It started out as a simple prank. They just thought it would be funny to play off his nickname, nothing else. Neither Kaoru nor Hikaru thought Nekozawa's potion would actually work.

~With the Demon's Breath~

Kaoru looked up at the feeling of his bed bounce. His twin brother Hikaru had fallen onto his stomach and was staring. Sighing, the younger of the two placed his book to the side and hugged his knees to his chest while waiting for Hikaru to utter his signature phrase.

"I'm bored," the elder groaned, drawing patterns in the bedspread.

"Call Haruhi," Kaoru suggested, tilting his head to the side. Haruhi Fujioka, a cross-dressing honor student and the newest member of the Ouran Host Club, had joined in on their microscopic group of friends not long ago. "She is our newest toy, more fun to play with than the others." Kaoru found it hard to believe he had just referred to them as toys, his only friends outside his own brother. He had though. They had always been simply toys for the twins to play with. But Haruhi—she was different. She had the strangest affect on both of them.

"I tried," Hikaru admitted. "She said she was busy with homework then hung up on me."

Kaoru nodded. "Of course." Their little honor student always put her schooling first, after all. "So, what will you do now?"

Hikaru shrugged, turning over onto his back. "I've been thinking, what will we do for our Halloween prank this year?"

Now, Kaoru was at a lost. He fell back to lay on his pillows. The twins had always pulled pranks, but were most well-known for their Halloween ones. Last year, they had scared the living daylights out of Tamaki, causing the girls to laugh and even getting a small smile out of demon lord Kyoya himself. It was brilliant, but met they had to try harder and out do themselves this year. "I'm not sure, but we have to top last year's prank on Boss."

"Yeah," Hikaru agreed. "Didn't the demon lord even crack a smile last time?" Kaoru nodded and said, at the same time as his brother, "It was awesome!"

They laughed, thinking back on Tamaki's face. Then, Kaoru's face lit up as an idea filled his head.

"Hika," he whispered, trying to get the other's attention. "What if, what if we prank the demon lord himself?"

"Kyoya?" Kaoru nodded. "That's genius! If we pull this off it will be better than Tamaki! We'll go down in history as the only people to prank the Kyoya Ootori!"

The younger nodded. "As the only people to ever prank him. Now, what to do?"

Hikaru got an almost evil grin on his face. "His nickname isn't demon lord for nothing, Kao, let's give them another reason for it."

~With the Demon's Breath~

"Hika," Kaoru stuttered, grabbing onto his brother's arm. "Are you sure this is a good idea, asking Nekozawa for help?" The dark magic club sent shivers down Kaoru's spine. The thought that people would actually want to curse someone was frightening on its own, but having a school club dedicated to it?

"Of course," the older twin hissed back, trying to keep his voice low. He could tell from the shaking in his brother's voice and crushing grip on his own arm that Kaoru was afraid of this sort of thing, this darkness. That just gave Hikaru all the more reason to hide the shaking in his own voice. "He gave us a curse doll when we did that prank on Haruhi, so why not ask for help now?"

"But we weren't giving Haruhi a potion that could kill her then!" Kaoru snapped back, also trying to keep his voice down. "We want to embarrass Kyoya, not be arrested for his murder!"

"It will be fine Kao," Hikaru tried to assure him. "We asked for something that would make Kyoya's skin turn red for a while, awaken the demon in him." At the doubtful look he received, the boy sighed. "It will be fine Kaoru."

"This is what you will need," Nekozawa said, creepily merging out of the shadows with his cat puppet on one hand and a blue bottle in the other.

Hikaru took the bottle, not even bothering to try and read the label. "Thanks. What do we owe you?" He reached for his back pocket, wondering what the price would actually be.

Nekozawa simply shook his head. "No, it is nothing. I just wish to be there when it happens."

Hikaru nodded, tugging his arm away as Kaoru almost cut off the blood circulation with his tight grip. "Sure, we are using it at the Host Club's Halloween party. You are invited."

"Excellent," Nekozawa laughed before disappearing into the shadows again.

Once the twins had made it out of the black magic club, Hikaru let out a sigh. "Okay, I have to agree, that was actually a little creepy Kaoru."

~With the Demon's Breath~

Kaoru continued fidgeting with his costume. Sooner than he'd hoped, the Host Club's Halloween party had come. To make matter worse, Hikaru had told Kaoru it was his job to be the distraction. Apparently, Kyoya was more at ease around the younger twin than his older brother.

It shouldn't be a problem. Kaoru liked talking to Kyoya. That was what made it a problem though. He had a horrible feeling in his gut that something would go wrong. Kaoru didn't want Kyoya to be hurt, just embarrassed.

"Kaoru, what are you doing over here?" The twin looked up and saw Kyoya glaring down at him. The devil costume really did not help make this any easier. "You're supposed to be entertaining our guests." He gestured to where all the other hosts were talking with the girls.

"I...uhm..." Kaoru kept fidgeting with his costume.

"I don't have time for this right now," Kyoya sighed.

