Twinfluenza (OHSHC, Hikaru) - Part 2/2 complete!

[alias]

Title: Twinfluenza

Fandom: Ouran High School Host Club

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these dashing gentleman, or the lovely Haruhi. If I did, I would make them accept me into the Host Club.

A/N: *cue drums* Kiss, kiss, fall in love!!! Hello hello my fellow anime-niacs. Now, I don't know about you all, but whenever there is a scene in ANYTHING where a character gets caught in the rain, I always hope, nay, I EXPECT said character to come down with a cold, or at the very least sneeze from being cold. So when that result does not occur, I get very disappointed. This is just not right. This must be corrected.

Thus, you may already know which episode I am spinning off of here. Episode 16: Operation Haruhi and Hikaru's First Date! My. Favorite. Episode. HOWEVER... I like to think there was a little bit more in-between what we actually saw. Therefore, this fic is my headcanon for what happened toward the end of that episode.

This fic is primarily about Hikaru getting sick, but you may find a few little surprises from someone else as well...

I mayyyyy have indulged a teeny tiny bit in the twincest sentiment, BUT I'm pretty sure I stayed within the canonical realms of how Hikaru and Kaoru would actually behave. I don't think I pushed it any further than the show itself does.

If you need a quick refresher of what happened in this episode, open up this spoiler box (if you don't want the episode spoiled, be warned that this fic makes mention of a lot of what happened):

It is summer vacation, and Haruhi is working at Misuzu's inn in Karuizawa. Unable to stand her absence, Tamaki corrals the rest of the Host Club together and they all show up uninvited, much to her dismay. All is fine and dandy until one of Haruhi's old friends from middle school, Arai, shows up by chance. Hikaru gets jealous, and ends up spouting off some rude comments. In attempt to make up for his brother's behavior, Kaoru asks Haruhi out on a date for the next day. However, when the next day comes he fakes sick so that Hikaru will take her out instead. The date goes generally well until Haruhi and Hikaru bump into Arai again, and Hikaru's bad attitude takes over. Getting angry, Hikaru runs off and leaves Haruhi in the market. Meanwhile, thunderclouds are brewing overhead. Some time passes, and Hikaru is waiting in the rain trying to hail a taxi when he gets a furious call from Tamaki; Haruhi never returned to the inn because she went off after Hikaru instead of getting a ride with Arai, and now she is stuck out there in the storm somewhere looking for him, terrified of the thunder. Realizing that he's left Haruhi out there alone and scared, Hikaru bolts back through the town in the pouring rain, looking everywhere for her. Eventually, he comes to an old church and finds Haruhi curled up under a table inside. He yanks a tablecloth from the altar, drapes it over her shoulders, puts his headphones over her ears, and pulls her in close to wait out the storm. And THAT is where my version of the ending begins.

Our story begins here:


Comments/feedback/thoughts about the fic or the fandom in general are all welcomed and appreciated! I hope you enjoy!


*****


Twinfluenza

PART ONE

“Sorry.”

Hikaru’s voice grappled with the word. No, that wasn’t enough. He had to say the words right. A sharp lump pitted his throat as he continued. “I’m sorry for running off and leaving you… And for the things I said, about your friend Arai…” He swallowed. Not enough. How could it ever possibly be enough? After he’d deserted her like that? All because he was stupid and childish and jealous. “I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks, Hikaru.” He wasn’t expecting her voice, and even though it was quiet it startled him. He watched the tears that he caused trickle down her face. “I forgive you.”

Hikaru’s breath stopped in his throat, where the lump softened as something warm rolled with the cold raindrops down his cheek. Haruhi was still trembling as she nestled against him, and he hugged her closer, afraid she might leave him despite her compassionate words. How could she forgive him, just like that? He hadn’t even forgiven himself. He was so selfish… so stupid…

“I’m sorry…” he croaked again, and still it didn’t feel like enough. He could say it again, ten more times, ten thousand more times, but it wouldn’t be enough. He didn’t deserve Haruhi’s kindness, let alone her friendship. And yet he had been so careless with it.

But not anymore. He would never, ever hurt her again. She was too important. Why did it have to take deserting her in a thunderstorm for him to realize that? Haruhi’s lips parted as her breath steadied, and slowly her shoulders relaxed, sinking into the cradle of his arm. Her head settled against him, and he peeked down to watch her drift off into a slumber. There were so many things he still didn’t understand. So much that was so new to him. But if there was one thing he did know, it’s that he sure as hell was not going to let her go.

They stayed like that for a while, until the water stopped dripping from his hair, leaving it only damp. The sky darkened as late evening ushered the storm from overheard, and through the church window he could see the ominous clouds replaced by faint, twinkling stars. He could hear the music that had lulled Haruhi to sleep through the headphones as the rain let up, but he still didn’t dare pull her from her peace. He’d stay with her here all night if he had to.

A wisp of wind pushed its way through the old doors, scraping his bare arms with the chill, and he shivered. The day had been plenty warm, but now that the sun had long since set, his sodden clothes only grew colder, making him wish he had brought a coat along. More than that, he hoped the tablecloth was enough to keep Haruhi warm; after all, she had been running around in the rain too… looking for him…

Hikaru ground his teeth together, guilt piercing his chest like an icepick. What if she ended up catching a cold? It would be all his fault. He tried to wrap more of his arm around her, sure to keep the blanket tucked in tight. Maybe he should try calling Tamaki and get him to send a cab. But if he did that he would have to wake her up—

The thought was interrupted by a different disturbance; as another gust of night wind seeped into the room, Hikaru felt the frigid air weave into his marrow, and the cold made him shiver more violently, this time irritating his nose. Without warning, his breath hitched in to the back of his throat, and frantically he cupped a free hand over his mouth, pinching his nostrils with his thumb and forefinger. If he sneezed, he would wake Haruhi up for sure. He squinted his eyes shut in attempt to will the itch away, but it didn’t respond to his efforts. His only hope was to smother it… if he could.

“Hh-hh!—H’NGKxt’mf!!!” The contained explosion wrenched the inside of his skull, but, miraculously, he managed to stay pretty quiet. What he failed to do was remain motionless. His whole body convulsed with the force of the strangled sneeze, and the moment he settled himself, the bundle beneath his arm shifted.

Haruhi hummed a waking sigh, and the soft sound brought warmth back to his core. Her big brown eyes fluttered open, and she squinted up at him.

“Hik-Hikaru???” she yawned, remembering where she was. “Did you say something?”

Hikaru turned his head as he scratched his nose. “No… I think I started to nod off and my head dropped. Sorry to wake you.”

Haruhi stretched, and the emptiness chilled the spot on his side where she had been nestled. Hikaru tensed as he tried not to shiver. “What time is it?” she asked sleepily.

He flipped open his phone. “A little past nine. The thunder and lightning stopped about half an hour ago.”

Haruhi looked up out the window, a soft smile lighting her face as she peered at the stars. Hesitantly, she removed his headphones. “Thanks for letting me borrow them.”

Hikaru bowed his head, unable to look at her. “Don’t mention it… It was my fault you—”

“Are you ready to head back?” she interrupted, this time pointing her smile at him. He blinked, trying to smile back, but his brain couldn’t quite get a hold of it. “The others are probably wondering where we’ve been. I’m sure Tamaki-senpai is having a conniption.”

“Oh… yeah… haha… probably. Um… why don’t I try calling for a taxi.”

Haruhi stood up. “Actually, I think we’re only about a mile from the inn now. We may as well just walk so we don’t have to pay for a cab. Besides, it looks like it’s cleared up to be a nice night.”

Hikaru swallowed, unsure of how to suggest otherwise, and was nettled to find that the action grated his throat. It may have looked like a nice night, but the stars belied the chill that attacked his exposed skin. As Haruhi disrobed the blanket from her shoulders, his gaze jumped to her bare skin, which, flowered by her spring dress, looked like porcelain in the moonlight. He had forgotten she was wearing the dress, and a wave of heat flooded his cheeks. He tore his vision away and pretended to look outside instead. They really should call a cab. After all, she was wearing no more layers than he was. Wasn’t she cold too? He stole one more glance, his eyes only flicking to her for a second. She definitely didn’t seem cold. She wasn’t shivering, or even holding her arms around herself. Was it just him then? He had run around for quite a while in the rain…

He frowned. Typical commoner, not wanting to spend money on a taxi. He could easily insist that a cab fare would be no more than some pocket change… but the last thing he wanted to do right now was argue. That’s how they got into this whole mess in the first place.

