A Song For Another Time - A Hikaru Hitachiin Story

Chapter Two - I Am in Misery

Hikaru woke up annoyed. Birds were chirping outside his window as a light rain was falling, but his room was dark and silent. He heaved a sigh before pushing his way out of bed and heading to the bathroom. Upon entering the small, tiled room he stood before his vanity for a moment, analyzing his own eyes in the mirror, searching for answers within himself.

He had dreamed about her again, about the first time he realized she was a girl, about her understanding smile, about his confession to her and the ultimate relinquish of his love as he pushed her toward another man.

"Love is stupid," he sighed to himself, but saying so didn't ease his heart.

They had all come to America together - their whole group of friends - refusing to be apart from one another, refusing to become just memories. There had been so much joy in the decision and fun, too. The look on her face when she saw them all standing in her doorway was priceless.

But the joy wore off quickly. It was hard to move on when she lived in the same building. When she lived right next door to the man you pushed her toward and when she cooked for him every night. It had only been a few weeks since they had started their lives in Boston, but the emotional toll made it feel like it had been years.

He didn't feel any animosity toward Tamaki and Haruhi, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

Hikaru picked up a nearby comb and began to run it through his unruly hair, noticing the very beginnings or orange resurfacing at the roots of his black hair. I'll have to re-dye soon, he thought, placing the comb back down.

He walked out to the dining table and sat down to breakfast already prepared by his brother, who was sitting across from him. Hikaru stared down at plate of sausage and eggs and suddenly heard the voice again.

I hope you find happiness soon.

He looked up to see his brother staring at him with a questioning look on his face.

"Hmmm?" Hikaru toned.

"I asked you if you had a bad dream again," Kaoru said. "You were fitful last night."

"Oh," Hikaru responded lowering his eyes back to the plate. The answer was obvious between them and the silence that followed was almost unbearable for the pair. Almost the entirety of their lives had been spent in secret conversations amongst themselves but now Hikaru found it hard to share what he was feeling.

Karou rose from his seat and knelt next to his brother, laying his hands on his.

"You know," probed Kaoru, resting his forehead on Hikaru's shoulder, "I had a hard time getting over it too. You can talk to me about it."

"You already know what am I feeling," Hikaru snapped. "Why do I have to say it out loud!"

He rose from the table to scrape his food in the garbage before tying the white bag up and removing it from the can. He hurriedly moved toward the door and shut it behind him with a resounding thud. He leaned his back against it for a moment, attempting to regain his composure before setting off for the dumpster outside.

Look at you, he laughed to himself, adjusting to commoner life.

As he made his way down the stairs he kept his eyes on the ground, watching his feet move over every step until eventually his eyes landed on a pair of familiar shoes. They stopped right in front of him, forcing him to pause and look up.

"Good morning Grump Face," she said with a teasing smile on her face.

"Uhm... it's Daisy, right? Or... maybe... Lily?" Hikaru responded, uninterested and intending to cause harm.

"Oh, have you met my sisters?" Rose asked, amused. "You know, we make up a lovely Garden of Eden."

Hikaru stared at her for a moment, perplexed. "Uhmmm..."

She giggled, hunched over slightly to hide her face. "Rose," she laughed. "My name is Rose."

"Well, I was close," Hikaru said annoyance clearly ringing in his voice. He had only met her the once and it was two weeks ago. "Who names their children after plants anyway?"

"Hippies," Rose said behind a grin while Hikaru raised an eyebrow, confused. "You know, like, Flower Power?"

"What does baking have to do with naming children," Hikaru asked impatiently, clearly getting lost in translation.

Rose doubled over, lifting a hand to the wall to balance herself. She couldn't control her laughter. It took her a few tries to get any words out of her mouth.

"Hik...Hikaru. You. Are. So. Funny!"

Is she laughing at me right now, he thought to himself. What is so funny? I'm not the one named after a thorny flower.

Rose turned her head toward Hikaru, gasping for breath. She took her hand from the wall and walked toward the towering figure in front of her. She reached up to his face with her index and middle finger extended and spread out the skin between Hikaru's eyebrows.

"Always frowning," she muttered. "If you don't take care of yourself Hikaru you're going to end up as a young adult with wrinkles."

Hikaru moved her hand away from his face before responding.

"Don't touch me," he said while stepping back a stair. "What are you doing here anyway?"

The laughter faded from Rose's eyes while she tried to keep a sweet smile on her face. She raised the book she was holding at her waist and moved it in front of the boy's eyes.

"I'm here to study with Mori. We have a test next week and we wanted to be prepared."

Hikaru eyes grazed over the textbook in front of him. "Comprehensive Commercial Law," it read in bold blue letters.

"Sounds boring."

"Oh, well, you've never experienced real joy until you've spent seven hours reading through commercial law jargon," Rose joked.

"Oh? Maybe I should take a look then," Hikaru smiled, lurching forward as he made a grab for the book.

Rose pulled the textbook close to herself saying, "Oh no, you have to earn this honor."

Without hesitation Hikaru moved to pull the book from the top and out of Rose's crossed arms. He began to flip through the pages before looking up at her. "What's so great about legal stuff anyway," he asked. "Are you studying to become a lawyer?"

"No, not really," she said, reaching for the book. "I'm studying business, but I thought this class would be useful."

She tucked the book back under her arm and stole a quick look at her phone. She was late to her study session.

"I'm late," she said, brushing past Hikaru. "See you around sometime — enjoy your trash run."

Hikaru looked down a moment at the trash bag still in his hand. Oh, right, he thought and looked up again to see Rose walking away, waving her hand over her head in goodbye.

I wonder how many flower sisters she has, he thought, continuing down the stairs to the dumpster.