Gates of Sorrow
a crossover fanfic (OHSHC and Bleach) by lu.e3
Please note this story takes place after episode 22 ? of OHSHC (the Halloween one) and immediately before the Bounto arc in Bleach.
Episode One: The Haunted House
PART A
Piercing darkness. Stillness. Night.
Somewhere, faraway, a shrill mobile phone was ringing. Something was rustling in the night. Something dangerous was on the move again.
---
"Twelve…two and three…" the girl murmured tiredly, fingers following the numbers on the pages. The light of the candle was flickering and sending sharp shadows on the yellow illuminated walls. Its scent lingered in the air, infusing the cold atmosphere with its heavy musk perfume. It made her sleepy. Her skin was icy and she rubbed at it. The window was open and a cold draft whistled through the room. The candle wavered and the shadows danced.
"And then there was nothing but screaming…" a whispery shivery voice brushed past her ears.
"Don't do that, Kaoru!" she jumped and cursed. The boy laughed. It racked through the air. It shook and rung across the hollow room.
"I thought you weren't scared by ghost stories," an identical figure emerged in the light of the single candle. His white teeth flashed in the darkness.
"I'm not, but I was half asleep and Kaoru speaking suddenly like that came as a shock," she replied annoyed. "Where did you come from, Hikaru?"
"I appeared out of no where…"his voice took on the same mocking haunted sound. The girl rolled her eyes.
"This is no place to do homework," Kaoru studied her book. Even in the orange glow of the candle, its crispy new pages full of neat handwriting were stark white against the mottled surface of the old table. "Hey, Hikaru," he said interestedly," Look at this-"
"Are you going to tease me about the way I write my threes?" Haruhi asked wryly, and snatched the maths book away.
"We never tease you," protested Hikaru. He leaned over to see where Kaoru was pointing, and gasped.
"Now what?" Haruhi asked, totally bored.
"BLOOOD STAINS!!!!" The Hitachiin twins yelled, dragging her over to see the dark stain on the table surface.
"Haha," Haruhi rubbed at the dark spot on the table. The table was old. It was falling to pieces and stuff was growing all over it because it was so old. Why did I agree to come to this supposedly haunted house? It's more a rubbish dump than an elegant ancient building…"I doubt it's blood."
"Geee…aren't you ever superstitious? You're no fun today…" sighed Kaoru.
"Which is why…" grinned Hikaru with a mischievous glint, "We'll make it fun."
Huh? What does he mean by that? Haruhi barely had a moment to wonder. The next thing she knew, Hikaru blew one quick breath right at her face.
"Gah!" Haruhi spluttered. The next moment, she opened her eyes and everything had disappeared into shadows, into coldness and into the overwhelming scent of musk. She could make out nothing at all, no darker shapes or lighter shapes. For moment, she even had to check whether she had her eyes open or not.
Hikaru had blown the last remaining candle out. And there were no more matches. "Hikaru! You idiot-"Haruhi angrily fumbled around, truly blinded.
"Hahaha…." Was that Hikaru laughing that stupid "haunted" laugh? Haruhi almost tripped. What's happening to my legs? I feel weak. Why do I feel so cold? Haruhi's hands bumped into something solid. It was rough and flaky. Ah, good, this is the table at least.
An arm snaked round her waist, "Which one is Hikaru?" a hoarse voice whispered in her right ear. She could feel its breath warm against her neck. "And which one is Kaoru?" The same voice whispered seductively into her other ear. Haruhi frowned. She struggled to keep conscious. Her neck began feeling unbearably cold. Wait, I've got my phone in my pocket. That has a very powerful light on it. Should give him a shock. "Hikaru, I'm going to kill you," she was about to say but the words died in her throat when she flicked the phone light open.
It all begun when the twins suggested a Halloween Party.
"Yesterday wasn't scary at all," moaned Hikaru.
"It was just Neko's cat," Kaoru explained when the girls of the class looked at them in bewilderment ("but," cried Renge, "you were screaming too.")
"What we need," said Hikaru with his famous grin, "is a true Halloween experience."
"One where we can see REAL ghosts.."
"One where you can feel TRUE fear…"
"Oh I'm scared Hikaru," moaned Kaoru and clutched at his twin brother's shirt. Hikaru and placed his arms protectively around him. "Don't," he murmured. "Sorry…"
"WAAA BROTHERLY LOVE" the girls screamed.
"So, what do you think Haruhi?" Kaoru asked the cross dresser sitting next to him.
