10 Signs You're In Love With Your Best Friend • OHSHC

Chapter 2

As the days went by, Hikaru's feelings only seemed to blossom and grow for Haruhi. Aiko would never admit it, but she was starting to fall ill due to all the talk of her. How could she hate someone she has never met before? That question was one she seemed to ask herself quite often whenever Hikaru nearly mentioned the girl who had so easily sauntered her way into his heart.

"After you replace the Y value, solve for X and then..." Aiko gnawed on the end of her pencil, hopelessly trying to reassess her feelings towards the situation. She should feel happy for Hikaru, not utterly disgusted by his feelings. Jealousy possibly played a role in this, but it was mostly fear of losing the one thing she cherished most, not including Kaoru.

They had helped her move past the death of her parents and look for the good in the bad. She was once in a horrible place - some might say she still is - but Aiko thought they had improved her vision on the world. Once she met the pair, everything seemed more colorful and cheerful then it once was. Her black and white world was splashed with an array of greens and yellows.

"Aiko," whispered a familiar voice. She glanced towards a window that was pried halfway open due to how hot the house became in April. She made sure the teacher was still writing on the chalkboard before arching her eyebrows questioningly.

"Can you sneak out?" Mouthed Kaoru as his head peeked over the cream banister. She stuck one finger up, as if telling him to wait, and then feigned ill. She had been sick a lot as a child, one of the reasons her older sister allowed her to continue being homeschooled. Although she was always inside the walls of a hospital, something eased her whenever she remained inside, away from all the dangers of the world.

"Are you feeling alright Aiko?" Her math teacher questioned as he finished solving a problem she would never apply to her daily life.

"I'm not feeling so well. Can we end this lesson early? I promise to study tonight after my headache is over." The teacher smiled politely and nodded his head understandingly. She smiled, but quickly made herself seem sick as she walked outside of the classroom and towards her room.

Once she was in the confides of her bedroom, she heard a knock on her window. On instinct, she opened the window and helped Kaoru climb through.

"What are you doing here so early? I told you classes end at five for me." Kaoru held a huge smile on his face as he took a seat on her bed, grinning ear to ear.

"Are you alright?" His expression startled her, she had never seen Kaoru this excited.

"Hikaru has a date." With those words, Aiko's heart stopped. She knew the day would come whenever Hikaru gained enough courage to ask Haruhi out -and she would have to be insane to object - but all of this was happening too soon. Kaoru's smile altered as he noticed Aiko's look of detachment.

"What's wrong? I thought you'd be happy that the loser finally managed to ask her out." Happy? Aiko was happy for him, really, but something just seemed off. Everything felt forced, including her fake smile that soon followed. It took everything in her body to keep from crying, which was a bad habit of hers. Whenever she would become overwhelmed, she was known to bust into tears and "cry it out" as Hikaru had once said.

"I am! It's just a little sudden, don't you think?" Kaoru understood what she meant. He was also afraid of allowing someone to get closer to his twin, but that was the price he was willing to pay for Hikaru's happiness. You could say Aiko and Kaoru both shared similar motives.

"It's not a real date - he just invited her out to the shops - but if it goes well it could escalate." At that moment, Aiko wished nothing more for it to go horribly wrong, and for Hikaru to come home with a newly found love, herself. She quickly snapped out of that dream when Kaoru stepped towards the window, signaling for her to follow.

"Aren't you coming? We can't miss out on their 'totally official' date!" Aiko chuckled at Kaoru's sneaky ways, and followed his lead out her window.

"What if he sees us?" Worried Aiko as they exited her yard and walked on the sidewalk. They couldn't risk showing up in a limousine, it would give them away instantly, so they opted on walking.

"He won't. It's called the art of being sneaky." Aiko grew more nervous as they got closer to there destination, worrying about what she might see. On one hand, it could be going horrendous, but on the other hand; it could be going wonderfully.

"We're here. The last time I texted Hikaru, they were visiting a slushy booth so let's check around there." Aiko nodded and held Kaoru's hand, not wanting to become lost in the crowd of commoners.

"You would think he would take her somewhere more fancy than this," commented Kaoru as he squeezed her hand when they became crowded by people passing by.

"Then again, that's just like Haruhi. She enjoys the little things in life." Aiko looked up at Kaoru as he spoke so highly of her.

"She must be special." Muttered Aiko as they found the slushy department.

"There!" Signaled Kaoru as he pointed towards the back of Hikaru entering a clothing store.

"What now?" Questioned Aiko as she noticed a girl following Hikaru.

"We follow them." Kaoru grabbed a pair of glasses and a hat off of the rack outside of the shop, managing to somehow hide himself within a silly disguise. Aiko followed his lead and grabbed a purple hat and a pair of over sized sunglasses to hide her face.

"Look how happy he is," mentioned Kaoru as they spied across an isle.

"Yeah..." Once they were within range to hear what the couple was saying, Aiko was then able to get a good look at whoever Hikaru had chosen. She had short brown hair with enchanting hazel eyes. How could Aiko hate a girl so adorable?

"Hikaru, we are not buying a lizard shirt. Where would you even wear it?" Complained Haruhi as they fumbled through a rack of T-shirts. Hikaru laughed and put it back, looking around. At one point, Kaoru had to hide behind a mannequin to keep from being spotted, leaving Aiko trailing behind the two. At first she was reluctant to come along with Kaoru, but now curiosity had taken over.

"What about this?" Asked Hikaru as he picked up a shirt with an antique camera on it.

"That doesn't really look like something you would wear." Replied Haruhi as she felt the fabric.

"No, not for me. For a friend. She's really into photography. You guys should meet sometime, you would love her," cheered Hikaru as he added the shirt to his cart.

Although he would never think of Aiko as anything more then a fried, a warm feeling washed over her as she saw just how caring he truly was. Maybe she could find a way to befriend Haruhi, even if it took everything inside of her not to cry at the sight of them together. She would try.

For Hikaru's sake~