Kaoru was a bit dispirited to find himself sitting at a restaurant with Hikaru and Kyoya rather than Megumi and Laney. He'd crashed at Hikaru's apartment after spending the whole day with him, going through the business and reallocating areas of responsibility. Then Hikaru had decided that, having gotten their professional lives in some better semblance of order, it was time to deal with their personal lives. Which evidently entailed getting shitfaced and rhapsodizing about how great things were right now with Jen, alternating with strenuously advising Kaoru to stop wasting time with Megumi and "hit that already." Nice, Hikaru. Stay classy, bro.
Round about 1:30 in the morning, Hikaru had become maudlin: "Life is short and utterly unpredictable, Kaoru. I don't care what Kyoya told you, or what Huni and Haruhi said. If you see a chance for happiness, grab it with both hands and do not let go. You've known this girl for what, two, three weeks? And suddenly you're getting your shit together? That's not a coincidence. Please, promise me you are not going to pull your usual shit of waiting until everything is 100% crystal clear before you make your move. Trust in the universe—hell, trust in yourself a little bit. Don't let this pass you by because you were too busy trying to avoid heartbreak. For the right girl, a little heartbreak is worth it." And with that said, he'd passed out. More from the jetlag than the alcohol, Kaoru had thought, but he'd stuck around just to be sure.
When he'd reminded Hikaru in the morning that he was planning on meeting Megumi and Laney for lunch, Hikaru had invited himself along. "I need to meet this girl. Like, really meet her. Last time didn't count—I was distracted."
When they got to the restaurant, they found Kyoya already there, sitting at a table with a cup of tea and a newspaper. "The ladies will be slightly delayed, as they've run into traffic," he announced, not bothering to look up from the paper. "Hello, Hikaru. Back from your New York frolics so soon?"
"I wasn't frolicking, I was working. Very hard, I'll have you know." Hikaru grumbled, sitting down as far from Kyoya as he could get at the round table.
"Not for the last 36 hours, you weren't. I have it on good authority that frolicking was the high order of the day."
"Were you spying on me?"
Kyoya finally looked up. "Yes, Hikaru, I was spying on you. I've detailed men to follow you and report back with a full accounting of your daily activites, focusing on any indiscretions. How astute of you to have figured it out, considering that the far more likely source of information was your girlfriend calling my wife for their weekly chat. But I can see there's no fooling you; I'll have to remind my men to be more discreet. Perhaps they should take off the fedoras and trench coats, hmmm?"
"God, you're in a mood, Kyoya," Kaoru said while Hikaru deliberately buried himself behind a menu.
"I was woken up at 7:30 in the morning. Pleasantly, I will grant you, but still—7:30."
"Does she know she's taking her life in her hands when she pulls that shit?" Hikaru stage-whispered to his twin.
"Please, you know she can do no wrong in his eyes," Kaoru played along.
"She can do wrong in my eyes. She just never actually does so," Kyoya said, not without a touch of smugness.
"Wait, I'm confused. Were you actually invited today?" Hikaru shot back.
"Husband and wife are one flesh. Ergo, an invitation extended to Laney is an invitation extended to me."
"I'm fairly certain that's not actually codified in Japanese law."
"It's possible I was not at my absolute best when Hisakawa stopped by this morning. I thought it prudent to rectify any poor impression I may have made."
"So, you acted like an asshole, and now you're feeling guilty," Hikaru translated.
Kyoya shot him a dirty look and picked the paper back up. Kaoru had been watching the whole exchange with no little amusement. He knew that despite the surface antagonism, both men thoroughly enjoyed their verbal battles. As for him, he was just glad Hikaru and Kyoya were sniping at each other rather than him for a change.
After about ten minutes, Megumi and Laney came into the restaurant, chatting animatedly with each other on their way to the table. Kaoru swallowed hard; Megumi, who usually dressed on the conservative side, was now in capris and a form-fitting t-shirt, emphasizing every slight curve of her body. As he stood to pull her chair out, he found had to drag his eyes back up to her face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kyoya greet his wife with a very proper kiss on the cheek and what was likely a highly improper suggestion whispered in her ear, based on Laney's entirely too self-satisfied smile.
"So how was the hike?" Kaoru directed this to Megumi.
"Um. It was … invigorating," Megumi responded carefully. Kaoru had been paying enough attention over the last few weeks to sense a longer story lurking behind the surface politeness. He grinned, eager for a chance to draw Megumi out. She had a rapier-like wit, and he wanted to show her off a bit to Hikaru. He glanced at Laney, who winked back in understanding.
"Three and a half miles is a short hike by anyone's estimation," she declared.
"Laney, tell me you took pity on the poor girl," Hikaru put in. "I've been on one of your 'short and easy' hikes. I think I had to go to the hospital afterwards."
"It wasn't that bad," Megumi said, leaping to her friend's defense. "I'm just a little out of shape. But it was a lovely way to spend a morning." She took a deliberate sip of tea. "It might have been more enjoyable had we not apparently been doing a time trial."
