Kaito enters the jailhouse alone. Junko had wanted to come with him -she kept on begging until he was out the door- but he doubted Aina would appreciate him bringing her nine year old to an interrogation even if he wanted to.

Two men are waiting for him when he gets there. He recognizes them as the ones who have been chosen to guard the wall tonight. The smaller one shifts off to the side when he approaches, a mumbled greeting his only acknowledgment of Kaito's presence. Kaito lets it slide for now. The only thing of interest to him is the lifeless body thrown over the larger man's shoulder. The man gives a respectfully low bow, almost allowing the prisoner to slip off of him. A little moan escapes their lips, but they don't stir. At least Kaito knows they're still alive.

"What is this?"

"Found him wandering around outside," the large man says. He walks to the interrogation table and drops the prisoner on it. In the bright light of the many lanterns around the room, Kaito can now clearly see the petite, skinny frame and windswept brown hair cut short. Their chest rises and falls slowly, but not too slowly. A cursory glance reveals no cuts or scratches or anything beyond a large bruise on the back of the neck, something he doubts his men had anything to do with.

"Yagi over there wanted to just throw him in the cell and deal with him and the other guy tomorrow, but I thought we should talk to you first," the large man says. "I mean, odds are they're working together, and with that first guy who took out Sendo and Kiroko, but..."

Kaito purses his lips at the prisoner, then looks up and observes the large man.

"Toriyama, was it?"

The large man stills for a moment, then nods once. Kaito gets that sometimes from people he doesn't speak to very often. It makes his eye twitch a little every time. Do these people really think that after three years, he doesn't know the names of the people working for him?

"Well, you have good judgement," Kaito says pleasently, before his tone turns dark. "Even if you are apparently blind."

Toriyama nods dumbly, needing a moment to process what's been said to him. When he does, he blanches, and shies away from him. Suddenly, the six inches and hundred something pounds he has on Kaito don't seem to mean much to him.

"I- I'm afraid I don't understand, Sir."

Kaito raises an eyebrow. He walks around the table to the other side of their visitor. His fingers run across the hilt of his knife, but only out of habit. That it always makes them sweat is just a bonus. He runs his eyes along the prisoner's inert body, tracing the lines of their arms and legs and torso.

"I don't understand either," Kaito says. "Why do you keep using 'he' to describe what is clearly a woman?"

Whatever response Toriyama had catches in his throat. His partner, Yagi, sucks in a breath from somewhere in the shadows.

"A- woman, sir?"

Kaito gives no answer, but to glance down at the woman on the table. Toriyama follows his gaze, no doubt taking a much closer look at her, trying to determine that she was indeed female. If he were honest, Kaito would have to admit that he understands how they could have made that mistake. This woman almost completely lacks curves, the swell of her breasts all but invisible beneath dark, loose fitting clothes. What naked skin can be seen covers small but toned muscles and fingers hardened from labor. Her boy cut hair does nothing but encourage the misconception. This woman is anything but vain, whoever she is. It's unfortunate for Toriyama and Yagi, then, that he's already on a roll and can't tell them any of this.

"Forget about it," he says vaguely. Toriyama goes whiter still, if that's possible, and Kaito turns away before he could see if the man can go any paler. "Put her in a cell and leave her for the night. Her own cell. I don't want her anywhere near the first one, especially if they're working together."

Kaito is gone before they can say, "Yes, Kaito-sama."


Haruhi awakens for the second time on a cold ground with no idea how she got there. Unlike the first time, this is no grass to soften it, and when she tries to sit up, pain shoots through sore muscles in her back and shoulders. With a groan, Haruhi tries to rub the aches away while struggling to open her eyes. There is a light shining directly at her face that makes this difficult. She gets herself far enough from it to look around. The firs thing she sees are metal bars.

Haruhi goes to touch them and stops short. She blinks a couple of times, thinking that maybe she's still asleep and just dreaming all of this. There is no way she could have just woken up in a cage. She'd been out in the forest all night last night until she found that wall... and was attacked...

"Oh God." Suddenly, the pain returns full force.

