The Twins Fight!
Do you remember the first time we played that game? It was so long ago...
...
"Let's all play the which one is Hikaru game!" Soft, excited giggles greeted the twin's announcement. Even some applause was heard. Once the girls quieted down a bit, the redheads leaned forward, giving the girls teasing looks. They made sure to speak in unison for the entire game, not about to let their different voices give them away.
"So..? Can you tell which one of us is Hikaru? Many ladies have tried to tell us apart, but so far none have succeeded!"
"That's the dumbest game I've ever heard of."
Haruhi hadn't meant for the twins to hear her. She had just wanted to hand off her completed essay to Jin for a final editing (seriously, she's like a walking spell check) when she had passed behind the twins playing their game with their guests. Honestly, they aren't that hard to tell apart.
Unfortunately, they did hear her.
"What, have you got a problem with it, Haruhi?" Haruhi smirked. No need to sound so defensive of it.
"No, I'm just confused as to why the two of you are so popular, especially when you mainly just play games like this."
The twins gasped in mock hurt, "That's not very nice, Haruhi! Didn't Jin ever teach you manners?" They slipped over to her and leaned up on her shoulders, finally stopping with the unison talk. They probably gave up on the round.
"I'm disappointed in you."
"Apparently you don't understand the merits of having a pair of twins as members of the host club."
"Listen up," Hikaru held up a finger and started gesturing, acting almost like Tamaki but with less 'spaz', "Having a couple of good looking guys with homosexual tendencies earns the club high points. It also helps if the two guys struggle between their attraction and their friendship."
"And in our case, because we're twins our relationship is taboo. And therefore, more intriguing."
Haruhi rolled her eyes and shook their elbows off, "I didn't ask for a lecture. I need to get to Jin now. Nice talking to you guys." And with that, she spun around only to walk face-first into her sister's torso.
Jin laughed and took the opportunity to wrap her sister in a hug, "Hey! Watch where you're going, Haru!"
The other brunette smiled back as she was released and her hair was ruffled, "I will when you stop being so quiet, Néchan. I thought you were in the kitchen?"
"I was, but then I came out to see what all the commotion was about."
"Hikaru! Kaoru!"
"Hm?" Jin and Haruhi looked over as Tamaki started shouting about the club's website and something the twins had done on it. And if his shouts, angry expression, and a shimmer of unshed tears in his eyes were any indicator, it wasn't anything good. The girls gave each other significant glances.
This club has a website now?
I guess. What do you think he's shouting about now?
I don't know, but it's probably not important.
Jin shrugged, "Fair enough. So, why were you looking for me?"
"Oh yeah!" Haruhi pushed her notebook into Jin's hands, "I finished my essay that's due in class tomorrow, so I wanted you to read it over and see if I made any mistakes!"
Jin flipped open the booklet and skimmed the first couple lines, "No problem, Haru. Is this a professional paper or a free write?"
"Professional."
"Okay. I'll have it looked over before dinner."
"Thanks, Néchan. You're the best."
Jin smirked, "If you say so, Haru."
"Wow, Haru-chan! You look great!" The two sister looked over at the other boys and saw a large crowd of guests staring at the laptop Tamaki had brought over. They exchanged a glance before peering over the girl's shoulders at…
Topless photos of Haruhi!?
The sisters paled and couldn't do anything but stare as the girls flicked through photo after photo. There were even a few with Jin in it, the two siblings clinging to each other similarly to how the twins posed.
"Hey… Haru?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember when any of these happened?"
"No… can't say that I do…"
Haruhi and Jin were both so out of it, they didn't even notice Tamaki creeping up behind them until he was whispering directly into Haruhi's ear, "What do you think of this, my dear?"
"What are you doing with that dress?"
It wasn't until the girls still holding the laptop started agreeing with the suggestion of Haruhi wearing a dress that she and Jin snapped out of their funk. First item of business? Glare at Tamaki until he went away. Jin left that up to Haruhi. No use scaring him again after I told him to not be afraid of me.
Once the idiot was gone, they both turned their glares to the twins.
"Now cut it out. No more making weird pictures of me and Néchan, got it?"
"What do you guys take us for anyways?"
"Hm. Isn't it obvious? You're our toys!"
Jin's jaw dropped before she threw her hands up into the air, "Done. Forget it. I'm out. I need some cake."
"Cake? Can I have some cake too, Jin-chan? We can eat chocolate cake together!"
Jin smirked, "Sure Honey. I just have to go grab some, alright? Meet you at your table in a bit." And with that, she walked away, patting her sister on the head before scurrying off to the kitchen. Haruhi watched her senpai's walking towards their table for a few moments. How did Honey-senpai know that Néchan's favorite cake is chocolate?
"As we were saying, in order to entertain oneself in this otherwise boring life-"
"-one must find himself stimulating toys."
"WE ARE NOT YOUR TOYS, OKAY!?"
