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Kaoru Hitachiin ⬤ Ouran High School Host Club
residential district ⬤ undecided!
moonblessing ⬤ Iris

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[irritated]

[Before the storm had gotten too bad, they had run out to get snacks to stock up on. This place was easy to make money. All they had to do was do what they usually did and just have absolutely no space between them. That's all they ever do anyway. Piece of cake.

But the rain just makes them too tired and it feels like they could fall asleep where they stand. Hikaru remembers the advice he had read. Usually, moonlacing made you feel better so he suggested they just cuddle in bed. Being so tired, however, they easily fall asleep in each other's arms. Again, not an uncommon occurrence. Another common occurrence is Hikaru's restless sleeping. If Kaoru doesn't wake up on the floor, it's a good day for him. If he isn't on the floor then he either wakes up with Hikaru either sleeping on him or pressed up closer than most people would find comfortable.

Kaoru isn't on the floor. It should be a good day. But it isn't when pain causes Hikaru to wake up from his spot on his stomach, his left arm and leg sprawled over Kaoru's body. Those are the spots that hurt worst and he moves away from Kaoru, rubbing his arm.]

What the hell? [Sitting up, he looks at his arm to see if there's any marks and there isn't.]

[individuates]

[it should be a good day, if he has not yet been kicked off the bed - perhaps they are getting used to this business of sharing a single! Or if nothing else at least Hikaru thrashed less last night? Where they manage to pass a night without one of them (Kaoru) making their way to the floor, they usually sleep in one of two ways - fully entangled or, if they have managed to find themselves in separate blanket cocoons, connected by an extended hand.

But it's certainly too soon for them to be so tenuously connected. And Hikaru has always been a decent blanket, anyway, even when lying on his stomach and splaying like a starfish. At first, though, Kaoru thinks he's been caught by one or two of those flailing limbs]

Mmh-- Hikaru...

[why. Wriggling a little bit under the blanket. He doesn't want to wake up just yet but... it hurts, and it's not quite going away.]

...you grow jellyfish stingers in the night or something? Owwwwww...

[irritated]

[But there's no moons, right? And Hikaru had never had tentacles...? He had been told this place held no rhyme or reason, though. Did he? Groggily, he looks around for tentacles but he doesn't see any. Weird. Maybe it just hurt because of how he was sleeping? A sore arm or something? It didn't quite explain everything but it's also much too early to put too much thought into this.

Sleepy, he decides that's it and lies back down. It's a small bed but Hikaru doesn't end up touching Kaoru right away. But he wriggles his hand under the blankets to search for his twin's. Once he finds it, the pain comes back and he wakes up from the pain of it. He pulls his hand away like he's been burned and hisses.]

Ow? What the hell? [He's still tired but apparently, touching Kaoru really hurts.] Do you have tentacles?

[individuates]

[Mmmh. Maybe they dreamed it? He huffs a bit and settles down again, almost asleep before the pain comes back from--

Hikaru's hand?

He gives a startled yelp that surprises even him, his shout coming at the same time as Hikaru's]

Ow! --the hell, Hikaru?

[scrambling out of the bedding to sit up, scrubbing at his eyes sleepily. Well, they're definitely awake now, if not necessarily fully coherent.]

No - look, hands, see?

[irritated]

[He doesn't see any tentacles but maybe they're invisible. Which sounds ridiculous but he can't put anything past this place. He hovers his hands around Kaoru's waist, trying to see if there is something invisible but there's nothing.]

Then maybe it's just our hands...?

[If anybody were to walk in, it would look weird to see Hikaru taking his bare foot and touching Kaoru's with it. Once again, it hurts and he pulls it away, looking almost offended by this fact.]

What the hell? Nobody's said anything about it hurting to touch people. Have you heard anything? We're supposed to touch! That's the whole point of this stupid place?

[individuates]

Oww - stop it, Hikaru, I don't like it.

[neither of them do, of course - and the only thing worse than hurting each time his twin touches him is that clearly Hikaru is hurting, too. The pain is not bearable by any stretch, but it might certainly be easier if it wasn't causing some effect on Hikaru, too.

Gathering up the blanket and throwing it over his brother, trying to tuck it around him without encountering any exposed skin.]

Maybe-- maybe it's like Tono being able to taste with his fingers? Maybe it's, like, the effect of jellyfish stings without actually growing one...

