OF PRIDE AND PRINCES

CHAPTER 3

Oishi's Title: What the Hell is "Twincest"?

Kikumaru's Title: Prepare to Have Your Butts Kicked, Twin Guys!

Kaoru's Title: Ooh? I Think It's Time to Play…

Hikaru's Title: …The "Guess Which One's Hikaru" Game.

Disclaimer: This disclaimer is currently in the process of being disclaimed. Any claim to the following, proceeding, current, standard, draft, prior, superseding, supplementary, sub-textual, aforementioned, dilatory, and comprehensive is currently pending its impendment. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and have a nice day.

*Ahem* And now that that's taken care of. You may start reading the chapter.

"ROUND 2!" Renge's voice blared, "Shuichiro Oishi and Eiji Kikumaru VS. Hikaru and Kaoru Hiitachin! Let the match begin!"

Hikaru and Kaoru emerged from under their pavilion stretching in unison.

"Tch, looks like it's finally our turn, eh Hikaru?"

"Sure does, Kaoru," his twin said all too innocently. Kaoru noticed the mean glint in his brother's eyes and cracked a grin.

"Oh my…you look like you might actually be planning on taking this seriously. I thought you had gotten bored of this game a long time ago."

Hikaru's smirk widened an inch. "Well, you know me. Just because I lost interest in a game doesn't mean I won't still play it seriously."

"So then," Kaoru mused, "We'll be using that?"

"That we will."

Across the court, Oishi and Kikumaru tapped their racquets together in unison.

"You ready for this, Eiji?"

"Are you kidding?" the redhead chuckled, "I was born ready. Forget the last match. It was a one time fluke. This time, Ouran's going down. No one can stand against Seigaku's 'Golden Pair'."

"Right you are," his partner smiled. However, a commotion from the other side of the court suddenly drew his attention. In the Ouran stands, most of the yellow-clad female students were going ballistic.

"What do you think they're all riled up about now?" asked Eiji, pointing towards the seemingly rabid horde.

Oishi shrugged, "Dunno…. But is it just me, or does that section over there seems crazier than the rest?" He motioned towards a box where all the girls were wearing matching T-shirts.

Emblazoned across the front of their clothing was the word "TWINCEST".

The "Golden Pair" sweat-dropped.

"What does that mean?"

Their gaze found Hikaru and Kaoru Hiitachin across the court. The two twins were draped over each other in a shamelessly seductive pose, their lips almost touching.

"Oh…..that."

Every time the twins struck a new pose, the cheering became nearly deafening.

This wild applause got the gears turning in Kikumaru's head. Never one to be shown up, he began his own little routine.

"Woo hoo! Check this out ladies!"

Hikaru and Kaoru quickly noticed that something else had the crowd's attention when girls began cheering at off-intervals.

"What the heck?" said Hikaru.

"Hey bro, you might want to check that out," Kaoru motioned with his head toward the other side of the court.

Kikumaru was busily showing off his acrobatic stunts, performing back-flips, hand-stands, and all manner of gymnastics. All the while, he was flirtatiously winking and blowing kisses. The girls were raving.

A vein bulged in Hikaru's temple.

How dare they? Who does he think he is stealing our spotlight!

Someone needs to be taught a lesson…

He caught his brother's eye purposefully. Kaoru knew that look meant and nodded.

The game is afoot.

On the side-lines, Fuji watched the twins with barely concealed interest.

"What's up, Shusuke?" asked Momo, "I thought you didn't usually care much about doubles."

Fuji smiled. "Well, you're right. I usually don't. But you see, this is my first time seeing identical twins play doubles together."

"Not a big deal," Ryouma sighed carelessly, "Tennis is tennis. Who cares if they're brothers? It won't make any difference."

Fuji's eyes twinkled ever so slightly.

"Perhaps" was his noncommittal reply.

The twins and Kikumaru wrapped up their respective showboating routines. Hikaru and Kaoru sauntered over to the Golden Pair wearing identical smirks of amusement.

"Shake hands," the referee ordered from his stand.

