Warning: Creepy themes and instances of non/dubious consent in the future.


Meanwhile...

Haruhi woke to soft, unintelligible murmuring in the distance, her sight muddied with blurs of black, grey orange and yellow. Candlelight, she realized. The room suddenly sharpened into focus and her heart thudded to a brief halt. It was round and entirely composed of stacked grey stones from wall to wall. The only decorations presented themselves in wrought iron candelabras with spiraling feet, all flickering with flame. And chains. Lots of chains. They littered the stone walls and hung heavily down to spill shackles onto the ground. Was this some sort of dungeon? Her heart quickened from skipping beats to thudding twice as harshly against her sky blue t-shirt. What was she doing here?

She roved through her most recent memories. Dinner at the infamous Nekozawa historical estate. The show room display. The tale of the black candle. Her eyes widened as the rest of the night unwound in her mind without any further effort, panic quickly building in its wake. But that couldn't have been what actually happened. Surely she'd been dreaming. Or drugged. She lifted a hand to pinch herself only to find her wrist adorned with an iron clasp. She glanced at the other wrist to find a matching shackle before following them both with her eyes, up the chain and to the stone wall where they fastened in tight. Her feet made an awkward, unconscious movement forward and she stumbled from whatever she'd been sitting on, instinctively wrestling away from the chains. The resistance did little save for leaving tiny lines engraved upon her wrists. She was trapped alone. In a dungeon. On the Nekozawa estate. With an evil doppelgänger of the Shadow King lurking somewhere in the backdrop. Who possibly meant to "mark" her. Whatever that meant.

The demon's eyes flashed across her memory again and her breathing shallowed, the panic rising to a swelling point from her stomach to her chest and then her throat. Unable to conceal it any longer, she let it tear out, shrill and trembling, but loudly enough so that her friends or the estate security might hear. "HEL—" she cried and a hand immediately pressed over her lips, the skin ice cold.

"Shhhh," a voice whispered in her ear and her eyes grew large at the familiar tone.

"Hani-senpai!" She whirled around, the chain pulled taut from the wall, to see the adorable senior standing before her in his pink Usa-chan one piece, a bunny ear hood extending from the back. He slowly lowered his hand back down to his side.

"Did that…" She wasn't sure what to call the thing masquerading as Kyoya. "Did it bring you here t…" She trailed off when she noticed something odd in his countenance. All the features were in place, the color right, but it contained the odd singularity of a CGI model. Something almost mirroring life, but not quite getting it right. There was a deadness underneath those human like features.

Hani stared at her as if daring her to voice the unhinging thoughts, his eyes lacking all of their usual warmth. She drew a sharp breath and his lip crooked upward slightly, vacant honey eyes brightening wickedly. Was he feeding from her fear?

"Hani-senpai." Another voice interrupted and they both turned to a large iron door to their right. The entrance to the chamber. Had it been open all along? Is that where the murmuring had come from? "I didn't give you permission to be here."

"Kyoya-senpai," she breathed, for lack of a better term. Why were he and Hani-senpai together? And was it the real Hani-senpai? Not likely, she thought, a sick feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.

"Don't tell me what to do, Kyoya," Hani spoke coldly, reminiscent of the few rare times she'd come face to face with his dual personality.

Shadow Kyoya entered the room further, finally stepping into the flickering candlelight and Haruhi felt the hairs prickle at the back of her neck, the panic rearing its ugly head again. She unconsciously yanked at her chains once more, but they did nothing but greet her ears with a barrage of creaks and clangs. His gaze fortunately seemed to be focused on Hani as he peered down through the glasses.

"If you want to return to the shadow realm, by all means, disregard my orders, Hani-senpai." He grinned, the expression not quite in line with the venom in his words. "But I think you'll find things go much more smoothly if you cooperate. Do we still have a deal?"

Shadow Hani considered him for a few seconds before finally nodding despite his defiant expression. He tucked a hand in the pocket of his onsie and pulled out a folded sheet of paper with frayed edges. "Found it in the show room."

"And everything else?"

"It's in there." Hani tilted his head toward the outside room before crossing his arms and staring expectantly up at Kyoya. "So?"

"Not yet," Kyoya responded blankly, eyes focused on the sheet of paper as he unfurled it, layer by layer. "Have you run into any trouble from the others?"

"Nah," Hani grumbled. "This body is too small to spot easily, but I saw that idiot blond wandering around near the show room before I left."

A slow smile slithered over Kyoya's features as he observed the scroll, aged black lines, numbers and words inscribed over the paper. "If he's anything like Tamaki, he's probably only just realized that Haruhi's not with the rest of them." Upon saying her name, his gaze fixed onto her for the first time, eyes steely beneath the glass. She tugged once again albeit half heartedly.

"I have another assignment for you," he told Hani, but his gaze remained fixed on her. "Wait for me in the main room."

