"Kaoru," Started Hikaru, staring at his twin as though he had no idea who he was. "What is the matter with you, are you angry with me?" Kaoru looked his brother in the eyes and the fact that he did not look guilty for worrying his brother, told Hikaru that he was angry. "You are, but why?"
"Why do you think, Hikaru?" His voice was quite but the cold tone he used was like a knife to Hikaru, he was so very confused, he could only sit there and watch his twin closely. "This could all have been avoided!" Kaoru's hand rubbed the back of his neck as he started to pace on the opposite side of the room from his twin. "I should never have let you talk me into playing that game with the maid." He muttered bitterly. Hikaru's eyes widened, he remembered exactly what happened before they played the game with Miyu when they were young.
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"I don't know, Hikaru," Said Kaoru, looking uncertainly at the combination in his brother's hands. "Daddy told us to keep it safe." Hikaru gave a small laugh and put a hand on Kaoru's shoulder, offering a small smile of reassurance.
"Don't worry, Kaoru, we won't actually give it to her. We'll just see if she wins the game." Kaoru still looked very uncertain.
"No, I don't want to!" He was genuinely afraid of something going wrong and it being their fault, he never was as outgoing as his brother and he knew that. Hikaru gave him a frustrated look.
"C'mon, I promise that nothing bad will happen; we'll hide it before she has chance. Trust me!" With those two words Kaoru smiled and nodded. "I'll put the security button around my neck and you take the combination. It'll work out!"Uncertainly, Kaoru obliged and took the paper. Together the two snuck out of the room and rushed to find the maid, who was busily trying to work the safe.
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"Look, Kaoru, I'm sorry that I talked you into it, but-" Hikaru did not have the chance to finish his apology because Kaoru suddenly cut across his brother's words.
"No, it's just empty words, Hikaru!" Hikaru had never seen his brother this angry before and especially towards him. "This is all your fault, I told you something would go wrong but you and your stubbornness wouldn't listen!" Hikaru stared at his brother for a few moments, trying to take in what had been said. Deep down he knew he was to blame but he did not expect Kaoru to force all that blame onto him.
"Well you're to blame too," Hikaru spat as he raised himself from his seat on the bed and glared at Kaoru, who was returning the look. Almost daring him to question his words. "You didn't have to listen to me but you did. You can't blame it all on me, Kaoru!"
"I went along with it because you're my brother, you didn't listen to me and I didn't want you to face the consequences on your own!" Kaoru barked, closing the space between him and his brother in two quick strides. Their faces were inches apart.
"I guess what you're saying is you made a mistake when trusting me?" Hikaru said in a hollow whisper.
"No, I made a mistake from the very beginning. I shouldn't have bothered with you in the first place." Kaoru's voice was low and grave, Hikaru's eyes widened at the statement as he realised what his twin was implying.
"Kaoru, I'm sorry, please, we're twins. We can't be at each other's throats like this." Hikaru whispered, not wanting to lose the only person who knew how he was feeling. Kaoru's voice was above a whisper but quieter than a shout. His words were clear.
"You're not my twin; you just hurt me like she did." Hikaru froze at that. It was one thing for Kaoru to blame him but never would he say such sharp words to his brother and to his face as well. He could see tears brimming Kaoru's eyes and he knew his brother was trying to convince himself he wanted to be alone when the truth was far from that. Hikaru reached a hand out but Kaoru pushed his brother away, Hikaru fell onto the bed and stared at his twin- who was staring out the window.
The next day was quite awkward for the twins, they got up and washed and dressed but when they went to breakfast Kaoru suddenly turned away. Hikaru watched him and he could tell his brother was staring at him so hard that he might as well be seeing right through him.
They had grabbed the limo out front but Hikaru had noticed that Kaoru pushed himself as close to the window as he could, trying to block out his brother completely. Hikaru had eventually learned- about half way between his home and school- that Kaoru would not speak to him even if he did apologise. When they reached the school the chauffeur opened the door and bowed as Kaoru climbed out, Hikaru following behind.
"Kaoru, Kaoru, wait!" Hikaru yelled as he got a good grip on his bag and ran after his brother, landing his hand on the younger twin's shoulder- spinning him around. Kaoru looked seriously annoyed and shrugged his brother off. "You can't ignore me, how're we going to do our act at the club? Milord won't be worth living with if we skip it."