She presses her middle and index finger against her temple, but it provides no relief. Getting to her feet, she sees a number of cages lined up along the walls. Most are empty, except for the one at the very end, where the hunched over silhouette of a heavy set man can be seen, immobile save for the occasional snore. There's no way for Haruhi to tell what time it is or how long she's been out for. All the sunshine tells her is that it's daytime, so at least seven or eight hours have gone by since she was ambushed. Great, now how exactly was she supposed to get out of here?

The door opens up, catching Haruhi's attention. In walks a small man rolling a slightly rusted dinner cart into the room. He was muttering inconsequentially to himself. He undoes a lock on the sleeping man's cell and opens a small, window-like space for slipping food through. He bangs on the bars a couple of times after sealing the hole back up. The caged man screams and shouts frantically. He looks like he has even less of an idea where he is than Haruhi does.

The man rolls the cart to her next. Haruhi tries to catch his eye, but he sticks to his work, unlocking her door, delivering the tray of food, and then re-locking it. He starts to turn away, and Haruhi runs to the cell door.

"Hey!" she calls out. "Where am I? What's going on?"

She pushes her face between the bars until it hurts, but the retreating man never so much as looks back. He leaves as abruptly as he came and Haruhi's many many questions go unanswered. He returns hours later, after Haruhi has walked the perimeter of her five by seven cell at least a thousand times. He has the cart again, with two more plates that can only hold their dinner. Haruhi's stomach is in knots. This all reminds her terribly of her time in captivity, right down to the dirty floors for sleeping and the two meals a day. She can, at least, say that the food here is much better. Her half piece of red apple actually looks and tastes freshly picked. Her 'cellmate' has been mostly quiet, the only times he's spoken being to ask Haruhi what she's in for. He sounds like his throat has been scratched out with sandpaper and Haruhi is glad when he doesn't push for her to answer. Really, he could have the voice of an angel, and she still wouldn't feel like making conversation.

She somehow passes the time until sundown, falling into a fitful, and ultimately restless, sleep. She has no dreams and wakes up the next morning to the sound of rattling on the bars. At first, she thinks it's just the breakfast cart. She'd be kind of happy if it was because her stomach is growling.

The man looking down over his nose at her is not the man from yesterday, and he doesn't have anything resembling food with him. He's a little older, but only by a few years. He has matted light brown hair sticking to his cheeks and a clean-shaven face. He's slightly attractive, but a large nose impedes that. He wears a neatly pressed and washed suit and tie. He'd look very professional if he'd wash his hair a little better.

"Get up," he coldly orders.

A big part of her wants to argue, but there are two other men standing behind the first and they look plenty threatening even before one factors in the enormous firearms they carry. Haruhi's knowledge of guns more or less ends with rifles, but even she knows those things will pack a punch. The man has no need to repeat himself, even though it's clear she takes longer than he would have liked to obey.

The cell door slides open and one of the guardsmen takes her by the arm. The man in the middle withdraws something shiny from his jacket pocket. He makes sure to let Haruhi see them before slapping the cuffs around her wrists. Haruhi is led from holding area. She sees the caged man watching them go, something like sympathy in his gaze when it falls on her.

They walk down the hall in time to another room, this one smaller and colder with concrete walls and not a single window in sight. Tiny bits of glass stick out of the wall where a two way mirror must have been guardsmen go to stand behind it anyway, as the first man leads Haruhi to the sterile table and chairs that are the rooms sole furnishings.

"This place used to be a police station," the man says, as if Haruhi hadn't figured that out a long time ago. "Please, take a seat."

Haruhi glances at the offered chair. It looks clean and sturdy enough, but that's not her problem.

"Could you maybe take these off?"

She clinks her handcuffs together and the man smiles, but it's not a friendly one.

"I'm afraid that's impossible," he answers. "Not until we have an idea of your... threat level, let's say."

"Threat level?" Haruhi repeats in a flat tone. "Listen, I don't even know where I am right now. I was just walking through the forest and these two guys-"

"If I've heard the story correctly, you attacked the two men on guard and then tried to make a break for our borders," the man interrupts, unfazed by the growing incredulity in Haruhi's expression.

"What? They attacked me. Didn't I just say that I don't know where I am? You're making it sound like I was trying to get in here."

The man shrugs innocuously. "You wouldn't be the first."

He drums his hands on his lap and gets up to walk around the table, eyeing Haruhi like he's a wild predator and she's his next meal.

