Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies.

Warning: The story will mostly be written in first person point-of-view, and will contain mentions of depression, thoughts of suicide, and things within that category.

Many thanks to those who read, reviewed, alerted, and/or favorite-ed.

Chapter 10:

I quickly calculated the amount of time I had before the shot would be fired, and instantly pulled him away from the harm's way on impulse, even though there were not very many places to run to in this tiny compartment. He gave me confused look as he stumbled towards Hikaru-nii just as there was a very distinctive bullet hole shot through the glass door and on the area behind where Kaoru-nii had been sitting earlier.

"Damn it, we're sitting ducks," I cursed under my breath as I stood up to peer over to see who had dared to initiate an attack under my watch.

"What's going on, Riku?" Hikaru-nii asked with his eyebrows furrowed while he put an arm over his twin. From the corner of my eyes, I noticed him looking at the bullet holes with his eyes widened in silent shock and surprise. He opened his mouth to inquire about it, but I signaled him to quiet down before I shifted my attention to the scenery outside.

I scanned through the crowd, eyes quickly darting over young children running around, parents trying catch up to them, some of the park's employees, and the Host Club waiting by a bench near the Ferris wheel. Then by sheer luck, I noticed a glint coming from the rooftop of Labyrinth of Fear.

"You're being targeted," I finally responded without tearing my eyes away from the location but making sure to look as if I had not found the marksman either. After all, I knew that my foe was looking at the scene through some optics equipment since I also happened to be a sniper as well.

"Targeted? By whom?" my brothers repeated in a dumbfounded tone. They then frantically looked around to try and find the source of the attack; but since they did not know who or what they were looking for, they ended looking foolish.

I let out a sigh at their antics as I stood by the door where the marksman had attacked so that my back was facing the attacker. "Calm down," I spoke in a low tone as I pulled out my cell phone, quickly messaging the Special Investigative team and the police department regarding the matter. "I've already located where the attacker is. But if we attack him now, it'll only cause mass panic to everyone else at the park. For now, just pretend that nothing is wrong."

"But Riku…" Kaoru-nii began but I merely gave him a reassuring smile. I then took out one of the pistols from my coat, quickly inserting a cartilage of magazine in it.

"Don't worry, I've got everything covered. Just make sure to follow my instructions as quickly as you can," I responded steadily as I made sure that the gun's barrel is pointed downward. My eyes darted back to where the marksman was located, letting out a small barely noticeable smirk when I saw a red laser line directed to the side of Hikaru-nii's head this time.

"Oh and by the way, Hikaru-nii, your shoe lace is untied," I pointed out casually.

I almost let out a snicker when my brother bent down to check, just as I had thought he would, when another bullet whizzed by where his head was previously and shot through the glass near Kaoru-nii. Luckily, my brother was able to follow my instruction swiftly without questioning me; otherwise, he would be dead. Well, he would not actually be dead since I would have saved him, considering our parents and Kaoru-nii are not going to be happy to find him dead.

"What are you talking, Riku? My footwear doesn't have shoe laces," he pointed out and sat up. "And when do you carry a gun? It's dangerous, you know."

"My bad," I gave an innocent smile even though I was positive that my eyes portrayed otherwise. "As a Cavalier, we are allowed to be armed; so I've been handling guns and sniper rifles for about four years. Although I've been doing deskwork for about three years since Seaford incident, but I've recently been put back on the frontline."

"Frontline?" Kaoru-nii gaped as he eyed at me, and then to my weapon. "In any case, it's too dangerous for you. What if you get hurt? Do our parents even know about this?"

I slightly turned my gaze to my right to where the attacker was located at, and raised my black gun as I inwardly noted that the color camouflaged well with the twilight. "Yes, frontline; I use my skills as a sniper and my ability to predict the enemy's next move based on their previous moves to counterattack. My aim is deadly precise, or so I've been told," I responded as I stood up straight in front of Hikaru-nii and raised my gun a few centimeters above his head.