As soon as Haruhi spoke, there was the sound of a door creaking open. It was very similar to the sound you'd hear during a horror film. And the voice that followed was very much like that too.
"You want a toy?" Haruhi and the twins looked over to the wall and saw a cloaked figure peeking out from a black door, "Toys? Toys?! If you like toys you should come visit my black magic club. We've opened a marketplace that sells black magic items from across the globe! We're also holding mass around the clock. If you visit right now, I'll even throw in a free curse doll. You can have Beelzenef as your free gift!"
Haruhi blinked, "Why is he talking to us through a crack in the door? Who is that anyways?" This place just gets weirder and weirder by the minute. And has there always been a door there? I don't remember it being there before...
"To answer your question, Haruhi, that is Nekozawa-senpai. He likes to hide and doesn't really care for brightly lit places." Kyoya-senpai just knows everything about everyone at this school, doesn't he? I wonder if he's ever done anything malicious with his information before...
"Don't get involved with that guy, Haruhi…"
"Ah!" Haruhi jumped and spun around, far more frightened by Tamaki's strange ability to appear out of nowhere than the guy with the cat puppet.
Tamaki, however, paid no mind, "If you do, you'll end up being cursed!"
"Do you have any proof of that?" In all honesty, Haruhi was getting pretty tired of Tamaki's constant tendency to over-complicate things with his dramatic ways, but he seemed oddly serious this time.
"Yes. It happened during final exams at the end of the last school year!" He shuddered, "It's terrifying just to talk about it. I was walking down the hallway, heading off to my English exam. Greeting the ladies and doing my best to spread happiness wherever I went. When suddenly… I felt myself step on something. On that fateful day, I accidentally stepped on Nekozawa's cursed doll, Beelzenef. Afterward, I took my exam and the entire test was written in some strange lettering! I looked to the others for help and realized I knew none of them! I was all alone in a different dimension!"
Haruhi felt herself growing faint, "Did that really happen to you? H-how did you get back, then?"
"That only happened because you were so scared you accidentally walked into the beginning Greek class and took their exam."
"No! It was a curse!" Tamaki ran up to Kyoya and started shouting more "proof", which the ravenet shot down just a quickly as Haruhi calmed down. I should've known better than to actually believe Tamaki's story.
"You shouldn't underestimate the dark powers of Beelzenef. All you have to do is write the name of someone you hate on his back, then that person is certain to come face to face with... misfortune." Haruhi rolled her eyes and started walking back to her table of guests. Everyone at this school is ridiculous. But at the sound of Hikaru talking again, she paused.
"Wow, this guy really is dark, in more ways that one."
"Supposedly he hates bright lights. I wonder what he'll think of this…" Kaoru held up a flashlight and Haruhi felt a sick sort of feeling in her stomach.
"Guys… wait."
They shined the bright light directly into Nekozawa's face, which would've hurt anyone's eyes regardless, and the robed student let out a loud scream before running away, "YOU MURDERERS!" Haruhi stared at the twins with an open mouth. They knew that he doesn't like those… why did they do that?! What did he do to them?! Tamaki started chewing the redheads out, but seemed more concerned with saving his own skin from being "cursed" than the twins accidentally hurting someone else.
Suddenly, another door in the room burst open. The kitchen, "What happened? Is anyone hurt? Who screamed?"
Haruhi quickly made her way over to Jin, "It's okay, Néchan. Just some guy who came in. The twins shined a flashlight at him and he ran away."
Her sister tilted her head, "A flashlight?"
"Yeah, I know. Weird, huh? I just can't believe they would do something like that even though they knew he wouldn't like it."
"But…" Jin looked over her sister's head and narrowed her eyes, "What's Tamaki doing in the corner this time?"
"I don't know. Maybe-"
"Hey, Haruhi. Jin. We've got a favor to ask of you." The girls rolled their eyes and faced the twins again.
"Oh yeah? What is it?"
"The next time we get a day off-"
"-can we come over to your place to hang out?"
The sisters shared a confused glance.
"Uh… why would you want to do that? There's nothing really special about our place…"
"We're curious, we want to see where you two live."
"No way." Haruhi quickly turned to the side.
"Aww, pretty please?"
Jin answered this time, "Not happening."
"No matter how much we beg you?"
"Never."
The twins paused for a moment in their pestering, probably from the surprise of the girls responding in unison much like themselves. The silence gave Tamaki an opportunity to speak up himself. A soft breeze flowed through the room as Tamaki stood from the corner, "I too have been thinking that it's about time I pay my respects to our beloved Fujioka family."
"No way in hell, Senpai."
The girls were about to walk away when the twins appeared at their sides, green caps now in place. "Hey, why don't we settle this with a game? If you can't pick out which one of us is Hikaru, then your penalty will be the two of us coming over to your house later tonight."
Jin shrugged, "If you want."
"Doesn't matter, I guess."
The twins quickly spun themselves around, thoroughly mixing themselves up.
"Okay, so which one of us is Hikaru?"