“Are… are you sure?” he tried passively. “It’s no trouble calling for a ride.”

“It’s fine. By the time it got here, we could already be back anyway.”

Haruhi draped the blanket back over the table and headed down the church aisle, stopping to wait for Hikaru at the door.

“Okay…” he said reluctantly, and they ventured out into the night.

The walk home was quieter than he wanted it to be, and he had no clue how to fill the void. Should he say something? Maybe Haruhi didn’t want to talk; she wasn’t saying anything either. Every once in a while he looked over at her, and on a few occasions they caught each other’s stare, which was then broken by an awkward smile and eyes darting the other direction. At this rate, the trek home felt longer than a mile. It didn’t help that each step pounded an ache through his bones.

“I wonder if Misuzu will still be serving dinner,” Haruhi mused. It was the first thing she had said in fifteen minutes.

“Yeah,” said Hikaru, and he mentally kicked himself for being able to come up with nothing else. His inability to do anything was making him ill with frustration. For the first time in his life, he was afraid of saying the wrong thing. The whole situation made him feel sick, achey, tightening his chest, making his throat raw, his head hurt, his limbs shake… and his nose itch.

He turned his head, pretending to be interested in something on the side of the path, and clamped a hand over the offending feature. Dammit, not again. It wasn’t like he had to worry about sneezing and waking her up anymore, it was just… he didn’t want to do it. Not now. Not in front of her. The pinprick tickle flared, drawing his inhale to a sharp hitch, and he held his breath, pressing his tongue up into the roof of his mouth until he managed to subdue the irritation. Or at least keep it at bay.

“Hey,” Haruhi’s voice called to him, and he whipped his head up in fear of seeming inattentive. The attempt to look casual surely killed all pretense of casualness, but if she noticed, she only smiled. “We’re here.”

Hikaru hadn’t even realized they’d arrived until they were standing in the driveway before the inn, and just as soon as he took in the sight, the front door burst open.

*****

The Host Club kept a steadfast post at Misuzu’s inn, watching the entirety of the thunderstorm drizzle away to calm skies. It had been hours since hearing any word from the two members who were caught in the deluge, and with each new second that passed their absence grew heavier. There was little left to do except lie in wait, which is what each of the remaining members did as they perched by the window.

Well, all but one.

The odd-man-out spent the evening pacing in a frantic circle.

“He’s gonna carve a track into the floorboards if he keeps at it like that,” said Kaoru, his watch alternating between the night outside and the manic spectacle that was Tamaki. Though despite the boss’s uncontainable energy, Kaoru could hardly blame him for the anxiety. The madman’s hysteria was a pretty accurate representation of the path his own stomach was cartwheeling on the inside.

“Hika-chan will be okay,” said a saccharine voice to his right. “I’m sure he and Haru-chan are just waiting out the storm.”

“Yeah. You’re probably right Hunny-senpai.” Kaoru flipped open his phone for the fifth time in the same amount of minutes and went to his inbox. Zero New Messages.

“Hey, is that them?”

Kaoru leapt up, pressing his face against the window. Two figures appeared from the drive, drawing closer to the inn. He knew one of them before he could even make out his face.

“Boss!” Kaoru exclaimed. “They’re back! Hikaru and Haruhi are back!”

BLAM!!!

Kaoru hadn’t even gotten to his feet yet when Tamaki exploded through the front doors.

“HARUHIIII!” Tamaki threw himself so hard at their newest Host Club member that he came remarkably close to challenging the physical impossibility of human flight. The pair didn’t even get a chance to brace themselves before the soaring blonde boy was on them like an incoming missile. He met his target open-armed, and the resulting collision booted Hikaru from the reunion and launched him into a pool of rainwater. “DADDY WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU! I’M SO HAPPY YOU’RE HOME SAFE I’M NEVER LETTING YOU OUT OF MY SIGHT AGAIN! ARE YOU ALRIGHT? ARE YOU SCARED? ARE YOU INJURED? TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED AND I WILL GET IT FOR YOU!!!”

Haruhi winced beneath his bone-crunching embrace. “I… can’t breathe…”

“OH NO!!! HAVE YOU CAUGHT PNEUMONIA FROM BEING OUT IN THE COLD? I’LL CALL AN AMBULANCE RIGHT AWAY AND WE’LL GET YOU TO A HOS—”

“No, senpai, you’re just crushing my lungs.”

Kaoru only half paid attention to the dramatic homecoming. His priority was elsewhere, on the newly soaked body in the puddle. He sprinted over to his twin.

“Welcome back, Hikaru,” he beamed, extending a hand. “You had me really worried there.”

Hikaru slipped as he pushed himself to his feet, almost splashing back down into the water, were it not for Kaoru’s hand to grab onto. As his brother’s fingers clasped around his own, Kaoru’s smile dropped; Hikaru’s hands were like ice. The uneasiness only intensified when his brother met his eyes, and something else was not right. It was unspoken, and undefined, but in that one look Kaoru could see that it was more than just the annoyance of being kicked into a puddle.

“Hey, are you okay?” said Kaoru, steadying him now with both hands. Hikaru’s body shivered in his clutch, and the cold twin heaved a sigh that at once sounded both exhaustive and restrained. Hikaru didn’t even need to answer the question. Kaoru knew his brother had had a rough night. He rubbed his hands down his twin’s arms in attempt to warm them. “You’re drenched. Let’s go inside and get you some dry clothes.”

Hikaru didn’t say anything, only swallowed, and Kaoru didn’t miss the little wince that cracked his features as he did so. Draping an arm around Hikaru’s shoulder, he led his brother inside.

“I’m so glad everyone is back!” chimed Hunny as the full Host Club retired into the living room of the inn, Haruhi still trying to squirm out of Tamaki’s embrace. “Now we can have cake!”

It was a happy reunion, Kaoru thought to himself, as the smallest Host Club member passed around plates full of generous slices of a decadent strawberry-strewn cake. Whatever had happened earlier that evening between Haruhi and Hikaru seemed to have been left out there in the mud, and their return melted the ice that had plagued the rest of the club while waiting for them. They all settled amongst the couches as they enjoyed their dessert through the next hour, comfortable and cozy, laughing and smiling, as if the animosity of the earlier evening was nothing more than an unpleasant dream. All in all, it appeared as if the night was going to end with warmth and merriment.

“Hh’NGHkt’!!”

The sound was quiet, and unrecognizable, but there was no doubt that it came from the spot right next to him. Kaoru turned toward his twin, who by now had wrapped himself in a towel, a large portion of which he had smothered over half his face. Hikaru’s eyes were fluttering open as Kaoru caught them, but the drenched twin merely looked off at nothing in particular.

Or rather, particularly avoiding his brother’s gaze.

What’s that all about? Surely Hikaru knew his brother was staring at him. Of course he did. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt in Kaoru’s mind. The two of them were always in synch, always spot on. Everything short of actual telepathy, they didn’t need to speak to each other to talk. And yet, for some reason, Hikaru was avoiding him.

No… he was avoiding everybody.

The room was alive with chatter. Hunny rolling in laughter at the late-night show that he and Mori curled around the television watching, Haruhi recalling the finer points of the date, Kyoya making a placid effort to calm Tamaki whenever his rampageous responses threatened to wake the other hotel guests. But Hikaru was not having any of it. He didn’t even seem to be aware of it. He merely sank into the couch, legs scrunched up in front of him, absently holding the full plate that, Kaoru now noticed, quivered slightly in his hand.

“You’re not eating your cake,” Kaoru pointed out, to which Hikaru finally made a response, blinking as if coming out of a daze. He looked down at his plate, and for a moment fiddled with the fork in consideration of taking a bite, but in the end handed it to his brother.

“I guess I’m not that hungry,” he said, relinquishing the food. “You can have it.”

Kaoru took the plate, but his concern was by no means mollified. Hikaru was trying to hide something, which, in the attempt, became ten times more obvious, but Kaoru didn’t say anything. Not in front of the others. His brother was clearly uncomfortable. But if that were the case, why didn’t he just go back to the bedroom? He certainly never hesitated to ditch the crew before when he didn’t want to be there. Kaoru stood to take the dishes to the table, glancing back at the slouching twin on the couch. The towel shrouded his face like a hood.

