A Song For Another Time - A Hikaru Hitachiin Story

Chapter Ten - She'll Do Whatever She Wants

Hikaru's day was already a mess

When Rose said she wanted to meet Kaoru, this wasn't exactly what he had in mind. With ceaseless chaos surrounding him, he found himself mourning his already dead plans.

He had schemed it all out. The brothers would have picked Rose up at her dorm, where they would have presented her with tacky gifts in an attempt to fluster her. Then, the three of them would have gone to nice restaurant as if they were on a date and he and his brother would have played up their Host Club act to force some sort of reaction out of Rose.

His plan was flawless - not to mention devious - and he would have come out on top. Instead they were inside the Hitachiin apartment and Rose was somehow in charge.

Before his eyes was a site he wouldn't have dreamed up in a thousand years. Rose was practically straddling his brother as Kaoru attempted to squirm away from her grasp. She was much stronger than her physique would suggest.

She had Kaoru squarely pinned down on the couch beneath her as she used her hands to shakily apply a temporary tattoo to the redhead's cheek.

"Just hold still a second, won't you," she said, breathing heavily.

"Nooooo," Kaoru whined. "My face is too beautiful to be marked like this!"

Rose sighed heavily, probably for the hundredth time that morning. She felt like she had gone over the temporary aspect of the tattoo frequently enough that Hikaru's brother would have gotten the point but apparently he was denser than she thought.

"I TOLD YOU IT'S TEMPORARY," she said, looking him in the eyes. "Honestly Kaoru, it's so temporary that even a good cry would wash it off your cheeks."

She laughed to herself in mild victory as she pulled the paper backing off the tattoo to reveal a successful application. She moved herself off of him, one leg at a time before standing up in front of the sofa. Rose paused a moment, admiring her work before leaning down and patting his shoulder.

"If you decide you don't like it you can sob your little heart out like the baby you are and it will disappear," she said.

Kaoru gave her a glare before jumping up to look at his face in the bathroom mirror. Despite the fact that Kaoru had followed her and his brother around for an entire day, Rose wasn't quite what he expected. With Hikaru she had been almost soft, though mischievous but it seemed like with him she wasn't going to take any nonsense.

Rose had arrived earlier that morning, at exactly the time she said she would. She and Hikaru, though honestly it was mostly Rose, had decided the three of them were going to attend a Harvard Football game on Saturday. Hikaru and Kaoru weren't exactly the type to lean into school spirit, let alone attend a college football game, and Rose decided it was the perfect time to instill the spirit of Crimson into the boys.

Rose knew that meeting Hikaru's twin was going to be nerve wracking and, if she didn't take control, it was likely to be a shitstorm of never-ending teasing for her. She figured with two Hikaru's around she was in for a long day with plenty of surprises and she needed control of as much of the day as possible.

Hikaru and Rose had talked on the phone for less than three minutes about how she would meet Kaoru. Hikaru had thought it would be a long conversation but Rose didn't even give him 30 seconds to talk.

"We're going to the football game this weekend. I'll meet you at your apartment at 11:00 am," she had said. "I'll bring some Crimson gear. Have some water bottles ready."

She paused for a second - not nearly long enough for Hikaru to respond.

"Foot-" he had started to question, but she cut him off.

"They're playing Dartmouth. It's a big deal," she rushed through her words. "Remember, 11 am. Saturday. See you then."

And she hung up the phone. Rose had sighed as she put the phone down, pulling air slowly through her nose to catch her breath. Relief washed over her and she allowed herself to smile. She had won.

On the other end of the line, Hikaru had felt like he had been run over by a tornado as he pulled the phone away from his face and stared at the screen blinking in indication of the call ending. He looked over at his brother with a bewildered look on his face. Kaoru couldn't stop the laughter from pouring out of his mouth at his brother looking like a deer in the headlights.

"She wants to go to a football game," Hikaru had said as he turned his face away from him. He couldn't believe he had lost again.

Now, as the football game was mere hours away, Hikaru couldn't quite tell who was losing more: Kaoru or him.

There was a swirl of emotions erupting inside of him. He was annoyed at how Rose had taken charge without so much as a second thought about how the twins would feel about football and school spirit. He was nervous about her meeting his brother and he was angry that instead of flustering her, he was the one that was flustered. He couldn't really comprehend the image of Rose on top of his brother or why she hadn't so much as given him a second glance after saying hello at the door. She had brushed right past him and instantly introduced herself to Kaoru.

On the kitchen table she had laid out two separate outfits: one green and one red. She had instructed Hikaru to wear the green jersey, insisting that Kaoru's red hair would clash with the color as she handed the younger twin the red shirt. The Hitachiins knew next to nothing about Harvard football and didn't question the outfits, though the older had noticed Rose was wearing crimson. Did she mean for her and Kaoru to match, he wondered.

The twins hadn't pegged Rose as a girl particularly full of school spirit, but first impressions - or, hell, even impressions made over several weeks - were hardly an indicator of the entirety of a person. Hikaru would have also never thought Rose one to let loose enough to belt out songs in her dorm room.

As Rose began the process of putting temporary tattoos on the twins, Hikaru had the distinct feeling that he was witnessing an inkling of Rose's inner-monster.

While Kaoru lamented his face in the bathroom, Rose turned her attention to Hikaru. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn he saw a flash of deviance behind those chocolate eyes. Her gaze was fully focused on him as she grabbed his arm and pushed him on the couch. Unlike with Kaoru, she knelt to the side of him as she pressed the sticky paper to his face and dabbed it with a wet cloth.

"Really, I'm much too beautiful for this," Hikaru said, protesting.

Rose scoffed and responded, "No one is too beautiful for temporary tattoos."

Still, Hikaru attempted to wiggle away, forcing her to push her palm into his chest.

"Stay put," she mumbled before taking the cloth away from his face and pulling at the paper backing. "See, you're done already. Wasn't that painless?"

Hikaru responded with a glare but before he could retreat to the bathroom to see Rose's dirty work, she grabbed his hand, her purse and the waters and began to drag him to the door.

"Come along Kaoru," she shouted over her shoulder. "We're going to be late to the game."

Kaoru met them at the door moments later and gave his brother a good look over. Hikaru was too focused on the storm inside his head to notice his brother and Rose share a glance and matching grins. Their moment had passed in a flash, unnoticed.