Murder, he wrote : The riddle of the chinese jester.

A/N: URGHHHHH! I am sooooo sorry I made a mistake! This chpt has already been edited. Thanks for pointing it out! It's Hikaru's body in the water.

Chapter 1: The murder of a Hitachin brother.

It was yet another glorious day in Ouran High. Haruhi stood by the window of Music Room three and marveled at the incredibility of spring. Changes happen. Life goes on. The beauty of the dying leaves turn into wondrous colors that paint the world around us in their death, she mulled. Such a glorious picture they create if only for a short time. It was such irony that for once, death brought joy.

The petite girl in a men's suit paid no attention to her surroundings and ignored the undiluted laughter erupting from the bevy of boys near her. Too engrossed in the scenery, Haruhi failed to duck and ended up with an unnecessary lump on her forehead.

Seconds later, the boys surrounded an uncomfortable Haruhi and stared intently at her swelling bump. It was now an ugly shade of blue.

"Urghhhh! Senior, you're hurting me." Groaned Haruhi as Tamaki pressed a handmade ice pouch, made out of ice in a wrapped up handkerchief, hard onto her bump.

"Sorry!" He went all teary again, as he dabbled with extra precaution. "Let me kiss it to make you feel better."

"Please Senior, no!" Her brow knitted in horror. Having to be in a club with a kissing maniac, as a president was too much.

Kyoya intervened in the over-zealous crowd. "I'm taking you to the clinic." And he snapped his Macbook with a resolute shut.

"It's getting late" agreed Mori, a glance to his watch.

"Haru, you can have my bunny." Squealed Hani happily, in between mouthful of cakes.

"Err… thanks senior Hani." She looked hesitantly at the pink bunny with over-sized flopping ears and decided that it wouldn't be much of a help.

The evening sky was now darkening and the leaves of autumn sporting a dull sliver shine from the newly rising moon.

"No way, Daddy will bring her to see Mr Doctor."

"…besides, your chauffeur isn't here yet."

"Shaddup. The daddy gets her" huffed Tamaki, waving the ice pouch madly in the air and a few drops of water rained down.

The lucid argument was getting on Haruhi's nerves.

"Oi, you guys stop quarrelling. Where are the twins, anyway?"

Her question was answered immediately.

"Hikaru's missing!" cried Kaoru as he burst through the doors of the room panting madly. He clutched onto a table for support and tried to catch his breath.

Mori ran forward and placed a reassuring hand on the agitated boy. "Relax, maybe he went home first?" There was always this very invigorating air around Mori which would even calm the most aggressive oxen alive. And it was hard to get cross with him.

"No! Our chauffeur is still on his way. I-I-" he wheezed, eyes darting around in a lunatic fashion. "He's still in school, I'm certain!"

"Shall I go and inform the security head to organize a search party for Hikaru?" suggested Haruhi.

Kyoya, the wise man of the club shook his head "No can do. It's already 8pm. All of the staffs and most of the guards would have already left."

"Alright host club! Let's spilt up and look for Kaoru." Tamaki clapped his hands and commanded in a distinctly masculine voice.

"Hurray!" cried a hardly serious Hani. Once again, the host was engaged in yet another round of 'fun-filled' adventure.

And so, each of them armed with a torchlight and an iphone went on separate ways. Mori and Haruhi tackling the South Wing of the campus, Kaoru and Hani covering the East Wing and Tamaki and Kyoya doing the remaining wings.

The flashing lights from the flickering torch lights shone at every corner. Mori's and Haruhi's throat were hoarse from shouting Hikaru's name so much. After an hour of searching to no avail, Haruhi collapsed on the side of the garden impression and wrung her hands nervously.

She looked up at a calm Mori with huge luscious eyes, frowning with concern. "I really hope that Kaoru is safe."

He smiled and ruffled her hair affectionately. "I'm sure he'll be. Maybe one of them has found him. Let's go and meet the rest, shall we?"

The dried up leaves, scattered all over the ground next to their parent tree, crackled crisply as they made their way back. A few metre away, the willow tree was moaning it's sorrowful song carried away by the slight breeze. Suddenly, Haruhi's head jerk back and she turned sharply, expecting to see someone. She could feel a pair of eyes following them. It was so keen that it was as if a laser burning a hole in her back.

"Senior, I've got a distinct feeling that someone is following us." She slipped a hand into Mori's palm, in return he squeezed it.

"There's no one here, but us."

"Well, maybe I'm just dreaming."

Haruhi glanced around one more time and this time her eyes met the icy cold eyes of a petite hazel-eyed blonde with sinewy legs that once propelled her across the stage in an amateur production of a ballet recital. The figure was perched on top of the clock tower. The ballerina cocked her head to a side and in the moonlight, Haruhi could the skin of the pretty face erode into a grayish skull. The skeleton- framed ballerina blew her a kiss and a light shower of glitter littered the grass.

Haruhi screamed.