Maybe it wasn’t him Hikaru was hiding from.

Whatever it was, Kaoru didn’t like it. The feeling squirmed inside his stomach, like waking up from a nightmare you couldn’t remember, but knew had been dreadful. The late hour crawled on, with second rounds of cake for some, but now Kaoru had no appetite. He watched the mirth amidst the living room around him and pretended to laugh along, pretended for the both of them. Hikaru managed to smile every now and then, enough to allay suspicion, but it was only a smile in the mechanical sense, and only managed to stay on his face for a few seconds before it would begin to twitch and lose form. It might have been enough to convince the rest of the Host Club, but every peek Kaoru cast askance only fed his own distress.

He glanced over at his brother for the hundredth time that night, and after seeing the same thing over and over, this time what he saw was strange.

Hikaru was frozen, almost as if in some meditative state, not moving, not even breathing. His focus was pinpoint on something that Kaoru couldn’t decipher, though not so much staring at something as it was fixated on the air in front of him. He stayed like that for a moment, like he was trying to solve some multi-variable calculus problem in his head. Whatever he was concentrating on, the impossibility of such a feat seemed to overtake him, and his dogged stare fluttered into a squint. He flapped the towel over his face just as his gaze crumpled, and then his body lurched.

“HNGxt’h!”

That again! What was it, a hiccup? It almost sounded like… but no… Hikaru’s didn’t sound like that. But if it was… why was he struggling so hard to fight it?

Whatever the spasm was, it visibly zapped Hikaru of what little energy he was pretending to have left. He slouched over, letting his hair shade his eyes, and even through the fringe Kaoru could see the dark circles smudged beneath them.

The pieces still didn’t quite fit together. Kaoru couldn’t tell everything that was going on inside Hikaru’s head, but there were two things that were clear. The first was that Hikaru wanted to be anywhere else in the world right now. That was plain enough to see. The second, for reasons much more abstruse, was that he wasn’t going to escape on his own.

So Kaoru stood up.

“Oh man, is it really past ten? I know it’s summer vacation, but after working so hard yesterday I’m pooped. I’m calling it a day.” He turned to his twin, who was looking up at him with glossy golden eyes, and in them Kaoru could see pleading. “Hikaru, will you come with me? I don’t want to be the only one going to bed.”

It was subtle, but Kaoru could see a small collapse of relief from his brother, and Hikaru rose from the couch on wobbly legs, still wearing the towel like a cloak. He swallowed, and again Kaoru noticed his weary expression crunch into a small wince, but Hikaru managed to find his voice. “Okay. I s-still need to change into d-dry clothes anyway.”

“Goodnight everyone!” Kaoru waved his best jovial farewell, and before anyone could question it he spun to Hikaru’s side and put a hand to his back, then swiftly steered his brother away from the crowd and to the stairs, where they could flee to the privacy of their room.

The moment they rounded the corner Hikaru bolted into the lead, which only affirmed Kaoru’s hunch about needing to swoop to his aid. It still remained to be seen why Hikaru needed to escape though. He was harder to study when he was speeding so far ahead, but if Kaoru had to guess, he would have wagered that Hikaru was holding his breath.

They made it to the room within the next minute, and just as Kaoru suspected, the moment they breached the door Hikaru sucked in a lungful of oxygen he had evidently been depriving himself of, finally lowering his hand from where it was smothering his face.

“So what’s going on?” Kaoru asked without preamble. “Did something hap—”

“HAH-IhSSHch’hoo!!” Hikaru vaulted forward so hard he almost plunged into the floor, and on instinct Kaoru darted after to catch him. Hikaru managed to remain on both feet, but the balance was short-lived. The air he finally granted himself served only to tease him and, powerless to reflex, he sucked in another gasp, his body swerving as he lost both the will to fight and any amount of control to do so. Not trusting Hikaru to hold himself upright, Kaoru secured a safety grip on his twin’s shoulder as he buckled to the fit he had been holding back.

“Hih’ihGKSHih! ‘TSHhiuu! Uh-heh… Uht’TCHSH’hiew!!… Ihh’TCHshsh!! N’uh…”

He heaved a sigh, and his breath hitched a few more times, but amounted to nothing and slipped into a groan. He sniffed as he pressed his wrist to his nose.

“I knew you were sneezing!” It made perfect sense now. That display was what Hikaru usually sneezed like. Loud, violent, and explosive, and always a surprise to see coming from such a small frame in proportion. More often than not Hikaru would sneeze so harshly that Kaoru would succumb to a fit himself. He never imagined Hikaru would even have the ability to stifle them, let alone have a reason to.

“It’s nothing,” Hikaru mumbled into his hand, then gave a rather wet sniff. “I j-just need to change into s-something dry.”

As if promptly forgetting what he had just declared, Hikaru slumped down onto the edge of the bed and sank his elbows into his knees, squashing his face as he dug his fingertips into his brow. Now that they were hidden away in their room, the guise Hikaru had been trying to maintain disintegrated by the second. In the short time it had taken them to desert the party, a scarlet hue had spread across the tops of his cheeks, matching the irritated corners of his nostrils. A cough rattled his chest, though he barely acknowledged it as it broke through his lips, convulsing him from the inside like someone shaking a rag doll. Kaoru’s unease tightened at the crackling sound of it.

“Hikaru, I think you’ve caught a cold from searching for Haruhi out in the rain.”

“I have not!” Hikaru’s head sprang up at the accusation, but the crack in his voice belittled any defiance in it. Kaoru didn’t protest—his brother’s argument would deflate in the next few seconds anyway. Instead, he stepped over to their suitcase and drew out the dry outfit his twin sorely needed. As expected, the outburst cascaded into coughing, reeling Hikaru into a fit that clawed deeper into his chest. Kaoru set the clothes on the bed next to him, and by the time Hikaru finished he had also lost his last reserves of energy to fake healthy. Not that he was doing a very good job at it to begin with. He scrubbed a hand over his scrunched features as he gave in, then added weakly, “I probably just caught whatever you had.”

“What I—?” Oh, that’s right. The whole reason Hikaru and Haruhi went on a date in the first place was because I pretended to be sick… “Yeah… probably. Sorry about that.” Hikaru’s head bobbed back down. Kaoru eased over to take the spot next to him, then laid a palm over his back and rubbed in slow, gentle circles. Hikaru’s shoulders drooped a little more. “But if you didn’t feel good, why didn’t you just say something?”

Hikaru stripped off his wet shirt and exchanged it for the dry one, moving so sluggishly and taking so long to reply that Kaoru almost suspected he had clocked out. “I didn’t want to make a big deal. Everyone was so excited we were back. The last thing I wanted was to make another scene.” He said it through pulling on the shirt, and Kaoru couldn’t see his face. The shield was obviously intentional, but even from behind the fabric Kaoru could tell that the answer lacked conviction.

“Still, I don’t understand why you were trying so hard to hide it. That’s not like you.” Kaoru couldn’t help but crack a smile, and he gave a chuckle in reminiscence. “You’re usually the one to act like you’re on your deathbed when you have so much as a sniffle from allergies.” Being sick had always brought out Hikaru’s flare for dramatics, and Kaoru couldn’t remember a time when his brother was sick and didn’t milk it for all it was worth, reaping as much sympathy and attention as he could get. Hikaru didn’t even argue the jab; he knew how true it was. Except now was the first time it was not.

“If I went up to bed early, I knew you’d go with me. I didn’t want to ruin your fun.”

Kaoru stared at his brother, searching for the tell in his fib, but Hikaru didn’t meet his gaze, so he didn’t push the issue. Once rid of the sodden clothes, the sickly twin flopped back over the bed onto his back. The impact proved too much for the congestion gripping his lungs, and he coughed hoarsely into the air, not bothering to cover.

“That doesn’t sound good,” said Kaoru. Hikaru literally seemed to be getting sicker by the minute, as if more than illness was waging war inside him. The sick twin draped a hand over his head, letting his eyes fall shut, but he was far from relaxing. For him to be this subdued, this lethargic, he must have felt really, truly terrible.