The girls shared a look, "Haru, you point to Kaoru, and I'll point to Hikaru?"
"Absolutely."
The girls pointed at their target and answered in perfect unison again, "Kaoru is on the left, Hikaru is on the right."
The twins leaned backwards, "Uh oh, you got it wrong!"
For a moment, Haruhi and Jin said nothing, then they smiled, "Uh, no we didn't. I know we're right."
"You guys may look alike, but you're actually very different."
Now, it was the twin's turn to gasp. They peeked at each other as if trying to not-so-subtly find the difference Haruhi was talking about. A few girls started to gather around, staring at the Fujioka's in awe.
"That was incredible, Jin!"
"Haruhi, how can you two tell them apart? It's almost impossible to do that with their hair covered up!" Every eye was on Haruhi, including Jin's. Despite the fact that she could tell the boys apart too, it was clear who the more popular Fujioka was. Jin didn't seem to mind whatsoever though. She just watched her sister with a small smile playing across her face.
"Hm, how to put it… I guess the big different, at least to me, is that Hikaru's speech and actions make him come across as more mischievous that Kaoru. If you notice, Hikaru takes more risks than his twin."
The girls looked at each other and thought it over.
"You know, now that you mention it, that is true."
"Jin-senpai? Is it the same way with you?"
The taller girl's smile curled into more of a smirk as everyone looked at her now, "In a sense, but also in a completely different way altogether." The other girls whispered amongst themselves. Jin was acting very mysterious all of the sudden, and it was highly intriguing. But Kaoru's laughter from behind them caught their attention before they could ask what she was talking about.
"I'm sorry, Hikaru, I don't mean to laugh."
"Well, I don't see what's so funny. I'm honest, I speak my mind, and I don't hold back! It's sneaky people like Kaoru who are the troublemakers." Kaoru's laugh was cut short.
His face fell flat, voice low and dangerous as he spoke again, refusing to face his brother, "Don't turn this on me, Hikaru. After all, I'm always the one going along with all of your selfish games."
Hikaru matched Kaoru's expression, "I may suggest them, but you're the one who really gets into them. If you hate it so much then why don't you just stop?"
"Because I'd hate to see you make an ass of yourself in front of everyone. It was your idea to call Haruhi our toy, but I noticed you were quick to make a pass at her. Admit it, Hikaru, you're actually in love with Haruhi, aren't you."
Finally, one of the twins showed some emotion. Hikaru gasped and looked at his brother in apparent horror. Haruhi glanced up at her sister, wondering if she heard Kaoru right, but Jin was staring intently at the twins, her eyes going very clear. Knowing what would happen if she broke her concentration now, Haruhi decided to go back to watching the twins.
"You've got it all wrong, Kaoru! Man, you're such a freaking idiot!"
"Yeah, there are some things in this world that should never be said!" Haruhi felt her eyebrow twitch as Tamaki flailed around the room. Why is he acting so offended? And why am I suddenly a part of this?
"Why would I fall for her, I mean she looks like a tanuki!"
At the insult, Jin muttered under her breath, "Take it back, you moron. Haru's the cutest shit you'll ever see in your life." Haruhi was incredibly thankful that everyone else was so enraptured with the escalating fight that they didn't hear Jin's swears, but that didn't mean she didn't laugh. Still, since it had been whispered Haruhi knew that Jin was still deep in thought, speaking in Haruhi's defense only on reflex.
But what is she so focused on?
Out of nowhere, the floor started to rumble.
"How wonderful! It's so perfect! Our beloved Haruhi is in the middle of a beautiful yet painful four sided romantic relationship while he struggles to maintain as close to his sister as he can! And to make it even more exciting, two of Haruhi's admirers are twins, torn apart by love! Just the thought of it could make me eat three bowls of rice!"
"Oh, butt out, Otaku."
Renge jumped down from her strange pedestal (that just randomly popped up from the ground for some reason), "You guys are meanies, you shouldn't say stuff like that to your manager!"
Tamaki walked over to the crying girl, "But, Renge, I thought you had feelings for Haruhi as well?"
She quickly looked over her shoulder, the tears gone as quickly as they had come, "Oh, I do! But I have no problem with Haruhi having a homosexual relationship on the side or struggling with a taboo relationship with Jin."
Haruhi also slipped over to try and cut off the conversation, leaving Jin where she was, "Wait, I thought you had decided to go back home to France, Renge? What happened?"
"Well, I was going to start up a Host Club of my own, but, I don't think France is ready for a Host Club just yet." Haruhi sweatdropped. Good on the French. Maybe I should get myself a passport…
"CUT IT OUT, ALREADY! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S ALWAYS CRAWLING INTO MY BED! TALK ABOUT ANNOYING!"
"I ONLY DO THAT BECAUSE YOU LOOK LONELY! I WOULDN'T CHOOSE TO SLEEP IN YOUR BED, YOU IDIOT!"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SUCKS AT MATH!"