"Now, don't move an inch. I don't want to accidentally hit you," I continued in a low tone, fully aware of the surprised yet frozen in fear expressions on my brothers. "Now from our attacker's point of view, it looks as if I am going to shoot you, but in the next few seconds, he's going to change his direction and fire towards me. I want you to look my left hand without moving your head, and on the count of three, I want you to duck down immediately."

Hikaru-nii and Kaoru-nii side glanced at each other as the former shrugged in confusion. My right finger slowly circled around the trigger whilst my left hand counted to three as I have mentioned previously. Just as my brothers dropped down to the ground near my feet with their hands covering their heads, I pulled the trigger.

I let out a satisfied smirk when I noticed a small explosion in the near distance, indicating that I had managed to counter the attacker's next action. 'Hopefully, that will keep him off our track, if only for a moment,' I thought as I lowered my gun to my side before I moved to lock the weapon so that it would not accidentally go off and ended up wounding someone.

Just when I had finished putting back my gun inside one of my coat pockets, the Ferris wheel began moving, instantly jolting me out of my footing. I ended up falling on Kaoru-nii, who was in the process of standing up from his position, and he ended up tangling his limps with Hikaru-nii as a domino effect.

"Ah sorry," I murmured awkwardly as I stood up from Kaoru-nii, and immediately moved to sit in one of the seats.

Once the two had sat down across from me, Hikaru-nii looked over to my direction, and opened his mouth to say something when the cart's entrance door opened.

"I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience," a worker apologized profusely with a bow for the short stall at the top.

Kaoru-nii gave a polite smile to indicate that it was alright, even though his and Hikaru-nii's lives have been endangered a few minutes ago. I first headed out of the ride, and said to my brothers in a quiet tone, "Be careful; this isn't over just yet," as I walked passed them.

'I hope that showed our attacker that I'm not the one to be messed with,' my eyes narrowed as I glanced at the location where my attacker had hid. A cold smirk made its way on my expression while I pulled out my cell phone to message the Special Investigative team and the police department I had contacted earlier regarding this matter.

x0x0x0x0x

"Are you guys okay?" Haruhi asked as soon as he, Hikaru, and Riku had exited the Ferris wheel cart.

He was shaken by what had transpired earlier, and there were many questions whirling around in his mind. Most of them were regarding about why someone would attack them, and others were regarding about his sister and her calmness throughout this whole matter.

"Yeah," Kaoru managed to respond albeit weakly as he glanced over to Riku, noticing a serious expression on her face. She looked as if she was livid by the situation they had faced earlier; but when he continued to look over to her direction for a while, she finally noticed his stare. Instead of telling him that he should not be staring at her like he had expected, Riku merely gave him a reassuring smile that strangely managed to calm his nerves. Weird…

"We heard some gunshots earlier," Honey-senpai stated in a serious tone even though he was holding his Usa-chan.

Riku clicked her tongue in an annoyed manner as she pulled his twin, making Hikaru stumbled a few steps from his spot. His brother opened his mouth to question her action but instantly quiet down when there was a bullet hole where Hikaru had once stood.

"Hikaru-nii and Kaoru-nii are being attacked," she spoke in a low tone but her expression indicated that she was thoroughly displeased.

"Attacked? Why?" Kyoya-senpai asked as he readjusted his glasses before he looked at the direction of the attack.

"It's probably related to the latest case we're handling. And considering how Hikaru and Kaoru were hanging out with me all day, I think our attacker has speculated that they are close to me. Hence, the attack," Riku responded solemnly, dropping the honorifics altogether, as she shoved her hands in her pocket. "For now, it's better if you guys head home. I'll have an Informa team to stand watch, in case they decided to try anything to the rest of you," she directed the statement to the Host Club in the same tone.

"Don't worry, Haruhi! Daddy will protect you from evildoers!" Tono proclaimed as he moved to hug Haruhi.

She, however, sidestepped to dodge it altogether and said in a deadpanned tone, "I don't need you to protect me. I have my own Dad to do that, thank you very much."

"In any case, we can't idle around here and be sitting ducks," Riku stated as she bent down to grab something, and then stood up while holding something wrapped in a white handkerchief. "And Haninozuka-san, would you mind giving back my not-yet-named Kuma-chan and its cousins back?"

