Chapter four:

to change myself.

"I'll never be as good a model as my mother. Not the way I am now. And that's frustrating."

Game over!

You lose!

Mirai groaned, accidentally releasing his subconscious hold on his handheld console, causing it to hit the floor with a thump. His back and shoulder felt uncomfortable as he shifted on the Fujioka family's couch.

Yesterday, he and his father had come over to watch a movie with Haruhi and her father, which ended up in them sleeping over. The arrangement had been for his father and Haruhi's father to sleep in the same room while Mirai slept in the same room as Haruhi, after many promises not to try anything with the girl.

Of course, Haruhi had kicked him out when he had started cuddling up to her, freaked out at the sudden contact. He was too tired to explain to Haruhi that he didn't do it on purpose, so he took the couch.

He wasn't used to sleeping on couches in his new life, so it took him hours of playing on his console to actually fall asleep.

He basically slept like shit.

Yet, despite all of this, he couldn't help but smile at the ceiling.

It's been so long since he felt at home. He may be a modern day Cinderella, going from rags to riches, but he'd be damned if he said he didn't miss living from check to check. He may be rich in this life, but he was still a commoner at heart. Discounts and specials still made him perk up. Instant coffee and store bought donuts were still stuff he would splurge on.

Feeling his phone vibrate, he grabbed it and flipped it open, mentally noting to himself to introduce the touch-screen idea from his old life to his father.

Shadow King: remember, your interview with Yuzuha Hitachiin is in an hour.

Me: yes, mommy.

Mirai turned off his phone and got off the couch.

"Pancakes," he blurted out to no one in particular, "Pancakes," he repeated, the idea sounding appealing to him as his stomach grumbled.

He stalked towards the kitchen, opening the fridge. It was filled with groceries, possibly because Haruhi had went grocery shopping earlier in the week. Mirai absently grabbed the carton of milk and butter. He'd have to search for the baking soda and sugar in the drawers, along with a bowl and a spatula.

Soon enough, he started humming the Ouran anime theme to himself. What could he say? Might as well go along with the universe he was born in. Besides, the song was catchy, okay?

"What are you doing?"

The deadpan voice of Haruhi grabbed his attention as he started pouring the batter on the frying pan, "Making pancakes."

Haruhi, who was already dressed for school, gave him a surprised look, "...you can cook?"

Mirai rolled his eyes at how surprised Haruhi sounded, "Thought I was a spoiled brat who didn't know how to take care of himself?"

"Yeah."

Mirai couldn't help but laugh at Haruhi's blunt admission, causing the brunette to smile a little as well.

"Then again," he heard Haruhi say as he started scooping up the pancakes, "You're not like most rich people, are you?"

"I am, but at the same time not."

"A walking contradiction."

Mirai and Haruhi had a staring contest. Mirai was looking at Haruhi with his usual half-lidded eyes, filled with sleep, while Haruhi was looking at him like he was a puzzle she just couldn't wrap her head around.

"...you'd look cute with short hair, y'know?" Mirai couldn't help but poke fun at the future, a lazy smile tugging on his mouth as Haruhi looked confused at his sudden statement.

He was going to enjoy seeing the stoic girl's reactions to his antics.

"Whatever," Haruhi finally shrugged, seemingly putting him on hold, "I'll set up the table. You wake the lovebirds up?"

Snorting, Mirai nodded in agreement.

If he had thought over what he had just agreed to, he would have saddled the job onto Haruhi. Instead, he walked over to the eldest Fujioka's room, innocently poking his head in.

Mirai's eyes swept over the scene of his father sitting on the floor with Ryoji's head between his legs. They were both nude.

Immediately, Mirai poked his head out of the room, hoping he would one day forget what he had just witnessed. He was sure he'd be haunted with the scene of his and Haruhi's fathers getting down and dirty in his head for all eternity.

Composing himself, he knocked loudly on the door, "O-oi, food's ready you idiot lovebirds!"

"...uh, Mirai-chan, don't open the door!" Ren yelled.

Mirai's ears reddened, hearing the pair shuffle away from each other. He heard some awkward thuds and the sound clothes being thrown on before the door finally opened, revealing a now dressed Ren and Ryoji.

"Good morning Mirai-chan!" Ryoji grinned, patting his head.

"Did you sleep well?" his father continued, smiling down at him, "Or did that Ootori brat kidnap you again and just returned you?"

Mirai expertly didn't point out the hickey on Ryoji's collarbone, nor how messed up his father's hair looked. He definitely didn't point out that the two were wearing each other's shirts.

