I don't own any part of Ouran High School Host Club.

Rain-slicked asphalt glared up at him, its unnatural streetlamp glow personified by the reflection dancing around his glasses. Sighing, he pushed them back atop the bridge of his nose.

"I'm still not entirely sure why you called me, Hikaru."

The singular twin slumped against the seat of the dimly lit car, and gave a defeated shrug. "Well, you are the most convincing one of the group. Right, Kyoya-Senpai?"

"I suppose. Let's just hope this won't take too long."

All told, there were several factors that had lead to the older twin calling Kyoya for help with his brother. Tired of endless and exhausting nights of trekking off to locate Kaoru on his own, Hikaru prayed that by incorporating a factor of the problem, that he might also be providing some sort of solution.

"For a few months now, he's been talking to me less. And when we do talk, he does his best to keep it superficial. He's been pretty upset for a while now, and ends up going out on his own. Eventually I began following along, finding him at the same club every time, only to drag him back home after embarrassing himself and getting shitfaced."

It was upon describing Kaoru's typical visage while clubbing that Hikaru nodded in acknowledgment of their destination. Their car was brought curbside, falling in line with several other vehicles of its kind. Opening his door, Kyoya stared up at what appeared to be a typical downtown office building. Considering that discreetly placed clubs were not quite his thing, he waited to take his cues from Hikaru.

Falling in line alongside one another, the two boys headed toward the side of the building, where Hikaru gave a distinct tap on the door. Stepping aside as it swung open, they were greeted by a young woman who, despite winter having made good on all its promises, had been poured into a small, black burlesque number.

"Gentleman..."

She threw them a seductive smile and made room for them to pass through the entryway with a swing of her hips. Kyoya gave her one final glance before moving ahead.

Kaoru comes here? Alone? He was noticeably upset a while back, but I figured it had to do with passing up an opportunity to be with Haruhi... I can't imagine what sort of inclinations have brought him here...

"Interesting. In its own way..."

"Yeah..." Hikaru responded, keeping his head low.

Taking a staircase downward, pulsations of synthesizer and bass became prominent to the ears. Walking further, the narrow stairway emptied its inhabitants into a provocative world that had been swathed in dark, alluring shades of red.

Passing through the flood of mingling bodies, Kyoya recognized the faces of more than one Ouran student in the mix; some of which were familiar to the host club. To his right stood a bar which no doubt made back whatever fines it would incur, should authorities become aware that they were serving alcohol to minors.

An immense shot of relief washed over him as Hikaru guided him by the elbow toward the area where Kaoru could be found. Along the way, Kyoya gave a sickened jerk of his shoulder in an effort to avoid anyone's egregious advances.

Reaching the other side of the basement, they came to a stop in front of a vintage purple sofa, upon which laid Kaoru, a half-dressed co-ed in his lap, while he pretended to noticed the provocative show happening in front of him. There had been little more than a look of apathy on the boy's face until the arrival of not only his brother, but none other than the Shadow King, himself.

"Kyoya! I didn't take you for the type to show up here." Shoving the girl off his lap, he motioned for the two of them to sit down.

"Oh, indeed, Kaoru. I'm not. And you need to go home."

Smirking at the sight of a prudent Kyoya, he turned his eyes onto Hikaru and gave him a scowl.

I don't think I'll wait for this scenario to degenerate any further...

Preparing to take on the brunt of the impish boy's weight, Kyoya gently grabbed Kaoru by the arm to lead him outside. He was surprised to see the inebriated twin oblige, while Hikaru followed closely behind.

Keeping his eyes focused in front of him, Kyoya let loose an angry yell upon feeling himself being groped. Quickly turning around, he could see Kaoru in a fit of laughter on the floor. Not waiting for the drunken fit to subside, he continued to navigate forward and allowed Hikaru to take care of the situation.

Finally, Kyoya angrily pushed past the exit, gulping down the clean, cold night air.

Dammit, Kaoru! What were you thinking? What was Hikaru thinking bringing me here? Absolutely abhorrent. I have officially seen things and people as I would prefer them not to be seen. This is not how I would like things to be...

Taking a deep breath, Kyoya ducked into the back of their car, informing the driver that the twins were not far behind.

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Holding him up by the shirt sleeves, Hikaru held Kaoru in front of him and guided them toward the door. Bursting into the nighttime, he angrily let his brother go. The feeling of disdain was apparently mutual.

"What the fuck, Hikaru? You brought Kyoya here?! Why?!"

"What else was I supposed to do? You won't talk to me anymore! I keep dragging myself out here because I'm afraid of what might happen to you, and it's the same fucked up thing every time. What's more is that you know I'll always come after you, and you keep doing it, anyway. What hurts the most is that I'm starting to hate you for it. Because it seems like for you to keep this up, you must already be hating me, too."

The last of his words had caused Kaoru's heart to drop. "You're not the one I hate."

Dammit, don't tell me it took all of this for you to start talking to me again!

"Well, then what? Who?"

Kaoru only shook his head, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "I wanted to be in love with her the way you are. It took most of our first year, but eventually I realized that if I can't be in love with Haruhi, it's doubtful I'll ever be in love with any girl. And I know I won't be."

"So you're gay? Kaoru, that's not-"

"I know no one cares if I'm gay, Hikaru! But I know who it is. I know who I want, and that it's not about to happen in this lifetime. Not in this high-end-marriage-arranging-piece-of-shit world."

"Kaoru..."

"What?"

Giving up on words for the moment, Hikaru embraced his brother, allowing him the time he needed to collapse in on himself and all that he had kept to himself for far too long. When he decided to speak again, he did so softly.

"I figured there had to be someone better than me to get through to you, so I brought Kyoya."

Kaoru gave a sad, but honest laugh. "Yeah, well. I just let you have it, so I guess you didn't need to bring him, after all."

"Maybe. Let's just go home."

They made their way toward the town car, where Kyoya sat warm inside, gazing out the opposite window. Motioning for his brother to climb inside first, Hikaru leaned his head in to speak to the driver.

"Thanks again, Yuuto. I actually reserved the car behind us for the ride home. You can take my brother and our friend wherever they want."

The entire backseat proceeded to direct its bewildered attention toward Hikaru, who gave a classic Hitachiin smile before yelling, "Love you, Bro!" and slamming shut the car door.

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'Allo! So, this is something very different for me! But I like it. I hope you do, too. I hope they're in character... Comments? Critiques? Love? Sorry, that totally went beyond fishing for comments, but yeah. ) I hope you enjoyed!