"I think it will be a waste of time."
"What a predictable response," Hikaru ruffled her hair.
"Which is why we'll ignore it."
"Wh-"
And so they dragged her to the haunted house. Due to Tamaki finding out about their plans, the whole host club had ended up going too. After hearing repeated rustlings and groans, all members had been terrified and run off into opposite directions. Haruhi had conveniently found a table, so she had happily sat down to do her homework. Then Kaoru and Hikaru had come along to spoil her moment of peace. The "fun" Hikaru had planned wasn't going as well as they thought it would.
"Pss! Hikaru, where are you?"
"Here. Shhh!! Haruhi will know where we are." Two voices floated in the darkness.
"Where are we?"
"Damn, Kaoru. I can't find that table."
"I don't think we're in that room."
"How the hell did we go out of it?"
"Get some light Hikaru."
"What? There's nothing in my pockets."
"Shhh!!!Did you hear that?"
There was pause.
"Sounded like some distant moan."
"More like a faint scream."
"t. Kaoru, that sounded like Haruhi!!!"
"Stop thrashing Hikaru!"
"There's no thunderstorm Kaoru. I don't get it. Let go of me!"
Suddenly, a powerful orange light illuminated their faces. "That door!" gasped Kaoru. In his hand, he held a torch. "Haruhi's through there."
They pounded through the doorway. Shadows on the walls moved and pelted after them.
"HARUHI!!!!!!!! WATCH OUT!" screamed Kaoru automatically. Her tiny figure was wavering in front of an enormous shadowy hand. "Wait, what the hell am I seeing?!" Kaoru beat at his head. But the scene before him did not change. A feeling of terror erupted within his heart. He looked up and felt his stomach turn over. He was staring at a huge, white mask. It was identical, identical to that one…
"Trust us to run off like that in opposite direction right when we get here," Kaoru kicked at the loose floor boards. He was idly walking along a deserted corridor. "Now I can't find Hikaru." His footsteps stopped. Kaoru was looking curiously at a white object lying casually on its side, half obscured by a wooden plank. "What's this." He bent to pick it up. His fingers almost touched it when he hesitated. "It can't be anything bad." With sure fingers, he wrenched it out and stared. It was a handsome mask. "Weird. It looks like it's made up of bone. Nice Halloween relic." He put it on and chuckled. "I am so going to scare the shits out of everyone wearing this mask." He heard something rustle and froze. He caught a flash of orange hair and a hard determined young face. "OI!" he yelled at the boy. "What are you doing here?!" Fear drove him, so he tore down the passage way in pursuit of the person. He caught a flash of what looked like black robes. He came to a dead end. He looked up. The roof was gone and the moon blinkered eerily at him. "Where did he go?" Kaoru murmured. Suddenly he wanted to take the mask off. The mask was itching at his face. "This is hard to take off." His fingers dug into the groves helplessly. "What?! I can't take it off!" His fingers fumbled at the mask more urgently. The mask cracked and fell. Kaoru breathed hard. He backed away. "T-That was weird." Was it his imagination? But the hollow eyes were glowing red. Kaoru bolted.
It was as if he was in a dream. Hazily, Kaoru saw a small figure run towards another figure fallen on the floor. "Haruhi?! Are you okay?" the one running cried. The one on the floor looked white…deathly white…white like the enormous mask hovering above it.
"HIKARU!" Kaoru heard himself scream. His hands clutched uselessly at empty air. His twin had already run forwards. Kaoru had never felt more frightened in his life. "YOU'RE RUNNING STRAIGHT INTO IT!!!"
Hikaru glanced at his brother. He was already at Haruhi's side and shaking her desperately. "What the hell do you mean?" he bellowed. "Come help. Kaoru, I think she's really si-" It was as if someone had thrust a fist into his mouth. Hikaru's eyes widened. Then his whole body shuddered and he fell to the floor.
"HIKARU!!!!!!!!!" Then Kaoru was running, shrieking, and falling. The huge masked shadow laughed. The thousands of small shadows on the walls surged towards it and it swelled in volume. "Hikaru. Haruhi," whispered Kaoru. There was a blinding flash of blue. Kaoru fell into darkness and did not witness what happened next.
"There are humans here," the orange haired boy's face was grim. "Damn, they don't look good. Better get rid of this hollow first…"
---
"Kaoru!" A voice was crying out his name urgently. He was floating in a dark sea. His body was buoyant, the waves lapped at him and he didn't want to get up. "Kaoru! Please wake up. I know you can," the voice was sobbing now. Fine, fine he grumbled. The sea became violent but he pushed them back down with his mind. Speckles of light clouded his vision.He opened his eyes.
