Megumi stared at the contents of her refrigerator, chewing her lower lip in consternation. After four days of almost complete radio silence, Kaoru had suddenly called her out of the blue. "I'm bored. Let's have dinner," he'd said without preamble.

"I can't tonight," Megumi had replied. "I have grading to do."

"Oh come on," he'd cajoled. "I'll take you out someplace super fancy. Or someplace super boring. Whatever you're in the mood for."

"I'm in the mood to grade these pop quizzes," Megumi said. Silence met that comment; she could just imagine his expression. "Okay, maybe I'm not in the mood to grade them, but it still has to get done."

"I guess I can just eat something here in my office," he'd said. "It's no big deal. I think there's a frozen pizza in the staff kitchen I can throw into the microwave. It'll probably come out soggy, but I'm used to that." He paused hopefully.

"Oh, all right," Megumi gave in. "You can come over here."

Kaoru gave a laugh that surely wasn't as smug as it sounded over the phone. "Don't worry. I'll cook dinner so you can do your grading. See you in 30."

"Wait, Kaoru—" But he'd already hung up. "I haven't gone grocery shopping in a week," Megumi had finished lamely into the dead line.

So now she was staring into the empty void of her fridge, which contained eggs, a few limp vegetables, some leftover chicken, and a very questionable half-quart of milk. She pulled the later out, sniffing it cautiously. Well, it smells fine, even if it is a day or so past its expiration date. She put it back, closing the door. How did I let him talk me into this? He didn't even have to try all that hard.

An almost involuntary smile crossed Megumi's lips at the thought of Kaoru bursting into her apartment and cooking dinner. She hadn't heard anything from him since they'd had dinner over with the Ootoris on Saturday. We had that weird moment on the patio, and then that talk in the car. And then, nothing. Just a smiley emoticon whenever I texted him. Which she'd done a few times. He'd seemed troubled on the drive back to her apartment, despite his attempt at hiding it, and she'd been worried about him in spite of herself. I've been back in touch with him for what, three weeks? And I've gone from thinking he's an asshole to worrying about his sense of personal fulfillment? What in the hell is wrong with me? "It's just because he's good-looking, and charming, and I haven't a date in … in longer than I want to admit, even to myself," Megumi grumbled aloud, then jumped as someone knocked loudly at her door. Please, please, please tell me he didn't hear that through the door.

While she stood pondering the likelihood of her voice carrying that far, Kaoru called through the door. "Megumi! Please, my arms are getting tired!" Shaking her head, Megumi crossed her small apartment to open the door, only to find Kaoru balancing an overfull bag of groceries in one arm, the other hand raised to knock again.

"You know I don't usually wait right by the door when people invite themselves over, don't you?" Megumi said for a greeting.

"Patience isn't exactly my strong suit," Kaoru responded, squeezing by her. "Where's your kitchen?"

"Straight ahead," Megumi said, following him as he crossed her small living room and dumped the bag on the counter. "What is your strong suit?"

"My amazing good looks, obviously." Kaoru tossed back, unloading the groceries. Before he'd finished, his eye was caught by a cloth-covered canvas in the living room, right by the windows. "May I?" he asked, already walking over to the corner.

Megumi stifled a sigh. She wasn't quite finished with the painting, but she knew Kaoru well enough by now to know that it would be more trouble putting him off than just getting it over with. Besides, she found herself more than a little curious to hear his thoughts on this particular piece, an abstract study of chrysanthemum blossoms. "Go ahead," she said, unloading the rest of the groceries. After finishing, she came to stand next to Kaoru.

He took his time studying the canvas, not speaking. Megumi didn't interrupt, although her palms were starting to sweat. Well, of course I'm nervous. This is Hitachiin Kaoru, one of the most important up-and-coming artists in the country, even if his medium is fashion. He stepped back several paces, then forward again. Finally, he spoke. "Your eye for color is absolutely perfect, you know. I haven't seen many professionals who can match it. Do you mix your own paints?" Megumi nodded, feeling slightly heady at the praise. "I thought so. It's hard to get that kind of vibrancy any other way.