Hani stood rooted in place for a few moments, blatantly reluctant to take his orders, before finally spinning on his heel and heading toward the heavy iron door. With one last narrowed glance at Kyoya and then Haruhi, he disappeared into the orange lit chamber beyond. Haruhi bit her lip. Another assignment? Just what exactly was he planning? And how had he gotten Hani-senpai's shadow to work for him? In demon form, the title of Shadow King had never been more fitting.

He started toward her and she immediately stepped backwards as far as the chains would allow, the metal pressing into the skin of her wrists. Did he mean to mark her? Or was he plotting something else? Could she appeal to his sympathies? Did he have any? "Kyoya-senpai," she started, swallowing down the panic in one large gulp. "I don't under—"

He reached out to press one cool fingertip against her lips. "Relax," he advised calmly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

She silenced, her breathing slowing slightly. Had it been his will or her own?

"Now sit down." He motioned toward the wall and she realized that she'd come to upon a crimson red, lavender rose embroidered chaise lounge chair. It didn't match the rest of the "dungeon" and she concluded that he'd placed it there for her comfort.

"And stop resisting," he continued, a hint of a frown on his lips. "That iron has sharp edges and if you aren't careful, you'll hurt yourself."

Blinking dumbly she stared down at the sofa and then back up at the shadow demon. Was he really counseling her on shackle safety?

He responded with a smirk, arms crossed. "He doesn't say, but he's really quite fond of you."

"Kyoya-senpai…" She frowned, reluctantly taking a seat upon the lounge, knees pressed together, shackled hands folded. She knew that Kyoya kept his feelings securely bolted away from prying eyes and that she mattered to him on some level, but to this extent… She leaned forward. "Am I really his most important person? I'm not… I would think—"

"Oh, you're definitely essential to me, Haruhi," Kyoya cut in before she could finish her thought process. "And he's incredibly repressed." He repositioned his glasses. "Of course, once the game is over and I win, that won't be a problem." He grinned, spectacles flashing at her. "And I'll drop that hefty debt he's stacked against you as well."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow. "Game?" Why did he call it a game? She knew that Kyoya often viewed quite a few of the Host Club's activities and pursuits as games- even though, for the large majority of the time, the rest of them had no idea that they were playing. His shadow had apparently taken on the same quirk, but what could be so tantalizing about this "game" when he supposedly already had the winning piece? "If I really am your most important person, why don't you just m…" She trailed off, realizing in two parts that one, she was suggesting that he "mark" her and two, she didn't even remotely understand what the "mark" was in the first place. She folded her lips inward as if to stop herself from speaking when she realized that he was leaning directly over her, a curious glint in his eyes.

"Would you like me to?" he asked softly, but the words seemed to suffocate her as they curled and billowed against her ears, filling the space like smoke.

"No," she responded in a barely audible whisper and he stood again.

"I don't scheme and tell, Haruhi." He eyed the frayed edged paper one last time before folding it into a small rectangle and placing it in the pocket of his grey pants. A knowing smile curved over his lips as he started back toward the door. "Let's just say, I have something that quite a few parties want and that has its merits."

She lowered her gaze in thought. What could that something be? she pondered, feeling as if the answer was right under her nose. Had he somehow discovered a way to humanize the shadows without needing their most important person? Her heart thudded harshly. Or worse, did he mean to hurt Tamaki and the others in some way? But then, regardless of all the other evil he was plotting, his first and foremost concern would be survival, right? If he had the key to his survival then why wouldn't he use it? Unless—

Her thoughts promptly halted when something darkened the doorway to her right just before Kyoya could reach it. She glanced up, eyes wide, to see a familiar face standing in the threshold.

Kyoya's shadow stopped to fold one arm, the other rising to straighten his glasses. "Hikaru," he spoke calmly, almost as if he'd been expecting him.

"Hikaru?!" Haruhi called, half hoping he was the real thing, half knowing the truth.

The demon's amber gaze flickered oddly upon catching her eyes, a predatory glint there. "Haruhi."


Extra long A/N to make up for extra short chapter: By popular demand (like 3 people, but as far as fanfiction reviews go, that's popular demand), I wrote a chapter focusing on Haruhi and her current whereabouts. I wasn't going to include this, but I'm glad I did because it's going to make a future chapter much less crowded with exposition and I like writing Haruhi. Kyoya too.

So was this good enough for the Haru and Shadow Kyoya scene requesters? Were you expecting something more along the lines of episode 8? Ya perverts! :P

Anyway, sorry that this chapter is so short. I didn't want to give too much away. I am almost done with the next chapter which will be getting back to the rest of the Host Club and Tamaki's shadow.

I'm seeing a trend in my reviews and I think a lot of you may not like something coming up, but I hope you will continue to read when that happens! I'll say no more on that, but sorry in advance!

Anyway thank you for all of the wonderful reviews.. Please continue sharing your feelings! Let me know your thoughts on the shadows introduced this chapter!