"Haruhi!" Kaoru sat up quickly. "You're ok." The girl bit her lip. Her face began to go in swirls.
"Ow," Kaoru rested his head in his hands. He felt like vomiting.
"Kaoru, you're awake." Tamaki let out a huge sigh of relief. "I knew you were just unconscious. You hit your head on that table."
"We all heard you scream." Kyouya's face was tight and lined with worry.
"Takashi and me punched a hole through that wall and got all of us through to here." Hunny said seriously.
"Otherwise it would have taken longer for us to reach you." Mori finished quietly.
Kaoru looked up and stared at all their grim and dirty faces. His vision began clearing. His friends were standing tightly around him. There was a nasty cut on Tamaki's cheek. Kyouya's glasses were askew. Hunny sported several bruises. Mori's fists were bleeding. Haruhi still looked pale. Only one face was missing.
"Hikaru!" He felt his heart constrict badly. "HIKARU! Where is he? Where?"
"He-" Tamaki closed his mouth and turned away. The others moved away from him. He was in the same room. Five candles illuminated the space. Within its sickly glow, he could make out the table on its side; Haruhi's textbook sprawled over one of its mouldy legs. The windows had been tightly shut. But over there…over there…on the floor was… a limp body.
"H-h-he…"Haruhi bit her lip again. "He won't wake up," she whispered.
"HIKARU!" Kaoru was suddenly up and shaking his twin. "WAKE UP! I KNOW YOU CAN. JUST WAKE UP NOW! GODDAMIT STOP PLAYING JOKES WITH ME. WAKE UP!"
"Kaoru-"
"WHY WON'T HE WAKE UP?" Kaoru screamed at the others.
"I took his pulse." Kyouya answered. His voice was shaking.
"It…it…it… wasn't there." Tamaki's face was streaming with tears.
"YOU DID IT WRONG!" Kaoru yelled hysterically over and over again. He fumbled for Hikaru's pale wrist and tried to feel the pulse of life. Tears fell thick and fast. His fingers kept on slipping, slipping, slipping….
Haruhi tried hard not to cry. The feeling of helplessness was overwhelming. She watched, unable to help him do it properly because otherwise he would know…
"He isn't…he isn't…" Kaoru was whispering, "isn't…" She knew he couldn't say the last word.
"He isn't dead." They gasped inwardly. The new voice was hard and male. His footsteps were sharp and filled up the silence. "He isn't dead." The person came into the glow of the candle.
"Y-You!" Kaoru fell back to the floor. The person was a young adolescent with harsh orange hair, dressed in casual shirt and jeans. The determined face was strikingly familiar.
"There's no time to explain," he muttered, as he picked up Hikaru's body with ease. "But be assured, he's not dead."
"Who and how-"Kyouya began to ask swiftly but before he could finish his question, there was a resounding crash and an explosion of dust. Haruhi gasped.
"He's gone!" screamed Hunny.
"There's a hole in the roof!" Tamaki cried out in shock. "He jumped."
"WAIT!" shrieked Kaoru. "WHAT'S HAPPENED TO HIKAU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY TWIN? WHERE ARE YOU GOING? WHAT ARE YOU?"
"Dumb ass," the boy's scowling face suddenly appeared above them. "He's lost half his soul. And he needs to get help. Hey, stop it!" The boy shook Kaoru's hands free off his ankle. The twin had almost succeeded in climbing up to the roof from the table.
"Who are you?" Kyouya asked sharply.
The boy hesitated. Hurry up Kon. He doesn't look good. Kaoru's eye widened at hearing the distant voice. No one else seemed to have heard it. The orange haired boy gripped HIkaru's body tighter. "I'm Kon," he said shortly. Then he was gone.
"WAIT!" screamed Kaoru. He ran out of the room and onto the dark streets outside. All he could see now was the boy's shadow leaping from one roof to another.
"Kaoru," Kyoua spoke sharply. "Get in." Kaoru started. They were all seated in Kyouya's fastest limousine. "Get in. We're going to follow them."
A/N: This is the first time I've ever tried a crossover. Feedback would really be appreciated! Anyway I guess I've left a fair lot of questions in your minds...sigh some of them will def. be cleared up in part B of episode one.
lu.e3