"Going somewhere, Kaoru?"

He was almost home-free, having just gotten off the last step and about to cross the street, when his landlady spotted him. She was an elderly woman who was known for having high standards and a tongue that flapped at both ends. Already she was spreading rumors about his association with the limo, and no doubt one mistake could lead to major conspiracies.

The young man turned to her with his most charming and disarming smile. "I wanted to enjoy the nice weather this morning, so I'm taking a walk in the park." He hadn't been planning on going anywhere specific, but with the landlady, wandering aimlessly meant you were involved in some drug cartel or a racy love affair.

His landlady wasn't fooled. She narrowed her eyes, questioning, "With a girl?"

"No ma'am, just myself."

"Do your parents know?"

"I left a note for my dad and have my mobile with me in case of emergency or if one of them calls." Kaoru had since grown used to feeling like he was being interrogated by her, having lived in the apartment complex for the majority of his life. He tried his best to make his smile sincere, and could see her slowly begin to falter, from the way her eyes flickered off to the side, and how her brows weren't as close together as previously.

"Don't be gone for too long."

"I won't. Have a nice day." He turned and made a beeline for the opposite side of the street, not wanting to spend a second longer under her critical gaze. He had just managed to save himself from being the gossip of the block, which would at least give him one less thing to worry about.

Entering his neighborhood park, he noticed that there were only two children playing due to it still being early, their mom off to the side with a baby held lovingly in her arms. He watched for a minute, as the young boys pretended the playground was a pirate ship, deciding on who was captain and first mate, and then setting off for adventure. Kaoru smiled, trying to remember when he was that young.

At that age, he hadn't met anyone in his close group of friends, and he was still an only child. He didn't know he was adopted, but still felt lonely, especially because he had no real best friend. The ginger frowned, walking off towards the old oak tree he used to play on and sit in when he wanted to be alone with his thoughts.

What if he had grown up with Hikaru? What would change? Would he really be the Kaoru he was today? Not to mention the fact that he would be living in the lap of luxury. Was there pressure? Who would he associate with?

Sliding his back down the trunk and sitting in the grass, Kaoru plucked a blade from the ground, twirling it in his fingers and thinking to himself. The birds were chirping, the sun was warm on his face, and he felt at peace enough to really start thinking about everything.

He was tempted to call someone, invite them over or just talk on the phone, to get everything off his chest. But he would probably end up revealing he was Hikaru's twin to Haruhi, Tamaki, Hunny, or Mori, and Kyouya would figure it out quickly.

I'm sure it'll be fine. Not entirely sure if I want to publicly announce it, though. That would mean me having to live with Hikaru 24/7, leaving Mom and Dad, probably never seeing my friends again… He rested his chin on his hand, watching as the rest of the world went by, not knowing his dilemma.

In the midst of his silent contemplating/brooding, he failed to notice the rustling leaves above him. However, it was hard not to notice a girl letting out a yelp as she leaned too far back on a branch and ended up hanging upside down, kept up only by her legs twisted around the branch, a camera in her hands. She was facing him, and their noses were only inches apart as they stared and blinked at each other, trying to register what had just happened.

"…Hello." The girl greeted him normally, as if she almost fell out of oak trees and onto strangers on a daily basis.

Kaoru responded, still frozen in place and with a rather stunned face, "Hi."

A few more seconds of silence passed, neither breaking eye contact. Finally, the girl spoke up. "All the blood is rushing to my head."

"Then you should probably get down."

"I should." She tried to swing herself up, but she was rather frail, and not being able to use her hands due to holding the giant, somewhat vintage camera proved to be too hard, and she gave up after her fourth try, sighing. "Hold this." She thrust the camera into his lap, Kaoru fumbling with his hands as he snapped out of his daze and grabbed it.

Swinging and reaching up, she managed to get a hold of the branch, but couldn't pull herself up before her legs slipped off in front of her, managing to clock Kaoru square in the temple, knocking him onto the grass, and the girl losing her grip and falling on top of him.

"That didn't go as planned," she commented.

"It really didn't," he responded.

"Are you all right?"

"My head hit a root, but other than a bruise I should be fine."

"That's lucky."

"…Not to be rude, but can you please get off me?"

"Oh, right, sorry." She hurried to stand up on her legs, brushing the grass off herself. Now Kaoru could get a good look of her, and figured she was shorter than him by at least three inches, with pale skin, brown almond eyes, and pert nose. Her black hair was parted to the right, and was a little thin, coming in front of her body and reaching past her shoulders, curling slightly at the ends. She wore a simple long purple off-shoulder top over a white tank top, jean shorts, and red Converse high tops. Turning to face him, she asked, "Can I have my camera back?"

He handed it to her, watching as she inspected it for damage, her eyebrows knit together in concentration. "So do you normally fall out of trees?" Kaoru joked, the girl looking up at him.

"I try not to make a habit of it." She smiled, but it disappeared as she concentrated again, this time on staring at him, making him shift uncomfortably. "Have I met you before?"

Here we go again. Kaoru opened his mouth, about to tell her that he wasn't Hikaru Hitachiin, when she snapped her fingers, looking quite proud as she concluded, "Right, you're in my class."

"Oh." It was odd for someone to not make the connection between Hikaru and him instantly. Looking at her now, though, he did remember seeing her, although having it only been a few weeks; he hadn't managed to learn everyone's names.

"Your name is Kaoru, right?" She smiled, looking down at her camera and pressing a few buttons, seeming to have lost interest in him.

He wasn't quite sure what to do, as he wasn't sure if she was through with him or something, so he simply replied, "Yeah…I'm sorry, I don't remember your name."

"Anzu." She looked back up at him, her face blank.

"Right, I remember now."

Anzu raised a brow, accusing, "You're lying."

Kaoru sighed, giving her a crooked smile as he crossed his legs. "Yeah, I am. Guess I'm not good with names."

"Or lying."

"Pardon?"

"Well, you just have a really easy tell. Every time you lie, your right eyebrow is higher than your left, and your hands twitch," she explained.

"How can you tell?"

"Guess I have an eye for detail."

"Guess so."

Anzu stood, her foot making holes in the ground aimlessly, Kaoru coughing and busying himself with studying the leaves above him. It wasn't necessarily awkward, but it was a little uncomfortable.

And then Kaoru got a strange idea. He wasn't quite sure why he had thought of it; maybe he figured he had nothing to lose, maybe it was because he was desperate, maybe because they weren't close enough for him to blow his secret, but for some reason or another, he looked up at Anzu and asked, "Hey, do you have any time to stick around and talk?"

And she simply sat down, placing her camera next to her and smiled, replying, "Plenty."

Wow, what a pathetic chapter. Good thing you weren't waiting for over two weeks for it. /shot

Can't say I'm too pleased with this, but I realized how long it's been since I updated, and just felt like there was nothing I could do to improve it, so I posted. So yes, next chapter shall focus mostly on Kaoru and his side of life, but then we'll have a Hikaru chapter to balance it out.

I'm interested to see how many people actually read end notes. If you have read this, please review and add at the end "apricots fall on Kaoru". Just curious. Also, please check out the poll on my profile if you have a minute to spare to vote in a poll for what type of genre you would like to see me write a story for.

Until next time, read and enjoy.