"Mori!" She tugged at his sleeve.

"What?"

"There's a ballerina on top of the clock tower!"

"Eh?" Mori scanned the tower and surroundings. "No, I don't see anyone."

"She was there… Oh, the glitter!!" Haruhi hurriedly gestured across the grassy patch. "Here!!! Huh? It was there just now…"

"I'm sure it's just your imagination," he repeated heartening. "Come on, I'll give you a piggy back"

Still shaking, she climbed into the lean muscular back of her senior. All the way back, she was thinking about the sight. She firmly disagreed with Mori; it wasn't her imagination. Not in the least bit. The haunting empty eye-sockets lingered in her mind.

Somewhere in the west wing, Tamaki was searching for Hikaru as well. To calm his nerves, he whistled a pleasant tune in between calls. The lights in the corridor were dimly lilted, casting yellow tinctures on the portraits hung adjacent to their neighbors on the walls. His shoes made high-pitched squeaky sounds upon contact with the newly waxed floors. Creaking sounds rose from the desks complemented his hesitant yelling. Tamaki couldn't imagine why the reason for those horribly creaking desks; they were replaced with new ones each year.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when the familiar ring tone blared out and vibrated steadily in his pocket. A close up of a pair of glasses decorated the screen. He answers it at once. "Kyoyaaa! I wish we had done the searching together." Tamaki complained in a half-swallowed whine of pain and frustration. His voice dropped to a whisper. "There are goblins lurking in school, you know."

"I assume Kaoru isn't in the west wing then" Tamaki could imagine his friend smoothing out his blazer as he spoke in a crisp tone.

"Wait… I have one more classroom to cover." And he pushed open the mahogany doors of 1-A. There was a little scribble by the right side, but he did not take much notice. Scanning, the classroom with not a soul in sight, he spoke again "No, he's not here either… eh is it raining?"

A drop of liquid plopped on the bridge of Tamaki's nose and dripped to the corner of his mouth. Instinctly, he stuck out his tongue and licked a bit of it. It had a familiar iodine taste to it. A wave of realization washed through him. With much horror, he looked up only to see the remnants of a badly severed hand swinging to-and-fro from the ceiling, tied by only a mere cord. Again, more crimson blood rained down and Tamaki's face was splattered scarlet. It was like a copy of the scene of the bloody lavatory from Silent Hill.

He gave an odd, shuddering gasp, and dropped the phone, as though he had been doused with icy water, followed by a blood-curling scream he never knew he was capable of doing.

"Tamaki? Tamaki? Hello?" From the other side of the line, Kyoya said with equal calmness. Finally, with no answer from Tamaki he hung up. "Stupid boy."

Meanwhile, the rest of the host club gathered in front of the school trying to calm the boy with messy amber hair, clawing at Hani's vest in hysterical, down. Their chauffeurs were waiting by the gate patiently.

Kyoya was saying "I believe nothing would happen to Kaoru. Can you please get a grip on yourself!" It wasn't a request but more like a command made in irritation.

"Shush! Where's senior Tamaki?" Haruhi tugged at Kyoya's sleeve. Somehow she was always the one to express concern.

"He's probably lost somewhere in school. My call got cut off abruptly a while ago. "

Mori said determinedly "I'll go get him."

After a few minutes, a pale-faced Mori with the faintest sheer of perspiration on his forehead arrived carrying a limp Tamaki with a blood encrusted face on his back. "There's a bloody hand in classroom 1-A, which is where I found Tamaki."

Stares were transfixed in him. No one spoke a word until Kyoya said expressionlessly "Oh boy, we better call the police."

A shout came from one of the chauffeurs. "There's a body here!"

The rest of them came racing over to the banks of the river by the school. Even Mori hastily dumped his motionless president onto the ground and joined the small excited crowd.

The impact of hitting the hard cement woke him up. Tamaki sat up straight and murmured "Zhao Dou Nei." His eyes glassy as he repeated it over and over again.

Sheer horror flooded their faces as they watched the object bobbing against the currents. They recognized the body in an instant. For the first time in months, Kyoya panicked.

Floating in the clear waters and amidst the wisps of autumn air was a boy with his matted ash hair spread around like a lion's mane in Ouran High uniform. There was a deep violet gash next to the school badge, no longer bleeding though. Worse of all, his eyes were wide-open in petrified fear like he was trying to convey a message to those who had found him.

Author's note:

Inspired by "Boys over flowers" and my ex-love for Nancy Drew, I've decided to write a mystery (with bits of supernatural) and the host club acting as Jessica Fletcher. I have a lot of brillopad-worthly ideas for this story! There will be a twist in chpt 3.

PS: The emerald tiara part is yet to be introduced.

PSS: Those Asian, you may be able to guess what Tamaki was muttering. It will be revealed later, in a form of a riddle-like poem… So all I'm saying is that the mystery does not end in Japan. : )

Anyway, thanks for reading my story!