The Smile of a Shadow

Chapter 16

The blaring alarm from Hikaru's phone forced Kaoru to slowly open his tired eyelids and brought forth a blurry image of a familiar figure curled up beside him; his head rested in the crook of Kaoru's neck and his arms and legs wrapped around Kaoru's body as if he was a body pillow. After he shut off the alarm, he wrapped his arms around Hikaru's head and gently stroked his soft, auburn locks, and eventually lost himself within his thoughts. An image of Kyoya appeared in his mind; the tall boy stood tall with his usual dark smirk as he stared towards Kaoru, slowly licking his lips and loosening his tie with his long slender fingers. Immediately, the scene darkened and Kyoya was surrounded within a red hue with his white school shirt unbuttoned, revealing his lean torso, and in a sultry tone he spoke slowly, "is it time for your punishment?" Kaoru immediately shook himself out of his daze as his cheeks flushed and his heartbeat quickened, shocked at his imagination and slapped his face lightly so as not to wake up Hikaru. What was that? He thought. As he lay in bed, Hikaru drowsily loosened his grip and slowly twisted around to face away from Kaoru, but at the same time pulled the sheets along with him. Kaoru felt a sense of relief as he slipped out of the bed without disturbing his twin and wandered into their shared bathroom attached to their bedroom opposite of their bed.

Kaoru splashed cold water onto his face with a wince as it quickly washed away the remaining tiredness that he felt and then he proceeded to squirt soap onto his right palm, rubbed his hands together, and then massaged it into his cheeks. He efficiently completed his skincare routine and finished off with spreading gel throughout his hair, styling it into its usual spiked form off to the left side. He glanced briefly at the small clock  on his desk that read 7:30 a.m. and proceeded to dress himself in his freshly cleaned school uniform that hung on the back of his chair. He finally reached for his phone and he immediately spotted the flashing light on the top corner, indicating an unread message. Kyoya. A hopeful smile popped onto his face as he flipped open the cover and his heart instantly melted.

Good morning, sleeping beauty. I hope you slept well. You were quite adorable during the ride yesterday. Anyway, I wasn't able to talk to you about some important matters. We should talk prior to club hours.

Kaoru giggled to himself before quickly typing a response.

Aww! Why thank you >////< And yeah sure, maybe we can have lunch together?

He waited a moment before a ping sounded and he rolled his eyes.

That sounds splendid. I look forward to that.

"Man, he's all about the formalities isn't he?" Hikaru's voice and sharp cackle almost stopped Kaoru's heart as he jumped and clutched his phone to his chest as he glared at his twin.

"Hikaru!"

"What?" he said, "I was just curious what your texts would be like...but obviously you guys haven't gone very far."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm saying you're dating a robot."

Kaoru's face grew warm as he thought of them as a couple, but he frowned at Hikaru's inaccurate portrayal. "He's not a robot," he mumbled.

Hikaru rolled his eyes as he buttoned up his white school dress shirt. "Whatever you say. I just thought you would want more of the cuddly type."

Once they finished getting ready for school, the twins strolled through the long hallways of the mansion and into the main dining area where the twin maids stood with wide smiles as they bowed in unison and lifted the silver cover off their plates, revealing a set of steaming fried eggs with buttered toast on the side. Hikaru licked his lips and began scarfing down his breakfast as soon as he sat down, but Kaoru suddenly didn't have an appetite as his mind was too focused on Hikaru's thoughtless comment. Kyoya may take things seriously, but Kaoru knew that he cares a lot deep down, at least he thought he did. Then again, the few times they have been alone together, there seemed to be some tension and reservations for Kyoya to be closer in their relationship. As if he wasn't sure about it all. Oh god. Have I been pushing him to be with me? Is he uncomfortable with being in a relationship with me? Kaoru suddenly did not feel so good, but at that moment, one of the maids announced the arrival of their ride to school. Hikaru immediately jumped up from his seat and grabbed onto Kaoru's left arm, dragging him out of his seat. Kaoru's reflexes were quick enough to grab a piece of toast and his book bag that hung on the back of the chair while he protested Hikaru's rush to get out the door.

