New chapter. I hope everyone didn't get too tired of waiting. I worked hard on this chapter and I honestly think it's one of the greatest things I've written in a long time. Not that I'm bragging or anything. It's still not that good. But good for me, I guess. Enjoy the chapter! I don't own Ouran High School Host Club and never will.

A beeping alarm broke into the teenager's subconscious, dispelling the dream he was having. Groaning, he just moved closer to the warm body beside him, trying to block out the obnoxious sound. He felt an arm reach around him and shut off the alarm so that the room was once more plunged into a beautiful silence. Only their breathing could be heard in the large room. Kaoru smiled to himself, enjoying the moment of closeness with his brother before it was ripped away.

Hikaru let him cling for a few more minutes before stretching, effectively pulling out of the other's grasp. "We got to get ready for school, Kaoru. If we don't get up now, we're going to be late."

"Oh, who cares?" the younger complained. "It's just school. Besides, I want to stay right here with you." He gently reached up and ran his fingers through his brother's hair, smiling at him almost tenderly.

Hikaru chuckled. "Why are you always so clingy in the mornings? What's with that, huh?" He sat up, stretching his arms above his head and yawning. "Because of you we've been late two times to class this month. If we're late again, we might end up being punished. So let's not do that, okay?"

"They're not going to do anything to us," Kaoru insisted, still refusing to sit up. "Mom would have an aneurism if the school tried anything."

"If you're still feeling sick, I'm sure you could just stay home," Hikaru shrugged, then stood up walking over to their large closet. Going inside, he flipped on the light switch. His voice echoed from inside as he continued speaking. "But, I'm still failing my foreign language studies course, so I really don't need to miss a day of that, you know?"

"When did you start caring about your grades, Hikaru?" the other asked, finally sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"No, the real question is, when are you going to start. I know about that math grade, Kaoru. I saw you hiding your last report card."

Kaoru flushed a little bit, then swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Maybe if you would let me copy your homework like you used to I wouldn't be failing. We used to have each other's backs that way, remember? Those were the good days." Kaoru stood and walked into the closet, watching as his brother changed into his school uniform.

"Do you mean back in middle school when everyone thought we were weirdos and we had no friends? And the only people we talked to were each other? I don't know Kaoru. I think I'm perfectly happy where we are now with the Host Club, even though that Kyoya is being a real jerk recently." Hikaru turned around, smiling at his twin. It was a real smile, not one of those smirks that he always wore around other people. Kaoru was the only one who ever saw his real smile.

"He's just doing his job, I guess…" the younger twin muttered. Then, he walked over to his brother and wrapped his arms around his neck. "Still, I do kinda miss when we were just ourselves, you know? With no one else to worry about. Don't you miss that, Hika?" He couldn't help the hopeful tone his voice had, an edge of desperation also connected to it.

Hikaru looked at him in surprise, then slowly pushed him away so he could straighten his tie. "I guess…I miss how close we used to be. We're not really that connected anymore. But that's not such a bad thing, is it? We're gaining a bit of independence from each other."

Kaoru turned, a sigh breaking from his chest, and walked to his side of the closet. Pulling a white button up from off a hanger, he smoothed the fabric in his hands. "I don't want independence," he whispered quietly. "I want to be with you, like we used to be."

"What'd you say, Kaoru?" his brother asked, looking over as he slipped his arm into his jacket.

"Nothing, Hika," the other replied, smiling over at his brother flatly. Turning again, he started to take off his sleeping attire. Before his brother would have had a chance to see his scars, he quickly put on the white shirt. He listened to his twin's footsteps as he headed out of the closet and into the bathroom.

Kaoru felt tears well up in his eyes, but somehow kept them from falling to his cheeks. He couldn't cry right now, not with Hikaru only a short distance away. It was hard, hard to be so close to his brother all the time but unable to act on his desires. It was like placing a beer in front of a recovering alcoholic and tying their hands together so they can't touch it. It was an unending pining he had.

He hurried to finish dressing, walking out of the closet as he straightened his tie, running straight into Hikaru. "Hey," his brother greeted, laughing slightly. "You still having trouble with this, after all this time?" His hands rose, knocking Kaoru's out of the way to fix the tie for him. "Eventually, you'll have to do it on your own, you know?" A chuckle escaped his lips, then he patted his brother's arms. "Come on, let's get going before we're late again."

"Okay," Kaoru said, smiling slightly. He reached up, intertwining his fingers with Hikaru's. Together, they walked out of the room and started down the stairs of their large mansion. The red carpeting over the stairs led down into the rich marble of the foyer below. A large, extravagant chandelier hung above their heads casting the room into a nice, warm glow. Servants stood at the doors, opening them for the twins as they walked past and down the driveway to the waiting limousine to take them to school.

