Day 28: Bus 2
Momo tugged on the collar of the light blue sweater she was wearing as she followed her nurse to wherever these buses were, winding her hair up into its customary bun as she went. It was an odd feeling, knowing she was about to go outside of the institute's borders. Maybe the Head Doctor was about to make an error and the shinigami, as well as
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Kaoru shuffled onto the bus and sat in the middle. Anyone who knew him would assume he'd find a place at the back where he could cause trouble. But today he wanted to be left alone. He sat by the window and propped his feet on the seat beside. He was even trying to convince himself that he didn't want his brother there. But he knew he'd cave. For now, however, he was going to be stubborn and turn everybody away.
He'd never felt or been as weak and humiliated as he'd been last night, taken down by a swarm of Dragonflies. He was covered in their bite marks, told by the nurses that he'd 'been bad', whatever they meant by that. They shoved pain killers down his throat when he refused to leave his room, using pain as an excuse. Truth was, he didn't know how to thank people or apologise for his attitude. Especially not Hikaru.
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Well, they were just clothes. And what were clothes, when his brother had been so badly hurt the night before?
Whether it was twinsense or sheer luck he couldn't say, but Hikaru ended up on the same bus as his twin. He knew that Kaoru was probably feeling sulky about the night before, but he really hadn't had a choice. They'd needed help.
"Wanna switch today?" he asked, already combing his hair to the other side. It was as if last night had never even happened.
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He slowly looked up, however, when his brother spoke. He lifted the hat to show he'd already switched. A small smile reached his lips. His jumper and scarf were almost the same as Hikaru's, only the colours were switched round...
He was gonna get teary if he thought about it too much, but he knew he had to apologise to Hikaru. Luckily, he also knew that it could be done without words. He held his big brother's hand and looked outside the window again.
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He sat down next to his brother, squeezing his hand. They didn't need to say anything about what had happened the night before. They were twins, right? Those bonds went far deeper than words.
Looking in his lunchsack, he sighed. "Honestly...juice boxes? What do they think we are, five?"
Apparently so, given that the nurses had dressed them almost identically. Oh well.
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"It's a good sign. They're acknowledging the fact that we belong together, finally."
With an almost successfully hidden wince, he shifted to lean against his brother. "Stupid pills make me tired. If we were back home, I'd have a crew of Ootori specialists around me. But nothing can heal me better than brother love," he grinned, closing his eyes. He maneuvered Hikaru's arm around him and snuggled up some more. This wasn't for show, it was for him. "Ok. Doyle Town Battle Plan?"
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Probably not, but they could hope, right?
Hikaru moved to make Kaoru more comfortable. He could feel where his brother was bandaged underneath clothes, and did his best not to jostle him. The last thing he wanted was to make his twin hurt any more than he already was.
"Yeah. Well, if we were home, you wouldn't have to worry about giant, rabid...things attackingyou in the first place," he said a touch bitterly.
Ah. Right. Battle plan.
"Hmm. Well, the only people who know which colors we're wearing are the nurses, right? Milord and his dates aren't even on this bus."
Hikaru grinned.
"I say we...shake things up a bit for the three lovebirds."
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Hikaru was more comfortable than he could ever know. Kaoru still ached, but he knew he couldn't feel any better than this right now. While he didn't want to talk about things too serious... he couldn't help but confess something that had been bugging him since the attack.
"I kinda miss mom and dad...."
Their parents were always someplace else and Kaoru had never needed anybody but Hikaru. However, last night it had struck him that he might never see their faces again. Their smiling mother and timid father. Complete strangers who cared about them unconditionally...
He played with a loose thread on Hikaru's jeans. Time to think about better things.
"A date?" he asked, grinning through the pain it took to smile. "What have you got in mind?"
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The twins had made a pact many years ago that they wouldn't bother with ANYTHING that bored them. People, projects, items. They all fell under one of two categories. Boring or interesting. And only interesting things could exist beyond them.
Kaoru chuckled before putting his Uke face on and looking up at his brother. What with the neck injuries, he succeeded only in making himself turn ever paler than before. "Maybe we should play Doctors and Nurses," he muttered. He gave the thread one last pick. "It'd be easier to customize these clothes..."
