Hikaru and Kaoru leaned back on the couch and crossed one leg over the other, so on knee was sticking out to the side. Haruhi was amazed about how much alike they were. They were also really different, though. Hikaru was going to be harder to get to know, but his weak spot was Kaoru. Haruhi knew she had to get Kaoru first, and she basically already had. She just had to earn his trust and then show him that she wasn't going to leave him. That's what they both needed.

Haruhi watched the opening of the movie flash on the screen, and she wondered if the twins felt the same way she did. She wondered if they had ever wanted a change.

Maybe they did, but they were just afraid to make one.

That, Haruhi thought, would be the saddest thing of all.

********

Hikaru and Kaoru woke up to the lovley sound of their shrieking alarm clock. It was five thirty in the morning, and neither of them wanted to wake up.

"Kaoru...." Hikaru moaned from the other side of the bed. "Please make it stop..."

Kaoru lazily whacked him upside the head and reached for the snooze button. Both twins were about to doze off again when Haruhi crashed their door open.

"Guys! Get up!" She called, flicking on the lights. Kaoru let out a low groan and dove under the covers again. Hikaru flopped a pillow over his head.

"What are you doing in our room?" Hikaru asked. He was trying to sound angry, but it was too early in the morning, and the pillow over his face was making his voice muffled.

Haruhi shrugged.

"I knew you guys wouldn't get up. I decided to help. You can't be late on the second day." She said cheerfully.

Kaoru threw his pillow at her and groaned again.

"No... We don't want to go back there..." He said groggily, his voice weighed down with sleep. Haruhi sighed and yanked the pillow off of Hikaru's eyes. He simply ignored her and rolled back onto his side.

"I know, but you need to wake up. Please?" Haruhi pleaded. When they didn't answer, she finally gave up and walked out of their room.

Once the twins heard the door click shut, they sat up and yawned. Hikaru rubbed his eyes and slapped his cheek to try to wake up. Kaoru tugged on his bangs and yawned again.

"She didn't have to do that..." Hikaru mumbled.

"Yeah, but somehow she was right. We wouldn't have even gotten up." Kaoru rolled out of bed and shivered when his bare chest made contact with the cold morning air coming through the open window. Hikaru turned around so that his legs dangled off of the side of the bed, but he was still sitting down.

"Yeah, she was right about dinner, too." He agreed, pointing to the clean dinner tray that was still sitting on the bedside table. "We wouldn't have eaten anything."

Kaoru nodded and threw him his uniform to put on.

"Remind me to take it back down to her." He made a mental note in his head. Hikaru slid one arm through his white undershirt and looked at the blazer in disgust.

"Yeah, okay. Are we going to act like last night never happened?" He asked him. Kaoru stopped what he was doing and looked at his brother nervously.

"The movie? It... It wasn't so bad, actually."

Hikaru smiled with relief and continued to dress.

"I thought so too. And what about at school when she would always wait for us after class was over? That was nice if her, too." He slid on his necktie.

"And how she calls us 'guys' like we're her friends," Kaoru added.

They continued having this conversation about Haruhi until they were completely ready (emotionally as well as physically) to go downstairs to have breakfast. Kaoru grabbed the dishes from last night and then followed Hikaru to the kitchen. Once they entered the room, he placed the plates in the sink and sat at the counter. Haruhi hadn't come downstairs yet, and they assumed she was changing. She had woken them up in her pajamas, so she still needed it get ready.

Haruhi had her dress on and her hair brushed as soon as she got back to her room. She caught herself taking an extra long time staring at herself in the mirror. To her, her face was so plain and boring.

Do the twins go for girls with plain faces? She thought. After she had processed and admitted to herself that she was actually worrying about what the twins thought of her, she splashed water on her face and had to "wake up".

Eventually, she had made it down to the kitchen and saw Hikaru getting drinks for everyone and Kaoru cooking eggs. She didn't want to say anything, but she noticed small grins on their faces.

"You got up?" She wondered, joining Kaoru by the stove. "Can I help?"

Hikaru turned his head and called back to her, "Yeah, we got up. We couldn't go back to sleep."

Kaoru nodded. "I've got this covered, can you grab some plates?" He asked, pointing to a cabinet.

She opened the cabinet doors and pulled out three plates. She set them down next to Kaoru and sat at the counter with Hikaru.

