Edge of Oblivion

Chapter 1

Kaoru POV

It all started that day, a day just like any other. It was a rather normal day for the Host Club, well, as normal as it can be for the Host Club; Honey-senpai gleefully munching on a piece of strawberry cake, Mori-senpai cleaning up after his cousin. Tamaki-senpai was attempting to put Haruhi into some ridiculous outfit and she was not going for it, saying, or more like yelling, her usual "no way" or "no way in hell, senpai!" Kyoya-senpai, as usual, spent the entire afternoon either typing who-knows-what into that computer or making notes in his mysterious black book.

As for Hikaru and I, we spent the afternoon wooing and attending to our usual slew of guests. We were quite popular in the Host Club. No one ever dared to say it, for fear of sending Tamaki-senpai into a dark depressed corner, but we were just as, if not more, popular than Tamaki-senpai. He always had to be number one, he was the king after all.

The boss always did well at pressuring us to do our best, but this particular day, he pushed just a little too hard, sending Hikaru and me tumbling over the edge of Oblivion.

This particular day was not my best of days. I had some trouble focusing in on our guests and the task at hand, earning myself an almost painful squeeze on the thigh from my dear brother every few minutes. He would smile at me while looking out of the corner of his eye, a reassuring smile that told me three things over and over again; (1) it's alright, (2) pay attention now, and (3) are you okay? I would simply smile back to let him know I was alright just to fall deep into my thoughts once again, starting the cycle over.
The moment couldn't come soon enough when Kyoya-senpai would announce the end of the day, excusing all of the ladies, giving us the time to clean up and go home for the day. It felt like an eternity.

"Ru… Kaoru… KAORU!" Hikaru Shouted, pulling me once again out of my trance after the usual squeeze to the leg had failed. Embarrassed, I lowered my head, blushing at the floor to my right. From the left came a familiar, soft hand that was placed below my chin to bring my face up so he could see into my eyes. I tried my best to avoid eye contact with my brother by liking down or off to one side, but it was all in vain, and I knew that. Ive always known that. I never could hide anything from Hikaru. He got my attention when our noses touched, forcing me to look up into his burning, amber eyes. I didn't know he was so close. The moment our eyes licked I knew I wouldn't be able to hide anything. "Kaoru, you are very distracted today, what could possibly be so very distracting? What are you thinking so deeply about, little brother?" Hikaru asked with a teasing voice that he used often in front of our guests, but his eyes betrayed true concern and curiosity.

Hikaru was always the one to worry about me, He always felt the need to protect me due to the fact that he was the "older" of us. He is only older by a few minutes, but it still counts for us.

I could never lie to my twin, it would crush both of us, and we both knew it, so I answered "I'm distracted because I'm scared, Hika." As I said this I started to cry. Of course the guests all thought it was cute and had hearts popping out of their heads. Any of the other hosts would have shaken their heads, thinking it was all an act, but the reality is that it couldn't be more real.

A flash of true concern danced across Hikaru's eyes but keeping with our "brotherly love act" he simply said "don't be afraid. I will protect you from everything, always, Kaoru…" Pulling me a half an inch closer as he said it.

All I could manage as I stared into his molten orbs was "Hika…" and at that moment the blessed call came.

"That will be all for today, ladies. Thank you for coming, and enjoy the remainder of your evening." Kyoya-senpai called, earning a disappointed groan from the ladies in the room. From Hikaru and me came a sigh of relief, for both of us knowing we could drop the act and for me, I could finally let my thoughts foam free.

What I had told Hikaru was true, I was scared, but the only thing was, I didn't know why. I was just scared. I had this feeling that something bad was going to happen. My thoughts kept wandering to wonder about my own confusion on the matter. My mind was racing with thoughts of why, when, and how, which kept my mind busy all three hours of the Host Club.

Hikaru started ranting to me about some prank or another while we cleaned up the mess at our table. I tried to listen to what he was saying, his prank ideas were always good, but my heart just wasn't into it. Before I knew it my thoughts were racing once again, and I didn't even realize I had stopped working, just standing there, deep in thought. Before I knew it Hikaru had placed his hands on my shoulders and pulled me out of my abyss of thoughts with a light shake.

When I came to my senses I was looking into my brothers concerned eyes. He was worried about me. Just as I opened my mouth to speak I was interrupted by the Host Club king himself. Tamaki-senpai isn't just the king of the Host Club, he is the king of interruptions as well.

"Hikaru! Kaoru! What is wrong with you two today? First Kaoru won't attend to your guests, and now neither of you are working. We need to get this place cleaned up so that we can all go home!" Exclaimed Tamaki-senpai from half-way across the room, all the while wiping down one of his tables that had some leftover cake crumbs on it.

