smile, "I asked you first Kaoru."
Kaoru gave his brother the best innocent smile he could. "I needed some fresh air. I was going to freak out if I was cooped up in that classroom any longer."
Hikaru nodded slowly. "I see…"
"So what are you doing up here?" Kaoru asked.
"I may have been asked to leave the classroom." Hikaru said as his eyes shifted around, "Something about a disruption…"
"What did you do Hikaru? I thought that teacher liked you." Kaoru questioned.
A grin appeared on his brother's face, "I didn't do anything."
The younger of the twins hunched an eyebrow, "I don't think I understand. Why did you get thrown…"
Hikaru began walking closer to this brother, "Kaoru, has anyone told you that you have smokingly good looks?"
Kaoru dropped the burning cigarette out of his hands and then took a step backwards to step on it, "Don't you mean that WE have smokingly good looks?"
Hikaru placed a finger on his brother's jaw and traced it to the chin, "You're quite the charmer you know that?" He then tilted his brother's head down and kissed his forehead. "But seriously, next time just come and get me. You know I always look for an excuse to cut class."
Kaoru felt his cheeks begin to heat up, not only from the loving affection that his brother showed him but from getting caught as well. He then felt as his brother slipped a hand into his, when Kaoru looked up at his brother there wasn't a trace of anger or disappointment, only his large smile and loving eyes. Hikaru gave his hand a squeeze.
"Come on, I'll walk you back to class." Hikaru said. Together, hand in hand, the twins walked down the steps and then proceeded to take the scenic route back to Kaoru's classroom.
It wasn't just the nausea and irritability that was growing steadily worse, as the twins found out. There were still other aspects that they had not thought of. As Kaoru lay in bed his thoughts were filled with how long it had been since his last cigarette, 84 hours and 23 minutes, which put him awake at close to one in the morning. Then his thoughts shifted to where he had some cigarettes stashed.
He had a pack in his locked desk drawer, but he needed the key which would make them impossible to get without turning on the lights. He thought about the pack stashed away behind books in his bookshelf but then remembered his brother had found and disposed of those the night before. He then remembered that he kept one on the top of the frame of the painting in his room, and he believed he could get it quietly enough. He began to crawl slowly to the side of the bed but stopped.
His next issue was getting out of the room quietly as he had agreed not to smoke in his room as there were too many expensive and priceless items to ruin with the smoke. Using the door risked waking his brother, while climbing out the window was risky as he hadn't tried it in over a year and couldn't remember the safest path down and back up. Suddenly the idea of simply smoking in his room sounded better, it was his room after all, and he should be free to do in it as he pleased. He began to crawl back to the side of the bed. Yet once Kaoru shifted his position in bed he received a groan from his brother. "Kaoru, go to sleep already."
The younger twin froze; of course his brother would suddenly become a light sleeper. "Don't you think I would have if I could?" Kaoru responded defensively, "You think I enjoy staying up all night by myself?" He didn't, the only person he had to talk to was himself and he was growing into a bad influence.
Hikaru's eyes still remained closed, but he lifted an arm into the air, "then come here."
Kaoru changed positions for the twelfth time that hour but it wasn't towards his brother.
"Fine, I'll come to you then." Hikaru said as he moved until he rubbed against his brother's backside. He nestled his head against the back of his brother and let out a throaty sigh of satisfaction.
"Hey, Hikaru?" Kaoru whispered.
"Hmm?" Hikaru hummed.
"Thanks."
"…mmm…" Hikaru managed before falling asleep once more. While Kaoru still couldn't sleep, his thoughts were better. No longer were they counting up from his last cigarette, now they were counting down until Hikaru would be awake again. No longer was he thinking where his stashes were, he was thinking of how the best way to wake his brother up would be. No longer was he thinking of leaving the bed as now he thought about how he never wanted to leave it.
It had been a week since the twins had stopped smoking. With the combination of Ootori medicine, friendly support, as well as a unique Hitachiin distraction, both twins were well on their way to recovery. Yet, not everything was smooth sailing.
Haruhi sat down next to the twins; following behind her were Hibiki and Quincy.
"You guys ready for tomorrow?" Hibiki asked walking up to the table.
Kaoru shot him a nasty look in reply. The ferocity of it unsettled Hibiki causing him to stumble. His tray came down on the table with a small clatter, causing his soup to splatter from its bowl over the rest of his food. He gave a nervous very self-aware laugh. Quincy rolled his eyes at the misfortune of his friend and sat beside him, across the table from the twins.
"Who needs to prepare? If it was up to us we'd already be back." Hikaru said.
"Tamaki-senpia wanted a few more days for you to get everything straightened out that's all." Hibiki said poking around his food.
"Right because Kyoya isn't advertising and Renge isn't trying to create the best script possible." Kaoru grumbled.
Quincy smiled at his friend, knowing that it was his naivety talking not an attempted lie. "He's got you there, Hibiki. But speaking of scripts…" Quincy said reaching for his carrier bag. He pulled out two blue folders and handed one to each twin. "Renge's latest."
Kaoru looked at the folder handed to him for a brief second, before handing it to his brother. Hikaru took both folders. Stood up. Walked over to the nearest trash can. Then threw them away as if they were nothing special.
"You could have at least looked at them. Renge's been working hard…" Haruhi criticized before adding "…for once."
"She'll have two new revisions to us by the end of school, so reading through those would just be a waste of time." Hikaru said returning to his brother's side.
"And a boring waste of time at that." Kaoru added.
The twins then wrapped an arm around each other's back and in unison said "Besides, we already have a plan."
"Shouldn't you tell Renge that?" Haruhi asked.
"We have." Kaoru grumbled, "several times."
"That girl is dense." Hikaru said.
Haruhi couldn't help but giggle at Hikaru's hypocrisy. The twins were returning to their old ways and that was making everyone more cheerful for the most part, but she had to admit she was still nervous about how smoothly the twins were going to be able to get back into hosting.
Author's Notes: Inspiration struck the other night and I added to this chapter. I hope this chapter finds everyone in good health and high spirits. As many of you can guess we are reaching the end of this story. Next week will be the last chapter, but as some of you may remember I promised an epilogue so it will not be the END end of this story. So cheer up we still have some time together.
Daringly Delightful: Yes, gotta love the Hitachiins, otherwise who knows what will happen.
EternalFalsity: Glad I could provide a needed break from those dreaded midterms, I've been busy with them as well, had one last week, then one on Tuesday and will have another next Friday. I agree that Kaoru was a little over dramatic for his usual self last week which was something that I was worried about so I tried to justify it as much as possible. You're not the only one upset that this story is coming to an end. But I hope it has some some happy memories for you.
Officially-Mrs. Trancy: Sounds like a roller-coaster, or some new dance craze. Everbody do the fangirl! EEEEEEEE!
Ratty4949: I was beginning to worry there for a moment, but that all went away when I saw you finally reviewed. Since you've been good I suppose I can give you a mirror. There are just so many things you can do with that, I wonder what will come of it. ;)