Break My Promise (OHSHC/Kaoru Love Story)

Chapter 18

We all sat in the music room at a large table. Well, all except for the twins. They were still fighting not too far away.

Kyoya informed us as he was punching numbers in a calculator, "Looking at the numbers, if the situation isn't resolved, I'm afraid we're going to have to stop offering our Brotherly Love package. We're down one pair of loving brothers. Oh, Haruhi," he gave her a fake, but bright smile, "I just want you to know there's no reason for you to feel responsible, even though it was your tactless comment that started this whole fuel between the twins in the first place, right?" He completely blamed Haruhi for that.

I knew if we dropped the Brotherly Love package, we would lose a lot of money. Chances were that we would do it soon, so I was wondering when the twins were going to tell the others it was all staged. Of course, if I hadn't said I would keep my mouth shut, I would have told them the truth. That wasn't the case, though. I had to wait to see how everything turned out.

Honey commented, playing sadly with Usa-chan, "It's weird for Hika-chan and Kao-chan to be fighting like this. It's never happen before."

Haruhi asked, "They've never fought before?"

"I've known Hika-chan and Kao-chan since we were in preschool. We weren't in the same year, so I never really got to talk to them, but I remember that the two of them always played together," he explained.

"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. Believe it or not, they were even more warped back then. When you stop and think about it, maybe this fight is good for them. Maybe it means the twins are expanding their horizons a bit. We should just leave them alone and let them work it out," Tamaki suggested.

So, we did just that... for about thirty minutes. They had started throwing the furniture at each other. It just ended up in a big pile. They only stopped because they had nothing else to get their hands on.

"Don't you guys think that maybe it's time to give up all this fighting? It's driving me insane," Tamaki said, obviously throwing the strategy of leaving them alone out the window.

"What'd you say? It's driving you insane? You've gotta be kidding me! How do you think I feel right now? 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!" Hikaru yelled.

"You took the words right out of my mouth. I hate you so much I bought this, Belzenef, the curse doll," Kaoru said, pulling out a wooden doll shaped like a cat. I recognized it as something from the Black Magic Club. Tamaki cowered away from it. "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!" Could really no one else tell it was fake, because it was eating at me inside.

Kaoru began writing Hikaru's name on the doll when Haruhi ran over and punched the twins in the head. She shouted, "Would you guys knock it off? What do you think you're doing? You don't bring something like this into a petty fight! Both of you are at fault here, but what's really sad is that you brought everyone else around you into your big mess! Now, apologize to each other! If you don't make up right now, then I'll never let you come to my house! Have I made myself clear?" I gasped, finally figuring it out.

I started, "Haruhi, don't-" It was too late. They smirked.

They interrupted me, "So, what you're saying, Haruhi, is that if we make up, we can come over to your place?" The members gasped, stricken with shock. Haruhi quickly turned the doll over, and after seeing Kaoru hadn't written his brother's name, screamed.

Hikaru apologized, turning his brotherly love act back on as he held Kaoru, "I'm so sorry, Kaoru. Even though I was just following our script, I said such awful things to you. I'm not fit to be your brother."

Kaoru replied, "Don't say that, Hikaru. I was so worried. I couldn't live with myself if I ever thought I had hurt you."

The pink-haired twin told him, "Kaoru, I'll never let you go again."

"Hikaru." Haruhi let the doll slip from her hands onto the floor. None of us really knew what to say.

"You gotta be kidding! You mean you guys were faking it this whole time?" Honey questioned.

They said, "We didn't have anything else to do. We were bored." As they laughed, Haruhi and Tamaki fell on their hands and knees, still flabbergasted.

I yelled at Kaoru, "You didn't tell me this was going to happen!"

Tamaki gaped, "You knew?"

I crossed my arms and frowned, "Of course, I did! Their acting was way off in some aspects. It was hard to miss. Come on, what do you take me as? An amateur?"

"You never asked. You only said you wanted to figure out our motive," Kaoru pointed out.

"Damn rich twins," I cursed under my breath stomping away. I didn't get very far before he caught my arm and pulled my to face his direction. Hikaru stood behind him.

He stopped me, "Wait a minute, Azami. You found out our motive, so tell me how you tell us apart. Come on, I wanna know."

I thought about telling him all these differences in the look of their eyes, their body language, and all this other stuff, but instead, I told the truth. "Honestly, I just look at you both and know. I don't even stop and analyze you guys. I guess in my eyes, you both are two different people, so it's like looking at two unrelated people. Sorry, I can't give you a lengthy explanation. You're just not Hikaru and Kaoru in my eyes. You're Hikaru. You're Kaoru. That's it. Nothing more to it." They stared at me, surprised with my answer. I laughed. "You're looking at me like I'm a freak! Guys, it shouldn't be that surprising. When have I ever met your expectations of me? Never, because I go far above them. Stop doubting me. It's getting annoying."

I continued laughing as I walked away, brushing off what had really just happened, because I wasn't sure they wanted it voiced. They just found out that I had broken the barrier into their own little world. Maybe I had been trespassing there for a while, but it was almost like I was allowed in there finally. It was a huge step for them.

To be honest, I was proud that I had done that. The others were right earlier. It was time for them to expand their horizons a bit. I didn't know how far they were willing to go with that, but I would help them if I could. They were pretty interesting characters, after all. I would have hated to miss out on that.

They are my friends, I added silently. Friends do that for friends... I think...