Hikaru stepped in immediately, obviously angry with the boss for his tactless comment towards the two of us. "Sorry, Boss, but can't you tell that my brother is upset? There is no need to be so mad at us! All of us have our off days, so give it a rest!"

"Don't be so angry about it, Hikaru! I was simply stating the facts." Tamaki said matter-of-factly, forgetting the table he was cleaning.

"Lay-off, Boss. You don't need to state every fact that comes into your puny little head." Hikaru retorted, still very upset about the original statement made by the king. "Why don't you must leave us alone?"

"No, I won't. You two are just being lazy today, and I won't stand for it!" It was at that moment that I realized why I was having these bad feelings that scared me so much. It dawned on me just what that bad thing was that was going to happen. I looked at Hikaru with a plea in my eyes that begged him to stop and just let it go, but he wasn't paying attention.

"Lazy? LAZY?! We are so far from lazy! We have always done everything exactly the way you have asked us to. We work all day long to please every girl in this school because they are all potential guests, and then, when that's over we drag ourselves up here to spend almost our entire afternoon serving tea and cakes, keeping up a constant appearance of your so-called 'brotherly love' act, and then, on top of that, we clean this room to the nines, every day! We are far from lazy!" at this point I shot a desperate glance to Kyoya-senpai, but he was watching Tamaki-senpai for a reaction, and as I glanced at the others. They were all doing the same. One thing I noticed in common with everyone was that they all seemed to agree with Tamaki-senpai. It was so plain on each of their faces. Kyoya-senpai and Mori-senpai being the only exceptions, seeing as how neither of them ever showed much emotion, or ever betrayed their thoughts with facial expressions. So I joined them in waiting for Tamaki-senpai's reaction.

When his response came after a thick, tense moment, he had venom in his voice "You are so selfish, Hikaru! You never think of anyone but yourself! Why can't you just pull your head out of your ass and think about somebody else for once!"

I snapped, stepping in front of Hikaru and yelling back with as much emotion and venom on my tongue as I could muster "Don't you dare call my brother selfish! Today he has thought of nothing but this club and its guests, and has been concerned about me. Not one thought has been for himself today! If anyone is being selfish between the two of us it's me!" At this point Hikaru put a hand on my shoulder to turn me around and when I did I saw tears brimming in the corners of his eyes, and they told me that he was upset about Tamaki-senpai's comment about him being selfish. I thought 'Hikaru, my Hikaru is crying. He isn't supposed to be the one crying. He's the strong one, I'm the weak one that cries Tamaki-senpai will pay for what he has done, for making Hikaru cry.'

When I turned back around I saw three sets of eyes glaring at me for yelling at the king, not including Kyoya-senpai and Mori-senpai. I officially lost all of my senses. "This is ridiculous! You all agree with that monster! He has insulted both of us, and you re all going to take his side in this?" I paused for a moment to see if anyone would respond. When I received only blank stares, I turned back to Hikaru, who now had tears flowing freely down his cheeks, still shocked after Tamaki-senpai's comment to pull his head out of his ass. I took his hand in mine and pulled him towards the door and we left, but not before I turned around and said quietly "So this is what happens when you unlock your heart and let others into your world. They take your heart and break it into a million pieces. We should never have let any of you into our lives."

After slamming the door behind us we made our way to the front of the school where our driver awaited us with our usual black limo. He opened the door to let us in, closing it behind us. When he got into the driver's seat I quickly ordered him to take us home and closed the privacy screen. I crawled across the way to sit with my weeping brother. I told Hikaru everything I had felt that day, he told me how those comments affected him, and we held each other the whole way home, comforting each other, and drying each other's tears.

This is what I was afraid of: heartbreak. The slow and painful decent back into the lonely, locked-up world we once found so much comfort in. This is the day that began that decent.

Back at the host club after the twins' exit

Kyoya POV

"Can you even begin to comprehend what you have just done?" I asked Tamaki pointedly. I received a silent gaze in return. It was almost as if he were silently telling me that he truly had no idea what he had done or what was so wrong. I sighed, pushing up my glasses more out of habit than actual need. "Tamaki, your tactless comment is going to begin a vicious cycle for the twins. As of today they will no longer have a sense of trust, or know what true friendship is. As of today we will have to start from the beginning with those two, only this time, it's going to be much harder."

"What do you mean by that Kyoya-senpai?" Haruhi asked me, confused.