He thought about Tamaki's situation. "We could flirt with his dates, do a bit of customer stealing," he laughed. "Yagami? Oh... the 'Light' kid, right? We could use his voice to lure the customers away...."
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Hikaru pulled a face. "I probably should say something along the lines of 'maybe the town will be interesting!'...but I doubt it will." If it was like the rest of this place, it would be sickeningly cookie-cutter and dull.
The Hosting ended when he saw how pale his brother was looking. He frowned and put a hand to Kaoru's face. "You look like crap," he said, shaking his head. "Here, just lean on me. You should rest before we get there..." Hikaru grinned. "We have a big day, after all."
He laughed, mussing Kaoru's hair. "That's perfect! Use Yagami to confuse the dates. You're a genius, Kaoru."
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Kaoru pinched his brothers leg. "Gee, thanks. How do you expect me to look?" He snuggled into his brother a little more anyway, it was nice and warm against him. It helped the tablets weigh him down though, but he supposed Hikaru was right. It was better to get it out of the way. "Wanna swap juice?" he asked, out of the blue. They probably got the same, but he wanted Hikaru's. "Or we could share and save one for later." The girls at the club would have loved that. Twins both sucking on the same straw.
"I'm Hikaru," he pointed out with a smile. "We should train Yagami, we need a new toy."
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"Touche," he laughed, wrapping his arms tighter around Kaoru. "Just don't rip your stitches and bleed to death, okay? I would be a very boring one-man show." It was this, this cuddling and playful banter, that most people, even at Ouran, didn't see.
"Swap juice?" The request didn't seem at all unusual. After all, they were swapping just about everything today. "Sure but--" He smiled. "Sharing sounds even better."
It was just an indirect kiss, after all.
"Of course, Hikaru," the real one said in a perfect imitation of Kaoru's voice.
He bit his lip, thinking. "If we can train him. I'm not sure he's the trainable type. Speaking of which, have you seen Haruhi?"
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Kaoru adjusted himself and Hikaru until they fit together like two perfect pieces of a puzzle. A puzzle that had only those two pieces. All plans to grow up, mature and help Hikaru become independant were put on hold while they were recovering. Or maybe until they left this place ( ... )
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Hikaru snuggled up with Kaoru, loving the perfect way they fit. They didn't need anyone else. He had his twin, and that was all that mattered. As long as Kaoru was there, everything would be okay.
He'd just have to make sure it stayed that way. He wouldn't allow Kaoru to be hurt again. Hikaru honestly didn't think he'd be able to handle it if he were.
Taking the juice box, he removed the straw from its plastic wrapper and speared it with the straw in one deft movement. The wrapper fluttered to floor of the bus, quite forgotten. Hikaru took a long drink and handed it to Kaoru like it was a bottle of wine, not apple juice.
"Hikaru..." he said plaintively, sounding exactly like Kaoru's "Host voice." "Take this juice. It is a symbol of my love ( ... )
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"My love, I need no symbols, only you," he smiled before wrapping his lips around the straw and sucking. Oh, the girls would have loved that.
"So we're gonna crack him open? Hey, wanna play the townspeople? Lonely brother's routine? The mom's love that one. We'll find Yagami a persona too. He'd make a great angst-ridden hero. Or a bully..."
Kaoru unconsciously held Hikaru tighter. His brother couldn't disappear. They'd arrived together, they'd leave together. That had been their general life plan and it applied to every situation.
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"Oh, Hikaru..." "Kaoru" closed his eyes and pretended to swoon into his brother's chest. It didn't work very well. He ended up elbowing the juice box and spraying himself.
"...Okay, that could've gone a lot better. Hand me a napkin?" He didn't think he'd gotten more than his sleeve wet, thank goodness. It would be very uncomfortable if he was sticky for the rest of the trip.
"Oh, yes! That sounds like a lot of fun. Maybe if we play it up enough, some kind old dear will take us home with her and bake us cookies or something." As for Yagami? No comment. Hikaru didn't really think he'd go for the whole persona thing (and Hikaru had a sneaking suspicion anyway that he was already pretending to be someone he wasn't), but he didn't say anything.
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