Silent Resilience

The Difference Between the Twins

The next few days were rather uneventful. As Adriel settled into his new highschool life, his nerves started to ease up. It was Thursday of his second week at school now.

His writing had been getting better. Already in the first week he had finished the tasks Suoh-san had asked from him. Haruhi helped with the subjects he was bad at too; in return, he helped her with Literature.

He had a new routine now; walk to school with Haruhi, eat lunch with Honey and Mori, visit the Black Magic club after school and go to work after dinner.

He was now an official member of the Black Magic club too. Despite only knowing them for a bit, Adriel felt more welcome there than any other club at school. It was probably because the rest of the club understood his hatred of loud noises.

It was also because they were the only people who didn't listen to the rumors on his appearance.

After school, Adriel would wait five minutes before heading to the club room. When in Music Room #3, he would stare at the ground, quickly making his way to the Black Magic club's door. Though he was lucky to have been mostly unnoticed the first time, he could feel stares on his back the second and third.

The rumors were only growing worse. No one dared to harass him yet, in fear of his appearance. But it would only be a matter of time before it happened, and it was coming soon.

"I heard he joined the Black Magic Club"

"What a freak"

"Did you hear he hangs out with Haruhi too?"

"I saw them walking to school together"
"Honey and Mori seem close to him too"

"Why do the hosts like him?"

And as always, Adriel practiced the art of not caring. Until one day, he managed to catch another pair of eyes.

"Let's play the 'Which one is Hikaru' game!" the twins grinned, tipping their green hats in unison. Their guests answered with sheepish smiles, unable to tell the difference between the two.

The host club was currently in full swing. It had only opened a few minutes ago, but already guests were crowding the tables, clinking cups of tea against their saucers. Hikaru and Kaoru's guests seemed to be especially enthusiastic at their little game.

Haruhi wasn't, though. "That's the stupidest game I've ever heard of"

"What, you've got a problem Haruhi?" they asked in unison, placing their hands on their hips as if to challenge the natural host.

"Not really. I just don't know why you guys are so popular" She sighed, turning around to face them.

Hikaru stuck his tongue out, sliding up behind her with a teasing expression. "How disappointing. Don't you know the merits of having two good-looking guys with homosexual tendencies in the club?"

"And since we're twins, our relationship is even more taboo, therefore more interesting" Kaoru finished, sliding up to where his brother was standing. They high fived each other in the background as Haruhi sighed.

'What am I gonna have for dinner today?' she thought, completely ignoring whatever shenanigans the twins were up to behind her. She was broken out of her trance at Tamaki's loud yelling, turning to face the computer he was holding.

A shirtless, clearly edited photo of her was pasted onto the computer's home screen. The host club's King continued to yell out gibberish as people began to crowd around, staring at the photo.

"Wow, Haru-chan. You look great!" Honey smiled.

"You shady twins! You bribed her, didn't you?!" Tamaki screeched at them, not any smarter than he was a week ago. The twins deadpanned, staring down at their leader in mock disappointment.