"But… Riku-chan," Honey-senpai responded with a puppy-dog look filled with unshed tears.

She rubbed her temple with one hand while her other hand was rested on her waist, and finally let out a deep sigh. "Fine, you can hold on to them until I get home," Riku conceded as if she had no choice in the matter.

He, along with the rest of the Host Club and Riku, followed Kyoya-senpai to the parking lot since Tono nearly led them to the wrong parking lot. Kaoru glanced over to his sister, who was quietly following them, and glanced over to his twin as he tried to figure out how to break the silence.

"Ne, Riku-chan," Honey-senpai broke the silence as he fell into steps with his sister, and continued as he clenched onto an ivory colored teddy bear that was nearly as tall as him, "Have you decided what to name your Kuma-chan?"

"Hmm… I don't know. What do you think?" Riku answered in a contemplative tone as she stared at the bear, which stared back at her.

"How about naming it after us?" Hikaru spoke with a grin on his lips, but the expression quickly fell when their sister shot an annoyed look at his twin's direction.

"No way," she quickly shot down the idea, dashing the hopeful look from his brother as quickly as it came. "From now on, I dub thee 'Kumago-chan'," Riku said to the bear as if she was talking to a human being.

Kaoru sweat dropped at the scene, wisely choosing not to comment on it, as they arrived to the parking lot. He looked around the nearly empty place while trying to locate their limousine and its driver. He frowned when he noticed that their driver had not pulled up the vehicle towards them from its parked space, which happened to be a little away from them.

"It looks like our driver is slacking," Hikaru remarked with a sigh.

He could not help but notice how eerily quiet the parking lot was, even though he could still hear chatters coming from the amusement park, and noted how deserted the place was. In the back of his mind, he felt as if this was something out of a really bad horror film, and that something was going to jump at them any moment.

"Oi, what are you doing slacking off?" Hikaru asked as he knocked on the tinted driver's door a few times. His face twisted into an annoyed one when no one answered the knock, almost as if their driver either did not hear his twin (which would be weird since Hikaru was knocking on the window rather loudly), or the driver was not inside.

Hikaru clicked his tongue in annoyed as he grabbed the limousine's handle, and pulled it opened, surprised by the fact that it was not locked. Just as he pulled the door opened, their driver's body fell onto the ground like a ragdoll, and from the dim lights, Kaoru noted a small trail of blood from the seat to the pavement.

"Don't look, Haruhi!" Tono immediately reacted as he covered Haruhi's eyes.

"Riku," Kaoru started as he was about to do the same with his sister, but she had already walked up to the fallen body.

Wordlessly, she flipped the body over while her eyes glanced over to the driver's body. He noticed the disheveled attire; but otherwise, the driver looked as if he was merely sleeping… if he did not take the trailing blood in an account.

"I'm sorry; I don't mean to involve you in this," Riku whispered in a low tone as she glanced over the body, and then brought the driver's hands to her eyes, looking at them for something. Silently, she stood up from her spot while pulling out her cell phone; and after a moment, she spoke in a somber tone, "We have a victim and a limousine that I want you to investigate on. I have a theory on what has transpired; but a proper autopsy report would be better in this case. We also need a ride home… Alright, thanks."

Silence blanketed the area, save for some scribbling noises from Kyouya-senpai as he wrote in his notebook. Even Kaoru did not know what to say despite the fact that there were many questions whirling around in his mind; but he could not utter those inquiries out loud. It was as if his ability to speak has been robbed from him.

In fact, he knew that if it had not been for Riku's quickness, he and Hikaru would been dead in that Ferris wheel cart. It made him wonder how she had been able to react that quickly for them to be able to dodge those bullets. It almost made him wonder, if only for a moment, if she had been the one who had issued those attacks; however, he quickly discarded the idea. After all, she could not dislike him and Hikaru that much to hire a hit man, right? If she did then, why would she have saved them when they were attacked? In an instant, he felt horrible for even so much as to speculate that his sister would issue those attacks.