"Well well, so you guys are our new toys…" said Kaoru as Oishi gripped his arm.

"…please try to make this amusing. I wouldn't want it to be over too quickly," Hikaru enjoined.

"WHAT! Dream on, you're going down! Oishi and I aren't going to lose to a couple of stinking red-heads!" Eiji growled.

The twins laughed in unison.

"Uh, hello?" said Hikaru, "Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"Yeah," Kaoru chimed in, "your hair is the same color as ours."

Kikumaru's face became hot from embarrassment, and it didn't escape the twins' notice.

"Look! Look! His face is as red as his hair now!"

"Oh my gosh! A tomatoe! A tomatoe holding a tennis racquet!"

"No, no, a lobster!"

They were all but rolling on the ground in laughter.

Eiji stumbled to find some kind of comeback, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Don't let them get you riled up," Oishi warned, "right now they just want to get that kind of rise out of you. Relax. We'll show them up in the tennis match."

Eiji felt his muscles relax and his heart-rate slow down. He would have snapped at anyone but his cool-headed partner. Oishi always had that effect on him.

"Yeah, yeah. You're right."

The regular threw one last glare at the still smirking twins before taking his place on the court.

"Round One! Ouran's Hikaru to serve!"

Hikaru shot a significant glance at his brother, who nodded.

Let's see what we're up against.

Tossing the ball in the air, Hikaru sliced it clean down the middle of the court as if to go straight between Oishi and Kikumaru.

The Golden Pair were smiling. Too easy.

Kikumaru instantly jumped into action. Leaping sideways, he showed off his acrobatic skills, catching the ball almost as soon as it had passed over the net.

Eiji puffed up with conceit.

"Take that you!—Wha!"

There was a flash of red in front of Eiji. Kaoru had rushed the net, just like him. No sooner had the ball passed over the net again, Kaoru returned it. Kikumaru couldn't react quickly enough. The ball whizzed past him, headed for the far back corner of the court.

"Don't sweat it, Eiji!"

In the blink of an eye, Oishi was there. He gave the ball his signature top-spin lob.

"Moon Volley!"

The ball sailed over the heads of the Hiitachin twins, landing just inside their court before bouncing out.

"Point, Seigaku! 0-15"

"Good job, Oishi!" his partner called, "See that, idiot twins? Where's all your big talk now?"

Tamaki was pouting.

"Kyouya! I thought you told me Hikaru and Kaoru were supposed to be good at tennis!"

"Sempai, relax," said Haruhi, "I mean it's not like they faulted their serve or missed their shots. They actually look like they're pretty good."

"Good isn't good enough! What about all that talk of the demon twins?"

"Relax, Tamaki," came Kyouya's cool voice, "It's only the first point. I believe we'll see the true "demon twins" before the end of this set. In the meantime, please do something about Mori. He's damaging the bench."

Sure enough, the wood was cracking between Mori's fists, which were clenched so hard his knuckles had turned completely white. The cause of the dark-haired host's distress was evident. He kept throwing dark glances at a table off to the side where Kawamura was cheerily eating cake with Honey.

He was biting his lower lip in distress.

"Mitsukuni…"

"Uh…there, there Morinozuka-sempai. I'm sure he'll come back soon…"

It was Hikaru's turn to serve again.

"Alright, Kaoru. You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yep. I think it's time to play…"

"The 'Guess Which One's Hikaru' game…"

Hikaru tossed the ball high into the air. Multiple eyes on the Seigaku side widened as he assumed a familiar stance.

"Is that—?"

The ball zoomed across the court. Kikumaru ran and got lined up to hit it back, but as the ball hit the ground, it bounced away at a seemingly impossible angle. The regular attempted to readjust his swipe at the last second, but the ball got past him, landing again outside the court.

"15-15"

The Ouran girls screamed with delight.

"Hold the phone," Momo said under the Seigaku pavilion, "This guy knows the twist serve?"