"OH YEAH? WELL YOU'RE FAILING YOUR FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASS YOU BIG DUMMY!"
Haruhi quickly walked back to her sister, "Jin? Jin, shouldn't we do something? They're really getting into it…"
Jin, however remained frozen. She squinted her eyes really hard at the twins, watching their movements and listening to their insults closely. This doesn't make any sense… why would Kaoru… and now the guests… wait a moment... Her eyes widened exponentially just as the twins roughly shoved at each other's chests at the same time, falling away from each other.
"That's it! We're over!"
The entire room gasped, save for the tall brunette girl standing just behind Haruhi.
They're faking it… but why? Should I stop it?
A quick scan of the other faces in the room showed that no one else appeared to have noticed the bluff. Haruhi turned around as the twins stormed out of the room in opposite directions, prompting everyone else to start discussing the newest piece of Ouran gossip. Jin quickly fixed her face into a look of surprise.
"Néchan, should you step in?"
Jin looked away again, thinking about it, "Do you know what? Let's let this play out. Hopefully they'll make up by themselves in the end, but perhaps we should say something if it grows out of hand. One fight over something like this shouldn't become too serious, I would think." Besides, waiting this out will give me time to work out why they're doing this in the first place.
Haruhi nodded, accepting her sister's logic, "Guess all we can do now is wait, huh?"
"Yeah… I guess so."
*\/*
The next morning, Jin and Haruhi walked into Ouran in silence. The quiet had been going on for long enough that Haruhi was starting to grow concerned. Ever since we came to Ouran, Jin has been forced to think deeply about a lot of things. First it was my debt, then Renge, and now the twins fighting. Even their dad had noticed her unusual behavior, considering she almost forgot to go over Haruhi's paper until after dinner the night before.
Haruhi sighed. I really shouldn't be jealous, especially since they're fighting, but I wish Jin would focus more on me now that she's back.
"Hey, Haru?"
As if Jin could read her mind, Haruhi looked up and saw her older sister smiling down at her, "Want me to walk with you to your classroom? We got here early enough. I could even give you a piggy-back ride, if you want."
The shorter sister nodded, "Yeah, that would be nice, Néchan." She moved behind her sister and jumped onto her back. Jin hefted her up and a few seconds later, they were moving again. Haruhi leaned her head against her sister's shoulder and watched the people they passed by. They attracted some strange glances, but Haruhi couldn't find the motivation to care. She was tired.
This must be what Honey feels like all the time. I can't remember the last time I got a piggy-back ride from Néchan. Must've been… about three or four years ago. Her eyes drifted shut as Jin's vanilla scented shampoo lulled her into a relaxed mood. Why'd we ever stop doing this? A lock of hair brushed against Haruhi's cheek and she realized something.
"Néchan, did you condition your hair this morning?"
"Yes."
"Awesome."
Haruhi turned her head so that her cheek was pressed fully against her sister's hair. So soft...
...
"Haru? Wake up, this is your classroom."
Haruhi forced her eyes open and slid down off of her sister's back, rubbing at her eyes as her contacts started bugging her. All the girls around them were cooing softly at the cute scene.
"Thanks, Néchan. I'll see you at lunch, alright?"
Jin straightened her back just a smidge, and Haruhi noticed, "Yeah. See you then, Haru." With one last kiss pressed to her forehead, Haruhi walked inside. Why did she stiffen when I mentioned lunch? As she sat down, the answer came to her.
Oh… damn.
Just outside of Haruhi's classroom, Jin smacked her own forehead. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Come on, Jin, get it together! You haven't even been at this school for over a month and you already forgot-
A brief flash of hot pink appeared in her vision, cutting off her thoughts. When it appeared again, Jin's jaw dropped. Hikaru?
Yup, it was Hikaru Hitachiin, with vibrant pink hair styled in a way that it stuck straight up. As he drew closer, Jin stepped to the side of the doorway and gave the twin a smile and a wave of hello, hoping her shocked surprise didn't show too much. But if Hikaru thought it was strange for Jin to be there when her classroom was quite a ways away, he didn't show it. Instead, he returned the smile and the wave before disappearing into Class 1-A's classroom as well.
Jin stared off after him as he went over to talk to her sister. All around her, other students were chatting about Hikaru's new hairdo as well.
"Was that Hikaru? Or Kaoru?"
"Is this because of the fight?"
"Look, down the hall! Is that Kaoru!?"
Jin turned and saw that, yes, it was indeed Kaoru walking down the hallway. And his hair was dyed a light blue. She blinked rapidly before smiling in greeting and flicking him a wave, just like with his twin.
The younger twin smiled as well, his gloomy expression diminishing, "Good morning, Jin-senpai! Did you walk Haruhi to class today?"
"Yeah…"
Hikaru's voice suddenly sounded from the open doorway, "Because pink suits me! Don't you think it's cute?"
