"Hold it! Drop the phone and put your hands in the air!" A commanding voice shouts from behind the frantic boy. Four men flank the police officer all wielding their guns. Hikaru looks at them with panic-stricken eyes as he continues yelling into the phone.
"G-ive him b-ack." The teens broken voice pleads with the silence.
"Good job, Hitachiin." A voice finally snaps from the other side of the line. Hikaru slumps to his knees still clutching the phone for dear life as he struggles to suck in breath. "As a prize how about an address? 354 Johnson Street."
"DROP THE PHONE!" The officer shouts wading closer to the teen. A loud crack from behind him turns the Hitachiin stomach and his vision goes spotting before he falls face first into the dirt. The powerful shocks from the Taser ripple through Hikaru's body causing him to convulse violently as he lays unconscious on the ground. "Get him back to HQ." The grey haired man sighs looking down at the disgrace of a teen.
~Laughter. I can hear a child's laugh for the cracked window. "Stop it dad-dy!"The boy squeals and I can hear a man's deep chuckle.
"Come on Mika, we have to get home." Home…the word breaks something inside of me and I suck in staggered breaths around the rag in my mouth. The loud bang of a door being slammed shut draws me from of my self-pity for a moment and the Gamemaker stomps in.
"Look at the mess your damn brother's gotten himself into." The man rumbles holding a newspaper in my face. It takes a minute to sort out the jumbled letters on the greyish paper but the headline soon becomes clear.
"Son Of The Famous Designer Yuzuhan Hitachiin Is Arrested"
16-year-old Hikaru Hitachiin was arrested yesterday evening underneath the toll bridge on 85st street. The teen had an altercation with an officer that ended with Mr. Hitachiin brutally assaulting said officer and then running under the bridge. Officers on the scene chased after the boy who was found clinging to a phone in the worker's station. Authorities believe he was trying to contact a get away party. After being warned multiple times by the chief of police to drop the phone and surrender Mr. Hitachiin was Taser and brought into Muzuro county jail to be held for further questioning."
Hikaru is in jail…and it's my fault. ~
Muzuro county jail is as small building on the eastside of town. Papers litter the desks and floors. Coffee cups and fast food bags fill that wastebaskets and the place reeks of cigarette smoke. The two small glass doors leading into the building swish open letting the sunlight flood in. Most of the officers flinch at bright light but the Chief catches sight of the group making their way toward him almost immediately. Kyoya leads the small band of teens and stops in front of the police chief.
"We're here for Mr. Hitachiin." He states calmly handing the man a document and starting over to where the cells are.
"Hold on a minute! That boy assaulted one of my men and resisted arrest! The red-faced man barked waving the paper in front of the teen. "You think I'll just let you take him?"
"That's exactly what you're going to do." The dark haired boy spoke in a low voice. "Unless you'd prefer a lawsuit for Tasing a minor." The Chief's face paled as he stumbled to find an appropriate response. "Hikaru Hitachiin is now under the custody of the Ootori's private police force." On that note the club made their way over to cells and a young officer fumbled with the keys while hurriedly trying to unlock Hikaru's cell.
The sight of the raggedy teen was one to behold. His clothes were dirty, wet and torn but the real unsettling factor was the boy himself. Hikaru's pale knees are torn and bloodied, dark circles rest just beneath his eyes, there's an unfamiliar gauntness in his face and purpling bruises are scattered across his face and hands. Yet still the most disturbing sight is the haunted and despairing look in those once sparkling amber eyes.
"H-hika-chan?" Honey gasps in wide-eyed horror.
"What the hell! How can you treat him like this!" Tamaki shouts itching to give the so-called "chief" a piece of his mind. Haruhi blinks back tears as she and Mori help their friend off the cold metal bench. Cold, calculating grey eyes scan the room and the Ootori boy frowns in disgust. A small, undignified whimper escapes the red haired boy as he struggles even with his friends as crutches to stay on his feet. The disbanded Host Club manages to stumble back to the door and begins descending the steps.