[maybe it's something to do with his Moonblessing? Maybe this is his fault...]

[irritated]

[Hikaru wakes up in the middle of the night to a cold bed. Did Kaoru get up to do something or did he get kicked off? Looking over the side of the bed, Hikaru gets his answer and sighs. He feels bad but he really can't control what he does in his sleep. They need a bigger bed...

Hikaru takes a blanket and joins Kaoru on the bed, pulling him close to warm him up from the cold floor.

When he wakes up, he feels a tail tickling at his stomach and he sighs. It's the three moons. He reaches up and feels those damn ears at the top of his head and looks down to see Kaoru's ringed tail.

Sitting up, he looks down at Kaoru. How obviously different he looks. It's bizarre not being identical. Like something isn't right with the world other than this world very obviously not being right. Hikaru is still not even sure why Kaoru wasn't the same as him. They had the exact same DNA. Biologically, shouldn't they have been the same? Or whatever weird alien parts they got were different...

Ugh. He doesn't want to think so much. About Kaoru being different from him and why that bothers him. That's something he shouldn't have to think about so early in the morning. He wants to lay in bed and cuddle Kaoru because the floor is cold and his bones ache. Shaking him gently, he calls out:] Let's get back on the bed. It's cold.

[individuates]

[it's a small miracle that Kaoru sleeps heavily enough that he can be kicked off the bed and not notice until morning.]

Mmnh...

[a sleepy grumble at that, curling up a little tighter. Yes, it is cold, Hikaru's not wrong, but it would be a bit warmer with his brother there beside him.

He frees a hand to rub his eyes. Blinks. Oh that-- that feels a little odd.]

Now? What time is it?

[irritated]

I don't know. Early? [Where did he put that stupid device? He looks for his but finds Kaoru's and opens it.] Early enough. We can go back to sleep. Come on.

[Without even waiting for Kaoru to agree to it, he simply just gets back on the bed. Kaoru will follow him anyway. Unless he passes back out and then Hikaru will drag him back into bed. Every time he's like this, he feels clingy. It was awkward when Kaoru wasn't here but with his brother he can cling and hold as much as he wants.]

[individuates]

Mmh.

[at least it's not so early that they won't be able to get back to sleep? A little bit more shifting and shuffling but... well, the bed will be much more comfortable than this, and he clambers in from the ground without bothering to summon the energy to stand. It's small, but they can fit together well enough. Hopefully there's not enough night left that he'll find himself on the floor again.

He's almost ready to sleep, but something ticklish on his arm is keeping him.]

...why's your boa in the bed?

[irritated]

[It's easy to just hold Kaoru close and keep him like this. Really, it's nice enough that he can easily fall back asleep. Their bodies easily falling into the rhythm of breathing in and out at the same time. Hikaru doesn't want to think about anything, especially something like this. He just wants to deal with it later but he also knows Kaoru needs him to think about this now. What he needs, Hikaru will give.]

It's your tail...[Not put very delicately but well, it is what it is. How else does he word it? He takes his own device and opens up the camera so Kaoru can look at himself.]

[individuates]

My tail? I got a tail?

[there's an attempt at trying to move it while Hikaru reaches for his device - but it comes off more like a butt-wiggle. Practice may be needed, perhaps when he's less sleepy.

Peering at Hikaru's screen.]

...hyenas don't have tails like that, huh?

text; un: fireprince

[rediscovering]

kaoru

do you ever play sports??

un: kaobocha

[individuates]

Sometimes?

I mean, team games weren't really our thing, but we're all right.

Why?

[rediscovering]

i'm trying to get enough people to play some games from my world if you wanna join us. i asked the others too.

there's a game called kuai ball where i'm from, yamamoto said it's similar to one in his world called volleyball... i know you're both from Japan....?? so maybe you know it. it's fun.

there's another game i think you'd be good at that's definitely just from the Fire Nation but it's not ready yet, gokudera's making bombs for it

voice;

[arf]

[ The second he picks up, Taichi starts the same way regardless. Full of energy and enthusiasm. He won't leave a voicemail and will call repeatedly if he doesn't get him. ]

Kaoru-saaaaaan!! It's Taichi Nanao! Do you have a minute?

un: kaobocha

[individuates]

Taichi-san?