"I'm sure you've been wondering about the other man we have locked up. He tried to get in here several hours before you. We found him skulking around at the west end trying to scale the wall. Before him, there was another man roughly a week ago. He killed two of our finest men who dedicated their lives to protecting this place. Made widows of their lovely wives. Of course, I'm sure you've heard all of this before. I didn't even have to tell you any of this, did I?"

He gets in really close to her and spits out the final two words, literally, and she doesn't even have her hands to wipe it off. Haruhi backs away as much as she can, an action rendered moot when the men moves off of her and goes back to pacing. Haruhi takes a deep breath to calm herself. Yelling at this guy, no matter how much she wants to, is only bound to make things worse.

She speaks as calmly as she can. "Maybe we should start over. I was in the forest because I'm looking for some friends of mine who I was separated from. I had no idea that there was a settlement nearby. I only fought your men because they attacked me first, and I ran to get away from them. That's all."

The man's face has barely changed since she started talking, giving her a sinking suspicion that he doesn't believe a word of it. The more cynical side of her wonders what she expected.

"And so, your being here has absolutely nothing to do with wanting to cross our boundaries You have nothing to do with the two men who have thus far tried, is that right? Think long and hard before you answer, now."

He's taking on a patronizing tone that sends a flare of indignation through Haruhi's chest. She bites her lip, looks him straight in the eye.

"Yes, that's correct."

The man smiles again, in the exact same way.

"You sound honest," he says. "But that's just not enough for me. Until you can prove that you have no desire to either harm our village or make an attempt on Kaito-sama's life, we have nothing to talk about."

Haruhi springs to her feet, and in her haste forgets about her handcuffs and sways dangerously towards falling sideways. In an oddly helpful act, her interrogate pushes her back upright with a soft hand to the side. Haruhi doesn't thank him.

"You can't keep me here," she tells him.

"Says who?" the man mockingly asks. "The police? We are the police. I don't think you fully understand the weight of your situation, Miss. Regardless of your intentions, you are a trespasser. We have worked far too hard to keep ourselves safe from bandits and the like, and we are not about to falter just to accommodate you. Kaito-sama's word is law. Until we have determined beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are no threat, you will remain in lock-up."

He nods to the guardsmen, who start to step around the destroyed wall. They, along with their boss are stopped by the sound of Haruhi's voice.

"You keep talking about Kaito-sama," she says, somehow lacking the anger and fear that courses through her veins. "Are you talking about an actual person?"

The man smirks at her while the guardsmen's cheeks puff out, like they are holding back laughter.

"Don't tell me you're a believer in those silly stories," he says, shaking his head like he's talking to a particularly naive child. "Oh yes, we do know about those. Every time we send out scavenging parties, they come back with all new variations to the story, each more fantastic than the last. It's a shame Kaito-sama himself doesn't see the humor in it."

"So," Haruhi begins slowly. "You're telling me that he's real... and this is his town?"

"He's real in the sense that he is a person who has performed some, let's say, cathartic tasks for us that gained him his authority. If you're talking about those urban legends that he can fly and shoot fire from his eyes, then no. That is children's nonsense."

He snaps his fingers, and the guardsmen take her by the arms.

"Now, I think that's enough idle chit-chat for today. We'll be meeting again tomorrow to see if we can't do any better on the honesty front. Don't think that you're going to get out of this. I can do this every day for weeks on end if I have to. I hope for your sake that you clean up your act a little bit, before someone much scarier than me decides to take a crack at you. I don't believe I've mentioned all the jobs Kaito-sama takes on, from town leader to public speaker to executioner..."

The thinly veiled threat is left hanging there, as the guardsmen half drag Haruhi back into the hallway towards the holding cells. On the day, they past an opening leading to another hall. Haruhi sees many doorways down a lengthy strip. At the very end is a ray of sunlight, and she can hear people talking and children laughing.

Back in the cell, Haruhi waits until the guardsmen leave to stand up. The caged man is happily singing some old children's song to himself in that painfully raspy voice of his. Haruhi goes to the window. It's not very high up, but still too high for her to see through, even on tip-toes. The most she can get is the tops of houses, and they alone look better than any building she's seen since The End. Something flies past her vision, a brightly colored array that resembles a dragon. She sees it again, dancing in the wind, accompanied by a little boy's laughter. A kite?

