• Chapter: “Betrayal”


    “Hikaru.” Kaoru rolled onto his side to face the sleeping figure that is his twin. He leaned forwards, resting his hands on the bare skin of his brother’s shoulder, using him for support.
    “Mn…~Kaoru…” Hikaru lifted his hand, swatting at his twin’s hand on his shoulder. Hikaru, unlike Kaoru, takes pleasure in sleeping in.
    The sun crept through the blinds, sun streaked stripes shadowing the face of Hikaru, causing him to groan.
    “Come on, Hikaru. Tamaki and the others are waiting downstairs for us!” Hikaru’s eyes slowly opened and he arose from the bed, clutching the blanket to his face.
    “Hika—“ Kaoru was cut off as Hikaru slugged his way to the bathroom.
    What’s with him? Kaoru thought, holding the sheets over his mouth as he stared at the open bathroom door. He smiled when he saw his brother’s figure peek out from the bathroom, but his smile faded as the blanket Hikaru was clutching had been hurled at Kaoru’s face.
    “Hikaru!” Kaoru felt anger dwell throughout his figure; he scowled at the door of the bathroom, noticing now that it was closed.
    “What is your problem, Hikaru!?” Kaoru asked openly to the closed door. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and planted his feet firmly on the ground. No answer. He stood and walked a pace from the bed to the bathroom door, pressing his ear to the wood, hoping for a clue of why his brother was so rudely ignoring him. He only heard running water and the splashing of soap hitting the bottom of the tub.
    “H-hikaru’s showering?” Kaoru moved from the door, slumping down onto the bed, running the pads of his fingers through his red hair. Images of water running down the toned form of his brother were supplied when he closed his eyes.
    “God damn it! What is this?!” He scrambled, looking around for a shirt upon the ground, dragging his hands along the wooden floor until he felt a piece of fabric and lifted it up. Not realizing that it was Hikaru’s shirt, he threw it over his torso to cover the goose-bumps that had formed on his bare chest.
    “Stupid Hikaru…” Kaoru grumbled and shuffled out of the room, sliding his hands into his pants pockets and clutching the denim fabric.

    x-X-x

    “Oh, Kaoru! Over here! ~ ♪” Haninozuka, better known to the host club as “Honey” or “Hani”, waved the red-headed twin over to the main table in the central salon.
    “Hello, Honey-senpai.” Kaoru flashed a courteous smile, pulling out a seat near the moronic, but eccentric, president of the host club. Tamaki Suoh.
    “Oh hello, Kaoru. Where’s Hikaru?” Kaoru shrugged his shoulders, but he couldn’t help himself when he caught a glimpse of the elder walking down the stairs to join them. Kaoru noticed Hikaru jerk his head around and smile.
    “Is there someone with Hikaru-senpai?” Haninozuka asked, waiting eagerly to see if there would be a new member of the host club.
    Kaoru stared, almost dumb-founded, as a young woman edged down the stairs behind his twin. She didn’t look like a member of the host club, and to put it plainly, she seemed to be trying to disguise herself as a male.*
    *(Haruhi’s younger sibling, Haruhi will not be introduced until a later chapter.)
    Kaoru stood from his chair, shoving it back so suddenly that it almost toppled over.
    “Kaoru?” Honey spoke up, reaching out to grab the red-head’s hand, but Kaoru jerked away, balling his hand into a fist.
    “Kaoru!” His twin’s voice broke through his wall of anger, shattering all thoughts racing through his mind, but he tensed quickly as similar golden pupils met his own.
    “What is it, Hikaru?” There was a bit of edge in Kaoru’s voice that caused Hikaru to step back from the younger.
    “This,” Hikaru pointed a finger towards Ayame, who was trailing behind his twin like a lost puppy. “Is Ayame, he will be staying with us for some time. I met him this morning outside the entrance of the host club!”
    Kaoru had to keep himself from laughing, his brother really bought into the charade of this woman being a male.
    “Hikaru,” Kaoru slowly lifted a finger, pointing to Ayame—who was really getting fed up with being pointed at—and spoke between laughs. “That’s a girl.” He stated bluntly and his twin stared at him in disbelief.
    “Well, at least one of you here is intelligent and not obsessed with their stupid acts of pretending to sweep the women at this host club off their feet.” Ayame spoke out to Kaoru, offending Hikaru and the rest of the host club in the process.
    “She just has a wash-board flat chest!” Kaoru extended a hand, reaching up and allowing his fingers to get tangled between strands of his red hair.
    “I’m going back to bed.” Kaoru made a wave, indicating a “goodnight” to them.
    “K-kaoru!?” Hikaru called, but by that time, the younger was already out of sight.
    x-X-x

    Kaoru unbuttoned the denim jeans that covered his lower half, unzipping them and letting them fall around his ankles. He lifted his legs out of them, sighing as he did and allowing his form to collapse upon the joint bed he shared with his brother. A tap on the door could be heard and Kaoru shouted for them to go away.
    “I’m sleeping!” He scowled at the door before he noticed the knob twitching, and the door slowly opening.
    “Kaoru…?”