Author's Notes: I hadn't intended to continue this, but I suddenly had a burst of inspiration. I don't know if any more chapters will follow, but for now, please enjoy this chapter.

"Do you think he knows?"

"Knows what?"

"That we thought he was different?" Hikaru leaned onto his brother. "That was why we sent the wallet back to him?"

"Perhaps. But why do you care?" Kaoru pushed Hikaru off, and he fell back onto his back, staring at the ceiling.

"I dunno. Just wondering."

The apartment turned quiet, the hum of the fan overtaking the room. The window was slightly open to let the air in, if not to keep the mosquitoes out. The Parisian weather by mild by July standards this year, which made Kaoru wonder if this was the impact of global warming.

"I'm bored." It was Hikaru who said this. He was still lying on the floor, looking at nothing in particular. "Let's go out."

"To do what?"

"Get some money." Hikaru rolled over; he was facing Kaoru now. "Let's go to a different metro stop. How about Montparnasse again? The rap should be over by now – it's been a week."

"Why so eager?"

Hikaru made a face. "Kaoru," he whined, "I'm bored."

And that was enough of an argument for Kaoru. It was never good for a Hitachiin to be bored.

After they left the apartment, Kaoru began to wish that they hadn't left in the first place. The heat, though mild, was especially humid today which made it even worst. He was already swatting at flies once out the door, and when he turned he saw that Hikaru was doing the same.

The time was three-fifteen in the afternoon. Kaoru began to wish that they'd left later. There would be more people then.

But Hikaru now suddenly possessed an energy that was too much for him, and so he was led by the hand to the metro stop they lived by: the Saint Sulpice stop.

As usual, there was hardly any people there, and they rode until they reached Montparnasse, a number of stops later.

Montparnasse was another story altogether. People were shoving to get the better position, but the two brothers did not have to try hard to be together. After so many years in the Paris underground, they were used to it.

When they finally reached the train terminal section, the same place where they'd pick pocketed the clueless blonde a week earlier, Hikaru stopped.

Now it seemed like he was finished, his energy gone.

Kaoru was upset about this. "Now what?"

Hikaru shrugged. "What do you want to do?"

"I thought you had something in mind."

"Haven't thought of it yet."

"Great," and Kaoru sighed. Just great.

Hikaru turned towards him. "Maybe we can go find Mori-senpai and Hunny-senpai. They might have something to do."

"If you didn't have something in mind," Kaoru chose his words carefully, "then why did we come out in the first place?"

"Instinct." Kaoru sighed again.

So the two dragged themselves to a nearby bench, hoping that something might happen soon, because if nothing did, there would soon be two bored Hitachiins.

The Devil's arithmetic.

One plus one equals two.

--

Five minutes in the train station, and Renge was already hating it. Why, oh why, did she have to be here? She held no interest in the lives of commoners, was no sudden commoner aficionado, and yet she was here.

She hated Tamaki for it.

She'd been asked by her father to visit him – you haven't seen him in ages, he claimed – and that was the only reason why she was willing to go. She never liked going away from Paris, and she certainly did not like Lyon, where Tamaki and his mother lived.

At first, she didn't remember Tamaki, even when her father said that they had met a few years ago, at a party. But Renge had been to so many parties in her short life so far that one social dance was no different from the next.

It wasn't until a picture was produced, shown to her, that she'd remembered.

"Oh," she said, "oh."

And she went. She suspected a possible marriage out of this; perhaps her father wanted a connection to the Suou Family? Personally, Tamaki was not her type, he was too gregarious, too outgoing for her (though that was her character exactly). She always had preferred the mysterious type. She remembered the boy now. He was the one who stole every girl's heart the moment he entered.

Not hers, though, and it gave Renge a sense of pride

But then (why, oh why), was she taking a train? Sure, she had heard the rumors of Tamaki's mother's family in hard times, but had they sunk so low that they could not afford a private plane for her?

Was that too much to ask for?

Instead, she'd been given a time, a ticket, and a stern warning. Be careful, Tamaki had told her, but what in the world did that mean? He told her it was one of the best experiences in his life, and didn't she want to experience it too?

No, she wanted to say, but of course, who can say no to the possible Suou heir?

She stood now with a cart of luggage at her side. She was sure she looked absolutely ridiculous like this, and she made sure to note this to Tamaki. If she ever made it there, of course. He was the going to be the reason of fault for everything today.

Her train time was four-fifteen, but it was already three forty-five right now, and Renge was quite sure that she was lost. There were so many people, none of whom she recognized. (Though, if she had recognized any of these common folk, what was that saying about her social standing?)

Now would have been a good time for her prince to magically appear and whisk her off to Lyon. She would be saved, and it would have been a good story to tell, too.

But, alas. Renge was smart enough to know that princes did not appear out of nothing and she was smart enough to know that even if he did appear, it would not be at a common folk train station.

--

"No answer." Hikaru flipped shut his phone, and wrapped his arm around Kaoru. "Hunny and Mori-senpai must be out of town."

"So why are we here." Hikaru was noticing that Kaoru was growing increasingly more annoyed. What was his problem?

"Who should I call next?" he wondered aloud. "Well, there is one person left."

"Oh God." Kaoru hung his head back. "Don't call him. I don't want to see him. Not today."

"A problem with seeing me?"

Both twins looked up, and it was indeed the last person that Kaoru wanted to see.

"Kyouya-senpai," Hikaru acknowledged. "What brings you here?"

"Perhaps a sudden impulse," he replied, "no more than you."

"You've been gone for a while," Hikaru continued, "and we thought you went off and got yourself married. Or died, or something like that."

"Really." There didn't seem to be any look of surprise to Kyouya's face.

