As Megumi studied him out of the corner of her eye, Hikaru kept checking his watch, chewing his lower lip meditatively. He'd called her a couple days ago, arranging to bring her to Narita airport to meet Kaoru as his flight from Paris arrived. They would then take the Hitachiin's private plane down to Okinawa. Kaoru's flight was running almost an hour late, but when Megumi had asked whether that would cause a problem with the Cessna's scheduled take-off time, he had just flapped his hand at her. "Don't worry about it," he'd said, then proceeded to stare at his watch for the fourth time in as many minutes.
She suppressed a sigh as he pulled out his phone and rapidly typed something in. Hikaru had been unusually distant ever since picking her up, mostly ignoring her in favor of his phone. At one point he had turned to her, demanding to know whether or not she'd planned to break up with Kaoru over the weekend. "I hadn't thought about it," Megumi had said, startled. "I don't think so."
"Good," he's said, returning to his phone. "That's good. That could be awkward."
"Well, heaven forbid we cause any awkwardness for you on your beach weekend," she'd replied a little acidly.
Hikaru hadn't seem to notice her tone, flashing her a distracted smile and saying, "That's the spirit."
Now, waiting for Kaoru to come off the plane, she debated coming flat out and asking him what was eating him up. But just as she was screwing up her courage to the sticking point, Hikaru gave a shout. "There he is! Finally!" She rose up on her tiptoes, scanning the line of people streaming past for a familiar head of reddish hair.
She'd just barely caught sight of him when he swooped down on them, dropping his bags carelessly at Hikaru's feet. "You are a sight for sore eyes," Kaoru sighed as he pulled Megumi into his arms. "And sore everything else. You smell nice."
She buried her face in the crook of his neck, closing her eyes. "So do you."
"I smell like 12 hours' worth of stale airplane."
"But under that, you smell like you, and you smell good."
For a moment, in his arms, she could forget the strange distance that seem to have sprung up between them and the butterflies that had been in residence in her stomach ever since her talk with her sister.
"Can't we find an empty bathroom or something?" His voice was husky.
"Tempting, but ultimately unsanitary, to say the least," Megumi responded, reluctantly pulling away.
"Lovely sentiment, kids, but we have someplace else to be." Hikaru embraced his brother swiftly. Megumi didn't fail to notice the barely perceptible relaxation of tension as the two embraced, and found herself smiling. Hikaru picked up the smaller of Kaoru's bags, leaving the larger one for his twin to carry. Kaoru rolled his eyes at his twin's back, but grabbed the remaining bag, slinging his free arm around Megumi's shoulders and pulling her in tightly to his side.
"Why's he in such a rush today?" he asked, but Megumi just shrugged, smiling happily up into Kaoru's face.
"Come on! We're going to be late!" Hikaru called back to them, picking up his pace.
"Late for what? Hika, I'm starving. You know they never serve anything edible on the plane. Can't we stop for a snack?"
"You remember how much food Laney and Kyoya always make at the beach. If you have a snack now you'll get fat."
"You're nowhere close to fat," Megumi reassured him when a stricken look crossed his face.
Hikaru strode rapidly through the airport, although he wasn't heading to the terminal where the private planes were. Megumi and Kaoru exchanged bewildered glances as they struggled to keep up. Suddenly Hikaru stopped short and turned sharply into the arrival area for a plane that had just come in from New York. Megumi heard someone shouting his name, and the next thing she knew a brown-haired woman was throwing herself at Hikaru.
"Now I get it," Kaoru said. Megumi looked up, the question evident in her face. "I hope you don't mind sharing the weekend with my brother's girlfriend," he told her.
The woman in question tore herself away from Hikaru, giving him one last kiss before turning to Kaoru. "You're looking good, Kaoru" she commented in English. "A little farther from the raggedy edge since the last time I saw you."
"Considering the last time you saw me I was struggling to replace two models who'd come down with severe food poisoning 90 minutes before they were supposed to be on the catwalk?"
"Fashion crises. If only I had my pearls on so I could clutch them." She laughed and pulled Kaoru into a hug. He rolled his eyes, but didn't resist.