Kaoru tapped his fingers against his leg, then got up to pace a few steps across the floor, never taking an eye off his brother. When Hikaru offered nothing but wheezing, Kaoru whipped out his cell phone.

“Maybe Misuzu can bring you some soup, or hot tea. I’ll call Haruhi and ask—”

“NO!!!”

For all the twintuition the two of them possessed, Kaoru had not seen that one coming. The outburst was so sudden that he jumped, and in the same second Hikaru hurtled himself off the bed and stumbled into his brother, arms flailing in a desperate grab for stability and succeeding only in spiking the cell phone out of Kaoru’s hand. The device hit the floor with a deadly crack that without a doubt signaled the end of its electronic life, but seeing as Hikaru was one misstep away from the same fate, Kaoru didn’t hesitate to neglect his phone and catch his toppling brother instead.

“Hikaru!”

“I’m sorry!” he sputtered, scrambling to get back on his own feet, only to have them slip out from under him. Kaoru’s knees buckled under the dead weight, and Hikaru nearly pulled them both to the ground as he struggled to find bipedal balance.

“It’s okay, just relax,” Kaoru urged, finally managing to steady the both of them. Hikaru ducked his head down to cough, his limbs trembling as he kept a grip on Kaoru for support, and even through the thin layer of clothes Kaoru could feel how very warm his brother was. The moment of chaos finally calmed when Hikaru regained his breath, though it came in short heaves of air.

“Hikaru,” Kaoru began, very cautiously loosening his grip on his ill brother. He waited for Hikaru to look at him, then met his tired, heavy eyes with a careful gaze. “Are you trying to hide your illness from Haruhi?”

“Wh-what?” Hikaru stammered, and Kaoru readied himself to catch him in case he went ballistic again. “Of… of course not! Th-that’s ridiculous!” His voice was grated from the coughing, yet somehow it still managed to rise higher with each objection. “Why would I—hih-hh!… I d-hon’t…”

Hikaru couldn’t find a rebuttal, whether because he didn’t have one or he was distracted by another reflex, was unclear. He wrenched himself out of Kaoru’s hold just as his breath caught at the top of his throat.

“HahTSHhyu!! heh-ih’kCHHsh!!! iht’TCHSHoo!” The sneezes ripped out of him with little reprieve from one to the next, each seeming to expend more oxygen than he had taken in. Kaoru ran up to his brother’s side, but Hikaru waved him away, his attention arrested by the next impending explosion. His eyebrows sank into a steeple in obeisance to the torturous symptom, head tilting up as if pleading with the sky to just get it over with. He nearly choked on air as it darted in and out of his lungs, each hitch drawing him closer to his full height as he awaited the inevitable snap forward.

“Hh! uhn… hh!—heh… hh! Hh’tCHshhih! UHT’tSCHhew!… huh-hh!…”

Instead of abating, the itch seemed to only grow more irritated, holding Hikaru in a constant state of fluttering breath and then harsh expulsion of it. Kaoru felt nothing but sympathy for his brother’s torment. He could see it teasing him, taunting him, then kicking him in the gut. The sneezes gave him no mercy, and they tore through him so forcefully that Kaoru could practically feel the itch in his own nose.

Well, more than practically…

“Hih-hih-karu, are you alright??”

If Hikaru heard the question, he wasn’t able to acknowledge it, instead caught on the edge of another sneeze, this time having trouble with it.

“Hh!… heh’t— guh… hh-hh!… HAH’t—!”

“Heh’nTCHh!!”

Kaoru raised a fist to his nose, despite the fact that his brother wasn’t showing the same courtesy. The surprise of Kaoru’s sneeze seemed to effectively put an end to Hikaru’s, for the time being, and the flushed twin whipped around to stare in astonishment. There was a brief pause, then they both sniffed in unison.

“Oh great!” Hikaru complained. Kaoru blinked, wide-eyed, at the sudden outburst of anger. “So now you’re going to start too? You just have to steal my thunder!”

“Steal your— you’re the one who said you didn’t want attention!”

“I don’t! But you could at least show me some sympathy! I feel really sick! You didn’t have to mimic me!”

“I didn’t mean to! You were just sneezing so much… it was a reflex. I couldn’t help it!”

“UHHGGGHH!!!” Once again, Hikaru threw himself onto the bed. And once again, his lungs retaliated, and he erupted into another fit of coughing that curled his torso around his knees. A short whine chased the last cough, and just when it seemed like he might get a moment to relax, his nostrils flared, and a gasp jumped into his throat yet again. Exasperated, he brought his knees higher toward his head until his body resembled a tight ball, as if this would fend off the attack, but the symptom assaulted him anyway.

“HihTSHCHoo!! huhN’TSHhh! huh… huh’IHk-KSHhiu!”

“HihNTCHsh!”

Kaoru knuckled his septum as his brother’s fit evoked another sneeze from him, then sniffed in apology when Hikaru popped up to scowl. Hikaru didn’t have the energy to maintain the censure though, and promptly collapsed back over the covers. Kaoru rubbed his nose, and once he was sure he wasn’t going to sneeze again and earn another glare, he joined his brother on the bed, then combed his fingers through the sick twin’s hair.

“This is the worst day of my life,” Hikaru grumbled into the sheets. Kaoru doubted that, but he didn’t doubt that Hikaru felt that way at the moment.

“Hikaru,” he tried. “What happened with you and Haruhi?”

Hikaru turned his head, pressing his face into the mattress, and his hand clenched around a fistful of covers.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Kaoru went on, his hand still grazing through Hikaru’s damp locks. “I think I know the gist of it. Arai called and told us you ran off. But it’s okay, Hikaru. Because you did the right thing after that. You made a mistake, but then you went back. Everything is okay now. So don’t keep beating yourself up about it. It will only make you sicker.”

Hikaru’s grip on the sheets trembled, and Kaoru watched his body expand with a deep, slow inhale, and then shrink just as steadily.

“I mean it, brother,” he insisted. Hikaru shifted up to rest his head on Kaoru’s lap, but his body remained tensed and quivery. “It’s over now. You don’t have to worry. Even the boss isn’t mad anymore.”

“I don’t care what Tamaki thinks,” Hikaru mumbled, but Kaoru could tell that’s not all his brother wanted to say. His throat gave a strangled whine, as if struggling to determine for himself exactly what it was he was harboring under the petulant grimace. Under the everyday mischievous smile that could always defy the world. A smile that, to the world, was no different than his brother’s. Until that day one girl was able to distinguish one from the other.

It may not have been clear to Hikaru yet, but to Kaoru, it was crystal. “You care about what Haruhi thinks.”

This time Hikaru hid his face under his arms. It seemed that, in a roundabout way, Kaoru’s plan from the beginning had worked after all. Hikaru knew Haruhi was special. Now, though still foreign and distant from him, he was beginning to realize just how special that was. The sick twin only continued to curl up in anguish, quarreling with a discomfort that went far beyond illness.

“I saw her face when you guys came in,” Kaoru went on. “She’s not mad at you either.”

“I—” Hikaru began, but his voice broke, and he swallowed hard before trying again. “I just don’t know how I’m supposed to face her after tonight. Especially like this.”

Hikaru unfurled from his tight ball and rolled to his back, his eyes creased into a wince as he stared up through the ceiling. Kaoru smiled. Now they were getting somewhere. Little by little. That’s how it had to be with Hikaru. Ease him into the water. If he splashed in too fast, he would start to flounder.

“I know you don’t want Haruhi to worry about you,” he cooed, “but you shouldn’t hide from her either.”

Hikaru’s expression started to soften, and he blinked. “Haruhi… worried about me…”

The placid look lingered for half a second. Then his face exploded with horror.

“I DIDN’T EVEN THINK ABOUT THAT!!!”

Hikaru vaulted up from Kaoru’s lap, and his head cracked into the bottom of his brother’s chin. Kaoru yelped in pain as his neck whipped with the collision, but the frenzied twin was far too engulfed in his own vortex to notice. “I WAS SO PREOCCUPIED WITH WORRYING THAT SHE WOULD THINK I WAS GROSS THAT I DIDN’T EVEN STOP TO CONSIDER THAT SHE’D BE WORRIED! Ahhhhh I’m so selfish, OF COURSE she’d be worried because she’s kind and caring and thoughtful and a good person! Now I REALLY can’t let her see me like this!”