"Not exactly," said Inui, "Although it was indeed similar to Ryouma's signature twist serve, the angle was off. A true twist serve bounces up toward the face of the person it's aimed towards. In this case, the ball went more sideways. It was more of a 'trick serve'."

"Whatever, same difference," Momo grunted.

"Mada Mada Dane"

"Shut up, Echizen"

"Sorry, Oishi, it got past me," said a chagrined Kikumaru.

"Don't worry about it. You were just caught off guard. Watch for that serve in the future and you'll be fine."

"Yeah…"

Hikaru served again. It was another "trick serve". This time, Kikumaru placed himself at a different angle to the ball, feeling sure he was positioned right. However, he was foiled again when the tennis ball flew of at a completely different angle than before, sailing past him again.

This time though, Oishi had his back. He caught the ball with another lobbed "moon volley". Neither he nor Eiji noticed the grins spreading across the twins' faces.

Kaoru and Hikaru immediately dashed into action. Kaoru, who was standing closest to the net, went down on one knee and braced both of his arms against the court. Hikaru then dashed forward and launched himself off of Kaoru's back and straight into the air. The ball, which had been going to sail over Kaoru's head was now nearly above the airborne Hikaru. Bringing his racquet up in an arc, the twin slammed the ball back down to earth. It briefly pounded against the ground on their side of the court before flying back up out of Oishi and Kikumaru's reach and sailing over the chain link fence behind them.

"30-15, Ouran leads!"

"What in the world was that!" Eiji said, mouth ajar.

"Interesting," said Inui, under the pavilion. "By reaching Oishi's moon volley in mid-air like that, they managed to hit it back at an angle where a return would be near impossible."

"It looked like a cherry bomb," said Momo.

Most of the other regulars gave him blank stares.

"You know! Like, in four-square, when you bounce the ball against the ground hard so it goes too high to hit back?"

"Perhaps," said Inui, "In any case, this 'cherry bomb' is going to cause Oishi some trouble. Lobbing is usually his main strength in tennis. He'll have to be carful about doing it from now on, or he'll give them a chance to strike back with that."

Oishi was just busy thinking the same thing.

Hikaru served again—another trick serve. This time, it went well past Kikumaru's range and headed straight for him. All eyes were on Oishi as he tried to return it with a slice.

No one noticed what the twins did in the meantime.

Oishi managed to hit the ball before it bounced off in an odd direction, but his return was weak. The ball hit the net on his and Kikumaru's side.

"40-15, Ouran leads!"

Oishi cursed under his breath. At this rate, they were in trouble…

Another trick serve, this time on Kikumaru's side.

"Oh no you don't!" the acrobat huffed. He jumped off to the side, ready for it to bounce toward him…

…but it didn't. The serve bounced normally this time, passing him by once more.

"Game, Ouran! 1-0"

Tamaki jumped out of his seat and pulled Haruhi into a hug, spinning her in circles.

"WHOOO! Now that's what I'm talking about! Show those Seigaku's what Ouran is made of! Isn't this wonderful, Haruhi?"

Haruhi's eyes were cold as steel.

"Sempai, if you don't put me down in the next three seconds I'll show you what you're made of."

The second set began. This time, Oishi was serving for Seigaku. Kaoru was still standing at the net and Hikaru at the back of the court…

Wait… or was that Kaoru?

With a start, he realized he had no way of telling which was which.

Oh well…it's not like it matters… I don't need to know which is which to beat them.

He had no idea how very, very wrong he was.

Oishi served the ball toward the right side. The twin at the net swiftly sliced it back, but he wasn't the only one playing the net. Once again, the ball had barely passed over when Kikumaru returned it. This time, it whizzed past the first twin and toward the back corner…

The second twin appeared in a flash.

So fast… Eiji just had time to think before the ball was coming back towards him. He couldn't get to it quickly enough and Oishi had to pick up the slack.

When he reached the ball, Oishi's reflexes took over and he unthinkingly returned it with a moon volley.

"Crap!" he cursed upon realized his fatal error. The twins were already lining up for another cherry bomb. Both Kikumaru and Oishi rushed for center court to intercept the destructive shot as "Hikaru" jumped into the air.