"It's my turn to cook tomorrow. We alternate every day." He stated, pleased with the system they had. Haruhi looked at him curiously.

"Well, you need to add me in there, too, right?" She asked. Kaoru looked at her from the stove and dropped his spatula. Hikaru did a spit-take with his orange juice.

"I am living here. It's only fair." Haruhi said confidently. Hikaru wiped the juice off of his face with a napkin.

"Uh..." He stuttered, gazing at Kaoru for approval. His brother was at the sink, washing off the spatula. Kaoru shrugged.

"We've never been asked that before, so I guess we could try it out." He answered. Haruhi smiled and picked up her juice.

"Good."

Hikaru noticed that she wasn't afraid of them like everyone else was. She was bold and confident, but knew when take back off.

That's only because she doesn't know what you did, He thought, if she knew the real you, she'd run away screaming-- like that blond guy yesterday.

Once breakfast was over, they all piled into the limo and began the drive to school. Haruhi was upset when she saw their faces fall as the building came into view. She knew the happiness couldn't have lasted forever, but it was still sad when they went back to being made of stone.

The morning was the same as yesterday, and the twins acted as if she wasn't even there. So, she went off to try and find Tamaki. He wasn't easy to miss. She saw his blond hair in the crowd, and somehow she managed to push her way through the group of people and stand next to him.

"Hello, Tamaki Senpai," She greeted him, waving. He turned his head and smiled.

"You've come to see me again, Haruhi? Oh, I feel so special!" He sang, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What's up?"

Haruhi remembered why she wanted to find him.

"Oh, I was wondering where the library was. The tw-" She stopped short, remembering that he didn't know who she was living with. "My, uh... My classmates don't know."

Tamaki smiled again and pointed to the front entrance.

"This building has four library rooms. One of them should be a good place for first years to check out books. Check the ones on the third floor." He told her.

"Thank you, but I'm not looking to check out a book. I just need a quiet place to study." She shrugged and tugged at her bangs again.

He nodded.

"Alright. Have a good morning, I'll see you later today!" He waved and began to walk away. Haruhi caught up with the twins in the hallway and the three of them started to walk to their first period class.

~TWO HOURS LATER~

Haruhi had finished her morning classes and had a free period next. She was trying to find the libraries Tamaki was talking about. She had tried three of them, but all they had inside were groups of socializing people. It was too noisy for her to study.

She eventually came accross the fourth room. Silently praying that it would be quiet, she reached over and pulled open the door. Unfortunately, it was the same as the others.

What do I do now? She thought.

"Haruhi?" A smoothe voice interrupted her again. She turned around and flinched when she saw that it was Kyouya.

"You have GOT to stop doing that!" Haruhi seethed, already pretty annoyed.

He smirked his famous smirk and stepped closer.

"It seems that every day you get more stubborn, Miss Haruhi." He said, rolling his eyes a little. Haruhi crossed her arms.

"How would you know that? You just met me yesterday."

"Exactly,"

Haruhi was fed up with this guy. When she was about to walk away, she remembered something she had wanted to ask him.

"Kyouya Senpai," She wheeled around and looked at him suspiciously. He looked up at her.

"Why can't I tell people that I'm living with the Hitachiins? Why can't I tell Tamaki?" She asked.

Kyouya laughed a little.

"What a stupid question. Let me return the favor," He said obviously, "You want friends, don't you? The only way to get friends around here is it completely cut the twins out of your life-- well, when you're at school, at least."

Haruhi found herself fuming at this comment.

"But they didn't do anything wrong. That girl was sick to include them in that letter. Sure, they were bullies, but they weren't murderers. Nobody innocent like they are should live a life worth as much as a criminals." Haruhi spit, trying to keep her voice down.

Kyouya looked at her with pity.

"I'm sorry Miss Haruhi. But this school body read what they read. We can't take the twins' excuses." He said. He didn't sound mad or upset with her, but she could tell that he was looking down on her.

"You don't even know them," she muttered under her breath.

Kyouya smiled again and patted her on the top of her head.

"I am not going to give up on you, Haruhi. I will be your friend. But I'm not going to put up with all of this twin nonsense everytime we meet." He said. Then, he turned around and walked away, just as fast and unexpected as when he appeared.

********

Hmmmmm.... It seems like Kyouya may be planning something. Is Tamaki in on it?

Thanks for reading!