"My father will hear about this!" Tamaki snarls back into the office as he follows the rest of the group out the door. A short car ride later the teens arrive at the Hitachiin residence and are greeted by the disapproving face of Mrs. Sarah Chatinch. The little maid watches with crossed arms and a sour look as an injured Hikaru is helped from the car and opens the door.
"Hikaru Neko Hitachiin, what have you done." The old woman growls in disapproval as the frail boy settles onto the couch and she shuffles toward him. "Git, brats!" She snaps at the group hovering closely around the Hitachiin boy. Eyes widen at the saucy remarks spewing from the maid's mouth but they do as they're told and stand just outside the doorway to the sitting room. Mrs. Chatinch walks briskly from the room only to return a moment later with a bowl of warm, soapy water and a washcloth. The old nursemaid sighs and begins washing the blood off her ward.
"I never realized how compassionate that old broad was." Kyoya chuckles from his place leaning against the place and the others give him confused looks.
"What are you talking about She's scrubbing poor Hika-chan raw!" Honey denies from his cousin's shoulders. "She's heartless!"
"No…look again, Mitsukuni." Mori nods his head toward the pair.
"Ow! Dang it! Mrs. Cha-Ow!" Hikaru shouts trying unsuccessfully to shift away from the old woman earning a smack on the ear.
"Baka! Stupid boy, stop complaining!" The maid reprimands. "Fussy child…" She mumbles under her breath just loud enough for him to hear.
"No I'm not! It's not my fault you're ripping my skin o-OW!"
"It seems the old woman has a soft-spot for our Hikaru." Tamaki comments with a tiny smile watching the maid and redhead argue.
"Well she did practically raise him and Kaoru. I think they see her as a grandmother of sorts" Kyoya said without looking up from his little black notebook.
_~Flashback~_
Nursemaid
"Come on Kao-Kao!" Little Hikaru shouts from one of the highest branches of the sycamore tree. His amber eyes sparkle with wonder as the little boy gazes out at the world below him.
"I'm-puff-coming-puff-Hika." Kaoru says doing his best to swing his tiny legs over the tree branch beside his brother. A small hand reaches down toward the boy and his twin helps pull him up. "Thanks Hika." Kaoru smiles fixing his purple cat ears on his head.
"I love Halloween." Hikaru mumbles through a mouth full of candy and hands the bag to his little brother. Wiping his smalls on the legs of his identical pink and purple Cheshire cat costume the red haired boy pulls himself to a standing position gripping the tree trunk and looks out across their baseball field sized backyard. " I wish we could stay up here Kao…forever." The older twin utters still looking around. The younger boy looks up at his brother with adoration shining in his own tawny eyes.
"Me too Hika-up." A strong breeze blows through startling the elder boy making his grip loosen for a moment as he tries to stay standing. But the soft fabric of his cat tale gets underfoot and Hikaru's small feet slip off the tree branch. His hands scramble around uselessly trying to grab hold of something, anything but to no avail.
"Kaoru!" The falling twin lets out a frightened cry and the younger boy reaches out for his brother managing to grab only the front of his costume. Another resilient breeze has Kaoru grabbing his own branch in desperation and he loses hold of Hikaru. Wide amber eyes sprout big tears and a terrified shriek escapes the twin as he plummets to the ground. He hits the ground soon after with a hard *thud* and lays perfectly still.
"HIKARU!" Kaoru screams coming down from the great tree as quickly as his feet will let him and running at his unmoving twin. A light comes on at the back door and Sarah steps outside scanning the yard for the two troublesome twins. Her eyes fall on a pair of small figures underneath a tree at the edge of the property.
"Hikaru! Kaoru! Get your butts inside this instant!" She shouts walking out into the yard a ways.
" HELP!" Kaoru screams trying to pull his listless twin back to the house. The woman runs over to the boys and gasp in shock at the motionless twin on the ground.
"What happened?" Sarah asks picking up the frail boy and hurrying inside.