Kaoru's smile dropped and he continued walking towards his class, "Excuse me, Jin-senpai. I have to get to class now. It was nice talking to you." Jin stared off after him as well. Huh. I guess it's no secret who the friendlier twin is…
"Jin-chan~"
"Huh?"
Jin turned around just as Honey wrapped her up in a hug, "I didn't expect to see you here! Let me guess, you walked Haru-chan to class today, didn't you!"
It took her a moment to respond to the hug, but she did with a grin, "I never could fool you, could I, Honey-senpai?" She looked up at his tall companion, "Good morning, Mori-senpai!"
"Morning."
"Hey, did you see Hika-chan and Kao-chan's hair this morning? We saw them when they got out of their limos!"
"Limos? As in, plural?"
Honey slipped to the floor and walked over to Class 1-A's doorway, looking in, "Yeah, they came to school in different cars today. Kao-chan looked so sad…" He looked back at Jin, "Did they say anything to-"
A hand reached over and pulled Usa-chan right out of Honey's arms. The small boy was so surprised at first that he didn't even react.
"Usa-chan!" Honey ran into the room, closely followed by Jin and Mori, and for a second the two taller students just stared at the carnage the twins were creating. They were throwing chairs, school bags, vases… anything within reach. And Usa-chan was now in the mix.
Honey spotted his precious bunny quickly and ran after it. He caught the stuffed pet before it could hit the ground, but just then Hikaru grabbed the back of his uniform and tossed him at his brother. The blond didn't seem to be very bothered by it, contently holding his Usa-chan.
However…
Jin grabbed Mori's arm and shook him, "Lift me up, quick!" The black haired boy grabbed her hips and hoisted her high up in the air with the help of her jumping a bit at the start. With their timing and holding Jin up at the correct height, Honey was thrown straight into her awaiting arms, not a scratch on him.
Mori, seeing that Honey's momentum was about to knock the three of them over, quickly let go of Jin, twisting her body as he did so so that she fell bridal style into his arms before he set her down on her feet.
She and Honey stumbled for three seconds before regaining their bearings, but Honey was quick to hug both of them after his dizzy spell wore off, "Thanks Takashi! Thanks Jin-chan."
The girl huffed a laugh, "No problem. But we should probably head to our own classes." She gave her sister a fleeting look, "I wish we could take Haruhi with us…"
Honey started pushing at the back of Jin's legs, "She'll be alright. Come on, you'll see her at lunch time and you don't want to be late to class, right?"
At the word 'lunch', Jin remembered what she had been worrying about before the hair-dying incident.
"Oh, yeah. Let's go, then."
*Noontime recess in the refectory*
"Haru? Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Come on, I saw them both heading down to the refectory. You said you were going to step in if it got too bad, so we might as well."
Jin didn't argue the point any further, but followed her sister down the hallway and through the doors. The school's lunch room was just as big and grand as every other room in the school. The two girls, having never been in this portion of the school before, thought the same thing. These damn rich people.
"Haruhi, there they are, by the school lunch line."
They looked over and saw both a pink haired and a blue haired boy standing side by side, trying to order their lunch from the two cafeteria workers waiting.
"I'll have the A lunch." The room fell silent as the twins stiffened.
"No, give me the B pasta and the D salad! I'll take the F Cappellini with the Barbary duck! Hold on, make that a foie-gras poêlé sauce!" As their unison shouts increased in volume, everyone around them slowly pulled away.
Finally, the two boys faced each other and snarled in each other's faces, "Stop copying me! Why don't you just leave me alone?!" A good couple meters behind them, the Fujioka siblings watched the fight.
"Amazing. Perfect unison even when fighting…"
Jin rested her chin on her fist, staring hard at the twins again, "Yeah. They're so close it's probably second nature to them to order the same thing by now. They sure do think a lot alike…"
"I was wondering what all the fuss was about." The girls looked to their left and saw the rest of the host club standing in a group, watching the twins in disappointment, "I can't believe the two of you are still fighting. You're a disgrace to the host club."
Haruhi felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Jin. Her sister jerked her head towards the rest of the host club. They walked over to the other members as everyone else in the room started gushing over how the entire host club was in the same room.
But one comment really caught Haruhi's attention.
"I've never seen them all together like this!"
Do they really not hang out outside of the host club? I thought that they were all pretty close with each other, considering they've all seen each other half-naked and stuff for some of their cosplays. But if they don't hang out with each other outside of the host club… then who do they spend time with during their free time?
"We've had enough of this!"
Honey marched straight over to the twins and Haruhi tugged at her sister's sleeve, "Néchan, do you think he'll be alright?"
"Yeah, Honey-senpai can look after himself…"
"Jin, where is your lunch?"
"Hm?" The remaining hosts turn to look at Kyoya, who was staring at Jin (or, as near as they could figure, the glare on his glasses made it a little hard to tell) with a small frown. It took Jin a moment to realize he was waiting for her response.
"Oh, I forgot to make one last night."
It was true. While Haruhi was holding onto a small boxed lunch, Jin had nothing in her hand but her school bag.