"Oh, snap," Hikaru crowed. "She got you, Lane." The entire table swiveled their gazes to him.
"Did you really just say oh snap?" Kaoru asked.
"I see Jen's prodigious vocabulary has rubbed off on you. She is quite the intellectual, isn't she," Kyoya said with a particularly vicious smile.
"Careful," Hikaru warned in a soft voice.
Kyoya took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Hikaru. That was uncalled for. I just hope things between you two stay on a good footing this time around, is all."
Megumi leaned close to Kaoru and whispered in his ear, "You are going to explain this later, right?" It was less a question than a dictate. He nodded, and she whispered again, "Good. Because I do not like being out of the loop." Her breath tickled his skin, and this close, he could smell her, clean and sweaty and faintly floral. It was with a great effort that he restrained himself from turning his head and kissing right behind her ear, burying his nose in her intoxicating aroma.
He didn't know what had come over him. Strike that—he knew exactly what had come over him; he just didn't know why it had suddenly jumped into overdrive. Maybe it was as Haruhi said; getting one part of his life cleaned up was bringing clarity to other parts. Maybe it was Hikaru's speech about taking chances. Upon reflecting, Kaoru found that he really didn't care why his attraction to Megumi had suddenly kicked up several notches. For maybe the first time in his life, Kaoru wanted to try to just sit back and enjoy the ride.
The five of them enjoyed a leisurely lunch. Kaoru was pleased to see Kyoya took special pains to be friendly to Megumi; not quite the genuine warmth that he only occasionally displayed even to his closest friends, but not quite his typical fake charm, either. Hikaru was also uncharacteristically quiet, at least for Hikaru; he still made plenty of jokes and traded jibes with Kyoya and innuendo with Laney, but Kaoru noticed his twin was focused intently on Megumi.
As lunch came to a close, Kyoya pulled out his phone, glaring darkly. "Laney. What is this text from Tamaki about needing to get together to plan a wagashi tasting?"
"Lord, we'd better get over there right away, otherwise he's going to drag poor Haruhi out in this heat to look for us," Laney said.
Kyoya heaved an irritated sigh and stood up. "You lost that bet on purpose. Don't think I don't know that."
"Baby, if you had seen him planning this out, you would have picked the losing side too. He was like a little kid on Christmas morning."
"I have never once lost to that idiot, and I certainly would not start now."
"Darlin' boy, that is why you have me to take the hit and lose for you," Laney smiled up at him.
"Aren't I the lucky one?" Kyoya's voice was lightly mocking, but Kaoru could see the naked adoration in his eyes as he looked down at his wife. He waited for the usual twinge of raw envy, but was distracted instead by Megumi's throaty laughter.
"I hope I rate an invitation to this event."
"You can be my date," Kaoru offered recklessly. He was rewarded with a bright sunny smile from Megumi. He felt untethered. I need to make her smile like that more often.
Hikaru rose as well. "Kaoru, I hate to leave you stranded, but I have a ton of errands I need to run. Megumi, would it be okay for you to take him home?"
"It would be my pleasure," Megumi replied, polite as ever. But after the other three had left the table, she turned to him. "Well, that was transparent, wasn't it?"
"Hikaru and subtlety have never exactly gone together," Kaoru said. "Don't worry, I can catch a cab."
"Don't be ridiculous," Megumi scoffed. "I'm happy to give you a ride. I just think it's a little ridiculous that they thought they had to arrange it."
"I bet Laney and Hikaru are congratulating each other right now," Kaoru agreed. "Hika probably has a Mission Accomplished banner all ready to go."
Megumi laughed. "I like him. I really didn't expect to, but he's infectious."
"Like a disease."
"You two are as close as ever, aren't you?" she observed quietly.
"Yeah, we are," he smiled. "But not quite so codependent anymore."
"That's good. That you're still close, I mean. I know back in high school, a lot of the girls worried when you guys had that fight and then Hikaru changed his hair. They thought it meant the end of your unique relationship."
"No, I think in a lot of ways it actually brought us even closer," Kaoru said thoughtfully. "Once we weren't quite so enmeshed, we were better able to appreciate each other as individuals and to help each other grow." Then he focused in on the last words Megumi had said. "Unique relationship?"
Megumi shrugged and finished her tea. "I always figured it was just an act." She looked him straight in the eye. "Was I right?"
"God, yes!" Kaoru groaned. "I know we're close, even for twins, but he's still my brother. Not to mention that I very, very, very definitely like women."
"Just checking," she said coolly. "Did you have plans for the rest of the afternoon? There's a movie I've been wanting to see if you'd like to join me."
"No plans. A movie sounds great," Kaoru said, a little dazed and more than a little thrilled at the idea of spending a couple hours with Megumi in a dark room. Down boy. She just asked you if you've ever fucked your brother, so I wouldn't say you're home free yet. Still, when they rose from the table to walk to out to the car, Kaoru caught her hand, and Megumi did not let go.
Author's Note: Huge thanks to Melanie-Says and pikaremo for the favorites, and to Izzyboopers, Melanie-Says, No-Time Lord, and mutemuia for the reviews.