Once they arrived at Ouran's large school grounds, the Hitachiin twins scurried through the complicated maze of hallways until they reached the third music room. A half hour remained before classes began, so they hung out with Tamaki and Haruhi who had also just arrived, though Haruhi appeared slightly disheveled and annoyed while Tamaki ignorantly chattered away with Hikaru. Kaoru immediately noticed that the tension that had previously filled the room over the past month seemed to have finally dissipated as Hikaru and Tamaki returned to their usual selves and he was pleased for Hikaru's growth. That's probably why he was in such a hurry. He missed the usual banter with the boss. Kaoru strode over to an empty table and slumped down as negative thoughts of Kyoya bombarded him once again and he groaned quietly to himself.

"I would have thought you would be a lot more happier than this to see your brother finally get over himself," spoke a deep voice that caused Kaoru's heart to almost stop completely.

His head twisted upward to see Kyoya's sharp grey eyes staring down at him and he suddenly felt extremely small like a fly caught in a spiders web. But the feeling of shame washed over him and Kaoru immediately turned his attention to the smooth surface of the table in front of him. He remained quiet. How could he face Kyoya? What if it was true that Kyoya was only getting together with him because he was being forced to? Did he feel bad for Kaoru? Overwhelmed and without thinking, Kaoru stood up from the table and dashed away towards the music doors where he practically slammed doors open, gathering all the attention from the other hosts, but he couldn't care less at that moment. He felt tears prick his eyes as worries continued to build up inside his mind as he ran down the hallways towards the nearest men's washroom. He shut a stall door and buried his face in his hands as he sat on the porcelain toilet, his face burned with embarrassment as it slowly sunk in that he had just stormed out of the room. Kaoru took a few deep breaths to calm himself and then sighed heavily as he wiped the tears away with his sleeve. I guess we've never really settled it officially. For all I know, I could just be putting more pressure on him. Kaoru sighed again and sat for a moment until he heard a flurry of footsteps that echoed from the hallway, indicating that the bell had rung for the start of class, and he couldn't bring himself to move.

"Kaoru?" Hikaru's voice rang through the washroom.

Kaoru could only manage a small, embarrassed mumble, "Hey Hikaru."

"What happened? Did Kyoya-senpai say something that upset you? If so, do I need to have a little conversation with him...with my fists?"

Kaoru chuckled and opened the stall door to face his twin who huffed in annoyance, "No, please don't. He didn't say anything wrong. I'm just...thinking too much, I guess."

"About what?"

"It's nothing," Kaoru hesitated as he bit his lip nervously, but continued slowly, "I just worry that I'm putting pressure on Kyoya-senpai. I know his family situation is complicated and probably wouldn't want their precious son to be with a guy like me."

Hikaru stared at his twin in disbelief, "is this because of what I said about Kyoya this morning about being too serious? I was just joking. I'm sorry. It's still hard to believe that you guys are together."

A quiet, yet throaty chuckle appeared as Kyoya entered the washroom and creeped up beside Hikaru as he spoke gently, "I couldn't help but overhear your concern and while I appreciate the sentiment, you should not worry about my family's opinion of us. I will handle that matter. I will also emphasize that I meant everything I've said up till now and I'm not ashamed of our relationship."

A sense of relief washed over Kaoru and he felt silly, so he wrapped his arms around Kyoya as a grin spread from ear to ear across his face. Unfortunately, the touching moment was ruined by an annoyed cough from Hikaru.

"Ugh. This is so weird," he said, "but we gotta get to class. We are already super late because of you."

Kaoru froze and began to panic. "Oh no! My book bag is still in the Music-"

Kyoya cut him off by handing over his book bag with a knowing smirk. Kaoru blushed and grabbed it from him before being dragged out of the washroom by Hikaru and they scurried to their morning class that had just begun fifteen minutes prior.