"But here." He gestured at the upper right quadrant of the canvas. "Look at it and tell me what you think."

Megumi stepped back to get a wider perspective. "The balance is off, isn't it?"

"What would you change?" Kaoru asked, still looking at the painting.

Megumi grabbed a pencil and stepped closer to the canvas. "Make this blossom bigger," she sketched out a wider circle around the blossom in question, "and then put a smaller one right here." She looked at Kaoru for approval.

He smiled at her changes, but stayed silent. Megumi stepped back, looking again. Then she saw it. She erased the small blossom she'd added, and instead drew a slender maple branch, with a few leaves drifting down to nestle among the blossoms.

"Now it's perfect," Kaoru said, and Megumi couldn't help but feel a thrill of pride at his words.

"You're a good teacher, you know," she said, glancing back over her shoulder at him.

"Am I?" Kaoru asked.

Megumi turned and swatted him lightly. "Your ego doesn't need any more feeding, so stop it."

"No, I mean it. Do you actually think that, or are you just being polite?" There was something in the tone of his voice that made her stop and consider the question seriously.

"Yes, I think you're a very good teacher. You're incredibly charismatic, and students respond to the obvious passion you have for art. Also, you have a real knack for not so much pointing out a mistake as helping other people see it for themselves. " Megumi said, watching him closely. His body betrayed a tension she was didn't usually associate with the usually carefree Kaoru. "Why do ask? Are you thinking of teaching?"

"Not seriously, I guess." Kaoru sighed. "It's probably just a pipe dream. I'd love it, but balancing two careers is a little much, even for me. And I don't want to stop designing and working with Hikaru."

"Kaoru." Megumi put her hands on his shoulders, turning him to face her instead of the painting. "Any university in Japan would be happy to offer you an adjunct position, you know. And I don't know about other high schools, but I'd be shocked if you couldn't set up something part time with Ouran, coming in once a month, or every other week. Nothing says you need to teach full-time."

"Really?" His eyes lit up, and Megumi felt herself start to melt. Damn it. Why does he have to be so adorable?

"Yes, really," she confirmed, smiling.

He kissed her chastely on the forehead. "Why is it that you always seem to know exactly the right thing to say? You're amazing, Megumi." He gave her that devilish Hitachiin grin. "I'll start dinner. You go grade."

Megumi sorted the stack of papers on the low table in her living room, grabbing the answer key out of her bag. As she settled in to grade the quizzes, she heard Kaoru moving about in the kitchen behind her, chopping vegetables. A sense of deep contentment stole over her at the simple domesticity. This is …nice, she thought with some surprise. "Are you sure you don't need any help?" she called, starting up a new pile of graded papers.

"I'm sure. Besides, your kitchen is way too small for both of us to be in here," Kaoru called back. Seeming to immediately realize how that would sound, he babbled on. "Cozy, I mean. It's way too cozy. But it's really, um, efficient. It's a great kitchen."

Megumi laughed. "It's okay, Kaoru. I know it's small." She graded another quiz, marking off wrong answers with quick strokes of her pen. She wouldn't say she enjoyed grading pop quizzes, but there was something soothing about the repetitive activity. She felt the stress of the day slipping away as her to-be-graded pile got smaller, and wonderful aromas started to waft out of the kitchen. I could get used to this. Megumi finished the last quiz, stacking the papers neatly on the low table in front of her. She rose, stretching out her shoulders, and joined Kaoru in the kitchen.

"Perfect timing," he said, sliding a second rice omelet out of the pan. Megumi got two beers out of the refrigerator as Kaoru carried their plates over to the table.

Megumi took a hesitant bite of her omelet, but it turned out her worries were entirely misplaced. "Kaoru, this is delicious!"

"I told you I could cook, didn't I?"

"You did, but …" Megumi trailed off lamely.

"Your expectations were that low, huh?" Kaoru asked as he took a bite.