"Why do you decide to come today?" Kaoru now said.

"It's simply a matter of business," Kyouya said, "but I'm not disclosed to tell you anything."

"We don't want to know anything," Kaoru said, "so you can keep it to yourself."

"Well, someone is a bit short-fused today." There was a smirk on his face, and Kyouya wasn't afraid of letting the twins know that.

The dark-haired man walked away after that, and Kaoru was not sad to see him go. Ohtori Kyouya was someone not to be messed with, but that didn't mean you couldn't like him.

Kyouya had been born to a powerful family in the underworld, and he constantly used his connections for his own purposes. On the other hand, Hikaru and Kaoru had no standing even in the underworld, and they were seen as mere pickpockets.

It was natural, even understandable, that the two parties shared a strained relationship when one considered their backgrounds.

--

Renge was only moments away from complete panic. She knew this, yet she also knew that she could do nothing to prevent it.

Her appearance was probably ragged now, her features frozen with fear. It was unladylike of her to look like that, but she decided that it probably didn't matter here in the common folk world.

Someone came behind her and bumped into her. As she turned around to scold that person, she realized she was looking into the face of a handsome boy.

"I apologize, it would appear that I have not been paying attention." He smiled now, and she decided that it was a beautiful smile.

"It's no problem," she quickly said, for she did not want to seem the nagging type.

"If that's the case, I apologize again for my behavior. I suppose it was because I thought you would move. You've been standing there for a while now."

"Have I?" Unconsciously, Renge walked to the other side of her pushing cart. She leaned on it.

"Yes," and the boy's face looked into hers. She was captivated by him, she decided. "Perhaps you are lost?"

She focused her gaze on him now. He wore glasses, a neat pair set on the bridge of his nose, giving off a scholarly vibe. He was dressed well. He had manners.

Renge decided that she could, for now, trust him. "Yes," she replied, "I am. Perhaps you could help?"

--

The job would be done swiftly, Kaoru thought. That was the way Kyouya operated, the way his entire family, known to outsiders as the Ohtori Group, operated. They were all the sneaky types, the ones who looked like your savior but was actually the traitor. The Benedict Arnold(s).

He was the one who offered help in your time of need, and you were so grateful that you didn't even notice the warning signals going off in a frenzy.

Renge was pointing in a direction. "That way? Or that way?"

"That way." Kyouya pointed to an entirely different direction, and he helped push Renge's luggage cart, with the brown-haired girl following after him.

In fact, his mere appearance should have been a warning signal. The neatness was almost too prim, too impeccable, but you fell for it anyway. He was too good to be true.

His hand reached for the bag lounging languidly on the handlebars, sneaking inside. Renge didn't even notice. She was too slow. She had already been predestined for doom.

He was fast, though, and you had to give him that. He was a true professional. His technique was flawless, he was smooth, unlike the Hitachiins' rough methods and constant improvising.

Within a second the wallet was within his pocket, slid inside without any notice from Renge. She was happy because she thought she had possibly just found her prince. In a train station! It was a romantic notion that she busied herself with.

"Here we are," Kyouya said, stopping.

"Really?" Renge looked up at him. "Thank you!"

"It is no problem, miss. The train should be here in approximately five minutes."

"Oh." The corners of her mouth turned into a small 'o.'

She thanked him profusely, her natural charm flowing out like a left-on tap. It all went to waste on the Ohtori, who replied that it was no problem, really. He'd been coming in this direction.

He left after that, his figure receding into the crowd. Kaoru likened it to that of seeing a rescue ship drift off further and further away from the island on which you were stranded upon.

In no time, Kyouya had appeared by the twins again, both still sitting in the same bench.

"Well," he said, "I'll be seeing you around sometime, Hitachiins. Best of luck to you."

"Same to you." They didn't even know why Kyouya bothered to keep up with formalities.

Finally, Hikaru stood up. He stretched and yawned. "Let's go back home," he said, "I'm tired."

"Now you want to go home," Kaoru rolled his eyes. What a waste of time today.

Hikaru felt the back pockets of his pants to fish out his metro card.

It was gone. His hand immediately shot into his other pocket. Then his front pocket.

All were failures.

"Oh shit." Hikaru was gapping now.

Kaoru turned to the crowds. Kyouya, as expected, was already gone. He turned back to his brother.

"Lost it, huh?"

"That…that sneaky bastard!" He was referring to Kyouya, his eyes scanning over the area. There was no hope.

He was truly mad now. Fuming, fuming mad, a volcano almost.

"See?" Kaoru drawled. "Told you we shouldn't have come out today."

"No, damn it! I hate that Ohtori! I hate it, I hate it!"

"Oh, come on," and this time it was Kaoru who dragged Hikaru back into the metro stop. A pickpocket who was pick pocketed by a pickpocket.

Now that was an interesting story.

--

"Pick pocketed? Oh dear," she said. "Renge-san, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Renge managed, "but I-I thought it was a good person! How was I supposed to know?"

"Tamaki was talking about this the other day," his mother said, nodding her head. "A big problem nowadays, I believe. You should be more careful. Commoners can be expecially rough."

That was useful information, Renge thought, now that she had already been pick pocketed.

"Well, I'm on the train at least," she said. "I should be there soon."

"Yes, of course," Tamaki's mother said, "he will be there to pick you up. I can imagine that you two will have plenty to talk about."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you not know? Tamaki was pick pocketed last week. You two already have something in common."

To be pick pocketed, Renge wanted to say, was not the best thing to have in common.

But she did not say this, and so she only replied, "Yes, of course, I will see you soon."

For the purposes of this chapter (possibly story), Renge is probably more ditzy and clueless than she usually is.

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