The hot water managed to calm him down somewhat, and by the time Hikaru had turned off the shower, dressed and was ready to leave, he had decided to just let it go. He knew he should tell Kaoru the truth, but fessing up to lies really wasn't one of Hikarus strong suits. In fact, he'd never actually lied to his brother before at all, ever, and he really didn't even know where to start. So, he just acted natural, thinking that if he didn't make a big deal of their spat than Kaoru wouldn't either. However, he couldn't help noticing Kaorus eyes darting again and again to his chest, and the whole car ride home had an air of tension about it that made him that much more uncomfortable. Whether or not Kaoru noticed, however, he had no idea.

For the next two days, Hikaru took the upmost care to always have a shirt on around his brother. Even when he was sleeping he wore a light cotton top, although, because he usually only slept in boxers, his nights became restless. More than once he found himself feigning sleep while his brothers fingers idly ran over the bruised flesh under his shirt, and each time he was thrown into an internal war with himself over whether or not he could confess. He never did though, and a few days after school went back, the hickey was gone completely.

Despite the fact that he was obviously still troubled and losing sleep, Kaoru was acting like none of it had ever happened, which made it much easier for Hikaru to do the same, at least during the day. They attended the host club, wooed their ladies and acted their parts like nothing at all was ever wrong between them, and as the days went by, Hikaru started thinking less and less about the summer, over joyed that he had his twin back the way he always was. Until, that is, one day after the final bell rang and they were packing up. Kaoru had turned to say something to his twin, but Haruhi, the classmate that Hikaru had been jealous of all summer, beat him to it.

"Kaoru! Walk with me to the music room?"

Hikaru scowled at her behind her back. He didn't mean to, in fact, he quite like Haruhi himself, but the memories of summer had returned to his mind, and the old resentment he felt towards her and her role in taking Kaoru away from him started to resurface. Knowing he was out of place, he forced himself to shrug and turn away. Honestly, Kaoru was back to being Kaoru and they were all friends. He knew his annoyance was unwarranted. That said, he still couldn't stop his words from coming out short.

"Fine with me." He swung his bag around his shoulder and headed for the door. "Ill meet you guys there." On a whim, as he was passing the doorway he added "I have to make a phone call anyway."

It was another lie, and it left an unpleasant taste in his throat. He walked slowly down the hall, wondering why he had felt the need to add that. Taking out his phone, he read over the messages he'd received from Kaori over the past few days, none of which he had replied to. He just didn't know what to say to her, and every time he started writing something back, he had ended up erasing it. He thought maybe he should call her, if only to just make that last statement a little truer.

Sighing, he let his thumb hit the dial button, and brought the phone up to his ear. It rang a few times, and he almost felt relieved at the thought that it might not go through, when there was a soft click in his ear, followed by a greeting.

"Hello? Hikaru?"

Hearing her voice again flipped Hikarus stomach, and he instantly regretted calling her. He swallowed dryly and forced himself to reply.

"Kaori, hi, yeah its me."

There was a brief pause before the conversation continued.

"How are you? Have you been getting my messages? Is that why you called?"

Hikaru grimaced.

"Ah… yeah I guess so."

There was another pause, and Hikaru felt himself growing uncomfortably awkward. On the other end of the line, he heard Kaori breath in.

"So… I really am sorry, I shouldn't have pushed it on you like that… and I really do want to see you again. We're both in the city, right? Can we meet up this weekend?"

Hikaru ran his free hand over his face. He knew that that was what she was going to ask, and he knew that he just couldn't agree, but he was finding it a lot harder than he thought it would be to say so. For a split second he thought of actually going to see her again, but the memory of his brothers face when he saw the hickey she had left on him shone bright in his mind, and he swallowed the urge to say yes down. He took a deep breath, steeling himself.

"Look, Kaori, don't worry about summer, I was in the wrong too okay? I totally get why you did that, and I'm sorry I couldn't reciprocate, its just…" his resolve wavered, but he forced himself to go on. "Look, I'm really sorry, but I can't meet up with you again." His brothers enraged face burned in his vision. "Summer was great and all but… I'm sorry I just don't think it's a good idea…" his voice petered out, and he felt absolutely pathetic.

The line was quiet for an immeasurable time. He could hear her soft breathing in his ear, and he knew that she was barely holding it together. Guilt and regret crashed around inside him, and he was painfully aware that the only reason she ever got involved was because he couldn't handle his jealously. Finally, she spoke up.

"I get it." She was quiet, and Hikaru could hear the hurt in her voice, which twisted the knife in his gut. "It's okay, at least we had summer." She paused. "I really do like you Hikaru, so if you decided that maybe you do want to… to meet up at all just… just let me… know…" she was crying now, and Hikaru felt absolutely awful.

"Yeah…" it was all he could manage to say.

Without another word, Kaori hung up the phone, leaving Hikaru standing outside the music room alone, and feeling utterly horrid. He leant his forehead against the door, closing his eyes. Truth be told, he actually did like having Kaori as a friend, but the idea of upsetting Kaoru like that again just… he couldn't do it.

With a sigh, he opened the door and stepped though into the swirling rose petals. Once they had settled and he could look around, he noticed he was the first one there, and his mind instantly jumped to the fact that Kaoru must have still been with Haruhi. His jaw clenched automatically and he flopped down onto the sofa. Why did the thought of his brother with anyone else get him so riled up? He knew that expecting his brother to stay with him and only him for the rest of their lives was unrealistic, and he knew that one day Kaoru would branch out on his own, but somewhere deep inside him he really wished that that day would never come. But then, was it really normal for a twin to be so very protective of their sibling? Why was he getting so worked up?

These thoughts chased themselves around and around inside his mind, driving his conversation with Kaori away. All he really knew, even if he didn't know why, was that he wanted his brother all to himself. If he had that, then surely he would be happy.