Some people are talking below her window, something about the crops 'coming in nicely this year,' followed by a joke Haruhi only catches snippets of, because everyone is laughing too hard. They act like they haven't got a care in the world, and the more Haruhi's listens, the more she believes it to be true. Happiness seems to radiate off this place, from the air and the ground and the people. Haruhi thinks that if she tries, she can reach out and touch that happiness, feel it graze her fingertips like a cloth made of velvet, but she'll never be able to grab hold.


"She's completely uncooperative so far," the man says, looking out a large window at the people walking home for dinner. He turns away, eyeing Kaito-sama behind his desk with his fingers laced. "She insists that she's not with the rest, just an innocent bystander who happened to find her way here. I don't buy a word of it myself. I may have to try a different tactic tomorrow to get her to talk."

"You're not going to torture the girl," says the woman seated before Kaito. She has her hair in a headband and her hands in her lap. She looks like a perfect lady all women should aspire to be like, but there is a fire in her eyes that only a select few could hope to have. "Kaito-sama would never allow it."

"That was never my plan to start with, Aina," he snaps at her. "Why are you even here? You're not an official, you're just a Doctor."

"If you're planning on giving me a new patient, Uragiru, then it becomes my business."

"I said, I'm not-"

"Quiet."

Uragiru's mouth clamps shut. Kaito-sama stands up from his desk. Even though they are exactly the same height, Uragiru always feels like a shadow is cast whenever Kaito-sama stands in front of him. He has no hope of escaping.

"Whatever you're doing so far isn't working, that's the first explanation," Kaito says. Uragiru steps out of his way so he can go stand by the window now. Arms behind his back, Kaito fits the troubled leader look to a T. "The other is that she is honest, and she really isn't involved."

Uragiru laughs disbelievingly. Right as he's about to say something to write it off, to dispel Kaito-sama's suspicions and assure him that next time, he will get the right information, Kaito turns and looks him dead in the eye. Uragiru is frozen.

"So far, she's the only one of the two whose talking, even if she's not saying anything. That's why, I think it's best if I speak to her myself this time."

As much as Uragiru wants, with every fiber of his being, to object and argue and stand his ground that this is his job and he knows what he's doing, he knows he can't. It's times like this that he wishes his weariness of Kaito-sama went deeper than his fear. One day, it just might, but today, Uragiru is a hard-working, upstanding man subordinate to the law, no matter what kind of world he lives in or who he must answer to. Above all else, he knows his place, and it's right here, holding his tongue, bowing before his superior.

"As you wish, Kaito-sama.


The door opens as the sun goes down. Haruhi is in the corner, her legs pulled up to her chest. She's been like this for a while now, counting the bricks on the wall opposite her while her new friend entertains, now with old sea shanties. It's all she can do to distract. The man with the cart ambles over, looking no more interested in his job than he did the day before. He raps on the bars.

"Hey, wakey-wakey, time to eat. You hear me?"

Haruhi shies away from him, covering her face with her arm until he sighs exasperatedly.

"Come on! Would you just get over here and take your food? If you're trying to starve yourself, don't bother. We'll just keep leaving it here until you eat."

"I can't," Haruhi says weakly. "I don't feel good. I think I'm going to be sick."

She makes a retching noise, with a cough mixed in for good measure. The man groans and runs a hand through his hair. He looks all around, from her to the open door and back. Haruhi makes the same noise two more times before she hears many keys jangling together.

"I swear, I don't get paid enough for this," the man mutters. He unlocks the door and slides it open just enough so he can get inside. Haruhi has rolled onto her side, no longer retching but shivering intensely. The man steadily approaches. She can see the shadow of his hands close to touching her.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asks.

Haruhi's response is to flip over and dig her knee into his chest. The man gasps and falls, and with that as her momentum, Haruhi races for the cell door, throwing it open and taking off. The winded man can only watch, eyes bugging out and bloodshot.

"Oh G- BREAKOUT! WE HAVE A BREAKOUT!"


Kaito pauses his train of thought. The yelling coming from the jailhouse next door resonates through the half open window. Aina and Uragiru, who have been arguing incessantly about how to properly deal with the prisoners, go blissfully silent as well and look out.

"What's happening?" Aina asks.