"When I get my hands on him, he's going to wish that he's never born," his sister muttered with her hands clenched in a tight fist as her lips twisted in a snarl, and her eyes promising slow and painful death.

"Judging by your reaction, you know who that is, and what happened?" Kyoya-senpai inquired as he closed his notebook and looked over to Riku.

She looked over to his direction, and calmly said, "I have a theory. But I highly advise you not to get involve… I didn't stop you when you researched on me; but involving yourselves with matters as this… dealing with serial criminals and whatnot… that is something you shouldn't do. After all, aside from Haninozuka-san and Morinozuka-san, the rest of you do not have any combat abilities."

"What happened to him?" Haruhi asked the question that had been lingering in his mind for the past couple of minutes.

"Judging by the needle pricks on his fingers, he had his blood drain… drop by drop. His disheveled state also indicated that he put up a fight beforehand," Riku responded with a shudder, and inched towards him and Kaoru as if she was scared of something. "That's my theory; but until we get a proper report, we won't know for sure what exactly happened here."

"You can tell that just from looking at his body?" Haruhi continued in an incredulous tone with an eyebrow raised.

Riku glanced around the premise as if she was looking for something, and a moment later, she nodded to Haruhi. "That's because there was a similar event like this in the past," she replied in an above whisper, and then added in a low inconspicuous tone, "Ne, nothing is going to jump out from those bushes right?"

Kaoru looked over to Hikaru, who openly smirked when he heard the second statement before they each sandwiched Riku between them. "Are you, perhaps, scared?" they asked in unison.

"W-who's scared? I'm just making sure that nothing is going to jump at us, that's all," she answered rather with a slight stutter, making him unconvinced of her response.

x0x0x0x0x

We had just gotten home after some of my seniors in the Forensics Investigative team had come to collect the body for an autopsy report, and a couple of seniors from the Armory-Transportation Division came to tow away our limousine to further investigation and then gave us a ride to each of our homes. My brothers and I were the last ones to be sent off since I was telling my seniors in the Forensics Investigative team about the scene of the crime, and the bullet I had found earlier from the attacker. The Special Investigative team and the police department were working together to find more evidences at the scenes we were attacked, and were trying to locate our attacker.

I raised an eyebrow when I heard someone knocking on my door three times, just as I had finished changing into a sea blue and black striped printed tee, and a pair of denim short shorts. I ran a hand through my loosely freed hair as I walked across the room, and opened the door.

"Yes, is there something you need?" I asked while I leaned against the doorframe, silently taking in their tank top and capris attires.

"Um…" Kaoru-nii began as he fidgeted in his spot for a moment. "I want to ask you again… Despite what happened earlier, how was today?" he then asked albeit nervously.

"To be honest," I started as I casually crossed my arms, pausing for theatrics – just to see them squirms some more – and finally said, "Yes, I did have fun today. I have to say you weren't half-bad, considering you knew what I liked for the most part."

"Then we're okay?" Hikaru blurted out in a near expectant tone.

I shifted my glance over to him, and raised an eyebrow in response, "You're not off the woods yet; but you're slowly – very slowly, mind you – getting there."

"At least it's a process," Kaoru-nii sighed almost resignedly, and then asked grimly, "By the way, do you know why our driver got attacked? It seemed you know the reason."

I covered my mouth just as I yawned, trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes, as I said, "It'll take some time to explain; so you might as well come on in."

I had deliberated throughout the ride home whether I should tell them about this, or continue keeping them in the dark. However, in the end, I had decided to tell them the basics, based on what I had previously told them, considering what had happened with our driver, and the fact that they were targeted. I felt as if they, at least, deserved to know that much.

"Take a seat, you two," I muttered as I moved to drop the clothes I had been wearing today in the laundry basket. I sat down on my office chair, swirling around a couple of times just for the fun of it, and then stopped in front of my brothers. I cleared my throat as I gathered my thoughts, and finally said, "First of all, how much do you know about me? I know that you guys researched on me."

