3:37 AM.

It was 3:37 am in the freaking morning, and Hikaru couldn't fall back asleep. Visions of the past few hours flashed through his mind, violating his dreams. It was her. Haruhi was doing this to him. 

To us, He reminded himself, she's doing it to us.

After Haruhi had dragged them away from the couch, she literally meant to help them do homework. She completely cleared the table, and threw all of her schoolwork on top of it. 

**

"Come on! Let’s get started!" She had said excitedly. She seemed very happy doing homework on the day before school started. Nerd.

Hikaru and Kaoru didn't say anything. They just sat at the table with plain faces, staring into space.

"So... Who needs help with math?" She asked, eyeing the two of them. Haruhi was determined to make these boys get to know her-- and more importantly, get to know themselves.

Hikaru stuck his thumb in Kaoru's direction, making his brother pout. 

"Kaoru sucks at math," He said, his facial expression unchanging. The second after he said it, he asked himself why he did it. He had never noticed a single flaw about his brother until right now... So why did he openly point it out in front of this girl?

Kaoru narrowed his eyes and then made a sad face.

Haruhi made a mental note in her head: Hikaru- The leader. The jokester. The man in charge. Kaoru- The calm one. Thinks things through before he acts. Backs his brother up.

She cleared her throat before smiling brightly at Kaoru.

“Okay! What do you need help on?”

Kaoru shrugged, tilting his head to the side. He seemed to be studying her further, trying to understand her. She was confusing him.

Hikaru spoke up. “Hey, we never do summer homework. So can you please jus-“

“Watch it, Hikaru!” She interrupted, “If you don’t get your homework done than you’ll get bad grades, and you will not get into a good college!” Haruhi was purposely getting on their nerves. She figured that she could find out more about them If they got angry.

However, she got the opposite response.

The twins were just staring at each other blankly. They finally gave in and opened their books, flipping to the first chapter. Haruhi handed them the right notebook paper and a pen, and they got to work.

Haruhi spent the first few problems helping them and showing them what to do. She even got a laugh from Hikaru and a sheepish smile from Kaoru.

Sadly, thirty minutes in, the twins yawned and threw their hands up over their heads.

“We are tired. Goodnight.” They spilled out the words quickly, supporting each other as they stood up.

Haruhi was a little shocked. For a few moments it felt like all three were friends. The twins left the room silently and fast—exiting just when Haruhi called, “Oh, good-night.” She spent the next ten minutes cleaning the kitchen. There was something about those brothers that she just couldn’t grab onto. Something that she felt she should know but she just… didn’t. They were so different from one another, but it felt like they just couldn’t accept that.

Hikaru stepped inside the kitchen and stood in the shadows, just watching her. He had just taken a shower, so his hair was wet and fanning across his forehead. He had loose sweatpants on and no shirt. It was fascinating to him how this girl could handle their outbursts and coldness.

“We could destroy you,” He whispered, causing her to jerk around and stare at him with a look of pure shock on her face. The shock soon turned into fear. “We could ruin your life. Remember that before you become close to us. We don’t like other people. And I don’t want you to get hurt.” He turned, putting a hand in his pocket and turning away so his muscular back was facing her.

Haruhi watched the beautiful boy in front of her struggle to find words. Her heart ached when he gave her that warning. All she wanted to do was help.

“By the way,” Hikaru glanced back at her, smirking, “You won the game.”

********