Chapter 4

An Unplanned Result

"Kaoru!"

The lone word hung in the air of the vacant classroom, the door to which the twins had just slammed through with a bang. The boy in question simply struggled to catch his breath, having been dragged there by his brother at near mach-speed. Somehow, the other boy didn't look like he'd even broken a sweat.

"What the hell was that all about?!" Hikaru flailed his arms wildly in no direction in particular. It would have been a comical sight, if not for the fact that he was focused on relieving his own oxygen deprivation. His brother was red in the face, but whether from exertion or anger he couldn't be sure.

"Have you lost your mind?! This whole 'private host-training' thing was weird enough, but now this?! What do you think you're doing macking on the boss?! You don't know where he's been! And another thing-...!"

"Hikaru!" He finally managed to wheeze. "Calm down!"

Despite his fatigue, he couldn't deny still feeling some level of amusement. It was especially hard to keep a straight face upon hearing the phrase "macking on" escape his brother's lips. After all, it was only a few steps above "playing tonsil-hockey". Still, he had to admit, he had not expected quite such a severe reaction right off the bat, although in hindsight, perhaps he should have.

"What is this about?! Did he put you up to it as some kind of payment for his weird 'host-training'? That pervert, I swear I'll-...!"

"He didn't make me do anything, Hikaru! Try to breathe for two seconds! For my sake if nothing else."

He started to say something, but stopped short. The end of his brother's sentence had apparently managed to register. With a look of frustrated uncertainty and a great deal of hesitation, he slowly drew in and exhaled a long breath.

"There, now isn't that better?"

"Explain. This. To me."

The red-head gave what he hoped was a convincing shrug. He hadn't found the time to map this part out yet. This plan had gone from a snail's pace to far too fast in the span of a mere few minutes.

"What's there to explain?" He asked, in his sincerest tone. "I mean, face it, Hikaru, you and me don't hang out much at the club these days. I'm totally losing my edge. Can't risk the guests being unhappy, much less Kyoya-senpai complaining about lost money. I just thought-..."

"What are you talking about? We hang out all the time! Heck, if you wanna make this about the club, we're listed as a duel package! Are you mad at me or something? Is this because I ate your pudding?"

"Of course not-... You ate my pudding?"

"Not the point!" Hikaru huffed, crossing his arms. "The point is, why are you being all weird like this all of a sudden? Tell the boss where he can shove his pervert-training and quit being dumb!"

He frowned. Dumb, huh? Oh Hikaru, how clueless he was. He felt the mental grin he'd been maintaining since this whole charade began fade into a frown.

"Now wait a sec. I'm the one who asked the boss to train me, Hikaru. I have my reasons... besides, you're the one who's spending all your time hanging out with Haruhi."

"So? Haruhi's our friend, isn't she? Who ever said you couldn't come hang out too?! You're the one who's been all weird and distant. I don't even get why you'd want to hang out with just the boss."

Kaoru felt his eye twitch. Weird and distant? Well, excuuuuuuse the hell out of him for trying to give his moron of a brother the space he didn't know he needed. Hikaru was dense, true, but it was really starting to get obvious. Hell, even the boss could see it. He felt his internal temperature rising... Calm down, now, he told himself. This is all just a prank, remember? Still, his brother's words stung. So what if this was all a ruse? He had every right to do whatever he wanted, with whoever he wanted. His twin sure was exercising that very same right, even if he didn't realize it. He barely talked to anyone at the club outside of Haruhi and their mutual fans. Even when they went home together a good deal of the conversation consisted of Hikaru telling him about funny things he or Haruhi had said. It was all too tempting to tell him exactly that, too, except... he wouldn't. Not because of a joke gotten out of hand. Even through his irritation he knew that, at this point in time, if Hikaru were to somehow realize he was spending more time with Haruhi than anyone else, it could ruin everything. He might start avoiding her, start seeing her as a threat to the twins' relationship... however valid or invalid that may be. It could be a massive blow to the beginning of a relationship that was already taking a ridiculous amount of time to develop, and he couldn't do that to his brother... even if he was being a jackass.

What he didn't allow himself to ruminate on for too long was the other possible outcome of telling Hikaru what was what. If Hikaru realized he had all but abandoned his brother and... didn't care...

"So what you're saying is I'm not allowed to hang out with other people, is that it? Huh? Are you saying I'm not allowed to mack on the boss?"