"W-we were playing in t-the sycamore and h-he fell!" Kaoru sobs into the nursemaid's skirt.
"Nora!" The woman shouts and a young maid rushes from the kitchen.
"Yes Miss Sarah?" She pants.
"Call an ambulance and take Kaoru into the kitchen and fix him some tea." Mrs. Chatinch orders in a voice absent of any emotion and the dark haired maid nods staring at the still boy in her superior's arms for a moment before doing as she was told.
Alone with the seemingly lifeless little boy Sarah lets a few tears fall as she listens to his faint breathing. The ambulance arrives not 5 minutes later and the load the boy and his nursemaid into the back before zooming to the hospital. –A few hours later after it's determined the tiny redhead has a broken arm and three cracked ribs the have him set up in a small private room. Sarah never leaves that little boy's side, she sits with him the entire night and is there when his eyelids flutter open.
"M-m-Mrs. Chatinch? Wha-Where are we?" Hikaru asks in a panicky voice. He tries to sit up a little but sucks in a sharp breath at the pain before deciding against it. "A-are we in the hospital?" He wonders aloud glancing around at the white walls and nondescript machines scattered around the room.
"Hikaru. What were you doing up so high in that tree?" The woman beside him demands. The boy looks down at the blankets before he answers.
"I wanted to see it felt like to see the world like…" He stops not wanting to finish his sentence but the look on the nursemaid's face convinces him to continue with a small gulp. " I wanted to see what the angels see." He child whispers innocently looking back down at the blankets. The disapproval and anger melts away from Sarah's face and she stares at the little boy in awe.
" I understand." Mrs. Chatinch breathes patting the hand on Hikaru's uninjured arm and giving him a rare smile. -A few days later back at home things seem almost back to normal.
"HIKARU!" Sarah roars from the bottom of the staircase. A pair of identical heads appear at the top almost instantaneously peering down warily. "Get down here and pick up your socks!"
"But Mrs. Chati-" The boy starts to complain.
"I don't want no 'but's except your scrawny rear down here picking up these socks!" The maid cuts him off and after a few more grumbles the oldest twin is at the foot of the stairs.
"I don't see any socks!" Hikaru exclaims throwing his hands up in the air.
"Baka!" The woman shouts leading him over to the left banister by his good arm. "Here!" She shoves a chocolate bar into his small hand with a glare. "Now go back upstairs!" Sarah orders.
"But you're the one who cal-"
"Now baka! I've got cleaning to do." She barks giving him a push toward the stairs.
"Crazy old bat…"Hikaru mumbles under his breath and Sarah smiles to herself when she see his grin.
"I heard that you little brat!" The woman snaps swatting at the redhead and encouraging him to scurry up back upstairs to his brother.
"What's matter boy?" Mrs. Chatinch inquires bandaging up the boy's knees.
" No-nothing." Hikaru says wincing as he holds the ice on his face.
"Baka. Don't lie to me boy." The old woman growls glaring up at the teen. A tired sigh escapes her and Sarah pulls herself to her feet. " I don't know what it is that has you so riled up and upset Hikaru and I suppose you're a little too old for me to scare you with idle threats of no dessert but let me tell you something. No matter what happens, no matter what you do, you can fix it. Because no matter how much of a baka you are," She comes close and whispers the last part. "You're still the little boy who wanted to see like the angels." The old nursemaid walks creakily to the door but stops and looks back at the child she'd watched grow up with wet eyes. " You remind me so much of my Howard. There's something really special in both of you that you just haven't found quite yet."
The old woman shuffles out into the front hall and scowls up at the teens. Her gaze softens a little as it reaches the small blond boy clutching tightly to his stuffed pink rabbit. "There's piece of strawberry cheesecake for anyone who's hungry." She states looking pointedly at Honey and then snorts. "And don't bother me anymore I've got knitting." Sarah Chatinch ambles slowly back toward the kitchen and manages to hear the chuckled phrase escapes the Hitachiin boy's mouth.
"Crazy old bat."