"And what were you planning on doing with yourself during this lunch period, then?"
Jin hefted up her bag, "I was going to work on some projects on my laptop. It's what I normally do if I forget a lunch. I don't exactly have any extra money for a lunch from this place, now do I?" She ended her explanation with a smile, but Kyoya was looking at her oddly, like he didn't quite believe her.
Actually, Jin was very confused. It was rare for Kyoya to initiate any sort of conversation with her that wasn't a snippy comment or a reminder about the debt she shared with Haruhi. The other hosts seemed to share her confusion.
"I'll buy you a lunch."
The others have a sort of collective jaw drop (Mori had already left to grab Honey away from the twins) so he readjusted his glasses and explained, "You've brought in 23 new customers after being at this school for two and a half weeks. Think of it as a way to say thank you. Just be less careless about your health from now on, Jin. We don't need you passing out while carrying our expensive tea sets."
Without another word, he walks away, leaving Jin no other option but to follow. She and Haruhi shared a look before Tamaki jumped over to Haruhi's side like an excited puppy. Jin smirked and walked up to the ordering counter. Ever since the twins had been there, none of the other students had worked up the courage to come back and order, so there was no line at all.
Kyoya waited for Jin to join him at the counter before placing his order first, "The A lunch, please."
"And I'll take the C lunch."
"Wait," Kyoya holds a hand up before the (still shaky) cafeteria worker could calculate the total cost and turned to face Jin, "Money's no object."
"Hm?"
"You just attempted to order the cheapest item on the menu. There is no need, I assure you. I can pay for whatever you want."
The brunette cocked an eyebrow and motioned to the worker to ring it up, "I know, I just happen to like what comes with the C lunch. Don't forget, you're the host that keeps adding extra money to our debt for every little thing and you haven't exactly been very nice to me ever since I came to Ouran. If the A lunch had food I liked, I would've ordered it without a second thought. Now please, I think you should pay before the other students deem it safe enough to order their own meals."
Kyoya stares for a moment before smirking and handing over his credit card to the shaking cafeteria worker, "You are an interesting woman, Jin Fujioka."
"And you are just as strange, Kyoya Ootori."
"I DON'T CARE IF MY BOXED LUNCH IS IN AN EMBARRASSING HEART SHAPE! I WILL EAT IT!"
Jin eyed the blond for a moment before deciding to sneak past him with her new lunch. From behind her, Kyoya was making a comment about Tamaki's fantasies being 'completely incoherent'. Jin felt her lips twitch. That comment was actually pretty funny. Maybe we can be friends.
She spotted her sister and Hikaru sitting down at a fairly empty table and made a beeline for them. In truth, all she wanted to do during this lunch period was eat this yummy food and think over the reason for the twin's fake fight. Again, she wondered why she hadn't told Haruhi about the fight being fake… but then the memory of Haruhi's acting skills popped up and she knew she made the proper decision. Still, it was difficult hiding the truth from her sister.
As it was, Hikaru had just traded lunches with Haruhi. Jin stopped and watched as Haruhi took a small bite of the food. And, just like last time, her face changed in an instant as the rich flavors hit her mouth. Jin grinned as Haruhi's eyes sparkled. Some things never change.
Ignoring Tamaki crying behind her, Jin continued to walk towards her cute-as-all-get-out sister. She was perhaps ten steps away when Kaoru appeared from the other side of the table and took the seat she was planning on.
Uh oh.
Thankfully, Jin was smart enough to notice the impending explosion and backed away. Welp, Haru and I are going to need a new place to sit once the twins start fighting. She scanned the room for any familiar faces, and she saw Kyoya, Honey-senpai, and Mori-senpai sitting down at a nearby table, close enough to keep an eye on the twins but far enough to not be an accidental victim of their fight.
Jin followed them over and set her lunch down beside Honey, who looked up at her in surprise. In fact, they all did.
"Jin-chan, why aren't you sitting with Haru-chan?
"Wait for it." The four of them watched as Kaoru attempted to feed Haruhi a bite of his own lunch, only to have it eaten by his brother. Slowly, with a blank face, Kaoru reached down to his tray and grabbed a dish.
Splat!
A bowl of soup smashed right into… Tamaki?
Hikaru shook the blond by his tie, which is the whole reason the plate hadn't hit him in the first place. And sure enough, the twins start another throwing match.
Honey jumped out of his chair, "Don't worry, Jin-chan, I'll go get Haru-chan!" Jin shook her head as he was sucked up into the items being thrown again. Seriously, he was almost too small. Mori was quick to grab him and land safely on the floor. Unfortunately, Tamaki wasn't so lucky. With a deep sigh, Jin calmly walked over to the fight. Haruhi saw her sister approaching and stood up from her seat, grabbing her lunch as she went. They passed by each other and exchanged a high five. Tag in.
Jin stood on Kaoru's side of the fight and watched as Tamaki was grabbed by Hikaru and thrown for all he was worth. She planted one foot behind her and held up her hands. The blond was caught by the front of his jacket and quickly dragged away from the fight.