However, his resolve to not say the worst thing possible in this situation left him a fairly broad pool of other choices, and his temper only lead him to explore his range of options.

"What are you, my keeper? Well, I'll tell you something, Hikaru. I'd say I'm allowed to do whatever I want on my own time. Maybe I just want to try standing on my own, ever think of that? Maybe... Maybe I think the boss is hot."

"Kaoru, what are you saying? I-..."

"Because... Because I do!" The words tumbled forth from his mouth before he gave them more than a split second or so of thought. "He's like, a total hunksicle!"

It was a good thing there were no guests around to witness this unpleasant exchange. It appeared Kaoru was a fair bit less smooth than usual when he was angry. At any other time, he would have busted out laughing at his own wording. He had officially lost any right to criticize his brother for use of the phrase "macking on". Still, these thoughts were some of the farthest things from his mind at the moment.

Hikaru, for his part, looked thoroughly confused, and more than slightly disturbed. Many uncomfortable things had happened in the span of this day, and his brain was not coping well... least of all with his brother's last statement. But even before that, what was his problem? They were always together, what was different about now? This would've have been a baffling incident for him to try and comprehend even without the mental image of the other Hitachiin smooching Tamaki-senpai that he would likely have to spend a significant amount of time trying to scrub from his brain.

"And if you have a problem with it, well... too bad!"

Even in his angered state, Kaoru knew it was a lame ending. However, he didn't really much care.

Hikaru stood looking at him, silently, trying to process everything he'd just heard.

The air was thick with tension as both brothers simply stared at each other. All traces of humor in the situation were long gone... leaving only discomfort, and anger. If you looked beneath the surface, perhaps... pain.

The word was said so quietly, Kaoru almost didn't hear it. Thankfully, he would find he didn't need to ask for repetition.

"Fine!"

With nary another word, Hikaru roughly shoved passed him and was out the door before he had time to turn around. There was no sound save for his hurried footsteps as he sped away down the hall, eyes to the floor. Before he could even contemplate further action, his brother disappeared around a corner.

"... And your mama wears too much make-up." He muttered under his breath.

"Jackass."

"My, my. It sounds to me like there's more at play here than striving for independence, Kaoru. Reading between the lines, I'd say I detect a hint of... hurt feelings."

Kaoru spun around so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. Leaning in the doorway, single rose held aloft in hand, was none other than...

"Boss! When did you get here?! Where's Renge?... How long have you been standing there?"

"She ran off to go story board a new doujinshi... and long enough. Truth be told, I only caught part of it, but..."

Oh, thank the good heavens above, was the most coherent thought his brain could form at the moment. Hopefully he hadn't heard...

The blonde took a few steps forward and clapped a gentle hand on the redhead's shoulder.

"... I think it's plain to see that there's more here than meets the eye. Care to join me back at the club room?"

There was little noise but the clink of glass and pouring of tea as the soft rays of the sunset shone into the clubroom. Gingerly setting the tea pot aside, Tamaki placed a full cup and saucer in front of both of them.

"Hikaru certainly is a prickly little peach sometimes... Of course, you'd know that better than anyone."

The other remained silent. He sat rather sullenly on the other end of the sofa, cheek smushed against his palm, staring at nothing in particular. Though against his sense of social graces, the urge to brood was nigh unbearable as the shouting match played on a loop inside his brain.

So many better things he should've said, so many better things he could have done... This was all supposed to be a game. How had he let his temper get the better of him like that? What he should've done was bust out laughing at his brother's over-the-top protective reaction and either told the truth right there, or kept up his persona of love-struck school boy and told Hikaru he'd fallen in love with the boss at first sight and couldn't bear to contain his own feelings any longer. Following that, he could have asked him to give him away at the wedding. The look on his face would've been priceless, especially when he announced his intentions to wear the white gown himself. Maybe, although it pained him to contemplate the thought, the boss was right. Perhaps he was rawer over all of these issues than he'd thought...

"You'd think after all this time, he'd have learned to express himself a bit more calmly." The prince sighed and shook his head. "But I guess that's still awhile away."

"Yeah, well. Maybe he needs to learn faster."

"Oh? You're one to talk, Kaoru. You seemed to be getting awfully worked up yourself back there." He glanced at the other boy, who was staring somewhere in the general area of the floor, and therefore failed to notice the presence of the tiniest amused glint in his eyes.