Kaoru-nii looked surprised by my statement as he fidgeted in his seat, almost as if he was trying to find a comfortable position, and then asked, "How did you know that?"

I almost had the urge to scoff at his inquiry since it sounded like he was belittling my ability, but in the end, I decided not to. Instead, I answered with a, "Ootori-san didn't erase his footwork as well as he should have. A Communicative Assistance team informed me that someone had breached our firewall, and was trying to hack into our mainframe a couple of days ago. We traced back the IP address and found out it was Ootori-san; of course, he didn't seem to realize that we were watching his every move from the shadows."

"I thought Kyoya-senpai was sneaky enough to be able to be incognito during the whole thing," Hikaru-nii muttered as he repositioned himself to be comfortable on my bed.

"So, what did you find about me from your little research?" I asked again in a slightly amused tone as I leaned against my seat, which swirled around a couple of times from the sudden weight shift.

"Basically everything that was written on your school's website," Kaoru-nii responded solemnly as he put his arms on top of one of my unnamed bears' head. "That you're an S-Ranked detective of some sort, otherwise known as an Imperial Guardian. Based on our conversations earlier, you are a sniper and tactician; but because of an incident in Seaford, you were put in a supportive position until recently. We also found information about other S-Ranked detectives in your group. The last big case you've worked on was the Jack Marquise case, but we weren't able to find out what that case entailed. We just didn't know how to bring it up, sorry."

I was impressed, to say the least, that they were able to gather that much information about me such a short time. After all, the information about the Imperial Guardians is closely guarded so that the cyber criminals would not be able to use our information against us.

"This will make the conversation slightly easier then," I stated as I stood up from my seat, and stretched my limbs, "I can only say that we will take full responsibility for our driver's death. He was assaulted just because he knew me… just as you two were nearly attacked throughout the day."

"But why?" Hikaru-nii asked with his eyes narrowed, and then continued, "Why was he attacked because he knew you? In fact, why were we attacked?"

I did not say anything as I walked over to my desk, and leaned against it, "I don't know. I'm not a part of the Profiling team, so I can't get into the criminal's mindset to figure out why he does what he did. But Jack Marquise once mentioned that he did want me to be a part of his collection; and the attacks today simply a continuation of his legacy so to speak from his minions. It could be because of my sniping skills or my ability as a tactician, I don't know."

"Riku…" Kaoru-nii began with a frown as if he did not like what I had just told him.

"Look, don't worry about this," I spoke in a reassuring tone, trying to sound as if my life was not targeted, and continued, "We might still be in training, and it's rather unfortunate that our driver got mixed in the crossfire; but we will do whatever we can to ensure your safety; that's why, don't worry. Everything will be over soon."

"It sounds like you already knew this was going to happen," Hikaru-nii stated in a somewhat suspicious tone.

"When I came across this mission, I knew that I was going to involve you guys into this mess," I let out a sigh as I ran a hand through my hair, and continued before my brothers had a chance to interrupt, "We may not be close; but I don't hate you to the point that I will use you as a human shield. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that I don't mean to drag you into this."

If it were not for the seriousness of our discussion, I would have laughed at their paled expressions when I said 'human shield'. In fact, I almost let out a chuckle when they simultaneously gulped, and clung to each other as if their life depended on it.

"Um…Do Mom and Dad know…?" Kaoru-nii asked in a low tone as he eyed at me with the same frown.

My gaze met with his for a moment before I let out a smirk, and answered, "They have an idea of what's happening. In the case that something does happen to them, my hidden cameras and GPS system will immediately alert me. I'll install something similar to your cell phones too."

"This is getting to be too dangerous, Riku," Hikaru-nii commented as he leaned towards his twin, "Can't you hire someone else to do the job for you? And you're too young to be holding guns!"

"There isn't a mission that isn't dangerous; but don't worry about it. It'll be over soon, I promise," I responded with a reassuring smile, and added, "Anyways, go to bed you two; we have school tomorrow."

There was silence as my brothers stared at one another with a smirk, as if they were speaking through twin telepathy or whatever it is called, and then in unsaid unison, they laid down on my bed as if they owned it. I stared at them, trying to register what had just happened, while I looked at the only space available on my bed.