"Tamaki? Can you stand up by yourself?" Jin grunted as she continued to drag him across the floor towards the other table, "You're not light, dude."
If Tamaki heard anything she just said, he didn't show it. Jin growled and gave him one final pull before she was bumping into her chair. Honey was now seated in Mori's lap, trembling very slightly, so Jin hooked her arms underneath the taller blond's armpits and heaved him up onto the now empty chair beside her.
Haruhi took a bite out of her boxed lunch, "Is he going to be like this all day?"
Jin sat down with a huff, "Probably not. I mean, this is Tamaki we're talking about. Now," she took a small bite of her potatoes, "Does anyone have any napkins they're willing to share?" The others passed their napkins over to Jin, who started wiping Tamaki's face clean in between bites of her lunch.
"Néchan, does this count as too far yet?"
Jin glanced at the twins, who had grown tired and had now retreated to separate corners of the dining hall, "No, not yet. Trust me, when they go too far, we'll know."
*\/*
Tamaki sighed and collapsed his upper half onto the table. It was now after school hours. Due to the current… situation with two of the hosts, they had put up a sign to let the guests know that they wouldn't be opening today, but everyone had still met up in the music room. It was quiet. Kyoya was calculating the loses the host club would accumulate from this one day off.
Jin stared out the window, sucking on a cherry jolly rancher while Haruhi ran her fingers through her sister's soft hair. Hey, she conditioned it. It felt like silk. And running her fingers through it calmed Haruhi down.
"According to the numbers, if this situation isn't resolved I'm afraid we'll have to stop offering our 'Brotherly Love' package. We're down one pair of loving brothers." Jin huffed a short laugh. No shit, Sherlock.
"Unless, of course, we happen to find a pair of loving siblings to fill in for the brothers until this conflict is resolved…"
"No way, Kyoya. Besides, it probably wouldn't give us the same results."
The ravenet frowned and punched in the next number a little harder, "Oh, Haruhi. I just want you to know that there's no reason for you to feel responsible or anything. Even though it was your tactless comment that started this whole feud between the twins in the first place. Right?"
Haruhi sweatdropped and looked away. Well, clearly he thinks I'm to blame for this whole mess. Maybe I am.
Jin pushed herself up into a sitting position and pulled Haruhi close, stroking her short hair and glaring at Kyoya, "No… It's not your fault, Haru. Your comment wasn't mean or anything, the boys just blew it out of proportion. Right, boys?"
Kyoya was the only person who didn't mumble a half-agreement, deciding to keep a level glare at the long haired brunette.
"It's weird for Hika-chan and Kao-chan to be fighting like this. It's never happened before."
The sisters looked over at Honey, who was sadly playing with his bunny, "They've never fought before? Ever?"
A small, bittersweet smile pulled at the small blond's lips, "I've known Hika-chan and Kao-chan since we were in Preschool. We weren't in the same year so I never got to talk to them, but I remember that the two of them always played together."
"Yeah, that's true. I mean, I've only known the twins since they were in middle school but they definitely stood out. It seemed like they kept everyone at a distance except each other. When you stop and think about it, maybe this fight is a good thing for them. Maybe it means that the twins are expanding their horizons a bit! We should just leave them alone and let them work it out." Haruhi looked up at her sister, who didn't seem to agree.
She poked at Jin hands which were still wrapped around her, "Hey, who knows what will happen, right? Maybe it is a turn for the better."
Jin shakes her head and looks out the window again at the sunset, "Maybe… but maybe, since they've never fought before, it means they won't know how to make up. We've fought before, Haru, but we also know how to make up from a fight. The twins… they don't even know when to call it quits."
The room grew quiet once again, but it was a more frosty kind of quiet.
Boom!
The doors slammed open and the twins of the hour walked in, shouting at each other so loudly that the others couldn't even tell what they were saying. The surprise of their entrance caused Tamaki to fall out of his chair, which was then used to start yet another throwing match.
And in less than 10 minutes, the twins had thrown enough objects at each other to create a huge mountain of crap, both broken and magically undamaged, in the center of the music room. Honey had, once again, been a victim of the twin's fight and was now bouncing by himself at the very top of the pile.
Tamaki was the first one to speak as the twins ran out of steam, "Don't you guys think that it's time to stop with all of this fighting? It's driving me insane."
"What'd you say? It's driving you insane? Gah, you've got to be kidding me, how do you think I feel? Every time I look in the mirror I see his face! I'm sick and tired of constantly being mistaken for you, Kaoru! The truth is I hate your guts!" Jin pressed her fingers to her mouth, more than a little shocked at all the anger in his words. They are faking it… right?
"You took the words right out of my mouth. In fact I hate you so much that I bought this: Beelzenef the curse doll!"
