A Song For Another Time - A Hikaru Hitachiin Story

Chapter Thirty - She Can Bring Him Such Misery

Hikaru swore under his breath as he watched Rose and Haruhi walk slowly, arm in arm down the rows of booths and vendors. He'd always heard anxiety felt like your chest was being squeezed like a dishrag being rung out. That there were heart palpitations, maybe your throat felt like it was closing and your hands got sweaty.

Up until this exact point he never would have been able to tell someone what that felt like, but watching those two short brunettes talk made him suddenly feel like he couldn't breathe. The way they pushed their heads together when they laughed made him sure they were talking about him. Each time one of them threw a backwards glance his way, he knew he was the topic. It was infuriating.

"And this one time, my foster dad got barbecue sauce all over his pants," Rose giggled to Haruhi.

Okay, so maybe they weren't talking about him. But that was worse! Wasn't he the only thing connecting them? Wasn't he important enough in both of their lives to be talked about?

Hikaru's inner meltdown was more than apparent to his twin walking beside him. It was almost as if Kaoru could see the way his brother was twisting himself up emotionally. The animated Hikaru in their minds was popping up over both girls' shoulders, trying to listen to every bit of their conversations. He was steaming from the ears and blushing as red as if he had somehow burned in the December sun.

Sensing that something needed to change quickly, Kaoru bumped into his brother with his shoulder and began speaking just loud enough for the female pair to hear.

"Hey Hikaru, you never got to tell me about that recording you have of Rose," he said through a grin.

"Oh yeah," he twin responded, being completely snapped out of his self-obsessive, anxiety-ridden, spiraling plummet. "I know you're going to love it when I show you."

He began digging around his pocket to maneuver his phone out. Rose instantly sprung into action and grabbed the device from his hand the moment it was freed from the fabric.

"Oh no you don't," she exhaled, sprinting away from him, phone in hand. Both Hitachiins watched her move further away with surprise, Hikaru's hand still shaped as if he was holding her phone.

"She's faster than she looks," Kaoru commented. Hikaru nodded slightly and then took off after her.

Rose meanwhile had already set pace with Haruhi, who was well in front of the boys, and had taken to trying to crack the lock code on Hikaru's phone. After the third failed attempt, she looked to Haruhi with, what could only be described as an attempt at, puppy eyes, silently begging her for assistance.

"Did you try their birthday — June 9," she whispered as Rose typed and then shook her head as the phone vibrated another rejection. "Well, I don't know! They're pretty simple guys — maybe someone else's birthday?"

Rose began a sigh but the air escaping her mouth quickly turned to a squeal as her arms were pulled upward.

"I'll take that back now," Hikaru growled into her ear, detaching the phone from her hand and letting her drop to her feet. She stared at her now empty hands for a moment before turning her head up toward the tall boy and flashing him "forgive me" eyes.

Before any more confrontation between the two could occur, Haruhi lightly grabbed at Rose's shirt and pulled her down the row of booths.

"Don't mind him," she said, annoyed. "Why don't you tell me more about the food here."

"I also want to know more about the exotic foods of the American commoner!" Tamaki practically squealed, jumping up behind the two ladies. Haruhi immediately took to calming the excited blonde down as Rose tried to stifle a laugh while she pointed to a nearby booth.

Behind them, Kaoru stepped next to his brother as Hikaru messed with his phone. He sighed in relief as he reconfirmed that Rose hadn't gotten in to it, hastily pressed 0802 into its face and swept to the settings icon. The code he had chosen was a constant reminder he didn't need anymore — a knife to his heart each time he typed it in. It was more than time to change it.

"Becca just called," a voice rang from above him, startling him out of his thoughts and almost forcing him to drop his phone. "She wants to meet up now to go home."

Hikaru nodded slightly before pressing in a simple number pattern he could remember — 7673 — hitting confirm and closing his phone. Finally looking up from his device, he caught his brother watching him with a sly smirk on his face. Hikaru threw him a "what are you smirking about" look that was only met with a chuckle and his brother turning away.

Before long the three had parted ways with the rest of the twin's friends (Rose having promised to spend more time with them in the future after much insisting from Tamaki) and had regrouped with the rest of Molly's fosters.

Piling back into the car, Rose allowed Becca a small reprieve from the others by giving her the front seat and sat herself next to the window with Kaoru at her immediate right. It had been an incredibly exhausting day for the brunette and she wanted as little drama as possible on the drive home.

Once everyone was buckled in and the car was finally on the way home, she leaned toward Kaoru with a sigh.

"It was nice to learn more about you today," she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Oh?" Kaoru asked, stiffening a little at their proximity while throwing a gauging glance at his brother.

"Mhm," Rose responded, her eyes closing. "Haruhi was incredibly nice."

There was a slight pause in Rose's words and Kaoru wondered if she would say something about each of his friends. He looked down at her quizzically, curious what she would think of their antics, but that wasn't what she had in mind.

"I can see why you both love her so much," she mumbled and then she fell asleep.