"Well then," Kaoru's voice was low and dangerous. A few girls had gathered to watch the excitement. Two girls had giggled and ran off, whispering about finding Tamaki to show him what was happening. "I guess we'll have to do something about that, won't we?"
"Kaoru, this is insane. Why are we even fighting?" He looked at the girls and in an undertone he whispered, so no-one else would hear. "What happened with Miyu was years ago, we can't change it."
"No, we can't, and that's because I was stupid enough to trust you!" Kaoru replied in a surprisingly calm tone. The matter of fact way in which his brother had spoken was like a scream in his ears. He hated arguing with his brother, but this was and is ridiculous.
"Kaoru..." Hikaru whispered as he raised a hand to touch his shoulder, comfortingly, though he was surprised- as was everyone else- when Kaoru pushed his brother hard, resulting in Hikaru colliding with the hard cement beneath his feet. The girls gasped, some screamed and some cried but none of them ran away. Eventually the other members of the host club arrived and the girls stepped to one side to allow them access to the brothers.
"Care to explain what's going on here?" Asked Kyoya as he walked behind Tamaki with his hands in his pockets.
"Are Kao-chan and Hika-chan fighting?" Asked Mitsukuni as he tugged on Takashi's blazer, without looking at his cousin, Takashi said.
"It seems so..." Kaoru avoided any eye contact he could as he shoved his way past Tamaki and Kyoya. Hikaru tried to avoid eye contact out of pure embarrassment. Haruhi decided she would help Hikaru and so she approached him with her hand outstretched. He took it and stood to his feet, grabbing his bag which had also fallen to the floor and then walked away from the club, avoiding bumping into anyone like his brother had. As he walked away Tamaki ran a hand through his hair.
"Their world is growing smaller," He whispered. "We have to help them." Hikaru was still walking when he suddenly heard people yelling his surname; he turned around slowly and was- once again- almost blinded by a hundred flashing cameras and deafened by hundreds of booming voices. He brought his hands to his face and squinted at the mass of people being blocked by the school gates, which the host club were attempting to close.
"Get out of here!" Yelled Haruhi, not caring about how undignified she sounded by yelling at the press.
"Leave him alone!" Tamaki yelled, following Haruhi's lead.
"Wait, he's Tamaki Suoh!" Said one random reporter.
"The Suoh heir!" Another yelled.
"Mr. Suoh," Said the first man, getting ready with his pad and pen. "Your comment on the maid Miyu?"
"My comment," Said Tamaki, leaning between the bars of the gate. "Is that you should leave the Hitachiin's alone." Hikaru turned to look at the host club members, completely shocked at how supportive they were of him and his brother.
"I don't like people upsetting my friends!" Mitsukuni said in a low and dangerous voice. The press looked at him and cried out his name repeatedly. They did not need to be taught a lesson by a human weapon like the Haninozuka heir.
Hikaru stood in awkward silence, staring at the floor for a few seconds before Tamaki ran over to him and flung his arms around the younger boys frame. Squeezing him tight, despite Hikaru's protest.
"It'll be ok, Hikaru, we'll find Kaoru! Kyoya will talk to him, right, mommy?" Tamaki said, turning his head to the shadow king, who approached with his large black book tucked under his arm and phone out and in his hand.
"Yes, we will," Hikaru was surprised that Kyoya had actually agreed to help him out. Then he wondered, what was in it for the shadow king to gain? "As without Kaoru the club's brotherly love package would not be on offer. Thus losing more customers and less profit to be gained." Hikaru groaned, of course Kyoya had to have such a selfish reason behind helping Hikaru talk to his brother. Hikaru wiggled out of Tamaki's grip and walked away from the group, ignoring the clubs king's pleas for him to not leave.
-0-
Tamaki called the club together for a meeting but neither Hikaru nor Kaoru had bothered to show up. The meeting was mostly about them anyway, they had moved past thinking about the twins past and were now wondering what they could do to get through to them.
The atmosphere around the table was not very pleasant, everyone was moping and if not that then staying silent and looking anywhere in which they would not catch anyone's eye. Kyoya- however- seemed relatively calm as he jotted notes down in his black book, not appearing to be swayed by the tension which drifted around the room.