'They purposely left the middle spot open!' my mind screamed as I continued looking at their 'sleeping' forms.

"I meant to your own bed," I pointed out in a deadpanned tone and let out an annoyed twitch when they did not move from their spots.

"But Riku," Hikaru-nii and Kaoru-nii began with puppy dog eyes from their positions that made want to face palm in exasperation. Did I not tell them enough times that those were not cute? "What if someone attacked us while we're sleeping?" they continued.

I did not want to tell them that they had a valid point, even though I could tell that they were merely using that reason to get me to sleep with them. "Ugh, alright fine… only for tonight, you sissies," I grumbled resignedly as I swirled my seat around so that I was facing the computer desk.

"Are you questioning our masculinity?" they rebutted in sync as they sat up and frowned at me as if I had crossed a line that I should not have.

I raised an eyebrow at the inquiry before I turned out to face them with a visible smirk etching at the corner of my mouth. "Did you have any to begin with? Need I remind you of your Host Club… ahem, 'ventures'? Say, the time you cross-dressed to save Fujioka-san from St. Lobelia?"

I assumed they had fallen into a stunned silence when they did not say anything. Finally after a few seconds, they blurted, "How did you know that?" while holding onto my comforters.

A smirk made its way on my expression as I flicked my gaze at their paled expressions. "I have my sources," that was all I said while I chuckled in amusement at them.

Wordlessly, I punched a few keys on my cell phone to activate the new security system that a part of the Communications Division specializing in security systems had made for me. I then grabbed a black box – given from the Communications Division – from my desk and my Kumago, a 137 centimeters tall stuffed bear, and moved him next to the balcony door so that he was facing the bed. I opened my black box, eyeing at many miniscule cameras in the form of contacts, and then put it over my bear's eyes.

"Riku, what are you doing? You should sleep too," Kaoru-nii asked a moment later. It seemed like he realized I had not climbed into the bed just yet.

"Setting up hidden cameras in case someone tries to break in," I responded before I closed the lid on the black box, and readjusted Kumago's position.

Once I was satisfied, I made sure that the balcony door was securely locked, and then turned off all of the lights except a few nightlights – so that I can see who dared to break in, that is… if they had the courage to bypass the security – that I had placed in my room. I walked over to the edge of my bed, and stared at the only spot left opened with a scowl.

"Move over, Kaoru-nii," I nudged to my brother, who merely gave me a smirk. Without any warning whatsoever, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him, making me sprawl across his figure. "W-what are you doing!" I sputtered in surprise as I tried to get up, but he and Hikaru-nii grabbed my limbs, and placed me between the two of them.

"You're sleeping in the middle," they chimed with a laugh, and hugged me as if I was their pillow. I willed myself not to flinch, and scowled at their directions, to which they merely laughed some more.

"I'm not your pillow!" I exclaimed as I tried to get out of their grips; but in the end, I gave up with a grumble – seeing as how I could not move – and decided to try to sleep even though they were invading my personal bubble. Just this once, I will let them get away with this… seeing how they were sissies and all.

I woke up still sandwiched between my brothers, although I was nearly falling off the bed and Kaoru-nii was sprawled on the floor with one of the blankets. I shook my head at the scene as I carefully got out of bed, eyeing at the clock to see that it was only a little over five o'clock. I readjusted the blankets on the two – one of my nice moments that they should not get used to – before I quietly walked over to the closet to grab my Academy's uniform, and then walked over to the bathroom for a quick shower.

As soon as I finished drying and brushing my hair after my shower, I placed my hair brush down on the vanity table, glancing at my reflection in the mirror with a small smirk etching on the corner of my mouth, and wordlessly, I gathered my straightened hair into a high ponytail. I took out a pair of black onyx clip-on earrings, which were a pair of hidden cameras in disguise, and quickly put it on. I then put on my blue-gray colored contacts, blinking a few times to adjust to the change before I began applying the makeup.