"Phhhft." Was his only reply.

"So, let me guess," He said, raising one finger skyward. "You're jealous because Hikaru has been spending so much time with Haruhi."

"I'm not jealous!" He spat, looking at the other for the first time since they'd sat down, and favoring him with a mild glare. Tamaki smirked back at him.

"... fine, maybe I am a little. But it's not like I'm mad about it or anything. This is important for Hikaru, I totally get that. Heck, they'll make a good couple when it finally happens, sometime next century at this rate. It's just... he's so dense! Where does he get off interrogating me about what I'm doing, huh? Especially since I'm keeping my distance for his benefit!"

The words spewed forth from his mouth without him even thinking. It appeared that whether he liked it or not, somehow he had decided to spill his guts to Tamaki, of all people. Of course, in the back of his mind he knew that the boss certainly wasn't the worst person he could pick to talk to... but he definitely hadn't been planning on it. Still, it was rather a bit too late to turn back now, so with a mental shrug of the shoulders, he kept going.

"And, and... I dunno, I just... wouldn't you think he'd notice? I mean yeah, he's dense as a brick, but he doesn't even realize that we barely talk anymore. I know we can't rely on each other forever, it's a good thing that Hikaru's becoming more independent. But after all this time, it's just... nothing! He's no smarter about how I feel than he is with anyone else! Not a lot of brothers would back off like I did, you know, but the minute I start talking to someone else..."

"You too, huh?"

"... eh?"

"She sure is something special." He continued with a wistful expression, as though the other had not spoken... if "eh" could really be considered speaking, that is.

"But you know, they compliment each other, in a way. One dense about how other people feel, the other dense about how she feels. A match made in some strange land of troubled communications."

"Boss, what are you talking about?"

Tamaki chuckled softly. "Don't act like you don't know. You liked Haruhi, too. Not that I can blame you- don't make that face. I know that's not what this is about. I just noticed, is all."

Kaoru started to object, but stopped short, and instead shrugged. Technically, he wasn't wrong.

"I'm not upset about that, though." He muttered, finally acknowledging the tea cup in front of him as he picked it up to take a sip. "Haruhi's great and all, don't get me wrong, but she's more like a sister now. It's just... It's-... I don't know. I guess I don't really know what exactly it is that I'm upset about."

"Come now." The prince said, picking up his own tea. "You're upset because you love your brother and go out of your way to be considerate of him, and he doesn't seem keen on noticing or showing the same courtesy. That can't possibly feel good, Kaoru. But you know, and I know you know, that he'd do just about anything for you..."

Kaoru sighed.

"I know... I guess I kind of overreacted."

And it was true, he knew. He'd been way to harsh in reaction to Hikaru's relatively mild, if still irritating, statements. Everything had gotten out of hand... over a joke, no less. Even if neither he nor the boss knew that. Maybe he should just go apologize and tell Hikaru the truth. Maybe...

"What's done is done. My question is, what are you going to do about it?"

"Tell him I'm sorry, I guess. Explain that I didn't mean what I said, and was just feeling lonely... I think that sounds good... thanks, boss."

He favored him with the best smile he could muster, considering the stressful circumstances. But the more he thought... Tamaki-senpai had been really nice. Well, honestly, he was always nice in these kinds of situations, but Kaoru wasn't kind used to being on the receiving end. Still, it had helped calmed him down, and the other boy had listened to him intently...

The Hitachiin brother rose to his feet, tea gone and spirits slightly higher.

"Where are you going?" The blue-eyed prince stared up at him.

"To find Hikaru." He replied. "It'd be a load off my mind to get this mess sorted out as soon as possible."

"What's the hurry?" Tamaki smiled and joined Kaoru in standing. "I figure Hikaru will need awhile to blow off steam. Besides, we still haven't finished your host training!"

Kaoru blanched. He'd almost forgotten.

"Um, can't it wait, boss? Actually, you see-..."

"Now now, Kaoru." He wove an arm around the other's shoulders. "You expressed to me that you wanted to become your own host and intended to take this training seriously, right? There is no time to waste! Anyway, now more than ever, I need all of you hosts to be in tip-top shape!"

"But why?" Kaoru asked, shying away from his embrace, in stark contrast to his earlier behavior.

Tamaki glanced surreptitiously around the room, before leaning in close to his ear.

"In case of an impending ninja attack."