"Kyoya," Said Tamaki as he watched the shadow king sitting in his cool demeanour. "How're you so calm?"
"I have no reason not to be, the twin's antics are only my concern when they affect the club, therefore, I need to work out what to do without them, before the profit drops." He spoke in mono tone and carried on writing in his book.
"It's sad to see Hika-chan like that; he's always been relying on Kao-chan..." Said Mitsukuni, in which Takashi gave a nod in response.
"Really?" Said Haruhi, with mild surprise. "I always thought it was Kaoru who relied on Hikaru?" Hikaru certainly seemed to be the most confident of the pair and Kaoru always seemed to follow in his older brother's footsteps, in their relationship it always struck Haruhi that Hikaru was mainly relied on by Kaoru. Hunny just smiled a little and stared into the face of Usa-chan as he spoke.
"No, a lot of people think so, but that's not how it works," Said Hunny lightly. "Hikaru has always been really sensitive but Kaoru has always been independent, he allows Hikaru to make choices and all because he wants Hikaru to be able to stand on his own two feet."
"It's true," Said Tamaki, who was resting his chin on his palm. "Back when I brought them to the club, I noticed that Kaoru seemed more eager to get to know us but tried to hide it as Hikaru showed his fear of meeting and learning about us. It's contradictory really that it works like that. But Kaoru is actually a lot stronger than he makes out. I know Hikaru knows that and that's why he hates to fight with him, as well as the fact that they're twins."
-0-
Haruhi made sure to keep a watchful eye on the twins for the rest of the day. She walked into class 1-A and noticed everyone out of their seats and whispering- she saw Hikaru sit down at his desk and wave away questions that were asked by their classmates. Haruhi could not see Kaoru at all so she turned to a boy in their class who was beside her. Renge was bouncing by Hikaru's side with a pen and some paper.
"Fill me in on your emotions, Hikaru; I do so want to include it in my next Doujinshi!" Hikaru groaned. Many young ladies who regularly requested the twins led her away. The woe coming from Hikaru wasn't exciting to the other girls, it made them sympathetic.
"Miss Houshakuji, I think we should leave him alone." The girls led her away, much to Renge's annoyance. Hikaru looked relieved to have her leave him alone, he nodded his appreciation to the girls.
"Where's Kaoru?" He looked at her.
"Oh, Fujioka, he's over at the back." He replied and pointed at the window, the furthest away from everyone else. Haruhi approached and saw Kaoru sat on the windowsill and staring out of the window, his head resting on the glass. She stood beside him for a few moments until he noticed she was there.
"Haruhi," He said absently, not really planning on saying anything else. Once she realized this she sat on the windowsill too but on the opposite side to him. He looked up at her and sighed.
"What happened, you and Hikaru are in a fight?" She asked him, drinking in his reactions so she could try and form some sort of answer even if he didn't provide her with one. Kaoru looked out the window and spoke quietly to her, because everyone else was at the front of the room no-one could overhear them. He told her about all that was said in the argument and how mad and frustrated he was with Hikaru. "You know you can't blame all of this on Hikaru, right?"
"Yeah... I know," He responded softly.
"You know, Kaoru, you and him really understand each other completely. Others can say they do but you won't believe them will you?" He looked up at her, quite surprised that Haruhi- who was always blunt and unresponsive- could place his feelings exactly. "You and Hikaru need each other; it'd be a shame to lose him over something that happened in the past, wouldn't it?" He looked at her, the shocked look had subsided. He didn't speak; eventually someone else caught their attention.
"Alright, we have a lot of work to get through but first the student council has some matters to discuss." The Sensei said as she entered the room and gestured to the class president. Haruhi took her place beside Hikaru and Kaoru took his place in his seat to the right of Haruhi. The lesson dragged by as the class president spoke nonstop about the changes to the school menus.
-0-
Later it was time for the host club to meet in the music room for their regular session of hosting. Today the club was cosplaying a fantastic anime called "Death Note". It was obvious to the club that Kyoya would be perfect to cosplay as Kira and the black book he held seemed to complete his costume completely.
Hunny-senpai seemed perfect for the role of L who always seemed to eat cake and anything with sugar in it. This excited him and he immediately went into character.