“Hikaru, tha’ really hurt!” Kaoru cradled his jaw, which was now throbbing from the impact. “And you ma’e me bite my tongue!”

“What if I’m still sick in the morning?? She’s bound to see me downstairs at breakfast! We HAVE to leave tonight after she falls asleep. How can we sneak out without her noticing!?! Maybe we can have a car swing by after midnight once all the lights are out…”

“Stop shouting!” Kaoru leapt after his brother, but Hikaru wormed out of his reach, pacing frantically across the room not unlike a certain blonde maniac was doing earlier. “You’re going to wake up all the guests!”

“AAAAGGH but that won’t work either because then she’ll notice me gone and be even more worried! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO, KAORU?! I have to get better right now. There’s gotta be some kind of instant remedy out there. CALL KYOYA-SENPAI! His family is in the pharmaceutical industry!!! Surely he knows of—”

“Nothing like that exists! Now will—you please—stop—running!!!”

Each time Kaoru got close enough to nab his brother, Hikaru ducked away with a show of acrobatics that was unexplainably disparate from his sick, wilted state only seconds prior. He dove between the floor and pieces of furniture to evade his brother’s restraint, and the further they were propelled into the mirthless game of chase the more it looked and sounded like an earthquake ransacking the room. As Kaoru began to run out of breath and patience, he considered calling in Kyoya’s pharmaceutical connections after all just to jab the wild invalid with a sedative.

“CALM DOWN!”

The command exploded from him louder than he had intended, but the volume of it finally cut into Hikaru’s psychosis, and for a quick moment arrested his attention. Kaoru didn’t wait for a second chance; taking advantage of his brother’s hesitation, he tackled his twin into the bed.

The game of chase swiftly evolved into a wrestling match.

“Hikaru—stop—squirming—and—LISTEN—to me!”

“Why are you doing this to me!?! You’re my brother! You’re supposed to help me!!”

“I’m trying! But you have to SHUT UP and stop fighting for a second, and I’ll tell you what we can do!” Kaoru managed to straddle Hikaru by the torso and immobilize him at last, quickly securing a grip around each wrist to pin them to the mattress over his head. Hikaru writhed beneath the clutch, but meeting the resistance, soon burned out his adrenaline. When Kaoru was certain he had his captive held in place, he stroked a soft thumb to the forearm he’d captured, and then, gently, bent down to press his forehead against his twin’s. He softened his voice to a whisper. “Calm down and just trust me. I’m on your side here.”

Hikaru’s chest heaved rapidly up and down, each breath wheezing with a cramped rattling noise as he finally stopped struggling and shouting. Hearing his discomfort, Kaoru leaned back and released one of Hikaru’s arms, which he promptly smothered over his face to cough into. His body lurched weakly with each spasm, and when he finished his eyelids drooped so heavily they were nearly closed. He looked far from comfortable, but his breathing slowed at last, and Kaoru let slip a sigh of relief that his brother had leveled out to a state that was almost calm.

Almost.

THOCK THOCK THOCK!

Both brothers snapped up from the bed, their heads whipping in synch toward the door. They froze, silent in the aftermath of the knocks, and their eyes widened as they met the other’s.

“You don’t think that’s—”

“No… I’m sure it isn’t—”

Three knocks again. Then a muffled voice.

“Guys? Open up, it’s Haruhi. I know you’re in there.”

Hikaru’s eyes bulged out of his head.

“It’s her!” the sick twin whispered so harshly his vocal chords could have been made of rocks. “Don’t answer! Maybe she’ll go away.”

“She knows we’re in here, Hikaru. We haven’t exactly been quiet—”

“SHHHH!” Hikaru shoved a finger against his brother’s lips. “Don’t talk so loud!”

THOCK THOCK THOCK THOCK!

Kaoru stood up to face the door. “Be right th—mmf!!”

Fast as the lightning that started this whole mess, Hikaru’s clammy hand clamped over his brother’s face, while the rest of him leapt onto his back. Kaoru weaved with the unsteady weight, and they collided into the dresser with a painful THA-THUNK! He veered off, trying to shake the feverish neurotic from out of his hold, and they crashed into the bed frame, then the nightstand, then their suitcase, then the dresser again, and everything clattered as they staggered into virtually every obstacle in the room, which certainly wasn’t helping Hikaru’s objective to stay quiet. Kaoru finally managed to dislodge the spindly fingers from his face when they careened into the wall.

“Ewwww, your hand is all sweaty,” he complained as he shook Hikaru off.

“I have to hide! Do you think I can fit under the bed!?”

“Of course not, dummy. There’s hardly any r— actually… yeah… Why don’t you try to squeeze under there.”

Maybe it was because he was delirious, or perhaps Kaoru was just a convincing liar, but the moment his brother gave the approval, Hikaru dropped to the floor to examine the height of the crawlspace. Free from possible attack, Kaoru cut across the room and cracked open the door before the poor guy even had a chance to realize he’d been duped.

*****

TO BE CONTINUED...

Edited November 16, 2015 by alias

[Spoo]

This is AMAZING. You've managed to capture the show in its entirety while absolutely nailing the characterization. Combine that with being extremely well-written and you have the ingredients to an epic OHSHC fic.

I am SO impressed with how you got into Hikaru and Kaoru's heads; their dialogue and behavior may as well be from the actual episode. So good!! I seriously can't wait for the second part.

[LeapYearKisses]

Ohhh man, this makes me want to watch Ouran again! This is so great!! I love the twins and you've captured them so well! I was going to leave a longer comment, but I'm seriously almost late for school now... I couldn't stop reading, ahahaha. Can't wait to see part 2~

[Lonewolf]

That was awesome!!

[VividBubbles!]

Marvelous! Absolute perfection! I completely agree with Spoo. This fic is wonderfully well written, and your characterization of the twins and understanding of their relationship is just spot on. I can't wait to read part two!

[Pyrus_Fangmon]

Oh man! I forgot how awesome and hilarious these two are!

This was amazing. I can't stop the giggling smile you have given from this. Thank you!

Can't wait for the next part. Whatever do you plan to do???

[Hovercuke]

This was absolutely amazing, and so long! (I promise that's a good thing). The fact that you plan to make a sequel is so awesome, and I can't wait to read it!

[SapphireSong]

Um. Alias. This... is the best Hikaru fic I have ever read in my life, you are amazing.

Seriously, I love ouran and all the beautiful characters but Hikaru is my special favorite and I have never until this moment seen a fic that did him justice. You got his angst and attitude just right, and his sneezes are beautiful!! I LOVE how he tries to stifle and then surprise his sneezes are actually really dramatic and forceful and I just. HE'SSOCUTE. >/////<

Actually this whole fic is adorable and I LOVE IT SO MUCH His interactions with Haruhi are so sweet and awkward, and then the Kaoru-Hikaru is so perfect!! I don't ship them because ew, but I do as far as it goes in the show and their closeness is interesting more from an emotional standpoint, and you got it exactly right!! Kaoru's such a sweetheart, caring (and putting up with) his brother. And all the other characters are right on point too!

Thanks so much for sharing this! I can't wait to see what happens next!! *waits excitedly for second half*

[Lonewolf]

I need this to continue <3

[alias]

Hey guys! I'm back with part two! Thank you so much for commenting and following! Honestly, writing and sharing fanfiction here brings me a ridiculous amount of joy, so you have no idea how happy it makes me to see you awesome people reading it.

@Spoo: Thank you so much for your nice compliments! It's so good to hear I got the twins right, because I adore their relationship and want to do it justice. The whole reason I write fanfiction is to be able to explore further the world and characters I love so much (*ahem* making them sick and vulnerable and cute is a close second of course ). I'm glad you liked it!

@LeapYearKisses: Thank you! Ouran is the show I never thought I would like and then ended up falling head over heels in love with. Hope you like part two!

@Lonewolf: Yay! Glad you liked it!

@VividBubbles!: Thank you! Hearing that I got the characterization right is seriously the best compliment I could receive. I'm so happy you approve!

@Pyrus_Fangmon: Yay! Your giggling smile makes me smile!

@flyingcukes: Thank you! I'm glad you like the length. I'm always worried long chapters will turn people away. But I too enjoy long stories.

