opia | k. hitachiin

3 | jumps and skips

Kaoru looked at his brother in something akin to internal pain and Hikaru had the mind to shoot him a bemused look before continuing. Usually, Kaoru would jump in on this and have fun playing mind games with his brother but not now. And not her.

"Let's play Which One is Hikaru Game!"

Ai seemed more stressed than he was during last week's math quiz and he would've done anything to relieve her of the weird concoctions swirling in his brother's mind, but Tamaki beat him to it.

"Hikaru, you idiot! She doesn't even know you're twins. She can't even see the difference."

"Wow, he said something surprisingly logical." Haruhi received an offended look but she paid him no mind. She stared at Hikaru, waiting for him to defend himself, but his sweet childish brother just leaned back into the uncomfortable chair and pouted, arms crossed, lips puckered, cheeks puffed—seriously.

"When does class start?" Ai asked and Kaoru swore every time she started a sentence, his heart jumped along to punctuate it.

"In a few minutes, good call though." Haruhi stood up and held Ai's shoulder as they maneuvered around the coffee table. "Let's walk you there and get you settled in your seat."

It wasn't until both girls stepped out of the room did Kaoru allow himself to exhale. Funny, he didn't remember holding his breath. Hikaru gave him a look that just conveyed how weird he was acting, but he decided he didn't want to tell his brother about their first meeting.

Hikaru kept things to himself so why shouldn't he.

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It was the weekend and it was one of those rare days when Hikaru was out on a date with some rich guy's daughter and he could go out alone without him hanging around. So he decided to pay the park a little visit.

Although he expected to see her, he still felt some surprise drilling his body for a second when he spotted her on the same bench of their first meeting. That dog was also there and he guessed it was a guide dog. A very cute guide dog with a very cute owner.

He walked closer to her and he could see that the left part of her hair was pulled back with a braid that started just at her temple. It suited her a lot and he felt his steps stutter.

"Hey," he said before gentle lowering himself beside her. "It's Kaoru again."

She didn't look as worried as she did last time nor as annoyed—then again, he offended her more than he could count on one hand and made it seem that her blindness was a superpower when to her it was a disability. And now he felt like shit, rewinding their meet-cute and maybe expecting her to miraculously land a slap with good aim on his cheek.

But she just smiled tentatively and spared him a glance that was only off by a few millimeters or maybe something smaller.

"So how was your week?"

She closed her book and gazed ahead. "Started school."

"Yeah?"

"Met very interesting people. Mistaken a boy for a girl and was fed cake by a suspiciously sweet upperclassman."

He held in snorts at her way of phrasing it. Strange she only mentioned what he was there to witness although she had a whole week. Nevertheless, he didn't comment. He didn't want to seem suspicious—there was one thing though.

"Mistaken a boy for a girl? Why?"

"Well his name is Haruhi for starters and he just sounded like a girl. I mean, I don't judge but sometimes because I can't see, I kinda have to."

Kaoru breathed through his nose. He could easily trust her with Haruhi's secret but he had no right to tell her nor could he reveal that he knew the 'guy'. So, with much willpower, he pushed the conversation into another direction and easily pulled her in. She wasn't that difficult to talk to. More like, she needed someone to start to follow.

By the end of the day, he had her number on his phone and a skip in his step. His brother had never seemed more confused.