"Let me introduce you to the real reason why Kaoru no longer looks like he's about to burn a building down on the slightest provocation," Hikaru's hands settled on the woman's shoulders. "Hisakawa Megumi, please meet my girlfriend, Shapiro Jennifer. Jen, this is Megumi, Kaoru's girlfriend."
Shapiro bowed carefully and then said, in heavily accented Japanese, "I'm very pleased to meet you, Hisakawa-san."
"You speak Japanese?" Megumi was startled.
"Not very well," she confessed.
"Bullshit," Hikaru announced, looking fondly at his girlfriend. "Jen is a polyglot."
"Japanese is a damn sight more difficult than Russian or Hebrew, Hikaru," Shapiro said in English. She smiled apologetically at Megumi as she switched back to Japanese. "I've been studying for about a year and a half now. But I'm never sure whether I'm saying anything correctly."
"You're doing great," Megumi said kindly. She was immediately rewarded by Kaoru squeezing her hand gratefully. Then something clicked. She grinned. "So this is why Ootori-san was so insistent that we join him this weekend?" she asked Hikaru.
"Yep. Laney doesn't know anything about it." He picked up Shapiro's bags. "We've been planning this surprise for about three months."
"Two months ago you guys weren't even talking to each other," Kaoru pointed out, picking up his own bags.
"Then I guess it's a good thing we made up, isn't it?" Hikaru tossed over his shoulder as he moved out of the gate area. "Let's go. I'd like to get there before dinner, if possible. I'm starving."
"I'm going to kill him." Kaoru muttered under his breath. Megumi tried to take the smaller bag from him, but he tightened his grip on the handle. "You're okay with this?" he asked, looking down at her.
"Of course," Megumi replied, giving up on the bag.
He slowed down, intentionally lagging behind Hikaru and Shapiro. "No, really. We don't have to go down with them if you don't want to. I know things have been, kind of—I don't know. Thingy."
"Things have been thingy."
"Yeah." He stopped, frowning. "Or is that all in my head?"
Megumi ignored that for the moment. "Do you want to go?"
He shrugged. "The amount of shit I'd have to put up with for bailing out at the last minute isn't exactly appealing. And to be honest, I could use a day or two at the beach, particularly if you've been thoughtful and packed some extraordinarily skimpy bikinis. But if you're uncomfortable with any of this …"
"Why would you think I'd be uncomfortable?"
"I don't know. It's not neutral territory?" Kaoru sighed. "Look, just forget I said anything."
The butterflies were starting to come back. "Things have been thingy. It's not just you. But I still want to go. Just—maybe we do need some privacy to talk," Megumi said slowly. His face twisted up at that, and she said irritably "Will you stop that? I'm not going to dump you on some kind of bizarre triple-date-slash-mini-break with your brother and your best friend. Give me a little credit."
"Okay," he said quietly, clearly stung.
She immediately felt guilty. "Kaoru, I'm sorry. I'm just tired and out of sorts, and you know how grumpy that makes me."
"Forget about it. Let's just talk when we get there, okay?" He quickened his pace, catching up with Hikaru and Shapiro.
The butterflies in her stomach now felt like wasps, buzzing and insistent. Why can't we just go back to the way it was before he took this damn trip? Why did I have to say that and screw everything up? Megumi trotted after him, but he seemed oblivious to her presence dogging his heels.
As he caught up to Hikaru, Shapiro dropped back. "I hope I haven't made things awkward by meeting you guys here at the airport. I know you and Kaoru haven't seen each other for a while."
"Of course not," Megumi said distractedly. It wasn't even a lie—she didn't think things would have gone any better even if it had just been herself alone with the brothers. "I've been looking forward to meeting you. Hikaru and Kaoru have both told me so much about you."