We can do this… We know where it's coming.

The twin in the air's face lit up with a malicious grin.

"Just kidding!"

Instead of smashing it to the ground, the twin gave it another lob, sending it towards the back corner of Seigaku's side. It bounced just inside the lines before going out. Neither Oishi or Kikumaru had been anywhere close to being able to return it.

"Point Ouran! 15-0"

For a moment, the Golden Pair were completely shell-shocked. This was one of the worst starts of any game they had ever played. Somehow, the twins were predicting every move they would make and planned one step ahead.

"Aw…having trouble?" one of the twins taunted from across the court. Hikaru? Kaoru? Oishi had no clue.

"So sad…and I thought we might actually have worthy challengers for once," said the other.

"Maybe we need to make things more interesting…" they said in unison.

"How about we give you a hint about how to beat us?" offered the twin that was really Kaoru.

There was a tangible silence in which every single ear both on and off the court perked up.

"NOOO!" screamed Tamaki from the Ouran pavilion, "Don't you dare give them an advantage, you meddlesome twins!"

"No worries m'lord," said Hikaru, "Even if they know, they still won't be able to beat us. But it'll make watching them try all the more fun."

"So what is it already!" Kikumaru demanded.

"Relax hot-head. This is your hint," they said in unison, "Each of us twins has our own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to tennis."

"When it comes to offense," said one, "Kaoru only knows simple slices and lobs, but Hikaru is the best. He's the one who can to do 'trick serves' and 'cherry bombs'."

"But when it comes to defense," said the other, "Hikaru is at a disadvantage. Kaoru, on the other hand, is a great defensive player. Just about nothing gets past him, no matter whether he's at the net or covering the back."

"So in conclusion," they said together, "If you want to beat us, you'll have to play...—."

"THE GUESS WHICH ONE'S HIKARU GAME!" screamed the student fangirl section. Needless to say, they were eating this up.

"Great!" said Eiji, "So you're Hikaru," he pointed to the twin who had spoken first, "and the other one is Kaoru," he pointed to the second.

And there it was again. Those devious smiles spread from ear to ear.

"You sure about that?" came their dual sing-song chorus.

Oishi and Kikumaru both sweat-dropped. No. No they were not.

"Whatever, you're probably just making this all up to confuse us in the first place," Kikumaru growled.

Oishi gave it some thought and realized that this was probably untrue. If he applied what the twins had said to what he already knew, it made sense.

"I don't think they're lying, Eiji. That explains why the one who jumped in the air last time didn't smash the ball and only lobbed it. It also explains why that final ball from the last set wasn't a real trick serve like we were expecting. Remember how it just went straight and tripped you up? At some point, they must have switched places on us."

"B-but that's cheating!" cried Eiji, "You can't just switch places during a service game! It's against the rules!"

"Yeah, but how could we prove it? If we can't tell them apart, I really doubt the ref will be able to."

"So you're saying they could pull the same dirty trick again in the next set?"

"Undoubtedly."

Kikumaru's face contorted with rage, "The nerve of those—,"

"Calm down. We don't need to get angry. We need to come up with a plan. They've just given us their weaknesses. All we have to do is figure out which is which and keep an eye on them from now on."

The confident look in Oishi's eyes bolstered Kikumaru's spirit a little. He could always trust Oishi to keep calm and come up with a good course of action.

"K, then let's do this. For Seigaku!"

Oishi took his place to serve and made his guess about the twins' identities. Last time, it must have been Hikaru at the net and Kaoru at the back. This time the twins would probably assume Oishi and Kikumaru would think they had switched again. So this time…

"Eiji! Hikaru's at the net and Kaoru's in the back!" he yelled just as he served the ball.

"Right!" his partner replied.

Identical looks of surprise passed over the twins' faces. Hikaru managed to return the ball at the net, but so did Kikumaru. The front twin lunged after the ball again, but he missed and it headed for the back of the court toward Kaoru, who masterfully returned it. It passed Kikumaru by and headed straight for Oishi. Now it was the Golden Pair's turn to start smiling.