Kaito gets up from his chair and follows them. Standing by the window, he can hear it plain as day.

"BREAKOUT!"

He curses.

"You idiot," he shouts at Uragiru before stalking out the door.


Haruhi never stops running, not even when the man is no longer screaming. It can only mean that he's recovered enough to run after her. More people are shouting now, both inside and outside the building. She can't be bothered to try and hear.

It wasn't an immediate thought, breaking out so early. She had thought to wait a couple more days, see if she can't convince that interrogator that she really doesn't pose a threat so he would release her. It makes about as much sense logically as it makes no sense realistically. Haruhi would have been lawyer once upon a time. She knows how these people work, she's certainly read about it enough. She could never make him listen, and with every day she spent trying, her friend's chances went lower. She doesn't know a thing about that Togawa guy except that he's a smarmy businessman with minimal empathy, and that's good enough for her. This town, no matter how nice and welcoming she thinks it could be, holds nothing for her. She doesn't care about their paranoia or their attempts at a justice system or the fact that the mythical Kaito-sama is apparently real and their leader. The only thing that matters is getting out of this building, hiding out somewhere dark and quiet until morning, and then getting out of here, whatever it takes. Haruhi tells herself she'll find a way. She's done crazier stuff in High School with the Host Club. This is nothing compared to that. That's what she needs to believe above all else.

A few shadows running in front of her stop her in her tracks. To her right is an empty room with a partially open door. Haruhi dives through it without thinking, and is lucky enough to find it empty. She closes the door behind her and presses her ear against it. Footsteps trample on by without a sign of slowing.

"Which one got out?" someone shouts.

"The girl. She played sick and when I checked on her, she jumped me."

"Jesus, what kind of idiot are you to fall for that?"

No retaliation is made and the sounds fade away. Haruhi slowly counts to ten, each number ominously syncing up with her heartbeats. At ten, she throws the door open, and like she never has before in her life, she runs.


"Whoever you had guarding her, I want him in my office, you understand me?"

"Yes, Kaito-sama, of course. I can't tell you how sorry I am, you have my deepest-"

"Oh, shut up already."

"Kaito-sama! Kaito-sama! We can't find her so far, but we think she's heading for the front entrance."

"Alright good, I'll be right there. If you catch her first, hold her down until I get there. We're going to have a little talk."

"Yes, Kaito-sama.


The end of the hall is within reach. Haruhi fills her mind with the beautiful sunlight that burst through it before. It's nighttime now, but Haruhi can see it, clear as her hands in front of her face.

"There she is!"

Haruhi turns her head. The man with the cart is running at full speed. Haruhi goes faster. She feels like her chest is about to rip itself to pieces, but she can't stop now. There's the corner, she's turning it now. The door is in view. She's almost there.

So close now.

So close...

The door opens.

Haruhi screeches to a halt to avoid smacking into it. She really does feel sick now. The man with the cart is gaining on her and her only exit, the one that all her stupid irrational and very much unlike her plans hinged on, is nothing more than a trap. It slams against the wall and allows a man entry. The light of the many lanterns shine on him.

The world stops.

And when the world stops, all sounds vanish.

And when all sounds vanish, Haruhi gains a sort of tunnel vision. Everything else has faded away into nothing, so that there is no man behind her and no one behind him. There are no walls keeping them in or tiny balls of fire to light their way. There is nothing to Haruhi but herself and the man in front of her.

She sees his blond hair, longing than it used to be and tied loosely back and out of his face.

She sees his eyes, blue in his light, but if she looks closer, their true color shines.

She sees a faces like the others, sharper and ten years older, but no less familiar; no less handsome than when she knew him last. Though he is currently expressionless, his sparkly eyes and bubbly grin are fresh in her mind like it's only been a day and not a decade since he last stood before her. There had been no joy that day, the day Haruhi always believed to be their last. But it wasn't. She knows that now.

Because now he's here. He's here before her, not a foot away and well within reach. She could touch him if she wanted. She wants to touch him so badly, it hurts. Just so that she knows this is real and not just a beautiful and cruel dream. That it really is Tamaki Suoh standing before her, and that now they will have many more days together, just as they were meant to.

"It's you," she says. This must be how Kaoru felt that day, when he was at a loss for words before her. "It's you... You're alive."