"I made pancakes."

He watched as the two adults raced towards the kitchen, declaring that they were hungry.

Closing his eyes, he reached into his pocket for his phone.

A message from Kyoya immediately greeted him.

Shadow King: the meeting is in ten minutes.

Mirai promptly shoved the phone back in his pocket and made his way to the dining table. He grabbed a pancake and shoved it in his mouth, ignoring the flirting males as he raised an eyebrow at a mildly grossed out Haruhi.

Just like him, she wasn't used to PDA, much less PDA involving her father.

"I'll walk you to school."

Haruhi shook her head, "No need."

"Nah, I owe you an explanation..." he trailed off, knowing Haruhi would figure out that he was talking about the whole cuddling fiasco.

"...Haruhi gave me permission to cuddle with her. I just gotta warn her first. Obviously, I'm surprised. There's no benefit to letting me cuddle with her, yet she told me I could anyway. No wonder the Host Club was so taken with her in the anime. She's just...so real."

"How did the meeting go?"

Mirai yawned, plopping down on Kyoya's bed and cuddling up to the boy.

"Komuro, this isn't the time for sleep."

"Five minutes."

"...you are quite taxing for a friend."

"You love me."

"Is that right?"

Instead of answering, Mirai cuddled up to Kyoya who simply sighed and continued reading his book.

Exactly five minutes later, Kyoya shook him awake, "It's been five minutes."

Mirai merely grumbled something.

"You're no brute, Komuro. Use your words properly."

Mirai lifted his head up from Kyoya's side and gave the boy a blank look, "I skipped it."

Kyoya, who was in the process of flipping a page in his book, stilled. He slowly turned to meet Mirai's blank look with a blank look of his own, "Come again?" he asked with a deceivingly calm tone of voice.

"I didn't go meet Yuzuha."

"...why not?"

"You told me to quit modeling?"

"Did it occur to you that maybe you should have waited until after impressing Yuzuha?"

Mirai blinked, "Oops...?"

Kyoya watched as Mirai then shrugged with a 'what can you do' look on his face before yawning.

In that moment, Kyoya was ready to tear Mirai a new one.

Except, whether it was due to Kyoya's misfortune or Mirai's luck, the door to the young Ootori's room went open, effectively saving Mirai.

Breathing out a relieved sigh, Mirai turned to look at Kyoya's sister, Fuyumi.

"Oh, you're here Mirai!" Fuyumi grinned, walking over to them and plopping on the bed with a bright smile.

"Fuyu-nee, how are you?"

Mirai wasted no time in switching over to using Fuyumi as his personal pillow. The twenty-one year old simply giggled and started playing with Mirai's hair, "Sleepy as always, I see. Is Kyoya boring you?"

Finally, Kyoya scoffed, "Hardly. Komuro is simply a sloth."

"Don't be mean to your friend, Kyoya," Fuyumi lightly chided, knowing that insulting each other was Mirai and Kyoya's bizarre way of showing that they cared for each other.

"I simply speak the truth."

"Wow, Ootori being genuine, isn't that a shocker?"

Fuyumi giggled at Mirai's sarcasm, unknowingly causing Mirai to share a look with Kyoya.

What's up with your sister? She's perkier than usual.

Kyoya simply gave Mirai a blank look in return.

I don't know.

Mirai gave Kyoya a deadpan look.

Brother of the year award goes to...

Kyoya raised a challenging eyebrow.

Says the one who didn't know his father was bisexual.

Mirai scowled at Kyoya.

Finally, Fuyumi's giggling stopped, signalling an end to Mirai and Kyoya's silent conversation.

"Mirai?"

"Yes, Fuyu-nee?"

"Will you be free on the twenty one of June?"

Mirai didn't even hesitate to nod, "Yeah, why?"

With a bright smile, Fuyumi lifted her hand up, drawing Kyoya and Mirai's attention to the golden ring littered in jade gemstones on her hand.

Mirai quickly pieced the puzzle together.

Extra cheery? Check.

Constant laughter? Check.

Ring on the finger? Check.

Obviously, Fuyumi was getting married.

"You're getting married?" Kyoya finally asked, surprised littered in his tone, "To Shido-san? Does father know?"

Mirai kicked Kyoya, causing the boy to grunt in pain.

The Komuro heir turned to give Fuyumi a smirk, "I see Shido finally put a ring on it."

Fuyumi tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, smile as bright as ever, "Yes, finally," she repeated.