"Haruhi, before the twins became a part of the Host Club they had no friends, and those who attempted to be their friends were shut down. Quite simply, the twins were cruel to everyone but themselves. Tamaki was able to win their trust and confidence, and they joined the Host Club where we became their first true friends. That same Tamaki, with one tactless comment, ruined it all. All of that hard work, gone to waste. When they come to class tomorrow, you won't know them, Haruhi. They will have regressed back into their old selves. We may never again be able to pull them from their shell, or much less be invited back into their world." I explained all of this as calmly as I could considering the situation, but I couldn't keep all of the frustration out of my voice.

Tamaki looked at me with sad eyes, but I wasn't going for it "Tamaki, this is all your fault and you will not be earning any sympathy from me. So don't give me those puppy dog eyes." He looked away sadly. "Let's all go home and get some rest, I will see you all tomorrow."

With that we all left, the room only half clean, but we could always finish cleaning before the guests arrived the next day. I suggested that we all get some rest, but I knew deep down that none of us would actually rest, we would all be worried about the twins. It was going to be a long night…

Mori POV

I still don't know how a day so ordinary could turn into one so intriguing. Sad, yes, but still intriguing. As per usual I was sitting with my cousin, Mitskuni, cleaning up after his mess he make with his strawberry. He is a master at two specific things: martial arts and making a mess all over his face while eating a piece of cake with gusto. As always he had icing all the way down his chin and coating his cheeks. I was in the process of wiping his face after our guests had left when some yelling across the room caught our attention. "Don't be so angry about it, Hikaru! I was simply stating the facts." The argument seemed to already be pretty heated, and I had no possible idea what had happened or what they could be fighting over that could upset Tamaki so much, but it caught my attention.

"Lay-off, Boss. You don't need to state every fact that comes into your puny little head. Why don't you just leave us alone?"

Now it was Tamaki's turn again, and I was still very confused. I looked at Mitskuni to see if he know what happened, but he looked just as confused as I felt, so I looked to the others. The only ones who looked like they weren't completely confused were the two boys yelling at each other, a twin who looked like he was going to burst into tears at any moment, and Kyoya, who was too far away to ask, and I didn't dare interrupt. All cleaning throughout the room forgotten, everyone was listening.

"No, I won't. You two are just being lazy today, and I won't stand for it!" I watched as Kaoru looked to his brother desperately, and I wondered what was going through his head, but the elder of the two didn't notice the look.

"Lazy? LAZY?! We are so far from lazy! We have always done everything exactly the way you have asked us to. We work all day long to please every girl in this school because they are all potential guests, and then, when that's over we drag ourselves up here to spend almost our entire afternoon serving tea and cakes, keeping up a constant appearance of your so-called 'brotherly love' act, and then, on top of that, we clean this room to the nines, every day! We are far from lazy!"

I continued to watch Tamaki straight on, but I noticed Kaoru looking to each of us as if asking for help, but I just kept a straight face. I wanted to stay impartial, and not take sides until I knew exactly how this all started. I could tell Mitskuni did not have the same idea that I did. He was, along with everyone else but Kyoya, siding with Tamaki.

After a very tense, silent moment Tamaki finally answered venomously "You are so selfish, Hikaru! You never think of anyone but yourself! Why can't you just pull your head out of your ass and think about somebody else for once!" Hikaru looked like he was about to cry now and Kaoru lost it. Something inside of him snapped and he took Hikaru's place, pulling his brother behind him, almost as if he were protecting him from a physical blow.

"Don't you dare call my brother selfish! Today he has thought of nothing but this club and its guests, and has been concerned about me. Not one thought has been for himself today! If anyone is being selfish between the two of us it's me!"

Hikaru, nearly in tears, put a hand on Kaoru's shoulder, turning him around. I could see Kaoru's thoughts racing as he saw the rears in his brother's eyes, and when he turned back around he had come unhinged, seeing the looks on everyone's faces, except Kyoya and me. We were both trying to stay neutral in this. "This is ridiculous! You all agree with that monster! He has insulted both of us, and you re all going to take his side in this?"

He was silent for a moment, and by the time he turned back around Hikaru had tears streaming down his face. He took the elder's hand and they went to the door. Just before they left Kaoru turned back and said, barely audible, but clearly enough, "So this is what happens when you unlock your heart and let others into your world. They take your heart and break it into a million pieces. We should never have let any of you into our lives." With that they left, hand in hand, slamming the door behind them.

The last thing Kaoru said left us all in shock, completely speechless. I looked to Mitskuni to find him on the brink of tears, and began to tend to him, half-way tuning out Kyoya's rant to Tamaki and Haruhi about how they would not be the same ever again. He was half-way right, I guess, but knowing the twins, I truly felt that they would be back the next day, offended and angry, but they would give it another shot, but if we all didn't watch our footing on this precarious ledge, they truly would be lost.