Takashi cosplayed the part of Kanzo Mogi, more for the fact that he rarely ever spoke, which seemed enough for Tamaki when he was handing out parts.
Tamaki took the part of Hirokazu Ukita purely because the character fully interested him and he loved the costume he would be allowed to wear.
Haruhi- much to her dismay- was presented with the part of Misa Amane purely because Tamaki wanted to see Haruhi play a female part and to be more immature so he could hope to allow her the freedom to be free and fun. However, he didn't acknowledge that this meant that Haruhi's character was in love with Kira- Kyoya's character.
Because the twins were fighting Tamaki didn't expect to see them at the club but he also didn't know which characters from death note fitted with the twins personalities. In the end he settled for a wizard costume of a film series called "Harry Potter" which was located in the United Kingdom. Tamaki spoke enough English to make out that the personalities of the red headed twins in that film matched with the twins in the club. No-one else had ever heard of this in Japan because not many people bothered with England, unless it was to do with the gardens of tea sets.
Hikaru walked into the club room alone, he smiled slightly at Kyoya's costume. "Nice outfit, Senpai, I always thought that book you carried was a death note." He chuckled a little at his own joke, the corners of Kyoya's mouth turned up slightly in a smile but then he regained fast and said.
"Don't be ridiculous, Hikaru," Hikaru shrugged and smiled a little. "Now then, where is Kaoru? You both need to get into your costumes before the guests arrive." Hikaru lost his smile.
"I thought Kaoru was here, he walked off after the last lesson, I thought he came here." Kyoya kept frowning, his eyes filled with sympathy which were clever masked by his glasses. "What are our costumes anyway?"
"According to Tamaki, you will both be cosplaying as two British twin wizards from a show called 'Harry Potter' your costumes are in the changing rooms." Hikaru raised an eyebrow at Kyoya.
"British wizards? How will the guests know what that reference is and how do we play them?"
"Tamaki tells me that these twins are mischievous and close just like you and Kaoru, just be yourselves. The twins you will impersonate do not do brotherly love but if Kaoru is to show up you will. The wizards are called 'Fred and George Weasley' they're both commoners as far as I can tell." Hikaru rolled his eyes and went to change, mumbling something like.
"Tamaki and his weird obsession with different countries."
-0-
The host club session had gone great, despite the fact that Kaoru hadn't showed up at all Hikaru had managed to somehow keep his guests entertained with all cliché lines he expected a wizard would say to a young lady. According to Tamaki he had got his character perfect, Hikaru didn't really care, he wanted to go and try and talk some sense into Kaoru.
"Hikaru," Said Kyoya. Hikaru turned, now in his school uniform.
"The costume is in the changing room, Senpai." Kyoya nodded.
"Thank you, though that is not what I was about to say. Where is Kaoru? He did not show up at all for the club today, many of our guests were very upset to not see his presence."
"I'm sorry, Kyoya, but I don't know." He said sadly as he sighed and walked to the doors and out. Tamaki walked up to Kyoya.
"You don't think Kaoru is going to quit the host club, do you?" He asked Kyoya, who glanced at him.
"Doesn't it seem selfish of you to worry of that when you should worry about his welfare?" Tamaki looked at Kyoya with a solemn look on his face.
"But you don't understand, Kyoya, if Kaoru quits the club. I'm worried that he'll convert back to isolating himself but this time without Hikaru." Kyoya stopped what he was writing. Only the two second years were in the club room at this point.
"I find it hard to believe that Kaoru would isolate himself and lock Hikaru out." He paused for a moment. "Then again, he always has been the stronger of the two."
"That's my point," Tamaki pressed. "We have to figure this out and help them, they're our friends!" He declared, already thinking up thousands of possibilities.
"We will let Hikaru deal with this," Said Kyoya in a calm tone as he went back to jotting things down in his big black book. As he finished writing he pushed his glasses up on his nose higher. "Because Hikaru is the big brother." And with that Kyoya closed his book and walked out of the room, leaving Tamaki stood in silence.
A/N: I am so sorry this took so long but I've been very busy recently. I wanted to add more into the host club part but sadly I wouldn't have time to finish it off before I started school again.
Coming soon: The maid is sentenced to more years in prison for breaking out. Kyoya's family visits the Hitachiin's to discuss business and the twins are made to see the end to their foolish bickering from an unlikely source.