Mirai gave a dramatic sigh, "Does this mean we're breaking up Fuyu-nee?"

Fuyumi giggled, "Alas, you didn't propose," she played along.

"But I like you, my darling," Mirai lamented.

"May this be a lesson to you, Mirai."

"Huh?"

"The next time you like someone, put a ring on 'em," and with a cheeky smile, Fuyumi brought the two young boys in a hug, "You two are going to be my flower boys."

"The term you're looking for is actually flower girls, Fuyu-nee."

"Also," Kyoya finally spoke, "Only girls are allowed to be flower girls. It's symbolic and traditional."

"I'm the one getting married, so I decide."

Mirai couldn't help but smile.

Really, out of all Kyoya's siblings, Fuyumi had to be his favorite. She was simply...impossible to not like.

"I don't know what I want in life right now. Whether it be to take over my father's business or pursue modelling more seriously. I don't know. All I know is that right now, in this moment, I want to be Kyoya Ootori's best friend. I want to be Haruhi Fujioka's friend. I want to be someone who lives in the moment."

It was dark.

Dark.

He couldn't see.

Mirai struggled against his captors who had placed a sack over his head, cutting off his sight.

"Lemme go! Do you have any idea who my best friend is? I will sue you!"

Of course, that didn't work.

The next thing Mirai knew, he was shoved into a vehicle.

"Be quiet, kid," an oddly gentle voice ordered.

Mirai however tensed, feeling that his kidnappers had let him go. Instead of trying to escape, Mirai simply rubbed his hands together. He wasn't in danger. They wouldn't hurt him, would they?

"Our boss likes making an impression sometimes."

Mirai rolled his eyes, not that his kidnappers could see.

Finally, after what felt like a century, the vehicle stopped and he was escorted inside a building. He let the kidnappers lead him through the building before they forced him to sit on a couch and removed the sack from his head.

Mirai closed his eyes at the sudden brightness.

"I said to bring him here, not kidnap him," a feminine voice chided in amusement.

Mirai slowly opened his eyes and saw who he recognized as Yuzuha Hitachiin and mentally thanked Kyoya for drilling the woman's appearance in his head.

"...you have got to be kidding me," Mirai deadpanned.

Yuzuha smiled at him, "You look just like Ri-chan."

"Ri-chan?" Mirai repeated, confused.

"Your mother."

Mirai froze.

For a moment, he didn't know what to say. Millions of questions ran through his head. Millions of reasons as to why Yuzuha knew her mother as closely as Yuzuha's nickname was implying.

"Really? Most would say I look like my father," Mirai recovered quickly, not saying anything as a maid placed a tray of cookies on the table between him and Yuzuha.

"Let me rephrase my earlier statement then," Yuzuha chuckled, "You remind me of your mother."

Mirai frowned, "If you wanted to talk to me about my mother, you would have contacted me years ago. What do you really want?"

Yuzuha smirked, "Straightforward, just like your mother. You're right. I didn't come here to talk about Ri-chan."

"You mean you didn't force me here, against my will," Mirai couldn't help but grumble.

"Exactly. I didn't force you here to talk about Ri-chan. I forced you here to talk about your little stunt two days ago."

Mirai raised an eyebrow, "My stunt?"

"You failed to show up at our appointment."

"..."

"I am the best at what I do, no one would ever think about missing the chance to work with me."

"So, you're pissed because I didn't care to show up?"

Yuzuha's smile thinned, "I'm just curious as to what makes you cheeky enough to think you don't need my influence."

"...I'm not," Mirai admitted, "In fact, you'd probably be able to double my job opportunities. But, I'm not a model anymore."

"...what?" Yuzuha blinked, clearly taken off guard, "You stopped modelling? Why?"

Mirai clenched his fists, "I've been modeling for years, but...I lack something. I don't know what."

"What makes you say that?" Yuzuha curiously asked.

Mirai breathed out slowly, his hand reaching towards his schoolbag, where he always kept a picture. A picture that for some reason, he couldn't keep his eyes off of when he admired it.

He quietly handed the picture over to Yuzuha.

Yuzuha looked down at the photo.

In the photo, there was a woman covering her front with a red towel, while exposing her bare back to the camera. On the woman's back, just where the spine was located, was a tattoo that etched vertically up and down. The tattoo was to put it simply, of flower buds becoming a beautiful flower in the middle. But, what captured any viewer's attention wasn't the tattoo, it was the woman herself.

The woman who was offering the camera a half-smile, laced with a heavy amount sultriness.

"This is...Ri-chan's debut photo..." Yuzuha breathed out.