Just like that, the tunnel vision ends and she can see their surroundings. The interrogator is standing behind him, along with a woman Haruhi has never seen before. She pays them no mind. Not even escaping matters to her anymore. There is only him.

"I can't believe it," she is barely coherent any more, crying more than talking. "I was so afraid that... that you were dead. But..."

Tamaki walks to her, closing the already narrow gap between them. His hand finds her shoulder.

And his knee, her stomach.

Haruhi gasps, louder than the man she attacked had. She falls harder than him too, mostly because Tamaki follows up with a fist to the face. Bones crack, but don't break. Pain explodes regardless and Haruhi sees stars. The next thing she knows, her injured cheek is rubbing cold cement, and then he's on her again. One hand grasps her by the shirt, pulling her up and off her feet with little effort. He holds her a good few inches away from him, eyes piercing her. The recognition Haruhi had only felt moments ago is quite suddenly overshadowed by the lack thereof. There is no warmth in Tamaki's gaze like there used to be. No joy or love or anything but a cold dark nothingness that covers her in ice.

"A word of advice," he says. "Next time you're trying to escape captivity, don't stop to gawk at your pursuers like a fool."

He shoves her back, allowing the man with the cart and another man to take hold of her. Haruhi can't struggle them even if she wants to. She's struck dumb and can barely think at all.

"What?" is the only word that can properly form and leave her throat.

Tamaki ignores it and walks with his hands cupped behind his back. It's about now that Haruhi notices the massive knife he's got strapped to him.

"Of course, you're not going to be escaping again, my friend," he says. Like Hunny-senpai, is voice is deeper now, more masculine, and completely unlike him to the point that her head is spinning. "Because your guards are going to be keeping a much closer watch on her from now on, aren't they?"

He rounds on the interrogator, who shrinks away from Tamaki like he's received a physical slap in the face.

"O-oh yes, yes indeed," the interrogator says. "Absolutely, Sir."

Tamaki gives a low snarl and then looks at Haruhi again. There is nothing familiar about him now, from the way he looks to the way he looks at her. Haruhi's mouth is wide open and nothing will come out, not until he shakes his head and waves dismissively.

"Alright, take her back now, and lock her up."

The two man start to drag her off. Tamaki turns to leave, and Haruhi's mind and body finally kicks into gear.

"Wait!" she screams. She wrenches away from the men, but four more take their place. Holding her at every conceivable angle, Haruhi can do little more than writhe and kick fruitlessly, and keep shouting. "Tamaki, wait! What are you talking about? Don't you recognize me? It's me, Haruhi Fujioka! We went to Ouran together, remember? Tamaki?"

"Who's she talking about?" one of her captors asks another, who shrugs.

Tamaki goes still and is silent for a moment before facing her again. That cold gaze has only become more biting. Haruhi almost can't look at him, because it sends shivers done her spine. For God's sake, what had happened to him?

"Fujioka, was it?" He couldn't be more bored with her. "I can honestly say I have no idea who you are or what you're talking about. Also, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop calling me 'Tamaki,' that's not my name. For the duration of your stay with us, you will refer to me as Kaito-sama, just like everyone else."

He leaves for real now, there is nothing stopping him. Haruhi's voice has failed her again, and the tumultuous whirlwind going on inside her means that she won't be doing much of anything for some time now. All the strength leaves her body as the man carry her away. She never stops watching him go, until the door slams behind him and the resulting wind knocks out the lanterns one by one.


A/N: You know, for such an important chapter, I thought it would be longer. I mean, it's still over five thousands words, but I'd predicted maybe 6 or 7000.

Did you guys know I used to struggle to get chapters over 2000 words? Ah good times, good times...

And now the truth about Kaito has been revealed! I'm sure many of you have been wondering why you haven't been seeing Tamaki around. Well, now you know that you have been all along! Sort of...

Now that I think about it, this is only going to raise a lot more questions, but don't worry! Everything will be answered in due time.

Part 1 of Fragments has come to a close! Part 2 will start following a short hiatus (*dodges tomatoes*) during which time I'm going to be finishing up the latest arc of Absolute Ouran, along with planning eventual updates of my other long overdue stories, with a couple of oneshots sprinkled in here and there. Expect chapter twelve some time in May. See you then!