[pausepausepause]

A minute for what?

[arf]

I need your help with something.

[ Just when it seems it's Kaoru's turn to reply, he quickly blurts out ]

But you have to keep it secret from Hikaru for a couple weeks. It's a surprise. Is that ok? I can't tell you unless you promise!

[individuates]

Keep it a secret?

But what makes you think he's not peeking over my shoulder. Like, right now?

[he's not. But his twin has been hanging out with Taichi an awful lot and Kaoru needs to know Taichi's familiar enough with them that the possibility has at least been considered.]

[arf]

Like I can tell, it's a phone call!

[ He's not psychic, and he's not very smart honestly. There's a bit of a whine in his voice. ]

I'm just hoping he's not! If he is, we can talk another time... It has to be a surprise, and we don't have much time.

[ They have plenty of time, but Hikaru has given Taichi the impression that he expects at least a year of planning before things so Taichi is kind of freaking out and needs help. ]

[irritated]

[With his legs tangled up in Kaoru's (because it's still touching and generating chroma!), they sew together in mostly silence, maybe only a few words here and there. The detail work is better done by hand and it needs concentration.

But his mind is hardly on that at all. Weekly he goes to Taichi's and does his hair for him. They talk all the time, hang out whenever they can, and Hikaru enjoys it. A lot. It's new but Hikaru's long since gotten used to new experiences. But it's like Taichi won't leave his mind and he's all he thinks about. At first, he had only offered to help Taichi make chroma because the other boy had been so nice to him. They hold hands and hug and it always feels different and Hikaru can't explain. Not at all. He holds hands with Kaoru and he touches Tamaki. By now, Hikaru has started to even invade Zuko's personal space. The Hitachiin brothers have always been handsy with people they like. So how is Taichi any different? Why does it feel like this?

When working with pointy objects, you should pay attention. Hikaru is not and that's why he ends up jabbing the sharp needle into his finger.] Ow! Shit! [He puts his finger to his mouth, sucking away at any drops of blood that might come. It's really irritating that he's made such a stupid mistake he hasn't made since he was a kid and especially so when he knows he should have been paying attention so it's his own fault.]

[individuates]

[he jumps almost simultaneously with a little cry of alarm-]

Hikaru--!

[they're good with the machines, but of course they're experienced in this - hand-seaming, hand-stitching, they have to be competant in all areas of their craft. After all, just like Kaoru told Taichi, any deficiency in their skill would show, and they couldn't afford to be complacent or too reliant on their family name.

A prick or two of the needle, a few drops of blood; they're very well used to - it's not remarkable, and they're dextrous and practised enough with their hands that it has happened less and less often as their craft developed more and more. But it will never not-trouble Kaoru to see Hikaru in pain, even over something so small and so brief as a pricked finger.

Leaning across the table, reaching out his hands for Hikaru's]

What happened? You're not pricked yourself in years...

[irritated]

[They always worry about each other and Hikaru knows that if things were opposite right now, he would be reacting in much the same way. He smiles and gives his hands to Kaoru, trying to show him he's fine.]

It wasn't too deep. I'm okay. [The blood is welling up into a small red ball again but it's not a serious injury. It's embarrassing that he's done it, though. Kaoru's right, he hasn't pricked a finger in a long time and that's not the only thing that is wounded but also his pride.]

I'm sorry. [For worrying you and not paying attention at the start.]

[individuates]

I'll be the judge of that. Lemme see.

[and he'll tidy up to make sure the fabrics are safe, before reaching for Hikaru's hand to inspect]

You seemed like you were miles away.

[irritated]

[His hands still outstretched for Kaoru, he frowns and looks off to the side.] I was thinking about Taichi. [Openly, he tells Kaoru exactly what he was thinking about. He doesn't have much in the way of secrets when it comes to his twin. Hikaru's always been an open book.]

Hey. Does it feel weird for you when you touch people? I don't feel different touching you, Tono, or Zuko. But whenever I touch Taichi, it's just...like we get tense but not in a bad way? Does that even make sense? [Scowling, he takes his uninjured hand and leans on his elbow.]

It's probably this place, right? Like have you been thinking more about...girls? [It's a loaded question but to Hikaru, he can talk to Kaoru about anything. They were born together for this reason after all.]