"Mom could express emotions in her photos, I lack that. I lack the ability to capture my fans."

Mirai watched as Yuzuha slowly smiled, this time a more subdued and genuine smile.

"I see. Then let's make a deal, shall we?"

Mirai raised an eyebrow, "Eh?"

"When you're ready, I want to be your manager."

Mirai's eyes widened at Yuzuha's declaration.

"In the meantime, I'll hold on to this."

"Hey!" Mirai reached over, trying to take back the photo he had allowed Yuzuha to see, "That's mine!"

Yuzuha swatted his hand away, "I took the photo."

Mirai stilled in shock as Yuzuha gave him a coy smile.

"Your mom was simply wonderful at what she did, enough so to garner my attention. Who did you think helped her become the star that she was?"

Mirai couldn't help but feel flustered as Yuzuha gained a slightly hazy look in her eyes.

"So, Yuzuha Hitachiin was certainly...different. I just hope I can get away before the Devil twins show up..."

"Mom?" A pair of voices asked.

Mirai wanted to curse the universe.

Mechanically, he allowed his gaze to go to the now open door, revealing a pair of twins who were wearing the Ouran Middle School uniform. He mentally noted that it made sense, considering Haruhi was a year younger than him which meant the twins were too. Which meant that of course they'd be first years while he's in his second year of Ouran Middle.

"Boys! Just in time, I'd like you both to meet Ri-chan's son!"

"Ri-chan?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked, tilting their head at the same time.

"He's your senpai at school, I think," Yuzuha energetically continued.

"Well, we wouldn't know," the twins shrugged.

"We don't really care about the other kids," Hikaru started.

"They're all annoying," Kaoru finished.

Mirai looked between them both, discerning the differences between them for future reference. From what he's noticed already, Hikaru tended to be the one to speak first before Kaoru followed up. But maybe that was just something that wasn't consistent. However, he did notice that their hair was a bit different. Not noticeable unless you were really paying attention.

"Anyway, Mi-chan," Mirai's eye twitched at the new nickname, "These are my sons, Hikaru and Kaoru," Yuzuha gestured at them.

"No, mom, I'm Kaoru."

"And I'm Hikaru."

Mirai narrowed his eyes, glad that he was semi-experienced in telling twins apart in his last life. Though he couldn't help the nostalgia that filled him. His best friends in his previous life, Drake and Dean, had been identical twins. And just like Hikaru and Kaoru, no one could really tell them apart. Well, except for him. He had been able to tell them apart based on their sense of humor and the fact that Dean's hair would get slightly messier than Drake's.

"Oh my! As you can see, even I can't tell them apart and I'm their mother!" Yuzuha laughed in a sheepish manner.

Mirai couldn't help but give the woman a deadpan look, recalling his little sister telling him that in the manga it was revealed that Yuzuha was in fact able to tell the twins apart but chose to pretend she couldn't. Honestly, so much shit could have been avoided if Yuzuha didn't do that.

"They don't have much friends,"

"Mom!"

"And they can be a bit naughty, but could you take care of them?"

Mirai felt three pair of expectant eyes fall onto him.

'Talk about pressure...'

"...no, you can't force friendships, Yuzu-baa."

Yuzuha looked surprised and Mirai wasn't sure if it was because of the way he addressed her or his refusal.

"I mean, if they want to become friends with me, I don't mind. But ultimately, they have to decide on their own, don't you think?"

With that, Mirai stood up and walked to the door.

He glanced at the twins who were staring at him blankly.

"It was okay meeting you two, Hitachiin twins," he simply said in passing.

As the door closed behind him, he sighed.

He felt like an asshole.

Especially since he knew that Kaoru was the one standing on the left and Hikaru was standing on the right.

"It wasn't because they reminded me of Drake and Dean. I didn't bother befriending them, because then they'd cling to me. I needed my own emotional pillar. I can't be someone else's emotional pillar, let alone two someone. From that day on, whenever Yuzuha invited me for tea, I'd greet the twins by simply calling them Htachiin. Yes, I'm an asshole, but Yuzuha's one too...and I'm crappy at making excuses, aren't I?"

Chapter End.

Author's note: ...that's a wrap, folks! Hikaru and Kaoru finally introduced! Though, not much screen time, huh? Soon. Soon Mirai shall stop being an asshole and befriend the twins. But, for now, I'll say that the next chapter will be interesting.

Questions:

1. What do the twins currently think of Mirai?

2. Will Haruhi ever stop stereotyping Mirai?