"Bye, have a wonderful time! I'll be there during the ceremony." His mirror image, Kaoru, smiled and waved cheerily.

"Yeah, see ya." Hikaru smiled, but he was nervous. He was, after all, about to marry the only girl he'd ever liked. Her name was Haruhi.

Stepping in the car, he watched the houses speed by, blurred and senseless, until the car suddenly stopped in front of a grand chapel. It was the fanciest he'd ever seen, befitting of the son of a famous designer and his bride.

He was quickly whisked away to be prepared, and somewhere between all the proceedings, he faintly remembered Nekozawa-sempai saying, "The sacrificial lamb we wanted couldn't be procured, but we will quickly find you a replacement so you may have a happy marriage." He couldn't remember his reply.

Everything whirled, and before he knew it, he was standing at the front of the chapel, waiting for his bride. Seeing her, he took a deep breath, utterly entranced. 'Haruhi' was his only thought, before his mind went giddily blank and he was gazing at her with all his adoration, and they were both standing in front of the altar.

"And before the oaths..." The minister intoned, "Nekozawa and his friends will perform a ritual to give good luck to this couple."

Nekozawa appeared from behind a curtain, dragging behind him a metal gurney covered with a dingy blanket. It was clearly visible against the pristine beauty of the surroundings, and something about it seemed ominous. The music that Hikaru hadn't even realized had been playing came to a halt. Everything was still for a moment.

"I found the perfect substitute for that little lamb I told you about. May you be blessed forever in your marriage!" With a dramatic flourish, Nekozawa pulled off the blanket to reveal...

Kaoru.

His twin's hands and legs were bound, and a cloth was tied around his mouth as a gag.

Hikaru gave a half-strangled cry, about to leap for his dear brother, but Haruhi held him back. "Don't you see? It's necessary. You'll be fine." She tried to soothe him, but her words weren't comforting at all.

He desperately glanced around, looking for someone to stop this madness. They were sacrificing a human being! They were sacrificing his brother! But no one seemed to care. Indeed, it almost seemed like they didn't realize that it was Kaoru up there, even though there was no way to see Kaoru as a fluffy white lamb, or any other animal. It was clearly Kaoru.

Nekozawa raised a long knife, and brought it down on his twin. Hikaru could see the pain in his brother's eyes, but he could do nothing.

Somehow, the gag slipped off, and Kaoru weakly turned to his brother. "I-it's fine..." he spoke somehow, shakily, red staining his shirt and lips. "I chose... to... do...... this..." And then the life faded from his eyes, and his mirror image was gazing sightlessly at him, blood dripping, and he was dead.

He.

Was.

Dead.

Hikaru screamed in anguish, bolting up from his bed. His brother's orange eyes were watching him, no longer lifeless, instead concerned. "Hikaru, are you all right?"

"Uh, yeah. Just a bad dream." His reply was shaky, but already the details were fading away.

"We didn't share dreams this time," Kaoru mentioned, before saying, "Go back to sleep. You'll forget it in the morning."

And, just like Kaoru had said, Hikaru had forgotten his dream by the next morning, and was back to his cheery self.

Teasing Haruhi, laughing with Kaoru, causing trouble in the Host Club... everything was normal.

He didn't notice when Kaoru simply stood off to the side, watching him and Haruhi laughing together. He didn't notice the sad smile on his mirror image's face. All he saw was Haruhi, and that was enough for him.

But maybe not enough for his twin. This, however, went unnoticed.

A/N: First thing I've written in a while (and first thing to be written on this account), and it's crap. XD Oh well. Please review! This can possibly stand alone, but if you don't mind the basically overused plot of "Kaoru is jealous but self-sacrificing, Hikaru is dense, and Haruhi tries to help them patch up but is having trouble because she doesn't entirely understand the cause" then I'd like to continue this. Would you mind? If it continues, it'll end in HikaKao, potentially with a lot of angst along the way, and I may or may not pair the rest of the Host Club. XD Anyhow, reviews please? They are the foundation of my writing ability! And my ego. And I need a good ego boost right now.