"Moon Volley!"

Oishi's ball soared high. The twin at the net knelt and the other once again launched off his back.

Kaoru…Let it be Kaoru… Oishi and Eiji thought in harmony.

Sure enough, he didn't hit a cherry bomb but returned it with a regular lob. This time, Oishi hadn't run to center court, and he was able to return it with a slice neither twin could get to in time.

"Point Seigaku! 15-15"

Kikumaru whooped, "We did it! Nice one, Oishi!"

Across the court, they heard the twins.

"Sorry, Hikaru. It looks like they saw through our trick that time."

"It's ok, Kaoru. We'll get them next time."

Off to the sidelines, Haruhi snorted.

"It's kind of presumptuous for them to give up the point like that just to keep their little guessing game going."

"What are you talking about, Haruhi dear?" said a befuddled Tamaki. Like most, he was clueless as to what was really taking place out on the court.

"The one who just apologized really was Hikaru," she explained, "he only lobbed the ball to fool the Seigaku players into thinking they know which is which."

"A misconception the twins will surely be exploiting soon," said Kyouya smirked as he adjusted his glasses.

Under the Seigaku pavilion, Fuji was wearing his own knowing little smile, having guessed the same thing. He explained it to his teammates.

"They're aiming to have Oishi and Kikumaru double guessing their every move. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before the two of them start losing their cool and playing erratically. Then they'll stand no chance of Ouran's twins."

Inui nodded in agreement, "Fascinating. I see now how apt the nickname 'demon twins' is. For their opponents, trying to figure out the constant switch-a-roo must seem like a living hell."

"Screw that," said Kaidou, who had been fairly quiet thus far, "The two of them shouldn't worry about figuring out who's who and just play like they normally do. They're more skilled at tennis than these guys. They would beat them in the end."

The data-tennis player flipped through his note-pad. "Not necessarily. While there's an obvious danger in becoming too focused on playing their guessing game, it could be equally devastating to ignore the partner dynamic between the two. For instance, in the case of their service games, if Kikumaru guessed every time whether the ball coming at him was a trick serve or a regular serve, he would have less than a 50% chance of returning the ball each time. Seigaku will quickly lose with those odds."

The viper grunted.

The regulars resumed watching the game solemnly as the twins took their second set, leaving the score 2-0 with Ouran leading. Ryuuzaki sighed in exasperation.

"If they can't learn to tell the two apart soon, the Golden Pair's defense will be picked to pieces."

The rounds continued on in an endless back and forth manner. Quickly it became apparent to Oishi that the current of the game was completely under the twins' control. Every time he or Kikumaru thought they had gotten a lock on which was Kaoru and which was Hikaru, something would happen to trip them up. For every point the Golden Pair managed to scrape, they would wonder "Was that really our own handiwork, or did they give it up on purpose?" Every serve brought another wave of uncertainty.

The score was 4-2 now. Seigaku was losing.

Kikumaru's unwavering faith in his partner was starting to…waver. Oishi always sounded so sure of himself when he said "that one's Hikaru!" and Kikumaru wouldn't question it, but then another cherry bomb would come out of nowhere and begin the guessing again. That coupled with a steady stream of jeering from the unidentifiable twins had Eiji teetering over the edge of his composure.

"Come ON, Oishi!" he finally yelled, "Get it together!"

"I'm TRYING!" Oishi yelled back, equally frustrated. "If you're so smart, why don't YOU figure it out, huh!"

"Fine! I WILL."

"GOOD! DON'T EXPECT ANY HELP FROM ME!"

Both regulars were fuming mad, making them easy targets for the demon twins who scored yet another two points.

"Point Ouran, 30-15"

"40-15"

When one of the twins sliced a ball towards him, Oishi messed up again, returning it as a moon volley. Hikaru and Kaoru quickly made their move.

Hikaru leaping into the air for a cherry bomb. The tennis ball pelted away from his racquet towards the Seigaku side at top speed. However, even though it was crazy to try and go after it, Kikumaru was just too furious to let it go.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" he yelled.