@~fangyfacevamp~: Ahhhhh you make me so happy, thank you for all your nice words! Dude, I adore Hikaru. I just want to cuddle the crap out of his poor tormented soul. There were MULTIPLE times in the manga when he brought me to tears. And I'm with you on the shipping thing. I don't see Kaoru/Hikaru as a romantic couple, but I love how their relationship is so close and unique that it almost looks like romanticism. To me, it's not a romance, but nor is it a typical sibling relationship. It's something special and completely on its own plane.


*****

PART TWO


Haruhi could tell it was Kaoru even through the sliver of open door. The twins may have been identical, but the more she was around them, the more blatant their differences became. Kaoru greeted her with his affable grin, the one that earned first prize in feigned innocence and was about as benign as a toddler’s who had just scribbled all over the walls in the other room. He posed against the frame as he let the door swivel only a few more inches, as if flippancy would curb any suspicions of mischief. This troublemaker was definitely the more skilled of the two at keeping a smokescreen over his emotions. But that didn’t mean he was skilled enough to fool her. Her suspicions about said mischief surged.

“Oh, hi Haruhi! Fancy seeing you up this late. Are we being too loud?”

She blinked, taken aback by his commitment to the farce. Kaoru’s grin took on an apologetic look that she wasn’t sure was saying sorry for what I’ve done, or sorry for what I’m about to do. It was an expression she knew from him by now. Though… there was something slightly different about it this time. The innocent act was usually self-indulgent, and in collaboration with—if not heavily influenced by—his even more mischievous brother. The two little devils operated on secret ploys and things unsaid, but they only had fun when they could make others guess and play along. This time however, it was almost as if, instead of hinting at the secret, Kaoru was guarding it. Her gaze slid once more to the door he held tight to, and as he noticed her scrutiny, Kaoru let it inch open a little wider.

“I’ll say. There have been complaints from three different people that say it sounds like someone is being murdered up here. Just what exactly are you…”

She peeked her head around Kaoru’s shoulder, where behind him Hikaru sprang up from the floor, clonking his head on the underside of the bed in the process. His skull met the frame with a painful THUMP, though it was still only a sampling of the commotion that had erupted from their room shortly before she’d arrived. He scrambled to his feet to face Haruhi, and his cheeks flushed a bright shade of pink—or maybe they were already that color…

“Haruhi! I was just… I was… I dropped my phone!”

Hikaru dove back toward the floor and scooped up what she was fairly certain was Kaoru’s flip phone. The top half of it was now somewhat dislodged from its joint, while the screen was shattered beyond repair. Hikaru flipped the device closed, and the head of it snapped off.

She stopped to seriously consider that maybe she didn’t want to know what was going on in here after all.

“Sorry for all the commotion,” beamed Kaoru, smiling wider and shrugging his shoulders. Behind him, Hikaru tried to do the same, but the expression looked more like he was watching his own plane crash.

Yep. Most definitely didn’t want to know.

“We promise to be quiet,” Kaoru continued through the same simper, and she found her attention drawn toward the closer twin. She wondered if that was his intention. “Anyway, we don’t want to keep you. I’m sure you probably have some more rounds to do before you get to go to sleep. We were just about to crawl into bed, so you don’t have to worry.”

Was he… shooing her away? If she wasn’t suspicious enough before, she certainly was now. The whole reason they came to Karuizawa in the first place was because they and the rest of the gang stalked her all the way here. Now they suddenly wanted privacy?

It had been kind of a rough night, for everyone. Maybe she should just concede and let them have their alone time, see them again in the morning after they had all slept off the rain. It was without a doubt safer than trying to figure out what they were up to anyway. She was sent up to tell them to quiet down, and they did. Though truth be told, that wasn’t exactly the only reason she came up…

She peered once again over Kaoru’s shoulder. A short gasp cut into Hikaru’s throat as they made eye contact, and he jerked around to smother a cough into his hand.

“Actually, um…” She hesitated, unsure of which was the right thing to do, but she had to go with her gut instinct. “Kaoru, is it alright if I talk to Hikaru… privately? For a minute?”

“Oh…” Kaoru turned back to look at his brother, whose throat tensed as if he had swallowed a bug, but otherwise didn’t make a sound. “Yeah, of course. I’ll just, uh… take a little walk.”

At last he let the door swing open fully, allowing Haruhi to pass through, and with a wave and that same warm smile, he slipped into the hallway and softly shut the door behind him. His departing footsteps ebbed away to silence, and then there was just her and Hikaru.

“Uhm…” Hikaru began, but apparently had nothing planned to follow it. Haruhi tried to fill the silence for him, but found herself turning up just as speechless. Come on now. You came in here for a reason. Don’t chicken out now. You have something you need to say.

“How… how do you like your room?”

That wasn’t it.

“Oh it’s… it’s really great! Yeah, really nice. Really, really…” Hikaru looked around the room, his eyes settling on the disorder in each corner from god-knows-what was going on before Haruhi came to the door, and his mouth twisted into a slant. “We’ll pick it up before we check out, I promise.”

“Sure,” Haruhi smiled, hoping to offer some levity, but the dimples cramped her cheeks. “Don’t worry about it too much. Nothing’s broken. Well, except for your phone.”

Hikaru looked at the piece of demolished cell phone in his hand and offered a twitchy grin. He shoved it in his pocket, using the movement to twist away, and his hands danced between his hips and his pockets as he failed to settle into a natural pose. After a few seconds of more silence she was starting to suspect that he had stopped breathing.

Stop beating around the bush, Haruhi.

“Listen,” she began. Hikaru didn’t turn. He only shielded himself more, ducking into his knuckles as he rubbed his nose. But his rigid posture told her he was still listening. “You guys left so abruptly, I didn’t really get a chance to ask… I mean, we didn’t really talk much since getting back…”

Still no response. Haruhi couldn’t see Hikaru’s face, but from her angle it looked like he was shoving a fist into it. Just one more odd thing to add to the odd night. She had no idea what he might be doing. Biting his nails maybe? His head curled downward as a shiver addled his spine. She decided to keep talking.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay—”

“OH YES I’M FINE!”

The sudden outburst made her jump, and the words tumbled out so quickly it took her an extra moment to hear what he actually said. He whipped around and beamed at her with a smile so big it looked like his eyes were begging his mouth to stop.

“Are you sh—”

“Yes I’m sure! I’m positive! Everything is great! Hahaha, is that all?” His voice came out shaky and much too high, and he tried to supplement it with that same smile that only grew more wobbly with each word. Haruhi opened her mouth to try again, but Hikaru zipped to her shoulder and spun her around, proceeding to lead her along a rather unsteady path toward the door. “Anyway, you should probably be getting to bed. It’s almost eleven o’clock and—”

“Hikaru!” Haruhi dug her feet into the floor. This, again? That’s it. There is definitely something they are trying to hide from me. She was getting tired of being herded. “Are you kicking me out!?”

“What? No! No no no no of course not! I j-hust… huh…”

“Well both you and Kaoru seem pretty anxious to usher me out of this room.”

He waved his hands in the air, shaking his head desperately. “It’s not like that! We were—I mean—we… huh-hh!— I-I…”

She opened her mouth to press him further, before he could improvise some half-assed excuse, but something caught her off-guard instead; Hikaru cut off his own ramble. With a sharp intake of breath, he whipped away from her in a complete one-eighty. She half-expected him to make a break for it and leap out the window, but he never made it that far. Midway through his spin, his hand flew back to his face so furiously that it made a loud slap as it clapped down, and before she even had a chance to wonder what in the world he was doing now, his whole body seized forward.

“Huh-uht’NNGKh! Hihh’gNGXtt!!” Hikaru was barely able to catch a breath between the spasms, but that didn’t stop him from lurching forward again. “H’NGXSHh! Hh!… Ihh’gNKSHhih!! Huh’t-tCHshih!”

He continued to strangle his own face as he tried to choke back the sneezes, but each time they broke through his effort proved more unsuccessful. Haruhi stared, her mouth still hanging open on the cusp of speech as the fit tore through him, his thin frame convulsing with each attack that splayed open his already poor guise. And he wasn’t even done.