Tamaki screeched and withdrew to the far corner of the room, watching in horror as Kaoru pulled out a black pen from his jacket pocket, "I'm going to complete the curse, Hikaru! I'm going to write your name on his back! From this day forward you're going to experience nothing but misfortune and sorrow!"
Haruhi and Jin whipped their heads to look at each other before rushing forward. Haruhi punched Hikaru in the head while Jin mirrored the move on Kaoru, simultaneously yanking the wooden cat out of his hand.
"Knock it off, already!" The two spoke in unison, making their angry voices seem that much more powerful.
Jin held the curse doll in front of her, "Are you two being serious right now? You never bring something like this into a fight, let alone over something as petty as this! There's never any reason to do something that will hurt another for the rest of their life!"
"Both of you are at fault here, but what's worse is that you've dragged everyone around you down into it too!"
And, one last time, they screamed together, "Now, apologize!"
The twins remained seated on the floor, gaping at the two girls. Haruhi took another step forward, "Do it! Or else we're never letting you two come over to our place, have I made myself clear?!"
As soon as Haruhi spoke, Jin felt all the puzzle pieces click into place. The twins started to smile. Oh no… Haruhi… what have you done?
"Hm…" the twins stood up, identical smiles back in place, "So, what you're saying, Haruhi, is that if we make up we can come over to your place?"
The twins slipped up next to each other and peered down at the small brunette girl between them. Jin looked down at the curse doll in her hands and rolled it over to read the back. She then lifted it up to show the rest of the boys.
'Blank'.
Haruhi let out a scream.
As the twins wrapped themselves around each other, wailing about how sorry they were and how difficult the day had been, even following their "script", Jin looked down at the doll in her hands. She regarded it for a few seconds before tossing it into a nearby trash can, despite the cat thing looking faintly familiar. But for the life of her she just couldn't place it...
"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING! YOU MEAN YOU GUYS WERE FAKING IT THIS WHOLE TIME?!"
"We didn't have anything else to do. We were bored!"
Haruhi and Tamaki were on their hands and knees, but Jin simply crossed her arms and scowled at the twins, "You two are b-loody ri-dic-u-lous. All that so you could come over to our home? You realize we're still not letting you come over, right? God, you're both idiots if you think that solved anything."
They all look at her, "Why don't you sound surprised?"
"Are you kidding? The fighting was too random for it to be real. Kaoru, you should've been upset at not being called the more mischievous twin. Isn't mischievousness kind of your thing? Sounded to me like Haru was saying Hikaru was better at being a Hitachiin twin then Kaoru was. It was nothing to laugh at. I didn't say anything because I wanted to know why you'd even do that. Only to find out it was because you were bored. Dear lord, you're all lunatics!"
The twins stared at her in surprise, "You know… you never told us outright, Jin-senpai."
"How did you tell us apart yesterday?"
"Well, I can tell you apart the way Haruhi tells you apart," Jin smirks, looks at the others before saying, "But I'm not sure if any of the others want to hear the easier way."
Honey bounced over and grabbed onto her leg, "There's an easier way?"
"Yeah."
"Well then, tell us."
"Are you sure that you really want to know? It'll make all of you feel stupid."
"Come on, Néchan. There's no use in drawing it out. Just tell them."
"Fine." Jin pointed at the twins, "It's your hair that gives it away."
The twins frown, "We're being serious here, Jin."
"When we're wearing the hats they cover up the way we part our hair-"
"But your bangs still point in opposite directions."
All of the boys in the room thought it over for a few seconds before they started trailing out of the room to go home. Even Kyoya was staring at the floor in disbelief. It wasn't until it was only the Fujioka's left in the room that they started laughing.
"How is it that everyone else in this school misses that?"
*The Next Day*
Jin leaned up against a pillar, watching the hosts go about their usual business. It seemed that after one day being closed, their clients were just that much more desperate to talk to the boys. The room was full of girls, especially for the twins. It was them she was watching at the moment, and they were really working the whole making up thing. They even played the "Which one of us is Hikaru" game, which was, of course, stupidly easy with their hair still dyed.
Or, at least it would be.
Haruhi walked over to Jin and nudged her side, "Hey, has anyone else figured it out?"
"What do you think? They don't have a clue." They watched as a girl was declared a winner of the game, "Want to go have some fun?"
Haruhi smirked, "Absolutely."
They started walking towards the twins, where a girl was asking, "So are you two going to keep your wild hair color even though you made up? It's much easier to tell the two of you apart now!"
"Ha, no it isn't."
"Hm?" The twins turned their heads to look at the sisters, who turned around with matching teasing smiles.
"Today the pink one is Kaoru, and the blue one is Hikaru."
"You guys switched colors for the day, huh?"
The girls hummed before linking arms and walking away.
The twins reached out and gripped each other's hands as they watched the two head to the other side of the room. Hikaru glanced to the side at Kaoru before turning his gaze back to the girls.
...
Do you realize what's happened, Hikaru? Until now, there were only two groups of people. Us, and everyone else. But for the first time… others have crossed into our world.