In a daring acrobatics play, he lunged and barely managed to slice it back. The rogue ball whizzed back over the net and—

"HIKARU, LOOK OUT!"

Kaoru tackled his brother to the ground as the tennis ball whistled through the air where his head had been only micro-seconds before. The two of them landed on the court with a thud as the ball landed within their side of the court before noisily colliding with the chain link fence.

"Point, Seigaku!"

Eiji would have been thrilled if he wasn't so concerned about the person he had nearly injured.

"Oh my gosh! I'm SO sorry, are you guys okay?"

"What were you thinking!" yelled a very riled Kaoru, "You could have given my brother a concussion—,"

"H-hey, don't sweat it," said Hikaru as he sat up shakily, "No worries, Kaoru. I'm fine, see? N-Not a scratch."

Settling down slightly, Kaoru checked his brother to ascertain if this was in fact true. After he was convinced, he sighed in relief.

"Don't ever make me worry like that again, Hikaru, do you hear me?" he said, hanging his head over his brother's, "I can't…I don't know what I would do if you were ever…"

Kaoru's breath hitched.

Hikaru's face flushed slightly, "So-…Sorry, Kaoru. Don't worry. I'm fine…I'm fine, see? I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm not…I'm never going to leave you…" He touched his forehead against Kaoru's. His brother sniffed and turned away, wiping his eyes. They were getting a little misty.

The (genuine?) moment of brotherly love was only slightly ruined by the squealing "Twincest" fangirls in the stands who couldn't get enough of this.

"Uh…are you two ready to get back to the match?" asked the ref.

"Yeah, we'll be fine," said Hikaru as he stood, wobbling a little. His brother eyed him yet again with concern.

Hikaru noticed this. "Don't sweat it Kaoru, I swear I'm good to keep playing, see?" he took his spot back on the court, then realized something.

"Whoops. I they know which is which now," he pointed motioned towards Eiji and Oishi, then winked at his brother, "We'll just have to throw them off our scent again, huh?"

"Right you are, bro."

Both Kikumaru and Oishi were strangely touched by the display of brotherly affection.

"S-sorry about before, Eiji. I really shouldn't have blown up at you like that."

"No, it was my bad. I shouldn't have gotten frustrated at you when you were doing the best you could."

"Let's not fight again?"

"Agreed,"

"Good," said Oishi.

"Now then…we still have a problem to deal with… how do we tell them apart?"

A small movement out of the corner of his eye caught Oishi's attention.

"You know I…I think I might have actually just figured it out."

Oishi began explaining his plan while Kikumaru nodded avidly. When he was finished, his partner's wicked grin could have put even Hikaru and Kaoru's to shame.

The doubles match began again, only this time there was a drastic change in the flow of the game. Where before Seigaku couldn't score a point, they now seemed to be invincible. To everyone who watched, it was obvious Hikaru and Kaoru's charade had somehow been shattered.

"It looks like they've noticed," Fuji murmured from the sidelines.

Tamaki could only watch in horror as what had seemed like a sure victory for Ouran dwindled away.

Suddenly, Seigaku was in the lead.

In a last ditch effort, the real Hikaru attempted another cherry bomb. However, even after launching off his brother's back, he came up a few inches short and couldn't reach Oishi's moon volley. It sailed over his head and Seigaku scored their final point.

"Game, Seigaku! 6-4"

"Yahoo!" said Eiji, jumping onto Oishi's back, "We did it!"

"Sure did," proclaimed Oishi proudly.

Hikaru's eyes were fixed to his shoes. Only a light pat on his back got him to look up.

"Don't worry about it, bro," said Kaoru, "You can't win them all."

"Yeah, yeah… It's just that no one's ever seen through the 'demon twins' ruse before."

"I thought you always wanted for someone to be able to tell us apart?"

"It's just…" he looked up in determination, "I have to know how they did it."

The Golden Pair and the Hiitachin twins approached the net to shake hands again.