Shapiro snorted. "That can't be good. Try not to judge me too harshly, yeah?" She looked ahead at the Hitachiins, their heads bent close together as they argued about the fastest way to get to the terminal where the chartered and private planes were. "Everyone just seems a little tense. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Megumi considered her. She'd always figured Hikaru would be attracted to sleek, sophisticated beauties, like the models he was surrounded by in his professional life. But Shapiro did not seem to fit that mold. Her brown hair was wildly curly, bordering on frizzy, and her nose was a little too large for her face. But her dark eyes were large and expressive, and she carried herself with an air of authority that Megumi envied, particularly at the moment. Maybe not beautiful, but certainly striking. She decided she'd probably like her. Still, that didn't mean she wanted to get into whatever was wrong between her and Kaoru with this woman So I'll take the easy way out. "To be honest, I'm a little nervous about spending the weekend at Ootori-san's house. I think he might dislike me," she said.
"Kyoya?" Shapiro seemed surprised. "I don't see why he would. Laney adores you, and anything that makes her happy is usually all right by him. Has he said anything to you?"
"Not exactly," Megumi hedged, remembering their conversation the night of the Ouran benefit ball. "But it just feels like he likes me less and less the longer I know him. It's usually the other way around, isn't it?"
Shapiro laughed. "You're at stage two, then." At Megumi's questioning look, she elaborated. "Stage one, he's charming. One might even verge on calling him debonair. Never says a thing out of place. As Laney's grandma used to say, butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. Stage two is when he starts to relax and let his inner asshole shine. He's a complete shit, but stage two has a great sense of humor, I'll give the boy that much credit." She smiled reassuringly. "I wouldn't worry if I were you; if you've gotten to stage two, it definitely means he likes you."
"Is there a stage three?" Megumi asked faintly.
"Kyoya Ootori is a mensch. Not a goddamn thing he wouldn't do for the people he cares about. You can trust him." She winked. "But don't ever told him I told you. He prefers people thinking he's a cold-blooded bastard. Dysfunctional little fuck."
"And what about Kaoru?" Megumi couldn't help asking. The other woman's assessment of Kyoya was so unvarnished; she wanted to hear what the American thought of Kaoru now.
"Kaoru?" Shapiro smiled warmly. "Kaoru's a doll. Even if he and Hikaru occasionally have trouble figuring out where one of them leaves off and the other begins."
"I don't think the case at all." Certainly not for Kaoru, at least. "It used to be, but they're not like that anymore."
"Maybe you'd know better than I would. You've known them since, what, high school?"
"We went to preschool together, although I never had anything to do with either of them until high school. And even then, we were hardly friends. But the difference between them from our first year of high school to our last was too obvious for anyone to miss."
"Hmmm." Shapiro looked speculatively at the two men ahead of them. "Did they really pretend to be sleeping together?"
Megumi just nodded, but she couldn't help chuckling a bit at Shapiro's obvious discomfiture.
Kaoru, obviously having heard the laughter, turned his head over his shoulder to look back at the two women. "Glad to see you two are getting along already." He smiled at them, and Megumi felt some of the tension release again.
Author's Note: Ok, first some housekeeping. Thank you so much to Archangel305, Flowerchild23, KatherineHime, KilofriendofCharlie, LunaCorona, PepperCornPie, SublimeEchos, badasspanda, e-addi, fareyes, halyyy, missrevenge98, mythgirl7, mythsandships, redrosebird, skittlelover1998, twinlover5588, and wookiesujulove for the favorites, and to mutemuia, Somerandomguy01, lovelyleftovers, Jocy808, badasspanda, Chalice13, thumbelinarocks, and Guest for the reviews. You guys all rock!
And okay, I know it has been MONTHS since I updated. But I really do have a good excuse this time. On top of all the other regular complications of life, it turns out I'm pregnant. Which is WONDERFUL, but I've been super sick, between morning sickness (ha! and I say again, ha!) at all hours of the day, asthma kicking up (pregnancy can make it worse), and just general hormones creating too many emotions and too much brain fogginess to deal with any of it. But the hormones have their perks-I was watching Sixteen Candles last night and it felt like a religious experience. So what does this mean for YOU? I have a hard deadline now of when this story needs to get finished. There's only maybe 3-5 chapters left.