Disclaimer: If I owned any of these characters…they’d be way more messed up then they already are…

Warning: HikaKao wonderfulness…

Note from Israfel: As yet another story I have created as a Christmas gift… This one is meant for my (old) beta. This happens to be the only one in time for the season and in the spirit of all the wonderful cinnamon and nutmeg scents (and gingerbread cookies!) I have decided on making a “twelve days of Christmas” for the dear twins, hope that this is up to everyone’s expectations. Also on a side note this was writen a LONG time ago... so bear with my mistakes...

~~/~~ Twelve Days ~~/~~

On the first day of Christmas Hikaru noticed something was off

Or more precisely he noticed something was wrong with Kaoru. The younger twin was staring at their teacher in much the same bored manner as he always did…except that something was off… His eyes were far more dazed then usual and the way he was nipping at the end of his pencil made Hikaru wonder just what it was his little brother was thinking. The older twin turned his attention forward and frowned even more noticeably at the math problems written on the board.

“Alright class work on these for the next twenty minutes and then I’m going to call on a few to work them out on the board.” Hikaru rolled his eyes and pulled out a blank piece of paper and a pencil. He wrote the problems down and frowned again after a minute. The twin glanced over at Haruhi as she worked on them silently and at an oddly alarming rate. He turned his attention past the female and towards Kaoru again. His reflection was still staring off into space with a glazed look.

“Kaoru!” He mentally called to the slightly younger boy only receiving silence as a reply. The twin frowned upon gaining no response and turned back to his work. He completed a few problems and tried once again to get his reflections attention. The teacher stood up from his desk and looked around the class room.

“Alright, Kaoru would you complete the first problem?” Haruhi glanced over at the twin and noticed the dazed look on his face as well.

“Kaoru, the first problem,” this time the younger twin blinked and stood; he walked silently to the front of the class and finished the math problem with in a few seconds. Once completed, he turned to the teacher and asked in a low voice to be excused; Hikaru frowned watching his reflection leave. He shot up from his seat and headed towards the door.

“And where are you going Hikaru?” The older twin stopped in his tracks just as he opened the door.

“My brother.” He answered before leaving the room. Hikaru hurried down the hall, feeling for Kaoru’s presence. The strawberry blond found him crouched down in another hall staring at the floor in the same dazed manner he had been doing in class.

“Kaoru!” Hikaru called out as he approached him. The younger twin jumped slightly and put on a smile. Whether it was forced or not he couldn’t tell and it made something inside of him worry a little more.

“What are you doing outside of class?” The older teen stared into the innocent golden eyes so different from his own shocked at the question.

“Why’d you leave?” Hikaru plopped down on the floor next to his brother and waited for an answer.

“I wasn’t feeling very attentive.”

“So, most people zone out too, but they don’t leave in the middle of class…” Kaoru looked away from his brother and at the floor shaking his head slightly.

“I guess I’m just getting a little sick then.” He felt a hand on his forehead and pushed it back gently. “Hikaru, you should return to class, one of us has to be there.”

“Haruhi-kun’s there.” Hikaru put his hand under his reflections chin and gently forced the eyes back onto him. He frowned seeing a light red tint on identical cheeks. “How come you’re getting sick and I’m not?” Kaoru shrugged pushing the hand away.

“I’ll be fine; we have until next Wednesday before break anyways.” Kaoru pushed himself up and smiled once more; this time Hikaru was positive that his reflection was giving him the false host smile. It did nothing to ease the small amount of anxiety he was starting to feel.

“Let’s go back to class…”

“If you don’t feel good we don’t have to go to the club today.” Hikaru pushed himself up and frowned at his brother.

“Nonsense, if we don’t go we’ll have to owe Kyouya-senpai.” Kaoru started down the hall that lead back to their classroom. Nothing more was said on the subject and the rest of the day proceeded as usual. Class continued on in a dull manner and even the Host Club that day seemed oddly mundane. It wasn’t until they were picking up the third music room did Tamaki decide to announce that they were to decorate for Christmas the next day. Kaoru had rolled his eyes at the prospect and sat down on one of the large loveseats.

“Alright, is there anything that you are wanting us to do specifically?” Hikaru frowned seeing his brother’s posture. He continued to pick up the empty tea cups keeping an eye on his brother.

“Bring in some costumes!” Tamaki grinned widely as he spoke, doing elaborate hand gestures as he continued on about something else. The older strawberry blond set his tray down and walked towards Kaoru seeing him sigh and rub his forehead.

“Up, where going home.” Hikaru spoke in a slightly demanding way. Kaoru opened his eyes seemingly having missed his brother’s last comment. He set his arm down so that he could see his reflection properly.

“Mom and Dad are going to be gone again right?” Hikaru seemed taken aback by this question, he didn’t reply right away. Tamaki leaned in closer to the twins listening to the conversation.

“Your parents are going to be gone for Christmas?” He asked into their silence. Identical sets of eyes turned to him; the twins nodded and both replied with a yes before looking back at each other.

“Why does it matter?” Hikaru asked after a moment. “They’re never here for Christmas.”

“They were last year…” Kaoru moved his hand back up to his forehead and rubbed it lightly.

“Come on, we’re going home.” The younger twin was pulled up to his feet before the sentence had time to register in his mind.

“Why?” Kaoru asked about the same time Tamaki voiced his question as well.

“You don’t look well.” Hikaru ignored the blond lord and Kyouya as he made his way towards them.

“I told you I’m fine.” Kaoru objected as he was pulled towards the door.

“We’re still going.” Hikaru looked back at Kyouya and Tamaki and waved bye before yanking his reflection from the room.

“We didn’t say bye to Haruhi-kun, Hunny-senpai or Mori-senpai.”

“We’ll see them tomorrow.” Hikaru replied absentmindedly as he pulled his cell phone out. He dialed the number for their chauffer and told him to come and get them. The ride home was spent in silence as much of the night was. Despite the younger twins constant objections to being sick Hikaru continued to try and baby him, making sure that he didn’t do anything to make him worse.

Day one end…

Au Revoir,

~Israfel~