"Alright, spill it," said Hikaru to Kikumaru, "how did you two tell us apart?"

Eiji scratched the back of his hear self-consciously, "Oishi should be the one to tell you. He figured it out, not me."

Hikaru's eyes went to the other regular who shied away from his gaze with a chagrined expression.

"Well uh…I'm not going to lie. I felt kind of guilty about using this against you two, but after you" he pointed to Kaoru, "tackled your brother to the ground earlier, I couldn't help but notice he was limping ever so slightly. Once I figured that out, I told Kikumaru and we always knew which was which."

"What!" Hikaru shouted, "I never knew I was limping!" He turned an accusatory glare on his brother. "What's the big idea not telling me Kaoru? You musthave noticed!"

Now it was Kaoru's turn to look chagrined. "Yeah…I did. Sorry, Hikaru. I tried, I really tried, imitating you, but I just couldn't get the limp right. I didn't want to tell you about it though, because seeing how you tried to hide the fact that your leg was hurting in the first place, you would have just pushed yourself harder not to show it. And I didn't want you to end up hurting yourself more for the sake of the game."

Hikaru let out an exaggerated loud sigh. "Drat… But I guess I can't be angry at you." He wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulder and gave him a side-long glance, cooing, "We'll just have to play a punishment game later. In any case," he turned his eyes back on Oishi and Eiji, "this isn't over. You guys played dirty—,"

Oishi and Kikumaru moved to protest—

"I like it. Once I heal up, I want a rematch. You two game?"

Kikumaru's eyebrows arched up mischievously. "You're on, twin punks! I'll be happy to beat you into the ground again."

"Puh-lease. I bet you couldn't beat an egg."

"Oh yeah? Well your mom—,"

As the twins ducked back under the Ouran pavilion, they were met with a furious Tamaki.

"HOW COULD YOU LOSE! YOU HAD THEM RIGHT WHERE YOU WANTED THEM AND—,"

"Aah… my leg!" Hikaru fake-swooned into his brother's arms.

"Oh no! Hikaru!" his brother cried pitifully.

"You're not fooling me with that act, meddlesome twins!" Tamaki exclaimed, fussing over them as they indulged in yet another "brotherly love" moment.

Haruhi walked over and handed each twin a water bottle. "Too bad you two lost," she said, "you played really well."

"Aaawww, thanks Haruhi!" they enveloped her in a hug, only pissing off Tamaki even more. "Say, isn't your match next? Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"Indeed," drawled Kyouya, "she'll be up against Seigaku's Kaidou Kaoru."

"Good luck short stuff," both twins patted her on the head. Tamaki moved to do the same thing, but she swatted his hand away in annoyance and grabbed for her racquet.

"Nicely done, just what I expect from my Golden Pair," Ryuuzaki said to Oishi and Kikumaru, patting them on the back as they re-entered the Seigaku pavilion.

"We were obviously very wrong to underestimate Ouran," said Oishi, "So far both of matches we've played have proven that although they're a little unorthodox at times, they're all very competent."

"Exactly," said their coach, "which is why we can't show the slightest bit of mercy. I want you to give it everything you've got in this next match," she turned to Kaidou, who was tightening his bandana.

"Fshuuuu…"

END OF CHAPTER THREE

Gaaraxluvr: Well that's a wrap! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter after the long hiatus that came after the last one. The match between the twins and the Golden Pair is probably the most interesting in my opinion. I wrote it a lot more serious, because unlike Honey and Mori, Hikaru and Kaoru are big-time competitors who really get into this kind of thing. Thus, writing more in the Prince of Tennis style for their match seemed more appropriate. I hope the action wasn't too hard to follow or didn't seem to go too quickly. I have more of a knack for writing about conversations than writing for the action scenes.

Anywho, it's Haruhi VS. Kaidou next. Ooooh. Can't you just smell the drama waiting to unfold? Hopefully now that school's out for me, I'll get around to writing more often.

Please make sure to leave a review for the poor author. *feels like I'm begging for alms*