“Hih-uh’t…” Hikaru flung up his other arm and buried his head into the crook of his elbow, as if more coverage would stop the assault altogether. Haruhi winced as she watched the spasm take vengeance on being suppressed and rip through his throat. “…k’CHHjshuu!! Huh-ih’kGSHch’iew!! …Hah—mmfh… Uhh’pSHH’hoo!!!”

It took a few shallow breaths after the attack to convince Haruhi that the air wasn’t going to jump back into Hikaru’s throat and explode from him again. He sniffed deeply, the back of his hand poised beneath his nose. When a long moment passed without a sneeze, his shoulders collapsed with a sigh that almost brought the rest of him down with it. He stood there, wilted, looking like he had just been beaten with a sack of bricks.

Everything Haruhi had been missing snapped into place.

She circled around to face him, moving slowly, then slid her palm under his bangs. His stance turned rigid at her touch, but he didn’t pull away, either because he was too tired or too out of it to move.

“I knew something was wrong,” she said, mentally reproving herself for not seeing it sooner. Hikaru’s forehead blazed so hot beneath her hand it was uncomfortable to touch. “You could have just told me you were sick. I suppose it’s probably kind of my fault…”

“It’s not!” Hikaru came to life again, but before he could chime in further had to jerk his head away to cough. How she didn’t notice earlier was beyond her, for how degenerated his health was now, it pinched her in the gut just to look at him. Though, even now, he kept himself a half-turn away, still refusing to come completely out of hiding. That was probably her fault too. He may have been a sick, aching, sniffling mess, but behind those fevered eyes there was something else gnawing at his core, and Haruhi wasn’t certain even he knew what it was. She, however, had an inkling.

“It’s… totally not your fault…” Hikaru managed as his cough tapered out. “And it’s nothing, really! Not a big deal at all…” He looked as if he wanted to ramble more about how perfectly fine he was, but the coughing fit revved back up and claimed him instead. Haruhi winced again as she watched him curl with the spasm, the sound like gravel churning in his chest. This was the boy who was always ostentatious, always running his mouth and trying to prove to the world how much he didn’t care what they thought. The state he was in now, he looked no less pitiful than a sick little kid.

“It’s hardly nothing,” she said, her tone more frank than petulant. “And either way, you didn’t have to hide it from me. I can’t tell if your cheeks are red because you have a fever or because you’re embarrassed. Maybe a bit of both.”

Hikaru stopped coughing, and his cheeks promptly flushed an even deeper shade of scarlet.

“Oh, sorry…” she amended, “what I meant was, you don’t have to be embarrassed around me, Hikaru.”

“I—” he started, the single syllable quaking from his throat. The talking was a habit, but for once, it appeared as if he had finally run out of words. His mouth hung open for a second, until a tremor that raked his entire body snapped it shut.

It was strange to see him like this. So defeated. So miserable, and vulnerable. As he clamped his arms around himself, gritting his teeth against the shivers that still hadn’t stopped, out of lines, out of energy, she realized there was something else about him too.

He looked… scared.

Her hands closed into trembling fists. It’s now, or never.

Haruhi spun around, and in one fluid motion, too quick for him to even take notice, she plucked the quilt from the foot of the bed, then cast it around her quivering companion.

Hikaru’s eyes popped open as the wool flapped over his shoulders, but before he could respond she snatched him by the wrist and hauled him down to have a seat at the edge of the bed. When he settled, she took the spot right next to him.

They sat there quiet for a moment, and Haruhi flashed back to how they had sat huddled together in the church, just a couple hours ago. She let her side press cozily against Hikaru’s, a warm touch which he did not decline. He swallowed hard, the effort sounding dry and painful in his throat. Then he took a slow breath.

“About today—”

“There’s actually something else I came up here to tell you,” she cut him off before he could begin. His voice faltered halfway between starting again, but he listened. Now it was her turn to take a breath. She felt a warmth filling her own cheeks.

“I know why you got upset about the whole thing with Arai. I’m not saying you were right to be, but I understand.” Hikaru’s chin fell, and she bit her lip. Come on, get back on track. How do I say this right? Just… be honest. Man, the guys are never gonna let me live this down if they hear… She thought about the rest of their motley crew, and the commotion they’d all made when she and Hikaru finally trekked up to the inn out of the rain. Tamaki may have been the king of dramatics, but it wasn’t just him; they had all cheered and smiled when the two of them returned. She found a grin prickling her lips.

“When you all showed up out of the blue the other day, I thought my freedom for summer vacation was over. But… I’m really glad you guys came. I know I only join in begrudgingly sometimes because I have that debt to repay, and maybe it doesn’t always seem like I’m enjoying myself, but the truth is… I’m happy to spend time with you guys.”

Hikaru’s head popped up, and for the first time since she got there, he actually met her eyes, his gilded irises big and gleaming in their doe gaze. His lips slackened as he blinked, and then he managed through a tremble, “R-really?”

She scrunched her shoulders with a nervous laugh, wondering if she was going to regret admitting it. “Yeah. But, it’s more than that. I like you guys. Each and every one of you. So, it means a lot to me that you want to spend your summer vacation with me. And earlier today, when we were out in town, I had a lot of fun with you, Hikaru.”

Hikaru stopped shivering, his eyes frozen wide. “You… you did?”

She smiled at him, until the corner of his lips twitched upward ever so slightly, then she nodded. “I already know I’m your friend. I guess, I just wanted to make sure you know that you’re mine too.”

She watched Hikaru’s chest slowly expand and then shrink again as he took in careful lungfuls of air, trying to process what she said. He gripped the edge of the bed and looked down at his feet, hair cast over his face so it was hard to read his expression. But beneath the shadow of his bangs, his closed lips brimmed into a soft smile.

“Thanks.” His voice was barely a whisper.

Haruhi hummed through a grin. This time when they sat in silence, it wasn’t so cold.

It was, however, short-lived.

“Heh’t—nTCHshhuu!!”

Hikaru was barely allowed a hitch of warning before he convulsed forward and sneezed openly toward his lap. His hands flew into a panicked steeple over his face, reacting far too late, and beneath his fingers his cheeks glowed like a stop light. “Sorry,” he muffled through his shield.

Haruhi smirked, hoping to cool his chagrin. “Sounds like you could use some rest. I should probably be going so you can get to bed.”

“Oh… yeah. I mean—!” Hikaru began to lower his hands to talk, but a twitch of his nose magnetized them right back to his face. His eyelids fluttered as he spoke quickly. “D-don’t feel like you heh-have to go. You—hishh’NCHh!—can s-stay if you want to. Not that you have to stay either! You don’t have to if—hh!—you… HUH-tSHHhioo!!… ngahh—if you don’t want to. Hh!—heh’t…’NGXksh!!! Huhh’GkCHh’mh! … Hah-Ih’gkSHH’uu!!!”

“H’tNCHshew!”

They both looked up—Hikaru magically pulled from his fit—and their eyes shot toward the phantom sneeze beyond the door. Hikaru glowered, then blinked tiredly. Haruhi laughed.

“It’s probably easier to hear from inside the room, Kaoru,” she called out.

The doorknob rotated slowly, then the second twin peaked his head through the doorway.

“Oh, hi guys… I was just passing back by…” His pearly whites twinkled as he flashed a toothy grin. One that simulated innocence, but also made Haruhi think of a gremlin.

“Your timing is uncanny,” she said smugly, raising an eyebrow at him. He merely shrugged, maintaining his guiltless beam. No take-backs now. For better or for worse, these little devils are my friends. She laughed again to herself. “Anyway, I don’t want to keep you from your sleep. Feel better, Hikaru. And you take good care of him, Kaoru. I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

“Goodnight, Haruhi,” Kaoru chirped.

She bid them each a wave, then made her way to the door to leave them back to their brotherly mischief.

“Haruhi wait!”

Hikaru sprang up from the bed, rocking back on his feet as he faltered between taking a step forward and staying put. His hand cut through the air, as if reaching out to her, and her eyes darted between it and the twisting expression on his face. His lips cracked open, shifting between different shapes and failing to find one that would make the right words. Then he noticed his arm hovering and whisked it back to his side.

“Um… thanks again,” he said, his gaze cast somewhere to the right.

She gave it a moment, and when he didn’t follow with anything further, acknowledged him with a nod and another warm smile, then let herself out the door.

The smile stayed as she closed the door behind her, and as she strode down the hallway to her own room, she wondered if that was really all Hikaru wanted to say.