Megumi gave what she hoped was a disarming smile. "I'm sure you're used to exceeding expectations."

"Mmmm." He did not look impressed with this line of reasoning.

"So why did you call me up tonight?" she asked, hoping a change in subject would dispel the sudden tension. "Laney told me you usually drop by their place for dinner."

"Sometimes I get tired of being the third wheel," Kaoru shrugged. "Hikaru is still in New York, and I think Mori has a date tonight."

"So I was your last choice?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that, exactly. I could have called up Mei, but she would have wanted to go clubbing, or do karaoke, or something crazy. I didn't want a headache."

"So, what, now I'm supposed to be flattered because I wasn't quite your last choice?" Any lingering aura of cozy domesticity fled in the face of this little revelation. "This is exactly why we were never friends in school."

"Oh, like any of you girls ever cared what I thought back then," he said flippantly.

"Excuse me? Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? I saw how you rejected all those poor girls. You guys laughed at them!" Megumi was starting to get heated.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Kaoru's tone was venomous.

"Oh? Enlighten me."

"You really want to know?"

"Yeah, Kaoru. I really want to know."

"We might have been nasty, but those girls were bitches. Every last one of them." Kaoru was twisting the paper napkin, tearing it into small strips.

"Oh yes, such heartless bitches," Megumi said sarcastically. "Why on earth would anyone get upset when they found out their crush had switched places with his twin?"

"They weren't upset about that."

"That's bullshit. I was waiting for Iseda Chiyo when she made her confession to Hikaru. I saw her come running out from that hallway in tears. How can you say she wasn't upset?"

"She didn't get upset when she found out Hikaru and I had switched places. That came later, after we told her that she was a terrible person for not caring which one of us she was with."

Megumi's mouth had dropped open. "No."

"Oh yes."

"You're joking, right?"

Kaoru just looked at her, fingers continuing to twist the torn pieces of napkin around.

"Kaoru, that is horrible. I had no idea."

Slightly mollified, he said "In the interest of complete disclosure, we usually did tack on something about the girl being too ugly for us, or not having enough fashion sense, or something else equally as vicious. So it's not like we were completely blameless."

"God, who could blame you?" Megumi said. Then, as her inner teacher reasserted itself, "I mean, it's never right to treat people cruelly. But you were pretty well provoked." She pushed the last bite of omelet around on her plate. "All of them? Every single last one?"

"Oh, there were a couple here and there who apologized when I pretended to be Hikaru, saying that they were only interested in Kaoru. But since they couldn't tell us apart, I had some trouble taking them seriously."

Megumi thought about this for a minute. "Kaoru, did you ever think that if you two wanted to be told apart so badly, maybe you could have taken some trouble to look even the slightest bit less identical?"

"Yeah, that did occur to us. Round about the time that Hikaru dyed his hair."

"Oh. That's right."

"Look, Megumi, I can't deny we grew up pretty twisted. But it didn't happen in a vacuum, either, and to be honest, I'm pretty much done with the blame game. We were nasty, they were bitches, done is done."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"No, I mean—I'm sorry, Kaoru." Megumi covered his hand with hers. "I've been coming to the conclusion that I was something of a judgmental bitch back then, and I'm sorry. I should have been nicer to you."

"Well, you're being nice now. I'll take what I can get." Kaoru flipped his hand palm up, and interlaced his fingers with hers. His smile had returned, but Megumi recognized the vulnerability in it.

She smiled back at him, trying to inject some lightness into the conversation. "You don't honestly expect me to believe you're that hard up?"

"Oh, the ladies are lining up for a chance at Hitachiin Kaoru."

"Then what are you doing here with me?" she teased.

"It's where I want to be," he said simply. Megumi started to free her hand, intending to collect the dishes, but he tightened his grip. "That's why I called you tonight. I just wanted to see you."

Author's Note: Huge thanks to mutemuia, No-Time Lord, and chikarubunny for the reviews, and soinherownhead for the favorite. You guys rock!