"You know, Kaoru," the elder said, after settling into the back of the limo. "We haven't really messed with the girls at the club much recently. It's just been a bit bland, you know? Maybe we should plan something for today, hmmn?"

"What'd you have in mind, Hika? You're the idea man."

"What if we staged a break-up? Stormed out in a blast of fury?"

"We did that already, remember?" Kaoru said, smile waning a bit. "Back when we were messing with Haruhi? Let's try something else?"

"Huh, I guess you're right… But we need to do something to spice things up again. Get the blood flowing again. The club's just losing some of its interest for me. I don't know. If we do something to shake things up a bit, maybe I'll start being interested again."

"What boring about, huh?" Kaoru asked, pouting a bit. "Is it me?"

"No…" Hikaru said, looking at him strangely. "What's with this self-confidence issue all of a sudden, huh?" He reached over and ran his fingers through his younger twin's hair. "You've been acting awful funny lately. Is there something I should know?"

He leaned his head into the other's hand, smiling softly. "Nothing, Hika. You know I haven't been feeling well lately, and I just kinda keep thinking about…things. Things like how we're in high school,a nd eventually we'll have to go to university. And honestly, I'm afraid of us being separated. I know it's stupid, and childish, but-"

"That's not stupid, Kaoru. I worry about that, too." Hikaru scooted over across the seat, wrapping an arm around his brother's shoulder. "But you don't need to worry about that. I love you, Kaoru. You'll always be my little brother. Okay? Nothing can change that."

"Yeah. Of course Hikaru." Kaoru looked down, then leaned over against his brother. "Now that I'm thinking about it, though…" he said, a mischievous edge to his voice. "I think I might have an idea of how to shake things up in the Host Club." He looked up at his brother, a new light in his eyes and a smirk on his lips. "But we're going to need a little help from Haruhi…"

Kaoru didn't know how he did it, but somehow he made it through the day without the pangs of addiction dragging him away from the school and to his hideaway in the city. Halfway through lunch, he slipped his hand in his pocket, searching for his drugs, but came up empty. He had forgotten them at home in his drawer. He bit his lip, looking at the tray of food in front of him, suddenly finding it very unappetizing. After a moment, however, he brushed the feeling off and stuffed a bite of noodles in his mouth. He could get through the day; he had to get through the day.

Across from him, Hikaru slipped a the packets of ketchup Haruhi had dropped on the table in front of them into his jacket pocket. She had, as requested by them that morning, swiped them from a fast food restaurant before getting to school. Now, that she was officially dating Tamaki, she had rides to school every morning and pretty much access to whatever she wanted. Still, she didn't mind doing a small favor for her friends, even if she had no idea why in hell they would need so much ketchup. They would switch the packets out later by simply exchanging jackets between classes.

After what seemed like endless hours of class, the twins walked hand in hand to the Host Club, Hikaru smirking widely. He was unable to contain his joy at the glorious prank they were about to pull. Kaoru just loved seeing his twin happy, and he would do anything to keep it that way. The plan they had concocted would sure to leave the twin satisfied for weeks, though it might leave some of the Host's clients scarred for much longer.

"Hey girls, did you know me and Kaoru used to be on a gymnastics team?" Hikaru asked some of the girls. The twins were sitting next to each other on a couch, a group of girls sitting in chairs surrounding them. Hikaru had his arm wrapped around Kaoru, who was looking down and blushing bashfully. Their act was in full swing and the girls around them were eating it up.

"Oh my gosh, you never told us that," a girl chimed in, gushing. "Did you do like, cartwheels and flips and stuff?"

"Oh we did all that and more," Hikaru continued, dramatizing the story greatly. The truth was, when they were eight years old, their mother decided they should expand their horizons a bit and hired a private gymnastics instructor. The twins hated it, however, and spent the next several weeks making the man's life miserable until he quit the job. Their mother gave up on trying to force them into activities soon after. "But the main thing we did was partner work. My favorite was when we made a human tower. Do you remember that Kaoru?"

"How could I forget?" Kaoru asked, looking up at his brother, blush still present. "You supported me with your strong shoulders. I've never felt safer than lifted in the air by you."

"Oh, Kaoru. You know I'd never let you fall."

As the twins gazed into each other's eyes, the girls around them squealed in delight. Kyoya who had been walking by happened to stop to listen to the conversation. He knew the twins weren't gymnastics experts as they claimed, and was starting to smell trouble.

"Hikaru, Kaoru?" one of the quieter girls asked shyly. The twins tore their attention from each other and focused on her. "Might we be able to see some of your routines?"

Hikaru smirked widely. "I thought you'd never ask." He stood quickly, grabbing his twin's hand and pulling him to his feet. "Come on Kaoru. Let's show the girl's our signature move."

