Keep It Together (OHSHC/Hikaru Love Story)

Chapter 21

I can't quite explain the difference between Hikaru and I. We never stopped teasing each other or getting the other in trouble, but there was still something that hadn't been there before. We'd catch each other glancing at the other and turn away quickly. Whenever we made fun of the other, there was always a smile that contained some sort of emotion behind it that we'd give at the end of our sentence. "Frenchie" and "Devil" had become more like pet names. Honestly, I wasn't sure what was happening.

It was bound to happen, though. He had saved my life. Things weren't going to stay the same after something like that. Not only that, but we were spending a lot more time with each other since I had to teach him. I was suddenly becoming closer to him as I taught him more about my background and the language I had grown up with.

At the same time, I found myself delaying my replies to Eric's text and ignoring his calls more and more often. I used to talk to him once a day, but it was suddenly down to once or twice a week. I always felt bad after letting the phone stop ringing or turning it off altogether, but I still kept doing it. It was almost automatic.

Around a month after the beach, nothing more than the usual craziness had occurred. Of course, it could never stay that way. It was another cosplay event we had, and we decided to use military and police as our costumes. I came out of the changing room and sighed, "I don't think it's too much to ask that I don't match you for once, Tamaki."

"But it's adorable! I made everyone else match up, too," Tamaki defended himself. I looked around at the others. Mori and Kyoya wore black uniforms, the twins had bright blue ones, and Haruhi and Honey wore a traditional police uniform. On the other hand, Tamaki and I were dressed in white with medals on our pockets. It seemed we were decorated officers. I couldn't be completely mad since it was the first time I had been allowed to wear pants in school, but I still couldn't see why he made such a big deal out of us being similar.

Haruhi wondered, "Do girls really go for police officers?"

Kyoya answered, "There are plenty of girls interested by them. They live a dangerous life trying to rid the world of evil. It's very admirable."

"Besides..." Kaoru started. His brother took my white police hat and put it on himself.

Hikaru wrapped his arm around my waist and smirked, "... girls think uniforms are sexy. Don't you agree, Katashi?"

"You wish," I replied, taking back my hat and getting out of his hold. There it was again. That smile. I could feel myself doing it, too.

While Tamaki was clearly annoyed by the comment, he realized no amount of yelling at Hikaru would get him to stop. So, he changed the subject, "Alright! Let's get into position and open for business!" We all saluted him to try to get more into the spirit and went into the main room. There, we got in our poses. I stood in the front of the group next to Tamaki, and I held the brim of my hat and tilted it down slightly. The Host Club was officially opened.

The doors opened, and we said, "Welcome!" My smiled faltered slightly when I saw who had entered. A little girl with blue eyes, long blond hair in pigtails, and the Ouran Elementary girls' uniform had walked in. What was our deal with kids lately?