Chapter Text
Kaoru laid on the soft bed with his arms gently draped over Hikaru's slender body. He admired the boy who others thought looked just like him, but Kaoru was able to see all the differences between themselves. Albeit they share many of the same characteristics and qualities, they were almost as easy to tell apart as normal siblings, to Kaoru, that is.
Hikaru shifted in his position and was now facing Kaoru. His face, Kaoru thought, was pulchritudinous. No blemish was to be seen and he wore not a pained expression, but one of a peaceful slumber. Kaoru was just staring in awe at the boy next to him. He delicately hugged his twin for fear if he were to squeeze too hard, the piece of artwork that was his brother would shatter into a million unfixable pieces.
The other boy moved once more to wrap his narrow arms around the torso of the younger brother, unconsciously, habitually. Kaoru hummed into Hikaru's unusually soft hair, which made the older twin smile into his younger brother's neck.
Kaoru thought about peppering kisses all over his face, but soon thought against it because normal twins wouldn't do that. That's the thing, though: they weren't normal twins. They had a strange dynamic of understanding the other without having anything be said between them. Maybe that's why they are closer to each other than other people with a twin or even a normal sibling.
Tired, but blissfully happy, Kaoru looked at the clock on the bedside table. Five minutes until the bothersome alarm would go off, signaling them to wake up and get ready for school. So the discontented Kaoru, for these five short minutes, would hold onto Hikaru until it would be time for him to hide his feelings and push back any unwanted actions against his brother. The need to always be in physical contact with Hikaru always made him ashamed of himself; the feeling of wanting him all to himself made Kaoru think that he was selfish beyond compare. They were just brothers, after all.
Four, Three, Two, One. The alarm beeps and Hikaru groans into Kaoru's chest, which made him shiver lightly. The five minutes, as predicted, passed too quickly and Kaoru found himself slightly depressed that Hikaru had removed himself from his arms and was sitting up on the shared bed.
"Another day, another dollar," Hikaru mumbles while standing up to stretch his body. The cold, frigid air hits Kaoru immediately, especially because of the lack of warmth that Hikaru had wrapped him in. He shivered just as the twin turned around; upon noticing the cold Kaoru, Hikaru crawled back in bed and embraced his younger brother.
"It's freezing in here, isn't it?" Hikaru murmured into Kaoru's ear. Almost immediately a blush rose to his cheeks and then spread to both of his ears. Hikaru's eyes were, thankfully, closed. Despite being bitterly cold seconds prior, Kaoru was now hot with embarrassment, or at least what he thought was embarrassment.
"Y-yeah," Kaoru stuttered out. At this, the other twin opened his eyes and saw the redness in his brother's cheeks. He was taken aback as he placed his hand on Kaoru's forehead, and then to his.
"Are you sick? Do you feel faint?" He hurriedly questioned. Kaoru just shook his head in response, for fear that he would stutter again. Hikaru just looked at him worriedly, but stayed in the embrace. He then put his face in the crook of Kaoru's neck and took long and even breaths.
"You don't have to hide anything from me, y'know." Kaoru fought against everything in him to keep the redness from reaching his cheeks, and barely succeeded.
"I know," He managed to say without stuttering. For a few minutes, they stayed in that position. Hikaru didn't show any sign of moving until someone knocked on the bedroom door. At that, he let out an exasperated sigh.
"Come in." A maid then entered the room and told them that their breakfast was ready before bowing and exiting. Kaoru glanced at Hikaru to see that he had closed his eyes again, but was frowning this time.
"C'mon, Hikaru," He pleaded. "Don't frown. Let's just get dressed and go down."
"But that's the reason why I'm frowning. I don't want to get dressed. I don't want to go downstairs. I don't want to go to school," he whines. "I want to stay here with you."
Now it was Kaoru who was frowning. It saddened him to think that Hikaru could say this and not realize what it was doing to his twin. For some reason, whenever Kaoru said this, it felt like there was another reason for wanting to stay with him other than the fact that they were just brothers. For Hikaru on the other hand, whenever he said it, it is just for the fact that they are brothers.
He just wished he knew what his "ulterior motive" was.
Kaoru stepped out of bed and walked over to the closet. He opened it and pulled out two matching school uniforms; he then walked over to Hikaru, who was still laying in the bed, and handed him his uniform.
"Come on, we have to leave soon." Kaoru then walked over to the connecting bathroom, went inside, and locked the door behind him. He heard Hikaru groan again before getting off the bed and begin walking around, presumably to gather the rest of the things he needed to get ready.
He turns around to face the long mirror in front of him and stared at his reflection. He saw Hikaru in himself, but then again, not at all. It was shifting between himself and his beloved brother, and he found that he was quite vexed by the feeling that rose in his chest.
It felt like someone had taken a firm hold of his heart and was squeezing it. It didn't hurt much now, but it did when Hikaru said thoughtless things; it hurt when he saw him talking to other girls; it hurt when he wasn't near him; it just hurt and all Kaoru wanted to do was find an antidote for the pain. He hated the aches and the soreness that each squeeze brought. He wanted it to all stop, because he didn't know if he could take anymore of this, whatever this is.
Kaoru to Hikaru; Hikaru to Kaoru. The mirror made him see himself differently. What was the difference? he asked himself. Why am I different?
A sudden knock on the door made Kaoru snap out of his trance. "Are you ready, Kaoru? I'm starving!" Hikaru's muffled voice comes through the door.
"Go down without me," he called back, still looking intensely into the mirror. "I'll be down in a minute." He heard footsteps receding and the shut of a door.
Kaoru then began to get dressed, but made sure not to look into the mirror.
He opens the restroom door and sitting on the bed was Hikaru. He jumps off the bed and runs to Kaoru, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the stairs.
"Took you long enough! I am so hungry!" Hikaru had waited for me. The hand then squeezed his heart, but the pain was barely noticeable because Hikaru was tightly holding onto his hand and he didn't ever want to let go.