"That was always my favorite."

Hikaru cupped his hands together, and Kaoru stepped in it. Boosting himself up, he climbed up onto Hikaru's shoulders, shakily straightening up. It wasn't long before everyone in the room, including the Hosts, were staring at the twins as they worked to balance themselves. Hikaru grabbed onto Kaoru's ankles as he straightened up, helping to hold his brother in place. Kaoru straightened up as well, holding his arms out and smiling victoriously. The girls all broke into applause, some squealing in delight.

Then, without warning, Kaoru suddenly lost his balance. He jerked forward, flailing his arms. "Hikaru!" he shouted, falling towards the floor, desperation in his tone.

"No, Kaoru!" the elder shouted, dropping to his knees as Kaoru came tumbling down, landing on the floor in a heap. Kaoru, composing himself quickly from the fall which was not actually that serious, reached into his jacket and squeezed the ketchup packets until they burst, causing thick red gunk to paint his hand and white shirt.

Hikaru scooted forward, lifting Kaoru up and cradling him in his arms. "Kaoru, are you okay?" The Hosts and clients quickly gathered around the twins, faces all warped into differing masks of horror. Kaoru took his hand out of his jacket, reaching it up towards Hikaru. The crowd gasped, falling right into the twins' trap.

"Blood!" a random girl's voice screeched, which caused the rest of the crowd to join the panic.

"Oh, Kaoru. I'm so sorry," Hikaru said, leaning down and pressing his forehead against his brother's chest. "Please, don't be hurt. I don't know what I'd do with myself without you by my side."

"Hikaru…everything is…going black…" the younger twin said, letting his hand drop back down. "I think…this is my last…my last moments."

"No!" the girls screamed in unison, some dropping down to their knees and crying out.

"Kaoru…" Hikaru whispered, his body beginning to be racked with sobs. Sobs that quickly turned to laughter as he sat up, wiping away tears. "Kaoru. I think we fooled all of them."

The younger twin sat up, putting his weight back on his elbows. "Really? Then our plan worked."

The girls all let out surprised huffs that quickly turned to cries of relief as they all crowded around the twins. Any resentment that should have been felt by the girls for being so horribly tricked was wiped away by the sheer joy they felt at Kaoru not being injured. The twins continued their act, loving on each other for the next several minutes before Kyoya announced the end of the Club's hours.

"That was a terrible stunt you two pulled today," Kyoya reprimanded the twins after all the girls had filed out. They were still on the floor, Kaoru leaning back on his brother's lap while Hikaru ran his fingers through his hair. "What would you have done if Kaoru had actually been hurt? Or if the girls were offended by it? You jeopardized the whole Host Club. It was irresponsible."

"Calm down, Kyoya," Hikaru complained. "Nothing bad happened. So get off your high horse and let us have a little fun, alright?"

The raven haired teen stared at the twins for a moment before slamming his notebook closed, pushing the glasses up the bridge of his nose, turning on his heel, and walking away. The twins both burst into laughter that carried over to where Tamaki and Haruhi were standing, saying their goodbyes before Haruhi headed home. After they'd gained her attention, Haruhi quickly walked over to the boys and glared fiercely.

"That really was a terrible joke to play," she said, voice calm but with an edge to it. "Seriously you guys, do you know how horrible it would be if either one of you actually got hurt? What it would do to us, your friends? We all care about you so stop acting so selfish. A few harmless pranks is one thing, but this? This is crazy." She shook her head, then stormed off, Tamaki running after her.

Kaoru's smile slipped from his face as he sat up. "Maybe she's right, Hika. That was kinda terrible."

"Whatever," Hikaru said, standing up. He helped Kaoru to his feet, then wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Who cares? Let's go home, alright?"

Kaoru agreed, then the two walked out of the room and through the school. Outside, they met with their limo. Hikaru laid across the seat, head in Kaoru's lap the whole way home, jabbering about what an awesome prank they had pulled. Kaoru, for reasons he did not understand, was overcome by a horrible sense of guilt at what he'd done. The usually apathetic Haruhi had gotten to him, her biting words leaving their mark in him.

He didn't necessarily know what it would be like if something were to happen to him. He was generally one of the least important ones in his friend group, at least in his mind. He always faded into the background, or worse, Hikaru's shadow. People seemed to forget he was there, or forget that he and his brother were separate people. And while he did love his brother, probably more than he should in ways that he shouldn't, he wasn't inseparable from him.

All this rushed through his head as his twin chattered on, completely and blissfully unaware of the shaky state of his brother's mental state. Kaoru knew before they'd even gotten to the house that tonight was going to be a rough one, filled with destructive decisions and suicidal actions. As they walked through the door of their mansion, Kaoru wasn't sure he'd make it through the night.

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