Kaoru saw Hikaru sneaking up behind the demon lord and knew now was when he needed to have a distraction. Hikaru so owed him for this one. "Wait! I need you to tutor me in math!" The younger boy blurted out. He knew what hell he would go through for this but he also knew what would happen to his brother and himself if they were caught. Kaoru decided to take the gamble.

Kyoya sighed, seeing something in Kaoru's eyes that was close to sincere. "Very well, but it will cost you."

Kaoru laughed, not even hesitating in it. "Of course. It always does, doesn't it Kyoya?"

For a matter of a second, Kaoru swore he saw a smile on the shadow king's face. Then, it was gone and Kyoya was all business again. He adjusted his glasses. "We can discuss this after the party," he sighed. The black haired boy grabbed his forever present black notebook and a glass of punch off the table. "Enjoy the party Kaoru," he muttered before making his way through the crowd.

Kaoru just started after him. Had Kyoya ever been that nice to anyone?

"Dude, what the heck?" Hikaru muttered, popping up beside his twin and making Kaoru jump.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Kaoru hissed.

Hikaru raised his eyebrows, eying his brother before just shaking his head. "Whatever princess. I poured some of the potion stuff Nekozawa gave us in his punch. Good thing Kyoya took the right cup," he snickered. "Now to watch the magic happen!"

Kaoru frowned. He watch Kyoya doing his "charming" act with a group of girls, causally sipping his cup as if everything was normal. Again, his stomach twisted in horrible ways. "Hikaru, something bad is going to happen."

"What?"

The younger of the boys shook his head. "I just, it's a feeling in my gut," he looked over at his brother. "I can't help it Hika. Can't you feel it too?"

Hikaru gave his brother a strange look again. "You seriously can't be telling me you are falling for that demon lord?"

"Of course not!" Kaoru's face turned a light shade of pink that could barely be seen in the lack of light. "But I just feel as if—" He didn't get to finish his sentence.

"Kyoya, what's happening to your skin?"

The twins looked up at hearing that.

"My what?" Kyoya's voice was deeper, raspier. He looked confused as he glanced down at his skin, which was quickly changing from pale to a light shade of pink to darker and darker shades of red. His already dark eyes widened, seeming to take on a tint of red.

Hikaru broke out into laughter. "He looks like a demon!" The older twin pointed at Kyoya. "We got him!"

At seeing one of the twins laughing, the girls began to giggle, their concern completely leaving them. "They pranked Kyoya this year," a girl whispered. "How cool!" Their laughter continued to get louder.

Kaoru couldn't laugh. That knot in his gut continued to get tighter as he watch Kyoya. The Host Club's vice president's skin kept getting darker and his gray eyes tinted with red. This was not good.

The dark haired boy lifted his head, eyes looking with Kaoru's. That was when Kaoru knew something wasn't right. That look in Kyoya's eyes, it wasn't natural. It was...it was almost evil. He opened his mouth into a smirk and you could see his grown canines.

"No," Kaoru shook his head. "No, this wasn't supposed to happen. We were just playing off his nickname." He saw Nekozawa in the shadows of the room, chuckling. 'Demon,' he mouthed. "No, Kyoya, no."

"Kaoru, thank you for unleashing me," a raspy voice said from Kyoya's mouth. He stalked closer to the twin, unnoticed by everyone else. "A pretty face," he ran his red hand across Kaoru's check. "I could use a companion such as yourself."

"No," again, the younger twin shook his head. "You aren't Kyoya. Bring back Kyoya!"

A deep, evil chuckled erupted from the red demon's throat. "Kyoya Ootori is gone. This is my body now." He threw his arms around Kaoru.

Kaoru's eyes widened in fear. The last thing he saw was his brother's confused face before he was emerged in darkness and shadows. Kaoru let out a scream, knowing full and well that no one would hear.

~With the Demon's Breath~

Tears fell down Hikaru's cheeks against his will. A hand touched his shoulder. He over and saw Haruhi's face through water filled eyes. "Hikaru," she whispered. "What happened?"

The Hitachiin twin rubbed his eyes, feeling the wetness on his hand. "I don't know," his voice broke. "Kaoru and I just wanted to play a prank on Kyoya. Play off his nickname because everyone calls him demon lord We wanted to turn his skin red. We asked Nekozawa for a potion or something that could do that." Hikaru sniffled. "What happened to my brother?"

"The demon took him," Nekozawa said, stepping forward. "You said you wanted to 'awaken the demon' in Kyoya Ootori, so I gave you what you need for it. A demon to be awaken."

"But, Kaoru?"

"The demon within Kyoya took a liking to him. Kaoru Hitachiin is gone now."

Now, Hikaru let his tears fall. It didn't matter anymore. His knees buckled and he fell, pulling away as Haruhi reached to help him. He ignored all the stares he received. It didn't matter anymore. Kaoru—his brother, his best friend, his only true friend—was gone. Taken away because Hikaru didn't want to listen when he said something was going wrong. Taken away into what he feared most, the darkness.

What a stupid, idiotic prank.