Once I finished, I pulled out my other luggage from my walk-in closet, quickly entering the pin number to unlock the item, and then stared at the weapons neatly lying inside. Silently, I stood up from my position, and began dressing in the standard white and black Imperial Cavalier Academy uniform.

When I finished zipping up my skort, I strapped on a pair of gun and magazine holsters around my upper thighs, strategically hidden underneath the flap of my skort. I then put on my black trench coat over my white blouse, placing two fully-loaded guns inside the coat with four magazines in extra pockets before I moved on to put two more fully-loaded guns in my holsters with two extra magazines.

"It never hurt to have extras," I said to no one in particular as I put on my knee-high black socks. I let out a yawn as I put on my knee-high combat boots, making sure to securely tie my laces, and then moved on to hide a couple of daggers in my shoes.

I let out another yawn as I grabbed my cell phone and identification card, pocketing the two items, while I mentally tried to access what other items I had forgotten. "This is a perfect time for a siesta even though I just woke up," I muttered just as another yawn escaped from my mouth.

Wordlessly, I hid my luggage underneath my bed once more, and bid my Kumataro, Kumago, and my sleeping brothers a silent farewell before I walked out of the door. I glanced at my watch, noticing that it was nearing six o'clock, and hurried down the hallway.

'According to Jeanne, the 'show' starts at in forty minutes,' I said to myself, remembering the message I had seen when I was activating the house's security system. I stopped by the foyer, and grabbed a notepad and a pen to scribble a quick message of my whereabouts before I taped it on the wall near the dining room.

x0x0x0x0x

Kaoru let out a groan as he sat up from his position, wincing at the backache from sleeping on the floor – again. One of these days he was going to make sure that Hikaru felt the similar pain and agony of sleeping on the floor. He then blinked when he noticed the blanket draped around him, silently wondering how that came to be since he knew that everything he got kicked off the bed, the blanket stayed with Hikaru.

He shook his head, inwardly giving up on figuring out this mystery, and stood up while he stretched his limbs. Kaoru blinked in surprise when he noticed that Riku was missing, and silently concluded that she must be an early raiser like Tono. With that thought in mind, he dumped the blanket on his twin's face, and nudged Hikaru to wake up.

"Come on, we have to get ready for school," he added while prodding his older twin.

Kaoru watched as Hikaru slowly got up, grumbling under his breath about mornings and how it was too early. Nonetheless, the two made it back to their rooms, and proceeded to get ready for the day.

They walked out of their bedroom half an hour later, and headed towards the dining room (not noticing the note taped on the wall) whilst remarking about how it was too quiet before their topic of conversation stopped on their sister's whereabouts. They momentarily stopped by the living room when they heard noises coming from their television. It seemed one of the maids had forgotten to turn it off… again.

"—Breaking news: this is just in. The prestigious Ouran High School Academy has been bombed a few minutes ago. Sources say that a notorious group of criminals, nicknamed as 'Lady Killer', was responsible for the attack. We do not know why they had specifically chosen this school for their attack, or if this was a random act of terror. However, they were immediately caught by our local police department and a group of England's law enforcement in-training – the Imperial Guardians. It seemed that the Imperial Guardians had anticipated this would happen as they were well-prepared for the attack. Gunshots were exchanged from both parties when the criminal resisted arrest. One member of the 'Lady Killer' group was immediately killed in the midst of gunfire; and others were taken in for further questioning." the news anchor reported.

She paused for a couple of seconds to catch her breath before continuing, "We will bring you the latest updates as we get them. But for now, Chairman Suoh of Ouran High School Academy has stated that school will be closed until further notice as they repair the damages…Back to you in the studio."

"Kaoru, do you think this is related to what happened yesterday?" his twin inquired after a long silence.

"I wouldn't put it pass it, Hikaru," he responded as he looked over to his brother, and added, "It seemed Riku and her friends are aware of what's happening… after all, they're already at the crime scene."

"We really should find a way to stop her from doing that," Hikaru murmured with a sigh.

Kaoru nodded in agreement as he muttered, "Yeah…"

Note: Next chapter is going to be the last one.