*****

Hikaru stared at the door long after it closed.

He looked more weathered than he did before Kaoru had left, no doubt his emotions taking a toll on him as much as the illness was. A minute went by before the sick twin so much as flinched, and as Kaoru waited the rain began to drizzle again outside their window. As the sound broke his daze, Hikaru let himself collapse backward onto the bed, flipping onto his side with a feeble groan.

“How do you feel, Hikaru?” Kaoru treaded to his brother and sat at the edge of the bed in front of him.

“I… didn’t want her to leave.”

Kaoru smirked, resting his hand on Hikaru’s waist. “Do you ever?”

The sick twin heaved a tormented sigh, and the effort predictably tumbled into a bout of harsh coughing. Hikaru clenched the sheet so hard it began to pull away from the mattress, as if the fit would topple him off the bed if he didn’t grab on to something. While the adieu of their visitor had been nothing short of amicable, he still looked far from remedied. Kaoru rubbed Hikaru’s back until his lungs gave him reprieve, and the ill teen curled into himself with a whine. When comfort refused to reach him, he ground his head into the pillow, as if such a motion would sort out everything that was flying around in there.

Kaoru couldn’t help but breathe a pitying laugh at the anguished, sickly puddle that was his brother. “Why are you still all distressed?”

Hikaru hugged the pillow closer to himself. “She said I was her friend.”

“I heard. That’s a good thing, silly.”

“I know.” Hikaru writhed against the mattress, his feet knotting into the sheets, then smothered his face deeper into the pillow. “So then why is my chest still throbbing?”

Kaoru gave a wry smile. “That’s probably the flu.” His brother groaned again in protest, for lack of any other response. Kaoru just shook his head. Hikaru had come a long way over the course of one night. It was enough to make even a rational, mature person feel sick. But even so, Kaoru knew that it was a good thing. She was a good thing.

The night wind whipped against the window outside, and the creak of glass sent a chill down Kaoru’s spine. Hikaru shivered and resumed squirming, searching for comfort, or perhaps still trying to smother his face and cut off the flow of oxygen to his head. He wound up scrunched into the pillow, his butt pointed up in the air with his knees drawn toward his chest in the mattress. Kaoru would have laughed if his twin didn’t look so miserable. A more prolonged tremble quaked through the sick boy’s bent frame.

Kaoru made work on the covers beneath Hikaru, wriggling them out from under him before he could get too tangled. Once they were free, he draped the comforter over his twin, tucking it up to his neck. Hikaru’s shoulders released their tension as the cocoon of warmth covered him, and soon afterward his legs slid down the bed. Kaoru sat on the edge next to him, watching his eyelids fall further and further, until finally the cadence of his breath slowed to a relaxed, sleepy pace.

With a yawn, Kaoru clicked off the bedside light, then as gingerly as he could manage, he climbed over his dozing brother and slipped under the covers on the other side of the bed.

His head had barely even hit the pillow when the mass next to him floundered. With one last burst of frenetic energy, Hikaru flipped over and wormed his way through the covers until he was nestled snugly against Kaoru’s chest.

The fever that radiated from Hikaru’s body made Kaoru frown, but despite the heat his twin only nuzzled in tighter. Kaoru sighed, then wrapped his arms around his brother and cuddled him in closer.

“You sure get needy when you’re sick,” he teased softly. “I just hope you’re this nice to me when I come down with this in a few days.”

Hikaru mumbled something into his shirt, but he couldn’t make it out, and figured it was probably something delirious anyway. After a little while, the shivering finally calmed, though Hikaru continued to squirm in discomfort, always ending up burrowed in his twin’s embrace.

Just when Kaoru began to suspect the sick twin had finally slipped off into slumber, Hikaru’s chest jumped erratically, a short gasp choking his breath. He groaned in complaint, grinding his teeth as he struggled against the torment, and his hands balled into fists around Kaoru’s shirt. Kaoru could tell he was loath to accept the impending reaction, but at this point he was much too tired to even try to fight it. At the last second, Hikaru ducked his head into the small space between them.

“H’gtCHHshih!!” His frame tensed harshly as it convulsed, and he was allowed barely a pause before the air leapt back into his throat. “Hh! HAH-nkTSHh’hu!!”

The spasms strangled his voice and sounded painful, and he followed them with another groan. When they gave him mercy, he sniffed miserably, then nuzzled his forehead back into Kaoru’s chest.

Kaoru tilted his head and spoke with his lips pressed into his twin’s hair. “Geez, brother. You showed Haruhi the courtesy of covering your mouth.”

He left the jab wide open for Hikaru to come back with something snarky… but the ill twin said nothing. Only hunched his shoulders and curled closer into his brother. Kaoru couldn’t see his face, but he could feel it wincing as Hikaru hid in his shirt.

“Hey…” Kaoru spoke softly now, gently prodding for his brother’s response. “Are you okay?”

Hikaru gave half a nod, as if deciding against the lie after already committing to it. A quake animated his hands as he clenched more tightly to Kaoru’s shirt, though this time, Kaoru was certain it had nothing to do with the fever. He inhaled slowly, deeply, and the exhale shook as he let it out. Then he spoke.

“I don’t want to lose her.”

Kaoru smiled, and stroked his hand through the back of his twin’s hair. “You won’t.”

The words were new when he said them aloud, and yet he knew them to be true. Haruhi was here to stay. But she was different. They were different. All their life, he and Hikaru, they never needed anyone else. They had each other, and that was enough. But then she stumbled her way over a broken vase into their world, and now suddenly, maybe, just each other wasn’t enough. They cared about her too. More than they ever knew they could.

Hikaru heaved another sigh, still struggling to come to terms with the day. With everything. The poor kid still had a lot to sort out, and even more still to discover. Kaoru made a mental promise to himself that he would do everything he could to help his brother do that.

“This is a happy ending, Hikaru.”

What Kaoru didn’t say was that it was probably, instead, a beginning.

*****

[LeapYearKisses]

PUNCHED IN THE FEELS. I love this. You're such a good writer! I could feel Hikaru's tension palpably through the whole thing, and everyone was really in character, and the atmosphere was wonderful! I'm really going to have to reread Ouran, I think. You've made me fall in love with these characters again after probably a decade since I last read it. XD Keep being awesome!

[Spoo]

He left the jab wide open for Hikaru to come back with something snarky… but the ill twin said nothing. Only hunched his shoulders and curled closer into his brother. Kaoru couldn’t see his face, but he could feel it wincing as Hikaru hid in his shirt.

“Hey…” Kaoru spoke softly now, gently prodding for his brother’s response. “Are you okay?”

Hikaru gave half a nod, as if deciding against the lie after already committing to it. A quake animated his hands as he clenched more tightly to Kaoru’s shirt, though this time, Kaoru was certain it had nothing to do with the fever. He inhaled slowly, deeply, and the exhale shook as he let it out. Then he spoke.

“I don’t want to lose her.”

This. This right here. Good God what a scene. The fragility and vulnerableness that Hikaru expresses to Kaoru is so heartbreaking, but at the same time it's really beautiful. POOR GUY. UGH.

You did not disappoint with the second part (though I highly doubt you could EVER disappoint). The confrontation/interaction between Haruhi and Hikaru was so very good. You nailed the dialogue and the emotions, and just about everything else. This is hands-down the best Ouran fic I've read in a while!

[Pyrus_Fangmon]

HOLY MOTHER OF POPSICLES!!!!!

Twinfluenza, best title ever! I just can't get enough of these too adorable bundles

Thank you SOOOO much for writing! This one is definitely going in the Favorites bin

[VividBubbles!]

I didn't get a permission slip signed for this feels trip! But seriously, AWWWW POOR HIKARU!!! He's so adorable and unsure of himself. And Haruhi's complete awareness and understanding of the twins and all their mannerisms is just so perfect. I've always adored that aspect of their relationship, and it was always one of my favorite parts of the show. Thank you for doing justice to it!

Anyway, this was absolutely wonderful! Definitely one of the best OHSHC fics I've read!

Edited November 17, 2015 by VividBubbles!

[Zuki]

I have literally not read a better ouran fic. I always favoured hikaru over all the other characters and this, man, this is so lovely and cute. I want to roll him up in a blanket burrito and keep him safe. Well done!